Magic Online Weekly Announcements, May 19, 2026

Posted on May 19, 2026

THE LEAD 

Premodern Championship Week Starts Next Monday

Our latest Format Championship takes place next week, and it’s the biggest Premodern event ever on Magic Online – it's Premodern Championship Week!

Complete one of the following feats starting at 8 a.m. next Monday, May 25 in order to earn a Sapphire Entry Token:

• Complete a 5-0 Premodern League course
• Top 8 a Premodern Challenge 32 event – the schedule for those is (all times Pacific, for UTC, add 7 hours - * indicates added for this week only):
  • Tuesday, May 26 – 1 a.m.* & 9 a.m.
  • Wednesday, May 27 – 4 a.m.* and 3:30 p.m.*
  • Thursday, May 28 – 1 a.m.* & 10 a.m. & 6 p.m.*
  • Friday, May 29 – 1 p.m.

That Sapphire Entry Token is good for free entry into the Premodern Championship Week Finals on Saturday, May 30 at 7:00 a.m. PT. You can also directly enter the finals with the entry options of 40 Event Tickets or 400 Play Points!

Prizes for the Finals will be the same as a Super Qualifier, but without invitations or Leaderboard Points. In addition, the Top 32 finishers and those with the same record as 32^nd place will receive an event-exclusive avatar – Jackal Pup!

As usual, you can only enter one of your accounts in the Finals event, and excess Sapphire Entry Tokens will be cleared from accounts next week.

Cardmarket Best Deck Ever Vintage Gauntlet Concludes Thursday

We're teaming up with top European Magic creators Cardmarket to showcase the Top 8 decks of their Quest for the Best Deck Ever: Vintage video series!

We are in the middle of a week-long Gauntlet League where you’ll be able to take these classic decks for a spin against each other:

• 2024 Dimir Frog
• 2021 Doomsday
• 2015 Dredge
• 2007 Flash Hulk
• 2020 Lurrus Breach
• 2015 Mentor
• 2019 Shops
• 2018 Stax

The Cardmarket Gauntlet League costs 5 Event Tickets or 50 Play Points to enter. You’ll be presented with three of the eight decks, draft one of them, and then start playing best-of-three matches.

Just for participating, you’ll receive a Colossal Dreadmaw avatar. If you complete a course undefeated, you’ll earn an upgraded Colossal Dreadmaw avatar with a liquid-gold frame! Both avatars are exclusive to this event.

Here’s the prize breakdown:

• 3-0 – 90 Play Points, 1 Treasure Chest, and the upgraded Colossal Dreadmaw avatar
• 2-1 – 50 Play Points
• 1-2 – 20 Play Points
• Participation – regular Colossal Dreadmaw avatar

If you want these exclusive avatars, hurry – the League ends this Thursday, May 21 at 10 a.m. PT (17:00 UTC).

Vintage Cube League Continues

Check out Chris Wolf’s article for the latest list and archetype shake-ups with Secrets of Strixhaven!

The Vintage Cube League is underway with the usual entry options of 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points. You can always view the current Vintage Cube list on this page.

As usual, we are offering a Vintage Cube Bundle for $27 USD. The Bundle includes 3 Vintage Cube Draft Tokens plus this set’s exclusive Bundle avatar – Sanar, Unfinshed Genius!

Each Token is good for one course of the Vintage Cube Draft League. Tokens are valid for entry until the League ends on Wednesday, June 3 – be sure to use up your Tokens by then as they are non-refundable!

CEDH Single-Game Events for Prizes – Now 35 Minutes Per Player

Magic Online has given competitive Commander players their own spot to play for prizes. It’s our CEDH Queue – a single-game, four-player Commander match with prizes just to the winner!

Based on community feedback, players now receive 35 minutes on their timer. Entry options will be 4 Event Tickets & 40 Play Points, and the winner will receive 100 Play Points and 2 Treasure Chests as prize.

PREMIER PLAY

It's Showcase Challenge Weekend

A new MOCS season is underway, so it’s time to qualify the first players for the next round of Showcase Qualifiers in July and August. 

It takes 40 Season 2 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!

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

Limited RC Super Qualifier Monday

It’s a long weekend in many parts of the world, so celebrate by scoring a seat at the next round of tabletop Regional Championships!

A Limited RC Super Qualifier kicks off Monday, May 25 at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). It features Secrets of Strixhaven Sealed Deck with Top 8 Draft.

This Super Qualifier can be joined with 40 Event Tickets, 400 Play Points, or 40 Season 2 Qualifier Points. The top 4 players go to the October-November RC in their home region and the event awards prizes to the Top 128!

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

EVENT UPDATES 

Pack Wars – Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Continues

Pack Wars – the Magic Online space for Mini-Master – rolls on. Our meandering adventure across the multiverse makes its next stop on Innistrad with Midnight Hunt!

The idea is simple – crack a pack, add 2 of each basic land, and play a game. In the Keeper League, you then crack another pack, edit your deck, play a game ... and keep going until you have opened 4 packs and played 4 games!

This Keeper League is easy – 4 packs + 4 games (plus prizes if you do well) for just 4 Event Tickets or 40 Play Points!

Alternate Play Schedule

Here’s a look at the schedule of events coming up between now and the next set release in June. Each description mentions if 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 unless otherwise noted.

• Through June 3 – Vintage Cube is back with updates from the newest set, plus it will support the next MOCS Showcase in early June! (Phantom)
• June 3-17 – Vintage Supreme Draft returns for two weeks – the pick-2-and-toss-em format with a custom setup (including duplicates for key archetypes). This will be updated with new cards unlike the last run. (Phantom)
• June 17-23 – We'll close out SOS season and lead up to Magic Online’s 24^th birthday by bringing back the original favorite draft format: Invasion Block Draft! (Keeper – yes, really!)

When Do Vintage Cube Leagues Return?

• May 6-June 3 – SOS/Late Spring Update to support MOCS

WEEKLY UPDATES

Read All About It - Secrets of Strixhaven Set Available Now

Our return to the campus of Strixhaven is here! Check out all of the details on the release of Secrets of Strixhaven, now available in the Magic Online Store:

• Premium Booster for $6.99 USD
• 5 Commander Decks, one for each college – each just $29.99 USD
• Plus info on events, Treasure Chest, Player Rewards, Booster Fun and more! ...

Redemption Corner – SOS On Sale

Check out our Redemption page for full program rules and inventory levels (updated weekly). As a reminder, the presence of the items in the Store is your best guide to determine when a particular Token sells out.

Secrets of Strixhaven redemption tokens – both regular and foil-for-regular – are now available in the Store.

TOMORROW’S PATCH NOTES – May 20, 2026

This week’s patch will not require a new client download..

Duel Scene

• Avatar – Stonehewer Giant will function correctly in the Vanguard (MoJhoSto) format

NEXT SCHEDULED DOWNTIME – June 17, 9 a.m.-Noon

The next scheduled maintenance is Wednesday, June 17 from 9 a.m. to noon PT (16:00-19:00 UTC).