MTG Arena State of the Game: April notes and updates

The back half of April is kicking off with the release of Streets of New Capenna via Magic: The Gathering Arena, along with a new Explorer format and improvements to purchasing booster packs. 

With the digital launch of Streets of New Capenna (SNC) via MTG Arena on April 28, several visual and quality-of-life updates are slated to take place. WotC is also adding a new Explorer format on April 28, along with an improvement to the ways players can purchase and open booster packs. And the MTG Arena Constructed/Traditional Draft event rewards have been officially revealed to include Play-In Points.

Related: How 3-color Draft works in MTG Streets of New Capenna Limited

Here are the full MTG Arena April State of the Game notes via WotC.

New Capenna visual and QoL updates 

The release of SNC will bring about five new mechanics to the Standard format. Certain mechanics, like Shield Counters, will have a visual mark on the card that identifies the Sheild Counter. And for the sub-mechanic of five mana values or more in the graveyard, a threshold counter will now appear on the top-left side of the card. These threshold counters will keep track of the cards in your graveyard that matter to the sub-mechanic so you don’t have to. 

Hideaway is another mechanic returning to Magic via the SNC set. A visual window, similar to other “search your library” triggers, will appear upon casting a card with Hideaway. Once the card is chosen, it will get placed under the card that triggered the ability. 

Auto-tap within MTG Arena is also getting updated with the launch of SNC, specifically for cards that gain a triggered effect or ability when cast by sacrificing a Treasure token. The auto-tap will automatically include a Treasure token for cards that have “if cast by sacrificing a Treasure token.” Players will still have the option to manually tap mana as they please. 

Players can now craft and store up to 100 decks within the deck builder, making room for those Explorer decks. WotC has also updated the deck details page within the deck builder, making it easier to view without having to scroll down. And the Vault Progress will now be available for all to see, found alongside Wildcard counts on the top right of your screen. 

MTG Arena booster pack upgrades

Starting on April 28, players can purchase all forms of MTG Arena booster packs with either gems or gold. 

• One pack: 600 gems or 1,000 gold
• Three packs: 1,200 gems or 6,000 gold
• 15 packs: 3,000 gems or 15,000 gold
• 45 packs: 9,000 gems or 45,000 gold
• 90 packs: 18,000 gems or 90,000 gold

The same applies to Mythic MTG Arena booster packs.

• One Mythic booster pack: 260 gems or 1,300 gold
• 10 Mythic booster packs: 2,600 gems or 13,000 gold

In addition to the new booster pack purchase options, WotC has also included a quality-of-life improvement that allows players to crack any number of packs at the same time under a quantity of 10. Upon cracking digital packs, players can choose an “Open All” option instead of breaking open one pack at a time. 

MTG Arena event structure reward updates

Starting on April 28, WotC is changing and improving Constructed event and Traditional Draft event rewards. Constructed events are non-free-to-play events that highlight major Magic formats like Standard, Historic, Explorer, and Alchemy. Reward improvements have not been applied to events like Singleton or Pauper. Free-to-play Constructed events will continue to have the same reward system. 

There is an entry fee attached to these events, which is getting a slight increase in exchange for improved rewards. Traditional Draft, however, will continue to have the same entry fee price while also containing additional rewards. Players can see an example of the new rewards here. Both Constructed and Traditional Draft events will now include Play-In Point rewards upon reaching seven wins.  

Any Constructed events players are participating in will end with the release of SNC on April 28. Booster pack rewards within a Constructed event will relate to the format that the event is played in. Alchemy events, for example, will offer players Alchemy booster packs. And Historic Constructed events will reward players with a variety of booster packs from non-Standard legal MTG sets.