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| Author |
Message |
LotR or MtG?
| LotR |
| [ 12 ] 92% |
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| MtG |
| [ 1 ] 7% |
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Total Votes : 13 |
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| NBarden |
 Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:26 pm |
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Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 5468
Location: I don't know...
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Okay, so I’ve been wanting to write an article comparing MtG and LotR, the two most popular games on the site, and see which is best. Here goes.
In the midst of CobraCards, a debate rages. Is Lord of the Rings king, or is it Magic: The Gathering. Lord of the Rings doubtless has the most supporters, but MtG has one supporter to rule them all, if I may borrow the phrase. His name is Felipe Musco, and his fanatical, cult-like adherance to Magic: The Gathering, combined with relentless assertions that MtG is better than LotR has created much tension on the boards.
Many players on these boards enjoy both games immensely, but still, one has to be better, right?
This article gives an inside look on the games, comparing one-on-one game mechanics to give an idea on the games.
1. Game Plot
2. Gameplay
3. Environment analysis
4. Conclusion
1. Game Plot
The Game Plot is vital to a great game. The plot gives you a feel for the game, how it is played, where it exists, et cetera.
Lord of the Rings- In Lord of the Rings, the plot is located in Middle Earth. The ring-bearer is on a mission to destroy the one ring in the fires of Mount Doom, and the minions of shadow are determined to stop him. You, as the player, are able to assume the role of, not either of them, but BOTH of the characters. The characters are numerous and familiar to the players of the game.
Magic: The Gathering- You are a Wizard, and you control various tracts of land. Using these, you are able to harvest the essentials of building your army, mana. The mana-producing lands give you access to powerful creatures, and spells, as you battle your enemies across an...um...empty void? Hm....
Lord of the Rings has a great plot down and clearly wins this match. The plot of Magic is mediocre, has no feel for the location or anything.
Moving on to part two....
2. Gameplay
The gameplay of both games are interesting.
General Objective
Lord of the Rings- In Lord of the Rings, you build a fellowship designed to protect the ring-bearer long enough to destroy the ring. In short, the point of the fellowship is to survive until the ring is destroyed.
The Shadow side is designed to destroy the opponent via corruption or killing the ring-bearer.
Or at least that is typical, general ideal. Variations on this allow for run decks, or any combination of achieving one of three goals, killing the ring-bearer, corrupting the ring-bearer, or outrunning your opponent.
Magic: The Gathering- The idea of Magic is interesting as well. There are several ways to win a game of Magic. The most common ways are as follows. Reduce your opponent’s life to 0, deckout your opponent, give your opponent 10 poison counters, or achieve an auto-win condition on a card.
Although there is some room for disagreement, I think the general objectives win goes to Magic: The Gathering. With a variety of ways to achieve a win, general objectives are suddenly thrown into doubt, versus being set in stone with Lord of the Rings. Much of this is up to personal preference, however.
Gameplay Mechanics
Lord of the Rings- Several mechanics should be analyzed.
1. Resources- Twilight is an interesting way for resources to be used. Free Peoples add twilight, Shadow players remove it. Twilight is ingrained in the cards themselves, and the currency for running the game produces itself.
2. General Mechanics- The Free Peoples are designed to survive, while the Shadow is designed to kill. This is accomplished throughout several phases.
3. Location- The site-path is essential to the game. It gives you a location where the game is at, and an objective to reach.
4. Card Types- Card mechanics fluctuate drastically, although a few card types are ingrained.
Magic: The Gathering-
1. Resources- Lands. You have to devote much of your deck to ensuring you have the ability to get your cards in play.
2. General Mechanics- In Magic, you always have to be on your toes. Instants, counterspells, and other surprises make you always have to keep a look out for your opponent. Some people like this, some people prefer structure.
3. Location. There is none. ’Nuff said.
4. Card Types- Card types also fluctuate drastically.
Overall
1. Resources. Lord of the Rings hand down. The mechanic is built into the cards, you don’t have to work at making sure your resources are built well enough to ensure that some cards can actually hit play.
2. General Mechanics. This varies based on playing style. Some people prefer structure, some people prefer various sporatic spurts which keeps you on your toes. Completely up in the air. I lean towards an on-your-toes kind of approach, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m sold on Magic.
3. Location- Lord of the Rings has one. Thus, they win.
4. Card Types- Both fluctuate drastically. Tie.
Fighting
Lord of the Rings- The game is fought in skirmishes and archery, primarily, with other phases used for various card-specified forms of fighting.
Magic: The Gathering- Fighting is done in the Combat phase. However, that seldom prevent various cards from doing whatever they want.
Again, completely up in the air with preferences. I lean towards Magic here.
Environment Analysis
Card Pool
Lord of the Rings- Small. Somewhat limited. Only 19 sets.
Magic: The Gathering- Huge. Very large. Infinite deck possibilities.
Obvious win to Magic here.
Formats
Lord of the Rings- As many formats as the day is long. General formats are Standard, Expanded and, to a limited extent, Open and FotR.
Magic: The Gathering- Tons of formats, but there are only a couple played. Standard, Two-Headed Giant and Vintage are the only MtG formats that see play.
I lean towards LotR on this one, because each format is unique and gives a distinct flavor to the way things are played. Formats in LotR are distinct and tend to be sub-environments of the general environment, with various builds that wouldn’t work in certain formats absolutely ruling other formats.
Brokenness
Lord of the Rings- A lot of whining came with RoS and T&D, but most broken decks are put under control in all formats except Open.
Magic: The Gathering- HOLY COW! BROKEN! Let’s look at a few ideas, shall we?
Pact of the Titans + Djinn Illuminatus + Angel’s Grace in Extended/Vintage/Legacy/Two-Headed Giant- Unlimited 3/3 creatures. UNLIMITED! Add in some other Pacts and suddenly, you can do anything, infinitely, for free!
Orim’s Chant/Isochron Scepter in Extended/2HG (If its legal anywhere, its legal in Two-Headed Giant)- Lockdown your opponent completely. They can’t play spells or attack. Freeze them until you build your army and then kill them. Easily.
Flash/Protean Hulk/Disciple of the Vault in Vintage- Opponent lose 32 life on turn 1 or 2. They can only lose 20 before losing the game. Variation Flash/Protean Hulk/Virulent Sliver/Heart Sliver for 16 poison counters on turn 1 or 2. Remember, 10 poison wins the game.
Tinker/Darksteel Colossus in Vintage- Turn 1 monster creature.
Yeah, but Standard isn’t that broken, is it? Oh isn’t it?
Pariah/Stuffy Doll- Redirect all damage to you right back at your opponent.
Deathrender/Mogg Fanatic/Enduring Renewal- Deal 1 damage to your opponent. Then do it again. And again. And again. And as many times as you feel like it.
I think its safe to say that Lord of the Rings, much as people are screaming BROKEN! BROKEN! is NOTHING compared to Magic: The Gathering. What is considered normal in Magic would be considered broken in LotR, namely, Birds of Paradise, Wrath of God, Damnation, Pyroclasm, et cetera.
Win goes to LotR here. Clearly the least broken of the two.
Conclusion
In short, its up to you which you like more. I like both games, still prefer LotR primarily for the block feel and how balanced it is, but can still enjoy both.
So is this article a waste? I don’t think so. Hopefully, this helps to give some perspective to the LotR vs MtG debate.
Thanks!
-NB |
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| NappyKorn |
| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 2:58 pm |
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Joined: 15 Jul 2007
Posts: 552
Location: USA
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I went to vote and noticed both of your choices were LOtR . I guess even if you feel Magic is the better game you are still forced to vote LOtR. Good thing I perfer LOtR  |
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| gil-estel |
| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 4:20 pm |
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Joined: 25 Apr 2007
Posts: 545
Location: Groningen, the Netherlands
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| Celebrimbor |
| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:03 pm |
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Joined: 12 Sep 2006
Posts: 953
Location: UNKNOWN
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This could be in the article contest, NBarden. 
LOTR is better. I’m biased toward LOTR, but I think i’m still right. |
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| Elessar's Socks |
| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:36 pm |
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Joined: 29 Jul 2007
Posts: 349
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Random scattering of thoughts:
Game board: you hit on this when bringing up locations. A common feature of Decipher games is setting up a game board where movement takes place or battles are conceptually fought. In LotR it’s the adventure path, in Star Trek it’s the spaceline, in Star Wars it’s the string of locations. It’s like the keel of a ship holding it all together. In contrast MtG is very open in this regard. Whichever living room floor the game is taking place is in essence the battleground.
The player as a participant: In LotR (as in Star Trek and Star Wars) you as the player do not really have a role in the story as you guide the characters along. Conceptually you could be a lord/admiral giving out orders, but it’s like in real-time strategy games, with the armies being controlled by the "great hand in the sky." In MtG you take on the role of a planeswalker, the most important "piece" in the game. You have a life total, and you can be dealt damage.
Combos in terms of canon / realistic scenarios: No matter how cool it might be, in LotR you simply can’t stick Gandalf’s Staff on Pippin and send him out to clobber the hordes of Middle-Earth. Race and culture constraints ensure that for the most part, combos make "story sense." In MtG you’re free to do whatever you want, even fusing "cultures" (colors) together if you have the correct mana. Turn lands into 2/2 creatures with Nature’s Revolt and send them flying with Flight!
Cycling: In LotR, whether you play one card or empty your entire hand, you draw to 8 at the end of your turn. This rule is built into the game itself, and every deck save for the most ill-constructed can take advantage of this engine. You don’t need to take extreme measures to see most if not your entire deck in one game. In MtG, unless you run cards that draw cards, once you empty your hand you’ll have to be content with one new card a turn. This difference is compounded by how short some MtG games last.
Permanency: In LotR you can rely on your companions sticking around until your opponent gets rid of them the hard way (as in, through hard-fought skirmishes or archery, not instant-kill cards). It’s relatively safe to have your strategy lean heavily on individual companions like Eowyn LoI, Legolas DH, or Gandalf. In MtG, nothing’s safe. Even a land played this turn can be gone by the next.
Investment: The very early sets of MTG appreciate in value over time, while those of LotR tend to fall in prices (not talking about promos or even foils here, just normal cards). Some MtG cards regularly fetch prices in the hundreds, while the most expensive normal LotR cards can be gotten for around $10-$15. Chances are, if you bought boxes of alpha/beta MtG cards when the game debuted, you’d be sitting pretty right now. |
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| NBarden |
| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:37 pm |
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Joined: 28 Dec 2006
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| Anonymous Prodigy |
| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:42 pm |
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| It wasn’t me, NB. |
| I had to put something here. |
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| Elessar's Socks |
| Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:02 pm |
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Joined: 29 Jul 2007
Posts: 349
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| Proof that Meddling Mod > Meddling Mage |
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| Anonymous Prodigy |
| Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 10:27 am |
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Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 4197
Location: United States
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Poll fixed.  |
| I had to put something here. |
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| bobtheorc |
| Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:18 pm |
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Joined: 19 Mar 2006
Posts: 1218
Location: Wow, its hot in Iowa
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