The Phase Ladder Breakdown
https://forums.mtgarena.com/forums/threads/43386
Summary: Changes have been made to the appearance of the Phase Ladder, and some other controls.
Opinion: This seems largely cosmetic to me. I never had a problem with the phase ladder as it existed, but apparently, they had data that newer players were giving it too much attention. I won’t really know how this feels until I’ve played with it for a bit, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.
I’m glad that they clarified that they’ve added the full “Pass Turn” option, and that there’s more, explicit information in the Game Options dialogue box on how to manage your turn.
GRN Draft Bot Personalities
https://forums.mtgarena.com/forums/threads/43385
Summary: The other “bot” players in Draft queues have been changed to have preferences for various color combinations and strategies.
Opinion: Generally, I think this is a good change. Again, I’ll have to play with it for a while to see how it feels. But not having every bot at the table be a clone, should make for a more enjoyable and “lifelike” drafting experience. Not much else to say here. Also, note, that they’re asking for bot feedback to be posted in this thread. So be sure to do so!
Rank 1.0 Breakdown
https://forums.mtgarena.com/forums/threads/43384
Summary: Rankings will no longer be permanent. They’ll reset in “seasons” and you can earn rewards for achieving various rankings.
Opinion: Overall, I think these changes are positive. This system actually makes it feel like Ranking means something, and it looks like they’re addressing the issue of newbies getting roflstomped when they first start playing.
One thing I greatly appreciate here is that they’ve clarified how advancing through the Ranking works. There are four tiers total in each Ranking. You need a certain number of steps to move forward, and you receive some number of steps for each win, and lose some number of steps for each loss. Once you advance, you will not go back for the rest of the Season, which is really great. It’s all forward progress, which feels better than the older system.
Example:
Bronze. You gain 2 Steps for each win. You lose 0 Steps for each loss. You need 4 Steps to advance to the next tier. There’s a full breakdown of all the tiers in the forum thread.
The “Play” section will not longer be ranked games. You’ll be paired according to your Play MMR (Matchmaking Ranking) and Deck Weighting. This should help ensure that newer players aren’t paired against top tier decks, and highly experienced players.
Just to clarify a bit, on what the MMR is, here’s Wizards’ explanation “Matchmaking rating is our way of trying to ensure that you face the best possible opponent at any given time. What our system considers 'best' pulls from a variety of criteria that will vary depending on the format (such as rank, win/loss record, deck, etc.) player skill, and the amount of time you've spent searching for a match.”
There will be a new, No Entry/No Rewards “Ranked” play area. However, in these events, Deck Weighting won’t be taken into account. You’ll be matched solely on Rankings.
The Constructed events have been streamlined. 600g entry. If you break even, then you break even on Gold. Anything better than .500 and you earn Gold. This applies to both Best of Three and Single Game Match events.
Matchmaking Breakdown
https://forums.mtgarena.com/forums/threads/43383
Summary: The Matchmaking system is being revised, and will function differently in various events, with different ratings and Rankings for Limited and Constructed events.
Opinion: Most of the changes here seem great. I like that there will be events where the only thing that matters in the matching will be your record in that event. That feels much more like “traditional Magic” as they’re calling it, now. I’ll list out the matchmaking below, but reading the forum post will be good if you want detailed information about how the MMR works. They’re also removing the random card rewards (ICRs) from the Constructed best-of-one events.
BTW - 0.10.00.00 is their current Ranking/Matchmaking Build designation. It doesn’t mean anything beyond that.
Play (Best of One) - This is an unranked event
Current System: N/A
0.10.00.00: Open Play MMR, Games Played, Deck Weight
Traditional Play (Best of Three) - This is an unranked event
Current System: N/A
0.10.00.00: Open Play MMR
Ranked (Best of One)
Current System: N/A
0.10.00.00: Rank, Constructed MMR
Ranked Draft (Best of One)
Current System: Win/Loss Record
0.10.00.00: Rank, Win/Loss Record, Limited MMR
Traditional Draft (Best of Three)
Current System: Win/Loss Record
0.10.00.00: Win/Loss Record
Sealed (Best of One)
Current System: Win/Loss Record
0.10.00.00: Win/Loss Record, Limited MMR
Constructed Event (Best of One)
Current System: Win/Loss Record
0.10.00.00: Win/Los Record
Traditional Constructed Event (Best of Three)
Current System: Win/Loss Record
0.10.00.00: Win/Loss Record
Special Events (Momir, Pauper, Singleton, etc.)
Current System: Win/Loss Record
0.10.00.00: Win/Loss Record
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Well, those are my initial impressions on the Dec 2019 updates. Thanks for taking the time to read through my ramblings. Feel free to comment.
I’m Tweeting now @23rdPlayable. I’m also streaming on Twitch as 23rdPlayable. And, as always, you can find me on Facebook in the MTG Arena Players group, where I’m a mod.
Have fun, Play on, and Be kind to one another.
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