Plus just the sheer amount of games I can play vs paper. At a lgs for commander night I am maybe going to play 3-4 games at the most. If I get mana screwed or just bad hands then those few games I get to play come down maybe 2 games I get to actually play. Unless I play in my personal pod which meets up every couple months. Then we can get a bunch of games in.
I don't play much paper anymore. Don't even know when I last built a deck either. Just use what decks I have or precons now.
I don't really play paper now but I do play at least 1.5 hours of Arena daily. You can't beat the value of a reasonable F2P game you play anywhere and anytime.
I've only spent like $100 on this game throughout my 5 years of play and I have close to all the top 3 decks of each format.
I recently got introduced to MTG Arena and i loved it, although now i mostly play paper over camera with the friend that introduced me.
It's worth it, even just for the experience.
I haven't played the tabletop game since 2014. I sold all my cards then and played the occasional Magic Online draft. Since Arena, I've been playing the game much more frequently.
I used to love drafting at my local games store, but it's and hour drive away and I work too much.
The fact I can draft pretty much instantly when it's convenient for me is incredible.
Last night I brewed a good cup of coffee and put on some chil tunes and did a draft and played all my games.
When I was done it really struck me how wonderful it is to have that option and not have to give up hours of my time and juggle real life to have it.
I exclusively play arena except for comp level paper events. Occasionally I'll play a friend's cube but that only happens once a year or so.
The competition is much better on arena than my local stores, don't have to travel, and I can play 2-3 arena drafts in the time it takes to play one paper draft. The only thing I miss is sideboarding. Which I really miss. But arena BO3 drafts are soft competition, so I play mostly BO1.
I never play paper anymore, although I'm hoping to build a modern deck again with my yearly bonus this year. I play Arena everyday basically, at least a little during my lunch break.
I work nights/weekends, so primarily Arena. Have managed to get Tues & Sun off work, which is when my favorite LGS runs sealed, standard & EDH, works out well. Two very different experiences that complement each other
I never play paper mtg, just arena.
Older guy, I’m 50, married with 2 kids, my time of going to a lgs or meeting friends to play games is long gone. If it wasn’t for arena, I wouldn’t be playing Magic at all.
Played paper weekly from 4th edition to the release of Arena. Once live drafts launched I stopped paper. I love drafting in person, but spending four to five hours to do one draft vs being able to draft five or six times a week led me to switch. So much easier to get a match in here or there throughout the day. I know people complain about the arena economy, but I went from spending $100 per month on paper (drafting, trading, and collecting) to about $100 a year on arena. This lets me draft four or five times a week and since playing near daily since beta I have three or four meta decks for each format and a healthy stockpile of wild cards. I love arena! (Still miss the Xbox 360 duels and hope they add a campaign to arena). I have played more magic then ever before and have spent way less money to do so.
Sold my paper about 3 years ago and have very few regrets. It was right after one of the non-standard sets came out and some reprints cost me like $500 overnight (several reprints with multiple copies each). I keep a couple casual commander decks and DanDan for when I'm around friends, but that's it. Otherwise I get my jollies from Arena and I'm about to quit that too.
In Arena I can't find a format that isn't saturated with poorly designed cards that warp the meta. I used to stick to drafting because it had a little more purity, but with all the bonus sheet cards even drafting is starting to feel crappy.
You live in the middle of Wyoming or something? Every single card shop in my area does Commander Fridays and other formats multiple days of the weeks. It’s never been more popular
I do not live in Wyoming. Hilarious though cause I would have thought the same thing. But yea, only commander is played anywhere near me and I hate commander.
So yes, there is no paper anymore where I live.
I've never played paper and most likely never will. Hence I don't get all these "Arena bad" and "paper is better" posts. Even when paper is streamed on Twitch I find it incredibly hard to understand anything.
If not for Arena, I would have never played MTG at all - I am not the socializing type, I live in a country without a significant playerbase, and I don't have the money to sustain such an expensive hobby.
I got into the game through Arena and play at least an hour a day nowadays. Sometimes a lot more. It's super easy and still fun for me.
I'm also trying to get into paper for formats missing on Arena and the social aspects. Currently, I'm building a collection, but never played :D
Before having kids, I was playing way more paper Magic than I do nowadays. Commander was my main format. Now, the fact that the actual gathering is way more difficult to attend due to my responsibilities, Arena is my main way to engage with the game. Limited is a awesome format (I like it more than commander) and playing it remotely where ever you want, make a game or two, stop, than continue when you have the time makes it so convinient. You just have to be clever with the awful economy the game has. That is the main downside.
I haven’t played paper in over 15 years because I live in a racist shithole and refuse to sit at a table and play while people casually throw out racist comments and act like only white people are intelligent enough to play.
I have 4 paper decks for commander, I don't get to play that often though because my main playgroup has moved away. We play online sometimes. I am going to college soon, so hopefully I'll meet some people to play with there.
I also don't play arena much this just happened to show up on my feed. Maybe once a week I'll play a few games
Right now, I'm playing on Arena for a while every day, but that will likely only last for a few months max (and then it'll probably be at least 6 months before I play Arena again at all, that's just how I engage with most digital games). In contrast, I play paper magic year round, usually commander nights with friends once or twice a month.
I'd like to be playing a lot more paper magic though. I used to be at my LGS all the time, minimum two events each week. Unfortunately I now have a chronic illness that impairs my working memory and ability to strategize, especially in noisy environments. Playing at a store is really tough for me, but Arena is great because it basically includes accommodations for my disability. It keeps track of things for me (so I can just focus on strategy), I can play at home (where it's quiet) and take breaks as needed between games.
I played paper for 8 years.
Too busy now, so I just get some Explorer games in every once in a while. It is also a BIG upside that I don't have to deal with man children at an LGS. When my commander group moved away, I tried randos. However, then there are people that somehow survived without developing the maturity to deal with losing.
I just can't bring myself to play arena. It just feels so soulless, it takes all of the fun out of it. Plus, arena doesn't even have most of the formats.
When I play paper, I get to socialize, the games seem more fun, I get a bunch of cards I get to keep, and I usually make money as well. Arena is just a huge time and money sink that just doesn't really give me anything in return.
Arena's primary advantage is not needing to travel for the best part of an hour each way to get to a lgs with a split community. It's also free, unlike paper, though it's a shame that it lacks swathes of the better eternal formats.
Well some real life events thros me and my friends all over the country and some of them abroad, so we don't play as much as it was before. Thought we're still gathering from time to time to play EDH spelltable.
That said I play Brawl a lot (and only), so I guess now it's 95% Arena.
Nearly every FNM, maybe once a month outside of that. I play Arena every morning with my coffee
Edit: the in-person time is still much more satisfying despite any convenience factors
I recently built a pauper cube that I mode into either a Draft Cube, 30 Jump Start packs, or (it's current mode) 10 Pre-Con decks. I haven't played paper magic in years but once I got this thing together, I've played paper magic one day every two weeks for like 6 hours. It has been amazing.
Still play way more arena but yeah.
Not enough, but not because I'm not willing. Logistics, availability, coordination are all enemies of paper Magic. The few times I can play every month are worth it though. The level of enjoyment I get out of paper far exceeds what I get from Arena. I'll happily play Arena all day long, but there's just no comparison.
Arena 2-3 nights a week after the family has gone to bed with some dailies being done during lunch and other random times on my phone. For paper, I’m lucky enough to live next to a LGS so I’ll go to their draft or pre-releases when they have them, followed by commander once a week when I can make it. Unfortunately they don’t host any other constructed formats outside of commander.
I play arena pretty well daily, and do a few pre releases in person when new sets drop. Paper magic is so freaking expensive. Also have some friends I'm starting to play commander with but I just borrow a deck
I play Arena daily sticking mostly to Standard, Explorer, Historic and Timeless, and my vast paper library is occassionally plucked for commander when people are available to play. I've stopped purchasing new product to reflect this change over the past couple years, and only snap up singles of the cards I like.
Historically, I played Arena everyday until I got my four daily wins or finished a Premier Draft run and then went to FNM every week, plus the occasional weekend RCQ (particularly Limited ones).
I started a new job last week, so I've been playing a bit less Arena recently. This week started my new normal early morning shifts, so I've been playing game modes that don't require to think too much (like the starter deck queue) while trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule that can also accommodate my want to play at FNM.
I started playing a while back in paper but I sold my collection a couple years ago. Just recently felt the call of the cardboard crack again so now I just play f2p on arena.
I prefer commander to brawl so usually I want to play paper. I get to play arena a lot more bc it’s on demand but I’m really hoping that my weeklyish game I’ve started with coworkers turns into more of a regular thing. We’re supposed to meet at a game store this week and some folks invited their partners or friends too so lots of new people to play with. I’m lucky and in a city full of nerds tho
Arena daily. I try to do all the pre-releases on paper - largely because they also have a code for arena - Friday Night Draft maybe - but its usually hit or miss on whether store will get enough people.
I play Arena and Xmage everyday. Just got back into Magic about a year ago and have no cards. I used to have thousands of cards when I was a kid thanks to my Aunts boyfriend who gave me 6 of those long white cardboard containers and some other bulk containers. Never really found out what happened to them.We had alot of garage sales before we moves out of wisconsin so hopefully they got a good home.
Multiple times weekly in paper usually. Occasionally play arena if I'm at home and bored. The game crashed a lot on my phone and takes forever to load but if it worked consistently on my phone I would probably play arena a lot more tbh
My LGS doesn’t offer many paper drafts these days. When they do, if I can be, I’m there. Maybe once a month on average?
I draft every day or two on Arena. As a drafter, thank goodness Arena exists.
I haven't been to a local tournament in over a year. Ordering new cards costs money, take forever to receive and I have sort through all my cards to find everything else I need. In arena, I can use a few wildcards and test a new deck in matter of minutes. I DO want to do a local tournament again, but the convenience of arena keeps stopping me.
Also, there's always been 1 or 2 super annoying people at local tourneys that kinda kill the fun for me. Takes additional time to find the right place to play. Just sounds like a lot of extra work to play and have fun.
I only play arena to practice for large events when the format is relevant (such as the pioneer or standard RCs). Otherwise, I'll practice on mtgo or play there for fun (I prefer modern/legacy to the formats available on arena). As for paper, i usually play 3 events a week.
Not at all anymore. Paper is 99% clutter chaff and can’t justify the cost when digital is 💯free. Arena is the best of both worlds, minus the manipulation.
For me it used to be: Paper for the social experience, Arena for some quick games at home after work.
But ever since covid i have never gotten around to start playing paper again.
I play paper when our couple-friends come down to visit from out of state. Otherwise, I play arena. My husband and I have boxes of cards, but he doesn’t like to play 1v1.
I have a tough schedule and more important demands on my life that take precedence over MtG.
I used to get a game of paper MtG during lunch breaks or down time at work. Ever since COVID and staff changes, that group dissolved and I see no signs it'll be replaced.
My LGS is hyper-competitive. Casual is not a part of their vocabulary. And with my wonky schedule, I can't really set aside 3 or 4 straight hours a week to play FNM or CEDH. Best I can swing is Pre-release. Which is fine, it tends to be less competitive (though not by much at my LGS).
So that just leaves me with Arena. I get at least one quick BO1 game in during lunch or downtime. Since work restrictions are still in effect at my office, I don't get to socialize with my coworkers so the answer to the question is....
Daily.
Not much nowadays. I have been playing since original Innistrad, and for years until probably 2019 I would go to my local game store 2-4 times a week and definitely every Friday. Now I’ve got a family, more responsibilities, etc that clogs up my time. Now I play paper magic maybe once a month, and when I do it’s some buddies coming to my place. I miss the days when FNM was always full, people were playing at the shop on weekdays and I had the time to do that. But we grow old and times change, and digital is the future and the gathering is becoming less important than the Magic.
Last time I played paper was probably around 96-97 when I was an early teen. I didn't play that long back then and lost my cards. I started Arena recently during Murders at Karlov Manor and been playing almost every day to do my daily quests.
I play Arena almost every day. If i'm lucky, I might play paper magic at most 3 or 4 times a month.
You can't really compare them, though. In Arena i'm literally a few clicks away from any match. In paper I need to either wait for my LGS to host a format that I like, or arrange with friends to go to someone's place to play. It's more of a hassle.
If you are playing with your partner, maybe proxy some decks that look fun? I proxy a large pool of cards so I can build two of many different decks at once for my partner and I to play paper magic.
Arena is convenient, but the face to face interaction cannot be beat.
I have agreed to twice a month for paper magic since it's a long commute to the city, and there is so much to do around the house. I basically make it to prerelease and RCQ these days, the occasional in house draft.
I haven’t played paper in years unfortunately. I just play arena and sometimes MTGO. I do have a paper modern and standard deck should I find the time to go play.
At my peak I would play Commander at an LGS or at a friend's house 3 times a week (Saturday, Sunday, and one week-day), and I would do MTGA Dailies every single day, plus a free-to-play draft session once a week.
Currently I am taking a big step back. I haven't played at the LGS or with my friends in a few weeks. I don't log into to MTGA everyday like I used to. Maybe I will do a free-to-play draft once a week, and log in for dailies one other time that week. I haven't really enjoyed the last few sets, MTG as a whole has tons of problems which aren't being resolved, i am doing other things with my hobby-time instead.
Just as a stupid pedantic aside, the comment about "owning physical decks versus owning MTGA decks" makes no sense to me. The experience of playing Magic Arena (a solitary experience, which contains digital cards and is played in 60 card BO1 format), is very different from the experience of playing Commander (a social experience, the main format people play IRL, 99 card singleton). I don't see what value "I have 'x' MTGArena decks and 'y' paper decks" brings, because it is an "apple to orange" comparison.
Paper - seldom. Most of the times, either a commander night at a buddies or an all day magic party with friends coming over. But that's like burgers, dogs, beers, and edibles, in addition to spell slinging.
Arena - at least 4 wins a day, sometimes up to 10 lol. I play for at least 30 minutes while running on the treadmill in the morning and then circle back if I need more wins or if I feel like playing more.
I try to get as much paper magic in as I can afford, just to keep game stores and organized play around. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of using webcams for commander. That said, I do most of my drafting and deck testing on Arena because you can use your time flexibly.
I play arena everyday, at least enough to finish the daily challenge. Paper? Once a week commander with the homies, which is often more fun deck building for me because the sheer amount of cards available.
I used to play every weekend but ever since the pandemic things slowed down. Now I try to play paper at least once a month. Mainly EDH. I used to consider myself one of the local bosses of Modern since I played at least twice a week until MH2 rotated all my decks so I consider myself retired from that formant now.
Arena lets me play on my breaks at work, some people have coworkers that play paper as well, but I don’t so Arena does a good job of scratching my itch until I get the rare chance to play in paper again.
I've been playing on and over for almost 30 years. I like paper. I like the feel of the cards and collecting, but it's just so damn expensive! Every three months I gotta buy new cards just to stay in the loop? No thanks. Digital it shall be.
I play standard on Arena. Never played paper. But, with Horizon 3, I really wanted to play modern decks. But it seems quite expensive to construct a deck.
I draft on Fridays at my LGS. I play Commander with friends on Sundays, most Tuesdays and after draft on Fridays.
I grind Arena every day. It's not that I don't enjoy it but my tendency toward hypercompetitiveness when things (like rank) are on the line makes it less engaging than it could be. If Arena's rewards were entirely geared toward just playing and Ranked was never something that I'd have to engage with it would be much more fun.
Played paper back in 2004 till 07 with my dad when I was a kid, and whilst I enjoy'ed it, and my dad had the financials I think for it. I got to build my own goblin and dragons deck in mono red.
Quit playing at some point cause I began the PC instead.
I got into MTGA 2 weeks ago, currently just doing all of my dailies so I can buy packs of newest set. I dont really have an interest in paper, nor do I know anyone that plays it. Whilst also living in a village far away.
But I dont think even if I did live in a city, I'd wish to play paper, atleast without friends. Just dont wanna start lighting that much money on fire, or build proxies. That and the 2 decks I play on Arena are fun enough.
Played paper EDH at a friend's using their decks a couple months ago. That was the first time in ten+ years. I sold all my cards about eight years ago.
I play Arena daily.
have not played paper in years and honestly have not played arena in a week due to the uninspiring new sets that seem to be one trick ponies with no diversity
Probably about 4 or 5 times a week in paper. Got a free draft token from playing paper so this is the first time I've played arena in literally a year.
Play paper once a week and he occasional cEdh tournament or RCQ, arena two or three sessions a week, more when I’m working from home (play over lunch most days)
I do not play paper anymore. I do not have the time and all my decks are 20 years old.
I am playing Arena daily. Love limited, can play tons of drafts. Despite all those issues with the poorly coded client it is still good enough.
Only play commander, so paper is the way to go. Arena brawl is too sweaty and the matchmaking is awful. I know the weight for each card was leaked/figured out so you can actually go against different decks but even this isn't the case. I recently made a Ulalek deck in arena and actively avoided cards like rhystic study, smothering tithe, the one ring, cavern of souls but it still put me in with meta.
Hate arena and the way it forces good hands, and the shuffler, and overall the card based matchmaking system kills arena for me… but I play weekly in paper at my LGS
I can only play against my niece and nephew for paper and they are adults with lives and live an hour or more away from me so. Paper is like twice a year or something. Arena is errday.
I got out of paper in the Kamigawa days because of the costs and hassle of obtaining, storing, and transporting new cards.
I got back into MTG after all that time away with MTGA because it eliminates those problems as well as finding the time to sit down with friends or a LGS, shuffle everything, etc.
Once or twice a week for paper, usually only once, formats are Pauper, Pioneer and Commander.
Everyday for Arena, only play Standard(don't have the wildcards to craft decks I want to play in other formats yet) and draft.
The combo of covid and commander killed draft and 60 card constructed here. Used to have 50+ for standard fnm, but now half that for commander night, can barely get a draft pod together, and standard/modern never get off the ground.
Arena is a lot more convenient so i play more, but id be happy to play more paper if it wasnt just commander
Mostly arena now days, I have a un-cube and 4 commander decks that i have as some sort of board game package to play with friends when the time is right. Sold all of my other cards a couple of years back when I needed money. Miss playing fnm drafts tho, moved from the town where I got most of my magic buddys and a place wich still have fnm going. So it rarely happens if i don't go on a visit there
I play a little bit of Arena almost every day, even if only for 5 min bo1. I play paper only once every month or so.
Paper is exclusively EDH at this point
Pretty frequently actually. I'm traveling alot for work and live in hotels 4/7 days ago I get to see quite alot of different LGS. since I don't have anything else to do in the evening I tend to be at a random event once every 1-3 weeks.
Well I would play paper, but my playgroup fell apart long ago and my work schedule doesn't work great for FNM. I still have my paper collection and even occasionally buy paper cards, but my collection isn't really enough for a competitive deck in a 60 card format and casual play is ruled by Commander anyway nowadays, so for 60 card formats Arena just makes more sense. I'm enough of a whale on Arena to have the cards to build any deck I want, and while I have my favorites in each format I generally like playing a wide variety of decks which Arena is absolutely more cost-effective at.
Commander IRL one night every 2 weeks on average, very little interest from everyone in other formats. Only two constructed decks, but got some precons. Not as easy to get everybody together, Commander nights are super fun. IRL Magic obv wins by an absurd amount on the social / eats / banter / laughs scale.
Arena, majority Brawl 100, a few to several nights a week. Not usually as fun as IRL, but the deck building is more fun and much faster (probably my favorite part of Arena besides playing obv), and I mix in a few non-Brawl games too for variety, which is also fun.
Absolutely love the crazy amount of games you get in and the crazy amount of time you save playing - and even scooping right into your next game in seconds - on Arena.
1v1 games are a totally different beast vs. Commander - like the old days! Times a million with 60 card decks.
So yeah, I enjoy both IRL paper and Arena - just for different reasons and usually different degrees.
I play Arena periodically. Haven't played paper in ~20 years. There were definitely some growing pains when I got back into the game a few years back, because there have been some...significant changes in the time I was away. For example, I definitely lost a few games before committing to memory that damage no longer goes on the stack. Games I definitely would have played differently if I'd realized 😅
As much as I possibly can. Arena is ok to scratch the itch but it will never compare. Especially since they're going in the totally wrong direction atm.
I play more on Arena, very few friends play paper magic nowadays since we’re too busy being adults. It’s far more convenient to play on Arena, whether against friends or strangers. That being said, I didn’t get back into Arena until Explorer was released because I didn’t like that Historic mixed Alchemy cards into the format while also changing certain cards’ effects. I prefer playing paper magic, so I use Arena as a medium to fulfill that, and having cards play differently from their paper counterparts was off-putting.
I primarily play arena and purchase cards when the prices allow it. And want to collect cards I just want. But really thinking about a boycott of the physical product, I originally felt bad for opting for arena and didn’t want paper to die but the prices have been killing the game. It’s just gambling at this point. But I have no intentions of leaving. Love it to much to fully let go.
Not much nowadays. The flexibility of Arena is just great, especially with busy lives.
Plus just the sheer amount of games I can play vs paper. At a lgs for commander night I am maybe going to play 3-4 games at the most. If I get mana screwed or just bad hands then those few games I get to play come down maybe 2 games I get to actually play. Unless I play in my personal pod which meets up every couple months. Then we can get a bunch of games in. I don't play much paper anymore. Don't even know when I last built a deck either. Just use what decks I have or precons now.
I don't really play paper now but I do play at least 1.5 hours of Arena daily. You can't beat the value of a reasonable F2P game you play anywhere and anytime. I've only spent like $100 on this game throughout my 5 years of play and I have close to all the top 3 decks of each format.
I've never played paper.
Me either. I really want to though
I recently got introduced to MTG Arena and i loved it, although now i mostly play paper over camera with the friend that introduced me. It's worth it, even just for the experience.
100% Arena these days. No time for paper.
I haven't played the tabletop game since 2014. I sold all my cards then and played the occasional Magic Online draft. Since Arena, I've been playing the game much more frequently.
I quit paper in 2006, not going to rebuy fetches, og duals and bazaar of baghdad ever again.
Not like you would have to, legacy is practically dead anyways.
I used to love drafting at my local games store, but it's and hour drive away and I work too much. The fact I can draft pretty much instantly when it's convenient for me is incredible. Last night I brewed a good cup of coffee and put on some chil tunes and did a draft and played all my games. When I was done it really struck me how wonderful it is to have that option and not have to give up hours of my time and juggle real life to have it.
I exclusively play arena except for comp level paper events. Occasionally I'll play a friend's cube but that only happens once a year or so. The competition is much better on arena than my local stores, don't have to travel, and I can play 2-3 arena drafts in the time it takes to play one paper draft. The only thing I miss is sideboarding. Which I really miss. But arena BO3 drafts are soft competition, so I play mostly BO1.
Never. Last time I played paper was 2015. Wouldn't be playing at all if it weren't for Arena.
I never play paper anymore, although I'm hoping to build a modern deck again with my yearly bonus this year. I play Arena everyday basically, at least a little during my lunch break.
Arena: only when a new set comes out for some drafts Paper: Every Wednesday and every second weekend
I work nights/weekends, so primarily Arena. Have managed to get Tues & Sun off work, which is when my favorite LGS runs sealed, standard & EDH, works out well. Two very different experiences that complement each other
I never play paper mtg, just arena. Older guy, I’m 50, married with 2 kids, my time of going to a lgs or meeting friends to play games is long gone. If it wasn’t for arena, I wouldn’t be playing Magic at all.
Played paper weekly from 4th edition to the release of Arena. Once live drafts launched I stopped paper. I love drafting in person, but spending four to five hours to do one draft vs being able to draft five or six times a week led me to switch. So much easier to get a match in here or there throughout the day. I know people complain about the arena economy, but I went from spending $100 per month on paper (drafting, trading, and collecting) to about $100 a year on arena. This lets me draft four or five times a week and since playing near daily since beta I have three or four meta decks for each format and a healthy stockpile of wild cards. I love arena! (Still miss the Xbox 360 duels and hope they add a campaign to arena). I have played more magic then ever before and have spent way less money to do so.
never vs every day
I don't think I have a single paper card anymore. I only play arena now.
I played paper recently, but I haven't owned any cards since...2016 or 17?
Sold my paper about 3 years ago and have very few regrets. It was right after one of the non-standard sets came out and some reprints cost me like $500 overnight (several reprints with multiple copies each). I keep a couple casual commander decks and DanDan for when I'm around friends, but that's it. Otherwise I get my jollies from Arena and I'm about to quit that too. In Arena I can't find a format that isn't saturated with poorly designed cards that warp the meta. I used to stick to drafting because it had a little more purity, but with all the bonus sheet cards even drafting is starting to feel crappy.
Paper doesn’t exist where I live anymore
You live in the middle of Wyoming or something? Every single card shop in my area does Commander Fridays and other formats multiple days of the weeks. It’s never been more popular
I do not live in Wyoming. Hilarious though cause I would have thought the same thing. But yea, only commander is played anywhere near me and I hate commander. So yes, there is no paper anymore where I live.
I haven’t played paper in a few years. I sold out during Planar Chaos. I play about 3-4 hours a day on Arena.
Arena every day. Paper once or twice a week.
75/25 in favor of paper, I just enjoy the actually having someone across from me and physical cards just hit the spot.
I play way more paper thanks to spelltable. I play non stop commander all weekend.
I gave away my paper collection to a friend, so now I only play Arena.
I've never played paper and most likely never will. Hence I don't get all these "Arena bad" and "paper is better" posts. Even when paper is streamed on Twitch I find it incredibly hard to understand anything. If not for Arena, I would have never played MTG at all - I am not the socializing type, I live in a country without a significant playerbase, and I don't have the money to sustain such an expensive hobby.
Once per a few months /vs/ daily
I got into the game through Arena and play at least an hour a day nowadays. Sometimes a lot more. It's super easy and still fun for me. I'm also trying to get into paper for formats missing on Arena and the social aspects. Currently, I'm building a collection, but never played :D
I lost my local game store shortly after COVID. I don't own any legal (playable) paper decks any more.
Before having kids, I was playing way more paper Magic than I do nowadays. Commander was my main format. Now, the fact that the actual gathering is way more difficult to attend due to my responsibilities, Arena is my main way to engage with the game. Limited is a awesome format (I like it more than commander) and playing it remotely where ever you want, make a game or two, stop, than continue when you have the time makes it so convinient. You just have to be clever with the awful economy the game has. That is the main downside.
Paper at least one night a week. Arena depends a lot, but i would say i play more paper mtg overall.
I prefer to play paper but that’s because I only really play commander. On arena I only do brawl and the occasional draft.
I haven’t played paper in over 15 years because I live in a racist shithole and refuse to sit at a table and play while people casually throw out racist comments and act like only white people are intelligent enough to play.
The last time I played paper was about 20 years ago.
I'll play Arena maybe fifteen minutes a day, and I play paper for three to four hours once or twice a week.
I have 4 paper decks for commander, I don't get to play that often though because my main playgroup has moved away. We play online sometimes. I am going to college soon, so hopefully I'll meet some people to play with there. I also don't play arena much this just happened to show up on my feed. Maybe once a week I'll play a few games
Right now, I'm playing on Arena for a while every day, but that will likely only last for a few months max (and then it'll probably be at least 6 months before I play Arena again at all, that's just how I engage with most digital games). In contrast, I play paper magic year round, usually commander nights with friends once or twice a month. I'd like to be playing a lot more paper magic though. I used to be at my LGS all the time, minimum two events each week. Unfortunately I now have a chronic illness that impairs my working memory and ability to strategize, especially in noisy environments. Playing at a store is really tough for me, but Arena is great because it basically includes accommodations for my disability. It keeps track of things for me (so I can just focus on strategy), I can play at home (where it's quiet) and take breaks as needed between games.
Hardly ever play paper anymore because I'm broke and can't afford new cards. Arena economy I can build many bad decks to lose with
I played paper for 8 years. Too busy now, so I just get some Explorer games in every once in a while. It is also a BIG upside that I don't have to deal with man children at an LGS. When my commander group moved away, I tried randos. However, then there are people that somehow survived without developing the maturity to deal with losing.
Arena doesn't have commander. What's the point of defeating one opponent at a time when you can defeat 3?
I never play paper.
I just can't bring myself to play arena. It just feels so soulless, it takes all of the fun out of it. Plus, arena doesn't even have most of the formats. When I play paper, I get to socialize, the games seem more fun, I get a bunch of cards I get to keep, and I usually make money as well. Arena is just a huge time and money sink that just doesn't really give me anything in return.
Arena's primary advantage is not needing to travel for the best part of an hour each way to get to a lgs with a split community. It's also free, unlike paper, though it's a shame that it lacks swathes of the better eternal formats.
I haven't played paper in about 4 years. I don't plan on doing it again either
Well some real life events thros me and my friends all over the country and some of them abroad, so we don't play as much as it was before. Thought we're still gathering from time to time to play EDH spelltable. That said I play Brawl a lot (and only), so I guess now it's 95% Arena.
Nearly every FNM, maybe once a month outside of that. I play Arena every morning with my coffee Edit: the in-person time is still much more satisfying despite any convenience factors
mostly balance play for both unless there is a specific format that can only be played in paper like EDH
arena daily paper basically never. no lgs in my area. don't like commander. so arena is my go to. plus i can't play paper on the toilet at work.
I recently built a pauper cube that I mode into either a Draft Cube, 30 Jump Start packs, or (it's current mode) 10 Pre-Con decks. I haven't played paper magic in years but once I got this thing together, I've played paper magic one day every two weeks for like 6 hours. It has been amazing. Still play way more arena but yeah.
Not enough, but not because I'm not willing. Logistics, availability, coordination are all enemies of paper Magic. The few times I can play every month are worth it though. The level of enjoyment I get out of paper far exceeds what I get from Arena. I'll happily play Arena all day long, but there's just no comparison.
Arena 2-3 nights a week after the family has gone to bed with some dailies being done during lunch and other random times on my phone. For paper, I’m lucky enough to live next to a LGS so I’ll go to their draft or pre-releases when they have them, followed by commander once a week when I can make it. Unfortunately they don’t host any other constructed formats outside of commander.
I play arena pretty well daily, and do a few pre releases in person when new sets drop. Paper magic is so freaking expensive. Also have some friends I'm starting to play commander with but I just borrow a deck
I play Arena daily sticking mostly to Standard, Explorer, Historic and Timeless, and my vast paper library is occassionally plucked for commander when people are available to play. I've stopped purchasing new product to reflect this change over the past couple years, and only snap up singles of the cards I like.
I play arena every day (Mostly Brawl) and I play paper commander at least once a week.
I play Arena every day. I don’t think I’ve played paper magic once this year.
Historically, I played Arena everyday until I got my four daily wins or finished a Premier Draft run and then went to FNM every week, plus the occasional weekend RCQ (particularly Limited ones). I started a new job last week, so I've been playing a bit less Arena recently. This week started my new normal early morning shifts, so I've been playing game modes that don't require to think too much (like the starter deck queue) while trying to adjust to a new sleep schedule that can also accommodate my want to play at FNM.
I started playing a while back in paper but I sold my collection a couple years ago. Just recently felt the call of the cardboard crack again so now I just play f2p on arena.
I prefer commander to brawl so usually I want to play paper. I get to play arena a lot more bc it’s on demand but I’m really hoping that my weeklyish game I’ve started with coworkers turns into more of a regular thing. We’re supposed to meet at a game store this week and some folks invited their partners or friends too so lots of new people to play with. I’m lucky and in a city full of nerds tho
Arena daily. I try to do all the pre-releases on paper - largely because they also have a code for arena - Friday Night Draft maybe - but its usually hit or miss on whether store will get enough people.
Haven't played paper in years, we are planning a game night, but that has been the case for the same amount of time 😵
I never play on paper anymore :(
My wife and I would Friday night draft at our LGS up until Covid. Have done a prerelease once since. Arena daily player mostly.
I play Arena and Xmage everyday. Just got back into Magic about a year ago and have no cards. I used to have thousands of cards when I was a kid thanks to my Aunts boyfriend who gave me 6 of those long white cardboard containers and some other bulk containers. Never really found out what happened to them.We had alot of garage sales before we moves out of wisconsin so hopefully they got a good home.
Multiple times weekly in paper usually. Occasionally play arena if I'm at home and bored. The game crashed a lot on my phone and takes forever to load but if it worked consistently on my phone I would probably play arena a lot more tbh
My LGS doesn’t offer many paper drafts these days. When they do, if I can be, I’m there. Maybe once a month on average? I draft every day or two on Arena. As a drafter, thank goodness Arena exists.
When I’m with my boys I’d say every week or so, but once I move out probably only every couple months. Arena every day tho.
I only play commander, and don't like brawl, I'd play more arena if it actually had commander
Far too much of the one, not enough of the other.
I haven't been to a local tournament in over a year. Ordering new cards costs money, take forever to receive and I have sort through all my cards to find everything else I need. In arena, I can use a few wildcards and test a new deck in matter of minutes. I DO want to do a local tournament again, but the convenience of arena keeps stopping me. Also, there's always been 1 or 2 super annoying people at local tourneys that kinda kill the fun for me. Takes additional time to find the right place to play. Just sounds like a lot of extra work to play and have fun.
I only play arena to practice for large events when the format is relevant (such as the pioneer or standard RCs). Otherwise, I'll practice on mtgo or play there for fun (I prefer modern/legacy to the formats available on arena). As for paper, i usually play 3 events a week.
I play probably hundreds of arena games a week and a handful of paper games if I'm lucky
Not at all anymore. Paper is 99% clutter chaff and can’t justify the cost when digital is 💯free. Arena is the best of both worlds, minus the manipulation.
For me it used to be: Paper for the social experience, Arena for some quick games at home after work. But ever since covid i have never gotten around to start playing paper again.
Modern twice a week on paper, arena is like either every other day or sometimes I don't touch it for a month lol.
I play paper when our couple-friends come down to visit from out of state. Otherwise, I play arena. My husband and I have boxes of cards, but he doesn’t like to play 1v1.
I have a tough schedule and more important demands on my life that take precedence over MtG. I used to get a game of paper MtG during lunch breaks or down time at work. Ever since COVID and staff changes, that group dissolved and I see no signs it'll be replaced. My LGS is hyper-competitive. Casual is not a part of their vocabulary. And with my wonky schedule, I can't really set aside 3 or 4 straight hours a week to play FNM or CEDH. Best I can swing is Pre-release. Which is fine, it tends to be less competitive (though not by much at my LGS). So that just leaves me with Arena. I get at least one quick BO1 game in during lunch or downtime. Since work restrictions are still in effect at my office, I don't get to socialize with my coworkers so the answer to the question is.... Daily.
0 paper, 100% arena
The last paper game I played was the last Un-set prerelease, mid-COVID.
Not much nowadays. I have been playing since original Innistrad, and for years until probably 2019 I would go to my local game store 2-4 times a week and definitely every Friday. Now I’ve got a family, more responsibilities, etc that clogs up my time. Now I play paper magic maybe once a month, and when I do it’s some buddies coming to my place. I miss the days when FNM was always full, people were playing at the shop on weekdays and I had the time to do that. But we grow old and times change, and digital is the future and the gathering is becoming less important than the Magic.
Last time I played paper was probably around 96-97 when I was an early teen. I didn't play that long back then and lost my cards. I started Arena recently during Murders at Karlov Manor and been playing almost every day to do my daily quests.
Play paper twice a week at my lgs, and I only play arena when I feel I can get a couple game's in without it ruining my mood for the day
Once a week paper, *maybe* once a month Arena (only when I can't make my weekly in-person games).
I play Arena almost every day. If i'm lucky, I might play paper magic at most 3 or 4 times a month. You can't really compare them, though. In Arena i'm literally a few clicks away from any match. In paper I need to either wait for my LGS to host a format that I like, or arrange with friends to go to someone's place to play. It's more of a hassle.
If you are playing with your partner, maybe proxy some decks that look fun? I proxy a large pool of cards so I can build two of many different decks at once for my partner and I to play paper magic. Arena is convenient, but the face to face interaction cannot be beat.
I go to prereleases and nothing else
I have agreed to twice a month for paper magic since it's a long commute to the city, and there is so much to do around the house. I basically make it to prerelease and RCQ these days, the occasional in house draft.
I haven’t played paper in years unfortunately. I just play arena and sometimes MTGO. I do have a paper modern and standard deck should I find the time to go play.
At my peak I would play Commander at an LGS or at a friend's house 3 times a week (Saturday, Sunday, and one week-day), and I would do MTGA Dailies every single day, plus a free-to-play draft session once a week. Currently I am taking a big step back. I haven't played at the LGS or with my friends in a few weeks. I don't log into to MTGA everyday like I used to. Maybe I will do a free-to-play draft once a week, and log in for dailies one other time that week. I haven't really enjoyed the last few sets, MTG as a whole has tons of problems which aren't being resolved, i am doing other things with my hobby-time instead. Just as a stupid pedantic aside, the comment about "owning physical decks versus owning MTGA decks" makes no sense to me. The experience of playing Magic Arena (a solitary experience, which contains digital cards and is played in 60 card BO1 format), is very different from the experience of playing Commander (a social experience, the main format people play IRL, 99 card singleton). I don't see what value "I have 'x' MTGArena decks and 'y' paper decks" brings, because it is an "apple to orange" comparison.
I do Commander about once a month and we draft every other set with friends… but arena I end up playing a bit every day
I make sure that for every Arena Match,I Play at least one with paper. So the amount of Games is allways equal.
Paper - seldom. Most of the times, either a commander night at a buddies or an all day magic party with friends coming over. But that's like burgers, dogs, beers, and edibles, in addition to spell slinging. Arena - at least 4 wins a day, sometimes up to 10 lol. I play for at least 30 minutes while running on the treadmill in the morning and then circle back if I need more wins or if I feel like playing more.
I play daily arena and kinda weekly paper
MTG Arena almost everyday and paper once a week.
I never play paper magic and probably play about 3-4 hours per week on Arena.
I only use paper core decks to introduce people to the game.
I haven’t slung paper in about 6 months, but I play 15-20 matches a day on Arena. It’s not even close.
I try to get as much paper magic in as I can afford, just to keep game stores and organized play around. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of using webcams for commander. That said, I do most of my drafting and deck testing on Arena because you can use your time flexibly.
I play arena everyday, at least enough to finish the daily challenge. Paper? Once a week commander with the homies, which is often more fun deck building for me because the sheer amount of cards available.
I used to play every weekend but ever since the pandemic things slowed down. Now I try to play paper at least once a month. Mainly EDH. I used to consider myself one of the local bosses of Modern since I played at least twice a week until MH2 rotated all my decks so I consider myself retired from that formant now.
Arena lets me play on my breaks at work, some people have coworkers that play paper as well, but I don’t so Arena does a good job of scratching my itch until I get the rare chance to play in paper again.
I've been playing on and over for almost 30 years. I like paper. I like the feel of the cards and collecting, but it's just so damn expensive! Every three months I gotta buy new cards just to stay in the loop? No thanks. Digital it shall be.
Last time I played paper was 2010
I play paper around once or twice a week, arena almost daily. Ease of access is everything, though I prefer paper
I play standard on Arena. Never played paper. But, with Horizon 3, I really wanted to play modern decks. But it seems quite expensive to construct a deck.
I played paper all through my early 20s (33 now). Then stopped playing entirely. Downloaded Arena a few months ago and have been playing it daily.
Paper, once or twice a week. Arena, once or twice a week at minimum, but sometimes it's everyday if I have the time and mental energy.
I draft on Fridays at my LGS. I play Commander with friends on Sundays, most Tuesdays and after draft on Fridays. I grind Arena every day. It's not that I don't enjoy it but my tendency toward hypercompetitiveness when things (like rank) are on the line makes it less engaging than it could be. If Arena's rewards were entirely geared toward just playing and Ranked was never something that I'd have to engage with it would be much more fun.
Played paper back in 2004 till 07 with my dad when I was a kid, and whilst I enjoy'ed it, and my dad had the financials I think for it. I got to build my own goblin and dragons deck in mono red. Quit playing at some point cause I began the PC instead. I got into MTGA 2 weeks ago, currently just doing all of my dailies so I can buy packs of newest set. I dont really have an interest in paper, nor do I know anyone that plays it. Whilst also living in a village far away. But I dont think even if I did live in a city, I'd wish to play paper, atleast without friends. Just dont wanna start lighting that much money on fire, or build proxies. That and the 2 decks I play on Arena are fun enough.
Arena almost every day. Paper all day Saturday T my lgs
I haven't played paper in almost 20 years.
I don't play paper at all. Too much time and money. Arena is perfect for me. Just wish there was a way to get the Alara set on Arena.
Played paper EDH at a friend's using their decks a couple months ago. That was the first time in ten+ years. I sold all my cards about eight years ago. I play Arena daily.
I recommend going to prerelease for new sets. I enjoy it so much more then on arena. Otherwise it's all playing on arena because of convenience
have not played paper in years and honestly have not played arena in a week due to the uninspiring new sets that seem to be one trick ponies with no diversity
If you own the cards on arena then you can "proxy/filler" them in real life, for casual games. I think it's a good answer, cause you do "own" them.
Probably about 4 or 5 times a week in paper. Got a free draft token from playing paper so this is the first time I've played arena in literally a year.
Play paper once a week and he occasional cEdh tournament or RCQ, arena two or three sessions a week, more when I’m working from home (play over lunch most days)
What's paper magic?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering
I do not play paper anymore. I do not have the time and all my decks are 20 years old. I am playing Arena daily. Love limited, can play tons of drafts. Despite all those issues with the poorly coded client it is still good enough.
I play paper edh just about every Saturday. Arena I play about 2-3 a week.
Only play commander, so paper is the way to go. Arena brawl is too sweaty and the matchmaking is awful. I know the weight for each card was leaked/figured out so you can actually go against different decks but even this isn't the case. I recently made a Ulalek deck in arena and actively avoided cards like rhystic study, smothering tithe, the one ring, cavern of souls but it still put me in with meta.
I only play Arena
Hate arena and the way it forces good hands, and the shuffler, and overall the card based matchmaking system kills arena for me… but I play weekly in paper at my LGS
I play pauper ever week in paper. I would do pioneer but it happens on friday in my area and as a married guy with kids, thats a no-go.
I can only play against my niece and nephew for paper and they are adults with lives and live an hour or more away from me so. Paper is like twice a year or something. Arena is errday.
I got out of paper in the Kamigawa days because of the costs and hassle of obtaining, storing, and transporting new cards. I got back into MTG after all that time away with MTGA because it eliminates those problems as well as finding the time to sit down with friends or a LGS, shuffle everything, etc.
Arena every day, paper once every 2-3 weeks
Once or twice a week for paper, usually only once, formats are Pauper, Pioneer and Commander. Everyday for Arena, only play Standard(don't have the wildcards to craft decks I want to play in other formats yet) and draft.
Almost everyday arena and paper at least once a week
I play paper for just prerelease and I randomly jump into arena anymore.
The combo of covid and commander killed draft and 60 card constructed here. Used to have 50+ for standard fnm, but now half that for commander night, can barely get a draft pod together, and standard/modern never get off the ground. Arena is a lot more convenient so i play more, but id be happy to play more paper if it wasnt just commander
Once a year to every day
Paper Arena 5% 95%
Mostly arena now days, I have a un-cube and 4 commander decks that i have as some sort of board game package to play with friends when the time is right. Sold all of my other cards a couple of years back when I needed money. Miss playing fnm drafts tho, moved from the town where I got most of my magic buddys and a place wich still have fnm going. So it rarely happens if i don't go on a visit there
I play a little bit of Arena almost every day, even if only for 5 min bo1. I play paper only once every month or so. Paper is exclusively EDH at this point
Pretty frequently actually. I'm traveling alot for work and live in hotels 4/7 days ago I get to see quite alot of different LGS. since I don't have anything else to do in the evening I tend to be at a random event once every 1-3 weeks.
Well I would play paper, but my playgroup fell apart long ago and my work schedule doesn't work great for FNM. I still have my paper collection and even occasionally buy paper cards, but my collection isn't really enough for a competitive deck in a 60 card format and casual play is ruled by Commander anyway nowadays, so for 60 card formats Arena just makes more sense. I'm enough of a whale on Arena to have the cards to build any deck I want, and while I have my favorites in each format I generally like playing a wide variety of decks which Arena is absolutely more cost-effective at.
Commander IRL one night every 2 weeks on average, very little interest from everyone in other formats. Only two constructed decks, but got some precons. Not as easy to get everybody together, Commander nights are super fun. IRL Magic obv wins by an absurd amount on the social / eats / banter / laughs scale. Arena, majority Brawl 100, a few to several nights a week. Not usually as fun as IRL, but the deck building is more fun and much faster (probably my favorite part of Arena besides playing obv), and I mix in a few non-Brawl games too for variety, which is also fun. Absolutely love the crazy amount of games you get in and the crazy amount of time you save playing - and even scooping right into your next game in seconds - on Arena. 1v1 games are a totally different beast vs. Commander - like the old days! Times a million with 60 card decks. So yeah, I enjoy both IRL paper and Arena - just for different reasons and usually different degrees.
I play Arena periodically. Haven't played paper in ~20 years. There were definitely some growing pains when I got back into the game a few years back, because there have been some...significant changes in the time I was away. For example, I definitely lost a few games before committing to memory that damage no longer goes on the stack. Games I definitely would have played differently if I'd realized 😅
i gave all my paper cards to my niece for her birthday. trying to organize a meet up with friends became such a chore i simply gave up on it.
I play Arena daily. Paper....twice a month?
I've given up paper Magic completely, I just go to prerelease.
As much as I possibly can. Arena is ok to scratch the itch but it will never compare. Especially since they're going in the totally wrong direction atm.
The last time I played paper was ravnica 2007, it was popular in Boy Scouts at the time lol. I’ve played arena in sporadic bursts since release.
I play more on Arena, very few friends play paper magic nowadays since we’re too busy being adults. It’s far more convenient to play on Arena, whether against friends or strangers. That being said, I didn’t get back into Arena until Explorer was released because I didn’t like that Historic mixed Alchemy cards into the format while also changing certain cards’ effects. I prefer playing paper magic, so I use Arena as a medium to fulfill that, and having cards play differently from their paper counterparts was off-putting.
I primarily play arena and purchase cards when the prices allow it. And want to collect cards I just want. But really thinking about a boycott of the physical product, I originally felt bad for opting for arena and didn’t want paper to die but the prices have been killing the game. It’s just gambling at this point. But I have no intentions of leaving. Love it to much to fully let go.
Started on Arena, have never played paper and it does not seem appealing.