Magic Online players have been used to having wait ten days, or sometimes as long as two weeks, to play the new set following the paper Prereleases.

No longer. Now you can play them the next day.

Play Amonkhet Prereleases in your local game store on Saturday and Sunday, April 22–23. Then on Monday, April 24—the next day—you'll be able to play Amonkhet events on Magic Online as well!

Additionally, like with Aether Revolt, we're not going to have specific Prerelease events on Magic Online. Feedback from our Aether Revolt experiment with this went well, and players strongly enjoyed being able to play in the variety of events Magic Online normally offers.

Competitive and Friendly leagues will be available for sealed, and Competitive, Intermediate, and Friendly leagues will be available for draft. They will have the same entry and prize structures as they do now for Aether Revolt. New to Magic Online or want a refresher? You can see the full details at the end of this article.

Banned and Restricted Timing

This new schedule did present a new timing question for us, however. Previously, Magic Online always began the new set after the banned and restricted changes were announced. However, now they are the same day! We also don't want to spoil the announcement, of course.

So we have two different plans for April 24, the "No Changes" plan and the "Any Changes" plan. You can see the details on each below. We wanted to provide them so players would have the right expectations about what would happen. Please do not interpret the existence of the plan as Wizards planning a banned and restricted list change. As I'm writing this article, no decisions have been made. We just wanted our plan to be thorough.

No Changes Wednesday, April 19 Downtime (Amonkhet build) Monday, April 24 Aether Revolt and Legacy Cube events close Monday, April 24—8 a.m. PT Banned and Restricted Announcement Monday, April 24 Amonkhet Limited Leagues begin Monday, April 24 Amonkhet Constructed Leagues begin

Any Changes Wednesday, April 19 Downtime (Amonkhet build) Monday, April 24 Aether Revolt and Legacy Cube events close Monday, April 24—8 a.m. PT Banned and Restricted Announcement Monday, April 24 Magic Online downtime begins Monday, April 24— around 12 p.m. PT Magic Online downtime ends Monday, April 24 Amonkhet Limited Leagues begin Monday, April 24 Amonkhet Constructed Leagues begin

If there are changes, Magic Online will go down to implement the banned and restricted changes. We'll also create the Amonkhet events while down, so players can join them immediately as soon as we're back up.

Unfortunately, implementing the banned and restricted changes currently requires a downtime. We are looking to expand our infrastructure in the future so that this is not necessary. The upside for Constructed players, however, is it means the banned and restricted changes will take effect the same day—in fact mere hours after—it is announced.

If this downtime happens, our goal is to make it as short as we can to let players play with Amonkhet cards as soon as possible, so we will not be running redemption. Players can redeem sets during the April 19 downtime as normal (regardless of any banned or restricted list changes).

We'll also be scheduling the new Constructed Leagues to end around the midseason banned and restricted timing. For any formats that change midseason, we'll let the existing League end and put up a new one in its place. Leagues for formats without a change will simply be extended to last until Hour of Devastation releases on Magic Online.

Prestige Avatars

As we have since Kaladesh, we want to allow players to demonstrate their trophy-winning accomplishments in Leagues. Here are the Silver, Gold, and Mythic Prestige Avatars you can earn by getting trophies in Constructed Leagues and Amonkhet Limited Leagues during Amonkhet season.

Here's how you can earn these:

Silver Prestige Avatar: Hazoret the Fervent

5 or more trophies in the Friendly Amonkhet Draft League

5 or more trophies in the Intermediate Amonkhet Draft League

5 or more trophies in the Friendly Amonkhet Sealed League

2 or more trophies in any single Friendly Constructed League

Gold Prestige Avatar: Oketra the True

4 or more trophies in the Competitive Amonkhet Draft League

4 or more trophies in the Competitive Amonkhet Sealed League

4 or more trophies in any single Competitive Constructed League

Mythic Prestige Avatar: Liliana, Death's Majesty

12 or more trophies in the Competitive Amonkhet Draft League

6 or more trophies in the Competitive Amonkhet Sealed League

6 or more trophies in any Competitive Constructed League

Finishing with 6 or more wins in any single MOCS Monthly event during Amonkhet season

Prestige avatars will be granted at the conclusion of the Amonkhet season. Good luck earning those trophies and have fun showing off your accomplishments!

Treasure Chest Changes

A few changes for Treasure Chests. First, we're reducing the frequency C16/CN2 cards appear from 4% in each of the three slots to 2% in those slots. Instead, you're more likely to get a curated card (in Slot 1) or a Modern rare/mythic rare (in Slot 2 and Slot 3). Here's the new table:

Slot Curated Card Modern Rare/Mythic C16/CN2 Cards Play Points Standard Commons/Uncommons 1 21% 47% 2% 30% 0% 2 5% 12% 2% 0% 81% 3 1% 5% 2% 0% 92%

The Amonkhet Invocations are being added to the curated card list with a frequency ratio of 20. Since we're moving away from Kaladesh block, the Kaladesh Inventions, already in the curated card list, are being reduced in frequency ratio from 20 to 6.

There are other changes to the curated list as well. Most notably, other versions of the Amonkhet Invocation cards are having their frequency ratios reduced to make room for the Invocation versions. You can see the curated card list changes (beyond the changes in the previous paragraph). A 0 for "Old Frequency Ratio" means that card is being added, while a 0 for "New Frequency Ratio" means that card is being removed.

Amonkhet Event Structures

Friendly Draft League

Product: 3 Amonkhet boosters

Structure: Draft, then single-game matches at your convenience until either 7 wins or 4 losses, whichever comes first

Entry Options: 12 Event Tickets 3 Amonkhet Boosters + 2 Event Tickets 120 Play Points

Prizes: 7 wins: 120 Play Points 6 wins: 100 Play Points 5 wins: 80 Play Points 4 wins: 40 Play Points 3 wins: 20 Play Points 2 wins: 10 Play Points



Intermediate Draft League

Product: 3 Amonkhet boosters

Structure: Draft, then up to 3 matches at your convenience

Entry Options: 12 Event Tickets 3 Amonkhet Boosters + 2 Event Tickets 120 Play Points

Prizes: 3 wins: 6 Amonkhet Boosters + 1 Qualifier Point 2 wins: 2 Amonkhet Boosters



Competitive Draft League

Product: 3 Amonkhet boosters

Structure: Draft, then play matches at your convenience until either 3 wins or 1 loss

Entry Options: 15 Event Tickets 3 Amonkhet Boosters + 5 Event Tickets 150 Play Points 3 Amonkhet Boosters + 50 Play Points

Prizes: 3 wins: 6 Amonkhet Boosters + 150 Play Points + 2 Qualifier Points 2 wins: 3 Amonkhet Boosters + 150 Play Points + 1 Qualifier Point



Friendly Sealed League

Product: 6 Amonkhet boosters, with up to 2 Amonkhet booster upgrades added later

Structure: 3 stages of up to 3 matches each, played at your convenience, with an optional upgrade of an additional Amonkhet booster after the first and second stages

Entry Options: 24 Event Tickets 6 Amonkhet Boosters + 4 Event Tickets 240 Play Points

Upgrade Options: 4 Event Tickets 1 Amonkhet Booster 40 Play Points

Prizes after each stage (based on wins in just that stage): 3 wins: 40 Play Points 2 wins: 30 Play Points 1 win: 20 Play Points 0 wins: 10 Play Points

Prizes after league course (based on wins in all three stages): 9 wins: 3 Amonkhet Boosters + 200 Play Points 8 wins: 2 Amonkhet Boosters + 200 Play Points 7 wins: 1 Amonkhet Boosters + 200 Play Points 6 wins: 200 Play Points 5 wins: 100 Play Points 4 wins: 50 Play Points



Competitive Sealed League

Product: 6 Amonkhet boosters

Structure: Up to 5 matches, played at your convenience

Entry Options: 24 Event Tickets 6 Amonkhet Boosters + 4 Event Tickets 240 Play Points

Prizes: 5 wins: 6 Amonkhet Boosters + 360 Play Points + 3 Qualifier Points 4 wins: 3 Amonkhet Boosters + 240 Play Points + 1 Qualifier Point 3 wins: 1 Amonkhet Booster + 120 Play Points



Friendly Constructed League

Formats Offered: Standard, Modern, and Pauper

Structure: Up to 5 matches, played at your convenience

Entry Options: 8 Event Tickets 80 Play Points

Prizes: 5 wins: 80 Play Points + 8 Treasure Chests 4 wins: 80 Play Points + 4 Treasure Chests 3 wins: 80 Play Points + 1 Treasure Chest 2 wins: 40 Play Points 1 win: 20 Play Points 0 wins: 10 Play Points



Competitive Constructed League

Formats Offered: Standard, Modern, and Legacy

Structure: Up to 5 matches, played at your convenience

Entry Options: 12 Event Tickets 120 Play Points

Prizes: 5 wins: 180 Play Points + 16 Treasure Chests + 3 Qualifier Points 4 wins: 180 Play Points + 8 Treasure Chests + 1 Qualifier Point 3 wins: 120 Play Points + 1 Treasure Chest



We are very excited to give you the opportunity to play Amonkhet digitally this early and hope you have even more fun playing with the new set the very next day after you've gotten your first taste at your local game store. Until then, have fun with Legacy Cube! Also, if you have feedback, you can also reach out to me at @mtg_lee on twitter, or through MagicOnlineFeedback@wizards.com.

—Lee Sharpe

Digital Product Manager, Magic Online