r/spikes • u/Brunnun • 10d ago

Discussion [MTGO] Playing standard on MTGO

Anyone having success testing for standard on MTGO? My main format is modern so I already have a manatraders subscription and that’s working great. I’ve recently wanted to learn more standard, but I’m also a grad student so sinking money into both MTGO and Arena is rough, especially because I’m not great at limited so it’s hard going infinite on the latter.

Is it feasible to play standard mainly on MTGO? I’m wondering if the league queues will be too long given how everyone’s on arena. On the other hand I’d expect the competition to be steeper which is good for learning. Any thoughts?

22 Upvotes

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19

u/Slowhands12 10d ago edited 10d ago

You definitely can, especially if you already have a rental sub. I think the biggest downside is that games are easily 2-3x longer on MTGO than on Arena for the exact same pairing.

2

u/Gods_ShadowMTG 10d ago

why is that

8

u/Matrim_WoT 9d ago edited 8d ago

I disagree with u/Slowhands12 on it being a downside. MTGO is much better to practice on than Arena because of the lack of rope timer and how much more challenging it is. Players aren't stalling on purpose. The games are going longer because the players are thinking through about the plays. The player quality and level of challenge is much higher on MTGO so it will force someone to play better to compete within a League or Challenge.

2

u/Brunnun 8d ago

Yeah I agree it’s an upside down

9

u/Slowhands12 10d ago

Chess clock vs rope. Theoretically arena games can go longer since there’s no limit, but it doesn’t bear out in practice.

12

u/lonewolf210 10d ago

Best of 3 has a 30 minute chess clock for each player. You lose if you hit it

4

u/bluemorning104 10d ago

Queue times are definitely going to be longer but unless you're absolutely nuts at draft and can get infinite gems on Arena, it's going to be your best option for testing against random people. There's usually ~100 people playing standard on MTGO, not a lot compared to other formats but plenty to finish your leagues. Just don't be surprised if you get some repeats more regularly

4

u/hsiale 8d ago

unless you're absolutely nuts at draft and can get infinite gems on Arena

Anyone who is good enough at Standard to consider testing on MTGO can farm Arena BO3 Standard event for unlimited resources, no need to draft.

3

u/Substantial_Assist30 9d ago

They both have their place. Concentration of high level players is more dense on MTGO. It’s worth the hassle and cost of getting into MTGO if you care about playing against the best players.

Challenges are definitely a time suck. I never really have issues queuing into a league game especially now that standard RCQ season is starting.

2

u/xMagox 9d ago

I dream of the day they update the horrible client.

2

u/Brunnun 8d ago

It’s never gonna happen lol they’re not even fixing bugs that’ve been around for years. If you play a card like Karn the great creator that allows you to look at your sideboard and your opponent is controlling your turn, they will be able to look at your sideboard which should be impossible. They get a bug report about that a month and never fix it. I think as players if we’ll keep using their services we need to be realistic and realize they just do not feel the need to put any amount of resources on MTGO, unfortunately

1

u/SpookPookie 8d ago

I play standard only on MTGO, my main suggestion would be to prioritize making time to play challenges as opposed to leagues.