There's no one way—or one place—to play Magic.

My own journey with Magic is a good example. I first started playing Magic in college, where kitchen table games were the de facto way to unwind after class. I'd eventually work up the courage to play at my local game store (LGS), where I'd get humbled at Friday Night Magic while picking up a love of Booster Draft. After graduation, I moved away and entered the workforce, at which point I only had time for the occasional Prerelease.

This changed with the release of MTG Arena, which made it easier than ever to squeeze in some Magic, even on my busiest days. When I started playing MTG Arena, the funniest thing happened: I fell in love with Magic all over again. Drafting on MTG Arena encouraged me to seek out a new LGS for playing Draft, and that LGS, in turn, is how I reconnected with some of my college peers via playing Commander. Only in hindsight do I now realize how interconnected everything was and has always been.

I imagine there are many players like me who've had a fluid relationship with Magic over the years. But no matter how—or where—someone plays Magic, it's still Magic.

MTG Arena and local game stores have always been connected, but outside of a few small experiments, that connection has largely been implicit. Magic has long wanted to take that next big step in connecting these different expressions of our favorite game, but that hasn't been possible … until now.

Today, we're announcing a set of exciting new features for MTG Arena that better connect players to their local game stores and vice versa.

We want to reward players for engaging with their local Magic communities and to empower Wizards Play Network (WPN) stores with tools to keep those same players informed about upcoming events.

To that end, the following four features will roll out on October 1, 2026:

  • Wizards Play Network Achievements
  • Favorite Stores Screen
  • WPN Store Messages
  • WPN Event Carousels

More details on each are below!

Wizards Play Network Achievements

A set of new evergreen achievements will be available in MTG Arena starting on October 1, 2026.

Unlike other achievements in MTG Arena, these are completed by leaving the digital realm and attending in-person events at your local game stores!

Some examples include:

  • Paper Player I: Attend an in-person event.
    • Reward: "Went Outside" title
  • Just Keeping Tabs: Favorite a store.
    • Reward: 1,000 Gold
  • Dutiful Drafter II: Attend three in-person Booster Draft events.
    • Reward: 1 Draft token
  • Be Legendary I: Play at a WPN store with the "Legendary Store" status for the first time.
    • Reward: Jodah, the Unifier card sleeve

More amazing rewards—from gold and event tokens to exclusive avatars and titles—are on offer for braving the elements and engaging with your community, if you're able to.

Whenever you attend a sanctioned WPN event, if you entered the event with the same Wizards account that you use to play MTG Arena, the achievement progress will be credited to your account the next time you open the game.

Some final notes on these achievements:

  • Some achievements ask that you "favorite" a store, which can be done via the Store & Event Locator or the Magic: The Gathering Companion app.
  • Some achievements require that you attend an event at a WPN store with the "Legendary Store" status. You can identify legendary stores via our Store & Event Locator and our "Favorite Stores" screen. Keep reading for more on this.
  • These achievements will not apply retroactively, so events attended before the October 1, 2026, launch date won't count toward these achievements.

Favorite Stores Screen

The "Favorite Stores" screen is a new screen in MTG Arena that lets players view updates and information from their favorite stores and adjust notification settings.

It can be found in the new "Favorite Stores" tab on the player profile screen:

You can favorite multiple stores, and all the local game stores you've favorited via the Store & Event Locator or Companion will appear here alongside their address. Stores that have attained legendary status will also be denoted with a "Legendary Store" badge.

On the right-hand side of the screen are two opt-in toggles for our WPN store message and WPN event carousel features, which are outlined in greater detail further down in this article.

Additionally, you can mute or unmute individual stores from this screen by tapping the bell icon for that store. Muted stores will not send you notifications, even if you've opted in to WPN store messages or WPN event carousels.

This change also includes updates to the profile screen. Notably, in addition to the new "Favorite Stores" tab, the ability to edit your default cosmetics has been moved to a new "Customization" tab:

WPN Store Messages

This opt-in feature allows you to receive updates in the form of MTG Arena inbox messages from stores you've favorited.

If you have enabled WPN store messages, you'll receive messages from your favorited stores, alerting you to upcoming events and promotions.

You'll notice that the MTG Arena inbox now has two tabs. The tab marked "MTG Arena Inbox" contains the usual messages you'll receive from the MTG Arena team, whereas the "WPN Store Messages" tab will be where messages from game stores you've added to your favorites will appear.

You can opt in to this feature via the "Enable WPN Store Messages" toggle on the "Favorite Stores" screen.

You will not receive WPN store messages from stores you've muted, even if you've opted in to the wider feature.

WPN Event Carousels

This is the second opt-in feature that allows you to receive notices on upcoming events at stores you've added to your favorites.

If enabled, you will see promotions and reminders for upcoming events.

Up to one upcoming event among your favorite stores will be promoted at any given time.

As with WPN store messages, you can opt in to this feature via the "Enable WPN Event Carousels" toggle on the "Favorite Stores" screen.

Similarly, you will not see WPN event carousels from stores you've muted, even if you've opted in to the feature as a whole.

Closing Thoughts

We're excited to partner with WPN stores to connect with players and reward them for playing Magic—remotely and in-person—and we can't wait for these to launch on October 1! As always, we look forward to your participation and feedback to help guide us as we continue to develop future programs.