Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is a collectible and digital collectible card game released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993. It is regarded as the first trading card game, and as of 2015, it has recorded about 20 million players.
Between 2008-2016, it grew in popularity as more than 20 billion Magic Cards were made. Magic can be enjoyed by two or more players, either in person with printed cards or via the Internet-based Magic: The Gathering Online app.
Magic: The Gathering Arena is designed to be a more modern method of playing MTG with other players while using a computer when compared to MTG Online.To learn more about Arena and how to download it, continue reading.
Magic the Gathering: Arena
Created and distributed by Wizards of the Coast in 2018, Magic: The Gathering Arena is a free-to-play digital collectible card game. As the digital version of the MTG card game, it is aimed to stay concurrent with the physical version.
It lets players obtain cards through booster packs, in-game achievements, or microtransaction purchases. Arena also allows its players to create their own decks to challenge others.
In November 2017, the game was released in a beta state, and in September 2019, it was fully released for Microsoft Windows users. In June 2020, the macOS version was made available. Cross-save compatible versions for mobile devices are scheduled in late 2020.
It is downloadable at magic.wizards.com for both PC and Mac. You can get the installer for free by clicking the download links found at the top left side of the site.
How to Play MTG Arena
MTG Arena follows the same rules as its physical version. Players use card decks, which include land cards and produce five separate mana colors.
They also play cards that consume the mana to summon creatures, cast offensive and defensive spells, and/or enable effects and abilities.
To reduce the opponent's life-total to zero before their opponent can do the same, players battle each other using a selected deck. Card packs in Arena include 8 cards (1 rare, 2 uncommons, and 5 commons). Additionally,
Arena supports both Constructed Deck play and Draft play.
MTG Arena: Constructed Play
Players in Constructed Play build card decks from their library. The game gives a library of base cards and premade decks from those cards to new players.
As players win matches or complete daily quests, they earn new booster packs which add cards to their library. It also helps players to then customize and update their decks.
MTG Arena: Draft Play
Players in Draft Play are initially given a variety of special booster packs to create a deck. They'll then try to win as many matches as they can with that set.
Once the player with that deck has won 7 matches or lost 3 games, the deck is then retired. The player owns all the cards drafted and also receives incentives to build up their library by having provided more booster packs and assets.
Conclusion
Arena was not expected to replace Magic: The Gathering Online. MTG Online will continue to support the whole of Magic's card history, while Arena only contains cards from its initial release in the current Standard sets and any expansions going forward.
Magic: The Gathering Arena will not give you the same experience as ripping open Magic packs on a sunny park bench with your childhood best friend. However, it's the next best thing and still makes playing magic!
