MTG Arena Announcements, March 24, 2021
Welcome back for the latest Magic: The Gathering Arena updates, and this week is a big one: tomorrow, we unleash MTG Arena on even more mobile devices around the world—plus, we have Strixhaven: School of Mages details to share for preorder and beyond. Let's roll.
Hey, Siri!
MTG Arena on mobile devices expands tomorrow, adding support for tablets and iOS devices. (We can hear the iPhone fans rejoicing from here.) It also includes performance updates for Android devices as well. We're thrilled to bring MTG Arena to millions more devices and players around the world.
Note that we're aware of an occasional issue that makes you appear offline even when you're online. When you're in this state, you can still send messages to your friends, but they will not be able to respond. They will be able to accept your challenges but will not be able to challenge you from the social menu. Direct challenges are unaffected by this issue.
We're working on a long-term fix for a future release, but if you find yourself stuck in this state there are two ways to escape:
- Instead of exiting the game, log out completely and log back in.
- Open your social menu and toggle between offline and online.
Strixhaven: School of Mages Preorders
Strixhaven: School of Mages is coming, and we have some beautiful cosmetics to show you when preorders are available.
The Kasmina 50 Strixhaven Packs preorder includes one copy of Kasmina, Enigma Sage and the depth art card style for it, plus an Enigma Sage card sleeve you can use right away before Strixhaven launches!
For the studious ones, the Professor Onyx Mastery Pass preorder includes everything you need to dive into your Strixhaven experience:
- Strixhaven Set Mastery Pass
- 3 Draft Tokens
- 1 Sealed Token
- 1 Copy of the Professor Onyx card and the depth art card style for it.
- 1 Professor Onyx card sleeve
- 1 Codie the Codex Pet
Both the Professor Onyx card sleeve and Codie the Codex Pet are available to use before Strixhaven launches on MTG Arena April 15.
Related, those familiar with previous preorders may know that to get the preorder Pet you would have to purchase both the 50 Set Store Pack preorder and the Set Mastery Pass preorder. Going forward, we plan to simply include the preorder Pet in one of our preorder items—for Strixhaven, that's the Set Mastery Pass preorder. Of course, as with all things, we may change this again in the future, but for Strixhaven: School of Mages you know exactly which preorder will unlock Codie the Codex for you.
The Mystical Archive on MTG Arena
With Strixhaven: School of Mages previews underway, you'll soon discover all 63 cards in the Mystical Archive that come in Store and Limited Packs of the set on MTG Arena. Here's how they'll look:
Mystical Archive cards will be legal in Historic (but not Standard), though seven will not join the format due to power-level concerns—this includes Swords to Plowshares and Demonic Tutor. While we've let the folks previewing cards know whether it will be legal in Historic (and they can share that as part of previewing the card), it's easy to miss those notes in all the excitement.
We'll update the list below with the remaining Mystical Archive cards what will not join Historic here throughout the Mystical Archive previews:
In MTG Arena, cards from the Mystical Archive will appear in 15-card packs used in Draft and Sealed exactly as they do in tabletop Magic. Each 15-card pack has a dedicated slot for a Mystical Archive card and can be any rarity for the Mystical Archive: uncommon, rare, or mythic rare.
The 8-card Strixhaven: School of Mages packs purchased from the store or earned through play will have a Mystical Archive card instead of one of the usual common cards, and this card can be an uncommon, rare, or mythic rare Mystical Archive card. This means it is possible for a pack to include two rare cards or even two mythic rares: always one rare or mythic rare from Strixhaven: School of Mages, and the Mystic Archive card can be uncommon, rare, or mythic rare.
Additionally, while Collector Booster packs you may find at local game stores can include both the global and Japanese-language alternate-art versions of the Mystical Archive cards, you'll only open global versions in MTG Arena Store and Limited Packs. Card Styles for the Japanese alternate-art versions will be available, and we'll share more soon with a bigger look at everything coming to MTG Arena in the next State of the Game. (See? We told you those weren't going away!)
The MTG Arena Cube Returns
The always-anticipated MTG Arena Cube is returning, so be sure to hop in and enjoy while it's around.
- Available: April 2–14
- Best-of-One (Bo1) and Best-of-Three (Bo3) queues available
Playing in Historic Times
We launched Historic Anthology IV on March 11, and immediately, new players began working on what these new cards brought to Historic formats. All 25 cards are available in the store for a limited amount of time as a bundle that comes with four copies of each (more on this in a moment).
Bundle Cost: 4,000 Gems or 25,000 Gold
Bundle Available: March 11, 2021–June 10, 2021
- Players will still be able to craft these cards using Wildcards of the appropriate rarity after this date.
There is a clarification we want to highlight: the confirmation screen when purchasing the bundle states you received one copy of each card, but that's a visual bug—you will receive all four copies of each card upon purchase. (We'll fix that in a later update for clarity, but now you know for sure!)
You can view the full list of updates and bug fixes on our official forum. If you encounter a bug, please submit it to our MTG Arena feedback hub.
Upcoming MTG Arena Events
Here's a rundown of some extra ways to play coming up, in addition to the Ranked queues and ladders you know and love.
Kaldheim Festival
- March 27–April 1: Historic Brawl
- The Shephard Glee emote will be available.
Historic Shakeup
With a changing banned card list, you'll have to stay on your toes and think fast to find the right deck each week. Week 2 ends as Week 3 begins March 26—then wrapping up the Historic Shakeup event series on April 2.
It's free to enter and battle for individual card rewards for sets that aren't in Standard. You can find the updated banned list each week here.
FNM @ Home
Each Friday you can enjoy FNM at Home to play formats slightly off the beaten trail and earn promo codes awarded by your local game store. Check out the full article for more details.
March 26: Pauper is a format where you can only use commons to construct your 60-card Historic deck.
- Persistent Petitioners is banned.
April 2: Standard Artisan is a format where you can only use commons and uncommons to construct your 60-card Standard deck.
- The following cards are banned for Standard Artisan on April 2:
Draft Formats
March 13–26: War of the Spark Premier Draft
March 26–April 2: Core Set Premier Draft
- Pack 1: Core Set 2019
- Pack 2: Core Set 2020
- Pack 3: Core Set 2021
March 13–April 2: Kaldheim Quick Draft
April 2–16: Throne of Eldraine Quick Draft
That's all we have for now. Keep an eye on our forums and @MTG_Arena on Twitter for news and other updates!