I love this run-down of Magic: The Gathering over on Defector. It is remarkably prescient for me because my son is starting to get into Magic. We have been purchasing older physical decks ( think decks from sets about 5-7 years ago ) for cheaper just to play around and for him to learn the game.
I started playing right after Beta ( and I stupidly sold all my cards circa '95-'96 ); I played off and on throughout the years and then picked up Magic the Gathering in its first digital offering Maigc The Gathering Online and played that around from around '05-'07. It was fun, but it felt constrained by some of the rules. The game was probably better than the games that followed it for actual deckbuilding and trading/buying other cards with actual players, but it ended up becoming infused with bots and such that made it tough to tell a friend, hey, install this tonight, and maybe we can play some. It was a big hurdle to get going.
Then, a second digital iteration came out around 2014 called Duel of the Planeswalkers had been paired down to a perfect offering for someone my age who didn't want to put a ton of money into the physical cards but loved the lore of the game and the ability to get some quick games in with some premade decks. It was also one the first time a MTG game had been available on Xbox. You could earn pretty substantial cards to play with just by doing the storyline, and I believe this is what struck gold with the "I-don't-want-to-keep-up-with-the-meta" players like myself who don't have the time for the deck creation and acquisition in the tangible playing world.
As of the last few years we have had MTG: Arena, which is the one mentioned with this quote in the article:
“They don't owe me anything, but you could just consciously feel that they were trying to cut you up. They wanted people to stop playing in stores, to tank Standard, and for people to play on Arena.” Hobby Store Owner on M:TG
One of the things this article really set out to describe is Garfield feeling like this is what the game is missing now. I definitely don't blame him, but it is a bit more accessible now.
Arena is a solid title, and I enjoy the storylines they learned from on Duel of the Planeswalkers. Cards are easy to come by, primarily if you work yourself up on the single player.
Again, though I don't keep up to date with the latest decks ( it looks like some cowboy-themed update just came out!), I do enjoy the core of the gameplay. I am glad that my son and I are able to grab some $20 pauper decks and have a good time playing at the kitchen table. I liked how Garfield would take common card decks to shops/conventions to show people you don't need expensive cards.
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