MTG Arena Announcements – March 31, 2025

In this edition:

• Watch the Tarkir: Dragonstorm Streamer Even
• Tarkir: Dragonstorm Prepatch and Release
• Banned and Restricted Announcement – March 31, 2025
• Get Dastardly with Dastardly Dwayne!
• Upcoming Qualifier Weekend and Qualifier Play-In
• Congratulations to the Winner of Arena Championship 8
• Event Schedule

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Watch the Tarkir: Dragonstorm Streamer Event
(April 2)

Tarkir: Dragonstorm is almost here! We've revealed the full set and are showcasing it in the Tarkir: Dragonstorm Card Image Gallery. But if you're looking to see these cards in action, check out our Tarkir: Dragonstorm Streamer Event! Your favorite content creators will be playing with all the cards from this brand–new release. Watch as they try sweet new Standard decks and explore the set's Limited environment. You won't want to miss it.

Want to prepare your own collection for this release? You can preorder Tarkir: Dragonstorm bundles in the MTG Arena Store right now. Choose your clan and prepare for some draconic delights.

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Tarkir: Dragonstorm Prepatch and Release

Starting with Tarkir: Dragonstorm, major set releases on MTG Arena will come in two parts: the prepatch the week before and the actual set release on the release day. What does this mean? You'll be able to view and interact with all the upcoming Tarkir: Dragonstorm cards in the MTG Arena client, including creating or importing decks with these soon-to-be-available cards … you just can't play with them, at least until the actual set release date on MTG Arena (April 8).

Why are we doing this? It allows us to put out bug fixes, new features, quality-of-life improvements, and all the bits and pieces required to release a new card set ahead of schedule, so that come release day, all you'll need to do is jump in and play. And if something goes horribly awry with the prepatch (hope for the best, plan for the worst), we have a week to fix it! It's a win-win situation, and we look forward to trying it with you!

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Banned and Restricted Announcement – March 31, 2025

This morning, we published our first banned and restricted announcement of 2025, with changes coming to Modern, Legacy, and Pauper effective immediately. There are no changes to any MTG Arena formats. However, Dave Finseth wrote an analysis of each MTG Arena format, our thought process regarding this update, and some things we have an eye on. You can read the complete article right here on DailyMTG.

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Get Dastardly with Dastardly Dwayne!
(April 1)

"Time for the real biggest release of the year: Dastardly Dwayne on MTG Arena. Yes, that's me. I'm bringing truly dastardly vibes to the client. We're talking absolute chicanery and nonsense. You can tell I'm evil because of my iconic goatee and eyebrows. Would a good rock have those? No. We know this because we've seen Dwayne, who isn't dastardly.

"You know what's really dastardly? The fact that I'll only be available in the MTG Arena Store for one day. That's how evil I am. I'll be available on April 1, 2025, and I've even taken the time to show you the period in which I'll be available. I'm dastardly, but I'm not a monster." 
—Dastardly Dwayne

5 p.m. PT–4:59 p.m. PT 
1 a.m. BST–12:59 a.m. BST 
9 a.m. JST–8:59 a.m. JST

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Prepare for the Final Qualifier Weekend before Arena Championship 9 
(April 5–6)

This weekend is the last Qualifier Weekend that will qualify you for Arena Championship 9! Featuring Aetherdrift Sealed, this event offers intense gameplay and the chance for worldwide Magic fame. The event runs from April 5–6, and you can still qualify at the next Qualifier Play-In on April 4.

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Congratulations to Kristoffer Lindqvist, the Winner of Arena Championship 8

Speaking of high-level play, this past weekend was Arena Championship 8! It featured 50 players facing off in Explorer Constructed, with a variety of decks and strategies on display. It was an amazing showcase of what this format has to offer, with decks ranging from Rakdos Prowess to Selesnya Hammer. You can rewatch and relive the event over on Magic.gg.

But there can only be one champion, and after a weekend of intense gameplay, a winner was crowned. Please welcome your Arena Championship 8 champion: Kristoffer Lindqvist!

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Event Schedule

Events open at 8 a.m. PT on their starting dates (excluding Midweek Magic) and close to entries at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00, after March 16 UTC-07:00) on the ending date shown unless otherwise noted.

Midweek Magic

Midweek Magic events open on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. PT and close to new entries on Thursdays at 2 p.m. PT (UTC-08:00, after March 16 UTC-07:00).

• April 1–2: No Joke! Aetherdrift Quick Draft
• April 8–9: Jump Into Tarkir: Dragonstorm

Quick Draft

• April 1–16: Murders at Karlov Manor
• April 17–26: Tarkir: Dragonstorm

Other Events

• March 25–April 8: MTG Arena Phantom Cube Draft
• April 1–8: War of the Spark Flashback Draft

April Qualifier Events

• April 4: Qualifier Play-In Aetherdrift Phantom Sealed (Best-of-Three)
• April 5–6: Qualifier Weekend Aetherdrift Phantom Sealed

Competitive Play Schedule

All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-08:00, after March 16 UTC-07:00).

Premier Play

Qualifier Play-In events are single-day tournaments in which players compete to earn invitations to that month's Qualifier Weekend events.

Qualifier Weekend events are two-day events in which eligible players compete for invitations to upcoming Arena Championship events.

Qualifier tokens earned through Seasonal Rewards are delivered to your MTG Arena inbox. Remember to claim them before the event starts!

April (Qualifies for Arena Championship 9)

• Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
  April 4, 6 a.m.–April 5, 3 a.m. PT
  • Format: Aetherdrift Phantom Sealed
• Qualifier Weekend
  April 5, 6 a.m. PT–April 6, 4 p.m. PT
• Format: Aetherdrift Phantom Sealed

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