Magic Online Weekly Announcements, February 21, 2023

Posted on Feb 21, 2023

Premier Play Information

Treasure Chest Information

Community Links: Forums - Discord - Twitter - Facebook - Instagram

IMPORTANT ACCOUNT SECURITY INFORMATION

Players have been understandably expressing concern about account security in light of account-theft reports on social media.

Two-factor authentication for MTGO is in active development, but in the meantime, please remember:

Players with a strong MTGO-only password that they have never shared or exposed aren't targets of account theft—having such a password should be part of every player's account security.

Until we can deploy two-factor authentication, awareness of how passwords are stolen is a player's best defense against account theft. Here are some critical mistakes to avoid:

• Password Re-Use: There have been no Magic Online data breaches under Daybreak, but a data breach or bad actors on a website where you have re-used your Magic Online password can lead to bad actors trying the password elsewhere. Never re-use your Magic Online password or one similar to it.
• Password Sharing: Whether given intentionally to friends or unintentionally to phishing and social engineering efforts, sharing your password with any person or entity puts your account at serious risk of theft.
• Password Strength: Accounts with passwords that are guessable, short, or overly simple are at greater risk of theft. Make your password strong!

Password strength and care are the common threads here. Change your MTGO password today to a unique, complex alternative and never give it to anyone or enter it in anything other than our login screen or Help site. Players who do reduce their risk of account theft to near zero.

Should you suspect your account has been compromised, you can log into help.mtgo.com to file a Customer Service ticket. If you are locked out of the account due to a compromise in progress, you should create a brand-new MTGO account and then log into the Help site with those credentials. Contacting us via social media can help, but that generally isn't quick enough to stop an event in progress.

KAMIGAWA: NEON DYNASTY DRAFT RETURNS TOMORROW

This week’s Alternate Play format is our first return to one of our most popular recent sets, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Set at the confluence of tradition and technology, this draft format is quite Spirited.

The Draft League begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (18:00 UTC) – Entry Options are the same as last year’s version: 12 Event Tickets, 120 Play Points, or 3 NEO boosters + 2 Event Tickets.

MAGIC 30 CUBE ENDS TOMORROW

As part of Magic: the Gathering’s 30th Anniversary celebration, Magic Online is running a special recurring Cube concurrently with each MagicCon event. With the festival in Philadelphia having just concluded, the first return of the Magic 30 Cube wraps up tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (18:00 UTC).

Each iteration features changes prescribed by the Cube’s original designer Carmen Handy. There are just seven changes baked into this edition:

The full Cube card list can be viewed on this page.

PHYREXIA: ALL WILL BE ONE BEST-OF ONE LEAGUE ENDS TOMORROW

Our experimental Best-of-One League for the new set wraps up tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT. If you have matches remaining, be sure to get them played!

MOCS SHOWCASE CHALLENGE EVENTS THIS WEEKEND 

It’s time once again to get players invited to the next round of Showcase Qualifiers in March and April.

It takes 40 Season 1 Qualifier Points to enter a Showcase Challenge. The Top 8 finishers in each event earn a Championship Entry Token for the event’s format plus earn Leaderboard Points toward an At-Large berth in the next Showcase! Here are the dates and times for the first group:

For more information on these events, click the Premier Play Information link at the top of the Blog.

ALTERNATE PLAY SCHEDULE

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and March of the Machine. Each description mentions whether or not the Draft is Phantom – cards won’t be added to players’ collections in Phantom events. All event transitions are at 10 a.m. PT.

• March 1-8 – An alternate version of Dominaria’s saga returns – Time Spiral Remastered (Keeper)
• March 8-22 – Mid-March = Modern Horizons Madness! We’ll kick it off with the original Modern Horizons Flashback (Phantom only) for two weeks …
• March 22-April 5 - … then it’s two weeks of Modern Horizons 2! (Keeper & Phantom Draft options)
• April 5-12 – By popular demand, we will bring back Dominaria Remastered for one week as a Flashback (Phantom only)
• April 12-MOM Release – Still thinking this one through ...

PHYREXIA: ALL WILL BE ONE ON MTGO

The latest Standard-legal expansion, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, is now available in the MTGO Store. Check out this article for updates on the following:

• MTGO’s Art Bundles, available for a limited time in the Store
• Event schedules and improvements on how they are displayed in the Play Lobby
• Treasure Chests
• Magic Online Player Rewards
• Alternate Play
• The latest suite of Avatars

MAGIC ONLINE FORMAT CHALLENGES EVERY WEEKEND

NOTE: Limited Challenges are reverting to 32-player events starting this weekend.

Format Challenges are the first step toward qualifying for Premier Play through your favorite Magic formats and provide excellent prizes for those looking to test their mettle in their favorite formats. Learn more about Premier Play qualification to get started today.

Magic Online's Format Challenges run as shown on the schedule below.

On weekends featuring Showcase Challenge events, the Format Challenge that starts at either 6 a.m., 8 a.m., or 10 a.m. Pacific time is pre-empted by the Showcase Challenge; Format Challenges scheduled at other times remain in place.

NOTES:

CONSTRUCTED

• In MOCS Season 1, Pauper and Standard Challenges are never pre-empted.
• 32-Player events require 32 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 32.
  • Pauper, Vintage, and Standard Challenges are always 32-Player tournaments.
• All other events listed require 64 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 64.

LIMITED

• 32-Player Limited Challenge events are 6 rounds with no playoff.
• 64-Player Limited Challenge events are 7 rounds with no playoff.

Check out the Magic Online Format Challenges page for further event details.

PATCH NOTES – FEBRUARY 22, 2023

• Churning Reservoir’s triggered ability will correctly be unable to target nontokens.
• Moon-Circuit Hacker will allow its controller to draw a card on turns following its first on the battlefield (and then discard).
• Biting-Palm Ninja and Kappa Tech-Wrecker will correctly function when their keyword counter is removed. .
• Igneous Elemental will only let its controller target a creature.
• Token copies of Skyclave Relic will untap as expected.

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – APRIL 5, 6 A.M. TO NOON PT

The next scheduled downtime is planned for Wednesday, April 5 beginning at 6 a.m. PT (13:00 UTC). This is slated to last longer than usual – up to six hours – due to changes needed in our internal infrastructure.