Comparison

Decked Drafter vs Magic

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Decked Drafter

Practice Magic: The Gathering draft and sealed deck skills with a full simulator. Get expert strategy tips, card ratings, and AI opponents to hone your deck-building abilities. Test your creations and improve your game.

Highlights
  • Draft simulator against AI opponents
  • Expert card ratings and strategy tips
  • Practice with various Magic expansions
  • Deck building and testing tools
  • Card sorting by color, type, and rarity
  • View card prices from TCGplayer.com
Features
Read full description

Decked Drafter is the only app designed to help Magic: the Gathering players improve their draft and sealed deck skills, featuring a full draft simulator and expert strategy tips and card ratings. The perfect app for any draft or sealed deck fan, players can pick the Magic the Gathering expansion they would like to practice with, then launch into an event against seven other A.I. opponents. Open powerful cards from sets like Scars of Mirrodin and easily sort the contents by color, type and rarity. Then pick the best card for your deck and pass the rest to your opponent, working to build the most powerful deck at the table. Making the right draft pick is never easy, but for the first time ever you're not alone. Marlon Egolf, DraftMagic.com columnist and Grand Prix Boston 2009 Champion, provides a full strategy analysis for each Magic card contained within the app. Improve your strategy skills with the help of these card ratings, which give a detailed look into the power level of each card. His expert ratings are also used to tune the A.I. opponents, making Decked Drafter the closest experience to actually drafting with the pros, and an incredible strategy resource. After the draft is finished, build your deck using the simple interface, swapping cards around with a simple touch. Once the deck is built, test it in the draw simulator, email the list to your friends, or print out the decklist and assemble the deck with your own collection! Or access the handy card ratings and strategy tips at any time, making Decked Drafter the perfect pocket guide for your next draft event. Whether you're a seasoned drafter looking to refine your skills, or a Magic noob just learning how to play, this is the app for you! Learn from the pros by practicing with Decked Drafter, and you will be sure to dominate your next draft! Features - The only Magic the Gathering draft simulator available for the iPhone or iPod touch - Practice drafting against skilled virtual opponents, learning which cards to pick and why - Access ratings and strategy tips for every card on-the-fly Improve your draft and sealed deck skills! Drafting and Sealed Deck - Open virtual packs from actual Magic the Gathering expansions - Sort the contents of each pack by color, type or rarity - Easily pick and pass cards using the simple interface - Stop the action at any time to examine your picks, or sneak a peek at your opponent's - Having trouble? Check Marlon's strategy tips; or press the Suggest button! - View the price of a card, courtesy of TCGplayer.com -- decide if it is worthwhile giving up your pick to select a card that will pay for your entire draft! Deck Building - Add and remove cards from your deck with a simple touch - Easily sort draft picks by type, cost, color or name - Test draw from your deck to see how it performs - Email your decklist to your friends, or print it out and play in real life! - .Dec support lets you easily import your decklist to Decked Builder, Magic Online or Apprentice New to drafting? Learn the rules with the included guide! Notes: Comes complete with access to the entire Scars of Mirrodin expansion. Additional expansions are available for purchase, including Mirrodin Besieged and New Phyrexia. Each of these expansions improves the Decked Drafter A.I. so it can draft with this new set of cards, and of course, features full analysis and strategy tips for every card in the set. We try to target about 100 words of writeup for each card on average, which results in about 23,000 words of strategy tips for just Scars of Mirrodin alone.

About

Magic

Experience the original fantasy collectible card game digitally. Build unique decks, master strategies, and battle friends or AI in various game modes. Discover new cards and unlock rewards through a comprehensive tutorial and engaging gameplay.

Highlights
  • Collect and build unique decks
  • Master diverse strategies
  • Battle friends and AI
  • Explore multiple game formats
  • Engaging tutorial system
  • Unlock cards and rewards
  • Stunning battlefields and effects
Features
Read full description

Welcome to the digital Multiverse! Magic: The Gathering is the original trading card game- and now you can download and start playing for free with your friends from anywhere! Magic: The Gathering Arena empowers you to discover your strategy, meet the planeswalkers, explore the multiverse, and battle friends around the world. Collect, build and master your unique deck that will become its own legend. Your battle is only the beginning; duel on stunning battlefields, and enjoy Arena’s game changing battle effects and immerse yourself in the game. Start playing for free, challenge your friends, unlock cards, and feel the magic of the original fantasy CCG! NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY Never played Magic before? No problem! Magic: The Gathering Arena’s tutorial system takes you through the playstyles so you can find your strategy and decide if you’re the type to overwhelm your opponent with brute strength, if subterfuge is more your style, or anything in between. Meet characters from around the multiverse and try out spells and artifacts that make learning to play the original fantasy collectible card game quick and fun. It’s never been easier to play Magic! Collect cards to build a deck that matches your personality, then master your strategy to battle friends and be part of the TCG that started them all. GAME ON(LINE) The original TCG is now digital! Explore the fantasy worlds of Magic: The Gathering Arena and build your deck, play a variety of game formats to collect cards, master multiple strategies, and hone your skills against friends or the AI. With multiple game formats like Draft and Brawl, 15 unlockable collectible decks, and explosive card combo effects: Your ideal Magic: The Gathering playstyle is at your fingertips! Show off eye-popping cosmetics like avatars, card sleeves, and pets and collect daily rewards to grow your collection and build powerful decks that reflect your personal strategy. CHALLENGE AND PLAY Duel your friends for glory or enter in-game tournaments for exciting prizes! With Draft and Brawl pairing, there is always someone to game with. Special in-game events offer exciting rewards, and with Esports qualifiers your Pro-Magic dreams are closer than you think in the Arena Premier Play League! Queue into casual battles to hone your strategy at your own pace, or battle in Esports qualifiers and frequent tournaments to flaunt your mastery. FANTASY AND MAGIC Dive into the fantasy planes of Magic: The Gathering and write your own legend through Magic’s immersive lore and vibrant card art. Find your path through the multiverse using only favorite characters and their most iconic spells and artifacts, or create a theme deck with a narrative that makes sense only to you. Your story is only just beginning! All prices inclusive of VAT. Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, Magic: The Gathering Arena, their respective logos, Magic, the mana symbols, the planeswalker symbol, and all character names and their distinctive likenesses are property of Wizards of the Coast LLC. ©2019-2026 Wizards. Please visit https://company.wizards.com/legal/wizards-coasts-privacy-policy to view Wizards of the Coast's privacy policy and https://company.wizards.com/legal/terms to view Wizards of the Coast's terms of use.

Screenshots

Decked Drafter4 screens
Magic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Magic at 4.6 against Decked Drafter's 2.6. Magic also leads on ratings volume (156K vs 17) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). Decked Drafter's advantage is review sentiment (59% vs 34%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Decked Drafter sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Magic sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Magic holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Magic has 156K ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of Decked Drafter's written reviews are positive against 34% of Magic's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Decked Drafter ships an update monthly, Magic weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Decked Drafter versus Magic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDecked DrafterMagic
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.6 (17 ratings)4.6 (156K ratings) — better
Positive reviews59.3% of reviews — better34.1% of reviews
Number of ratings17156K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#14 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB265 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperTJ SoftWizards of the Coast

Customer experience

Decked Drafter

All ratings17 ratings
Positive35.3%
Neutral17.6%
Negative47.1%
Written reviews113 reviews
Positive59.3%
Neutral14.2%
Negative26.5%

Magic

All ratings156,257 ratings
Positive90.4%
Neutral2.8%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews4,115 reviews
Positive34.1%
Neutral9.2%
Negative56.7%

User reviews

Decked Drafter

From 17 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
  • 📚 Expert card ratings and commentary from experienced players
  • 🎮 Effective practice tool for improving drafting skills
  • ⚡ Works offline without requiring WiFi
  • 🤖 Functional AI drafting opponents

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive per-set pricing ($2.99-$5.99 each)
  • ⏱️ Slow updates for new set releases
  • 🤖 AI drafts unrealistically, ignoring color signals
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • ❌ Missing card art and image loading problems

Magic

From 156K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great way to play Magic on the go
  • 🎨 Excellent visual representation of the game
  • 💰 Generous free-to-play model
  • 🕹️ Smooth and intuitive gameplay
  • 🕰️ Convenient for players who can't meet in person

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🕹️ Clunky UI and navigation
  • 💰 Aggressive monetization and pay-to-win concerns
  • 🔀 Rigged matchmaking and unfair shuffling algorithm
  • 🕰️ Slow performance on older devices

Bugs and requests

Decked Drafter

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • Card art fails to load, showing only card backs
  • Database update stuck at version 78
  • App crashes when adding lands to decks
  • Crashes when clicking feedback button
  • In-app purchases not delivering purchased content
Show 10 more
  • Unable to download new sets after purchase
  • Pack generator hangs at 'downloading 6 images left'
  • Crashes on recent iPhone updates
  • Two-finger swipe required to read cards (poor UX)
  • Inconsistent pack generation (missing guaranteed cards)
  • Redundant cards appearing multiple times in packs
  • Rare cards appearing too late in packs
  • Purchase restore functionality broken
  • RSS feeds broken
  • Image fetching causes UI flickering

Requested features

16 requests
  • 4-pack sealed draft mode
  • Multiplayer drafting with human opponents
  • Locally stored card database and collection system
  • Ability to save and review drafted decks
  • Landscape mode support
Show 11 more
  • Bundle pricing for multiple sets
  • Free access to rotated-out sets
  • MTGO cube draft support
  • Older set availability (Ravnica, Urza's, Time Spiral blocks)
  • Card storage/bookmarking feature
  • Deck rating based on card power levels
  • One-time purchase option instead of per-set fees
  • Ad-supported free version with limited sets
  • Ability to set default draft set
  • Improved bot color-fixing logic
  • Pre-release set availability before official launch

Magic

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Cards not working as intended
  • Inability to select or interact with certain game elements
  • Inconsistent behavior when app crashes during matches
  • Sync issues between mobile and desktop accounts

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to trade or recycle unwanted cards
  • Improved deck building tools and organization
  • Support for multiplayer formats like Commander and Two-Headed Giant
  • Option to disable animations and speed up gameplay
  • Better integration between mobile and desktop versions

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Decked Drafter

One-time10
  • Mirrodin Besieged Set$1.99
  • New Phyrexia Set$1.99
  • Magic 2012 Set$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Innistrad Set$2.99
  • Magic 2013 Set$2.99
  • Return to Ravnica Set$2.99
  • Gatecrash Set$2.99
  • Magic 2014 Set$2.99
  • Theros Set$2.99
  • Shadows over Innistrad Set$3.99
10 purchases

Magic

One-time10
  • 750 Gems$4.99
  • Starter Bundle$4.99
  • 1,600 Gems$9.99
Show 7 more
  • 4x Rare Wildcards$9.99
  • Adventurer Bundle$14.99
  • 3,400 Gems$19.99
  • 4x Mythic Wildcards$19.99
  • Spark Bundle$24.99
  • 9,200 Gems$49.99
  • 20,000 Gems$99.99

Questions

Is Decked Drafter free?
Decked Drafter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Magic free?
Magic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Decked Drafter or Magic?
Magic is rated higher. Decked Drafter averages 2.6 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Magic averages 4.6 from 156K ratings.
Do Decked Drafter or Magic have ads?
Neither Decked Drafter nor Magic shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Decked Drafter or Magic?
Decked Drafter ships an update monthly, and Magic weekly. Most recently, Decked Drafter was updated on November 1, 2026 and Magic on November 10, 2026.

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