Magic The Gathering Arena Beginner's Guide -Everything You Need to Know

Magic: The Gathering Arena (MTG Arena) is an online adaptation of the popular collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. MTG Arena allows players to experience the strategy and excitement of Magic in a fully digital game client.

What is Magic: The Gathering?

Magic: The Gathering is a strategy card game created by Richard Garfield and first published by Wizards of the Coast in 1993. Often referred to as Magic or just MTG, the game revolves around wizards known as “planeswalkers” who employ spells, artifacts, and creatures to defeat their opponents.

Magic features a vast library of thousands of unique cards, each with their own abilities. Players construct customized 60-card decks using strategy to create powerful combinations. Magic offers a dynamic gameplay experience as no two games play out exactly the same. With worldwide tournaments and a thriving professional scene, Magic has grown into one of the most popular and successful trading card games in the world.

How to Play Magic: The Gathering Arena

MTG Arena translates the immersive Magic experience to a digital interface. Players construct decks as normal, using cards they collect in the game. MTG Arena features intuitive controls, smooth animations, and exciting sound and visual effects to bring the action to life.

To play a match, players are paired against opponents of similar skill. Taking turns, they play land cards to generate “mana” – magical energy used to cast spells. Creatures can attack and block. Spells deliver powerful one-time effects. By reducing the opponent’s life to zero, a player wins the game.

With an easy-to-grasp tutorial, MTG Arena is welcoming to new players. At the same time, it offers the depth and complexity that make Magic an engrossing game for experienced players.

Magic: The Gathering Arena Features

MTG Arena brilliantly adapts Magic for the digital space while capturing the genuine look and feel of the physical card game. Key features include:

Huge card library with thousands of cards from current Standard sets and expansions
Regular updates with new card sets from each release
Smooth animations and visual effects to bring games to life
Ranked matches and limited draft events just like sanctioned Magic tournaments
Open gameplay against friends or random opponents from around the world
Colorful avatars, card sleeves, and pets to customize your in-game profile
Quests, achievements, and rewards to keep players engaged and progressing
Top-notch visual and sound design crafted with Magic fans in mind

For both new and established Magic fans, MTG Arena is an excellent way to enjoy Magic from your home. And it’s free!

Magic: The Gathering Arena Download

MTG Arena is available on PC via the official client downloadable from the Wizards of the Coast website. The client is around 500 MB and runs smoothly even on low-spec machines. Players simply create an account, install the client, and log in to be matching against opponents immediately.

With regular updates deployed, MTG Arena is constantly improving and expanding. The development team frequently solicits feedback from players to help inform priorities and direction. This engagement with the player base makes MTG Arena not just an authentic Magic experience, but one crafted hand-in-hand with fans.

For those eager to planeswalk into the world of Magic: The Gathering, MTG Arena is the perfect starting point. Offering quick matches, intuitive controls, and glorious visuals, the game makes Magic more thrilling and accessible than ever.

Getting started with Magic: The Gathering Arena

Magic: The Gathering Arena (MTG Arena) brilliantly translates the beloved card game to a polished digital experience. For new players, MTG Arena’s intuitive tutorials make it easy to get started. Let’s cover some tips to begin playing Magic: The Gathering Arena like a pro.

Magic: The Gathering Arena beginner’s guide

For those completely new to Magic, MTG Arena offers an excellent step-by-step beginner’s guide. After creating an account, players are walked through each phase of a turn, core concepts like mana and creatures, casting spells, and winning the game. Helpful tooltips explain key terms along the way.

The guide covers fundamentals like drawing cards each turn and incrementing available mana. Players learn to summon creatures to the battlefield to attack the opponent. Spells like Giant Growth are cast using mana to empower your forces. Combat concepts including declaring attackers, blockers, and assigning damage are explained clearly.

By the end of the guide, new players have a solid grasp of Magic’s core gameplay. MTG Arena eases players in gently, preventing them from making illegal moves or triggering complex abilities before they are ready. The patient tutorials and AI opponents make MTG Arena very welcoming to beginners.

Magic: The Gathering Arena basic rules

While the tutorials cover gameplay basics, new players should understand Magic’s fundamental rules:

Players start with 20 life and lose when reduced to 0 life.
Each turn, a player draws 1 card then takes their turn: main phases, combat, and end step.
Land cards provide mana to cast spells of different colors.
Creatures can attack and block each combat.
Spells deliver powerful one-time effects.
Deck building requires at least 60 cards with only 4 copies of most cards.

Learning these core rules gives new players a solid foundation. MTG Arena prevents illegal actions like playing cards without sufficient mana. This allows beginners to focus on strategy, not mechanics.

Magic: The Gathering Arena tips for beginners

MTG Arena accelerates new players into the action. Here are some tips to get good fast:

Stick to one or two colors early on. This makes mana management easier.
Focus on creature cards first. Creatures are how you defeat your opponent.
Don’t overlook combat tricks like Giant Growth. These instants can swing combat results.
Removal spells like Murder take out your opponent’s creatures. These are valuable.
Card advantage wins games. Draw cards and trade efficiently using removal.
Play the tutorial modes until you feel comfortable with gameplay basics. There’s no rush!

Following these tips will get beginners off to a good start. MTG Arena is very new-player friendly, with in-game guides, tooltips, and prompts to prevent illegal plays. Players can focus on fun and strategy right from the start.

Magic: The Gathering Arena best decks for beginners

Starting out, new MTG Arena players will be using basic decks comprised of starter cards. After completing the tutorial and color challenges, players can obtain five preconstructed beginner decks:

Primal Fury (green/red): This deck unleashes hordes of rampaging creatures to overwhelm opponents quickly. Cards like Shock and Giant Growth support its aggressive playstyle.
Tactical Assault (white/black): A balance of small creatures and removal spells let this deck establish control. Kill opposing creatures using Murder then go on the offense.
Arcane Inventions (blue/red): With counterspells like Cancel and card draw effects, this deck plays a slow long game. It aims to grind the opponent down with card advantage.
Forest’s Might (green/white): Ramping mana using Llanowar Elves, this deck plays big creatures like Angelic Guardian. Defensive cards like Take Up Arms stall aggressive decks.
Chaos and Mayhem (black/red): Unleash hell with destructive sorceries like Earthquake and Act of Treason. This deck sacrifices life to wreck opponents as quickly as possible.

These preconstructed decks feature simple synergies and strategies perfect for new players. After mastering them, players can look to modify them or move on to more advanced deck constructions. MTG Arena makes picking up the game and competing online easy and approachable for Magic newcomers.

Different types of cards in Magic: The Gathering Arena

Magic: The Gathering Arena features a massive library of cards to construct your deck. Understanding the types of cards and their functions is key to building an effective strategy. Let’s examine the main card types new players should know.

Magic: The Gathering Arena land cards

Lands are essential as they provide the mana required to cast spells and summon creatures. The basic lands are:

Plains – Produce white mana
Island – Produce blue mana
Swamp – Produce black mana
Mountain – Produce red mana
Forest – Produce green mana

Most decks run around 24 lands. You’ll generally want lands that match the colors of cards in your deck.

Dual lands like Woodland Stream produce two colors of mana. These help cast spells across color combinations like blue/green. Utility lands offer bonus abilities, like entering the battlefield tapped to draw a card.

The number and types of lands are key considerations when deck building. Consistent mana access is crucial for playing your cards!

Magic: The Gathering Arena creature cards

Creatures are used to attack and block during combat. They are integral to most decks’ strategies.

Creature cards list power/toughness – how much damage they deal/can take. Abilities like flying or deathtouch may be present. Some examples:

Grizzly Bears – A basic 2/2 green creature costing 1 mana.
Merfolk Skydiver – 1/1 flyer with flash allowing it to ambush opponents.
Baleful Beholder – Dangerous 4/3 flyer with deathtouch that kills when it damages creatures.

Creatures strong at each mana value are key. You’ll want a good mana curve from cheap 1-2 mana creatures up to powerful 5+ mana finishers.

Magic: The Gathering Arena spell cards

Spells offer powerful one-shot effects when cast. Different spells provide removal, buffs, card draw, life gain, and more. Some examples:

Shock – Simple direct damage spell dealing 2 damage for 1 red mana. Removes small creatures.
Cancel – Counterspell that stops opponents’ spells for 3 mana. Strong but costly disruption.
Sign in Blood – Draw 2 cards and lose 2 life. Card advantage at a price.

Mixing spells with creatures lets you control combat through buffs or removal. Instant speed spells keep opponents off guard.

Magic: The Gathering Arena enchantment cards

Enchantments enter the battlefield with ongoing effects. They stick around rather than resolving immediately like spells. For example:

Pacifism – Enchants a creature to render it unable to attack or block. Clean neutralization.
Circle of Protection: Red – Ongoing effect prevents damage from red sources. Counters mono-red decks.

Enchantments affect combat math and board states. Auras enchant creatures while global enchantments affect the whole battlefield. Proper use of enchantments gives mages an edge.

Magic: The Gathering Arena artifact cards

Artifacts represent magical devices, relics, and trinkets. Like enchantments, they stick around after being cast. For example:

Trusty Machete – Simple 1 mana artifact boosting a creature’s power +1/+1 when equipped.
The Celestus – Artifact producing mana of any color while allowing you to scry 1.
Portable Hole – Removes target creature or planeswalker for just 1 mana.

Artifacts grant abilities or bonuses not tied to a color. Powerful artifacts can define tournament winning strategies!

With practice, new players will grasp the characteristics of each card type. Creatures, spells, enchantments, artifacts, and lands form the building blocks of every great Magic deck. Maximizing their interactions is the heart of high-level play.

Building a deck in Magic: The Gathering Arena

Deck building is a major part of mastering Magic: The Gathering Arena. Carefully constructing your deck improves consistency and synergy. Let’s go over some key principles for building competitive MTG Arena decks.

Magic: The Gathering Arena deck building guide

New players should follow these general guidelines when constructing decks:

Include 60 cards total for consistency. More cards means you draw your best ones less often.
Stick to a focused game plan like aggro or control. Don’t mix strategies too much.
Run 24 lands. Too few lands leads to being mana screwed with no plays.
Lower your mana curve. Decks with more 1-3 mana plays perform better.
Play sets of 4 copies of your most impactful cards to draw them consistently.
Include interaction cards like removal spells and counterspells.

Following these tips will improve new players’ decks right away. Refine your build over many games to learn what works. An optimal 60 card configuration isn’t found instantly.

Magic: The Gathering Arena deck archetypes

In Magic, there are broad deck archetypes that serve as starting points:

Aggro – Fast aggressive decks using cheap creatures to rush opponents down quickly.
Control – Slow defensive decks using removal and counterspells to dominate the late game.
Midrange – Balanced decks with creatures bolstered by interaction spells.
Ramp – Decks accelerating mana to cast expensive bombs ahead of schedule.
Combo – Assemble card combinations that instantly win the game or generate insurmountable value.

Most decks blend these strategies to some degree. Identify your deck’s primary game plan to inform card choices and synergies.

Magic: The Gathering Arena deck lists

Studying pro deck lists provides inspiration on proven constructions. Sites like MTGGoldfish compile the latest top performing deck lists across Magic formats.

However, it’s best for beginners to understand the reasoning behind card choices rather than just netdecking. Try modifying starter decks incrementally to grasp synergies. Eventually you can design innovative new brews!

Magic: The Gathering Arena mana curve

The mana curve displays how many cards are at each mana cost. Efficient curves enable early plays while hitting powerful late game cards:

1 mana – Critical cheap plays to deploy early threats. 8-10 cards ideal.
2 mana – Workhorse cards that form deck backbone. 10-12 cards.
3 mana – Still inexpensive while presenting sizeable bodies and effects. 6-8 cards.
4 mana – Your first big impactful plays. No more than 6 cards.
5+ mana – Expensive bombs and finishers. Keep these to a minimum.

Follow these mana curve guidelines to optimize play. Too many expensive cards will stall your hand.

Magic: The Gathering Arena sideboard

In tournaments, a 15 card sideboard lets you swap cards between matches to adjust your strategy versus opponents.

Common sideboard categories include:

Extra removal or counterspells for control and combo.
Cheap creature removal versus aggro swarms.
Enchantment/artifact removal depending on format threats.
Narrow utility cards useful in certain matchups.
Alternate win conditions.

Even in casual play, planning a sideboard trains good deckbuilding habits. Tuning a deck’s flex slots for your expected field is an impactful skill.

With practice building MTG Arena decks, players intuitively learn to balance land counts, optimize mana curves, and amplify synergies between card choices. The result is more consistent, powerful strategy you can pilot to victory.

Playing Magic: The Gathering Arena

Understanding the flow of gameplay is vital for success in Magic: The Gathering Arena. Let’s break down the detailed structure of turns, priority, casting spells, combat, and more.

Magic: The Gathering Arena turn structure

Gameplay occurs over a series of turns, beginning with the player who plays first. Each turn has distinct phases:

Untap – Untap all permanents you control like lands and creatures.
Upkeep – Trigger abilities that happen at the start of your turn.
Draw – Draw a card from your deck.
Main Phase 1 – Play lands, cast spells, activate abilities.
Combat – Declare attackers and blockers. Resolve combat damage.
Main Phase 2 – Take additional game actions.
End Step – End of turn effects resolve here after priority passes.

This ordered sequence repeats each turn until someone wins! MTG Arena automatically progresses between phases and highlights available actions.

Magic: The Gathering Arena casting spells

To cast a spell or activate an ability, you must pay its mana cost by tapping lands that produce the necessary colors of mana.

However, your opponent can respond with instant speed spells or effects before your spell resolves. Understanding timing and priority between players is key.

Some important rules:

Players must pass priority for the next effect or phase to happen.
The player whose turn it is gets priority first during phases.
Instant speed spells can be cast whenever you have priority.
If all players pass priority with an empty stack, the next step or phase begins.

Mastering these timing nuances provides huge advantages in battle!

Magic: The Gathering Arena summoning creatures

Creatures are played just like other spells during your main phases. Tapping lands pays the creature card’s mana cost to summon it onto the battlefield.

Some creature mechanics to know:

Haste – This creature can attack the turn it enters the battlefield.
Flash – You can cast this creature anytime you have priority, even on opponent’s turns!
Flying – This creature can only be blocked by other flyers.
Vigilance – This creature does not tap to attack, so it remains available to block.

Use creatures to apply pressure, block attacks, or trigger powerful effects. Creatures form the backbone of most decks.

Magic: The Gathering Arena attacking and defending

During your combat phase, you choose which untapped creatures attack by declaring them as attackers. Then your opponent can declare creatures as blockers.

Combat follows these rules:

You choose which creatures attack and how damage is assigned.
Each creature can only block one attacking creature.
Creatures deal damage equal to their power to blockers or defending player.
Damage remains on creatures until end of turn. Lethal damage destroys them.
Flying creatures can only be blocked by creatures with flying or reach.

Tactical attacking and blocking decisions often determine the victor. Master combat math to crush your foes!

Magic: The Gathering Arena winning the game

The most common way to win a game of Magic is reducing your opponent’s life total from 20 to 0. Other win conditions include:

Milling your opponent’s entire deck.
Assembling a particular card combination that instantly wins the game.
Having your opponent draw from an empty deck.
Controlling certain permanent types like five artifacts or enchantments.
Using specialized alternate win condition cards like Maze’s End.

Be mindful of win conditions outside of pure damage when constructing your deck and playing matches. Anticipate how your opponent aims to win!

With practice, MTG Arena players master the complex sequencing of turns, priority, casting spells, combat, and winning the game. Understanding Magic’s gameplay intricacies is incredibly rewarding!

Game modes in Magic: The Gathering Arena

Magic: The Gathering Arena provides a variety of game modes to experience the thrill of Magic gameplay. Let’s explore the diverse play options available.

Magic: The Gathering Arena ranked matches

Once ready, players can join the competitive Constructed ladder. This ranked mode matches you against opponents of similar skill using your chosen deck.

Ranked play is divided into seasons. Winning games allows you to progress through the ranks:

Bronze
Silver
Gold
Platinum
Diamond
Mythic

At high ranks like Mythic, you’ll face elite players using top tier decks. Your final rank each season offers rewards like card styles or gold for your collection.

Ranked Constructed is where MTG Arena players test their mettle. The changing Metagame as you climb in rank demands sharp deckbuilding skills and tight play.

Magic: The Gathering Arena draft

Draft offers a unique limited deckbuilding experience. You open digital booster packs, select one card from each, then pass the remaining cards to other players until all cards are drafted.

Using the 45 cards you drafted, build a 40 card Limited deck adding basic lands. Play matches against others who drafted from the same card pool. Going 3-3 or better earns prizes and progression.

Draft tests your card evaluation and deck construction skills under tight constraints. It places everyone on equal footing compared to Constructed where collection size matters. Draft is a must-try highlight of MTG Arena.

Magic: The Gathering Arena sealed deck

Sealed Deck is similar to Draft but your card pool comes from opening digital booster packs without passing picks. Typically 6 packs are provided to build your Limited deck from.

Again you build a 40 card deck using the cards you open plus basic lands. Sealed Deck tends to feature more powerful synergies since you control your entire card pool from the start. But you miss out on seeing as many different cards as draft provides.

Both sealed and draft are compelling ways to stretch your Magic muscles in a fair low-cost format compared to buying expensive Constructed decks. Plus they level the field between new and established players.

Magic: The Gathering Arena constructed events

MTG Arena offers a wide array of limited time Constructed events with special rules and rewards.

Some examples include:

Singleton – Build a 60 card deck with no more than 1 copy of any card.
Pauper – Only common rarity cards are allowed.
Artisan – Uncommon and common cards only.
Cascade – When you cast your first spell each turn, exile cards from the top of your deck until you exile a nonland card whose mana cost is less. You may cast it without paying its mana cost if its mana cost is also less than the spell you cast.

Plus queue options like Traditional Play that skip the hand smoother and sideboarding.

Events keep MTG Arena fresh with new ways to experience your collection. And they offer opportunities to expand it by going for lucrative rewards!

Between ranked matches, draft, sealed, and diverse events, Magic: The Gathering Arena provides endless gameplay variety. Regular new sets introduce thousands of exciting cards to spark new decks and keep the metagame evolving.

Tips for improving your Magic: The Gathering Arena skills

Mastering Magic: The Gathering Arena requires learning advanced strategy, tactics, and gameplay techniques. Let’s go over some expert tips to step up your game.

Magic: The Gathering Arena strategy tips

Strong fundamentals are the foundation for victory. Apply these universal Magic strategies:

Card advantage – Draw more cards and trade resources efficiently using removal. Generating a steady card advantage will grind opponents down.
Tempo – Make mana-efficient plays each turn while disrupting your opponent’s development. Seizing tempo early creates an advantage.
Board presence – Control the battlefield with impactful creatures and spells. Dominate the board, dictate combat, and pressure your opponent.
Consistency – Build focused decks with redundant effects and optimal mana. This reduces variance and unlucky draws.
Interaction – Run removal, counterspells, and combat tricks. Interaction provides answers to opponent’s threats while pushing through your own.

Mastering these core strategies will drastically improve player’s win percentages. Never neglect the fundamentals.

Magic: The Gathering Arena advanced tips

Beyond core strategy, next-level factors separate average players from elite ones:

Metagame knowledge – Understand the most common and powerful deck archetypes to expect and tech against.
Sideboarding – Swap cards from your sideboard between games to adjust your flex slots and strategy. Sideboard wisely.
Mind games – Bluff spells you don’t have or bait opponent’s reactions. Predict their likely plays and responses. Outthink your enemies.
Math skills – Calculate complex combat scenarios and probabilities on the fly to make optimal decisions under pressure.
Focus – Remain calm under high stakes pressure. Avoid mental mistakes and lapses in judgement during important matches.

Dedicated players can build MTG mastery through study and practice. Never stop striving to improve.

Magic: The Gathering Arena mulliganing tips

Knowing when to mulligan a bad starting hand is crucial. Follow these guidelines:

Mulligan hands with no lands or only one land. You need early mana sources.
Mulligan hands with all lands. Spells are necessary to impact the board.
Mulligan hands with an extremely high or low mana curve. Aim for a smooth curve.
Mulligan hands with zero relevant early plays against aggressive decks. You’ll fall too far behind.
Be more willing to mulligan game one when you don’t know your opponent’s deck.

Wise mulligan decisions help avoid non-games due to manascrew or dead draws. Don’t keep questionable hands!

Magic: The Gathering Arena mana management tips

Mastering mana usage provides huge dividends:

Play untapped dual and utility lands over basics when possible. Prioritize mana efficiency.
Lead with the color land you need most for upcoming plays over colors you already have access to.
Hold up instant speed interaction when possible. Bluff counterspells to discourage opponent’s attacks.
Float unused mana during opponent’s turn. Never let it go to waste!
Learn when to use removal proactively or hold it. Removing threats is ideal, but holding up interaction has value too.

Flawless mana usage separates the pros. Optimize your land sequencing and mana spending.

Magic: The Gathering Arena sideboard tips

Sideboarding is crucial between games, especially in best-of-three matches. Follow these principles:

Bring in graveyard hate against graveyard recursion decks. Exile their key cards.
Swap out expensive cards for cheap removal against aggro. Destroy their early creatures.
Side in enchantment and artifact removal if opponents play important ones. Destroy their combos.
Side out cards that target creatures if opponents play few to none. Replace with card draw or counters.
Cut situational cards with narrow applications for more broadly useful options.

Sideboard wisely to counter opponent’s gameplan while doubling down on your own strategy. Customize your flex slots.

With practice, Magic: The Gathering Arena players can achieve mastery by applying advanced strategy, technical play, and specific matchup knowledge. The learning never stops for this infinitely deep trading card game. Stay hungry for high-level play!

Magic: The Gathering Arena brilliantly brings the immersive strategy of Magic: The Gathering to life in a polished digital form. With its intuitive tutorials and modes for all skill levels, MTG Arena is very welcoming to beginners looking to planeswalk into the vibrant Magic multiverse.

New players should first complete the step-by-step tutorial and color challenges to grasp gameplay fundamentals. Understanding key card types like lands, creatures, spells, and artifacts forms a solid foundation. Pay attention to fundamental gameplay dynamics like combat math, card advantage, and tempo.

Once ready, jump into coordinating preconstructed beginner decks like Primal Fury to continue honing your skills. Learning proper deck building principles will enable you to construct more focused, synergistic decks. Experiment with tweaking starter decks and try limited draft modes to expand your card collection.

As your MTG Arena mastery grows, move on to ranked Constructed events to test yourself against players worldwide in a competitive metagame. Expert tips like managing mana efficiently, sideboarding properly, and calculating complex board states will help you reach Mythic rank.

With regular card set releases introducing new gameplay possibilities, MTG Arena provides endless fun for trading card game enthusiasts. Start your planeswalking journey today and experience the thrill of battle card game strategy elevated to a digital artform with Magic: The Gathering Arena!