In this edition:

Monday, January 15, is a holiday for the team, so we're bringing you the Arena Announcements a few days early!

Murders at Karlov Manor Preorders Begin January 16!

Next Tuesday, January 16, preorders for Murders at Karlov Manor go on sale in the MTG Arena Store. Pick up these bundles and be ready for the launch on February 6!

Massacre Girl Pack Bundle

$49.99/€54.99

Available at purchase:
  • Massacre Girl sleeve
Massacre Girl preorder sleeve
Available at release (February 6):
  • 50x Murders at Karlov Manor packs
  • 5x Golden Packs
  • Massacre Girl, Known Killer depth art card style
  • Massacre Girl, Known Killer card
Massacre Girl, Known Killer

Alquist Proft Play Bundle

$24.99/€27.49

Available at purchase:
  • Forensic Thopter companion
  • Alquist Proft sleeve
Forensic Thopter preorder companion
Alquist Proft preorder sleeve
Available at release (February 6):
  • 2x Player Draft tokens
  • 1x Sealed token
  • 5x Play-In Points
  • Alquist Proft depth art card style
  • Alquist Proft card
Alquist Proft, Master Sleuth

Kaya Pass Bundle

$14.99/€16.49

Available at purchase:
  • Kaya sleeve
Kaya preorder sleeve
Available at release (February 6):
  • Murders at Karlov Manor Mastery Pass
  • Kaya, Spirits' Justice depth art card style
  • Kaya, Spirits' Justice card
Kaya, Spirits' Justice

Explorer Qualifier Weekend Starts Today!

Qualifier Play-In Explorer January 2024

Be among the first players to qualify for Arena Championship 6! Beginning today, you can enter the Best-of-Three Qualifier Play-In for an opportunity to earn an invitation to the Qualifier Weekend event starting tomorrow, Saturday, January 13! Both events feature the Explorer format.

During the Qualifier Weekend Day One, rack up seven wins, and you'll be invited to enter the Day Two competition on Sunday, January 14. There, you'll challenge the event's top players to reach seven wins and claim your invitation to Arena Championship 6 and the Pro Tour!

Arena Open: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, January 20–21

Card art of Huatli, Poet of Unity by Tyler Jacobson depicting Huatli leading a charge of dinosaurs and riders

Now that you've been playing with The Lost Caverns of Ixalan for a while, here's another opportunity to put everything you've learned about the set to the test, maybe earn yourself an invitation to the February Qualifier Weekend, and possibly win as much as $2,000!

The Arena Open: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is coming January 20–21 where you can have fun and earn prizes. Every player who enters will receive this amazing Quintorius Kand sleeve!

Multicolored stylized sleeve of two faces of the loxodon Quintorius Kand, one at the top of the sleeve and the other, a mirror of the first, at the bottom of the sleeve

Alchemy Rebalances

With this release we've turned our attention to a couple of archetypes that haven't quite found their footing. Dominaria United's Domain and The Brothers' War's Powerstones have both received small pushes. We'll be watching the results to inform future decisions. Good luck and have fun!

Meria's Outrider:
  • 5/5 (was 4/4)
  • Changed: "... deals damage to each opponent"
    To: "... deals damage to any target"
Meria's Outrider rebalanced Alchemy card
Radha's Firebrand:
  • Changed: "... power less than Radha's Firebrand power"
    To: "... power less than or equal to Radha's Firebrand power"
Radha's Firebrand rebalanced Alchemy card
Sprouting Goblin:
  • Activated ability cost now Tap symbol (was Red mana symbol, tap symbol)
Sprouting Goblin rebalanced Alchemy card
Briar Hydra:
  • Cost 3 generic mana symbolGreen symbol (was 5 generic mana symbolGreen symbol)
  • 5/5 (was 6/6)
Briar Hydra rebalanced Alchemy card
Llanowar Greenwidow:
  • Activated ability cost now 5 generic mana symbolGreen symbol (was 7 generic mana symbolGreen mana symbol)
  • Changed: "... to the battlefield tapped with a finality counter on it. This ability costs One colorless mana symbol less to activate for each basic land type among lands you control."
Llanowar Greenwidow rebalanced Alchemy card
Llanowar Loamspeaker:
  • Changed: "Target land you control becomes 3/3 ..."
    To: "Target land you control becomes 4/4 ...
Llanowar Loamspeaker rebalanced Alchemy card
Scout the Wilderness:
  • Kicker cost White mana symbol (was 1 generic mana symbolWhite mana symbol)
Scout the Wilderness rebalanced Alchemy card
Sunbathing Rootwalla:
  • Activated ability cost 1 generic mana symbolGreen mana symbol (was 3 generic mana symbolGreem mana symbol)
Sunbathing Rootwalla rebalanced Alchemy card
Nael, Avizoa Aeronaut:
  • Cost Blue mana symbolGreen mana symbol (was 2 generic mana symbolBlue mana symbolGreen mana symbol)
  • 2/2 (was 2/4)
Nael, Avizoa Aeronaut rebalanced Alchemy card
Radha, Coalition Warlord:
  • Cost 1 generic mana symbolRed mana symbolGreen mana symbol (was 2 generic mana symbolRed mana symbolGreen mana symbol)
  • Changed: "Whenever Radha, Coalition Warlord becomes tapped ..."
    To: "Whenever Radha, Coalition Warlord enters the battlefield or becomes tapped ..."
Radha, Coalition Warlord rebalanced Alchemy card
Rulik Mons, Warren Chief:
  • 4/4 (was 3/3)
  • Changed: "Whenever Rulik Mons, Warren Chief attacks ..."
    To: "Whenever Rulik Mons, Warren Chief enters the battlefield or attacks ..."
Rulik Mons, Warren Chief rebalanced Alchemy card
Soul of Windgrace:
  • Activated ability cost Red mana symbol (was 1 generic mana symbolRed mana symbol)
  • Activated ability cost Black mana symbol (was 2 generic mana symbolBlack mana symbol)
Soul of Windgrace rebalanced Alchemy card
Tatyova, Steward of Tides:
  • 4/4 (was 3/3)
  • Changed: "... target land you control becomes a 3/3 ..."
    To: "... target land you control becomes a 4/4 ..."
Tatyova, Steward of Tides rebalanced Alchemy card
Uurg, Spawn of Turg:
  • Surveil 2 (was surveil 1)
  • Activated ability cost One generic mana symbol, sacrifice a land (was Black mana symbolGreen mana symbol, sacrifice a land)
Uurg, Spawn of Turg rebalanced Alchemy card
Zar Ojanen, Scion of Efrava:
  • Changed: "Whenever Zar Ojanen, Scion of Efrava becomes tapped ..."
    To: "Whenever Zar Ojanen, Scion of Efrava enters the battlefield or becomes tapped ..."
Zar Ojanen, Scion of Efrava rebalanced Alchemy card
Thran Portal:
  • Removed: "Thran Portal enters the battlefield tapped unless you control two or fewer other lands."
Thran Portal rebalanced Alchemy card
Excavation Explosion:
  • Instant (was sorcery)
  • Changed: "Excavation Explosion deals 3 damage to any target."
    To: "Excavation Explosion deals 4 damage to target creature or planeswalker."
Excavation Explosion rebalanced Alchemy card
Geology Enthusiast:
  • Cost 2 generic mana symbolBlue mana symbolBlue mana symbol (was 3 generic mana symbolBlue mana symbolBlue mana symbol)
  • 3/4 (was 2/5)
  • Gained: vigilance
  • Activated ability cost 5 generic mana symbol (was 6 generic mana symbol)
Geology Enthusiast rebalanced Alchemy card
Hall of Tagsin:
  • Activated ability cost 3 generic mana symbol, Tap mana symbol (was 4 generic mana symbol, Tap mana symbol
Hall of Tagsin rebalanced Alchemy card
Hurkyl's Prodigy:
  • Changed: "... you may pay 3 generic mana symbol."
    To: "... you may pay 2 generic mana symbol."
Hurkyl's Prodigy rebalanced Alchemy card
Karn, Living Legacy:
  • Loyalty ability cost 0 (was -1)
  • Loyalty ability cost -6 (was -7)
Karn, Living Legacy rebalanced Alchemy card
Mightstone's Animation:
  • Cost Blue mana symbol (was Blue mana symbol)
  • Changed: "... draw a card."
    To: "... draw two cards, then discard a card."
Mightstone's Animation rebalanced Alchemy card
Saheeli, Filigree Master:
  • Changed: "+1: Scry 1. You may tap an untapped artifact you control. If you do, draw a card."
    To: "+1: Scry 2. If you control an artifact, draw a card."
Saheeli, Filigree Master rebalanced Alchemy card
Splitting the Powerstone:
  • Instant (was sorcery)
  • Removed: "If the sacrificed artifact was legendary"
Splitting the Powerstone rebalanced Alchemy card
Thran Spider:
  • Changed: "You may reveal an artifact card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order."
    To: "Put one of them into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order."
Thran Spider rebalanced Alchemy card
Urza, Powerstone Prodigy:
  • Cost Blue mana symbol (was Blue mana symbol)
  • Removed: vigilance
Urza, Powerstone Prodigy rebalanced Alchemy card
Mishra, Excavation Prodigy:
  • Cost Red mana symbol (was Red mana symbol)
  • Removed: haste
Mishra, Excavation Prodigy rebalanced Alchemy card
Urza's Command:
  • -3/-0 (was -2/-0)
  • Changed: "Create a tapped Powerstone token."
    To: "Create two tapped Powerstone tokens."
  • Scry 2 (was scry 1)
Urza's Command rebalanced Alchemy card
Visions of Phyrexia:
  • Changed: "... exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn."
    To: "... exile the top two cards of your library. Until your next end step, you may play one of those cards."
Visions of Phyrexia rebalanced Alchemy card
Yotian Courier:
  • Changed: "Seek an artifact card ..."
    To: "Seek a nonland card ..."
Yotian Courier rebalanced Alchemy card

Sign Up for Yearly Stats

If you're signed up to receive our emails, you recently received your yearly stats that show your past year of play in MTG Arena. What surprised you?

Didn't get the yearly stats email? You still can—follow these two steps to sign up before we send out the stats email next week:

Step One

  1. Log in with your Wizards account at https://myaccounts.wizards.com/account.
  2. Select Edit Profile.
  3. Check the box next to, "YES! Wizards may send me promotional emails and offers about Wizards’ events, games, and services."

Step Two

Submit a request under the topic "General Questions"—just be sure to include the words "stats email" in your message request.

Exchange Rate Pricing Adjustment

MTG Arena adjusts pricing several times per year to account for currency exchange rates. This means that non-USD prices will fluctuate up and down based on the conversion rate between the USD and relative currency at the time of adjustment. As some players might notice, one of these adjustments occurred on January 9.

Murders at Karlov Manor Streamer Event Canceled

Due to unexpected circumstances, the Murders at Karlov Manor Streamer Event has been canceled. We understand this is disappointing to our community and hope to have more information about the future of MTG Arena Streamer Events in time for Outlaws of Thunder Junction.

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).

  • January 16–18: Historic Pauper
  • January 23–25: Brawl (formerly Historic Brawl)
  • January 30–February 1: Phyrexia: All Will Be One Phantom Bot Draft
  • February 6–8: Jump Into Murders at Karlov Manor

Quick Draft

  • January 2–16: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
  • January 16–30: The Brothers' War
  • January 3–February 16: March of the Machine

Other Events

  • December 12–February 5: Jump Into Middle-earth
  • January 19–22: Emblem The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Quick Draft
  • January 23–February 5: Arena Cube Draft
  • January 26–29: Standard Metagame Challenge
  • February 2–5: Timeless Metagame Challenge

January Qualifier Events

  • January 12: Best-of-Three Qualifier Play-In (Explorer)
  • January 13–14: Qualifier Weekend (Explorer)

Competitive Play Schedule

All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-08:00).

Qualifier Events

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!

January

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

February

  • Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-One)
    February 10, 6 a.m. PT
    • Format: Murders at Karlov Manor Limited
  • Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
    February 16, 6 a.m. PT–February 17, 3 a.m. PT
    • Format: Murders at Karlov Manor Limited
  • Qualifier Weekend
    February 17, 6 a.m. PT–February 18, 4 p.m. PT
    • Format: Murders at Karlov Manor Limited

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-08:00). The Day Two entry window is 2 hours only, from 6 a.m. PT until 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00).

Arena Championship

The Arena Championship is an invitation-only, two-day virtual event for players who earn invitations through Qualifier Weekend events.

January 2024 Ranked Season

The January 2024 Ranked Season begins December 31 at 12:05 p.m. PT and ends January 31 at 12 p.m. PT (UTC-08:00)

  • Bronze Reward: 1 The Lost Caverns of Ixalan pack
  • Silver Reward: 1 The Lost Caverns of Ixalan pack + 500 gold
  • Gold Reward: 2 The Lost Caverns of Ixalan packs + 1,000 gold + Cenote Scout card style
  • Platinum Reward: 3 The Lost Caverns of Ixalan packs + 1,000 gold + Cenote Scout card style + Dire Flail card style
  • Diamond Reward: 4 The Lost Caverns of Ixalan packs + 1,000 gold + Cenote Scout card style + Dire Flail card style
  • Mythic Reward: 5 The Lost Caverns of Ixalan packs + 1,000 gold + Cenote Scout card style + Dire Flail card style
Cenote Scout card style
Dire Flail card style

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