Epic Battles and Legendary Encounters: A Guide to Magic Arena of the Planeswalkers

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Magic: The Gathering is a popular trading card game that has captivated fans around the world for decades. With its deep strategic gameplay and vast lore, it has become a staple in the gaming community. Magic: The Gathering also has a digital counterpart called Magic Arena, which allows players to battle against opponents online. Magic Arena of the Planeswalkers takes the gameplay of Magic: The Gathering and brings it to life in a whole new way. This board game adaptation allows players to become powerful Planeswalkers, casting spells and summoning creatures to dominate the battlefield. The game is played on a modular board, with each player controlling a unique Planeswalker character and an army of creatures.


I was already on my second drink of the evening before we had the board set up, after a full 45 minutes of reading the rules and setting up the pieces. We each selected a planeswalker avatar to lead our plastic squads around the hexagonal spaces on the board. “Wait, so this is Warhammer ?” my husband quipped, referring the extremely complex table-top game, in which hardcore players move miniatures around an arena and talk battle tactics.

my husband quipped, referring the extremely complex table-top game, in which hardcore players move miniatures around an arena and talk battle tactics. There are terrain rules for water, cryptoliths, roads, and the sand tiles, but in general, they either cost more movement points to traverse or give you more movement points.

Magic arena of the planeswalkers

The game is played on a modular board, with each player controlling a unique Planeswalker character and an army of creatures. One of the unique aspects of Magic Arena of the Planeswalkers is the use of "mana" to cast spells and summon creatures. In the traditional Magic: The Gathering game, players collect lands to generate mana, which is used to cast spells.

I Played 'Magic: The Gathering -- Arena of the Planeswalkers' And All I Got Was Drunk

I am a huge fan of Magic: The Gathering. This collectible card game by Hasbro -owned Wizards of the Coast has been around nearly as long as I have. So when Hasbro offered to send me a review copy of Magic: The Gathering – Arena of the Planeswalkers ($29.99), I thought it was my lucky day.

However, Magic: The Gathering it ain’t. I encountered a significant learning curve that my years of play experience did little to alleviate. This is a game for people who are serious about board games—people who aren’t swayed by lots of little pieces or 20 pages of rules. I recently tested out the game with some friends, and this is how it went for us.

The box is on the larger side when it comes to board games—about 15 inches long—and is packed to the brim. It came with four hexagonal-gridded boards that fit together, 11 dice, dozens of tiny red damage counters, five plastic player avatars (AKA “planeswalkers”), and two groups of “squad” avatars—which serve as armies—for each player. The avatars were split into five colors—white, blue, black, red and green—just like in Magic: The Gathering. Unlike in Magic, there’s no creative deck building. You have to devote yourself to just one color and stick with it.

Of course, the heart of the game lies in the cards that came with all this, 12 enchantment spells, two creature spells, and one planeswalker card per color. I’m certain this sounds like gibberish if you haven’t played the card game, hence the enormous rule tome. We learned that the object of the game is to use our planeswalkers and squads to outmaneuver opponents for tactical advantages in key locations in the play area. "Be the last Planeswalker standing to win!" the game suggests.

Acquiring my husband and two of our friends—who love Magic: The Gathering as much as I do—was the easy part. Keeping everyone entertained long enough to through the 20-page rulebook was more difficult. I found that plying everyone with alcohol was a fitting solution. Keeping with the colorful theme of Magic: The Gathering, I fixed green Gin and Tonics with extra lime and red Whiskey Sours with extra cherries. If the game had kept going, I would have graduated to Blue Hawaiians.

I was already on my second drink of the evening before we had the board set up, after a full 45 minutes of reading the rules and setting up the pieces. We each selected a planeswalker avatar to lead our plastic squads around the hexagonal spaces on the board. “Wait, so this is Warhammer ?” my husband quipped, referring the extremely complex table-top game, in which hardcore players move miniatures around an arena and talk battle tactics.

The Gameplay

As you might expect for a game with so many components and rules, turn-taking is pretty complicated in Arena of the Planeswalkers. Each person’s turn was split into five parts. Draw a card from your enchantment deck and cast up to three cards from your hand if desired, choose an army (or your planeswalker) to complete an action this turn, move, attack, and cast more spells if you haven’t hit the three-spell limit yet. If an attack does occur, that’s another interaction, with the attacker and defender rolling a set of dice to randomly determine how much damage has been done. Whew!

Our starting positions influenced our aggressions throughout the game. I, the green player, spent much of my time attacking blue, while red and black went after each other. It reminded us all of the way Magic: The Gathering is intended to be a two-player game, and we suspect that Arena of the Planeswalkers is also ideal that way. Because of the limited movement and attacking we could do per turn, it made sense to focus on just one person instead of to force yourself to fight a war on three fronts. The biggest reason for this is that you can’t cast defensive spells when it isn’t your turn. Instead, you’d have to wait while three different armies have their way with you before you can come up with a response.

Calling It Quits

The game says that a 4-player game should continue for 48 turns. But after three hours and 25 turns, we were all Planeswalkered out. Since everyone knew this was my review copy, I then spent another 30 minutes listening to my friends’ praise and criticism for the game.

“I had a fun time playing the game. but I’m not sure if we were playing it right,” said the black player. She probably would have come out on top if we kept going.

“I wish there had been more detail in the avatars, like with HeroClix ,” the blue player observed. HeroClix are game pieces, but they double as collectible miniatures. As seasoned Magic players, my friends know that the value of a single card can rise into the tens of thousands . To attract the same collectors that Magic does, Wizards of the Coast might want to devote as much quality to the board game pieces as it does to its beautifully detailed cards.

“Maybe we wouldn’t have wasted as much time if there was a Quick Start Guide,” the red player said. “Or if the rulebook had an appendix where we could look up all the terms.” Learning to play a new board game is always tough, and our experience indicated that even if you already play Magic: The Gathering, you don’t get a free pass with figuring out the board game.

Overall, I’d recommend Magic: The Gathering – Arena of the Planeswalkers to seasoned Magic players with plenty of free time looking for a completely different way to interact with the characters, creatures, and spells they already know and love. But if the passion for Magic isn’t already in you somewhere—or you've been drinking and don't have the mindset for plenty of rules—you’re better off playing something less complicated.

Magic: The Gathering – Arena of the Planeswalkers has been rated 7.7 out of 10 on BoardGameGeek . Have you played, and if so, what did you think of it?

Attacking is also very simple. You choose a target, see if you can see the target (from the figure’s point of view), and then roll your power dice for that figure. The defending figure rolls dice equal to their toughness. Spells, enchantments, special abilities, and terrain can all modify how many dice you roll, but you compare the amount of hits you have with the amount of shields your opponent has, then that figure receives wound markers equal to the difference. Unless you have a special ability that says otherwise, only the attacked figure receives damage, unlike the card game. If a figure receives damage equal to its life total, it is destroyed and the figure is placed in your graveyard.
Magic arena of the planeswalkers

In this board game adaptation, players use mana crystals, which can be acquired by defeating opponent creatures or by strategically placing their Planeswalkers on specific locations on the battlefield. This adds an extra layer of strategy to the gameplay, as players must carefully manage their mana resources. The game also features a variety of different Planeswalker characters, each with their own unique abilities and powers. These characters can level up and gain new abilities as the game progresses, allowing players to customize their playstyle and develop strategic approaches to overcome their opponents. Magic Arena of the Planeswalkers also includes a variety of different game modes, including competitive head-to-head battles, cooperative scenarios, and even a campaign mode. This ensures that players of all skill levels and preferences can enjoy the game. Overall, Magic Arena of the Planeswalkers is a unique adaptation of the Magic: The Gathering universe, bringing the strategic gameplay and rich lore to the tabletop. With its modular board, customizable characters, and various game modes, it offers a fresh and exciting experience for both fans of the trading card game and newcomers to the franchise..

Reviews for "Beyond the Cards: The Multidimensional World of Magic Arena of the Planeswalkers"

1. Sarah - 2 out of 5 stars - I was really excited to try out Magic: Arena of the Planeswalkers, as I am a fan of the Magic: The Gathering card game. However, I was left disappointed after playing it. The game felt clunky and the rules were not very clear. The hex-based board also didn't work well for me, as it made it difficult to move my figures around and plan my strategies effectively. Overall, I found the game to be unengaging and not worth the hype.
2. Jonathan - 2 out of 5 stars - As a lifelong Magic: The Gathering player, I was really looking forward to trying out Magic: Arena of the Planeswalkers. However, the game fell flat for me. The gameplay felt slow and I found it difficult to get into the flow of the game. Additionally, the components of the game, such as the miniatures and cards, felt cheaply made. Overall, the game lacked the depth and excitement of the original Magic card game and I wouldn't recommend it to other fans of the franchise.
3. Rachel - 1 out of 5 stars - I had high hopes for Magic: Arena of the Planeswalkers, but it was a major letdown. The gameplay was confusing and the rulebook wasn't clear enough to help me navigate through it. The miniatures were poorly designed and didn't showcase the iconic characters from the Magic universe effectively. Additionally, the game felt repetitive and lacked the strategic depth I enjoy in other tabletop games. Save your money and stick to the original Magic: The Gathering card game instead.

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