Developer Q&A (1/12/16)

Hi Everyone -

It has been a month since we launched worldwide and its been awesome to be a part of the Magic: The Gathering community. Everyone has been super friendly and have provided us some great feedback on how to improve the game and communication.

With every launch, we learn a couple of new things that need to be tweaked here and there. We took a few minutes to sit down with Benjamin Paquette, Senior Game Designer at Hibernum (MTGPQ Developer) to answer some questions we have heard from you.

Please enjoy the interview and we hope you have enjoyed the game so far. We have much more to come with the next update and will continue to expand the game with each update we release.

Thank you!

Everyone is asking, what is the main purpose of Quick Battle?

Quick Battle is actually a multi-purpose tool for players to enjoy! But mainly, it is there to allow players to quickly test out their new decks, and also to test their mettle vs other players (played by the AI of course!).

When do the Quick Battle's start and end?

Quick Battle begins and ends 3 times a week. Very soon, these battles will become more relevant and you will clearly see the start and end times for each event. We are still finishing up the complete design and will unveil more of this soon but players can expect Quick Battle to reset 3 times per week.

Why aren’t their rewards in Quick Battle?

Rewards for Quick Battle are coming. Much faster than winter… Rewards will be earned according to which position you ended the Quick Battle event in, and which one you were playing in. More to come on that pretty soon!

Who are the opponents that I am facing in Quick Battle?

If you are doing your first few fights, you might be facing a robot we created just for you. Otherwise, you’ll be facing decks created by other players around the level of the Planeswalker you choose to fight with. Creativity is key - expect to see a lot of new things as the weeks and months go by and new strategies are found and new cards are released!

What are the the purpose of the ribbons in Quick Battle?

Ribbons are there to show you your score at the end of a fight. They’re not a game object or a currency you’re accruing. Rewards that are tied to your wins are coming up in the next update. We apologize for the confusion this icon has caused, but we’re pretty certain you’ll find the next update to the Quick Battle rewards to be a very positive “trade of” to those ribbons!

When can we expect PVP battles/events in the near future and will they offer rewards?

In the next few weeks we will be rolling out an update that will bring with it Quick Battle rewards, as discussed above, alongside a Quick Battle cycle. These cycles will mean that the rewards you can earn from the weekend event will vary from the ones you get during the week. This should help players trying to strengthen their certain colors to pick their fights accordingly if they’re short on time.

More PvP events are in the works right now - but that is for later!

Can you give us a sampling of what players may expect?

Without giving everything away, imagine having a shot at a RED rare or mythic rare on the RED event that runs for a couple of days. It will help players a lot in getting the cards of the colors they’re after!

What should players focus on that may have completed the story mode?

We have more PvE - hard stuff, get ready! - in the works coming soon, and then all the updates we’re talking about regarding Quick Battle of course. This will help players diversify their Planeswalkers roster and extend their cards collection while we prepare the grand arrival of Battle for Zendikar!

What use is there for duplicate cards? Will I be able to trade or sell cards in the future? What should I do with duplicates now?

Right now your duplicates are just sitting there. No worries, they’ll come to use in a bit. The more you’ll have accumulated the more you’ll benefit (by quantity), too, so it’s really not wasted. I can’t spoil anything on the system yet though!

Can you give us some tips on how to best use each Planeswalker?

Jace has a very powerful mana drain and bounce mechanics. You’ll want to make sure you control your opponent’s creatures since yours are typically not as hard-hitting as the other Planeswalkers’ creatures. His first ability, Confusion, is great for making sure that you will survive for longer, and Ingenuity can give your spells a lot more use.

Nissa’s strengths are 2-fold: first, you can use some of her spells, creatures and abilities to accelerate your mana gain (spells such as Animist’s Awakening, for example, can give you a huge mana lead) so you can cast big creatures faster. Once they’re on the board, use cards like Joraga’s Invocation, Titanic Growth or her Nature’s Gift ability to bump them up to huge numbers and let it rip!

Liliana’s all about sacrifice. Sacrificing your own cards, creatures and mana gives her an edge. Cards like Erebos’ Titan, which discards your own cards when he dies to be returned to the board, are incredibly powerful, as is Despoiler of Souls, which drains a bit of your mana to be revived. Demonic Pact is an incredibly strong mythic support card as well, which essentially denies your opponent cards as well as dealing damage to them every turn, but at the risk of losing a chunk of her life if it gets destroyed. Her abilities are also very unique - Corrupt lets you sacrifice your cards to deny your opponent cards and Raise Dead lets you return your creatures to the board after they’ve been destroyed.

Chandra’s game is destruction. Her creatures have high attack but low life and are typically cheaper, but overall lack strong utility. She also has the best offensive spells in the game, and her abilities are strong - at Rank 3, Flame Shot destroys a block of 3x3 gems, which is useful for clearing out supports and generating some extra mana through possible cascades. As for her cards, Exquisite Firecraft is incredibly useful as it’s a cheap direct damage spell that can get rid of several big threats. Flameshadow Conjuring is also very strong, giving all newly summoned creatures both Haste and Prevent Damage, giving your creatures the power to punch through big defenders without taking any damage!

Gideon’s strength is in his creatures - they are efficient and typically strong, and do not cost a ton. Some of his best creatures are Knight of the White Orchid, which is an incredibly strong defender. Gideon has a niche with Disable, for which he has the 2 best cards that Disable in the game: Suppression Bonds and Hixus, Prison Warden. Both are incredibly useful at stopping your opponent’s creatures dead in their tracks, not to mention you can use Swift Reckoning to outright kill a Disabled creature. His abilities are all strong, as they give permanent buffs to his creatures - his third ability in particular, at rank 3, is game-changing, giving a creature lifelink, berserker and first strike!