Ooooh, a new Puzzle Quest! And it's a blend of Magic: The Gathering (ie MTG) and Puzzle Quest! Made by D3 (makers of Marvel Puzzle Quest) & Wizards of the Coast! What could go wrong?
This was my thought as I dloaded Magic PQ, somewhat concerned that it might affect my addictive daily playing of Marvel PQ. Well, I now doubt that, despite the fact that I think Magic PQ is a 3-4* game on track to be a 5* game. But Marvel PQ already is a 4* game, IMO.
The Good:
Lots of Plainswalkers, lots of cards. Deck building mechanic. CCG. Strategic play. Looks very nice.
The Bad:
10 card decks?!? Really? Meh! Plainswalkers get first weak power at Lvl 2, next at Lvl 14?!? Tiles in match-3 game look very similar (esp Blue & Black), esp when a 'support tile' is in play. While art looks great, not much animation here. Lots of cards, but can be hard to know what's going on, and I haven't found a 'recap' / log button to see what opponent's action was. And lastly -- this is an F2P game w/2 currencies, and despite getting both just by playing, clearly the emph is on spending real money for premium currency to buy boosters. (And I won't be spending anything, most likely.)
My Tips/Tricks:
I'm a newb, but I'm a veteran MTG & Marvel PQ player. I will likely update these as I play more.
1 - Spend your currency well. I dropped 50 crystals (premium) to add all Planeswalkers (PW's). Rationale: the game is new, and I can see their costs soon jumping. Also, when new PW's arrive, I'm sure they will also cost. And for deck building, you can't play cards that don't share a color w/your PW. Sure, I like Green, but also like 'em all.
2 - Get an early booster or two, but then start saving for the rates. I didn't want all my cards to be 'standard', but my first 2 boosters didn't offer much of anything interesting. Oh well. (Update: got my main Blue PW to Lvl 14 & bought a few more boosters & got a Black Mythic card. Frustrating.)
3 - UI Tips:
3a - Deck design is on the Planeswalkers menu. And, if you are new to Magic, there's a Quick Update option which has the AI do it all for you. You can also empty your deck and yoi can Autobuild it with the AI. Not bad!
3b - Support Tiles - to distinguish between your Support Tiles & opponent's in play, the counter will be on that player's side. The color is the color of the glow (this took me forever to figure out).
4 - Card Selection - During play, check your hand frequently (ie every round!) & strategically rearrange cards. Also don't forget to use your PW's powers, even if they suck. And don't mana-charge up Support Cards that need creatures w/o 1-2 creatures in play.
5 - Cards cycle during play -- you can only have 3 creatures at a time. Reenforcement is when you play two of the same creature. If you have 3 creatures in play, reconsider swapping out a monster until the last minute. Reenforcement of creatures in play is generally better than swapping them out. Also, you can fully charge creatures and hold them in your hand.
I wish I had more tips, but if you post yours I will happily include them here (and in my gameplay!!).
Thanks! Happy Holidays!