Starting Up MTG... Again

[wisdomseyes1]

Oh, also... Cockatrice is a great place to test decks without spending any money. if you have it and you see "wisdomseyes1" anywhere, you know its that cool dude you met here xD

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okay I am not cool, shut up.

[engangsgrill]

For online play the only real option is magic-league.

You'll have to ask in their irc channel for software and card lists due to them not wanting issues with WotC.

I suppose you could consider it a bit dodgy to play online without paying, but you could also liken it to using magic marker on commons when playtesting in real life, which I don't think anyone considers unfair. That aside, you can playtest with any cards you like and play competitively against other people with full access to all cards, so it's even better than testing locally as everyone can play their best deck.

Then when a real life tournament comes up you scrounge for the cards you need and order the rest online. Much more efficient and less wasteful than buying boxes until you get the rares you need.

[N.I.B.]

Oct 4, 2012 9:36:06 GMT engangsgrill said:

For online play the only real option is magic-league.

What's the best MtG application in your opinion?

[yoritomo]

The best one is Magic Online. However, with MTG Online you have to buy digital cards just like normal cards. That makes it expensive. (wizards does run MTG Online after all)

I've heard good things about Cockatrice, though I've never used it. I like playing with my friends at the local game store, not some faceless person online.

If you want to play solo then you should look at Duel of the Planeswalkers. Wizards makes it and the demo is free. Yeah, you use precon decks for the most part, but it does walk you through the rules pretty well and is available on just about any computing platform.

[N.I.B.]

I have Duel of the Planeswalkers 2012 and 2013, enjoyed them both.
I would never buy digital cards, so Magic Online is out of the question.

Magic-league use Cockatrice?

[engangsgrill]

Oct 4, 2012 14:27:04 GMT yoritomo said:

The best one is Magic Online. However, with MTG Online you have to buy digital cards just like normal cards.

That automatically makes it not the best. You need full access to all cards to be able to use it as a testing tool. You can't expect me to buy packs until I have 4 of every rare I need both online and offline.

Also it's got too much cruft - it's not an efficient application. Yes, it checks rules for you and has pretty pictures and a lobby, but that's not necessary. It could be that I'm an old fart but I much prefer the approach of IRC and separate applications for playing/draft.

Oct 4, 2012 14:19:08 GMT N.I.B. said:

What's the best MtG application in your opinion?

Well, I've been out of the "scene", or whatever you would call it, for a really long time. Back in the day it was Apprentice32 that was the best (because it was simple, robust and did the job - though it was far from perfect), but these days I gather that Magic Workstation is the most used. Haven't really had time to try it properly but I'm not too fond of it's interface. I almost feel inclined to start writing a card player(or whatever you would call it?) myself.


Edit: Didn't know about cockatrice. I seems worth a closer look.

[Psychichobo]

Magic Workstation's pretty good, though it doesn't do any real work for you, it's mostly just a lot of visual stuff. Still, sometimes you want that so you can spend time working stuff out.

[wisdomseyes1]

I use cockatrice to test decks before I buy cards. I understand where yori is coming from, "Playing with my friends not with some faceless person"

The faceless person kind of adds an automatic poker face and it also prevents me from buying cards that wont be useless... and then I would have spent money on nothing. I could proxy, people sometimes allow that. But only to an extent (My playgroup at my college allows 4 proxies under $5 in cost, and anything else you have to show evidence it is in the mail) So, before I drop $80 on a play-set of snapcaster, I have to know that snapcaster is advantageous in my deck (because as awesome as snapcaster is, he isn't always a viable option for decks)

ALSO: Fun fact I learned today. Dark Confidant, the original Solemn Simulacrum, and snapcasters pictures are all people who have won championships. There are others but those are the ones I remember (and Dark Confidants picture, the guys name was bob... which is why that's what people call him)

Also, force of Will's artist took a picture of herself, made herself male, and that is the art for force of will. It's her as a male. I thought that was pretty trippy.

[yoritomo]

You know, just because you have to pay for something doesn't preclude it from being the best. If you don't want to pay for cards that's one thing, but to link quality to a lack of cost is absurd.


My advice would be to try them all. To my knowledge both Magic Workstation and Cockatrice are free. And I believe that there are a couple Magic Online events that are free. If they don't cost anything to try then why not try them all and see which one you like best? At least that why you'll know which one you like best.

[Psychichobo]

@wisdomseyes: Wikipedia's got a full list of them, and the guys who appeared in the art also contributed to the design - look at a lot of them and they're all built to be useful in most formats. Solemn Simulacrum's probably the least subtle (and looks eerily similar to David Cameron), but they're all designed with competitiveness in mind.

[engangsgrill]

Oct 5, 2012 2:58:30 GMT yoritomo said:

You know, just because you have to pay for something doesn't preclude it from being the best. If you don't want to pay for cards that's one thing, but to link quality to a lack of cost is absurd.

Yes, I see what you mean, but I'm not sure you see what I mean. The problem with MtG Online is that you can never, however much you spend, have all the cards. You can theoretically get four of every card in recent sets, but at a totally unreasonable price. You certainly can't get a full set of moxen and other required cards to play classic/vintage. In addition new cards aren't immediately available as they use the game to check the rules and this takes time to implement and test.

Now, for playing draft and sealed, mtgo isn't half bad, though having to buy cards prevents you from getting the volume of training you'd require to get good at it.

I might, of course, just be a cheap (please do not swear), but I still spent way too much money on that game (physical cards, that is) when I was younger.

My advice would be to try them all. To my knowledge both Magic Workstation and Cockatrice are free. And I believe that there are a couple Magic Online events that are free. If they don't cost anything to try then why not try them all and see which one you like best? At least that why you'll know which one you like best.

I think we can agree on this at least.

[Ackor]

I just started for the first time, I regret it now with my incredible lack of money, it's still fun though.

Yours
CA

[yoritomo]

I do see where you are coming from. And I will agree that if the goal of playing magic online is to test cards you may want to buy later, then MTG Online is probably the worst option.

Now, if you're looking to test deck ideas and you have already got the digital cards then MTG Online is perhaps the best one. It is very easy to find competent players and tournaments on MTG Online.

Like anything else the choice depends on what you want to get out of your online magic experience (and it doesn't hurt to have a couple grand in disposable income).

[wisdomseyes1]

plus, for some people, not having to worry about the condition of the cards, not having to worry about storing the cards... magic Online is simpler, while still retaining value.

[engangsgrill]

Well, I've been putting in some time on Cockatrice over the last week and it's pretty solid when it comes to playing, I must say. The deck builder leaves a bit to be desired, especially if you don't know the cards by heart, but once you've built your deck it's a non issue.

I've stuck to just RtR for the time being, so I don't have to deal with the entire standard cardpool at once. Not that many people playing block constructed with just the base set out, but I've got a couple of good games in. RtR block seems to be a bit rock/paper/scissors so far, between BGr agro > WUr draw-go > WGx control and BG fatties > BGr agro, but I suppose it will diverisfy once the first expansion is released.