MTG Arena Announcements – May 19, 2025
In this edition:
- Dev Diary: Improving Reprints on MTG Arena
- Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™ Mastery Pass
- Arena Direct: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Sealed
- Midweek Magic: Gladiator Spotlight Decks
- Catch Up on Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Reveals
- Event Schedule
Dev Diary: Improving Reprints on MTG Arena
We've recently released some exciting changes to how we handle reprints, card styles, and more on MTG Arena. We went over what those changes were in Max Manco's article, but have you ever wondered how we make these changes?
Senior Engineer Ben Smith discusses how the team implemented these changes in the latest MTG Arena Dev Diary. Learn how the "Thalia Problem" was solved, player inventories were maintained, and card styles were made better than ever. We can't wait to see you make your decks more stylish. Speaking of card styles …
Magic: The Gathering®—FINAL FANTASY™ Mastery Pass

You can earn more rewards for playing MTG Arena through Set Mastery and the Mastery Pass. Play in events and matches with your friends and other players to earn XP that moves you along the Set Mastery track to gain packs and Mastery Orbs you can spend on rewards from the set's Mastery Emporium.
Score sweet cosmetics like sleeves, card styles, and even adorable companions! You can preorder this set's Mastery Pass now. For more information, check out this article.
Arena Direct: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Sealed
(May 23–25)

Want to win physical Magic cards by playing MTG Arena? Then dust off your pickaxes and rally your strongest dinosaurs for the next Arena Direct event! This weekend, we're putting a spotlight on The Lost Caverns of Ixalan in this Sealed event, where you'll be able to win a The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Set Booster box. In fact, if you do well enough, you can earn two Set Booster boxes in one event!
This Arena Direct runs from May 23–25. For more information on the event, check out this article.
Midweek Magic: Gladiator Spotlight Decks
(May 20–21)
One of the best parts of MTG Arena is the thriving and passionate community. Whether you're discussing newly revealed cards or crafting clever strategies, your excitement for the game is breathtaking.
A great example of this is the fan-created and fan-run format Gladiator. We're putting a spotlight on this format in this week's Midweek Magic with preconstructed Gladiator decks crafted by the format's leaders. If you're a seasoned Gladiator player or someone new to the format, we can't wait to see you playing this week's Midweek Magic event.
For more information on the format and this event, check out www.GladiatorMTGA.com.
Catch Up on Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Reveals
Looking for more information on Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY? DailyMTG has you covered! Here's a quick recap of our content for this set. Stay tuned for even more exciting reveals
- Collecting Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY: The beloved FINAL FANTASY RPG series and its unforgettable characters, items, and moments from across sixteen mainline games are now here in Magic: The Gathering!
- Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Commander Decklists: Relive iconic moments from the FINAL FANTASY series with four ready-to-play Commander decks featuring new-to-Magic cards and FINAL FANTASY artwork!
- Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Mechanics: Level up your knowledge of the game and master the mechanics of Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY.
- Where to Play Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY: From MagicCon to your local game store, there are plenty of places to enjoy Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY.
- Where to Find Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY Previews: Be among the first to see all the exciting reveals from this set.
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; UTC-07:00 after March 16) 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; UTC-07:00 after March 16).
- May 20–21: Gladiator Spotlight
- May 27–28: Stepping Stone Sealed
- June 3–4: Tarkir: Dragonstorm Quick Draft
- June 10–11: MTG Arena Pauper
Quick Draft
- May 8–19: Tarkir: Dragonstorm
- May 20–June 2: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
- June 3–June 18: Aetherdrift
- June 19–June 29: Magic: The Gathering—FINAL FANTASY
Other Events
- May 19–26: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Flashback Sealed
- May 20–27: Khans of Tarkir Flashback Draft
- May 23–25: Arena Direct: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Sealed
- May 27–June 9: Mixed-Up Draft
May Qualifier Events
- May 9: Qualifier Play-In Alchemy Constructed (Best-of-Three)
- May 10–11: Qualifier Weekend Alchemy Constructed (Best-of-Three)
- May 17–May 18: Arena Open Tarkir: Dragonstorm Limited
Competitive Play Schedule
All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-08:00; UTC-07:00 after March 16).
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!
May (Qualifies for Arena Championship 9)
- Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-One)
May 3, 6 a.m.–May 4, 3 a.m. PT- Format: Alchemy Constructed
- Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
May 9, 6 a.m.–May 10, 3 a.m. PT- Format: Alchemy Constructed
- Qualifier Weekend
May 10, 6 a.m.–May 11, 4 p.m. PT - Format: Alchemy Constructed
May 2025 Ranked Season
Players will receive their rewards for the May 2025 season at the start of the June 2025 ranked season (12:05 p.m. PT on June 1).
You must have played at least one ranked game in the respective format to receive seasonal rewards.
- Bronze Reward: 1 Tarkir: Dragonstorm pack
- Silver Reward: 1 Tarkir: Dragonstorm pack + 500 gold
- Gold Reward: 2 Tarkir: Dragonstorm packs + 1,000 gold + Skirmish Rhino card style
- Platinum Reward: 3 Tarkir: Dragonstorm packs + 1,000 gold + Skirmish Rhino card style + Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage card style
- Diamond Reward: 4 Tarkir: Dragonstorm packs + 1,000 gold + Skirmish Rhino card style + Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage card style
- Mythic Reward: 5 Tarkir: Dragonstorm packs + 1,000 gold + Skirmish Rhino card style + Anafenza, Unyielding Lineage card style
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