Hello! I'm Lee Sharpe, the Digital Product Manager for Magic Online events here to give you information on upcoming events! Today I'm talking about the Year of Modern Flashbacks.

But first, since this is our last article in 2015, I want to wish you Happy Holidays from the entire Magic Online team!

We decided to try something different in 2016. Instead of having a few flashbacks throughout the year, every week in 2016 we're going to have a different flashback format (outside of Prerelease and Release periods for the four Standard-legal sets).

Which formats are we going to use? Magic R&D developer Erik Lauer suggested starting with the beginning of Modern and moving forward. The more the team thought about this idea, the more we liked the ability for players who haven't been playing as long to experience each format the way players back then did and to "move forward through time" with everyone. So we are officially dubbing 2016 the Year of Modern Flashbacks.

We'll kick it off with Eighth Edition, the oldest Modern-legal set, move into triple Mirrodin, then add Darksteel, and finally add Fifth Dawn before moving on to Champions of Kamigawa. Here's the schedule through May (we'll release the rest later in the year):

Start Date End Date Format 12/30/2015 1/6/2016 3 Eighth Edition 1/6/2016 1/13/2016 3 Mirrodin 1/13/2016 1/20/2016 2 Mirrodin and 1 Darksteel 1/20/2016 1/27/2016 Mirrodin, Darksteel, and Fifth Dawn 1/27/2016 2/17/2016 Break for Oath of the Gatewatch 2/17/2016 2/24/2016 3 Champions of Kamigawa 2/24/2016 3/2/2016 2 Champions of Kamigawa and 1 Betrayers of Kamigawa 3/2/2016 3/9/2016 Champions of Kamigawa, Betrayers of Kamigawa, and Saviors of Kamigawa 3/9/2016 3/16/2016 3 Ninth Edition 3/16/2016 3/23/2016 3 Ravnica 3/23/2016 3/30/2016 2 Ravnica and 1 Guildpact 3/30/2016 4/6/2016 Ravnica, Guildpact, and Dissension 4/6/2016 4/13/2016 3 Coldsnap 4/13/2016 5/4/2016 Break for Shadows over Innistrad 5/4/2016 5/11/2016 3 Time Spiral 5/11/2016 5/18/2016 2 Time Spiral and 1 Planar Chaos 5/18/2016 5/25/2016 1 Time Spiral, 1 Planar Chaos, and 1 Future Sight 5/25/2016 6/1/2016 3 Tenth Edition 6/1/2016 6/8/2016 3 Lorwyn 6/8/2016 6/15/2016 2 Lorwyn and 1 Morningtide 6/15/2016 6/22/2016 3 Shadowmoor 6/22/2016 6/29/2016 2 Shadowmoor and 1 Eventide 6/29/2016 7/6/2016 3 Shards of Alara 7/6/2016 7/13/2016 2 Shards of Alara and 1 Conflux 7/13/2016 7/20/2016 1 Shards of Alara, 1 Conflux, and 1 Alara Reborn 7/20/2016 7/27/2016 3 Magic 2010 7/27/2016 8/17/2016 Break for Eldritch Moon 8/17/2016 8/24/2016 3 Zendikar 8/24/2016 8/31/2016 2 Zendikar and 1 Worldwake 8/31/2016 9/7/2016 3 Rise of the Eldrazi 9/7/2016 9/14/2016 3 Magic 2011 9/14/2016 9/21/2016 3 Scars of Mirrodin 9/21/2016 9/28/2016 1 Mirrodin Beseiged and 2 Scars of Mirrodin 9/28/2016 10/5/2016 1 New Phyrexia, 1 Mirrodin Beseiged, and 1 Scars of Mirrodin 10/5/2016 10/26/2016 Break for Kaladesh 10/26/2016 11/2/2016 3 Innistrad 11/2/2016 11/9/2016 1 Dark Ascension and 2 Innistrad 11/9/2016 11/16/2016 3 Magic 2012 11/16/2016 11/23/2016 3 Avacyn Restored 11/23/2016 11/30/2016 3 Magic 2013 11/30/2016 12/7/2016 3 Return to Ravnica 12/7/2016 12/14/2016 3 Gatecrash 12/14/2016 12/21/2016 1 Dragon's Maze, 1 Gatecrash, and 1 Return to Ravnica 12/21/2016 12/28/2016 3 Magic 2014

We won't make it all the way through Modern, but we'll keep going (absent breaks for set releases) until we run out weeks in the year!

For the event setup, we'll be doing these a bit differently. You'll get to keep whatever cards you draft. These aren't phantom. Instead of 14 Event Tickets or 140 Play Points like current drafts, these will allow you to enter with just 10 Event Tickets or 100 Play Points. If you still have the boosters for any of these formats in your collection, we'll let you enter with those three boosters (plus 2 Event Tickets) during the appropriate week.

These drafts will be single elimination, and the prize structure will be different from what we normally offer. Instead of giving out boosters as prizes, these events will award Play Points. First place will receive 200 Play Points and a Qualifier Point. This gives you enough Play Points to enter two more of these flashback drafts. Second place will receive 100 Play Points, enough to rejoin. Third and fourth place will each receive 50 Play Points, which means two such finishes is enough to rejoin one of these events. Since we are changing formats every week, we felt that the Play Points would do a good job of helping players transition between formats, since prizes earned in one format could then be used to play in another.

Here are the full event details:

Single Elimination Flashback Draft

Start Time: Wednesday, December 30, 10:00 a.m., rotating formats on each downtime until Wednesday, January 4, 2017. All times are Pacific Standard Time (for UTC, add 8 hours).

Location: Scheduled Events

Entry Option:

10 Event Tickets

100 Play Points

2 Event Tickets, plus product

Product: 3 booster packs of that week's format

Size: 8 players

Play Style: Single Elimination

Format: Draft

Duration: 10 minutes deck-building time. Three rounds, each round up to 50 minutes.

Prizes:

Place Prizes QPs 1st 200 Play Points 0* 2nd 100 Play Points 0 3rd-4th 50 Play Points 0

NOTE: Due to bugs currently impacting Darksteel rares Gemini Engine and Thought Dissector, Darksteel boosters opened during between the January 13 and January 27 downtimes will not contain these cards, whether in these events or through the collection. (Each pack will still contain a rare.) These cards can be opened again in Darksteel boosters after the January 20 downtime.

*Flashback Drafts occurring after downtime on September 28, 2016 (the start of the 2017 MOCS year) do not aware a QP for 1st place.

We're excited to try out this new approach to flashback events, and hope you fun exploring or reliving Modern Magic history!

As always, you can direct feedback to the official Magic Online Twitter account, my personal Twitter account, the Magic Online Tumblr, or through email at magiconlinefeedback@wizards.com.

Lee Sharpe

Digital Product Manager—Magic Online Events