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Wizards of the Coast announced an upcoming community event for Magic: The Gathering Arena, with an interesting format. Gladiator is coming soon as a limited-time event for the digital version of MTG, and it will feel familiar to Singleton and Commander fans while certainly being its own casual format.
The next big community event is coming soon, and while it’s unclear if Magic: The Gathering Arena will return to Gladiator or keep it around as a format, the event is coming next week, and here’s what fans need to know about it.
What is Magic: The Gathering Arena’s upcoming Gladiator event?
Gladiator is a casual Magic: The Gathering format and is essentially an extension of Singleton. This particular format began as a way to play Magic: The Gathering Arena in a new way in tabletop arrangements, adding a little bit of extra deckbuilding challenges and helping casual players that lack huge collections of cards.
Players need to have a deck of at least 100 cards to play Gladiator, and they can only use each card once. There are exceptions, of course. Basic Lands can be used without limit, as can cards that state players can use them unlimited times.
Gladiator is typically played in a best-of-three format and does not allow a sideboard. It’s a format where players can build practically whatever style of deck and compete. This particular format is coming to Magic: The Gathering next week.
Details on Magic: The Gathering Arena’s Gladiator event
- Dates: August 11, 8 am PT - August 15, 8 am PT
- Format: Gladiator
- Structure: Play until the event ends
- Entry: Free
- Rewards: 1 win - 1 rare individual card reward (ICR), 2 wins - 1 rare ICR
In casual, tabletop MTG, there are no banned cards other than what a group of friends agree upon. In this event, all cards in their original format (so no Alchemy cards) are permitted in decks, with some exceptions.
A small list of cards known to break the game, or feel unfun/overpowered, will be banned from the event. It's not a lengthy list, but it’s essential to be aware of.
MTG Arena banned cards for this event
- Field of the Dead
- Natural Order
- Nexus of Fate
- Oko, Thief of Crowns
- Teferi, Time Raveler
As in many Magic: The Gathering events, Wizards of the Coasts understands that not everyone has an idea of what to build or is new and does not have the cards to build a solid deck. In this case, they have had several members of their community craft decks that players can use for free. The following is a list of these decks and the players that created them.
Community decks for Magic: The Gathering Arena
- Azorius Control – SupremePhantom (He/Him)
- Belzenlok Combo – JokerBoney (They/Them)
- Boros Control – Aiamethyst (She/Her)
- Esper Reanimator – ElleMNOP (She/Her)
- Gruul Monsters – Wooormy (He/Him)
- Jund Sacrifice – BenjaminWheeler (He/Him)
- Mono-Blue Skies – BenjaminWheeler (He/Him)
- Mono-Red Aggro – DwaginFodder (She/Her)
- Mono-White Aggro – Rootpotato (They/Them)
- Rakdos Midrange – Blightning (They/Them)
The event won’t start until next week, but Magic: The Gathering Arena’s latest event should be fun for all players. Gladiator is a fun casual mode, and while it may feel tricky to build a deck for from the outset, it’s a fun way to play the game and perhaps unlock some great cards.
