(Editor's Note: information for the Jumpstart: Historic Horizons release and upcoming MTG Arena changes have been updated since publication. Click here to learn more.)

The Latest MTG Arena State of the Game

Jay Parker gives us a look into MTG Arena and a look ahead in the latest State of the Game. In this edition, he covers:

  • More about the upcoming Jumpstart: Historic Horizons, including new digital-only mechanics
  • The backend update coming on August 24 and how that will affect the August Ranked Season
  • The addition of a 100-card Historic Brawl queue!

There's lots to come in MTG Arena!

Jumpstart: Historic Horizons Arrives August 26!

There's a lot of buzz around the new Jumpstart: Historic Horizons product coming to MTG Arena. We've been previewing over the past week and a half the packet lists and how they work in this digital release.

And in case you missed it, Vice President of Design Aaron Forsythe and MTG Arena Game Director Jay Parker talk in more detail about Jumpstart: Historic Horizons in this IGN interview.

Backend Change and Downtime August 24

We'll be making a backend change requiring a few hours of downtime on August 24. This downtime will follow this schedule (all times are approximate):

  • 5:30 a.m. PT — No more games can begin
  • 6:30 a.m. PT — Real money purchases disabled in the store
  • 7:00 a.m. PT — Players will be removed from the system and cannot log in
  • Around 11:00 a.m. PT — System back online, players can log in again

This will affect the August 2021 Ranked Season. For full details on the new date for the release and the August 2021 Ranked Season, read the backend change and downtime article.

Following the downtime, players will receive ten new multicolored decks legal in Standard 2022, which includes any cards not in their collection needed to complete and play those decks!

Draft Challenge Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

Competitive Draft lovers, you won't want to miss this chance to hone your drafting skills on the latest Magic set!

Format: Traditional Draft (Best-of-Three) with Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

Entry: 3,000 gems or 20,000 gold

Event record: Play until 6 wins or 2 match losses

Rewards:

WinsRewards

6 wins

4 Player Draft tokens + 20 packs

5 wins

3 Player Draft tokens + 15 packs

4 wins

3 Player Draft tokens + 10 packs

3 wins

2 Player Draft tokens + 6 packs

2 wins

1 Player Draft token + 3 packs

1 win

1 Player Draft token

0 wins

No rewards

Welcome to the Yawning Portal

Visit the Yawning Portal tavern from July 30 through August 10 and explore the dungeon of Undermountain to earn rulebook card styles from Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms!

This Standard Singleton event features the On a Quest! emblem with the text: "Whenever you cast your second spell each turn, venture into the dungeon." You can enter this event as many times as you like, with each run awarding new styles until you've earned them all!

Note: We are aware of a bug that sometimes causes players to receive fewer styles than they should. This bug will be fixed with a deployment on Thursday, August 5 (no client update needed). If you've already been impacted by the bug, please contact Customer Service for assistance.

Now in Midweek Magic: Singleton!

Midweek Magic's format this week is Singleton. Singleton uses 60-card decks built from your collection, but with a catch: you may include no more than one copy of any card in your deck (excluding basic lands).

Midweek Magic events run weekly from Tuesday at 8 a.m. PT through Thursday at 8 a.m. PT with a different format each week. There is no entry fee, and you can earn two rare individual card rewards—just like FNM at Home.

Event Schedule

Midweek Magic

  • August 3–5: Singleton
  • August 10–12: Momir
  • August 17–19: Standard All Access

Quick Draft

  • July 23–August 10: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
  • August 10–August 27: Kaldheim
  • August 27–September 10: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms

Other Events

August 2021 Ranked Season

As mentioned, the August 2021 Ranked Season will be affected by the change to the date of the August release. August 2021 Ranked Season runs from July 31 at 12:05 p.m. PT (19:05 UTC) until August 24 at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC).

The first 500 players on August 10 at 7:00 a.m. PT will receive an invitation to the next Qualifier Weekend in addition to the top 1,200 players at season end.