Card game battle: Magic vs Hearthstone

Boxcube

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What do you have? This is the not for Magic online, but just the Duels of the Planewalkers series.

I am leaning towards Magic personally. But here is a quick breakdown...

Strategy: Winner - Magic. I feel in Magic you have a bit more variety in how many tactics you can use to win. Sometimes you are limited to pre-constructed decks, but there are still lots of variety.

User friendly: Winner - Hearthstone. Hearthstone easily wins this segment. The game just oozes with charm and animation. Learning the game was a breeze, (no getting mana screwed).

Replay value: Winner - Magic. This was a close decision, but I still feel Magic has more replay value. Whether it is 2v2, or other formats, the game calls you back for more and more. Hearthstone tends to get a little to repetitive for me.

Other notes: I like how in Magic you can unlock all the cards strictly by playing single player, (unlike Hearthstone where you have to farm in multiplayer) and you pay $10ish for the game, you have have everything. I don't have Magic 15, so I can't comment on the payment structure there. I have heard it's a mess though...

I don't like having to be connected online at all times for Hearthstone as well. No playing on flights for me...

Both games great overall though!
 
I agree with your comparison of the two games. Magic is certainly "deeper" than Hearthstone but there's also no getting around Hearthstones charm and popularity.

For me personally, at this point in my busy life Hearthstone is more practical and rewarding. The quick games, simpler strategies, and quick matchmaking make it a good "pick up and play" game. If I had more time to invest I would probably choose Magic however.
 
Cost is one of the biggest factors to me, and getting a competitive Magic deck is no cheap. I would prefer Hearthstone instead since you can get a competitive deck for very cheap, or virtually nothing if you devote enough time for the daily missions.
 
I think Magic would probably win at the moment because of it's larger fanbase and longer run time. Magic has been around for years and years. The game also has a good marketing campagin. Meanwhile, Hearthstone is pretty much in it's infancy regarding both of these facts.
 
I remember when I first started playing Hearthstone, and how I really didn't want to like it. I have been a fan of MTG for so long that honestly I didn't want to learn a new card game, and I have never cared for the free-to-play game structure. But seeing how popular it was, I HAD to at least try it... Fortunately, the game mechanics were easy to learn, and actually similar to MTG in some ways. I agree that it is still quite early in its life, and knowing Blizzard games, it will have a long life. I am curious to see how they handle adding new card types and not totally making the old card obsolete.
 
I mean... Defense of the Planeswalkers - the new one, not the 1996 Microprose one - is really bad, so I would say Hearthstone in that regard. If it was Hearthstone vs. Magic in general, then Magic not close. I really don't see the reason why I'd play Hearthstone with it's awful RNG when I can play Magic. Even worse is that people actually think Hearthstone is competitive...