By Jacob Miller | Dec 29, 2025
Due to issues with matchmaking, developers have indicated that Draft queues will be down until they can ascertain the cause of the issue. A number of players have also noted they cannot make it past the Draft stage, while many others indicate that queues have timed out on multiple occasions, and no timeline has been put forth for when Drafts will return; furthermore, there has been no announcement yet as to whether or not a larger outage may occur due to this issue.This outage happened during an active Arena Direct Event that began on December 26th, which showcases the Avatar: The Last Airbender expansion, and rewards players who achieve six or more wins in the event with Play Booster Boxes. Due to the draft being unavailable at this time, many of the participants in the event have been requesting an extension to allow for fair play. The Major Crossover Era of Magic: The Gathering Meets A Bump In The Road.
Magic: The Gathering Arena is experiencing problems during an explosive growth spurt in new content. Players are increasingly experiencing problems with the limited queue systems being constantly updated with the newest set, including the recently released collaborative sets related to Final Fantasy and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Draft is one of Arena's most profitable formats and encourages multiple plays and experimentation with new mechanics.
The issues with the server have impacted players across Constructed and Limited formats, with players reporting intermittent matchmaking problems. Developers are aware of this problem and plan to provide updates while working on solutions to these issues.
Looking forward to MTG, Both Outside and inside the Arena
As stated earlier, the current downtime from Arena coincides with one of Magic: the Gathering's biggest crossover events ever. In 2025, Wizards of the Coast substantially increased the product line known as "Universes Beyond" and introduced the first Standard-legal crossover with Last Airbender, Spider-Man, and Final Fantasy, while also introducing more planned crossover products in the future. During this time frame, Magic: The Gathering has the distinct pleasure of blending many of its most popular iconic franchises together in a manner that has never been accomplished before.
With regard to future product releases in 2026, this first revealed set (Lorwyn Eclipsed) brings back a long-missed plane, bringing back faeries and all of the shock lands. Many more crossover sets will be released in the future with themes inspired by The Hobbit, Marvel, TMNT, and Star Trek. As such, the anticipation for busy times and exciting new gameplay experiences and characters of Magic is increasing, players are hoping for a swift resolution to Arena's technical problems to keep up with the expanded product release schedule of Magic as it continues growing at such an explosive rate.
Until such time as players can return to the arena for drafting, developer priority is on providing a stable environment and ensuring that there will be no interruptions when the servers are restored. Players involved in Arena Direct and other events will be able to pick up where they left off, with considerable support from Arena and its community.
