Magic: The Gathering — Arena: Premier human drafts are pretty snappy

When I learned that human drafts were coming to Magic: The Gathering — Arena with the launch of the new Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths set (Thursday, April 16), my biggest concern would be that slow drafters could gum up the works.

During a media call last week, executive producer Chris Cao of Magic publisher Wizards of the Coast assured me that the drafts had timers to prevent slow players from ruining the experience. This is important, as you use gems (Magic’s name for currency you buy) or in-game gold that you earn for the Premier draft. A bad experience could result in players getting turned off and not spending money — or uninstalling — the free-to-play card game. So it’s vital that the draft is both snappy but gives you enough time to make good choices as packs move from one player to the next in the eight-person pod. And with Hearthstone (Magic is the biggest competitor to Blizzard’s game in the digital card space) releasing a new set last week — with its first news class since its 2014 launch — it’s important for Magic to nail new features.