Magic: The Gathering Arena

 PC
User Score
2.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 209 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 209
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 209
  3. Negative: 147 out of 209

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  1. Remmu
    May 24, 2020
    9
    I'm mostly going to address some of the negative reviews. Not to say they are all unjustified, but just to give my point of view.

    To put my experience into perspective, I've been playing Magic since around 2004-2005. I've played Magic Online and all of the different variations of Duels of the Planeswalkers games. I started playing Magic Arena right when it went into open beta in 2018.    I'm mostly going to address some of the negative reviews. Not to say they are all unjustified, but just to give my point of view.

    To put my experience into perspective, I've been playing Magic since around 2004-2005. I've played Magic Online and all of the different variations of Duels of the Planeswalkers games. I started playing Magic Arena right when it went into open beta in 2018. Which means I didn't have the unpleasant experience of having to lose my cards earned during the closed beta period. But one important thing to bring out is that even before they released the closed beta they already told people that they wouldn't be able to keep their cards. You can still find their FAQ and old blog posts about it. They were testing how the economy works during the closed beta and said there would be several wipes in the process. And everyone who used real world money to buy virtual currency called gems always got the gems re-added to their accounts once it was wiped of cards. Sadly the last wipe was the reason for many of the bad user reviews. I do understand it a bit since people were disappointed that they didn't get that much for supporting the game during the closed beta period.

    The mulligan system, which let's you redraw your starting hand of cards if you're not happy with it is by far the best one we have had in a Magic game to date. Not only is the new London system of drawing seven cards again and putting one back for every time you did a mulligan much better than the old one, but the system in this game also has a hidden feature where it actually draws you two possible hands and gives you the hand with the best land to non-land ratio.

    About the disconnections, I can only speak from my own experience. I think I get about one disconnection every 50-100 games and even then I can almost always re-join the match before I am truly disconnected. The only exception of late that I can remember is when I got the disconnection while there was a new update, so I wasn't able to rejoin the game before the update had finished which did frustrate me a bit since it was a ranked game.

    The animations look really good in this game, but I do have performance issues from time to time where the game just hangs from 1-2 seconds, even though I have checked that my CPU and GPU aren't even working 50%. Lowering the graphics settings hasn't helped against this either.

    I'm really hoping formats like free-for-all, two-headed giant, planechase, archenemy ect get added. For me personally playing with more than two people is one of the best parts of Magic.

    Magic Arena all in all is a fantastic game and it has come a long way since it got the meta score of 84. It's got a great tutorial and a good ranking system where you're only paired against people of your own skill level. Don't get disheartened if you lose most of your games. You can still climb ranks even if you lose more often than you don't and by completing daily quests you will get more gold and wildcards to get cards to build better decks. : )    … Expand
  2. GedricMalkavsky
    May 12, 2020
    2
    Hello everyone.
    I came to the MTG arena from its paper version and at first I really liked it. It was in the summer of 2019, when the Core Set 2020 appeared in the game. The graphics are pretty nice looking, but always lagging when starting the first battle after the start of the game, with any settings. And this is on SSD.
    After the release of Theros in the game, a new inconvenience was    Hello everyone.
    I came to the MTG arena from its paper version and at first I really liked it. It was in the summer of 2019, when the Core Set 2020 appeared in the game. The graphics are pretty nice looking, but always lagging when starting the first battle after the start of the game, with any settings. And this is on SSD.
    After the release of Theros in the game, a new inconvenience was added: checking for updates after the login in the game could last 5-15 minutes. Reinstallation does not help. Moreover, this happens not only on one home computer, but also on a computer located in another house and with another Internet provider. After starting the game, it became a habit to go make tea, sandwiches or open a video on YouTube. They did not fix this with the release of Ikoria.
    I played in a relatively average way: do daily quests and gain cap victories. On average, it turned out 4: 4 or 3: 5 wins: defeats in one game session. Rarely were there a series of defeats 0: 6 (usually I went out after that and did not continue) or a series of victories 5: 0 for example.
    In the in-game store, I bought the Battle Pass and full pre-orders. Separately, I did not buy boosters for $. I was also not interested in, for the most part, ugly skins or card covers.

    The interesting thing started after the release of Ikoria. I watched a dull trailer and dull card art, and the whole idea of ​​the set seemed completely silly and childish to me. And I decided to buy a basic battle pass and not do a full pre-order. In addition, a lot of cards and wild cards have accumulated on my account, so I could craft all the interesting things.
    The beginning of May, Ikory’s quick draft for the next two weeks began and the game finally turned into some kind of casino.
    Not paid - not a player.
    Total endless series of defeats. But if you can still fight in the Draft somehow at first, but then fly off the enemy’s top deck. Then in the Constructed or in a non-ranking match there is a constant lack of mana (no more than two cards). And the opponents are matched all strictly with a counter deck and strictly the same playing cards. A new round begins, a new opponent, and the cards are played all clearly in the same order as the previous one, only the avatar and color of the card shirt changes. If you change the deck, then the counter deck will climb exclusively on it. It reminded me of Heartstone. Days pass, and this non-randomizer does not change.

    In general, thank you Wizards - your greed has freed me from this "game."

    Advice for doubters: if you want to play cards like that, then play better in the paper version, where you will depend only on the randomizer of the universe. As an option MTGO, if you are more comfortable at home.

    P. S. The music in the game is good. The cries and voices of creatures, phrases of plinswalkers, too. Actually, therefore, the rating of the game is not zero.
    P.P. S. S. If some of my phrases seemed too pretentious or simple, sorry - English is not my native language.    … Expand
  3. tutuluis
    May 9, 2020
    1
    pay to win, cartas rotas, hackers que pueden alterar el orden "aleatorio" de las cartas que le tocan a uno
  4. DaSalmon
    May 2, 2020
    0
    Been playing since Alpha/Beta. The only review you need to read of this game:
    Pros:
    -Free to play(sort of). -Interface is quick and fast. -A huge visual and usability step up from MTGO. Cons: -It's literally rigged. You don't spend money? Grinding out too many wins and unlocking free cards? Have fun going first 30% or less of the time. That'll stop you! -It's rigged even further    Been playing since Alpha/Beta. The only review you need to read of this game:
    Pros:
    -Free to play(sort of).
    -Interface is quick and fast.
    -A huge visual and usability step up from MTGO.

    Cons:
    -It's literally rigged. You don't spend money? Grinding out too many wins and unlocking free cards? Have fun going first 30% or less of the time. That'll stop you!
    -It's rigged even further by keyword logging what your deck type is and is good/bad versus. If you win too much, you'll get matched by nonsense decks that are purely designed to beat you. (You can get around this usually by building an infinite mana combo deck where you go off and win in one single turn in which you take so long to win your opponent's concede before you win so it has no idea exactly how you're winning, lol.)
    -Heavily pay to win on a competitive level, and it requires a ridiculous amount of money just like the filthiest mobile phone games.
    -Magic the Gathering as a whole currently has serious power creep and card balance issues so Standard is almost never fun to play, and they often forget to ban certain format ruining cards in the for-fun formats.
    -Shuffler in best of one has some randomization issues(unless you mulligan or shuffle your deck 1 time.) This has been confirmed, and never fixed for whatever reason. Basically in best of one games the less land you have in your starting hand the less chance you have to draw more land. Inversely the more land you have in your starting hand he more likely you will be to draw more land. This is seriously abusable and has caused many mono colored decks to win far more often than they should including allowing them to get away with playing 13 lands in a 60 card deck.
    -Feedback from the community was originally being listened to during MTGA's beta, but once they setup their current bug report/support system issues that have been upvoted to high heavens and complained about are never dealt with and left to remind you they were only ever in it for the cash grab in the first place.    … Expand
  5. gewn
    May 1, 2020
    0
    The user interface constantly ruins the user experience. I feel unsafe making purchases because I feel like they are either negligently or purposefully designed to make you make less wasteful purchases that don't give you the cards you think you'll be receiving. I would never feel comfortable letting my teenager or child playing this game purely for the terrible design of the shop. Also aThe user interface constantly ruins the user experience. I feel unsafe making purchases because I feel like they are either negligently or purposefully designed to make you make less wasteful purchases that don't give you the cards you think you'll be receiving. I would never feel comfortable letting my teenager or child playing this game purely for the terrible design of the shop. Also a lot of the designs for the cards don't carry over well into the game. The game is also desperate to place you into poorly matched games against random players, while making it kind of difficult to play with your friends which has always been way more important to me when playing MTG. Overall huge disappointment. A lot of room for improvement.… Expand
  6. Yaksa_Viguro
    Apr 20, 2020
    9
    The game is really good, but it is necessary to play a lot or pay in order to have the cards you want. I've never paid anything in the game, but with some time I got lots of cards and I could do nice decks. The wildcard system is really good and helps a lot. The graphics and animations are cool, and the sounds/music as well. I really love most of the animations which trigger when someThe game is really good, but it is necessary to play a lot or pay in order to have the cards you want. I've never paid anything in the game, but with some time I got lots of cards and I could do nice decks. The wildcard system is really good and helps a lot. The graphics and animations are cool, and the sounds/music as well. I really love most of the animations which trigger when some legendary cards enter the battlefield.

    However, as I remember, you can't skip the tutorial, which is really awful if you already know the game. Sometimes I get quite distrustful about the autenticity of random things, such as the land draw. There are some things that happen with a really really really low probability, happening quite more times than it should normally.

    There are lots of updates which evidences the effort in making the game enjoyable, with of course some attempts to put the hand in your wallet. In general I think it's really good.    … Expand
  7. DELETE_ARENA
    Apr 18, 2020
    0
    Basic pay to win design but that is not the worst part. The game has a horrible internet connectivity issues. You can only play on a wired connection even if you have high speed wifi. Their game pass is only good for a couple months but if you buy it a few days before a new card set drops then it become unusable and you need to pay again, no joke. I was also charged a foreign transactionBasic pay to win design but that is not the worst part. The game has a horrible internet connectivity issues. You can only play on a wired connection even if you have high speed wifi. Their game pass is only good for a couple months but if you buy it a few days before a new card set drops then it become unusable and you need to pay again, no joke. I was also charged a foreign transaction fee from my bank and their customer service told me to just delete my account if I was not satisfied, how is that helpful?

    NO OTHER ONLINE GAME HAS SUCH WIDESPREAD CONNECTIVITY ISSUES.    … Expand
  8. HurdyGurdy1
    Mar 21, 2020
    3
    Seit der Beta habe ich 500 unnötige Gems die völlig nutzlos sind.
    Ich habe während der Beta Geld ausgegeben um ein bisschen was reissen zu können. Damals habt ihr mir ALLES wieder weggenommen. Dafür erhielt ich Gems. Dafür schon mal ein "Fickt euch"
    Uebrig geblieben sind genau 500 Gems. Wer hätte das gedacht. 3 Packs kosten genau 600. Ihr seid solche Wichser. Nun wollte ich heute mal    Seit der Beta habe ich 500 unnötige Gems die völlig nutzlos sind.
    Ich habe während der Beta Geld ausgegeben um ein bisschen was reissen zu können. Damals habt ihr mir ALLES wieder weggenommen. Dafür erhielt ich Gems. Dafür schon mal ein "Fickt euch"
    Uebrig geblieben sind genau 500 Gems. Wer hätte das gedacht. 3 Packs kosten genau 600. Ihr seid solche Wichser. Nun wollte ich heute mal raus finden ob ich zuerst die Abzocker Gems kaufen muss um an Packs zu kommen. Habe unten links, ganz klein Change Payment Method gefunden.
    Um meine Kreditkarte nutzen zu können muss ich zuerst irgend einer Firma Geld überweisen? Noch nie sowas erlebt. Ihr seid das Letzte.    … Expand
  9. laertan
    Mar 9, 2020
    9
    Best card game for free (seriously, I play it since the early beta and I didn't spend a cent). Sure, game isn't perfect, land screw/flood can be irritating, as well as constant getting opponents with better decks (even in unranked, which is odd). And when it comes to draft, card pick with real humans instead of bots would certainly make this format better. Still, despite all these flaws, IBest card game for free (seriously, I play it since the early beta and I didn't spend a cent). Sure, game isn't perfect, land screw/flood can be irritating, as well as constant getting opponents with better decks (even in unranked, which is odd). And when it comes to draft, card pick with real humans instead of bots would certainly make this format better. Still, despite all these flaws, I love this game, since it's the only possible way to play mtg without spending ton of money.… Expand
  10. HobusTobu
    Mar 6, 2020
    0
    I think the issues with land draws go far beyond what we used to think. Mulligans used to fix the issue, but now you can mulligan down to 3 cards before you'll actually get viable mana.
    There was a user who actually covered over a million games in a study and despite what gaslighting fanboys say, the issues with the draws are well outside normal variance.
    Despite the fact that the    I think the issues with land draws go far beyond what we used to think. Mulligans used to fix the issue, but now you can mulligan down to 3 cards before you'll actually get viable mana.
    There was a user who actually covered over a million games in a study and despite what gaslighting fanboys say, the issues with the draws are well outside normal variance.
    Despite the fact that the reddit thread for that game is the most viewed and most discussed, it's rated lower than other reddit threads about the game due to Google coordinating with WOTC (which isn't abnormal for most large companies to work with Google and adsense to create favorable search results).

    The bigger issue is that the discussions around this game come down to people who spend WAY too much money on this game telling everyone else that they're crazy. Beyond ironic.
    The playerbase is so incredibly toxic online, it's probably better to ignore the majority that keep buying because it's an addiction and not a hobby for them.

    The core issues with the game are still yet to be resolved. It's unoptimized for older hardware, the client loses connections to the server all the time, the actual game itself is cripplingly unfun if you actually want a fair experience, and there's no way to really enjoy yourself in a de-stress, single player scenario. Primarily due to the fact that they want you to keep grinding losses until you finally break and spend more money on the game. I don't get the absolute autistic devotion to Wizards of The Coast since it's pretty clear that their goal isn't a well-made game, it's to get as much cash out of addicted gamers as they can.

    According to the Metacritic ratings, I'd say it sounds like the majority or normies aren't happy either.

    Corporate shills gonna shill fam.

    I hope that someone reports WOTC to the BBB or the FTC, I don't know how much it would do, but at the very least some audits done in discovery could be made public that would really blow the lid on how messed up they are.    … Expand
  11. PeakZach
    Feb 11, 2020
    10
    Coming from MTG Online, this is an insane experience that is legitimately free. There are of course in-game purchase options, but the need is minimal and will not take away from any fun you'd otherwise have playing this great game. Grinding is always an option in place of real money spending, and the play is clean, crisp, and well thought out. Excellent emergence out of beta.
  12. Admer
    Feb 3, 2020
    1
    insane donations system. don't play this shiТ............................................
  13. MNecromancer
    Feb 3, 2020
    1
    I liked Duels because it allowed you to experiment with the new sets in a story mode, then you get a basic deck from that set that you can customize a bit now that you've played around with it. At this point I could go do drafts in real life with that basic knowledge of the set. It was a good way to get involved without having to waste a stupid amount of time and money figuring things out.I liked Duels because it allowed you to experiment with the new sets in a story mode, then you get a basic deck from that set that you can customize a bit now that you've played around with it. At this point I could go do drafts in real life with that basic knowledge of the set. It was a good way to get involved without having to waste a stupid amount of time and money figuring things out.

    I logged into Arena expecting to try out Eldraine or the new Theros, but all of my decks seem to be from Ravnica and Ixalan. I tried playing a couple of games, but I've only unlocked one booster from Theros and I'm not even close to being able to get an Eldraine. Who would ever want to grind like this? Why would you ever pay to win in a game where you could pay for the cards in real life? This is the dumbest magic game I've ever played. The 90's version had so much more game than this. Every Duels of the Planeswalker entry was 10x more satisfying than this.

    Now less than not being able to enjoy a MTG videogame, I've lost my main way of introducing myself to the sets. Duels kind of spoiled me on that. Without it, I'm just not going to go to Magic events anymore. They're kind of a waste of money unless you're already semi familiar with the content.

    Another blunder is the introduction of wild cards. They allow you to get any card you want once you earn enough points. This means that every player you play who has researched the best decks can have the most powerful cards. I enjoyed that in Duels, the players who did research and power gamed their decks had to earn them by getting the whole sets and then were relegated to the top of the ranked lists, but now everybody just gets the best cards and womps. I want to safely experiment at the lower ends of the ranks without having to deal with this kind of power gaming nonsense. It takes the organic collection out of opening packs and makes completing a set completely fruitless.    … Expand
  14. Inghak
    Feb 3, 2020
    0
    Игра просто убогая и будет убогой, не смотря на все механики и красоты, пока не сделают нормальный рандомайзер колоды. Получать по 10 земель подряд или не получать их вообще реально задолбало.
  15. marcantoineg
    Feb 2, 2020
    9
    It's a good game. Don't let the negative reviews stop you from getting it. It's free and pretty generous compared to other mainstream card games. Much cheaper than paper magic too and no struggle to find opponents. Perfect for beginners who don't know all the rules. Yes Wizard is greedy with their events and there's still a few bugs. Overall, I played hours of arena and I'd say it'sIt's a good game. Don't let the negative reviews stop you from getting it. It's free and pretty generous compared to other mainstream card games. Much cheaper than paper magic too and no struggle to find opponents. Perfect for beginners who don't know all the rules. Yes Wizard is greedy with their events and there's still a few bugs. Overall, I played hours of arena and I'd say it's everything I want for a digital card game. A few advice to devs : stop rewarding wins only because it repels casuals and make cheaper events with DECENT rewards.… Expand
  16. DannyDerpson
    Jan 30, 2020
    0
    The game is full of bugs, crashes every 10 to 15 minutes and full of annoying badly designed cards. I regret i ever spent money on this digital pile of crap.
  17. Idiolized
    Jan 28, 2020
    1
    Copy pasted from MTG Duels of the plainswalker 2009, with the exact same issues as the old games.. you can put your deck together, with all lands in stack in the pile, and still have better land draw, than this game. Example from my latest game; starting hand with 3 lands, 2 creatures, a sorcery and instant card.. in round 5, I had 7 lands 3 creatures, a sorcery and a instant card.. 2Copy pasted from MTG Duels of the plainswalker 2009, with the exact same issues as the old games.. you can put your deck together, with all lands in stack in the pile, and still have better land draw, than this game. Example from my latest game; starting hand with 3 lands, 2 creatures, a sorcery and instant card.. in round 5, I had 7 lands 3 creatures, a sorcery and a instant card.. 2 games before that I started with 3 lands.. this or the total opposite happens 1/3 games, it's really fun!

    The only positive thing here (In my opinion) is that you now can create your own deck.. Other than that they just threw away that they were the dominant company on the market, and could have been way ahead of Hearthstone, but they ended up aiming at their foot, and now they are limbing behind basicly any other card games.

    Used to love the game (paper cards), but their computer games is absolutly terrible and a waste of time. And for a end note to some review, if you play this game, doesn't mean you have "deep IQ", 95% of the decks you'll encounter is copy pasta deck, and they can barely play them properly despite guide and beeing spoon fed details.. You'll meet alot of these copy decks, so it can be quite hard in the beginning, if you don't choose to do the same..
    And if you don't play regular your cards get outdated, and you can't get rewards, so you have to pay even more to follow up, everything is evolved around Pay 2 win, since the deck they made for new players, are terrible and are made to make you want to buy packages.. That the packages are overpriced and with fewer cards that the physical package, just shows even more clearly.. On top of that every event and what not, also cost money, of course.....

    The original paper card game was awesome! This rushed, badly designed, badly coded client, they have been years to put together (Mtg Duels of the plainswalker 2009), and still can't make just a decent client, or they don't care..    … Expand
  18. LocketheAuthent
    Jan 24, 2020
    3
    Free to play monetization with crafting elements makes any game ugly, let alone what it does to a card collecting deck building game. Decent presentation and a faithful recreation of the actual game, but just dirty otherwise. Just go get the real cards so you actually have something tangible rather than have this manipulative puff waste your time.
  19. bronzi
    Dec 29, 2019
    2
    Have you ever gone to FedEx to have something printed? You sit down at the computer, and you're required to swipe your credit card in order to log in. You're charged by the minute while you putz around in your email and Photoshop trying to print your tax forms.

    Playing Magic Arena feels like that. Not only is it insanely greedy--it's an incredibly boring grind. There is no risk or    Have you ever gone to FedEx to have something printed? You sit down at the computer, and you're required to swipe your credit card in order to log in. You're charged by the minute while you putz around in your email and Photoshop trying to print your tax forms.

    Playing Magic Arena feels like that.

    Not only is it insanely greedy--it's an incredibly boring grind.
    There is no risk or reward in the tournaments or gameplay. You pay to do everything and you get almost nothing for it, except rote, impersonal, consequence-less games of MTG.

    The UI leaves a lot to be desired, the graphics (gameboards and effects) are mediocre, the "premium" cards look 10x better in Hearthstone or Gwent, even though they've made premium cards and avatars the primary reward in Magic Arena.

    There's no sense of playing against real people in the game, especially in drafts, since you're competing for your card picks against AI...

    They made opening packs and collecting the set un-fun, by creating the "wildcard" system, which makes the process of opening packs essentially filling up a progress/experience bar. I could not care less if I open a mythic rare.

    If you take a break from the game you will lose all your progress. New cards are constantly added to the "legacy" format--even beyond the cards rotating out of standard--in order to prevent you from easily playing with your long-term collection.

    Game modes, like "Brawl"--which don't require you to have up to date cards--still require you to pay (EXTRA) just for the privilege of playing a casual Magic The Gathering game mode with cards you already own...

    The entire system (far more than paper MTG even), feels like it's optimized in order to PREVENT you enjoying the game at all without spending a constant stream of money.

    This game has the worst monetization scheme of all the digital CCGs, even Hearthstone, even Artifact.
    Even the old Magic Online's notorious monetization scheme (which was a literal representation of the tabletop game) was better, because despite being crazy expensive there was a real sense of risk and reward, which is what makes the gameplay exciting.

    Magic Arena is such a soulless, corporate, money-and-time-suck of a game, and the business attitudes behind it are bad news for MTG in general.    … Expand
  20. kodaK
    Dec 8, 2019
    7
    It´s a good game in general. It´s not the best card game on pc, but stills pretty solid. I understand why some people don't like this game, the mechanics are not easy. But if you learn how to play it, you can have some fun.
  21. shinokun
    Nov 20, 2019
    1
    If you enjoy Pay2Win games. This is the game for you. Otherwise stay away. There is no way to obtain individual cards except to craft them by obtaining crafting materials by buying and open packs.Matchmaking system is the the worst part of this game. If you first start out the game, youre pretty much screwed unless you pay a butt load of money for packs. Match making and card draws arentIf you enjoy Pay2Win games. This is the game for you. Otherwise stay away. There is no way to obtain individual cards except to craft them by obtaining crafting materials by buying and open packs.Matchmaking system is the the worst part of this game. If you first start out the game, youre pretty much screwed unless you pay a butt load of money for packs. Match making and card draws arent random either. There are subsequent metacodes for each card and youre deck is scored. Draws are based of that. The devs are blatantly trying money off you… Expand
  22. BoneCub
    Nov 10, 2019
    3
    This is gaming's equivalent to the Homer Simpson makeup shotgun.

    What a way to make me interested in Magic again, if only for 2 days. At least I can't say this game is like MTGO: abandoned in the 2000's by a company swimming in so much money they could hardly care if some dummy in Alabama spends 200 dollars a week playing online drafts. MTG Arena has reached the gaming 2010's ladies and    This is gaming's equivalent to the Homer Simpson makeup shotgun.

    What a way to make me interested in Magic again, if only for 2 days. At least I can't say this game is like MTGO: abandoned in the 2000's by a company swimming in so much money they could hardly care if some dummy in Alabama spends 200 dollars a week playing online drafts. MTG Arena has reached the gaming 2010's ladies and gentleman, C0oL animations, clean UI and a deep, stark hatred for you, the consumer. What is the difference between playing bots and real life players in this game? Right there, on the left corner of the screen (or was it right?), can you see it? It's... a Name. Yeah the player has a name, and he can choose out of 20 avatars! But no friend's lists for you, also you have 5 emotes so there's no point in even trying to befriend someone, you can't even look at their decks when the game is over, it reminds me of baby preschool socialization if the teacher was a Chinese government censor. It's an explosion of "good" graphics to keep you from thinking "what the hell am I even doing here anyway?"

    Leveling up is annoyingly stupid too. You get a quest everyday (750 or 500 xp each), plus weekly quests going up to 2500 xp every week. Roughly you get around 1 level or 2 every day, which translates to a pack a day, or maybe 2 if you spend your gold in packs, but if you do say byebye to draft my dear, that costs 5000 gold, equivalent to almost a whole week worth of gold. After completing the quests, everything you do from now on is pointless. You can play ranked, or for fun, but expect nothing, winning might increase your rank, but even if you do the end-season rewards per rank are so petty you'd imagine this is an indie company gasping at straws to keep their company afloat. And by the rarity and sluggishness that the devs update the game, I'm honestly starting to believe wizards has been faking it's size for decades.

    Don't even TRY to get past gold with a non-competitive deck. Don't.

    Draft is broken, the bots simply don't draft the color blue (yeah, you draft against BOTS). Sealed is extremely expensive to play, and you can only play by paying real money. Most events are just boring or too easy, or they require such a huge initial investment from you that you'll be spending money to have a chance, only so that the rewards for these events be barely worth a nickel, mostly just COSMETICS. (Small note, but the cosmetics are also very underwhelming, it's like a faint breeze is passing through the card's artwork, which means you might notice a piece of cloth moving ever so slightly, but that's it)

    The company has also chosen this weird, senseless event "rotation", were certain game modes will not be available to create an artificial sense of urgency and freshness. It's not only events though, sealed and draft follow this same model too. Wanna play sealed this week? Just who the hell do you think you are?! Some people say it is to give space for new game modes to come around, but there is UNLIMITED SPACE, It's an ONLINE game, you can put as much in it as you want!

    Weak, empty, pointless, borderline insulting, expensive, frivolous, unpolished... Nice UI though.    … Expand
  23. superpyro296
    Nov 6, 2019
    6
    I think the game is well done overall but I see a serious problem that discourages me to continue play on a regular basis. In fact, almost everyone play with the same decks archetypes. So, if you want to have a chance to win, you need to play with a "net-deck" too. I would like a format where you can play with the preconstructed decks and be able to try more cards. So, I mean the problemI think the game is well done overall but I see a serious problem that discourages me to continue play on a regular basis. In fact, almost everyone play with the same decks archetypes. So, if you want to have a chance to win, you need to play with a "net-deck" too. I would like a format where you can play with the preconstructed decks and be able to try more cards. So, I mean the problem is in the matching process. Also, you will see that if you're in a winning position during a match, a significant amount of players will concede really early, which makes the wins less enjoyable. I think the early concessions should be punished and they should create a format for more janky decks or even preconstructed decks.… Expand
  24. hellsing5959
    Oct 5, 2019
    0
    The game matchmaking is messed-up that your NPE decks are always matched against totally ridiculous netdecks. Performance and Connection issues are exacerbating everyday but WotC just keeps priotizing Monetization. Magic Subreddit is just the place for whales and fanboys because whatever negative posts you post there will be downvoted and removed by some handsome-paid Reddit admin.
  25. kingasbeck
    Sep 13, 2019
    3
    It's a faithful adaptation of the card game, but it's SERIOUSLY pay to win. I'm a long time player of the card game, but I realized how futile things were when I played my first game with a starter deck and faced off against a player with like 6 legendary cards played in the first match.

    Buying lots of microtransactions is the only reliable way to win. Avoid unless that's your thing.
  26. Ambre
    Aug 6, 2019
    8
    Great game. A lot of new stuff implementing, many interesting thing to achieve and play, works even on low end pc. I dont understand why so many negative feedback on this site. Maybe it is one person with multyaccounts just angry at great game?
  27. gaw0319
    Jul 29, 2019
    0
    It's the most blatant example of a rigged cashgrab I've ever encountered in gaming (trust me, the user score is deserved here, it really is that bad). Anyone familiar with statistics would realize after a few days or weeks of playing that everything, the card draw, the matchmaking, everything that should be 'random', is fixed carefully to get you to win and lose on a particular schedule,It's the most blatant example of a rigged cashgrab I've ever encountered in gaming (trust me, the user score is deserved here, it really is that bad). Anyone familiar with statistics would realize after a few days or weeks of playing that everything, the card draw, the matchmaking, everything that should be 'random', is fixed carefully to get you to win and lose on a particular schedule, and get you to spend as much money as you possibly can on the game in the face of regularly-scheduled defeats. Example: Playing a fairly competitive deck with 25 lands, wining more or less consistently for an hour or so, and then, in quite literally the next 8 out of 10 games, not a single land in the starting hand, or on the first mulligan. The statistical chances of this being random chance are enormously, astronomically improbable.
    The 'big business stink' of pay-to-win becomes quickly apparent after finishing the tutorial. It's too bad - The visuals and sounds are good. It could have been a fun game, only if the parent company wasn't so f****** scummy.    … Expand
  28. Rakshasa
    Jul 18, 2019
    0
    I am a 25 year player and I sent photo proof to Wizards as the land algorithm is wrong so unplayable fairly. You may put mid range decks with many lands but I play aggro and 13-14 of 18 lands come in the first 30 of 60 cards every 3rd game orrr no land in every fifth game. No land is acceptable as 18 lands but the other is more common.
  29. Ethix
    Jul 8, 2019
    8
    The primary complaint this game gets are about it's mechanics. I felt it necessary to sign up on this site just to create my first review to counter the negative reviews.

    Deep user interface, makes me think it's either for the higher IQ's among us, or it's just not that simple to get understand[period]. I have given this game a little effort (without paying) in the last few days...    The primary complaint this game gets are about it's mechanics. I felt it necessary to sign up on this site just to create my first review to counter the negative reviews.

    Deep user interface, makes me think it's either for the higher IQ's among us, or it's just not that simple to get understand[period].

    I have given this game a little effort (without paying) in the last few days... around 2-3 hours or so, per day. That could be 5 games or 15. I am glad I found MTG: Arena. I think it may be a little harder than {certain} other games in the CCG category. So, after all it's got my attention for now, probably because of that, but it might be a little deeper, which may a little more on the part of the user in getting used to. They have as far as I can tell, evened out the Pay-to-Win factors quite a lot with a little significant time put in above just simple participation.    … Expand
  30. roland265
    Jun 15, 2019
    0
    magic took a turn for the worse, the game itself was decent, now the game it's just horrendously slow, this game it's even slower, especially with player who take ages and the game let them do that, combo who actually tilt the game and thing like that, instead of banning, the dev allow them and then after a lot of time ban one of the card, a lot of time the game feel very scripted (2 landsmagic took a turn for the worse, the game itself was decent, now the game it's just horrendously slow, this game it's even slower, especially with player who take ages and the game let them do that, combo who actually tilt the game and thing like that, instead of banning, the dev allow them and then after a lot of time ban one of the card, a lot of time the game feel very scripted (2 lands in hand starting for 5-6 consecutive games is very suspicious, even games in which you seems to be play always the opposite of your deck and so on)… Expand
  31. Green59
    Jun 15, 2019
    0
    after i start playing this game i say:wow what a nice card game,,,but after 2 months i realise that this is biggest pay to win trash i every played in my life
  32. PansyFire
    Jun 12, 2019
    0
    There is little redeeming about the game, the shuffler is basically non-functional, one game you might draw seven lands in a row, the next you will only draw two mana and never pick up a land again. You better hope you don't win too many games in a row because then you will be matched against players who know how to work their decks against the game's algorithm. A good deck in Arena is notThere is little redeeming about the game, the shuffler is basically non-functional, one game you might draw seven lands in a row, the next you will only draw two mana and never pick up a land again. You better hope you don't win too many games in a row because then you will be matched against players who know how to work their decks against the game's algorithm. A good deck in Arena is not a good deck in the physical game, I have played a deck for 20+ games with four of a certain card and never once drew that card either in my opening hand or throughout the course of the game, where other players will draw four of the same card either in their opening hand or near the top of their deck. People will play this game for a short time until they get wise to the algorithmic nonsense and then uninstall and go play a real game. Trust me.

    Go to your local card shop on draft night and get your Magic kick there, it's more fun than this silly nonsense.    … Expand
  33. Ferorake
    Jun 4, 2019
    0
    I quitted league of legends to start to rank on a game where I didn't have to waste time for game's decision and... this game is even worse.
    It's clear that there are some alghoritms behind the game. After you start to win too much, you get into games where YOU CAN'T WIN. If you know how MTG works, you know that you can't win if you draw only lands, or mulligan 2 hands in a row because    I quitted league of legends to start to rank on a game where I didn't have to waste time for game's decision and... this game is even worse.
    It's clear that there are some alghoritms behind the game. After you start to win too much, you get into games where YOU CAN'T WIN. If you know how MTG works, you know that you can't win if you draw only lands, or mulligan 2 hands in a row because you only have 1 land. Ok, this is a card game, but it's clear that the system WANTS you to stop. I don't talk about rankeds game ( which are useless because even if you get to HIGHEST possible rank, you get a trash reward that doesn't justify the effort ), but about " constructed event", which is the only way a F2P player can get cards ( you invest some coins in the start, and you play until you lose 3 games, when this happens, you get rewarded for the games you won and get coins+rare cards ). After 2 days where I won I guess 5-6 events ( 7 wins with at least 2 lost ), I'VE NEVER REACHED NEITHER 4 VICTORIES ( and lost a lot at 012 victories ).
    Another funny thing is that I climbed until mythical rank after 2 weeks, using a "meta deck" found online: mono red aggro. This is the only way a F2P player can get competitive on a short amount of time.
    I spent 20€ on it, and I still don't have enough cards for 2 decks. So imagine a completely F2P player that wants to build a deck. You have no chances to build a 2-3-4 colours deck without spending at least 100€. If you don't build a mono-red aggro in the start, you'll be stucked on completely annoying matches getting stomped, and trust me you'll quit even before to get how the game really works.
    If you start to play and grind one month, I guess you reach the chance to build a deck with 11-12 cards ( and only because in the start the game gives you 9 free packs and other free things ). The only DECENT deck you can build with this amount of gold cards is the mono-red aggro. Every free to play player is vinculated to play it, and for that reason you'll play A LOT of games against it.
    I talk about myself, and after 1 month I'm trying to build a boros redwhite deck, and simply I can't afford it ( remember I even spent 20€ and played 23 hours every day ). Without gold lands you can't play it, and I don't have enough "wildcards" to get gold creatures and silver spells, imagine if I have wildcards for lands... ( wildcard it's a card that you can change for a card that you want. there are comune-uncommune-rare-mythical wildcards, and obv rare and mythical are incredibly rare ).

    And for that reason you can't blame players for "lack of imagination", but the game for being oppressive and "grind based". A new player that reads online how grind and effort is necessary to unlock cards, won't waste time building a deck that doesn't give him the chance to win the most possible games. So every new player goes online, searches for "meta mtg arena decks", and starts to build it. Results? You have nearly no chances to meet strange decks, only "meta decks" that you already met an enormous amount of time.
    No, for me it's a big no. The game had to give you the chance to trade cards, but because there's a trash old game called "magic online", Wizards of The Coast fears to lose all the old players, so they made a card game without 99% of the "card game mechanics".
    So this game is:
    -read online how hard is building a deck ( and getting baited to play by youtubers that get free gems and codes to try new decks and attract people )
    -search for an owapowa deck that gives you the highest chance to win, just to give you the chance to build your OWN deck faster
    -start to play
    -stomp F2P players that didn't "study" before to start to play and built a deck based on their imagination instead on "mtg arena meta decks"
    -reach platinum
    -get stomped by "uber meta 34 colours planeswalker deck more than 40 rares"
    -after some time where "uber pro bla blas bla bla" decks reached mythical rank, you can play again against normal people
    -get stucked on a winlose loop
    -build a mono-red aggro ( which is the only deck that gives you the chance to reach mythical as free to play )
    -reach mythical
    -understeand that it was just a lot of wasted time to get 5 packs ( neither an icon or things like this )
    -think about building a new deck
    -start to play constructed events to get cards
    -meet the META OF THE META decks, because every F2P players that wants to build a deck fights to the death there
    -read online how much gold cards you need for a 2 colours deck ( at least 8 GOLD LANDS )
    -try to build an half deck replacing goldmythical with commonuncommon and with normal lands
    -get stomped
    -uninstall    … Expand
  34. Nerdslayer
    May 14, 2019
    0
    Awful pay to win. Full of losers who pay a ton to get a better deck than you and then rage when they lose.
  35. WriteToLive
    Apr 24, 2019
    1
    While this game can be fun and you can get a decent deck with mostly commons and uncommon cards that can win a decent percentage of times, the grind is so bad that it's obvious this is a pay to play game. I want this game to be good, I really do. But, the paper version of the game does not do enough to support this client. They need to take a page from the Pokemon TCG and include codesWhile this game can be fun and you can get a decent deck with mostly commons and uncommon cards that can win a decent percentage of times, the grind is so bad that it's obvious this is a pay to play game. I want this game to be good, I really do. But, the paper version of the game does not do enough to support this client. They need to take a page from the Pokemon TCG and include codes in their packs (almost like they could put them on the back of tokens like they do for pre-release events?) to allow players of the paper game to actually have a better experience in game, even if it's a 1 out of every 4 packs deal or if there are codes to getting a box in Arena when you buy a box in real life. Getting gold is a grind, gems is impossible unless you pay (which is where all the good stuff is at: avatars, deck sleeve skins, card styles, etc.).
    Wizards needs to get back to what make people play the game instead of trying to gouge them for every penny they have.    … Expand
  36. AtlasEndymion
    Apr 23, 2019
    0
    MTG Arena is fun for a while, until you realize the matchmaking is heavily influenced by hidden algorithms which always puts you up against the deck that your deck is weak against. Sometime you have to wait minutes for a match up, so the "right" opponent can be found for you. You will see the same decks over and over again. You grind and grind for wildcards to build a better deck and it'sMTG Arena is fun for a while, until you realize the matchmaking is heavily influenced by hidden algorithms which always puts you up against the deck that your deck is weak against. Sometime you have to wait minutes for a match up, so the "right" opponent can be found for you. You will see the same decks over and over again. You grind and grind for wildcards to build a better deck and it's not uncommon to lose even more with the new deck because how heavily scripted matchmaking is. This ruins any sense of progression and reward from creating a better deck, and thus the game. Communication between opponent and you is minimal, just a few basic phrases like "hello", "nice", "oops" and "good game". Why would you play a game where your win rate will gravitate towards 50%, and you'll never make any friends.… Expand
  37. Mercestes
    Apr 13, 2019
    0
    Let me preface this by saying, I can't rank this game low enough.

    A wise woman once said, "this one does not bring joy" and that pretty much sums up the MtG Arena experience. If in turn 1 you see a forest and a Llanowar Elf in turn 1, you're pretty much guaranteed to see a Gigantosaurus by turn 5. Every deck has an answer to Carnage Tyrant, or you lose. If you spend any coins    Let me preface this by saying, I can't rank this game low enough.

    A wise woman once said, "this one does not bring joy" and that pretty much sums up the MtG Arena experience. If in turn 1 you see a forest and a Llanowar Elf in turn 1, you're pretty much guaranteed to see a Gigantosaurus by turn 5. Every deck has an answer to Carnage Tyrant, or you lose. If you spend any coins whatsoever on any of the constructed drafts, you're guaranteed to see a Teferi deny deck. Eventually you just start seeing the same half-dozen decks or so and the turn by turn plays get pretty predictable. Always the same over-powered cards in the same turn order over and over again.

    Meanwhile over here I can't get a dual-mana deck to line up to save my life.

    The entire culture of MtG Arena is toxic. If you deck starts to win, expect to suffer troll-stalling forever. Want to know exactly what MTG Arena is about, just search for "mtg admin bans arena player"

    If you can perform any action whatsoever (valid or not) you have to click "next' non-stop through each and every phase, except in the very few instances it makes since to actually do something, then the game doesn't pause and just skips right on by you.

    I log in and do my weekly quests for cards because I clearly have no will power and I make poor life choices. Don't make the same mistakes I did.

    "But there is no hacking in MTG Arena!!!" That may or may not be true, but the statistical probability of decks in excess of 200 cards always managing to drop a land every turn *AND* curve out their creature drops every time I come against one when I have to concede out of a quarter of my matches because I can't get more than 2 manas out of 3 mulligans (and I run 20 lands + 8 mana searches) is *pretty* bad. Just sayin'.

    If you ever doubt there is hacking in MTG: Arena, just pay gold to play a game.    … Expand
  38. NubleX
    Apr 13, 2019
    0
    Been playing MTG for over 20 years. Arena is in no way fun - it's grindy and becomes old very fast. You spend playing the same decks over and over again. The shuffler is broken. Even though the game is in beta and broken in many aspects, the company "updates" the game with cosmetics which give a lot of players motion sickness. The cosmetics cost a fortune, well above industry's standardsBeen playing MTG for over 20 years. Arena is in no way fun - it's grindy and becomes old very fast. You spend playing the same decks over and over again. The shuffler is broken. Even though the game is in beta and broken in many aspects, the company "updates" the game with cosmetics which give a lot of players motion sickness. The cosmetics cost a fortune, well above industry's standards and with poor quality. Developers fail to acknowledge mistakes. The game should fall under gambling laws due to it's addictive nature where players are psychologically pressured to pay money to play better, more competitive cards. If you want a good MTG experience then stay away from this garbage.… Expand
  39. Bennz910
    Apr 6, 2019
    2
    I hope they implement some coop game mode agianst AI like the two headed Giant in Magic Duels. Its the only reason for me to play (and pay).
  40. Misanthropist73
    Mar 19, 2019
    0
    The game uses a Fixed-Number-Generator. Meaning if you make a powerful deck, you'll only see other powerful decks, which defeats the whole purpose of competing. The Wizards of the Coast run this game like Sociopaths.
  41. DBomb73
    Mar 1, 2019
    0
    Schizophrenic Wallet Warriors will excel at this game. "In order to make the world a better place, we need to exterminate the human race." - Misanthropist.
  42. JotnarGiant
    Feb 24, 2019
    0
    This is pay-to-win garbage that gets really boring really fast. The interface is way too clunky, and sometimes you literally have to spend 10 minutes clicking 'accept' on every little thing your opponent does. Although this game is 'free' to play, I wouldn't bother wasting your time, and definitely would never pay a dime for it.
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Awards & Rankings

28
#28 Best PC Game of 2018
27
#27 Most Discussed PC Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
84

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 28, 2020
    100
    An excellent and faithful conversion of the iconic card game into a very welcoming computer free-to-play form. This is a hit. [Issue#300]
  2. Vandal
    Dec 18, 2019
    90
    This is the definitive Magic experience on PC. It’s free-to-play, but it’s incredibly well balanced and lets us enjoy it without hassle. If you enjoy card-based games, give it a try.
    Read full review
  3. GameSpace
    Dec 6, 2019
    80
    Magic: The Gathering Arena is an excellent entry point into the twenty-six-year-old franchise for new players and lovable for veteran players as well. While it’s generally a very fun experience, it’s not without technical issues.
    Read full review
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