Quick vs. Premier Draft on MTGA: The Key Differences Explained

Spectator Seating | Illustration by Jenn Ravenna

There are many ways to play Limited formats on MTG Arena, but Quick and Premier draft are the only two that count towards your Limited rank. What do these terms mean, though, and which is the best one for what you want? Let’s have a look at these two, similar, formats.

What’s the Difference Between Quick and Premier Draft?

Quicken | Illustration by Aleksi Briclot

In Quick Draft, you draft with seven bots in the other seats, whereas when you draft in Premier Draft (or in Traditional Draft), you’re drafting alongside seven other players. In all events, however, you play against other players in the games themselves, not just your pod.

Quick Draft’s entry price is half as much as Premier Draft’s, whether you’re paying with gold or gems. The prizes are lower in Quick Draft, however, with the prize for seven wins only giving 950 gems and two Arena packs. Premier, on the other hand, rewards 2200 gems and six packs for seven wins. The prize structure for Quick Draft is also flatter than that of Premier Draft, so it’s more “profitable” if you aren’t expecting to win as often.

Deckbuilding Differences

When it comes down to it, you probably don’t need to build your deck drastically differently for either Premier Draft or Quick Draft. If there’s one deck that’s favored/not favored by the bots, you might have to bear that in mind, particularly in formats where the fastest archetype is the most popular one. Overall, though, your deck should probably look the same if you’re building for either queue.

It's also worth noting that the bots will always pick cards in a slightly different order to the humans you’ll be drafting with in Premier Draft. This means that you’re likely to see slight differences in the cards getting passed to you between the two queues. With a couple of exceptions, however, these aren’t large differences, and they’re probably over-exaggerated in any stories you hear from other players!

Gameplay Differences

The ‘gameplay’ of the draft section is the most notable difference when comparing Quick Draft to Premier Draft, as you draft against bots in Quick Draft. This means that you can take as much time as you like in the draft section, so you can think longer about what card you should pick from a pack, or even screenshot it to go away and look for advice on a particularly tricky choice. You don’t have this luxury in Premier Draft, which is why I’d probably recommend Quick Draft to the newest players.

Once you’re actually playing games, though, there’s little difference between the two, other than maybe certain archetypes showing up more frequently depending on how well-programmed the bots are.

Is Quick or Premier Draft Harder?

It’s generally thought that Quick Draft is easier than Premier Draft, as it’s more appealing to newer players due to the reduced entry cost. This is probably true at lower ranks, but once you reach the Diamond rank and above it becomes less true. If you’re playing at Mythic against other Mythic players, you’re going to have some good competition no matter which queue you’re in.

Is Quick or Premier Draft Better?

Most Limited stalwarts will likely say that Premier Draft is better than Quick, but it really depends on what you’re after. Yes, drafting with humans provides some good advantages, is more true to paper, and you can’t plan around what the bots are taking, but Quick is also good for starting out and learning Draft.

Also, sometimes the bot pick orders allow you to try out some archetypes that you wouldn’t normally be able to. I remember enjoying Quick Draft in Innistrad: Crimson Vow, as I could more reliably draft the toughness-matters deck, which rarely came together in Premier Drafts.

How Can You Practice and Get Better at Limited?

There are many ways to get better at Limited Magic, including playing more and learning through experience, learning the specific MTG set you are drafting and what cards to look out for, and following some of the many content creators out there. There are some really great resources, many of which can be found on our Podcasts article.

There’s also, of course, practicing here on Draftsim, as well as our Arena Tutor plugin, which is another great resource.

Practice on Draftsim

Running back-to-back drafts on Arena will probably mean you run out of resources quickly, especially if you’re just starting out. Luckily, here at Draftsim we have a Draft Simulator (who’d have guessed it???).

This simulator is programmed with pretty much any Draft set you can think of and, a bit like Quick Draft, it’s programmed with simulated players who’ll take cards for their own decks. These bots are regularly updated with information from our experts on the best cards in the set and when to take them, so it’s as true to the real experience as you can get. If you haven’t had a go with it, there’s no harm in giving it a try. You can even use it to simulate Sealed.

Another bonus of our simulator is that you can use it before a set releases, helping you get that extra advantage early in a format.

Use Arena Tutor

Arena Tutor, an Overwolf app for Arena developed by Draftsim, is another way you can improve your gameplay in Limited (or any format on Arena). The card ratings that power Draftsim give you suggestions on your picks in the draft, so if you’re stuck between two picks it can nudge you in the right direction. It also tracks your stats, so you can see how you do with things like the different decks in a format. It’s a very powerful tool, and one that’s worth at least a try.

Draftsim Tier Lists

If you’re really not sure about some cards in a set, checking out a tier list, like the ones we compile here, is a pretty good way to get to grips with a format. Whilst you’ll often want to build a deck of cards that synergise well together, the raw power of individual cards can also be important. Tier lists can be a good, quick overview of what you want to be looking for in a pack, and you can get a lot of context in a short period of time.

Spikes Academy

If you’re wanting to put a bit more into your Limited skill, there are courses available on Spikes Academy for you to level up your gameplay. In particular for 40-card afficionados, you might want to check out Ben Stark’s Limited course that’s offered there.

Limited Communities

It’s one thing to try and learn about a set from reading static articles or theories online. It’s quite another to get involved with the discussion and try to figure out a format as a group. There are some great communities for this out there, like our own Draftsim Discord server, as well as Discord servers offered by Limited content creators like Lords of Limited and Draft Chaff. I definitely feel you get more when the conversation goes both ways, as well as some of the fun and banter you can get from seeing peoples’ whacky brews.

Wrap Up

Backdraft Hellkite | Illustration by Rudy Siswanto

I hope that’s helped you understand the difference between Quick Draft and Premier Draft, as well as who each format might be best for. Quick Draft does get quite a lot of hate, but it certainly has its place in the formats offered on Arena.

What’s your thoughts between the two formats? Do you have a preference, and if so, to which one? Be sure to let us know down in the comments, and tell us how Arena Tutor has helped you in your Arena gameplay. See you in the Draft queues, no matter which one you join!