Mike Turian revealed some exciting news this morning for Magic Online players: the return of online premier play.

Beginning in August, the Magic Online Championship Series will return as the bridge between online and paper premier play. This event gives players the opportunity to compete in twelve Season Championships, one Player of the Year event, and two Last Chance Qualifiers to receive an invitation to the Magic Online Championship to compete for $100,00 in prizes as well as Pro Points and an invitation to the World Championship.

At the end of August, Pro Tour Qualifiers will be returning to Magic Online as well. In keeping with the Organized Play changes announced yesterday, online PTQs will have ten preliminary events leading up to an invitation-only finals. Preliminary events will cost 30 Event Tickets to enter and have a 128 player cap. A record of 4-1 or better will qualify a player for the Final event that weekend.

Preliminaries and Finals will be of the same format - either Standard or Limited - though qualifiers for multiple formats may be running during the same period. The Finals will still be Swiss events with a cut to Top 8, where the number of rounds is determined by the number of players. Only the winner of the PTQ Finals will receive an invitation to the Pro Tour.

Finally, Mike Turian also announced the Pro Tour Challenge, where players who qualified via Magic Online can compete in person in two-player, single-elimination events for prizes. These events will be held in-person at the associated Pro Tour.

To find out more about the return of premier play to Magic Online, including schedules, additional prizes, and more, head over to DailyMTG.com.