By David Whitfield

David works on the Magic community team as a content specialist. He spends his days writing about Magic Online and trying to play too many colors at once in Limited.

What Is the Magic Online Weekly Announcements Blog?

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

Check in weekly for the latest updates!

Quick Links

Upcoming Ravnica: City of Guilds Streamer Showdown on March 17
Announcing April MOPR Promos
The Year of Modern Flashbacks Move to Ravnica: City of Guilds
The Vintage Super League Season Finals
Upcoming Modern MOCS Monthly Event on March 19
Upcoming Oath of the Gatewatch-Battle for Zendikar Sealed PTQ on Sunday, March 20
Upcoming Extended Downtime on Wednesday, March 23
Reminder: No Downtime on March 16
Ongoing and Upcoming Events
Ask us anything on the Magic Online Tumblr!
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Upcoming Ravnica: City of Guilds Streamer Showdown on March 17

If you've never seen a Streamer Showdown before, they come in two eight-player Draft pods that feature some of the best streamers in the community brawling with the latest Magic Online sets. If you're trying to improve your game, Magic Online streamers are some of the best players out there—and some of the best teachers, too. Even if you're already a Magic pro, throw your support behind one of the competitors and cheer them on from their Twitch chat!

This Streamer Showdown will feature an upcoming Year of Modern Flashbacks format: Triple Ravnica: City of Guilds! Check out the streamer lineup below, then stop by your favorite streamer's Twitch channel on Thursday, March 17, at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. PT (UTC -7) for the latest Streamer Showdown.

Thursday, March 17, 1:00 p.m. PT (UTC -7) Event

Thursday, March 17, 6:00 p.m. PT (UTC -7) Event

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we've had some switches to the lineup for this Thursday's event. Scott Gerhardt of The Gamers Dome will be filling in for Kenji Egashira in the 1 p.m. pod and Hallie, Kriz, Erin, and Katie of The Girlfriend Bracket will be taking Ashlen Rose's spot in the 6 p.m. pod.

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Announcing April MOPR Promos

The April MOPR period runs from March 30, 2016, through April 27, 2016. Here are the promo cards:

Event Promo
Blighted Fen

Store Promo
Arcanis the Omnipotent

Please note, these Magic Online promos will have the art shown above, but will use Magic Online expansion symbol and a Magic Online frame instead of the expansion symbol and frame shown.

Play in one or more events during the MOPR period, and you'll get a non-premium Blighted Fen. Five or more and you'll get an additional premium Blighted Fen. Spend at least $20 total in the Magic Online Store during this MOPR period, and you'll get a non-premium Arcanis the Omnipotent. By spending $40 or more, you'll get an additional, premium, Arcanis the Omnipotent.

And remember, this means it's your last chance to get the March MOPR promos, like this Burst Lightning.

In the Magic Online Player Rewards (MOPR) program, Magic Online players are rewarded for participating in tournaments of a sufficient size, as well as making purchases in the Magic Online Store. Learn about the specifics of the program here.

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The Year of Modern Flashbacks Continues

It's 2016: The Year of Modern Flashbacks! If you want to build up a collection for Modern, these Flashback Drafts add everything you draft to you collection once the event is over. Even if Modern isn't your thing, you can enjoy a leisurely draft through the planes of the past with rotating formats each week!

Triple Ravnica: City of Guilds Flashback Drafts begin on Wednesday, March 16th at 10:00 a.m. PT (UTC-7) and run until Wednesday, March 23 at 12:00 a.m. PT (UTC-7), midnight, and are followed up by Ravnica: City of Guilds-Ravnica: City of Guilds-Guildpact. Get the full schedule here and mark your calendar for the formats you're most excited about!

Note: Due to bugs impacting Ravnica: City of Guilds cards Gaze of the Gorgon and Leashling, Ravnica: City of Guilds boosters opened between March 16th at 8:00 a.m. and the March 23rd downtime will not contain these cards, whether in the events or through the Collection. Gaze of the Gorgon will be fixed starting with the March 23rd downtime and will be added back to Ravnica: City of Guilds boosters at that time. Leashling will be available in boosters again on April 6th after Ravnica Block Flashback Drafts come to an end.

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The Vintage Super League Season Finals

It's the big night—tune into twitch.tv/magic to watch the Vintage Super League finals!

Decklists for the competitors can be found here.

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Upcoming Modern MOCS Monthly Event on March 19

A Magic Online Championship Series (MOCS) Modern Monthly Event is coming up on March 19! Players who have at least 35 Qualifier Points (QPs) in their account are eligible to participate. The series will contain twelve Monthly Events, each of which qualify top players for one of the four Playoff Events. These Playoff Events qualify top players for the Magic Online Championship, a Pro Tour, and the Pro Tour Challenge event at that Pro Tour.

Monthly and Playoff Events also award top players MOCS Leaderboard Points for the current quarter and for the year as a whole. Players of sufficient standing on the MOCS Leaderboard(s) will also qualify for Playoff Events later in the 2016 Magic Online Championship Series as well as the Magic Online Championship.

We look forward to seeing you on March 19 for the latest Monthly Event! Learn more about the 2016 Magic Online Championship Series here.

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Upcoming Oath of the Gatewatch-Battle for Zendikar Sealed PTQ on Sunday, March 20

Attention all Pro Tour hopefuls, a Pro Tour Qualifier (PTQ) is approaching! The Oath of the Gatewatch-Battle for Zendikar Sealed Pro Tour Qualifier Preliminaries begin Thursday, March 17, and run through Sunday, March 20. We hope to see you in the PTQ Finals on Sunday, March 20!

Remember, you are no longer required to enter into the PTQ Finals immediately following the Preliminary that you qualified through thanks to the redesigned PTQ system that Lee Sharpe announced here.

Please note, if you still have red Pro Tour Qualifier finals tokens in your account, you have until the end of the Pro Tour Eldritch Moon qualifier season to use them.

Learn more about Magic Online Pro Tour Qualifiers here.

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Upcoming Extended Downtime on Wednesday, March 23

There will be an extended downtime on Wednesday, March 23, for Magic Online. Events close at 12:00 a.m. PT (UTC-7), midnight, and store activity and trades end at 2:45 a.m., leading up to the system coming down at 3:00 a.m. The system is estimated to return from downtime at 12:00 p.m.

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Reminder: No Downtime on March 16

In an effort to make sure Magic Online is available when you want to play Magic, we’re working on ways to reduce the number of times we have to bring the system offline for maintenance. As a first step, we’re simply going to eliminate at least one downtime each month.

Here are the dates of the exact downtimes we'll be skipping in the first half of 2016:

March 16
April 6
April 20
May 11
June 8
June 22

During these weeks without a downtime, Magic Online will NOT be processing set redemptions. This means that if your order wasn't made prior to the March 9 downtime, it won't be processed until March 23.

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