MTG Arena Now Rewards In-Store Magic Events: How It Works

If you play Magic: The Gathering on MTG Arena and also at our tables in Mission Viejo, those two habits now count toward each other. On October 1, 2026, Wizards of the Coast announced four new features Opens in a new tab. that connect MTG Arena to Wizards Play Network (WPN) stores, the network of local game stores that run sanctioned Magic events. The headline change: attending a sanctioned in-person event can now earn you rewards inside Arena.

Below is what Wizards has confirmed, what it means for Magic nights at the Tavern, and the few minutes of setup worth doing before your next event.

What Wizards announced

According to Wizards' announcement (Max Manco, October 1, 2026), all four features launched on October 1:

• Wizards Play Network Achievements. These are "evergreen achievements" in MTG Arena that you complete by playing at local stores. Wizards gave four examples:

• Paper Player I: attend an in-person event. Reward: the "Went Outside" title.
• Just Keeping Tabs: favorite a store. Reward: 1,000 Gold.
• Dutiful Drafter II: attend three in-person Booster Draft events. Reward: 1 Draft token.
• Be Legendary I: play at a WPN store with "Legendary Store" status for the first time. Reward: a Jodah, the Unifier card sleeve.

Those are examples, not the full list. Wizards says rewards range "from gold and event tokens to exclusive avatars and titles."

• Favorite Stores screen. A new tab on your Arena profile that shows the stores you've favorited, with their addresses and any "Legendary Store" badges.

• WPN Store Messages. An optional inbox tab for messages from stores you've favorited.

• WPN Event Carousels. An optional home-screen spot where "up to one upcoming event among your favorite stores will be promoted."

Two details decide whether any of this works for you:

1. Use the same account. Wizards says achievement progress is credited the next time you open Arena only if you entered the sanctioned event "with the same Wizards account that you use to play MTG Arena."
2. It isn't retroactive. In Wizards' words, "events attended before the October 1, 2026, launch date won't count."

What counts: sanctioned events

Wizards ties the achievements to sanctioned WPN events, the ones a store runs and reports through Wizards EventLink. The announcement doesn't say that casual games count, so our reading is that a pickup game at the store, even a good one, won't move an achievement. Being registered in the event, under the right account, is what matters.

What it means at TCG Tavern

Our Events calendar Opens in a new tab. currently lists two Magic nights, both on Thursdays from 6 to 9 PM:

• Thursday Standard Night. This is our Friday Night Magic event, now on Thursdays. The listing says "Wizards EventLink registration and reporting apply," so this is the most direct way to put a sanctioned event on your Arena account here.
• Commander Open Play. The listing says "EventLink registration will be used when applicable." That means not every Commander night is necessarily a sanctioned event. If the Arena credit matters to you, ask staff at check-in whether that night is running in EventLink.

There's no in-store Booster Draft on our calendar right now, so Dutiful Drafter isn't something to plan around at the Tavern yet. If we schedule a draft, it will appear on the Events calendar first.

On "Legendary Store" status: Wizards' WPN benefits article for stores Opens in a new tab. (September 30, 2026) defines it as WPN stores that hold Tier 6 in both the current and previous quarters, and says current WPN Premium stores carry the status for Q4 2026 during the transition. The Favorite Stores screen and the Store & Event Locator show the badge, so check there for any store, ours included.

The same article explains that Store Messages and Event Carousels depend on a store's WPN tier (Tier 4 for messages, Tier 5 for carousels), and that both toggles are off by default for players. If you favorite a store and don't see anything in those tabs, that's expected. Favoriting still earns the Just Keeping Tabs achievement either way.

Set it up before your next Magic night

This takes a few minutes at home and saves you doing it at the table:

1. Check which Wizards account you use for Arena. That's the account to use for in-store events too.
2. Get the Magic: The Gathering Companion app (official page Opens in a new tab.) and sign in with that same Wizards account. Companion is how players register for EventLink events.
3. Favorite the Tavern. Wizards' Companion instructions Opens in a new tab.: tap the Locator tab at the bottom of the profile page, search by store name or location, then tap the heart icon. You can also favorite a store from the Store & Event Locator Opens in a new tab. on the web.
4. In Arena, open your profile and go to Favorite Stores. Turn on "Allow WPN Messages" and the event carousel if you want them.
5. Join when you arrive. Find the night on our Events calendar Opens in a new tab.. At the store, staff show the event's join code; enter it in the Companion app so you're registered under your Wizards account.

On privacy: Wizards says favoriting a store doesn't share your private player information with the store, and it doesn't require sharing your location or turning on notifications.

Our take

This is our interpretation, not Wizards'. The rewards are modest, and they shouldn't be the reason anyone comes in to play. What we like is the connection itself. A lot of people learn Magic on Arena and never try paper, often because walking into a store full of strangers feels like a bigger step than queueing online. A small in-game nudge, plus seeing a local store's events right in the client, lowers that step a little.

If you're one of those Arena players, Thursday Standard Night is a reasonable first event, and our guide to your first trading card game night Opens in a new tab. covers what to expect and what to bring. If you need sleeves or a deck box first, our Magic shop page Opens in a new tab. lists what we carry.

FAQ

I played Magic at the Tavern before October 1. Does that count? No. Wizards says events attended before the October 1, 2026 launch won't count.

Does Commander Open Play count? Only if that night runs as a sanctioned EventLink event and you registered with the same Wizards account you use on Arena. Ask staff at check-in.

I don't play MTG Arena. Do I need it? No. Nothing about our events changes. You still register for sanctioned Magic events through Wizards EventLink, usually via the Companion app.

How do I find out about new Magic events here? The Events calendar Opens in a new tab. is always the source. Favoriting the Tavern in Companion also keeps our upcoming events easy to find there.