4 ms·

I play a fair bit of Magic, primarily at work. For years, I've used Magic Online for cheaply testing decks before deciding which cards to buy in paper. I was v

I play a fair bit of Magic, primarily at work. For years, I've used Magic Online for cheaply testing decks before deciding which cards to buy in paper. I was very excited by Arena. It looks modern, feels a lot less clunky and allows one to just play a few games with very little hassle. It's all the good parts of the Hearthstone or Elder Scrolls Legends clients, but it's a fully-fledged Magic implementation! However, I've found myself barely playing any Magic Arena. - As mentioned in the article, as much as I love paper Magic, it's not the best computer game. If I'm by a PC, there are other things I usually want to play. -It's been great to test ideas for some Standard decks, but I usually prefer Modern. -It's free, but I don't spend too much on Magic, anyway. -It's quick, but it lacks all the interpersonal communication That last point is probably one of the biggest things, for me. I love reading opponents, playing the mind games and chatting a bit while playing. You can't see each other and you don't even have a chat in Arena. There's also the physical collectible aspect of it. I love picking up my folders with cards and flipping through them. Scrolling through them on a screen doesn't feel as satisfying.

catacombs 7y ago
> I play a fair bit of Magic, primarily at work. Literally on the job? What did you do?
- yojex 7y ago
  In my experience, it's probably during lunch.
- Agentlien 7y ago
  It's primarily over lunch, so at work but not on the job. We also hold drafts after work hours and used to have a magic league at work. There's a fair number of magic players at work, which seems to be quite common at game studios.
  - catacombs 7y ago
    That's awesome. I've been interested in playing MTG, but sinking money into decks doesn't appeal to me.
brightball 7y ago
Agreed entirely on the last points. Playing online gets you an "I just wanted to play" fix, which is fine...but the perk of the game is the social aspect. Meeting people in person, playing regularly at local shops, competing in tournaments with those same people you meet, trading with them, showing off your collection. I used to play a bunch in high school and now that my son is older, he's getting into it so I'm toe-back-in-the-water seeing what's changed. I'm kicking myself so hard for getting rid of my cards. I played from 93-97 and looking at current prices, the stuff I had in high school would be worth $30k+ now. I walked into a local shop and a guy came in who'd be playing forever, brought in all of his cards to sell because he's about to have his first child...and the cards are worth enough to significantly help. It's a cool aspect to the game that's taken for granted. The game itself has great mechanics though. Obsessing about all of the possible combinations I could come up with was my mental outlet in high school. Translated well to software.
- mcguire 7y ago
  "I'm kicking myself so hard for getting rid of my cards. I played from 93-97 and looking at current prices, the stuff I had in high school would be worth $30k+ now. I walked into a local shop and a guy came in who'd be playing forever, brought in all of his cards to sell because he's about to have his first child...and the cards are worth enough to significantly help. It's a cool aspect to the game that's taken for granted." Back when Magic first came out, or at least the first time I looked at it, I said, "But this is a pay-to-win game." Now that it seems to have shown up on the radar again, I have a question: Is it possible to be at least reasonably competitive with whatever is the "basic" set? If not, how much would it cost to buy the necessary booster packs or individual cards?
  - freeone3000 7y ago
    The cheapest competitive constructed format is Standard, with prices between $200-$400. https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/standard#paper https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/standard#paper has the current decklists. However, standard rotation is happening in about 2 months, so if you were about to get back in, I'd wait until Throne of Eldraine comes out on October 4th. (or the prerelease, the weekend before, which is always great fun) Limited formats, such as draft, are much cheaper, with a draft being only $18 for three rounds of play. Each player opens a booster, takes a card, passes left, repeat until the cards are gone, takes the second, passes right, etc. for three boosters. It's much cheaper, more repeatable, and doesn't require an up-front investment. (Plus you keep your cards.)

catacombs 7y ago

> I play a fair bit of Magic, primarily at work. Literally on the job? What did you do?

yojex 7y ago
In my experience, it's probably during lunch.
Agentlien 7y ago
It's primarily over lunch, so at work but not on the job. We also hold drafts after work hours and used to have a magic league at work. There's a fair number of magic players at work, which seems to be quite common at game studios.
- catacombs 7y ago
  That's awesome. I've been interested in playing MTG, but sinking money into decks doesn't appeal to me.

brightball 7y ago

Agreed entirely on the last points. Playing online gets you an "I just wanted to play" fix, which is fine...but the perk of the game is the social aspect. Meeting people in person, playing regularly at local shops, competing in tournaments with those same people you meet, trading with them, showing off your collection. I used to play a bunch in high school and now that my son is older, he's getting into it so I'm toe-back-in-the-water seeing what's changed. I'm kicking myself so hard for getting rid of my cards. I played from 93-97 and looking at current prices, the stuff I had in high school would be worth $30k+ now. I walked into a local shop and a guy came in who'd be playing forever, brought in all of his cards to sell because he's about to have his first child...and the cards are worth enough to significantly help. It's a cool aspect to the game that's taken for granted. The game itself has great mechanics though. Obsessing about all of the possible combinations I could come up with was my mental outlet in high school. Translated well to software.

mcguire 7y ago
"I'm kicking myself so hard for getting rid of my cards. I played from 93-97 and looking at current prices, the stuff I had in high school would be worth $30k+ now. I walked into a local shop and a guy came in who'd be playing forever, brought in all of his cards to sell because he's about to have his first child...and the cards are worth enough to significantly help. It's a cool aspect to the game that's taken for granted." Back when Magic first came out, or at least the first time I looked at it, I said, "But this is a pay-to-win game." Now that it seems to have shown up on the radar again, I have a question: Is it possible to be at least reasonably competitive with whatever is the "basic" set? If not, how much would it cost to buy the necessary booster packs or individual cards?
- freeone3000 7y ago
  The cheapest competitive constructed format is Standard, with prices between $200-$400. https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/standard#paper https://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/standard#paper has the current decklists. However, standard rotation is happening in about 2 months, so if you were about to get back in, I'd wait until Throne of Eldraine comes out on October 4th. (or the prerelease, the weekend before, which is always great fun) Limited formats, such as draft, are much cheaper, with a draft being only $18 for three rounds of play. Each player opens a booster, takes a card, passes left, repeat until the cards are gone, takes the second, passes right, etc. for three boosters. It's much cheaper, more repeatable, and doesn't require an up-front investment. (Plus you keep your cards.)