Hacker News Reader

Also in MTG there's a lot of people who will happily play unrestricted games for fun. Unless you're after playing at tournaments you can ignore editions and new releases. (Or just pick what's interesting to you in them)

Hearthstone is digital. Biiiiiiiig difference.

Hearthstone should be compared with other computer games, not with MTG & co.

MTGO then?

I've played digital card games that sold digital card packs for real money like ten plus years ago. Decipher did the Star Trek CCG online the same way.

I always thought a much more modern scenario would've been if they put like a code or something on physical packs so you could buy them once and have the same cards in both digital and physical form.

The initial investment in MTG is higher, since you start with zero cards, but there is an independent market where you can purchase almost any card directly. I personally prefer this over the gambling and crafting mechanic in HS.