Game Review: Moba Duels

When I first started back in August I expected to be just learning and getting tips. However, I ended up being rated as the 7th best in the nation and 31st globally during the second season. As for the third season I placed lower on purpose, so that I can get the materials I needed to create this post. I've only played this game for about 2 months, and I'm dedicated to keep playing more. So I will throw out my own two cents give a view of the game and an overall rating. Welcome to Moba Duels.

Timing: When it Came Out, Where it is Now

The idea of having a card based Moba game came out in the middle of May (The idea may have came from the Moba game, Paragon. That's my opinion though). The idea was put into action on June 16 when they released the alpha version. Only those who found out about it got in exclusively. Next, the beta version followed on July 22. Still, not that many people showed up, but the game is basically getting where it needs to be. Moba Duels wasn’t officially released until August 2. When I first downloaded it the game had 20k downloads. Today, it’s over 100k.

Rules and Mechanics

Moba Duels win condition is like all the other moba games. The first person to fully destroy their opponent’s tower within the time limit wins the match. It is a best of one. In your deck you have 8 cards you can choose from. Below your deck is a card meter which accumulate points over time, 1 point every 2 seconds, and 1 point per second at the last available minute. Cards are played by spending those point. If you don’t have the points to play the card you’ll have to wait until you get enough. Strategy and timing is the key to winning the match.

Your characters do the battles for you. All you have to do is place them in a desirable spot where your character can survive the longest. For each enemy your character defeats you will get minion point which can be used to open treasure chest down the line. You can see how many points you have by looking by the game time. A longer game means more minion points added at the end of the game. Minions themselves spawn after 20 seconds at the beginning of the game, and they keep spawning at a 30 second interval. Use this timing to your advantage.

If your character happens to get defeated they’ll be return to the drawing pile where you’ll have to wait for 2 seconds. If multiple characters are defeated within a very short time then they will also go to the drawing pile in the order that they were defeated in with each card being at a 2 second cooldown before you can draw again. Be careful with how you use your cards.

Getting a win will earn you gold, trophy points, and possibly a chest which gives you rewards. Gold can be used to upgrade your cards. Trophy points is basically a ranking system that places you on the ladder with all Moba Duel users. Not all the time will you get a chest which I’ll explain later.

Getting a loss will give you no gold and chest, and you’ll lose some trophy points as well. Getting a draw will give no gold, no chest, and no changes with the trophy points. However, with the draw you will net more minion points than if you were to win or lose.

Where do you start?

When you begin the game 8 cards will already be in your deck; 5 champions, 2 minion cards, and a spell card. You’ll have to go through the training to be able to play with other people. The training tells you what to expect when playing the game. You won’t have much to start with. So you’re going to have to put in a lot of time in order to get to the top.

The Arena

If you include the training stage there are 11 arenas altogether. In each arena you can only unlock a specified card in that particular arena. When you start the game you will only have access to unlock 10 of the cards. 8 is already there made and ready for you. When you get done with training you will only have access to acquire up to 18 different types of cards. You have to win games in order to increase the different type of cards you can get. Right now, there are 52 cards that are in the game, and more cards will be added over time. Majority of the time you will be matched up with people that has the same amount of cards you can play with when you start. Don’t be afraid to try something new with your cards.

As an added bonus, if you make it to arena 5 they will automatically have you play on a 2 lane map to make it more challenging.

Main Menu

This is where majority of your actions will be at. You can check your profile to see your base stats for the game as well as your lifetime wins. The meter below you is your experience meter. It goes up by completing quest as well as upgrading cards. This is linked to your tower health. The higher the experience the more the tower can do for you. You can use your gold and diamonds to upgrade cards and buy some rewards. You can go into the arena menu in order to see the different arena classes as well as what cards are available for you to grab.

You have your 3 chests that you can open: the score chest, the victory chest, and the free chest. The free chest and the victory chest are pretty much self explanatory. The score chest can be open by accumulating minion points during your matches. The game is supplying you up to 10 chest that you can open besides the ones you receive by winning.

The scroll is there to check in with your login attendance. Every 7th day you login will net you a chest which you can open right then and there.

The TV is your replay menu. This is where you can check out your past matches with your opponent. This is where you will also be heading to in order to add new friends to play with and talk to.

The trophy is the ranking page. It’ll show you where you stack in your current region, your current arena, with your friends, and globally. There are month long seasons for the game which usually resets each month.

The ribbon is where all your achievements are at. This is also where you can collect gems and experience for completing them. Finally, the mail is there to check incoming messages and announcements.

Welcome to the card menu. Here is where you can view all the current cards you hold to the fullest detail. You have 3 types of card qualities: your common cards (blue), your epic cards (purple), and your legendary cards (yellow). Your legendary cards will always be the hardest to get out of them all. However, they will be most useful to you when they are played. You also have various card types: marksman, mage, tank, fighter, assassin, minion, and spell cards. Take your time to actually look at the cards. You may be able to chain some abilities together if you don’t have the current stats that you desire.

Your deck will determine how well you do in the match. If you can find a deck balance then you will do great majority of your time. I do have 2 advice. One, don’t put just high cost cards into your deck. You won’t be able to play many cards, and that will cost you the match. Second, don’t put just one type of card into your deck (all marksman, mage, tank, etc.). You will make yourself vulnerable for an easy wipeout. Pentakills and hexakills do exist in this game. That is the number one way to make the game harder for yourself.

Welcome to the friend page. This is where you can chat as well help out others and receiving the help. You can donate your own cards in exchange for gold. When you donated a certain amount of cards you can open a treasure chest. Be warned, you can only donate a certain amount of cards to the same person before the system stops you for the day. So be wise with it. You can also ask for cards, but you’re only allowed a limit of 3 request per day. Also, you can challenge your friends and help improve each other's strategies.

Here’s your shop menu. Browse around. There’s much to buy. If you need to grab extra cards for whatever reason you can go to the mysterious store to buy a certain card in exchange for gold. However, you’re better off asking your friends for the cards that you need. Also, you have your chest that you’ve acquired through winning matches. You can open them, but it requires a certain amount of time before you can collect the rewards. If you don’t want to wait you can spend gems to get them opened quicker. Be mindful of how many you have. If you already have your chest slots filled up when you play again you won’t be able to receive another chest when you win. You can use your diamonds to buy more gold and chest. You will be required to put actual money into the game if you want diamonds.

Overall Rating - 3.8/5 stars

I’m really into the game. I would recommend this to those that’s trying to coach a team in any moba game that’s out there. I would also recommend it to those that’s trying to learn about positioning in a team fight (although they’re probably better off learning in their current game -_-). It’s fast, and it takes less than 5 minutes to complete a match. The creators of the game is very interactive. They will take less than a day to address your concerns with the game itself.

I am concerned with a few things which could easily be fixed in the future. For one, experience is very hard to get. You’re only getting the true reward by winning. Getting a draw means nothing if you can’t get some type of reward besides the score points. There needs to be a way to earn experience a bit more easier. Next, the game does feel isolated to me. Not only do you have a very small character limit to work with when talking to people, but the chat in your games are seldomly used. People are focused on playing the game. There needs to be a global chat in order to easily talk to people from around the world. Next, you can create multiple accounts. Although this should be a good thing you have a very high chance for those that can “boost” their stats up. Also, you have those hidden secondary (smurfs) accounts. It makes the game a lot harder for those that uses only one account and for those that’s new coming into the game. The creators tried to resolve this by limiting the amount of cards that one person can donate and took away the ability to earn experience for donating cards. However, with the amount of accounts that can be created it’ll be hard to keep track of who’s boosting their main account. In the future I would like to see a crackdown on it. Finally, the game has been downloaded over 100k times. It has grown in the 2 months that I’ve played. Yet, they only have Facebook and Google as their base contacting website. I don’t oppose of it. Most people have either or these days. However, I would like for them to reach out to more people through other social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and possibly Instagram. It’ll attract more of the crowd.

That’s all I have. If you want to get in touch with the community go to facebook.com/mobaduels.
If I can I'll try to answer some questions if you have any. Be warned, I don't know everything since I haven't been in the alpha and beta versions of the game.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.