There are hundreds of different styles of play, but most official forms center around “standard,” or, about a year-and-a-half’s cycle of current cards (which is what Arena favors, and I’ll speak to later). So not only does what you cast matter, but when you cast it.

Much of the nuance of Magic relies on “the stack,” wherein players are allowed to directly “respond” to spells, with the last-casted spell acting first. If you’ve never played Magic before, players take turns laying down lands (mana to pay for spells), and “casting” spells, which range from creatures that stay on the board to inflict damage or defend, to instant or sorcery speed spells that deal direct damage or manipulate the board state.

So when I say that Arena is basically a 1:1 re-creation of the base game, you can see why it would be so appealing. It really speaks to how powerful Magic‘s core design is, thanks to Dr. Richard Garfield, its still-active creator. The key thing is that at any point I could pick it up, and outside of learning a few keywords here and there - and the concept of Planeswalkers, powerful summon-like cards with their own spells - I could play without much fuss.

My history with Magic started when it really took off, and periodically over the years, various itches flared back up (I think it’s a permanent rash now), calling me to play.

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