Paper Is So Passé

In the beginning, Planeswalkers played their Mountains, Islands, and various artifact rares that tap for mana and sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars. These brave yet mostly insane juggernauts of otherworldly power could never quite get their hands on everything, so it was up to players to take up the collecting. You must gather the magic, so to speak. As in collectible cards. Or, in the case of Magic the Gathering Online, digital collectible cards.
Magic Online 3.0 doesn’t play much differently from its predecessors, though it’s been completely rebuilt from the ground. It still uses standard Magic the Gathering trading card rules, which are enforced by a mighty, jackbooted coding militia to keep you from cheating or screwing up. The rewritten software is allowing Wizards more room for growth and change. “We wanted flexibility for the player, and for us,” says brand manager Justin Ziran. “In order to achieve that, everything had to be remade.”
The most obvious modification is a move to 3D, though most of the functionality is optional. “Remember those big cards with characters on them like ‘Squee’ and ‘Gerrard,’ ones that changed your gameplay?” Ziran reminisces. “That was Vanguard.” Avatars will have stats like Vanguard cards so that you can join in games and optionally be Flametongue Kavu or Maro. Avatars can have new accessories as your ranking increases—Kavu might gain a spiked collar, for instance—and they even sit at the game tables while waiting for a game. The entire game room will be full of animated avatars, though you can turn them off and search for games with a more standard spreadsheet-style view.
As funny as it is to watch your idled Hell’s Caretaker avatar eat flies when he’s not in a match, you shouldn’t have to wait too long for a game. Magic 3.0 comes packed with all-new tournament options that allow for more than just Swiss elimination or Two-headed Giant. “Tournaments can be ordered any way the organizer wants them to be,” says Ziran. This creates the potential for more diverse prizes. It’s possible to offer new avatars and playmats—with exclusive designs—as rewards for owning your competition. Nothing says prestige like “exclusive.”
Naturally, this all comes in a new interface. “Everything is tabbed in the docking station,” says Ziran. “You can peel and drag windows from your docking station, resize them, even adjust transparency. You can be playing a game, and reading your chat log, and see both at once.” There’s a collapsible navigation bar, color-coded menus, minimizable buddy lists, and a chat menu. “Trade” is now a tab and no longer a room. It’s also never been easier to buy your virtual cards. The Magic store will be fully integrated into the interface, complete with Paypal options.
Deckbuilding is more sophisticated, with statistical analysis designed to assist you in making your deck more competition-worthy. “You can track so many things,” says Ziran. “You can ask yourself: ‘What’s my probability of pulling a creature on the first turn?’” And, of course, basics like mana curve are included in beautiful color-coded pie charts.
It costs more than 12 colorless mana to awaken the avatars of Magic Online, however. Although it will remain free to play, you still have to buy the virtual cards, priced at $8.99 for starter decks and $3.69 for booster packs. If you’re a card-carrying Magic the Gathering player, there probably isn’t anything more convenient than having opponents available 24/7.

This article originally appeared in Computer Games Magazine #185