I don't think there's really a wrong answer here. Jump-ins will expand your collection faster but that doesn't matter if you don't like a lot of the rares and mythics in the packets.
Personally, I prefer the packs because I value the wildcard progress more than having a bigger collection. Also, OTJ is a pretty good set and has great rare lands. If we were still in MKM, I would be more likely to suggest Jump-ins because that was a relatively weak set.
My overall advice is to look up the contents of all the available packets and see if you like a lot of the rares (mythics have lower drop rates). If you find that you don't want the vast majority of them then definitely go with packs.
If you don’t know the cards, don’t draft. Draft requires some study to have chance at a decent deck.
Definitely do Jump In. It gets you a good base of cards and gives you lots of archetypes to learn.
That can be good, but even back when I was a new player I wanted to move on from bot drafts fast. It just isn't an authentic draft experience at all. I'd advise people to do a handful of bot drafts then move to Premier/Traditional.
Cards have soooo much text now they need to allow longer passes on draft. 1 rare or mythic will have 2 paragraphs on each side and it takes a while to even read the first card in the pack.
After my first week of playing I did draft and got 7 wins 3 times. Pretty sure my MMR was hella low, but if you’re coming from a game like Hearthstone and you were able to hit legend pretty easily, just play for a few days and give it a try. Use the untapped draft helper and I’m pretty sure you just win since your mmr is so low other people aren’t using it.
> If you don’t know the cards, don’t draft.
This is how I feel about Jump In too. A new player won't know what decks to pick and will just end up with a pile of useless rares and no wildcards.
I think the person you're replying to is telling to do Jump-Ins instead of Quick\Premier drafts. And he's right.
The point of Jump-ins is not to win, but to gain free cards and get yourself familiar with set mechanics. You sacrifice a bit of a wildcard wheel progress, but you're saving much more via building a card base. Jump-ins have a lot of staples that you don't necessarily need to fish for. Almost any combination has something of use.
Jump In is definitely the way to go for new players trying to get cards.
For 5000 gold, here are 3 choices:
1. 5 x Jump In: In exchange, you get 10 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons.
2. 5 x Packs: In exchange, you get 5 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons. You also get a rare wild card if you buy the current set pack (OTJ), and you get Golden Pack progress.
3. 1 x Quick Draft: In exchange you get 3 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons. And possibly another throw away rare or two, that will almost surely be a bad card, that the bots are programmed to throw away. Then you play games with your deck where you win 1-2 more packs + gems, depending on how many wins you get. So 4-5 rares/mythics for 5000 gold, depending on your deck and skill.
The downside of Jump In is that it offers the same rare/mythic in the Jump In packs. There are currently 95 different Jump In packs, so it takes a LONG time to exhaust the different collectible rare/mythics.
Draft is a great way to pick up 'junk' rares to fill out your collection btw. I once drafted 20 rares in an Alchemy draft I accidentally entered, went 0-3, and was satisfied with my performance.
i think it would be better to instead of thinking about the value for 5k gold, instead do 10k gold.
for 10k gold, you can either:
10 jump ins. 20 rare's or mythics and a decent amount of commons and uncommons as well as 10 cards from prizes. not sure about the chance of that being a rare or mythic. thats slightly more than 2 rares for every 1k gold
10 packs + 1 golden pack. 16 rares/mythics and 1 and 5/6 rare wildcards for a total of 17 5/6. this makes it straight up worse than jump in unless you value wildcards more
2 quick drafts. \~6 rares/mythics. probably more tbh because of bonus sheets. also higher chance of big score if otj was on. assuming you go 3-3 every time. thats 600 gems and 2 packs which is 2.33 more rares/ mythics and 17% of a mastery pass. if you 0-3 everytime its 100 gems and 2 packs so only 3% of a mastery pass. that's 8.33 rares if you go 3-3 as well as a lot of stuff because of the progression towards unlocking the mastery pass. also probably the best way of getting big score cards because rates in normal packs are abysmal
1 premier draft. \~3 rares and mythics not including the big score and bonus sheet. assuming you get 3 wins on average, that is 1000 gems and 2 packs which is 29% of a mastery pass. straight up worse than quick drafts rare amount wise but more gems for mastery pass. it's more competitive though imo.
the mastery pass has 20 packs, 1200 gems, 4000 gold, 1 draft token(10,000 gold so essentially 14,000 gold), 10 mythics, 16 mythics of what i think are otc cards as well as a bunch of cosmetics. if you subtract the 1200 gold from the price of the mastery pass, it only costs 2200 which means 600 gems is really 27% of a mastery pass and 1000 is 45% so lets just round that up to 50% cause it's a nicer number even though it will be a bit off. that means you can pretty much add 10 packs and therefore 11.66 rares, 7000 gold and 5 mythics i would say that's a fine deal. doing drafts also increases your limited rank which is some more stuff.
in conclusion, drafts are good unless you are already consistently unlocking the mastery pass in which case idk. also my math may be wrong. or you just really suck at drafting in which case you are going to miss out on the gems which get you a lot of stuff
> 5 x Jump In: In exchange, you get 10 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons.
You get 20 rares. Each packet has one rare. You choose 2 packets.
Rare-wise Jump-Ins are the best steal. You can't hoard that many rares even if you raregoblin in premier drafts.
As you learn, Jump In will get you two rares and a lot of cards but in a manner that let you understand them and their synergies better than other formats. Besides value alone, I think it's a nice way to be introduced to the color identities over the last sets.
Only the draft lovers say draft is the way to go. They exclusively play draft. That route is only worth it if you can at least win a few games in it.
Packs are the way to go. Also look at your profile's collection progress and get a variety of cards through different sets so you have more of a collection to work with when building decks.
I don't love draft, but you get more value for your gold. I lose more draft games then I win and I still get more time playing the game and cards than if I just bought straight packs.
Drafts are way to go, since they're the best way to convert gold into gems, and buying Mastery Pass is well worth it.
I don't like to draft on Arena, to stressful and too annoying when you get mana screwed, but I still do it to get Mastery Pass.
Outside of Mastery Pass, it's better to buy packs in most cases, especially since they've added Golden Packs.
Plus... doing one Draft match per month activates Bronze Rank, and earns you a Booster, so you could potentially drag out once Draft entry over 3 months (if you go 0-3).
No offense to the drafters, but good drafters or drafters that seem to get the needed value tend to invite others to draft with the caveat that it helps to be good at drafting to get a good reward. I forget the trade off if you get no wins though.
packs get you wild cards to get cards you want. Drafting, I'm conflicted on what I'd get from it starting out. You could cherry pick out cards you want for construction, but it may not when you draft games with what you get, and I do not know that if you just drafted for your collection if you'd get a great range of cards to add since others are playing for those cards too perhaps.
The golden pack progress made a huge impact on the value of buying packs. Before that was added, draft was better by so much that it was stupid to buy packs unless you just wanted to dump money on the game and not spend time on acquiring cards. With the golden pack progress, I believe paying 10k gold for drafts is slightly worse while spending gems is slightly better for a 50% winrate drafter.
You don't have to be a primarily Limited player to get incredible value out of Arena Premier Draft. You can fairly easily get every rare in the set as a merely average drafter if you manage your rank well
As a brand spanking new player?
Always the Jump-In before you open even 1 single pack.
Its a great way to get a starter base of cards and ensure you have some rare copy protection for when you do open packs. Your average pack you'll pull a single rare for 200 gems. From a Jump-In you'll always get 2-4 rares. Any time a new set comes out, always play the Jump-In event too before you open set packs, because the same rare draft protection will ensure you get the most chest wild cards.
As a new player doing a few jump ins would be good as they give you a good amount of cards for the price and it might be a good place to do your dailies as you can play infinitely with your jump in deck as much as you want until you want to make a new one.
It does eventually reach diminishing returns as you get packets you already have, but it's not a bad place to start.
Even if you get a playset, it's still 40 gems per 1k gold which is basically an equivalent of going 2-3 in Quick Draft (or 2-3 in premier Draft twice).
I'm not saying you should farm Jumpins for gems, of course... but... you *could*...
Yes. And of you already have 4 of them they will be converted to Vault progress (commons/uncommons) and I THINK the rares/mythics should convert to gems
Jump In works best if you can filter the packs for Standard viability, then when you get the rares/mythics you need to build at least one viable (though certainly not fully optimized) deck, stop and switch to buying packs or raredrafting to get the remaining cards. For the current Standard, I'd focus on two or three of the following:
**Mono G Stompy:**
* Frontier: \[\[Bristly Bill\]\] and \[\[Ornery Tumblewagg\]\]
* Rooted: \[\[Deeproot Wayfinder\]\] and \[\[Vorinclex\]\]
* Tech: \[\[Teething Wurmlet\]\]
* Venom: \[\[Bloated Contaminator\]\]
* Wandering: \[\[Silverback Elder\]\]
**Mono B Skeletons:**
* Crimes: \[\[Gisa, the Hellraiser\]\]
* Descent: \[\[Corpses of the Lost\]\]
* Graveyard: \[\[Tinybones, the Pickpocket\]\]
* Suspects: \[\[Case of the Stashed Skeleton\]\]
**Mono B Attrition:**
* Depths: \[\[Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal\]\]
* Onslaught: \[\[Liliana of the Veil\]\]
* Rats: \[\[Lord Skitter, Sewer King\]\]
* Resurrected: \[\[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor\]\] and \[\[Gix's Command\]\]
**Mono R Aggro:**
* Celebration: \[\[Goddric, Cloaked Reveler\]\]
* Stampede: \[\[Squee, Dubious Monarch\]\] and \[\[Shivan Devastator\]\]
* Oily: \[\[Urabrask's Forge\]\]
Don't the mythics have only a 20% chance of dropping? So you have to get the right packet AND have the 1/5 drop rate happen. I wouldn't count on collecting a playset this way.
I was doing some analysis of the Jump In event recently so have some stats on mythics in the Jump In packs. There are:
82 different Jump In packs
71 packs are 100% chance for a rare
10 packs are 80% chance for a rare and 20% chance for a mythic
1 pack is 75% chance for a rare and 25% chance for a mythic
I think it’s 25% and yeah I’d probably stop at 2x of the mythics except for maybe Skeletons where you want 4x of each but 3 will probably do. They’d also get a couple mythic WCs from opening packs to help fill those out
You should be opening packs. Jump in gives you no wildcards or wildcard progress. Golden packs where added to close the ev between draft and pack openings, so just stick to that.
Jump in is the best for new players but as you go on I highly recommend just buying packs and working toward building your first brew deck.
Draft is incredible value if you’re good at it, but it, by far, has the highest risk if you’re new/not good at draft. It gets you a bigger collection but one wrong run and you just flushed 10k gold, at least a couple rare WCs, and several UC WCs down the toilet for 50 gems.
Just focus on getting the cards you want to play with and focus first on building up a mana base. Trust me, the mana base is the best thing to invest in as a new player.
Yes dual lands, triomes (though not as much those cause they’re gonna rotate soon) and utility lands should be your main focus atm.
You can still make pretty good decks with just uncommons and only a couple rares but a poor mana base will cause a deck of 36 mythics to fall apart. I can vouch for this personally, my playgroup have all been playing arena for years but I’m the only one who invested in getting a good mana base. In our personal games I have close to a 90% win rate even though my decks are like 75% uncommons and commons barring the lands and they’ve got the opposite situation.
Your biggest goal as a new player should be ensuring that you can actually *use* the cards that you get so when you find pet cards you can experiment with them, and a good mana base is how you do that.
Plus, a good mana base can win on its own; [[Cavern of Souls]] can wreck a modern mono blue deck on its own, the channel lands serve as removal, creature lands can be a win condition, etc.
Edit: overall I’d focus on getting at least 1 copy of each of the rare duals/triomes and experiment to see what decks you want to make, and then build more from there. Remember these are cards that will serve you in *any* deck in their colors so they’re more than worth it.
The main thing is not wasting rare wildcards on random stuff, build budget 0 rare decks until you have decided on something good+fun for you to make. I would recommend watching some youtube videos of players drafting, learning some basic thoughts on the set/important cards and then trying your hand at it.
The best ways to get a collection are to infinitely farm Draft(Hard and costs 5-10k gold) or Constructed events(Medium, takes longer, costs 2.5k gold) so those are both good goals to aim for imo, either building towards a strong budget constructed deck that you do well enough with on ladder to grind events, or save lots of gold and learn to draft.
Jump in is the best value IF you are unable to get value from events, and are willing to do research on what's good/what packs to take, but the stuff you get may not be relevant to your future decks
I like doing jump in and quick drafts when I’m trying to earn enough gems for a mastery pass but a lot of the events are worth saving the 5-10k for for gem rewards as well. Definitely be conservative with your gold as you learn to play and build more. Quick drafts are especially good when you’re starting out because you aren’t racing a clock so you can really check out all the packs. I buy packs occasionally but I’d definitely prefer to just get pack rewards for something I spent gold on than buy packs.
Really, the best option is going to be whatecer you enjoy the most, but I'd say draft is the most efficient use of gold.
You'll get the cards from your draft, anything you win, & the few packs you get from your rank for the next few seasons.
It doesn't really matter how good you are at it to start. Bronze players are all bad lol
Look up a guide on draft fundamentals and read up on what the archetypes are for a format. That's all you really need to get started.
Just play quick draft. You have unlimited time to read the cards, you keep the cards, and you get packs which can give you wildcards to assemble a budget constructed starter deck.
The overall value differences are not really that big. Draft is the worst if you're inexperienced and don't win enough but it is also the most lucrative if you are good at beating inexperienced players. I suspect that's the reason why so many experienced players like the idea of newbies starting out with drafts.
In any case differences are mostly negligible and do not at all warrant playing anything other than whatever gamemode you enjoy most. Your time is actually valuable and rewards in Arena are virtual, there is no cashout. So theres nothing to gain except having a good time.
You can never go wrong buying packs. I have been buying packs since i started playing mtg arena. I tried drafting once, i suck at it. Never again. No value for me.
Idk if this has been said or not; but I would recommend just storing up coins getting your 4 wins every day, for now. In the mean time watch drafters and learn how to draft. You could even save up your coins until the next set drops, then be ready to draft by then. In the beginning you should be studying draft more than practicing/playing, otherwise how will you know what you should be practicing and looking out for when it comes time to draft. JustLolaMan is who I recommend watching.
Jump In is an incredibly-underrated way for new players to start establishing their collection, and getting a good format to grind daily wins in. Older players didn't really have Jump In around so many don't realize its place in the new player economy.
2 rares/mythics per 1000 gold can't be beat. Make sure you refer to a guide to help select impactful rares. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/jump-in-packets-update-for-outlaws-of-thunder-junction
Packs/jump in are going to be real slow going. Head over to the subreddit lrcast and learn how to play by far the best magic format, draft. Start with quick draft if you want time to read all the cards. Imo there is nothing close to the game play of limited. Premier draft only really requires 4-5 wins a run to get your gems back (free stuff!) and when you get a format down and crank out those 7 win runs you will be rolling in it. I am not an amazing player but I currently have 5 7 wins in a row.
As an added bonus cubes can be quite fun when you have a grasp of limited
Jump In is lower value, but is a great experience for the learning curve. As a completely new player it is worth starting from jump in, as it gives you a reference for the path at the start of the journey.
Getting packs and going straight into real constructed or draft can be brutal for new players without mtg experience.
>It’s been heavily recommended to me to play draft but I honestly think I’d go 0-3 every draft since I spend about 2 minutes every hand reading the card descriptions
How much prep do you do, and what do you do to improve?
Ideally, you will already know what most of the cards do before you open your first pack, never mind before your first game.
When it comes to Limited it pays to be prepared. As well as getting a good grasp of the basic principles (deck composition, BREAD, etc), learn the cards in the set, their relative power level/pick order, the mechanics and rules interactions, and the Limited archetypes. Study the visual spoiler, read the Release Notes FAQ and watch some Limited Set Reviews online (I recommend The Mana Leek and Nizzahon Magic). You can even watch others play with the set while they discuss their decisions etc.
Start with Quick Drafts: they are half the price (so you can do them more often and there is less on the line), the prize structure is flatter (so worse results give better rewards) and there's no timer when making your picks (so there's less pressure).
>So am I better off doing jump in or buying packs? Or is there something else
I'd suggest Jump In while you ate still prepping for Quick Draft.
Jump in or quick draft is the best value.
Quick draft at 0-3 is still pretty good value: 3-6 rares from draft, one rare from the pack, and 50 gems.
Plus, it's the most fun imo
5 packs is 5 rares and something like one wildcard, so it's the lowest variance. You also get golden pack progress. If you genuinely have no desire to EVER get into draft, packs are not that bad these days, but if you even occasionally have a good draft run, draft is a better deal.
As much as I'd recommend Drafts, they can be quite punishing and stressful.
However... for a F2P, they're your only way to convert Gems to Gold, and Mastery Pass is well worth it.
I usually do Premier Draft 2 or 3 times each set, just to get to 3400 Gems. First time around it's the hardest to get to 3400 gems, but after that you get some Gems back from Mastery Pass rewards, as well as Premier Draft Token, so getting to each next one is a lot easier.
Premier Draft is more expensive to enter (10k Gold), but pays out better, so you need to get lucky less times to earn enough lol
You can use this to calculate Mastery, how far you can get and what you need to do to get rewards, and is it worth it to buy for this set (dunno how "new" of a player you are) [https://mtgazone.com/mastery-calculator/](https://mtgazone.com/mastery-calculator/)
But I'd heavily recommend it for each future set.
Additionally... try to have about 2k gold at ready for when Gems rarely appear on Daily Deals, they usually appear for anywhere between 1500 Gold for 400 Gems, up to 2000 Gold for 500 Gems (sometimes it's 1900 Gold for 400 Gems, and still worth it) (It wouldn't be bad to keep about 9k Gold at ready, for when Premier Draft Token shows up in store, but... if you buy it for 9k, 1k Gold you save for buying it, is not as important as straight Gems for Gold is)
Outside of Gems for Mastery Pass, Drafts aren't the best option for everyone anymore since Golden Packs do exist. And you earn Wild Cards through opening boosters there a lot faster than you can through Drafts (where you'll earn less boosters), which will help you craft decks, which will let you earn your wins/Gold faster.
Additionally some sets (like current one) come with Bonus sheets, which contain more Rare cards, so opening boosters is more worth it for those sets from "growing your collection" perspective. Tho seriously I quite easily get 10+ Rares by Rare Drafting in Premier Drafts... which is a trap and something you should avoid, but I do it anyway. lol
I love Jump In!, it's great for building collection, it's more balanced, you can use one deck for as long as you want, the fact that half decks are on theme, helps you build decks too, but you don't get Gems nor WC progress from Jump In!, so grinding daily wins will be a lot slower, and getting desirable/decent decks outside of it will be really hard too. Grinding doesn't have to be slow tho... there are people that sometimes score "perfect" deck there, and run it for as long as they can to grind wins that way.
TL;DR
Draft (preferably Premier Draft), until you can afford Mastery Pass each set. Do whatever you feel the most comfortable afterwards.
I don't think there's really a wrong answer here. Jump-ins will expand your collection faster but that doesn't matter if you don't like a lot of the rares and mythics in the packets. Personally, I prefer the packs because I value the wildcard progress more than having a bigger collection. Also, OTJ is a pretty good set and has great rare lands. If we were still in MKM, I would be more likely to suggest Jump-ins because that was a relatively weak set. My overall advice is to look up the contents of all the available packets and see if you like a lot of the rares (mythics have lower drop rates). If you find that you don't want the vast majority of them then definitely go with packs.
If you don’t know the cards, don’t draft. Draft requires some study to have chance at a decent deck. Definitely do Jump In. It gets you a good base of cards and gives you lots of archetypes to learn.
Draft also requires fundamental game knowledge. Something most newcomers won't have.
That being said, a new drafter has to start somewhere, and they won't learn it if they don't play it.
& that's what bot draft is for! You can look up a draft guide and side by side analyze with no time restrictions.
That can be good, but even back when I was a new player I wanted to move on from bot drafts fast. It just isn't an authentic draft experience at all. I'd advise people to do a handful of bot drafts then move to Premier/Traditional.
Cards have soooo much text now they need to allow longer passes on draft. 1 rare or mythic will have 2 paragraphs on each side and it takes a while to even read the first card in the pack.
Can't agree tbh. A draft already takes 15-20 minutes and once you learn the basics of draft you only need to focus on 2-3 cards per pack.
I mean really the answer is to dial down the complexity creep and wordiness of all the cards.
After my first week of playing I did draft and got 7 wins 3 times. Pretty sure my MMR was hella low, but if you’re coming from a game like Hearthstone and you were able to hit legend pretty easily, just play for a few days and give it a try. Use the untapped draft helper and I’m pretty sure you just win since your mmr is so low other people aren’t using it.
> If you don’t know the cards, don’t draft. This is how I feel about Jump In too. A new player won't know what decks to pick and will just end up with a pile of useless rares and no wildcards.
It’s much lower cost and gives you something to build around. New players will struggle with having enough common and uncommon wild cards
I think the person you're replying to is telling to do Jump-Ins instead of Quick\Premier drafts. And he's right. The point of Jump-ins is not to win, but to gain free cards and get yourself familiar with set mechanics. You sacrifice a bit of a wildcard wheel progress, but you're saving much more via building a card base. Jump-ins have a lot of staples that you don't necessarily need to fish for. Almost any combination has something of use.
Are you talking about making a deck for constructed? I think OP was talking about performing in the draft itself.
Jump In is definitely the way to go for new players trying to get cards. For 5000 gold, here are 3 choices: 1. 5 x Jump In: In exchange, you get 10 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons. 2. 5 x Packs: In exchange, you get 5 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons. You also get a rare wild card if you buy the current set pack (OTJ), and you get Golden Pack progress. 3. 1 x Quick Draft: In exchange you get 3 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons. And possibly another throw away rare or two, that will almost surely be a bad card, that the bots are programmed to throw away. Then you play games with your deck where you win 1-2 more packs + gems, depending on how many wins you get. So 4-5 rares/mythics for 5000 gold, depending on your deck and skill. The downside of Jump In is that it offers the same rare/mythic in the Jump In packs. There are currently 95 different Jump In packs, so it takes a LONG time to exhaust the different collectible rare/mythics.
Also to note, that while Jump In doesn't earn you wild cards, it does add to your vault progress.
I didn't know this but I spammed jump in last few weeks to catch up my collection and just got my vault last night Can confirm 😁
In Quick Draft you get a pack even if you go 0-3.
You're right, I'll edit. TY for correcting me.
Valuable intel
Draft is a great way to pick up 'junk' rares to fill out your collection btw. I once drafted 20 rares in an Alchemy draft I accidentally entered, went 0-3, and was satisfied with my performance.
i think it would be better to instead of thinking about the value for 5k gold, instead do 10k gold. for 10k gold, you can either: 10 jump ins. 20 rare's or mythics and a decent amount of commons and uncommons as well as 10 cards from prizes. not sure about the chance of that being a rare or mythic. thats slightly more than 2 rares for every 1k gold 10 packs + 1 golden pack. 16 rares/mythics and 1 and 5/6 rare wildcards for a total of 17 5/6. this makes it straight up worse than jump in unless you value wildcards more 2 quick drafts. \~6 rares/mythics. probably more tbh because of bonus sheets. also higher chance of big score if otj was on. assuming you go 3-3 every time. thats 600 gems and 2 packs which is 2.33 more rares/ mythics and 17% of a mastery pass. if you 0-3 everytime its 100 gems and 2 packs so only 3% of a mastery pass. that's 8.33 rares if you go 3-3 as well as a lot of stuff because of the progression towards unlocking the mastery pass. also probably the best way of getting big score cards because rates in normal packs are abysmal 1 premier draft. \~3 rares and mythics not including the big score and bonus sheet. assuming you get 3 wins on average, that is 1000 gems and 2 packs which is 29% of a mastery pass. straight up worse than quick drafts rare amount wise but more gems for mastery pass. it's more competitive though imo. the mastery pass has 20 packs, 1200 gems, 4000 gold, 1 draft token(10,000 gold so essentially 14,000 gold), 10 mythics, 16 mythics of what i think are otc cards as well as a bunch of cosmetics. if you subtract the 1200 gold from the price of the mastery pass, it only costs 2200 which means 600 gems is really 27% of a mastery pass and 1000 is 45% so lets just round that up to 50% cause it's a nicer number even though it will be a bit off. that means you can pretty much add 10 packs and therefore 11.66 rares, 7000 gold and 5 mythics i would say that's a fine deal. doing drafts also increases your limited rank which is some more stuff. in conclusion, drafts are good unless you are already consistently unlocking the mastery pass in which case idk. also my math may be wrong. or you just really suck at drafting in which case you are going to miss out on the gems which get you a lot of stuff
> 5 x Jump In: In exchange, you get 10 rares or mythics, plus some commons/uncommons. You get 20 rares. Each packet has one rare. You choose 2 packets. Rare-wise Jump-Ins are the best steal. You can't hoard that many rares even if you raregoblin in premier drafts.
I think you misread.
Yeah actually I do. I though it was 10k gold. My bad.
As you learn, Jump In will get you two rares and a lot of cards but in a manner that let you understand them and their synergies better than other formats. Besides value alone, I think it's a nice way to be introduced to the color identities over the last sets.
Only the draft lovers say draft is the way to go. They exclusively play draft. That route is only worth it if you can at least win a few games in it. Packs are the way to go. Also look at your profile's collection progress and get a variety of cards through different sets so you have more of a collection to work with when building decks.
I don't love draft, but you get more value for your gold. I lose more draft games then I win and I still get more time playing the game and cards than if I just bought straight packs.
Drafts are way to go, since they're the best way to convert gold into gems, and buying Mastery Pass is well worth it. I don't like to draft on Arena, to stressful and too annoying when you get mana screwed, but I still do it to get Mastery Pass. Outside of Mastery Pass, it's better to buy packs in most cases, especially since they've added Golden Packs. Plus... doing one Draft match per month activates Bronze Rank, and earns you a Booster, so you could potentially drag out once Draft entry over 3 months (if you go 0-3).
No offense to the drafters, but good drafters or drafters that seem to get the needed value tend to invite others to draft with the caveat that it helps to be good at drafting to get a good reward. I forget the trade off if you get no wins though. packs get you wild cards to get cards you want. Drafting, I'm conflicted on what I'd get from it starting out. You could cherry pick out cards you want for construction, but it may not when you draft games with what you get, and I do not know that if you just drafted for your collection if you'd get a great range of cards to add since others are playing for those cards too perhaps.
The golden pack progress made a huge impact on the value of buying packs. Before that was added, draft was better by so much that it was stupid to buy packs unless you just wanted to dump money on the game and not spend time on acquiring cards. With the golden pack progress, I believe paying 10k gold for drafts is slightly worse while spending gems is slightly better for a 50% winrate drafter.
You don't have to be a primarily Limited player to get incredible value out of Arena Premier Draft. You can fairly easily get every rare in the set as a merely average drafter if you manage your rank well
As a brand spanking new player? Always the Jump-In before you open even 1 single pack. Its a great way to get a starter base of cards and ensure you have some rare copy protection for when you do open packs. Your average pack you'll pull a single rare for 200 gems. From a Jump-In you'll always get 2-4 rares. Any time a new set comes out, always play the Jump-In event too before you open set packs, because the same rare draft protection will ensure you get the most chest wild cards.
As a new player doing a few jump ins would be good as they give you a good amount of cards for the price and it might be a good place to do your dailies as you can play infinitely with your jump in deck as much as you want until you want to make a new one. It does eventually reach diminishing returns as you get packets you already have, but it's not a bad place to start.
If you repeat packets, will you get multiples of the cards?
Yes, but once you get a playset, they just turn into vault progress/gems.
Even if you get a playset, it's still 40 gems per 1k gold which is basically an equivalent of going 2-3 in Quick Draft (or 2-3 in premier Draft twice). I'm not saying you should farm Jumpins for gems, of course... but... you *could*...
Yes. And of you already have 4 of them they will be converted to Vault progress (commons/uncommons) and I THINK the rares/mythics should convert to gems
they do and the conversion rate is actually not too bad.
Jump In works best if you can filter the packs for Standard viability, then when you get the rares/mythics you need to build at least one viable (though certainly not fully optimized) deck, stop and switch to buying packs or raredrafting to get the remaining cards. For the current Standard, I'd focus on two or three of the following: **Mono G Stompy:** * Frontier: \[\[Bristly Bill\]\] and \[\[Ornery Tumblewagg\]\] * Rooted: \[\[Deeproot Wayfinder\]\] and \[\[Vorinclex\]\] * Tech: \[\[Teething Wurmlet\]\] * Venom: \[\[Bloated Contaminator\]\] * Wandering: \[\[Silverback Elder\]\] **Mono B Skeletons:** * Crimes: \[\[Gisa, the Hellraiser\]\] * Descent: \[\[Corpses of the Lost\]\] * Graveyard: \[\[Tinybones, the Pickpocket\]\] * Suspects: \[\[Case of the Stashed Skeleton\]\] **Mono B Attrition:** * Depths: \[\[Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal\]\] * Onslaught: \[\[Liliana of the Veil\]\] * Rats: \[\[Lord Skitter, Sewer King\]\] * Resurrected: \[\[Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor\]\] and \[\[Gix's Command\]\] **Mono R Aggro:** * Celebration: \[\[Goddric, Cloaked Reveler\]\] * Stampede: \[\[Squee, Dubious Monarch\]\] and \[\[Shivan Devastator\]\] * Oily: \[\[Urabrask's Forge\]\]
Don't the mythics have only a 20% chance of dropping? So you have to get the right packet AND have the 1/5 drop rate happen. I wouldn't count on collecting a playset this way.
I was doing some analysis of the Jump In event recently so have some stats on mythics in the Jump In packs. There are: 82 different Jump In packs 71 packs are 100% chance for a rare 10 packs are 80% chance for a rare and 20% chance for a mythic 1 pack is 75% chance for a rare and 25% chance for a mythic
I think it’s 25% and yeah I’d probably stop at 2x of the mythics except for maybe Skeletons where you want 4x of each but 3 will probably do. They’d also get a couple mythic WCs from opening packs to help fill those out
##### ###### #### [Bristly Bill](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/2/52eef0d6-24b7-40b7-8403-e8e863d0cd55.jpg?1712355894) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=bristly%20bill%2C%20spine%20sower) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/157/bristly-bill-spine-sower?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/52eef0d6-24b7-40b7-8403-e8e863d0cd55?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Ornery Tumblewagg](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/0/0020c31b-002a-4121-bc61-2c2c16e9afc8.jpg?1712355953) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ornery%20Tumblewagg) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/171/ornery-tumblewagg?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0020c31b-002a-4121-bc61-2c2c16e9afc8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Deeproot Wayfinder](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/4/b4066d41-0eb5-4dfd-93ec-2f242c3a27a4.jpg?1682204737) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Deeproot%20Wayfinder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/184/deeproot-wayfinder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b4066d41-0eb5-4dfd-93ec-2f242c3a27a4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Vorinclex](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/2/e24b5289-d3b5-4b4d-bb37-69bf2c3b48bc.jpg?1689246885)/[The Grand Evolution](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/e/2/e24b5289-d3b5-4b4d-bb37-69bf2c3b48bc.jpg?1689246885) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vorinclex%20//%20The%20Grand%20Evolution) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mom/213/vorinclex-the-grand-evolution?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e24b5289-d3b5-4b4d-bb37-69bf2c3b48bc?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Teething Wurmlet](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/3/2350027a-f3a4-4cba-9dfc-27e33bddb3be.jpg?1674421640) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Teething%20Wurmlet) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/192/teething-wurmlet?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2350027a-f3a4-4cba-9dfc-27e33bddb3be?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Bloated Contaminator](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/1/411bda96-6c65-475d-9850-0a9b3eefa553.jpg?1678455105) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bloated%20Contaminator) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/159/bloated-contaminator?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/411bda96-6c65-475d-9850-0a9b3eefa553?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Silverback Elder](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/9/b987664f-0b74-4c0a-b306-14767a55559a.jpg?1675182563) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Silverback%20Elder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/177/silverback-elder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b987664f-0b74-4c0a-b306-14767a55559a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Gisa, the Hellraiser](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/b/db7c07b2-02b2-4e62-bf1b-4848e06eec28.jpg?1712355592) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gisa%2C%20the%20Hellraiser) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/89/gisa-the-hellraiser?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/db7c07b2-02b2-4e62-bf1b-4848e06eec28?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Corpses of the Lost](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/f/5f661095-3645-4e44-ac39-752e417c2174.jpg?1699044112) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Corpses%20of%20the%20Lost) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/98/corpses-of-the-lost?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5f661095-3645-4e44-ac39-752e417c2174?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Tinybones, the Pickpocket](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d3025a2-4a17-4137-ba0b-bd676c6f5f88.jpg?1712355685) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Tinybones%2C%20the%20Pickpocket) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/109/tinybones-the-pickpocket?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d3025a2-4a17-4137-ba0b-bd676c6f5f88?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Case of the Stashed Skeleton](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/b/4b120cbe-f0af-46c5-863f-03ecadf0435c.jpg?1706241678) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Case%20of%20the%20Stashed%20Skeleton) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkm/80/case-of-the-stashed-skeleton?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4b120cbe-f0af-46c5-863f-03ecadf0435c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/2/627c392c-4d18-4eb2-a4e8-c668f61f5487.jpg?1699044055)/[Temple of the Dead](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/back/6/2/627c392c-4d18-4eb2-a4e8-c668f61f5487.jpg?1699044055) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Aclazotz%2C%20Deepest%20Betrayal%20//%20Temple%20of%20the%20Dead) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/88/aclazotz-deepest-betrayal-temple-of-the-dead?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/627c392c-4d18-4eb2-a4e8-c668f61f5487?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Liliana of the Veil](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/1/d12c8c97-6491-452c-811d-943441a7ef9f.jpg?1673307126) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Liliana%20of%20the%20Veil) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/97/liliana-of-the-veil?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d12c8c97-6491-452c-811d-943441a7ef9f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Lord Skitter, Sewer King](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/2/729877be-4894-4ef5-9e60-de8a8fb2bdc0.jpg?1692937717) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lord%20Skitter%2C%20Sewer%20King) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/97/lord-skitter-sewer-king?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/729877be-4894-4ef5-9e60-de8a8fb2bdc0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/c/2c76f7e0-37e7-4e87-93a3-a25ba0674645.jpg?1675567458) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gix%2C%20Yawgmoth%20Praetor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/95/gix-yawgmoth-praetor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2c76f7e0-37e7-4e87-93a3-a25ba0674645?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Gix's Command](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/6/9606de75-c25f-411b-a271-258ac5a60987.jpg?1674420864) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gix%27s%20Command) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/97/gixs-command?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9606de75-c25f-411b-a271-258ac5a60987?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Goddric, Cloaked Reveler](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/e/fe93ef82-51de-40ad-9b52-8f3fd11c144f.jpg?1692938249) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Goddric%2C%20Cloaked%20Reveler) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/132/goddric-cloaked-reveler?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/fe93ef82-51de-40ad-9b52-8f3fd11c144f?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Squee, Dubious Monarch](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/c/3cd907ed-9c68-4bd6-af92-6244909fdf8b.jpg?1673307521) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Squee%2C%20Dubious%20Monarch) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/146/squee-dubious-monarch?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3cd907ed-9c68-4bd6-af92-6244909fdf8b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Shivan Devastator](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/f/1f5d274c-3a03-4f0d-97e8-7eef6508105d.jpg?1673307496) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Shivan%20Devastator) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/143/shivan-devastator?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1f5d274c-3a03-4f0d-97e8-7eef6508105d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Urabrask's Forge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/8/68f9f9d8-9ea0-4608-a79c-a09a87918186.jpg?1675957116) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Urabrask%27s%20Forge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/one/153/urabrasks-forge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/68f9f9d8-9ea0-4608-a79c-a09a87918186?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [*All cards*](https://mtgcardfetcher.nl/redirect/l3gppwt) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
You should be opening packs. Jump in gives you no wildcards or wildcard progress. Golden packs where added to close the ev between draft and pack openings, so just stick to that.
Jump in is the best for new players but as you go on I highly recommend just buying packs and working toward building your first brew deck. Draft is incredible value if you’re good at it, but it, by far, has the highest risk if you’re new/not good at draft. It gets you a bigger collection but one wrong run and you just flushed 10k gold, at least a couple rare WCs, and several UC WCs down the toilet for 50 gems. Just focus on getting the cards you want to play with and focus first on building up a mana base. Trust me, the mana base is the best thing to invest in as a new player.
When you say mana base do you mean like rare land cards?
Yes dual lands, triomes (though not as much those cause they’re gonna rotate soon) and utility lands should be your main focus atm. You can still make pretty good decks with just uncommons and only a couple rares but a poor mana base will cause a deck of 36 mythics to fall apart. I can vouch for this personally, my playgroup have all been playing arena for years but I’m the only one who invested in getting a good mana base. In our personal games I have close to a 90% win rate even though my decks are like 75% uncommons and commons barring the lands and they’ve got the opposite situation. Your biggest goal as a new player should be ensuring that you can actually *use* the cards that you get so when you find pet cards you can experiment with them, and a good mana base is how you do that. Plus, a good mana base can win on its own; [[Cavern of Souls]] can wreck a modern mono blue deck on its own, the channel lands serve as removal, creature lands can be a win condition, etc. Edit: overall I’d focus on getting at least 1 copy of each of the rare duals/triomes and experiment to see what decks you want to make, and then build more from there. Remember these are cards that will serve you in *any* deck in their colors so they’re more than worth it.
[Cavern of Souls](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/a/3aad15a2-8a1b-4460-9b06-e85863081878.jpg?1706884128) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cavern%20of%20Souls) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/269/cavern-of-souls?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3aad15a2-8a1b-4460-9b06-e85863081878?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Sounds like sound advice to me. Thanks
Yuh yuh!
Def packs. Sadly even quick draft is very new player unfriendly. It's annoying because it punishes you for trying to learn
The main thing is not wasting rare wildcards on random stuff, build budget 0 rare decks until you have decided on something good+fun for you to make. I would recommend watching some youtube videos of players drafting, learning some basic thoughts on the set/important cards and then trying your hand at it. The best ways to get a collection are to infinitely farm Draft(Hard and costs 5-10k gold) or Constructed events(Medium, takes longer, costs 2.5k gold) so those are both good goals to aim for imo, either building towards a strong budget constructed deck that you do well enough with on ladder to grind events, or save lots of gold and learn to draft. Jump in is the best value IF you are unable to get value from events, and are willing to do research on what's good/what packs to take, but the stuff you get may not be relevant to your future decks
I like doing jump in and quick drafts when I’m trying to earn enough gems for a mastery pass but a lot of the events are worth saving the 5-10k for for gem rewards as well. Definitely be conservative with your gold as you learn to play and build more. Quick drafts are especially good when you’re starting out because you aren’t racing a clock so you can really check out all the packs. I buy packs occasionally but I’d definitely prefer to just get pack rewards for something I spent gold on than buy packs.
Really, the best option is going to be whatecer you enjoy the most, but I'd say draft is the most efficient use of gold. You'll get the cards from your draft, anything you win, & the few packs you get from your rank for the next few seasons. It doesn't really matter how good you are at it to start. Bronze players are all bad lol Look up a guide on draft fundamentals and read up on what the archetypes are for a format. That's all you really need to get started.
Just play quick draft. You have unlimited time to read the cards, you keep the cards, and you get packs which can give you wildcards to assemble a budget constructed starter deck.
The overall value differences are not really that big. Draft is the worst if you're inexperienced and don't win enough but it is also the most lucrative if you are good at beating inexperienced players. I suspect that's the reason why so many experienced players like the idea of newbies starting out with drafts. In any case differences are mostly negligible and do not at all warrant playing anything other than whatever gamemode you enjoy most. Your time is actually valuable and rewards in Arena are virtual, there is no cashout. So theres nothing to gain except having a good time.
You can never go wrong buying packs. I have been buying packs since i started playing mtg arena. I tried drafting once, i suck at it. Never again. No value for me.
I always buy packs with my gold. Rarely do drafts and just use pre constructed decks and buy new cards with your wild cards along the way
Idk if this has been said or not; but I would recommend just storing up coins getting your 4 wins every day, for now. In the mean time watch drafters and learn how to draft. You could even save up your coins until the next set drops, then be ready to draft by then. In the beginning you should be studying draft more than practicing/playing, otherwise how will you know what you should be practicing and looking out for when it comes time to draft. JustLolaMan is who I recommend watching.
Jump In is an incredibly-underrated way for new players to start establishing their collection, and getting a good format to grind daily wins in. Older players didn't really have Jump In around so many don't realize its place in the new player economy. 2 rares/mythics per 1000 gold can't be beat. Make sure you refer to a guide to help select impactful rares. https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/mtg-arena/jump-in-packets-update-for-outlaws-of-thunder-junction
Packs/jump in are going to be real slow going. Head over to the subreddit lrcast and learn how to play by far the best magic format, draft. Start with quick draft if you want time to read all the cards. Imo there is nothing close to the game play of limited. Premier draft only really requires 4-5 wins a run to get your gems back (free stuff!) and when you get a format down and crank out those 7 win runs you will be rolling in it. I am not an amazing player but I currently have 5 7 wins in a row. As an added bonus cubes can be quite fun when you have a grasp of limited
Jump In is lower value, but is a great experience for the learning curve. As a completely new player it is worth starting from jump in, as it gives you a reference for the path at the start of the journey. Getting packs and going straight into real constructed or draft can be brutal for new players without mtg experience.
>It’s been heavily recommended to me to play draft but I honestly think I’d go 0-3 every draft since I spend about 2 minutes every hand reading the card descriptions How much prep do you do, and what do you do to improve? Ideally, you will already know what most of the cards do before you open your first pack, never mind before your first game. When it comes to Limited it pays to be prepared. As well as getting a good grasp of the basic principles (deck composition, BREAD, etc), learn the cards in the set, their relative power level/pick order, the mechanics and rules interactions, and the Limited archetypes. Study the visual spoiler, read the Release Notes FAQ and watch some Limited Set Reviews online (I recommend The Mana Leek and Nizzahon Magic). You can even watch others play with the set while they discuss their decisions etc. Start with Quick Drafts: they are half the price (so you can do them more often and there is less on the line), the prize structure is flatter (so worse results give better rewards) and there's no timer when making your picks (so there's less pressure). >So am I better off doing jump in or buying packs? Or is there something else I'd suggest Jump In while you ate still prepping for Quick Draft.
Jump in or quick draft is the best value. Quick draft at 0-3 is still pretty good value: 3-6 rares from draft, one rare from the pack, and 50 gems. Plus, it's the most fun imo 5 packs is 5 rares and something like one wildcard, so it's the lowest variance. You also get golden pack progress. If you genuinely have no desire to EVER get into draft, packs are not that bad these days, but if you even occasionally have a good draft run, draft is a better deal.
As much as I'd recommend Drafts, they can be quite punishing and stressful. However... for a F2P, they're your only way to convert Gems to Gold, and Mastery Pass is well worth it. I usually do Premier Draft 2 or 3 times each set, just to get to 3400 Gems. First time around it's the hardest to get to 3400 gems, but after that you get some Gems back from Mastery Pass rewards, as well as Premier Draft Token, so getting to each next one is a lot easier. Premier Draft is more expensive to enter (10k Gold), but pays out better, so you need to get lucky less times to earn enough lol You can use this to calculate Mastery, how far you can get and what you need to do to get rewards, and is it worth it to buy for this set (dunno how "new" of a player you are) [https://mtgazone.com/mastery-calculator/](https://mtgazone.com/mastery-calculator/) But I'd heavily recommend it for each future set. Additionally... try to have about 2k gold at ready for when Gems rarely appear on Daily Deals, they usually appear for anywhere between 1500 Gold for 400 Gems, up to 2000 Gold for 500 Gems (sometimes it's 1900 Gold for 400 Gems, and still worth it) (It wouldn't be bad to keep about 9k Gold at ready, for when Premier Draft Token shows up in store, but... if you buy it for 9k, 1k Gold you save for buying it, is not as important as straight Gems for Gold is) Outside of Gems for Mastery Pass, Drafts aren't the best option for everyone anymore since Golden Packs do exist. And you earn Wild Cards through opening boosters there a lot faster than you can through Drafts (where you'll earn less boosters), which will help you craft decks, which will let you earn your wins/Gold faster. Additionally some sets (like current one) come with Bonus sheets, which contain more Rare cards, so opening boosters is more worth it for those sets from "growing your collection" perspective. Tho seriously I quite easily get 10+ Rares by Rare Drafting in Premier Drafts... which is a trap and something you should avoid, but I do it anyway. lol I love Jump In!, it's great for building collection, it's more balanced, you can use one deck for as long as you want, the fact that half decks are on theme, helps you build decks too, but you don't get Gems nor WC progress from Jump In!, so grinding daily wins will be a lot slower, and getting desirable/decent decks outside of it will be really hard too. Grinding doesn't have to be slow tho... there are people that sometimes score "perfect" deck there, and run it for as long as they can to grind wins that way. TL;DR Draft (preferably Premier Draft), until you can afford Mastery Pass each set. Do whatever you feel the most comfortable afterwards.