Magic: The Gathering Arena has been a huge success for the popular tabletop game, allowing people who may not want paper collections, and/or prefer more interactive options for play, to have access to Magic (unless you have a Mac, sorry). Now, MTG publisher Wizards of the Coast is planning on rolling out some new updates to Arena, to go with the release of the main game’s Throne of Eldraine set.
On September 26th, Arena will officially be out of beta mode, and according to Wizards, they are working on incorporating things like a friends list and constructed Brawl for October. Friends messaging and a Mac OS version are in development now (praise Hera), and things still “in concept” are the “Cube Draft,” friend deck sharing, and Core Set 2021, and multiple other future sets will be coming to paper and Arena.
In Cube Draft, according to ComicBook.com, “a player or playgroup builds its own unique ‘cube,’ a draft pool of 360 or more Magic: The Gathering cards from anywhere the builder chooses from the history of the game. Players then use that cube to play in a limited format, such as splitting the cards into 15-card “booster packs” and performing a sealed draft using those packs.”
It’s still a work in progress, since the “in concept” items are in the “planning stage, where we decide which ideas become features, but also which ideas must stay ideas for now.”
(image: Wizards of the Coast)
Friends List will provide an easier way for players to see if their friends are online, as well as challenge them to games of Magic, with more features connected to that capability still in development. October will also bring Constructed Brawl to Arena, and the format will allow players the ability to build their own decks for play in Magic’s once-per-week Brawl events, or all the time in Direct Challenge matches.
The most exciting thing is these upcoming post-Eldraine sets, one of which “will bring us beyond death and back to Theros . . . but there’s still lots to live for before we start talking about that.” Theros is a plane inspired by Greco-Roman mythology, especially their pantheon of gods. It’s where we got a lot of Legendary Creatures with the “partner” mechanic in Commander—Tymna the Weaver, Thrasios, Triton Hero, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix—as well as god creatures like Pharika, God of Affliction, Thassa, God of the Sea, and Phenax, God of Deception, which are cards you can see in Modern and sometimes Commander.
Hopefully, this might mean some more affordable ELSPETH TIREL rereleases and new planeswalker cards.
Throne of Eldraine launches on September 26, 2019, and MTG is having an Early Access event where content producers and streamers will be getting Wild playing with the new set. If you want a hint of how some of the new mechanics work (I’m still kind of confused by Adventure, if we’re being honest) this will be a fun preview.
What are you looking forward to seeing in MTG: Arena?
(via ComicBook.com, image: Wizards of the Coast)
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