This game is absolutely free to play and a record of 12-18 for someone who just started playing against a field of players who are already “so ahead of me because they’ve been playing so long” is pretty fair. There are lots of options to play the game against AI that provide great rewards (even for those of us who’ve been playing since closed beta)The developers have created an excellent game that continues to grow and get bigger. The only things that require you to spend real money for premium currency are cosmetic, and they’re pretty cheap too. As the card pool gets bigger, new players will obviously be at a disadvantage, but there are plenty of decks to choose for competitively playing and having fun, and some of the most effective decks (aggro mostly) are very cheap to build. There will be games that you just can’t win, and there will be games you lose because they draw something dumb off the top, or because you mess up. That’s how card games are. If nothing else, you should give the game a fair shot and decide what you think for yourself. The community itself is very helpful and active, and this game is only going to get bigger.

This game has a lot going for it—free to play, lovely graphics and card design, intriguing storyline in campaign mode, and even newcomers can compete. So why do I give the game a mere 2/5? Because there simply isn’t a good way to control the randomness inherent in a card game. The decks you build must have 75 cards at a minimum. That’s a BIG deck, and it increases the potential for a long string of bad draws, not to mention poor starting hands. It doesn’t matter how well you craft your deck if you draw nothing but power cards multiple turns in a row while your opponent continues to hit you with the units he or she draws. Or alternatively, if you have too little power and only draw your more expensive cards, you’re still doomed. You might think the solution is to build a deck with cheap units and few power cards, but no, power cards have to make up at least a third of your deck (so at least 25 even in a “small” deck). As a result, almost all my games seem to have results based on luck rather than strategy. It’s enjoyable for a while, but eventually it just gets frustrating when you realize that you only win or lose because one player has bad draws. That’s always a potential issue, but to me the rules in this game accentuate rather than ameliorate the problem, and that’s just awful design.

As the title says, I believe this is the best online collectible card game out there. The main reason for this is the sheer amount of free stuff you can get just for playing. Every day you get a free pack for just winning a game. There’s a free-to-enter game mode against the AI that gives you a bunch of free gold. There are 2 separate draft modes, and unlike many of the draft modes in other games, you get to keep all of the cards. You get free gold and cards for just winning ranked games, and assuming you get to master at the end of the season (which is SO much easier than other games due to the ranking system), you get a free foil legendary every month. I’ve been playing for 2 or 3 months and I’ve already amassed all of the commons and uncommons as well as 150+rares and 40 legendaries. In addition, it has very good gameplay, with unique mechanics and many similar to that of Magic: the Gathering. (Considering multiple professional Magic players helped design it, that makes sense). Overall, I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a new CCG to get into.

Eternal is an enjoyable CCG that combines the best card playing elements of Magic: The Gathering with the online automation of Hearthstone. It has just enough differences to be refreshing in its own right. The artwork assets are very good, but not quite up to Blizzard levels. However, most of the artwork, animation and sound is very cool and effective. There are more single player activities than in Hearthstone. The makers of the game supply a generous amount of card packs and coins for playing parts of the game like daily quests, puzzles and tutorials. At the moment, you get a free pre-made deck to keep every 3 days, with a daily quest to accompany it. Multiplayer is standard fare, mostly comparable to Hearthstone. Crafting cards is comparable to Hearthstone also. The game mat is updated with totems on the sides relating mostly to the color of the power sigils used. The micro-transactions are not really necessary if you play the game a lot. Your gameplay activity is synced between your PC/Mac, iPad, iPhone or other tablet or smartphone. This is a very fun game that will appeal to online CCG fans.