1. ShivanDarkeyes

   9

   MtG- Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 has several improved features from previous years while retaining the charm and elegance of the core product. Duels is an excellent game to introduce new players to the world of Magic the Gathering. It slowly, but enjoyably teaches players the core concepts of the game. Learning Magic can be a daunting experience because of the depth and breadth of the rules but Duels 2013 makes the process simple by introducing concepts one at a time. Duels 2013 also does an excellent job of showing different strategies players can use when building decks. Every player should be able to find a deck that suits his or her individual play style. There are controlling decks and aggressive decks. There are mill-based decks and burn based decks. Creatures decks and removal decks. One problem with the game is that it lacks full customization options for its decks. Players can substitute a few cards, but experienced Magic players that want a digital version of the game will want more options than what Duels 2013 will provide. Especially after the Campaign mode is completed the game could have more repeatability if players could have more options for constructing decks of their own for multiplayer.
   
   The puzzles are much more difficult than last year but still easy enough to finish without using spoilers. The multiplayer section of the game offers the brand new "Planechase" that mirrors the non-digital release of the product and offers a high variance, but very fun alternative to two-headed giant and free-for-all play. Ultimately, just the campaign mode will give hours of fun for the low price of $10.
   
   The biggest problem with the game is the instability of the multiplayer games. They are difficult to get started and have a lot of connection problems causing players to drop frequently. Ultimately, even with these flaws this is an easy buy. The game should provide significant value to new and old magic players and is a steal at $10.… Expand

   • Helpful? 4 of 7 users said Yes.
2. Argusdubbs

   8

   2013 is a definite improvement over the 2012 version. The decks seem more themed and certainly the synergy between the cards within each deck is greatly improved which I believe makes them more enjoyable to play. The added card options (40 unlockables this year compared to 20 in 2012) really gives you a chance to build your deck a couple different ways. Finally, the balance between decks is much better as well. In 2012 there were certain decks that were very difficult to win with consistently but in 2013 the margin between decks has been narrowed.
   
   There are still some drawbacks- land distributions is still not manually adjustable which can be frustrating when you have so many other ways to fine tune your decks. Additionally the 'card shuffling' is a bit sub-par, leading many times to either not having enough land or having too much in any given hand; however these are not game breaking defects. Finally, the multiplayer connectivity, while improved from 2012, is still lacking in that there are many times when you find yourself unable to connect to your opponents. However, the mid-game crashes that plagued 2012 seem to have been cleaned up and I have only encountered one or two game crashes in over 250 online matches. Finally, I wish to note that many people mark this game down for not allowing full deck building options and I don't think that is fair. This game does not advertise that feature nor would it make sense for it to do so. Magic the Gathering: Online provides that service and charges large sums of money in return. On the other hand, for the $9.99 charge that this game incurs you get 10 decks each in excess of 100 cards, the price to replicate on Magic Online or with physical magic cards would be well over $1000. The game does well what it sets out to do - provide gateway into the world of Magic the Gathering, allowing the player to experience a number of different deck types, colors and themes without the prohibitive cost that acquiring those cards in Magic Online or paper magic would entail. Finally it gives what many magic players really need - an active online community to go head to head against.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.
3. Barto

   7

   For those who never played the previous editions: Duels of Planeswalkers does not allow you to build your own deck. It has a number of predefined decks with 60 card plus 30 more that are unlockable in-game by winning matches or by purchasing deck unlocks.
   
   That said, this quite a nice game to play solo or with a friend. The available decks contains some pretty crappy cards. This is very annoying at first - even after unlocking some nice cards you're still stuck with them. However, after playing a while, I find it interesting to beat more powerful opponents with cards you would never put in your deck.
   
   The interface is great and the game flows nicely. Everything is quite self-explanatory and you can easily pause the game the read cards you don't know. This makes this game perfect for beginners, but you can turn off all the tips if you already know the game. It also contains some challenges to make the you more familiar with common strategies - also great for the inexperienced, but reasonably easy for long time players.
   
   There seem to be some problems with multiplayer, although I never had any while playing with my friends. However, I've had a number of crashes while playing Planechase, which is **very** annoying, because they tend to be long games.
   
   I don't think this game will ever have custom deck building like so many people have been asking. Wizards of the Coast wants to sell cards. They already have an online Magic game that requires you to buy boosters, decks, etc (MTGO). Allowing custom builds will threaten to cannibalize their own product.
   
   Bottom line, this is a very nice casual game and definitely worth the price. If you are a MTG beginner (even if you never played it before) or just would like to play a match when there is no one around to play with, this is an excellent game. If you are looking for the full MTG experience and can't get over the fact that you won't be building your own deck, this is probably not your game.… Expand

   • Helpful? 8 of 8 users said Yes.
4. RabidWalrus

   0

   This game offers extremely little deck customization, far off from the card game I grew up with or even the game released in 1997 by Microprose. You would think that a game released over a decade later would have many new and improved features such as multiplayer, right?
   
   Wrong, the multiplayer in Magic 2013 is buggy as all hell. Even getting a couple friends into the same game is fraught with errors and game crashing. When everyone does make it into the game many animations in-game take forever to resolve, drawing the game out far more than is required. Even when you get partway into the game about one in every four games results in freezing where the game will progress no further. Everyone is still connected and present in the room as they can still discuss how much a turd this game is as they bash their heads onto their desks repeatedly.
   
   I will not be purchasing the next year of this title and if I were Hasbro, I would seriously consider dropping Stainless Games as they have definitely left a stain on what was once an amazing game.… Expand

   • Helpful? 2 of 2 users said Yes.

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