Last updated on January 28, 2023

Bloodcrazed Socialite - Illustration by Marta Nael

Bloodcrazed Socialite | Illustration by Marta Nael

We all want community. We’re social creatures, it’s part of being a human and yes I am starting this article off with a fake deep cliché. Get on board and let’s kick off cause it’s only gonna get worse from here.

If you’re new to MTG Arena or even just Magic in general, you’ve probably spent some time lurking online and checking out forums, blogs, podcasts, or various social media. MTG has a huge online community that is always nice, so it’s pretty easy to stumble onto a subreddit or two. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what we’ll be rating today!

Because that is a super important, super useful thing to spend all our time on. Hey, don’t blame me, you’re the one that’s reading this.

Anywho. I won’t exposition anymore, let’s just get straight to it.

MTG Arena Reddit: The Best, Most Complete, Most Totally-Serious-Absolutely-Not-Jokey Guide

WotC—our benevolent, all-seeing, all-knowing, totally-not-greedy overlords—aren’t really on the ball when it comes to helping new Arena-ers in figuring out how to do things. The number of posts on reddit of people asking why they can’t see all the events is baffling. That stupid event switch doesn’t even make any sense but they’re so bad at communicating how to use MTG Arena that people don’t even know it exists. A+ job, Wizards. Really, it’s an accomplishment to fail so hard at something so trivial. You really have to try, and it really shows.

Le'veon Sarcastic Thumbs Up

Pure Gold

And then there’s… this. Look, nothing against the people who use the forum, ya’ll are fine for the most part. And I mean… aesthetically, the forum isn’t horrible, but it’s not exactly the most informative. The Status Page is helpful, and there’s patch notes there (our piece is better, though), but that’s about all they’ve got for them.

Their troubleshooting help pretty much starts and ends at “submit a ticket,” if they say anything at all. Thanks, Wizards, that’s exactly why we have a player support forum. To be told to go somewhere else.

Arena hasn’t been out of a beta that long, so there’s still plenty of changes to be thrown around. Hell, just take a look at the fluctuating events and how we still apparently don’t understand that players want to draft the current set. Oh, and need we remind you of the whole Friends List debacle? Best not.

The point is, people need something a little bit more reliable. So, they head on over to one of the many MTG Arena subreddits to ask questions, get answers, bond with the community, and—inevitably—shitpost.

Top MTGA Subreddits Ranked by the Smartest Person in the Room (I Mean Me)

Why are you looking at me like that? There is absolutely no one who is better qualified to rate subreddits that I am. I’ve had a dormant account for like, three years, hello. I know what I’m talking about. Quiet down and get some popcorn, it’ll be fine.

I’m going to be rating these based on a few factors. First, their aesthetic appeal because really that is the most important thing, always. Yes, I am 100% basing this off the screenshots I took when I was first writing this and no, that’s not a misrepresentation at all.

Second, how useful their MTG Arena-related topics are to me in particular. I am the smartest person in the room, after all, so my opinion is the only one that matters. Obviously.

And third, how much MTG Arena-related topics pop up on the subreddit. This is, of course, the least important of the three factors and will have the least amount of weight.

#7. r/draftsim

draftsim subreddit screenshot

I need colors! Excitement! Shiny! I’m sorry but this just isn’t doing it for me. I’m also offended that none of my articles are pinned by the moderators. This is totally not why I rated r/draftsim so low—I am an impartial judge, thank you very much—it’s just something I noticed. Do with that info what you will. It absolutely won’t affect my rating what. So. Ever.

This sub, as you can image, covers all things Draftsim. You can find our articles and strategy guides as well as discussions on our draft/sealed simulator or Arena Tutor. It’s also the perfect place to head if you notice any bugs or run into some kind of issue on our site or just want to suggest a feature to improve us. It can get pretty quiet there but when people do pop in they’re pretty chill. Oh, and also did we mention that we’ve got a Discord? That’s the best segue you’re gonna get, sorry.

There's also not really much going on here other than our articles, so the content lags behind a bit. While almost all of our articles are MTG Arena-specific and we post quite a bit, there's just not enough for me to bump this up in good conscience. Sorry, Dan.

And now we’re gonna move on ‘cause it’s really weird writing about our sub as if I’m reviewing it even though I am.

#6. r/spikes

spikes subreddit screenshot

All right, so there aren’t any pictures on the top of the page, but they’ve got a face as their face! They get style points for that. This is also the only sub that did away with that obnoxious blue color scheme and went with cool, clean grey and black. I, for one, approve.

Spikes is focused on “play-to-win” MTG as their About puts it, and the posts reflect the more “serious” nature of the sub. There’s a lot more detail and the community centers around the technical side of things. You’ll find lots of threads surrounding builds with discussion on card choice, sideboarding, and how it fits in the current meta, as per the rules of this topic. Users also discuss their experiences in competitive Magic including what deck they used, how they played, and how their matches went.

There isn’t really much that’s specific to Arena. Modern and Pioneer pop up quite a bit, but to be fair so do Standard and Historic so it's still got it's uses for Arena-ers. For the most part, though, it’s just general competitive or play-to-win MTG. Which isn't my thing as I'll never be good enough to be a competitive MTG player so I'm not bitter at all.

Still, this sub is a good spot to get some feedback or find advice if you’re looking to get into the Esports side of competitive Magic or just want the glory of climbing to Mythic. So, I mean, there's that I guess.

#5. r/mtglimited

mtglimited subreddit screenshot

This was a tough one, because r/mtglimited has got one nice, big, colorful image right at the top there. Ultimately they got the shorter end of the stick because I just don’t like limited all that much. There, I said it! I’ll play it, and I don’t hate it, but I’d much prefer any constructed format. Sue me!

If you’re not familiar, this sub is focused on limited formats in MTG like draft and sealed. Posts tend to focus on feedback for draft picks, help with picks, or suggestions to improve draft or things the community wants to see happen. People are straightforward and honest which might come off as rude but really if you’re looking to improve your draft skills you need that honest, no-filter feedback so it works. Plus, sugar coating what someone did or didn’t do wrong with their draft doesn’t help anyone.

This is a mixed bag with some MTG Arena popping up, but you’ll see just as much paper Magic or even MTG Online. Still a good spot to discuss your Arena drafting if that’s what you’re after, though.

#4. r/MagicTCG

MagicTCG subreddit screenshot

This is what I’m talking about! An awesome banner, Magic’s logo for a face, colorful flairs, red post titles, teal box headers… Ah, it’s magnificent! Now this is a shiny subreddit. They’ve also got a whole list of the other MTG subreddits. There’s no hogging the spotlight over here, this sub is ready to share! I love it.

Even though this is the general MTG sub, Arena pops up here a lot. There’s plenty of generic posts about everything under the sun like MTG art, paper products, all types of articles, and questions about just about anything you could think of. There’s some complaining here as well, but less so than r/MagicArena. Maybe that says something about Arena, now that I’m thinking about it… Let’s not dwell on that.

You’ll see just as much paper Magic as Arena, and Magic Online comes up every once in a while as well. Lots of fluff here but also a wide variety of content so your asking-for-advice post won't be out of the ordinary. It’s a decent sub with its fair share of nonsense but, again, that’s the internet for ya.

#3. r/MTG

r/mtg subreddit main page

There's a new sub in town! Visually, the MTG subreddit is mostly identical to most of the others. They do use Magic's icon as their face, which I like.

This sub was locked for a while and was reopened for a new community in late 2019. There's a bit of a story here, as the sub was born from a… disagreement between r/MagicTCG's mod team and the general community. The new sub's mission statement and comments on that post shed a bit of light on the situation, but I've got the lowdown for you.

Basically, a decent chunk of the community disagreed with the policies and moderation over on the MagicTCG sub. There are stories of unfair bannings and mods being overbearing and abusing their power.

When it comes to Arena, there's a decent number of posts that pop up about it. Similar to some of the other subreddits, this one isn't focused on MTGA, but the posts that do pop up about it are pretty useful and informative. Overall, I'd say this sub has a great community vibe and some really great resources if that's what you're looking for.

#2. r/lrcast

lrcast subreddit screenshot

Next up we’ve got the Limited Resources podcast’s subreddit! They also got extra points ‘cause their podcast kinda rocks, even though they’ve got two pinned posts with no pictures taking up space at the top there. Their rules also made me giggle a bit.

Just like r/mtglimited, this sub focuses on drafting since the LRcast is about… um, well, limited. A lot of help with picks and asks for feedback on drafts here again. The community is comparable to the last sub, as well. Raw honesty that can be taken as a bit abrasive but it’s all in good spirit.

There’s quite a bit of Arena in here as most posts asking about picks or drafting advice come from there, so Arena draft-ers will be right at home. If you're into drafting (especially BO3), this is your nirvana.

#1. r/MagicArena

MagicArena subreddit screenshot

When I first took the screenshot for this sub someone has posted this awesome comic at the top and so it got mad points because that’s super cute and also hilarious. Then the post got removed and it wasn’t even the poster’s comic anyway. So now I feel bad for this poor sub and I’ve decided to keep its original first-place ranking out of pity.

This one… I almost took points away for some of the posts I’ve seen, but then I reminded myself that it’s the internet and awful behavior is in no way confined or unique to this sub and I let it go. For the most part the posts here are about anything and everything Arena, from shitposts and jokes to tales of good and bad experiences and “feedback” on the client.

There’s lots of complaining. Some of it is warranted, some of it not. I’d say most of it is pretty much just venting frustrations or complaining about something that’s actually a problem (connectivity issues, for example), while others just complain about specific decks or archetypes that they don’t like playing against. Listen, I hate playing against red aggro as much as the next person when their deck works, but can we tone it down just a little bit? Make a counter deck, get some revenge wins, and move on like the rest of us. Please.

People are generally pretty chill, here, but sometimes it gets weird. I’ve seen honest questions from what I’m pretty sure are really new players get downvoted to oblivion out of nowhere. Approach with caution.

You’re Totally Welcome

Let’s give a big round of applause for all our contestants! They did so great, didn’t they?

JJ and TJ golf clap gif

No seriously these are gold

Except for that first one… I don’t know what we’re gonna do with them.

/s

All right, all right, I’m done with the sarcastic nonsense, promise. I hope I made you crack a smile or forcefully blow air our of your nose at least once.

In all seriousness, though, each subreddit has their own redeeming qualities and their own bad eggs. But, well, that’s the internet. You gotta take the good with the bad and understand that sometimes people suck, especially when they don’t really have to take accountability for what they say. Don’t let the trolls or bullies bother you, though, most of the Magic community is great and they’ll welcome you with open arms and a couple upvotes.

If you’re not sure which subreddit is your style from my totally relevant, important reviews of them (sorry, now I’m done with the sarcasm) there’s nothing stopping you from following all of them. Maybe you spend some time lurking, checking out the posts and comments, up or downvoting some stuff, and figure out which community seems more like your tribe. Whatever tickles your fancy, it’s up to you!

With all of that said, if you’re still reading at this point, wow. I’m… kind of impressed that you read through all that sarcastic, kinda-trying-too-hard mumbo-jumbo. I’d give you a gold star but… you know what, yeah, gold star for you!

gold star

If you didn’t actually read through it all and just skipped to the conclusion for some weird reason, that star is not for you please put it down.

I’m not being sarcastic give it back.

Thanks.

Well, that about does it. I’m sure you know the drill if you’re a frequent reader of ours, but your support is always appreciated. No matter what form it comes in—whether you drop us a comment below, share your favorite article, check out our reddit sub (winkwink), or become a Patron—it’s a big deal and we’re grateful.

Speaking of comments, what do you think of the various MTG Arena-related subreddits? Which ones do you spend the most time in and what are your thoughts on those you avoid?

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