Not A Bug Client Lag

ZeroForever

Member
Seems like the longer i play mtgo, the more laggy it is. If one of my games goes long, its difficult to finish. often ill be behind 5 mins on clock from my opponent. It takes 10 seconds just for Seasoned Pyromancer to put 2 tokens in play.

My Computer is running updated Win 10, i7-8700k (not overclocked atm), 3080ti, and 32gbs of ram. Normal troubleshooting steps dont resolve the issue and the only thing that puts a band-aide over it is restarting the client. My wifes computer, which runs low to mid components runs the client better. Can any assist me in what i might be missing or need to do in order to fix this issue. my wifes PC also is using an AMD chip. not sure if that makes the difference or not. Thanks.
 
Plus 1 to this, basically unplayable for any form of repetitive combo play. I'm not playing my opponent, I'm playing the timer + exponential match lag
Match 259516237 is an example. If a match goes to game three it's 10-20 seconds for every interaction and I'm basically competing against the client and the clock and no longer my opponent.

Need to restart client between every single match, and even then if it goes to game three it's almost unusable. Have reinstalled, closed everything else, rebooted, all the normal troubleshooting things.
 
One example of how lag can be introduced happened when MOM debuted - battles added a whole other level of things to check for at all times. Once we were able to narrow down the cause (which did take a good chunk of a week), we were able to fix the issue and send out a hotfix within a couple days.
We cannot expect to track down every source of lag in the client - we try to find spots for improvement when possible: we made one fix that significantly reduced load times and are working to bring the file size back down.

If there is something reproduceable, then provide that information. It could be as something as simple as "I notice matches against Deck X have spiraling slowdowns".

Beyond that, you can protect the integrity of your play experience by restarting the game every couple of hours - particularly in paid and Premier events.
I have to restart about once every match. I wish I could wait a few hours. Just like @enderofashes
 

omair00

Active member
The client runs slow on high-end desktop computers, and runs fast on mid-range laptop computers. So it has to do with how the software chooses to run on specified hardwares. That being said, this is not an easy fix. There needs to be a lot of correspondence, communication, and collaboration between users and developers. Please comment on my reply.

Yours truly,
Jace Beleren
 
The client runs slow on high-end desktop computers, and runs fast on mid-range laptop computers. So it has to do with how the software chooses to run on specified hardwares. That being said, this is not an easy fix. There needs to be a lot of correspondence, communication, and collaboration between users and developers. Please comment on my reply.

Yours truly,
Jace Beleren
Would love for a developer to reach out and do a debugging session. I am also a developer and would be happy to assist.
 

yaWgnorW

New member
Comment to share also having this issue. I understand many have had this issue historically; this is my first time encountering it. Recently got a new computer. Previous computer never ran into this.
Can certainly observe the memory increasing gradually over time, even as the client sits idle with no game play.
I can play 1.5 games before a noticeable change. Game 2 and 3 of the second game without a client restart make it challenging to play.

Steps I've taken:
1) Full uninstall, clean of registry and 2.0 filepath, basically everything here: https://help.mtgo.com/hc/en-us/arti...tall-or-perform-a-clean-installation-of-MTGO-
2) Reviewed other apps for startup priority (same as my previous PC)
3) reinstalled client - no change
 

MarkChalice

Member
Thank you @Angeliana,

I am also affected by this bug. Ever since I installed on my brand new gaming computer, and the Daybreak switch happened (not sure which, it was around the same time), I've barely been able to get through one single match. I have to restart the client while sideboarding or I'll just lag out and be a solid 5-8 minutes behind my opponent, like the original poster said.

The lag spikes corresponds with CPU spikes and CPU Fan spin-up. As it progresses through the match, the CPU fans spin up more and more frequently, and for longer durations. Every click takes 5-10 seconds longer than it should.

This isn't the first time I've struggled with this issue -- it happened on my older PC as well, but somehow it went away for a while. Now it's back and worse than ever. I took a break for a few months hoping this would be fixed. Sad that it's not, but happy it's actually being looked in to.

Specs:
  • Processor: 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900K 3.20 GHz (16 cores/24 threads)
  • Installed RAM: 64.0 GB (63.7 GB usable)
  • System type: Windows 11 - 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
  • Pen and touch: No pen or touch input is available for this display
  • Displays: Three monitors running at 2560 x 1440
  • GPU: NVidia RTX 3090Ti Founders Edition with 24GB GDDR5 ram
  • I have a bi-directional (full duplex) gigabit fiber internet connection, and have verified my bandwidth. Ping to anywhere reasonable is 50ms or less. Sometimes single digits.

Please advise, let me know if there's anything I can do to provide useful debugging info -- and signing up for updates on this issue!
I've also had the same issue. Ever since I moved to my new PC, which is Windows 11 Pro, I have had much worse lag issues, but only with Magic online. I am experiencing exactly what you describe - where I have to restart it each match, for a long match sometimes I have to restart it during the match.
 

MarkChalice

Member
I am also seeing the issue. I have to restart every match. It was not happening on my previous machine, which was much slower. But since getting a new machine - one that came with Windows 11 Pro installed on it - I have been having horrible lag issues with magic online (and unfortunately the lag issues are only with magic online).
 

MarkChalice

Member
Ever since getting my new machine this summer(June 2023) - a Dell Latitude 5430 with Windows 11 Pro - I have been having an (DIFFERENT FROM NORMAL LAG) ongoing issue with lag. I am well aware of the normal lag that happens with magic online, that is not what I am referring to.
The lag is bad enough that I have to restart my machine every single match(so 5 times every league); or in a long and complicated match, sometimes during the match and again after the match is over.
My previous machine was much slower, but worked better with magic online. Previous machine was only 2GB RAM, new one is 16GB RAM. Prev was a mechanical hard drive, new one is SSD. Previous one was Windows 10 Home, this one is Windows 11 Pro.
All my other applications work well and I am able to access all other websites rapidly.

Please advise. This has been an ongoing problem for me.

Thank you,
Mark Chalice
 

MarkChalice

Member
This issue is actively being investigated, as soon as we find the cause and have a fix, we will be sure to post it.
I've been having this lag issue since I got my new machine(early June 2023) which I want to make sure you are aware is different than previous magic lag issues.
My previous computer was much slower and much less RAM(previous computer had 2GB RAM and a physical hard drive and was Windows 10), but the lag is much worse on my new computer(16GB of RAM and has an SSD) My new machine is a Dell Latitude 5430 running Windows 11 & I reinstalled windows from scratch so there isn't any of the additional applications that sometimes come with a new machine(often referred to as bloatware).
All other websites and applications work very well and quickly.
Magic online, right after I launch it, is very quick, but by the end of a 3 game match it is lagging quite badly. For a complicated game I often have to restart magic online during the middle of a match, even when I restarted it right before the match started.
I very much hope you are able to resolve this issue, and if there is any information I can provide you that might be helpful, please email me and I will do so.
Thank you and good luck!
-Mark Chalice
 

Anaip90

New member
Hello,

I've been unable to play mtgo since last week due to this lag issue. Everything was working well and suddenly, the client started to lag a lot, taking so much time to log in and load the initial screen. It's almost impossible to take a game because any action takes a lot and I'm running out of time, every game. I've already reported this issue to the tech team. They gave me some steps to walk through (uninstall the client and other troubleshooting steps) and the client is still the same, over a week.
My computer and my internet connection are the same, nothing has changed to justify this problem.

Any tip is welcome to help me solve this. Thanks in advance.
 

TomMcV

Member
Hi, I would also like to add myself to the chorus of lag complaints.

For me it seems to kick in hard when a new set gets released. Which is perfect timing.

Can play about 1 game in before I need to reboot the client, even then the slow down wrecks my clock.
 

TomMcV

Member
Hi,

So this is weird, but maybe useful to somebody in the development team:

I was getting bad lag with the new set release.

Then, during my draft picks at the beginning of a draft league the client suddenly froze (I think maybe Friday? 8th September. Maybe 1900 GMT?). Then I lost connection. My internet was otherwise fine, but I could not connect to MTGO. Additionally I was unable to connect to the Daybreak servers, like this website.

When I did get back into MTGO, I asked my opponent if he had disconnected similarly. He said no.

However, after this incident, the lag completely disappeared.

Unfortunately a day or two later I got some client error, that prompted a re-install.

And now the lag is back.

So if something weird was being done server side, please do it again! (It has becoming border-line unplayable again, need to reset after every game or two.)

Cheers.
 

TomMcV

Member
Hi,

So this is weird, but maybe useful to somebody in the development team:

I was getting bad lag with the new set release.

Then, during my draft picks at the beginning of a draft league the client suddenly froze (I think maybe Friday? 8th September. Maybe 1900 GMT?). Then I lost connection. My internet was otherwise fine, but I could not connect to MTGO. Additionally I was unable to connect to the Daybreak servers, like this website.

When I did get back into MTGO, I asked my opponent if he had disconnected similarly. He said no.

However, after this incident, the lag completely disappeared.

Unfortunately a day or two later I got some client error, that prompted a re-install.

And now the lag is back.

So if something weird was being done server side, please do it again! (It has becoming border-line unplayable again, need to reset after every game or two.)

Cheers.
Hi, just to add, that if something similar was done today, it worked, thank you! Or happy coincidence.
 
This appears to be a happy coincidence.

Still looking for patterns to try to narrow down sources of lag.
Happy to do a live debugging session with you if you want to see this happen in real time. I can reproduce it with 100% consistency over the course of about 2-3 matches. One long intricate match will also get things there.
 

TomMcV

Member
Guess who's back? Lag is back! I started experiencing it again on Monday around 20.00 GMT. Had been perfect for last week before then. If you have any working theories happy to help.
 

Marco

New member
Guess who's back? Lag is back! I started experiencing it again on Monday around 20.00 GMT. Had been perfect for last week before then. If you have any working theories happy to help.
Sadly yes, pretty new to this but very frustrating issue in the last week or so. Same PC as ever, had these problems before the weekend instead and last night, around 23.00-0.00 utc+1.
 
I am experiencing this same issue --- started about 2 weeks ago, after never having experienced it before in about 10 years of gameplay. On my end, the issue happens randomly. It doesn't matter if I've played 1 game or 5. Also, restarting the client doesn't resolve the issue or minimize the probability of it occurring.
 
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