The upcoming Magic: The Gathering MMO and action-RPG title Magic: Legends will have card-based gameplay and deck design as part of its features, according to a new report that unveils more details behind the upcoming game. Magic: Legends was announced during The Game Awards 2019 at the end of last year and was quickly touted as a title with the potential to ensnare a lot of different players. The Magic: The Gathering property has strong player retention already and, coupled with MMO feedback loops and compelling gameplay, there’s a lot to like about what Magic: Legends is trying to do.
After its reveal, fans were left with a lot of questions about what the game might actually look like, and few details have been given at this time. Magic: Legends gameplay will put players in the role of a powerful planeswalker and will be set across several different iconic worlds in Magic: The Gathering lore. Magic: The Gathering has already been adapted into Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, so it’s not surprising to see Magic: Legends tackle a similar approach to narrative and world-building, leaning heavily into places that already resonate with fans. Players will be able to collect and upgrade spells, choose their own path, and fight on their own or with two other players, but just what that fighting looks like remains to be seen.
The newest Game Informer cover story will dive deep into Magic: Legends, but before that happens, fans were teased by a minor reveal in the preview to that feature. According to the preview, players will “build a deck of 12 cards that constantly cycle” while employing “4 active cards and a slew of handy abilities” to fight through monsters and explore different maps. Magic: Legends gameplay will also combine a series of summons and buffs to help bolster the variety of what players experienced, and the preview also indicates that some of the planes available will be Shiv and the Caligo Morass.
Consumers were certainly already interested in the idea of a Magic: The Gathering MMO experience, and tying in the most important part of that franchise – deck-building and card collecting – is a smart decision from developer Cryptic Studios. While it remains to be seen what the cards look like and function as, at least tangentially referring to the tabletop and Magic: Arena digital experience are clever ways to tie-in Magic: Legends gameplay with what fans already are familiar with.
Magic: Legends gameplay will be unveiled soon, but for now, the game appears to be approaching its genre from something of a new angle. With the success of deck-building games like Slay the Spire recently, can that same methodology be placed into an action shell and achieve the same level of renown?
Magic: Legends will be free-to-play and available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
