MTG Arena: New Mastery System Information Announced Following Backlash

Core Set 2020, the new Magic: The Gathering set, was just released on MTG Arena today, and one of the changes it's getting with its July 2 update is the new Mastery system (which is replacing the Weekly Wins rewards). While this new system is exciting to some players who want to find more ways to get rewarded in the game, some fans online are already criticizing the cap of XP each player can get each day. Some players hate the idea of needing to play every day just to reach the levels they want instead of giving fans the freedom to grind for XP as much as they want.

You can check out the negative reactions from fans below:

MFW on new Mastery System details

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r/MagicArena

Please Don't Cap The Mastery Pass Per Day

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Meanwhile, in the Hasbro/WOTC Boardroom...

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How it feels scrolling through this subreddit today.

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Following the backlash of fans, Wizards of the Coast has made a new announcement today addressing their plans for the Mastery system and sharing a new code for two free levels: "LevelUp".

Wizards of the Coast's Chris Cao explained the full scope of MTG Arena's new Mastery system. "The Mastery Passes were built for late-set player fun, hence more events later in the set cycle that give out XP," Cao explained. "If you're not sure how far you'll get this set, that's okay! You can decide whether to pick up the pass until the very end, and still get the same amount of value as picking it up early in the set."

Cao went on to say that there are more ways to gain XP other than winning games each day. The bulk of the XP can be gained by completing quests. "Previously, players could only earn pack rewards by winning games, and we wanted to move more towards play than winning," Cao wrote. "Now we want players to get their hands on the system and play around with it before deciding if (and if so, where) we should make changes. Again, while we hope you enjoy what it already has to offer, we're ready to go through some iterations to make sure the rewards and experience feels right for our players."

Cao also addressed the criticism on the Mastery system's option to purchase levels. "We actually don't want most players to buy levels," Cao said. "So, we're going to pull out the purchasing of levels with our release at the end of this month. We want folks to have an option to get our best deal by spreading it over time. We put the level purchase in to give players the option to get those last few levels they want. But, that has clearly made things feel worse."

I'm impressed by how Wizards of the Coast handled criticism and made adjustments following the players' disapproval.

Watch our first Core Set 2020 Magic Arena video below:

Related: MTG Head Designer Confirms Change to Foil Frequency