Another week means another MTG Arena Announcements blog from Wizards of the Coast! The big update for Streets of New Capenna will arrive tomorrow on April 28 (at around 8 AM PST), here is a summary of what’s to come.
Explorer
Players can already start to build decks for the new Explorer format, as announced last week. The associated events and queues will be arriving with the patch tomorrow, as well as support in future events.
For those that missed it, Explorer will be a “true-to-tabletop” format that mirrors the paper Pioneer format, allowing all Standard set cards in MTG Arena from Return to Ravnica onwards. That means no digital-only cards, rebalanced cards, and cards from supplementary sets such as Modern Horizons and Jumpstart. Read more about it in our beginner’s guide:
Changes to the competitive structure in digital Magic: The Gathering has been announced last week. MTG Arena players now have a pathway towards the biggest tournament of the year, the Magic World Championship! Read more about it in detail here:
The next Arena Open is on May 14, and the format is Streets of New Capenna Sealed and Draft.
The first Play-In event (as outlined in the Digital Premier Play 2022) will be on May 21. The format is Best-of-One Streets of New Capenna Sealed, and six wins to grants you invitation to the May 28 Qualifier Weekend.
Rise of the Five Families Festival is a series of five events starts on May 12 to obtain the Golden Age showcase card styles. The format is Alchemy Singleton, with a different family inspired Emblem for each event. Of note, is the structure of the events are changing back to obtaining set card styles on the first five wins (rather than the randomized structure we had in the previous few festivals).
The Explorer format is now an option in the deck builder, so start building your decks, because the Explorer format launches tomorrow, April 28! You can read more about Explorer in the latest State of the Game article.
Then, tune up your best deck for the Explorer Metagame Challenge coming May 6–9. Play Best-of-Three matches to claim gold and Streets of New Capenna packs!
REACH THE MAGIC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
You can now qualify for the Magic World Championship in MTG Arena! The new Premier Play system offers players paths to reach the highest levels of competitive Magic. Check out MTG Arena Premier Play in 2022 for complete details.
ARENA OPEN MAY 14–15
The next Arena Open is only a couple weeks away! Now that Streets of New Capenna is out, you can start practicing with the new cards to prepare for the event, which will feature Limited formats:
Day 1 – Streets of New Capenna Sealed (Best-of-One and Best-of-Three)
Day 2 – Streets of New Capenna Player Draft (Best-of-Three)
Stay tuned for complete details coming soon.
MTG ARENA‘S FIRST PLAY-IN EVENT
Our first Play-In event, which can earn you an invitation to this month’s Qualifier Weekend, is set for May 21! Compete in Best-of-One Phantom Streets of New Capenna Sealed matches for prizes, and reach six wins to be invited to the May 28–29 Qualifier Weekend!
Get ready to fete the five crime families of Streets of New Capenna! The Rise of the Five Families Festival explores each family’s particular way of doing business and exposes how they ascended to the ritzy heights of New Capenna’s upper crust.
What’s in it for you? Here’s the deal: you can score golden age showcase card styles that’ll prove you’re a big shot and not some chump with a lot of chin music.
Each event’s format is Alchemy Singleton with Best-of-One matches, but with a unique emblem twist inspired by each family!
The first two events feature the Maestros and the Obscura back to back.
Rise of the Maestros: May 12–15
Emblem: “Once during each of your turns, you may cast an instant or sorcery spell from your graveyard by sacrificing a creature in addition to paying its other costs. If a spell cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead.”
Card styles:
Rise of the Obscura: May 15–18
Emblem: “Whenever you attack, target attacking creature connives.”
