Hearthstone vs. Magic

[Lemons]

So today my friend and his brother were playing Magic: The Gathering, which is a game I have very littler experience in. I tried to play and found it...really really complex compared to Hearthstone. Pretty frustrating as well. Because you can't really whittle down creatures like you can in Hearthstone. If you don't have enough attack to outright kill something, it will just kill your card, and next turn it will be full health again. Also you can't choose what your creatures attack...you attack and your opponent chooses which of their cards will block that attack, so it's like your opponent always has the advantage. All in all it made me appreciate Hearthstone a lot more cause HS is just...so much simpler to understand. I felt like I had a good grasp of HS after only a couple games...I played about 5 games of Magic today and I am still clueless about a lot of things.

HOWEVER...I'm not a huge TCG player...so I'm asking the general populace here...if you've played Magic and Hearthstone, which one do you like better?

[Deleted]

Magic is more strategic, there are enchantments and artifacts that stay on the board and have a static effect, there are spells that you can play during your opponents turn (instant spells), there is combination of mana colors that you have to play with (e.g. so that you have enough mana to play an instant spell just in case or simply to trick your opponent that you are holding a counter spell and scare him), there are situations you may have lack or abundance of mana (both are bad and you need to build a good deck to avoid that, +luck), there are creatures that can be played during an opponent's turn, most creatures have effects that activate only when you "tap" them (meaning that they can't attack if you activate their effect), there are effects that allow you to search for a card from your entire deck or others that "banish" a creature from the game for a while, others that allow you to bring creatures that have died back to play, there is equipment that doesn't work like buffs meaning that it can stay on the battlefield on its own and you can change its wielder, etc. There is also a "stack" mechanic to keep track of which effect and spell is activated first, which second, etc. in case players try to counter their opponent several times in the same turn. And there are countless keywords, like "battlecry" and "deathrattle". In Hearthstone, all spells and creatures can be played only during your turn and they are either "when played, does X" or "if X happens, do Y". And there are also secrets, but you don't have any control over them. Your hero can also attack, which is not present in Magic.

Combat is different and more strategic too in Magic. The player that is attacking simply declares which creatures do the attack, then the defending player decides if any of his creatures block his opponent's creatures, unlike Hearthstone where a defending player just watches as the attack happens. However, when you attack, your creatures become exhausted, which means they cannot defend until your next turn. This way, when you attack, you have to decide if you want any creatures up for defense during your opponent's turn or just go yolo. Creatures also heal to full health on your next turn, so deciding which creatures should attack or if it is worth it to even attack and not keep your creatures for defense, can make or break the duel.

Hearthstone isn't a classic card game, it is designed to be a brawling video game only, that's why you have mana crystals, why you don't have spells that stay on the board, or why you don't have absolute control of your deck and your dead creatures. It is very fun, with nice animations and easy to keep up with the duel, I was very hyped at its announcement and I've played during the beta and up to Naxxramas A LOT :P. Because of its mechanics, though, it would be a very bad physical card game. It's fun because it has pretty animations and it is relaxing.
And because I happen to love TCGs and to have played WoW:TCG for quite a while, I can tell that Hearthstone is a simplified version of the WoW:TCG to make it fit the 'brawling video game with pretty animations' idea. Even the devs said that the idea of Hearthstone came because they had a very small team (10 people I think) to make a very fun game that a big crowd would like to play.

Overall, they are very different games with different core ideas. If you want a relaxing video card game, then Hearthstone is for you (the MTG online one didn't do the trick for me). If you like the physical card games and enjoy playing with people on a table, then MTG is definitely the way to go, I never liked the idea of playing Hearthstone on my tablet against a friend who is in the same room, I'd rather do something else than play on my tablet. But you can't really say which is better, each one is best in its genre.

[Gourmandise]

1st place and 1st place because they both have different purposes. I like and play them both.

Magic is more likely to be viewed as the better, since it has had much more time to be fleshed out.

[Polarthief]

There is no "versus" because there's no contest between them. Both games are vastly different despite having similar mechanics (almost every "RPG-esque card game" has attack and health/defense though). It's essentially how you would compare Heroes to other MOBAs. Despite still being a MOBA (much like Hearthstone is still a card game), Heroes is very different from traditional MOBAs (as is the same with Hearthstone).

[Scully]

...........

[Twoddle]

Only way to get a competitive deck is to pay 300$+ with continuous maintenance costs as cards expire, its like buying a computer except your hardware still functions 2 years later(yes I know standard isnt the only format, its just the most popular and widely played)

Wait a minute, do cards really expire in Magic? That sounds completely retarded. Do they have an expiry date or what? I'm not a Magic player btw.

[Deleted]

There are different formats. In one of them only a few of the most recent sets are allowed. In others you can use older cards. Though some cards are restricted or banned even in those formats. In a nutshell.

[sam86]

Can u find those funny moments youtube vides in Magic? No you can't, because that game is not 100% pure luck based
Hearthstone is first : cards, then luck of draw, then a little strategy what card u use from what u have (and still luck since u have no idea what enemy has)
compare it to most card games, then tell me which one has more 'skill'

[Lotus Victoria]

Hearthstone all the way. But I appreciate magic.

[Hanzan]

Wait a minute, do cards really expire in Magic? That sounds completely retarded. Do they have an expiry date or what? I'm not a Magic player btw.

I dont think expire is the right word. But cards get banned and otherwise becouse of it being completely broken or such.

[Vulturia]

I dont think expire is the right word. But cards get banned and otherwise becouse of it being completely broken or such.

Sometimes they ban stuff just to change the meta - to destroy the top deck. In Hearthstone, if something gets nerfed, you get a refund. In MTG, the card/deck you paid a lot for could get banned and you will get nothing.
OT: I think Hearthstone is a better casual card game that Magic is a "pro" card game. They are very different though, and I enjoy both.

[Scully]

Wait a minute, do cards really expire in Magic? That sounds completely retarded. Do they have an expiry date or what? I'm not a Magic player btw.

There is a game mode called Standard. Its the flagship game mode, like the equivalent of Hearthstones Ranked Playmode. Most popular and most supported at Local Game Shops that host weekly magic games. Only the most recent card expansion sets are usable in it, around the last 2 years of expansions. So if you bought a bunch of cards 4 years ago, they are only usable in casual games with friends for the most part. Imagine if you could only use cards from Naxxramas and BRM in ranked Playmode, then when Argent tourny is released, the cards from Naxx 'rotate' out and cant be used in playmode. This is a rough example of the state magic is in, its dumb and annoying.

[Daws001]

I love the lore and artwork in Magic but I found their iPad game pretty off-putting after playing HS.

[fangless]

Still enjoy competitive MTG more than Hearthstone. There are just so many more strategic moments in Magic.

The sheer amount of weird playstyles or wacky deck combos you will come across makes it automatically more interesting to me. Hearthstone you're basically just bashing face with creatures back and forth until someone can't have an efficient answer. Any time a combo-y deck comes out, or something with nice synergy, Blizzard hotfixes everything to be less OP.

Sometimes they ban stuff just to change the meta - to destroy the top deck.

The last card banned in Standard was Jace/Stoneforge, that was like 5 years ago lol. Modern/Legacy see more bans/unbans, but to be fair, they are very few and considering the sheer number of cards, a low % overall.

[Deleted]

I play more and I prefer MTG.
Hearthstone is fun, but Magic is much more deeper and complex.

[kail]

Hearthstone is a better designed digital card game, hence why I much prefer to play it than MTGO or other MTG digital games (not sure if I'll even try out Hex). That and it has been cheaper (2$ in HS compared to hundreds I spent in MTG back then).

Having said that, I still consider MTG a far superior card game. Less reliant on crazy rng, more deck variants, better balance overall IMO.

[Deleted]

Magic has that oldskool charm going for it. I loved to play T1 and T1,5 tournaments back in the day with locals.

Right now, Hearthstone has the accessability going for it. It's easier to get into and the community is (online) a whole lot bigger.

I guess Hearthstone wins from Magic.

[Deleted]

It's a lot easier to find a game of Hearthstone when you're on the toilet than it is to get someone in there to play MtG.

[Deleted]

IF MTG actually put in the effort to make a nice, online representation of their game - I might say magic.

But when the only things they've put out recently are DOTP (which are fun, don't get me wrong) where you can't build decks bar subbing a few cards out, the UI is alright but not great etc...

Hearthstone just wins out for me, I don't live in an area with a thriving MTG community and all the online tools for playing the game seem crummy at best. If MTG ever puts out a product half as polished as Hearthstone I might prefer it, it's got very nice systems and I think HS could borrow a lot more from it than it does, but until then it's a pain to play.

[Deleted]

2 different type of games, why compare?

For online play Hearthstone is obviously best.
Personally i prefer playing IRL with people when playing a CCG and for that (offline play) MTG reins supreme and is lightyears ahead of any other CCG.