Magic the Gathering Arena

[Gamezor]

i just dled this but draft mode is freaking expensive! is there a digital ccg with cheap draft/sealed? I dont even care if i keep the cards i just like playing sealed or draft. id happily pay 50 bucks up front for an unlimited draft or sealed mode in a dccg.

Artifact had free phantom draft. Artifact had loaning friends your deck. Artifact had it all.



To answer your question though (And Artifact does still technically have free drafting, you'd just have to talk friends into playing it since as far as I'm aware bots won't play draft in it) not particularly. Runeterra does/did have cheap and even free drafting but they're removing it apparently, and Hearthstone's probably about as expensive to draft as MTGA depending on how good you are at it. Not sure if Gwent still has their shitty draft mode but Gwent's dead as shit, too. The game Nowhere Prophet might scratch the itch a little, it's a singleplayer deckbuilder but the mechanics of it are closer to a regular CCG than many other singleplayer deckbuilders (X/X creatures with attack and health, etc).
Your other option would be play something like Storybook Brawl, which is a card-based auto battler. It's free to play but the mechanics of it aren't comparable to something like MTGA, but then again since it IS free to play it may be worth trying a few games of it and see if you dig it since there is some draftiness to it. Nothing really comes to mind for multiplayer CCG draft that's cheap/free/single payment that reliably has players other than MTGA and presumably Hearthstone but I haven't touched it in ages so I don't know if they've fucked around with it.

Ok thanks! Yeah I loved artifact and had no problem with paying $20 for it. I don’t understand the mindset of people who would rather grind gameplay they don’t like to get to the fun than pay $20 up front. I don’t think I understand the whole dccg mindset of most people—people seem to just want to grind to a net deck they like and then watch a stream to learn to play it perfectly. That does not seem fun to me.

Im playing som LOR but yeah I see they are removing draft and not replacing it. I do really like the games design.

Maybe I really do need to look at some single player games.

 

[Reapa]

what beat you?

a bunch of aggro, like elves

I have a Mono Green Freya Elves deck that is awesome. Freya buffs elves perpetually, untaps them them to the they can be tapped for more mana, she can seek more elf cards, and she conjures a 5/5 creature that draws cards equal to your creatures on the battlefield. I use the elves to ramp up to closers like the Tarraque, and Old Gnaw Bones. Very fun deck. I use Key to the Archives for increased ramp and access to powerful spells that aren't in green like Time Warp and Day of Judgement.

disgusting

 

[Newfag-er]

Ok thanks! Yeah I loved artifact and had no problem with paying $20 for it. I don’t understand the mindset of people who would rather grind gameplay they don’t like to get to the fun than pay $20 up front. I don’t think I understand the whole dccg mindset of most people—people seem to just want to grind to a net deck they like and then watch a stream to learn to play it perfectly. That does not seem fun to me.

Im playing som LOR but yeah I see they are removing draft and not replacing it. I do really like the games design.

Maybe I really do need to look at some single player games.

Could try making alts to draft

Grab the first 4 wins everyday and save up the gold for drafting. If it is too hard to get wins running the quest is likely more then enough.

The quest stacks up to three so can simply login every few days

Alternatively could try mtgo. There is phantom draft event there tho it is pay per entry. If win alot then pay much less.

The interface is very barebone to put it kindly

 

[Thac0]

Ok thanks! Yeah I loved artifact and had no problem with paying $20 for it. I don’t understand the mindset of people who would rather grind gameplay they don’t like to get to the fun than pay $20 up front. I don’t think I understand the whole dccg mindset of most people—people seem to just want to grind to a net deck they like and then watch a stream to learn to play it perfectly. That does not seem fun to me.

Im playing som LOR but yeah I see they are removing draft and not replacing it. I do really like the games design.

Maybe I really do need to look at some single player games.

The reason I play MTGA is that I am good enough to run infinite draft in it. Quick Draft is very cheap, and you can afoord the gold cost from absolving quests every 3 days or so. Once you run out of gold you can pay the toll with gems. I usually finish with 3-7 wins, so it is certainly profitable. Sealed is way too expensive tho, even with my high winrate it is very easy to blow your gems to 0 through the huge 2000 cost.
Anyway, last time I paid for something in MTGA was Eldraine I believe?
The economy is greedy as fuck, WotC are greedy on an almost comical level, but the underlying income stream under all the bullshit gold drains with low efficiency is still good.

 

[Gamezor]

Ok thanks! Yeah I loved artifact and had no problem with paying $20 for it. I don’t understand the mindset of people who would rather grind gameplay they don’t like to get to the fun than pay $20 up front. I don’t think I understand the whole dccg mindset of most people—people seem to just want to grind to a net deck they like and then watch a stream to learn to play it perfectly. That does not seem fun to me.

Im playing som LOR but yeah I see they are removing draft and not replacing it. I do really like the games design.

Maybe I really do need to look at some single player games.

The reason I play MTGA is that I am good enough to run infinite draft in it. Quick Draft is very cheap, and you can afoord the gold cost from absolving quests every 3 days or so. Once you run out of gold you can pay the toll with gems. I usually finish with 3-7 wins, so it is certainly profitable. Sealed is way too expensive tho, even with my high winrate it is very easy to blow your gems to 0 through the huge 2000 cost.
Anyway, last time I paid for something in MTGA was Eldraine I believe?
The economy is greedy as fuck, WotC are greedy on an almost comical level, but the underlying income stream under all the bullshit gold drains with low efficiency is still good.

Thanks! I have been playing more and the fact is i like magic better than anything else i have tried and i dont mind doing daily quests for gold. If i spend some real money too thats fine.

 

[Gamezor]

Ok thanks! Yeah I loved artifact and had no problem with paying $20 for it. I don’t understand the mindset of people who would rather grind gameplay they don’t like to get to the fun than pay $20 up front. I don’t think I understand the whole dccg mindset of most people—people seem to just want to grind to a net deck they like and then watch a stream to learn to play it perfectly. That does not seem fun to me.

Im playing som LOR but yeah I see they are removing draft and not replacing it. I do really like the games design.

Maybe I really do need to look at some single player games.

Could try making alts to draft

Grab the first 4 wins everyday and save up the gold for drafting. If it is too hard to get wins running the quest is likely more then enough.

The quest stacks up to three so can simply login every few days

Alternatively could try mtgo. There is phantom draft event there tho it is pay per entry. If win alot then pay much less.

The interface is very barebone to put it kindly

I actually have old mtgo account but its too damn clunky for me now.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Enjoying this set quite a bit for limited now that I'm playing more of it. Removal's at a premium which seems to be key for limited sets I enjoy playing, and a lot of removal that IS there tends to be enchantments and there's a good stack of enchantment hate so it's nicely interactive. Most recent deck's boros samurai (Splashing black since I drafted the black dragon) and it's... Alright. Not really sold on the samurai gimmick even if it's hilarious when you get that tapdown samurai and constantly evade all blockers. Seen some stronger opposing samurai decks but that's typically when they draft a million copies of that +1/+1 guy. Similarly the rakdos artifact sacrifice thing seems weak but I saw one really fucking good one where the guy also had a nut draw and had something like 12 creatures in play due to the sacrifice anvil and that 2/1 that shits out a token if a non-token dies.

Do hope to draft a shrines deck at some point. Maybe when we hit March and the ranks reset I'll try forcing shrines. They're probably not worth it but I still want to try 'em out.

 

[Newfag-er]

Enjoying this set quite a bit for limited now that I'm playing more of it. Removal's at a premium which seems to be key for limited sets I enjoy playing, and a lot of removal that IS there tends to be enchantments and there's a good stack of enchantment hate so it's nicely interactive. Most recent deck's boros samurai (Splashing black since I drafted the black dragon) and it's... Alright. Not really sold on the samurai gimmick even if it's hilarious when you get that tapdown samurai and constantly evade all blockers. Seen some stronger opposing samurai decks but that's typically when they draft a million copies of that +1/+1 guy. Similarly the rakdos artifact sacrifice thing seems weak but I saw one really fucking good one where the guy also had a nut draw and had something like 12 creatures in play due to the sacrifice anvil and that 2/1 that shits out a token if a non-token dies.

Do hope to draft a shrines deck at some point. Maybe when we hit March and the ranks reset I'll try forcing shrines. They're probably not worth it but I still want to try 'em out.

Pretty sure most of the win so far is from the white shrine and to a lesser extent the red shrine

Then started experimenting later on with three color that plan failed pretty miserably

 

[lukaszek]

from my experience, in neon quick draft black appears to be open

 

[Thac0]

Enjoying this set quite a bit for limited now that I'm playing more of it. Removal's at a premium which seems to be key for limited sets I enjoy playing, and a lot of removal that IS there tends to be enchantments and there's a good stack of enchantment hate so it's nicely interactive. Most recent deck's boros samurai (Splashing black since I drafted the black dragon) and it's... Alright. Not really sold on the samurai gimmick even if it's hilarious when you get that tapdown samurai and constantly evade all blockers. Seen some stronger opposing samurai decks but that's typically when they draft a million copies of that +1/+1 guy. Similarly the rakdos artifact sacrifice thing seems weak but I saw one really fucking good one where the guy also had a nut draw and had something like 12 creatures in play due to the sacrifice anvil and that 2/1 that shits out a token if a non-token dies.

Do hope to draft a shrines deck at some point. Maybe when we hit March and the ranks reset I'll try forcing shrines. They're probably not worth it but I still want to try 'em out.

Shrines are bad. They are not really a strategy you can play, more like a sub engine. Sometimes you end up with 2-4 shrines in your deck just as a curve filler from normal drafting, then they can pull some weight. It helps that G/W enchantments is the best deck in the draft environment, and both the green and the white shrine can play to that grindy value oriented gameplan.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Shrines are bad. They are not really a strategy you can play, more like a sub engine. Sometimes you end up with 2-4 shrines in your deck just as a curve filler from normal drafting, then they can pull some weight. It helps that G/W enchantments is the best deck in the draft environment, and both the green and the white shrine can play to that grindy value oriented gameplan.

Pardon me but the best deck is clearly dimir enchantments because you drafted 4 copies of the Modern Age and one Tribute to Horobi and one Life of Toshiro and one Behold the Unspeakable and one Long Reach of Night and then you bring it all together with your toad rider rare. Really stupid fucking deck but it has managed to make me laugh like an idiot while playing it and it even wins a fair few games. Opponents come in expecting ninjas and then you ninjitsu your hand with your deck with looting sagas. Glad I went for it since I noticed that saga gets ignored by the bots a lot and I wanted to see what would happen if I took all of them.

I will also add that after drafting Tribute to Horobi in multiple drafts I've only ever had it work in one (1) match. Every other time either the rats get eaten by my opponent having sacrifice or ninja or something, or they wait until they get both rat tokens then nail the saga with enchantment removal. I should stop playing it in limited but I can't help myself.

 

[Thac0]

Shrines are bad. They are not really a strategy you can play, more like a sub engine. Sometimes you end up with 2-4 shrines in your deck just as a curve filler from normal drafting, then they can pull some weight. It helps that G/W enchantments is the best deck in the draft environment, and both the green and the white shrine can play to that grindy value oriented gameplan.

Pardon me but the best deck is clearly dimir enchantments because you drafted 4 copies of the Modern Age and one Tribute to Horobi and one Life of Toshiro and one Behold the Unspeakable and one Long Reach of Night and then you bring it all together with your toad rider rare. Really stupid fucking deck but it has managed to make me laugh like an idiot while playing it and it even wins a fair few games. Opponents come in expecting ninjas and then you ninjitsu your hand with your deck with looting sagas. Glad I went for it since I noticed that saga gets ignored by the bots a lot and I wanted to see what would happen if I took all of them.

I will also add that after drafting Tribute to Horobi in multiple drafts I've only ever had it work in one (1) match. Every other time either the rats get eaten by my opponent having sacrifice or ninja or something, or they wait until they get both rat tokens then nail the saga with enchantment removal. I should stop playing it in limited but I can't help myself.

That is almost a good deck, and the weakpoint is not what you think it is.
https://mtgazone.com/kamigawa-neon-dynasty-neo-limited-tier-list/
The Modern Age is one of the weaker sagas, so I would try to hit critical mass with the better black sagas instead. Also blue in general is a bit iffy as a support colour for enchantments, as their only good Saga in Behold the Unspeakable is UU and thus hard to splash. I would try going for Green/Black instead if you have a toad rider, Tales of Master Seshiro and Boseiju reaches Skyward are both really good for their rarity, and Azusas Many Journeys is allright.
Then again, rares decide your colour more than commons anyway usually.

 

[lukaszek]

this draft is highly enjoyable. No bombs nor big swings, games are instead won with some small critters synergies. Also every color pairing seem doable

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Removal's at a premium which seems to be key for limited sets I enjoy playing

Wut? I've found removal very lackluster with all the auto-value cards (i.e. sagas) and synergies. I've been skipping the 2BB that acts as a +1+1 aura, which I'd say is pretty crazy for a common, for simply more synergy....or sagas. Sagas are way OP. Don't tell anyone else, draft is soft as fuck right now hehe.

their only good Saga in Behold the Unspeakable

The "double loot - get a flyer" is also insane, I splash for it whenever possible. 2 mana filter 2 lands and get a 2/3 flying.....yeah totally balanced lol.

All in all I feel sagas are way too powerfull in a limited environment, there's really no way around them. Combined with the ample fixing it's esper sagas all draft every draft.

 

[lukaszek]

I guess arena is a thing mainly among streamers when meta gets stale?

 

[Scruffy]

yeah i am playing naya runes and it's just absurd. With a bit of luck, it can literally play something after a wipe, give it haste and hit for 8-12 damage in the same turn if you have naturalist and runeforge dude down.

 

[Ranselknulf]

I hope to have time to play this again in a couple months.

What's the word on set rotations and what color is dominating right now?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Drafted a deck with 2 green shrines, 2 white shrines, 2 Michiko's Reign of Truth, Kami of Transience, and Tales of Master Sushiro. Looking forward to going 0-3 after I pulled 5 wins out of rakdos artifact sacrifice jank. Bots were scooping up all the rares too, only got my first picks.

I hope to have time to play this again in a couple months.

What's the word on set rotations and what color is dominating right now?

Haven't been playing standard so I have no idea what's going on in there, but set rotations would've been back in the fall so we're a couple sets into the new standard. September when rotation hits again we'll lose Zendikar, Kaldheim, Strixhaven, and D&D so if you're curious what packs/drafts/etc to lean toward to last the longest in standard then both Innistrad sets, Kamigawa, and whatever's released new.

Edit: Got to 14 land in play when I died in one game and my last three turns were still drawing land, then I nearly flooded out in another game after that. It's a 17 land deck! Why Nuffle! WHY!

 

[Lacrymas]

I'm thinking of playing this with a friend for a bit, but the modern art is terrible. Is there a mod that replaces it with old MTG art?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Is there a mod that replaces it with old MTG art?

Not as far as I'm aware because it would be a gigantic pain in the ass with all the new cards constantly being added. If you're ONLY playing it with a friend you could probably go dig up one of those MTG pirate clients that have all cards ever made and then you two could play with whatever cards you want, but if you're also wanting to play with randos your options are basically MTGA or MTGO.

 

[Thac0]

Is there a mod that replaces it with old MTG art?

Not as far as I'm aware because it would be a gigantic pain in the ass with all the new cards constantly being added. If you're ONLY playing it with a friend you could probably go dig up one of those MTG pirate clients that have all cards ever made and then you two could play with whatever cards you want, but if you're also wanting to play with randos your options are basically MTGA or MTGO.

Cockatrice is pretty good for that. Cool name aswell.

MTGA has enough cosmetics and alternate arts tho to not be exposed to the horrors of modern digital art too much. After a while of playing your deck will be blinged out enough that shit modern art is only a problem in limited.
Now if only limited wasn't the most fun format by far...

 

[Athanasios]

I guess arena is a thing mainly among streamers when meta gets stale?

Wow Alchemy was such a big failure?

 

[lukaszek]

I guess arena is a thing mainly among streamers when meta gets stale?

Wow Alchemy was such a big failure?

its more complicated than that. This is data post neon release. Alchemy might have been more popular prior due to stale standard.
Then standard got fun and fresh again so clearly people didnt want to play with alchemy cards.

I think I saw someone post with untapped or some other tracker data, showing that h brawl is more popular than regular historic. Sadly that twitter post is missing that queue.

Interesting would be numbers post neon alchemy release

 

[Athanasios]

I guess arena is a thing mainly among streamers when meta gets stale?

Wow Alchemy was such a big failure?

its more complicated than that. This is data post neon release. Alchemy might have been more popular prior due to stale standard.
Then standard got fun and fresh again so clearly people didnt want to play with alchemy cards.

I think I saw someone post with untapped or some other tracker data, showing that h brawl is more popular than regular historic. Sadly that twitter post is missing that queue.

Interesting would be numbers post neon alchemy release

I was very hyped for it but... I don't know anymore. Also I was sad to have cards become obsolete because they rebalanced them like that red dragon, and probably most other people as well, so I think almost everyone is going to prefer standard.
They could just ban a few more cards in standard instead of introducing a whole new format

 

[Dr1f7]

They could just ban a few more cards in standard instead of introducing a whole new format

that wouldn't make wotc very much money