MTG Arena Announcements – April 8, 2024

In this edition:

• Last Week for Outlaws of Thunder Junction Preorders
• Streamer Even This Wednesday, April 10
• Historic Banned List Update
• Remix Draft: Artifacts Continues This Week
• April Qualifier Weekend Starts This Friday
• Midweek Magic Gladiator Spotlight This Week
• Event Schedule

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Last Week for Outlaws of Thunder Junction Preorders

Outlaws of Thunder Junction arrives next Tuesday, April 16, and that means you have just one week left to get in your preorders for the new set. We have three bundles that'll get you off to a good start with the new set's release:

Take a look at all the cards in the Outlaws of Thunder Junction Card Image Gallery, including in which products you can find each card!

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Streamer Event This Wednesday, April 10

Don't miss your first opportunity to see the new set in action during the Outlaws of Thunder Junction Streamer Event, happening this Wednesday, April 10, kicking off at 8 a.m. PT

Join popular Magic streamers on YouTube and Twitch as they open packs, talk about the new cards and strategies, and do some live drafting and playing to take the new set through its paces!

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Historic Banned List Update

Cards banned in Historic:

• Force of Vigor
• Commandeer
• Reanimate
• Mana Drain

In our last update, we rebalanced Fragment Reality and Geological Appraiser, which were outliers in our otherwise diverse Historic metagame. Those changes have proven positive, and we are happy with the current state of the format. We believe now is a great time for classic cards like Stoneforge Mystic, Path to Exile, and Surgical Extraction to be added with Outlaws of Thunder Junction. We hope that these powerful new additions will create new competitive archetypes and unique play patterns.

One of the things that defines Historic's power level is game speed. We have been cautious of free spells in the format that allow for a rapid change in tempo. To maintain the current game pace, Commandeer and Force of Vigor are banned in Historic.

Another defining characteristic of Historic is its overall card power level, particularly now that Timeless exists as the highest-powered format on Arena. The Breaking News Bonus sheet brings some clear power outliers, so Mana Drain and Reanimate are banned in Historic.

Timeless

As MTG Arena's newest and most powerful format, players have been rapidly experimenting and exploring. Timeless continues to evolve as new cards get added to the game and decks adapt to keep dominant cards in check. While Timeless is still new and developing, we want to let players play with cards before we apply any restrictions or bans to them. Mana Drain is certain to be an impactful addition, so we will be monitoring how it changes the metagame and will take action if it proves to be too much.

Finally, we need to talk a bit about the card discussed the most since its release with Murders at Karlov Manor, Show and Tell. While its play rate has been higher than we would like to see, decks using the card currently have a consistent win rate when compared with other high-performing archetypes. If Timeless were static, we would strongly consider restricting Show and Tell due to its play rate. However, we expect Timeless to change a lot this year with new format-defining cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Modern Horizons 3. We will see how Timeless evolves before making a decision on Show and Tell.

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Remix Draft: Artifacts Continues This Week

The latest Draft format event in MTG Arena, Remix Draft: Artifacts, continues for one more week. Play in Best-of-One and Best-of-Three matches with rewards of gems, Historic-legal packs, and Play-In points.

Try out this new format before it ends at 8 a.m. PT on April 16!

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April Qualifier Weekend Starts This Friday

This weekend is your last opportunity to qualify for Arena Championship 6, and it's the last event before the announced changes to Premier Play events!

The monthly doubleheader weekend features Standard events and begins this Friday, April 12, with the Qualifier Play-In Best-of-Three event. Perform well in this one, and you'll be invited to play in the weekend's main event: the April Qualifier Weekend.

Kicking off Saturday, April 13, at 6 a.m. PT, the two-day April Qualifier Weekend is where the top players challenge one another for a coveted invite to the Arena Championship. This also happens to be the last time you can earn an invite to the Pro Tour from a Qualifier Weekend before this prize becomes part of the Arena Championship prizes under the new Premier Play structure.

So, tune up your Standard decks—this weekend may be the start of your path to the Magic big time!

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Midweek Magic Gladiator Spotlight This Week

This Tuesday through Thursday, April 9–11, check out Midweek Magic's Gladiator Community Spotlight event! Gladiator is a fun, fan-created format that continues to grow in popularity, and through Midweek Magic you can try out ten preconstructed 100-card singleton decks shared by the Gladiator Council.

Gladiator Preconstructed Decks

• 

  Gruul Sneak Attack
• 

  Rakdos Reanimator Midrange
• 

  Azorius Control
• 

  Mardu Aristocrats
• 

  Jeskai Tempo
• 

  Sultai Channel Storm
• 

  Cow Tech
• 

  Dimir Pact-Oracle
• 

  Naya Bard Class
• 

  Mono-Green Elves

We've also updated the Gladiator banned list to match the most recent banned list, so you won't see these cards in the preconstructed decks:

• Demonic Tutor
• Field of the Dead
• Naural Order
• Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
• Oko, Thief of Crowns

Because this is Midweek Magic, this event is Best-of-One (traditionally games of Gladiator are Best-of-Three). There's no entry cost to play in Midweek Magic, and you can earn prizes like individual card rewards (ICRs) and cosmetics!

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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-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-07:00).

• April 9–11: Gladiator Community Spotlight (Best-of-One)
• April 16–18: Jump Into Outlaws of Thunder Junction
• April 23–25: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Constructed
• April 30–May 2: On the Edge

Quick Draft

• April 9–26: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
• April 26–May 7: Outlaws of Thunder Junction

Other Events

• April 2–16: Remix Draft: Artifacts

April Qualifier Events – Standard

• April 12: Best-of-Three Play-In
• April 13–14: Qualifier Weekend

Competitive Play Schedule

All times listed are Pacific time (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 are delivered to your MTG Arena inbox. Remember to claim them before the event starts!

April

• Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
  April 12, 6 a.m. PT–April 13, 3 a.m. PT
• Format: Standard
• Qualifier Weekend
  April 13, 6 a.m. PT–April 14, 4 p.m. PT
• Format: Standard

Arena Open

The Arena Open Day One entry window begins at 6 a.m. PT and closes to new entries the following day at 3 a.m. PT (UTC-07:00). The Day Two entry window is 2 hours only, from 6 a.m. PT until 8 a.m. PT (UTC-07:00).

• Arena Open: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
  • May 4: Day One, Outlaws of Thunder Junction Sealed (Best-of-One and Best-of-Three)
  • May 5: Day Two, Outlaws of Thunder Junction Draft (Best-of-Three)

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