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Magic: Manastrike casts its spell on mobile devices today

Magic: The Gathering continues its big expansion into other realms in 2020 with a new strategy game hitting mobile devices.

Ozzie Mejia

January 29, 2020 11:35 AM

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Netmarble has been making a name for itself as a force in the mobile gaming market. Its latest release may be its biggest one to date. On Wednesday, Netmarble released its collaboration with Wizards of the Coast, offering up a new game based on the world of Magic: The Gathering. That game is called Magic: Manastrike.

Magic: Manastrike bring the Magic franchise into the realm of PVP strategy. The villainous Nicol Bolas has grown tired of losing to the Magic Planeswalkers, so he's crafted an entire parallel universe in which he seeks to analyze them and their weaknesses. Bolas plans to use these PvP encounters to collect data on his adversaries, while players get to battle with their favorite Planeswalkers.

The idea is simple, as observed by Shacknews when we recently had a chance to try the game out ourselves. The playing field consists of three towers on each side of the board, with the object being to topple the opposing player's towers. Players select a Planeswalker and put together a deck of units, which consist of different unit types and spells of different mana costs. Tapping on your side of the board deploys different units, casts spells, and even deploys the Planeswalkers themselves. Battles unfold in real-time and players must respond to escalating situations on the fly, making sure to manage their mana meter, which determines the resources that they can deploy. Matches only last three minutes, with the winner being the one who either knocks down all three towers first or the one who has knocked down the most towers before time expires.

Players can pick up new decks containing units, spells, and Planeswalkers by purchasing them with in-game Gold. Those looking to spend some money have the option of purchasing Gems. Players can also participate in the Magic Pass, which contains a free tier filled with rewards and a premium tier containing greater rewards.

Netmarble and Wizards of the Coast are already looking to kick off some Manastrike events, granting rewards to those who check in for the game's first seven days. New Planeswalkers are available for pickup for either Magic Pass tier. A new Gideon skin is available for anyone who logs in. Lastly, those who reach Rank 5 can pick up a new map based on Theros, celebrating the recent Theros Beyond Death expansion for Magic: The Gathering.

This promises to be a big year for the Magic: The Gathering franchise between Manastrike and the upcoming Magic: Legends. Magic: Manastrike is available now on the App Store and Google Play.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?