Lorcana: The Heart of Magic Review (Part 1 of 2)
The CCG gamespace has always been a treacherous one. Following the advent of Magic: the Gathering in 1993, a legion of games chasing that same lucrative business model glutted the market. How could they not, when by the end of 1994 Wizards of the Coast had sold over a billion cards.
The 90’s saw a number of still-notable games carve out a place for themselved, but for ever Netrunner there were probably at least a dozen Spellfires.
While a broader history of the medium is fascinating (including a “second wave” in the early 2000’s), suffice it to say that the model of the idea of a collectible card game- games where you buy booster packs containing random playing cards for the game- is a far harder sell. Magic is still going strong, but far fewer games are competing in the booster space.
While the market innovated (in particular, Fantasy Flight Games with the “living card game” model), there are a few still looking to have success with the original formula. Disney’s Lorcana is the newest member of that rarified air, and one worth coming out of retirement for a moment to take a look at.
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(As Long as we’re Alive then) Punk’s not Dead
Hi everyone.
There aren’t a ton of you around anymore, but I’m touched that this thing we built still lives on- if the traffic that continues to visit is any indication.
While it’s been some time since I’ve written about Preconstructed Magic, clearly if you’re here that’s exactly what you’re looking for. You may well be pleased to learn that there’s another blog out there that’s recently started about just this very topic.
Make sure to take a moment and check out Beats and Skies.
Not only does he enjoy diving into the same kind of precon content I did, but he also seems to have a very similar outlook- that preconstructed Magic is the best museum for the history of the game.
What’s more, he writes about tinkering with them in ways that aren’t just “add more power cards” (as I did with the “Ertai’s Meddling” series when I was a writer for Gathering Magic/Coolstuffinc). For instance, check out this feature on trying to make Masques’ Deepwood Menace deck more efficient and effective by combining it with nothing more than a second copy of the deck. What to cut? What to keep, and why? Therein lie the very bones of this damnable game of ours.
Personally, I love the “review compendium” series he does where he gathers reviews and observations about different precon decks (for example, this one on Flames of Rath). And not just because he’s kind enough to excerpt this site amongst the different sources he cites for the deck.
My involvement with Magic is up in the air at the moment. I had actually started to think about selling off my precon collection (somewhere around 250 decks, seems crazy now)…but then about four weeks ago my sons suddenly took an interest in the game.
So who knows. While the overwhelming majority of Precon content these days appears to be Commander-based, it’s great to see that the thing in here I loved so much about Preconstructed Magic has inspired others.
So make sure to give Beats and Skies a look!
I know I’ll be reading.
Ertai's Lament 