MTG Arena Announcements – July 3, 2023

The weekly MTG Arena Announcement post has been published by Wizards of the Coast! Here’s the roundup of everything that is happening and upcoming on MTG Arena! Check out the original source post here or the transcript below. On a related note, you can now check out our newly updated set release and event schedule (specifically for MTG Arena).

Magic: The Gathering Arena Set Release and Event Schedule

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READY TO GET COMPETITIVE?

We have two Premier Play events coming up that will get you into competitive Magic while enjoying the latest set!

ARENA OPEN: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: TALES OF MIDDLE-EARTH LIMITED, JULY 1–2

Two days of exciting competitive play await you in the next Arena Open, July 1–2.

• Day 1 features Best-of-One and Best-of-Three Sealed Deck matches, with max wins—seven in Best-of-One or four in Best-of-Three—earning you an invitation to Day 2 events.
• Day 2 steps up the competition as invited players from Day 1 face each other in two Best-of-Three Player Draft showdowns. Earn three or four wins in Draft One to be invited to Draft Two, where the prizes include an invitation to the August Qualifier Weekend and up to $2,000!

All players who enter the Arena Open will receive the Dragon Hoard sleeve:

BEST-OF-ONE QUALIFIER PLAY-IN, JULY 8

The Friday following the Arena Open will feature the first of July’s Qualifier Play-In tournaments. This Best-of-One event can earn you an invitation to the July Qualifier Weekend, July 15–16, that is the gateway to Arena Championship 4 later this year!

KEEP IT CASUAL WITH THE LORD OF THE RINGS: TALES OF MIDDLE-EARTH EVENTS

MTG Arena isn’t just about high-stakes competitive play—we have lots of events for you to relax and play with the latest set!

QUICK DRAFT: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: TALES OF MIDDLE-EARTH

Right now, you can play The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Quick Draft. Take your time drafting against bots, and then enjoy single matches against other players with your carefully considered 40-card deck. Earn prizes and keep the cards you draft! Read more in the Quick Draft Guide and check the schedule below for even more events.

THE TWO (COMMAND) TOWERS BRAWL JULY 7–14

Your favorite legendary creature from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is ready to command your 60-card Alchemy-legal Brawl deck into battle from July 7–14! Legendary creatures and planeswalkers are banned except those from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth.

Play, win Core Set 2021 showcase basic lands, and change decks as much as you want until the event ends!

JULY 7–9 CELEBRATE MAGIC AT YOUR LOCAL WPN STORE 

Join us for the Magic Celebration Event at your local WPN game store July 7–9! It takes just three easy steps: 

1. Register and play Jumpstart! Purchase two Jumpstart packets and play three casual rounds at your store. The first 30 players to register and play Jumpstart at the Magic Celebration Event will receive a limited-edition, collectible dice set that includes three six-sided (d6) dice!
2. Form your Fellowship! Bring up to eight friends, and you’ll all get a special Thought Vesselpromo card!
3. Claim a Precious! Use your registered MTG Arena Wizards account in the Magic Companion app to get a special, ready-to-play deck in your MTG Arena inbox, beginning July 23—just be sure to log in with the account you use to play MTG Arena! (This promotion only applies in select regions where MTG Arena codes are valid.)

Don’t miss it!

CORRECTION: JUNE RANKED SEASON PACK REWARDS

In previous MTG Arena Announcements, we incorrectly listed the June 2023 Ranked Seasons pack rewards as March of the Machine packs. In fact, the June 2023 Ranked Season pack rewards are The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth packs. We’ve made note of this and corrected the packs listed in our previous posts.

If you wish to swap your rewarded packs to the previously mentioned March of the Machine packs, please reach out to Customer Support, and we will make this change to your rewards. We appreciate your understanding!

TWO NEW ANTHOLOGIES ARE COMING JULY 18!

July is hot in MTG Arena! Two new anthologies arrive on July 18, introducing a total of 50 Magic cards to digital play! To give you a taste, we’re previewing three for each anthology right here, with more previews to come on both July 8 and 9.

HISTORIC ANTHOLOGY 7

Historic gets an injection of 25 cards to deepen the format even further. These are exciting cards from across Magic‘s history that are coming to MTG Arena for the first time. Here are a few to whet your appetite!

EXPLORER ANTHOLOGY 3

Also on July 18, the Explorer format gets 25 new-to-digital cards that expand this exciting and growing format. It’s not just Explorer that’ll benefit from these additions—these cards will be legal in all Historic formats!

AUGUST QUALIFIER WEEKEND FORMAT CHANGE

The format for the August Qualifier Weekend event on August 12–13 is changing. As we just announced above, we’re adding 25 cards in Explorer Anthology 3 on July 18, and we want to give those a chance to shine in competitive play. So, the new format for the August Qualifier Weekend will be Explorer!

EVENT SCHEDULE

Events open on the starting date at 8 a.m. PT (excluding Midweek Magic) and close to entries at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-07:00) on the ending date shown unless otherwise noted.

MIDWEEK MAGIC

Midweek Magic events open on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. PT and close to new entries on Thursdays at 2 p.m. PT (UTC-07:00).

• July 4–6: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Constructed
• July 11–13: Historic Brawl
• July 18–20: Standard

QUICK DRAFT

• June 30–July 11: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
• July 11–18: The Brothers’ War
• July 18–August 1: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth
• August 1–5: Dominaria United

OTHER EVENTS

• June 20–July 18: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Sealed
• July 7–14: The Two (Command) Towers
• July 17–25: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Premier Draft

PREMIER PLAY SCHEDULE

All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-07:00). 

QUALIFIER EVENTS

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

Qualifier Weekend events are two-day events in which eligible players compete for invitations to upcoming Arena Championship events. Check out the standings to see who’s qualified for Arena Championship 4. 

Qualifier tokens are delivered in your MTG Arena inbox. Remember to claim them before the event starts! 

JULY

• Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-One)
  July 8, 6 a.m. PT–July 9, 3 a.m. PT
  • Format: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Limited
• Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
  July 14, 6 a.m. PT–July 15, 3 a.m. PT
  • Format: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Limited
• Qualifier Weekend
  July 15, 6 a.m. PT–July 16, 4 p.m. PT
  • Format: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Limited

ARENA OPEN

The Arena Open Day One entry window begins at 6 a.m. PT and closes to new entries the following day at 3 a.m. PT (UTC-07:00). The Day Two entry window is 2 hours only, from 6 a.m. PT until 8 a.m. PT (UTC-07:00).

Arena Open: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (LTR) Limited
July 1–2

• July 1: Day One, LTR Sealed (Best-of-One and Best-of-Three)
• July 2: Day Two, LTR Player Draft (Best-of-Three)
  There are two Player Draft events on Day Two.
• Entry reward: Dragon Hoard sleeve

JULY 2023 RANKED SEASON

The June 2023 Ranked Season begins June 30 at 12:05 p.m. PT and ends on July 31 at 12 p.m. PT (UTC-07:00)

• Bronze Reward: 1 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth pack
• Silver Reward: 1 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth pack + 500 gold
• Gold Reward: 2 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth packs + 1,000 gold + Shadow Summoning card style
• Platinum Reward: 3 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth packs + 1,000 gold + Shadow Summoning card style + Press the Enemy card style
• Diamond Reward: 4 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth packs + 1,000 gold + Shadow Summoning card style + Press the Enemy card style
• Mythic Reward: 5 The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth packs + 1,000 gold + Shadow Summoning card style + Press the Enemy card style