Magic the Gathering Tactics Review

[Fearzone]

Yeah I'll check out what's free.

What I learned from Playing Duels of the Planeswalkers is that M:TG is just an okay game. Why the exorbitant popularity? I'm not sure but I think is due to the card collecting and social aspect of it. It's way too random; usually in the first 5 draws I know which side is going to win, based on the random element of drawing the right mix of lands, spells, and summons. Sometimes there were turnarounds based on a change of luck and my skillful play, but those were in the considerable minority.

The random element is good because it means that not-so-good players with not-so-good decks still have a fighting chance to win if they draw all the right cards and their opponent draws all the wrong ones. I think this is for the best in an actual social gathering--particularly a small one with a wide range of abilities and decks. But for a computer game it feels cheesy.

Plus charging nearly the same for virtual decks as real ones? Sony... WTF?

Eye of Judgment tried to get people to pay hundreds of dollars to unlock the full game, by buying all the cards, and look how that one turned out. Personally I though EOJ was better balanced and less random than M:TG, and at least as fun, but mixing a collectible card game with a virtual playing field just didn't fly. Also BattleForge? Anybody remember that one? Same thing, it was a well done game but failed because it tried to pry hundreds of dollars out of us to fully unlock an ordinary strategy game--and gamers, to their credit, just didn't bite.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

I don't understand games like these, just charge $60, give us the full campaign and some booster packs. After people get a real feel for the game they'll shell out even more for more booster packs. By releasing just a piece of a piece of a game for free and telling us to buy to unlock the rest just pushes the customers away.

 

[VyperX]

I tried the game a couple of weeks ago, and found it... jarring. The cards I am familiar with had a different wording, and creatures that in normal Magic would live for turn after turn (e.g. the unblockable Phantom Warrior) were killed immediately after attacking (making them seem expensive for their effect).

The added 'battlefield', which should add strategic depth, for me felt weird. I don't want to spend turns moving creatures around obstacles, I wanted them attacking (or defending me).

tl;dr: Creatures felt weird, combat felt weird, didn't play much.

 

[Donners]

I really hate the concept of paying for electronic versions of cards.

If an M:TG game is to be made, I wish it would be a remake of the fantastic 1997 game Duels of the Planeswalkers (not to be confused with the recent game of the same name, which is mediocre and limited).

 

[kamayari]

So I gave this whirl when the preview was put up. My experience was pretty sour. The missions were easy enough, but the online play was purely pay to win. I tried to create some sort of weenie party that could do something, but after two matches it was clear that one trick ponies (stasis deck back in the day) would win. My first match was against a player that would summon a creature that would let him draw another card if he happen to cast an enchantment. Okay...then he used that trick to pull out a card that would double his health and another card that would increase his attack at the cost of health. I remember when you would only be allowed by normal rules to have like one of those in your deck. So he had over a 1000 health and 280 attack or 28/108 for the trading card people. I would tell you the outcome, but I used best spell for that game Alt+F4. I had a few more matches that were clear losses because I had a blue/black weenie patrol. I went blue because I thought I could get interrupts easily to throw off the other players, maybe if I dump $100 into it. Basically, you can grind forever and just be wasting your time it seems.

 

[moretimethansense]

Yeah I'll check out what's free.

What I learned from Playing Duels of the Planeswalkers is that M:TG is just an okay game. Why the exorbitant popularity? I'm not sure but I think is due to the card collecting and social aspect of it. It's way too random; usually in the first 5 draws I know which side is going to win, based on the random element of drawing the right mix of lands, spells, and summons. Sometimes there were turnarounds based on a change of luck and my skillful play, but those were in the considerable minority.

Stop right there, I can't vouch for the Xbox one but in the actual game skill and planning make a much greater impact than luck, though I will admit that luck can play a huge part.
There's no greater feeling than winning in one blow from behind when they were dominating you and were one move away from victory, wether by luck or design.

OT: I'm not gonna pay the same price for a virtual boodter deck that I would for a pysical object, I'll stick to real cards thanks.

 

[Amarsir]

As someone who first picked up Magic in 1995 and has never played a "tactics" game before, I had no difficulty with the concepts that were different, like mana. So it surprises me when I see reviews saying that's hard to learn. Just approach Tactics as a different game with enough similarity to be familiar. or better yet, don't, because it has serious problems.

The interface was frustratingly clunky. I often found it hard to move the display to the battlefield area I cared about. And it lacked consistency: to get info on a creature or spell you right-click it. To get info on a spell the opponent cast, first find the combat og and then double-left click it. (Right does nothing.) This was unintuitive and frustrating.

And then as the review says, there's the cost. Magic has always been expensive, but about 3 years ago it turned a corner into picking customers up by the ankles and shaking them. Tactics is clearly following that style, with little for free and not much value from what you get. Early on some "sharks" had dreams of building a good spellbook early and then "going infinite" in tournaments. But there just aren't enough fish throwing down money and enough EV to the tournaments to make that happen. There's enough people to play if you want to play, but there's no chance of it developing the way Magic: the Gathering has.

Advice for people who want to play Magic cheap
Duels of the Planeswalkers for XBox, PS3, and Steam is a pretty good deal if you want nice graphics and a non-laughable AI. It costs something like $10 for the base game and then $5 for each expansion (sometimes sold for $2.50) which is perfectly good. I have it on my laptop if I ever want to kill time without wifi.

Alternatively, Magic: Online is actually not that badly priced if you don't get into the Limited (draft and sealed deck) scene. Many people draft regularly ($12+ per session) and then sell the proceeds to draft again. If you're not one of them, you can buy most singles pretty cheaply. Certainly enough for a casual deck. Furthermore, the game has a very active "Pauper" community (see: www.pdcmagic.com ), which means playing with commons only. You can make a top tier deck for $1-2 and face even the toughest competition.

So in review: Tactics sucks. Duels is good for just learning or playing solo, and MTG:O is pretty cheap for pauper competitive or anything casual.

 

[vazzaroth]

I'll never ever ever ever in a million years spend any money on these damn WOTC games that think it's OK to charge full price for a booster pack when I could go to target and get 15+ psychical cards for the same price. How could they possibly think that's acceptable? Not to mention I have a chance to then sell those cards for a profit and buy even more boosters... Or lunch. At least in MTG Online they can justify it with the card trade in system to get real ones, but there is NO excuse here at all. This game will fail because of the crazy cost to play seriously, comparable to tabletop Magic but without the actual value of things your purchasing.

Not to mention the arbitrary addition of a Zero behind every creature's power and toughness gets under my skin in horrible ways. It reminds me of yugayoh and thats the very LAST thing I want to think of when I'm playing Magic.

 

[Harbinger_]

The lack of a balance system for pairings made me no longer interested in playing MTGT.

 

[Keava]

That;s why, these days i'd rather play simplistic, VB/Java fan made M:tG simulators for free that have card lists constantly updated by the fans and are fully free to fool around wtih. Sure the AI aint amazing, sure the graphics are not there, but the core of the gameplay works and spending 20$ just so i can go through rather crappy campaign (played the free content, was not amazed) is not really worth it. There are better and cheaper games out there.

 

[jp201]

Just tried the game. I found some decks quite superior to others especially from starter decks and would not recommend starting as a red planeswalker.

Though you will get your ass handed to you agaisnt higher lvl opponents that have points in talent trees and way better spells then you and x4 of each of them.

 

[jp201]

The lack of a balance system for pairings made me no longer interested in playing MTGT.

completely agree. They need to really put low lvl vs low lvl opponents and not have a lvl 6 go against someone who is over lvl 30 and guarantee you will lose.

 

[timeadept]

Yeah i just actually tried the game and it is as bad as it could have been.
Let me explain that, i felt like the "skeleton" was actually solid. But then they fleshed out that skeleton with shit. Maybe it's because my laptop is slow, but the interface was clunky, clumsy, and slow. Games that should have taken 10 min took me half an hour or more. Moving creatures, especially large ones was a bit hit or miss at times, and though i now understand how to attack from a chosen direction, it's still not the best way to do it. The attack order is something i would have to get used to but i can think of a way it could have been done better. If there was simply a countdown above every creatures head, that showed how many turns before it gets its next turn, then it would be much easier to properly plan my moves. As it is, I am often caught off guard, especially by creatures who decide that they're going to attack twice before i get my next turn. And when multiple copies of the same creature are in play i don't know how you're meant to tell them apart in the turn order.

Maybe i'm just used to advance wars (i very much wish i hadn't lost both my copies of the game right now) and fire emblem (maybe that's due for another replay... yeah lets go do that). But this thing needs a major interface overhaul before i'd be happy to play it. Also why can't i see how many cards my opponent has in their hand and how much mana they have now and will have next turn?

Oh yeah, advance wars and fire emblem, in both of them, selecting any unit would show you it's movement range, and its attack range on the borders of that by highlighting tiles in blue (move range) and orange (attack range) (in fire emblem ranged units could move and attack on the same turn, advance wars was more like this game with ranged units, you either move or attack).

 

[timeadept]

I decided I wouldn't play Tactics when I heard them say, "It has more strategy and depth than the actual card game." No, just no. That was a slap in the face to all the dedicated players of the game, and whoever green lit that should be demoted to janitor. Anyway, I'm off to play a tournament of real MtG, tra-la-la-la-la...

lol, i'd have to agree with that, (especially after playing the demo) if i had to guess then i'd say that the person who wrote that wasn't very good at magic.

 

[Cormyre]

Nothing against MtG but Sony as a whole can FRO after their latest news headline regarding the subpoena of IP records.

Or else I'd be very tempted to check this game out.

 

[mikev7.0]

I like turn based strategy games like Luminous Arc and I used to love magic before it became obvious that they were going to turn it into a money suck if you really wanted to have control of your pool. (For me that was during Ice Age) I was so put off by the wasted potential that I stayed away from TCGs until VS. Which I love and still play.

I like the way they seem to have gone with the iconic magic cards for this game but I think I will heed the reviewers advice and "wait and see". A few months should tell me if it's going to just be about money or actual strategy. With only 300 spells available it seems that "net decking" will be unavoidable but you never know....

I really hope it lives up to it's potential though, it would be nice to play a form of Magic again!

What they really should do is make a game online like HeroClix rules wise where the pieces stats and abilities change when attacked or pushed but not collectable so that everyone could play it. Space would no longer be a negative consideration either. There are some games that eat tables (Runebound), others eat rooms (Descent), HeroClix eats homes. This could fix that.

Has there ever been a tabletop Magic the Gathering board game? Hey don't look at me like that it MIGHT have happened....WoW has a board game....

Great review! Thanks for being honest even though it seems you really like Magic too.

 

[ionveau]

First I need to up date my ad blocker

Second Why do you people review Games like this yet leave better games such as league of legends out in the dust?

I can assume
1 the brand name
2 Review time is payed for

So im i right?

 

[Galad]

That;s why, these days i'd rather play simplistic, VB/Java fan made M:tG simulators for free that have card lists constantly updated by the fans and are fully free to fool around wtih. Sure the AI aint amazing, sure the graphics are not there, but the core of the gameplay works and spending 20$ just so i can go through rather crappy campaign (played the free content, was not amazed) is not really worth it. There are better and cheaper games out there.

care to link to one such simulator?

 

[Keava]

care to link to one such simulator?

Magic: The Gathering - Forge [http://mtgrares.blogspot.com/] is probably the simplest and still most enjoyable one i've used. Nothing fancy but large library of cards, quite frequent updates and even 'campaign' mode to play through.