So I haven't played this since I discovered it was a console port. Boy was I wrong and I admit it! If anything, there are at least 10x as many people playing this on PC as there are on xbox live and I now see why. The newest patch made the mouse such a user friendly tool to zoom in and out of cards within seconds. I counted the total game population at 24,388 when I was last logged on today... Xbox live could barely hit the 5k mark when the game was new over a year ago and at the rate xbox live arcade games lose population when something new comes out, I doubt there's even 1k online on there at any one time now. I think it's safe to say that the PC version is where it's at. The patch has made the online play a fantastic experience without any of the glitches encountered in the console version. Matches form up within a matter of seconds and this includes 4 man free-for-all and 2v2.
To clarify what's what and the prices you may have been noticing for anything Magic related on Steam. The original game is $19.99 and includes six 60 card decks. Each expansion pack is $9.99 and has four new 60 card decks each. This makes for a total of 14 decks. Every deck included in either original or expansion has 17~23 unlockable cards which you can work to unlock and complete throughout the campaign making for a total of roughly 80 cards per completed deck. HOWEVER, I myself did not want to have to go through the pain of unlocking all 6 decks again like I did on xbox. So, if you are lazy like me, you can buy a completely unlocked deck of your choice for only 99 cents on Steam! I highly encourage this if you have the cash to blow and want to play competitive online asap. On top of all of this, the original game includes all 20 avatars, 6 different theme style play boards, and 6 different themed menu backgrounds. Just so you understand why I am mentioning this, Microsoft charged almost $30.00 to get all of that on the XBOX!
So to conclude, if any of you are Magic veterans like myself (or even new to the game!), I hope you will at least take a look at the demo on Steam and give it a try. I am mentioning all of this at this time because currently the complete pack is on sale for $30... This includes the original game, both expansions, and most decks FULLY UNLOCKED (except for expansion 2 decks which are not listed for 99 cents on Steam yet)!!! A heck of a deal! Overall, it's just a nice game you can kick back on and relax while playing. I'll be on there often so if any of you ever want to enjoy a couple rounds, hit me up. I welcome all challengers
IF YOU'RE NEW TO MAGIC, don't worry! I had a buddy who was completely foreign to the game and picked up all the rules within a day of playing. Any questions about a certain ability your card is capable of doing and all you need to do is right-click it and there is an in-depth description on what the ability actually does.
I listed all 14 decks below to give you vets an idea of what they offer. I too was bummed at first towards the fact that you could not custom build your own deck, but then I understood the balance/OP factor in a choice like that...
DECK LIST
Claws of Vengeance ---> Red/Green/White
Hands of Flame ---> Red
Teeth of the Protector ---> Green
Wings of Light ---> White
Thoughts of Wind ---> Blue
Eyes of Shadow ---> Black
Ears of the Elves ---> Black/Green
Scales of Fury ---> Red/Green/Black
Mind of Void ---> Blue/White
Cries of Rage ---> Green/Red
Relics of Doom ---> Black/Blue
Heat of Battle ---> Red
Eons of Evil ---> Red/Blue/Black
Heart of Worlds ---> White/Green
The top row of cards shown in this pic are the original 60 the deck consisted of. The bottom row contains all of the unlockables. All you need to do is click what cards you want to add to your 60 card deck. The max amount for a deck is 80!
http://img29.imageshack.us/f/winis.png/
EDIT: This was my first Free-For-All ranked match lol.
