MTG Arena Announcements and Updates to Golden Packs and Individual Card Rewards – September 5, 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. In addition, we have an update to Golden Packs and Individual Card Rewards (ICRs).

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UPDATES TO GOLDEN PACKS AND INDIVIDUAL CARD REWARDS

Until the release of Wilds of Eldraine, Standard and Alchemy rotations occurred each September. (Standard “rotation” is when a new set is released for the Standard format at the same time as sets that were released more than one year prior leave—or rotate out of—the Standard format.) Thus far, focusing rewards on Standard (except for with The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth™) worked to achieve the goals of both formats. As Standard is not rotating alongside Alchemy with this release, the formats going forward will now be more different from one another.

We want Golden Packs, as well as individual card rewards (ICRs), for Daily Wins and Midweek Magic to appeal to players focused on each format and to balance their interests. So, these ICRs will include only cards legal in both Standard and Alchemy. They won’t include cards from Alchemy releases for each set, and they won’t include cards from the oldest Magic year of Standard that is no longer legal in Alchemy.

The one exception to this is that Golden Packs will still contain standalone Alchemy sets (such as The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth), though to a lesser degree when they are not the most recent set.

This means that with the Wilds of Eldraine release, Golden Packs will contain:

• 2 Rares and/or mythic rares from Wilds of Eldraine
• 1 Mythic rare from Dominaria United, The Brothers’ War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, March of the Machine, March of the Machine: The Aftermath, or Wilds of Eldraine
• 1 Rare or mythic rare from Dominaria United, The Brothers’ War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, March of the Machine, March of the Machine: The Aftermath, or Wilds of Eldraine
• 2 Rares and/or mythic rares from Dominaria United, The Brothers’ War, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, March of the Machine, March of the Machine: The Aftermath, The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, or Wilds of Eldraine

DUPLICATE PROTECTION

If you open a card in a Golden Pack that you already have four copies of in your collection, duplicate protection will be handled as follows, in order:

• It will be replaced with a card from the same set of same rarity that you don’t have four copies of in your collection.
• If there are no such cards, then it will be replaced with another card of the same rarity that you don’t have four copies of in your collection from a Standard-legal set in Golden Packs.
• If there are no such cards, then it will be replaced with another card of the same rarity that you don’t have four copies of in your collection from an Alchemy standalone set in Golden Packs.
• If there are no such cards, then it will be replaced with 20 gems if the card is rare or 40 gems if the card is mythic rare.

PLAY WILDS OF ELDRAINE TODAY!

The fairy tale begins today! Start spinning your own tales with Wilds of Eldraine in MTG Arena with new store items, new events, and Renewal! Log in after this morning’s update to see what’s new, play with the new cards, and enjoy the opening of your Renewal Egg!

WILDS OF ELDRAINE RELEASE NOTES

In case you missed it, get an overview of the new set in the Wilds of Eldraine Release Notes. It covers collecting the new set on MTG Arena, set mechanics, duplicate protection details, improvements for advanced filters, that cool new multiple pack opening animation in the video above, and more.

UPDATES TO GOLDEN PACKS AND ICRS

We also have updated details on Golden Packs and individual card rewards (ICRs) relating to Standard rotation, those format changes, and what you can expect in Golden Packs with the Wilds of Eldraine release.

IT’S SEPTEMBER—GET BONUS XP!

Now that we’re officially into September, you can start earning XP for your MTG Arena account by playing in Magic events at Wizards Play Network (WPN) game stores. Just register for an event using your Wizards Account and play in events like the Wilds of Eldraine Prerelease, Friday Night Magic, and more. 

Plus, for each WPN game store event you play in, you’ll earn 1,000 XP—up to a maximum of 4,000 XP if you play in four events!

Get complete details on how to earn XP playing Magic at a WPN store! 

ARENA OPEN: WILDS OF ELDRAINE SEPTEMBER 16–17

You have about a week and a half to squeeze in some practice play with Wilds of Eldraine before the big two-day tournament Arena Open: Wilds of Eldraine on September 16–17! It’ll feature both Best-of-One and Best-of-Three Sealed competitions on Day 1. Perform well, and you’ll get invited to Day 2 where you’ll face top players in back-to-back Wilds of Eldraine Draft events. Top players can walk away with invitations to the October Qualifier Weekend event and up to $2,000!

EVENT SCHEDULE

Events open at 8 a.m. PT on their starting dates (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).  

• September 5–7: Alchemy
• September 12–14: Wilds of Eldraine Constructed
• September 19–21: Explorer
• September 26–28: The Brothers’ War Bot Draft

QUICK DRAFT

• August 29–September 15: March of the Machine
• September 15–26: Wilds of Eldraine
• September 26–October 10: The Brothers’ War
• October 10–24: Wilds of Eldraine

OTHER EVENTS

• August 21–September 5: Historic No Banned List, All Access!
• September 5–29: Wilds of Eldraine Sealed
• September 28–October 1: Dark Tutelage Alchemy
• October 1–6: Season of Growth Standard
• October 6–10: Gift Bag Historic

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 to your MTG Arena inbox. Remember to claim them before the event starts!

SEPTEMBER

• Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-One)
  September 23, 6 a.m. PT–September 23, 6 a.m. PT
  • Format: Wilds of Eldraine Limited
• Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
  September 29, 6 a.m.–September 30, 3 a.m. PT
  • Format: Wilds of Eldraine Limited
• Qualifier Weekend
  September 30, 6 a.m. PT–October 1, 4 p.m. PT
  • Format: Wilds of Eldraine 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: Wilds of Eldraine Limited
  • September 16: Day One, Wilds of Eldraine Sealed (Best-of-One and Best-of-Three)
  • September 17: Day Two, Wilds of Eldraine Draft (Best-of-Three)

ARENA CHAMPIONSHIP 4

The Arena Championship is an invitation-only, two-day virtual event for players who earn invitations through Qualifier Weekend events.

• Arena Championship 4
  October 7–8
  • Format: Historic and Wilds of Eldraine Draft (both Best-of-Three with sideboard)

SEPTEMBER 2023 RANKED SEASON

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

• Bronze Reward: 1 Wilds of Eldraine pack
• Silver Reward: 1 Wilds of Eldraine pack + 500 gold
• Gold Reward: 2Wilds of Eldraine packs + 1,000 gold + Ego Drain card style
• Platinum Reward: 3 Wilds of Eldraine packs + 1,000 gold + Ego Drain card style + Regal Bunnicorn card style
• Diamond Reward: 4 Wilds of Eldraine packs + 1,000 gold + Ego Drain card style + Regal Bunnicorn card style
• Mythic Reward: 5 Wilds of Eldraine packs + 1,000 gold + Ego Drain card style + Regal Bunnicorn card style