• Light/Dark

Magic the Gathering Arena Closed Beta

Edward

Edward

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
5,181
I played Magic religiously from Unlimited to the end of the Urza block in standard play and limited to about 2001ish around Apocalypse i think. Started playing this today and it's absolutely going to take some time to get used to mechanics that weren't a thing when i played and the new card (love that they added pre-made decks). Also, Merfolks are like actually viable? Vamp decks are back? I love it! Currently building a Pirate deck.
 
BackwardCap

BackwardCap

The King of Games - One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
2,502
Hopefully it teaches me to play well enough. I have no experience with Magic and don't feel like going out of my way to look up guides.
 
shrapnelmagnet

shrapnelmagnet

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,326
Vancouver
BackwardCap said:
Hopefully it teaches me to play well enough. I have no experience with Magic and don't feel like going out of my way to look up guides.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

There's no onboarding in the Beta, unfortunately, and I'm not certain what their plans are for full release (something I assume). Magic Duels (F2P) is the best way to learn in a digital format (and maybe even overall).

That said, I recommend the Beta if you can get in. I think it's horrendously laggy right now and I haven't tried the latest update, yet, but I really enjoy the client. It's a great way to sling some spells and play the best CCG ever, even with the smaller (but growing) pool of cards.
 
Tachya

Tachya

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,496
I submitted my email for a beta invite earlier today after noticing Kripp was playing it. Hope I get in, but they're probably backlogged to hell as of today. It already said it would take up to 3 days to receive a reply email. Like, you don't even get an immediate confirmation email to check that you put in the right email address.

Hopefully it turns out good and improves quickly as it goes.

Because while I like Hearthstone, the thing that holds it back for me the most is lack of format variety (among other things like tournament-mode which is supposed to come later this year). You've basically just got standard and wild ranked, but I don't play wild, brawl, and arena. Brawl is cute, but not really engaging, and arena is still pretty good, but has gotten stale, even with the recent changes. I want things like sealed events, competitive PvP drafts, etc. to keep things fresh, as I think those would be the modes that would keep me coming back.
 
Actinium

Actinium

Teyvat Traveler
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,807
California
Always nice to see access keys being given away on twitter.

When I still haven't gotten in.

When invites were supposed to go out chronologically.

When i signed up the day you were able to do so.

And technically qualified for priority access for owning duels but not knowing that was a thing until the window for it closed.

Always nice.
 

Zej

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
951
Didn't get as many starter packs this phase :(.
Client has been improved a bunch, though, so that's good.
 
QisTopTier

QisTopTier

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,743
Sad I havent gotten in yet but all in good time really looking forward to this.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Been playing the beta since rivals of ixalan launched. Very excited for amonkhet block today.

That being said the economy is terrible and the new changes today are awful. It seems like obtaining mythic rares in game is going to be extremely extremely difficult.

I wonder if open beta will come with Dominaria. Form the posts on the forum today they made it sound like there will only be one more wipe before open beta and I'm sure they'll wipe with Dominaria.

They still have so much to add though. Draft needs to get added and they still have so many quality of life things to add. On the plus side, unlike hearthstone or other digital card games they don't have to worry about card design and can spend 100% of their time on game design.

I can't wait until open beta and no more wipes though and I can start building my collection.
 
Last edited:
Qvoth

Qvoth

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,030
played a bit few weeks ago when i got into the beta and that was my only experience so far
the game feels so slow... imo slower than hex which was sued for being a magic clone
guess i'm gonna mess around a bit with the new patch when totally bored

eternal i feel has the perfect pace
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Tachya said:
I submitted my email for a beta invite earlier today after noticing Kripp was playing it. Hope I get in, but they're probably backlogged to hell as of today. It already said it would take up to 3 days to receive a reply email. Like, you don't even get an immediate confirmation email to check that you put in the right email address.

Hopefully it turns out good and improves quickly as it goes.

Because while I like Hearthstone, the thing that holds it back for me the most is lack of format variety (among other things like tournament-mode which is supposed to come later this year). You've basically just got standard and wild ranked, but I don't play wild, brawl, and arena. Brawl is cute, but not really engaging, and arena is still pretty good, but has gotten stale, even with the recent changes. I want things like sealed events, competitive PvP drafts, etc. to keep things fresh, as I think those would be the modes that would keep me coming back.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

If the thing holding you back in hearthstone is the lack of format variety, you really aren't going to like this at the moment. Currently the only mode in the game is 1v1 constricted.

Also you should absolutely play brawl in hearthstone at least for the first win each week. It's a free pack each week.
 
Tachya

Tachya

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,496
TAH3145 said:
If the thing holding you back in hearthstone is the lack of format variety, you really aren't going to like this at the moment. Currently the only mode in the game is 1v1 constricted.

Also you should absolutely play brawl in hearthstone at least for the first win each week. It's a free pack each week.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Oh the wording on that sentence was weird. I meant to say mainly that I don't play wild. I do play brawl and arena though, and brawl at least for the win each week (usually). But I don't like repeating brawls after that - there's not much point unless it's a situation like the heroic brawls or whatever.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Tachya said:
Oh the wording on that sentence was weird. I meant to say mainly that I don't play wild. I do play brawl and arena though, and brawl at least for the win each week (usually). But I don't like repeating brawls after that - there's not much point unless it's a situation like the heroic brawls or whatever.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Makes sense. I'm a huge fan of arena, but I'm looking forward to draft in this game and I love draft in eternal (similar game). The annoying thing about arena in hearthstone is you have to use every card you draft so if you get offered 3 shitty cards, you're stuck with them. With magic and eternal you draft extra cards and then build a deck and have cards that sit on the sideboard, so being offered a few crappy cards isn't the end of the world.
 

cdViking

Member
Oct 28, 2017
222
I'm 70% excited to have a chance to play and 30% nervous this will wreck my appreciation for Magic. The UI is mostly there, and the collection mechanics look just fine assuming the progress to mythics is no worse than progress to legendaries for Hearthstone (accounting for the necessity of getting 4 ofs). If I can grind playsets of most key cards with a $100 - $150 input per set, I'm totally fine. If it's way more than that, forget about it. Also a little nervous about matches no longer being best-of-3.
 
Trilobite

Trilobite

Banned
Dec 15, 2017
191
I tried getting into the magic games, tried the online one, the 2014 one and duels, I just feel that they are not as engaging as the real thing.
This looks like fun, but my only worry is the addition of new mechanics two times a year. That goes for the card game and the PC game though, it has been ages since I played :)
 

SecondNature

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,212
Any idea where to get beta keys? Always wanted to get into Magic, learned the rules, but never wanted to partake in the community unless a good digital game came out
 
Feral

Feral

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,006
Your Mom
Wiibomb said:
I want a beta key, where can I get one?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
SecondNature said:
Any idea where to get beta keys? Always wanted to get into Magic, learned the rules, but never wanted to partake in the community unless a good digital game came out
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
wait in the damn line!
https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena (I assume this is still the active signup page)

still don't have a key, but there's no way to progress anyway after the wipes, so I don't really mind it that much
 

SecondNature

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,212
Violet (0_0) said:
wait in the damn line!
https://magic.wizards.com/en/mtgarena (I assume this is still the active signup page)

still don't have a key, but there's no way to progress anyway after the wipes, so I don't really mind it that much
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Thanks. One of the things I notice is that the digital games lack a good UI, and I know its due to the ton of info in the game's mechanics. But cant they, for example, make a 2D hand? Im looking at gameplay and the curved 3D hand design seems like it is worse than the way Gwent and Hearthstone do it
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Wiibomb said:
I want a beta key, where can I get one?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Check your PMs.

They accidentally sent me two codes and I used the other one, so unfortunately I don't have any other codes to give out.

But it sounds like the flood gates are opening, and they're planning on sending out 100k beta invites in the next month so hopefully everyone gets in soon.
 

Deleted member 11157

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,880
Waiting for my key. I sent a nice email this morning inquiring about the beta codes hoping they toss one my way.

BackwardCap said:
Hopefully it teaches me to play well enough. I have no experience with Magic and don't feel like going out of my way to look up guides.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Play Magic Duels. It's how I learned how to play. Each story mission introduces a new mechanic. Makes it really easy to take in the rules.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
For everyone who hasn't gotten a beta key yet, you should email support. That was how I got mine back in January.
 
rahji

rahji

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,642
Watched kripp yesterday and I want to give it a go, too. Played magic 15 years ago and want to relive some of that joy. Sadly, I have no beta key yet. Already signed up, so I guess I will play the waiting game.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Out of these starter decks, the Dino red green is definitely my favorite. Once it gets going it can destroy all your opponents creatures each turn.

It looks like they got rid of the Friday packs they used to give out. Previously everyone would get 2 ixalan packs and 2 rivals of ixalan packs every Friday.
 
TesservcT

TesservcT

Banned
Nov 6, 2017
509
So what makes this game different from the other MTG videogames?

edit: so you have to buy the cards instead of unlocking them? Following the hearthstone route, i see.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
TesservcT said:
So what makes this game different from the other MTG videogames?

edit: so you have to buy the cards instead of unlocking them? Following the hearthstone route, i see.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It's Magic's answer to hearthstone. Unlike duels it has the full card set for each expansion and currently features the 4 most recent expansions.

It's still in closed beta however and you need to get an invite to play. There will also be more wipes, so any progress made now won't carry over.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Violet (0_0) said:
hm, I signed up back when it went up and still haven't gotten a code. Is that only for the people who went to the prerelease, or everyone who signed up a while ago?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Not sure. I signed up back in September and was priority access through duels. In January they said that everyone in priority access had been given a key and to contact support if you hadn't. I contacted support and they gave me a key within a day.

Then a week later I got my actual key, which is why I had the one to give away.
 
Feral

Feral

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,006
Your Mom
TAH3145 said:
Not sure. I signed up back in September and was priority access through duels. In January they said that everyone in priority access had been given a key and to contact support if you hadn't. I contacted support and they gave me a key within a day.

Then a week later I got my actual key, which is why I had the one to give away.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
ah, it seems like this only goes for priority access then. I forgot about using my Duels code, and I signed up with three emails, sigh. I'm just kinda curious and want to test the game a bit, but as long as there are more wipes I'm not losing out on anything regardless
 
Luminish

Luminish

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,508
Denver
This has to have the most stingy reward system by far of any F2P CCG I've ever played, and I've played a lot of them. It is horribly slow at giving you meaningful free stuff.
 
Phantom

Phantom

Writer at Jeux.ca
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,446
Canada
thepotatoman said:
This has to have the most stingy reward system by far of any F2P CCG I've ever played, and I've played a lot of them. It is horribly slow at giving you meaningful free stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That's just the new way to design games. Put cosmetics or in this case gameplay elements behind huge time sinks to encourage real money transactions.
 
Luminish

Luminish

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,508
Denver
Phantom said:
That's just the new way to design games. Put cosmetics or in this case gameplay elements behind huge time sinks to encourage real money transactions.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
It's certainly arguable that all of these CCGs are unreasonable money sinks, but this one specifically has to be pointed out as the worst one by far.

Like I never can tell if hearthstone or elder scrolls legends is more generous. Elder Scrolls give you more free stuff, but Hearthstone requires less stuff to make a good deck.

MtG Arena both noticeably requires way more cards to make a good deck than either of them, and is way slower at giving you good free stuff than either of them.
 
whalenapp81

whalenapp81

Member
Oct 29, 2017
216
Is this cross/buy/platform like Hearthstone is? Or is it another Magic Duels, which while good, each platform was a separate entity.
 
Emerson

Emerson

Member
Oct 25, 2017
521
USA
thepotatoman said:
It's certainly arguable that all of these CCGs are unreasonable money sinks, but this one specifically has to be pointed out as the worst one by far.

Like I never can tell if hearthstone or elder scrolls legends is more generous. Elder Scrolls give you more free stuff, but Hearthstone requires less stuff to make a good deck.

MtG Arena both noticeably requires way more cards to make a good deck than either of them, and is way slower at giving you good free stuff than either of them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Hearthstone is extremely stingy. You're right that it requires fewer cards to make a tier 1 deck, but Magic is also a much better designed game than Hearthstone and you can actually play with reasonable success without a tier 1 deck.

Eternal is the gold standard of F2P CCG games when it comes to free rewards.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
Violet (0_0) said:
ah, it seems like this only goes for priority access then. I forgot about using my Duels code, and I signed up with three emails, sigh. I'm just kinda curious and want to test the game a bit, but as long as there are more wipes I'm not losing out on anything regardless
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

They said they're letting in 100k people during the next month so hopefully you get in.

It's still very bare bones at the moment, and only has 1v1 in the game.

The economy in the game is also awful and made worse by the new update. It's almost impossible to build a deck you want.

I agree with everyone here about this system being terrible. I actually like hearthstones system although many others think it's way too stingy, and when compared to Eternal or elder scrolls legends it definitely is. However the deck size in magic is twice what hearthstone is and you need 4 of each card rather than 2 of each card like in hearthstone. Despite this, it has a system far stingier than hearthstone.
 

Deleted member 9100

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
3,076
thepotatoman said:
It's certainly arguable that all of these CCGs are unreasonable money sinks, but this one specifically has to be pointed out as the worst one by far.

Like I never can tell if hearthstone or elder scrolls legends is more generous. Elder Scrolls give you more free stuff, but Hearthstone requires less stuff to make a good deck.

MtG Arena both noticeably requires way more cards to make a good deck than either of them, and is way slower at giving you good free stuff than either of them.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Elder scrolls legends is far more generous. Especially when they first introduced twitch drops. Those were absolutely insane. I haven't put a single dollar into that game and thanks to twitch drops and ingame rewards, I almost have a full collection and have 24000 gold and 85000 soul gems. Which is basically the equivalent of $1000 in ingame currency.

If I wanted to, I can craft every single card in the new Morrowind expansion without buying a single pack.

That being said I think Hearthstone gets way too much flack. The no duplicate legendary change has been a god send. Between that, the extra 20 packs for preordering and all the events going on, they're definitely moving in the right direction.
 
Qvoth

Qvoth

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,030
watched a stream yesterday where the streamer fought against ub deck with so many cancels/negates/etc
goddamn that shit's cancer
 
You must log in or register to reply here.