New Player Experience (NPE) is a series of scripted tutorial games and quests to teach new players the basic rules and mechanics of Magic: The Gathering Arena.
The NPE was introduced to Arena with the Core Set 2019 update on July 12, 2018. It also included the very first Arena-exclusive cards in the game.[1][2]
Tutorial games[]
The NPE started off with five tutorial games against different computer-controlled opponents. Each completed game rewarded the player with cards, which upgraded the mono-white () deck the player was given throughout the tutorial. Successfully completing all games unlocked five mono-colored Starting Decks.
Note: Not all cards the player encounters during the tutorial games are playable in Arena and serve for explanatory purposes only.
Game I[]
The player battles against Kylea's mono-green () deck. Basic mechanics explained are
- playing Lands and tapping for Mana
- casting Creature Spells and Summoning Sickness
- attacking and blocking, chump blocking
- power, toughness and combat
- sorceries
- life total
Walkthrough[]
- T1: Plains
- T2: Plains, Shrine Keeper
- T3: Plains, Shrine Keeper, All Attack
- T4: Loxodon Line Breaker, All Attack
- T5: Plains, No Attackers; on Kylea's turn block Rumbling Baloth with Shrine Keeper
- T6: cast Take Vengeance on Rumbling Baloth, All Attack
- T7: cast Blinding Radiance, All Attack
Reward[]
Completing this game rewards the player with the card Spiritual Guardian.
Game II[]
The player battles against Miirbo's mono-red () deck. Basic mechanics explained are
- Haste
- non-lethal damage
- sacrifice
- Enter-the-Battlefield effects
Walkthrough[]
- T1: Plains
- T2: Plains, Shrine Keeper; on Miirbo's turn block one Raging Goblin with Shrine Keeper
- T3: Plains, Sanctuary Cat, Shrine Keeper, No Attackers; on Miirbo's turn block one Raging Goblin with Sanctuary Cat, one with Shrine Keeper
- T4: Plains, All Attack
- T5: Plains, Spiritual Guardian, No Attackers; on Miirbo's turn block Goblin Gang Leader with Spiritual Guardian, block Goblin Tokens with Shrine Keepers (2x)
- T6: Spiritual Guardian, All Attack
Reward[]
Completing this game rewards the player with the cards Knight's Pledge and Angelic Reward.
Game III[]
The player battles against Calubi's mono-blue () deck. Basic mechanics explained are
- Flying
- Auras
Walkthrough[]
- T1: Plains, Sanctuary Cat
- T2: Plains, Knight's Pledge on Sanctuary Cat, All Attack
- T3: Plains, Loxodon Line Breaker, No Attackers
- T4: Plains, Knight's Pledge on Sanctuary Cat, All Attack
- T5: Plains, Spiritual Guardian, All Attack
- T6: Angelic Reward on Spiritual Guardian, Attack with Spiritual Guardian; on Calubi's turn block Titanic Pelagosaur with Sanctuary Cat
- T7: Knight's Pledge on Sanctuary Cat, All Attack
Reward[]
Completing this game rewards the player with the cards Tactical Advantage and Confront the Assault.
Game IV[]
The player battles against Viper Nang's mono-black () deck. Basic mechanics explained are
- Instants
- destruction spells
- Flash
- combat phases/combat tricks
Walkthrough[]
- T1: Plains, Sanctuary Cat
- T2: Plains, All Attack, Shrine Keeper
- T3: Plains, Shrine Keeper, All Attack
- T4: Plains, Knight's Pledge on Shrine Keeper, All Attack
- T5: Plains, No Attacks; on Viper Nang's turn block Soulhunter Rakshasa with Shrine Keeper, before damage phase cast Tactical Advantage on Shrine Keeper
- T6: All Attack, before damage phase cast Tactical Advantage on Shrine Keeper
- T7: All Attack; on Viper Nang's turn before Block phase cast Confront the Assault, block at least one Nimble Pilferer with a 1/1 Spirit Token
- T8: Angelic Reward on any creature, All Attack
Reward[]
Completing this game rewards the player with the cards Inspiring Commander and Serra Angel and unlocks game V.
Game V[]
The player battles against Nicol Bolas' Grixis/blue-black-red () deck. Basic mechanic explained is
Walkthrough[]
- T1: Plains; on Nicol Bolas' turn discard a Plains
- T2: Plains, Shrine Keeper
- T3: Plains, Loxodon Line Breaker
- T4: Plains, No Attackers; on Nicol Bolas' turn no Blockers
- T5: Plains, Spiritual Guardian, All Attack
- T6: Plains, Inspiring Commander
- T7: Shrine Keeper, Shrine Keeper, Take Vengeance on Volcanic Dragon, All Attack
- T8: No Attackers; on Nicol Bolas' turn before Block phase cast Confront the Assault, block Chaos Maw with one 1/1 Spirit Token, block Volcanic Dragon with two 1/1 Spirit Tokens, before Damage phase cast Tactical Advantage on one of the Spirit Tokens blocking Volcanic Dragon.
- T9: Plains, Sanctuary Cat, Serra Angel, All Attack; on Nicol Bolas' turn block Chaos Maw with Sanctuary Cat
- T10: Angelic Reward on Serra Angel, All Attack; on Nicol Bolas' turn block Chaos Maw with Serra Angel
- T11: All Attack
Reward[]
Completing this game rewards the player with five mono-colored Starting Decks.
Note: Skipping the games will not come with a disadvantage; you still get all cards and Starting Decks. If you skipped the tutorial games, you can restart by going to the "Adjust Options" menu and click on "Replay Tutorial".
NPE Quests[]
After the initial tutorial games the player gets access to quests, displayed in circles at the bottom of the screen. The new player quest line is in the rightmost circle, with the small planeswalker symbol.
The player can only play ladder matches until completing the first few generic new player quests, to unlock the other game modes. From this point quests can be completed in any other game mode — except by replaying the tutorial games again.
A quest in this chain will remain until completed. The new deck quests can only be done once a day. You must complete the quest to cast 40 spells before 3AM PST or you will not get a quest to unlock a new deck for the following day. The pattern of quests and rewards is
- Play a game to unlock a new deck.
- Cast 40 spells in the colors of the latest unlocked deck for a pack.
Players can each obtain 5 out of the 10 possible decks, in one of four in different orders. The set of 5 will contain each color twice. These quests can not be re-rolled and stay until completed — completion at a later point is possible.
After unlocking the initial 5 decks players get a final quest that unlocks the rest of the dual-colored Starting Decks. This was changed with the patch on October 4, 2018.[3]
For example:
Day | Quest | Reward |
---|---|---|
1 | Play a game. | A Red-Black Deck: Chaos and Mayhem |
1 | Cast 40 red or black spells. | 1 Pack from Core Set 2019 |
2 | Play a game. | A White-Green Deck: Auras of Majesty |
2 | Cast 40 white or green spells. | 1 Pack from Core Set 2019 |
3 | Play a game. | A White-Black Deck: Eternal Thirst |
3 | Cast 40 white or black spells. | 1 Pack from Core Set 2019 |
4 | Play a game. | A White-Green Deck: Jungle Secrets |
4 | Cast 40 green or blue spells. | 1 Pack from Core Set 2019 |
5 | Play a game. | A Blue-Red Deck: Wrath of Mages |
5 | Cast 40 blue or red spells. | 1 Pack from Core Set 2019 |
6 | Deal 100 damage. | Earn the 5 remaining two-color decks! |
The four possible sets of 5 initial decks are:
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Set 1: | |||||
Set 2: | |||||
Set 3: | |||||
Set 4: | |||||
Set 5: |
Starting Decks[]
Deck name | Color | Description | Rating* |
---|---|---|---|
Angelic Army | As a white mage, you command disciplined armies. Enforce order to overwhelm your enemies. | ||
Azure Skies | As a blue mage, you control the battlefield through illusions. Always think three steps ahead of your foe. | ||
Out for Blood | As a black mage, every advantage comes at a cost. Sacrifice whatever is necessary to control the forces of death and darkness. | ||
Dome Destruction | As a red mage, you revel in the chaos of battle. Fire is your weapon and your inspiration. | ||
Forest's Might | As a green mage, the natural world is at your command. The power of life itself fuels your magic. | ||
Azorius Senate | Get serious by laying down the law with the Azorius guild. | ||
Orzhov Syndicate | Appreciate the finer things in life and death when you rub elbows with the ghostly Orzhov guild. | ||
Izzet League | Spark your curiosity the explode onto the scene with the experimental Izzet guild. | ||
House Dimir | Little is known about the secretive Dimir guild and we're not talking. | ||
Boros Legion | Take power alongside the Boros guild by marching on to the battlefield with a never-ending parade of creatures. | ||
Gruul Clans | Take a walk on the wild side with the raucous misfits of the Gruul guild. | ||
Selesnya Conclave | Join the family to live in peace and harmony among the Selesnya guild. | ||
Simic Combine | Grab your favorite octopus-crab-shark and get weird with the mutants of the Simic. | ||
Cult of Rakdos | Have a blast clowning around with the manic antics of the Rakdos guild. | ||
Golgari Swarm | Unlock your inner trash-monster when you get down and dirty with the Golgari guild. |
* The ratings column gives the decks rating, if any, as voted by users of the wiki. You can vote on these decks by going to the deck page and using the deck ratings section at the end of the page to place your vote. Whether you base your vote on the effectiveness of the deck or how much fun you had using it is up to you.
Trivia[]
In game IV the computer-controller opponent, Viper Nang is playing an illegal deck by running seven copies of the card "Nimble Pilferer" instead of the maximum allowed amount of four copies per deck.
References[]
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