MTGA Says Goodbye to Arena Opens, Ushers in New High-Stakes Tournaments

Last updated on November 19, 2025

Aang, Master of Elements | Illustration by Fahmi Fauzi

Not too long ago, people were asking whether or not Arena Directs were going to fully replace Arena Opens. There was a huge influx of Arena Direct events this year, and Opens seemed to take a backseat to them. While the answer at the time was that Opens weren’t going anywhere, it looks like we do have a replacement coming in the future: Limited Championships.

What’s a Limited Championship?

Source: Wizards of the Coast

Limited Championships are high-profile Limited tournaments coming to MTG Arena. These are feeder events for a huge 2027 Magic Limited Championship, which essentially marks the return of a Limited Pro Tour, something that hasn't happened in decades.

“Arena Limited Championship Qualifiers” will take place throughout 2026, and it’s these qualifier events that are replacing Arena Opens. Wizards of the Coast’s article calls them the “evolution of Arena Opens.” Instead of taking place over two days with Day 1 qualifying players for Day 2, these new Qualifiers will simply be weekend-long events where players participate in two Draft events at their own leisure. Winning the first Draft event qualifies you for the second, and winning the second event grants you entry to the bigger “Arena Limited Championship” in late 2026. That tournament qualifies you for the in-person 2027 Magic Limited Championship.

It's actually a fairly straightforward system: Win a bunch of Limited matches and qualify for a Limited Pro Tour. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’ll be trivial to win, since you’ll have to hit a hot streak across multiple events in order to spike an invitation to the big show. We do have information about the structure of the Qualifier events though.

Arena Qualifier Draft #1

Entry Free: 25,000 Gold / 5,000 Gems

Event Structure: Best-of-One Draft (usually the most recent set). Play to 7 wins or 2 losses. You can enter this event as many times as you’d like over the Qualifier weekend.

Rewards:

• 0–3 Wins: No rewards
• 4 Wins: 1,000 Gems
• 5 Wins: 2,500 Gems
• 6 Wins: 5,000 Gems
• 7 Wins: 5,500 Gems + Token to enter Draft #2

Arena Qualifier Draft #2

Entry Free: An entry token from Draft #1

Event Structure: Best-of-One Draft. Play to 6 wins or 2 losses. You can qualify for this event multiple times over the Qualifier weekend.

Rewards:

• 0 Wins: No rewards
• 1 Win: 6,500 Gems
• 2 Wins: 7,500 Gems
• 3 Wins: 8,500 Gems
• 4 Wins: 10,000 Gems
• 5 Wins: $1,000 + Token for 2026 Arena Limited Championship
• 6 Wins: $2,000 + Token for 2026 Arena Limited Championship

As you can see, these new events maintain the $1,000/$2,000 top prizes, though they lop off the $500 reward for the second draft that Opens have usually had. To cash out and qualify for the Limited Championship, you’ll essentially need to snag 12 wins across two drafts, and you only have one loss to give for each event.

Are Arena Opens Completely Gone?

It sounds like Arena Opens are no more, and the new Limited Championship structure will replace them completely. More like Arena Closed am I right?

It’s possible that some Arena Open events still slip through as tournaments that aren’t aligned with the 2027 Limited Championship, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Arena Directs can still happen as well, so there’s plenty of tournament Magic left to be played by those uninterested in qualifying for the coolest event of 2027.

Of course, being able to qualify for a tournament like this by simply playing Magic Arena is a godsend to Limited enthusiasts, since this now gives them an avenue into the tournament circuit. Prior to this tournament announcement, Opens were the most competitive events for Arena Limited players, which capped out at the cash rewards. Now, imagine being able to qualify for what’s essentially a Pro Tour by just playing Arena from your phone!

Even if you’re not personally invested in these events, it’s very cool to see the return of a Limited-focused tournament like this, since Limited has been taking a backseat to Constructed in tournament Magic for years upon years now.