Magic the Gathering
What was your first impression of Magic when you began playing?
Welcome to the first MTG thread! I figured i would ask everyone what sort of Magic gave you when you began playing it. I had not played magic up until a couple months ago when i decided to give MTG:A a shot. I figure i am not the only one who has played a lot of Hearthstone but little Magic (but if i am that is ok too), but perhaps veteran players would be interested in sharing their thoughts from the past as well.
Overall i think it's pretty fun, although the deck building is much different than i am used to. The resource mechanic of lands is also quite interesting, although it can add a level of frustration if you don't actually draw enough. There are many more complex dynamics to the turn structure and how cards can interact and i think that is pretty cool. I enjoyed what i played, although sometimes it took me a while to comprehend how or why some things happened. It's interesting to observe the similarities and differences between this and hearthstone, which i have played abundantly.
The digital version is great because i don't think i could really get too into the physical version so i could finally introduce myself to this game i always here so much about. I learned a lot over several hours of playing and i definitely see what the fuss is about. It's not something i play a lot of right now, but i am dabbling and figuring out what's strong and what isn't. I seem to prefer green or black decks off the bat, green in particular because it's much easier to get lands on the field.
In terms of flavor the art and themes are great along with the flavour text. That said, i think i still prefer hearthstone in that regard simply because i can relate more to the lore and can enjoy that aspect much more. I'd also say blizzard executes the voice lines and animations better but it is definitely a different type of atmosphere so i don't expect that to be comparable, just preference. I also don't have a huge knowledge of all the different magic sets and what sort of themes they encompass, i should probably check that out one day. I'll continue playing here and there and maybe i'll get hooked on it one day, who knows, but it's definitely a good game. Hard for me to commit to too many games at once though.
What was your first experience with MTG like?
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Welcome to the first MTG thread! I figured i would ask everyone what sort of Magic gave you when you began playing it. I had not played magic up until a couple months ago when i decided to give MTG:A a shot. I figure i am not the only one who has played a lot of Hearthstone but little Magic (but if i am that is ok too), but perhaps veteran players would be interested in sharing their thoughts from the past as well.
Overall i think it's pretty fun, although the deck building is much different than i am used to. The resource mechanic of lands is also quite interesting, although it can add a level of frustration if you don't actually draw enough. There are many more complex dynamics to the turn structure and how cards can interact and i think that is pretty cool. I enjoyed what i played, although sometimes it took me a while to comprehend how or why some things happened. It's interesting to observe the similarities and differences between this and hearthstone, which i have played abundantly.
The digital version is great because i don't think i could really get too into the physical version so i could finally introduce myself to this game i always here so much about. I learned a lot over several hours of playing and i definitely see what the fuss is about. It's not something i play a lot of right now, but i am dabbling and figuring out what's strong and what isn't. I seem to prefer green or black decks off the bat, green in particular because it's much easier to get lands on the field.
In terms of flavor the art and themes are great along with the flavour text. That said, i think i still prefer hearthstone in that regard simply because i can relate more to the lore and can enjoy that aspect much more. I'd also say blizzard executes the voice lines and animations better but it is definitely a different type of atmosphere so i don't expect that to be comparable, just preference. I also don't have a huge knowledge of all the different magic sets and what sort of themes they encompass, i should probably check that out one day. I'll continue playing here and there and maybe i'll get hooked on it one day, who knows, but it's definitely a good game. Hard for me to commit to too many games at once though.
What was your first experience with MTG like?
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At first it looked very complicated, but I've gotten a better hang of it from playing it a little bit, although I still have quite a bit to learn. I have thought of getting MTG:A for myself, although I'm unsure given how mixed the F2P experience feedback has been.
One thing that is slightly annoying is getting land-screwed in both directions, but what can you do? After playing Hearthstone a lot where players don't interact on other player's turns at all (barring Secrets and a few select cards such as Loatheb), I will most likely be slightly thrown off by a lot of Instants. I'm definitely less familiar with MTG than I am with Hearthstone and Yu-Gi-Oh (which I'm starting to lose familiarity there too because of the new Link Summoning mechanic), but it looks like a really neat card game that I'm willing to get more into.
I feel spoiled by Hex: Shards of Fate since it has a really good Single Player Campaign as well as a Racial / Class Trait system that reward you for playing Shards (aka Land in Magic) that I now keep putting too much Land and too few card draw in my deck LOL. (I was playing as Mage in Hex which has a card cycle Class trait)
I loved playing magic from the start. I started very early on I think it was '94 or '95 when my cousin introduced me to it. I was about 12 years old. I immediately began collecting cards and playing as much as I could. I remember saving up to buy a $14 pack of Legends one time and it was a big deal for me. I wish I knew how valuable some of the cards would become and put more resources into getting the cards. I played in tournaments and this was before formats or much structure so I was playing with random junk thrown together and my opponent might be throwing down black lotus and moxes. I still love and play magic today. My biggest difficulty though is with two kids I can't really get out to play a paper game. That is why hearthstone has been so fun for me. It is much more simple but it still fits my desire for a card game and is something I can play anytime anywhere.
Chaos, Panic, and Disorder, My work here is done.
Welcome to the thunder-dome bitch!
My first impression was "this is wayyy too complicated, I'll never be any good at this". And maybe I won't, but I've been playing for a bunch of months now, and I really enjoy it a ton. The ability to make defensive moves on your opponent's turn is really the key to everything, deciding what to block, even whether to block at all, to play an instant or flash spell, whatever it may be, it helps alleviate some of that helpless feeling I've had playing Hearthstone, when one of those crazy aggro decks was trampling me into the ground. That's not to say you can't get trampled in Magic, of course, you most definitely can - but I feel like that gets balanced by the other games where you actually make plays to fight out of a bad situation, turn games around, etc.
Of course, the non-guaranteed mana took some getting used to, and the biggest complaint I see when people discuss the game here (or Hearthpwn) is the mana screw/mana flood thing, which of course sucks when it happens, and it's beyond aggravating when you get a couple/few in a row. I'm a pretty intense guy, and I've been known to pound my wall a little, but all in all, it's a sporadic thing, and I find I can live with that better than I can getting queued into, say, some guy playing Token Druid and curving out in casual while I stupidly pray for miracle draws with some wonky priest build. ALL of my Magic decks are pretty wonky, but I think the larger decks, defensive options, and the need to draw your mana can actually equalize things to the point where you can win with just about anything in a Best of 1, and I definitely enjoy that.
As for the economy, or the F2P experience - I don't know, I feel like the game is fairly generous, in that they just give you full decks to play right away, and you earn 3 packs a week for wins, and a number of free random cards every day. I have a whole pile of wild cards that I can use to make any cards I like (always a hoarder) and they have various free events to play for cosmetics or alternate card art. Other events (drafts and such) have to be bought into with gems, which cost money, so I haven't really done anything there (spent $5 on the welcome bundle), so if that's your preferred style or play, or if you only like crafting the top tier decks, maybe it's harder, I don't really know. I can only say I've never felt like I was locked out of anything, or playing at some unfair disadvantage. I play how I like, I experiment, and I'm learning new things all the time.
From my time playing Hearthstone, I've kinda stopped caring about ranks too much. In my early days, I just wanted to rank up as much as I could and when I couldn't do that, it was annoying. Now though, I just learned to stop caring too much about it and just enjoy playing the game. Obviously, ranking up would be nice and I do want to win games, but I've reached the point where I just want to enjoy the game.
How friendly is it to people who aren't very familiar with Magic? I have some knowledge and I know all of the basic rules, but to say I know everything is far from the truth.
My first impression was in circa 96-97 and I did not care for it at all. Mostly because of a lack of caring really. Video games had my attention. I do wish now that I tried harder to play and learn back then. I cannot imagine now how good I could have became if I had tried and stuck with it. Or Maybe I would be broke. (Heard its expensive... Haha)
Magic has the attraction that playing the non-ranked standard mode is really good fun and you don't have the added stress of worrying about ranks and things like that.
Not to mention the fact than in unranked, the decks are really varied, with all sorts of janky homebrews and interesting mechanics going on.
I am constantly surprised (in a good way) with some of the decks I see and each time it inspires me to go find out how to build a similar deck and what I can do with it.
I'm sure ranked mode is cool and all, but for the moment, I don't find myself having any desire to venture into there when I'm having this much fun already.
The draft mode for Magic is also really good (and a lot less frustraing than HS Arena mode I find) - not to mention, drafting in Hearthstone lets you keep the cards you draft! This is HUGE! Imagine if you could do that in HS-Arena? It would be so much more popular.
Well MTGArena is easier than Local games, cause there the tutorial is good and the decks are easy to understand.
Mechanics, however, are a bit harder but that's a matter of time you can invest on that game.
For the king for the land for the mountains, For the green valleys where dragons fly, For the glory the power to win the black Lord
THE LIGHT WILL PREVAIL, HENCE WISDOM IS GOLD
JUST to correct you, to not find people not understanding this, the right sentence is:
drafting in Magic lets you keep the cards you draft! This is HUGE! Imagine if you could do that in HS-Arena? It would be so much more popular.
Anyway, a problem on this is that Hearthstone got less cards every expac or anyway the game can't permit a similar system due to pity timer etc etc, really problematic trust me.
BUT, i would enjoy a format like that, even if I have to spend 1000 golds to get 5 packs, making decks made of 25 cards.
For the king for the land for the mountains, For the green valleys where dragons fly, For the glory the power to win the black Lord
THE LIGHT WILL PREVAIL, HENCE WISDOM IS GOLD
I find magic to be a little... too much. I like it, but it's really a big slow game. Hearthstone is better to play online. I would like play magic with friends more then on a videogame, where you wouldn't be frustrated by mistakes or not owning meta decks.
You can feel that Magic was born in another age, when games and people where different. Now thinking that HS, Magic, ygo links and Clash Royale are competitor is someway strange.
I can relate.
I like to play MTGARENA but not as much as i like playing MTG Pauper in real life (RIP blue delver)
For the king for the land for the mountains, For the green valleys where dragons fly, For the glory the power to win the black Lord
THE LIGHT WILL PREVAIL, HENCE WISDOM IS GOLD
Oops! Haha! Yes, I meant drafting in Magic.
And yeah, the reason it would probably not work so well in Hearthstone is admittedly due to the low card pool.
But that said, it wouldbe nice if you could atleast choose a number of cards you drafted to keep at the end of a run. Or something to that effect. Even if it made the Arena more expensive to play.
Just an idea, really.
Can't agree more, Maybe something like this:
At the end of a run you get the classic package of rewards, and then you can: Keep 1 Epic or Legendary (if you have one, and you get to 10 win) / Keep 5 Rare (over 5 win)/ Keep 10 Common (over 3 win)
--
In this scenario, blizzard will certainly not lose money and the average player can be brought more on Arena, while collecting useful cards or dust from it's game to use on ladder...
Anyway, i doubt blizzard will make a similar thing, they are doing good but they could do more in this "view".
have a great day buddy
For the king for the land for the mountains, For the green valleys where dragons fly, For the glory the power to win the black Lord
THE LIGHT WILL PREVAIL, HENCE WISDOM IS GOLD
I started playing Magic: The Gathering in 1996. The year is 2019, and I am still playing it today. I have at most taken a break from it, but I can not put it down. The game as several formats. I also play Arena. I am just waiting for the digital game to catch up to other popular formats such as Commander and Modern. What I love about the game is that there is so many ways to customize and personalize your decks. The downside to playing the physical paper game, is that it is so expensive, it would just be cheaper to have a smoking habit.
I first played during Third Edition. It was the first game of its kind, so I was naturally blown away. Fantasy creature battles with spell-slinging and magical artifacts? Sign me up!
Today, however, its systems feel dated and unpleasant to me. I probably shouldn't be posting this here, but I've happily moved on from MTG. It was fun for a while and deserves respect for paving the way -- and the lore continues to fascinate -- but there are other card games I enjoy a lot more.
I absolutely fell head over heels in love with the game when my buddy introduced me to MtG. So much so, it played a part in my wife and I divorcing (Don't worry, we reconciled.)
My buddy introduced me to MtG during Urza's block. And I played religiously right through until Torment. Then the divorce happened, and I sold off my collection. Now she could care less about how much I play Hearthstone, and I make sure family shit comes before game shit. She still gets miffed when I'm moody during a losing streak, lol.
Grammar is the difference between knowing your s**t, and knowing you’re s**t.
A .gif is worth a thousand words.
My first thought was... I just want to go face. :)
The above comment assumes a Hearthstone Wild perspective.
MTG has better gameplay and art. HS can be played on mobile, which is HUGE. HS has better memes.
The worst thing about MTG is that dual lands are rare cards. WAY TOO EXPENSIVE. Other than that it’s a better CCG, but HS is still a great game
Magic is great. I have played HS since beta and looking to move over to MTG Arena now. I have been only playing for a week and I have a lot more fun. The difficulty level is much higher and diverse. HS right now has Mech Hunter, Shaman Murlock, Secret Hunter and Token druid as T1 decks ( All this decks besides secret hunter are aggro token decks.) The decks can refill the board with sticky minions consistently based on (luck of the draw) The only deck that really puts them in check is control warrior which is 12k+ dust. So decks that cost 1200 - 2500 dust to be countered by a 12k dust deck.
MTG Arena noob.
I first played Magic in 2011, and honestly didn't know many of the rules. A group of friends and I often made up rules, such as cards moving to the bottom of our deck after being played, mana tapping carrying over between turns, and enchantments "triggering" a maximum of once. At the time, I played for the hell of it, and honestly, it was really fun.
Since then, I've never really played constructed, opting for the more free-play feel. As fun as combo or control match ups are, I honestly think I prefer playing with weaker cards across the board, so nothing seems too stifling, and bad situations are easily reversible.
Hello, I'm Nix. Fan Creations Cultist, Gloryseeker, and Mischievous Architect.
I started to play magic when I was around 13 years old I am currently 30. I didn't full understand how to play the game as I didn't know anyone else that played it. What was popular for me at the time was Yu-Gi-Oh! and many people played it. My first impressions of magic was the cards looked amazing and very detailed. I really enjoyed the monsters called Kavu's and really wanted to make a deck around them. I currently just moved to a new city with my wife and don't know anyone in the area to play magic with at the moment.
I tried MTG Arena but magic CLEARLY does not feel that great to play in an online format compared to Hearthstone. I can say with full heart that Hearthstone is a much better game online than Magic Arena. Magic is simply just not well designed for a online platform regardless of the changes done to it. I still play Magic and Yugioh and collect the cards and buy booster boxes sometimes. Also the pay model of Magic Arena just pisses me off. Not being able to destroy cards for currency is really bad design.
Don't listen to people online that constantly make fun of hearthstone simply because they are biased towards one card game. I can say with full belief that Hearthstone ,believe it or not, is the most complex and changing meta than any of these other card games in the standard format. Magic only gets remotely interesting in Modern; however the cost for a competitive Modern deck can cost a person 1,000 dollars sometimes or more.
If you want a competitive and cheap deck for Magic Arena buy the welcome bundle and buy the first Ravanica set, the gold colored packs. Make a "Red Deck Wins" deck and craft the cards you need. Experimental Frenzy is one of the best rare cards you can craft so craft either 2 or 3 if you only have a few rare cards you can make. It's one of the best cards because many decks in the meta are unable to remove it. Dual lands being rare makes the game extremely unfriendly to new players. So just stick to one color.
My honest opinion to all of you is to find a group to play magic in its table top form. Magic Arena doesn't do the game justice. Hearthstone however is perfectly designed for online play. I also encourage you all that want to try YuGiOH to maybe stay away from it because the difficulty curve is quite insane at first and very easy to become overwhelmed. Duel Links is a great simplified version of YuGiOH that currently has a meta deck you can make for very cheap called Ancient Gear Golem. You can play competitive YuGiOH with a great winrate only spending 20 bucks or less in duel links by buying 3 Ancient gear decks in the store.
Nothing you listed is tier 1 and I believe your hearthstone experience is limited. There isn't any tier 1 aggro decks. In higher ranks you are much more likely to find a warlock than a druid,shaman, or even mech hunter. Currently mid range hunter, bomb warrior, rogue, and mage are the top meta decks. None of which are aggro. If you complain hearthstone is expensive get ready to bust your wallet even more with Magic.
When I first started playing Magic I had already been playing Hearthstone for about a year and a half, so I was not going in blind. My first deck was a blue/green control deck splashing white, and it was terrible. It had about 70-75 cards with only 20 lands. It took me a while to understand about card advantage, and how important it is, and how to obtain it. I really enjoyed learning about the game, and figuring out how to build decks with a proper land-to-spell balance. It beats Hearthstone, DnD, Legend of Zelda, breath of the wild, Terraria, and every other game I play. It is definitely my favorite game out there, one thing that makes Magic so much better than hearthstone is the diversity of decks. Magic makes more sets in a year than Hearthstone and each set contains more cards. so more decks can be made, and it is also harder to obtain all the cards, so sometimes you are forced to play a different deck. Magic is such an amazing game, I don't know what I would be doing right now if I had never found it.
Carrion, my wayward grub.
Well i stopped playing MTG almost a year ago but i clearly remember my first impression i saw someone play:
"Woah that looks complicated - but hella fun!" - and with that i started playing and collecting - startet 1995 and played until 2005/2006 - took a break from it but started up again 2009.
Had lots of fun with friends and at tournaments but i somehow lost the "feeling" for it. Can't describe it more - i just did not have fun anymore playing it - maybe because i enjoyed Hearthstone way more idk ...
Long Story Short - i had lots of fun playing MTG and i will always have the memories of playing with my friends for about 10 Hours straight but right now i have way more fun with hearthstone!
Challenge me ... when you're ready to duel a god!
My first experience with Magic was probably sometime around year 2000, I think Invasion and Planeshift sets were just out. Especially at the beginning it had always such a great atmosphere and at the time it was really unique.
I've had a lot of great times with the game, mostly palying with a group of friends at pubs, but also the local tournaments always had a great atmosphere, especially drafts - I don't think that any online game can ever have the same feeling as a real friendly draft tournament with group of friends - we always went to our favourite pub, everyone bought 3 boosters and then the number of wins would determine the order in which we took the cards at the end (so the best one went to the winner).
But then, once you no longer have time for these kind of events and you start playing it online, you usually find out that even though the game is still awesome, the atmospehere is no longer there and there are maybe even better options - that's why I started with HS like 3 years ago.
However I haven't tried MtG: Arena yet (just the classic MtG Online) and it sounds like they managed to do it quite well... so I think I'll try it soon :)
I was first shown M:TG around Nov./Dec. 1993. I loved the game from the start, as there was nothing like it. The only thing was, the person that showed/taught me the game, said that you could play as many lands as you wanted/had in your hand. Wasn't for like a month or so did I read the rules myself, (there was a like 218 page M:TG history/rule book at the time) that I learned you can only play one (basic) land per turn.
"The world outside is so big, but it's safe in my domain
Because to you I'm just a number and a clever screen name..."
I THINK, THEREFORE.... I'M AN ATHEIST !!!
They are the top decks played on HSreplay.
True that at higher legend ranks its a different sample of decks. However ranks 5-Legend you see them the most. I have a full collection so its not an issue of cost, however its an issue of interactions. If you could have a few budget control decks the game would be a little bit more diverse to new players. Yes magic is far more costly than hearthstone. However in magic to loose based on your choices of cards and plays more often than not. In hearthstone you can loose to a huge swing turn from Zuljin (example) Which is one card that swings the game. I can understand the swing from a multi-card combo, but from one card its feels awful. Omega Devastor feels awful to play against with charge and deal 10 dmg.
I made it to legend with Control warrior, Control Warlock when guldan was a thing and aids secret paladin with dr.6. So maybe i am just a little bored and burned out from HS.
MTG Arena noob.
Please do the world a favor and let Blizzard know that you are choosing Magic over Hearthstone because hero cards are not fun to play against.
I quit for a year because I was sick of Death Knights, and I only came back because they rotated out. The ongoing oppression of Dr. Boom still irks me. I don't get why they are so quick to realize that some cards are unfun, but this one gets to stay.
HS replay is unreliable and has bad data. None of the professionals use it. The only good tab for is the trending tab. Do not use HS replay to find the best decks. The trending tab is the most accurate thing on the website. Refer to that if you want to see meta changes.
I've always loved Magic, I just think it's too expensive to keep up with, hence why I use MTGO for Commander and Duels/Arena for everything else.
I even use the OLD Duels games (2012/2013 to be exact) so I can play Archenemy and Planechase respectively.
The end of days is coming. Doomsayer was right all along.
The first time I played MTG I suppose would have been back in 7th grade. I would have been..12? So sometime around 1995. I used to play with my best friend before school, during lunch, and after school once I got home. This was pre anything internet, so I'd call him over the phone and we'd get out our cards and simply tell the other person what we were doing.
I loved it! It was so cool being in these different thematic worlds. The names and the artwork made me feel like I was there, strolling through an Arabian market, or trudging through an eerie demonic swampland, or standing on the docks of a nearby seaport. I remember reading Inquest magazine and looking up card prices and decklists.....they'd usually also include some wacky joke deck, especially in the April Fools issue, and I'm certain that's when my love of meme decks was born.
Just before I started playing Hearthstone at the time of GvG, I was looking to rekindle that nostalgia. Paper MTG is a lot harder to play as an adult, simply because of having to actually drive somewhere to play a game. Hearthstone would eventually fill that void for me again.
I've recently started playing HS less and playing MTGA and although it's not exactly the same as the original MTG feeling, it's a better feeling game than HS for me now.
worst community ever