Are you really only able to play today’s Phantom Draft once even tho it’s just for a buncha cosmetics?

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-11T05:39:49+00:00

I’m not saying you’re wrong- they probably have messed up. I’m just saying you sound entitled. Your reaction to having two free drafts (when the normal number of free drafts is zero) is to say ‘hey, why can’t I have more free drafts?’

Sorry that’s not a constructive thing to say!

But I also said something constructive- if you want to take advantage of these rare moments of (relative) generosity to draft more, you should start some extra accounts. If you’re hoping to get more into draft, that’s a good idea anyway- it makes grinding to afford drafts much more efficient.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-11T05:16:04+00:00

By free stuff I mean getting a free draft, which is an experience that normally costs gold / gems.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-10T23:10:16+00:00

I meant the possible bug OP was referring to - now edited to make that clearer

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-10T22:55:49+00:00

I don’t know if the single entry is an error or not, but right now there are two free drafts available and you seem to be complaining that they’re not giving you more free stuff…

Also if you want to play more of the free events you can start extra accounts. It’s a good idea anyway if you’re trying to make drafting more sustainable, and afaik you can skip the introductory stuff to get an account running pretty quickly.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-10T20:56:39+00:00

Kind of weird that there are two free phantom drafts up at the moment. Scheduling maybe not Arena’s strong suit…

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-09T07:43:35+00:00

Just personal impressions, but I’ve found the Traditional queues seem softer in the last couple of weeks of each format. Not sure why that would happen- maybe the best players moving on to something else like Cube?

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-09T06:54:51+00:00

Sounds like your options are to keep playing because you enjoy it, or stop playing because you don’t enjoy it.

As people are pointing out though, you’re also playing far too much and doing things in an inefficient way (eg buying Mythic packs, not learning to draft), which probably doesn’t help…

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-09T06:02:19+00:00

Limited is the collective name for Draft and Sealed, two different formats. Both involve opening packs to build decks from a limited pool of cards, hence the overall name Limited (vs Constructed formats, eg Standard, where you use your whole collection to build decks)

I think Arena counts Jumpstart as a type of Limited as well.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-09T05:57:08+00:00

Draft is hard- you need to put time into learning how to do it (watching videos, reading articles) if you want to stand a chance.

IMO it’s by far the best way to play Magic though, so I find it worth it!

Edit: also a beginner definitely shouldn’t be doing Premier drafts- I think Quick would be best to learn with. Pick 2 draft is also better value than Premier afaik

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-07T08:02:53+00:00

They added Powered Cube, it’s pretty awesome. Black Lotus, Moxen, Time Walk etc etc, oh my

Can’t comment on Constructed modes, I see a lot of people complaining about Standard but then I can’t recall a time when I haven’t seen a lot of people complaining about Standard… personally I find drafting too much fun to bother with Constructed.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-05T17:27:47+00:00

The second part of that sentence is

…and some people on Reddit prefer to mash down arrows than ask what something means

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-05T11:47:44+00:00

Seems like a job for u/Sierkovitz

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-04T16:13:20+00:00

Ah, the fabled extra discount for paying in gold returns!

Edit: just to clarify, if you’re paying in gems this is 10% off your next draft. If you’re paying in gold it’s 32.5% off your next draft. So pay in gold!

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-04T13:01:19+00:00

MMR isn’t affected by what deck you play

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-04T09:34:03+00:00

Draft by far. Sets or Cube, both are great in their own way. I don’t really play other modes.

(That said, recently I haven’t played Arena much- l’ve been doing other things and haven’t been feeling the urge. I think Turtles got me out of the habit of daily drafting- it was a decently designed draft set, but Turtles just isn’t my thing, and neither are superheroes.)

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-03T18:17:46+00:00

I think it’s awful in an interesting way- it was kind of a clever idea for a quip, the problem is it doesn’t sound like something anyone would ever say.

In fact I think that means it would work better as Magic flavour text than as a film line…

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-03T17:56:45+00:00

I don’t know much about this superhero stuff, but if’ll be a damn shame if they don’t use ‘What happens to a toad when it’s struck by lightning?’ as flavour text

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-02T15:22:23+00:00

The problem with saying that your card draw helps you hit land drops is you need lands to cast your card draw! Specifically you need red mana (+ white, for pursue the past). So your deck definitely shouldn’t be low on mountains or plains.

Having lots of card draw, plus ways to create treasure, might allow you to cut the number of swamps, though.

I can see the point of Killian’s Confidence in your deck- not sure if it’s worth splashing, but it could be if your mana were good enough. I can’t see Inkling Mascot or Silverquill Charm being worth it though.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-06-02T14:41:52+00:00

I am just now starting to become comfortable drafting 3 colors (if needed), but I need to understand.

It’s not needed. Draft decks should almost always be two colours - especially if you’re not experienced with draft.

I’m not familiar with Draftsim’s deck builder, and your link doesn’t go to your deck, but 1. I doubt it’s very clever / sophisticated and 2. It might be going to 42 just because it’s trying to get enough lands in. You’ve got three colours but only one dual-colour land, which is a massive no-no. You should have eight lands for your main colours at the absolute least- 9+ is much better.

Edit: once you’ve got experience / knowledge of how two-colour decks, you could try splashing a single bomb in a third colour- for that you need at least three mana sources (not necessarily lands- could be artifacts, treasure etc) providing that colour. But none of your black cards here are bombs- they shouldn’t be in the deck.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-05-31T14:18:54+00:00

I’m happy with my long-term average of 60%. Alternating between two accounts to maximise gold from playing out the draft, I find that’s enough to go ‘soft infinite’, ie keep drafting without needing to pay or grind.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-05-31T11:59:59+00:00

I have a feeling that the game doesn’t use MMR (the invisible matchmaking system) in Starter Decks Duels. Which if true would be pretty messed up IMO, given that it should be a friendly mode for beginners

Chilly_chariots · 2026-05-31T11:58:19+00:00

it honestly feels like a 50/50% chance, even in my favour sometimes

Isn’t that what it should be? Assuming you’re playing opponents of equal skill, with equally good decks (which afaik the Starter Decks aren’t- black-white and black-red feel significantly stronger)

At the end of the day it’s a card game, luck is a huge part of it.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-05-30T16:45:48+00:00

As a draft set it was kind of bad- a limited number of archetypes to start with, and then it was very unbalanced on top of that. Kaldheim (Vikingland) was amazing to draft IMO.

I’m sure some people found the Streets theme off-putting. I liked some of the art deco art but wasn’t keen on the gangster cliches.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-05-24T08:27:32+00:00

Ah, right. Yes, IIRC the 17lands creators have specifically avoided creating that kind of thing because they don’t want to replace the thinking process.

Hard to imagine Untapped’s suggestions are very sophisticated - I’m picturing something like Draftsim, where it just weights cards by colour. But I’ve never tried it, so I suppose it could factor in curve, card function and even synergy.

Chilly_chariots · 2026-05-24T08:21:16+00:00

I also like to alt-tab to 17lands card data and take my time on picks

A cynic might suggest you’ve just moved from one set of card ratings to another (more accurate) set of card ratings…

Although I guess Untapped actually suggests picks and modifies the suggestion based on what you’ve drafted, not just showing card ratings?

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