The issue appears to be a selection glitch between the S-pen and the UI of MTG arena. The glitch is replicable on a tablet or phone that is S-pen compatible. The circumstances of the bug are that when hovering over the players cards in hand the card will be automatically selected as though they had been clicked for additional detail. During the detail selection a player cannot select the card again meaning the card is unplayable. This leads to the following functionality issue: a player must attempt to select the card without ever highlighting it in detail mode using the s-pen. This is only possible with extremely rapid movement of placing the s pen a unreasonable distance (more than three inches away) from the screen and repeatedly tapping for selection and is only intermittently repeatable. In the UI outside of the match, the issue persists leading to inability to functionally select items with the S-pen.

The bug as described appears to be an issue with selection layers, previous bug reports from four to five years ago available on reddit or Google note that the issue could be an error with the S-Pen air command feature and recommend disabling it to enable functionality.
As of August 28th 2026 disabling the s-pen air command feature does not restore functionality. It is in my opinion likely that this is a legacy bug that was restored/missed as an edge case user selection tool (i.e. mouse, finger, stylus, s-pen, etc.)

Please restore the UI for the S-pen selection functionality specifically to a layer selection system that can operate appropriately (does not automatically select/hold items as pressed prior to physical touch to the screen on the S-pen)

Based on previous reports from legacy issues available publicly it also possible that the current UI for MtG Arena is misinterpreting s-pen air command information, however I do not find this likely as disabling air command does not resolve this issue.

I understand this is likely an edge case, but it is also an accessibility issue as the S-pen is a more reliable stylus that is less pressure/touch dependent than others.

I noticed the same. I use Samsung s23U and the S Pen no longer works properly in the game after the latest update. Please fix. I need to use the S Pen for accessibility as a person with disabilities.

Yes! After latest update, the S Pen still "works" but has significantly degraded functionality. It only intermittently registers clicking buttons and when hovering cards in your hand, it looks selected (larger and above the rest of your hand) and then cannot be dragged onto the field.

Double tapping sometimes causes it to work, but not always and it's unplayable

Platform: Android - Samsung Tab 11 w/ S Pen
Version: 2026.62.30.6955
Started: 8/25/26