Magic: The Gathering is the grandfather of all trading card games and probably the most well-known TCG out there, but it can be a little intimidating for new players. There are several ways to get into Magic today, and some are easier than others, but above all, by far the most accessible is MTG Arena. This is Wizards of the Coast's free-to-play Magic game, available for PC, Mac, Android and iOS.

Unlike starting a collection with physical cards, playing MTG Arena won't cost anything upfront. Players can get a feel for Magic: The Gathering's playstyles, deck archetypes and the five Colors, then learn to play the more complicated formats without having to go face-to-face with real players. MTG Arena offers tutorials to help newcomers grasp the basics of the game, which reward players with full decks of cards to quickly build up a decent collection for free. Plus, as well as being accessible to beginners, MTG Arena has lots of features that make it easier for gamers with disabilities. Here's why MTG Arena is the most accessible way to play Magic there is.

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MTG Arena Gives Players a Starting Collection and Multiple Ways to Play

Magic the Gathering Arena Quick Draft format

While paper Magic has a few introductory products available, it's difficult for players to get a proper feel for the game without trying out a range of decks. There are so many different archetypes in Magic, and it's really important to experiment with multiple styles. Just because a player doesn't like one archetype, it doesn't mean they won't like another, and trying out lots of decks is a great way to get good at playing against them. MTG Arena gives players a variety of decks to start out with, including five Mono-Color and several Dual-Color decks, so players can try lots of playstyles to see which they like best before crafting cards.

MTG Arena also offers an easy way for players to learn Magic's Limited formats. Drafting is a popular Magic format that can be very intimidating for newcomers, as players have to make quick decisions when drafting cards or risk holding up the rest of the group. MTG Arena offers a Quick Draft format against bots that gives players unlimited time to make their draft picks, which is a fantastic place to learn. This takes a lot of pressure off drafting and allows players to get used to a format they might not be comfortable playing in person.

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MTG Arena's Accessibility Features Help Players With Disabilities

Izzet Phoenix deck on Magic Arena

MTG Arena also has several advantages over paper Magic: The Gathering cards that make it a lot easier to play for fans with disabilities. In MTG Arena, players can easily zoom in on cards by right-clicking them. This makes them even larger than a physical Magic card, especially on a big screen, so the text is far more readable. Additionally, MTG Arena has recognizable audio cues that make it clear what's going on in-game without having to see everything in perfect detail. Players also praise MTG Arena for its dark backgrounds, which make it easier to see exactly what they're selecting.

There are some issues here and there, however, and MTG Arena does still need to make a couple of improvements to be the most accessible it can be. Players can't turn off their opponent's special card styles, some of which make card text barely legible. Cards with longer text can also be difficult to read, even when zoomed in, and the text on some more complex Magic: The Gathering cards like Planeswalkers is tiny.

These issues go contrary to many of MTG Arena's accessibility benefits and can actually make it harder for players with disabilities to recognize certain cards, so it's crucial that MTG Arena's developers address them in a future patch. Alternatively, this could be something that modders can fix: the popular Hearthstone mod Hearthstone Access makes significant accessibility improvements to the game, so it would be great to see something similar to help make MTG Arena even easier to play for everyone. Overall though, despite a few snags, MTG Arena's accessibility features and new player experience make it the most accessible way to play Magic: The Gathering there's ever been.