The 2023 Magic Arena Decathlon is the kickoff event of the year on Magic Arena. This event is actually comprised of 10 shorter events. Two of those events will run concurrently for a few days, then two more, and so on for 16 days until all 10 events are completed. Afterwards, players who managed to collect at least three Decathlon Tokens will qualify for the Decathlon finals, and the sweet grand prize of one copy of every single card in the upcoming Phyrexia: All Will Be One expansion set.
Magic Arena Decathlon Schedule
First let’s talk dates. The event rings in the new year, appropriately, on January 1st at 8am Pacific Time (11am Eastern Time). Just in time to recover from whatever shenanigans you got yourself into on the previous night and prepare yourself for two grueling weeks of Arena grinding. As I said already, each three-day block of events will see two concurrent events running. Here are the blocks:
- Jan 1 – Jan 4: Jump In! and Pauper
- Jan 4 – Jan 7: Mixed Dominarian Sealed and Gift Bag Standard
- Jan 7 – Jan 10: The Brothers’ War Traditional Draft and Alchemy
- Jan 10 – Jan 13: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Bot Draft and Traditional Explorer
- Jan 13 – Jan 16: Omniscience Phantom Bot Draft and On the Edge
Decathlon Mini-Event Structure
Each of the ten mini-events follows one of the below entry and prize structures based on whether the event is Best-of-One or Best-of-Three. The Bo1 events will require you to win 7 matches before losing 3 times and the Bo3 events will require you to win 5 matches before losing 2 times. In either case you’ll need 2,000 gold or 400 gems to enter each event (so start saving your daily quest rewards and stop buying fancy sleeves in the daily shop).
Decathlon Mini-Event Rewards
Obviously the big prize is the Decathlon token and the 4k in gold, allowing you to enter two more Decathlon events. The packs you win have a novel distribution from among all packs available on Arena including Standard, Alchemy, and Historic packs. Here’s the breakdown:
- 40% chance at Standard main set pack
- 40% chance at non-Standard main set pack
- 10% chance at an Alchemy pack
- 10% chance at a Mythic pack
Suffice to say, you probably aren’t entering these events for the booster packs, but they’re a nice prize none-the-less. With an entry fee of 2,000 gold, you’ll want to hit at least 3 wins to “break even” on the cost of packs. The bonus chance at getting a Mythic pack is nice too since those normally cost 1,300 gold instead of 1,000.
The Sundering Titan Sleeves
One of the main participation prizes for this event is a trio of Sundering Titan sleeves. Each sleeve features a different artwork for the classic icon as well as a different border.
First up is the bronze-bordered Sundering Titan sleeve based on the retro artifact art from The Brothers’ War, illustrated by Irina Nordsol. To get this sleeve you just have to enter any of the Decathlon mini-events described above. This is a guaranteed 2,000 gold purchase.
Next up is the silver-bordered Sundering Titan sleeve based on the original artwork from Darksteel, illustrated by Jim Murray. To get this sleeve you need to enter the Decathlon Finals which requires winning three different Decathlon mini-events. This will run you at least 6,000 gold and the sky is the limit depending on how good you are at the Decathlon events.
Last we have the gold-bordered Sundering Titan sleeve based on the Kaladesh Inventions artwork, illustrated by Luis Lasahido. This is one of the most coveted sleeves from this or any event. To receive this you’ll need to receive a Decathalon token from each of the 10 mini-events. This will run you at least 20,000 gold and who knows how much, but it is definitely one of the game’s more prestigious award sleeves.
Magic Arena Decathlon Finals
If you win at least three different mini-events you’ll earn an invitation to the Decathlon finals. If you win at least seven of the mini-events then you can enter the finals of the event twice. Upon entering the finals you’ll receive the silver-bordered Sundering Titan sleeve shown above. The format for the finals is best-of-three sealed with an interesting twist. Everyone gets the exact same card pool from which to build their deck! Here’s the prize breakdown:
I’m not a huge fan of the cumulative lists so here’s another list which might be easier to understand. All prizes are cumulative:
- 0 Wins: No rewards
- 1 Win: 5 Showcase basic lands from Core Set 2021
- 2 Wins: 4 Player Draft Tokens, Phage the Untouchable avatar
- 3 Wins: 4 Rare Wildcards, 4 Mythic Rare Wildcards
- 4 Wins: Voucher for 1 copy of every card in Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Since you can enter twice, if you win seven of the mini-events, that’s a shot at 8 player draft tokens, 8 rare wildcards, and 8 mythic rare wildcards, plus a second potential voucher for one copy of every card in Phyrexia: All Will Be One. Your journey to completing that set could be 50% complete two weeks in advance of the set’s digital release!
And there you have it. 10 events. 16 days. 3 Sundering Titan sleeves. A bunch of sweet prizes. And glory to the victor. I hope you’ve been stocking up on gold coins because this is going to be a grind but rocking those Titan sleeves for the year is going to be worth the effort. If you’re going for the gold make sure you bookmark our 2023 Arena Decathlon homepage where we’ll link all of our guides to each mini-event as well as the finals. May the odds be ever in your favor!
Rich Stein (he/him) has been playing Magic since 1995 when he and his brother opened their first packs of Ice Age and thought Jester’s Cap was the coolest thing ever. Since then his greatest accomplishments in Magic have been the one time he beat Darwin Kastle at a Time Spiral sealed Grand Prix and the time Jon Finkel blocked him on Twitter.