Play MTG online for FREE:
Online Magic forum
Posted on Dec. 17, 2014, 11:27 p.m. by poompi
If you guys are anything like me you build decks or draft on tappedout.net and then they sit there in virtual space until you can build it or download a program to play the deck with. That doesn't have to be the case anymore!
There has been a website created untap.in and it is a super powerful browser-based Card Game website. It is designed for people to play card games like MTG and L5R with other people who enjoy the game. Just grab the URL or web address of your favorite decks, go to the website and sign up then upload your deck and you are ready to play!
One downside to this is there is not a tournament or true-draft system in place on this site yet... enter The Untap MTG Community! It is a very easy to use ladder website that can bring all sorts of people together to play Magic: The Gathering online at untap.in.
They host Drafts, 1v1 Ranked League Matches (or casual for deck testing and fun) and tournaments from all of the formats you enjoy (even Legacy, EDH and Pauper!).
So come on over and play some Magic with us. We want to see you climb the ranks and win some tournaments!
There has also been word that although this is a brand new site and the membership is low that there will be Cards, Sleeves, Mats, Booster Packs and Boxes given as prizes once the site reaches 100+ active members!
Come on over guys to:The Untap MTG Community
I am not asking you to destroy Wizard's, Hasbro's or even your local shop's income. I am simply offering an opportunity to test out the decks you build on here against other players. Participation in league matches and tournaments is completely optional. I know that when I don't have an MTG event going on nearby I like to play magic with others and that is exactly what you can do at The Untap MTG Community
December 17, 2014 11:57 p.m.
julianjmoss says... #4
Untap has a small community but I would recommend cockatrice to people instead. Untap is underfunded and the developer has not been present as of late which is evident in the current state of the website
December 18, 2014 12:09 a.m.
I play on untap quite frequently and talk to the developers on a personal level quite often (great guys btw.) The site is running just as well as tappedout is. For every small server spike or amount of lag that pops up on untap tappedout boots an entire group of people from a draft or worse the servers stop responding for upwards of a minute.
I am just trying to build an online MTG Community. Please don't try to scare people away from what could be an amazing experience. Also, a small side-note here: cockatrice is a downloadable software. Untap is a browser-based website and is completely free to use.
December 18, 2014 12:15 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #7
I don't mean to scare anyone away, just excercising free speech and giving my perspective. Thank you for your concerns
December 18, 2014 12:19 a.m.
Well thank you julianjmoss, and you would be welcome to join us as well. Just as anybody who wishes may.
December 18, 2014 12:25 a.m.
filledelanuit says... #9
I have liked Untap a lot however I haven't been on recently. The community is much better than on cockatrice but they still will often leave if they discover you are playing an "unfun" deck. The program works pretty well with rare lag spikes that don't have much effect.
If you are just looking for a game Untap is a great place to go but be warned there are a lot of new/ completely casual players that will join legacy games with random decks that are either terrible or illegal. I had a guy with Dark Ritual and Demonic Tutor in a modern deck, it wasn't very good but it was illegal.
December 18, 2014 12:46 a.m.
Hence the reason for The Untap MTG community. You can be paired up against members of the community to play against. All decks will be legal and sportmanship is our first and foremost concern with any interaction between fellow players (that means gl [glhf], gg, thanks and most importantly: no rage quitting.)
December 18, 2014 12:50 a.m.
slowpoke12 says... #11
Untap.in is a non-profitable site that provides opportunities for users to playtest their decks. Untap.in requires no installation/debugging and minimum information for registration. Its user-friendly interface allows players to start games in a snap of fingers (just like google or wiki pedia). I was shy away from constructed formats, until I gained confident from playing on untap.in. Then I started to play standard at local tournaments August last year. Untap.in and starcity.com are definitely the go-to web sites, if you love magic the gatherling.
resource: a 2-year untap user
December 18, 2014 1 a.m.
slowpoke12 says... #12
Untap is a non-profitable site that provides opportunities for users to playtest their decks. Untap requires no installation/debugging and minimum information for registration. Its user-friendly interface allows players to start games in a snap of fingers (just like google or wiki pedia).
I was shy away from constructed formats, until I gained confident from test-playing on untap. Then I found myself playing MTG at local standard tournaments since August last year. Untap and starcity are definitely the go-to web sites, if you love magic the gatherling.
December 18, 2014 1:03 a.m.
mathimus55 says... #13
I use untap fairly often, but I end up playing the same 5 people or so, most of whom rage quit out b/c they're trying to play squirrel tokens against Cataclysm maverick. I only do it b/c I can get a quick game in now and then, if I were trying to be competitive I would just go to my LGS and actually play. I think I've spent just as much time trying to find a decent game as I have actually playing a decent game. Untap is fine for a quick fix but I agree that it needs more organization and upkeep. Plus with the population being so small as mentioned already, how do you plan on starting a league for users? Especially for multiple formats
December 18, 2014 1:32 a.m.
At all points in time on untap there are at least 100 players. That is a vast majority more than mtg-league has online during the course of an entire day. As long as people are willing to come and join us we will successfully be able to host all sorts of tournaments and drafts daily.
December 18, 2014 1:35 a.m.
mathimus55 says... #15
Doesn't untap only have 2 servers capped at 25 and 35 though? Or is math that hard...
December 18, 2014 1:39 a.m.
That is true, yes, but that doesn't limit them to being able to have upwards of 100 online users chatting with each other and the like. Plus, if they were to have increased traffic that would almost guarantee a need for another server or a server upgrade.
December 18, 2014 1:42 a.m.
As a side note that would be 25 and 35 matches of between 2-4 people each. That is around 125-250 available seats at any given time.
December 18, 2014 1:44 a.m.
JexInfinite says... #18
Untap is reasonably broken, and I would not recommend it for competitive testing, as the majority of people on there are running bad decks, or stupid homebrews.
If you want to draft, MTGO is pretty cheap, or just go to your local game store. I'd rather not fake draft on a site which has many issues.
December 18, 2014 3:06 a.m.
Gathering4Magic says... #19
Hey there poompi,
Thank you so much for getting this together. I had a blast tonight in the draft, I think it went rather well for the first hybrid draft tournament like between tappedout.net and Untap.in!
I'm definitely going to have to start my own board for the Gathering4Magic Peasant Cube
I just want to say thank you again poompi for getting out there and getting this thing started. I applaud you for gathering together a community that can communicate, organize tournaments, and play games for free on Untap.in! I think this will be a great way to provide community interaction and a leaderboard of sorts. We can possibly set up various boards for various communities, such as the various constructed formats, and one for drafts, I don't know, just spit-balling, but this is a great idea! Thank you also for introducing me to Challonge.com That is a great way for me to host online drafts of my Peasant Cube. I'm so geeked for how what the future may hold here!
I will definitely be writing something up about all this for My Magic Blog and I look forward to playing with you gents again later!
December 18, 2014 6:35 a.m.
Gathering4Magic says... #20
Don't worry mate, let the haters hate. I think this community is already showing promise with 24 people in less than 24 hours of putting it out there! catch you around, I need sleep!!!!
December 18, 2014 6:40 a.m.
Cockatrice is a sleeker program. Better keyboard shortcuts. Nicer interface.
December 18, 2014 7:49 a.m.
My real problem when I tried Untap was that the server cap was always reached... I would have to wait to 10-15... sometimes up to 25 minutes to get into a game... then the other users would disconnect before the game started, and I'd have to start my waiting all over again.
When I did finally get a game, the players had no patience for new comers who were learning how to interact with the interface, and there was no tutorial.
I had to make 2 accounts and play on 2 separate computers just to be in a game for more than 2-3 minutes.
Then, as ChiefBell has mentioned, Cockatrice was still better and more intuitive.
@Gathering4Magic.... it's not about "haters hating"... it's about discussing legitimate issues with the interface. - Pointing out the issues is the only way the developers will learn about them... which is where I drew the line, and left. When I tried to discuss issues the community quickly made me realize that suggestions and constructive criticism were not welcome.
December 18, 2014 8:27 a.m.
Personally, I don't think 'free' should be the main selling point. I think the user interface, game play, platform independence and community should be 'sold' first. MTGO lacks in most of these and why players are moving from it or unable to use it.
Majority of the people are loyal to their LGS (as I am), but having a testing environment away from that and the ability to play 24/7, not just when the shop is open and play group is available is very appealing to a lot of players.
December 18, 2014 9:49 a.m.
julianjmoss says... #25
it's also fairly easy to cheat as there isn't anything to make sure your deck is legal or that there move is legal. Usually that isn't an issue but I've had problems before. And as a legacy player, I have played the same 5 people for months now.
It is free but I think that attracts a certain demographic of players. There are a few nice people but if you are looking for competative play in most formats, I don't think you are as likely to find it here.
Also, the four player edh games crash a lot
December 18, 2014 12:59 p.m.
mathimus55 says... #26
Yea, I avoid the 4 player games b/c everything lags out and never finish a game whether from the website not working or people rage quit. So the 250 seats argument is pretty bs.
I also thought it would be easy to get some test run's through for a legacy idea, but I ended up playing the same 4-5 people, mainly 1 and I can't take it seriously when someone is trying to play squirrel tokens for the 4th time in a week.
December 18, 2014 1:09 p.m.
Gathering4Magic says... #27
Cockatrice is a program, Untap.in is a website, so sure, it may be sleeker, but we're not trying to create a community to play on cockatrice. We like using the Web-Browser base that is Untap.in and thus are gathering together those of us who play there. if you like cockatrice, by all means use it and have fun, but there's no need to tell us your toy is shinier than ours. We like our toy just fine, thank you very much! :)
December 18, 2014 3:49 p.m.
mathimus55 says... #28
And they wonder why some people think Magic players are elitist...
December 18, 2014 3:57 p.m.
Gathering4Magic says... #29
as for discussion of experiences, I will say I like the fact that you don't have to download anything. You just hop on, sign up, load a deck, and go. I've never really had a problem finding people to play standard when I felt like monkeying with a deck, but I generally don't play that since I don't play Standard in paper (too expensive to stay current, and don't have time for doing finance), which is why being able to play a few matches on there is fun for me. Sure, I'm not playing against the most competitive decks, or the best players, but I get to play with nice people in a free environment and not spend a dime on a card, and have fun. That is what this is to me by the way, a game, and as such, my goal is fun, not necessarily to play competitive magic and prove that I can compete on that level. I like casual games with interactive people where we can have fun, battle it out, and hopefully laugh along the way.
As for EDH on Untap.in it seems to work fine, there are interface things I would change, but then again, I'm not a programmer, and I'm not going to complain when someone is giving me a free way to play my favorite game just because the UI may be a little clunky, especially when MTGO is not only demanding that I pay them a sign-up fee to even be allowed the "privilege" of using their crappy & buggy program, they are also demanding I pay for cards like I actually owned them (you don't on MTGO). That is just me though.
That said, I generally don't get on there to play EDH, as I'll play in person with friends when I want that multiplayer action. My main use for Untap.in is drafts. Whether for my Peasant cube or just drafting what's current set out, I love being able to draft for free on here and go to Untap.in to play matches. I'm not worried about WotC's pocketbook, as the very first commenter seems to be. They are doing just fine without me sucking on the teat of Standard, or investing hundreds if not thousands of dollars into Modern/Legacy. I don't think me drafting for free with other poor players who love Limited is any sweat on their brow.
My main problem with Untap.in is not about playing actual matches or issues in those, my problem was getting a consistent group of people together for an actual 8-man, and my drafts would be reduced to one, maybe two matches, if I was lucky, after a draft. poompi has helped create a community where we can organize drafts and have a ranking system, and for that I applaud him! I am sure you are right that there are problems with the way Untap.in functions, and/or server issues, but many of us are perfectly content to use it for what it is, as it is.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for voicing constructive criticism, when it is directed at the right people and in the right way. Saying on a post about an Untap.in community idea that one thinks cockatrice is sleeker and better isn't constructive feedback to the right people. that's all I'm saying. :)
December 18, 2014 4:20 p.m.
This is a discussion about a provider of a free magic deck testing service.
Suggesting alternative deck testing services is not off topic.
It is perfectly legitimate, in a thread about free magic services, to discuss other free magic services.
It is perfectly possible to consider that people here may be new to both cockatrice and untap.in and it is therefore important to point out the alternative and the pros / cons.
December 18, 2014 4:43 p.m.
Yesterday we completed out first Draft-N-Play Tournament and it want exceedingly well! We were able to easily get 8 members together to draft KTK-KTK-KTK. I must say that having a solid way to find players to draft with was outstanding and it could not have gone any better! We did a single elimination style tournament to facilitate the players schedules with a 3rd place match up as well.
Here is the link to the Untap MTG Communities First Draft Tourney Standings
If this seems like something you would be interested in come on and join the Untap MTG Community and enjoy the company of fun like-minded people.
December 18, 2014 5:01 p.m.
Gathering4Magic says... #32
This!
Actually ChiefBell, it appears to me (though I could be wrong), that this discussion was more a way for poompi to pitch his idea for starting a community for those who want to play on untap.in, not necessarily a discussion on which is the best way to play for free online. I'm not saying it is not helpful to point out the pros and cons when discussing which is the best way to play, but from the OP, this wasn't the author's intention when writing this post.
December 18, 2014 5:49 p.m.
We have now added a twitter account so that our expanding Community can continue to grow (60+ members and counting!)Come join us for Upcoming/Scheduled Events + Discussions and Results.
Let's continue to make this experience as great as it can be!
December 20, 2014 7:37 a.m.
Taking forwever! to get my confirmation email from untap!
January 1, 2015 10:46 a.m.
Gathering4Magic says... #36
if you have hotmail, you may need to check your spam folder jcris25. If not, try having them resend the validation email.
January 1, 2015 10:54 a.m.
I did. i clicked it on acident like 5 times and still got nothing! and I have cleared all my emails >no it wasn't in there<
January 1, 2015 12:23 p.m.
lol i tried to make a second log in to see if that would work and now it says "duplicate accounts wait 15 minutes" weird thing is, I used different emails....wtf??
January 1, 2015 12:44 p.m.
jandrobard says... #39
I will use untap.in over cockatrice because untap.in is browser-based and I use a chromebook.
Rasta_Viking29 says... #2
No thanks. Capitalism requires a backbone and morals. I support WotC and my local gaming stores.
December 17, 2014 11:47 p.m.