MTG Arena Announcements – December 16, 2024
In this edition:
- Congratulations to the Arena Championship 7's Winner
- Final Qualifier Weekend for Entry to Arena Championship 8
- Events: It's Planeswalkers Bonus Sheet Time!
- Earn Two Bloomburrow Play Booster Boxes in the Next Arena Direct
- Stay Cozy on MTG Arena with the Winter Sale!
- Banned and Restricted Updates
- The Explorer Metagame Challenge Returns
- Event Schedule
Congratulations to the Arena Championship 7's Winner: Keisuke Sato
This weekend saw the return of one of MTG Arena's biggest events with Arena Championship 7, and 48 players participated in this Best-of-Three Standard Constructed event. With over $250,000 in prizes up for grabs, Arena Championship 7 was one of the biggest Standard events since the release of Magic: The Gathering Foundations.
Final Qualifier Weekend for Entry to Arena Championship 8
A new MTG Arena champion was crowned this past weekend—could you be the next to claim the title? The list of competitors for Arena Championship 8 is filling up, and the last Qualifier Weekend event that can get you on that list is happening this weekend!
Don't have an invitation for this weekend's Qualifier Weekend event? Not to worry: You can score one this Friday, December 20, in the Best-of-Three Qualifier Play-In event. You'll face other challengers eager to get their own invitations, but if you can rack up four wins in Magic: The Gathering Foundations Sealed matches, you'll be invited to the Qualifier Weekend event.
Then, it's the main event: the Qualifier Weekend starts right after the Play-In event ends, opening at 6 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC) on Saturday, December 21. Over two days you'll prove yourself in Best-of-Three Foundations Sealed matches: seven wins on Day One gets you into Day Two, and six wins on Day Two gets you into Arena Championship 8!
Events: It's Planeswalkers Bonus Sheet Time!
Pioneer Masters is out in the wilds of MTG Arena, and we're about week into the first rotating bonus sheet of cards you can find in Pioneer Masters events. Participate in any of these events before 8 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC) on December 24, and you'll find cards from the Planeswalker bonus sheet in your event's Limited Packs:
- Traditional Draft Pioneer Masters
- Premier Draft Pioneer Masters
- Sealed Pioneer Masters
- Traditional Sealed Pioneer Masters
Then, these events will switch over to the next Spells bonus sheet on December 24 at 8 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC).
Finally, on January 7 at 8 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC), the third and last Devotion bonus sheet will switch into these events.
Bonus sheets bring a special set of cards to your matches, making each one that much more dynamic. Which bonus sheet cards will you open that could tip the battle to your favor?
Also, Magic: The Gathering Foundations Draft events are still running, plus the Standard environment is going strong, as we saw in the excitement of this past weekend's Arena Championship 7, so be sure to work in some of these events, too!
Earn Two Bloomburrow Play Booster Boxes in the Next Arena Direct
Settle into the holiday season with some fun matches of Bloomburrow Sealed, and you could win two physical boxes of Bloomburrow Play Boosters sent to you in the new year!
Beginning December 27 at 8 a.m. PT (16:00 UTC), play in the Arena Direct Sealed Bloomburrow event for an opportunity to win real-world Magic cards from the comfort of just about anywhere you like on MTG Arena! Six wins gets you two physical boxes of Bloomburrow Play Boosters delivered to your door.
All the important details can be found on the Arena Direct info page. Don't let this one sneak by you, though; it runs just a few days, closing on December 30 at 5 a.m. PT (13:00 UTC).
Stay Cozy on MTG Arena with the Winter Sale!
Happy holidays from the MTG Arena team! As the year winds down, Magic is preparing for an exciting year of new releases. You can celebrate the past year of Magic with the Winter Sale, a two week-long sale in the MTG Arena Store that kicks off tomorrow, December 17, and features some sweet new cosmetic bundles!
We've got everything a Planeswalker could want. A snowman companion you can take anywhere from Amonkhet to Avishkar (mind the drips in warmer climes), avatars of a far-traveling Faerie and the fastest bones this side of the Omenpaths, and more. These bundles are prorated, meaning their cost will be reduced depending on how much of their contents you already own, so head on down to the MTG Arena Store starting Tuesday, December 17 to see what's in store this holiday season.
Banned and Restricted Updates to Explorer
Today, we announced some major changes to Pioneer, Explorer, Modern, and Legacy in the December 16, 2024, Banned and Restricted announcement. For Explorer, we're banning Jegantha, the Wellspring, to mirror the banning in Pioneer. These changes will go live today. There will be a small update to MTG Arena that will reflect this change.
We also discussed the state of our tabletop and MTG Arena formats in the article, so check out those exciting changes coming to competitive Magic.
The Explorer Metagame Challenge Returns
Speaking of exciting Explorer gameplay, you can put your new post-Pioneer Masters, post-Jegantha decks to the test in the Explorer Metagame Challenge starting this weekend, December 20–22. Participants will face off in Best-of-One Explorer Constructed and play until they get one game loss. Players who make it all the way to seven wins will receive a prize worthy of their efforts: 5,000 gold and 30 Pioneer Masters packs!
Think you've got what it takes? Test your skill in the Explorer Metagame Challenge this weekend!
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) 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).
- December 17–19: Brawl Builder Challenge Pioneer Masters
- December 24–26: Explorer Showcase
- December 31–January 2: Magic: The Gathering Foundations Phantom Sealed
- January 7–9: Pioneer Mastes Phantom Sealed (with all three bonus sheets!)
Quick Draft
- December 12–22: Bloomburrow
- December 22–January 4: Magic: The Gathering Foundations
Other Events
- December 20–22: Explorer Metagame Challenge
- December 27–30: Arena Direct: Bloomburrow
- January 3–5: Standard Metagame Challenge
December Qualifier Events – Magic: The Gathering Foundations Limited
- December 20: Best-of-Three Play-In
- December 21–22: Qualifier Weekend
Competitive Play Schedule
All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-08:00).
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!
December
- Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
December 20, 6 a.m. PT–December 21, 3 a.m. PT- Format: Magic: The Gathering Foundations Limited
- Qualifier Weekend
December 21, 6 a.m. PT–December 22, 4 p.m. PT - Format: Magic: The Gathering Foundations Limited
December 2024 Ranked Season
The December 2024 Ranked Season begins November 30 at 12:05 p.m. PT (UTC-07:00) and ends December 31 at 12 p.m. PT (UTC-08:00).
- Bronze Reward: 1 Magic: The Gathering Foundations pack
- Silver Reward: 1 Magic: The Gathering Foundations pack + 500 gold
- Gold Reward: Magic: The Gathering Foundations packs + 1,000 gold + Abrade card style
- Platinum Reward: 3 Magic: The Gathering Foundations packs + 1,000 gold + Abrade card style + Scrawling Crawler card style
- Diamond Reward: 4 Magic: The Gathering Foundations packs + 1,000 gold + Abrade card style + Scrawling Crawler card style
- Mythic Reward: 5 Magic: The Gathering Foundations packs + 1,000 gold + Abrade card style + Scrawling Crawler card style
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