So let’s explore then: where is it cheaper to buy a deck? Where is it “easier?” The Cost of a Deck Though I might love limited more than anything (this is Draftsim, after all), I’ll be the first to admit that the reason the majority of people play Magic is to build decks and pit them against other people doing the same thing. And if you want to buy cosmetics (a personalization option not available on Magic Online) Wizards will also happily take your money for that too. Suffice it to say, the more you want to play and/or the more different types of decks you want to have, then you’re more likely to need to take out your wallet. In fact, I haven’t had to in a long time. But if your win rate at draft is high enough, you can realistically go infinite and not have to buy more gems.
MTGA is nominally free to play, but if you want to play a lot of different Standard decks, you’re going to have to put some money in.
Wow, wait that is complicated too! Unfortunately, that’s par for the course when it comes to systems designed by WotC. This is a key aspect of the entire economy. This wildcard and crafting system means that MTG Arena has no trading. Then you can turn the wildcards into whatever cards you want and build real decks. Opening packs will get you cards and more wildcards, along with progressing your vault. Just playing games will earn you XP and gold, which you can then use to either buy packs or enter events. You also get some very basic starter decks as part of the new player experience.Īfter that, you can play in the Standard, Historic, and Brawl queues for free, but if you want to play limited, you have to pony up. It is initially free to play, though realistically you might want to at least spend money on the welcome bundle when you get started. MTGA, on the other hand, revolves around gems, gold, and wildcards. And it’s an artifact of a business model that is now 20 years old. If this all sounds complicated, it very much is.
In fact, Standard sets are redeemable for a certain period of time, meaning that if you collect a complete set of digital cards, say one of each card in Core Set 2021, you can deduct the cards from your account and Wizards will mail you a corresponding box with a complete set of honest to gosh cardboard cards. This has a critical impact on the prices of the cards on the MTGO marketplace. You actually own the “digital cards” on Magic Online, which is a stark difference from MTGA. There are dozens of “bots” that you can utilize to dump items from your collection at a market price. In reality, this involves trading them directly for event tickets. That’s right, you can sell cards and packs to other users on Magic Online. An event may cost 15 tickets to enter, so you either have to pull out the old credit card to buy tickets for entry, or sell some excess packs or cards that you have left over from events. Magic Online’s economy revolves around event tickets, which are digital objects that cost 1 US Dollar each. Needless to say, however, if you want to be competitive, and if you want to win, there is no way to avoid spending a decent amount of money on either program. Both Magic Online and MTG Arena cater to different groups of people with different interests, so their economies are structured quite differently.
If you’re an established player who loves and cherishes Commander, Modern, Legacy, Vintage Cube, or even Pioneer, then MTGO is a suitable, and de facto, choice.Ī great deal of your experience with either game, and of course the most important driver in affordability, revolves around the economy of each. The bottom line: If you’re a newer player, MTG Arena is definitely the right program for you. To add even more to my antiquated bona fides, I even still call Magic Online “MODO” (Magic Online with Digital Objects, the original title for MTGO).īut enough about my background – let’s discuss the difference between these two programs and which one I think you should choose to play Magic. I still remember sitting in my friend Erik’s basement doing Odyssey drafts together. Just so you know where I’m coming from, I’ve been playing Magic on and off for 25 years and have used both MTGA and Magic Online since their inception. Or perhaps you’re a returning MTG player from a long time ago and you have very bad memories of MTGO and are wondering, “Is it any better than it used to be?”
Maybe you’re a newer player and know you want to play Magic online, but don’t know where to invest your time and money. Yes, this is strange, and yes it kind of doesn’t make sense, but I’m here to give you a little background about why this is the case and which application best suits your needs. Comparative Analysis | Illustration by Willian Muraiīelieve it or not, there are two official ways to play Magic on the internet right now: Magic Online and MTG Arena.