Starting to play Magic has never been so easy.
Cards which lose or gain abilities (including stat changes) keep these changes while changing zone.Here are a few more differences with MtG: There is also ample mana fixing available but few mana sinks. This is alleviated by the fact that games are longer and that the single allowed mulligan will always give you at least 2 power cards out of 7. The use of power cards means that mana screw and mana flood are also a thing in Eternal, which is my main issue with the game right now. It also allows for cards such as Sand Warrior, which costs 0 but requires 3 Time Influence, thus not allowing it to be played on turn 1, kinda like Serra Avenger, but without text. The difference in gameplay this entails is that even if you have a single Fire Influence, you can play many cards in the same turn with a single Fire requirement, not just one as in Magic. Power cards can give you Influence in a faction (color) and cards have Influence requirements. You can play one Power card a turn which can be exhausted each turn to pay for cards. I much prefer this system to Hearthstone’s because it allows for small utility creatures that won’t immediately die and adds interaction while choosing blockers. Because of this, a bunch of ground creature will lead to ground stall, but Flying, Overwhelm (trample) or combat tricks will get around that. BlockingĪttacks and block works like in Magic, again. You can even have the exact situation I mentioned, because it seems the developers do not shy away from taking heavy inspiration. One of the greatest thing about Magic is the counter-play that occurs when both players have instant speed actions they are holding on because they fear instant speed answers from the opponent, such as when having Giant Growth against a possible Lightning Bolt.įast spells are the equivalent of instants in Eternal. The gameplay however has most of the elements I love about Magic: Instants The interface is essentially the same new simple standard introduced by Blizzard’s game. It essentially plays exactly the same as Magic, almost without any simplification, while being just as streamlined as Hearthstone. Unlike the others though, it managed to, in my opinion, keep most of what is great in the two games without much compromise. Like many other, Eternal is a mix between Magic and Hearthstone. I’d almost given up when someone complaining about Magic Online told word of this game. It seemed to me that TES Legends and Faeria showed potential, but not enough to keep me firing the game week after week. I tried almost all of them: Pokemon, Solforge, Magic Duels, The Elder Scrolls Legends (not to be confused with Scrolls, which I also tried), Hex and Faeria. Hearthstone wasn’t cutting it, but its success inspired a lot of other similar games. Since Magic paper events can be complicated to organize and attend, I was looking for a digital alternative. However, having given the game a try for a few weeks at multiple occasions, I missed the intricacies of MtG, especially not being able to interact on your opponent’s turn at all. Hearthstone is so polished and accessible that a lot of people who weren’t into the genre are now playing it every day. It is one of the most streamed game on Twitch, while, in comparison, MtG mostly attracts viewers with weekend paper events. It was still considered a success, until Blizzard came along and redefined what successful online collectible card game ment with Hearthstone. The online variant of Magic exists but has always been criticized for technical problems, poor interface and costing the same as the paper variant (i.e. It is still the most popular game of it’s kind today, at least in physical paper form. I’ve been a long time fan of Magic the Gathering, which is responsible for creating the whole trading card game genre in 1993.