Many online digital card games draw comparisons from one another. For example: the way these games handle distribution and their economies are often scrutinized. MTG Arena, the premiere digital client for the Magic: The Gathering TCG, is often criticized for its tendency to be more expensive than its ilk. Redditor Come-a-Come-a-Come-on-A-Chameleon has frequently pointed out Legends of Runeterra’s excellent distribution model and affordable pricing, something they discovered from that one time they played before uninstalling it.
“You’re given a ton of free cards on a weekly basis just for playing,” Chameleon wrote, “at least that’s what someone told me since I didn’t make it to Thursday. And yeah, so does MTG Arena, but it feels like a lot more since it’s all at once instead spread over an entire week.”
In addition to its free-to-play rewards, Legends of Runeterra’s premium currency is reported to carry more value when compared to MTG Arena.
“Did you know I was able to build five different, top tier meta decks for about thirty dollars each?” Chameleon continued. “You can’t even get sixteen wildcards in Arena for thirty bucks. I played two of those meta decks before I uninstalled, but I bet the other three were great.”
Soon, threads on social media were rife with calls for WotC to adopt an economy similar to that of Legends of Runeterra.
“There’s no reason the most popular mainstay of the TCG world would want to charge a premium compared to a brand-new, unproven CCG trying to carve out a foothold in a very saturated market. Sure, if MTG charged less that would mean they’d make less money, but Legends of Runeterra seems to get away with it. I’m sure their other games like League of Legends make enough money to help offset the cost of any losses they might incur basically giving away any deck players want, but MTG has MTG and … you know, those Dungeons & Dragons books.”
The reasoning for charging more for a game millions of people have been playing for almost three decades might be a mystery none of us will ever solve.
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