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The MTG Arena Announcements go on Holiday Break

Following the surprise release of MTG Arena’s newest format, Alchemy, at the beginning of December, Wizards of the Coast has slowed down on the announcement of news, events and features on Arena. Although they have continued to publish their regular MTG Arena Announcements articles, we didn’t even cover last week’s bulletin as it didn’t contain any new information from the previous week.

This time, the Arena Announcements starts right off with “MTG Arena Announcements Return January 12,” signaling an official two-week hiatus for the articles during the December holidays. However, Wizards has provided us with a new schedule of events running through January 2022, so we’ll present that here along with a few other tidbits that were included today.

On a more speculative note (NOT officially confirmed), it’s possible that the Arena team could be looking at rebalancing some cards in Alchemy for the first time since the format’s release when the MTGA Announcements return – after all, January 8 will mark a full month since Alchemy’s debut and Wizards has said the format will be “regularly rebalanced”. We’ll keep you posted on any news concerning Alchemy nerfs and/or buffs as soon as we learn anything new.

Continued Alchemy Bugfixing

The client update that brought Alchemy to Arena wasn’t devoid of bugs, including issues with how cards behaved. Wizards’ team has been working to fix all of these gameplay-related bugs, and pushed out two patches over the last week to address bugs involving Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia; Siguardian Paladin; Savior of Ollenbock; the foretell mechanic and its interactions with perpetual cost reduction; issues with the seek mechanic; the disappearing clue token art; and more. You can view the full patch notes over on the MTG Arena support center.

The Arena Decathalon and Other Upcoming Events

Wizards reminds us in the announcements of the ongoing Arena Decathlon, now in its second pair of events. You can read all about the Decathlon in the December 8 Announcements where it was originally announced and also on our Event Guide, where you’ll find everything you need to know about participating in the event.

MTG Arena Decathlon Event Guide and Schedule

Meanwhile, Wizards has also released a full schedule of Midweek Magic and other MTG Arena events for the month of January, included at the bottom of the original post, embedded below. It’s likely that we’ll have some more events added to the schedule once January arrives and the Announcements return, but in the meantime, check out the details:

MTG Arena Announcements, December 22, 2021

MTG Arena Announcements Return January 12

We’ll be returning with more announcements on January 12. Until then, we want to wish you all a happy holiday season and an amazing New Year from the entire MTG Arena team!

Recent Updates

We’ve had a couple of updates and fixes ship recently. On Thursday of last week, the release included some bug fixes you can check out in the patch notes.

Also, this past Monday we released a 12.11 hotfix to fix a bug with Jadar, Ghoulcaller of Nephalia.

Arena Decathlon Continues!

Arena Decathlon is underway with the second pair of events happening right now, January 21–24. Compete in the series of upcoming events for a chance to enter the Arena Decathlon Finals where you could win one of each card from the forthcoming set, Kamigawa: Neon Destiny!

Earn tokens during each event in the schedule below. Collect three tokens from different events and claim one Arena Decathlon Finals entry. Earn six tokens from six different events and get two Finals entries. Eight tokens from different Arena Decathlon events will get you three Finals entries.

December 21–24

Phantom Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft
Note: the Phantom Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft event will start on December 22—one day later than originally published. This does not affect the New Player Decks event.
New Player Decks

December 24–27

Phantom Zendikar Rising Bot Draft
Historic Artisan

December 27–30

Historic
Alchemy Singleton

December 30–January 1

Traditional Standard
Phantom Strixhaven: School of Mages Turbo Draft

Get all the event details and the huge Finals rewards list in the Arena Decathlon article!

Lots of Events Coming in January!

We have a ton of events to keep you busy through the holidays and into the new year, from the casual no-entry fee fun of Midweek Magic to the big prize possibilities of Arena Decathlon—just check out the schedule of upcoming events below!

Event Schedule

Midweek Magic

Midweek Magic events begin on Tuesdays at 8 a.m. PT and end on Thursdays at 11 a.m. PT.

December 21–23: Historic Pauper
December 28–30: One for All
January 4–6: Historic Brawl
January 11–13: Alchemy
January 18–20: Momir
January 25–27: Slow Start

Quick Draft

November 26–December 10: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
December 10–24: Kaldheim
December 24–January 7: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
January 7–21: Strixhaven: School of Mages
January 21–February 4: Innistrad: Crimson Vow

Arena Decathlon

See the scheduled events on the Arena Decathlon page

Qualifier Weekend

More details available on the Qualifier Weekend information page.

January 22: Day 1 (must qualify through previous play)
- Format: Traditional Alchemy (Best-of-Three)
January 23: Day 2 (must qualify during Day 1 to participate)
- Format: Traditional Alchemy (Best-of-Three)

Other Events

December 9–17: Welcome to Alchemy!
January 6–21: Arena Cube Draft
January 6–21: Arena Cube Traditional Draft
January 21–February 1: Mad Science
- Format: Alchemy with a special gameplay emblem
- Note: This event will reward eternal night card styles from Innistrad: Crimson Vow.
January 28–February 10: Innistrad: Double Feature Draft
- (This draft format combines cards from Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and Innistrad: Crimson Vow.)
- Note: Each entry into this event will award a Dracula card style!

December 2021 Ranked Season

The December 2021 Ranked Season begins November 30 at 12:05 p.m. PT (20:05 UTC) and ends on December 31 at 12 p.m. PT (20:00 UTC).

Bronze Reward: 1 Innistrad: Crimson Vow pack
Silver Reward: 1 Innistrad: Crimson Vow pack + 500 gold
Gold Reward: 2 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Thirst for Discovery card style
Platinum Reward: 3 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Thirst for Discovery card style + Kessig Wolfrider card style
Diamond Reward: 4 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Thirst for Discovery card style + Kessig Wolfrider card style
Mythic Reward: 5 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Thirst for Discovery card style + Kessig Wolfrider card style

January 2022 Ranked Season

The January 2022 Ranked Season begins December 31 at 12:05 p.m. PT (20:05 UTC) and ends on January 31 at 12 p.m. PT (20:00 UTC).

Bronze Reward: 1 Innistrad: Crimson Vow pack
Silver Reward: 1 Innistrad: Crimson Vow pack + 500 gold
Gold Reward: 2 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Circle of Confinement card style
Platinum Reward: 3 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Circle of Confinement card style + Falkenrath Forebear card style
Diamond Reward: 4 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Circle of Confinement card style + Falkenrath Forebear card style
Mythic Reward: 5 Innistrad: Crimson Vow packs + 1,000 gold + Circle of Confinement card style + Falkenrath Forebear card style