I get many questions about league matchmaking. I wanted to describe how it works to help players understand how Magic Online leagues work.

Magic Online only considers three factors when considering whether two people should be matched:

Each player’s match score in their league course (# wins minus # losses)



How long each player has been waiting

Whether they’ve played before in their current courses***

Ideally it tries to match you with the exact same match score. Note that since this is wins minus losses, 0-0 and 1-1 are (for example) considered equivalent for this purpose. Over time, the tolerance will increase for how far apart players’ match scores can be and still get matched.

So if you’re a 1-0 player, it tries to match you up at first with another person with one more win than their number of losses. But over time, it will increase its tolerance, so you might match with a 2-0, 0-1, or 1-0 instead.



Eventually the tolerance grows. It’s theoretically possible that, for example, a 4-0 could play an 0-4. However this is pretty unlikely. The vast majority of matches are made within one match score, and usually opponents have the same match score.

Similarly, while there is a bias against rematches, there is not an outright prohibition against them. If there has been a lot of waiting without another opponent available to play, eventually you’ll be matched together again.

To reiterate, the following things are NOT considered in league matchmaking:



Elo or other rating



Number of trophies in the league



Either your or a potential opponent’s deck



Records in matches outside of your current league course



Hopefully this helps your understanding of league matchmaking!

- Lee

*** Note that, for the purpose of a rematch, it only counts whether you have both played each other in your current course. If A and B play, and that finishes A’s course but B is still in the middle of their course, it will not be considered a rematch if A and B play again in what is a new course for A, even though it is the same course for B. Note that in constructed, this can be hard to detect if you are B and A is using the same deck again for their new course.