As the majority of players know, MTG is often an incredibly expensive game. With most formats costing at least a few hundred dollars, players are unfortunately used to splashing the cash. Even on MTG Arena, where a free-to-play model is more viable, you’ll still be paying with either time or money. Unsurprisingly, this can make free codes, content, and events rather appealing, to say the least.
Sadly, as the saying goes, ‘there’s no so thing as a free lunch.’ As much as we’d like to hope otherwise, this saying is proving itself once again in MTG Arena’s latest promotion. Technically, this promotion can offer MTG players a free Draft, on Arena, throughout May, which seems great! Unfortunately, in reality, this promotion appears to be a surprisingly terrible deal for the majority of players…
A ‘Free’ MTG Arena Draft?!
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, paper play took a substantial hit thanks to the fact no one was allowed outside. Now the ever-pesky pandemic has mostly gone away, thankfully tournaments and in-person play numbers are bouncing back. For better or worse, however, many players aren’t leaving MTG Arena with all its unique features and conveniences.
Given there is a huge audience of MTG Arena players, unsurprisingly, Wizards of the Coast is rather keen to tap into this audience. Subsequently, throughout May, Wizards is running a new promotion to get players into their stores. By attending events at a WPN store players can earn a trio of enticing rewards on MTG Arena.
Throughout the duration of this new event, MTG Arena players can earn a card style, sleeve, and a Draft Token. Considering the latter of these rewards is worth $9.99, this promotion appears to be a slam dunk! Unfortunately, thanks to one all-important detail, this event is already disappointing fans online.
Unlike past MTG Arena promotions, this event doesn’t just require players to go to a WPN store and have a nice time. Instead, this time around, Wizards of the Coast has locked the rewards behind Draft events at WPN stores. If you want to get everything, you’ll have to Draft three times in one month, which isn’t exactly an easy feat.
Wizards of the Coast
- “Draft once, and you’ll get a card style for High Noon, one of the new cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction!
- Draft twice during the promotional period at a WPN store and snag a sweet Goblin card sleeve!
- Finally, draft three times during the promotional period, and you’ll score a Draft token!”
Beyond talking a lot of time, there is a much bigger problem with requiring players to Draft to receive these rewards; money.
Money Money Money
As fun as it may be, Draft events in person are not cheap. In fact, thanks to the recent introduction of Play Boosters, these events are more expensive than ever! Most of the time, Drafting at your local LGS can easily set you back $20, although stores charming much more Considering you have to Draft three times in one month to get all the rewards, this promotion may cost you $60 in total!
Considering a single Draft on MTG Arena costs around $9.99, this promotion seems completely unfit for purpose. If you want to Draft on Arena you’d be better off just paying for it over and over again. Should you do this, not only will your collection expand, but your chance for rewards is far higher.
Looking at Premium Drafts on MTG Arena, the reward system is downright generous! Should you achieve seven wins your 1500 Gem entry cost turns into 2200 Gems and 6 packs! On Arena, even five wins are enough to let you go infinite and Draft forevermore. Even if you only get three wins you’ll still earn enough to technically break even.
Unsurprisingly, considering the price of paper Drafts, especially compared to Arena, this event has seen quite a bit of critique. On Reddit, many players noted how stingy these rewards are, with u/Kyleometers event commenting “God that’s so miserly.” While harsh, we can hardly say these critiques are far off the mark at all.
While it’s easy to mock this bafflingly bad promotion, the reception wasn’t entirely negative. Some players, such as u/RealityPalace noted this promotion is great if you’re already Drafting each week. Should you fall into this category, this promotion simply gives you fun extra rewards at no additional cost.
Better Than Nothing
At the end of the day, while this promotion does have its flaws for many players, it’s a net positive overall. Considering the struggles that paper play has been through, anything that improves event attendance is good for MTG. So long as MTG Arena players don’t get suckered into overpaying for a single Draft token, this event isn’t bad by any means.
Ultimately, while we’d like to see better from WIzards, it’s not a new suggestion to improve digital rewards for paper play. Unlike its competitors, physical MTG packs don’t offer any Arena content, and even Prerelease pack codes are limited. In the future, we can only hope that follow-up events will be more generous, or host more enticing rewards.
Read More: MTG X Hatsune Miku Secret Lair Crossover Announced!
