Hey folks,

I want to update everyone on where we’re at getting Battlebond cards into Magic Online. As we’ve said before, the downtime for the M19 release on July 5th will bring with it select Battlebond cards into Treasure Chests. Here’s what’s coming:

Commons and Uncommons:

• Aurora Champion

• Azra Bladeseeker

• Combo Attack

• Sickle Dancer

• Bull-Rush Bruiser

• Saltwater Stalwart

• Soaring Show-Off

• Fumble

• Inner Demon

• Decorated Champion

• Rushblade Commander

• Thrasher Brute

• Cheering Fanatic

• Jubilant Mascot

Rares:

• Bountiful Promenade

• Luxury Suite

• Morphic Pool

• Pir’s Whim

• Sea of Clouds

• Spire Garden

• Stolen Strategy

• Virtus’s Maneuver

• Bonus Round

• Khorvath’s Fury

• Last One Standing

• Regna’s Sanction

• Thrilling Encore

• Together Forever

• Victory Chimes

• Zndrsplt’s Judgment

• Generous Patron

Mythic Rares:

• Arcane Artisan

• Archfiend of Despair

• Arena Rector

• Bramble Sovereign

• Brightling

• Najeela, the Blade-Blossom

• Stunning Reversal

This is a bunch of sweet cards, and I think MTGO is much better off for having them. But, being honest, this wasn’t what we wanted or planned to deliver. We’d hoped to get a lot more of the set, but unexpected issues came up during the M19 development cycle that forced us to scale back our plans.

For one, M19 itself had some unexpected complexity that cropped up during implementation, and that cost us time.

More significant, though, were the Brawl changes. In discussions with R&D, we agreed to keep pace with the changes to paper Brawl as best we could. This meant making a late change to shift developer resources away from Battlebondtowards redefining Brawl off-cycle to adjust life totals in two-player games and have a ban list independent of Standard. We believe that having Brawl available for play on Magic Online results in more net fun than additional Battlebond cards would.

We’re optimistic that in the next few release cycles after M19, we can allocate resources to get more Battlebondcards into the game. Spellseeker in particular is a high priority for the first release after M19, given the discussions around its potential Legacy implications. Additionally, the Kenrith twins and other legendary creatures with “partner with” have importance to Commander, so we’ll be trying to fit those in too, if possible.

In the meantime, don’t forget that starting on Wednesday, we have an all-new version of Battle of the Planes up until June 13th. After that, we have three weeks of Vintage Cube available, going right up until the launch of M19 and the release of the first of the Battlebond cards coming to MTGO.

Alli Medwin

Digital Product Manager

Magic Online