According to the official blog entry: ”We will start by sending out quite a modest number of codes. However, as time progresses, we will send out more. So if you do not get one, don’t lose hope!” The blog then went on to state, ”The code for alpha access will be distributed by e-mail and the recipients will be selected at random from the list of people that signed up for it. We are currently not looking to add more people to this list, so if you are not on it, you will have to wait until the open beta, i’m afraid.”
The alpha will involve deck building, single and multi-player.
The players will get a preconstructied deck to start off with, but Mojang encourages players to construct their own deck with the Deck Builder. The alpha will give the player three of every single scrolls available, and decks can be up to 40 scrolls with no more than 3 of a single type of scroll.
Single player will feature three difficulty settings which are determined by the types of decks the player will face from the AI. Unfortunately, single player won’t involve any of the campaign nor any of the bosses in the game; it’ll just be combat against a single AI opponent. Multiplayer will take place in the Arena, where gamers can either have random matchmaking or choose opponents. That mode will have a 90 second timer to make moves.
Mojang admits that the game has many missing features, but that the content will be added as time goes on.