MTG Arena on Mac OS: Where to Get It

Last updated on May 15, 2026

Mirrormade | Illustration by Volkan Baga

Mac Magic players went through a lot of hassle and technical wrangling as Magic Arena released. I didn't have my MacBook Air when MTG Arena became available on June 25, 2020! But just playing games with other players at that time meant a world of sanity.

Skip forward to today when video calls are a regular part of school life, and I log on to Arena just as often as I check my social media. If I looked in the mirror and told myself of 10 years ago, this would be possible I wouldn't have believed it.

Enough about me, let's get to playing Magic on a Mac!

Where to Get and How to Install Mac's Arena

Into the Story | Illustration by Jason Rainville

First, make sure you have the hardware to run Magic Arena and you won't need top of the line gaming hardware.

Minimum System Requirements

• Operating System: macOS 10.12 (Sierra)
• Processor: 2.6 GHz Core i5 (I5-4278U)
• RAM: 4GB
• Graphics: HD Graphics 5000

I've stalled long enough, though. As I mentioned above, you can get MTG Arena for your Mac from the Epic Games Store. Let’s get to the install!

#1. Download the Epic Games Launcher

The Epic Games Launcher opens you up to a world of games, not just Magic Arena.

#2. Move the Icon to Applications

Once the installer has downloaded, drag and drop the Epic Games icon into your Applications folder and it will install and start. If it doesn’t automatically start once it’s installed, double-click the icon in your Applications folder.

#3. Search Epic Games for MTG Arena

Type “Magic The Gathering Arena” into the search bar, download, and add it to your “Library”.

#4. Log Into or Create a Wizards Account

After you’ve either created or logged into your existing account, the installation will start. When that completes you can play Magic and should expect at least one update per month.

That’s it! Enjoy playing MTG Arena on your Mac. All the shortcuts, tips, and tricks for MTGA for Windows also work on the Mac version.

MTG Arena in the Finder

Once you’ve got MTG Arena installed on your Mac, you’ll be able to find the game by looking for it in the “Finder” window, like so:

You can start up MTGA without launching the Epic Games app after you first install it. It’s tucked away under:

Users → Shared → Epic Games → MagicTheGathering → MTGA

Minimize Overheating Your Mac

Many say that Mac computers aren’t the best gaming computers. I also know that MTGA can be a bit of a RAM-hog. This combination can cause your Mac to start overheating pretty fast. There are a couple of things you can do to pre-emptively help your Mac deal with it.

First, set your quality level to “Custom” and match the settings shown in the screenshot above. This takes away some of the animations and visual beauty of the game but will improve the way your Mac can handle the heat.

Second, adjust the graphics resolution to a lower setting. It does have the slight disadvantage that the entire Arena screen also becomes smaller, making things harder to see. Test a few resolutions on your screen, and be sure you can work with stacks of cards from a controls perspective.

Where to Find the MTGA Log File

Sometimes MTG Arena game crashes, displays bugs, or disconnects all of a sudden. WotC may ask for your log files, but where do you find them? It's thankfully pretty simple. Just head to the file path:

Users → [Your Mac’s name] → Library → Logs → DiagnosticReports

The log file will be titled with the year, month, day, what type of instance, and on what computer the crash occurred.

Let’s hope you won’t need to use this too often and can focus on immersing yourself in the wonders of MTG Arena. But, if you do, now you know exactly where to find the data you need!

What is the Difference Between Playing MTG Arena on Windows and Mac?

The gameplay for MTG Arena is about the same on Mac and Windows. The keyboard shortcuts are a little different and the ability to use more 3rd Party software like Arena Tutor is enough to tip the scale in favor of Windows for some users.

Can I Use My MTGA Wizards Account on Both Mac and Windows?

Yes, the Arena account is the same Wizards account you can use on Mac, Windows, and the Companion App for events.

Where Do I Report Magic Arena Issues on Mac?

You can report Magic Arena issues on Mac to Wizards through their feedback page.

Do I Need to Use the Epic Game Store to Play Arena on Mac?

The Epic game store is the smoothest and most consistent way to play Magic Arena on a Mac, but there are a couple of alternatives.

What Alternate Methods Can I Do to Play Arena?

Metamorphic Alteration | Illustration by Livia Prima

Steam

Steam is a platform for playing lots of games on your computer beyond Magic Arena. It can take care of the nitty gritty stuff so you can play games smoothly, you do need to get through the nitty gritty of installing Steam in the first place though.

Mobile

You don't need a desktop to play Magic Arena, tablets and mobile phones are capable of playing Magic, meaning the card game is more accessible than it's ever been in it's 30+ year history.

MTG Online on Mac

You basically need to use a virtual desktop to play MTG Online on a Mac. Parallel desktop software can let you get a few games in, but be prepared to restart applications every few games.

Think of MTGO as MTG Arena’s older brother. It’s an online client released back in 2002, and you can play virtually all of Magic’s formats with nearly the entire catalog of Magic’s card history including amazing reprints of the Power 9 in the digital-only set Vintage Masters.

Are you a fan of Commander? Pauper? Modern? Vintage Cube? Legacy Cube? Legacy? Then MTG Online is perfect for you, as it features all of these and plenty more. Other than formats, there are a few more differences between Arena and Online. Take a look:

• Cards are bought using real world money which is exchanged for tickets or “tix”
• You can trade cards with other players
• It’s free to download, with a one-time registration fee of $4.99
• The look and playstyle is closer to IRL magic and doesn’t feature animations or sound effects
• There are no daily goals or ladders to climb
• Wildcards don’t exist

Wrap Up

Aethermage's Touch | Illustration by Randy Gallegos

I hope this helps you play more Magic on your Mac. If you've got another Apple device, MTGA is available for iOS, so if you can handle the setup, there are lots of options to play MTGA digitally.

What's your tip for playing Arena on a Mac? Ready to meet your Arena tour guide? Hate waiting on downloads? Try your hand at drafting right now with our draft simulator, it only needs a web browser.

See you next time!

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