Magic Online Announcements, September 14, 2021

Magic Online Announcements, September 14, 2021

What Is the Magic Online Weekly Announcements Blog?

Every Tuesday, we round up all the biggest Magic Online news for the Weekly Announcements Blog.

Check in weekly for the latest updates!

Premier Play Schedule – Current Season

MTGO Convention Series – All Access Returns September 15

Showcase Challenge Weekends

Pioneer CHAOS Draft League Ends Tomorrow

Modern Horizons 2 Leagues and Premier Play Events Return

Treasure Chest Updates

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms on Magic Online

Magic Online Format Challenges Every Weekend

Change Log

Downtime now September 15 – Leagues Extended

MTGO Convention Series – All Access Returns September 15

Want to join in on the fun of PAX, Gen Con, or Origins while playing from home? Want to try out almost all the cards available on Magic Online for up to a week at a time? Just like last year, MTGO is running a special series of tournaments hosted by the team at Pastimes Events.

Starting tomorrow, September 15, at 10 a.m. Pacific (17:00 UTC), purchase a Gen Con entry package at www.pastimesevents.com/digitalchamps for $20 and receive a code for redeeming inside Magic Online. When you redeem your code, you receive:

• A Mythic Event Token usable for entry into one of the 28 Constructed events held during the four days of the convention.
• All Access to cards in Magic Online until Wednesday at 10 a.m. Pacific following the convention—build a deck and enter games without having the cards in your collection!
  • All Access excludes Battlebond, Secret Lair, and old-frame Power Nine.
  • Enter any number of casual games at no cost.
  • Leagues, queues, and scheduled events still require paying an entry option to join.

Play three rounds in a Convention Event and earn up to nine booster packs plus a pair of Convention Series-exclusive promos—a Xanathar avatar and a non-foil Demilich.

NOTE: Each event has a cap of 56 players, and unused Mythic Event Tokens will be removed from accounts once All Access for that convention ends.

If you win three matches in a single Convention Event, you will earn a Wizards Ticket good for entry into the Convention Series Championship on Saturday, January 1. Full prizes will be announced later, but the winner of that event will receive four digital sets of every Modern-legal set on Magic Online! (You can earn multiple Wizards Tickets as prizes over the four conventions, but you will only get to enter the Championship once.)

There will be three more conventions supported this way during the remainder of 2021:

*All Access begins following downtime on September 15. All Access ends at downtime on December 15.

Pastimes will also be running SpellTable Commander events that will give out booster prizes on Magic Online at scheduled times each day of the convention.

For full information on the Convention Series, including event schedules for each of the formats, please visit www.pastimesevents.com/digitalchamps.

Showcase Challenge Weekends

Players looking to prove their mettle against the best players in Magic Online will want to use their QPs to enter Magic Online Champions Showcase (MOCS) events such as the returning Showcase Challenges this weekend. These MOCS events are a set of linked events designed to highlight the best players on Magic Online each season, culminating in the Champions Showcase and its prize pool of $70,000 and a Set Championship invitation.

First up on Saturday, September 18, we have the Pauper Showcase Challenge at 8 a.m. PT, and on Sunday, September 19, we have the Legacy Showcase Challenge at 8 a.m. PT. Then next week on Saturday, September 25, we have the Modern Showcase Challenge at 8 a.m. PT, and on Sunday, September 26, we finish things off with the Pioneer Showcase Challenge at 6 a.m. PT. Each of these events requires 40 QPs to enter. The Top 8 finishers from each event will earn a qualification token to enter the appropriate Showcase Qualifier in December.

Learn more about Showcase Challenge events here.

Pioneer CHAOS Draft Ends Tomorrow

For one week only, it’s the return of CHAOS Draft! Also known as Grab Bag to tabletop gamers, Pioneer’s nine years of Magic Online Limited formats are wrapped into one teeny-tiny package. This League starts September 8 and runs until downtime.

This time, drafters will randomly open three of the 36 Standard-legal Phantom boosters between Return to Ravnica and Adventures in the Forgotten Realms. In all, 24 of the 36 sets will be represented inside each draft pod—which ones will it be—who knows?

The Pioneer CHAOS Draft League has entry options of 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points.

The list of sets available to draft are:

Return to Ravnica
Gatecrash
Dragon’s Maze
Magic 2014
Theros
Born of the Gods
Journey into Nyx
Magic 2015
Khans of Tarkir
Fate Reforged
Dragons of Tarkir
Magic Origins
Battle for Zendikar
Oath of the Gatewatch
Shadows Over Innistrad
Eldritch Moon
Kaladesh
Aether Revolt
Amonkhet
Hour of Devastation
Ixalan
Rivals of Ixalan
Dominaria
Core Set 2019
Guilds of Ravnica
Ravnica Allegiance
War of the Spark
Core Set 2020
Throne of Eldraine
Theros Beyond Death
Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Core 2021
Zendikar Rising
Kaldheim
Strixhaven: School of Mages
Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

Modern Horizons 2 Leagues and Premier Play Events

• The Modern Horizons 2 Sealed League and Draft League returned on Wednesday, July 21, and will run until Innistrad: Midnight Hunt events launch this Thursday, September 16 (extended one week due to downtime change).
• Modern Horizons 2 will be used as the Limited Preliminary format until Innistrad: Midnight Hunt debuts on September 16.
  • Entry options: 45 Event Tickets or 450 Play Points
  • Increased prize support for 4–0 and 3–1 finishes.
  • NOTE: Limited Preliminaries will revert to 30 Tickets/300 Play Points and normal prizes when Innistrad: Midnight Hunt begins Thursday.

Treasure Chest Updates

The Treasure Chest page has been updated to reflect changes coming with the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt on Magic Online.

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms on Magic Online

In case you missed it, be sure to check out all the Magic Online release info for Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms in our dedicated release article. Be sure to also check out the updated Treasure Chest page.

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 once on Saturdays and once on Sundays for each Constructed format! 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. NOTE: Pauper, Vintage, and Standard Challenges are never pre-empted.

New this week: Pauper Showcase Challenges are held at 8 a.m. Saturday and do not pre-empt the Modern Challenge.

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

Change Log

Next Downtime September 15

The next downtime will be tomorrow, September 15, beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing until noon. This is for the release of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt. All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-7).