After playing MTGA for 3 months as F2P, here are the things I wish I knew when I started:
Get free codes
This link will give you the codes and show you how to use them
These free codes will give you XP, coins, card styles, and free packs to get you started on your journey.
Complete the color challenges
Open the packs after you complete the colour challenge and the deck quests i.e have the 5 mono colour decks and 10 starter decks in your collection as they only add to your collection if you do not have the cards already. Also do not open the latest set packs (BRO) (see why below)
Win at least 4 times a day and complete at least 1 quest a day
4 wins gives you 550 gold and 100xp. The gold output drops dramatically afterwards so on a time perspective it’s more optimal to complete 4 wins. But if you’re bored, aim for 15 wins. Complete 1 quest a day at least as you get 1 new quest a day and can have a max of 3 quests. Quests come in either 750 gold or 500 gold. Complete the 750 gold quests first and reroll 500 gold quests. (click on the 500 gold quest and select the option to swap). You can reroll once a day. If you do your four daily wins and complete 1 quest each and every day from day 1 when the mastery pass comes out, you will easily complete the mastery pass by an extra 10 levels.
How to get 4 wins quickly? For new players with a limited collection, once you have access to the 10 free starter decks and 5 colour challenge decks, I suggest making a mono red aggro deck. Mono colour decks use the least rares for lands, and red aggro aims to win quickly. Most of the cards will be in your collection already after getting the free starter decks.
You want to be playing standard play (not ranked) and go first. If you go second, concede until you go first. When your opponent plays Sheoldred and you can’t win on your next turn, concede. This method is purely for speedrunning your 4 daily wins when you have limited time. On a good day it takes me 10 mins to win 4 times via speedrunning, on a bad day 30 mins (I go second 10 times in a row, play mono black sheoldred turn 4, any life gain deck etc).
Use gold only for quick draft and gems only for mastery pass
When first starting out resources are limited, you get about 1000 gold a day and no gems unless you win in events. You can’t afford to waste the resources on packs/cosmetics/avatars/pets/sleeves which don’t improve your card collection. Once you get the mastery pass you will get the packs/cosmetics/avatars/pets/sleeves for free.
Quick draft to convert gold to gems to buy mastery pass ASAP
Quick draft, I think is the best way to convert gold to gems for new players, the risk is low compared to premier due its 10k gold fee and any of the constructed events where new players would not have the cards for a tier 1 deck to be competitive. Drafting also builds your card collection. I recommend rare drafting (selecting all the rares you are shown) to get your golds worth until you become familiar with drafting and the set.
A basic guide to limited (drafting) is make a 40 card deck with 17 lands. Pick bombs (really busted cards that win the game by themselves) then pick good removal and value cards. 2 for 1 cards are highly valued in limited e.g. a creature card that draws you a card is 2 cards in 1, there are common and uncommon cards that fill this category, which is primarily what your deck will consist of. Each set will have their archetypes that are strong. For example in Dominaria united, 5 colour domain was a viable and strong archetype because of the plethora of dual colour common lands. However in BRO, mono colour decks are viable due to colourless artifacts and a bad mana base. Usually 2 colour decks are the way to go. My personal favourite is the white-green combo.
Buy the mastery pass for 3400 gems ASAP and complete
Ignoring the cosmetics/avatars/pets, the mastery pass contains 1200gems, 4000 gold, 20 standard packs, 10 mythic wild cards, 20 jump start rares and 1 draft token. 1 pack equates to 200 gems so 20 packs = 4000 gems, so the 1200 gems and 20 standard packs alone gives you gems back and a bit more. Factor in the draft token which you will use primarily for premier draft, 0 wins gets 50 gems and 1 pack or 2200gems and 6 packs for 7 wins, so in the best case scenario you get all your gems back (1200gems + 2200 gems = 3400gems) and worst case scenario you get 1250 gems guaranteed + a pack + all the cards you drafted.
If you do your four daily wins and complete 1 quest each and every day from day 1 when the mastery pass comes out, you will easily complete the mastery pass by an extra 10 levels. On a good day it takes me 10 mins to win 4 times via speedrunning, on a bad day 30 mins.
Open packs after finishing drafting and mastery pass
Packs have duplicate protection for rares/mythics which means if you have a 4 of a rare you will not get that rare and get another rare you do not have in that set. That’s why you need to draft first and pick the junk rares that get passed to build up your rare collection in the current set. And then, towards the near end of the set, open the packs that you have saved. All the packs you open now will not have junk rares you picked from draft (provided you have 4 of them) due to duplicate protection. Also, you should wait til getting the last mythic rare card on the mastery pass before opening the packs as they are not duplicate-protected like the packs.
Try not to use wildcards unless you really need to especially for the latest set
If you follow the above method and rare complete the set, you won’t have need to use wildcards to craft the rare for that set, so you can save the wildcards for the sets which came out before you started. I would recommend crafting rare dual/tri lands as you cannot play a competitive 2 colour + deck without those lands hence your crafting 1 card that goes into many decks.
Check store for daily deals
Everyday the store has daily deals. Sometimes they sell gold or gems at a discount eg pay 50gold to get 550gold or 1000 gold for 200 gems, IIRC. But it’s usually a lot of cosmetics which you shouldn’t buy until you’ve got enough resources
And finally
Once you get the hang of this, have a bunch of gold and at least 3400 gems to buy the next mastery pass, you can go do what you like, buy those cosmetic lands for 12500gold etc.
I hope this guide may serve you well.
TLDR;
- Get free codes
- Use gold to quick draft only
- Use gems won from quick draft to buy mastery pass only and ASAP
- Complete mastery pass
- Get 4 daily wins, complete at least 1 quest a day
- Build a mono red budget aggro deck to get above wins quickly
- Reroll 500 gold quests
- Crack open packs from the current set after finishing drafting and mastery pass
- Try not to use wildcards for the current set, and use them to craft cards that go into many decks eg rare dual/tri lands
- Check store for daily deals
- Once you have 3400 gems for the next mastery pass, go do what you like, if you haven’t become a hoarder/miser already
Conclusion
Main thing is to have fun and not get tilted by how many times you go second, get mana screwed or flooded. Nor get angry at how the matchmaker pairs you with the mirror match or unfavourable match ups. Don’t get mad at how many times your opponent curves out or always has the right answer. You get the point. You can’t control the draw of the game, but you can control how you react to it.
So just enjoy!