MTG 2014 Duels of the Planewalkers - First Impressions and Review

I've always enjoyed the limited experienced granted by the Duels of the Planewalkers (DotP) series. While I was disappointed that the first game severely limited your deckbuilding options, I've since grown to appreciate that you don't need to worry about building from a plethora of cards, keeping the game balanced, fun, and flavorful. With each release they've slowly improved the game, adding multiplayer, fun challenge modes, and unique experiences like Planechase mode.

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 released on the app store  and Steam today. and I've been killing my way through opponents. Rather than do a Rest Time Review (because it's the perfect game for limited playtime), I instead thought I'd give you guys my first impressions of how the game has changed, as well as try to explain it to those of you who've never had the pleasure of playing a DotP game.

The mobile version of the game is Freemium, meaning you get to play a limited version free with the option of buying the full game outright. This is a great model for a game like this because it lets you get you feet wet and see if you'll like it, or give you a sneak peek at the decks to see if there's anything that will reel you in. The Steam version is $10 outright, which is the cost of about 3 packs of cards. This is still a bargain for such a deep game, and many Magic fans will boot up the game and buy it right away anyway.

You start the game with a green aggro deck. It plays well enough out of the gate, letting you use Primeval Bounty in the late game to devastating effect. The mana curve is pretty heavy on the back end, meaning you'd better mulligan until you have a hand with at least 3 or 4 lands. I'm glad they gave me an aggro deck to start with because it's easiest to play against any AI opponent. Compare that to DotP 2013's burn starter deck that was a dud even with most of the cards unlocked.

The theme decks are something they've always struggled to do right. Some are amazing, and some just flail about incompetently against most other decks in the game. While I can't speak much on how everything handles, it does seem like my and my opponents' decks have much smoother draws and synergy.

The campaign mode, for as barebones as it is, has undergone some changes. There's an actual story now, complete with voice acting and some actual cutscenes with moving characters. It also seems like decks are unlocked much more slowly, making you battle some underlings before you can duel a Planewalker and collect that deck. Challenges have also been moved to their own area, no longer littering my dueling screen with their nonsense. Not that I hate the DotP challenges, but if I wanted to do challenges I have to go through campaign menus, and if I wanted to do normal dueling I had to skip over challenges. So hooray for cleaned up real estate!

Two new additions (or at least additions I've never noticed) are Sealed Play and Custom Game. Custom Game allows you to play Free for All and Two Headed Giant against AI opponents, letting you better prepare for Free for All online, or just kick back and relax to some new game modes. Sealed Play is definitely new, and can be played solo or online.

Sealed play is exactly what you'd expect. You crack open your booster packs, build a deck, and duel against your opponents. If you win you get another pack to further improve your deck (not sure if that's how Sealed works). It also has a built in AI tool that gives you some feedback on your deck with a Deck Strength bar, mana curve, and how many of each color you have.

There are also some tools that let you complete your deck without actually trying, including a land-balancing option and a "finish my deck" button. While great, I would encourage anyone new to sealed to either

• Fail first so you can see what does and doesn't work, then use the tool to help point out your weaknesses
• Build as far as you can go, then use the tool to finish your deck. Pay special attention to cards they added (which are based on your prevoius selections) and the different amounts of land they add.

Not being a Sealed player I'm not sure how powerful their decks are, nor whether their Deck Strength meter is accurate. It tells me I'm average, so that's good enough I guess. Overall this is a great intro to the format and lets you learn from your mistakes without the heavy price tag attached to playing in a real Sealed format.

While I love the regular DotP and the various themed decks it offers (now with 100% more Slivers!), I think Sealed may be the most exciting part of this game. It lets you genuinely build a deck, test it out, and feel like you're really playing Magic.

Overall I think this is another quality game in a long line of great games. It's more of the same, as Magic always is, but it also gives enough new features and theme decks to make it a worthwhile addition to your library. Of course the AI still cheats a bit, but that's gaming for you. Pick it up on the app store if you're not sure, but after a bit of playing through the tutorial it will be hard to resist the lure of Magic.


See you tomorrow!

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