Patch notes 0.16, July 2: MTG Arena for M20 update

The Core Set 2020 is available on MTG Arena, so crack open those packs and get familiar with all the new updates. 

Patch notes 0.16 on MTG Arena is full of new cosmetic and gameplay updates, from the London Mulligan to a Mastery System. While the new mulligan system is a welcome change, not too many MTG fans in the community are happy with how the new Mastery System is set up.

Related: New rewards system on MTG Arena has players upset

The main theme, as with most games, is grinding towards rewards. On MTG Arena, the Mastery System has a Mastery Tree for free-to-play players and a Mastery Pass for those who want to pay for additional rewards. Players level up with a 1,000 XP a day, to a maximum level of 72. The XP is awarded by completing these daily tasks:

• 800 XP for each quest
• 100 XP for the first daily win
• 50 XP for the second and third daily win

Purchasing a Mastery Pass allows players to earn additional XP points a day. The grind of completing dailies and other tasks, however, remains.

With the London Mulligan, the new rule applies to all formats on MTG Arena, including tournaments, direct challenges, and practice bot matches.

Aside from the London Mulligan and Mastery System, several other important updates have taken place on MTG Arena. The most important of them all is a “hold” being applied prior to entering a combat phase. This works with cards like Legion Warboss, allowing a player to respond before the beginning of combat trigger goes into effect on the stack. 

Related: Big changes coming to MTG Arena with Core Set 2020 update

From a visual perspective, MTG Arena now displays cards in a small window that won’t interfere with gameplay. The window is set on an auto-dismiss after a short period of time elapses, or it can be removed manually. 

Another neat visual feature can be seen with graveyard and exile cards. Hovering over a card that brings creatures back from the graveyard, for example, will highlight all the creatures in a players graveyard that apply towards an effect or ability. 

Additional rewards and rule updates

Spark Double can no longer copy itself according to a rules update in section 706.9e. In addition, the auto-tap feature for mana has improved to benefit a player according to the cards they have in play and in their hand. 

MTG Arena tournaments now have additional rewards. For example, Sealed Core Set 2020 and Ranked Drafts now have an extra reward for players who reach seven wins. The M20 Sealed has a reward of a Scholar of the Ages card style while the Ranked Drafts has a reward of an Ironroot Warlord card style.

Lastly, MTG Arena will no longer apply a loss to a player when the game ends unexpectedly. Players will now receive a “draw” for the match instead and won’t lose standing within their rank.