Magic: The Gathering Arena

[Sinful]

Magic: The Gathering, I guess most know what it is. It has had a online version for a long time, called Magic: The Gathering Online. It's not super popular though from what I understand. Boring UX, high bar of entry etc.
 
So they developed Magic: The Gathering Arena. Easier to get into, more Hearthstoneesq UI (animations when cards come into play etc).
 
It does have limitations. No 1vs1 (as in challenge a friend) but couple different modes to play, you can draft and so on.
 
Just like Hearthstone you get daily quests, earn gold, can buy packs or entry into game modes.
 
I've been fooling around with it a little, just the starter decks (which feel awesome to play, but they're considered to be a newbie trap because people mistake "feel awesome" for "good, even in higher tier play")
 
The match making is a bit wonky, it's absolutely not MMR, it takes the "quality" of your deck into account somehow. So if you start switching in real good cards in your newbie deck you'll QUICK run into meta decks and get absolutely torn to bits. I haven't had this happen to me, but read about it.
 
It went open beta couple weeks ago. Free to play, and as I said the newbie decks (you start out with like 4, and can unlock 1 new per day up to 10 decks or so) are very fun for someone like me who hasn't played magic in years.
 
https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena
 
Here's how it looks (gameplay starts at 2:10):

Edited October 20, 2018 by Sinful

[Cogency]

Nice, I tried that Magic the Gathering online when it got released but was indeed "to much of a hassle". Will have a look at this!

[Calyn]

I played MTG online quite a bit a long time ago, but the client got an overhaul at some point and it all went downhill from there. Unfortunately every other MTG they made after that is just lacking features compared to that. I don;t see the point of playing without trading for example. That was half the fun in MTGO. On the other hand it's Magic and I'm bored. Hmmmm...

[Tildor]

Thanks Sinful! This is awesome, been playing almost whenever I can last couple of days.
Have 2 decks that get me a winrate of around 70% now. Climbing the ladder slowly and almost at silver. Working on one of the meta-decks right now, since this is where the big boys seem to be.

Really good game, Hearthstone better watch out

Edited October 24, 2018 by Tildor

[Tildor]

Some cheap early decks that are fun and can get you some wins. Play matches untill you get all the standard decks, then you can supplement them with the cards needed to make these decks.

 

Lifesteal/creature deck

https://mtgarena.pro/decks/b-w-vamp-aggro-budget/

 

Early aggresive spell deck

https://mtgarena.pro/decks/burn-them-down-2/

[Sinful]

Hehe, np. It's pretty damn fun to fool around with, at least if you're an oooold MTG player like myself. Haven't played for probably 12 years though, but enjoying it.

 

I do have issues with the whole land mechanic, I feel too many games end with either my opponent or me being screwed around turn 3-6 and the disadvantage is 99% to large to recover from. And yeah, it's a basic mechanic of magic, I get that, I just don't find it super fun. 

 

That said, still having a pretty good time. I play at least couple games per day. Today I got my first 7 win constructed run, felt pretty damn good

 

Running a mono red, like the second one you linked, just a bit different:

https://mtgarena.pro/decks/mono-red-1831/

 

Edited October 25, 2018 by Sinful

[Tildor]

Ive seen that one too, seems quite strong also.

The one im running is also very OP, usually around turn 4 is GG for the opponent.

 

Didnt know you were such an avid oldtimer with Magic. I started Magic when it just came out, still have some Alpha and Beta cards laying around in the basement. Must be worth a fortune lol.

 

Whats your ingame name?

Edited October 26, 2018 by Tildor

[Seven]

Seven#09013 

 

What packs should i spend the ingame currency on? So far ive only played 5 games, 1 loss with the starter black and 4 wins with starter blue