Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has released their weekly MTG Arena update overview, including details for the first Draft Open and more.
Alchemy Launches Tomorrow
The new format, Alchemy, hits MTG Arena tomorrow along with a welcome event, bundle, and packs. The new digital-first format uses the same sets as Standard and rotates sets with the same schedule, but introduces rebalanced cards and new digital-only cards. The format has ranked and unranked queues with Best-Of-One and Best-Of-Three offerings.
The Welcome Event is free to enter and automatically awards players three packs of Alchemy: Innistrad. The event starts tomorrow and runs through December 17. Play as much as you want and earn three more packs and 2,000 XP for reaching five wins.
Alchemy: Innistrad packs go on sale in the store tomorrow for the normal price of 1,000 gold or 15 packs for 3,000 gems. A one-time offer is available for the Alchemist Bundle which includes 20 packs for 15,000 gold or 3,000 gems.
Arena Decathlon Is Coming Soon
A special ten-part event starts on December 18 that offers a range of formats with tons of prizes. Every three days MTG Arena will have two special events to play in that offer prizes and tokens that can be collected to qualify you for the Decathlon finals on January 8. The top prize of the finals rewards a set of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, a Jace, the Mind Sculptor avatar, rare and mythic wildcards, and much more.
Each flight will reward a token if you can manage to reach seven wins in a Best-Of-One event or five wins in a Best-Of-Three event. Earning three unique tokens nets you one entry to the finals. Six unique tokens earns you two entries in the finals and nine unique tokens rewards you three entries in the finals. Any player managing to grab all ten unique tokens not only gets the three entries to the finals, but also gains entry to the February 2022 Qualifier Weekend.
Entry for each event is 2,000 gold or 400 gems and rewards packs from any set on MTG Arena. The schedule for the Arena Decathlon is shown below. Read more about the Arena Decathlon from WotC.
December 18–21
- Alchemy
- Phantom Innistrad Sealed (three packs of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt and three packs of Innistrad: Crimson Vow)
December 21–24
- Phantom Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft
- New player decks
December 24–27
- Phantom Zendikar Rising Bot Draft
- Historic Artisan
December 27–30
- Historic
- Alchemy Singleton
December 30–January 1
- Traditional Standard
- Phantom Strixhaven: School of Mages Turbo Draft
January 8 (finals)
- Phantom Arena Cube Traditional Draft
Historic Brawl Bans
Due to being overwhelming prevalent in the format, three cards are being banned in Historic Brawl:
- Agent of Treachery
- Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
- Field of the Dead
Each card either exploits or pushes the against one of the primary elements of the format:
- Gameplay focusing on a single important permanent
- Singleton deck building
- Color Restrictions
While rebalancing is now a tool available on Arena in Historic, these cards would likely lead to unsatisfying versions of the cards or be ineffective at addressing the listed issues.
Event Schedule
Midweek Magic
- December 7-8: Rule of Law
- December 14-15: Alchemy Singleton
- December 21-22: Historic Pauper
- December 28-29: One for All
Quick Draft
- November 26–December 10: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
- December 10–24: Kaldheim
- December 24-January 7: Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Other Events
- December 9-17: Standard Metagame Challenge
- January 6-21: Arena Cube Draft
Arena Decathlon
- December 18-21: Alchemy, Phantom Innistrad Sealed
- December 21-24: Phantom Innistrad: Crimson Vow Traditional Draft, New Player Decks
- December 24-27: Phantom Zendikar Rising Bot Draft, Historic Artisan
- December 27-30: Historic, Alchemy Singleton
- December 30-January 1: Traditional Standard, Phantom Strixhaven: School of Mages Turbo Draft
- January 8: Arena Decathlon Finals — Phantom Arena Cube Traditional Draft
Read the original article from WotC.