2021.07 Patch Notes – Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Game Update

Patch Notes – 2021.07

Game Update Highlights

• Adventures in the Forgotten Realms has released! Dungeons, Dragons, Dice, and a host of familiar faces await
• The horizontal deckbuilder is now available on mobile, and has gotten some updates across all platforms
• New Standard 2022 queues available in Play and Ranked – Come preview the post-rotation format, where Eldraine through Core Set 2021 are already removed

Notable Bug Fixes

• Back faces of MDFCs no longer contribute to party count
• Fixed an issue on mobile platforms where the final option of a modal choice could be hard/impossible to choose

Horizontal Deckbuilder

The horizontal deckbuilder is now supported across all mobile devices, and improvements were made to the horizontal deck builder across all platforms.

• On Mobile
  • On some tablet devices the deck builder will function almost the same as PC (4:3 devices only).
  • On phone devices the deck builder is not editable in the half view, but will function almost the same as PC in the full view (tap to switch to full view).
  • In a difference from PC, removing a card from the sideboard in the mobile full screen horizontal deck builder will move it back to the deck. You can then remove the card entirely by removing it from the deck.
  • In order to support the horizontal view while drafting, dragging to select your draft pick in 4:3 has been disabled
• Cross-Platform Improvements
  • In horizontal deck builder mode, single click/tap on a card to bring up a +/- UI for easier adding and removing of cards. This UI will always show on basic lands, and in most formats where more than 1 card is legal to add.
    • Once you have more than 4 copies of a card, you can tap and hold to add 4 copies at a time. At any point you can tap once to add and remove single copies.
  • Changed functionality in the column view deck builder so that dragging a card from the deck to the collection will remove all copies of it from the deck instead of a single copy. Works on column/horizontal deck builder (4:3 and PC) and vertical view (PC only).
  • On PC players can now click anywhere in the tray and drag to scroll the view.
  • The column view deck builder button was moved to the left of ‘settings’ and ‘learn more’ for more consistency. The toggle art was updated to better indicate the mode the user will switch to.

General

• Improved hanger display for tokens, dungeons, and other related cards:
  • When cards have more than one token, dungeon, or other similar card to show in a hanger you can now easily see all of them.
  • On PC you can right click the card to cycle through, and on mobile you see them all in a draggable list (similar to how mutate stacks are displayed).
  • This is primarily to give you time to read through a dungeon without the card just cycling away.
• Cards that have no rule text now display their flavor text, if any.
• High end mobile devices will now have shadows in the duel scene!
• Increased size of cards in hand for mobile devices.
• Cards in 4:3 draft were made larger.
• Added a Wildcard information pop-up to PC and Mac clients (the same thing you get on mobile when clicking on the Wildcard icon in the main navigation bar).
• Added the ability to zoom in/out (change the number of rows shown in the collection) while in the Vertical Deck Builder.

Gameplay – All Platforms

• There’s now a cancel blocks button, for when you’ve assigned some blocks, and then you’re like “Wait, no, I counted wrong. Ugh.” and you want to cancel all those blocks and start over.
• We’ve tweaked the highlights on permanents with mana abilities to make it more clear when they have non-mana abilities available.
• Updated smart pass rules in cases where all creatures attacking and blocking creatures have first strike. (No more auto-stopping in an empty damage step!)
• Mana from treasure is now indicated in the mana pool and will not stack with “normal” mana.
• The quantity indicator on card stacks now shows at 4 instead of 5 across all platforms. This should make it much easier to tell if you have 3, 4, or 5 lands in that stack.
• Adjusted the highlighting of mana in your pool, to make it more obvious when it’s been highlighted by autotap.

Gameplay – Mobile Only

• The handheld battlefield no longer adjusts itself each time the stack is up. Instead, to target permanents behind the stack, users need to move the card out of the way (like on PC).
• Clearer UI was added to mobile for instances where multiple targets are available to attack (IE a planeswalker and an opponent).
• We’ve made the mobile version more aggressive about stacking identical attackers and blockers.
• Touching and holding the phase ladder above the main buttons and around the player avatar will now trigger the full control option on mobile.
• You can now touch and hold reveled cards of your opponent’s to enlarge them, just like cards in your hand. (You can still single tap on them to pull up the old view.)
• Mobile stack quantity indicators now format like PC does.
• Card stacking was polished on mobile so that stacks dynamically space instead of having fixed spacing. Card stacks will now look closer to PC.

Upcoming MTG Arena Events

Additional events added to MTG Arena. Read the [MTG Arena Weekly Announcements][ https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive%5D to learn more!

Store

Now Available

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms has arrived! New cards and styles await, along with the Beholder Pet and all-new sticker emotes!

Bundles

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Sticker Bundle

• Beholder Sticker Emote
• Ellywick Sticker Emote
• Mindflayer Sticker Emote

Cost: 1,000 Gems or 5,000 Gold

Beholder Bundle

• Beholder Pet
• Xanathar, Guild Kingpin Sleeve

Cost: 3,000 Gems or 15,000 Gold

Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Borderless Planeswalkers Bundle

• Lolth, Spider Queen Card Style
• Ellywick Tumblestrum Card Style
• Zariel, Archduke of Avernus Card Style
• Mordenkainen Card Style
• Grand Master of Flowers Card Style

Cost: 1,600 Gems or 8,000 Gold

Borderless Dragons Bundle

• Ebondeath, Dracolich Card Style
• Old Gnawbone Card Style
• Inferno of the Star Mounts Card Style
• Iymrith, Desert Doom Card Style
• Icingdeath, Frost Tyrant Card Style
• Black Dragon Card Style
• Green Dragon Card Style
• Red Dragon Card Style
• Blue Dragon Card Style
• White Dragon Card Style
• Adult Gold Dragon Card Style
• Tiamat Card Style

Cost: 2,000 Gems or 10,000 Gold

Abyssal Assault Bundle

• Drizzt Do’Urden Card Style
• Shessra, Death’s Whisper Card Style
• Kalain, Reclusive Painter Card Style
• Lurking Roper Card Style
• Mind Flayer Card Style
• Baleful Beholder Card Style

Cost: 1,300 Gems or 6,500 Gold

Epic Adventures Bundle

• Bruenor Battlehammer Card Style
• Farideh, Devil’s Chosen Card Style
• Trelasarra, Moon Dancer Card Style
• Iron Golem Card Style
• Purple Worm Card Style
• Djinni Windseer Card Style

Cost: 1,100 Gems or 5,500 Gold

Adventurer’s League Bundle

• Minsc, Beloved Ranger Card Style
• Delina, Wild Mage Card Style
• Oswald Fiddlebender Card Style
• Owlbear Card Style
• Dragon Turtle Card Style
• Gnoll Hunter Card Style

Cost: 1,500 Gems or 7,500 Gold

Monster Research Bundle

• Volo, Guide to Monsters Card Style
• Krydle of Baldur’s Gate Card Style
• Gretchen Titchwillow Card Style
• Minion of the Mighty Card Style
• Pixie Guide Card Style
• Celestial Unicorn Card Style

Cost: 1,200 Gems or 6,000 Gold

Module Lands Bundle

• Cave of the Frost Dragon Card Style
• Den of the Bugbear Card Style
• Hall of Storm Giants Card Style
• Hive of the Eye Tyrant Card Style
• Lair of the Hydra Card Style
• Temple of the Dragon Queen Card Style
• Dungeon Descent Card Style
• Evolving Wilds Card Style

Cost: 1,800 Gems or 9,000 Gold

Updated: Welcome Bundle

• 5 Assorted Standard Packs
• 2500 Gems

Cost: $4.99 or €4.99

Card Styles

Now available for purchase through the Deckbuilder:

Depth Art:

Clever Lumimancer
Rushed Rebirth
Expressive Iteration
Exponential Growth
Pop Quiz
Lash of Malice
Combat Professor
Blood Researcher
Arrogant Poet
Spiteful Squad
Pigment Storm
Heated Debate
Biomathematician
Professor of Zoomancy
Mage Duel
Frost Trickster
Stonebound Mentor
Spectacle Mage
Pillardrop Rescuer
Decisive Denial
Professor of Symbology
Closing Statement
Mortality Spear
Igneous Inspiration
Divide by Zero
Creative Outburst
Master Symmetrist
Rip Apart
Eyetwitch
Lorehold Pledgemage
Prismari Pledgemage
Quandrix Pledgemage
Silverquill Pledgemage
Witherbloom Pledgemage
Beledros Witherbloom
Galazeth Prismari
Shadrix Silverquill
Tanazir Quandrix
Velomachus Lorehold
Kianne, Dean of Substance
Lorehold Command
Plargg, Dean of Chaos
Prismari Command
Quandrix Command
Shaile, Dean of Radiance
Silverquill Command
Uvilda, Dean of Perfection
Valentin, Dean of the Vein
Witherbloom Command
Dina, Soul Steeper
Killian, Ink Duelist
Quintorius, Field Historian
Rootha, Mercurial Artist
Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy

Japenese Mystic Archive Style:

Eliminate
Cultivate
Strategic Planning
Revitalize
Village Rites
Claim the Firstborn
Opt
Divine Gambit
Adventurous Impulse
Shock
Thrill of Possibility
Defiant Strike
Despark
Electrolyze
Growth Spiral
Lightning Helix
Putrefy
Doom Blade
Regrowth
Faithless Looting
Brainstorm
Gods Willing

Phyrexian Style:

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite 
Jit-Gitaxias, Core Augur 
Sheoldred, Whispering One 
Urabrask the Hidden 
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger

Leaving Soon

• Aurelia Avatar
• Domri Rade Avatar
• Dovin Baan Avatar
• Kaya Avatar
• Lazav Avatar
• Rakdos Avatar
• Ral Zarek Avatar
• Trostani Avatar
• Vannifar Avatar
• Vraska Avatar
• Eternal Army Avatar
• Azorius Exquisite Sleeve
• Boros Exquisite Sleeve
• Dimir Exquisite Sleeve
• Golgari Exquisite Sleeve
• Gruul Exquisite Sleeve
• Izzet Exquisite Sleeve
• Orzhov Exquisite Sleeve
• Rakdos Exquisite Sleeve
• Selesnya Exquisite Sleeve
• Simic Exquisite Sleeve

Bug Fixes

General

• Fixed Social Notification Bubbles so they appear again on desktop.
• In Japanese, searching by card name and deck importing now work without using workarounds to account for furigana.
• Multiple bug fixes in mobile sideboarding scenes.
• Fixed a bug where hovering over a Double Faced Card with Depth Art would cause minor issues with other depth art.
• Fixed a bug that caused the losing player’s avatar to disappear on mobile during the post match sequence.
• Fixed a bug on mobile that sometimes caused the deck box to layer in front of the wildcard screen.
• Fixed a bug with scrolling on the pet selection screen not always being responsive.
• Fixed color issues on View Challenge and Friend Invite buttons.
• Fixed some rare bugs in Direct/Friend Challenge where the improper deck would appear selected or challenges would not be canceled properly.
• Fixed data updates not completing properly in some rare cases.

Gameplay

• Back faces of MDFCs no longer contribute to party count.
• Fixed an issue on mobile platforms where the final option of a modal choice could be hard/impossible to choose.
• Modal abilities and spells with only one legal target no longer automatically submit, allowing you to instead go back and choose a different mode.
• You can now cast 0 Mana spells using Bolas's Citadel while Yasharn is in play. This rule was only recently clarified, so we’ve updated the game to match the ruling.
• Predictive autotap was ignoring Boreal Outrider when determining if foretold creatures could be played. That’s fixed.
• Fixed an issue where Atarka's Command and Roiling Vortex did not create a mini-CDC to indicated players could not gain life.
• Cleaned up some rules around time extensions, and receiving additional time-outs.
• Scry VFX were playing when Poison the Cup was played, even if it wasn’t foretold. There are no longer misleading Scry VFX.
• Fanatical Firebrand wasn’t triggering Verity Circle. Now it does.
• Fixed an issue where Reckless Crew would allow you to select equipped equipment to move multiple times. It didn’t do anything, but it would visually move it around, which is technically wrong.
• Witherbloom Command would show up as castable even when your opponent had hexproof and none of the other modes had targets. This has been fixed.
• Fixed a bug with Magecraft where copies of a spell didn’t count if the original spell was countered. Now copies correctly trigger Magecraft.
• Fixed a bug that caused exiled cards on mobile to not stack closest to the card that exiled in cases where auras or equipment was attached.
• Copies of Monstrous Onslaught cast by the other player now correctly use the X value from the original spell as it was cast by the original caster.
• Fixed an issue where STA cards would sometimes have a blank cardback after being scryed to the bottom of the Library.
• Equipping more than 3 runes to an artifact, then attaching to a creature will no longer produce a weird spacing between cards.
• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused artifacts and enchantments to space far apart on mobile.
• Tezzeret, Master of the Bridge’s discount was displaying (but not active) for opponents. This has been fixed.
• Fixed an issue where cracking a Chromatic Sphere with an Omniscience Emblem active caused an exception. Why were you doing that? Seems greedy to me. Just cast your free spells.
• Fixed an issue where creatures with Menace, when equipped by Wolfrider's Saddle, could be blocked by two creatures.
• I hesitate to call this a bugfix so much as a change, but now, when a creature gains all creature types, we still show the types it was printed with. Is my Llanowar Elves still an Elf Druid with Maskwood Nexus in play? Worry not.