Since many people ask me about Magic Online downtime or what is going on when MODO starts acting weird I decided to write an article and record a video to show what to do when Magic Online stops doing what it should. Usually if you ask an ORC what to do when you encounter a problem, they will tell you to reinstall your client and if that doesn't help to contact Wizards Customer Support. Sometimes just reinstalling the client won't help you, especially when the problem is actually launching Magic Online. For example recently many players couldn't login to Magic Online or their client crashed after filling in username and password. We also get the 'Cannot Start Application' error for no particular reason from time to time. Wednesdays were a dreaded day for some players because they knew that something could possibly go wrong with Magic Online. 

The infamous sideboard bug when cards start to either show in more copies than they should be often resulting in a crash - one cannot submit the deck anyway if the client does not crash at this point

What to do when something goes wrong?

In general if something is wrong with your client you will be often told to either just relaunch the client or reinstall it. This can solve a memory leak for a while, it can make your client lag less, it can get you past a certain bug you encountered. If the problem is more severe you need to do something we call a clean reinstall.  

1. Before trying to do a clean reinstall you can try turning off your firewall and/or antivirus software. Certain antivirus software blocks Magic Online and prevents it from launching. Also Magic Online uses these ports 7730, 7770, 8001-8099, and 9001-9005 (all TCP). If any of them is blocked Magic Online won't connect (it will show a connection error after launching).

2. If you do not update your operating system on regular basis you can also update it. Click start, type Windows Update and hit enter. There you can install what is necessary and try launching MODO again.
    

3. Magic Online currently needs .NET Framework 4.5.1. If there is a newer version that you can possibly download, update to it because that can be needed. For example my client doesn't run with 4.5.1 installed on my computer but works with 4.6. To get it go to https://www.microsoft.com/net/download/framework.

4. If this won't make your client work, then uninstall it. You can press a windows key + R, type appwiz.cpl and press Enter (or navigate to add/remove programs in another way). Find Magic Online and click uninstall.

5. After this you need to get rid of the deployer cache because sometimes it doesn't get deleted on its own and will contain corrupted data. To do so press Win + R again and type this rundll32 dfshim CleanOnlineAppCache. Click OK.

6. When this is done you should also delete Magic Online's cache that stores all kind of data including your game history, replays, settings, chat logs, game and trade logs etc. The folder can be found at c:\Users\[username]\appdata\Local\Apps\ (at least in Win7 that I use). You can get to the folder directly by typing %LocalAppData%\Apps in the Win + R box.

7. Then all you need to do is install Magic Online. You should get it from here -> http://magic.wizards.co/en/content/download. If this is too difficult to remember you can also go to mtgo.com that will redirect you to https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/magic-online-products-game-info and click on the 'DOWNLOAD NOW!' in the Server status box.

8. If after doing all this Magic Online won't launch you can also try to reset your winsock (you will have to reinstall Magic Online then). To do that you need to run command line with administrator rights (press Windows key, write 'cmd', right click the cmd file, 'run as administrator'). The type netsh winsock reset a hit enter. This is something I wouldn't recommend doing just out of the blue, but if you get login problems with Magic Online this is the thing to do. If all this fails all you can do is try to contact Wizards Customer Support.

9. If WotC won't be able to help you but you are certain that your computer can run Magic Online you can wait for another update because that might become 'compatible' again.

   

10. Running Magic Online shouldn't be too difficult but it requires a lot of memory (in my case usually 1GB, but it often goes up to 2GB). If you get a lot of 'MainNavigation has stopped working' errors those are most of the time linked with Magic Online running out of memory. Don't run any other software that requires a lot of memory and peer-to-peer programs. For my computer/system the most colliding program with Magic Online is Skype for example. Always give Magic Online enough time to process what you just did (clicking on something, typing a name of a card etc).

    

    This is NOT how it should look like! With results like this do not expect your internet connection to be stable.

    Also Magic Online needs at least 512MB of video memory (dedicated). If your client crashes often or has other problems with lag and disconnecting it can be caused by your graphics card and its memory and it is more likely than your internet connection not being good enough (if you have two graphics cards like I do, you have to manually switch to it. When you download a new Magic Online update you have to do it again.)

    As for internet connection, I usually get 280ms delay and the data I sent gets often lost somewhere on its way to the United States but Magic Online still works fine. Sometimes when my ping reaches over 350ms,that disconnects me from the server. Note that if you are located more or less at the same place I am (middle of Europe) these numbers are quite normal. If you use a wi-fi router this can add some lag, if you get disconnected because of this try using a cable. To test your internet connection run this command on the command line tracert mtgologin1.onlinegaming.wizards.com. I'd really appreciate a server located in Europe. 

Wizards Customer Support

If you've never been to this site you may consider venturing there because the site contains all kind of information. Since I had problems finding something on the official Magic Online website I often went to Customer Support- > Magic Online and used the links there. One of the most common thing we - Magic Online players - use this site for is submitting a bug report.

If you encounter a bug, you lose a match because of it or Magic Online somehow messes up the outcome of your match, you can request a reimbursement. While at it you should in detail describe what happened and send them screenshots or a video of it.

Wizards Customer Support can be found at this address -> http://wizards.custhelp.com/. In order to be able to send an e-mail to WotC you need to have a Wizards Account. That is an account that should be now linked with your DCI number and maybe some other stuff like Judge Center, Wizards Event Reporter, etc. Neither can apply to you if you are just Magic Online player, but without this account you won't be able to communicate with Wizards of the Coast. Sign up and login then.

When you login, on the home screen at the bottom of the page there is 'Magic Online: Report an Issue'. Click on that and follow the instructions.

Alternatively you can reach the same page through Magic Online client. Go to Help and click on Request Reimbursement or Report Bug, then click on the big button in the middle.

Other resources

If MODO starts acting weird and you think that the problem is not with your client the best you can do is check Magic Online's Twitter -> https://twitter.com/MagicOnline to see if by a chance there isn't some kind of a server issue. If a downtime takes longer than usual that is also a reason to look there. There might be an estimate when Magic Online will be back online. Apart from event announcements and such there are all the information regarding downtimes and current issues under investigation. For example if you and your opponent get kicked out of a match and can't log back in it usually means that there is something wrong on the server side and that kind of information will be posted there. 

Something went wrong with this update...

On the Wizards.com Magic Online section there are two articles posted periodically that provide us with information about what is going on in the world of Magic Online. The first one contains Magic Online Announcements, including upcoming events, downtimes, changes in-client etc. The other one is named Bug Blog and contains a list of known issues and list of issues fixed lately. It's not a list of all bugs. Some bugs are known among the players but are not listed. Some bugs get discovered and reported but will never make it there because they are not likely to happen often in competitive play. If you read this from time to time (new bugs are the top entries) you may be able to avoid some of them. In some cases there are some kind of workarounds so reading this can come handy.

I hope that this article will help you solve problems that you might encounter. It is a summary of things that should help you deal with certain problems. If you need further help you will have to send an email to Wizards Customer Support. Your problem can be redirected to a tech support. That person may help you more with your system configuration and the client. Do not be afraid of Wizards Customer Support. They are there to help you. If you also have an idea about a feature you'd like to be implemented in MODO or have an idea how to make something easier send it to them too. You can do so either via Customer Support page or by sending an email to magiconlinefeedback@wizards.com. Our feedback and bugs reported matter.

S'Tsung (stsung on MODO, stsungjp on Twitter)