[Fezzik]

Totally my personal opinion, but I much prefer MTGO (Magic the Gathering Online, windows only also) as it better emulates table-top Magic. I can't handle all the animations and noises of Arena. Also, much better card/draft selection on MTGO. Not free though, but not nearly as expensive as paper Magic.

I am an old fuddy-duddy.

[coconut08]

its still quite expensive though. it's great if you are looking to play the older formats. getting into legacy for 500 dollars is really nice. that said it's hard to justify buying into standard or pioneer on there. the prices are quite volatile and some of the cards are just ridiculously expensive due to the fact that everyone went over to arena. teferi, time raveler for example. it also feels bad to buy a playset of them because it's only a matter of time until they reprint them and the card tanks to 20 dollars or whatever.

arena is nice because you don't have to worry about the secondary market. i would also suggest that if you turn off the sound in game that arena isn't actually all that bad. i say that as a person who's played mtgo since 2012. i agree that draft is bad on arena, but if you want to play standard I actually think it's better.