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MTG: Arena is filled with various formats, all of which use a different card pool. If you are looking to build up your collection, you will need to buy booster packs in order to obtain cards and wildcards to craft specific cards you want. They can be obtained through events or, more easily and consistently, by purchasing packs directly from the shop for either 1,000 gold or 200 gems. With how many packs are in the game, it can be hard to know the best packs to open to get the most bang for your buck. These are the best packs to buy in Magic: The Gathering: Arena.
Best packs to buy in MTG Arena
The best pack to buy depends on what deck you are trying to build. If you are only after a certain archetype, opening packs that contain cards from that archetype is best as you may open them and be able to save on spending wildcards. Opening packs increase your wildcard count as well, making it easier to build the deck you are trying to create.
For example, if you wanted to build Bant Toxic, buying packs of Phyrexia: All Will Be One is the best course of action, as most of the cards in that deck are available in that pack.
It is best to save buying packs for when you know what deck you want to build, or if you want to work on completing a set by collecting all the cards within them. There is an incentive for buying packs, as it is how you obtain Golden Packs. For every ten packs you purchase, you will get one Golden Pack. Each Golden Pack contains six cards of the rare or mythic rarity from the latest set releases. These are a great way to get closer to completing your collection of rare cards for a set as Golden Packs are duplicate protected so you will always get a card you do not already own.
The cheapest way to do this is to buy regular gold packs worth 1000, instead of paying the extra 300 gold for Mythic packs. You will amass a much bigger card collection like this.
Get free packs with codes
If you are new to the game or have not used codes before, each set release comes with a code you can enter and get three free packs of that set. To claim these packs, each code is “Play[set code].” For example, if you wanted to claim the New Capenna packs you would have to type in “PlaySNC” to get three packs. You can enter codes on the Magic: Arena client in the shop tab where you purchase packs. These “Play” codes are only usable once per account. If you open a Pre-Release Kit, a code for six packs of that set will be inside. These Pre-Release codes are only usable once, and you can not use them anymore even if they come from a different Pre-Release Kit.
Recently, there was an opportunity to answer Cryptic Clues in return for MTG: Arena codes. This is a perfectly valid opportunity to pick up packs without having to pay for them too. If you do want to commit to buying packs without a deck goal in mind, the best ones are the ones with good lands and the ones with bonus sheets.
Packs that contain a bonus sheet may come with an extra rare, as you are guaranteed one rare or mythic from the main set it is a part of and one from the guaranteed slot the bonus sheet has (though it may also be an uncommon). When it comes to bonus sheets though, most of them do not contain cards legal in Standard, Alchemy, or Explorer (unless they are already legal in those formats) and can only be used in Historic and Timeless. A bonus sheet contains only cards that have a specific typing such as artifacts or creatures. The sets available on Magic: Arena that contain bonus sheets are Strixhaven (instants and sorceries), The Brother’s War (artifacts), March Of The Machine (legendary creatures), and Wilds Of Eldraine (enchantments).
The best lands available in Magic: Arena are Triomes, fetchlands (only legal in Timeless), and dual lands. Triomes are lands that can tap for one of three colors of mana, with half of them available in Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths and Streets Of New Capenna. Fetchlands are found in Khans Of Tarkir (but only half of the cycle is available on Magic: Arena). Shocklands (the most commonly played dual lands) are found in Ravnica Allegiance and the other half in Guilds Of Ravnica. Fastlands (lands that enter untapped if you control two or fewer other lands) are also commonly played, and available in Phyrexia: All Will Be One and Kaladesh.
Alternatively, you can craft any card you may need by using wildcards. You can redeem wildcards for any card of the rarity of that wildcard for a one-to-one trade.
Is it worth buying packs in MTG Arena?
Buying packs in MTG Arena with in-game currency is a pretty decent method to build your library, especially with how liberal Wizards are with dishing out free codes and gems in the game. Using currency to buy packs in MTG Arena is a little different, with the prices of packs being close to that of a cup of coffee. Personally, you’d be better off buying physical packs instead of those in MTG Arena.
How much are packs in MTG Arena?
A single pack is 1000 Gold, three are 600 Gems, 6: 1200 Gems, 15: 3000 Gems, 45: 9000 Gems, 90 Packs: 18,000 Gems.
