What has Magic Online changed for you?

For me, the changes have been many. For example, I used to spend a great deal of time getting people together to play. Now I just plop down and have any game, any time I want. On the flip side, when I have an amazing game online, there is no one to reminisce with; all games are forgotten almost as soon as they are played. With paper Magic, my opponents were often friends. This is not so with Magic Online.

These changes in the game have caused many Magic players leap for joy. There are many virtues to online play, but I also see the game losing many players for the qualities that online play does not include. Today I will not be sharing any decks or strategies, but I will be talking about how this new media for Magic has changed the game. In doing so, I will give my perception of both the good and the bad. The longer I play, the more I have mixed feelings about Magic Online, and its impact on the game.

First, a disclaimer: this article's purpose is to cause reflection about the culture changes in the game, and not about how Magic Online raises your playing abilities for a tournament. How has Magic Online affected the people you are playing with? How has it changed the type of games you play? I hope to hear your opinions in the forums, for I am only one voice in a large community.

The positives of Magic Online? For a start, there's the ability to play and play and play at three in the morning.

The single greatest attribute of Magic Online is the availability of the games. That is probably the single largest draw for most casual players. You can play just about any type of game you want, any time. You feel like drafting? So go and draft! Want a Two-Headed Giant game? Go to it! Games are available at the mere click of a button. Not only that, but you can play at home and work. Playing at work has happened to me, and I am sure I am not in the minority. If you have twenty minutes before you have to do X, Y, or Z you can get at least one game in — maybe two if you play your fast Goblin deck.

Ever since I have played Magic on a computer, my rules knowledge has improved. The intricacies of card interactions are many, and all the ins-and-outs are quite staggering. The difference between most combos and bombos is a clause in rule 782.3d in the 150 page official rule book. I am no dummy, trust me... yet Magic can get complicated. In playing Magic Online for a few hours, some of the basics it the stack, combat, static effects and triggers finally hit home. Plus, it acts as a test bed for me when I am curious about how cards are going to interact with each other. It has really cleared up my understanding of the game and its rules. Playing online has made me a better player.

As I've mentioned, Magic Online provides a lot of play options. There is a room or a place for most types of players. In Limited, the Draft events don't excite me that much... they're too expensive for me, especially as I'll get to play for no more than three games. The leagues, however, are a lot of fun. It doesn't stop there, of course. In the multiplayer room, I enjoy Two-Headed Giant, and Chaos is fun but the games tend to be too long for my taste. The thing is, although I like the format, I'd never played Two-Headed Giant until I started playing online. Without Magic Online, I doubt I ever would.

Another bonus: you can get any cards you want, almost any time, as long as you are willing to pay the price. It can also be fairly cheap, if you stick to getting just commons, uncommons and “crap” rares. There are a lot of buying options for a variety of players. Magic Online accommodates them all, from the Voracious Drafter to the Weekend Joe.

There are also a lot of skill levels in Magic Online. You could play the 1900-ranking guy in one Draft, and the 1400-ranking guy in the next. I get a rush beating the 1900-ranking guy in a Draft when I know that he should be stomping me. I enjoy biting sharks once in a while. Don't worry sharks, I understand your position in the food chain.

Magic Online is great, it really is. I have enjoyed it for the last two years.

However...

After playing online for a while I turned around and notice that Magic has changed. It has made me lazy.

I live next door to a campus that has a non-sanctioned Draft on Fridays. It was a bit inconsistent; sometimes there are no packs available, or rooms to play in. It ran too late for my tastes... but it was a lot of fun.

I haven't been there in six months.

There is a store that does Type 2, and a lot of Type 1, tournaments, about a thirty minute drive away. I'd attend Type 2 events every now and then, and I used to stop to look at the cards that they had for sale and show.

I haven't stepped through the door in a year.

I use to get groups together to play at my house every couple of weeks. I now am down to about one every month or two. I play Magic more now than I was then, but the truth is that some of the fun I use to have with the game with paper cards has not made it online.

I miss the atmosphere of paper Magic. I miss the exclamations of delight and grief around the drafting table. There is no “why the hell is this card still in the pack” stated online. The little discussion prompted just doesn't cut it. The community in Magic Online is seriously lacking. Maybe this is more to do with the computer environment than Magic Online itself, but the electronic game has separated me from the local Magic community.

I have only introduced one player to Magic in the last two years. Before, I introduced at least five or six new people to the game, each and every year. Before, I needed people to play with, and so I was pushy in getting people to try it out. Before, most of the paper decks that I put together would get played at least once a month, either by me or by the guy who had only a few cards (if any at all). Now these decks lay dormant. I have not been willing to get out of my house and play paper Magic. With the Online game a constant attraction... what's the point?

I know a few people that have stopped playing Magic altogether, because I don't invite them to play. They are the people that like to sling spells, but are not as passionate about the game as I am.

Let me define my view of a passionate Magic player:

They read articles on Magic websites such as StarCityGames.com pretty much daily.
They have lots of cards, are excited to get more cards in the new set, and will play magic on a weekly basis.

Magic Online works well for passionate players. It doesn’t work so well for the guys that are willing to play, but are not willing to pay the price for the online experience (cash, time, knowledge, etc). This as a significant downside.

Of course, why should we care? I know some people will take this rather arrogant view. After all, the newer players are usually terrible. You have to explain the rules to them, and they play verrrrrry slllooooooooolwwwwlllllyy.

I care because I spent the first six months of playing Magic in this “super-scrub” category. I didn't own a deck for a few months because there was no way at that time I was going to spend X amount of dollars to get some stupid Magic cards... but hey, it was fun to play with my friends' cards.

This is were I think a large number of Magic players live and breathe. They will play, and they might buy some cards for a Limited game or their one deck. By and large, they will not be aware of the game on a large scale, just at the local community level. Some have lots of old cards, but are done with the new ones, and the list goes.

Magic Online really doesn't take care of these little folk. It is set up for the players that have more passion then that. Without a nudge or two from a guy like me, these non-passionate people will never really play, or have the opportunity to join in the fun. They like it, but Magic Online is too much for them. I miss playing with these guys; some of them are great fun, and can make a dull Magic game seem hilarious.

Many Online Magic players are not patient or accommodating to the inexperienced player, nor are they courteous during games. There are many sharks and jerks playing the game, and they will bite you if you will let them. Also, there are a lot of high-class decks to contend with online, which at times, is frustrating. I get irritated when, game after game, I'm facing folks with decks loaded with rare cards like Jitte and Kokusho, and kill me game after game. (I am talking of casual and or multiplayer games with a sub-optimal deck build... not a Type 2 deck for tournament practice, or similar). Then they taunt you, saying that you suck, in some derogatory way.

In playing with paper, I have been overrun by powerful decks, but not game after game. I have never run into the flat-out jerk in paper games, but I would consider them plague the online equivalent.

I don't mind the power decks. It's the power attitudes are a killer.

Twice, on Magic Online, I have run into a player who is what I would consider “new” or “not overly passionate.” They obviously had few underpowered or unspectacular cards. In noticing this, I ended up asking them about their thoughts on the game. They both admitted that they were battered by almost every opponent left in the picture.

Both times, I ended up giving them all cards I had in excess of four. Both times they ended up with around 200-300 commons and 30-40 uncommons. They thanked me, and we became online buddies. Both of these people played a month or two more, and then they never logged since.

Magic Online is a harsh place to be; you have to have a threshold of cards or you will lose and lose. That gets old, even to the casual guy that just wants to play for fun.

Magic Online also limits what I can do with the cards I have in the online media. As I said before, I don't like to Draft on-line, but I love Draft in real life. With my paper cards I can draft them over and over again: there are many frugal ways to accomplish this. As a bonus to all those Real Life Play admirers, there are a few superior aspects that electronic play has over its more paper-based cousins.

In Magic Online, the only Draft you can do is the one entered with unopened packs of your own... it has nothing to do with all the extra cards you may have. You also have to go with the online draft queue. Does anyone ever Draft online casually? Mostly no, because the setup is such that you might get a few extra packs if you win in the queue, and we all want to maximize the return.

Online, I don't draft enough to keep up with the sharks (I might draft once a month online). I can draft for the first month after a set comes out, then I feel my inexperience kills my fun with the guys that draft daily online. Drafts online are on the un-fun side for me because I can't keep up with it. With paper cards I can control the cost and who my opponents are to maximize the fun. The cost of availability of drafting online is too high for me, because I am not willing to keep up with the leaders of that race online. My lower passion from drafting, and the inability to use my digital cards how I would like, excludes me from drafting online... even though I would probably enjoy doing so.

Online Drafts are great for the people who love it enough and make the time to draft daily. If I really wanted to draft well, it is the first place that I would go. If I want to just have a fun evening playing a draft, it is not. I can get draft in paper about anyway I want, with just about any one willing to play, with some work in finding a time and a place. Getting the people together is the hard part, but I know we will have a good time once it happens. Online, you always have the people, but the fun buying packs and getting to play one round is too high for this casual drafter, thereby excluding.

Also, online you can only play your deck and cards against someone else's deck and cards. There is none of that power deck swap-fest to the guy that has but one deck online. Again, this deck hand over is a very common occurrence in playing the game in paper with local people. I still have two powerful, and simple decks that were built specifically for the guy with few or no cards to play. They could be a major contributor to the games if we all played more upscale decks. Online you are stuck with the cards you have, and it can be excluding.

I have been a bit disillusioned with the Magic lately, but I like Ravnica. I decide to go to the Guildpact prerelease, even though it was inconvenient and an hour and a half drive away. In the past I would just wait until it was released online, and play a league at that time, thereby missing the early trip on one very specific Saturday.

I went back to paper Magic for a day and it was very refreshing. I saw some players from my area, and I was glad to here they where still playing. I had some fun games with real people; all of them were courteous while the matches were played. I meet some new people that play in the area I am from, which didn't know from before. The cards were new and shiny. I could glance at other games and see what card was causing pain in the game. I watch a game where the rules needed clarification, “Hey, how soon do you get the counters with bloodthirst?” I didn't know, I have not seen it online before. I was really fun, I tied two matches, won one and lost one, and I enjoyed the whole experience. It had most of the flavors in the game that I had been missing.

I am now resolving to play paper Magic more often. I still think Magic Online is great; it has given me a lot of fun. It is that I just miss the latitude and the local people that paper magic has to offer. Again, I hope to see some of your thoughts in the discussions, for I am only one voice in a very large Magic community. I am genuinely interested in what others think Magic Online has done to improve and hinder there enjoyment of the game.

Sterling Cornaby