• 360

by JeromeChance on 09.16.09

Magic the Gathering is one of my favorite games of all time. It's one of those games that require it's players to stay sharp, pay attention, and use their brains from beginning to end. It requires intelligence. I have been playing off and on since the first set came out back in the early nineties. The main reason I didn't keep up with it consistently is because, if you want to keep up and stay competitive, you will spend a small fortune buying cards and booster packs. I wont lie to you folks, I have spent over $100 putting together a tournament worthy deck....and thats nowhere near what some have spent. The other reason I didn't keep up with it was because it wasn't always easy to get to places where you could play.

Imagine my joy when Wizards of the Coast announced that they were coming out with a PC version of the game that, for all intents and purposes, was an exact replica of the tabletop game. It completely negated the need to find a place to play. I could just play from home, for free, whenever I wanted. The only drawback with this version, however, was that, yes, it still requires money, and lots of it, to stay competitive. You still have to buy cards and booster packs to even think about winning a match. You can play "casuals" or beginner matches but I thrive on competition so, NO! For a while I was spending small fortunes on my habit because of how easy it was to just jump into the game or their website and use your credit card or paypal account to blow your loot. Yes folks, I was addicted to Magic. I had to step away for a while. Fortunately (relatively speaking) getting activated by the Marine Corps helped adjust my priorities. I stopped playing for a good 3 years.

Then I heard the announcement for Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers.

From the pictures I was able to see at first I could tell it was going to be a beautiful game. I wasn't sure how it would play. Fortunately I went to PAX in 2008 and got to get my first hands on experience. I was sold instantly. It was different than the PC version in that it was not as customizable but it was FUN! I got home and immediately fired up my old PC account to start playing. I played for a week before the urges to spend money on more cards got to be overwhelming.....so I stopped (pat me on the back). I didn't play again until Duels of the Planeswalkers came out this past spring.

I was hooked again....but it was free!

Yes, Duels of the Planeswalkers is like Magic Lite or MTG for Dummies? You don't have to worry about setting up interrupts between phases as you do in the PC game, you can just press the "x" button. During play, playable cards are highlighted at every phase so learning the basics is straightforward. There are mandatory "wait" periods between phases, which kind of slows the game a bit, but it is welcome in the sense that it is harder to make dummy mistakes because of the slower pace.

The main drawback regarding DotP is the same thing that makes it more accessible to the masses....and safe for addicts: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SPEND MONEY ON CARDS!!! All of the decks you use in the game are pre-made. You unlock additional cards by beating the NPC characters through the campaign mode. So in essence, the fact that you can play online and you don't have to spend extra loot to support your game makes DotP arguably BETTER than the PC version. That AND the fact that there is a mentor mode that allows people to mentor new players give DotP a new dimension that surely kept more casual players away. Hopefully any DLC will be free....but we will see.

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