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. 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.
  2. supremememe
    Apr 4, 2021
    10
    Really confused by the bad reviews. Cheaper than 'paper' magic and MTGO by a large margin, and possible to play free if you know what colors/strategies you like to play and don't care about set completion. Or, if you're really good, you can really rack up free sh*t in draft formats (I'm not, but have had some hot streaks).

    Complaints about shuffler are complete eye rolls from me.    Really confused by the bad reviews. Cheaper than 'paper' magic and MTGO by a large margin, and possible to play free if you know what colors/strategies you like to play and don't care about set completion. Or, if you're really good, you can really rack up free sh*t in draft formats (I'm not, but have had some hot streaks).

    Complaints about shuffler are complete eye rolls from me. Sometimes you get mana screwed or flooded. Happens in paper all the time too. Just the nature of the game: there is a reason 'Opt' is consistently one of the best 1 mana spells in Magic (scry/draw). Go play hearthstone lol.

    Plenty of free packs and wildcards, easy to play a draft a week if you save your gold, and if you win you can keep going. Might be rough starting out, but as standard rotates out old sets you will naturally have many more options (as it's easiest to progress in the newest sets) if you stick with it.

    Overall the game is very responsive. Runs fine on my 6 year old 'gaming' desktop and fine on my i5 laptop with onboard video (obviously graphics turned to low, but no problem reading cards or even deck building.) Some card interactions and turn phases/priority checks are a little tedious in the client vs paper, but overall many things like shuffles being automated make for a much faster gameplay experience (tokens, +1/+1 counters, anthems etc). Queue times are extremely short for ranked until you hit mythic.

    Biggest complaint would be the sheer amount of net decking present but that is a problem that affects paper in 'current year'. Usually have no problem in ranked if you put together competitive 'jank' that is thoughtful of the current meta decks. Worth a try and brawl can be very fun if you get sick of standard. 'Best of 3' is also an option for some more thoughtful games versus hoping your deck lines up against the current meta with no sideboarding. Historic is shaping up to be an interesting format, but the price to entry is a little high if you're just jumping in now (you will need a lot of wildcards or know EXACTLY what your building for in your decks).

    Overall highly recommended if you like Magic the Gathering as a card game.    … Expand
  3. FidgetyJester
    Jul 8, 2021
    10
    This is a fun free-to play game. I get that there's micro-transection to get cards pretty fast. But crafting makes it easier to get the cards pretty fast so you won't feel forced to just buy, atleast it wasn't for me.

    Plus although I don't like micro-transection all that much I feel like in a card game it's easier to handle for me, cause it's better than buying new sequel to a card game    This is a fun free-to play game. I get that there's micro-transection to get cards pretty fast. But crafting makes it easier to get the cards pretty fast so you won't feel forced to just buy, atleast it wasn't for me.

    Plus although I don't like micro-transection all that much I feel like in a card game it's easier to handle for me, cause it's better than buying new sequel to a card game and start collecting all over again, right? And sure you can get cards in real life instead but keep in mind there are no craft in real life so getting those deck in real life will be expansive plus not everyone has many friends to play with either.

    I saw some of the negative reviews and those are what I think about them. Also let me say I would like this game even more if it didn't had micro toward cards, but I still put it high up cause crafting won't make your hard work feel like a waste for pay to win players cause crafting is easy to begin with, and it's still better than buying new sequels everytime that's not free.

    And maybe I'm just lucky but I didn't found much bugs either. I do have a bit of a control problem whenever it asks me to discard a card but that's for Mobile, PC version is ok.

    That being said those negative reviews are old so maybe it was correct for some of them like the bugs at one point in the past but it certainly isn't like that for me now though. I wouldn't called it 10 but just putting it 10 here to make up for all those past negative atleast a tiny bit.    … Expand
  4. 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
  5. DonKnottsGhost
    Nov 12, 2020
    9
    I've been playing Magic Arena on my Mac now for the last 2 months. Sorry to see that many people had a bad experience with it when it launched on PC, but my 10 year old son and are loving it. Truly free to play as I've made zero in-game purchases and we have about 10 good decks we have put together. Of note, some of those decks are from digital codes from our real world decks, but I'veI've been playing Magic Arena on my Mac now for the last 2 months. Sorry to see that many people had a bad experience with it when it launched on PC, but my 10 year old son and are loving it. Truly free to play as I've made zero in-game purchases and we have about 10 good decks we have put together. Of note, some of those decks are from digital codes from our real world decks, but I've always felt this was a nice feature of buying physical cards and then getting to practice the deck digitally against others online in Arena. I didn't even know how to play Magic the Gathering until we got stuck at home with the COVID pandemic. Now I've been able to learn on Arena and with my son and we have ranked up to diamond status online. Really fun to progress. I'm having as much fun playing Magic Arena online for free as I've had with some full price $60 games on our home consoles. It looks like many of the issues from before may have been worked out and there are lots of free cards to play if you use readily available free codes in the Shop.… Expand
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. Rafarodfer
    Apr 13, 2021
    9
    Estou gostando bastante do jogo, o sistema de batalha é muito bom, quando você começa o jogo ganha várias cartas e decks e pode conseguir mais coisas gratuitamente. Pode duelar contra seus amigos, pessoas desconhecidas e bots. Tem momentos que o jogo te coloca pra enfrentar jogadores com decks melhores ou vem uma sequencias de mãos ruis para você perder e querer gastar no jogo, porem nemEstou gostando bastante do jogo, o sistema de batalha é muito bom, quando você começa o jogo ganha várias cartas e decks e pode conseguir mais coisas gratuitamente. Pode duelar contra seus amigos, pessoas desconhecidas e bots. Tem momentos que o jogo te coloca pra enfrentar jogadores com decks melhores ou vem uma sequencias de mãos ruis para você perder e querer gastar no jogo, porem nem sempre isso acontece e você tem a liberdade de decidir se vai gastar ou não. Um dos melhores jogos gratuitos que já joguem e uma ótima forma de jogar Magic gratuitamente.… Expand
  10. djqualia
    Jan 12, 2021
    9
    I really enjoy MTG Arena. I used to play Hearthstone, and I appreciate the relative depth of Magic vs that (e.g. being able to play during other people's turns, and to bluff). I enjoy that there's always new sets of cards being added, with new mechanics, to keep things fresh. I just wish the mobile version was out already!
  11. morof_r
    Apr 14, 2021
    9
    This game is really amazing, it's all of standard and historic Magic without compromise, including the very exciting drafts. The interface to build decks is very practical, it's easier than with real cards. In my opinion you get enough new cards without having to pay any real money. Also, the animations and sounds are a success.
    The only downsides for me are the boring tutorial and the    This game is really amazing, it's all of standard and historic Magic without compromise, including the very exciting drafts. The interface to build decks is very practical, it's easier than with real cards. In my opinion you get enough new cards without having to pay any real money. Also, the animations and sounds are a success.
    The only downsides for me are the boring tutorial and the fact that it's not very well optimised for macs, I had to do some weird manipulations I found online to get it to fit to my screen, and it sometimes crashes when I quit the game.
    For the people that say that the shuffler is rigged, you should go revise your probabilities. And I didn't experience rigged matchmaking or anything like that.
    In any case, try it, it's free!    … Expand
  12. PizzaWorm
    Feb 14, 2023
    9
    I'm aware the game has problems, but it's one of the most fun ways of playing Magic casually.
  13. 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?
  14. 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
  15. BenzoSt
    Jul 12, 2022
    8
    The gameplay of Magic Arena is faster, flashier, and more responsive than the older Magic Online game. But Arena isn’t necessarily better than Magic Online if your true goal is to improve your skill at real (paper) Magic; since Arena rewards players with loot for every game won, players disproportionately play fast, aggressive decks and also tend to concede games at the first moment theirThe gameplay of Magic Arena is faster, flashier, and more responsive than the older Magic Online game. But Arena isn’t necessarily better than Magic Online if your true goal is to improve your skill at real (paper) Magic; since Arena rewards players with loot for every game won, players disproportionately play fast, aggressive decks and also tend to concede games at the first moment their luck takes a turn for the worse. Sometimes custom formats are available, and these opportunities are my favorite way to play because they give me a chance to capitalize on my strong deck building skills.… Expand
  16. AJCk19
    Jun 30, 2023
    7
    tldr; low rating comes from people who don't play paper magic, the game has PLENTY of room for improvement, wizards can sometimes be evil, however the overall experience is still enjoyable as the digital brother of paper magic.

    For once, I consider the Critic Review's rating more accurate, if not only a tad bit high. The user review rating is so low, because most of the gaming crowd,    tldr; low rating comes from people who don't play paper magic, the game has PLENTY of room for improvement, wizards can sometimes be evil, however the overall experience is still enjoyable as the digital brother of paper magic.

    For once, I consider the Critic Review's rating more accurate, if not only a tad bit high. The user review rating is so low, because most of the gaming crowd, haven't step foot in the "arena" with paper magic. Which is a expensive card game of the big 3 TCGs. Not only that, it is the #1 most expensive card game. To make things worse, it is the 1st modern tcg, with all other tcg copying it.

    If anything, magic is not even a teen game because I mostly just see older adults, some young adults, and the rare child or girlfriend, because the older adults brought them along. This is a game where the people have disposable income, and they have been playing since they were a older teen or younger adult.

    With all that being said, you think the digital version of magic was going to be cheap? I think this is the worst criticism of the game, because its' game theory is completely separate from a VIDEO GAME. I wouldn't even call it free to play or fee to pay. Because paper magic is consider a investment, and premium in the collector's market.

    Now onto the actual negatives of the games (which are plenty, but it is still enjoyable as a digital brother of the paper game). 1) is no way to trade your cards with other players or sale on the market for currency (which big mmos already do this, don't see why we can't do that here). 2) needing to fix some game balance issue's with stall decks (Hearthstone Control Warrior is worse). 3) extremely long game timers. 4) no auto deck builder like duels had. 5) organization and search engine needs more options, especially easy of life click options. 6) Not enough sets and formats have been added. 7) Top magic arena players need more representation in the pro scene. 8) needs more cross promotion with the physical card game, like physical packs should include one free scanner for a digital pack.

    9) The biggest one, not enough guarantees they are going to pull the plug on us, like they did Duels. However if they do, I'm going to do more than just complain on Steam. Keep in mind everyone, this is Magic we are talking about, so be warned, this is a expensive game, and it is not a free to play. I wouldn't even call it a fee to pay, because paper magic is not cheap compared to other TCGs. So when you just pull/vanquish someone collection like that, or end support, it isn't cool. Especially with no way to transfer it out or compensation.

    10) Shuffle algorithm is bad, but it is as bad as most digital TCGs, it can never compare to a physical TCGs shuffling.

    11) Report system and tech support, is almost non-existent. Like most of the gaming industry.    … Expand
  17. 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.
  18. UrbanEelf
    Apr 20, 2022
    7
    decent game decent game decent game decent game decent game decent game decent game
  19. Grismar
    Nov 17, 2020
    6
    I'm a fan of the CCG and this digital version plays fairly well. But there's far too much wrong with the game to rate it anything over a 6, no matter how much you like Magic the Gathering. Installation and network problems, stalling techniques of trolling players, strategies that cause endless animations, really poor social interfaces, it goes on. WotC's support seems powerless, resignedI'm a fan of the CCG and this digital version plays fairly well. But there's far too much wrong with the game to rate it anything over a 6, no matter how much you like Magic the Gathering. Installation and network problems, stalling techniques of trolling players, strategies that cause endless animations, really poor social interfaces, it goes on. WotC's support seems powerless, resigned to giving users advice to hack the registry to get stuff to work and promising developers are looking at even the most basic complaints about aspects of the game that promote unsportsman-like behaviour, but not moving on them at all for years. The store works perfectly though, it'll never fail to take your money. I'm not saying this game should be 100% free - just pointing out that it's fairly clear what part of this game is important to its owners.… Expand
  20. Pietriej
    Jun 6, 2022
    6
    A really nice MTG experience you can enjoy on your smartphone, but with a bad monetization system.

    + A way to enjoy MTG from home with a much better interface than MTG Online. + Easy to find opponents. + A meaningful progression system - you can actually get booster packs and build decks by playing the game. - Limited number of formats. You can't enjoy fan favorite Commander on    A really nice MTG experience you can enjoy on your smartphone, but with a bad monetization system.

    + A way to enjoy MTG from home with a much better interface than MTG Online.
    + Easy to find opponents.
    + A meaningful progression system - you can actually get booster packs and build decks by playing the game.
    - Limited number of formats. You can't enjoy fan favorite Commander on Arena, and you don't have access to commander cards. Instead, there is Brawl that feels like a crippled version of Commander/EDH.
    - Monetization is bad. Like... REALLY BAD. You can enjoy the game for free or spending very little on it (e.g. welcome pack), but your deckbuilding options will be very limited. Then, if you would like to honor the creators and actually spend some cash your options are really bad - you can spend as much as you would for a triple A game and you won't be able to make a single deck out of it. I'm at a point where I'm missing some critical cards for what I'd like to make, and am willing to spend some cash, but the options I see in shop are outrageous.    … Expand
  21. 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
  22. MechaManekiNeko
    Aug 28, 2020
    6
    The gameplay itself can be a little slow, especially if your playing against someone who's not familiar with magic. Other than that the game is fun to play if you enjoy MTG. It needs to be said though, that the game is highly monetized (at fairly high prices too). You will need to invest cash if you want to make a deck with cards of your choosing that can compete in ranked matches (if yourThe gameplay itself can be a little slow, especially if your playing against someone who's not familiar with magic. Other than that the game is fun to play if you enjoy MTG. It needs to be said though, that the game is highly monetized (at fairly high prices too). You will need to invest cash if you want to make a deck with cards of your choosing that can compete in ranked matches (if your new to the game). They also have a draft mode which can be fun but boasts around a 10 dollar entry fee. Basically this game is the reason I wont ever spend money on WotC products again.… Expand
  23. netbattler15
    Mar 6, 2023
    6
    Magic the Gathering is the best card game ever created. I have played the game competitively for more than 10 years. Arena is essentially designed for me. I am not reviewing the current state of MTG formats as they exist outside (and inside) of Arena. Due to letting me play MTG, I start Arena at a 5.

    Arena launched as a barebones implementation of the game. You could play magic,    Magic the Gathering is the best card game ever created. I have played the game competitively for more than 10 years. Arena is essentially designed for me. I am not reviewing the current state of MTG formats as they exist outside (and inside) of Arena. Due to letting me play MTG, I start Arena at a 5.

    Arena launched as a barebones implementation of the game. You could play magic, sure, but not much more than that. Animations are a bit lackluster, match making can be slow at times, I've recently had some visual bugs.

    The economy is greedy. I have to spend about $100 quarterly to mostly (not entirely) keep up with the metagame, and that gives me no ability to sell out when I no longer have use for my cards.

    The feature roll out has been slow and drip fed. Features users have asked for for literal years get deprioritized behind new digital only formats that are incredibly unpopular (and require additional cards at additional cost).

    I can't give this game a 0 or a 1. Magic itself is too good for that. But I will give it a 6. It's worth it to play magic if you can't play in paper, but paper will always be better.    … Expand
  24. davey16
    Nov 15, 2021
    5
    I love the idea. Ive loved MTG for a long time but, the economy on it is horrible. Its no surprise that a game in this era of any kind is doing all its can to focus on profits. I get it. I dont have to like it, though. You can still make money and do things right for the customer but, they all chose not to these days. This is no different. MTG is a great game. This is a great idea. GreedI love the idea. Ive loved MTG for a long time but, the economy on it is horrible. Its no surprise that a game in this era of any kind is doing all its can to focus on profits. I get it. I dont have to like it, though. You can still make money and do things right for the customer but, they all chose not to these days. This is no different. MTG is a great game. This is a great idea. Greed keeps people out even more than the complexity of the game.… Expand
  25. ILikeBosch
    Sep 29, 2022
    4
    It has engaging gameplay loops that keep pulling you back in, but the sad reality is that this is just another game for whales to exploit lowly free-to-play users. If you don't buy cards in this game and construct a godlike deck made of countless rares and mythic rares, you're not getting out of Platinum ranked. You can get a mono aggro deck to Platinum easily, which speaks volumes aboutIt has engaging gameplay loops that keep pulling you back in, but the sad reality is that this is just another game for whales to exploit lowly free-to-play users. If you don't buy cards in this game and construct a godlike deck made of countless rares and mythic rares, you're not getting out of Platinum ranked. You can get a mono aggro deck to Platinum easily, which speaks volumes about the state of matchmaking. If you're playing standard casual, you're getting rocked by master players with cards f2p can't seem to find. Bronze to Gold ranked is almost all the same skill level, it's where free to play players go to grind their wins because they can't go anywhere else. Even if you do get out of platinum and into mythic, you're going to get destroyed by the "rigged" shuffler algorithm. It's not uncommon, and I mean this happens on a daily basis, to somehow draw up to 6 or even 7 lands in a row. I have lost count of how often this happens, and people were complaining about this "bug" as far back as launch many years ago. The fact that it hasn't been "fixed" seems to all but confirm all of the conspiracy theorists' thoughts about how this feature punishes free-to-play players into spending money. The algorithm pits you against players based on deck composition, so you're either getting people with the same deck, or people with the exact deck to counter your cards, and then sometimes it's down to who gets to go first in a game that decides the outcome.

    The economy is awful, often making it simply impossible for casual players to redeem wildcards to craft new decks. Rares and Mythic Rares are locked behind all-to-uncommon wildcards needed to create them, and copies of them once unlocked. This system may have been reasonable when there were only a handful of sets, but there are like 20 sets in MTG Arena now, if you don't specifically play standard, and even then, the handful of standard sets make up thousands of cards. If you're lurking on aetherhub or some other card builder site and you've spotted a popular mono white aggro deck or something that wins 55% of games, you're likely missing anywhere from 10-20 wildcards to make it. I've been playing casually off and on for a few years and I've still not been able to make more than a handful of new, fresh decks from scratch because MTG is so miserly with their rewards. Gold is locked behind dailies and weeklies, so once you've completed them, you can't make any more gold for the rest of the day. This is insane, as it restricts players for...playing the game. Card packs now cost 1300 if you want to guarantee a Mythic Rare in it. They strategically place this pack right next to the regular packs, and then hide Alchemy packs in-between so you could potentially buy an alchemy pack instead of a regular pack if you're not paying attention. The whole thing feels like a scam, and remains predatory toward casual players; this is ironic considering the entire game is marketed toward this demographic. The game is free to play, after all. Casual players don't drop whale fortunes on games.

    The one upside is that this display of shortsighted greed has made me want to explore paper Magic for the first time. If I'm spending money, I'd rather have something tangible with collectible value, and then I know I won't get screwed by statistically impossible land draw dysfunction every 6 games.    … Expand
  26. Azametzin
    May 2, 2021
    4
    I love MTG, and I am the kind of person who will avidly defend even some pretty egregious monetization. Even with all that said, MTG Arena has the worst monetization in any game I've ever played, it makes even Hearthstone look like downright socialist by comparison, and it's just too much even for me.
  27. TheFeanture
    Jan 24, 2021
    4
    Pay-to-win classics game. Still can be enjoyable if play from time to time. But not too often. The more you play more pay-to-winier it gets. back to game after month and you win again) Matchmaking made to force you to pay more if you play more)
  28. Faded0cean
    Sep 6, 2023
    4
    This game sucks. The card balance needs to be fixed. There will be days where I can't win a game. Wizards of the coast needs to be better,.
  29. 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
  30. 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.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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.
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  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.
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