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Where the claim comes from
The superlative appears in “We Put Battles on MTG Arena: What Was That Like?”, published by Wizards of the Coast on May 29, 2023. The article, written by Ian Adams, explains how the team implemented the Battles card type in the MTG Arena digital client. Adams writes: “Magic is not just a complex game, it is the most complex game.” The source identifies him as the article’s author; it does not establish a more specific job title.
The context matters. The sentence is a corporate writer’s characterization made while describing a development project. It is not reported as the outcome of a study, and the article does not present a survey, a benchmark, or a list of competing games.
You can read the original at Wizards of the Coast’s article on Battles in MTG Arena.
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#1 Best Overall
- Includes a mix of AT LEAST 25 Rares/Uncommons which is half of the cards.
- Absolutely NO... Basic lands, Foreign, or silver/gold bordered cards.
- Some may contain Foils or Mythics but not all.
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- Mint/Excellent condition only.
What the examples in the article show
Adams supports the claim with specifics from the Battles implementation. These examples illustrate where Magic’s complexity lives, mainly in how rules and game objects interact and how those interactions appear on screen:
- Rules parsing. The client’s rules parser had to recognize the Battle card type, its related vocabulary, defense counters, and the concept of defeating a permanent.
- Attacking and blocking. The client had to handle attacks directed at a permanent, including a designated opponent blocking on its behalf.
- Targeting and damage. Battles can be targeted and damaged, which required new targeting behavior and distinctions in the rules.
- Battles that become creatures. Some interactions turn a Battle into a creature, which brings combat restrictions and transformation behavior into play.
- Multi-card and token interactions. The article describes an interaction involving Encroaching Mycosynth, The Blackstaff of Waterdeep, Arcane Adaptation, Moonmist, and token transformation rules.
- Presentation across zones. The team had to decide how Battles appear in hand, on the battlefield, on the stack, in deck-building, and in browser views. The article reports that the presentation changed after playtesting.
These are real examples of interacting systems, but they come from a single implementation project. They show that a feature can touch many rules at once. They do not measure the game as a whole.
Rank #2
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What “officially” does and does not establish
The word “officially” is accurate in a narrow sense: the claim was published by the company that makes the game. The table below separates what the source supports from what it does not.
| Question | What the source establishes |
|---|---|
| Did Wizards of the Coast publish the claim? | Yes, in an official article dated May 29, 2023. |
| Who wrote it? | Ian Adams, identified as the article’s author. |
| Was an independent body involved? | Not established. We found no award, certification, or independent ranking. |
| Was a comparison with other games made? | Not stated. The article names no other games as a basis for the claim. |
| Is “complexity” defined or measured? | Not stated. The article gives examples but no definition or scoring method. |
| Does the claim apply to the game today? | Not established. The article is from 2023 and describes one Arena project at that time. |
Why the claim is hard to test
A superlative about the whole of a game requires agreement on what “complex” means and a set of comparable games. Neither is provided. Any fair test would need to define the measure first. Plausible axes include:
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- Duplicate-free assortment of 25 random Rare cards.
- May contain Foils, Mythic Rares, or Planeswalkers.
- (No card pictured is guaranteed.)
- The number of rules and how often they interact.
- How much game state a player must track at once, such as hidden information, zones, and continuous effects.
- How often exceptions and special cases override general rules.
- How hard the rules are to implement correctly in software.
We did not locate ranked alternatives on any of these axes, so no comparison is offered here. The Adams article supports discussion of rules interactions and digital implementation. It does not score Magic against other games on any of them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Evidence limits to keep in mind
The source is a single official article from 2023. It accurately records what Wizards said at that time, and it is a fair basis for quoting the company. It is not evidence about current Arena features, and it does not describe the state of the game in 2026. If you cite the claim, attribute it to Wizards of the Coast and Adams, give the date, and describe it as the company’s own characterization.
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In short, Wizards of the Coast has called Magic the most complex game, and that statement is on the record. The claim has not been independently established.
For readers who want to explore the game’s rules themselves, the official Magic site and its Arena coverage remain the primary references for how the game works.
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