Wizards of the Coast is making a huge change to MTG Arena Historic card redemption just weeks before the format launches on the digital platform, reverting the format’s proposed wildcard redemption system to a one-for-one exchange like the Standard format currently has rather than the two-for-one setup that was initially announced. MTG Arena is adding Historic to help support players who had concerns over their Standard cards rotating out of the format and being worthless - in some games, like Hearthstone, older cards can be converted into currency, but MTG Arena has no such system.
While MTG Arena Historic is a huge addition to the platform that could eventually see the format getting adopted for major tournament play, the announcement of its existence was met with harsh backlash when it was revealed Wizards of the Coast planned to feature a wildcard redemption system that was more expensive than the one already in place for Standard. Fans argued that such a change didn’t make sense - it was already a format that was being introduced because players would have cards they didn’t have a use for, so why penalize them for needing more of them when they had more limited use than Standard cards?
That feedback has been received and implemented, however, as Wizards of the Coast announced today that MTG Arena Historic card redemption will function just like it currently does for formats in the game. The company also announced some other major changes to how Historic is going to play out as a format on MTG Arena. Instead of releasing a glut of new Historic cards into MTG Arena this November, Wizards appears to be pacing things out more, and instead of doing it as a paid content addition, Wizards has announced it will be examining how to introduce these cards currently. Ranked Historic will become a competitive play format in December as a best-of-three queue, while a best-of-one, unranked play queue will be introduced on September 26.
Finally, Wizards of the Coast also indicated that MTG Arena Historic will get more support than just Historic sets being released as 45-pack bundles. Future Historic boosters will have the full range of purchase options available when they’re introduced. Most of the announcement is simply reverting proposed changes to Historic format monetization back to what’s already been working on MTG Arena.
MTG Arena Historic is set to become a major player on the digital platform, adding longevity and variety to the way players can approach the Wizards of the Coast esports endeavor. With a lot riding on Historic, it makes sense for Wizards of the Coast to be highly-attuned to player desires, especially pre-launch - a healthy Historic format could create long-term investment in the MTG Arena platform that wouldn’t have been possible with just rotating Standard formats, and it could spill over into paper Magic: The Gathering should it prove popular enough, too.
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Source: Wizards of the Coast
