Magic: The Gathering Arena is getting a new update with the release of the latest set, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, so starting this Thursday, two-player Draft modes will be available in-game as a higher skill competitive experience with more rewards on the line. Drafts in Magic Arena are usually with bots, so this is the first update that will let players draft with fellow people just like how it's done in tabletop.
Here are the details of MTG Arena's player draft Wizards of the Coast revealed today:
Players who join a Player Draft will be placed at a digital table until they are paired with seven other players. Once all eight players are ready, they will confirm your readiness before the draft begins. "From there, the draft will commence similarly to how it would against bots, with each player picking a card from their current pack and then passing it to other players," WotC explains. "We did add one little failsafe to the UX where a single click reserves a card (but doesn't automatically select it as your pick). Double-clicking, dragging the card to your deck, and/or hitting the "Confirm Pick" button will lock in your pick."
Players will also be able to see whether the cards are being passed to the left or the right, and they can see the status of every player in the draft.
There will be a time limit for each pick in the Player Draft (75 seconds for pack one, pick one; but time gets reduced later on as fewer cards are left to draft). If you don't choose a card before time runs out, the game will pick one for you, and if you reserved a card via single-click, it will pick the reserved card.
Once drafting portion is done, you will be paired up with players who also drafted with others, but not necessarily the same pod. This is similar to how Magic: The Gathering Online leagues are done.
The first Ikoria Player Draft will be free, so no entry fee required, but you need to log in the game by April 30 to get your complimentary Ikoria draft.
You can watch the latest MTG Arena State of the Game below:
Are you excited to draft with other MTG players on Arena?
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Related: MTG Artist Noah Bradley Reveals The Process of Painting Ikoria: Lair of Behemoth's Song of Creation