The 5 Best Applications to Record Your MTG Arena Games

Last updated on January 22, 2025

Tamiyo's Notebook | Illustrated by Randy Vargas

Content creation comes in all shapes and forms, and it’s a challenge for video content creators to know the best equipment, software, and hardware to use to give the best experience to your audience.

Whether you’re just starting in the business or you're a tenured Magic content creator looking for different alternatives, today’s your lucky day! I’ll go over the top five software alternatives you can use to record your game, with a bonus app exclusively tailored for MTG Arena.

Intrigued by what these are? Let’s dive right into them!

What Is Game Recording Software?

Cursed Recording | Illustration by Kim Sokol

Game recording software is a program or application that records video and audio from a computer or gaming console while you play a game. It captures your gameplay as a separate video file, which you can share with others later on.

#5. NVIDIA ShadowPlay

I wanted to start with an application I’m familiar with, thanks to my current setup and computer specifications: NVIDIA ShadowPlay.

ShadowPlay uses your GPU to handle video recording directly, ensuring minimal impact on performance while running smoothly in the background—true to its name. It delivers high-quality video recordings that match your screen resolution, supporting up to 4K resolution at 60 FPS. You can also choose from multiple recording modes, including manual recording, automatic highlights, and the Instant Replay feature, which lets you save the last few minutes of gameplay with a single keystroke.

What I particularly like about ShadowPlay is its intuitive design. With simple keyboard shortcuts, you can start and stop recordings, toggle Instant Replay, or choose what to capture—whether it’s gameplay, your desktop, or a combination. It also supports additional features like taking screenshots, capturing highlights, and applying customizable video filters using NVIDIA Freestyle for enhanced visuals.

ShadowPlay integrates seamlessly with streaming platforms, enabling you to broadcast your gameplay directly to Twitch or YouTube with minimal setup. It even includes an overlay for real-time system performance monitoring, so you can keep an eye on your GPU, CPU, and FPS stats while playing.

The only drawback is that it requires a NVIDIA hardware setup, specifically a GeForce GTX or RTX graphics card. Without compatible NVIDIA components, the software isn’t accessible. However, ShadowPlay is a solid recording option for those within the NVIDIA ecosystem.

#4. OBS Studio / Streamlabs

Since you can integrate Streamlabs into OBS Studio as a plugin, I wanted to talk about both in conjunction rather than having two separate sections.

OBS Studio is a free, open-source software that excels in screen recording and live streaming due to its robust customization options.

It's flexible and allows users to set up microphones, transitions, banners, layouts, and overlays, making it a versatile tool for creating professional-quality content. As it happens, this is what I primarily use to stream on Twitch or record Magic Online content.

Streamlabs, as a plugin, enhances the OBS experience by adding user-friendly features tailored explicitly for streamers. These include customizable widgets like donation alerts, chat overlays, and viewer counters, as well as pre-built themes and layouts. Streamlabs also supports advanced features like cloud backup and performance optimization, helping to improve the streaming experience for both creators and their audiences.

The biggest challenge with this setup is its steep learning curve. OBS Studio isn’t particularly intuitive, and configuring it can be daunting for beginners. Incorrect setups might result in issues like system crashes, stream lag, or audio-video sync problems (you have no idea how much footage I lost trying to configure things right).

While Streamlabs simplifies some of this complexity, it doesn’t eliminate it, requiring users to invest time in learning and troubleshooting.

It’s worth noting that file sizes vary a lot based on your computer hardware capacity, which might be a bit of a downside in some cases.

Despite this, the upside is enormous. OBS Studio and Streamlabs offer unmatched flexibility and customization, allowing you to create a pretty good recording or streaming experience.

#3. BandiCam

If you’re looking for a straightforward and reliable game recording tool, BandiCam is a strong contender that’s been a favorite among gamers for years.

One of its standout features is its ability to record videos at resolutions up to 4K Ultra HD while keeping file sizes relatively small thanks to its advanced compression technology. Despite this, the video quality remains sharp, making it perfect for capturing every detail of your gameplay.

BandiCam also offers options for recording not just games but your entire desktop, specific windows, or even external devices like webcams and consoles, giving it versatility beyond gaming. For gamers, the customizable frame rate and ability to overlay FPS counters during recordings are great tools for performance monitoring.

The downside? BandiCam isn’t free—though it offers a trial version, the full software requires a one-time payment. Additionally, the free version applies a watermark to your recordings, which might be a deal-breaker for some users.

Still, its intuitive interface and robust features make it a great pick for anyone wanting a simple, efficient recording solution.

#2. Twitch

I know Twitch isn’t typically the first platform that comes to mind for video recording, but it does include a built-in stream recording feature, which you can enable through your Twitch Dashboard.

This feature automatically saves your broadcasts, giving you an easy way to revisit or repurpose your streams.

The recording quality depends largely on your computer’s performance and internet upload speed, as Twitch captures your broadcast in real time.

Once enabled, Twitch’s recording feature allows you to store your streams for up to 7 days for standard users, 14 days for Affiliates, or up to 60 days for Twitch Partners, Turbo, and Prime users. This gives you ample time to download your streams, edit out dead air or less engaging moments, and repurpose the content for platforms like YouTube—a common practice among streamers to maximize their reach and engagement.

The main limitation of Twitch’s recording feature is its dependency on your live stream quality. If your stream experiences lag, dropped frames, or poor resolution, these issues carry over to the recording. Additionally, Twitch doesn’t offer advanced video editing tools, so you’ll need separate software to polish your videos.

Twitch’s built-in recording feature is a convenient starting point for new streamers or anyone looking to archive their gameplay without investing in additional recording software.

#1. MTG CardFlow

What if there were an app designed specifically for Magic: The Gathering Arena that could record your matches without being limited by your hardware? Enter CardFlow, an innovative application developed by the MTG Circle Team, an offshoot of MTGA Codes – they’re sponsoring this article, but I wouldn't place them at #1 if they didn't deserve it.

CardFlow lets you effortlessly record all your MTGA games and store them securely in the cloud. I’ve been testing it for a while, and it’s incredibly lightweight on system resources. The app activates only when you’re playing games, staying idle with minimal memory consumption when unused, so there’s virtually no toll on your system’s performance.

The app is completely free to use and includes a sharing feature that lets you send your processed gameplay videos to friends. This makes it an excellent tool for players who want to analyze their matches, showcase epic plays, or simply share games with the MTG community.

The main limitation is that CardFlow doesn’t provide a copy of your recordings by default. Instead, all matches are stored in the cloud, like Twitch’s VOD system. However, this isn’t necessarily a downside. Cloud storage lets you selectively download only the matches you want to keep, making it easier to curate and edit your best games for highlight reels or YouTube uploads. Just keep in mind that their CloudFlare storage only allows videos to be stored for up to 30 days.

In addition to the main focus on game recording, the MTG Circle website offers extra features, such as tools for organizing your videos, tracking match history, and accessing gameplay stats and VODS from among other players using the tool. Combined, these enhancements make CardFlow and MTG Circle more than just a recording app or a simple MTG-dedicated website.

Does MTG Arena Record Games?

While MTG Arena tracks logs of your games locally, it doesn’t have the ability to record games on video. MTGO has a similar option where you can at least see the replays, but the best you can do with what’s provided by MTG Arena by enabling detailed logs is to simply try and recreate games based on actions, a feature that only a handful of apps can do… like Arena Tutor!

Additional Tracking: Arena Tutor

Arena Tutor may not be the video recording tool you’re looking for, but it tracks enough details of your games, so it’s almost just as good!

One of its standout features is its in-game overlay, which offers live stats during matches, like your deck’s remaining cards, win rates, and probabilities of drawing specific cards.

The app is lightweight and easy to use, making it ideal for players who want to focus on strategy and analysis without the extra steps of recording and editing gameplay. Plus, it’s completely free, with optional features to remove ads.

Among its other features, you can explore trending decks in different Arena formats, check how many wildcards you need to complete your deck, track your collection, and view deck statistics. Arena Tutor has many other tools designed to help you improve at the game, including a Draft helper for Limited enthusiasts.

Even if you’re just looking to have fun, it includes milestone badges you can earn for unique achievements, like winning with only 1 life remaining or building the largest army. Hopefully, these badges will one day be shareable on social media to show off to your friends!

All in all, if your goal is to enhance your gameplay or better understand your performance, Arena Tutor is a must-have. While it’s not a substitute for a video recording tool, its robust tracking and analytical capabilities make it an indispensable companion for serious MTGA players.

Wrap Up

Field Research | Illustration by PINDURSKI

As you can see, there are plenty of options when it comes to recording software, but ultimately, the one that’s “the best” is the one that suits your needs the most.

In my case, I will keep OBS as the primary way to record my MTGO matches, while CardFlow is the option I was looking for to record all my MTG Arena games without worrying about my CPU and GPU consumption.

Which one of these did you like the most? Are there any other recording software options I may have overlooked? Let us know in the comments!

As always, it’s been a pleasure writing about this and researching tools that may be useful for you in the future. For more MTG content, follow us on Twitter/X and join our Discord server.

Take care, and see you next time!

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