Current Events > Just bought a membership to MtG:O but I saw like nobody using the program

(+) Yeah! (+)

I realize it came out in 2002 but I saw only 2 games running last night in the standard constructed which leads me to think this probably isn't a good idea to buy packs/decks from.

Anyone have any further word of caution about this program?

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Why did you choose that instead of Arena?

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Wanted to be able to trade and sell cards while getting the full table top experience. I also downloaded arena but after 7 training games, I'm getting a hearthstone vibe from it with the sense that 5 years from now I'll have spent $2,000 and no longer have an interest in this free to play game any longer.

I've got hearthstone collections from when the game came out until about 2017, all really good old cards...but I have no interest in wild formats.

Same goes for MtG, I've no interest in the older formats as there is more cards there than I care to get into.

I've only played 7/8th moridon and kumigawa blocks of MtG, so there's lots there I don't know.

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weekoldhotdog posted...

I also downloaded arena but after 7 training games, I'm getting a hearthstone vibe from it with the sense that 5 years from now I'll have spent $2,000 and no longer have an interest in this free to play game any longer.

As opposed to MTGO where you'll have spent $20,000 and no longer have an interest?

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weekoldhotdog posted...

I've no interest in the older formats as there is more cards there than I care to get into.

Even less reason to play MTGO then. The only advantage it has over Arena is older formats and more cards lmao.

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Although I appreciate MTG:A's traditional use of the card format versus Hearthstones approach, which is to ladden every card with RNG properties instead of giving players actual choices which results in real skill being used.

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SothaSil posted...

As opposed to MTGO where you'll have spent $20,000 and no longer have an interest?

You can sell your cards when you're done, but you're not wrong on either point from #4 and #5

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weekoldhotdog posted...

You can sell your cards when you're done, but you're not wrong on either point from #4 and #5

You can, yes, but you still need that upfront cost. Arena is far cheaper.

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I was going to draft my cards, but no denying I'd spend at least a grand getting what I needed/wanted.

No way I was going to buy them individually unless I already had 80% of the deck

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Mtgo is the better choice if you want to collect in a decent economy. It is easier, quicker, and cheaper to get what you want. Unfortunately there is no truly good option for digital MtG. Online has archaic UI and Arena has legitimately awful economy, worse than hearthstone's.

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Megaman50100 posted...

Mtgo is the better choice if you want to collect in a decent economy. It is easier, quicker, and cheaper to get what you want. Unfortunately there is no truly good option for digital MtG. Online has archaic UI and Arena has legitimately awful economy, worse than hearthstone's.

I agree and that's why I paid the small membership fee to be able to purchase cards (and utilize the 2000 or so commons and uncommons that they gave me included in my membership) but if nobody is sitting at the tables then those cards are useless to me as a player (not a collector)

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Megaman50100 posted...

It is easier, quicker, and cheaper to get what you want.

This is absolutely, 100% false.

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SothaSil posted...

This is absolutely, 100% false.

Using wild cards from MTGA is easier then pairing with a bot and purchasing the card you want?

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weekoldhotdog posted...

Using wild cards from MTGA is easier then pairing with a bot and purchasing the card you want?

He said cheaper; that's the part I'm taking issue with.

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Getting rare wildcards specifically is the bottleneck on Arena. If you are building a single rare-light deck it won't take a bunch of time or money. Its attempting to build decks after your first or trying to assemble one that is heavy on the rares that will put you up against the pack opening wall with no other options.

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What would you guys recommend for just starting arena? 2021 edition and whatever that block is that's coming out in 2 days?

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Yea, just wait for strixhaven so you will be capitalizing on a set that will be playable for the longest amount of time. I personally think Arena is decent for draft play, but that is noobie unfriendly.

I'm a long time magic player and enjoy hopping on each time a set releases to draft and build up currency for the next set and break until then. But for previously stated reasons I have no interest in managing a collection on Arena. So i just have hundreds of unopened packs sitting around that I can't do anything useful with.

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Lame, yea that's where MtGO would be better. Selling those extra packs is a huge incentive but that circles back to my original complaint that I encountered only 4 people online and nobody talking in the chat rooms despite the rooms claiming to be 2k thick (all bots, i'm guessing).

Pretty lame.

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If you are interested in a game that balances quick-play and skill a little better than Hearthstone with the sleek presentation of something like Arena, you can check out Legends of Runeterra as well. It has a truly F2P economy that puts the others' to shame. Can easily build multiple Tier 1 decks by the time you are getting the hang of things.

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Also, and this is a big one for me, MTGOs interface is so ugly and clunky. Desperately needs an update, I dont even want to play cheap shit like Penny Dreadful on it

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weekoldhotdog posted...

Lame, yea that's where MtGO would be better. Selling those extra packs is a huge incentive but that circles back to my original complaint that I encountered only 4 people online and nobody talking in the chat rooms despite the rooms claiming to be 2k thick (all bots, i'm guessing).

Pretty lame.

This may be just a problem of you interpreting the lobbies incorrectly. Not your fault since like I said MTGO has horrendous UI. But 'open tables' on MTGO fire off pretty much instantly, so you may only see a few because they are filled and moved to a different section so fast. And chats may feel light because, again, MTGO fractures them into hard to follow smaller rooms.

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The tables fill but you can still watch the games lol.

legit, there is only 1 game going on right now. Just looked at constructed

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