Magic Online Weekly Announcements, September 19, 2023

Posted on Sep 19, 2023

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THE LEAD 

Magic 30 Cube Returns Tomorrow 

In honor of MagicCon Las Vegas and World Championship XXIX, we’re completing our celebration of the 30th year of Magic: the Gathering with the final round of Magic 30 Cube! 

Cube Designer Carmen Klomparens has brought planeswalkers back as well as a handful of cards from Wilds of Eldraine. The full card list is available here, and here are the changes from July's edition:

There will be the usual League Draft option as well as the Single Elimination Queue. The entry options for both are 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points. 

MTGO at Magic Con Las Vegas This Week! 

If you will be attending Magic Con Las Vegas this weekend, stop by the Magic Online booth. We’ll be there from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Here’s what we’ll have available to do: 

• The first look at the powered-up Super Jump! Joining MTGO on September 27th as an evergreen League, it’s the intersection of Vintage Cube and Constructed – with a Dual Land or Power in Every Pack! Whether you’ve been playing MTGO for 20 years or are just starting out, Super Jump is a quick, fun, repeatable play experience. And at Magic Con, you can try it live and walk away with a little swag!
• Help shape the future of the game by taking our Player Survey.
• Chat us up at the Meet the Devs area or our Selfie Spot (#MTGOatMagicCon). 

We’re giving away a brand-new avatar to players visiting us at the Con featuring Grief from Modern Horizons 2.

The convention is in the South Hall of the sprawling Las Vegas Convention Center campus. Our booth (#499) is next door to the Command Zone, right behind Registration by the Main entrance on Level One. We hope to see you there! 

MTGO BROADCASTS 

The Super League is Back – Wednesdays at 1pm PT 

One of Magic Online’s most popular streams is back – Super League Season 1 continues every Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET / 20:00 UTC). Catch all the action at twitch.tv/officialmagiconline or twitch.tv/anzidmtg. 16 Magic: The Gathering celebrities will compete over 12 weeks to determine who reigns supreme in the ever-evolving Modern format.  

In Week 3, top MTGO streamer AspiringSpike swept their pod while Pro Hall of Famer Reid Duke took three matches to advance to the upper bracket – one step away from the Top 8! Carolyn Pardee and Gavin Verhey fared worse, so they head to the lower bracket looking to avoid elimination in their next appearance. 

Week 4 features the last quartet of top streamers to make their League debut: Caleb Durward, former MPL member Kanister, plus Devon O’Donnell and Jesse Robkin. 

PREMIER PLAY  

Standard Super Qualifier This Weekend 

The chase continues for invitations to the first round of tabletop Regional Championships in 2024! Your next chance to qualify is the Standard Super Qualifier this Sunday, September 24th at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). 

Each Super Qualifier’s entry options are 40 Event Tickets, 400 Play Points, or 40 MOCS Season 3 Qualifier Points. The Top 4 finishers earn seats at the RC early next year, and prizes pay out to the Top 128! 

Click the Premier Play Information link at the top of this Blog for full details. For more details on tabletop Regional Championships, visit magic.gg.  

ALTERNATE PLAY

Wilds of Eldraine 64-Player Drafts Continue This Weekend!

64-Player Elimination Drafts, this time featuring Wilds of Eldraine, continue this weekend! These are sprinkled through the schedule this Thursday through Sunday - check times inside the MTGO game client.

These events feature the same format as the Vintage Cube version did a couple weeks ago - draft once, win your pod, draft again. Because you get to keep the cards this time, the entry options are 20 Event Tickets or 200 Play Points. The prize structure also remains the same:

Depending on how popular these events are, we'll consider whether this is a short term-tryout or whether it'll be a more regular happening.

Alternate Play Schedule 

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan®. Each description mentions whether or not the Draft is Phantom – cards won’t be added to players’ collections in Phantom events. All transitions take place at 10:00 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC) unless otherwise noted. 

• September 20-27 – While the MTGO team is at Magic Con Las Vegas, the game will celebrate the final run of the Magic 30 Cube. (Phantom) 
• September 27-October 4 – Designer John Terrill is bringing back his CubeCon Cartographia Cube with updates to its land-focused play experience. Look for his article next Tuesday, September 26. (Phantom) 
• October 4-18 – Vintage Cube returns! As noted above, this will be a typical run of Vintage Cube rather than the previously announced Supreme version. 64-Player drafts are also returning by popular demand.
• October 18-25 – To kick off Spooky Season, it’s Innistrad Chaos Draft! (Phantom) 
• October 25-November 1 – We’re lining up something spooky for Halloween week, but it’s not ready to talk about yet ... 
• November 1-8 – Let's kick Wilds of Eldraine draft up a notch and give it the Supreme treatment! Pick 2 cards from a pack, discard the pack, pick 2 from a different pack, etc. (Phantom) 
• November 8-14 – There’s something even cooler in the works here – more details closer to this time.  

WEEKLY UPDATES 

Wilds of Eldraine on MTGO 

Our return to the fairy-tale plane of Eldraine is now available on Magic Online! Check out our traditional set article for information on a ton of new initiatives: 

• Event Updates - including boosts to core Limited events, a new super-size Modern Challenge, and more 
• Commander Gauntlet and the shift in events for New Players 
• Anime Borderless Art Bundles 
• Commander Decks, Booster Fun, a handful of Unfinity cards, a Treasure Chest update, and more  

Redemption Corner 

We’ve updated our Redemption page with new quantity percentages. 

For those who will be collecting sets of Wilds of Eldraine, you can circle Wednesday, October 4 as our anticipated on-sale date. 

Information on remaining stock of March of the Machine (regular), 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!  

MTGO UI Improvements 

In case you missed it, we implemented several quality-of-life improvements along with the Wilds of Eldraine launch. Here are a few highlights, but you’ll find all the details in this article. 

• Improved event filtering on the Home Scene and in the Constructed Play Lobby 
• Right-clicking a Commander to see how many times it’s been cast this game 
• Shifts in timer location and in how Atraxa, Grand Unifier works 
• Choosing favorite lands for Limited and Constructed (#Yes!!!)  

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! 

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.
• The Saturday 8 a.m. Modern Challenge requires 96 players to fire and gives prizes to the Top 96.  
• 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 – September 20, 2023 

• “Name-Sticker” Goblin will be legal in applicable formats with the rules text outlined in this article 
• In 1v1 games, Eureka will no longer restart the game if a player concedes during resolution
• This issue is still known for multiplayer – no current ETA for that fix 
• Agatha’s Soul Cauldron will correctly only apply to activated abilities of creatures it exiles 
• The interaction between Meticulous Excavation and The Princess Takes Flight will work correctly 
• Spawning Pool will correctly be able to tap for mana after it’s been animated 
• Removing a shield counter from a creature via damage will correctly not cause a change of controllers 

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – November 8, 9 a.m. to Noon PT 

The next scheduled maintenance will be Wednesday, November 8 from 9 a.m. to noon PT (16:00-19:00 UTC). This is to support the release of The Lost Caverns of Ixalan®.