Here are the patch notes for MTG Arena’s Nov. 21 update

Historic is here but without a friends list.
The Circle of Loyalty Art Magic Throne of Eldraine
Image via Wizards of the Coast Magic: The Gathering

Today’s update in MTG Arena has tons of new events and cards for the Historic format, along with bug fixes and performance upgrades. 

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A friends list that was previously announced by Wizards of the Coast wasn’t a part of this update, however. The developers discovered an issue with scaling, delaying the friends list for an unspecified amount of time.

Historic

The November Magic Arena update officially launches the first Historic Anthology season. A total of 20 new cards are being added to the format from previous MTG sets over the years. A visual of all added Historic cards can be found here

  • Burning-Tree Emissary
  • Captain Sisay
  • Darksteel Reactor
  • Mind Stone
  • Ornithopter
  • Kinsbail Cavalier
  • Serra Ascendant
  • Soul Warden
  • Crypt Breaker
  • Hypnotic Specter
  • Phyrexian Arena
  • Tendrils of Corruption
  • Distant Melody
  • Treasure Hunt
  • Goblin Matron
  • Hidetsugu’s Second Rite
  • Kiln Fiend
  • Elvish Visionary
  • Imperious Perfect
  • Fauna Shaman

Each Historic card can be unlocked with a wildcard of its rarity. Four copies of every new card are available in the MTGA store for a cost of 3,400 gems ($20). 

Historic Anthology 1

Historic Anthology 1 is the first season of many more to come and will run from Nov. 21 to Jan. 15. MTG Arena players can now participate in a best-of-three ranked ladder in the Historic format.

Individual reward cards (IRC) are also available and will contain the following:

  • IRCs can include older versions of cards that may be legal in Standard because they also appear in a Standard-legal set ( like Opt from Dominaria).
  • Don’t include cards from Historic Anthology 1.
  • They can be uncommon (with an upgrade rate to rare/mythic rare) or rare/mythic rare.
  • If rare/mythic rare, each rare appears twice as frequently as each mythic. If uncommon, each uncommon is equally likely to be awarded.

The season will also include several Historic events. The buy-in price and rewards are different for each tournament. Rewards can only be earned one time in events where there a loss record isn’t kept. 

Historic Anthology event

Historic Anthology One runs from Nov. 21 to 24. The entry fee is 200 gems or 1,000 gold. There are no losses recorded in this event and the format is in best-of-one Historic. Nexus of Fate is banned from the Historic Anthology tournament. 

Here are the rewards for the Historic Anthology event:

  • Five wins: Card style of Fauna Shaman.
  • Four wins: Card style of Hypnotic Specter.
  • Three wins: Card style of Serra Ascendant.
  • Two wins: Card style of Goblin Matron.
  • One win: Card style of Treasure Hunt.

Historic Pauper event

The Historic Pauper event runs from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1. The entry fee is 500 gems or 100 gold and will be in the Pauper format. A total of four wins can be achieved and two losses knock a player out of the event. 

Here are the rewards for the Historic Pauper event:

  • Four wins: 600 Gold plus one Rare and Mythic Historic ICR and two Uncommon Historic ICRs (five-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic).
  • Three wins: 450 Gold and one Uncommon Historic ICR (35-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic), twp Uncommon Historic ICRs (five-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic).
  • Two wins: 300 Gold plus one Uncommon Historic ICR (25-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic), and two Uncommon Historic ICRs (five-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic).
  • One win: 150 Gold plus one Uncommon Historic ICR (15-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic), and two Uncommon Historic ICRs (five-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic).
  • Zero wins: Three Uncommon Historic ICRs (five-percent chance to upgrade to Rare/Mythic).

Standard events

There’s one Standard event scheduled. The Ten Life Draft runs from Dec. 6 to 8. There’s a buy-in of 5,000 gold or 750 gems and it’ll be played in a best-of-one Throne of Eldraine Draft with each player starting at 10 life. A total of seven wins can be achieved and three losses remove a player from the event. 

Here are the rewards for the Ten Life Draft event:

  • Seven wins: 950 Gems and two ELD packs.
  • Six wins: 850 Gems plus one ELD pack and a 40-percent chance of a bonus ELD pack.
  • Five wins: 650 Gems plus one ELD pack and a 35-percent chance of a bonus ELD pack.
  • Four wins: 450 Gems plus one ELD pack and a 30-percent chance of a bonus ELD pack.
  • Three wins: 300 Gems plus one ELD pack and a 26-percent chance of a bonus ELD pack.
  • Two wins: 200 Gems plus one ELD pack and a 24-percent chance of a bonus ELD pack.
  • One win: 100 Gems plus one ELD pack and a 22-percent chance of a bonus ELD pack.
  • Zero wins: 50 Gems plus one ELD pack and a 20-percent chance of a bonus ELD pack.

Card styles and bundles

There are several new card style bundles in the MTG Arena store. Details on each of these bundles can be found here

  • Court Knights bundle
  • Adventures Abound bundle
  • Animated Armory bundle
  • Familiar Faces bundle
  • Aggressive Negotiations bundle
  • Uncovered Artifacts bundle

Here are the bundles and individual card styles no longer available in the MTGA store. 

  • Twice is Nice bundle
  • Lands Foretold bundle
  • Showcase bundles (Knightly Honor, Deadly Secrets, Walk in the Woods)
  • Giant Killer
  • Heraldic Banner
  • Steelclaw Lance
  • The Cauldron of Eternity
  • Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale
  • Chulane, Teller of Tales
  • Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

Bug fixes and gameplay updates

  • Outmuscle no longer adds Indestructible to the Adventure side of creatures.
  • Forever Young no longer treats the returned cards as revealed.
  • Casting Quasiduplicate on a Mirrormade that has been turned into a creature with Dance of the Manse when the only Enchantments for it to copy were Auras now functions properly.
  • Exiling an Adventure card using Thief of Sanity shows the full card instead of only the creature side.
  • Memory Theft shows appropriate messaging for which cards to choose.
  • Abilities placed on the stack by Tokens display the correct card frame.
  • Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God’s plus one ability plays the correct VFX
  • Assigning stacked creatures to block one by one now prioritizes stacking correctly.
  • Match reconnections have been improved. 
  • Players should no longer see a black screen when reconnecting.
  • Players can now view cards in Exile when you have a browser open and View Battlefield is chosen.
  • The Sideboarding timer where the server-side timer and client-side timers were out of sync has been fixed.
  • The Sundering Stroke VFX has been fixed.
  • VFX that dim the battlefield now correctly clear if the card that triggered the VFX is destroyed as it enters the battlefield.
  • Canceling a browser that plays an SFX no longer results in an audio loop.

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Danny Forster
Lead Magic: The Gathering/Teamfight Tactics scribe and staff writer for Dot Esports. Danny is a gamer beach bum residing in Spacecoast Florida and has been a journalist for seven years, of which five have been at Dot Esports. Prior media outllets Danny wrote for were Screen Rant and TheGamer. You can typically catch Danny playing TCGs and a variety of strategic games. He also hangs out on Twitter @Dannyspacecoast.