Blizzard is giving high-end Mythic+ players a new reason to keep pushing in Patch 12.0.5, and for once it is not just another title that most of the playerbase will only ever see in someone else’s Raider.IO profile.
The big addition is a pair of new Mythic+ achievements aimed at the top end of the ladder. One hands out a Timelost Saddle that can be exchanged for a mount from a curated pool, including older Keystone rewards. The other adds a brand-new exclusive mount for the top 1% at season’s end. Blizzard laid it all out in its official Two New Achievements Coming to Mythic+ post.
Blizzard is finally adding something above Keystone Legend
The first new achievement is Keystone Myth, which will require 3400 Mythic+ rating when Patch 12.0.5 launches. Earning it gives players a Timelost Saddle, awarded once per warband per season, which can be traded to Lindormi in Silvermoon or the Timeways for a mount of your choice from a curated selection. Blizzard says that pool includes both previous Keystone Master and Keystone Legend mounts as well as new mounts added going forward. That is a pretty major shift for Mythic+ rewards, because it finally gives players something more tangible to chase once they have already cleared the usual seasonal milestones. Blizzard also noted in the same official announcement that the 3400 requirement may change in future seasons to keep the difficulty level comparable over time.
That alone makes this one of the more interesting Mythic+ reward updates Blizzard has done in a while. It is not just “here is your seasonal mount, see you next patch.” It is a system that tries to keep high-rated players engaged while also reopening the door to rewards they may have missed the first time around.
And honestly, that part is smart.
The top 1% are also getting an exclusive mount
The second achievement is where Blizzard stops pretending it is designing for everybody.
Umbral Champion: Midnight Season One will be awarded to players who finish the season in the top 1% of Mythic+ rating, and it comes with a new exclusive mount. Blizzard has not framed this as something meant to be accessible. It is very clearly intended as a prestige reward for the absolute top end of the Mythic+ scene, and the wording in the official forum post leaves little room for ambiguity there.
That has already sparked pushback.
Some players like the idea of giving elite runners a reward beyond a title. Others think locking a mount behind the top 1% is a neat little way to pour gasoline on meta-chasing, spec imbalance arguments, and the general sense that high-end Mythic+ is already sweaty enough without adding more exclusivity on top. You can see that reaction taking shape almost immediately in the replies to Blizzard’s own announcement, where criticism around FOMO, balance, and accessibility showed up fast.
Which, to be fair, is not exactly shocking.
Why this is a bigger story than it looks
On paper, this is just a reward update.
In practice, it tells you a lot about where Blizzard thinks Mythic+ is headed in Midnight.
The message here is pretty clear: Blizzard wants more progression goals above the usual Keystone Master and Keystone Legend checkpoints. Icy Veins’ early breakdown of the new Mythic+ achievements and mount rewards framed it exactly that way, noting that the new system gives “points hunters” another rung to climb instead of hitting the usual ceiling and running out of meaningful rewards.
That fits the broader shape of Patch 12.0.5 so far. Blizzard is not just adding content. It is also trying to shore up reward structure, whether that means making Void Tier 2 sets more farmable or giving Mythic+ players another long-tail incentive to keep queueing keys after the standard seasonal goals are done. We already covered that transmog side of the patch in our recent piece on Void Tier 2 sets becoming much easier to farm, and this reward update feels like part of the same philosophy.
Blizzard seems to be looking at systems that previously stopped too early, then bolting a little more chase onto them.
The good part, the risky part, and the very Blizzard part
The good part is obvious. Letting players earn a saddle for older Keystone mounts is a strong idea.
It rewards long-term Mythic+ play, gives dedicated runners something practical at a very high rating threshold, and eases a bit of the “you missed it, too bad forever” problem that seasonal rewards usually create. That is probably the most broadly popular part of this whole announcement.
The risky part is the top 1% mount.
That reward will absolutely appeal to elite players, but it also drops straight into the usual Mythic+ arguments about class balance, comp lock-in, and how much of the upper bracket is really about skill versus simply playing the correct spec at the correct moment. Blizzard may want Umbral Champion to feel prestigious, but it is also setting itself up for weeks of “nice reward, wrong system” debate.
And the very Blizzard part? Launching this kind of announcement right into a playerbase that can turn “cool new reward” into a ten-page argument about fairness in under fifteen minutes.
That part remains intact.
This should land well for a lot of Mythic+ players
Even with the inevitable complaints, this is still a strong 12.0.5 story.
For most serious Mythic+ players, Keystone Myth is the real headline. A 3400 rating reward with a Timelost Saddle and access to older seasonal mounts is a meaningful addition, especially for players who have already been living in that awkward space where pushing higher felt prestigious but not especially rewarding. Blizzard’s official post makes it clear that this system is meant to solve exactly that problem.
The top 1% mount will get the discourse. The saddle system is what will probably matter more in practice.
And that is why this one matters. It is not just another patch note. It is Blizzard admitting that Mythic+ needed a better reward ladder at the top—and finally doing something about it.
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