An Overview of Magi-Nation: Duel CCG

I’ve enjoyed my fair share of CCGs. There is something about building a deck and taking it to town against an opponent. Yes, CCGs have a tendency to become a money sink trap in order to become fully enmeshed in the flavor of the CCG. That doesn’t always mean that there isn’t an elegant game system in there that can’t be appreciated and enjoyed.

Such a CCG was Magi-Nation: Duel. For the sake of Board Game Geek and in order to place my name in the litany of reviewers, I would like to present a fairly straight forward look at what Magi-Nation did that was good and how it has placed itself in my heart as one of the best CCGs that ever came around.

Premise behind the game
The basic features of the game is a duel based fight. Mano e Mano. You against your opponent. The basis for this is your ‘magi’ card who could summon dream creatures and use spells, powers, and artifacts to bring down the beats against your opponent’s magi. Your magi represent a certain region and is better at using its own region’s creatures and spells than using other regions. This isn’t so different an idea from Magic: The Gathering or any other number CCG games, but how it’s carried out is the difference. Well, here’s four points that make it shine in its own light.

Point 1 - Multiple Magi
The interesting tweak in the duel concept is that you aren’t just a single magi but have a stack of three magi to use. Only one is active at any point of time but the game isn’t over until all three magi are defeated on either side. Each magi has its own starting cards and its own special emphasis/power. The use of a three magi stack improves the quality of the game in a couple ways.

First, having a magi stack characterizes your duel. Instead of some figureless wizard conjuring creatures, you are playing as a specific character. They have their own strengths and weaknesses which gives a certain flavor to your deck. The set starting cards and powers of a magi definitely set the tone for the deck. You are playing as Tiller from Naroom or O’Qua from Orothe. You just aren’t throwing creatures out to bash someone’s abstract life points.

Secondly, having a magi stack increases the strategy and approach to the game. You can’t just see the first magi and automatically say, “Oh, I know that deck and will certainly beat it/lose to it.” Because that magi is just a third of the line-up, it also means it is only one-third of the strategy. Each magi could be used in a myriad of ways – tank, setup, stall, and many others. You can’t assume anything based on the a single look of the magi. More importantly, there is no rule to say that each of your magi has to be from the same region. You can start with a magi from one region, switch to another, and switch back or even to a third on the last. This opens up endless strategies to throw at your opponent.

Thirdly, three magi allows you to recover from a perfect start by your opponent or a bad start of your own. Anyone who has played a CCG knows about the ‘God Hand’ start. You get everything to just lay it down on the opponent. Well, having three magi prevents that. That perfect combination of spells might wipe out the first but now you still have two others to go through. This concept mitigates the luck factor and allows the game to build on a more tactical and strategic level.


Point 2 - Resource Management
One of the most beautiful concepts in Magi-Nation is how you handle resources. In so many CCGs you have either dedicated resource cards (i.e. Magic, SWCCG) or a scaled gradual resource allocation (i.e. VS. & World of Warcraft). In the first styles you run the possibility of being ‘manna-screwed’ - not getting any resource cards at the start of the game, while in the second style there seems to be a prolonged setup phase where everyone is nit-picking their opponent while waiting for the big resource hammers to come out. Magi-Nation handles this in a different method that allows players to come out swinging and perfectly supports the three magi lineup concept.

In Magi-Nation, energy resources comes from your magi. Each magi has a starting energy level that they come in play with. Typically, this ranges from 11 to 16 energy points. At the start of each turn, energy is replenished at the magi’s ‘energize’ rate which can range from 3 to 7 points per turn. This energy is used to play spells, powers and relics as well as to conjure the dream creatures to attack and defend. Want a 6 energy cost creature? Move 6 energy from your magi to the creature as it comes in to play. Want to cast a 10 energy cost spell but only have 8 on you magi? You’ll need to wait until next turn when you will energize up and have enough. You’ll need counters to keep track of energy on your magi and creatures but that’s a small sacrifice for not needing to use resource cards.

Let me repeat that – THERE ARE NO RESOURCE CARDS. Your deck is full of what you are going to use against the opponent. It isn’t half dedicated to resources to help fuel things and you aren’t concerned about losing cards face down to be a nameless resource. Energy flows through the magi and has a strategic renewal and management system.

The final beauty of this resource management style is that energy is the score card for the game. Each magi is defeated when its energy level is exhausted and it doesn’t have any dream creatures to defend it. In that way, you are constantly gauging when and where to use your energy. Do you take your magi to zero energy to blast with a spell hoping that your opponent won’t be able to take out your last dream creature? That’s your choice to decide.

Point 3 - Attack Resolution
Another of the sounding points that works well within Magi-Nation is how attacks are handled. Each creature has a set energy level. This also indicates its power. A six-energy creature attacks at six power. An easy enough concept. The realistic thing about attacks in Magi-Nation is that big powerful creatures don’t stay big. Each attack takes power off of a creature. If a six-energy creature attacks a two-energy creature, the smaller creature of course bites the dust but the attacker is reduce by the defenders energy and becomes a four-energy creature. This also works in reverse – a bunch of small creatures can gang up and sacrifice themselves to take out a large creature. This concept allows for strategies that revolve around more than just seeing which player can get out their biggest gun the quickest. Swarm decks with small creatures are not only possible but very potent when run right. The game resolves around managing your energy resources and creatures and not just about creating a wall.

The one exception is when a dream creature attacks a magi. The creature takes energy off a magi equal to its current level but the magi can’t strike back. This is the way most magi meet their end, by having a rabid dream creature send their energy to zero!

Point 4 - Turn Order
Magi-Nation also has a nice arrangement for turn order that makes playing the game simple and intuitive while not trying to dumb things down. There are six phases to each turn by each player. These are as follows:

1) Energize – Add energy equal to your energize level to your magi.
2) Power/Spells/Relics – Play and use any powers, spells and relics that you want.
3) Attack – Use dream creatures on the field to attack your opponent’s creatures or magi (once with each creature).
4) Summon Dream Creatures – Pay for dream creatures to come to the field.
5) Power/Spells/Relics – Play and use any powers, spells and relics that weren’t used during the first P/S/R phase.
6) Draw – Draw two cards in to your hand to signal your turn is over.

Outside of having two distinct Power/Spells/Relics phases, everything else is straight forward. You know when to play cards and don’t have to worry about summoning sickness or coming in ‘tapped’. The possibility of a beat-down is limited to as well as dream creatures are usually summoned after the attack phase. Each card is designated with a time to be played and is easily followed through to keep timing rules and order preference to a minimum. It’s a simple order that allows you to focus on the game and not rules doctoring!


Conclusion
That wraps up my four points of greatness that Magi-Nation: Duel brings to the CCG front. It’s a fine game that improves on the basic premises and concepts of other CCGs and wraps it up in a very enjoyable package. These concepts help place this CCG at the top of my list.