Historic, the non-rotating format coming soon to Magic: The Gathering Arena, is meant to be a fun digital experience for players looking to play with cards beyond Standard. Since we announced the format's specifics, we've had time to reflect on our previous announcement about Historic and consider feedback. Today we want to present our new plan for Historic that addresses the 2:1 issue and how we will handle events and rewards in the format.

The below will take effect in MTG Arena on September 26 with the release of Throne of Eldraine.

Wildcard Redemption

We will no longer be changing Wildcard redemption rates for rotated cards in November. Redemption for all rotated cards will remain 1:1. The best piece of feedback we received and discussed was how much players want to test and brew new and different Historic decks, and we certainly want players to be able to do so. While MTG Arena will always focus on Standard gameplay, the 2:1 redemption created the wrong kind of incentive structure. We want to reward players for playing Standard, and set up Historic as a complementary experience, much like we have with Singleton and Pauper.

Historic Events

We plan to hold at least one Historic event every month starting in November. These events will range from things you've seen before to brand new experiences. They will include Historic Draft events. Some Historic Events will cost gems, others will be accessible through gold. These events will award progress on quests, daily and weekly win rewards, and Mastery XP.

Historic Ranked

A Ranked Historic best-of-three play queue will be available in December. Creating a new ranked format always has its challenges, and we'll be watching how players start to compete in Historic and will take these learnings for future Ranked Historic availability. Historic ranked will award progress for quests, daily and weekly win rewards, and Mastery XP.

Historic Play Queue

A best-of-one Historic Play Queue will be added to MTG Arena on September 26 and will be a way to play Historic that is always available. You will be able to complete daily quests for the Historic Play Queue. This play queue will not progress a player's daily or weekly win rewards. Players can earn daily and weekly win rewards through Historic Events and Ranked Historic events when available.

New Historic Cards

We will start to add new cards to Historic in November. We'll be thinking through what the right target of cards to add is and how players can acquire these new cards. These cards will be added to the game differently than cards in Standard, but we're still working on exactly how to do that.

Historic Card Packs

We previously announced that packs of Historic sets would only be available in the store as a 45-pack bundle. Instead we will have all Historic booster purchase options available for the time being.

So, that's it. Next up is the first State of Game for MTG Arena, coming very soon. In that we'll share what's up with Throne of Eldraine and a peek at the future for this game including updates on the above. September 26 is just the start.

We look forward to seeing you in the game soon!