The Shrine

So I got lucky enough to get into the beta for Hearthstone. This is the first TCG I've played since MtG in junior high.

The game does a good job introducing players to the concepts of the game by having you do about 7 games vs the AI with the Mage class. After that you open up practice mode and you can unlock 8 other classes by defeating them. There is a level system for the classes and each level you get a few cards given to you. Decks consist of 30 cards and once you beat the tutorial you can start to assemble decks for each character class you unlock. You can also complete certain in game task to unlock booster packs, which have a chance to have a few rare cards. The booster packs can also be purchased. So it is free to play, but from what I've seen and heard you can still be competitive without spending anything.

I'd honestly prefer the game be ported to Android or IOS eventually since I see no reason it couldn't be.

I don't see how any of these games could possibly challenge MTG even with the WoW name behind it. I mean I've played quite a few of these games and they're probably fundamentally sound concept but if you want something that's fundamentally sound, you got MTG already.

Yeah. MTG has its faults, but every other CCG I've played just doesn't have the depth and history of MTG.

I imagine nothing can touch MTG, but I think Hearthstone is just meant to fill a niche for a collectible card game that can be finished fairly quickly, and generate them some decent coin for them.

There's no room for niche CCG since MTG pretty much has a monopoly on CCG. If it's going to be at all successful it'd go the same way as the EQ1 CCG where you randomly get ultra rare cards that can be redeemed for stupidly overpowered items in game. To pretend an entity that's not MTG, even Blizzard, can possibly compete with MTG on the CCG front is simply insanity. EQ1's card game was successful because people bought the game for the EQ1 loot, not because anyone actually thought the CCG was any good (and I heard it was actually decent, but no way is it possibly competitive with MTG). For the WoW CCG game to succeed, it must be intrinsically tied to the WoW game itself, and in a significant way. The only reason people bought the EQ1 CCG was because the items you get are incredibly powerful. One of them is considered mandatory for top end raiding guild and was on par with the 7 year veteran reward in terms of desirabilty. There are many raids that you would not be able to beat with the said item while you're still learning it, which is why there are always guys opening new packs in hopes of getting the ultra rare card.