However, you need to pay for the pass every “season” (aka, every new set) and devote a good amount of time into playing. A battle pass allows you to earn additional rewards for playing the game, on top of the awards you were already earning. The most recent update introduces a battle pass structure similar to Fortnite. Real currency can be spent to purchase gems in the game, which is why they are more valuable and harder to obtain. Gems can also be used to buy more player avatars, custom card backs, and other style extras. Gems are used to enter events that give better awards, but these events are harder and require more commitment to the game. Completing daily goals allows you to earn coins, which can be used to buy card packs or enter “sealed” tournament events.Īrena also has a gem currency. There are multiple ways to earn more free packs, and you’ll get some simply by playing the game. After finishing the tutorial you’ll have enough cards and preconstructed decks to face other players online. Magic Arena is, as stated, a free-to-play app for Magic: The Gathering. I’ll try my best to explain required understanding, but know that Arena does a great job of holding your hand until you feel comfortable with the system. Note: There will be a lot of jargon that non-Magic players may not be familiar with. Have Wizards of the Coast succeeded in their top-to-bottom renovation? Magic: FREE-TO-PLAY! Changing MTGO to a free-to-play system would take a complete overhaul of everything.Īnd that’s the story of Magic: The Gathering Arena (MTGA), which users can now download and play for free. In fact it was as expensive as the physical product. Their Magic: The Gathering Online (MTGO) program had been successful for years, but it wasn’t free-to-play. Wizards of the Coast was not going to take this lying down. With little chance of survival, Magic’s competitors turned to digital, giving rise to the likes of Hearthstone, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game, and a hidden gem called Faeria. Countless other card games rose and fell, but Magic stayed strong.

Its longevity and devoted player base have kept it going strong for decades. Magic: The Gathering is one of the biggest cultural icons of our hobby and will never be replaced, even when much better games* have been inspired by its design.

But is playing Arena worth the time and effort if you can only play Standard Magic? Magic Arena is Wizard of the Coast’s attempt to enter into the free-to-play electronic card games market, and they've done a really good job of it.

Download mtg arena for free