Magic: The Duels Formerly Known As Of The Planeswalkers

[Something Amyss]

I'm a little confused as to what it's actually called. My Steam Listing says Magic Duels, the window says Magic Origins, and I can't remember what the title screen says because my game's stuck trying to connect so I don't lose my progress.

Who's playing it? Thoughts on it? Early impressions? It's a t least free to play, so the entry barrier is low.

The game seems to run smoother on my PC than 2013 and 2014 did, though it also crashes more. The biggest problems I've had are with crashes and the "connection lost" deal, whee your progress won't be saved. Awesome. I keep winning games, only to not have my progress recorded so I can't buy boosters to upgrade my decks.

I like that it has a "deck wizard," so if you're new to Magic, you can create a deck with little input. In fact, you can fill a deck out entirely that way, if you want. Awesome. I haven't actually built a Magic deck in I'm gonna say ten years, and I just wanted to jump in anyway, so I used the deck wizard. Probably a bad idea, since the game seems to be harder than previous Duels titles. Trying my decks out on easy, I was getting whooped because the AI seems to get better card draws than previous games.

Maybe this is just my perception, but it does seem to have less to do with the strength of my deck and more to do with the card draws they're getting. They seem to be getting better draws than the AI would get on medium in the prior games (forget which difficulty name meant what). I've fiddled with my deck, but I've either had bad luck of the draw or they've upped the difficulty. Combined with my wins not being recorded, I should have a stronger deck by about 2037

Oh, and 2HG is back, so that's a plus.

I don't know, my early impressions are that this could be a good game if they ever get the connection issues worked out. Those are frustrating enough that I haven't bothered exploring too deep.

What are your impressions?

 

[Elijin]

The game is called Magic Duels. The current Set is Origins. It will rotate in time, to stay on par with the current set releases.

Steam is....a disaster. The servers are down all the time. Its a joke. XB1, seems to have no server issues, iOS Im unsure about.

The full customisation is solid. The tutorials are the best they've been, the deck wizard is a good tool for newcomers, with still a full editor in place.

The story missions after the first handful are almost entirely luck based. The decks dont match up well, and you just need the best draws. As a result, some people are going around saying campaign is easy peasy, while others have tales of how stupid hard certain encounters are. This...isnt great. Just means campaign isnt about deck building skill, or game skill....its just a pure luck affair.

The grind is unpleasant. 5/10/15 gold per win against AI at various difficulties, 20 for winning against a matchmade opponent. Booster packs cost 150g. The cost of gold in real dollars is high.

2HG is back, but in a F2P grindfest like this, functionally useless. You cant gain anything in 2HG, its just there for show.

So if you're big on the 1v1 competitive scene, but dont want to drop money on magic all the time, its a great title. If you're here because you're a previous Duels customer, you may very well find the series has moved on without you.

 

[Something Amyss]

So if you're big on the 1v1 competitive scene, but dont want to drop money on magic all the time, its a great title. If you're here because you're a previous Duels customer, you may very well find the series has moved on without you.

Honestly, I mostly play the Duels games against the AI, because I can just sort of pick it up and play while I'm doing other things. Like I would be now if the game hadn't crashed again.

The people I'm most likely to play against are all on PS4, so I have to wait for the release there before I think of it. But I don't think I've even played a MP game in 2013. And I haven't really touched 2014 in ages.

I don't know. Playing with randoms always seemed to end in either me losing, or someone quitting just before I was going to win. I don't know if they ever fixed this, but this used to deny rewards and achievements in earlier games. Playing against an AI isn't the same, but at least the AI doesn't ragequit because you stole their key creature. At least my friends will hang in if they're losing, like I do. And the AI does, too. Until it crashes. Or the connection goes down. Or both.

So what happens when they phase out sets in the digital game? Have they announced? Are hey going to be like "Classic," where I lose access to Origins after two new "blocks" have come out? That seems like an awesome model for people looking for money but a terrible deal for the end user. That alone could put me off long-term play of this game.

 

[Rack]

The thing that struck me was how little it's improved vs the earlier versions. It plays a weird animation instead of showing you what card your opponent is casting. It pauses for a few seconds every time you can respond and there's no way to override that. It plays at a glacial pace and I just don't see Magic as a game that works under those conditions.

 

[Kotaro]

The last Duels game I liked was 2012, to be honest. I found 2013 and 2014 to be so underwhelming that I have no interest in the new one, though what people have been saying here... good information to know, I suppose.

 

[Elijin]

There arent concrete answers on that.

They have said cards wont be phased out, but lots of things they've said have proven to be untrue. Apparently the starting box will also change with the sets. How the cards will be picked up once new sets are live is pure speculation (Whether there will be differing booster types, for buying different sets).

The bad news for you, is that you get nothing by playing with friends. Well, thats not entirely true. You get nothing for a game you setup/invite people to. Only matchmaking nets you gold. And while initially, this seems like something that can be shrugged off as 'oh well, play for fun'....the grind is severe. Wont take most long to lose interest in anything which isnt earning gold*.




*Unless you pony up real money and buy your sets.

 

[NathLines]

The current Set is Origins. It will rotate in time, to stay on par with the current set releases.

Where have you heard that the sets will rotate? I'm very sure that Duels will just become its own eternal format. I can't fathom that people would pay money for packs with cards that rotate out. It's not comparable to paper magic where you can still use cards in eternal formats and casual play.

OT: I feel like the time leading up to the next set, Battle for Zendikar, is best viewed as an extended beta test. It's very buggy right now and the servers constantly go down, just as any good cynic would expect. Contrary to previous releases however, they'll have all the time in the world to actually fix their damn game since instead of making new Duels they're going to just update this one. So I feel that whether or not the game will be worth it is going to be decided when the next set comes out. If they can actually handle making huge updates every three months, it's going to be a great game.

Some other information: you need to open 80 packs to get all the cards. You get 3 packs and 5 packs worth of coins through the campaign. There are weekly and daily quests that reward you with gold. You have a 400 gold cap every day, excluding quests and campaigns. For someone like me who can't get enough of Magic, that barely even constitutes as a grind. And after you have all the cards, you can start saving up gold for the next set.

Also, you don't earn gold through 2HG. That sucks balls. And there's stuff like you not being able to hold priority on phases where you should be able to. More balls. Be sure to contribute to your community by nagging on the development team.

 

[Elijin]

The current Set is Origins. It will rotate in time, to stay on par with the current set releases.

Where have you heard that the sets will rotate? I'm very sure that Duels will just become its own eternal format. I can't fathom that people would pay money for packs with cards that rotate out. It's not comparable to paper magic where you can still use cards in eternal formats and casual play.

I was referring to Zachary's opening question about the name of the title. As in the name of the title will rotate to the latest set they add to the game. Reading comprehension > disproving people.

 

[Something Amyss]

The thing that struck me was how little it's improved vs the earlier versions. It plays a weird animation instead of showing you what card your opponent is casting. It pauses for a few seconds every time you can respond and there's no way to override that. It plays at a glacial pace and I just don't see Magic as a game that works under those conditions.

I don't know, the earlier Duels games always slowed to a crawl both on my PC and my Xbox. I would normally be able to play a game while waiting for turns to resolve.

And I was surprised that hold priority has been removed entirely. Before, you could choose whether a spell would pause.

The last Duels game I liked was 2012, to be honest. I found 2013 and 2014 to be so underwhelming that I have no interest in the new one, though what people have been saying here... good information to know, I suppose.

2013 was decent considering I got it for like five bucks. Only thing I miss is the lack of Archenemy. That mode was awesome.

The bad news for you, is that you get nothing by playing with friends.

Crap.

Also, you don't earn gold through 2HG. That sucks balls. And there's stuff like you not being able to hold priority on phases where you should be able to. More balls. Be sure to contribute to your community by nagging on the development team.

Also crap, but not quite as crap.

 

[ERaptor]

Honestly, go play one of the old ones and give this one a good ol' skip. I'd recommend 2013 myself, simply because it had the coolest Decks in my opinion. The series as a whole is pretty garbage as it is, but the new one goes full Free to play with microtransactions-retard.

A few things that suck about the Duels:

- The game INSISTS on these freaking phase timers. It makes the game really, really slow. I swear that more than half of the time spent in duel is just waiting for that little wheel to turn. It drives me crazy.

- Two headed Giant does not give Gold for purchases (I know it was said above, but I want to emphasize this). As someone who doesnt give a flying fridge about 1on1, where you will only Duel against people who bought all cards allready anyway, not being able to farm trough that mode is infuriating.

- As mentioned, if you're not dead set on investing a little or get lucky with Draws, be prepared to hate Battle Mode. I had to arrange my Decks with superglue and spit just to get them to work at least a little, and then you constantly duel against people who have access to some of the stronger cards and just wipe the floor with you. I had meager success with an Elf Deck, but mainly because most people tend to neglect Boardwipes.

Having Deckbuilding is fine, but if you dont have access to the same cards as everyone else (unless you lay down lots of money), battle mode is just the usual, pay2win garbage.


It's especially sad, because I think that it would be very simple to make a really good Magic - the Gathering game. Sell the game for a set price, and just take a couple Editions or Set's and put the into the game for people to play with. But no, we have to go with buying Boosters seperately, because HURR MONEY DURR.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Magic: Duels sort of defeats the purpose why I play actual Magic in the first time; having a good time with friends, dicking around with a silly card game. It's why I pretty much exclusively play Commander/EDH. For EDH Magic: Duels' deck building tool is pretty useless too as we play with all kinds of cards from all kinds sets/blocks.

So I ain't gonna bother with Magic: Duels, I'll just play with actual silly cards. Well, not so silly when you see my Bant-coloured Roon of the Hidden Realm deck. That shit has become vile over the last months, oh boy.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

So I've spent some time with Duels now and feel ready to offer my opinion on it. Short history: Never played any of the Magic computer games before, used to play a lot of Magic some ten years back but stopped when Kamigawa wound down. Recently decided to get back into it and have begun crafting an Origins deck, with the intention of fleshing it out once Battle for Zendikar releases. My primary reason for playing Duels is to get back in the "think" of Magic, try some decks and just enjoy Magic.

1. The limited amount of cards does not bother me right now. As a legacy player with a Survival of the Fittest [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=6150] deck, who used to play primarily against Blue and White/Black Control decks (counterspells and discard cards respectively) I like the fact that Duels currently focuses on just one set, with some legacy cards for the starter deck. If my guess that Zendikar will be included upon release is correct, that means we'll see more cards in a few months when the Origin meta starts to solidify, which should keep the game fresh.

2. I think the starter deck is fine as is. It lacks a bit in artifact destruction and board wipes, but the cards you get are good enough for basic play and with some tinkering you can get some decent synergy decks. Mind you, these ain't tournament winning decks or anything, but good enough that you can hold your own most of the time.

3. The grind is alright. 10 wins against Hard AI for a booster is manageable and means you can get a booster every other day or so if you only play a few hands. Compared to Hearthstone it is almost as if MD is giving away its boosters for free. It does take a long time to get enough Origin cards to do something decent with them, but since the starter deck is alright that doesn't really bother me.

4. The pricing is insane. 1.79 euro for 1 virtual booster of 6 cards versus 3 euro for 1 real booster of 15 cards, the latter which also occasionally includes cards that can be sold off for cash back (such as my friends foiled Liliana or my Survival of the Fittest). No way that I am paying more for virtual cards then the real deal.

In summary: As a diversion I think Magic Duels is pretty good, it satisfies my urge for Magic until I can get together with my friends to play more and the starter cards are good enough that I can experiment with some decks that I'd never try in real life for whatever reason. I'd certainly recommend it to people who wanted to try Magic but are reluctant to sit down and play with someone else's decks.

 

[Something Amyss]

Wow. I get the thing about the decks being poorly matched in story mode. I went from cake walking to stone walled.

I like the fact that Duels currently focuses on just one set, with some legacy cards for the starter deck.

It's not really so different from previous games in that sense, save that you have open deck building from a pool now. I think all of the prior games had cards from the past, but most certainly did. It's more like it's its own set, with its own ostensible balance.

Though considering the last set I played regularly was Visions, my experience with the sets is somewhat dated.

Holy crap. I just realised that it's been almost twenty years since I was a regular Magic player. I feel old.

 

[wings012]

I'm used to playing MTG using OCTGN, since my MTG mates are all overseas.

Going from every card in existence to just Magic Origins is a bit hard of a transition to make.

While we would like a game engine to handle nonsense stack interactions, especially for stuff like planeswalking(something we really enjoyed in Duels 2013)... the lack of cards is a big uggh.

And I found how the engine handles the phases to ruin the pace of the game and generally be too inflexible. End phase! Countdown for responses! My friend went to take a leak and failed to respond! Not sure if there's a way to turn it off...

Also no Commander. We tend to only play Commander these days, swapping back to Modern for when new sets come out.

The single player is paltry and fairly piss poor. Currently there's only Gideon's story but I'm not exactly interested in playing the rest if it's going to be ILLUSTRATION + ONE LINER leading into a really crappy 1v1 match. Not exactly experiencing the Unchartered Realms story here...

So yeah, the only reason I'd play a MTG videogame is if it handles all the nonsense stack interactions that inevitably happen, especially in Commander, with troll decks that just want to create a clusterfuck(hello Warp World, Thieve's Auction etc..). Duels doesn't even have those cards and modes that lead to the crazy stack interactions so currently it's a big nope for me.


I think it's probably a decent platform for people just getting into Magic, or getting back into Magic after a decade or something... but it's really too insubstantial for vets that want access to their collections.

Probably not going to consider Duels until enough cards come out that you can play at least a Standard format in it.

 

[zerragonoss]

4. The pricing is insane. 1.79 euro for 1 virtual booster of 6 cards versus 3 euro for 1 real booster of 15 cards, the latter which also occasionally includes cards that can be sold off for cash back (such as my friends foiled Liliana or my Survival of the Fittest). No way that I am paying more for virtual cards then the real deal.

That seemed high to me till I realized you either can?t or very very rarely get more copies of a card than you can put in a deck which means you are guaranteed progress towards a full set with every pack.

Overall I quite like it so far. it has some connection issues. I have not had any crashes or bugs but other people have so your experience may be hit or miss.

They need to sort out the no money for playing against friends or two head giant. They already give money for beating the ai so I doubt they are really losing much by letting you get a similar amount playing for fun. They also need to give better incentive to actually play against people, you get 15 gold for a win vs the AI, and 20 for a win against a person. However against people, unless you are literally the best, your win rate will approach 50% while against the AI with basically only the starter cards I am at 80%+ win rate unless I am doing something odd to complete a daily.

The single player is pretty short at this point and while it is little draw dependent you can still fight through them relatively easily if you figure out what is important in the match and mulligan aggressively. However if they release half this much content every three month in a year it will acutlly be a big draw of the game.

The card pool and rarity resections make for an interesting environment. For those who don?t know you can only have 1 of a mythic 2 of a rare 3 of an uncommon and 4 copies of a common in your deck. This combined with the smaller card pool both raises the variance as almost all good decks will have less copies of their best cards and more different cards, and lowers the power level. It actually ends up as somewhere between limited and constructed in terms of power level because of this which I quite like but you should know what you are getting into.

As someone who plays, watches, or reads about top tier completive magic something like 10 hours a week, I can definitely say it will never replace the more standard way of playing but as a fun and free to play more casual format its quite interesting and I am defiantly interested in how it develops.