Magic Online Weekly Announcements, August 8, 2023
Posted on Aug 08, 2023
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THE LEAD
Commander Masters Live on MTGO!
Check out our latest set article to get all the ins and outs of Commander Masters (CMM) before it goes on sale this Thursday following downtime! Get all the info on:
- CMM Draft Leagues (Keeper and Phantom), which run until the downtime on August 30.
- Store offerings, including the stunning Unfinity land bundles (only available for a month) and CMM Boosters & its powerful Commander Decks
- Treasure Chest updates
- Alternate Play, featuring Vintage Cube starting August 16 and the long-awaited return of 64-player single-elimination drafts
- Technical improvements – including smaller download size and a new feature for streamers
Changes to Banned & Restricted List Live on MTGO
As announced yesterday, the two unbannings have been applied to Magic Online play. They are:
- Preordain unbanned in Modern
- Mind’s Desire unbanned in Legacy
PREMIER PLAY
It's Showcase Challenge Weekend – With Increased Prizes!
A new MOCS season is underway, so it’s time to qualify the first players for the next round of Showcase Qualifiers in December.
It takes 40 Season 3 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!
Due to the growing popularity of these events over the past year, we have increased the prize pool for Showcase Challenges starting with this season – prizes now go down to 128th place! The increases are:
- Regular full set for players finishing in 9th-16th places
- Regular full set for players who finish the Swiss rounds with an X-2 record (only 2 match losses)
- The sets for X-2 will be granted by Customer Support in the week following the event
- Prizes for 33rd-64th places increased to 200 Play Points and 10 Treasure Chests
- Prizes for 65th-128th places added – 150 Play Points and 5 Treasure Chests
Here are the dates and times for this weekend’s events:
| DATE | TIME (PT) | TIME (UTC) | EVENT |
| Saturday, August 12 | 8:00 a.m. | 15:00 | Modern Showcase Challenge |
| Sunday, August 13 | 6:00 a.m. | 13:00 | Pioneer Showcase Challenge |
| Saturday, August 19 | 6:00 a.m. | 13:00 | Standard Showcase Challenge |
| Sunday, August 20 | 8:00 a.m. | 15:00 | Legacy Showcase Challenge |
For more information on these events, click the Premier Play Information link at the top of the Blog.
Prize Increases for Super Qualifiers & Retroactive Grant
We are also boosting prize support for the lower places of Super Qualifier events starting with Season 3! The increases are:
- 33rd-64th places – 400 Play Points & 10 Treasure Chests (a boost of 200 PP)
- 65th-128th places – 200 Play Points & 5 Treasure Chests (a boost of 100 PP & 5 TCs)
Customer Support will be granting the difference in prize to those who finished 33rd-128th in Super Qualifiers so far this season (July 30 Modern, August 5 Limited, and August 6 Limited) later today.
ALTERNATE PLAY
Chaos Draft Starts Tomorrow
The theory goes that putting 50-plus different boosters into a grab bag and drafting can lead to Limited chaos. So this week’s alternate play format is Chaos Draft! The entry options for both are 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points for the usual three-match League.
Here’s the full pool of boosters available in the draft – only one copy of each booster will appear in a pod, so only 24 different packs will be opened in the pod.
Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, Aether Revolt, Alara Reborn, Apocalypse, Avacyn Restored, Betrayers of Kamigawa, The Brothers' War, Champions of Kamigawa, Conflux, Dark Ascension, Darksteel, Dominaria, Dominaria United, Dragon's Maze, Dragons of Tarkir, Eldritch Moon, Eventide, Fate Reforged, Future Sight, Gatecrash, Guildpact, Guilds of Ravnica, Hour of Devistation, Ikoria, Innistrad, Innistrad: Crimson Vow, Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, Ixalan, Judgement, Kaladesh, Kaldheim, Kamigawa: Neon Destiny, Khans of Tarkir, Legions, Lorwyn, March of the Machine, Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, Modern Horizons, Modern Horizons 2, Morningtide, New Phyrexia, Oath of the Gatewatch, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, Ravnica Allegiance, Ravnica: City of Guilds, Return to Ravnica, Rise of the Eldrazi, Rivals of Ixalan, Scourge, Shadows over Innistrad, Shards of Alara, Streets of New Capenna, Strixhaven: School of Mages, Theros, Theros Beyond Death, Throne of Eldraine, Time Spiral, Torment, Urza's Legacy, Urza's Saga, Visions, War of the Spark, Worldwake, Zendikar, Zendikar Rising
Upcoming Schedule
Here is the schedule of upcoming alternate play offerings on MTGO between now and the release of Wilds of Eldraine in September:
- August 9-16 – It's time to dip into the Grab Bag with the return of Chaos Draft. (Phantom, see above)
- August 16-September 5 – Vintage Cube is back for a three-week run to support the Season 2 MOCS Showcase on August 26 (Phantom). Ryan Spain’s article detailing this session’s Cube updates will go live alongside the Blog next Tuesday. But we have an extra trick up our sleeve this time:
The Return of 64-Player Single-Elimination Drafts – with Vintage Cube
We have a two-weekend gap of Premier Play at the end of August and the beginning of September, so we’re bringing back an old favorite – 64-Player Single-Elimination Draft events!
Draft Vintage Cube once, win your pod, then draft Vintage Cube again with big prizes on the line.
We’ll have exact scheduling and prize details in a couple weeks, but we will run these tournaments every 4-6 hours from Friday, August 25 through Monday, September 4 – so mark your calendar!
WEEKLY UPDATES
The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™ on MTGO
Check out this article for the scoop on everything on offer:
- Art Bundles and other items
- Note: LTR Bundles will continue to be sold until September 5
- Event updates, including special prize structures
- Jumpstart’s return as a New Player experience
Redemption Corner – DMU Returns
We’ve updated our Redemption page with new quantity percentages – this includes a limited re-stock of Dominaria United available today. That set was the first under our new system, so we were conservative about how many to hold onto to cover possible issues. Fortunately, we’ve learned a bunch over this year, so we are able to put the last amounts held back on sale.
Information on remaining stock of March of the Machine (regular and foil), Phyrexia: All Will Be One (regular) and The Brothers' War (regular) can be found on that link above.
IMPORTANT: As of May 23, all new orders of Redemption Tokens are non-refundable!
Freeform with Commander Now Available
We’re particularly excited with our newest game mode – Freeform with Commander!
Check out Ryan Spain’s article describing the how, what, and why of this wild new play mode, then give it a shot! And what better way to try out cards in a new format than ...
Two-Factor Authentication Is Now Live – Protect Your Account Today!
A long-requested security feature is now part Magic Online – check out Ryan Spain’s article to learn the why, what, and how to put Two-Factor Authentication into effect to help protect your account!
Magic Online Format Challenges Every 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 3, Vintage and Pauper Challenges are never pre-empted.
- 32-Player events require 32 players to fire and give prizes to the Top 32.
- Pauper and Vintage 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
| TIME (PT) | FRIDAY | SATURDAY | SUNDAY |
| 12:00 a.m. | Vintage Challenge | ||
| 1:00 a.m. | 32-Player Limited Challenge | 32-Player Limited Challenge | |
| 2:00 a.m. | Pauper Challenge | ||
| 4:00 a.m | 32-Player Legacy Challenge | Modern Challenge | |
| 6:00 a.m. | 32-Player Standard Challenge | Pioneer Challenge | |
| 8:00 a.m. | Modern Challenge | Legacy Challenge | |
| 10:00 a.m. | Vintage Challenge | Pauper Challenge | |
| 12:00 p.m. | 32-Player Limited Challenge | 32-Player Limited Challenge | |
| 2:00 p.m. | Pioneer Challenge | 32-Player Standard Challenge | |
| 4:00 p.m. | 32-Player Limited Challenge | ||
| 6:00 p.m. | Modern Challenge | Modern Challenge |
Check out the Magic Online Format Challenges page for further event details.
PATCH NOTES – August 9, 2023
- Sauron’s Ransom and other cards that make face-down piles will correctly not show white borders on cards.
- Minds Aglow will correctly function if a player concedes during resolution.
NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – August 30, 9 a.m. to Noon PT
After Thursday’s downtime, the next scheduled maintenance will be Wednesday, August 30 from 9 a.m. to noon PT (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of Wilds of Eldraine.