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Deleted member 29293

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Double post but first post of page...

All their incentives to buy boosters make no sense, I would just by the full art / tokens / foils as singles. There is no benefit of buying boosters no matter what they include unless they find a way to include something that for magical reasons cannot be bought as single. At most it would incentivise me to draft more often.
 
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darkside

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,420
Just have boosters come with a code for a free pack on MTG Arena the way Pokemon does it. Its something they should have done with MTGO but never did. Having digital and paper tie together was always the way to go rather than treat them as completely separate.
 

Imperfected

Member
Nov 9, 2017
11,737
Hmm. I guess they aren't particularly confident in their ability to right the ship on Modern Masters with just better quality of reprints.
 

Gotchaye

Member
Oct 27, 2017
778
Just have boosters come with a code for a free pack on MTG Arena the way Pokemon does it. Its something they should have done with MTGO but never did. Having digital and paper tie together was always the way to go rather than treat them as completely separate.
I don't know how Pokemon works, business-wise, but this sounds like a recipe for never selling another pack on Arena. If Arena is popular enough it would lower the price of singles, though.
 

ZealousD

Community Resettler
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Oct 25, 2017
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I don't know how Pokemon works, business-wise, but this sounds like a recipe for never selling another pack on Arena. If Arena is popular enough it would lower the price of singles, though.

It's a recipie for people to play arena who otherwise wouldn't and a recipie for people who play arena to buy more packs.
 

darkside

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,420
I don't know how Pokemon works, business-wise, but this sounds like a recipe for never selling another pack on Arena. If Arena is popular enough it would lower the price of singles, though.

Arena packs are already cheaper than real life. You'd still be able to buy these. But adding virtual packs to real life packs gets people to play Arena who wouldn't have before. Arena has a long way to go though before they do something like that honestly
 

Imperfected

Member
Nov 9, 2017
11,737
If your "problem" as Wizards is that people are buying so many packs no one's buying cards digitally I think that's a problem you're happy to have.
 

Gotchaye

Member
Oct 27, 2017
778
Arena packs are already cheaper than real life. You'd still be able to buy these. But adding virtual packs to real life packs gets people to play Arena who wouldn't have before. Arena has a long way to go though before they do something like that honestly
But why would anyone buy Arena packs from Wizards? As someone who doesn't play paper I'm obviously just going to check out the same places that paper players already buy singles from and buy digital pack codes there for cheaper. Tons of paper packs are opened by people who don't even intend to play with those cards in paper, much less in Arena, and all you're doing is subsidizing them by whatever they can sell the code for.

It's true that this probably gets people to try Arena who otherwise wouldn't. But you can also do this with codes that have strict account limits so that they're not worth anything after your first couple of packs.
 

Justin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,762
Seattle, Washington
I don't know how Pokemon works, business-wise, but this sounds like a recipe for never selling another pack on Arena. If Arena is popular enough it would lower the price of singles, though.

Last I heard you can't even spend money on the Pokémon app. The only way to get cards for it is with the codes in the physical booster packs or by playing it and unlocking them. It exists solely as a vehicle to sell boosters and promote the game.
 

Bigkrev

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Oct 25, 2017
12,405
Just have boosters come with a code for a free pack on MTG Arena the way Pokemon does it. Its something they should have done with MTGO but never did. Having digital and paper tie together was always the way to go rather than treat them as completely separate.
Looking on ebay, Pokemon TCG codes range from $15-30 per 50 codes depending on the set. I don't know if adding a code worth ~50 cents on average is going to be a make-or-break for a lot of people.
 

darkside

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,420
Looking on ebay, Pokemon TCG codes range from $15-30 per 50 codes depending on the set. I don't know if adding a code worth ~50 cents on average is going to be a make-or-break for a lot of people.

A lot of folks are buying real life cards to also use them online though, so they're not reselling codes.

You'll get people who would normally just buying singles or trading for stuff willing to now give Wizards the (near) full cut of a new booster pack as opposed to the zilch they get on the secondary market from resellers or folks who just trade for stuff.

But why would anyone buy Arena packs from Wizards? As someone who doesn't play paper I'm obviously just going to check out the same places that paper players already buy singles from and buy digital pack codes there for cheaper. Tons of paper packs are opened by people who don't even intend to play with those cards in paper, much less in Arena, and all you're doing is subsidizing them by whatever they can sell the code for.

It's true that this probably gets people to try Arena who otherwise wouldn't. But you can also do this with codes that have strict account limits so that they're not worth anything after your first couple of packs.

I mean they just have to find ways to monetize that don't involve the cards in the packs. Sets that are Arena only, cosmetics, but all of that stuff is a long wayyyyyy off if it ever happens. Personally I've lost a lot faith in Arena given how slow they're addressing some pressing issues and how long some of these bugs have been around. Its pretty shoddy software wise.. terrible like MTGO just in different ways
 
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SigmasonicX

SigmasonicX

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Oct 25, 2017
15,691
Magic Story - The Chronicles of Bolas: The Unwritten Now
* Naiva is holding a knife to Baishya's neck, but Yasova pulls it away. The hedrons are breaking Bolas's hold on Naiva. Yasova tells Naiva not to blame herself; she isn't weak, Bolas is just strong.
* They talk things out, and Yasova explains she wasn't able to see Baishya's visions, so she tells Naiva to do that instead.

* Ugin is waiting at the Meditation Realm, when Bolas appears out of nowhere to attack him. Bolas claims that Ugin came back to Dominaria just to taunt him and refused to explain planeswalking to him.
* Ugin runs away to different planes for a long period of time, and realizes he'll only escape if he makes Bolas think he died. They go back to the Meditation Realm, and he casts a spell on his reflection. Bolas kills Ugin there, and the realm shatters, sending Bolas back to Dominaria. The realm recovers 1000 years later and Ugin reforms from a reflection.
* Ugin schemes with Azor, to lure Bolas to Tarkir and capture him with the Immortal Sun.
* Bolas attacks Ugin on Tarkir. There is a bit of a contradiction with previous stories, in that Ugin was supposed to have been surprised by Bolas arriving earlier than planned, yet Ugin is expecting him here.
* The vision emphasizes Azor again.

* Baishya wakes up with Naiva. They explain what they saw to Yasova. She decides that they have one desperate gamble they can pull off.
* Yasova has Baishya and Naiva exchange clothing, thankful they wear their hair the same way. Bolas already placed a spell on Naiva; while he could easily do that with Baishya, his spell not already being there buys them a moment, and she could use magic to deflect it for a bit.
* Yasova and Baishya go out to talk to Bolas.

* Yasova taunts Bolas, saying Ugin has tricked him again and that he's alive. Bolas denies this, and Baishya asks him why he bothered to return then if he wasn't tricked. They taunt him and Bolas orders "Naiva" to kill Yasova.
* Naiva, hiding in the hedrons, feels the desire to do that, but she holds herself back.
* Baishya taunts Bolas for thinking others are as stuck in the past as he is.
* Bolas yells that he isn't stuck, and this leads to Yasova claiming he will be: he's standing right where the Immortal Sun is aimed, with the hedrons channeling its power.
* Yasova and Baishya pretend that the Immortal Sun is activating. Not wanting to take any chances, Bolas planeswalks away, setting off an avalanche to kill them as he leaves.
* Naiva comes out to check on them, and they're fine thanks to Baishya's magic.

* Their companions come to them. Tae Jin is able to tell Naiva and Baishya apart despite them switching clothing; he figures it was needed for some Temur trickery. Naiva is happy about this.
* Fec the orc has been recording all of this on carvings on a horn.
* Yasova mentions that humans are capable of planeswalking, since she met a disrespectful and tedious human planeswalker before (Sarkhan).
* Tae Jin must return to his master now that he told them what he had to.
* Yasova instructs the twins to stay there for longer, in case Ugin has more to say, and to have Fec write everything down and store it in their hidden cache.
* Tae Jin will also stay with them so he can recover and Fec can write down what his message from Ugin. Naiva is happy about this.
* It will be their job to keep safe their knowledge so future generations can rise against the dragons.
[The End]
 

ZealousD

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Oct 25, 2017
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Looking on ebay, Pokemon TCG codes range from $15-30 per 50 codes depending on the set. I don't know if adding a code worth ~50 cents on average is going to be a make-or-break for a lot of people.

At 36 packs per box, that's $18 worth of value added into the box. That's extremely helpful especially when box values drop below the $90 mark.
 

StaffyManasse

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Oct 28, 2017
1,208
Has anyone of you read or made any kind analysis of the core 2019 planeswalker decks? Other than the usual they are weak and only for beginners playing other such decks?

I am asking because our little kitchen table league is in full swing (we have been playing almost every night for a week now) and I keep thinking I'm winning too many games.

Now, ofc it's her first TCG and I have some experience so I have the edge there. On the other hand we have played some games with open hands and she kept doing the correct plays (or at least the ones I would have made).

I'm playing Vivien (green) and she has Tezzeret (blue) and most games she just has no answers to my midrange and big creatures with trample. The games she has won have been her dominating with flying creatures, which she doesn't even really have that many of. The 5/5 artifacts do not really pose a threat because I just have one bigger.

I'm hoping she won't get burned out. Is it just that we picked an uneven matchup?
 

StaffyManasse

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,208
My guess would be that the PW decks are just very inconsistent but you can allways try switching decks.

Yeah it feels like the green one has a lot less decision making that the blue one. I just ramp up and play some dino to wreck shit and she has to think about how to go about having the right artifacts to turn and which of my creatures to shrink etc.

Suppose that's bit how they are in general too when it comes to mono green and mono blue?

We have switched two times and I think it was 1-1 then, but she doesn't want to, because she likes the blue deck in general.
 

Imperfected

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Nov 9, 2017
11,737
Yeah it feels like the green one has a lot less decision making that the blue one. I just ramp up and play some dino to wreck shit and she has to think about how to go about having the right artifacts to turn and which of my creatures to shrink etc.

Suppose that's bit how they are in general too when it comes to mono green and mono blue?

We have switched two times and I think it was 1-1 then, but she doesn't want to, because she likes the blue deck in general.

Well, the big competitive archetypes for green and blue are "Stompy" and "Control" right now, respectively, so yeah it's a pretty accurate representation, aside from the fact that the PW Blue deck probably lets you actually play even when it all comes together.
 

StaffyManasse

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,208
Well, the big competitive archetypes for green and blue are "Stompy" and "Control" right now, respectively, so yeah it's a pretty accurate representation, aside from the fact that the PW Blue deck probably lets you actually play even when it all comes together.

Yeah, it feels like she has some control-ly cards, but not enough to really shut me down. I've had some shrunk dinos on my board a plenty of times, but in the end I have one more she can handle.

I know, we need to buy more boosters! Genious!

And before anyone mentions buying singles, we are trying to emulate the scarcity of me playing Magic in my teen years when buying singles was not a thing and all we could afford was a booster every now and then. I know it's not "efficient", but it's been fun so far.
 

Deleted member 29293

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Then let me at least give you the advice to use those boosters e.g. for a Winston Draft to get some value out of opening them :)
 

Hydrophobic

Member
Oct 25, 2017
217
Has anyone of you read or made any kind analysis of the core 2019 planeswalker decks? Other than the usual they are weak and only for beginners playing other such decks?

I am asking because our little kitchen table league is in full swing (we have been playing almost every night for a week now) and I keep thinking I'm winning too many games.

Now, ofc it's her first TCG and I have some experience so I have the edge there. On the other hand we have played some games with open hands and she kept doing the correct plays (or at least the ones I would have made).

I'm playing Vivien (green) and she has Tezzeret (blue) and most games she just has no answers to my midrange and big creatures with trample. The games she has won have been her dominating with flying creatures, which she doesn't even really have that many of. The 5/5 artifacts do not really pose a threat because I just have one bigger.

I'm hoping she won't get burned out. Is it just that we picked an uneven matchup?
I actually have the Blue Tezzeret deck to play against my wife who bought the Black Liliana deck. Blue definitely feels harder to play right unless you have good draws. There's almost no removal in the deck (I don't really know that I count uncomfortable chill). It definitely has felt like a deck that is harder to play to a win than my wife's black deck.
 

Bigkrev

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Oct 25, 2017
12,405
Incredible payouts for Pauper on MTGArena
DkuUEZxWwAELbDI.jpg

They really don't want you going infinite....
 

Deleted member 29293

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There is no way people will fall for shitty 2 game events for 600g. 40 life? Play 2 lands? Those sound shit without entry fee.

Edit: Oh, and they are fucking over drafters again and force them to play competitive draft by doing their shitty play 2 land quick draft for M19.
 

BabyMurloc

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,890
What they should be doing is going towards cheap to enter events that are really hard to win but give some nice prizes including cosmetic stuff. And then top that off with leaderboards and top scoring decklists.

There's so many cards in a full standard that card rewards are worth essentially nothing.
 

jph139

One Winged Slayer
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Oct 25, 2017
14,509
They really just need a free casual mode that's not just standard constructed. Brawl is the obvious one, but if they wanted to make it Singleton or whatever, that works too. I don't play anything except drafts now because I have no interest in playing standard and even less interest in spending coins/gems to play with some fun jank.
 

StaffyManasse

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,208
I actually have the Blue Tezzeret deck to play against my wife who bought the Black Liliana deck. Blue definitely feels harder to play right unless you have good draws. There's almost no removal in the deck (I don't really know that I count uncomfortable chill). It definitely has felt like a deck that is harder to play to a win than my wife's black deck.

Thanks for the input! I'll let her know experts think it's because of the deck she keeps losing lol!

Whatever makes her still want to play with me. :)
 

Gotchaye

Member
Oct 27, 2017
778
With Arena, Wizards seems to keep making the same mistake of not just doing exactly what Hearthstone is doing, and then they have to slowly change to what Hearthstone is doing while everyone complains at them. You'd think they'd learn to jump right to the end.
 

Deleted member 29293

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I should be their dream target customer, want to play magic but little time to go to an lgs for paper magic and quit HS over a year ago.

Now I haven't played arena in months cause I don't want to be bothered with finding out what old set is in quick draft instead of the current set and with these updates it's more and more unlikely I will ever return.
 

KuroNeeko

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Oct 25, 2017
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Osaka
Hey, guys, my apologies if this isn't the right place to ask, but how does MTG: Arena compare to Eternal in terms of game modes, gameplay, and strain on wallet? I used to play Magic about a million years ago and loved it. I tried getting into Eternal at release, but I think the artwork (lol) turned me off of the game. Thinking about picking up a second game to compliment Hearthstone.
 
Feb 16, 2018
2,711
arena will have more stuff in it, but if you start playing right now it will feel more expensive than i think it actually is

people are trying to collect 2 years worth of cards and rare lands in a couple weeks (8 different sets). if you become a regular player, then keeping up with the newest set (one every 3 months) will probably be easier

if you're worried about cost, i'd recommend just playing draft until they kick the oldest 4 sets out of standard (in october)
and they're going to reset progress+collections at some point
 

Deleted member 29293

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Only played a little bit of Eternal but here is my MtGA experience. Game modes are quite plentyfull considering the limited cardpool (starting with Kaladesh). You have draft and several modes of constructed soon including Pauper, Momir and Brawl like spins om constructed. Gameplay is pretty much the full Magic experience.

The big issue is the economy. It became pretty clear that WotC is stubborn to put a premium price tag on MtGA because "more gameplay".
 
Feb 16, 2018
2,711
in other news, the internets seem to be saying that the non-rotating arena format won't exist until the fall 2019 rotation (when ixalan/dominaria/m19 go away)

so i guess they'll reset after 2018's rotation and then basically remove all reason to buy kaladesh/amonkhet cards

seems weird to put that year of cards in the game and then hide the content until it's part of a non-rotating format, but i guess they can afford to do weird things like that
 

Hydrophobic

Member
Oct 25, 2017
217
I feel like MtG:A Is pretty generous with the currency rewards, but I feel like it has to be because some of the fun event queues they have are really skewed away from giving you enough rewards to queue up again even if you're 100% successful. I'm glad that draft lets you keep all the cards you draft from it, as that feels like a solid improvement over the only other digital card game I've played (Hearthstone). I've also seen complaints about the Wildcard system that I haven't run into yet because I haven't really played enough to feel like crafting things. There's also the consideration that there isn't (right now) a draft format that is always available to buy in with F2P currency for the current set. I really like that you can play draft with older sets, but I also kind of wanted to draft M19 on its release weak and that was only in the Competitive Draft mode which is paid currency only.

My thoughts are a bit out of order here but overall I think it's got more positives than negatives. Definitely still room for improvement, though.
 

LProtagonist

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
7,713
I would love for Arena to get Brawl soon.

I'm also thinking about getting into Modern with a budget/upgradable deck but oh boy I would love for some sort of Post-modern that starts with everything that Arena has (Kaladesh on) or something along those lines. My poor wallet is begging for it.
 

Bigkrev

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,405
I would love for Arena to get Brawl soon.

I'm also thinking about getting into Modern with a budget/upgradable deck but oh boy I would love for some sort of Post-modern that starts with everything that Arena has (Kaladesh on) or something along those lines. My poor wallet is begging for it.
I'm going to be really curious how they handle Theros/Kaladesh cards in Arena once they hit 1.0. They have already said that they are wiping accounts before the final release (giving you back all the money you have spent in the form of gems), and this game isn't going to hit 1.0 until after Theros and Kaladesh rotate out of standard. Are they really just going to leave those packs in the store for people to accidentally buy when they can't use them in most formats?
 

aidan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,792
Wouldn't be surprised if they remove them from the store until there is a mode to use them.

They'll remove boosters from the store, but allow you to craft the cards using wild cards (likely with a disclaimer that they're not standard legal.) This is how Hearthstone handles rotation, and it's fine.
 

Justin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,762
Seattle, Washington
It seems like the plan is to just not have Amonkhet and Kaladesh cards available on release then launch the new format with next years rotation according to this interview.

 

Deleted member 29293

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They'll remove boosters from the store, but allow you to craft the cards using wild cards (likely with a disclaimer that they're not standard legal.) This is how Hearthstone handles rotation, and it's fine.
I doubt you'll even able to craft them until there is any way to use them. I wonder whether they will also not include them in draft rotation. Probably not, dradt rotation will probably be standard as well and later on they will introduce legacy drafts.
 

Santiako

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Oct 25, 2017
1,151
Yeah and I assume once they re add them fall 2019 they'll just give the full sets (Kaladesh block and Amonkhet block) to everyone.
 
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