Everything you need to know about the MTG Arena War of the Spark release

The final battle on Ravnica is coming to MTG Arena early, with the release of War of the Spark. Beginning April 25, two days before the official pre-release, the newest expansion in Magic: The Gathering launches on Arena.

Containing over 30 planeswalkers, gods reborn into zombies, and Nicol Bolas himself, we have everything you need to know about the War of the Spark release on MTG Arena.

War of the Spark early access Twitch streamer day

Wizards of the Coast wisely chose Twitch as a platform to debut its newest expansions via MTG Arena. For 24 hours starting on April 23, a host of hand-picked streamers, creators, and players from around the world will have full access to every card in the War of the Spark expansion on MTG Arena.

The event continues to grow in viewership with each release, giving players an idea of decks to build and combos to run. Plus, every streamer approaches the game differently, whether it be jank or tier one decks. From Sean “Day9tv” Plott and Kacem “Noxious” Khilaji to Amy “Amazonian” and Karina “Sharishaxd” Kozyreva, there won’t be a dull moment.

Sealed draft

Thursday, April 25 marks the official launch of War of the Spark on MTG Arena—and with it comes the Sealed draft. The draft will run from April 25 to May 20.

A Sealed draft is a great place to pick up cards and get a feel for the expansion. Containing six booster packs, players use the cards available to build a minimum 40 card deck while competing for gems, cards, and glory. Sealed drafts require 5,000 gems to play.

All cards obtained in a Sealed draft on MTG Arena will automatically go into your library of cards.

Ranked and Traditional draft

The War of the Spark Traditional draft on MTG Arena begins on April 29. The Ranked draft will start on May 10. Traditional and Ranked drafts offer players three booster packs with 14 cards in each of them. Matches are played in a best-of-three format and players are allowed to keep the cards they pick in the draft.

A traditional draft is fun because there’s an element of strategy and luck involved that’s not in Sealed drafts. Cards from the booster packs are rotated through with players choosing them one at a time. Once complete, the deck must be a minimum of 40 cards. Traditional drafts on MTG Arena cost 1,500 gems to play and Ranked is either 750 gems or 5,000 gold.

MTG Mythic Championship II

In conjunction with the pre-release and full launch of War of the Spark, the second Magic: The Gathering Mythic Championship will be held in London. The first three rounds on the first two days of the Mythic Championship will feature Limited draft play with War of the Spark. The following five rounds on each day will be played in the Modern format, with no War of the Spark cards.

The second Mythic Championship will feature live coverage on Twitch for all three days.