Core Set 2021/Arena Starter Kit

Not to be confused with 2021 Arena Starter Kit.

The Core Set 2021 Magic Arena Starter Kit is a 2-Player Starter Set for Magic: The Gathering that was released on July 3, 2020.^[1]

Description

The Arena Starter Kit (in previous editions known as the Spellslinger Starter Kit) is a learn-to-play product aimed at new players, including instructional materials that guide two players through their first game. It is sold in local game stores and mass market stores for about $8,--. The two face cards are given the foil treatment. The decks feature cards from Core Set 2021, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, Theros Beyond Death and Throne of Eldraine.

The Spellslinger Kits were designed to teach the game with inserts, but Wizards of the Coast learned that sending brand-new players to the MTG Arena tutorial was a much better experience for them, and this product leans into that fact.^[2] The package contains a 16-page reference rulebook and two fold-out tuck boxes for the decks. Finally, you get an MTG Arena code card, good for digital copies of both decks, that can be used twice—once for you, and once for a friend you'd like to play with.

Arena Starter Kits have been carefully developed using up-to-date research about what aspects of Magic are most likely to appeal to a new player.^[3] They offer a more compelling first play experience than Welcome Decks while remaining simple enough for a new player to understand. Where Welcome Decks focused on simplicity, Arena Starter Kits show off more of what makes Magic the deepest strategy card game there is — interesting synergies and juicy combos that are satisfying to pull off — and start diving into how customizable and complex your decks can become.

Purpose

WPN shops receive five Arena Starter Kits in the new player experience kit alongside their Welcome Boosters (some regions will receive different demo decks based on Arena availability). These five Starter Kits were originally meant to be in-store decks, reused and not given away to players.^[4] However, sales were later allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once a new player has played their first game with the demo deck, they may be reward with a Welcome Booster. The player who brought them along may be awarded with the Bring-a-Friend promo.

Versions

There are two versions of the Starter Kits (the Demo Decks used in-store as part of the new player experience kit, and a version sold through Amazon).^[5] The differences are that the Amazon-version includes a code for the decks in of MTG Arena, while the in-store version does not, also the Amazon-version includes a second Ironscale Hydra and Demon of Loathing (both regular and foil) in lieu of Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose and Kogla, the Titan Ape. In addition, the in-store Arena Starter Kit Demo Decks may vary globally — some regions receive different decks.^[6]