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It’s Wednesday again, which means it’s time for us to review another MTG Arena Announcements bulletin from Wizards of the Coast. We’re approaching the scheduled downtime for Arena which will coincide with a significant client update on Tuesday, August 24.
Today, Wizards has provided some more specific details on how the day is expected to play out. At 5:30 am Pacific Time, new matches will no longer be able to begin, and real-world money purchases will be disabled. Then, at 7:00 am PT, the downtime will fully begin. Wizards predicts that the downtime will end about four hours later at 11:00.
The first time you log in following the downtime, season rewards from the August season will be granted along with the ten new starter decks. As previously announced, the season rewards will still be doubled since the planned second August season had to be cancelled.
On August 26, two days after the client update and downtime, the new Arena-only set Jumpstart: Historic Horizons will be unlocked in the client, along with the new Historic Brawl play queue. In the meantime, the Historic Brawl Fest event will continue on Arena until the update is deployed on August 24.
Meanwhile, there are still two more draft events underway that each player can enter once for free as an apology for the update’s delay. Kaladesh Remastered is live now until August 20, and Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths will run from the 20th through the 26th when Historic Horizons releases.
Lastly, this week’s Midweek Magic event is Standard All-Access where players can play any card legal in Standard regardless of whether they have it in their collection.
As always, the announcements also include the most up-to-date schedule of events in Arena with full details on the rewards for the ranked season which will be ending on the 24th. The full text of Wizard’s original announcement is included below for your convenience.
MTG Arena Announcements, August 18, 2021
August 24 Downtime and Release for Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
The August release that includes the backend update and Jumpstart: Historic Horizons is scheduled for Tuesday, August 24. The downtime on that day will generally follow this schedule (times are approximate):
- 5:30 a.m. PT – Matches can no longer begin, and real money purchases are disabled.
- 7:00 a.m. PT – Downtime begins.
- Roughly 11:00 a.m. PT – Downtime ends. Season rewards for the August 2021 season will be awarded on your first login after downtime, as will the ten new decks.
Jumpstart: Historic Horizons is set to start on August 26 and will be available through October 14 to give you plenty of time to enjoy it and the forthcoming Innistrad: Midnight Hunt set release on September 16.
You can find details on the new backend update and release plan in Jay Parker’s article.
Historic Brawl Fest Happening Now!
The Historic Brawl Fest is underway in MTG Arena and continues until the downtime on August 24. Following the release and downtime, the Historic Brawl queue will open and be available through September 9. We’ll be gathering information on how active the queue is during this time and will be announcing more about plans for the queue beyond September 9.
August 2021 Ranked “Doubling Season”
The August 2021 Ranked Season continues until the August 24 downtime when players’ ranks will be reset at the end as normal. The September 2021 Ranked Season will be slightly longer, beginning on August 24 following the downtime and running through September 30.
To honor the rewards announced before moving the downtime to August 24, the August season is now a “doubling season” that will feature double gold and pack rewards, plus twice as many card styles at each rank!
Also, to honor the invitation structure, both the first 500 players to reach Mythic rank and the approximate Top 500 Mythic-rank players, as of 7:00 a.m. PT on August 10 in both Constructed and Limited, will be extended Qualifier Weekend invitations. You can read more about these additional invitations in our updated announcement.
No-Entry-Fee Premier Drafts!
The no-entry-fee Premier Drafts continue with Kaladesh happening right now through August 20. Enjoy your first entry to these Premier Drafts without an entry fee, so give them a try before they’re gone!
- August 15–20: Kaladesh Remastered
- August 20–26: Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths
Midweek Magic: Standard All Access Aug 17–19
Midweek Magic‘s format this week is Standard All Access. Build 60-card decks using any cards legal in the Standard format and available in MTG Arena—even if they’re not in your collection!
Cards not in your collection are only available during the event and are not added to your collection, but this is an excellent opportunity to experiment with and tune up your dream decks in matches against other players before you craft those cards you’ve had your eye on!
Midweek Magic events run weekly from Tuesday at 8 a.m. PT through Thursday at 8 a.m. PT with a different format each week. There is no entry fee, and you can earn two rare individual card rewards—just like FNM at Home.
Events Schedule
Midweek Magic
- August 17–19: Standard All Access
- August 24–26: Standard 2022 (starts after Aug. 24 downtime)
- August 31–September 2: Historic Pauper
Quick Draft
- August 10–27: Kaldheim
- August 27–September 10: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Other Events
- August 12–24: Historic Brawl Fest
- August 15–20: Premier Draft Kaladesh Remastered (your first draft has no entry!)
- August 20–26: Premier Draft Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths (your first draft has no entry!)
- August 24–September 9 (or more!): Historic Brawl queue
- August 26–October 14: Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
August 2021 Ranked Season
The August 2021 Ranked Season runs from July 31 at 12:05 p.m. PT (19:05 UTC) until downtime on August 24 at 7 a.m. PT (14:00 UTC). Check out the update to our announcement last week for additional details on Qualifier Weekend invitations for the August season.
- Bronze reward: 2 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms pack
- Silver reward: 2 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms pack + 1,000 gold
- Gold reward: 4 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 2,000 gold + Magic Missile + Chaos Channeler card style
- Platinum reward: 6 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 2,000 gold + Magic Missile card style + Chaos Channeler card style + Triumphant Adventurer card style + Skeletal Swarming card style
- Diamond reward: 8 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 2,000 gold + Magic Missile card style + Chaos Channeler card style + Triumphant Adventurer card style + Skeletal Swarming card style
- Mythic reward: 10 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 2,000 gold + Magic Missile card style + Chaos Channeler card style + Triumphant Adventurer card style + Skeletal Swarming card style
