I have to admit at the outset that I am a recent convert to the ranks of online players of MTG. I resisted for a good many years for a good many reasons. For one thing I didn’t want to split my limited budget for gaming between the paper version and the online version, I didn’t want to get caught up in countless hours on an online game, and I wasn’t sure that I would even like it. A month in it’s a decision that I’m glad I made and if you’re sitting on the fence like I was then this post is for you.
Whether or not online play is right for you depends on what you’re looking for, and to a certain extant your expertise in mastering new software. Not every game is for everybody, and while MTG Online is still MTG, there are some real differences in the tempo and flavor of the game that makes it a wholly separate experience than playing someone face to face. As far as being computer savvy, the interface for the game is not always intuitive or user friendly and the online guides are vague to say the least. Luckily there are always online helpers available to answer your questions, although if your not very good at mastering new software then it is entirely possible that you won’t know what questions to ask.
The main thing you’re going to get is convenience. You can play whenever you want, not just on the day that your local store plays or a local group has a get together, and just about any time as well. I’ve been up with insomnia in the wee hours of the morning and there’s still a steady supply of games, matches and players. Another convenience factor is that if you are playing a game, discover a weakness in your deck and want to improve it, all you have to do is click the deck editor tab, make a few revisions and be back in the game play room in a matter of minutes.
As to the matter of affordability, a matter I was quite concerned about initially, you will find that its relatively inexpensive to play online and has only a minor impact on your gaming budget (unless you are one of those people that will spend any amount to get every card you can get your hands on). Ten dollars started me off with an account, a Scars of Mirrodin theme deck, a large number of boosters, and a good starter selection for the Duel of the Planeswalkers format (an online format comprised of gold bordered cards that can only be used in that format and neither traded nor sold). Other WotC (Wizards of The Coast) Products cost pretty much what their physical counterparts do. (3.99 for a booster, 12.99 for a theme deck, etc.)
The real savings come in digital singles. For some reason, which I will admit I’m not real clear on, WotC can’t sell singles. Don’t despair, there are a number of online retailers who sell digital singles and the prices are refreshingly cheap. Most commons seem to run under ten cents and many are less than a nickel. Uncommons sell well below fifty cents for the most part, and rares are often right around or under a dollar. I’ve even seen rares that sold for twenty dollars or more in the ‘real’ world going for four, three or even two bucks. That’s not to say that there aren’t some really overpriced digital cards out there, but they seem to be kept to a real minority, and be prepared to find that some cards are just as hard to find in cyberspace as they are in the local shop’s binders.
As to whom you’ll be playing against, well that can be a good thing or a bad thing, and like just about everything else in MTG, it has a lot to do with the luck of the draw. Unless you have a lot of online buddies who are already playing, you’ll be getting a lot of strangers when you join games. Now the play areas come in two flavors, New Players and Play Game. New Players is just what it sounds like, players who are new to MTG, or the online version, or both getting their feet wet and learning the ropes. The Play Game area is for more veteran players. The New Player area only allows games in Standard Format or Duel of The Planeswalkers Format, but the Play Game area allows for just about anything you can imagine from Standard right up to and including 100 card MOMIR decks.
Now conventional wisdom would say that new players go to the New Player area and veterans go to the Play Game area, but au contraire! Many veteran players, including heavy tournament players cruise the New Player area. You might say John, your just being paranoid…maybe that guy is a really lucky new player. You know the old saying though, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re NOT out to get you. You see everyone gets the basic group of avatar images when they join. Those are the images that display when you start or join a game. Other avatar images have to be won in events. Therefore, players with custom avatars are not players that belong in the new player area to begin with.
Now I like the New Player area and there are a lot of good players there and its very casual. I like the Play Game area as well and that’s where I go to get schooled by really, really good players. They say you learn more from a defeat than a victory so I should be approaching genius level. One of the drawbacks, as I wrote about in a recent post, is that there’s no middle ground. One of the most serious flaws is that there’s no intermediate play area and there really should be.
Bottom line, it is convenient and cost effective. It can be daunting from a software point of view and the interface takes some getting used to. You can find good casual play, but if you want to venture into any formats other than Standard and the promotional Duel of The Planeswalkers, be prepared to get you ass whooped a good bit unless you have mad skills and a real command (and possession) of a wide variety of cards.
I did forget to mention the best perk though. That is you never need more than four of anything other than basic lands because you can use the same digital card in any number of digital decks. If you get online look me up, my screen name in MTG Online is COGadget.
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