Magic Online Announcements, September 10, 2019

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Modern Cube Continued

Modern & Legacy Playoff Winners

Vintage & Pauper Playoffs This Weekend

Format Focus Tournament Update

Legacy PTQ Finals Saturday

Modern PTQ Finals Sunday

Magic Online Format Challenges Every Weekend

Downtime September 25

Modern Cube Continued

The Modern Cube is a great way to try out all the iconic cards and synergies that shape one of Magic's most dynamic formats. Modern Cube can be found in the Limited Leagues section of the Play Lobby and will run through September 26, with the start of Throne of Eldraine events. Here are some words from Reggie Valk of Magic R&D about this year's Modern Cube:

"The guiding principle behind this last batch of changes was to introduce relevant cards from the sets that came out since [Modern Cube] was last updated (November 2018), which ended up including RNA, WAR, MH1, and M20. Aside from including a lot of the more obvious inclusions due to iconic status and Modern playability (like Urza, Wrenn and Six, etc.), I also tried to update the Cube to have some cards and strategies that align with popular Modern strategies currently, which is why things like Arclight Phoenix and Duskwatch Recruiter were introduced. I also was cognizant of the amount of planeswalkers in this cube as that has been its largest criticism by far, so despite WAR adding a lot of cool new PWs, the number stayed the same and, if anything, should only go down from here."

For event details, and to see the complete card list and the latest changes to it, click here. Happy Cubing!

Modern & Legacy Playoff Winners

Congratulations to Ihavethefire (Modern) and Samwise_Geegee (Legacy), the winners of last weekend's Format Playoffs! A very special mention also to those who have qualified for Format Championships—to view the list of invites so far, click here.

Vintage & Pauper Playoffs This Weekend

Format Playoffs aren't done yet with Vintage and Pauper set for this weekend. To join, accrue 35 Format Points in Challenges and Leagues within either format by its Playoff date—Vintage on Saturday, September 14, and Pauper on Sunday, September 15.

The Magic Online Format Challenges continue every weekend for Modern, Vintage, Legacy, and Pauper formats except when replaced by Format Playoffs during scheduled Format Playoff dates.

Format Playoff events qualify you for the Format Championship in January that sends the top player to the Magic Online Championships and the tabletop Mythic Championships. Click here to learn more.

Format Focus Tournament Update

This past Saturday's Modern Format Playoff reached its announced player cap. Unfortunately, this meant that many players who were otherwise eligible to participate couldn't. We believe that players who have the points should be able to play in the Format Playoff events, and so we're making some changes to the way the Format Focus series will work for the remainder of 2019.

We will be holding an additional set of Format Playoffs on the following schedule. These events will, as with other Format Playoff events, replace the Format Challenge on that day. The entry requirement (35 Format Points) and prize payout is unchanged.

Bonus Modern Format Playoff on October 12

Bonus Legacy Format Playoff on October 13

Bonus Vintage Format Playoff on October 19

Bonus Pauper Format Playoff on October 20

All Format Playoff events, including the bonus round in mid-October, will have their player cap raised to 672 players. This should alleviate this concern for future events as well.

By adding a Playoff for each format, we're increasing the number of participants in the Format Championships by eight each. To account for this, we're extending the prize schedule such that the prizes previously announced for 17th–32nd place will extend to 40th place; all players in the Championship will end the event with at least 24 boosters, 200 Play Points, and their format's Championship Avatar.

Legacy PTQ Finals Saturday

On Saturday, September 14, there will be a Legacy PTQ Finals at 9 a.m. PT. The event will cost 30 Event Tickets or 300 Play Points. The winner receives an invitation to their choice of the first set of Players Tour regional events in early 2020 (dates/sites TBA).

Learn more about Players Tour Qualifier events here.

Modern PTQ Finals Sunday

On Sunday, September 15, there will be a Modern PTQ Finals at 9 a.m. PT. The event will cost 30 Event Tickets or 300 Play Points. The winner receives an invitation to their choice of the first set of Players Tour regional events in early 2020 (dates/sites TBA).

Learn more about Players Tour Qualifier events here.

Magic Online Format Challenges Every Weekend

Format challenges are the first step toward qualifying for premier play through your favorite Magic formats. To learn more about Format Focus events and premier play qualification, click here.

The Magic Online Format Challenges continue every weekend for Modern, Vintage, Legacy, and Pauper formats except when replaced by Format Playoffs during scheduled Format Playoff dates.

Pacific Daylight Time (-7 from UTC)

Check out this page for further event details.

Downtime September 25

The next downtime will be on September 25, 3 a.m.–noon PT/-7 from UTC. This is for the Throne of Eldraine content update.