Earlier this week, Wizards of the Coast announced the new Brawlidays event on Magic: The Gathering Arena in the game as part of December's State of the Game.
For the price of 2,000 Gems or 10,000 Gold, the Brawlidays event gives players access to a Brawl queue that will let you play against others all day, every day until the event ends on January 16. Those who are not part of the event can still play Brawl every Wednesday, and players can still play anytime using Direct Challenge, but that's not all they're offering with the event.
All Brawlidays participants who earn their first win for the event will receive a copy of "Rhys the Redeemed", a card that you can use as a commander in Brawl even though this card is not legal in the Standard format. Players can also use this card in Arena's non-rotating Historic format, and Rhys will be craftable using Wildcards for those who want to complete a set of this card.
Now, fans have taken it to social media to complain about the free-to-play game's paid event. Brawl is a fan-favorite singleton format in Magic Arena, and the fact that the Brawl queue is only available every Wednesday while requiring fans to pay gems or gold to access this mode felt like a money grab to many.
MTG Arena YouTuber Merchant has released a new video reminding fans that the Brawlidays event is an experiment to determine if people are willing to pay money to gain access to additional game modes, calling it "entirely ridiculous", and telling fans "not to support this shit."
Here are what fans are saying about the Brawlidays event on Magic Arena:
Hopefully, Brawl will be available on Arena everyday without asking players to pay up their in-game gems and gold. The format is one of the most enjoyable modes to play in Arena, and fans shouldn't have to pay to play it.
Related: Dreamhack To Host Magic: The Gathering Arena Tournaments in 4 Locations Throughout 2020 Festivals
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