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).
Congratulations to Benjamin Broadstone, the Arena Championship 3 Winner!
This past weekend featured the Arena Championship 3, the pinnacle of competitive achievement in MTG Arena, and Benjamin Broadstone walked away with the championship title, $30,000 in winnings, and an invitation to this year’s Magic World Championship!
Start Your Historic Journey to Arena Championship 4
Reaching the Arena Championship as a competitor is a challenge, but if you have the skills, we have the paths that will take you there—and your first step on one of those paths happens this weekend!
You’ll have another option to reach for the big events on Friday, June 9, with the Best-of-Three Qualifier Play-In. The format is Traditional Historic (Best-of-Three) as well.
Then, with invitation in hand, you’ll be ready for the Qualifier Weekend event, June 10–11. The format is Traditional Historic (Best-of-Three), so start planning and practicing now!
Ian Adams Talks about Battles in MTG Arena
Join Ian tomorrow for a Q&A session on the Magic Discord channel Tuesday, May 30, from 1 p.m to 2 p.m. PT!
Battles arrived with March of the Machine, introducing a new card type—and a new challenge for the developers behind MTG Arena. Ian Adams returns for a comprehensive look behind the scenes at what it was like to add battles to the game. Check out his article, We Put Battles on MTG Arena: What Was That Like?
Banned and Restricted List Update
The Banned and Restricted list in MTG Arena will be updated tomorrow, May 30. Read more about the changes and the philosophy behind the banned and restricted list with our update to Standard rotation in the May 29, 2023 Banned and Restricted Announcement.
We have a couple of rebalances coming Tuesday, May 30, to the Alchemy format.
Mono-Red Rebalances
Mono-red aggressive decks are among the top performing decks on the Alchemy ladder, especially in Best-of-One matches. Most cards in mono-red are replaceable with others, but Kumano Faces Kakkazan, Traumatic Prank, and burn spells such as Lightning Strike are unique effects that are played in almost every version of mono-red.
We are only rebalancing Kumano Faces Kakkazan and Traumatic Prankto directly target mono-red aggro and avoid weakening red’s removal in other decks.
Kumano Faces Kakkazan is the most efficient one-drop in mono-red that plays well with both creature-centric and spell-centric builds with its second chapter and by triggering prowess. Etching of Kumano loses haste.
Traumatic Prankefficiently answers large creatures that are otherwise supposed to be strong against red decks. The cost increases to 3R (from 2R).
May 30: Preorder The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth on MTG Arena!
Starting Tuesday, May 30, join the Fellowship! Choose your bundle for your epic adventure there and back again!
Log in to MTG Arena Tuesday, May 30, following the update to preorder The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth bundles!
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).
May 30–June 1: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Phantom Sealed
June 6–8: Historic Pauper
June 13–15: Momir
June 20–22: Starter Deck Test Drive
June 27–29: The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Phantom Sealed
QUICK DRAFT
May 26–June 6: March of the Machine
June 9–16: The Brothers’ War
June 16–29: Phyrexia: All Will Be One
OTHER EVENTS
May 26–June 3: Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Premier Draft
June 2–5: Treasured Festival: Historic Singleton
June 3–11: Innistrad: Crimson Vow Premier Draft
June 12–20: Chromatic Cube
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.
Qualifier tokens are delivered in your MTG Arena inbox. Remember to claim them before the event starts!
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 Limited July 1–2
July 1: Day One, LTR Sealed (Best-of-One and Best-of-Three)
July 2: Day Two, LTRPlayer Draft (Best-of-Three) There are two Player Draft events on Day Two.
May 2023 Ranked Season
The May 2023 Ranked Season begins April 30 at 12:05 p.m. PT and ends on May 31 at 12 p.m. PT (UTC-07:00)
Bronze Reward: 1 March of the Machine pack
Silver Reward: 1 March of the Machinepack + 500 gold
Gold Reward: 2 March of the Machine packs + 1,000 gold + Change the Equation card style
