The August Magic: The Gathering Arena update included a major backend system upgrade and the release of Jumpstart: Historic Horizons.
Launching on Aug. 24, Patch 2021.08 in MTG Arena was initially uploaded with a host of issues that ranged from players being unable to log in to dropped matches. A number of post-patches were made by Wizards of the Coast, slowly repairing broken items within the digital trading card game.
Patch 2021.08 also launched the Jumpstart: Historic Horizons event, along with a filtering bug that made searching for Modern Horizons and Modern Horizons 2 cards difficult to find in the MTG Arena deck search bar.
Here are the full notes for MTG Arena Patch 2021.08.
MTG Arena game updates
Scheduled to run from Aug. 26 to Oct. 14, the release of Jumpstart: Historic Horizons brought hundreds of cards to the MTG Arena Historic format. Players can either choose to unlock cards via Wildcards or compete in the event, keeping cards within the two packets chosen. The update also included the addition of 100-card Historic Brawl to the digital card game as a permanent queue.
Backend changes to the MTG Arena system accounted for a large portion of the 2021.08 updates, which caused a number of bugs that are still in the process of getting resolved. Due to an account conversion, many players had difficultly logging in to MTG Arena via an error uploading data bug.
Bug fixes for Patch 2021.08
A number of extended patches are in the process of being uploaded to MTG Arena. The first took place on Aug. 26, followed by another on Aug. 27. Updates to bug fixes will take place upon the completion of maintenance.
- Thallid Omnivore incorrectly gaining life was resolved.
- Providing priority for an Instant or Flash spell on the top of an opponent’s library with Xanathar, Guild Kingpin was resolved.
- Visual repairs were made to the Gelatinous Cube sleeve.
- Life points in Historic Brawl were corrected to 25, instead of 20.
- Brainstorm was resuspended in Historic after being unsuspended following the initial update.
- Individual card rewards were giving players cards from sets rotating out with Standard rotation. The bug has been resolved.
- A bug causing slow gameplay with Shoreline Scout on the battlefield was resolved.
- Escaping Expressive Iteration with Underworld Breach will no longer let players play the cards used to pay the escape cost.
- A visual bug was repaired on Vizier of the Menagerie.
- An issue that caused a soft-lock upon tapping Cascading Cataracts for five mana with Mirrari’s Wake in play was resolved.
- Text color on depth art cards with “roll a d20” was repaired.
- A mobile bug involving the social icon visual was repaired.
- A Class visual card bug was repaired.
- The “Pay with Snow” button was repaired.
- Animation for multiple d20 rolls was repaired.
- Cards moved within the horizontal deck builder will not longer lose their text.
- A mobile bug affecting aspect ratios for library, graveyard, and exile was repaired.
- A Phyrexian symbol was added to the hanger for Black Phyrexian mana.
- Venture badges were repaired on Fly, You Find a Cursed Idol and Acererak.
- A translation bug for Fracture in French was repaired.
- A number of translation bugs, mostly in Japanese, were repaired.
- The “View Printed Card” will now show up in Japanese for STA cards.
- An expiration date for the Mastery Pass has been restored.
- Matches in which multiple token copies were created by Valentin with Hofri will no longer cause the game to end.
- Book of Exalted Deeds is once again banned in Standard 2022.
- Daily Wins should not reset anymore.
- The Mastery Pass will now provide players with a Draft Token upon reaching that stage within the pass.
- Resolved an issue with welcome bundle not providing plaayers with a proper mix of packs.
- Players who didn’t receive packs from the welcome bundle will get a “mass grant” from WotC.
- Drafts will no longer reset due to a bug.
- A bug affecting the fifth color challenge in matchmaking has been resolved.
Gameplay updates in Patch 2021.08
A number of gameplay updates were included in the MTG Arena Patch 2021.08, in which some are bugs that are in the process of getting resolved.
- Suggested lands for 100-Card Historic Brawl was updated
- Players can right-click anywhere on a card, including those in a stack or in hand to view text
- Players can right-click on cards with perpetual changes to view the perpetual card
- All perpetual effects and titles have purple text
- Players can click on an assigned blocker to unassign it and add it to another group
- Keywords are now in bold
- A number of abilities will only display once rather than repeatedly
- Player avatars were given highlights for Proliferate
MTG Arena store updates
With the release of Jumpstart: Historic Horizons, five new avatars were added to the MTG Arena store. These avatars are exclusive digital-only planeswalkers. A Thopter pet was also added, along with Nyx full-art lands.
Bundles
- Thopter bundle: Includes a Thopter pet and sleeve. It is priced at 3,000 gems or 15,000 gold.
- Teyo avatar bundle: Includes a Teyo avatar and Teyo, Aegis adept sleeve. The cost is 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Kiora avatar bundle: Includes a Kiora avatar and Kiora, the Tide’s Fury Sleeve. The cost is 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Davriel avatar bundle: Includes a Davriel avatar and Davriel, Soul Broker card sleeve. It is priced at 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Sarkhan avatar bundle: Includes a Sarkhan avatar and Sarkhan, Wanderer to Shiv sleeve. The cost is 600 gems or 3,000 gold
- Freyalise avatar bundle: Includes a Freyalis avatar and Freyalise, Skyshroud Partisan card sleeve. The bundle is priced at 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Nyx Plains bundle: Includes Nyx basic land and card style for 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Nyx Island bundle: Includes Nyx basic land and card style for 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Nyx Swamp bundle: Includes Nyx basic land and card style for 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Nyx Mountain bundle: Includes Nyx basic land and card style for 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
- Nyx Forest bundle: Includes Nyx basic land and card style for 600 gems or 3,000 gold.
Depth art
- Flunk
- Academic Probation
Leaving the MTG Arena store soon
- Beholder pet
- Xanathar, Guild Kingpin card sleeve
Updates and maintenance are ongoing for MTG Arena Patch 2021.08. We’ll add these updates to the patch notes upon their release from WotC.
Update Aug. 27 12:40pm CT: MTG Arena patch notes were updated to include the 2021.08.11 update.
