Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty (NEO) will be the first major Standard expansion to come to MTG Arena on February 10th, 2022 at around 8 AM PST (3 PM UTC)! Below we have compiled all the information and resources to get you prepared for its release, so you don’t miss out on anything – especially all the content that we will be posting over the coming days.
Overview
Set Symbol:
Set Code: NEO
Cards: 302
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is the Magic: The Gathering expansion sequel to the original Kamigawa block, originally released in 2004 as we revisit this world for the first time. It will be the 7th set to be included in Standard. The story takes place 1200 years later, where the plane’s feudal past has met a futuristic, cyberpunk setting. Keito is one of the new planeswalkers, a cyber ninja. There are returning characters, hinting that the emperor of the current world is someone familiar.
Release Date and Time
MTG Arena: February 10, 2022
Magic Online: February 10, 2022
Tabletop: February 18, 2022
As per the course for major patches, Wizards of the Coast will be releasing the patch at around 8 AM PST and begin server maintenance which lasts for about 3 hours.
Though there is no downtime planned, we advice caution to players that want to play as soon as the game updates. Be sure to track the maintenance progress on the official MTG Arena Status Page for the latest update.
⚠️ Scheduled (Feb 10, 2022, 16:00 UTC): @MTG_Arena scheduled maintenance will occur to deploy the 2022.13.0 content (Kamigawa) update.
⏲️ Full deployment estimated at ~3 hours. 🛠️ No downtime is expected. 💻 Restart required. 📝 Patch… https://t.co/QbUZ3L8Qry
The full patch notes will be available once the maintenance is finished. Any technical issues and support should be directed on the official Wizards of the Coast website. State of the Game and the weekly Announcement will be posted before the release also.
Spoilers and Visual Card Gallery
If you just want to check out the cards and digest all the information while you Brainstorm your new potential brews, below is the full card gallery. There are 302 cards in total:
The designers have taken some design elements from the first Kamigawa block and meshed them with science fiction elements, featuring all-new gameplay mechanics. You can find a more detailed overview by Wizards of the Coast here.
Kamigawa features the return of the creature type Ninja’s classic Ninjustsu mechanic. Ninjutsu appears on creatures and allows the creature to be put into play for a special activation cost in exchange for returning an unblocked attacker to your hand.
The rules text for Ninjutsu reads: “Ninjutsu {cost} ({cost}, Return an unblocked attack you control to hand: Put this card onto the battlefield from your hand tapped and attacking.)“
Another mechanic that’s returning from the original Kamigawa block, Channel is a keyword that allows a card to be discarded from hand for some kind of effect. In the case of the example card Boseiju, Who Endures, a Legendary Land that may be discarded for {1}{G} (say, if you already have one copy in play) to destroy an artifact, enchantment, or nonbasic land an opponent controls.
Sagas are a card type that we’ve been seeing intermittently since back in Dominaria, but now we’ve got sagas with a new twist: transforming double-faced cards! The Kami War is one of the examples, and you’ll note that after the saga reaches its third lore counter, it transforms itself to the backside – in this case a five-color, 6/6, flying, trampling dragon.
Modified is a new keyword that indicates if a creature has been altered by Equipment, Auras, or counters of any kind. Goro-Goro has the ability to create 5/5 Dragon tokens, but it cannot be activated unless you control an attacking modified creature.
Neon Dynasty’s other new mechanic will be Reconfigure, an ability that causes a permanent to attach itself to another creature. The Reality Chip, an Artifact Creature – Equipment Jellyfish (wild, right?) that is played as a creature and must activate its Reconfigure ability to attach to another creature and function as an equipment. It can then be unattached and become its own creature by activating the Reconfigure ability again.
Lastly, we will apparently be seeing the return of Phyrexian mana, cost pips which can either be satisfied by paying the indicated color or paying two life. It’s a bit more complicated this time though, and there’s a new keyword involved: Compleated. It appears that cards using the Phyrexian mana will now come with some form of downside if life is paid instead of mana. Tamiyo, Compleated Sage is the example we’ve been given thus far, and the reminder text from her Compleated keyword reads like this: “Compleated ({G/U/P} can be paid with {G}, {U}, or 2 life. If life was paid, this planeswalker enters with two fewer loyalty counters.)“
Events
Midweek Magic
Midweek Magic events begin on Tuesdays at 8 a.m. PT and end on Thursdays at 11 a.m. PT.
February 8–10: Cascade
February 15–17: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Phantom Bot Draft
February 22–24: Blast from the Past
March 3–5: Alchemy All Access
March 8–10: Omniscience
Arena Open
February 26–27: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Limited (Day 1: Sealed, Day 2: Draft)
April 16–17: Historic
Quick Draft
February 4–11: Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures of the Forgotten Realms
February 11–25: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt
February 25–March 11: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
March 11–25: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
March 25–April 8: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
Other Events
February 10–March 4: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Sealed (Best-of-One and Best-of-Three)
Be sure to finish your current set’s Mastery before the release of the next set. Also note that Daily Quests and Daily Wins will be reset again when the patch goes live, so be sure to complete what you have active, before the patch.
Use our Mastery Calculator to find out how much XP you might expect to gain and what level you can reach before it ends on April 28, 2022. More to be revealed soon!
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