Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest guide - How to build a strong deck

Magic: The Gathering - Puzzle Quest is a pretty intense match three card game that just launched on iOS and Android.

There’s plenty for you to learn and only a brief tutorial to ease you in so, to help you out, we’ve rounded up some tips and tricks to help get you started, and so you won’t feel too out of your depth early on.

The grind

Log in every day - even if you don’t have time to play - as you’ll gain useful bonuses like mana crystals and, after 5 days, a free 5 card booster pack. The rewards only get better over the space of a month and those crystals will go a long way to boosting your team’s capabilities.

Fight - even if you know you’re going to lose. You still gain 50 runes if that happens and with 225 runes buying you a 3 card booster pack, it doesn’t take long to gain something from losing. Suck up your pride for a minute or two!

The heat of battle

Plan each of your moves. Like any match three game, if you manage to place a gem in just the right place, you can set off a massive combo which your enemy won't even see coming.

Don’t neglect your deck. I know it’s easy to treat this like a regular match three game, but the order of your cards is incredibly important. Make sure the top card is the one you actually want to charge.

Don’t be afraid to mix up that strategy either. You might need to change things around every turn, if you’re up against a particularly difficult foe.

Use a mixture of card types and remember how they react. For example, attackers focus on attacking, while Berzerkers go for your enemy’s cards. A good mix is the best idea here.

Focus on the extra objectives within story mode, as they’re usually pretty straight forward like winning within a certain number of moves or taking minimal damage, and you gain mana crystals for completing them.

Move gems around to keep your support cards safe and keep their element separated and mixed up, so your enemy can’t easily string together a few moves and knock them out.

Don’t worry about the planes walker gems early on. Stick with the regular elements for maximum damage, until your planes walker is a bit tougher.

What deck do you find works best for you? Got any tips or advice? Let us know in the comments!