Acquiring Cards in the Magic: the Gathering Arena Beta
Kotaku has given us some insight on how the Magic: the Gathering Arena (the next digital platform) will work. As a reminder, Arena is still in closed Beta, so this information is subject to change:
In-Game Currency
- The in-game currencies are Coins and Gems. Coins are earned in-game through playing, whereas Gems are purchased with real money.
Cards
- Booster Packs contain eight cards: 5 commons, 2 uncommons, and 1 rare or mythic. The Gem-price is not yet determined, but it won't be tied to paper booster packs.
- Draft Packs contain 14 cards like paper, except the basic land is removed.
- Individual cards can be earned through play. A system where players receive up to 30 per day is being tested.
- Wildcards are special cards that can appear in boosters at any rarity. Each Wildcard has a rarity (common, uncommon, etc) and can be exchanged for any other card of the same rarity.
- The Vault is the mechanic to deal with duplicates. Every time you would open a fifth version of a card, it fills the Vault meter. Once full, you can open the Vault for a reward. At this time the rewards are Wildcards.
- Note that there is no trading.
The above system is a departure from Magic Duels, and even Hearthstone, doing away with trading and crafting altogether. The most important questions on how "economical" it is to play Magic: the Gathering Arena remains unknown: how much time or money does it take to earn a tier-one Standard deck or to Draft.
