Ex-Blizzard and Gazillion devs are making a Hearthstone competitor

Mythgard is a collectible card game from Rhino Games, a studio made up of former Blizzard and Gazillion developers. It’s set in a world reminiscent of Shadowrun, where magic and mythical beings rub shoulders with ordinary folks living in modern cities. It’s got a punky, urban fantasy vibe with card battles that are meant to combine the pace of Hearthstone with the tactical complexity of Magic.

The recently killed-off Android: Netrunner is the only CCG I really care about, if I’m honest, but the card art alone has convinced me that I should probably play a few rounds of Mythgard, at the very least. There are no limitations like classes or factions, so you can build your deck however you want, including just picking the flashiest pictures. It’s a strategy that has never let me down before.

Accompanying the scraps between players will be a singleplayer story campaign. Rhino’s not spilling the beans yet, but it sounds like the campaign will serve as a tutorial, helping players build their skills and decks before they start giving actual humans paper cuts.

A closed beta and an early access phase are coming in early 2019; you’ll be able to download it from Steam, but there’s going to be browser and mobile versions available, too. During the beta, you’ll get to play the single-player story campaign, fight in 1v1 and 2v2 multiplayer, duke it out in ranked and casual PvP and collect more than 300 unique cards.

The closed beta kicks off on January 2019.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.