The more I play this game, the more it gets updated, the more I enjoy it, if that wasn't evident by my >100 hour mark. It boasts competitive deckbuilding, promotes good play and reactions just as strongly as good cards, and a wide amount of playstyles are very viable. The interaction with real-world money consists mostly of pay-to-not-grind as opposed to any real pay-to-win, which I can appreciate.

The real issue, honestly, is the INTENSE learning curve, which I hope can be smoothed out somehow. What you're not initially aware of is the fact that the baseline cards actually do allow you to deal with almost any situation, but you have to know 1) what the biggest threats are 2) how to play around those threats, and 3) what cards you have to include to deal with said threats. Now I understand that may be inherent to card games, but this is a bit more 3-dimensional than just card vs card, stats vs stats. With the addition of field positioning and real-time placement at stake, it's a lot of mechanics that can overwhelm a fresh player - myself included, once upon a time. Also, 2v2's are a bit... hammy, but the game was designed initially around 1v1.

It's a very satisfying experience if you stick with it and understand it, though. As I'm growing into a decent player myself, I have no deal-breaking gripes and mostly good things to say.

(The "update" was a complete rewrite of the review.)

The more I play this game, the more it gets updated, the more I enjoy it, if that wasn't evident by my >100 hour mark. It boasts competitive deckbuilding, promotes good play and reactions just as strongly as good cards, and a wide amount of playstyles are very viable. The interaction with real-world money consists mostly of pay-to-not-grind as opposed to any real pay-to-win, which I can appreciate. The real issue, honestly, is the INTENSE learning curve, which I hope can be smoothed out somehow. What you're not initially aware of is the fact that the baseline cards actually do allow you to deal with almost any situation, but you have to know 1) what the biggest threats are 2) how to play around those threats, and 3) what cards you have to include to deal with said threats. Now I understand that may be inherent to card games, but this is a bit more 3-dimensional than just card vs card, stats vs stats. With the addition of field positioning and real-time placement at stake, it's a lot of mechanics that can overwhelm a fresh player - myself included, once upon a time. Also, 2v2's are a bit... hammy, but the game was designed initially around 1v1. It's a very satisfying experience if you stick with it and understand it, though. As I'm growing into a decent player myself, I have no deal-breaking gripes and mostly good things to say. (The "update" was a complete rewrite of the review.)