Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013

I have been wanting to try card based games for a while, would you say this is a good place to start? How tough is it to understand?

I'm pretty sure the demo for this or the one for Duels 2012 has a tutorial in it.

Magic in general is the most complex TCG on the market. That being said, it's also the originator of the TCG, so if you played anything from Pokemon TCG to Yu-Gi-Oh, you'll understand the mechanics a bit better. Duels is also easier to understand due to the limited card pool while the actual game consists of thousands upon thousands of unique cards.

Well the core rules of Magic are easy but to master the game takes a lot of time and effort. I've taught plenty of people the order of steps, what each type of card is, and the basic rules, but applying them is different. Anyone can learn how Mana Leak works but not everyone knows exactly when to use a Mana Leak. It's easy to learn, hard to master.

There's also like a ton of smaller rules in Magic that only apply to certain sets and certain cards. Like Cascade. When will that get reprinted, if ever? Most of the abilities are self explanatory but there's still hundreds of them.

YuGiOh is just a cluttered mess. I used to play the game as a kid when I watched the show but nowadays it just seems really poorly designed.

Magic is simple. That isn't a bad thing at all, but it is simple.

Yugioh these days does suck. It's way, way too hectic. But a few years ago it was a fantastic TCG that had such retarded amounts of depth you could have thousands upon thousands of strategies and deck combinations.

They need to make a proper Magic game that allows you to create your own decks. I hate Planeswalkers for that reason. Using preset decks annoys me to no end.

Nothing you've said substantiates Magic as being a complicated game, let alone "the most complex TCG on the market". Strategy is not a complexity of the game, but rather of competition. Knowing when to cast a Mana Leak has little to do with rules or mechanics. It relies your knowledge of the metagame around you and the psychology of the player across the table. In this sense even roshambo can be regarded as a "complex game" once programmatic algorithms and body language are brought in to make correct plays. The rules, however, are quite simple.

One-shot or otherwise non-evergreen keywords are generally printed alongside reminder text explaining exactly what the keyword in question does.

[quote name='Hells Malice' timestamp='1340556166']They need to make a proper Magic game that allows you to create your own decks. I hate Planeswalkers for that reason. Using preset decks annoys me to no end. [/quote]
https://en.wikipedia...ki/Magic_online

I would also argue that Yugioh has never been a particularly great competitive game at any point. From the start there has been such a lack of archetype diversity due to poor power leveling, as well as the absence of a reasonable cost system. In an actual competitive environment you would probably anywhere from one to three primary "cookie-cutter" deck frameworks regardless of the year. The idea that you could have "thousands upon thousands of strategies" is clearly from some kind of drug-fueled dream.

Fine, it's strategic, you get the deal.

Anyway I just finished getting all the achievements for it, they're pretty easy. Hell, my last achievement was beating someone online, and in my first online match, I kinda roflstomped my opponent with a 25/25 Ajani's Pridemate and an activated Serra's Ascendant w/ Celestial Mantle. The guy quit halfway through and I just beat his AI easily.

[quote name='Urza' timestamp='1340556452'] Nothing you've said substantiates Magic as being a complicated game, let alone "the most complex TCG on the market". Strategy is not a complexity of the game, but rather of competition. Knowing when to cast a Mana Leak has little to do with rules or mechanics. It relies your knowledge of the metagame around you and the psychology of the player across the table. In this sense even roshambo can be regarded as a "complex game" once programmatic algorithms and body language are brought in to make correct plays. The rules, however, are quite simple. One-shot or otherwise non-evergreen keywords are generally printed alongside reminder text explaining exactly what the keyword in question does. [quote name='Hells Malice' timestamp='1340556166']They need to make a proper Magic game that allows you to create your own decks. I hate Planeswalkers for that reason. Using preset decks annoys me to no end. [/quote]https://en.wikipedia...ki/Magic_online I would also argue that Yugioh has never been a particularly great competitive game at any point. From the start there has been such a lack of archetype diversity due to poor power leveling, as well as the absence of a reasonable cost system. In an actual competitive environment you would probably anywhere from one to three primary "cookie-cutter" deck frameworks regardless of the year. The idea that you could have "thousands upon thousands of strategies" is clearly from some kind of drug-fueled dream. [/quote]

I don't go to tourneys and duel nerds studying card games all their life for 10 seconds of glory in a stadium of nolifers There are thousands of strategies to use in that instance where pretty much any strategy is viable. Yugioh is just much more intense. Whenever I duel in Magic, you pretty much know how things are going. There aren't a ton of surprises. But in Yugioh you could go to lay a monster, set off a trap, counter that trap, have your counter countered, etc. These days it's a little TOO ridiculous, but back in the day it was at a pretty good balance.

aaand yeah I knew about Magic Online, but I meant something like Duels of the Planseswalkers where it's a one time purchase thing.
Magic Online, AFAIR, requires an account purchase, and your cards also cost money to buy. Just like the physical game. If I wanted to buy cards i'd get physical cards like everyone else...there's no worth in digital card collecting.

[quote name='Hells Malice' timestamp='1340588182']I don't go to tourneys and duel nerds studying card games all their life for 10 seconds of glory in a stadium of nolifers [/quote]
You sure jumped to inflammatory nonsense quickly. People enjoying things outside my own personal interests? Balderdash! They must be "no-life nerds"! Now back to Counter-Strike; a proper hobby for such a refined gentlemen as myself.

Any strategy is "viable" if you think the definition of "viable" is "a thing I thought up". There are an infinite number of bad strategies to any game.

Here's some free Pokemon strategies
1) Team with 6 Pidgeys, only whirlwind to try and confuse my opponent into quitting
2) Modified version of 1 where one of the Pidgeys has Tackle to go into backup damage dealing plan if Whirlwind spam fails
3) Only Geodudes and Harden. Continue to use Harden until opposing player dies of old age.
4) Delete all moves so as to only use Struggle. Become immune to PP removal.

Although to be fair, these strategies are potentially viable if the people you play are also this silly.

As for "zero economy Magic Online", that's definitely not going to happen. MODO is a very successful product with a flourishing player base. Releasing a product that consists of a 1:1 implementation of the paper equivalent for free would only be less stupid than simply mailing every player a complete set of the latest four expansions. There are plenty of free tabletop softwares which can be used if what you actually want to do is play the game.
http://cockatrice.de/
http://www.magicworkstation.com/
http://kellyelton.github.com/OCTGN/

I also find it amusing whenever a player mocks digital card purchases, like somehow the value is more abstracted than buying pieces of cardboard.

I agree here, Im new to magic, started like... a month ago. I picked it up really easy and found it way more easier than my Pokemon TCG days and my Magi-nation TCG Days. Guild is right. Its difficult to Master. But playing it and knowing how the flow of play goes is as simple as putting butter on toast. Knowing when to play a certain card isnt a fair measure of how easy the game is to play. Its a measure of a persons skill. Having high skill doesnt make the game itself harder or easier for everyone. Just the person you are playing against lolololool