Magic: the Gathering Arena is still a ways off, with the PC beta starting next month and a release date not for some time. So, I appreciate any opportunity to see more of the game, and today was one of those opportunities. Wizards of the Coast organized a community deck-building challenge and then gave those Ixalan decks to Trump, the popular Hearthstone streamer, and NumotTheNummy to play live on Twitch. The one-hour long stream provided a great opportunity to see MTGA live without many interruptions, and so far it looks very promising, even at this early stage.

If you read our earlier story on the game’s UI, you’ll understand why the developers made many of the design decisions you’ll see in the stream, like deciding not to go with a top-down perspective. Trump said he likes how the game auto-taps the correct mana each turn even at this early stage, which is a good sign and one that many players have been worrying about. There are some moments when the board gets very busy, but that’s true of real Magic as well. Overall, this stream elicited more positive reactions from the community than earlier ones, so it looks like Wizards is on the right track. What do you think about the game so far?