We review the Magic 2015 video game from Wizards of the Coast in all it’s uniquely awesome magic meta game goodness.
Magic the Gathering Basics
Magic the Gathering (MTG or Magic) in general is one of the more popular and complex trading card games.
The layers of complexity don’t come from difficult rule sets, in fact the basic rules are pretty simple. The complexity comes from the fact that most cards add additional rules to the game that interact with the basic rules.
The first magic cards came out in 1993, so we are talking about over 20 years of cards adding layers of complexity. The way Magic handles that is by phasing yearly “blocks of cards in and out of “standard” format.
Standard format uses the two most recently-released blocks, as well as the current core set. When a new block is launched, the oldest block rotates out of the list.
Magic also includes a number of different other formats, including magic the gathering online (PC only) and popular fan originated formats like EDH as well. Magic 2015 the video game isn’t any of those.
The Magic 2015 Game
Magic 2015 the game for ios, android, xbox one, and PC is a completely unique magic “format”. It let’s players use cards from a number of past blocks including everything from Magic 2015’s core set all the way back to Shards of Alara printed in 2008.
Building Decks in Magic 2015
That selection of cards would be overwhelming, but it is limited to just cards that mesh well and are well balanced against each other.
The player then, unlike in other past Magic games for console or app, can choose to make any legal deck with 60 or more cards in it (although there does seem to be some basic requirements like land requirements).
Although the lack of cards can feel limiting after a while, it’s a good way to balance the online portions of the game. Newcomers may enjoy the slower pace cards unlock at, those who want the full experince can pay to unlock cards earlier.
How Much Does the Game Actually Cost?
While the base game is free, you’ll need to pay to unlock the levels, the basic core cards, and the extra cards and expansion stuff. The exact price of things depend upon what bundles you buy, expansions out at the time, if you buy virtual packs individually, and whether or not you want to pay to put virtual foil on your cards.
You can unlock Considering IRL magic can cost an arm and a leg, the $60 or less price-tag to unlock all original and expansion content is pretty reasonable, and 100% worth it.
GamePlay
Because magic is such a fun game in general, the only thing the video game version needed to get right was having basic rules work and having a smart set of cards to build decks with. They accomplished both of these things, but also provided a really smooth and nice looking play field.
The AI
The AI is strong enough to give a challenge, but once you learn to break the game by being awesome, the AI doesn’t do much more than provide a measuring stick to test decks against. That being said, to get to the point where that is true you’ll need to sink countless hours into the game. Unless you are already a hardcore magic player there is a lot here for you AI-wise.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer is the best part of MTG. That being said it was a little buggy on our older iPad mini. The game really needs newer tech, PC, or Xbox one to run at full sail.
For the above reason, Magic 2015 is the most fun game that a person can get on an app.
Date posted: April 2, 2015
