MTGE (Maybe The Greatest Engine)

Play now, in your browser :

▶ Play MTGE at mtgeserver.duckdns.org

Free, with no download and no account. It runs on a computer with a recent browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. For now the server needs an IPv6 connection, which most home connections have (check at test-ipv6.com). IPv4 will come soon with a server upgrade.

What is MTGE?

MTGE (Maybe The Greatest Engine) is a free, fan-made engine for Magic: The Gathering Limited duels: pick or build a 40-card deck and play it one-on-one against another player online. The name is a joke; the goals are serious. MTGE aims to stay small, fast and correct: every card follows the Comprehensive Rules, its Oracle text and Wizards' official rulings, and every card has its own tests.

Sets arrive one at a time. The first is The Hobbit (HOB), with all 188 non-basic cards playable.

Features

Play

• Play against the computer right in your browser against a simple bot

• One-on-one online duels in a lobby of five rooms: take a seat, wait for an opponent, and the game starts once both players click Ready.
• A fair clock: each decision has a short delay that grows with the turn and the size of your hand, then a five-minute time bank.
• A dropped connection is forgiven: come back within two minutes, even after reloading the page, and the game goes on where it was.
• No game hangs forever: a player who runs out of time, or does not come back, loses.

Decks

• About five hundred ready-made draft and sealed decks to pick from.
• Your own decks: paste an Arena decklist, or import a decklist or deck-builder file.

The table

• A clear board with the real card art, combat in lanes, attack and block lines, and arrows for targets.
• Rest the pointer on a card to zoom in, with reminders for its keywords.
• A clear prompt for every choice the rules ask for: targets, modes, X, colours, scry, the order of triggers, paying costs, crewing, dividing damage.
• A log of what happened, and a dice roll for who goes first.

Speed and comfort

• Smart auto-pass: choose the steps where you want to stop, pass the whole turn, or attack with everything in one key; switch to full control whenever you need it.
• Click or drag to play; every action has a key, and every key can be changed.
• Settings for the interface scale, the card sizes and reduced motion; the main menu can be held still.
• Light and quick: about 1 MB to load, nothing to install, always up to date.

Coming next

• A trained bot: a solid Limited bot first, then one trained with R-NaD, the method behind DeepNash, which reached expert level at Stratego.
• Draft in the game: draft your pool against bots or other players, then play the deck you built.
• More languages for the interface.
• More sets and formats, one at a time, each played by the rules.
• Phones and tablets, with a layout and controls made for touch.
• Player profile and statistics, connection through Discord account
• Access without IPv6.
• And steady improvements to speed, readability and comfort.

Status

MTGE is in early development. 

Drafting is coming. Real drafts with other players, and drafts against bots, are on the way.

Your games teach the bot. Online matches are recorded and used to train the base of an R-NaD bot through machine learning. It learns first by imitating how real players play, then improves by playing itself.

Feedback and bug reports are very welcome in the comments. Contact me if you want to be part of the development.

The Windows version, built with Unreal Engine, has been retired: the browser version replaces it. The first devlog explains why.

MTGE is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.