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divisionbyzorro · Jun 13, 2011

Introduction

Release Date: June 15, 2011
Price: $10, or 800 MSP

DLC 1: $5, or 400 MSP

Deck Packs 1, 2, and 3: $3 apiece, or 240 MSP

Website: http://www.wizards.com/magic/digital/duelsoftheplaneswalkers.aspx

What is "Duels of the Planeswalkers?"

Duels of the Planeswalkers is a special, truncated format of Magic: The Gathering. It follows the same rules, but features a number of pre-built decks with varying themes, designed to reduce the barrier to entry for new players. Deck building is present, but is limited to swapping cards in and out of decks from preset blocks.

What's New Since "DotP 2009?"

Entirely New Decks: While some of the themed decks from the previous game return (elves, vampires, dragons, etc), every deck has been completely overhauled to include cards from the Magic 2012 core set. And in general, these decks are more powerful and/or trickier than the noob-friendly decks from the first title. Expect to see a lot more powerful cards and new (to the video game) mechanics.

Archenemy Mode: A new cooperative mode where three allies (human or AI) team up against a single AI opponent with double the health and an additional "scheme" deck with free, powerful cards. Full preview here.

Deck Building: While you still cannot build decks completely from scratch, you now have the ability to remove cards from the base deck when you add unlocked cards. Land counts are still locked, and you can't mix cards from different decks together. It's a far from real deck building; however, the ability to cull the crap from your pile and keep the size manageable will be a huge boon to serious players, and provide a bit more uncertainty as to exactly what cards you can expect to face in online matches.

New Challenges/Single Player Campaign: Okay, so this isn't really any different than DotP 2009, but it's worth pointing out. The challenge/campaign format is virtually the same, but with new decks and cards to play with, you won't be bored with the single-player offerings.

What Decks Do I Get?

You can find the entire decklists here:
DotP 2012 Deck List

review on Examiner.com said:
Gideon Jura “Wielding Steel” – Gideon’s deck is a mono-white steel storm featuring fast, aggressive creatures backed up with dangerous equipment. Stoneforge Mystic, Sword of War and Peace, Baneslayer Angel, Argentum Armor, and Commander card Archangel of Strife are some iconic selections from this deck.

Garruk “Apex Predators” – A traditional mono-green “play a bunch of dangerous creatures and use Overrun” deck, Garruk’s DOTP 2012 package now has a Thrun, the Last Troll, Dungrove Elder, and multiple Overrun cards to help run over opponents.

Chandra “Unquenchable Fire” – Chandra returns with a mono-red burn deck, full of direct damage, Kiln Fiends, an Inferno Titan, Flameblast Dragon, and even a Wheel of Fortune to rekindle the flames of an empty hand.

Tezzeret “Machinations” – A white/blue/black mesh of metalcraft, featuring Steel Overseer inspired armies and a Darksteel Colossus.

Sorin Markov “Blood Hunger” – Sorin brings a mono-black vampire deck to the table once again, outfitted with some of the brand new M12 bloodthirst vampires, Vampire Nocturnus, Vampire Nighthawk, and plenty of removal.

Sarkhan “Dragons Roar” – Like dragons? Sarkhan’s black/red deck sports Volcanic Dragon, Rorix Bladewing, Hellkite Charger, dragon buffing spells and enchantments, goblins on the ground and fire in the sky.

Nissa “Guardians of the Wood” – A black/green tribal elf deck with all the trimmings, featuring Imperious Perfect, Heedless One, and Maelstrom Pulse.

Koth “Strength of Stone” – A mono-red Elemental path to victory, featuring Grim Lavamancer, Conquering Manticore, Magma Phoenix, Cerebral Eruption, and a variety of creatures born from earth and fire.

Jace “Realm of Illusion” – Mono-blue illusion tribal deck featuring the all new Lord of the Unreal and some downright scary ethereal creatures, backed up with Time Warp, Mind Control, Counterspell, and card draw. This is a serious, serious deck.

Kiora Atua “Ancient Depths” – Blue/Green ramp into some of Timmy’s favorite monstrosities. Unleash Eldrazi, Primeval Titan, and a variety of horrors from the briny deeps. Commander’s Edric, Spymaster of Trest also makes an appearance here.

Decks from the first DLC:

Lilana Vess "Grave Whispers" - Much like the counterpart from DotP 2009, this is a mono-black deck that thrives on death and destruction. Creatures grow with death, sorceries force your opponent to discard, and there are plenty of late game bombs to pound your enemies into submission.

Ajani Goldman "Auramancer" - This green/white deck isn't just about creatures, but about buffing those creatures with enchantments. By mixing and matching creatures to enchantments, you can build up your side to behave exactly how you want.

Ral Zarek "Cloudburst" - A bizarre red/blue rushdown deck that features plenty of powerful, cheap creatures with both haste and trample - and the condition that you sacrifice them after a single turn. Players will find themselves turning their control cards against their own creatures in an effort to get as much use from them as possible.

Deck Pack 1:

"March to War" - Red/white weenie-aggro deck that thrives on lifegain and token generation.

"Ghoulkeeper" - Mono-black zombie tribal with plenty of graveyard recursion.

Deck Pack 2:

"Dark Heavens" - A black/white control deck that finishes the game with powerful angels and demons.

"Forests Fury" - This is how you build a mono-green deck. Treefolk tribal that will ramp and trample all over you.

Deck Pack 3:

"Trinity of Elements" - Thriving on haste and trample, this green/red/blue deck tries to rush down your throat faster than you can react.

"Beknighted" - Mono-white knights, with powerful lords and loads of protection. This is the deck everyone will be complaining about.

Reviews (from Magic/press sites, not video game sites):

5 Color Control (scroll past the comic)

Examiner

Gathering Magic

Screenshots

Other Resources

DotP Forum: Wizards of the Coast

Magic: The Gathering |OT| (tabletop game)

hamchan · Jun 13, 2011

Lol, hopefully if GAF ever runs a tournanament for this it doesn't die off like it did for the first DotP.

Good OP btw.

webrunner · Jun 13, 2011

Wait, they made another game about planeswalkers and still didn't include the planeswalker cards? That's kind of surprising.

Eric WK · Jun 13, 2011

Had a great time with the first one so I'm in for the XBLA version.

Castor Krieg · Jun 13, 2011

How long did the community last for DotP2009?

Will probably buy it, good price, was a fun of MtG when I was in high school. Could be fun.

Palette Swap · Jun 13, 2011

Great OT.

I really wish there was an explanation on how card swapping works.
My understanding from what I've read here:
- Every deck can unlock n cards and you need n victories playing that deck to unlock them all (exactly like in DotP)
- You can now remove non-land core cards provided you swap them for an unlocked card
- You can swap in (only creature?) cards unlocked for other decks as long as they match the color/creature types of the deck?

webrunner said:
Wait, they made another game about planeswalkers and still didn't include the planeswalker cards? That's kind of surprising.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere, early on, that they were in this time.

bunbun777 · Jun 13, 2011

Thanks for making the thread! Buying this day one.

Grecco · Jun 13, 2011

Disapointed they reused so many decks from the last game (Even if they have new cards) plus nothing GR or GRW (My favorite color combinations)

but im a MTG whore so i will buy this.

divisionbyzorro · Jun 13, 2011

Palette Swap said:
Great OT.

I really wish there was an explanation on how card swapping works.
My understanding from what I've read here:
- Every deck can unlock n cards and you need n victories playing that deck to unlock them all (exactly like in DotP)
- You can now remove non-land core cards provided you swap them for an unlocked card
- You can swap in (only creature?) cards unlocked for other decks as long as they match the color/creature types of the deck?

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere, early on, that they were in this time.

You unlock cards to your sideboard by winning single-player games.
You can add cards from your sideboard into your main deck.
You can remove cards from your main deck as well (but your final deck count cannot be less than what you started with).
You cannot bring any card in from any other deck.

Shai-Tan · Jun 13, 2011

How many people play the last game on consoles vs pc? I was thinking of getting it for ps3 but I'll probably get it for pc instead if there are a lot more people there.

marrec · Jun 13, 2011

Palette Swap said:
Great OT.

I really wish there was an explanation on how card swapping works.
My understanding from what I've read here:
- Every deck can unlock n cards and you need n victories playing that deck to unlock them all (exactly like in DotP)
- You can now remove non-land core cards provided you swap them for an unlocked card
- You can swap in (only creature?) cards unlocked for other decks as long as they match the color/creature types of the deck?

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere, early on, that they were in this time.

Also will the mana ratio remain viable as you remove or swap in cards? I don't like having the Mana locked if I have enough land for a 78 card deck and I take out all the crap I don't want will I still have all that land?

webrunner · Jun 13, 2011

Palette Swap said:
Great OT.

I really wish there was an explanation on how card swapping works.
My understanding from what I've read here:
- Every deck can unlock n cards and you need n victories playing that deck to unlock them all (exactly like in DotP)
- You can now remove non-land core cards provided you swap them for an unlocked card
- You can swap in (only creature?) cards unlocked for other decks as long as they match the color/creature types of the deck?

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere, early on, that they were in this time.

They seem to be very careful to not say that.. for instance:

Wizards of the Coast said:
Planeswalker cards will appear in the Magic 2012 Core Set and subsequent card sets. Planeswalker characters will appear in Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012.

badcrumble · Jun 13, 2011

I still want to see genuine deck-building, but my guess is that they're going to keep releasing new iterations of the game on an annual basis (if this sequel's title is anything to go by) and that that sort of freedom will only gradually make its way in.

ultron87 · Jun 13, 2011

badcrumble said:
I still want to see genuine deck-building, but my guess is that they're going to keep releasing new iterations of the game on an annual basis (if this sequel's title is anything to go by) and that that sort of freedom will only gradually make its way in.

They'll never put actual deck building in the game. That would totally invalidate MTG: Online.

archnemesis · Jun 13, 2011

I'm getting this day one, but I have to agree that mostly reusing the same old decks is very lame indeed. Maybe they'll sell us new ones as DLC. If anyone feels like arranging another tournament this year I'm up for it too.

Palette Swap · Jun 13, 2011

webrunner said:
They seem to be very careful to not say that.. for instance:

Their careful wording must have made me jump to conclusions I guess . :-/

Shiloa · Jun 13, 2011

So, is this the one I got free with PS+ or is that the old one? I'm clueless when it comes to Magic the Gathering but I've been playing the game that comes with PS+. It's a tough nut, I swear it's just luck based.

Khrno · Jun 13, 2011

Archenemy mode is great, I had tons of fun with it, both single and multiplayer. The AI opponent can be so unforgivable some times.

And using the black deck to steal all the creatures is fantastic.

Shai-Tan · Jun 13, 2011

Shiloa said:
So, is this the one I got free with PS+ or is that the old one? I'm clueless when it comes to Magic the Gathering but I've been playing the game that comes with PS+. It's a tough nut, I swear it's just luck based.

no you got the old version from ps+

archnemesis · Jun 13, 2011

Shiloa said:
So, is this the one I got free with PS+ or is that the old one? I'm clueless when it comes to Magic the Gathering but I've been playing the game that comes with PS+. It's a tough nut, I swear it's just luck based.

This is a new improved version based on the same engine. Also, good players don't have to rely on luck (as much).

Minsc · Jun 13, 2011

Nice OP, good collection of info and links!

Well, I enjoyed DotP 2009, and this seems to be a better version of that with new cards, so I'll definitely be grabbing this.

Hopefully the decks end up being a bit more balanced in this game, so everyone doesn't gravitate towards the vampire deck.

marrec · Jun 13, 2011

archnemesis said:
This is a new improved version based on the same engine. Also, good players don't have to rely on luck (as much).

Really good players are only hurt by luck, as the cost to mana ratio is carefully planned out with a turn by turn ideal play sequence laid out with multiple options for each turn. If you get lucky with a finely tuned deck, the most likely its the bad kind.

Dr. Kitty Muffins · Jun 13, 2011

I'll pay damn good money for a quality Dwarf/Gnome deck.

I fucking hate elves aesthetically although functionally, their great.

divisionbyzorro · Jun 13, 2011

archnemesis said:
I'm getting this day one, but I have to agree that mostly reusing the same old decks is very lame indeed. Maybe they'll sell us new ones as DLC. If anyone feels like arranging another tournament this year I'm up for it too.

They're reusing a bunch of similar themes, but the decks have been completely overhauled. Some will likely be very similar (e.g., elves, dragons, vampires), but a number of them are entirely new. Ancient Depths especially has no real analog to DotP 2009.

We'll know more when we can see the entire card list for all of the decks (and I'll update the OP when Wizards puts the list on their site).

Gibbo · Jun 13, 2011

How friendly is the game to folks that have not touched Magic before?

Grecco · Jun 13, 2011

divisionbyzorro said:
They're reusing a bunch of similar themes, but the decks have been completely overhauled. Some will likely be very similar (e.g., elves, dragons, vampires), but a number of them are entirely new. Ancient Depths especially has no real analog to DotP 2009.

We'll know more when we can see the entire card list for all of the decks (and I'll update the OP when Wizards puts the list on their site).

Id argue only 3 of the 10 decks are new decks the others are old decks with a new cards.

Grecco · Jun 13, 2011

Gibbo said:
How friendly is the game to folks that have not touched Magic before?

The first one was VERY friendly. This should be similar. Its using prebuilt decks with little deck construction. So its easier to just pick and play.

Gowans · Jun 13, 2011

The first one introduced me to Magic, loved it.

Can't wait to get into this one, it's cheap enough too.

styl3s · Jun 13, 2011

Gibbo said:
How friendly is the game to folks that have not touched Magic before?

super friendly (single player that is, from what i played online most of the people were new to the game)

ill buy this when it's on sale, not paying $10 if i can't build my own decks, how card is it to allow you to build your own deck?

Shai-Tan · Jun 13, 2011

Gibbo said:
How friendly is the game to folks that have not touched Magic before?

I'm new, took me like 20 minutes to figure out what was going on. Didn't bother reading the tutorial, only the pop up hints. I missed a few things initially like how to read costs for playing a card but the game highlights cards you can play anyway.

badcrumble · Jun 13, 2011

ultron87 said:
They'll never put actual deck building in the game. That would totally invalidate MTG: Online.

I suppose that's true, yeah. Unfortunate.

Xater · Jun 13, 2011

Didn't even know that there is a new one coming. I played the old one today because of free PS+ and it is fun. For 10 bucks i might get this.

Russian Steve · Jun 13, 2011

Can anyone explain the reasoning behind not allowing players to completely rework their decks? Why can I not build a deck from scratch using the cards within the game? I would even be ok if I had to win a bunch of campaign mode games to unlock extra cards. Why neuter the player's ability and knowledge? Rediculous!

I love MTG, but his makes zero sense to me...

Grecco · Jun 13, 2011

Russian Steve said:
Can anyone explain the reasoning behind not allowing players to completely rework their decks? Why can I not build a deck from scratch using the cards within the game? I would even be ok if I had to win a bunch of campaign mode games to unlock extra cards. Why neuter the player's ability and knowledge? Rediculous!

I love MTG, but his makes zero sense to me...

Because its a game targeted more for the newer newbie to mtg player, and not the guy who already has physical cards at his house. Thats what MTG online is for i guess.

DasRaven · Jun 13, 2011

Russian Steve said:
Can anyone explain the reasoning behind not allowing players to completely rework their decks? Why can I not build a deck from scratch using the cards within the game? I would even be ok if I had to win a bunch of campaign mode games to unlock extra cards. Why neuter the player's ability and knowledge? Rediculous!

I love MTG, but his makes zero sense to me...

Because someone would derive the "best deck" from the available cards and that is all that anyone would play online.
That would also overwhelm new players who are the primary audience for these games.

There's a reason they GIVE you a valuable card free with purchase, they want you to get a taste and hunger for MTG from the video game.
Then when you feel constrained by the online game, you go "offline" and buy real cards either in MTG

nline or in the table game to grow further.

webrunner · Jun 13, 2011

Russian Steve said:
Can anyone explain the reasoning behind not allowing players to completely rework their decks? Why can I not build a deck from scratch using the cards within the game? I would even be ok if I had to win a bunch of campaign mode games to unlock extra cards. Why neuter the player's ability and knowledge? Rediculous!

I love MTG, but his makes zero sense to me...

WotC runs Magic the Gathering: Online, which is their full-featured version of online MTG. You have to buy cards for it. If DotP had all the features it needed nobody would ever need MTGO.

bunbun777 · Jun 13, 2011

Russian Steve said:
Can anyone explain the reasoning behind not allowing players to completely rework their decks? Why can I not build a deck from scratch using the cards within the game? I would even be ok if I had to win a bunch of campaign mode games to unlock extra cards. Why neuter the player's ability and knowledge? Rediculous!

I love MTG, but his makes zero sense to me...

I think it has something to do with Magic Online charging the same price for digital card packs as in real life.

Phreaker · Jun 13, 2011

Glad to see there is at least some more customization of decks...pulling cards out of the original deck you don't want. Will buy, I still play the "old" one and have all the expansions.

samoset · Jun 13, 2011

To people asking why they don't let you completely build decks on your own. You realize that there is Magic The Gathering Online where they let you do everything you want; they'll just charge you the physical equivalents of the cards though.

I'm glad that Planeswalkers limits your ability to modify your decks it allows the game to be cheap and balanced to everyone. If you want free reign go play MTGO it runs on anything.

daevv · Jun 13, 2011

DasRaven said:
Because someone would derive the "best deck" from the available cards and that is all that anyone would play

It makes a lot of sense! That's kinda why casual magic is dead, too many 2nd round infinity life gain/damage dealing decks.

I'll be getting this on XBLA first and depending on the PS+ pricing I may get it again to play friends on there too. That's what I did with the first game.

Sye d'Burns · Jun 13, 2011

divisionbyzorro said:
Deck Building: While you still cannot build decks completely from scratch, you now have the ability to remove cards from the base deck when you add unlocked cards. Land counts are still locked, and you can't mix cards from different decks together. It's a far from real deck building; however, the ability to cull the crap from your pile and keep the size manageable will be a huge boon to serious players, and provide a bit more uncertainty as to exactly what cards you can expect to face in online matches.

Amazing that it took a sequel for the integration of that feature.

balladofwindfishes · Jun 13, 2011

I see what you did on that banner

DasRaven · Jun 13, 2011

samoset said:
If you want free reign go play MTGO it runs on anything.

Oh, and don't forget "Enjoy being smashed to bits by people who've been building collections & playing it for almost a decade!"

daevv · Jun 13, 2011

Is this out in the UK on the 15th?

WanderingWind · Jun 13, 2011

DasRaven said:
Because someone would derive the "best deck" from the available cards and that is all that anyone would play online.
That would also overwhelm new players who are the primary audience for these games.

There's a reason they GIVE you a valuable card free with purchase, they want you to get a taste and hunger for MTG from the video game.
Then when you feel constrained by the online game, you go "offline" and buy real cards either in MTGnline or in the table game to grow further.

That is the beauty of MTG. There is no "best deck."

....well, except a Jace mill deck in standard. But since DotP uses older cards, there are plenty of solutions for his annoying ass in Legacy.

Azrael · Jun 13, 2011

I take it since the release date is the 15th the PSN version won't be put up with tomorrow's update =/.

divisionbyzorro · Jun 13, 2011

balladofwindfishes said:
I see what you did on that banner

jon bones · Jun 13, 2011

day one

great OP too

razgriz417 · Jun 13, 2011

just dlled the old version for free on psn and it got me interested in magic again. Played a bit back in college with roomies but the price of buying cards was too high of a barrier for entry. Will be getting this tomorrow with the psn+ discount.

edit: nvm

Castor Krieg · Jun 13, 2011

Azrael said:
I take it since the release date is the 15th the PSN version won't be put up with tomorrow's update =/.

It most likely will, happened before.

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