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Eternal is a free to play collectable card with a unique lore, thriving community, and compelling gameplay. It shares elements of Magic: the Gathering and Hearthstone, which I will reference throughout the review. I also included some new player tips at the end. Overall I encourage you to try Eternal, it has brought me so much joy over the years.

Pros:

-Balanced. Overpowered cards are nerfed and underpowered cards are buffed. If your favorite card gets nerfed, you get an opportunity to convert it to full Shiftstone value (the game’s version of Wildcards for MTGA or Dust in Hearthstone) if recently crafted.
-New player friendly. Tutorials are great and it’s easy to learn, but difficult to master. The community is supportive and abundant. Generous free to play structure with daily booster pack reward, monthly leagues offering more packs, and single player content that is fun, affordable and lucrative. Watch streamers on Twitch with your account linked for more free content. The developers are very responsive if you encounter any issue.
-Gameplay. You interact with your opponent on their turn and yours, offering lots of interesting decision making. I experience less one-sided games in Eternal than I see in other games. I’ve been playing for years and still find it exciting and interesting.
-Design. Cards offer interesting interactions and limitless deck building possibilities. Most cards can have a meaningful role in a situation or deck, so when you open a pack you get very few “throw away cards”.
-Mulligan and Power systems. Every game starts with a full hand, and you get a chance to draw a new hand if desired. The second hand is guaranteed to have 2 - 4 power cards (the game’s version of MTG’s lands or Hearthstone’s mana). You then can draw one more hand with one less card. This creates less games where you are flooded or deprived of the game’s resources, which I believe is the most frustrating part of CCG’s.

Cons:

-We’re on our 12th set. Not a con per se, but new players might feel intimidated or pressured to collect all 12. Overcome this pressure by starting with the Expedition format, which does not include all of the sets. This is similar to playing the Standard format in Magic: the Gathering by not including all 100+ sets throughout time.
-There are some random elements to the game. For example, some creatures are balanced to enter the battlefield with a random weapon or ability. Some players do not like RNG, but I assure you this is less onerous than most games I’ve seen recently.

New Player Tips:

-Do not spend gold on packs. Instead invest in monthly leagues (try to ever miss these) and Forge (single-player content). The return on investment is really high and will help boost your collection.
-Try to get your daily win every day in Throne or Expedition. Your first win rewards a free pack. Start with Expedition ranked. You’ll get a free pack, play others with similar collections and skill sets, and get rewards at the beginning of every month.
-Review the campaign rewards carefully and save up for the cards you really want. The rewards are transparently shown, so you always know what you’re buying.
-Link your Twitch account and watch streams. Lots of free packs and cards given.
-Sometimes you will open Premium cards in booster packs. These are the MTG equivalent of foils or Hearthstone’s golden cards. These can be destroyed for full Shiftstone value, meaning you can create any rare from a Premium rare. Players who do not care about cosmetics (like myself) can destroy these to quickly generate Shiftstone and build whatever decks you want.

Eternal is a free to play collectable card with a unique lore, thriving community, and compelling gameplay. It shares elements of Magic: the Gathering and Hearthstone, which I will reference throughout the review. I also included some new player tips at the end. Overall I encourage you to try Eternal, it has brought me so much joy over the years. Pros: -Balanced. Overpowered cards are nerfed and underpowered cards are buffed. If your favorite card gets nerfed, you get an opportunity to convert it to full Shiftstone value (the game’s version of Wildcards for MTGA or Dust in Hearthstone) if recently crafted. -New player friendly. Tutorials are great and it’s easy to learn, but difficult to master. The community is supportive and abundant. Generous free to play structure with daily booster pack reward, monthly leagues offering more packs, and single player content that is fun, affordable and lucrative. Watch streamers on Twitch with your account linked for more free content. The developers are very responsive if you encounter any issue. -Gameplay. You interact with your opponent on their turn and yours, offering lots of interesting decision making. I experience less one-sided games in Eternal than I see in other games. I’ve been playing for years and still find it exciting and interesting. -Design. Cards offer interesting interactions and limitless deck building possibilities. Most cards can have a meaningful role in a situation or deck, so when you open a pack you get very few “throw away cards”. -Mulligan and Power systems. Every game starts with a full hand, and you get a chance to draw a new hand if desired. The second hand is guaranteed to have 2 - 4 power cards (the game’s version of MTG’s lands or Hearthstone’s mana). You then can draw one more hand with one less card. This creates less games where you are flooded or deprived of the game’s resources, which I believe is the most frustrating part of CCG’s. Cons: -We’re on our 12th set. Not a con per se, but new players might feel intimidated or pressured to collect all 12. Overcome this pressure by starting with the Expedition format, which does not include all of the sets. This is similar to playing the Standard format in Magic: the Gathering by not including all 100+ sets throughout time. -There are some random elements to the game. For example, some creatures are balanced to enter the battlefield with a random weapon or ability. Some players do not like RNG, but I assure you this is less onerous than most games I’ve seen recently. New Player Tips: -Do not spend gold on packs. Instead invest in monthly leagues (try to ever miss these) and Forge (single-player content). The return on investment is really high and will help boost your collection. -Try to get your daily win every day in Throne or Expedition. Your first win rewards a free pack. Start with Expedition ranked. You’ll get a free pack, play others with similar collections and skill sets, and get rewards at the beginning of every month. -Review the campaign rewards carefully and save up for the cards you really want. The rewards are transparently shown, so you always know what you’re buying. -Link your Twitch account and watch streams. Lots of free packs and cards given. -Sometimes you will open Premium cards in booster packs. These are the MTG equivalent of foils or Hearthstone’s golden cards. These can be destroyed for full Shiftstone value, meaning you can create any rare from a Premium rare. Players who do not care about cosmetics (like myself) can destroy these to quickly generate Shiftstone and build whatever decks you want.