Is there a card game that's fun and better than magic without being pay to win predatory shit?
>>88107097>fun and better than magicThis is mostly subjective so I can't verify for your personal tastes, but for...> without being pay to win predatory shityou have mostly three options.LCG BoardgamesDraft BoardgamesProxy Magic or a collection cube limitedFor LCGs that has, IMO, a similar "feel" (not specifically rules-wise, but the feeling of fun you get playing MTG) was Warhammer Invasion and Android Netrunner. There was LCG version Legend of the Five Rings, but I didn't play enough of it to say it with confidence. As I said this is totally separate in terms of rules, so if you want a MTG clone these aren't it.For Draft Boardgames that tried to be a MTG clone is Epic Card Game (that's literally the name). It's fairly close to playing a casual night of draft/limited with friends, but it doesn't have the full stack mechanics like MTG so it's a little on the lighter-taste on the rules side. For MTG proper Proxy is always an option, and with a $60 inkjet printer and scryfall.com (and other scan data available on the net) you can get a pretty good quality proxy if you're determined enough. If want legit there's always cubing your collection for a casual night of limited/draft; just get good quality sleeves like Dragon Shields.Finally there's also a fourth non-tg-ish option by going digital and playing "Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers" or the 1997 version with community mods.
Just play Pauper format
Original Duel Masters. But goog luck finding cards and players
>>88107097I like runeterra a great deal. I have spent next to nothing and usually have everything I want. It is not a commander replacement but its a good standard replacement. I get the same kick I used to get from playing cockatrice. The action economy in the game is better than MTG's.
>>88107097Star Realms, Ascension: Storm of Souls Mtg without buying product because you're just printing cards? Mtg DRAFT CUBE?
>>88107097Every TCG eventually boils down to P2W predatory shit since companies don't believe you can monetize those games in any other way apparently. Living Card Games are not THIS predatory but you are still bound to buying more and more DLC packs but at least you are not a slave of random booster packs.If you want to play MtG but you don't want to support WotC and their shitty ways you should simply build yourself a nice comfy Cube/Jumpstart Cube. This is what I did years ago and I regret nothing. The only other format I'm still playing is Pauper since upgrading my deck costs less than 5 dollars a year.
>>88107097Is there an automated simulator where i can play some draft with the bros without having to deal with rulings (hence automated) and don't have to pay?
>>88107097You could always assemble a Cube if you've got a friend group that already plays MtG. That's a one-time investment that can cost very little depending on the power level you aim for
>>88110830Forgot to add, should include previous sets too, we want to play older drafts too
>>88110830xmage might work for that
>>88107097Race for the Galaxy is the best card game I know of that's non-collectible.
>>88107097Netrunner is a good game. The community-made cards are reasonably cheap and sold print-on-demand, but tournaments at all levels allow proxies (important if you can't get old FFG cardboard).You may have to cut your dick off to participate, though.
>>88107097The closest is Epic Card Game, which is better in the sense that it's pretty much impossible to brick and worse if you like the variety that comes from MtG. Otherwise, the best option is playing a TCG using cards from a pool that is either limited or proxied. Rarity-based formats are easy to pull off and always yield a pretty unique metagame in some way, like Pauper in MTG. Cost-based formats are more difficult to honor and nail down, but also create really interesting results. I made an MTG format that only uses cards that are 25 cents or less in a Scryfall search every 3 months. It's autistic to maintain it, but brewing is fun and spending too much is entirely on you since your deck really can't run you more than $20 based on how the rules work even if cards "spike" by 20 cents when you get around to ordering them. Digimon has really great budget decks, but then you're dealing with Bandai practices and have to be careful. The last type of option is a format based on a specific time frame, which I personally love in Yu-Gi-Oh since the have unique identities. 2002, 2005, and 2011 are all totally different. If you like playing with one deck of cards, try Cuttle with standard playing cards or Radlands for a cheap 1 v 1 experience with decent replayability.Were there any specific factors you had in mind besides predatory release schedules?
most card games are predatory but none are as savagely evil about it as magic. Lately I've been having fun with Digimon. It's vastly more affordable. Pokemon seems affordable too, and fun, but I don't know what the current state of the game is like.There's some new game coming out called Sorcery, that seems to be trying to capture that oldschool mtg vib back when card are was hand painted and surreal and not shit we have now where every other card is a photobash paintover of models doing cheesy wiz poses with confident smiles.
Most original ccgs are better than magic, but the thing is: brainlets hardly move away from the shithole they call home.
If you want live games you can play picIf you want competitive alive 1vs1 games then it is the big 3+ digimon+ DBS+ One Piece + Flesh and Blood
>>88107097Yes there are a lot of dead games that are like that.
>>88107097Two options: Card games in a box (LCG or other contained card games), or Magic cubes.Making a cube that plays to sealed draft or their Smash Up mode (combining half-decks) can be fun.Of alternative cards games, the hard part is that you'll almost never get similar mechanics to MtG, but at least you'll get to play cards and build engines. I hear Ashes is good but I've never played it. For something minimal, Air Land & Sea is a fantastic game that's close to poker, but has more going on. Epic is kinda fun, a tiny but simpler MtG-like throwdown. Race for the Galaxy is super fun but a different kind of game, tableau-building, not really any direct confrontation. I personally hate Star Realms and most deckbuilders, but Ascension can be fun. Smash Up is very hit or miss.
>>88113588I doubt that. It is hard to beat a game with such a long development and a large card pool. Look at how objectively shit games like Yugioh that keeps going.
>>88111352This, very fun game but not very Magic-like. I also second Android Netrunner from >>88107736
Brothers War was KINOOOOOO
>>88117207That's because it was based on and extremely faithful to the 90s book, except that they had to slap some blackface on Kayla and Harbin, and aren't allowed to have the Fallaji be sexists anymore because that would be Islamophobic and modern WotC is brainfucked.The rest of it's fantastic.
>>88107930>>88107097Fuck it just proxy your shit.
