Some nice changes that were needed such as the whole land tap choice, but overall the decks are totally boring with frustrating cards. The bugs that plagued 2012 that would ruin one in three games still seem to be there which gives the hint that they really didn't care. Not overly surprising though, video game franchises that are on a yearly release pattern are always half assed. Lack of deck customization is still a glaring flaw in 2013.… Expand

In fact, that there is still no real deck customization there was no reason to bring up another version of this game. I bought all the pre versions but this time there is no need of it.

DotPW offers some nice additions and enhancements. One addition I love are the "Encounters". Encounters happen as you progress through SP and offer a wide variety of challenges. In the first Encounter you find yourself against an AI opponent that puts up a flying 1/1 creature every turn. Easy at first but if you do not take him down quickly then in a few turns you may find yourself overwhelmed by the pesky little 1/1 flying creatures. In another Encounter, counters are placed on an opponents card and when the counters reach 100, you loose. The hard part it that gives you perhaps 10 turns to defeat him, and he places fog walls up that cannot be destroyed in combat, so you have to use a red deck to magic them, or have a ton of creatures to overwhelm your opponent. The new decks are varied and are the best decks to date in the MTG releases for the XBOX 360. Some great changes have been made to the starter green deck for example, making it much more versatile, where as before it was heavy on offense, weak against flyers... now it is a little stronger against flyers, and has a nice combat canceling ability among other new additions. The starter white deck was an early favorite of mine as well. It lets you put a lot of creatures on the table and you have many opportunities to exile opponents creatures. I have not beat the game, so there are aspects I am leaving out of this review... but I must say, so far MTG 2013 is the best in the series. If you likes the old games you will like the new MTG. Also you can pick how to spend your mana, great for multi mana decks.… Expand

A lot of people are griping about limited card selection and the absence of deck construction. Despite the lack of these, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is a solid MTG game. The DotP series focuses more on accessibility and ease of play than "hardcore" strategy. There are tens of thousands of Magic cards, which makes it quite an undertaking to build a deck from scratch. Besides, DotP 2013 uses the new 2013 Core set. In case you didn't know, the Core set cards are chosen because they are the most interesting, fun to play, and provide ample strategy options. DotP is not trying to replace Magic Online; it is a different product. If you want to build your own deck with all the sets from Invasion onward, MO is the way to go, but it takes much longer to set up an account there. DotP 2013, as are its predecessors, is an actual Magic video game rather than a Magic network, as is MO. 2013 adds some new features: the Planechase format and the option to tap lands. Although it is eerily similar to last year's entry. However, if you missed any of the other games in the series, now is a great time to start playing. As long as these things are taken into consideration, newcomers and veterans alike should find Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 enjoyable.… Expand

There is still no deck customization. This alone changes the essence of what magic the gathering is, the possible strategies are just too limited without customization. Gameplay is predictable, not that that is unexpected. This doesn't hold a candle to magic the gathering online.

There is just so much to do in this game. Learning the different strategies for different decks, etcetera. It more than makes up for the lacklustre effort that was Magic The Gathering: 2012. This is such a good game.

I have to say after playing the last two year's Duels of the planeswalkers this was a must buy for me and i haven't been disappointed. The new mode Planechaser is very interesting indeed and a much needed change very frustrating at times but very fun at the same time. An example of this was the 1st game against the computer in the new mode where the computer got up to 181 and i only had 7 life left and the only reason I won was because my last computer opponent run out of card's, If you like magic the gathering and have played the last two game's i would recommend this aswell the deck's are fun to play with and like the last game they will probably make some DLC deck's aswell.… Expand

Okay so i spent a good chunk of my evening playing through and honestly its the best out of the 3. I gave it a 9 yet wanting to give it a 10. Reason for that was the lack of making your own deck and combining your own colors and what not. It would be nice if we could duplicate our physical decks so that we can get in some well worth practice. Im not too good at reviews but i hope this helped.

For anyone who has played the magic 2012 Xbox arcade game already, 2013 is going to be nothing more the more of the same. That said, MtG is still a really good game that combines both luck and strategy in a fun way.

About half of the 10 decks you can unlock are about the same as from 2012, but with some much appreciated changes, while the new decks are very fun to play as well. As there are 30 other cards that can be unlocked for each deck, Even two players playing the same deck can turn out with an almost completely different board.

The games modes are all the same as 2012, except they replaced the Archenemy game mode with Planechase. Multiplayer and deck constructions are all also the same. The lack of much new in the game modes is a little disappointing, as there are many other ways to play the original card game then is being offered here.

Overall, MtG 2013 does just as good of a job at importing the old trading card game for the digital market, but with little else new from 2012, there is little reason to get this if you already have either of the last two games.… Expand

I have played the last two years of magic on Xbox 360 and i have to say well done, But one thing I would like to see changed is the fact that you can not remove and add Mana ( land ) to your hand, you have the option to customize your deck but in no way if you have 40 cards in your hand should 25 of them be Mana it would be nice if you were able to customize how many mana you wanted to play with in your deck. Other then that great game and i will continue to purchase the games.… Expand

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

Tap your wallet, cast "weak iteration". I liked the last two offerings of the MTG series, and like the game in general. This year's offering is slowly turning this series into the Tiger Woods of arcade games. It takes out the content that was enjoyable in the previous offerings, adds new features that a boring/repetitve/broken and does nothing to address the failings of the previous iteration. Gone is most mutli-colored decks and artifact decks. They even have less decks available than in the previous game. The decks they do offer are fairly vanilla mono color decks (mostly) that harp on one trick and one trick only for making them usable. Dooming them against any deck that counters that trick. Plane chase is horrible. Repeat HORRIBLE. Even if you get your deck tuned up for playing well in this broken format, it still takes way to long to play a game. Every die roll, plane effect and plane change add tons of tedium to the game. Playing one duel for an hour just to have to play it again as the AI decides to join forces against you (which they almost ALWAYS do) is not frustrating, its broken. They never add a deck editor that is value adding, and they don't import decks from previous versions. You can't even tweak how many lands you get to put in your deck. Basically, each year this series takes a great concept and dumbs it down in hopes of suckering new players into buying real cards. If they wanted to truly showcase how good this game can be, they'd stop holding you back and let you experience the creativity and ingenuity that is the hallmark of this game. And they won't if we keep giving them money for brain-dead iterations. Vote with your wallet and abstain this year. Maybe they will hear us and make a better game next year.… Collapse

The only MTG available on console, so, if you like MTG, it's all you can get. It's not bad, but definitely leaves hard core players unsatisfied. The big issues, for me, are the controls, which could use some refining, automatic land quantity assigned (STILL!), lack of deck customization, and it still has a few glitches. With the deck customization, they still need more card choices for better customization, as even with the starting 10 decks most players end up with almost identical decks (everyone is playing the best choice with each color). So, I am not saying I need it to be like MTG on PC, but at least give us the entire core set of 2013 to make our decks from. Either way, if you want to play MTG on your 360 it is still decent, but still falls short of being great.… Expand

This game continues to be great fun. I enjoy all of the the play modes, but I spend most of my time playing online with 2 or 3 others. I'm curious to see how we acquire these "other" cards for our decks. I good it's not something unreasonable like going to FNM. What if you can't? Not everyone has the means or money to go play people with $150+ decks & take it all too seriously. I think that'd be terribly unfair simply due to the fact that this format is supposed to give everyone a more level playing field. The only reason I don't give this a 10 is that they STILL haven't fixed the timer issue. Someone can eat up or wipe out your time by pausing on their side AND WORST OF ALL they STILL haven't adjusted the timer for blocking! If someone comes at you with tons of attackers, you ALWAYS get screwed because the damn timer runs out!!! There needs to be some type if sliding scale for the blocking timer so you can make proper decisions much less have the time to physically make all the blocks!… Expand

I have been playing Magic the Gathering since '95. Since they have started putting the game on consoles I was kinda of hesitant on playing them since I still have the cards and play with my friends where I live. IOn my Xbox I saw a friend play this game and said that I got to try this. I did and I glad to get this. This game has a lot to do and playing against other people on Xbox Live is really cool. First, when buying this game they give you a code for you to print out on your computer to get a special promo pack. The promo pack consists of six cards: an alternate art Mythic Rare, an uncommon and the rest are commons. These are available at participating card shops and they do have an expiration date so when you get this game, get the promo pack ASAP. Anyway, this game consists of Single Player campaigns. Note, I typed campaigns. You have the Regular campaign where you face off in encounters and major characters and when you beat these characters you unlock decks. The Revenge campaign cuts out the encounters and you just face the major characters with their decks at their best. There is the Planechase campaign where you face off against the major characters in a free for all with a twist. The twist is that there are planechase cards which affect gameplay and there is a special die which has 2 symbols. What are these symbols? The pitchfork like symbol is the planechase symbol where you go to the next plane. The circle/infinity like symbol is the chaos symbol which activates the plane's ability. The last single player campaign is the Challenges where you are put in these losing scenarios and try to win in one move. Most of them are like that by the way. The Mutliplayer in this game has three modes and one of them is a new addition from the last game. There is head to head mode where you and an opponent face off till there is a winner. Two-Headed Giant is a two vs. two mode where your creatures can help block creatures attacking your teammate if he can't and your team's life total starts at 30. The new addition to the game is that there is a Planechase Multiplayer. With this addition, there can be a lot of insanity that can happen when playing with four players especially with the die. It can be very suspenseful. Now the only gripe I really have with this game is the F%$#^!@ timer. Last time I checked, there is no timer in a game of magic. Unless you are playing in a tournament, but this is not a tournament based game. So, I hope they remove it on the next game, but I highly doubt it. Other than that, this game is really good and I give this game a 8 out of 10. I will give you some warning though, if you have no idea what Magic the Gathering is then do not buy this movie. If you are a beginner, a newbie who needs a great a teaching tool or an avid Magic player, then buy this game.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Absolutely terrible. Honestly not trying to talk smack but IDK how anyone who played any of the older versions gave this a good review, my buddies are of the same opinion. If you have never played any of the older versions you might be ok with this one. I was so amped about 2013 b/c of how good 2012 was I didn't bother to read any of the reviews before purchasing (BIG MISTAKE) - not to mention there are very little players left on the older versions once the new ones come out. 2012 vastly superior (and without taking into account the glitches that plagued the first one, I even prefer original magic to this years edition). There are less decks - even with the remaining decks offered, everyone really sticks to about a core 4 decks, so everyone is playing the same decks in matches. There is a real lacking of strategic value left to playing these decks - it seems more like a matter of luck, hoping the other person doesn't stumble upon the major gimmicky card in their deck before you get yours. I don't want to go all day giving examples of the horribly gimmicky cards, but stuff like "make 6 copies of a creature already on the battlefield blah blah blah" the match is basically over for the most part when one of these insanely inane cards show up. Multi-colored decks not evident anymore. All the intriguing and diverse gaming methods from 2012 completely gone, very few of the older decks/cards that were popular and likeable were brought along for the ride. It seems like the creaters became addicted to the idea of making new cards/decks at whatever cost was necessary, whether it diminished overall game play or not. You don't have to make entirely new decks just for the sake of it - really obvious in their attempt to sell new decks rather than improving game play. Really the only thing it seems they improved upon was technical issues and the flow of gameplay (not having to press Y at every phase so it holds up the game, better able to view enchantments attached to creatures, etc.), but those were issues that they had largerly solved or improved upon in 2012 already. Lack of deck customization, gameplay and match execution very predictable, lot of repetition to each deck. Personally, I am a fan of the black deck - TERRIBLE now. If this is the path for improvement their planning on taking every year from now on, I am genuinely nervous about what 2014 might look like, bc it may result in me giving up on Magic on Xbox altogether. I went back to playing magic 2012 and started friending every person I saw on there to make sure I had players to face on a consistent basis. VERY big hassle, but thats how utterly disappointed I am and unsatisfied with Magic 2013 game play altogether.… Expand

Having played this for the first time in the 2012 version I was really excited to see this one released - never have I been so disappointed with a follow up! The new decks are too simple and even though they have 30 cards to unlock this is actually more of a hindrance than a help. Even the layout seems poorly designed, they have made some changes which are useful but general far less favourable than the 2012 version. Poor effort I'm afraid… Expand

The game is the best console version of MTG. They do need to make it just like the PC Version though or at least very similar. Online is a blast. each deck has 60-70 playable cards and then up to 30 land, I believe once each deck is totally unlocked(30 unlockable cards per deck) you have around 65-70 spells/cards plus the lands so if you are like me and run with only a 60 card deck(lands and spells combined) there is a lot of decision making to do with each deck and the more cards you unlock the more customization is brought into the fold. Only 3-4 decks are pegged to one strategy. I ranked an 8 because I wish the give us even more freedom to make decks because that would make online so much more fun… Expand

There is a lot of complaining by critics that MTG 2013 for Xbox should allow you to build your own decks. I disagree. My assumption (and who knows if this would actually happen) is that if MTG allowed deck building, people would just go on the internet, google "best MTG 2013 deck builds," and find the best of the best decks, the ones that are so good it's unfair. They'd find the best one-on-one, two-headed, free-for-all, and planeswalker decks, and then use those. Casual gamers (like myself) who would enjoy experimenting with different builds and strategies, would be stuck having our butts handed to us by the same decks, the same strategies, over and over and over again, by hardcore gamers. Plus you'd get the "noob" gamers, with little knowledge of magic, whose decks would be so bad they'd ruin the fun.

I'm sure most hardcore MTG fans would relish the opportunity to build and to fight against the best of the best, but wouldn't it get boring seeing the same decks taken from internet searches, and knowing that the guy/gal you're playing against may have no real interest or creativity in deck building - he's just running the same thing everyone else is?

Perhaps I've got this 100% wrong. I've never played MTG for PC, perhaps it allows you to deck build and it works perfectly. And I do realize that free and open deck-building might produce some really awesome decks, and learning new ideas from playing with other people could be really fun. I guess, thinking more from WotC's perspective, they'd alienate too many casual gamers with that much freedom. Maybe I'm wrong.… Expand