Magic: The Gathering's Tactical Miniatures Game Releases Today

JonB

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Sep 16, 2012
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Magic: The Gathering's Tactical Miniatures Game Releases Today

Magic: The Gathering's themed successor to Heroscape gets an early release today with more to come in August.

Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers hits select stores today, according to a surprise press release from Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. Gen Con. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138082-Magic-The-Gathering-Strategy-Board-Game-Release-Date-Announced-for-2015] It will retail for $29.99 MSRP.

From the appearances of the game, players will draw from a deck of cards to get new spells and summon creatures form a pre-created army to fight opponents. Classic <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/magic%20the%20gathering?os=magic+the+gathering
">Magic effects like Trample and First Strike are present, alongside new powers familiar to Heroscape players like Counter Strike and Double Attack. Battle is handled by rollilng a set number of combat dice, trying to roll hits for the attacker and shields for the defender - though unlike the previous game it appears that Attack and Defense dice are now combined into simply "Combat Dice." Given the description and game name, it's a fight to see who can defeat the other player's planeswalker first. The base game has five planeswalkers, each with a deck of (if you do the math) about 12 spell cards and two squads of creatures.



So what are the contents of Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/magic%20the%20gathering%20arena%20of%20the%20planeswalkers]? According to Hasbro, it's:

6 Modular Terrain Pieces
4 Plastic Terrain Pieces
3 Plastic Glyphs
2 Temple Ruins
5 Painted Planeswalker Figures
30 Squad Figures
1 20-sided Die
8 Combat Dice
30 Damage Counters
60 Spell Cards
10 Squad Stat Cards
5 Planeswalker Cards


It's clear from that list that while Arena of the Planeswalkers uses a modular board-based terrain system, much like Heroscape did, it doesn't emphasize three-dimensional movement nearly as much as that system did. That said, Heroscape's "common sense" line of sight system is in clear effect, with Planeswalker cards having the characteristic dots and silhouettes that show you how to see what the character can see.



Oh, and, based on the game contents picture above, here's some things we think you'll see in that base set:

Chandra Nalaar, Pyromancer

Chandra's Phoenixes
Blazing Firecats

Gideon Jura, Combat Mage

Kor Hookmasters
Rhox Veterans
Marked by Honor

Jace Beleren, Mindmage

Illusory Projections
Leyline Phantoms
Mind Control

Liliana Vess, Necromancer

Undead Legion

Nissa Revane, Animist

Elf Rangers
Overrun


We've got a request out to Hasbro for an official list, and we'll let you know if we get a response.

If you're unfamiliar with Magic: The Gathering, it's the world's most popular collectible card game. First released in 1993, it revolves around a multiverse of different worlds traversed by powerful wizards called planeswalkers. It now involves a card game, video games, novels, and maybe even a movie some time soon. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/135377-Fox-Taps-Game-of-Thrones-Writer-For-Magic-The-Gathering-Movie]

Between this and Magic: Duels Origins coming out this month, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/conferences/e3-2015/14158-Magic-Duels-Origins-E3-2015-Preview] it's a pretty good time to be a Magic: The Gathering fan who wants a little something more than paper cards.

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Jburton9

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Aug 21, 2012
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Hmm looks sorta neat, they do have plenty of material to base the table top game on at least. Has anyone at the office there done a play through yet?