In recent years, esports betting has become a significant part of online gambling, and now the spotlight is on tradable card games. This attention is from opportunists seeking to take advantage of the tournaments and in-game assets in the games. There are also concerned parties and government regulators concerned it is unlicensed gambling and its effect on children. One of the games under scrutiny is Magic: The Gathering Arena.

What is Magic: The Gathering Arena?

It is the digital version of Magic the Gathering that was first released in 1991, and since 1996 it has also been played at a professional level. At the base level, it involves two players going head to head with a deck of 60 cards, and at times, it could be 40. The players all start with a life level of 20 and draw the first seven cards from their respective decks. They then set out to kill each other by playing spells, creatures, and other items from their deck. Once the first seven picks are done, they keep taking one per turn until the end. In the digital version, the download is free, but you have in-app purchases for gems and golds, which in turn you use to buy booster packs, enter certain events, and certain cosmetics. These purchases enhance your experience but are not mandatory for the gameplay. You can also earn gold by completing in-game quests, taking part in special events, and winning matches.

Is MTGA Gambling?

The company has gone to great lengths to differentiate its game from any form of betting and gambling. Its website strongly forbids any betting or reward on the outcome of the matches within its platform. Further, you can argue that winning is primarily dependent on skill. While there is an element of luck in the options you pick, you still need skill and strategies in aspects, including the following:

• deck building
• side boarding
• bluffing
• mind games
• the theory of the gameplay
• situational context

Specialists from the Casinotop website, who create reviews of the best casinos, have determined that the whole playing structure does not technically constitute the definition of gambling. Firstly, when competing against each other, you do not wager or stake a certain amount of reward that becomes the winner's property. Secondly, the argument that purchasing booster packs can be gambling in the hope the items have a higher value does not take place in the gameplay environment. It is dependent on a secondary market for tradable cards. However, the digital version of the game does not have any trading of items within its platform. In all game versions, each card holds the same monetary value regardless of its rarity status. The rewards awarded to winners are not from betting stakes. A player only pays specific entry fees, often in the form of gems. And the tournament only seeks to recognize and rewards fair play, competition, and tactical thinking.

Similarities with Gambling

However, even with all the brand defending from the company, there is no denying that, at the very least, the game falls in a grey area. The associations with gambling are in two main areas: tournaments and loot boxes. If you consider that gambling as taking a risk while hoping for the desired result, then yes, it can be considered gambling. That is because participants are incentivized by the rewards offered in tournaments, and as such, they spend money hoping they assemble the right set of decks to further their gameplay against the opponents. Since the contents of any pack are not known, it is nothing more than a gambling deck. The concept of a loot box comes from mobile platform video games where players can spend effort and money to earn a sort of treasure chest whose exact internal contents you do not know, and thus you could strike gold or find nothing of value. In Magic, the gold you are after is the rare item that on the secondary market has a higher value (though not one assigned by the developer). Even if you do not sell them, they can significantly influence your chances of winning in a game. However, when purchasing the packs, the contents are highly randomized. It is similar to some Casino Classic games like poker, blackjack, and roulette, where there is a significant degree of the unknown. You could purchase 6 booster packs and still fail to get the desired rare card.

How can the company incorporate gambling?

There is an obvious argument to having Wizards of the Coast add a betting element to their game. That's because several other third parties are already doing it, and the opportunity for growth is only growing further. If the company wants to have control in this new frontier, it will have to look into ways to incorporate betting on its platform or collaborate with another platform. One way it can achieve this is through the introduction of wagering matches. You could have mini-tournaments all around the platforms with head-to-head matches and Swiss-style tournaments where players stake a set buy-in amount that the winner takes as the prize. The company could also partner with casinos to integrate the game on their platform so that its fans who are into gambling can have the best of both worlds.

Conclusion

For the time being, Wizard of the Coast has managed to keep its product from the reaches of most legislation. it argues that opening a booster package with unknown contents does not make the game gambling. However, certain countries like Germany have started to regard its tournaments called Grand Prix as gambling, and more parents are getting worried about the effect of loot boxes on their children. What is given is that one way or another, gambling is slowly finding its way there, and the company may end up paying penalties for a market it does not earn from nor control. As for gambling enthusiasts, you can still bet on these games on several platforms on the internet.