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[DrArchon]

Certainly looks better than MTGO looked, which isn't a high bar to reach. I'm just worried about how much grinding you'll need to do to get packs.

What if I want to make a Blue aggro deck? Shouldn't be too hard I guess... but I want 4 copies of the new Jace in there. Guess I'm just shit out of luck unless they change up pack structures for multiple rare/mythic cards per pack.

God forbid if I want to make a control deck, where every decent kill spell is either uncommon or rare, and every wrath is rare by default.

I'm just imagining decks being a lot jankier and more casual looking as a result of having to grind for packs. I guess that's another reason why MTGO is still here.

 

[El Topo]

I know it says it isn't going to replace Magic Duels but boy does it sound like it.

It sounds like a sleeker, greatly expanded Magic Duels. Not the worst thing.

 

[Firemind]

Certainly looks better than MTGO looked, which isn't a high bar to reach. I'm just worried about how much grinding you'll need to do to get packs.

What if I want to make a Blue aggro deck? Shouldn't be too hard I guess... but I want 4 copies of the new Jace in there. Guess I'm just shit out of luck unless they change up pack structures for multiple rare/mythic cards per pack.

God forbid if I want to make a control deck, where every decent kill spell is either uncommon or rare, and every wrath is rare by default.

I'm just imagining decks being a lot jankier and more casual looking as a result of having to grind for packs. I guess that's another reason why MTGO is still here.

testing for paper mtg will be a nightmare at the very least

 

[Leafhopper]

You mean Magic Online? Because this is definitely replacing Magic Duels.

No I mean Duels.

I just find it really weird that they went through all that effort of saying they would keep Duels updated and go "Nah here is a new game.

It sounds like a sleeker, greatly expanded Magic Duels. Not the worst thing.

Oh yeah it sounds better for sure, just they made a mountain of promises with Duels.

 

[El Topo]

Oh yeah it sounds better for sure, just they made a mountain of promises with Duels.

While that is true, Arena already seems fundamentally more aggressively positioned. Whether it will succeed or replace MTGO is something time will tell.
I am still cautious though, because words are cheap. There are more than enough things that could still go very wrong.

 

[DrArchon]

testing for paper mtg will be a nightmare at the very least

It'll be completely impossible unless you can buy specific cards somehow. Imagine trying to grind out enough packs to make a truly competitive blue control deck.

"Well I gotta have 4 copies of Torrential Gearhulk. Better get started."

 

[Leafhopper]

While that is true, Arena already seems fundamentally more aggressively positioned. Whether it will succeed or replace MTGO is something time will tell.
I am still cautious though, because words are cheap.

I don't know if anything will outright replace MTGO with the way that thing is structured.

This does look better though.

 

[Evolution of Metal]

It'll be completely impossible unless you can buy specific cards somehow. Imagine trying to grind out enough packs to make a truly competitive blue control deck.

"Well I gotta have 4 copies of Torrential Gearhulk. Better get started."

You should be able to craft cards, however, crafting is CCGs is usually sacrificing 3-4 same rarity cards to build a specific one. You might be looking at recycling 9-12 rares into a mythic.

 

[DrArchon]

You should be able to craft cards, however, crafting is CCGs is usually sacrificing 3-4 same rarity cards to build a specific one. You might be looking at recycling 9-12 rares into a mythic.

I would hope that you could recycle rares into mythics and it won't just be "Sorry, you can only turn rares into rares and mythics into mythics."

I mean, if that wasn't the case, getting 4 copies of a chase mythic would be borderline impossible.

 

[membran]

IGN has half an hour worth non-commentated gameplay footage up on youtube.

So they basically cloned the snappiness of Hearthstone for Magic, down to the card attack animations and the "tactility" of it all. About time, I would say. I'm not sure whether I like the square cards in play or not, though.

And I guess the F2P mechanics will be much less kind to the player than it was back in Magic Duels. Not that Duels wasn't grindy as hell, but the fact that you couldn't get duplicates out of booster packs beyond the maximum of copies allowed in a deck for each rarity (Duels allowed only 1 of the same mythic in a deck, 2 rare, 3 uncommon... which meant that there was an effective limit of the booster packs you needed to get to unlock a full playset of a block), along with the possibility to grind F2P currency against the AI (abusing the AI in the process, of course) always struck me as too "nice" for the nasty F2P world. It didn't surprise me that they killed it off. I think many if not most players never saw the need to actually spend money on it, even if the game was so fair as to be an F2P with a spending cap (I think you could spend around 50 EUR when a set was released to get all cards; last I checked, that was the "Pre-Order"-Option of a Hearthstone expansion and I think it's clear that this won't get you anywhere near having all the cards of that expansion).

Of course, they might have burnt a lot of their players by pulling Duels without even finishing the block. Or they reckon those players will bite again, anyway. And they might try to lure Hearthstone players with this kind of snappy UI.

I'll have a look at it when it comes out, how bad the F2P impact is, how fair the pricing - and how stable the programming. I like the feel of how Hearthstone plays (in an UI sense, not gameplay), but I grew tired of the creature trading (I really don't like the gameplay resulting from being able to directly attacking an enemy creature), regular board wiping and generally passive play (no instants / activated abilities). I always found Magic to be my favorite (it was my first, after all) card game and I'd even be willing to spend a few (!) bucks if it plays well enough and I don't feel like it's a rip-off and using the usual F2P psychological warfare. I don't expect that to be the case, though. It's a F2P game releasing in 2018, after all. It's only to get worse with those.

Besides, I always can fall back to a heavily modded DotP 2014 with ~10.000 cards with hundreds of user-made decks that the AI *mostly* can pilot... somewhat.

 

[StrategyFan]

Let's say you're on PC. You already have an option for Magic that grants you full access to all of the game's sets, full rule sets, drafts, sealed, pauper, etc., as well as competitive play integration. The only thing it really lacks is a more stable client that looks better.

it's not full access though. it's behind a massive paywall

the new game probably won't charge $14 for a booster draft or $28 for a sealed

i know everyone likes to shit on MTGO, but the biggest problem after the initial accessibility hurdle is its pricing, not its lack of flashiness

if they decouple from the paper economy, they can actually make a video game that's priced like a video game instead of a simulator of paper MTG

 

[Adaren]

I'm sure it will be later on, just like when Hearthstone was PC only at first

Fine by me. One of their big mistakes with Magic Duels was releasing it for a bunch of platforms to start. Better to start with something small and working and expand from there.

 

[IvorB]

Looks really cool but have they chopped the cards in half for some reason?

 

[sibarraz]

Hope that this game has cross save when they release it on other plataforms

 

[ShdwDrake]

Looks really cool but have they chopped the cards in half for some reason?

Probably so they all fit when you get ridiculous? I mean so newer players can read the screen easier?

 

[charlequin]

And I guess the F2P mechanics will be much less kind to the player than it was back in Magic Duels.

What reason would they have to do this? Every other digital CCG is significantly more generous than Hearthstone and Hearthstone has been getting significantly more generous than it was at launch. If you're stingy with cards then people just don't play, if you're generous you have a lot more people who spend real money. If they can't meaningfully compete with Hearthstone on price they're DOA.

always struck me as too "nice" for the nasty F2P world.

Your knowledge of the F2P market is not very accurate and will lead you to incorrect conclusions.

the new game probably won't charge $14 for a booster draft or $28 for a sealed

Yeah, to reference the competition again here, it's two bucks to do a "draft" on Hearthstone that gets you somewhere between 3 and 14 games and at absolute worst pays out like half of what you spent on it. That's the kind of price territory a game in this space needs to target, and you can't do that in a platform that's tied to paper pricing.

 

[SpiceMelange]

IGN has half an hour worth non-commentated gameplay footage up on youtube.

So they basically cloned the snappiness of Hearthstone for Magic, down to the card attack animations and the "tactility" of it all. About time, I would say. I'm not sure whether I like the square cards in play or not, though.

And I guess the F2P mechanics will be much less kind to the player than it was back in Magic Duels. Not that Duels wasn't grindy as hell, but the fact that you couldn't get duplicates out of booster packs beyond the maximum of copies allowed in a deck for each rarity (Duels allowed only 1 of the same mythic in a deck, 2 rare, 3 uncommon... which meant that there was an effective limit of the booster packs you needed to get to unlock a full playset of a block), along with the possibility to grind F2P currency against the AI (abusing the AI in the process, of course) always struck me as too "nice" for the nasty F2P world. It didn't surprise me that they killed it off. I think many if not most players never saw the need to actually spend money on it, even if the game was so fair as to be an F2P with a spending cap (I think you could spend around 50 EUR when a set was released to get all cards; last I checked, that was the "Pre-Order"-Option of a Hearthstone expansion and I think it's clear that this won't get you anywhere near having all the cards of that expansion).

Of course, they might have burnt a lot of their players by pulling Duels without even finishing the block. Or they reckon those players will bite again, anyway. And they might try to lure Hearthstone players with this kind of snappy UI.

I'll have a look at it when it comes out, how bad the F2P impact is, how fair the pricing - and how stable the programming. I like the feel of how Hearthstone plays (in an UI sense, not gameplay), but I grew tired of the creature trading (I really don't like the gameplay resulting from being able to directly attacking an enemy creature), regular board wiping and generally passive play (no instants / activated abilities). I always found Magic to be my favorite (it was my first, after all) card game and I'd even be willing to spend a few (!) bucks if it plays well enough and I don't feel like it's a rip-off and using the usual F2P psychological warfare. I don't expect that to be the case, though. It's a F2P game releasing in 2018, after all. It's only to get worse with those.

Besides, I always can fall back to a heavily modded DotP 2014 with ~10.000 cards with hundreds of user-made decks that the AI *mostly* can pilot... somewhat.

I wonder how you're supposed to handle stops for priority. I don't see any stops like in MTGO in the turn structure bar on top of the hand. Say I have a bounce spell that i want to use in the declare attackers step, how do you stop?

 

[SigmasonicX]

I wonder how you're supposed to handle stops for priority. I don't see any stops like in MTGO in the turn structure bar on top of the hand. Say I have a bounce spell that i want to use in the declare attackers step, how do you stop?

You can switch to a mode where you manually pass priority.

 

[Yeef]

I wonder how you're supposed to handle stops for priority. I don't see any stops like in MTGO in the turn structure bar on top of the hand. Say I have a bounce spell that i want to use in the declare attackers step, how do you stop?

The actual stream footage showed the game off better than the IGN footage (also, the people playing on the IGN footage are pretty bad at the game). It shows a bit on this as well as some other features like assigning damage order when there are multiple blockers.

There are default 'stops' in the normal mode during key parts of the turn like beginning of combat and the end step. If you want to have even more control over priority, you can toggle "Full Control" mode on or off at any time. When you're in the mode, you manually have to pass priority every time you get it, which allows you to manipulate your timing as much as you can in the normal game.

 

[Qvoth]

signed up for the beta even though i don't play magic
last i played was using cockatrice

 

[IvorB]

Probably so they all fit when you get ridiculous? I mean so newer players can read the screen easier?

Well, it sucks.

 

[Eternal Gamer]

I really, really hope they add card crafting to this game.

Its lack is the reason why I dropped YGO Duel Links, and its presence is the reason why I have an almost complete collection in Shadowverse and Eternal and I keep playing them daily.

 

[UserDoesNotExist]

They have to add card crafting to this, there's no way around that. Part of what made Hearthstone so successful is that you always got something out of a pull so you never felt like you were cheated; even if you got no useful cards, at least you could dust them, and you'd obtain dust in a sufficient quantity that you could craft cards regularly.

I would also really really like to see WotC allow you to import physical booster packs into the game (maybe make them undustable), since that synergy would help grow both the digital and physical versions of the game greater than the sum of the two parts. But I don't think it's necessary to the survival of this game.,

 

[Spiritreaver]

You can grind for free packs but no trading and no reselling unlike MTGO huh... so this is really is Hearthstone =/

That killed most of the hype to me. I really thought they'd go the TCG route. I guess it's just not attractive in today's digital environment. Thanks Hearthstone.

We'll see how Artifact turns out.

 

[Justice_Bolt]

I'm in! I hope this game will be the MTG online true successor and last forever and not just 2 years.
I would like to be able to make trade of cards... . They really must add this ! Or card crafting...
In the meantime, I will still play Eternal the card game that is still the closest CCG to magic.

 

[JustSomeone]

You can grind for free packs but no trading and no reselling unlike MTGO huh... so this is really is Hearthstone =/

Except it has the far superior mechanics of magic.
This game has the option to have the best of both worlds: the superior economy of HS and tbe better actual gameplay of magic

 

[IvorB]

I don't know about anyone else but full-fat Magic with Hearthstone usability/presentation sounds like just what I wanted.

 

[Novocaine]

This is like the biggest non-answer that shows how much faith they have in this game.

"Because we can make the die hard fans buy all their sets again"

Or do they transfer over?

That MTG:O client needed to go either way, it's over a decade old.

 

[Justice_Bolt]

I don't know about anyone else but full-fat Magic with Hearthstone usability/presentation sounds like just what I wanted.

Yeah exactly. This is the best of both world.

 

[jon bones]

Except it has the far superior mechanics of magic.
This game has the option to have the best of both worlds: the superior economy of HS and tbe better actual gameplay of magic

Yeah exactly. This is the best of both world.

yes! for ccg fans this appears to be "the one"

 

[membran]

Signed up for the beta yesterday, but didn't receive any confirmation via mail. Is that considered to be normal or did something get messed up? The Wizards site had some issues yesterday, redirecting endlessly whilst being logged in.

Did you guys receive an email confirming the beta sign-up?

 

[El Topo]

Signed up for the beta yesterday, but didn't receive any confirmation via mail. Is that considered to be normal or did something get messed up? The Wizards site had some issues yesterday, redirecting endlessly whilst being logged in.

Did you guys receive an email confirming the beta sign-up?

I think they said it could take a day (or longer) until you get an e-mail.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

I don't know about anyone else but full-fat Magic with Hearthstone usability/presentation sounds like just what I wanted.

I's a dream come true. Let's hope they don't screw it up.

 

[BlackJace]

I am not feeling this Hearthstone-esque UI, holy shit.

 

[PsionBolt]

I just want my cards to sit still, flat, on the table. Is that really so much to ask, that not a single (decent, recent) digital TCG can manage it?
Hopefully there's an option to turn off / minimize all animations, motion, and effects...

...And while I'm being picky, I'd also ask for the PT to be in the corner where it belongs and for tapped cards to turn more than two degrees.

 

[SapientWolf]

I'm probably the only one, but I'd pay good money for more sweet Duels style puzzles.

 

[Fragamemnon]

I signed up for beta but I'm old and only like to play with broken cards in eternal formats. Still might be fun.

 

[shawnoftheshred]

I just want my cards to sit still, flat, on the table. Is that really so much to ask, that not a single (decent, recent) digital TCG can manage it?
Hopefully there's an option to turn off / minimize all animations, motion, and effects...

...And while I'm being picky, I'd also ask for the PT to be in the corner where it belongs and for tapped cards to turn more than two degrees.

Agreed, fully. I kind of like the idea of cutting off the text on the cards until someone wants to read it, freeing up space on the board...but, at that angle everything just feels off. Really hoping there is a camera option to go straight overhead. Or hoping people in the beta provide that feedback.

 

[shawnoftheshred]

it's not full access though. it's behind a massive paywall

the new game probably won't charge $14 for a booster draft or $28 for a sealed

i know everyone likes to shit on MTGO, but the biggest problem after the initial accessibility hurdle is its pricing, not its lack of flashiness

if they decouple from the paper economy, they can actually make a video game that's priced like a video game instead of a simulator of paper MTG

Fair enough - I guess I was coming at this from an assumption that, since they've talked about rolling the game out with the Standard formats, it's going to be extremely hard to grind to open the cards needed in the limited time that format is around. If it is truly free to play for drafts (where you don't keep the cards in your collection) or if the grind is very minimal to unlock the Standard sets, then it's scratching my itch (assuming it comes to Mac/iPhone and Xbox One). If there's still a decent paywall, not to play the game, but to play competitively on here, then I think it's still kind of a not knowing what it is situation. But I guess time will tell with the specific business model.

 

[Dynamic3]

I just want my cards to sit still, flat, on the table. Is that really so much to ask, that not a single (decent, recent) digital TCG can manage it?
Hopefully there's an option to turn off / minimize all animations, motion, and effects...

...And while I'm being picky, I'd also ask for the PT to be in the corner where it belongs and for tapped cards to turn more than two degrees.

It's as if they thought the reason Duels couldn't touch HS was because it didn't have overly ornate graphics and animations.

Magic has the benefit of a physical empire, and I wish they would preserve that feel and all of it's complexities.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Looks cool. I hope this takes off and turns into the modern digital Magic game we all deserve.

Meanwhile I can recommend Eternal Card as a very good alternative.

 

[panzone]

When I will be able to play drafts with Arena (possibly at a cheaper price than paper) for me it will be good enough.

 

[Chessr]

What is Draft ?

 

[SigmasonicX]

What is Draft ?

It's a game style where you don't start out with any cards, and instead you and a group of other players have to build up decks by opening up booster packs, selecting a card, then passing it to the next person.

 

[mnannola]

Will this see a mobile (iOS and Android) release?

 

[Nirolak]

Will this see a mobile (iOS and Android) release?

Eventually, nigh assuredly.

 

[IvorB]

I's a dream come true. Let's hope they don't screw it up.

Unfortunately, based on prior performance, the chances of them screwing it up are really, really high. Fingers crossed though.

 

[Ooccoo]

Am a big fan of the game with ties in the industry (LGS). Unless WOTC wakes up, I do not see them having success with Arena. The fact you only get Standard cards at first sucks. No card crafting in a Hearthstone world sucks. No drafting at launch sucks.

They have the biggest TCG in the world yet every online venture has been met with failure and incompetence. I do not see that changing on the near future, unfortunately.

 

[Yeef]

Am a big fan of the game with ties in the industry (LGS). Unless WOTC wakes up, I do not see them having success with Arena. The fact you only get Standard cards at first sucks. No card crafting in a Hearthstone world sucks. No drafting at launch sucks.

I don't know where you're getting the idea that there will be no drafting at launch. Closed Beta and launch are two different things.

Every thing they've been saying about Arena so far is basically, "hey, here's a playable version with basic features; help us figure out which direction we should take development."

 

[panzone]

What is Draft ?

It's a game format where the participants do the deck before starting the tournament.

Each person has 3 booster packs. Everyone open a pack, select and take a card and then you pass the rest of the pack to the person at your left, while receiving the pack from the person to your right. You then select and take another card and it continues this way. When the pack is finished, everyone open another booster pack and repeat the procedure.

At the end, you will have selected around 42/45 cards. With them and any amount of basic lands you want, you make your deck. Then it's a normal Magic tournament, with the exception that In Draft the minimum number of cards in a deck is 40 (instead of 60).

The big advantage of drafts is that this way you obtain some gaming value to each card (instead of just opening packs) and, since everyone plays with the cards you open, games tend to be quite different than constructed magic: a lot of useless cards in constructed are actually very playable in draft. Also, at each draft you play with different cards and different strategies, meaning you try a lot more types of decks than you normally would.