So, after reading Syntax Error’s review when it came out, I’ve been putting some time into Magic Duels. Over 50 hours now, in fact, and still going strong. This is a pretty significant improvement over previous iterations of the franchise where I generally averaged about 16-20 hours each, which was the amount of time it took me to complete the solo content and get bored of card pool. The inclusion of a deck builder in this version is I think responsible for the majority of the added interest. I’ve spent a lot of time putting together decks, and although the card selection is weaker overall than in previous years, it’s still a solid set with a lot of variety and fun. From what I’ve seen there are probably 5-6 decks suitable for competitive solo laddering and a bunch more that are extremely viable against the computer or possibly in 2HG, which I haven’t tried. At this point I’ve probably built about 20-25 different decks and enjoyed them all.
I have no complaints about the FTP format. I myself got impatient and wanted to make more decks right away without having to wait so long to earn certain cards, so I bought in-game credit pretty early. However, the gold payout for grinding is quite reasonable, and since my initial purchase I generally limit myself to buying one booster a day for which I earn the gold through matches. If you read the forums there is the usual whining about PTW from noobs, but the consensus from more experienced players seems to be that you get a generous starting pool and there are more than enough strong commons to build viable competitive decks from the start. Also, unlocking new cards remains a big part of the fun, so it’s in all but the most competitive players’ interests to leave some work to do there, since new core cards aren’t coming till October.
(It’s worth noting that the difference between winning a match against the hard AI and a human opponent is only 5 gold, and since the computer is much easier, spends less time thinking, and allows you the flexibility to pause for life interruptions, this is generally a better way to go for grinding, especially if you don’t want to spend any money.)
Stainless Games’ previous products have lacked polish, and this is no exception: there are a number of annoying bugs that have been reported, of which I’ve run into a couple. The game has a bit of a feel of budget production, but not any more than in previous years. Connectivity issues were a big problem in the first few days, but I haven’t encountered them at all in a while now. All in all I have to say that although it isn’t for everybody I’ve really enjoyed my time with Duels, more than any previous year, and I’ll probably keep playing as the expansions come out.
(One last note: some people have complained about certain matches in the story campaign being inordinately/unfairly difficult. I think they would definitely seem that way for a newer player. I found them to be challenging but not impossibly frustrating; I did have to use some more advanced tricks that players new to the game are unlikely to be aware of.)
s sake.
