Magic: The Gathering is the world's first-ever and oldest collectible card game but, surprisingly, it isn't the most popular or prevalent CCG in the digital or online format. One of the probable reasons for this is that not many of their games have captured the magic of the card game until Magic: The Gathering Arena came along.
That isn't to say there was a lack of video games or digital adaptations of the CCG. In fact, Magic: The Gathering Online has been around since 2002-- it just wasn't that accessible. Then, there are the other MTG games many of which were hit or miss with the audience. Hence, if one wants to try out MTG digitally or has no one to play with in the paper platform, here are the five best MTG video games and five others to avoid.
10 BEST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING - PUZZLE QUEST (81)
There was that one time where Wizards of the Coast, MTG's publisher, decided to do a mashup of the card game with a game like... Candy Crush. How'd it turn out? Pretty decently, according to the critics.
Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest is the hybrid offspring of that union. It combines the simple mechanics of Candy Crush where players "crush" five colors of MTG mana instead of candies while playing some cards. It works surprisingly well for fun and simplicity.
9 WORST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING - DUELS OF THE PLANESWALKERS 2012 (77)
Before MTG Arena came along, Wizards of the Coast resorted to releasing new MTG video games called Duels of the Planeswalkers as a way to introduce Standard format and new Core Sets digitally. MTG - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 was one of those.
It was released in 2011 and while being a considerable update to the 2009 original, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 still had the same problem of not letting players create their own decks from scratch. Other than that, the game has decent value.
8 BEST: MAGIC DUELS: ORIGINS (84)
Magic Duels: Origins is one of Wizards' earliest attempts to compete with Blizzard entertainment's online CCG giant, Hearthstone. It did well for the most part, according to the critics, and was a decent start to a proper online MTG.
Much like Duels of the Planeswalkers, Origins explores the, well, origins of the poster planeswalkers of the franchise like Gideon, Liliana, Jace, Nissa, and Chandra. Sadly, it was abandoned much to the dismay of many players since Wizards of the Coast appeared to have bigger plans.
7 WORST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING ONLINE (75)
Here we have the online equivalent of paper MTG, Magic: The Gathering Online. It's a very old game dating back from 2002 and as such, the interface is worse than many browser-based CCGs today.
What makes it still somewhat popular is how it features Modern and Pioneer formats of MTG, something not present in Magic: The Gathering Arena. That very well means the card selection pool is staggeringly more vast. Still, it way due for a UI overhaul.
6 BEST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING ARENA (84)
As for the best current MTG game right now, no other Magic: The Gathering title could beat Magic: The Gathering Arena in terms of value and presentation. It's free and every card Wizards of the Coast has released since 2018 can also be obtained for free with enough dedication and skill, only digitally.
What makes it more appealing than granddaddies like MTGO is that beautiful UI that's reminiscent of Hearthstone. Moreover, it also features formats like Brawl and Draft both of which are rewarding without spending real-life money.
5 WORST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING - DUELS OF THE PLANESWALKERS (75)
Back in 2009, Wizards of the Coast surprised everyone with a decently-made MTG-- the very first Duels of the Planeswalkers title nonetheless! It was a refreshing title especially since the lack of proper MTG games from the preceding years hurt the franchise digitally.
As impressive as it is, it lacked one of the most fun fundamental aspects of MTG: the deckbuilding. That practically made the first Duels of the Planeswalkers nothing more than a mere paid intangible tutorial for the paper CCG.
4 BEST: MAGIC 2014 (85)
Magic 2014 or Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 is one of the first proper digital MTG games in the sense that it finally allowed players to build decks from scratch. It still had some glaring restrictions but Magic 2014 is still a fun title.
Oddly enough, the highest score it has on Metacritic (85) belonged to its iOS version. Back in 2013, having an MTG game on the iPhone or any handheld device was a dream come true, hence the good score for this title.
3 WORST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING - BATTLEGROUNDS (72)
Magic: The Gathering- Battlegrounds is... weird. It's a real-time fighting game that tried to be Tekken and MTG at the same time. The result was a chaotic mess of an offspring that barely resembles either of its parents.
With that said, apparently it's a fun game and lots of people still enjoyed what Battlegrounds had to offer. Even players who have no idea how paper MTG works can still pick and play as well as enjoy this hybrid.
2 BEST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING - DUELS OF THE PLANESWALKERS 2013 (90)
Currently, the highest-rated MTG game ever is Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013. It's an MTG game that built upon the strengths of the previous Duels of the Planeswalkers while removing some of its weaknesses such as decks that cannot be customized.
While players are still not allowed to build decks from scratch, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 finally allowed them to swap out cards from opened boosters. This small improvement made the game inch closer towards a rewarding digital MTG experience.
1 WORST: MAGIC: THE GATHERING - TACTICS (62)
Since MTG is turn-based it only made sense for a video game version that's a turn-based strategy game. The idea certainly sounds great, however, the execution was rather poor as per the critical consensus.
MTG Tactics was a well-designed and tactical game that also came with an initiative system a la Dungeons and Dragons but the aggressive monetization and the bugs ruined the experience. Thankfully, it seems Wizards of the Coast have learned a lot from it and are now sticking to the CCG's strengths.