Magic the Gathering Arena

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Ranselknulf]

in other news my plan of stealing enemy shit is comming together

The art explaining how Tibalt became Loki and got his super duper sword is some saturday morning cartoon shit lol.

Is this gonna be a historic set?

It's a normal standard set. So it will be Historic playable day 1.

With something like this, I might have to make that prowess / bounce spam deck I played against once or twice.

even better, you cna play demonic pact without role reversal. As such you can take red color out!

Role reversal doesn't seem that bad honestly there are tons of weeny creature cards out there.

This is the bounce card I was thinking of. Can get your opponents into some crazy loops. Return a bounce card or whatever else you need, then rinse and repeat. There are cards you can cast to return up to two creatures to your hand also.

 

[Jason Liang]

You can Bring to Light Tibalt (Tibalt is 2 cmc for Bring to Light).

Looking over Scryfall these are some of the better cards that should be able to cheat out Tibalt on Arena-
Release to the Wind
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
Sunbird's Invocation:/

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Jason Liang]

My favorite legendary creature probably since Emry or Mowu. Too bad this is one of those "made to be broken" cards.

 

[Ranselknulf]

My favorite legendary creature probably since Emry or Mowu. Too bad this is one of those "made to be broken" cards.

It might go well with something like this.

 

[Catacombs]

I'm interested in dipping my toes into MTG. I'm not interested in collecting physical cards and playing IRL, so playing Arena or elsewhere online are my only options at the moment. What am I in for?

 

[spectre]

I would say, a whole lot of grind if you want to progress at decent pace and at least catch up with the speed at which they roll out the new cards.
But it's not necessarily the bad kind of grind. The game isn't exactly bad with handing out freebies and allows you to progress without paying a penny - getting all the cards is a pipe dream, but if you're not terrible,
you should be able to at least keep up with the cardpool available in Standard.

Still, it is expected that you adapt a somewhat competitive approach. In this way, it's rather fair, as long as you recognize it for what it is.

It plays smoothly and the rules are all automated and enforced. Sometimes the screen gets cluttered by animations, and all the voiceovers can get obnoxious at some point. I mostly played with the sound off.
Those are secondary considerations, but the client based on Unity and isn't really the epitome of optimization and flawless coding.

They did some work to accommodate new players. There's a bit of a tutorial, a bunch of links to online articles, as well as a brain-dead AI to spar with, but don't expect this to be the high point of the game.
The game does not focus at all on delivering the "kitchen table" experience and the vs AI play is very barebones. A lot of folks seem to have a problem with that, so I'm mentioning it.
It's still possible to have a close to casual experience if you jump through a few hoops - wait for events, don't rank above silver, invest your gold into drafting etc. Or direct challenge other, like minded players.

It's not Shandalar and it's not Magic Duels. I would probably recommend those if you just wanted to see if you like MtG at all, but the problem with these two is they are outdated and won't be developed anymore.
So, MtGA is probably what you're left with. It's free, so why not. There's also plenty of resources to help you make the most of what you get at the beginning.

 

[Catacombs]

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

But it's not necessarily the bad kind of grind. The game isn't exactly bad with handing out freebies and allows you to progress without paying a penny - getting all the cards is a pipe dream, but if you're not terrible, you should be able to at least keep up with the cardpool available in Standard.

With Arena being f2p (with some p2w mechanics, which isn't lost on me), can you confirm that I can make decent progress without needing to drop serious dough on cards? I can't stand the idea of buying virtual cards -- an investment -- that could disappear. At that point, I might as well get physical cards.

It plays smoothly and the rules are all automated and enforced. Sometimes the screen gets cluttered by animations, and all the voiceovers can get obnoxious at some point. I mostly played with the sound off.

The only thing that annoyed me was the sound, and I, too, had to turn if off. Otherwise, I've found it to be a pleasurable experience.

The game does not focus at all on delivering the "kitchen table" experience and the vs AI play is very barebones. A lot of folks seem to have a problem with that, so I'm mentioning it.

As with other MP games, the best way to improve is to play other players.

 

[Ranselknulf]

I'm interested in dipping my toes into MTG. I'm not interested in collecting physical cards and playing IRL, so playing Arena or elsewhere online are my only options at the moment. What am I in for?

I started off on the game and didnt spend a dime.

It probably takes about two weeks of grinding to get to the point that you can make a few decks that are goodish.

You won't be top of the game unless you spend an obscene amount of money. It's better to just play and learn as you go. Save your wildcards which give you free rare and mythic cards. Once you see a card you really like being played, then you can buy it.

As for progress, I made it to mythic rank using a 250 card pile of trash cards. It's possible to play as a free player and make it far. I might have spent 35 dollars in the past year, with 20 of that just to finish out a card set last month that wasn't really necessary.

 

[spectre]

With Arena being f2p (with some p2w mechanics, which isn't lost on me), can you confirm that I can make decent progress without needing to drop serious dough on cards? I can't stand the idea of buying virtual cards -- an investment -- that could disappear. At that point, I might as well get physical cards.

I can confirm this, as with most F2P games, you will be "paying" with your time instead of money. Guess it boils down to how much you enjoy the grind.
And the "grind" is basically - login every day, get a few wins in, convert your gold into draft entries, buy mastery pass, watch your collection grow. Not that terrible.

I'm mostly F2P (dropped around 30$ on the game in total, not that I needed to, just wanted to treat myself) and I have no problem building pretty much all the top tier Standard decks (unless the deck uses a bunch of niche stuff not really used elsewhere).
Not immediately after set release of course, but following the method above, I usually get a full set of all the relevant rares an mythics some time before a new set drops and have some gold and gems
saved up. I'm not a great player, I have slightly above 50% winrate in limited (which usually takes a nose dive once I reach gold),
in constructed, I can reach mythic rank in the ladder if I put my mind to it, but usually can't be bothered to grind it. Paid-in tournaments don't interest me.

Historic (that is all the cards available on arena, older sets included) is a totally different bag. It would probably take insane dedication to get all the cards there. I'd say it's not possible without spending money.
I started playing in the closed beta which started me off with a decent collection, and yet I probably won't be getting all the cards from Jumpstart and the remastered sets.
Not that I need them, I still have good enough cardpool to build a bunch of competitive stuff, and with the power creep kicking in, a lot of the older cards are pretty much obsolete.

As you can see, there's a pattern emerging. A lot of the cardpool is just filled with useless crap, so if you just focus on the stuff that is viable in competitive decks,
it's not impossible to keep up with the meta and stay F2P. Spending money simply lets you get there a bit faster.
It gets a bit trickier if you want some niche stuff for janky combos, though that's a bit of a trap. Bad decks don't win games, if you don't win games your progress is slowed.
This game isn't really designed to encourage brewing off meta decks. (Though it's not impossible to be somewhat successful with them)

I would also argue that making it rain isn't the best approach to MtGA, there are streamers who supposedly threw oodles of dosh at the game and still didn't get all the cards.
Call me stingy, but buying premium currency and using it to get packs is perhaps the worst investment you can make in this game.
It is much better to pace yourself and think about how to get the most out of your gems - mastery pass is a good investment, so is drafting.
You're getting much better value there, though this depends if you're decent at the game.

As with other MP games, the best way to improve is to play other players.

Yep. Like I said, I mentioned it because a lot of folks seem to have a problem with it because the game doesn't support the kind of experience they want.
I you played Shandalar and expect something like that, Arena will only disappoint.

Just expect the usual - people will flock towards a limited number of cookie cutter builds, higher ranks will mostly be about meta decks.
If anything, as long as you get comfortable with the mechanics, I'd recommend that you warm up to the idea of playing matches in traditional mode
- best of three, with sideboarding. It makes the game more strategic and smooths out some of its rough edges (at the very least, you should see more variety in decks people play
and avoid some of the no-brainer linear decks).

If you need any resources, check here:
https://mtgazone.com/mtg-arena-codes/
https://mtgazone.com/mtg-arena-budget-standard-decks/
https://mtgazone.com/mtg-arena-budget-historic-decks/

These are the freebies you can get in the game as well as the okay-ish decks you can build with the starting pool of cards.

 

[Thac0]

You won't be top of the game unless you spend an obscene amount of money. It's better to just play and learn as you go. Save your wildcards which give you free rare and mythic cards. Once you see a card you really like being played, then you can buy it.

I wouldn't even go as far. The big difference is being decent at limited. Once you have a 55%+ winrate in draft and sealed you can rake in so much cash just by gambling your in game income that you can craft all competitive decks there are per season, if you want to.

And 55% winrate isn't very hard if you follow some guides. I am stronger in limited than I am in constructed since I hate netdecking, but I would say anyone can get 55% in limited by abusing the ranking mechanic alone.
Play the high priced queue until your rank is higher than your skill, then go and play (and lose) in the 5000 queue until you are silver again. Immense profit there.

 

[Gyor]

I would say, a whole lot of grind if you want to progress at decent pace and at least catch up with the speed at which they roll out the new cards.
But it's not necessarily the bad kind of grind. The game isn't exactly bad with handing out freebies and allows you to progress without paying a penny - getting all the cards is a pipe dream, but if you're not terrible,
you should be able to at least keep up with the cardpool available in Standard.

Still, it is expected that you adapt a somewhat competitive approach. In this way, it's rather fair, as long as you recognize it for what it is.

It plays smoothly and the rules are all automated and enforced. Sometimes the screen gets cluttered by animations, and all the voiceovers can get obnoxious at some point. I mostly played with the sound off.
Those are secondary considerations, but the client based on Unity and isn't really the epitome of optimization and flawless coding.

They did some work to accommodate new players. There's a bit of a tutorial, a bunch of links to online articles, as well as a brain-dead AI to spar with, but don't expect this to be the high point of the game.
The game does not focus at all on delivering the "kitchen table" experience and the vs AI play is very barebones. A lot of folks seem to have a problem with that, so I'm mentioning it.
It's still possible to have a close to casual experience if you jump through a few hoops - wait for events, don't rank above silver, invest your gold into drafting etc. Or direct challenge other, like minded players.

It's not Shandalar and it's not Magic Duels. I would probably recommend those if you just wanted to see if you like MtG at all, but the problem with these two is they are outdated and won't be developed anymore.
So, MtGA is probably what you're left with. It's free, so why not. There's also plenty of resources to help you make the most of what you get at the beginning.

Shandalar is coming as set in 2022 according to some kind of leaked image I saw.

 

[Gyor]

Kaldheim so far seems way fucking cooler and exciting in characters, story, setting, art, and mechanics then I expected. It's going to be very hard to beat by the rest of the sets this year, but damn is the power level going to be crazy, if the Strixhaven, FR, and Innistrad sets are as powerful as the Kaldheim sets shit is going to get crazy.

 

[Thac0]

Kaldheim so far seems way fucking cooler and exciting in characters, story, setting, art, and mechanics then I expected. It's going to be very hard to beat by the rest of the sets this year, but damn is the power level going to be crazy, if the Strixhaven, FR, and Innistrad sets are as powerful as the Kaldheim sets shit is going to get crazy.

I highly assume that for as much hate as Eldraine has received it sold like hotcakes. More tame sets like Theros, Ikoria and Zendikar sell less.
Now that might be because Eldraine was just a fucking cool plane from lore and art and flavor and stuff, or because people love playing with powerfull cards.

I think they try to test the waters, trying to make this set almost as powerfull as Eldraine to find the exact point when standard breaks again. I just wonder how long it will take, since some stuff in this set is stupid gas.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Thac0]

is demanding sacrifices coming back to standard?

I really want to try some version of MonoB snow control.
Blood on the Snow for Snow=6 is such a powerplay.
Also Clerics is getting a lot of juice and BW clerics was constructed playable even before Kaldheim.

 

[Jason Liang]

tbh I haven't seen anything too exciting previewed, but I uninstalled Underrail last night to make space for an Arena reinstall.

3.15 gig download:/

Catching up on freebies.

So I ended up with 11 mythic and 8 rare wild cards. Any ideas?

 

[Thac0]

So I ended up with 11 mythic and 8 rare wild cards. Any ideas?

Out of the fat competitive decks right now I like playing with variations of the following:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-gruul-adventures-eld#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-mono-green-food-eld#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-wr-eld-1ee62036-4612-43e6-8a0e-6c62416cf0b6#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-wg-eld-1f0df94b-2a6c-420c-afeb-ddfebf51ade3#paper

Apart from that Boros Knights and Orzhov Clerics are pretty self explanatory and fun. Mono Green aswell.

But crafting right now is not such a good idea because new set imminent, I would only craft maybe one deck for the two weeks until the next set hits and the early days until the meta settles.

If you want safe, long term value crafts craft the Pathways. Standard playable 4x lands are almost the best way to spend Wildcards.

Spoiler

Also get a bigger Harddrive. Underrail is tiny, why the fuck do you ever need to uninstall it to make space?

 

[lukaszek]

underrail is tiny no more, also its saves can amass to few gigs

 

[Thac0]

underrail is tiny no more, also its saves can amass to few gigs

If something is less than 25 gig on the HDD I do not even think about cleaning it for space.
A terrabyte is 40 quid.
Only thing I put on the SSD is operating system, programms I want to run on boot and Pathfinder Kingmaker because fuck that has long loading times otherwise.

 

[lukaszek]

Only thing I put on the SSD is operating system, programms I want to run on boot and Pathfinder Kingmaker because fuck that has long loading times otherwise.

you have too much time on your hands

 

[Jason Liang]

underrail is tiny no more, also its saves can amass to few gigs

If something is less than 25 gig on the HDD I do not even think about cleaning it for space.
A terrabyte is 40 quid.
Only thing I put on the SSD is operating system, programms I want to run on boot and Pathfinder Kingmaker because fuck that has long loading times otherwise.

I just have my laptop

Should I just craft 4 Uros for historic?

 

[Ranselknulf]

underrail is tiny no more, also its saves can amass to few gigs

If something is less than 25 gig on the HDD I do not even think about cleaning it for space.
A terrabyte is 40 quid.
Only thing I put on the SSD is operating system, programms I want to run on boot and Pathfinder Kingmaker because fuck that has long loading times otherwise.

I just have my laptop

I play mtg in class when I'm bored.

Agenda Acknowledged.

 

[lukaszek]

Should I just craft 4 Uros for historic?

uro is everywhere in historic. New set is giving interesting answers to it so watch out. Cost more than 3 mana but still... Also many people maindeck cage. One is also never sure when if they will ban him