MTG Arena of the Planeswalkers Review

I received a copy of the Magic the Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers board game the other day.  I have seen a lot of posts on forums suggesting that now it is reduced (sometimes as low as $5 in the US) that it is worth getting just for the miniatures.
I found a copy for £9.99, which worked out at less than 30p a mini, and the photos suggested that several of them might work well for the current D&D campaign.
Here is my personal opinion of the game's contents, I'll leave it up to you to decide if it's for you.

The box is well packed, with the now standard tray to hold the minis in.  Beneath it are the remainder of the components.

The bulk of the components resting on the six card pieces that make up the board.  These fit together well, but the image is sometimes a bit 'off'.  The water features don't always have proper coasts, though I suspect that with more care a better job can be done with this.  My first complaint (if I were looking atthis as a playable game) is that the reverse of the boards simply shows art work and descriptions of the five 'Planeswalker', the heroes of the game.  Yhis space could have been better used with more terrain.

The game features five Planeswalkers, interdimensional heroes who have nothing better to do than duel across a sandy plain.  Each has access to two squads of three creatures.  These are moulded in coloured plastic which I suspect matches something in the MtG card game.  The Planeswalkers themselves come in transparent plastic with a (crude) paint job.

Nissa Revane, Animist.  Nature guys, with Elf Rangers and Pummelroot Elementals.

Chandra Nalaar, Pyromancer.  Fiery dudes with Blazing Firecats and Flamewing Phoenixes.

Gideon Dura, Combat Mage.  Holy warriors with Kor Hookmasters and Rhox Veterans

Liliana Vess, Necromancer.  Undead with Restless Zombies and Blighted Reavers

Jace Beleren, Mindmage.  Tricksy images with Illusionary Projections and Leyline Phantoms.

So how useful are they?  Value wise they are good.  The five Planeswalkers can certainly be used in D&D and similar.  I'm sure that Frostgrave has a place for some of these as wizards.  They will definitely benefit from attention to the paint job, but the translucent plastic gives some nice effects, for instance Chandra has flames surrounding her fists.  Gideon is perhaps the  least interesting of these, armed apparently with a wet T-Towel.  I'll look at giving him one of the translucent weapons from Bones 3.

The squads are varied.  One nice thing about all of them is that each mini is an individual sculpt.  Great for tracking damage etc.  However, detail is variable.  On some, green and white especially, it is quite soft.  Others like the blue and red show better detailing.  It may be possible to correct this somewhat when painting.

The humanoid minis are the least interesting for me.  The undead are poor in detail; I have much better zombies, and the Reavers would be more useful if they were larger.  similarly the Hookmasters are uninspiring, though they might paint up well as Shadar-Kai (a D&D shadow race).  The Rhox are a fun idea, but perhaps a bit on the small size for a rhino-person?  I think they will find a place in Ghost Archipelago as a stand in for the elephant people in that game.

Similar comments apply to the elves and the elementals,  if the latter had been obviously large creatures they would be right at home in a D&D game.  

Nicest of the lot are the blue and red minis.  The Projections are supposed to be copies of Jace, so right away we have a Mirror Image spell.  There's something appealing about the four armed Phantoms, I know they will see action on the gaming grid. I'm also a sucker for translucent minis, though I have yet to master painting them properly.  If nothing else, this set gives me plenty to practice on.  The fire creatures make the set for me.  Who wouldn't like a large fiery cat?  Just don't let it jump up on your bed.

Finally an idea of the size of the minis, posing with a GW mini from one of my Frostgrave warbands (squares are 10mm on the background).

I should point out that I am looking at this from the point of view of using the minis in my various gaming projects rather than playing the game itself.   I haven't tried it, but I suspect the game plays rather well.  There is clearly a lot of strategic thinking involved in when to use spells, as well as luck with the dice and what spells you draw when.  It might be great for a light hearted break from normal gaming over the festive season.

For me the game is worth while as I can use many of the minis in D&D,m Frostgrave etc.  There are some I won't get much use out of, but I reckon more that half will see some action.  I'm not looking for any more sets (unless they are reduced even more, and already I can only find it for around £15 on Amazon now), but I would be interested in other sets in the series.  

This puts my totals for December in quite a hole.

Current totals for December

Bought 47 (Bear, dogs and wolves, Celtic cross and two piles of packages,  plus Planeswalker minis)
Painted 0
Sold/traded 0

I'd better get painting and/or stuff on eBay