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Wizards of the Coast has released this week’s MTG Arena Announcements, and this time, much of the article is dedicated to reviewing a list of known issues caused by the backend changes that were deployed yesterday, August 24. Here’s the full list published by Wizards, but it appears to be incomplete based on reports coming in from players across the internet:

Players are receiving Bronze-tier ranked rewards even with no matches played.
Players who did not log in at all in the last season may encounter a blank ranked rewards screen. (Note: the proper rewards are still received; they just aren’t displayed properly.)
Direct Challenge matches are sometimes not connecting properly.
All invalid decks are displaying the red warning triangle rather than showing the count of invalid cards or the need to craft cards.
Deck favorite settings have been lost.
Historic Brawl games have a starting life total of 20 instead of 25.
Quests and win bonuses are not resetting at the expected times.

Most notably missing from this list is that players are apparently able to play certain cards that have been banned in their respective format. We know that Historic and Standard 2022 have both been affected, but it is unclear if other formats have been as well. The issue is also absent from the Arena support team’s known issues list.

Bugs aside, Jumpstart: Historic Horizons is still on schedule to be released tomorrow as planned. The Jumpstart event will cost 2,000 gold or 400 gems, and can be played as many times as you like in one entry. Once you leave the event, you can rejoin and select new Jumpstart packs by paying the entry fee again.

The Historic Brawl Queue is also online now, although life totals begin at 20 instead of 25 as noted on the bugs list.

As always, the announcements bulletin also includes the usual updated Arena event schedule from Wizards, and a full description of the season rewards for the new September ranked season. The full text of the announcement can be found below.

MTG Arena Announcements, August 25, 2021

Major Backend Update

Our release on Tuesday, August 24, included a major change to many backend systems for MTG Arena. Changes of this scale frequently bring some bugs that can only be found under the conditions of full release play volumes, and we’re finding some of those now. We’re working to get these issues fixed as soon as possible.

Here are some of the large known issues we’re currently tracking:

Players are receiving Bronze-tier ranked rewards even with no matches played.
Players who did not log in at all in the last season may encounter a blank ranked rewards screen. (Note: the proper rewards are still received; they just aren’t displayed properly.)
Direct Challenge matches are sometimes not connecting properly.
All invalid decks are displaying the red warning triangle rather than showing the count of invalid cards or the need to craft cards.
Deck favorite settings have been lost.
Historic Brawl games have a starting life total of 20 instead of 25.
Quests and win bonuses are not resetting at the expected times.

You can view a full list of known issues we’re working on. If you encounter issues or concerns with your account you should contact MTG Arena support. The update introducing Jumpstart: Historic Horizons scheduled for tomorrow, August 26, will include fixes for some of these issues.

We’ll pass along additional information as we learn it!

Jumpstart: Historic Horizons Starts Tomorrow

The wait is almost over: Jumpstart: Historic Horizons kicks off tomorrow, August 26! Select from themed packets to build a deck for play, then jump in! Check out the Jumpstart: Historic Horizons packet lists to see what you’ll find. Cards included in packets are either new to MTG Arena or use existing card versions available, and cards from the chosen packet will be added to your collection.

Entry is 2,000 gold or 400 gems. Each of your first two wins awards a rare or mythic rare individual card reward (ICR) from Jumpstart: Historic Horizons.

Play with a deck as long as you like; you can resign when done. Want to try different packets and earn more rewards? After you resign, you may pay the entry again and rejoin!

Historic Brawl Queue Now Open

Get all the Historic Brawl you can handle in the newly opened queue. The 100-card Historic Brawl queue is available now and will remain open indefinitely!

Midweek Magic: Standard 2022 Aug 24–26

Midweek Magic‘s format this week is Standard 2022. Build 60-card decks using only the sets that will still be in Standard after the rotation: Zendikar Rising, Kaldheim, Strixhaven: School of Mages, and Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms.

Don’t have a legal Standard 2022 deck? Actually, you do! Ten new decks were added after the big update and await you after your first login following the update—you can find them among your decks, or you can unlock them through the Color Challenge!

This week’s Midweek Magic continues until Thursday, August 26, at 8 a.m. PT. There is no entry fee, and you can earn two rare individual card rewards

Events Schedule

Midweek Magic

August 24–26: Standard 2022
August 31–September 2: Historic Pauper
September 7–9: Historic Artisan

Quick Draft

August 27–September 10: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
September 17–October 1: Strixhaven: School of Mages

Other Events

August 26–October 14: Jumpstart: Historic Horizons
September 3: Yargle Day!
September 3–16: Tinkerer’s Cube
September 3–16: Traditional Tinkerer’s Cube
September 11: Arena Open Day 1
- Historic (Best-of-One) or Traditional Historic (Best-of-Three), both options available
September 12: Arena Open Day 2 (requires qualification token from Day 1)
- Traditional Historic (Best-of-Three)

September 2021 Ranked Season

The September 2021 Ranked Season begins August 24 following downtime and ends on September 30 at 12 p.m. PT (1900 UTC).

Bronze reward: 1 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms pack
Silver reward: 1 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms pack + 500 gold
Gold reward: 2 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 1,000 gold + Power Word Kill card style
Platinum reward: 3 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 1,000 gold + Power Word Kill card style + Adult Gold Dragon card style
Diamond reward: 4 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 1,000 gold + Power Word Kill card style + Adult Gold Dragon card style
Mythic reward: 5 Adventures in the Forgotten Realms packs + 1,000 gold + Power Word Kill card style + Adult Gold Dragon card style