07/09/2020
In-Store Play Suspension Temporarily Reinstated in US & LATAM
July 9, 2020 | 2 min to read
After reviewing feedback from Core Set 2021 Prerelease, conferring with our Retail Advisory Panel, and above all considering the safety of the community, we've made the difficult decision to place in-store play under suspension in the United States and Latin America.
Remote play events remain available in EventLink, but any in-store events scheduled will be automatically cancelled and removed from the Store and Event Locator.
We realize that this decision has important implications across the entire Magic ecosystem. We also realize that the state of the pandemic varies wildly around the globe, and that the situation is in a constant state of flux. So we want to be as clear as we can about our plans going forward.
Here's what you need to know.
The suspension is temporary but will last through Zendikar Rising Prerelease.
We'd love to provide a timeline for the return of in-store play, but this would be too vulnerable to disruption. After all, in-store play was reinstated on June 1 and, by the end of the month, the situation was drastically different—so different that we felt it best to suspend in-store play again.
We want to facilitate stability of play where we can and in whatever form makes sense for the foreseeable future.
Of course, we want to offer as much information as possible to help our partners adapt. So for now, we can confirm that the suspension will be lifted no sooner than Zendikar Rising Prerelease—the season will offer At-Home Prerelease only.
We are monitoring the situation and will make monthly updates (more on that below).
Until then, we support remote play. We recommend WPN members host remote events, whether via Magic Arena, Magic Online, or we**am. These can be organized through a combination of Discord (find simple instructions here) and Wizards EventLink (get started here).
Over the course of the pandemic, so much of our lives has migrated to the web. If Magic communities can do the same, there are many wonderful, meaningful experiences to be had—the same kind of experiences that have kept the community vibrant and thriving for more than