I’ve been a fan of Magic the Gathering for a long time. Seriously, I think I started playing this when I was in high school. If my math is correct, that would mean that I’ve played this classic tactical card game for at least one-hundred years now, at least. So I don’t want anyone accusing me of not giving it a chance.
Secondly, I’ve never played World of Warcraft. I realize this admission is punishable by death among Internet gaming communities, but I feel it’s important that I preface the article to come with complete honesty. I’ve never attacked the first NPC, cast the first spell, or even created the first character. Not because I believe it to be a bad game, quite the opposite really.
You see, World of Warcraft is exactly what I’ve been looking for in an MMO for years. It’s beautiful world encased with a lore surpassed by few, if any game around. It’s wonderful classes, camaraderie, and intense boss fights. Seriously, this game is perfect for fans of the MMO genre. Too perfect…
I’m a bit of an obsessive/extremist, you see. And, like many others I’ve heard the horror stories of people who have dedicated their life to the game to the point that little else matters. I realized from the beginning the danger for someone with my mind-set to take on a game of this caliber, so I simply stayed away. It’s as simple as that. I value my life and it’s little nuances too much to allow myself the chance to get sucked into a world I may never be able to break away from. It’s like offering a bottle of whiskey to an extreme alcoholic, you’re just asking for trouble.
So, given that I’ve never played World of Warcraft or any of the Diablo games (yup, that too), I don’t want anyone accusing me of being a Blizzard fan-boy, either. Because I’m the furthest thing from it. This article isn’t about allegiance to a brand, it’s about allegiance to fun and an experience that I believe is second-to-none in the card gaming genre. So let’s leave all that at the door right now.
Is it gone? Good. Moving on. I’ve compiled a list of five reasons I believe Hearthstone is significantly better than the game many believe (rightfully-so) it’s trying to emulate in Magic the Gathering. These five reasons, while subjective are valid points that I’ve taken a lot of time to consider, given that my Priest deck loses so much that I’ve had more than my share of opportunities to sit and mope, thinking up ideas for articles in the process. So, without further delay, five reasons why I believe Hearthstone smokes Magic the Gathering – let’s do this!
[promo title=”5. Girls Don’t Have to Know I’m a Massive Nerd” button=”” url=”http://” icon=”none” target=”_self” style=”” class=””][/promo]
Alright, I’m a nerd, I think that’s been easily established over the course of my many articles covering such things as Linux, the Nintendo 3DS, and League of Legends. However, I can think of no reason why I should have to flaunt this fact to the opposite sex. For those of you who aren’t picking up what I’m putting down, let me throw a story your way.
I can remember being in college, there was this building called the Student Center where everyone went to hang out. Containing a movie screen, various pool tables, ping pong tables, TVs with every console your heart could desire, and free popcorn, this place was off the hook. I’d often come here just to sit and watch TV with my buddies, maybe enjoying a bag or thirty of free popcorn in the process.
However, there was always this group of guys I couldn’t help but feel sorry for. These guys were nice, smart, well-dressed, generally cool dudes. I mean it, they would’ve had absolutely no problem going out there and getting a girl if they really wanted to expend the effort. But they didn’t… All they wanted to do was sit in the student center, gathered around one of its many tables, playing Magic the Gathering for hours on-end.
Now, while I’m not above Magic the Gathering by any means, playing it with a bunch of people for hours at a time in a room full of attractive girls is where I have to draw the line. Because, no matter how cool you may be, no matter how much game you may spit outside of the battlefield, whenever a girl sees you and your other friends arguing over whether or not a remove creature from the game spell is the same as sending it to the graveyard, you’ve lost any chance you had at acquiring said-girl; less she be the Girl of Legend, spoken of in centuries past from the book of Nerdicus. An attractive woman who, somehow also finds herself hopelessly attracted to nerds and the various predicaments they find themselves in.
So, while Magic the Gathering is fun as hell, it’s probably the best female-blocker of all time when played in a public setting. Unlock Hearthstone, which I can play in public by cornering myself in any room with my back against the wall, enabling me to hide my shame from the world as I engage in a battle the likes of which no one has ever seen before! And before anyone’s all, “but you can play Magic the Gathering online, too!”, I’m pretty sure I’ve met the Girl of Legend, spoken of in centuries past from the book of Nerdicus more often than I’ve seen someone on that game. ‘Nuff said.
[promo title=”4. It’s Easy to Play” button=”” url=”http://” icon=”none” target=”_self” style=”” class=””][/promo]
Now, when I say it’s easy to play, I’m not referring to the tactics or rules associated with the game. As it’s very similar to Magic the Gathering, this would pretty much be a moot point.
Don’t worry, Trav. I’ll calculate the damage score, you just keep doing you, pal!
No, what I’m referring to is the fact that I don’t have to do any outside calculation other than that what’s needed in order to secure my victory in battle. No math to see how much HP is being taken away with an attack, no counting of mana tokens, in a game where everything that occurs is done-so within the confines of a pretty little computer, all of that is done for me.
And I’m great at numerical calculation! Really! It was the sole reason I started on my academic team (that I was forced to be on in order to raise the cool level of the group, of course!), I just don’t want to do it when I’m gaming. And I don’t think anyone else does, either.
[promo title=”3. Levels!” button=”” url=”http://” icon=”none” target=”_self” style=”” class=””][/promo]
As anyone who’s read even a few of my past articles knows, I’m an RPG fanatic. I just love the idea of immersing myself into a character to such a degree that, for a moment it’s as if we share one body, one mind. It’s for this reason that I absolutely support the idea of adding leveling systems into any and every game that can support it. And Hearthstone/Magic the Gathering are two games that can definitely support it, as evidenced by the seamless leveling of classes in Hearthstone.
In Magic it’s hard to distinguish a black deck from any-other black deck, other than by the cards each person has purchased. This in-turn can create huge problems. As, a player who’s just started the game can buy a pre-made deck off of the Internet that’s infinitely better than the deck a three-year veteran has spent countless hours tweaking and understanding. This shouldn’t happen. I feel that if you’ve put more time into your deck then it should have some sort of advantage. Which is the case in Hearthstone, as up until level 10, leveling your class will unlock new cards that lower-level members of the same class simply can’t use yet, giving you an advantage in combat. It’s for this adherence to fairness that’s put leveling in the #3 spot on this list.
[promo title=”2. It’s Interactive!” button=”” url=”http://” icon=”none” target=”_self” style=”” class=””][/promo]
“I tap 3 mana, attack with this creature *turns card 90 degrees*, and you take 5 damage.”- Any Magic the Gathering game ever.
Hearthstone’s interactive animations put it a step ahead of Magic the Gathering’s antiquated cards.
There’s just something about Hearthstone, with its brilliant graphics, radiating effects, and cool as hell character taunts that make it infinitely better than the world of card-turning, adjectively-challenged depictions found in Magic. Now I realize that Magic is a card game, and not a computer card game. But that doesn’t matter, it’s 2014; time to get with the program. That card-turning stuff might have worked in the 90’s, but it’s a new day and age and people are in desperate need to find forms of entertainment that take advantage of the technological advances we’ve made in the last couple of decades. I’m looking at you here, Magic.
Gone are the days of people carrying pogs, coins, and cards in their pocket. It’s time you realized this and pushed your game out of bookstores and into the virtual world the rest of reality is living in. But don’t worry, this isn’t the biggest reason Hearthstone is better than Magic…
[promo title=”1. It’s Free!” button=”” url=”http://” icon=”none” target=”_self” style=”” class=””][/promo]
Yes! Hearthstone doesn’t have to cost a penny if you don’t want it to! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped a few hundred bucks on a Magic starter deck and several booster packs, only to find out after about 2 months that the cards I’d purchased were no longer considered legal/viable and it was time to buy anew.
Every single time this has happened to me I’ve vowed to sell my cards for the amount I put into them. And every single time, after several weeks of desperate pitching and advertising that would put any 4 A.M. infomercial to shame I would have to come to terms with the fact that no one was going to spend retail price on cards that were no longer even allowed in tournaments, leading me to reluctantly sell them for a mere fraction of what I wanted.
Hearthstone uses a page out of the League of Legends playbook here; having micro-transactions available for all who want them. And for those who don’t, allowing players to win gold coins which can in-turn be spent on booster packs/trips to the arena where they can risk their gold in an attempt to win more than they came in with.
Yes, this is a beautiful system that has allowed me to spend countless hours in front of my computer screen, unbeknownst to girls, for absolutely free, as I battled my way against pesky mages, paladins, and warlocks, only to complain shortly thereafter about how OP every class that defeats me must be.
[promo title=”Conclusion” button=”” url=”http://” icon=”none” target=”_self” style=”” class=””][/promo]
Before I go, I should mention how wonderful and innovative Magic the Gathering was and has been from its inception. It wasn’t my intention to pick on the card-turning giant when I set down to write this piece. It just so happens that, over the years they’ve allowed their game to become antiquated, resisting the change that all things in any society should embrace, should they wish to see their products flourish.
However, where Magic has failed, Hearthstone has succeeded. And in doing so, Hearthstone has taken the mantle away from its predecessor, making it the best tactical card game in the world for the moment. Here’s hoping that Magic gets their head screwed on straight before it’s too late, as I’m not the first to see Hearthstone for what it is:
A game close enough to Magic to retain its feel, but innovative and modern enough to trump it each and every step along the beaten path.
Do you agree that Hearthstone is better than Magic the Gathering? Why or why not? Be sure to let us know in the comment section below, or start a discussion in our brand new forums! We can’t wait to see you there!