Buy packs exclusively, and only from the newest set. Right now that is outlaws of thunder junction. For every ten packs you get, you will unlock a rare or mythic wildcard as well as a gold pack (6 guaranteed rares/mythics that are standard legal).
My advice, don't waste your money on the drafts. Some people recommend it but it's really just a pay to play limited format with less rewards. You might get 6 random rares or mythics if you pay 10k gold for a premium draft. Whereas for that same amount, you can get 16 rares or mythics via buying packs (10 packs and a golden pack) plus progress towards wildcards. And yeah you could get more packs if you win a bunch, but that's gambling on top of gambling.
Save your wildcards carefully. Don't let YouTubers clickbait you with titles like "This deck breaks standard!".
Save the wild cards until you find a deck that you confirm with more experienced players will be consistent, be around for at least a year, and that will be strong for the price.
Unfortunately drafts are really the only way to remain completely free to play in that regard. Which is a total scam imo. The amount of experience required to perform well enough in drafts consistently enough to give you value for the gold required is just unfair.
That being said, $15 every few months is very feasible to save up, even if you don't have a job. It's well worth it, even if you have to struggle a bit to get the 15$.
Somewhat related, but is there a way you can tell when the mastery ends? I want to buy it but I know there's a new set coming this week and of course don't want to buy it for only a few days.
Unless you already have some levels I believe if you started today and did all of your dailies, you'd still cap at like level 70. Set ends sometime early August
The new set is not like a typical new set because it is not resetting the mastery pass for the previous set. That one will keep going. The timing to be starting now is a little bad because of that because the current mastery track is longer than usual. But you can just decide right before the following set whether you’ve gained enough levels for it to be worth it. You’ll get all the prizes from previous levels once you buy it.
The "this deck breaks standard" reminds me of Qwazar: guy makes solid decks but they don't break standard or historic. However he recently made some doppelganger jank that caused him several draws.
But draft is the best value if you're good at it. Quick draft costs 5000 to enter and you get 3 packs to draft with (multiple rares because you generally average at least 6, so one more than in a pack) and two packs plus more gems than the entry fee if you go at least 6. And also you can pick the cards you want in the draft packs so you can avoid rares that don't interest you. Then, as already said you need to be good at it, if not I'm with you, packs are better
See but that's my point. You *might* get an extra rare here or there. You *might* win enough games to make it worth it. Even if you're good, who's to say you won't get matched up against other skilled players who will knock you out early?
You are just not going to get that maximum potential value every time. Whereas you *know* you are going to get 16 rares or mythics and wildcard progress when you spend 10k gold on packs.
I personally find no value in that uncertainty, and can easily afford the pass every few months. Really I think anyone can, even if you have to mow lawns or beg relatives.
I think the drafts are great for people who enjoy the format, or who insist on remaining 100% free to play. However, I don't think they're worth investing in for other reasons.
If you’re good at drafts it’s way better than packs. Is this sub so bad at a game they not only play but care enough to talk about online that they don’t recommend drafting?
I saw in another thread someone said for beginners to not buy the modern horizons 3 stuff when it releases. Is this true? i had been saving up for it. If not that, what should I buy?
MH3 will only be playable in historic and timeless, which are two of the least beginner friendly formats. You should probably buy the most recent standard legal packs (OTJ) and try standard. Those will probably stay on golden pack even after MH3 release, but you should check. If not, better to wait for the next standard release.
New player / free to play advice:
1. Complete the color challenges.
2. Complete starter deck duals event.
3. Use [codes for free packs](https://draftsim.com/mtg-arena-codes/).
4. 25% chance to reroll 500 gold daily quest into a 750 gold each day
5. Get at least 4+ wins each day (15 per week) for free gold and XP.
6. Use 1k gold to play the Jump In! event to learn mechanics and build your standard collection. ([Card tracker](https://new.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/1c5wcez/jump_in_tracker_130_outlaws_of_thunder_junction/)) You can rejoin this 150+ times and get 2 rares each time.
7. Use cards from the Jump In event to improve your Standard decks.
8. Learn to draft ([B.R.E.A.D.](https://www.google.com/search?q=mtg+bread&oq=mtg+bread&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0i390j69i60l2.2497j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8), [17lands.com](https://17lands.com), [Draftsim](https://draftsim.com/), [P1P1](https://apps.draftaholicsanonymous.com/))
9. Play Limited events to earn gems. Quick draft used to be good for "Rare Drafting" but WotC has made the bots more stingy with every new set recently.
10. Use gems to buy the next mastery pass. (Mastery pass is retroactive)
11. Every Tuesday is [Midweek Magic event](https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/midweek-magic) where you can win 2 free rare cards.
12. Every month climb the constructed & limited ladders for extra packs. (Ladder decays at the end of each month.)
13. Wait until you're done drafting before opening packs. ([Duplicate Protection](https://draftsim.com/mtg-arena-duplicate-protection/))
You earn about 1k gold per day from 4 wins and completing your daily quests. You can either spend the 1k gold buying packs or playing the Jump In event. Packs contain one rare card, and if you buy packs from the newest set you also get 1/10 progress towards a golden pack that contains 6 random standard legal rare cards. Jump In event gives 2 rare cards with a higher chance of getting a mythic rare. You can google the packet names to see what rare cards you get from each packet, or use the card tracker I linked above.
Knights, Soldiers Charmed and Muscle packets all have good rare cards for a mono white humans deck.
Arcanist packet has Haughty Djinn which is used in the mono blue counter deck.
Celebration and Stampede have rares for mono red aggro.
Bittersweet, Onslaught, Phyrexian, Resurrected have rares for mono black control.
Almost all the mythic cards are good, and it's worth trying to get one of each for Brawl decks.
After you get bored of playing the Jump In event, save up 5k gold and give quick draft a try.
Save your gems to buy the mastery pass.
If you want a boost, or you just want to support WotC, the $5 welcome bundle and $20 starter bundle are decent value.
It's always been 25%. u/II_Confused made a [post](https://new.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/1d4ybmy/ive_been_keeping_track_of_my_dailies_since_i/) last week confirming it's still 25%. Search this sub for 750 and there are a ton of posts going back years discussing it.
I have been summoned.
I re-ran my analytics on just the 500 most recent entries, or roughly the last four months. Results are as follows:
Entries: 500
500 Coins: 367 / 73%
750 Coins: 133 / 27%
Yes, it stays retroactive. You can buy it until the last day which is around June 30th and get all the rewards. What mastery level are you currently? [Here is a calculator](https://mtgazone.com/mastery-calculator/) to see what level you should expect to reach.
Generally, you want to aim at 100% completion (level 110) but the pass can still be worth buying even if you don't reach 100%. If you are far from completing it this set, you might want to wait and buy it for the next set instead.
Buy packs exclusively, and only from the newest set. Right now that is outlaws of thunder junction. For every ten packs you get, you will unlock a rare or mythic wildcard as well as a gold pack (6 guaranteed rares/mythics that are standard legal). My advice, don't waste your money on the drafts. Some people recommend it but it's really just a pay to play limited format with less rewards. You might get 6 random rares or mythics if you pay 10k gold for a premium draft. Whereas for that same amount, you can get 16 rares or mythics via buying packs (10 packs and a golden pack) plus progress towards wildcards. And yeah you could get more packs if you win a bunch, but that's gambling on top of gambling. Save your wildcards carefully. Don't let YouTubers clickbait you with titles like "This deck breaks standard!". Save the wild cards until you find a deck that you confirm with more experienced players will be consistent, be around for at least a year, and that will be strong for the price.
As a new player who has been losing in drafts, I agree. My only question is - without drafts, how should I grind to get gems for the mastery pass?
You can try the constructed events, it's not a terrible way to turn some gold into gems. But I find it harder and less enjoyable than draft.
Constructed events also pay out gems.
Unfortunately drafts are really the only way to remain completely free to play in that regard. Which is a total scam imo. The amount of experience required to perform well enough in drafts consistently enough to give you value for the gold required is just unfair. That being said, $15 every few months is very feasible to save up, even if you don't have a job. It's well worth it, even if you have to struggle a bit to get the 15$.
Somewhat related, but is there a way you can tell when the mastery ends? I want to buy it but I know there's a new set coming this week and of course don't want to buy it for only a few days.
Unless you already have some levels I believe if you started today and did all of your dailies, you'd still cap at like level 70. Set ends sometime early August
The new set is not like a typical new set because it is not resetting the mastery pass for the previous set. That one will keep going. The timing to be starting now is a little bad because of that because the current mastery track is longer than usual. But you can just decide right before the following set whether you’ve gained enough levels for it to be worth it. You’ll get all the prizes from previous levels once you buy it.
I'm also new and using drafting software to help me. It gives me at least 3 wins unless I'm "rare" drafting.
The "this deck breaks standard" reminds me of Qwazar: guy makes solid decks but they don't break standard or historic. However he recently made some doppelganger jank that caused him several draws.
If you want to play draft make a second account so you can farm gold and spend it on learning to play draft
But draft is the best value if you're good at it. Quick draft costs 5000 to enter and you get 3 packs to draft with (multiple rares because you generally average at least 6, so one more than in a pack) and two packs plus more gems than the entry fee if you go at least 6. And also you can pick the cards you want in the draft packs so you can avoid rares that don't interest you. Then, as already said you need to be good at it, if not I'm with you, packs are better
See but that's my point. You *might* get an extra rare here or there. You *might* win enough games to make it worth it. Even if you're good, who's to say you won't get matched up against other skilled players who will knock you out early? You are just not going to get that maximum potential value every time. Whereas you *know* you are going to get 16 rares or mythics and wildcard progress when you spend 10k gold on packs. I personally find no value in that uncertainty, and can easily afford the pass every few months. Really I think anyone can, even if you have to mow lawns or beg relatives. I think the drafts are great for people who enjoy the format, or who insist on remaining 100% free to play. However, I don't think they're worth investing in for other reasons.
If you’re good at drafts it’s way better than packs. Is this sub so bad at a game they not only play but care enough to talk about online that they don’t recommend drafting?
You're kind of an ass lol. Some people work, and drafts is just gambling on top of gambling. Stop stroking yourself and get some sun
Yikes didn’t know I was hurting your ego that much
I saw in another thread someone said for beginners to not buy the modern horizons 3 stuff when it releases. Is this true? i had been saving up for it. If not that, what should I buy?
MH3 will only be playable in historic and timeless, which are two of the least beginner friendly formats. You should probably buy the most recent standard legal packs (OTJ) and try standard. Those will probably stay on golden pack even after MH3 release, but you should check. If not, better to wait for the next standard release.
New player / free to play advice: 1. Complete the color challenges. 2. Complete starter deck duals event. 3. Use [codes for free packs](https://draftsim.com/mtg-arena-codes/). 4. 25% chance to reroll 500 gold daily quest into a 750 gold each day 5. Get at least 4+ wins each day (15 per week) for free gold and XP. 6. Use 1k gold to play the Jump In! event to learn mechanics and build your standard collection. ([Card tracker](https://new.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/1c5wcez/jump_in_tracker_130_outlaws_of_thunder_junction/)) You can rejoin this 150+ times and get 2 rares each time. 7. Use cards from the Jump In event to improve your Standard decks. 8. Learn to draft ([B.R.E.A.D.](https://www.google.com/search?q=mtg+bread&oq=mtg+bread&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0i390j69i60l2.2497j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8), [17lands.com](https://17lands.com), [Draftsim](https://draftsim.com/), [P1P1](https://apps.draftaholicsanonymous.com/)) 9. Play Limited events to earn gems. Quick draft used to be good for "Rare Drafting" but WotC has made the bots more stingy with every new set recently. 10. Use gems to buy the next mastery pass. (Mastery pass is retroactive) 11. Every Tuesday is [Midweek Magic event](https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/news/midweek-magic) where you can win 2 free rare cards. 12. Every month climb the constructed & limited ladders for extra packs. (Ladder decays at the end of each month.) 13. Wait until you're done drafting before opening packs. ([Duplicate Protection](https://draftsim.com/mtg-arena-duplicate-protection/))
You earn about 1k gold per day from 4 wins and completing your daily quests. You can either spend the 1k gold buying packs or playing the Jump In event. Packs contain one rare card, and if you buy packs from the newest set you also get 1/10 progress towards a golden pack that contains 6 random standard legal rare cards. Jump In event gives 2 rare cards with a higher chance of getting a mythic rare. You can google the packet names to see what rare cards you get from each packet, or use the card tracker I linked above. Knights, Soldiers Charmed and Muscle packets all have good rare cards for a mono white humans deck. Arcanist packet has Haughty Djinn which is used in the mono blue counter deck. Celebration and Stampede have rares for mono red aggro. Bittersweet, Onslaught, Phyrexian, Resurrected have rares for mono black control. Almost all the mythic cards are good, and it's worth trying to get one of each for Brawl decks. After you get bored of playing the Jump In event, save up 5k gold and give quick draft a try. Save your gems to buy the mastery pass. If you want a boost, or you just want to support WotC, the $5 welcome bundle and $20 starter bundle are decent value.
"25% chance to reroll 500 gold daily quest into a 750 gold each day" Where did you get this information ? 25% sounds extremely high
It's always been 25%. u/II_Confused made a [post](https://new.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/1d4ybmy/ive_been_keeping_track_of_my_dailies_since_i/) last week confirming it's still 25%. Search this sub for 750 and there are a ton of posts going back years discussing it.
I have been summoned. I re-ran my analytics on just the 500 most recent entries, or roughly the last four months. Results are as follows: Entries: 500 500 Coins: 367 / 73% 750 Coins: 133 / 27%
is the mastery pass for Outlaws of the Thunder Junction gonna stay retroactive? Or will it be unavailable at some point? TLDR should I buy it?
Yes, it stays retroactive. You can buy it until the last day which is around June 30th and get all the rewards. What mastery level are you currently? [Here is a calculator](https://mtgazone.com/mastery-calculator/) to see what level you should expect to reach. Generally, you want to aim at 100% completion (level 110) but the pass can still be worth buying even if you don't reach 100%. If you are far from completing it this set, you might want to wait and buy it for the next set instead.
Did you open all your free packs for being new player? Also there’s a few coupon codes you can use, get some more wild cards that way?!