your reasons for not playing MTG

[purkle]

hey WoW card game players =)

this is something i'm interested in, and have chatted with my friends about.

waaay back in the day, MTG started the ball rolling for trading card games, and secured its status as the big daddy of strategy games.
for a while, it even had its own event coverage on ESPN.


anyway, since then there have been a number of companies to cash in on the MTG format.

the first (as far as i can remember) was Star Trek (lol).
since then we've got pokemon, yu-gi-oh, star wars, lord of the rings and now World of Warcraft (and the list goes on)


what i'm interested in knowing is..... bearing in mind that each of these spin-offs is effectively a money-oriented imitation, based loosely on some pre-existing franchise... why do you, as a player, choose these games over the original MTG?

what does WoW have that MTG does not?

it's an interesting question. give me your answers!

[Ian]

A lot of people got into the game via the actual MMO. Loot cards from the TCG can be redeemed for ingame stuffs, often very unique items such as the mounts, so most probably have never heard about MTG :p

Ian

[purkle]

i guess i never considered that people would generally know about the TCG without already being aware of them in general.

having played WoW myself for a while, there's generally no in-game prompt for people to take which leads to the card game (save the odd person with a strange mount).

any other takes on it?

[MkNalsheen]

To be honest, It's simply because to build a competitive deck, it costs less since it's a smaller game at the moment. Not to mention that since MTG has the super competitive feel(at least here in maryland) it turns people off to it. A lot of places, even sanctioned events, have quite a few cheaters, or people without a "casual" deck. No one likes getting into a game and beaten to submission while learning.

That said, I have a new mirrodin besieged green/white intro deck, and enjoy plopping it on the table now and again. I've got friends from both camps. Personally, I could just never see myself dropping 100 on a jace, and i'm a competitive person. S'part of why I also play Warmachine and Hordes tabletop wargames.

[purkle]

i play in a semi-competitive manner, and i don't own a single jace.

magic sometimes gets this stigma of being really expensive, but really unless you're top-8-ing pro tours then you have no need to spend large amounts of money on one of the three or four tier-1 decks. there are always thousands of options below tier-1 that work really well.

remember as well, that tier-1 decks are meant to be able to defeat a wide field of other tier-1 decks, not a local game-store meta or anything.... so even if you played a super expensive deck, it would probably lose against a bunch of (probably more focused) casual decks.


but keep them coming guys, this is actually kind of interesting =)

[MkNalsheen]

While I'm aware of the meta and what it means, I live in an area where people have quite a bit of disposable income. Even if they're awful, they're sitting on a bunch of the best cards around. And like I stated before. Rampant cheating ensues/did ensue. I started Magic during Onslaught-ish? I couldn't enjoy the game afterward simply due to those people who "get off" on punking people who are new to the game. while every game has this, I've found the WoW tcg community to feel far less..... Jerktastic.

[kallistosprom]

Afternoon all,

Having started playing magic in revised I have seen, and played, edition after edition which are just old cards rebalanced or redone. The game works well multiplayer around a few pints and 'one on one' its still the best out there, but wow offers something different, Raids. When MTG tried raids they were so shockenly bad I immediately used the cards in a different deck and the large cards are now used as giant mats. Literay no creativity used in them at all, Planechase was slightly better but made the games last so long that unless someone infinate combo'd then it was a long sitting.

Thats not to say magic is bad, far from it. There is always a way around every card and every combo. Having played Legacy format (type 1.5) i've seen turn one kills, but with a well timed Force of Will, even that turn one can be put down. Combos in magic are lovely and fun to pull off, creating themed powerful decks is both rewarding and worth practicing over. The game works and works well.

But raids in wow are a lot of fun. 4 verses 1 creates a whole new atmosphere and a different type of Card game. Even the boss by itself is creating new environments with every card he plays and means the team of raiders have to think about their next move. Only 2 headed giant MTG even comes close to this, and the only other card game that comes close to multiplayer madness is Babylon 5, but thats mainly due to the complex nature of the game and the flavour from the series.

I don't think WoW is a better card game than magic, but it offers something different and it does it really well. I was a little disappointed with the lastest wow set as goblins seem a bit meh in their creativity and Wogan just having a retarded mechanic. I'm also a little worried about the new ICC raid which doesn't look like a raid at all but just multiplayer wow. As was said by a custom raid creator on this forum, if its shocking then we'll just stick to custom raids on here.

Overall i'm not exactly impressed since the new creators of WoW TCG took over but i'm sure some people are saying it's stopped the power creep. We'll see what the future holds. For now i'll play a card game which i'm in the mood for and buy cards when I see a good idea.

jules

[se7enhitman]

Its a good question, I started out TCG in Magic and have played a lot of the subsequent TCG like pokemon etc. Nowadays, playing WOW, i have to agree that one of the best part is the raid.. It is fun, exciting and very challenging to play the raids.

I also to agree with some aforementioned points such as less jerkish atmosphere and that MTG players tend to be more intimidating to newbies compared to WOW where most started off from the MMO and learned TCG because of their love and desire to play out their favourite class in the convenience of a card game.

Mechanics of WOW and MTG are almost similar except for a few things that I have observed in my opinion. Firstly, you won't get mana-screwed in WOW and this eliminates that crappy feeling when you keep drawing non-lands and end up loosing cheaply.

Secondly, equipment in WOW are equipped by you hero, basically you are carrying that huge kick ass axe or sword and not attaching to creatures. Hence, the creation of solo-hero decks which was quite an eye opener for me the first time I encountered the deck.

Lastly, I would have to say the class restrictions. This really gives a diverse feel of the classes that exist in WOW. In MTG, its always mage vs mage. By creating the class restrictions, this gave something unique features where each class could show off its best attributes. Class restrictions also makes the cards cheaper and encourages trading in my opinion. For instance if your a warrior, and opened a booster with mage stuff, you won't want to keep it and would sell it or trade for some warrior stuff instead. In MTG however, everyone might want to have card "A" or be "B" because its more flexible, just change the colour your playing and go for it.

WoW plays more to the preference of the MMO feature where classes make you more unique.

Nevertheless, I enjoy both games and differences I have stated are just meant to show the diffences, which is better is for the player to decide.

Best wishes

[Frikilangelo]

I began to play MTG on... ice age? (i don tremember the name :_\)

With the time MTG become so boring... to much control decks, combo, etc etc etc... "meh" i said "need another TCG game not so gay" (in term of decks!!!!)
So finally come WOW TCG, and I love Warcraft... "cool, God listen me :3"

So, now, here i were =)

[Trajian]

To be quite honest with you, and also coming from a design major for graphic arts, even the smallest details like the card layout and artwork of the interface is a reason I transfered from Magic. Magic to me looks like some nice artwork was placed inside a template designed by a 5 year old using paint. I do have to admit though, WoW does not yet have the amount of freedom Magic does with designing completely unheard of decks, but magic has also had quite a few years under its belt compared to WoWTCG.

All in all its the classes and design that I crave in which I found wowtcg to be more appealing. It also helped I played the online game as well. :D

[Kyoden]

I just think lands/mana is a flawed mechanic. I just hate to loose due to color/mana screw. One of the reasons why the magic metagame is pretty retarted and degenerated. And why most of the good decks have to run that hard amount of deck manipulation in order to get consistancy on mana.

Vs System and WoW Tcg don't have that flaw. Its all under my decision what to keep and what to place as a resource. If I loose its due to bad play or decisions, but not due to a random additional luck factor.

[Trajian]

I just think lands/mana is a flawed mechanic. I just hate to loose due to color/mana screw. One of the reasons why the magic metagame is pretty retarted and degenerated. And why most of the good decks have to run that hard amount of deck manipulation in order to get consistancy on mana.

Vs System and WoW Tcg don't have that flaw. Its all under my decision what to keep and what to place as a resource. If I loose its due to bad play or decisions, but not due to a random additional luck factor.

This is also another reason for me as well.

[zee]

I was introduced to magic at around the time of it's inception, but it didn't stick. I think thre were a bunch of reasons:
1. I remember asking myself: wait so who am I? Where am I summoning these monsters from?
2. There's a story? Oh it's kind of tacked on?
3. These cards look kinda Creepy. These are some disgusting looking black creatures. I guess to someone else it might look rad, but.. The cards look like a random mishmash of disconnected themes.

I've since started collecting wowtcg starting with the Hunt for Illidan set up until the Scourgewar set, and needless to say, it has taken a hold of me.

Now I know that modern MTG is pretty thematic and features some of the most stunning art to show up in fantasy gaming, its still pretty chaotic and messy in it's overall aesthetic.

Wowtcg in it's class /faction/spec system, gives players a multitude of very flavorful choices that bring very distinct playing styles. These characters are all backed up by qn entirely separate body of fluff, which although pretty juvenile, adds just enough character to the game and makes you feel new cards aren't completely extracted from the derrier. ( granted, crazy cards still come out, but a little more understandable. You can imagine hesriana seducing your ally for example.)

Ive since gone back to check out MTG and appreciate the depth of the mechanics, but I find that wowtcg is catching up in depth, and also doesn't let you get mana screwed.

[citabogue]

As some ppl said alrdy,

I think, the mana system of WoW is way greater than the one of MTG. You can't get mana screwed, and the quest and location system add a interresting aspect to deck building and to the game in general.

Also, the deck building in WoW is a little better because most of the cards are specifique to some decks and you have to combine Alliance/Horde, Aldor/Scryer, Spec, etc... In MTG, some ultimate cards come again in all decks and everybody wants it into their deck which make deck building less interesting. Plus, lands are so simple compared to quests for the deckbuilding.

One other interresting thing in WoW that nobody wrote about since now : the sequence of your actions is a very important aspect of game which make the game to require more skills than more luck. You have to chose in what order your allies are going to attack and you can chose your targets, also, spells and quest completetion need to be done in a specific order depending of the situration tu make things optimal for you.

In conclusion, there is so much more aspects to manage in WoW for the deck building and the playing in general and this makes the gamer funnier for me.