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Original Review (06-28-20) [New review below]:

Always wanted a Magic The Gathering manga but never imagined that would come to fruition, but it did, and it's better than anything I could have come up with.

Writing is excellent with it's set piece allowing for more creative freedom rather than many similar manga advertising the latest set for the card game, its 1998 setting allows for exploring original magic.

Definitely a great read for anyone who plays or played MTG, and for even people who haven't, it is a well done story. Art wise, the manga is beautiful, characters all look visually interesting and different from one another.

Deserves to ... be printed in English officially, and should really get an anime adaptation.

Addendum:

It's been one and a half years since I wrote this review and upon reviewing my words I feel I can better evaluate this manga with less bias. I'm not erasing the earlier segment cause I don't want to get rid of what I previously believed.

The writing is well done for the most part, moment to moment the words are well strung but the overarching plot is rather cliché. The dynamic of two leads being "secretly" in love with each other has been done and done better. However, I believe that it firstly, still writes the trope well, with the typical required suspension of some reality to enjoy and secondly that it's not the primary driving force of the series.

Which leads to the point of the fight scenes, which I have no idea why I did not cover originally. The fight scenes are gorgeous, the traced art gets a pass due to the context and anything original is inked immaculately. I think I double back on what I spoke of earlier upon the point that people who don't know the game can enjoy the manga, I think I find it a lot more difficult to make that assessment in hindsight.

I conclude that the series is still really enjoyable, I don't think it's a masterpiece of writing but I'm not changing my scores (besides upping art from 8 to 10) because I enjoy the cheesiness all the same. I would say however that it offers very little to those who aren't familiar with the game, the romcom moments will be all that's left for those foreign to the game. I'd say there is no harm reading through the first few half dozen chapters to see what it's like, for those in that camp.

Overall wholesome and no amount of being critical will remove all of my biases. This is just as much as I can.

P.S. If you don't like manga but are into Magic and find this. I doubt you'd enjoy it.

P.P.S. Would still like an official translation, here's to hoping.