I am creating what you might call a modernization of Magic the Gathering. Or at the very least, my take on a game concept that does not seem to have any true rivals. (Edit: To be clear, this is an entirely new game that happens to be very similar to MtG at it's core)
I would like to use this thread as a place to gather a list of mechanics and concepts from MtG that could be done better, as well as to compile your thoughts and feedback as fellow designers.
Note that some of what I list may be right for MtG, but not necessarily the best solution for a new game. I also understand that many cards in MtG came about sometimes due to theme, and other times so that they could actually shake up the meta-game.
Additionally, there may not actually be a viable solution to some of these problems while still keeping in the spirit of the game.
MTG's drawbacks in no particular order:
1. Trading Card Game(TCG). Magic is prohibitively expensive when it comes to developing and maintaining a collection of cards, and this often proves daunting to any potential new player(or even people who have been playing for decades). I can't even count how many thousands of dollars I have spent over the years buying cards to build the decks I want to use(or even just try). It costs $400-600 every release(4-6 months) just to maintain a complete set of cards, and that is whether you buy packs or cards individually.
1.1. Power Balancing a TCG. If you have played Magic, you may have noticed that more more rare and expensive a card is, the more powerful it gets. Just look at the way Wizards has handled Planeswalkers in the last few years. Planeswalkers are some of the most powerful cards that can be found, and they are also the most rare. Those who don't want to spend $20 per card for their deck are left to face all the players that do.
1.1.1. Mana Balancing. As X3M brought up below, rarity affects the power cost in MtG. This creates hordes of useless cards that have rare/useful counterparts.
2. Mana Screw/Mana Flood. A common theme in many games of Magic is having your hand deprived of or flooded with some of the most important cards in the game simply through luck of the draw. When this happens you basically sit there and watch other people play the game as you hope for a miracle.
2.1. Land Destruction/Denial decks take the mana screw problem and allow players to do it to each other. Someone facing an LD deck generally sits through the entire game while the LD deck plays with themselves(unless the player built specifically to combat LD or has a really fast deck). LD cards are at best too cheap for the effect they confer in the game.
3. Ridiculous Combos. You can lose Magic before you play your first card. More commonly, you see combos that burn you down before turn 4. I am fairly certain there is a whole subset of people who actively build and play nothing but these decks just to grief people(they do it with Land Denial too). This is a problem that is more prevalent in formats that include cards going many years back, but it still happens in sets that just came out. Now, you can't design a game as open and fluid as Magic and not have potential for these game destroying combos, but certain cards make these combo's much more likely to appear.
4. Excessive Control. Basically any situation where a player or players cease to play the game because another player has the game on lock-down. Any of #3 that do not outright win the game count in this section. A player under a lock-down can either sit around for untold minutes waiting for defeat, or concede the game.
4.1. Extra Turns. This is often abused with #3. Even when it isn't abused for infinite turns, the fact that all the other players must sit around and wait for player X as he plays by himself, is I feel, a design failure.
5. Lack of Focus/Abstractness. This is both good and bad for MtG(really net positive in MtG's case). On the one hand, the game is refreshed with every new set as players get new mechanics and cards. On the other hand, it can be hard for players to identify with any given setting, build, or style because everything is constantly changing.
5.1. Theme Delivery. Part of the lack of focus has to do with the order that cards are presented to new players. It is often completely random and the designers have to take that into account. Extra card space has to take into account that players are often not seeing a complete package, but only what they currently have or can afford. There are of course starter and theme decks, but that is not how the majority of the game is delivered.
5.2. Theme Stability. The Color Pie and parallel realities. That is the theme. MtG pulls it off well, but it lacks a lot of the connection that more grounded worlds can offer. Magic is always on a different mechanic, a different world, and a different theme in every new block.
5.3. Mechanical Stability. Mechanics are left behind with every new block whether they are fun and engaging or not.
5.4. Race/Class Stability. As with mechanics, races and classes come and go. There are some recurring staples such as Elves, Goblins, Zombies, etc, but overall, most races and classes are rarely hit upon and even then it is usually sparse and random.
5.5 Hand Randomness. Draw is random. You want to cast a fireball, because you are a pyromancer, but for some reason you can't remember how to do that, and may never remember the entire length of the battle. This is of course a level of randomness that is present in most card based games, but in Magic's case it can be extreme and it does work against the game in some aspects.
6. Character Role. You are a Magician, period. Despite all the extremely powerful fighters that exist in any of these worlds, you can not be one of them. You yourself can not wield a sword or do any fighting.
7. Team Multiplayer. There are quite a few cards that have been produced, even recently, that are horribly broken in team formats. Serra Ascendant and Cloudpost being the 2 closest to mind.
8. Lack of Equipment. Magic released new swords a set or two back, but they were so powerful and rare that most people will never be able to afford them. You do get some decent equipment now and then, but given the possibilities, far too few equipment related items are designed. #5.5 is largely responsible for this.
8.1 No limit on equips. One human can use any number of swords all at the same time.
9. Roleplaying. Both the world and the abilities from MtG are ripe for roleplaying, but there is no established way to make this happen. The randomness of the game makes RP hard to pull off.
10. Poison/Infect. I get that the designers needed another way to kill players because life points can get out of hand. However, there is quite a lack of answers to poison other than removal. Much of the problem stems from the fact that poison was tacked onto the game long after it was originally designed making it difficult to change too much of the game.
Anyway, this is a pretty long post and I am out of MtG flaws at the moment. Let me know if you have any gripes with MtG and what you might do in a design to remedy the problem.
Yeah, definitely a huge project, thanks. :) And thanks for the link. Had not heard of hextcg.
I don't necessarily mean modernize as in technology, but more along the lines of conceptual modernization. Of course, getting the game into digital form one day is highly desired. Base card game needs to be fleshed out first though. :)
Some key points about my project:
1. Living Card Game. Decks will be sold as complete sets(~150 cards in a deck). There is no rarity or anything other than your deck building skills to worry about. I have always felt the TCG part of MtG holds it back. It is a monetization mechanic that, to me, detracts from the gameplay.
2. Your "Deck" consists of 1 Ability deck, 1 Creature deck, 1 Equipment deck, and 1 Energy deck. 30 card minimum per deck. 3 of any given card can be in a deck. Base draw is 1 card from any deck of your choice. Additional draw steps would be thematically added such as a Druid getting an extra creature deck draw every turn(through talents). This adds some solidity and control while maintaining the randomness of the draw.
3. Class based. Each deck(sold) will be based around a given class, such as Mentalist, Shaman, Warrior, Sorcerer, etc. Classes don't lock you into any given cards, but allow for specialization through references to their Class. Additionally, players can multiclass by taking different talents.
4. Players have Talent cards that allow for specialization and character development. Each Talent will generally have 3 bonuses that are each leveled up by using energy(say 3, 5, and 7 mana to level). Talents are not target-able by other players. Ex Talent: All Warrior Abilities cost 1 less to play. Ex Talent: Demolitionist abilities deal X more damage. Ex Talent: At the beginning of your upkeep, draw 1 Equipment card.
5. There are 7 colors instead of 5. More thematically aligned colors than you see in Magic. Ex: Mechanical, Social, Biological, Mental, etc.
6. Players have a character card on the field that can fight with the rest of the army. It can be equipped with gear, hit by AoE, crowd controlled(in many cases), etc. Can not be destroyed or exiled of course.
7. Many class abilities involve the player using a weapon against the enemy, so you may have a Warrior use a Cleave ability that he can target on a player or creature. If the Cleave ability targets a player, that player's creatures may be able to take the blow depending on their abilities. A lot of core MtG systems can undergo quite a change when you put the player on the field hacking and slashing.
8. Many abilities require a specific weapon type, but generally your talents will enable their use as a base ability of the talent. Like you start with a rusty training sword, but if you want better stuff you can draw from the equipment deck on your turn.
9. An adventure mode is designed to exist side by side the traditional MtG style duel to the death. Given the mentioned changes among others, players will actually be able to use their cards, talents, etc in a D&D style setting where the cards and decks substitute for the tables and books of rules. A GM would be able to focus more on story and special situations such as when a Warrior wants to use a Cleave card on a door. There will of course be environment, dungeon, encounter, event, etc cards for the roleplaying experience.
10. A deeper keyword and "Evergreen" mechanic system. This is pretty complicated(design wise), but think of MtG with 10 times more pre-thought on the whole concept of color pie that includes classes, combat statistics, and mechanics that recur on a regular basis instead of fading off into the past as with MtG.
11. The Creature/Artifact/Enchantment trifecta is replaced by Physical/Mental/Spiritual which make up every target-able card in the game. You basically have abilities, equipment, and creatures that are all target-able based on their types, or their essence.
12. Power/Toughness is replaced by a statistic wheel that increases the depth of combat. Each creature has 1 of the 3 offense, and 1 of the 3 defense stats. A creature might still be 4/4 but might be Power/Health or another combination. It's stats determine what keywords it can have and how it interacts in combat.
Those are the big changes. Really it is MtG at the heart, with spells, draw, and mana, but otherwise taken to another level.