head to head
vs
Magic: The Gathering - BattlegroundsvsTotal War: Rome II
Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Total War: Rome II leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Magic: The Gathering - BattlegroundsTotal War: Rome II
Axis by axis
Execution5 vs 5
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads4 vs 3
Magic: The Gathering - Battlegrounds leans harder on reads: Human duelists feint summons and bait counterspells
Variance3 vs 4
Total War: Rome II leans harder on variance: Random political events and dynastic loyalty shifts add campaign variance
Optimization6 vs 8
Total War: Rome II leans harder on optimization: Senate favor management and province chains form a solvable campaign system
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.