(Many people are unhappy with Arena’s economy. I don’t have a formed opinion about it. But I want people to play the decks they like, so here’s some advice to at least help. Not all the codes in the video below necessarily work, but some should.)  

Originally Published: June 10th, 2020

Arena Doesn’t Have To Cost A Fortune

I hope it’s not a controversial statement to say that you should pay the companies that produce games you like. Even if something is free-to-play, the company that made it still needs money, and if you enjoy a game, and you want that game to still exist, then throw a little money into it when you have a chance.

Which is how we get to MTGA, or Magic: The Gathering Arena, the slick, very popular way to play the oldest trading card game in the world. I’ve written about the game before, but now I am going to talk about how you don’t have to break the bank to play well.

I, the author of this article, have been playing Arena since it went into beta, and I’ve managed to get to high ranks, defeat many opponents, and make multiple top-tier decks without spending more than my budget.

And now I am going to tell you five ways you can do the same. If you’ve been wanting to play Arena, but also want to win without spending a lot to play, then this is the article for you.

1. Netdeck One Powerful Deck

Some people get very salty about this, but if you want to win games of Magic at high levels, then you need to copy a tournament winning deck, and then only modify cards in it when you have a good deal of practice and understanding of how the deck works.

This will not only make you win more games; it will also make you use less money. Each deck you build will use more packs, and more packs mean more money/time. So, pick one powerful deck and build that as fast as possible. Play with the unfinished version even as you go. If you then want to start going into a second deck, winning will make you gain gold faster and get that second deck quicker.

2. Play Multicolored Blue Decks or Mono-Red

I’m also going to get some flak for this, but a lot of the top decks in Magic are part blue. Meaning that, even if the meta changes and some decks lose power, you will probably still have a lot of parts of the newest deck and won’t need to buy more cards. Alternatively, there’s almost never not a good red deck in every format, so, once you have all the powerful red cards, you can just rearrange them as the meta sees fit.

3. Wait and Reroll

This one is only for those that are serious about the grind, as it actually can lower the amount of time you play. But, each day you get a quest, and once a day you can reroll that quest to try to get a 750 gold one. Always try for this. Additionally, if you don’t play for more than three days, you’ll miss out on quests. But if you wait exactly three days, then you have three possibly overlapping quests. If two of them require green, for instance, then you can get the quest done in fewer games, earning gold with less effort.

4. Use the promo codes

One of the coolest things about Arena is how willing the team is to give players free stuff. I’ve been constantly impressed by the number of promo codes for free cards and card art and packs there’s been. And most of them still work! You can find compendiums of them online and fill in all the ones that you don’t have yet. There’s literally no reason not to do this.

5. Make Gold with Gold

If you’re a good player with a strong deck, you can actually win more gold than you use. There are constant play events being run with prizes that are bigger than the amount they cost. Sure, this can lead to losses of gold as well, but, if you are confident in your ability to win, then these are a great way to earn gold—and they count towards quests as you play them.

Arena is honestly one of the best things to happen to Magic. It allows for a more comprehensive viewing experience for fans and an easy way for players to get into the game, no matter where they are physically located. If you want to play, I highly recommend it, and I hope you quickly find yourself destroying your enemies with these tips.

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