MTG Arena Announcements: December 5, 2022 – Explorer Anthology 2 and Alchemy: The Brothers’ War Previews!

Wizards of the Coast (WotC) published their latest update bulletin for Magic: The Gathering Arena today, as expected. They announced their upcoming premier and casual play schedule for the rest of the month, as well as gave us a couple of updates about the two upcoming releases to the Arena client, Alchemy: The Brothers’ War and Explorer Anthology 2.

You can check out the latest cards previewed from Alchemy: BRO here. The cards we’ve seen so far feature an interesting mix of artifacts and spells that only function properly in a digital space like Arena. Alchemy is a pretty polarizing format that certainly competes for my attention with Pioneer and Limited, but there are some interesting designs to look forward to:

view card details

view card details

Meanwhile, I can’t wait to see which Pioneer cards the Arena team have decided to include in Explorer Anthology 2. Pioneer is my favorite format and I’m looking forward to the day when Explorer and Pioneer have identical card pools.

Finally, don’t forget to check out the Arena Open next week, as well as try to qualify for this month’s Qualifier Weekend on Friday!

Qualifier Play-In Best-of-Three This Friday

We’re heading into another big Premier Play weekend on MTG Arena. It kicks off on Friday, December 9, with the Qualifier Play-In Best-of-Three event. This is your last chance to squeeze into the December Qualifier Weekend also happening this coming weekend if you haven’t yet earned an invitation to the event!

Qualifier Weekend This Saturday

Immediately following the Qualifier Play-In, the December Qualifier Weekend event begins on Saturday, December 10, at 6 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00). You’ll need to have earned an invitation to participate in this two-day event, such as from the November ranked season—or maybe you’ll get yours during the Qualifier Play-In that happens this Friday just prior to this event?

However you earn your invitation, this is a big event that can catapult you into the Arena Championship in 2023!

Explorer Anthology 2 and Alchemy: The Brothers' WarArrive December 13!

December brings with it two cool sets to expand your formats, collections, and strategies. Both Explorer and Historic formats get an influx of curated cards with Explorer Anthology 2. There are 25 cards in the set, and you can check them out in the Explorer Anthology 2 details article (we’ll add more the day after they are previewed).

Alchemy gets a set of cards added to the format following the recent The Brothers’ War release. Alchemy: The Brothers' Waradds 30 cards that build on the set’s themes, as well as Alchemy’s unique digital-only gameplay possibilities. Check them out in the Alchemy: The Brothers' WarCard Image Gallery!

Get Unfinity Lands Before They’re Gone!

Unfinity space-ic lands and Unfinity borderless shock lands bundles are available in the MTG Arena Store, but not for much longer. Don’t miss the chance to add these to your collection before they disappear on December 13 at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00)!

Changes to Country-Specific Card Sleeves

We’ve made some changes to country-specific card sleeves in MTG Arena. Please read that announcement for more information.

The Brothers’ Brawl: The Battle Continues until December 9!

Time is running out to pick a side in the battle between Magic‘s mightiest brothers and add some sweet schematic card styles to your collection. Join a side in The Brothers’ Brawl event before Friday, December 9, at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00)!

Holiday Break for MTG Arena Announcements

We won’t have editions of our weekly announcements on December 26 and January 2 while our team is on holiday break. We’ll see you all in the new year when we resume on January 9, 2023!

Event Schedule

Events open at 8 a.m. PT and close to new entries at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00) on the dates shown unless otherwise noted.

Midweek Magic

Midweek Magic events open on Tuesdays at 8 a.m. PT and close to new entries on Thursdays at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00).

• December 6–8: Explorer All Access
• December 13–15: Into the Future
• December 20–22: Explorer
• December 27–29: Happy Brawlidays All-Access Brawl

Quick Draft

• November 25–December 9: The Brothers’ War
• December 9–23: Streets of New Capenna Planeshifted Quick Draft
• December 23–January 7: The Brothers’ War

Other Events

• November 15–December 10: The Brothers’ War Sealed (Best-of-Three)
• December 2–9: The Brothers’ Brawl
• December 13–20: Alchemy: The Brothers’ War Player Draft
• December 13–January 1: Arena Cube
• December 23–26: Explorer Metagame Challenge

Premier Play Schedule

All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-08:00).

Qualifier Play-Ins

Qualifier Play-In events are single-day tournaments in which players compete to earn invitations to that month’s Qualifier Weekend events.

December

• Best-of-Three Qualifier Play-In
  December 9, 6 a.m. PT–December 10, 3 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00)
  • Format: The Brothers’ War Sealed

Qualifier Weekends

Qualifier Weekend events are two-day events in which eligible players compete for invitations to the Arena Championship 1 held in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Qualifier Weekend Day One and Day Two events open to entries at 6 a.m. PT and close to new entries at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00) each day. You must enter within this two-hour window—late entries cannot be accommodated.

December

• Qualifier Weekend
  December 10, 6 a.m. PT–December 12, 4 p.m. PT
  • Format: The Brothers’ War Sealed (Best-of-Three)

Arena Open

The Arena Open Day 1 entry window begins at 6 a.m. PT and closes to new entries the following day at 3 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00).  Day 2 entry window is two hours only, from 6 a.m. PT until 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00). 

• Arena Open December 17–18
  • Day 1, December 17: Arena Cube Player Draft Best-of-One and Best-of-Three
    All participants will receive the Pacifism card sleeve:
    
  • Day 2, December 18: Arena Cube Player Draft 
    There are two Player Draft events on Day 2.

December 2022 Ranked Season

The December 2022 Ranked Season begins November 30 at 12:05 p.m. PT and ends on December 31 at 12 p.m. PT (UTC-08:00).

• Bronze Reward: 1 The Brothers’ War pack
• Silver Reward: 1 The Brothers’ War pack + 500 gold
• Gold Reward: 2 The Brothers’ War packs + 1000 gold + Monastery Swiftspear card style
• Platinum Reward: 3 The Brothers’ War packs + 1000 gold Monastery Swiftspear card style + Simian Simulacrum card style
• Diamond Reward: 4 The Brothers’ War packs + 1000 gold Monastery Swiftspear card style + Simian Simulacrum card style
• Mythic Reward: 5 The Brothers’ War packs + 1000 gold Monastery Swiftspear card style + Simian Simulacrum card style