Will Arena Direct Completely Replace Arena Open?

Last updated on April 29, 2025

An Offer You Can't Refuse – illus. Dallas Williams

Magic Hall-of-Famer LSV had a great question recently that a lot of competitively-minded Arena players have been asking: What's going on with Arena Opens now that Arena Directs have been showing up more frequently?

With the second Arena Direct event linked to Tarkir: Dragonstorm happening this weekend (three weeks into the “new” format), it's starting to look like the new norm for easily-accessible, high-stakes play on Arena.

Are Arena Opens Going Away?

No, Arena Opens are still on WotC's schedule, as addressed by a direct answer to LSV's post:

In fact, it hasn't really even been that long since the last Arena Open, which took place on the weekend of March 1 as part of the Aetherdrift cycle. It's just that there have been several Arena Directs over the last few months, and the pace seems to be picking up on them.

According to the April 28 MTGA Announcements, there's an upcoming Arena Open dated for the weekend of May 17-18, so Tarkir: Dragonstorm lovers will get to show off their Sealed and Draft prowess (or ability to open Dragonstorm Globes) soon enough.

In other words, it looks like there's room for both tournament types, and neither one is necessarily imposing on the other, even if the Directs are more frequent than the Opens.

What's the Difference, Exactly?

Arena Opens

Arena Opens are bigger tournaments in general, with a pretty substantial cash prize for players who do well. An Arena Open consists of two days, with the first day allowing players any number of re-entries into the event, and the second day only being open to player who achieved a certain number of wins on Day 1. Arena Opens typically run as Sealed events on Day 1 and double-header Draft events on Day 2, though the actual structure has been tweaked a few times.

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The most recent Aetherdrift Open demonstrates the typical structure, with players given the option to compete in either Best-of-1 or Best-of-3 events. In order to qualify for Day 2, players need to either win 7 rounds before 2 losses in Best-of-One, or go undefeated for 4 rounds in Best-of-3, and there's a different gem payout to players based on their total number of wins.

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Players will participate in up to two drafts on Day 2. A record of 3-1 or 4-0 in the first draft will invite them to a second, where they actually compete for cash prizes. A record of 2-2 or greater in the second draft will reward the player $500, $1,000, or $2,000 depending on their final record. This is all to say, you have to do a lot of winning to get to the real prize payout for one of these events.

Arena Directs

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Arena Directs are a bit more… direct. Players need to achieve 7 wins before their second loss in Sealed to reach the top prize, which thus far has always been Play Booster boxes (sometimes two), or a Collector Booster box. There's consolation prizing along the way if you don't reach the max reward. It's also worth noting that upcoming Arena Directs for Universes Beyond sets will be more expensive, with Final Fantasy being the first one coming up this summer.

Varying Player Sentiment

Sol Ring | Illustration by AKQA

So which of these two prize structures has been more appealing for players?

source: Voxy on X

Well, it's fair to say Arena Directs have been rocky. Reaching all the way back to the first Arena Direct events with Modern Horizons 3, there have been constant issues with players actually receiving their rewards. Some people are still reporting not receiving Duskmourn boxes they won from an event in early March. Others like ThatMillGuy on YouTube have also railed the Arena Direct system and its faults. A huge post on r/MagicArena also reported missing boxes from previous events, and received nearly 1,000 upvotes, with others commenting about having the same issue.

The sentiment seems to be that the tournaments are convenient enough to play, but that Wizards really needs to hammer out their distribution method for the prizes before the keep running these events (which they're clearly doing).

Arena Opens have been mostly positively received by the community, especially in the eyes of highly competitive players. The top prizes are much harder to achieve, but the possibility of walking away with $500-2,000 in cash while playing Magic from home is a big deal for some competitors. The hosts of Limited podcasts like Lords of Limited and Limited Resources have praised the events – hence the original probe from LSV, co-host of Limited Resources.

Looking Forward

Doubling Season | Illustration by Richard Wright

Whatever the playerbase thinks about these tournament types, it's clear that the folks behind Arena are interested in pursing both moving forward. Arena Opens have been around for a while now, and have the approval of most competitive players. Arena Directs still need to hammer out a few kinks, though it's still a rewarding experience for Arena users… who actually get their rewards.