Magic: the Gathering Arena is now in open beta

The newest iteration of digital free-to-play Magic: The Gathering is out now in its first open beta period.

The open beta includes cards from the latest set, Guilds of Ravnica, before its actual retail release!  Dominara, Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan expansions are also in the games current rotation. Magic: The Gathering Arena has even taken que from Pokémon, now allowing players to redeem digital card packs and sets from physical products. Although it remains to be seen how widespread this idea will be.

The actual gameplay of Arena is pretty simple. There’s no AI testing ground, no missions or campaign, just multiplayer mayhem. You can’t trade cards though, but there is a crafting system, as well as multiple ways of earning cards. The simple idea is that, the more games you win, the more you get showered with new cards. Players can earn cards via draft and booster packs akin to the physical game, or also by winning games. There’s also the Wildcard system that randomly seeds cards of the same rarity from multiple sets into one pack, offering more potential for rare pulls.

Check out a gameplay trailer for Magic: The Gathering Arena down below. Magic: The Gathering Arena is free-to-play, and out now in open beta. You can get it here.

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