Magic The Gathering: Arena – How To Use Your Wildcards Effectively

Magic The Gathering: Arena - How To Use Your Wildcards Effectively

Quick Links

  • What Are Wildcards?
  • How To Get Wildcards
  • Card Crafting Strategy

As a long-time Magic: The Gathering enthusiast who’s been battling it out since the 90s, let me share my two cents on this card crafting strategy. First and foremost, always remember that your collection is an investment in endless hours of fun and strategic gameplay.


If you’re either a novice eager to explore or an experienced player transitioning to digital format, Magic: the Gathering (MTG) is an accessible choice because of its ‘wildcard’ feature. Strategically using these wildcards enables you to experiment with multiple strategies in the game.

Alright, let’s get started by exploring the ins and outs of using wildcards, ways to accumulate more of them, and types of cards that are worth creating. By the end, you’ll be well-equipped to build a collection that will keep you playing MTG: Arena for many years!

What Are Wildcards?

Magic The Gathering: Arena - How To Use Your Wildcards Effectively

In the game of MTG: Arena, wildcards can be obtained from any booster pack and used across all rarities. While constructing a deck, you have the ability to employ a wildcard as a kind of substitute or stand-in for any card of that specific rarity.

The Gathering (MTG) don’t have specific requirements regarding sets, formats, or other limitations. As long as a wildcard matches the correct rarity, it can be used for crafting! One of the reasons MTG Arena is widely preferred for playing rotating formats like Standard is because of its user-friendly interface.

As a gamer, I can’t get enough of Magic: The Gathering Arena, and wildcards are the key factor that keeps me hooked. They simplify deck-building without breaking the bank by requiring fewer purchases of packs or individual cards.

How To Get Wildcards

Magic The Gathering: Arena - How To Use Your Wildcards Effectively

Wildcards pop up in a couple of different places:

  • Packs
  • Wildcard Reward Track
  • The Vault

You’ll primarily obtain wildcards by opening booster packs, and there’s always a possibility that the cards inside these packs could turn out to be wildcards with the same rarity as themselves.

RarityRatePercentage
Common1 in 333%
Uncommon1 in 520%
Rare1 in 303%
Mythic1 in 303%

Every time you open a pack, it moves forward on the Progress Bar for the Random Prize Feature. Keep an eye on the upper right corner of the screen as you unwrap packs to monitor your advancement.

The Wildcard Reward Track doesn’t care about where your packs came from—prizes, new set promos, Mastery rewards, etc. Instead of consuming excess cards manually, every pack counts toward your next Wildcard.

When you unseal packets, there’s a chance you could find multiples of cards that are already part of your existing collection. Obtaining the fifth instance of a common or uncommon card contributes to filling up The Vault.

The Vault unlocks once it accumulates 1,000 points. Every common card you have above that adds 1 point to the total, while each uncommon card contributes 3 points. When you hover over the orange “lotus” symbol located at the top of your screen, a progress percentage will appear.

Consider unlocking the Vault more of an enjoyable extra reward instead of a primary objective since it might take some time. Once opened, you’ll gain access to six fresh Wildcards.

RarityQuantity
Mythic1
Rare2
Uncommon3

In simpler terms, the points you earn in the Vault do not expire or get wasted. If you happen to open numerous packs and surpass the 1,000 point mark, these extra points will automatically carry over to your subsequent Vault.

Card Crafting Strategy

Magic The Gathering: Arena - How To Use Your Wildcards Effectively

When deciding on how to utilize your Wildcards, think about which game types you’re particularly keen on. Rotating formats offer constant change, whereas in Eternal formats, you can keep frustrating your adversary with your beloved Mill Crabs even when they’ve moved out of Standard.

As an avid player, I can’t stress enough the effectiveness of tailoring my Magic: The Gathering Arena deck with Wildcards. These versatile cards, useful in both draft and constructed formats, ensure my collection remains adaptable for a wide range of gameplay styles.

In a shift towards a more intense competition within the Eternal format, two categories of cards maintain their strength: versatile land types capable of supporting multiple colors, often referred to as multicolor lands, and potent spellcards for eliminating threats, commonly known as strong removal spells.

Lands

While they’re not terribly exciting, lands are terribly important. Having a good manabase will win you games.

In the world of Magic: The Gathering, cards associated with popular lands often get reprinted across different sets in the future. If you’ve crafted a card from an earlier set on MTG: Arena, you’ll be able to use it again once it comes back into the Standard format.

Distinctive territories ideal for building a lasting assortment encompass the “observation lands” from “Murders at Karlov Manor,” the “acquisition lands” from “Khans of Tarkir,” and the “electricity lands” from “Guilds of Ravnica” and “Ravnica Allegiance.” These lands are not only exceptional in perpetual game modes, but it’s quite probable they will be reprinted for your use in future Standard playstyles.

Removal Spells

It appears that the creatures in Magic are becoming increasingly robust, yet there’s a reduced escalation in its removal spells. Iconic cards from the 90s such as Lightning Bolt and Counterspell continue to be relevant on MTG: Arena, even when they are format-legal.

Changes made from Standard to Eternal (and possibly reprinted) tend to be straightforward, unconditional, and affordable. A prime example of this is Supreme Verdict from Return to Ravnica, a board wipe that I believe remains the finest ever printed.

Due to the maximum limit or “ceiling” on how potent removal abilities can be, using Wildcards provides you with the opportunity to enjoy them for an extended period. This is one reason why MTG: Arena is appealing, even on free-to-play accounts, as it offers a relatively simple method for amassing a diverse and effective collection of cards that can be used over time.

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2024-09-13 13:11