Revisiting the question I asked a while ago about which Hearthstone cards couldn't be done in Magic, turns out that
somebody re-did all Hearthstone cards as Magic cards. That demonstrates which mechanics can't carry over.
An interesting one is positioning.
For example, Defender of Argus. Magic doesn't have that concept.
I've come to appreciate the depth of positioning more since playing a lot of zoo. I argue that zoo must think the most about positioning of any constructed deck, for two reasons:
- It runs Dire Wolf Alpha and Defender of Argus, which both have usefulness that depends on your minion positioning.
- Zoo intends to enter topdeck mode quickly in order to play Soulfires and Doomguards without discarding cards, so you often can't plan your positioning based on what you have in hand.
As an example of a consideration for zoo positioning, you'll typically want to buff minions that are about to trade. That makes you want to clump your trade-friendly minions (such as Scarlet Crusader) together, as opposed to your more support-oriented minions (such as Knife Juggler).
Another example: if you have duplicate minions, you want to allow more possibilities for buffs. For instance, Crusader-Golem-Golem is arguably better positioning than Golem-Crusader-Golem, because in the former case you have the option of buffing either both Golems or the Crusader and a Golem, while in the latter case you can't choose to buff both Golems. On the other hand, if you play a Wolf and your Crusader has already lost its shield, then the latter positioning is better because you can trade off the Crusader and then the damage buff transfers to the Golem.