Guides
Welcome to MTG Arena Zone’s guide section. This set of articles aims to help players from complete beginners with all that they need to start playing Magic: The Gathering, from learning about the client, to how to improve their gameplay.
- Quick Start Guide
Just started — Getting cards — Getting resources — What next? - Using Arena: Interface and Add-ons
General interface — Collection interface — Game settings — Third-party tools - Formats, Queues, Events
Constructed — Limited — Ranked system — Playing with friends - Playing a Match
Turn timers — Holding priority — Visual cues — Stack — Auto tapper — Mana pool — Various - Arena Economy in Detail
More on getting cards — Bans and suspensions — Mastery passes — Growing your collection - Inner Workings of Arena
Common misunderstandings — Common rule confusions — Bugs — Shuffler and matchmaking - Appendix A. Introduction to MTG
Overview — Card types — Combat — Stack — New sets and rotation — Sideboard - Appendix B. Common MTG Slangs
Color combinations — Mechanics and effects — Dual-color lands — Various - Appendix C. Improving at MTG
Understanding Magic — Getting better at Limited — Coping with variance — Tools to build your own deck - Appendix D. Major MTG Arena Change Timeline
- Appendix E. Overview of Advanced Search Options in Collection and the Deck Builder
Explorer Cycling Deck Guide: One-Shot Your Opponents
In the attempt to further explore the world of old Standard, I came across a deck that I played during one paper tournament and I placed second – Cycling. I put it together since it was cheap, but was actually…
Explorer Simic Flash Deck Guide: Obliterate Combo Decks
The Five Best Explorer Decks for the Best-Of-One Qualifier Play-In Event
Explorer Mardu Greasefang Deck Guide: The Best Combo Deck in Explorer
Explorer Izzet Tempo Deck Guide: My List for the Mythic Qualifier Weekend
Today I am branching out a bit from my usual Limited content to create a guide for a decklist I am really excited about. Coming up a little short at the previous SNC Sealed qualifier has me hungry for more…
Bo1 Alchemy Mono Green Aggro Deck Guide
Explorer Mono Green Ramp Deck Guide: No Nykthos, No Problem
Explorer is a very interactive format where each deck has its removal suite. It ranges from decks like Rakdos having , through Mono Red Aggro with their and ending with Gruul playing Stomp from . Taking a ramp deck which…
Explorer #1 Mythic 5C Widespread Thieving Niv Deck Guide
Hey everyone! Today I’m going to be covering my Five-Color + deck in Explorer which I recently used to get #1 with on the Arena ladder and also went 31-9 with in the new Constructed Events. This is a 5…
Explorer Four-Color Omnath Deck Guide: Devour the Midrange Decks
I am again revisiting decks that proved way too powerful for Standard! This time it’s all about the October 12, 2020 bans, namely . As it’s fully legal in Explorer, I wanted to create the best Four-Color Ramp, over-the-top deck…
Magic: The Gathering 2022 Starter Kit and Decklists
Magic: The Gathering’s Starter Kit in 2022 (previously called the Arena Starter Kit) is a sealed tabletop product designed to guide new players through their first game in person, and continue online to MTG Arena. Inside the pack, are two 60-card…
Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate Commander Decks
Commander Legends: Battle for Commander decks are a supplemental product that is released with Commander Legends: Battle for on June 10, 2022. There are four decks in total, each containing 10 new cards not found in the main set. You…
Best 3 Jund Sacrifice Decks For Explorer
Explorer Paradox Engine Combo Deck Guide
Explorer Dimir Rogues Deck Guide: The Old Standard Menace Is Back
Explorer Izzet Turns Deck Guide: The Combo Control of the Format
Explorer Mardu Fiddlebender Deck Guide: The Toolbox Deck That May Be Tier 1
Pioneer Beginner’s Guide: Format Details and Starter Decks
Today, we’re going to look at one of my favorite formats in Magic: Pioneer. For those who have not had the chance to dive into Pioneer yet, this is a guide to get you into fighting shape quickly for any…
MTG Arena Economy Guide
Explorer Izzet Phoenix Deck Guide: Fly Your Way to Mythic
Explorer Boros Feather Deck Guide: The Definitive Creature Deck Killer
MTG Budget Pioneer Decks for Beginners
One of the draws to the Pioneer format is that the cards generally are on the cheaper side, even for the top decks in the format. While the cards were even cheaper before the most recent organized play announcement, there…
Challenger Decks 2022
Challenger Decks 2022 are a set of preconstructed decks designed for tabletop players that wish to start competitive tournament play right out of the box for the Standard format. Released on April 1, 2022, there are four decks in total, containing…
Best Decks for the Explorer Metagame Challenge and Why
This weekend there’s a special event on Magic Arena! With the release of Explorer on Arena last week, we’re now seeing the first Metagame Challenge for this new format instead of the usual Standard one. Taking place from May 6th…
Explorer Naya Winota Deck Guide: Put the Win in Winota With the Best Deck
Hello everyone! It has been a week since the release of Streets of New Capenna, and with it, a whole host of decks and now even formats to explore! Generally we only have to worry about delving into one brand…
Bo1 Explorer Esper Greasefang Deck Guide: The Format’s Best Combo Deck
Greasefang, Explorer Boss With the introduction of Explorer on Arena, we’ve seen the week one metagame congeal around Pioneer decks that easily port over to Arena, such as Winota, Rakdos Midrange, and Azorius Control. These decks all managed to have…
Your Guide to the New Event Structures in MTG Arena
There are a ton of different ways to enjoy Magic: The Gathering Arena, and participating in Events is one way to play that offers a variety of benefits. Between the opportunity to expand your card collection, farm gold and/or gems,…
Explorer Beginner’s Guide: Format Details and Starter Decks
Hello everyone! Streets of New Capenna release is upon us which is easily one of the most exciting times to be a Magic player, but on top of that, we get another gift early! A brand new supported format is…
Streets of New Capenna Commander Decks
Streets of New Capenna Commander decks are a supplemental product that is released with Streets of New Capenna on April 29, 2022. There are five decks in total, each representing each of the five families and containing 15 new cards…
Alchemy Orzhov Venture Competitive Deck Guide – Venture Your Way to Mythic!
Conjure Mechanic
Reminder Text A conjured card is added to the game. Description Conjure is a digital-only, Magic: The Gathering Arena exclusive keyword action mechanic first introduced in Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. Conjure creates cards out of thin air as a digital object that acts just like a…
Seek Mechanic
Reminder Text To seek a card, put one at random from your library into your hand. Description Seek is a digital-only, Magic: The Gathering Arena exclusive keyword action mechanic first introduced in Jumpstart: Historic Horizons. A card with this mechanic will have the game randomly…
MTG Color Combination Name Guide
One of the ways in which Magic: The Gathering (a.k.a. MTG or simply “Magic”) can be a hard game for new players to learn are the specialized names and terms that are frequently used by the playerbase at large. Among…
MTG Deck Archetype Name Guide
Magic: The Gathering is known as a complex game that can often be difficult for new players to fully learn. This reputation has been earned not only because of the gameplay itself, but also because of the terms and jargon…
Standard on a Budget: Gruul Landfall
Hello Planeswalkers, I am The MTG Hero. The Standard bans are in, and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is right around the corner. With players not knowing what to play in the meantime, as well as new players coming in and old…
Innistrad: Crimson Vow Standard Wildcard Crafting Guide
Historic on a Budget: Mono Red Burn
Hello my fellow planeswalkers! The Midnight Hunt has begun with our return to Innistrad! While I am still testing decks for the new Standard, I figured it was the prefect time to cover something that I have been asked often,…
Major MTG Arena Change Timeline
Here are the important MTG Arena changes timeline, latest at the top. December 9, 2021 A new digital-only format called Alchemy is introduced to Arena. It’s a Standard alternative, featuring rebalanced cards that also exist in paper, and special additions.…
Improving at MTG
Disclaimer This part of the guide contains an unusually high amount of personal experience and opinions. to be sort of the point of it. You can also view our entire range of strategy articles here. 1. Understanding Magic: a collection…
Common MTG Slang
The corpus of Magic slang is formidable (and that list isn’t full either). So, here’s a somewhat more digestible arbitrary selection of terms considering the focus of this guide on Arena. 1. Colors and color combinations in deck naming Five…