the Gathering Arena is Having Server Issues

Magic: the Gathering Arena has disabled the game’s popular Draft modes amid issues with the game’s matchmaking servers, affecting multiple different queues within the online TCG. The digital version of the beloved trading card game gives players a wide array of ways to play, between both its typical constructed formats and sealed events. Players can try out everything from Standard to the Commander-like Brawl format in Magic: the Gathering Arena, alongside set-focused “limited” queues for popular expansions like Avatar: the Last Airbender and Final Fantasy. However, Draft easily serves as Arena‘s most lucrative limited format.

Players looking to try out Drafts in Magic: the Gathering Arena can enter by using either the free in-game Gold currency or premium Gems. Arena typically offers a wide variety of Draft experiences for its players, between drafts focused around new sets and “chaos drafts” combining multiple expansions. Wizards of the Coast has even included physical prizes for its online drafts, with the Arena Direct series allowing players to win real-life Magic: the Gathering booster boxes for performing well in Arena drafts. Now, players looking to queue up for Draft are having some serious issues finding games.

Magic: The Gathering’s Cards ‘May’ Change Due to MTG Arena, and That’s a Problem

Magic: The Gathering underwent some changes with Edge of Eternities, with a popular card being “nerfed” on account of MTG Arena.

Magic: the Gathering Arena is Having Serious Matchmaking Issues

Magic: the Gathering Arena has temporarily disabled its draft queues amid ongoing issues with the online game’s servers. The outage is reportedly connected to “matchmaking” according to the official post from Wizards of the Coast, with some players claiming that they cannot even save their Magic draft decks. Fans of Magic: the Gathering Arena have also reported that the ongoing issues with the game’s Draft mode extend to other areas of the game as well, with matchmaking queues seeing connectivity issues throughout the game as a whole. Wizards of the Coast did not provide a hard time frame for how long Arena‘s draft queue will be disabled, nor whether full server downtime will be necessary.

The ongoing server issues come as Magic: the Gathering Arena is in the midst of a major draft event for the game. The newest iteration of the game’s Arena Direct events kicked off on December 26, with fans able to duke it out in limited formats to win real prizes. The event is centered around the newly released Avatar: the Last Airbender expansion, with players able to win full Play Booster boxes for achieving at least six victories. The downtime has seen some players asking for extensions to the current Arena Direct, with the server issues potentially causing significant downtime during the event.

Image via Wizards of the Coast

Magic: the Gathering’s Crossovers Have Revolutionized the Game

Magic: the Gathering has given fans plenty of excitement throughout the year with some big changes hitting the game. 2025 saw Wizards of the Coast expand its Universes Beyond crossovers significantly throughout the year, introducing the first Standard-legal crossover set with Final Fantasy. Magic: the Gathering followed up Final Fantasy‘s success with two more major collaborations, including its first Marvel set with Spider-Man and Nickelodeon’s Avatar: the Last Airbender. Magic: the Gathering has also teased lots more on the horizon in 2026, mixing both crossovers and in-universe sets.

Magic: the Gathering is set to hit the ground running in 2026, already revealing the first new expansion scheduled to launch next year. Lorwyn Eclipsed will serve as Magic‘s first set of 2026, hinting at a plethora of Faerie cards alongside the five remaining “shock lands.” Crossover sets will make up the brunt of Magic: the Gathering‘s 2026 releases, introducing a variety of collaborations ranging from The Hobbit and Marvel to entirely new properties like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Trek. Fans can only hope that Wizards of the Coast is able to resolve Magic: the Gathering Arena‘s server troubles quickly and without more issues.