Transition from Paper MtG to Digital MtG
Online Magic forum
Posted on Feb. 6, 2019, 12:10 p.m. by Killzun
So I have a pretty big paper magic collection. However, I barely have the time to drive to a store and play in person. I will be moving within 6 months and move again in 18 months (work's really crazy and will be for a long time). There are some cards/decks I want to keep but I'm seriously considering selling most of my paper collection.
I have played MTGA and MTGO and while I enjoy it, I always find it really clunky to work the stack and steps and phases in a digital format. Compared to sitting in front of people and communicating.
I'd like to know if anyone has transitioned from paper to digital and what your experience has been (good or bad)? And what helped you transition into digital?
Thanks and happy drawing!
Thank you for the advice MagicalHacker!
Commander is what I am planning to play the most!!!
I'll check your channel out and will probably hit you on your Twitch channel.
Have you been able to meet people online that you can get 4 man PODS and play with one another? It would be great to have a circle of people to meet every now and then (Think Commander Clash @mtggoldfish).
February 6, 2019 1:08 p.m.
For Standard i have....As far as casual play is concerned like playing on MTGA i think its great From a financial perspective... if you dont buy online cards... i would be very weary of spending hundreds of dollars on digital cards for when the day comes when MTGA updates itself to a point to support Modern/Legacy/EDH ect ect... If standard is your thing and you just wanna jam in games and grind for coins to casually build decks for free...then its a perfect fit for otherwise not playing at all.
like if you theoretically have $100 worth of magic cards in paper...despite the value of the cards going up and down you will have those cards (however it can be tough using them/finding somone to play with) but you will actually have something in your hands.
With online magic you can basically play more magic than you could ever want to play...which is kinda awesome despite occasional frustration with the interface... i mainly have issues/paranoia about not physically owning my cards.
February 6, 2019 1:12 p.m. Edited.
MagicalHacker says... #5
Killzun, I hope you enjoy my content!
As for finding a new POD, it is definitely doable :D I haven't done that myself though, simply because I really enjoy the feeling about going into a game without any prior info about my opponents. Having that for my opponents and for myself really gives me that fresh "clean slate" feeling, so no one is tempted to attack someone playing a weak deck since they've played a strong deck in the past.
Anyways, the first thing I would do before making a group is joining a few popular discords for online commander play, like the mtggoldfish one and the tappedout one and the praetormagic one (although, praetormagic might be more centered around 3DH, which is just EDH on a 3 dollar budget online which roughly translates to a 30 dollar budget in paper).
Another option would be just to play and just meet awesome people through your pickup games! Right now, I have like 100 players I've added as buddies along the years for being really fun to play with :)
February 6, 2019 1:44 p.m.
RyuSama1990 says... #6
my advice is get a different job if its making you move. that may not be the advice you were looking to hear, but it does solve your dilemma of time.
February 6, 2019 10:17 p.m.
Icbrgr Yeah, not having the actual physical cards is weird. But on the other hand, there is not inventory!!! I barely play standard and when I do is to play some janky budget deck. I mostly play EDH since I find it a lot easier to dish cash into 1 card VS a playset, plus it's an eternal format so the inversion doesn't have the wild swings as limited formats.
MagicalHacker I finally installed and joined discord. Seems like that where a lot of the MtG community gathers nowadays. I have your Krav/Regna video bookmarked to watch. I just made an Ayli EDH tokens/sacrifice deck and I was looking at the partners and wondering how they worked. Thanks again for the suggestions!
RyuSama1990 I can retire in 3 years from my current job. It just so happens that I am one of very few bilingual software experts with the company. So quitting won't do it at this point in time. Plus, I am getting some juicy bonuses for the moves xD
February 6, 2019 10:37 p.m.
Fantastic_Mr_King says... #9
I made my transition about 5 years ago. I started playing mtgo while I was still participating in paper magic. I just wanted to play more magic so I got an account and never looked back.
The transition was fairly painless. I had to figure out how to buy digital cards (I buy most of my cards from cardhoarder), and how to use the interface (I made sure to master the shortcut keys). After that, I was hooked. I played for hours each day testing out new brews. It streamlined the testing process which made me a better player and a better builder.
The only downside is that, unless you plan ahead and spend lots money, The return in your investment is very little. I've spent well over $1,000 over the years on mtgo and I know I'm not getting any of that back. It's no big deal for me. I've never been happier to spend my money.
Good luck with your transition. I hope my experience has helped you in some way. And FYI, It's best to have a somewhat decent computer. Lag and frozen screens are a real pain in the ass. Happy Brewing!
MagicalHacker says... #2
I did transition from paper to digital!
Playing commander, I can understand the stack worry pretty well, but I don't think it's very complicated now that I've played online for so long.
This is what I did: I watched plenty of videos of people playing it (you can watch my videos if you want, all my links are on my profile) so that when I started playing it, everything already made sense! I tend to use a lot of shortcuts as well, so if you end up going to Magic Online (pros: free-for-all magic, Commander | cons: not pretty) rather than Magic Arena (pros: pretty | cons: only 1v1 standard/limited), feel free to ask me questions, and I'll help out any way that I can. In fact, I will even answer any questions you might have during any of my streams, where I'm already sharing my screen to show Magic Online anyways lol
February 6, 2019 12:35 p.m.