Though I’m not a Magic: The Gathering player, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 appears to be a perfectly sound way to play the popular collectible card game. My brief time with Duels 2012 has given me a greater appreciation for the latest annual Magic: The Gathering video game adaptation, which is something we may have to thank new developer on the Magic scene for. Stainless Games have left all the magic intact and added challenges, a new mode called Planechase to replace a not-so-good mode from 2012 as well as all of the new decks from Wizard of the Coast’s upcoming fresh Magic: The Gathering 2013 release. If, like me, you’re completely new to Magic: The Gathering or fancy a refresher, each game starts with the player selecting one of several customisable decks that consist of spells, creatures and lands. Land cards are what power all spells and creatures which allow you to whittle down your opponents life meter, with each type of spell or creature card requiring a certain number of land cards available to play. Creatures are used for inflicting damage on your opponent with some offering special abilities like the ability to sacrifice itself for player hit points, and spell cards affect the game by buffing your own creatures or letting you draw and shuffle your deck. Both basic and advanced rules are easy to learn thanks to an effective tutorial and frequent pop-ups through future games teaching you everything you need to know until you decide you’re big enough to disable such help. But of course, there is no better tutorial than playing the game and seeing as many scenarios and cards as possible through playing the game. The campaign does a good job of showing off the different decks available to you and often gave me an idea of how to use certain cards before I had even earned them. What better way to unlock a deck than to defeat the opponent using it against you? Whilst the campaign doesn’t have anything other than a series of battles to win and cards to unlock, the meat of the game really is the amount of customisation you can have with your decks using the Deck Manager and learning how best to utilise certain cards in the heat of card-based battle. Another interesting way to hone your Duels 2013 skills can be found in the challenge mode in which you’ll be put against a specific scenario in which each of your opponents turns plays out the same way each time you attempt the challenge. The word ‘challenge’ isn’t used lightly here, as some of the trials are real head-scratchers – though regardless of how much skill the game may require there’s a huge element of luck to take into account as well, as drawing from your deck cannot be controlled unless you have a particularly useful spell card or two that lets you do just that. There’s great fun – and crippling defeat – to be found when you formulate your own little strategies with…
