"With the back of his hand, Oko wiped the blood from his chin, and stepped into the treasure vault..."


Welcome to Thunder Junction, a land of harsh deserts, hostile critters… and crime! Saddle up for a wild ride with new creature type Mount, and hassle rival outlaws with mechanics Plot and Crime as you pull of the greatest heist this side o’ the law. The wanted posters are up, the jobs goin’ down, but with grit and grumption you’ll ride off into the sunset with the ultimate score.

View the new card mechanics of Thunder Junction below or check out our Outlaws of Thunder Junction Mechanics Article[magic.wizards.com].

• Crimes
  Targeting opponents, anything they control and/or anything in their graveyard is a Crime.
  
• Plot
  When a card is played for its Plot cost it is exiled and can be played on a later turn for free as a sorcery.
  
• Spree
  Instant or sorcery spells with Spree may use any number of different effects when their additional cost is paid.
  
• Outlaws
  A new creature group: Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues and Warlocks are Outlaws.
  
• Saddle
  Creatures with the "Mount" subtype have the Saddle ability, which triggers additional effects on attack if creatures of the needed power are Tapped.
  
• Desert
  A returning land Subtype that many creatures care about, now including New Dual Lands!

Ride into Thunder Junction with these new events available now on MTG Arena.

Outlaws of Thunder Junction arrives next Tuesday, April 16, and that means you have just one week left to get in your preorders for the new set. We have three bundles that'll get you off to a good start with the new set's release:


Take a look at all the cards in the Outlaws of Thunder Junction Card Image Gallery[magic.wizards.com], including which products you can find each card!

Don't miss your first opportunity to see the new set in action during the Outlaws of Thunder Junction Streamer Event, happening this Wednesday, April 10, kicking off at 8 a.m. PT

Join popular Magic streamers on YouTube and Twitch as they open packs, talk about the new cards and strategies, and do some live drafting and playing to take the new set through its paces!

Cards banned in Historic

• Force of Vigor
  
• Commandeer
  
• Reanimate
  
• Mana Drain

In our last update, we rebalanced Fragment Reality and Geological Appraiser[magic.wizards.com], which were outliers in our otherwise diverse Historic metagame. Those changes have proven positive, and we are happy with the current state of the format. We believe now is a great time for classic cards like Stoneforge Mystic, Path to Exile, and Surgical Extraction to be added with Outlaws of Thunder Junction. We hope that these powerful new additions will create new competitive archetypes and unique play patterns.

One of the things that defines Historic's power level is game speed. We have been cautious of free spells in the format that allow for a rapid change in tempo. To maintain the current game pace, Commandeer and Force of Vigor are banned in Historic.

Another defining characteristic of Historic is its overall card power level, particularly now that Timeless exists as the highest-powered format on Arena. The Breaking News Bonus sheet brings some clear power outliers, so Mana Drain and Reanimate are banned in Historic.

TIMELESS

As MTG Arena's newest and most powerful format, players have been rapidly experimenting and exploring. Timeless continues to evolve as new cards get added to the game and decks adapt to keep dominant cards in check. While Timeless is still new and developing, we want to let players play with cards before we apply any restrictions or bans to them. Mana Drain is certain to be an impactful addition, so we will be monitoring how it changes the metagame and will take action if it proves to be too much.

Finally, we need to talk a bit about the card discussed the most since its release with Murders at Karlov Manor, Show and Tell. While its play rate has been higher than we would like to see, decks using the card currently have a consistent win rate when compared with other high-performing archetypes. If Timeless were static, we would strongly consider restricting Show and Tell due to its play rate. However, we expect Timeless to change a lot this year with new format-defining cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction and Modern Horizons 3. We will see how Timeless evolves before making a decision on Show and Tell.

The latest Draft format event in MTG Arena, Remix Draft: Artifacts[magic.wizards.com], continues for one more week. Play in Best-of-One and Best-of-Three matches with rewards of gems, Historic-legal packs, and Play-In points.

Try out this new format before it ends at 8 a.m. PT on April 16!

This weekend is your last opportunity to qualify for Arena Championship 6, and it's the last event before the announced changes to Premier Play events[stage.magic.wizards.com]!

The monthly doubleheader weekend features Standard events and begins this Friday, April 12, with the Qualifier Play-In Best-of-Three event[magic.gg]. Perform well in this one, and you'll be invited to play in the weekend's main event: the April Qualifier Weekend.

Kicking off Saturday, April 13, at 6 a.m. PT, the two-day April Qualifier Weekend[magic.gg] is where the top players challenge one another for a coveted invite to the Arena Championship. This also happens to be the last time you can earn an invite to the Pro Tour from a Qualifier Weekend before this prize becomes part of the Arena Championship prizes under the new Premier Play structure.

So, tune up your Standard decks—this weekend may be the start of your path to the Magic big time!

This Tuesday through Thursday, April 9–11, check out Midweek Magic's Gladiator Community Spotlight event! Gladiator is a fun, fan-created format that continues to grow in popularity, and through Midweek Magic you can try out ten preconstructed 100-card singleton decks shared by the Gladiator Council.

We've also updated the Gladiator banned list to match the most recent banned list, so you won't see these cards in the preconstructed decks:

• Demonic Tutor
  
• Field of the Dead
  
• Natural Order
  
• Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes
  
• Oko, Thief of Crowns

Because this is Midweek Magic, this event is Best-of-One (traditionally games of Gladiator are Best-of-Three). There's no entry cost to play in Midweek Magic[magic.wizards.com], and you can earn prizes like individual card rewards (ICRs) and cosmetics!

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Events open at 8 a.m. PT on their starting dates (excluding Midweek Magic) and close to entries at 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00); after March 10 UTC-07:00) on the ending date shown unless otherwise noted.

Midweek Magic events[magic.wizards.com] open on Tuesdays at 2 p.m. PT and close to new entries on Thursdays at 2 p.m. PT (UTC-08:00).

• April 9-12 Gladiator Community Spotlight (Best-of-One)
  
• April 16-19: Jump Into Outlaws of Thunder Junction
  
• April 23-25: Outlaws of Thunder Junction Constructed
  
• April 30-May 2: On the Edge

• April 9–26: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan
  
• April 26-May 7: Outlaws of Thunder Junction

• April 2–16: Remix Draft: Artifacts

• April 12: Best-of-Three Qualifier Play-In
  
• April 13-14: Qualifier Play-In

All times listed are Pacific time (UTC-08:00). Note that daylight saving time in the US begins March 10 and UTC shift changes to -07:00.

Qualifier Play-In events[magic.gg] are single-day tournaments in which players compete to earn invitations to that month's Qualifier Weekend events.

Qualifier Weekend events[magic.gg] are two-day events in which eligible players compete for invitations to upcoming Arena Championship events.

Qualifier tokens are delivered to your MTG Arena inbox. Remember to claim them before the event starts!

• Qualifier Play-In (Best-of-Three)
  April 12, 6 a.m. PT–April 13, 3 a.m. PT
  Format: Standard
  
• Qualifier Weekend
  April 13, 6 a.m. PT–April 14, 4 p.m. PT
  Format: Standard

The Arena Open Day One entry window begins at 6 a.m. PT and closes to new entries the following day at 3 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00). The Day Two entry window is 2 hours only, from 6 a.m. PT until 8 a.m. PT (UTC-08:00).

• Arena Open: Outlaws of Thunder Junction
  - May 4: Day One, Outlaws of Thunder Junction Sealed (Best-of-One and Best-of-Three)
  - May 5: Day Two, Outlaws of Thunder Junction Draft (Best-of-Three)

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The April 2024 Ranked Season begins March 31 at 12:05 p.m. PT (UTC-08:00) and ends April 30 at 12 p.m. PT (UTC-07:00).

• Bronze Reward: 1 Outlaws of Thunder Junction pack
  
• Silver Reward: 1 Outlaws of Thunder Junction pack + 500 gold
  
• Gold Reward: 2 Outlaws of Thunder Junction packs + 1,000 gold + Binding Negotiation card style
  
• Platinum Reward: 3 Outlaws of Thunder Junction packs + 1,000 gold + Binding Negotiation card style + Aven Interrupter card style
  
• Diamond Reward: 4 Outlaws of Thunder Junction packs + 1,000 gold + Binding Negotiation card style + Aven Interrupter card style
  
• Mythic Reward: 5 Outlaws of Thunder Junction packs + 1,000 gold + Binding Negotiation card style + Aven Interrupter card style

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