David works on the Magic community team as a content specialist. He spends his days writing about Magic Online and trying to play too many colors at once in Limited.

What Is the Magic Online Weekly Announcements Blog?

Every Tuesday, we round up all of the biggest Magic Online news for the Weekly Announcements Blog.

Check in weekly for the latest updates!

Quick Links

Ongoing and Upcoming Events

Head on over to our shiny new event calendar at MTGO.com/Calendar for an easy-to-digest breakdown of events happening all across Magic Online.

Top

Important .NET Framework Update

Remember that after the May 4 downtime, Magic Online is upgrading to use .NET 4.5.2. This change means some users may also have to upgrade the .NET Framework on their machine in order to play Magic Online. If you do not have this version of .NET, Magic Online will prompt you upgrade, but you can update ahead of time to avoid login delays after the downtime.

You can visit this website for information on how to determine which .NET Framework is installed on your machine. If you do need to upgrade your .NET Framework, please visit this website to obtain the upgrade at no charge.

Windows Vista does support .NET 4.5.2, but only if Vista users have Service Pack 2 installed. We’ve also uncovered an issue with Windows Vista Service Pack 2 that prevents players from making store purchase using credit cards. We’re investigating a fix, but do not have an ETA yet. PayPal still works correctly.

Also remember that Windows XP does not support .NET 4.5.2, so those users will have to upgrade their operating system to continue playing Magic Online.

Depending on the version of .NET you’re currently using, downloading these updates can occasionally take a significant amount of time, so we recommend downloading as soon as possible

Top

The Magic Online Championship Approacheth

The 2015 Magic Online Champion will be decided the weekend of May 15—that's just over one week away! Learn about the competitors, the formats, and where to watch coverage here. Will defending Champion Magnus Lantto hold the title for another year, or will a new Champion be crowned by the end of the weekend? Tune in to twitch.tv/magic next weekend to find out!

Top

Watch TWO Super Leagues This Week

In his latest article, Randy Buehler announced the schedule for two new Super Leagues, providing us all with more ways to watch more awesome Magic programming on more days of the week! Get the full details here. If you prefer your Super League introductions in video form, you can also check this out:

The Community Super League airs Thursday nights at 6:00 p.m. PT (UTC -7), and latest season of the Vintage Super League premiers Tuesday, May 3, also at 6:00 p.m. PT.

Top

The Year of Modern Flashbacks Resumes

It's 2016: The Year of Modern Flashbacks! If you want to build up a collection for Modern, these Flashback Drafts add everything you draft to you collection once the event is over. Even if Modern isn't your thing, you can enjoy a leisurely draft through the planes of the past with rotating formats each week!

Triple Time Spiral Flashback Drafts begin following the Wednesday, May 4 downtime and are followed up with a Time Spiral-Planar Chaos format Flashback. Get the full schedule here and mark your calendar for the formats you're most excited about!

Top

Shadows over Innistrad Limited Championship Qualifiers Begin May 4

The Magic Online Shadows over Innistrad Championships are coming up! Mark you calendar for the dates below and check out the full article for event details.

We hope to see you in the Championship!

Top

Shadows over Innistrad Phantom Sealed Queues Begin May 4

Shadows over Innistrad Phantom Sealed Queues will be available following the May 4 downtime!

Shadows over Innistrad Phantom Sealed Swiss

Start Time: Wednesday, May 4, after downtime

Location: Limited Queues

Entry Option:

6 Event Tickets

60 Play Points

Product: Magic Online will provide six Shadows over Innistrad phantom booster packs. Phantom product will not be added to a player's collection at the conclusion of the event.

Size: 8 players

Play Style: Swiss

Format: Sealed

Duration: 20 minutes deck-building time. Three rounds, each round up to 50 minutes.

Prizes:

Wins Prizes QPs 3 Wins 90 Play Points 1 2 Wins 60 Play Points 0 1 Win 20 Play Points 0

Top

Double Pro Tour Qualifier Weekend

Attention all Pro Tour hopefuls: there's a double Pro Tour Qualifier (PTQ) weekend coming up! Modern Pro Tour Qualifier Preliminaries and the Shadows over Innistrad Sealed Pro Tour Qualifier Preliminaries begin Thursday, May 5, and run through Sunday, May 8.

Learn more about Magic Online Pro Tour Qualifiers here.

Top

Reminder: Place Redemption Orders Before May 4

In an effort to make sure Magic Online is available when you want to play Magic, we’re working on ways to reduce the number of times we have to bring the system offline for maintenance. As a first step we’re simply going to eliminate at least one downtime each month.

Here are the dates of the exact downtimes we’ll be skipping in the first half of 2016:

May 11

June 8

June 22

During these weeks without a downtime, Magic Online will not be processing set redemptions. This means that if your order isn't made prior to the May 4 downtime, it won't be processed until May 18.

Top

Downtime for May 4, 2016

All tournaments will close Wednesday, May 4, at 5:00 a.m. PT (UTC -7)

Store and trade activity will be suspended at approximately 7:45 a.m. PT (UTC -7)

The system will be down from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. PT (UTC -7)

Top

Build Notes

Gameplay