In most Limited events, the player keeps all the cards drafted and adds them to their library, and there are generally prizes based on wins that may give booster packs or in-game currency as a reward.

[3] Arena follows the popular freemium paradigm, allowing users to play for free with optional microtransactions.

In addition to regular cards from the set, a player may also receive "Wildcards" of any rarity in a booster pack or as a reward.

[10][11] With the addition of the Core 2021 set in July 2020, Arena was also updated to include support for the new "Jumpstart" booster mode, themed 20-card packs designed to allow a player to quickly get into the game.

[12] Because of its digital format, Arena has also run limited events and game modes, bringing back previously-banned cards from physical play, but with rebalanced abilities or costs to address the prior reasoning for their ban.

Vice president of design Aaron Forsythe and game director Jay Parker said they were using this release to test the waters with a card set targeting the players of Magic that played exclusively in the digital space, keeping to relatively tame mechanics to see how players reacted to this.

The goal of this engine was to make a system that could handle current and future rulesets for Magic to support their plan to remain concurrent with the physical releases.

The GRE provided means to implement per-card level rules and effects, allowing it to be expandable.

[26] While Arena will continue to be available directly from Wizards of the Coast, it was also released on the Epic Games Store in early 2020, and a macOS client was introduced in June 2020.

Brett Andress, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, predicted Magic: The Gathering Arena could add as much as 98 cents a share in incremental earnings to results by 2021 (which was at least a 20% boost).

The $10 million prize pool will be equally divided between the traditional tabletop game and the new digital version Arena.

[36] In 2019, Wizards of the Coast unveiled a new esports program which started with a special Mythic Invitational event and a $1 million prize pool at PAX East, in Boston, on the weekend of March 28–31.

[37] The event was held in three double-elimination brackets using a new MTG format described as "Duo Standard" requiring two complete decks with no sideboarding.

On February 16, 2020 Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa won the 2019 Magic World Championship.

[39][40] On June 18, 2021, WotC had announced[41] that the prize pool for the Magic World Championship XXVII (October 8–10) will have a new total of $250,000[42] which is 750k lower than the previous year of $1 million.

The Magic World Championship XXVII was streamed live using Twitch, allowing viewers to see both players' hands simultaneously on the Arena client.