Recently, Wizards of the Coast has been doing their best to pull MTG Arena players away from their devices. Dangling free rewards like a carrot on a stick, Arena players have been able to earn in-game rewards by attending WPN-sanctioned MTG events. Previously, these have been a great way to encourage in-person play while receiving some goodies too. Now, however, these events have taken a major turn for the worse.
A Disappointing Downgrade
Previously, the free MTG Arena rewards for in-person play were rather enticing, albeit still not great. While a few cosmetics for your first two events weren’t amazing, you could ultimately earn a Draft Token. Considering you had to attend Draft events at WPN stores to earn these goodies, this was a fitting reward.
Despite sticking with this reward structure for a few sets, Wizards is now changing it up for Bloomburrow. Rather than getting cosmetics for your first few events, you’ll now receive individual card rewards instead. Depending on your preference, this is either a welcome upgrade or just the start of what’s to come.
Following on from these free card rewards, players will no longer receive the Draft Token that was once coveted. Instead, now players will receive a Bloomburrow Booster and a Ral, Crackling Wit card style. To put it bluntly, this is a pretty steep decline in value. Not only are MTG Arena Boosters smaller than Play Boosters used in Draft, but you also only get one of them.
Redeeming this meager pile of rewards somewhat, Wizards is introducing a fourth tier of rewards for August. After attending your fourth event during the month, you’ll receive a Bloomburrow Mythic Booster. While this is a welcome addition, it’s still worse than the old offerings if you ask us.
In theory, getting two ICRs and two boosters isn’t bad, however, you‘re also missing out on potential rewards. Depending on how well you placed during a Draft, these could potentially be incredibly lucrative. The fact these are no longer on the table at all is undeniably disappointing.
Format Frustrations
As if it wasn’t bad enough that you’re getting decently reduced rewards, it’s now much harder to earn everything. For starters, there are four tiers of rewards that you have to progress through, which naturally means attending more events. Not only do you have to pay for these, but you’ll also have to find the time to participate in each of them.
On top of this detail making matters worse, Wizards has also decided to change up what events you need to participate in. Previously, MTG Arena players had to Draft to get their desired rewards, but now you must play Standard. While this format is very exciting thanks to rotation having just happened, this change isn’t without consequence.
For starters, Standard isn’t a cheap format to get into. If you want to start playing with a competitive deck, you’ll have to invest a few hundred dollars, at least. Considering rotation has just happened and the format is in flux, there’s no guarantee this investment will be sound.
Technically, you don’t need to bring a competitive event to sanctioned WPN events. Instead, you could just rock up with a 60-card pile of Draft chaff, purely to collect your rewards. Should you do this, attending these events is technically cheaper than the previously required Draft events. That said, you will be missing out on the intended gameplay experience somewhat.
Not top of these innate problems, Standard also isn’t the most popular format. While it’s exciting now due to rotation, a lot of stores don’t typically host Standard events. Due to this, it may be easier said than done to realistically attend these events at some stores. In many areas, attending four Standard events in a single month is going to take some real doing.
Not All Doom and Gloom
While the MTG Arena rewards for in-person play in August are worse than usual, they’re still better than nothing. If you were planning on attending Standard events anyway, you’re getting free extra rewards to enjoy. Admittedly this feels like we’re clutching at straws somewhat, but it’s technically true at least.
Thankfully, outside of these events, things are looking good for MTG Arena players. Not only has rotation just happened, reinvigorating Standard and Alchemy, but Alchemy: Bloombrrow is coming out soon. Specifically, this micro set is believed to be released on August 20th, judging by the newly announced “Into the Future” event.
On top of this upcoming addition, there’s still Pioneer Masters on the far horizon. While we don’t know exactly when this set will be released yet, it’s primed to be a fantastic addition. Should this not be enough to sate your appetite, there’s also Duskmourn: House of Horror and MTG Foundations in the near-ish future too.
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