Thats why I like it! I lose I don’t feel like I’ve been beaten up. It all feels so casual. which I like. I don’t get that with Hearthstone or that Gwent game. I guess it’s the random draw of cards I guess.
I’m playing a ton, just like in the closed beta. I’m saving up my wildcards to make a competitive deck once Standard shakes itself out in a week or two, so for now I’m mainly playing slightly tweaked New Player Experience (NPE)! two-colour decks. It’s been great, because the matchmaking is definitely working, I haven’t been matched up against any of the new meta heavy hitters.
I bought the Welcome bundle back in Closed, so i have that and I just ended up dropping $20 USD last week so I could practice more sealed Guilds of Ravnica prior to GP Montreal. I do all the daily quests and try to get at least 5 wins in a day. I figure I’m about a week away from crafting the Boros Angels deck I’m eyeing as my main deck for competitive constructed. And that’s what I really like about Arena. You can play it casually or seriously.
Also, here’s a link to some deck builds, I just had a match where I was plains/swamp vs green dino dude. I was up like 40 health to 5… and lost. he conjured up like 2 trample dinos with tons of 1/1 … the dino got up to like 15! Was like omg, i suck! pretty cool.
Played the WG newbie deck against a blue/black deck. He mauled me down to 1 life. I won with 26. Lifelink + trample is silly.
Had another game where I was playing the newbie Red/Black deck. Had crapall on the board because he was playing a deck with all those exile/entrap spells, and he was starting to set up flyers. I was one round from losing, and I played 4(!) ‘Acts of Treason’. Attacked him with pretty much his whole board, and he had to concede.
Two of the most hilarious games I can image, and with free newbie decks to boot. I’ll probably have to put money in just cause of the fun.
I’m playing way way more than I should, frankly. I’ve put in $50 for gems + $5 for the welcome bundle, and just having a lot of fun playing around with deck builds.
I’ve got a couple of pretty nice Izzet combo decks that are so much fun when they go off, and I built me one of those meme-y Dimir surveil decks that works pretty well until I hit one of those fucking merfolk decks or a straight-up Red Deck Wins aggro deck.
Currently working on another Dimir build with a lot more rares, but I still have some holes to fill, so it doesn’t win as much as I’d like.
I always thought Shandalar was the best Magic game.
I’m with you. This afternoon they’re bringing in the Best of 1 (Bo1) GRN Draft mode, and I may have to drop another $20 to get enough gems to play that. I really dig Bo1 because it works with my hectic lifestyle, I never know when family demands will pull me away from Arena, so 3 game matches are really tough for me. Plus, I suck at sideboarding.
I’ve been eyeing the current Red Deck Wins on mtggoldfish.com and it’s tempting to just drop all my WC into it and use it to speedily grind out a bunch of wins to increase my collection more quickly. But my heart is really set on the Angels deck, because last standard I played a mono-white Angels to a modicum of success. Lyra and Shalai just feel like they belong in my library.
Until I make a decision, I keep grinding away with the NPE Merfolk deck. It’s been a consistent winner for me, completely unmodified, even against folks that have clearly beefed up their NPE decks a bit. I highly recommend it.
I find it surprising that nobody ever redid Shandalar. Seems like a nobrainer, RPG + card game, stuff like Slay the Spire are kinda like it, but not quite…
And I quite enjoy Arena. Great way to play Magic without falling down the paper crack route “proper” Magic requires, and it’s even better than Hearthstone for me, at least as long as the daily quests mostly involve just playing cards and not playing cards while winning. I can put together a fast mostly trash any color deck, and quickly finish any quest, having fun along the way, instead of having to beat my head against the wall of much better decks than mine.
Sadly, this game made me buy a starter pack IN REAL LIFE. I just like the pictures on the cards, okay? I haven’t done this since the late nineties!
Actually was by chance at Target seems to be sellng MTG as well as … Boardgames? and very euro games at that!
I’ve never played Magic, so this game is my first exposure to the game. I’ve been enjoying it and they’ve been generous with the 2 color decks you can earn each day. But like @mtkafka, I’m starting to get an irrational itch to buy physical cards, like an animal!
Yeeeesssss…
I got my son into Magic pretty early (when he was maybe… 9 or so?) and he and I play regularly now and he has his own decks/collection and cards I covet that he refuses to trade to me. It’s awesome.
I agree about Shandalar. I’ve been waiting for something like it to come along for decades. It really puzzles me why no developer has ever tried that formula again.
This weekend they’re running a Momir Basic event in support of Extra Life. They’re streaming some stuff on Twitch where you can support the charity, or you can just play the event for fun. I’ve liked the format ever since I first tried it back in Magic Online, though of course you have to like lots of randomness in your games to enjoy it.
Yeah. It’s not for me. I’m taking a pass. I’ll miss Singleton again.
Friends and other social features coming soon (in the next build or two).
I thought this was a decent article by a Magic pro on Arena.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=14926
He basically credits it with rekindling his love of the game.
I can’t wait for the social features to arrive. Actually playing against the folks from Qt3 is going to be so much more enjoyable than the random assortment I meet now. I had to shut of emotes, it was getting annoying.
“Your Turn”
“Your Turn”
“Your Turn”
“Your Turn”
“Your Turn”
“Your Turn”
Well I think I’ve found my lane on MTGA. I just drafter Blue/Black control in both Guilds of Ravnica and Dominaria as well as playing it in standard. I’ve actually started winning again for the first time since the wipe for open beta.
So I’m locked into playing Ranked Constructed with my starter decks until I win?
Wut?
I’m regretting reinstalling this.
Are you quick playing? Because I never seen that, even dailies are usually just the play x color.