Magic: The Gathering Arena Reviews
The Foundations Beginner Box succeeds at being the best way into Magic: The Gathering in 2024. For its price, you get ten half-decks that demonstrate the five colors of Magic. These ten decks let players explore Magic easily and help them determine what playstyle is for them. This, combined with the best rulebook tutorial I have seen yet, makes this a great way to jump into the game. If you've ever been curious about Magic or looking to return, the Beginner Box helps alleviate a lot of the difficulty of getting into the game.
The Foundations Starter Collection is a good starting point for anyone new or returning to Magic: The Gathering. This is a unique box where you know (excluding the three Play Boosters) exactly what you're getting. Inside is good value for anyone looking to expand their collection especially if you intend to play Standard anytime soon. While I would have liked to see more full sets of cards included I do understand that this is the -> Starter <- Collection. If you're interested in expanding your Magic horizons, new and old, I can recommend the Starter Collection.
Duskmourn: House of Horror is a fun solid Magic: The Gathering set. I love the 1980s horror-inspired setting…mostly. There are bits of theme that seem out of place for Magic: The Gathering. With that said the core set design is a great example of what makes Magic fun. Duskmourn focuses on back-and-forth gameplay, enabling longer games through its design choices. The new mechanics are good iterations of established designs. The horror setting of Duskmourn makes it feel weird to say the actual set design feels conventional, but that design is still a lot of fun. If you're looking for more spooks in your Magic: The Gathering, Duskmourn is a good choice.
Magic: The Gathering – Bloomburrow is a fantastic set for new players and those who dip in and out of Arena, or are looking for an easy entry point. The tribal nature means you can build decks with the safety rails on, and the relatively simple mechanics introduced in the set make for a relatively shallow learning curve. Plus, did we mention the cards are adorable? All of this means that there hasn't been a better time to start learning Magic in the past few years.
Modern Horizons III is one of the best Magic: The Gathering sets in recent memory. The designers at Wizards of the Coast have created an amazing set while balancing somewhat opposing goals. As a set adding cards into the Modern format the draft was always going to be secondary to ensuring a healthy constructed format. As a draft set MH3 is Magic at its finest providing deep and engaging gameplay. The overall draft environment is just fun. The games are complex, but that is to be expected with any set dealing with Modern format cards. Wizards once again reminds people that they are masters of game design and I hope to see as much care in future products as MH3. Even at its higher price tag I absolutely recommend you draft some Modern Horizons III.
The core draft environment of Thunder Junction is fantastic. I love westerns and this set represents a weird west I am happy to explore. The new mechanics and themes are well designed and offer a ton of fun draft archetypes to play. Thunder Junction does have three separate extra card pools that are added into the draft set. The extra cards are very powerful and can lead the gameplay to the meaner side of MtG. If you're not prepared for this it could quickly sour your experience. While these extra cards did put a bit of a damper on my experience, the overall set is enough fun that I was ok with the occasional negative game. If you're looking for some weird west in your MtG, mosey on over to Thunder Junction and give it a try.
Outlaws Of Thunder Junction is certainly one of the most interesting sets in Magic: The Gathering that has come out recently, as well as one of those with a clearer artistic identity.
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Whether you're a fan of Fallout or Magic: The Gathering I think there is something for you to love with these four decks. For the experienced players, there are new mechanics that are powerful and interesting. For Fallout fans there's some of the most amazing Fallout artwork I've ever seen. I truly appreciate the care Wizards takes with their Universes Beyond products and I hope this continues. Despite the decks having a few design hiccups, they are fun to play and I personally love them as a pod being played together. Overall, I absolutely recommend these decks for any fan of Fallout or Magic: The Gathering.
If someone told me that Murders at Karlov Manor was their favorite or least favorite set, I would understand why. I'm strangely medium on the set. The artwork and the setting are top notch. There's a lot of smart design decisions inside and I absolutely enjoyed my time with it. It's just… the more MKM I experienced, the less I liked face-down creatures. If the only thing you read is this summary, I implore you to try MKM as you might find the opposite. The core idea of unknown information within Magic: The Gathering has always been a unique offering. Wizards of the Coast are experts at crafting their games and Murders at Karlov Manor is not bad. It's just not my thing.
If you're considering learning Magic: The Gathering, I recommend the Starter Kit 2023. While it feels like some corners have been cut, the overall product does a serviceable job of teaching new players the game. I'd like the included rules to be more tailored to the Starter Kit, but the games inside are a good showcase of what Magic can be. There is fun to be had within this kit. As for the claim, "The best way to learn to play." I don't think it quite lives up to that. The best way to learn to play Magic is still with a friend who knows the game, but the Starter Kit is still a decent way to get started too.
The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is a complex set with a lot of keywords and abilities on cards making it complex. Despite this, Lost Caverns of Ixalan is a lot of fun to play in Limited. Lost Caverns of Ixalan rewards players through rich drafting and deep gameplay. The artwork for this set is as always stunning. In addition to that, the Commander decks offer good value and gameplay, and I hope that this trend continues for the Commander decks. I can recommend Lost Caverns of Ixalan to anyone looking to dive into some Magic: The Gathering games.
Wilds of Eldraine is a fantastic set, both for veterans and new players. The main set is fun to draft while being friendly to new players. The mechanics offer gameplay that keeps the set dynamic and lively. Matches of Wilds of Eldraine were always moving forward without becoming a slow stalemate. The "enchanting tales" offer bonus value to players while also supporting the flavor and mechanics of the main set. In contrast, the commander decks offer decent value to players looking for an entry point into commander, but aren't anything special from previous commander offerings.
Magic: Eldraine's Wildlands is a great first step. The set, which has the thankless task of opening a new narrative cycle after the Phyrexian climax of the 30th anniversary, is not almost perfect as was The Advance of the Machines, but it is still a solid production from every point of view.
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In conclusion Magic: The Gathering Arena definitely earns the title of one of the best TCG games on the video game market. Since its release, it has seen a great growth, not only in the aspect of users, but also in the game making it not only a niche video game related to those who play Magic.
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The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is a mammoth product, which challenges the very concept of cardgame in scope and size.
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The Advance of the Machines represents the apotheosis of card collecting and fanservice for longtime fans of Magic: The Gathering.
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Phyrexia: Everything Will Become One is an incredibly solid and coherent set. The cards are artistically ambitious and playfully satisfying; the mechanics are deep and lend themselves to a variety of interpretations and situations that, provided you do not claim to climb the classics of world tournaments, guarantee the Wizards of The Coast Trading Card Game an enviable freshness, which at the moment is not found in the main competitors on the market.
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Dominaria Unita is an expansion that evokes the past with more than one stratagem. It is a set that serves as the basis for the long 2023 of Magic. For this reason, it can give the idea of "already seen", even if there is no shortage of novelties and useful cards to rebuild your collection from Standard. A good homecoming, though not exceptional, to celebrate thirty years of the game, pamper the nostalgic and remind new players how, and where, it all began.
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Overall, I think Streets of New Capenna hits the sweet spot for what a Magic set can be. It is weirdly experimental on the creative side and tries to afford a huge amount of possible play experiences due to some new mechanical design on the game side.
Streets of New Capenna is a full-bodied expansion, which returns to the three-color mechanics and enhances many game formats.
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