The Road to Renewal

Once again, MTG Arena's Renewal season is just around the corner! As we approach this time of change and new beginnings, we'll be rolling out celebratory gifts for all our players, as well as some guidance for the coming year. It will all culminate with the release of Wilds of Eldraine in September.

This year’s rotation will be different from previous years—Alchemy will still be rotating; however, Standard will not rotate.

To help break rotation and Renewal all down, we've assembled everything you need to know about each, and how they will affect MTG Arena. Let's take a look!

What Is Rotation?

Graphic displaying icons of sets that are rotating into and out of Standard and Alchemy for the new Magic year beginning in September with the release of Wilds of Eldraine

This September, the sets from the 2022 Magic year will be rotating out of Alchemy. They will remain legal in MTG Arena's non-rotating game modes, Historic and Explorer, and any formats that utilize the same card pools as those formats, like Historic Brawl.

Meanwhile, sets from the past year of Magic will remain legal in their current formats, where they will be joined first by Wilds of Eldraine, then The Lost Caverns of Ixalan, and others as the next year of Magic unfolds.

The new feature this year is that Standard will not see this same rotation of the 2022 Magic year. Sets will instead rotate out every three Magic years rather than every two years.

What Is Renewal?

Rotation is always a time of change, especially for newer players who haven't experienced it before. To help with this transition on MTG Arena, we highlight and celebrate this process with what we call Renewal season! We'll be rolling out some special gifts and updates as we approach the new Alchemy Magic year.

Starter Decks

Along with our Anthology releases this July, we will retire the existing set of introductory two-color decks and roll out a new set. These decks will feature only cards from Dominaria United and forward, so they will remain legal in Alchemy after rotation.

New players will receive these new decks from the Color Challenge and the onboarding quest line. As always, when a new player unlocks one of these decks for the first time, they will also receive all cards from that deck in their collection.

For existing players, these decks will simply appear in the Starting Decks folder in the Decks tab. Players who collected previous new player starter decks will receive any cards from the new decks that they haven't already collected to make sure they can take these decks out for a spin.

Jump In!

The packets in the Jump In! event will also be rehauled for the new Magic year. Packets using themes from the rotating sets will be retired, while remaining packets will be revised to contain only cards that won't be rotating out. This is in addition to the creation of new packets that will feature content from Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate.

Card Rewards

After the release of Wilds of Eldraine, individual card rewards received through daily win bonuses and events such as Midweek Magic will only include Standard-legal cards from the previous and new Magic year. Cards received from Jump In! events will all be legal in Alchemy.

Quick Draft

At this point, the schedule of Quick Draft events will mostly be made up of sets from Dominaria United and forward. Quick Draft players will mostly be playing and collecting only cards that can continue to be used in Alchemy or Standard in the fall.

Appearing Now In-Game

You'll now start seeing features in the game that specifically relate to rotation and Renewal.

Renewal Egg

At this point, players will see the "Renewal Egg" on their Profile screen. This is both a reminder that rotation is coming up and a package containing some special rewards that will help kick off the new Magic year! Hovering over the Egg will show how much time is left until rotation when the Egg will open.

Log in before rotation to make sure you get your Renewal Egg!

Transaction Warnings

When you attempt to buy packs, craft a card, or purchase a card style for cards that are rotating out, the game will give you a reminder that these cards will soon rotate, and we will ask if you still want to complete the transaction. You're still welcome to, of course—this is just to make sure that you're getting what you want.

Early September: Wilds of Eldraine Release

Rotation

The following sets will all rotate out of the Alchemy format with the release of Wilds of Eldraine:

  • Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
  • Innistrad: Crimson Vow
  • Alchemy: Innistrad
  • Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
  • Alchemy: Kamigawa
  • Streets of New Capenna
  • Alchemy: New Capenna
  • Alchemy Horizons: Baldur's Gate

Cards from these sets won't be playable in Alchemy anymore unless they get reprinted, although they will still be allowed in Standard, Explorer, and Historic.

Alchemy format will now include the past Magic year of sets, plus the first set of the coming Magic year:

  • Dominaria United
  • Alchemy: Dominaria
  • The Brothers’ War
  • Alchemy: The Brothers’ War
  • Phyrexia: All Will Be One
  • Alchemy: Phyrexia
  • March of the Machine
  • March of the Machine: The Aftermath
  • The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™
  • Wilds of Eldraine

As a reminder, no sets will be rotating out of Standard. Standard will now include the past two Magic years of sets, plus the first set of the coming Magic year:

  • Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
  • Innistrad: Crimson Vow
  • Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
  • Streets of New Capenna
  • Dominaria United
  • The Brothers’ War
  • Phyrexia: All Will Be One
  • March of the Machine
  • March of the Machine: The Aftermath
  • Wilds of Eldraine

Renewal Rewards

The Renewal Egg that players received before rotation will open in early September with the release of Wilds of Eldraine! First, you'll receive ten individual card rewards to get your post-rotation collection off to a strong start. This will include five rares from non-rotating sets, and another four rares plus one mythic rare from Wilds of Eldraine.

In addition, you'll get more Wilds of Eldraine cards and packs added to your Set Mastery track. As you earn Mastery XP during the Wilds of Eldraine set period, you'll unlock these extra rewards.

A New Year of Magic Is Coming

Each Magic year, rotation brings new and exciting changes. The face of Magic will shift, bringing new cards and decks to experience. We hope that this has helped you get ready for this year's Renewal season and all the excitement that comes with it.

Have fun in the new Magic year!