Mana Echoes - Episode 3

Magic:PQ Support Team

Greetings, everyone! Welcome back to another episode of Mana Echoes.

Last episode, we took a broad look at events, discussing some of our processes, attempts, and future plans. This week, we’ll dive deeper into events, focusing primarily on PVE content.

The Current State of PVE and Its Challenges

We know many of you are eager for more PVE events. But have you ever wondered why they’re less frequent than PVP events?

The short answer: they take significantly more time to create, from design through implementation.

The full picture: PVE events involve layers of complexity not present in PVP events. The design process includes:

• Designing encounters: In PVP events, the dynamic can be distilled into defining the lore context for the event (what part of the lore is being worked on), total number of encounters, and gameplay patterns set by deck rules, event supports, and objectives.
• But for PVE, that’s just the beginning. Each encounter must tie in with the event’s lore, showing progression after each match. Opponents must be carefully chosen and crafted, with custom loyalty abilities selected, and behavior on how the enemy AI will prioritize using that given skill, how often will that skill be used, determining the mana bonus, and designing decks that fit the event’s theme while presenting the player a coherent escalate in difficulty according to the position of that encounter in the encounter sequencing, as well as rarity density of each deck (does it make sense for this “low level” NPC to be sporting some of the most unique spells in the game? What about the other encounters, do their decks make sense when looking at the decks of other encounters in this event?). Each PVE encounter is as time-intensive to create as an entire Planeswalker.

The Complexity of Tutorials

It’s a huge amount of work! And if that sounds daunting, imagine a type of event that required all this plus additional complexity: hard-scripted card draws, text popups, and rewards tied to completing unique challenges. These were our set mechanic tutorials.

The tough truth? Despite the effort, most players rarely engaged with them. Our analytics made it clear that the return didn’t justify the resource investment. That’s why we chose to focus those resources on more event creation. Still, we recognize this leaves a gap—and we’ll discuss this further shortly.

The Challenge of Creating Lasting Challenges

Balancing PVE events is another intricate task. Unlike PVP, where player-created decks are expected to bring certain unpredictability, PVE encounters are static. After one run, players often know what to expect and even share deck compositions in the community. So how do we keep things engaging and challenging for both newcomers and seasoned veterans with vast collections?

Shaping Event Complexity

One approach is tailoring event complexity. Some events are simple and casual, like the old story modes—just enjoy the ride. Others, like You’ve Found an Entrance, dynamically respond to player actions, making each run potentially unique. Some events serve as entry points for new players; others push veterans to their limits. Striking the right balance is key.

A challenging PVE encounter isn’t just about giving the opponent high HP or stuffing decks with powerful cards. Often, it’s about crafting puzzles for players to solve. Sometimes, these puzzles land perfectly, like in You’ve Found an Entrance, where objectives influence future matches. Other times, they miss the mark and fail to resonate.

Deviating from Regular Gameplay Patterns

The puzzle aspect of Magic Puzzle Quest is sometimes overlooked. Beyond gem matching for mana optimization, events may feature supports that require specific board actions or interactions. However, conveying complex mechanics during matches is currently resource-heavy and not always clear to players.

Case Study: A Failed Heist

The Greatest Heist event is a great example. While it was a PVP event, it illustrates the issue well. The event lore described the Heist of the Fomori Vault, which translated in-game actions to event support representing the vault, which massively reduced damage dealt to the opponent, and required bomb supports to be matched within range of the vault to destroy the support, and proceed to the second stage of the game, which had the opponent no longer being safe from damage behind the vault’s door, but spawned new event supports for the player attacking the vault and for the opponent!. While this was explained in the event rules, many players had issues understanding how the event worked, or how to interact with the supports, which lead to frustration.

So, what could we do differently? How can we better deliver important information at the right moments without disrupting the player experience?

Looking Ahead: Future Improvements

One of the alternatives that we discussed to prevent scenarios like this in future events is implementing scripted in-duel dialogs, like those used in tutorials. While possibly quite handy as a tool to point out unique interactions during an event, they are tough to implement in encounters that are not completely scripted.

These are not the only alternatives we have been looking into, with some other alternatives we’ve explored being:

• Displaying more visual, graphic-based event rule presentations before the player joins the event. (like in Jumpstart).
• Breaking down complex events like The Greatest Heist into multiple stages with narrative or visual elements between matches.

Think of it like adding seasoning near the salad bar—you can opt-in for flavor or head straight to the main course.

Our Quest: Bringing Fresh Experiences to the Game

Events are at the heart of Magic Puzzle Quest, and we’re always thinking about how to innovate. Our goal is to make events feel fun and rewarding—not just routine grinds—appealing to both casual and competitive players. We can’t wait to be able to share more about some of the plans when we are closer to bringing them to the game.

But the gameplay experience is not just made of the events, and very soon, we’ll be implementing a revamp on a system that enhances the gameplay experience for all players — the improved Quest system!

This improvement to quests will bring multiple updates to this feature, including an increase in the quality of the rewards, new quests, and more. We’ll be deep diving into the details of this revamp in Episode 4 of Mana Echoes, just four weeks from now.

See you in the future!

Tremayne

Thank you for another peek under the hood. It is really appreciated!!!

Point #1 - no matter what you do, someone are going to be disappointed with your new event, it might be me or someone else, but someone will disagree with your solution. So that shouldn’t prevent you from trying out new ideas.

Point #2 - it is impossible for us to argue against development time spent vs. perceived value, especially from deep dive data, as you are using to dismiss tutorial and making new story mode or (more) PVE. The players simply do not have access to these data sources.
However, it does seem like there is a tremendous overthinking going on with some of the events you are putting out. While at the same time you fail to exploit (extremely) low hanging fruits.

Sub #2a - overthinking is particularly evident in the over designed event supports, which in worst cases are simply ignored completely. If the event requires you to play with human tokens and non-human creatures, but can be totally bypassed because the objectives are focused on drawing cards or casting supports. In such a case, why should a player bother with the cumbersome deck design when they risk being steamrolled by Rakdos?

Sub #2b - missing exploiting low hanging fruits. There are a number of events, (that apparently are liked by the community) where you don’t use them very often or where you could have made a similar event with new objectives or requirements. Take duel deck (I know you didn’t make this event, but I’m going to use this example anyways), why not make a dwarves vs. orcs or human vs. Dragons or wizards vs. Warlocks or … or … or … the list of possibilities are endless (Just don’t think that you only have to make duel deck events).

Point #3 - another thing that I would like to stress is that if you communicate - up front and in game - that this weekends event is a test, where you want to see if the player base understand your idea, (which the great heist could definitely have used), no one would be angry about that, particularly, if you where ready to remove (or give equal amount) of coalition points or give everyone a compensation (if the event bombed).

Point #4 - occasionally make PVE’s where you simply change the objectives and also make events without those over complicated event supports.

AoMadness

Honestly this is a good explanation of the tricky nature of the game. I have realy enjoyed these echos as it gives a look at the game a new angle excited to see where the game is going and the events you bring

_Valiant_

Thank you again. Looking forward to the next one!

Mainloop25

Despite all the inherent challenges, I still think it's worth investing into the PvE aspect of the game. It's the thing that hooked a lot of us into playing this game and getting into it in the first place. It's also a welcome break from the monotony that the meta has become.

ArielSira

Thank you. Not just for the inside information, but mostly for sticking to the promise of releasing these posts on the days you said you would!

FCLedZep

To enlarge the diversity in events there should be more block constructed coalition events. Now we play either the Legacy or Standard card pool.

gozmaster

First of all, Thank you for your dedication to the schedule of these posts, Kudos for doing what you said you would, that is TRULY appreciated.

Second... The content...

I've never designed a game, nor do I have a full understanding of what Webcore inherited when you took over this code from previous devs, knowing what I know about coding... (My father was a mainframe programer and I'd hear ALL about "spaghetti code" lol) , bottom line, I'm assuming it's "Less than Ideal"...

That said...

What I heard when I read the post above...

• Making a game that people enjoy is hard
• Making game play that THIS player base will enjoy is challenging...
• Doing PVE is more time consuming than PVP, and
• Creating new "FUN" event mechanics in this game is difficult.

Ok...

I'm sorry to have to say this but... So what?

This is KINDA what you signed up for when you took over, isn't it? lol.

The WHOLE point of this game is the events we play to collect resources,

Resources we use to get packs/cards.
Cards want to complete our collections and play in ways we enjoy (Loop decks, conversion, go big timmy creatures, etc)...

But if we are BORED (out of our minds) playing the SAME, events, SAME structures, SAME objectives...

Event after event , the players will lose interest and as a result... spend less time on app.

Look, I get making a killer event every time is tough... nobody is arguing that...

But I'm sorry man, that's kinda the whole point of your job.

Keep our interest, be creative in the things you're doing, and you get more of our eyeball time as well as our cash...

What I DO know ...

What we're doing now, the evnts (especially these objectives) aren't keeping people engaged...

My RETIRED teams... people that are CASUAL top 25/10 players... are dropping more frequently than ever....

And the 2 BIGGEST reasons sighted... Terrible meta (Rakdos/Aegis/Ghalta anyone?) and Boring/Prohibitive event structures (Playing against NON-Objective focused decks)

How about this, before you dedicate more resources to "NEW Events"... (which I want, so hear me out..)

How about we FIX what's GLARINGLY wrong with our current set up now... IE.

1. Smaller Event Brackets... Small Player base? Smaller brackets so we can ACTUALLY get better prizes instead of 356th. "If you aint first, you're last" - Gandhi.

2. Change How 1st/2nd Place points are rewarded: Hate to break it to you, but MUCH of the frustration people have with the events is the fact they lose out on good prizes for dropping even just 1 point in this game . Again, maybe smaller brackets fix this, but MAN would it be nice to ACTUALLY get a second place prize, FYI I'm not sure I've ever gotten one in coalition events.

That's BRUTAL. and SHOULD be an easier fix than deving something new from scratch? Maybe?

3. Opponent Deck restrictions in Each Node: I'll admit this one I have no clue the difficulty to execute but...

We've been asking FOREVER for node opponent restrictions in events for... well ever.

A. Node V. SAME Node: If we're in a green node, and trying to take 12 turns before we win, DON'T Match us against and AGGRO deck from another node designed to win in 6 or less turns. CMON MAN!

And B. Peasant V. Mythic: If we're hamstrung by rarity restrictions, and trying to make full points in an event, and the deck greg is piloting don't give 2 Ffff... um... "flips" That player's deck is just trying to hit progressions and that's it... Cool. But DON'T match them with us , if they didn't build for full points. We're just going to get jack stomped.

C. Also.. More SET Restriction Events: : Here's a thought... Take the SAME event we already have... and limit it to a block of 3 sets. (including Origins of course) Just like the Torment Event. (With PRIZES from those sets. )

You REALLY don't have to make new stuff as much as taking classics and Updating them (for the time being at least) to have set restrictions, to me, (and to MANY others that have mentioned this already) this would be a BLAST!

AND it would allow newer players to get rewards targeted from those set blocks.

Look, Guys... I'm on your side, I am, but this excuse of... It's hard".... man that's the last thing I'd want to hear from my team.

Again, i'm not a game developer... (Well not a digital game at least) ... I am an entrepreneur... (I think I've mentioned this once or twice )...

And If I tasked my team to improve the event experience, and the answer came back...

"...But it's so hard... we have to do ... This and THIS , and don't forget about THAT!"

Frankly man, I'd fire that person.

In front of the rest of the team as an example of an attitude I NEVER want spoken on my office floor.

I'm not looking for excuses, I'm looking for results.

Don't tell me how hard it is, I'm VERY aware of that, or we'd already be doing it. So would everybody else.

I want solutions.

It's not a matter of "IF" we can do this... It's ONLY a matter of "HOW".

How can we do it NOW with all the restrictions we have?

And for me....

Guys...

We've been TELLING you what we want since day 1.

I've given you just 3 of the solutions I have , off the top of my head.

There are TONS more suggestions in my server "Suggestions for webcore" ...

Guys.. We'RE LITERALLY telling you how to get and keep our attention, AND our dollars.

Now if something is JUST too difficult to do because of the current limitations, and will take time to fix, we get it, but still work towards that...

But there are things we've suggested that SHOULDN'T be that difficult to execute. Give us a list of what's the EASIEST to do... and let us know what those are. And what will take longer... IE a few weeks, a few months a year+

At least this way, we can manage our own expectations. But "it's hard" grandpa?

Sorry man, but that's just too D@*$& Bad.

Final thought...

We are (mostly all of us) GRIZZLED veterans of this game.

We aren't going anywhere... UNLESS you're saying you won't listen to our suggestions... then, frankly, I'm concerned for the future of the game.

And we ONLY have so much patience and dedication, I hope you guys make the most of our love of this game, take heed to our suggestions and make the game we've always hoped for.

I know you guys can, I just hope you will.

I remain...

GozMaster.

Nalthazar

I got something a bit different from you on this one Goz. I saw what they were saying about the difficulties in making tailored events to be about why the story mode tutorials for each of the new mechanics aren’t coming out anymore. If that is the reason that we are getting new events with each update, then honestly I would personally take having new events over tutorials for mechanics. I do like the story mode and I feel like it adds to the lore and thematic element of the game. I wouldn’t mind if future sets came out with more engaging PvE events like the story that included major characters with abilities that matched who they are and what they do.

My personal biggest issue is with events objectives. I feel like the objectives for the events that have been coming out entirely miss the mark. Objectives should make it so that the deckbuilding and gameplay elements feel unique and different from training grounds stomping. I have more thoughts but I can’t write them all now as my little one wants my attention. Just a quick 2 cents.

Larz70

In response to @gozmaster , I think you misunderstood the devs. The "PVE is hard" wasn't an excuse but an honest take on the effort it takes to build one. We should listen to the devs and not "fire" them for being lazy.

The solutions you listed are fair but it doesn't address the problem the devs described. Smaller brackets/1st-2nd place rewards/opponent deck restrictions are QoL changes and does not achieve Webcore' vision of what a PVE event should be. For us veteran players of the game, the game has become focused on resources and the daily grind to harvest them, but that is not what the game should be about. It's about the experience, with ties to Magic lore and puzzle quest mechanics. This is what hooked me in the first place.

The last piece written resonated with me. It said:

"
Our Quest: Bringing Fresh Experiences to the Game

Events are at the heart of Magic Puzzle Quest, and we’re always thinking about how to innovate. Our goal is to make events feel fun and rewarding—not just routine grinds—appealing to both casual and competitive players. We can’t wait to be able to share more about some of the plans when we are closer to bringing them to the game.
"

I really hope they succeed in this.

They missed on the example though. The Greatest Heist is a PVP event. Did webcore design "Implicit Maze" and Survival of Fittest? That would have been more interesting to hear. Webcore had a positive take on "You Found an Entrance" and the Maze could have been designed along a similar vein. What was your experience with it (asking both dev and player)? For me as a player, I found it easy and boring. Perhaps beginners would have a more proper challenge given their limited collection (I had all the legacy cards and a simple surveil/removal/gates deck handled the earlier stages and a TYS loop deck made short work of the later ones). Either way, the presentation was linear and has nothing to do with a maze. What could have they done to make it stand out? Maybe present the levels as rooms in Karlov manor in search of the murderer? I'm sure a lot of you have more creative ideas and Webcore no doubt were full of them as well. But all of them will face the same issue - A lot of effort for something that will get played only a few times, or worse, only once like Story Mode Training.

Anyway, thank you WebCore for giving us an insight into your world and I look forward to more episodes. It wasn't a surprise to me that PVE is hard but it's great to hear it straight from you as opposed to engaging in speculations on Discord. As a data/stats nut, I only wish you could share some of these analytics, you mentioned, with us. Thank you.

Drag0n

It's hard, cool, you've also made it hard to spend $$ on the game, now go back work it out and I'll start spending again, keep going the way you are and I'll keep logging in for 21 days and then just weekend events.

Scifibot

Hello and thanks for trying to make it look like you are doing something. I have been playing since the beginning and so far I have been very happy with your performance, minus one detail.

The first time I played the Battle for the Crown event I got crushed by an Ocelot loop thrice. I took a step back and regrouped and am now back in my top 10 coalition.

I have not heard any mention of any attempt to fix this issue. It loops you to death. You hit the timer the turn ends and then it loops you to death more.

I have promised myself that if it ever happened again I would quit the game, and here it is folks!

I will miss the game and my team and all the friends I have made over the years, but I will not miss the stress of being dealt a deathblow by what amounts to poor play testing and a deaf ear on what really needs to be done to keep the players engaged.

Thank you.

FCLedZep

Thalia and the Gitrog Monster negates Ocelot completely and you get a chance of removing Ocelot after the loop timer. ⏱️ I don’t mind worrying about losing a match. I like a challenge.

FCLedZep

I now read the loop timer will start again so you don’t get the chance of removing Ocelot after the loop timer. That makes the challenge a lot harder..

Asylamb

What would probably make most sense to me in terms of events is releasing a new set with 1 PvE event meant to tell the set story, and 1 PvP event meant to encourage the players to build decks with new mechanics.

Let's take the most recent set, Aetherdrift, as an example.
The lore of the set is pretty simple: there is a race between 10 teams from different planes, that compete for The Aetherspark. The key moments are:
1) Chandra is competing to give the Aethespark to Nissa, but her team places 2nd;
2) Loot has been forced into the Duskmourn's team and Jace was mind-controlling several teams to get him back;
3) in the chaos of the race (including a coup, Jace's mind control, and a dragonstorm) the team from Amonkhet placed 1st.

PvE
The easiest route to take would be making an event similar to Fables of Eldraine (FoE): several nodes, no event supports. The flavor: you are competing in the race, and each of the nodes is the captain of the team you need to overtake. That would also explain why the opponent starts with a couple of cards in play (like in FoE), since that opponent is ahead of you in the race. Make Amonkhet's captain the last node, Kylem's captain - 2nd to last, Alacria's - 3rd to last (since those race placements are known), and the rest - in alphabetical order or smth.

PvP
Since PvP is normally inspired by a conflict or a mechanical juxtaposition, you could find either a story conflict (Jace vs Racers) or a mechanical one (Vehicles vs Mounts, as in tech vs nature). I personally like the 2nd option, and it reminds me of the Hunter X Bonder (human vs beast X human with beast).
The Vehicles node could have a new mechanical objective like "Reach MAX Speed" (which is basically "play a card with the new mechanic and deal combat damage X times"), or "Activate Exhaust ability X times".
The Mounts node could have objectives like "Play X creatures with Mount subtype" and another generic objective.
I personally don't see the need to create an event support for PvP events either.

And, lastly, I would like to comment on the new event "Illusions and Flame", which, from my understanding, is a Duel Decks event in the new packaging. I'm eager to see how it's different from Duel Decks, and I hope to like it. I also like that it's flavor-wise connected to DFT, showing two familiar PWs and their goals (Jace - to get Loot back, Chandra - to win the Aetherspark).
Because one of the biggest missed opportunities, imo, was not making a Duel Decks event for New Phyrexia vs the Multiverse, which was a big recent storyline.