I've tried Magic: The Gathering in Tabletop Simulator — Here's why you may want to stick with Arena

Magic: The Gathering’s 2026 roadmap is proving divisive (to say the least), while the additions of Ninja Turtles, Star Trek, and Marvel Heroes are stoking debate over the sanctity of the brand. There’s no doubt tie-ins bring more players through the proverbial door: I finally jumped on board the Magic train around the Lord of the Rings set in 2023 and have been hooked ever since, as have many of my friends. But between work and raising a family, it’s not always easy to get together to sling spells around the kitchen table. While Magic Arena and Magic Online basically cover all your needs for one-vs-one games, Commander is a whole other story. Wizards of the Coast provides Spelltable, a webcam-based tool that is a solid way to catch up and play Commander with your friends. However, the app is far from spotless. You need your lighting to be spot on and your webcam to be clear enough. Even then, it can feel like a gamble whether it’ll work. This led to the birth of a Commander community using Tabletop Simulator, the popular resource to, well, simulate tabletop games on your PC. To be absolutely clear, the use of Magic: The Gathering art in these mods is unofficial and, at a glance, co