Eternal the Card Game

I've played some Legends beta, but not this one. It's interesting that Dire Wolf is developing two competing online CCGs at the same time.

Taho said:

I've played some Legends beta, but not this one. It's interesting that Dire Wolf is developing two competing online CCGs at the same time.

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is that game any good? I only saw the trailer released on the main web site.

I was a little surprised to see that too, it sorta feels like when everyone tried to copy EQ and WOW back in the day. Bunch of digital card games coming out since hearthstone, and magic's continued success in paper but not so much digital. I just hope the industry doesn't over produce games and burst the bubble or divide the potential playerbase too much.

I think maybe the money they got from making the Legends game is what has helped bankroll Eternal. Bethesda is a much bigger company, and they licensed direwolf to make the game for them.

Enzee said:

is that game any good?

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It's in open beta so anyone can sign up and get started. I'm liking it so far. Its biggest issue is that there is no mobile client yet.

yea.. but that requires downloading it, going through a tutorial, etc etc.. when i can just ask you instead, I'm lazy. :-D

so.. I can't fully explain why, but I seem to have lost interest in playing this. I got heavy into it, finished a couple tier1 aggro decks and tier2 feln deck, grinded up to gold in ranked and draft.. then I kinda stopped playing for the last week or two.

I think the gameplay and meta is too linear and rock/paper/scissors right now. A deck like rakano just plays some dudes, makes one gigantic and if you don't have a spot removal spell or outrace them, you lose, as an example. There's not as many strategy options, and I'm not sure if this is just a factor of the smaller card pool or Direwolf's intended design. They've stated they want games to be quicker then 'other games' (i.e. magic) but I think this design leads to less interaction and options, so therefore more linear strategies.
Rakano isn't the only deck like this, against jito queen you need a lightning storm/plague/harsh rule to clear them out or you lose. Against combrei you need something bigger then sandstorm titan and/or removal for him. Even against control decks, they often get out a powerful relic that you can't interact with because the few relic removal spells are very narrow and unplayable maindeck. With ladder being all Best of 1 games, no sideboarding, that means narrow cards are practically unplayable.

It's the same thing in draft, where successful decks fall into proactive (putting a big weapon on dudes) or reactive (managed to draft lots of removal to stop the suited up guys). If you didn't draft a deck with one or both of those things, you won't do well.

It's a shame because the potential is very high for this game, and I'm hoping they address the issue with more card releases, but right now it just feels like a grind and not a strategy game. I rarely feel like I outplayed my opponent, or vice versa, just that one of us drew better then the other instead. I get into queue, and can tell within a few turns whether I'm likely to win or not. If playing rakano vs combrei, did I suit up a guy bigger then sandstorm titan? If not, and they play one on turn 4, I lose. If I did, I win.

If you guys are interested in the game, I have a card database of all the cards:
Eternal Cards

As well as a ton of strategy articles from the top players in Beta:
http://www.numotgaming.com/series/eternal/

We are adding 3-5 new pieces of a content a week and all of the content producers also stream the game regularly. We also have a few videos on YouTube as well that you can find in the content section. I honestly believe this game will pull hard from the Hearthstone players that have become bored and the Magic players who don't like the online client.

Not sure where that comment is coming from.. don't think they were ever trying to copy MTG's art style. It's more steampunk/western mixed with fantasy as well. There's tons of guns/cowboys/etc..

oh I see now. Yea no, the design team 'designs' the mechanics of the cards themselves. The actual rules of the game are very similar to magic, as a result.

Still looking for a key if anyone has a spare! Pm please!

Eternal is now in Open Beta. Closed Beta testers had their collections wiped and received some thank you rewards, so if you want to try this game now is the time to jump in.

Thank god for the open beta! I'm loving this game. Rakano is taking me places right now.

I was super high on this game at first, but then slowly lost interest. Going up to a 75 card deck makes clumping happen slightly more often, but it feels like non interactive games happen very often. in MTG i often felt like one game out of every 3 was determine by someone being flooded/screwed. But, in tourneys its bo3 and you still have 2 real games then. in eternal, the ladder is bo1, though.
Even when neither player gets a power flood/screw, the games are often very linear. The threats one player plays often need certain specific answers, so either you draw them or not.
Basically, when i won it rarely felt like i outplayed my opponent and when i lost it was because i just didnt draw the relevant cards.
aggro is very prevalent on the ladder, much like hearthstone, since it has a good winrate, it plays fast and its only best of 1s. the anti aggro cards are often worthless in other matchups.

I feel that the overall lack of draw mechanics really hurts the game overall. Don't want to play primal? Fuck you, you can't draw any cards.

silence isn't worthless at all when you get into real constructed decks. It removes buffs from minions, and some decks are all about buffing. It's the main 'removal' that combrei (time and justice) get. Desert Marshal and Valkyrie Enforcer were both played very heavily for that reason, but also because they were good stats for their cost. 2/2 for 2 mana ambusher that silences and a 3/3 for 3 mana flyer that silences are both super efficient.

Silence sort of does what you were thinking sap effects would do. It's not worth it to play a card that only silences, but when it's attached to a body as well, it's very useful.

Its such a solid online CCG - really should see more love than it's gotten here. So depressing HS gets attention that this doesn't.

And right now displayed leveling for opponent is bugged FYI - it seems frozen since about 2-3 weeks ago - I'm Gold I in constructed ATM and still display as Silver I, wife's been similarly frozen as "Newb blank space" for Constructed even though she's recently started on it and Silver III