Magic: The Gathering Arena is supposed to become the new flagship of online card games. However, according to our guest author DevilRon, the project is plagued by some issues. Especially Magic fans are struggling with the new game.
Magic: The Gathering is a classic. Almost everyone has heard of it. This refers to the founding father of modern Trading Card Games, or TCG. Without Magic, we probably would never have enjoyed Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and Hearthstone would likely never have existed without this original collectible card game.
From Magic Duels to Magic: The Gathering Arena
Since Magic was designed and distributed by Wizards of the Coast in 1993, this game has dominated the TCG market. Hence, numerous Magic video games have been produced for various platforms, including Magic Online or Magic Duels for PC.
Magic Duels was officially discontinued around summer 2017 after the “Amonkhet” expansion. Shortly after, the official successor named “Magic: The Gathering Arena” was announced. Magic Arena is supposed to do everything better!
According to Wizards of the Coast, this is supposed to be “the most profound, richest digital card game” available on the market. What sounds very promising here, however, causes a lot of frustration and anger among Magic fans. But why exactly?
Free to Play with Major Limitations
First, it needs to be explained how Magic Arena is supposed to work. Similar to the older Magic video games or Hearthstone, there are two different ways to win cards in the game.
You can probably guess it:
- Either you “grind” the game like a berserker and earn new sets through the in-game currency.
- Or you invest real money into the game and eagerly open new boosters.
What About My Old Cards?
Right at this point, the problem begins! Numerous players have already invested a lot of time and money in Magic Duels and cannot understand why a new Magic game must necessarily be released now.
Similarly, one could just give Magic Duels a fresh coat of paint and continue to maintain the old game with content in the form of card sets. This way, players could continue using their old cards and still spend money on new ones.
Playing at the Table and on the Computer?
But that’s not all! With Magic Arena, Wizards of the Coast not only wants to attract numerous new players to the card game. It is also quite about keeping older Magic veterans entertained.
Those who do not feel like visiting the local store after work to play a few rounds of Magic with friends should be able to experience this at their own desk via PC.
Paying Twice for the Same Thing
But this basic idea has a catch. In this case, players are forced to invest twice as much money into this hobby. They need the cards in physical form as well as virtual representations in Magic Arena. The real-life cards cannot be transferred to the virtual game.
If Pokémon Can Do It, Why Not Us?
The curious thing about this situation: The Magic community has found the perfect solution for this problem for many years. The basic idea of the community is based on the Pokémon card game.
In some physical Pokémon booster packs, there are codes that allow players to win cards for the virtual version of the game.
This concept could easily be transferred to Magic. Wizards of the Coast could even gain new customers for offline games at the kitchen table this way. A “win-win situation” for players and for Wizards of the Coast.
Wizards of the Coast Says: No!
But the idea is currently falling on deaf ears at Wizards of the Coast and is being ignored. It certainly cannot be due to high printing costs for additional cards with codes.
The current set named “Rivals of Ixalan” already contains cards that advertise Minecraft skins.
Magic Professor Points Out Fatal Weaknesses!
Anyone who has dealt with Magic on the YouTube platform will know the most successful YouTuber in this format. This refers to the “Professor,” as he is affectionately called by his fans. On his channel “Tolarian Community College,” he does not hold back on Magic Arena.
Here are some points of criticism that he mentions:
- Magic Arena has only been announced for PC so far. Smartphone, tablet, or console owners are unfortunately left out. Thus, Wizards of the Coast is missing the connection to current TCGs that offer broader usage options for their games. Wasted potential, as the professor states, since no one can discover the game randomly in the PSN store.
- Magic Arena is expected to only cover new card sets and ignore older cards. This causes numerous problems as players cannot play popular formats like “Legacy” or “Commander,” which require older cards, online. The majority of the cards released in the last 25 years are thus forgotten.
- Magic Arena will initially only support the English audio output. This means there will be no German, French, or Japanese cards available at first! Those who are not fluent in English will find it impossible to play this game online. This is even more curious, as all cards of the game are translated in their paper form. The translations could thus be integrated 1:1 into Magic Arena, yet strangely Wizards of the Coast says: No!
Conclusion: “This Won’t Work!”
Currently, Magic Arena is still in Closed Beta and when I look at the current news and facts surrounding this game, I cannot possibly feel excited as a hobby player.
I can certainly understand the criticisms of die-hard Magic fans. At the moment, Wizards of the Coast gives me the impression that Magic Arena is a money-making machine for hardcore fans. I sorely miss good, innovative ideas and especially communication with the community at this point.
How the current state of the game is supposed to compete with the competition like Blizzard’s Hearthstone or Gwent is a mystery to me. So, it seems like I will have to continue spending my Magic time with friends at the kitchen table. What a shame!
This guest post was written by our reader DevilRon1989.
