During a match, my client appeared to become desynchronized from my opponent’s client/server game state.

The issue initially began during combat on my turn. I was attacking with two 4/4 tokens for 8 damage. My opponent eventually declared blocks, but the game then stalled while attempting to advance through combat.

At first, I believed I was waiting for my opponent. However, my opponent began repeatedly using the “Your Go” emote, suggesting that their client believed the game was waiting for an action from me. On my client, I had no button or available action that would allow me to proceed. My own emote menu also showed “Thinking…” rather than “Your Go,” which appeared consistent with my client believing I was waiting for my opponent.

Importantly, no timeout rope was running during much of this period, despite the game apparently waiting for one of us to act.

The game eventually advanced, but the problem occurred again and became more severe. My opponent continued using “Your Go,” while my client appeared unable to advance normally.

I began screen recording after realizing something was wrong.

During the recording, the displayed game states appear inconsistent. My client continued to display the game as though I was in my second main phase, while the opponent’s turn/phase indicator appeared to have advanced to their first main phase.

The opponent was then apparently able to take a game action/cast a spell even though my client still appeared to show that it was my turn. I was not presented with the normal interface to inspect the spell or pass/respond to it.

The opponent’s timeout rope subsequently began running while my client remained in the abnormal/stuck state.

I opened the Settings menu intending to report the problem, but the normal in-game option I expected to use to report the issue was not available.

Because the match was no longer functioning normally, I force-closed MTG Arena hoping that reopening the application would reconnect me to the active match. The attached screen recording also captures this. After relaunching Arena, I was not returned to the match, so I believe the match resulted in a loss.

Expected behavior

Both players should receive and display the same authoritative turn, phase, priority, and game state.

If priority is passed to me, my client should provide the appropriate action/pass controls. If my opponent casts a spell while I have an opportunity to respond, I should be able to see the spell and receive the appropriate priority prompt.

Actual behavior

The two clients appeared to become desynchronized:

• My client behaved as though I was waiting for my opponent while my opponent’s “Your Go” emotes suggested they were waiting for me.
• I had periods where no action/proceed button was available.
• The game initially stalled without displaying a timeout rope.
• My client later displayed my second main phase while the opponent appeared to have already advanced to their first main phase.
• The opponent was apparently able to take an action/cast a spell while my client still displayed the previous turn state.
• I did not receive the normal interface to inspect/respond to that action.
• A timeout rope eventually appeared for the opponent despite my client remaining stuck.
• Force-closing and immediately reopening Arena did not reconnect me to the match. I cannot determine whether this was a client bug, connection issue, or server synchronization problem. I am reporting it because the behavior was substantially different from normal network lag and appeared to result in the two players receiving/displaying different match states.

I have a screen recording of when I start noticing the bug, if needed