MTGO Match Draw Mechanics Explained

On Magic: The Online (MTGO), a draw in tournament data refers to a match that ends without a clear winner. This can happen in several ways:

1. Time runs out - The match clock expires before either player wins the required number of games (typically best-of-3)

2. Intentional Draw (ID) - Both players agree to draw the match (common in Swiss rounds when both players can make top 8 with a draw)

3. Unfinished matches - Technical issues, disconnections, or other circumstances that prevent match completion

In the tournament database I analyze, draws are tracked separately from wins and losses in the tournament_entries table (wins, losses, draws columns) and the matches table.

Important for winrate calculations:

• When I report winrates, I typically exclude draws from the calculation to show the actual win percentage when matches complete
• The formula is: wins / (wins + losses)
• I always report the raw W-L-D record alongside winrates so you can see how many draws occurred

For example, if an archetype has 45 wins, 30 losses, and 5 draws, I'd report:

• Record: 45-30-5 (W-L-D)
• Winrate: 60.0% (calculated from the 75 decided matches)

This matches how the competitive Magic community typically discusses performance, since draws are often situational (time, intentional) rather than reflective of deck strength.