Wizards of the Coast and Magic: The Gathering Arena’s Principle Game Designer (Chris Clay) have revealed the title’s economy. Magic: The Gathering Arena’s economy features earnable and purchasable items; Gold and Gems.
Players will be able to earn Gold just by playing the game while Gems are available for real-world money in the Magic: The Gathering Arena store.
Earning Gold is as easy as winning matches, completing quests and winning in-game events. Both Gold and Gems can be used to purchase Booster Packs and events with more in-game items to be revealed.
Gems can also be used to purchase packs and events and some special cosmetics. Gems will not be able to be used to purchase anything that can’t be purchased with Gold.
Wizards of the Coast has stressed that no gameplay items will be locked behind a Gem purchase.
Unlocking New cards
New cards and packs can be unlocked in a variety of ways.
Booster packs will be eight-card boosters containing 5 commons, 2 uncommons, and 1 rare or mythic rare.
Draft packs will contain 14 cards mirroring tabletop drafts (the basic land has been removed). Drafting will also add cards to your collection, as any card you draft will be automatically added to your collection.
Individual cards will also be earnable through play. A system is being tested where for every match win, players will receive one card in MTG Arena, up to 30 per day.
Wildcards are special cards that have a chance to appear in the place of each card in every booster you open. Wildcards have their own rarity, and you can exchange a Wildcard for a card of the same rarity.
The Vault adds yet another layer of excitement to booster opening. Every time you open a booster, you earn progress toward unlocking The Vault. When you would collect a fifth copy (or more) of a card, you earn vault progress instead of adding that card to your collection. The rewards you can earn each time you open The Vault are currently being tested.
According to Wizards and Chris Clay, the economy in Magic: The Gathering Arena has been designed to make players’ time as valuable as possible.
In Magic: The Gathering Arena’s beta, rewards are being front-loaded to ensure more rewards are delivered in the first couple of hours of each play session daily. Each day players will also be able to complete a new quest.
Quests reward players with various items and quests can be swapped out for a different one each day.
Wizards of the Coast is also keen to ensure players have access to as many cards as possible. The more cards a player has means the more fun they’ll have while playing.
In the Magic: The Gathering Arena beta, players will be awarded a new card for each win up to the 30th win in a day. Each week, players can also win up to four booster packs.
Finally, Wizards of the Coast has done away with a Dust system as it means players need to figure out which cards to destroy. And in addition, the card reward system is generous enough such that it means the Dust system is not required.
Magic: The Gathering Arena is now in closed beta. You can join up on the official website.
