Magic The Gathering

atomicdomb

Hey guys,

I have always been quite a huge Magic freak and was wondering who else plays MTG?

The game also has some super interesting mechanics in terms of Games Design and how they kept the model going for 20 years

Thanks!

EvanGreenwood

I played a regular Commander game with a group of friends until the middle of last year, but haven't found the time recently.

I keep comparing Hearth Stone to Magic, and while I think there's several ways in which Hearth Stone is better (the simpler mana system makes the game less lucky, and mana draw luck isn't desireable when you play just two games a week like I did), but Hearth Stone doesn't have anything close to the wondrous complexity of interactions that Magic has (though obviously Magic is far older).

dislekcia

I used to play MtG back in high school, but once I was out of situations where I didn't have artificially enforced blocks of empty time, it lost a lot of its allure. Started playing again at varsity and the cost of keeping up with everything felt really limiting, so I ended up only enjoying closed draft tournaments and the like.

These days I really enjoy deck-building boardgames a ton - all the awesomeness of a draft with more friends and less competitive shouting :)

Fengol

Pheesh! Netrunner is better, and @Tuism agrees! Asynchronous play, guaranteed cards in boosters and strong themes.

edg3

I still play MTG, Standard too, though this is because I have enough cards that are still in Standard to be able to play Standard. Though I don't have enough of the more expensive cards to build anything competitive.

I play casually with friends, I am slowly building a commander deck, and will still enjoy playing it for a while, though I made a decision to not spend so much money on it anymore.

This article sums up my opinion about Magic these days fairly well: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/kitchen-table-magic-and-bankslaying-angels/

As our friend and loyal reader Mike Turian said in a recent interview with Gathering Magic - "There will always be a 'Best Card in Magic.'" I am not disagreeing with this statement. There will always be a number of cards that are more rare, more desirable and therefore more expensive in Magic the Gathering. You cannot fight this fact.

Look, I love chase cards. They are part of what makes opening a pack of cards such a spiritual experience. They also create a frenzy around whatever the latest product is and that surely makes Wizards of the Coast a lot of money. Let me be clear - I don't want to do away with mythic rares and/or chase cards. I simply want to tweak their rarity a tad so that more players can experience those same feelings I do.

tl;dr: if it was less of a cash cow and more of an "anybody can build anything" regardless of how deep your pockets are it would be better.

Mechanics wise, sure, there are a lot of cool things, I just don't have the same "need" to keep getting cool new cards anymore, and when I play I play for fun, it will never be any form of "I am playing to try win all the things" ever again I don't think.

DarkRa88iT

I got into MTG at varsity and then sorta got out again by the time I was done studying. I agree with @BlackShipsFillTheSky to a large extent. While I haven't played Hearthstone (no beta key for me :( ), I've seen enough plays and read enough about it to know that I'm super excited by it. Yes, the simpler mana mechanic is really amazing. It gives the game just enough consistency, where the card draws are still totally random. I also like the heroes and their special abilities (although I suppose that it is akin to the colours of MTG decks).

Yes, Hearthstone isn't nearly as complex as MTG, but i feel that is a huge boon. I personally feel that MTG is simply too complex and that it's suffering from a bad case of power creep. With new mechanics being introduced all the time, lower mana cards are just getting stronger all the time and I feel like you have to figure out the nitty-gritty of new mechanics every time you play a new opponent. Just my opinion, though. Maybe my sampling size is too small to draw such conclusions.

dislekcia

The number of times I've gone "Oh, flying* is a thing this expansion... Sigh" and then lost with nothing I can do about it at all is definitely a frustration.

* or landwalking, trample, <insert name of latest ability that absolutely has to be countered>, etc.

Actually, I think that's the root of my issue with MtG - abilities that require specific counters to be part of decks already, instead of abilities that can be countered by strategic play with any deck. Although I guess that's much, much harder for a CCG to pull off.

EvanGreenwood

I'm not actually too familiar with many other trading card games (so I can't comment on Netrunner etc).

I particularly liked Magic in Commander, where you had a deck of 100 cards and could each have only one card of each card, and so people didn't build boring combo decks ("boring" because there was always one way to play the deck), and also because in commander there were always 3 - 5 people playing so rivals would have to team up to defeat the next threatening card, or break a threatening combination of synergistic cards. And also playing in Commander, suddenly cards that benefit your opponents are more interesting.

I didn't find Magic 1 V 1 nearly as enjoyable as Magic in Commander (or double headed) (because of the things @dislekcia and others mentioned, which made so many games white washes or foregone conclusions).

Hearthstone at the moment (while still in BETA) for me feels like there are two, or maybe three, best ways to play per hero type, and the designers intended these play styles (the don't feel like discovery for me). And with just nine heroes the strategic depth is very shallow... BUT... I'm sure if I come back to the game in three years it'll be far deeper. So I'm pretty optimistic.

And obviously the pay to win aspect of Magic card collecting is lame (and this isn't a problem, yet, in Hearthstone).

Karuji

@BlackShipsFilltheSky there is an identity in Netrunner (The Proffesor) which basically lets you do that. Though its for out of faction cards that you can take one of; in faction and neutral you can still take 3 of.

EvanGreenwood

there is an identity in Netrunner (The Proffesor) which basically lets you do that.

Do what? (I think I edited my post while you replied).

I think I should try Netrunner...

Karuji

BlackShipsFilltheSky said:

I particularly liked Magic in Commander, where you had a deck of 100 cards and could each have only one card of each card

I was referring to that bit when I was talking about the professor ;)

D3zmodos

I used to play MtG with my brother but I don't get the time so often anymore and the monies are low so buying doesn't happen at all, I just have a few pre-constructed decks. I did briefly consider Magic Online, but due to MtG's response-based play you spend a a large amount of time waiting for some timer to run out because you ended a phase in your turn and your opponent might want to play something.

I will enthusiastically recommend Hearthstone to anybody who enjoys MtG and can get their hands on it (open beta starting soon(tm) as far as I am aware) although as is mentioned it is far less complex (I particularly would like some kind of option in a hero's hero ability).

atomicdomb

Wow! so many responses :P Spend a day away from the forums and so much neat discussion haha!

Yeah the primary reason I bring up Magic is I was hoping I could play some rounds in Cape Town with some community members, I have a rather obsessive Modern collection (I played way to much as a kid) and I recently dug it up out of the attic and have been getting a lot of life and fun out of it, nothing competitive or serious, just kitchen counter fun :)

I built a crazy commander deck so I'm really keen to try it out, we should have a MGSA Beer + commander mode for those keen haha!

Boysano

id be keen got like R30k worth of cards i dont know what to do with now that im closing africamall.coza. boxes full mostly legacy though.. these days i run the africamall bots on mtgo but my beef is that the game became too expensive and complex for new players... I play Heartstone since it is more rewarding as a game. love blizzards take on visual rewards in games . . . nice warm tummy

EvanGreenwood

I'd be happy to play a commander game at Banana Jam (or some place like that) some afternoon (if we could get 3 - 5 players together).

atomicdomb

Oh yes! Banana Jam EDH sounds like a vibe, just have rule that you have to take a shot for every 5 life points lost and then we have a REAL game :P

dislekcia

atomicdomb said:

Oh yes! Banana Jam EDH sounds like a vibe, just have rule that you have to take a shot for every 5 life points lost and then we have a REAL game :P

Play a white deck. Die of alcohol poisoning.

Rigormortis

At the moment I own 2 cards, which are both being used as bookmarks. But I'm almost always up for a game if someone has 2 decks they carry around. :P

I tend to play pre-releases, and then immediately sell my cards to the other players once the event is over. :) I'm not a collector any more, but I'm still enamoured with magic.

Tuism

NETRUNNERNETRUNNERNETRUNNER :)

When people talk about Netrunner they can get overly fanboysy, so I'm going to try and avoid that. What's good about Netrunner is:

1. Asymmetrical play - two sides plays differently
2. No random boosters - no rarity, no stupidly priced singles, no chase rares, expansions get you everything you need.
3. Hence it's much more about deckbuilding than having "that card".
4. Is incredibly tense. Full of moments of great risk and payoffs. That risk management/reward attainment is unlike most other games, much less MTG.

I played a lot of MTG before I quit, and as "good" a game it is, the above three points sum up how I felt about MTG :)

ghost

I play magic every now and again, I like going to the pre-releases when they roll round and the occasional FNM, but recently I've been pretty busy with other things and so I keep myself entertained with the occasional game of Hearthstone (which takes up less time and is easier to just pick up a game or two).

What I do love about magic is how accessible the head designer is. And boy is he good at understanding what makes games fun and not fun. If you've never heard of him before I suggest you look him up.

Mark Rosewater
Blog: http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/
Podcasts: http://www.wizards.com/drivetoworkpodcast.xml (really recommend this)
Weekly Column on game design: http://www.wizards.com/magic/Magazine/Archive.aspx?author=Mark Rosewater

Boysano

Don't any of you play MTGOnline?

EvanGreenwood

Who is in for a game of Banana Jam EDH next week?

Like Tuesday the 28th or Thursday the 29th? (with the meetup being the Wednesday). I think I can put together a spare deck.

Rigormortis

@BlackShipsFilltheSky, that would be Thursday the 30th, wouldn't it? I would love to play if you have a spare deck. Let me know which day and I'll see how things work out on my side.

ghost

@Boysano I play a bit online, came second in a big pre-release tournament (Theros) and won a bunch of boosters, so I draft them occasionally. My issue is even with an 8-4 draft is that it's a _long_ time commitment. Hearthstone's Arena idea is way better, play whenever you want and after 3 loses you are out, much easier to play a game or two and leave.

EvanGreenwood

Doh! Yeah, I meant Thursday the 30th : )

Kalekin

Sounds like fun, except I haven't played MTG in years and have no deck. I can always sit on the sidelines and cheer on whoever looks like their losing while enjoying some delicious beers. :p