Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2015

 PC
User Score
3.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 127 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 127
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 127
  3. Negative: 89 out of 127

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  1. Auld_Magick
    Aug 18, 2015
    0
    Tried to get it to run, got a fatal error. Tried work arounds, got a fatal error. Installed patches, got a fatal error. I guess it's all for the best since this game has the ratings of a Rosie O'Donnell sex tape.
  2. BGM
    Aug 3, 2015
    1
    Bad introduction to mtg, with nonsesne money sinks, bad online gameplay. Feels very empty and boring to play same game every year. Better to play paper version.
  3. Neotropic
    Jul 10, 2015
    2
    The game is fun at first. But eventually the AI gets to smart and seems to always draw what it needs. I have yet to play the AI when it has a bad shuffle. Where myself, horrible shuffles. AI continuously is able to put out more creatures than you. Seems to always be able to counter whatever deck you build. On top of it having insane cards you can not beat. So making coins in it eventuallyThe game is fun at first. But eventually the AI gets to smart and seems to always draw what it needs. I have yet to play the AI when it has a bad shuffle. Where myself, horrible shuffles. AI continuously is able to put out more creatures than you. Seems to always be able to counter whatever deck you build. On top of it having insane cards you can not beat. So making coins in it eventually becomes impossible unless you spend an insane amount of money buying cards. But still, poor shuffles.… Expand
  4. Darius_84
    Feb 8, 2015
    0
    Too bad there isn't worse score then 0.
    This is not even Magic, this is s**t. Poor tutorial, abysmal starter deck, terrible AI... I tried the game from the Humble Bundle and I feel so lucky I have at least spare a lot of money... I feel pity for the poor souls who bought this game at full cost.
  5. Trunks252
    Nov 9, 2014
    6
    *NOTE* This review was written after release of the Garruk campaign, which also marked the release of updates to the core game. This review takes into account these changes.

    I can understand why this game was hated, which is why I didn't purchase it until now. No longer are the dlc's necessary to unlocking all the cards, which was the game's biggest flaw (and quite frankly insulting).    *NOTE* This review was written after release of the Garruk campaign, which also marked the release of updates to the core game. This review takes into account these changes.

    I can understand why this game was hated, which is why I didn't purchase it until now. No longer are the dlc's necessary to unlocking all the cards, which was the game's biggest flaw (and quite frankly insulting). Upon seeing the expansion (and with it, updates), I became interested in seeing the changes. After beating the campaign, I had a lot of fun unlocking boosters for each of the collections and building decks with them. The difficulty was mostly a breeze on Mage level, which I chose because of many people's opinions that he game was hard. I can't see this game as very hard at all, but then again I have been playing for ~5 years pretty consistently. There were a couple of opponents I had trouble with, most notably Ajani and SLivers. The sliver deck was easily the hardest in the campaign, but after building a new deck I was able to beat it on the second try. Just fyi, I chose the B/G graveyard based deck and had a lot of fun with it. I had three spider spawnings by the end of the first chapter, which ended up being the mvp in many of my games.

    I never had any troubles with the game "cheating" me like many people have complained about. I also don't see why people are complaining about how slow it is to unlock cards. It is actually really fast. In ~17 hours I have completed four collections with 90% in the last campaign collection. That is a huge card pool to create decks, and I've still got Alara and the Booster packs to collect. Considering it takes hundreds of hours in the previous games to unlock all the cards, I'd say this is pretty fast. Wouldn't you agree? Some people just don't think.

    This game does have several negative traits to it, however. The UI is problematic at best, with bugs, slowdown, and low responsiveness too often. I can tell it was designed specifically for iPad, which is a bad thing considering it is on PC. I also hate how many of the cards in opponent's decks (or Garruk's deck in the expansion) are not available for deck construction. I can understand why they didn't (multiplayer balance), but that doesn't excuse this. They're programmed into the game, so they should be usable. It's also a shame they removed THG and alternate formats.

    All in all, I'm having a lot of fun with this game. I love building and testing out decks, and this game has a decent-nice card selection. The flaws are ever apparent though, and 2013 + 2014 versions are still better. If you like deck building and a challenge, I can recommend this game as long as you have played the previous two versions first.    … Expand
  6. vianna77
    Nov 5, 2014
    0
    It is just a game to steal your money.
    After paying for the game you have to pay even more to win any battle.

    Now nothing is more stupid than this game developers writing reviews here giving 9 and 10 and trying to write as if they were young players... that is just simply sad!
  7. Fi7agi
    Oct 27, 2014
    1
    They advertised it as having deckbuilding. It does have deckbuilding. From a very limited pool of cards. And without cornerstone common cards, like fetch lands, Rampant Growth, Negate or Fireball. Those cards are in the game, but are restricted to inaccessible computer decks.
  8. GigaHz
    Oct 7, 2014
    7
    Considering the surplus of negative reviews, there's not a whole lot I can say that would suggest this game is worthy of a purchase. As someone relatively new to Magic (but not TCGs), a game like this was perfect for me to get comfortable with game flow, strategy and deck building. For newer players this is pretty good value, especially if you don't have experience playing with certainConsidering the surplus of negative reviews, there's not a whole lot I can say that would suggest this game is worthy of a purchase. As someone relatively new to Magic (but not TCGs), a game like this was perfect for me to get comfortable with game flow, strategy and deck building. For newer players this is pretty good value, especially if you don't have experience playing with certain colour combinations or themes.

    There are a few things that can spoil which should be a great introduction for newer Magic players. For one, it is not possible to unlock the Premium cards unless you pay for them. It is possible to beat the game without them but not having an alternative way of unlocking them is pretty depressing. Especially compared to its casual-friendly competition: Hearthstone, where dedicated players can unlock the vast majority of the cards with enough patience and luck. Having a paywall to separate basic players from premium players is not only exploitative it creates a lopsided advantage in favour of those who spend the extra cash.

    As for the core game itself, I like the overall design. The presentation is clean, card mechanics are demonstrated in a clear and concise manner, and it is relatively minimalistic, leaving only the information relevant to the player. This is a welcome change from the looks of MG:O which looks overly busy by comparison.

    The gameplay works as you would expect but there are some slight nags. For one, there's no way to cancel a card from being played if you click on it. The only exception is if it requires some kind of confirmation. This means if you misclick the wrong card, there is no way to cancel your selection and choose the card you would like instead. A major inconvenience for a game centred around strategy. The AI doesn't really feel like it offers much of a challenge so much as it forces the player to be very patient. The AI very rarely has bad draws and will often have perfect counters to the cards that you play. Beating AI opponents doesn't feel like much of an accomplishment, but rather just replaying until you muligan into a perfect hand. The worst part is, the endboss requires that you draw twice (it has two forms). This means you could have an amazing first half and if your next series of draws is terrible, you might as well just hit the reset button and start all over.

    I don't know how the game's shuffling system is coded but it really needs some work. I don't care how unlucky a person can get, I have never had so many games where 95% of my cards were land. It seems to happen very frequently in Magic 2015. Nothing says fun like being unable to play your hand as the AI opponent beats you senseless.

    If you do decide to play with friends it is pretty fun for what it is. It doesn't quite compare to the real thing but it's a good way to scratch the itch.

    All-in-all, Magic 2015 is great if you're brand new to Magic and need something to get you accustomed to the basics. If you're not new, it is very hard to recommend this purchase. Do some research before you buy if you're on the fence.    … Expand
  9. gageSCOTT
    Oct 5, 2014
    10
    Unclear why user's are trashing this iteration of Magic, DoP?..in fact, I nearly avoided buying it as a result; however, I'm glad I gave it a shot despite the overwhelmingly poor reviews. Objectively speaking, this game is not worthy of a "10", but I feel obligated because of all of the zero-scores it has unfairly received.

    I have been playing MTG since revised (3rd ed), I play Magic    Unclear why user's are trashing this iteration of Magic, DoP?..in fact, I nearly avoided buying it as a result; however, I'm glad I gave it a shot despite the overwhelmingly poor reviews. Objectively speaking, this game is not worthy of a "10", but I feel obligated because of all of the zero-scores it has unfairly received.

    I have been playing MTG since revised (3rd ed), I play Magic Online and DoP since 2012...I can safely say, Magic2015 is by far, my favorite so far (220 hrs of play logged). It is lacking some important multiplayer components (Two-Headed-Giant, in particular) but otherwise, when looked at as a whole package, the game has improved (in my opinion) in nearly every respect.

    I have spent $10 on this game, and nothing more...this is the least 'pay-to-win' version of Magic thus far. You play and earn a virtual pack of cards added to your growing collection for each game you win. If you don't enjoy playing-to-win, and would prefer just to win, rather than playing, then you have the OPTION of buying more packs. This defeats the purpose of buying this game in the first place, but the option is there. This is also the reason I would only recommend purchasing the $9.95 version.

    You can custom build your own decks! There's no limit to the number of decks that you build, since the builds are saved in your inventory, and you can build a fresh deck with any combinations of colors and cards whenever you want. Now, granted, your card pool is solely based on the number of cards that you have won, so starting out, you will be merely modifying your starting-deck until you earn enough cards to freely build. The starting deck deck is somewhat weak, but gives you a strong push in the 2-colors of your choice. Also, an important note regarding the packs that you win, you can never get more than four of any one card. This is huge! It means no redundant copies of commons once you round out a set of four. The cards in the packs are randomized picks that are pulled from M15, Innistrad, Theros, Ravinca, Shandalar and Zendikar; although there are many notable cards from these sets that are MIA, I was pleased overall with the number of cards in the pool and (for the most part) the cards themselves...don't expect to see any Planeswalkers.

    The biggest complaint I have read is that you cannot start over once you have chosen your starting colors...this is both true and completely false. It is true, there is no in-game "NEW" game selection in the menu, however, you can easily shutoff the cloud-sync under the M15 properties on Steam and either rename or delete your current profile that's saved in the 'userdata' folder on your machine. This will start the game over as if you were playing for the first time. I have done this a dozen times already. Anyone who would like the procedure, I'll be happy to share, look me up on Steam "gageSCOTT" and I'll instant-message the instructions to you. Admittedly, I don't understand why WoTC made restarting the game this tedious, but it is an easy work-around none-the-less.

    The menus are a tad slow and strangely unresponsive, but not to a point that they deserve the amount of complaints they've received. The play is about as fast as you would want it to be, and is fully tailorable in the options menu. The only criticism I have about the strength of the AI, is it's lack of ability to bluff and it's lack of ability to recognize a non-bluff; ex: if you send a 1/1 token, the computer 99% of the time will block it, no matter how much life it has, allowing to destroy a key creature with a simple trick in your hand. The AI does make some non-nonsensical plays from time-to-time, but typically this occurs after I have already amassed an overwhelming advantage and the game is already won anyway.

    This is the best version of Magic to date. I have played more hours in 2015 than I have 2012, 2013 & 2014 combined. The games are fun, the AI decks are challenging (sometimes unfairly so) and for anyone to claim there isn't $9.95 worth of value here is insane. I understand the temptation to submit negative reviews when a game is flooded with negative comments from users, but they just aren't justified here. 2014 was a bigger money-grab, have to empty-slots just to play the custom-pack building portion of the game, which was the best part of 2014, and also the biggest rip-off. The iteration of magic allows you to do this from the start and through-out the entire length of the campaign, and beyond, and you do not have to pay another penny to do so. How can people justify complaining about this!?! I have found this game to be great fun, have built countless number of decks in multiple color combinations, and will continue to do so for some time to come...all for $9.95.    … Expand
  10. Decepticon0681
    Sep 17, 2014
    10
    I don't understand the bad reviews i love this game better then the rest of the planes walker games its hella fun! Great cards Great decks u can actually create fully custom decks which is the best ever!
  11. Richard1186
    Sep 16, 2014
    10
    Magic 2015 is really well done. I will not repeat what all the others have said about the game. I will say this, there are a lot of people complaining about the micro transaction in the game for more cards. If you played any of the previous Magic the Gathering games, you will have noticed that they require you to do micro transactions to unlock all of the cards / decks in themMagic 2015 is really well done. I will not repeat what all the others have said about the game. I will say this, there are a lot of people complaining about the micro transaction in the game for more cards. If you played any of the previous Magic the Gathering games, you will have noticed that they require you to do micro transactions to unlock all of the cards / decks in them too. The only main difference between Magic 2015 and the others at this point and stage, is that there is no Two-Headed Giant (2v2), no Archenemy mode, no puzzles, or Revenge campaign. I am certain they will be adding patches / expansions that will add them. Even in Magic 2014, you had to buy the expansion for the revenge campaign and buy separately, several decks. Overall, far better then the previous games and the decks you can build are far better / challenging / fun to use.… Expand
  12. GOOFIDIOT
    Sep 16, 2014
    8
    Aside from missing 2HG and the puzzle mode this is the best one yet. The ability to create your own deck is awesome and allows for way more strategy and variety. For everyone complaining about the premium boosters... The most competitive deck builds in the game dont require any of the premium cards so if you dont want to buy them you dont have to. They arent that expensive anyways I guessAside from missing 2HG and the puzzle mode this is the best one yet. The ability to create your own deck is awesome and allows for way more strategy and variety. For everyone complaining about the premium boosters... The most competitive deck builds in the game dont require any of the premium cards so if you dont want to buy them you dont have to. They arent that expensive anyways I guess theres alot of poor kids on here. As for me there was only several premium cards I wanted so I spent like 8 extra bucks and got em,… Expand
  13. Rozera
    Sep 5, 2014
    0
    Do not buy this game. This game forces to buy premium boosters (you must pay 1.99usd for each to get them). so you cannot complete card collection without paying 20 ~ 30 usd. and its hard to beat who have premium boosters. I'm sure that this is the worst pay to win game I have ever played. I was big fan of Magic 2013 and Magic 2014. but they betrayed their fandom to make little more money.
  14. Aureliano
    Aug 31, 2014
    3
    I've played magic 2013 and 2014 so i know the stuff. Magic 2015 is a very bad game. They introduced a money to win component an they've realized a new interface full of bugs. And it's not finished: they have eliminated the two headed giants mode (2 players vs 2 players).

    I wish i've never bought it.
  15. trayboon
    Aug 31, 2014
    0
    Worst game ever, put aside the money grabbing tactics, the game has no fun, only frustration. Imagine the odd of drawing 10 time a hand with full lands or none, seriously? the enemy can get full hand of perfect counter card opposing your hand and this doesn't happens a game or two, basically happens all the time. Worst shuffle system.
  16. suneater
    Aug 21, 2014
    1
    After all the problems DotP 2014 had, I was really hoping that the devs had taken a step back and rectified the issues with it (deck construction locked into Sealed mode, bad challenges, restrictive campaign, etc.). Instead we get a barebones version of MTG that does everything wrong that it possibly can. Problems are apparent right when you start up the game; the UI is slow and heavilyAfter all the problems DotP 2014 had, I was really hoping that the devs had taken a step back and rectified the issues with it (deck construction locked into Sealed mode, bad challenges, restrictive campaign, etc.). Instead we get a barebones version of MTG that does everything wrong that it possibly can. Problems are apparent right when you start up the game; the UI is slow and heavily animated, obviously being designed for a touch screen interface. Instead of being given 1-2 prebuilt decks like in the previous two annual releases, you are given a choice between deck archetypes. However, you have no idea what cards are actually inside your deck before you lock in to using that "Intro Deck"-strength deck which can really screw you over at the start of the game. For example, I picked a supposedly B/G Reanimator deck but the only reanimator card in it was Rescue from the Underworld (a high costed, slow reanimator that requires saccing a creature as an additional cost). Because you are picking an archetype and not an actual deck, you also don't get unlocks specifically for your deck; while this gives you more freedom in deck construction, new players will be baffled about what they should add to their deck or how to edit it properly. A "Suggested Cards" tool is available but it isn't very trustworthy; using it with my best deck (G/W tokens), two of the three recommended cards are Phytotitan and Pelakka Wurm.

    While you can finally build your own decks with DotP 2015, you will really struggle to put something playable together without buying cards for real money. Buying all the cards in the game will cost you $20 and individual "planes" of cards will cost you $5 each. If you could just drop $20 on unlocking everything in the game you would be looking at spending only $30 total on DotP 2015. Of course, it isn't that easy... many of the best cards available (including Stoneforge Mystic, Doubling Season, Kozilek, and more) are locked behind "Premium Boosters" which give you 10 random cards for $2 (physical boosters in Standard cost between $2-4 and have 15 cards each). Last year's gambling mechanic was bad but it was only restricted to the Sealed Deck mode. DotP 2015 has essentially become Pay2Win with these boosters because the cards inside can be used in any game mode, including online.

    Speaking of online play, there barely is any! 2-Headed Giant has been removed for no reason and no other game modes have been added. You can only play 2-4 player FFA with your custom built decks; no Archenemy, no Planechase, no new modes. With the addition of deck construction and the rise of popularity in Commander/EDH, it is really disappointing that even that wasn't added.

    The only good thing that I can say about this is that they finally added non-basic lands. Deck construction is a nice touch finally but the rest of the game has suffered for it. It seems that in order to release the same game on every platform they had to cut content to make it work on mobile devices. DotP 2015 has a tedious, boring, and grindy single player campaign, no Challenges, no multiplayer modes outside of FFA, and no tools to introduce new players to MTG except for the tutorial. This is the worst DotP game made yet (even worse than the original DotP which was removed from Steam) and not even fans of the series should bother with this blatant cash grab.    … Expand
  17. jerkbot
    Aug 21, 2014
    0
    The only reason I bought this game year after mother grabbing year was for playing 2v2 with my friends. I was hoping they'd allow 3v3 or 4v4 one day soon, but instead they remove 2v2, and my reason for ever buying the game.

    That's what passes for progress in Magic: The Revenue Gathering 2015! Do not buy, removal 2v2 is just the canary in the coal mine for this stripped-out, pay to    The only reason I bought this game year after mother grabbing year was for playing 2v2 with my friends. I was hoping they'd allow 3v3 or 4v4 one day soon, but instead they remove 2v2, and my reason for ever buying the game.

    That's what passes for progress in Magic: The Revenue Gathering 2015!

    Do not buy, removal 2v2 is just the canary in the coal mine for this stripped-out, pay to win abomination.    … Expand
  18. quesse
    Aug 18, 2014
    0
    Failure of a game. The trend lately is to design games purely around making cash. I would rather pay $15-$20 upfront for a full game then $9.99 for an incomplete game that pesters you to pay money all the time. Who thinks this is a good idea? All this game does is just piss people off. It is a short term money grab that will tank your franchise in the future.

    Please please please stop    Failure of a game. The trend lately is to design games purely around making cash. I would rather pay $15-$20 upfront for a full game then $9.99 for an incomplete game that pesters you to pay money all the time. Who thinks this is a good idea? All this game does is just piss people off. It is a short term money grab that will tank your franchise in the future.

    Please please please stop the madness.    … Expand
  19. axepix
    Aug 17, 2014
    6
    This game got me into magic but,
    i don't have access to some cards the ai was using which frustrates me.
    on the other hand it did teach me how to play magic. This game is good for a new player because the campaign put me up against most 2 color combo decks. By the end of the campaign i did know what all the colors were about. and the interface is nice and clean too which i love.    This game got me into magic but,
    i don't have access to some cards the ai was using which frustrates me.
    on the other hand it did teach me how to play magic. This game is good for a new player because the campaign put me up against most 2 color combo decks.
    By the end of the campaign i did know what all the colors were about.
    and the interface is nice and clean too which i love.
    Unlocking the cards is a real shore since you have to play the same ai opponents repeatedly to get new booster packs.    … Expand
  20. strncat
    Aug 16, 2014
    0
    I understand & appreciate the concerns irt microtransactions. Personally, I actually don't mind spending money on a game if it's technically sound & rich in features. Magic 2015 isn't.

    The card collection is weak & not a full pool, the AI is ill-conceived (has overpowered cards & seems to play based on your 'unseen' hand & not your gameplay / cars on the battlefield). On top of lack of    I understand & appreciate the concerns irt microtransactions. Personally, I actually don't mind spending money on a game if it's technically sound & rich in features. Magic 2015 isn't.

    The card collection is weak & not a full pool, the AI is ill-conceived (has overpowered cards & seems to play based on your 'unseen' hand & not your gameplay / cars on the battlefield). On top of lack of rich well designed features, it's SUPER SLOW & has a clunky UI that's cumbersome to use. Magic 2015 just feels like a quick money grab with little to attention to detail or actual QA. it feels quickly thrown together, poorly tested & feature poor. I don't mind paying for a product that's good. This problem is this Magic isn't. Given a choice knowing what I know now after having used the app, I wouldn't even bother with the download. One star is a bit generous for this failed release.    … Expand
  21. Fattydangelo
    Aug 15, 2014
    0
    Pitiful .. Exact same game as before and again built for a 5 year old ... Why not just release expansion packs instead of asking people to buy a "new" game and then selling expansion packs .. Just like magic online shows wizards/hasbro only care about squeezing every dollar out of people instead of making the experience great .... Such a shame cuz magic is damn near the best game out there
  22. calcipher
    Aug 9, 2014
    1
    Flushing my money down the toilet would've been a better choice than buying this game.

    - The game crashes constantly, even on high end machines, often in the middle of a match. Sometimes, it crashes the entire pc, forcing you to restart and lose the progress. I can run Skyrim maxed out on my machine and not a **** card game? Learn to code, please. - When you start, you're prompted    Flushing my money down the toilet would've been a better choice than buying this game.

    - The game crashes constantly, even on high end machines, often in the middle of a match. Sometimes, it crashes the entire pc, forcing you to restart and lose the progress. I can run Skyrim maxed out on my machine and not a **** card game? Learn to code, please.

    - When you start, you're prompted with a choice of ONE deck. The hints are very misleading: i chose the white/black deck that was described as removal based. Total removals in the deck: 3. You can't change your choice and you're stuck with your deck for the start of the campaign, unless you manually edit the save file.

    - That goes without saying, the deck is EXTREMELY UNDERPOWERED, regardless of your choice. You'll have a hard time beating the early battles, even if you turn down the difficulty to Arch-mage. Be prepared to grind your way through HOURS of frustrating losses, as the AI "cheats" constantly. The only way to go around this is turning down the difficulty to Mage, then suddenly every match is a piece of cake but no fun at all.

    - Even if you somehow manage to beat the AI, you're rewarded with a single booster pack. There's no guarantee the cards in the pack will boost your deck, they can be any color and, yes, you'll get doubles. The strongest cards, though, can't be obtained this way: they're reserved for people that BUY booster packs.

    - NO 2HG, no Sealed Play.

    - Clunky menus, that force you to go forth and back to check your progress.

    - The "free deck building mode" is a joke. Despite what the description on Steam says, you'll be very limited with your choices when building your deck, unless (of course) you don't open your wallet and start hunting for premium cards. Building a decent monocolor deck is nearly impossible.

    Magic 2015 is built around a single purpose: frustrating the player to the point of buying more booster packs through microtransactions. That is all. You won't enjoy this game unless you throw in it a **** of money. Even buying the complete edition (30$) won't get you 100% of the cards available, but will leave you at around 90%. In the end, to get the full experience you'll have to pay the same as a AAA+ retail game, but keep in mind this piece of **** will be replaced in 11 months.

    This franchise has suddenly turned in a Pay to Win product, and that means that, at least for me, this is the end. I won't buy any more games from Wizards, ever.
    I've been a Steam customer for 8 years and I've never been so close to ask for a refund. DON'T BUY THIS GAME and save your 10 bucks for something else.    … Expand
  23. YJMalmsteen
    Aug 9, 2014
    10
    Basically, the game is fun as always but, game resolution and aspect ration change issues bothering me.

    Beside these, i can say i like this game :)
  24. PhearMark
    Aug 8, 2014
    1
    If you liked Magic 2014, don't bother with this one.

    Pros:
    - Can build your own deck

    Cons:
    - Menus take excessively long to become interactive
    - Card selection is poor at best
    - The 'best' cards are only available through the premium boosters of which you only ever get one
    - Campaign rewards feel weak, especially the final 'boss' game

    Just avoid it. I wish I had.
  25. orctown-troll
    Aug 7, 2014
    0
    Do not buy this game. It is a sorry excuse for a sequel that has bare bones features compared to the previous installments, is riddled with almost mandatory microtransactions if you actually want to build a deck that has any strategical chance against the campaign opponents and the cheating/sabotaging AI is back worse than ever.

    Let's go through this point by point. The sealed format is    Do not buy this game. It is a sorry excuse for a sequel that has bare bones features compared to the previous installments, is riddled with almost mandatory microtransactions if you actually want to build a deck that has any strategical chance against the campaign opponents and the cheating/sabotaging AI is back worse than ever.

    Let's go through this point by point. The sealed format is gone, Two headed Giant is gone and the puzzle challenges are gone. Instead there is *only* the campaign mode where you fight duels against decks that have massively superior cards than you, that you can never have unless you buy the "premium booster packs" on top of... you know... *buying the game with your hard earned money*. The AI has the magical ability of without fault always drawing the exact card it needs to win, while you get shafted by either only land or no land cards at all. I have beaten both 2013 and 2014 campaigns and the revenge campaign of 2013 so cheating is nothing new for the AI in this series but man... the AI not only cheats like a motherfu*ker but uses game-breakingly strong cards that you can never, ever gain. So going through the game becomes an exercise in "let's hit the restart button until we give up in disgust". This on the easiest difficulty. Even the "help AI" has been sabotaged against you and it constantly tells you to make moves that are simply suicidal and *always without fail* automatically tries to choose the absolute worst way to use your mana. Even if you have the patience to grind through the "explore realm" levels to get all the possible cards you can, you still eventually run into a planeswalker there as well, who will without fail decimate you by cheating and prevent you from gaining even the weak pointless cards you could get from exploring the realms. Ajani, for example trumps your progress in one of these "explore" nodes and is absolutely impossible to beat, unless the game shows mercy and decides to eventually sometime in the year 2989 give you a duel that is actually possible to win. Ajani has a deck that, if drawn perfectly, is unbeatable by any combination of cards you can muster up. And as we have already established, the AI almost always chooses to draw a perfect card for every situation and beat you. The same thing happens with most other opponents, especially planeswalkers like Jace and Liliana. So that is the game designer's idea of "fun". Impossible cheating AI duels that transform the game from a game of Magic into a game of "hit the restart button 960 000 times and smash your head against the wall and then *maybe* you can progress to the next opponent and repeat the process".

    This game is nothing more than a stripped down sham to try and force people to pay free-to-play microtransactions by causing aggravation and frustration. Do not waste your money on this crap. It's not even a game, it is a joke. The designer's clearly wanted to show a middle finger to every Magic player in the world, new or old, and try to prove that they can get the cash they want by putting out any insulting bullsh*t they want.    … Expand
  26. Kriostyx
    Aug 7, 2014
    0
    Do not buy this game. It is a sorry excuse for a sequel that has bare bones features compared to the previous installments, is riddled with almost mandatory microtransactions if you actually want to build a deck that has any strategical chance against the campaign opponents and the cheating/sabotaging AI is back worse than ever.

    Let's go through this point by point. The sealed format is    Do not buy this game. It is a sorry excuse for a sequel that has bare bones features compared to the previous installments, is riddled with almost mandatory microtransactions if you actually want to build a deck that has any strategical chance against the campaign opponents and the cheating/sabotaging AI is back worse than ever.

    Let's go through this point by point. The sealed format is gone, Two headed Giant is gone and the puzzle challenges are gone. Instead there is *only* the campaign mode where you fight duels against decks that have massively superior cards than you, that you can never have unless you buy the "premium booster packs" on top of... you know... *buying the game with your hard earned money*. The AI has the magical ability of without fault always drawing the exact card it needs to win, while you get shafted by either only land or no land cards at all. I have beaten both 2013 and 2014 campaigns and the revenge campaign of 2013 so cheating is nothing new for the AI in this series but man... the AI not only cheats like a motherfu*ker but uses game-breakingly strong cards that you can never, ever gain. So going through the game becomes an exercise in "let's hit the restart button until we give up in disgust". This on the easiest difficulty. Even the "help AI" has been sabotaged against you and it constantly tells you to make moves that are simply suicidal and *always without fail* automatically tries to choose the absolute worst way to use your mana. Even if you have the patience to grind through the "explore realm" levels to get all the possible cards you can, you still eventually run into a planeswalker there as well, who will without fail decimate you by cheating and prevent you from gaining even the weak pointless cards you could get from exploring the realms. Ajani, for example trumps your progress in one of these "explore" nodes and is absolutely impossible to beat, unless the game shows mercy and decides to eventually sometime in the year 2989 give you a duel that is actually possible to win. Ajani has a deck that, if drawn perfectly, is unbeatable by any combination of cards you can muster up. And as we have already established, the AI almost always chooses to draw a perfect card for every situation and beat you. The same thing happens with most other opponents, especially planeswalkers like Jace and Liliana. So that is the game designer's idea of "fun". Impossible cheating AI duels that transform the game from a game of Magic into a game of "hit the restart button 960 000 times and smash your head against the wall and then *maybe* you can progress to the next opponent and repeat the process".

    This game is nothing more than a stripped down sham to try and force people to pay free-to-play microtransactions by causing aggravation and frustration. Do not waste your money on this crap. It's not even a game, it is a joke. The designer's clearly wanted to show a middle finger to every Magic player in the world, new or old, and try to prove that they can get the cash they want by putting out any insulting bullsh*t they want.    … Expand
  27. Szmittu
    Aug 6, 2014
    1
    To be honest... As a big Magic: the Gathering fan, I cannot recommend this year's edition.

    Yes, you can actually build your own deck now... But options are limited. I feel, that I've had more freedom in last year edition, even when I was obliged to color/specific deck. Also, MtG 2015 is weaker in all other aspects. 2HG? Nope. Revenge campaign? Nuh-huh. Puzzles/challenges?    To be honest... As a big Magic: the Gathering fan, I cannot recommend this year's edition.

    Yes, you can actually build your own deck now... But options are limited. I feel, that I've had more freedom in last year edition, even when I was obliged to color/specific deck.

    Also, MtG 2015 is weaker in all other aspects.

    2HG?
    Nope.
    Revenge campaign?
    Nuh-huh.
    Puzzles/challenges?
    Naaaaaaah.

    Clunky gameplay?
    Yes.
    Unresponsive interface?
    Checked.
    Microtransactions, and a lot of them?
    But of course.

    That's a big no-no for me...    … Expand
  28. lahjon
    Aug 5, 2014
    0
    Worst Magic game so far. This is Magic 2014 made worse in every single way possible. Pay to win, no more two headed giant, slow interface, laggy gameplay.
  29. vandana
    Aug 4, 2014
    1
    I've written two reviews of MTG:DotP to date. 2012 and 2013. I gave them high scores because at the time I felt like it was the best, cheapest and most enjoyable way to experience card games digitally.

    But things change and competition doesn't sleep. You are only as good as your competitor is not. There came a little game called Hearthstone that suddenly became major player in e-sports.    I've written two reviews of MTG:DotP to date. 2012 and 2013. I gave them high scores because at the time I felt like it was the best, cheapest and most enjoyable way to experience card games digitally.

    But things change and competition doesn't sleep. You are only as good as your competitor is not. There came a little game called Hearthstone that suddenly became major player in e-sports. It is not as complex and interesting as MTG, but I believe better suited for digital play.

    Magic the Gathering doesn't seem to make effort to compete on, what I would call, casual online ccg market. DotP has been stripped of many game modes and forced into microtransactions which no one will be interested in because competition has better options for 30-year-olds with money.

    Right now Hex seems to offer robust experience (we will see for how long), Hearthstone fun and casual - easy to learn, hard to master experience, and Magic in every single iteration is far behind. Now, lets talk about Hex. i believe Hex is all that MTG in Online form should be. It's a blatant and shameless rip-off, but still perfectly executed. if someone at Wizards had moved their brain at the right time, Hex would have never come to realization because DotP would have taken its place on the market...

    MTG Online requires too much money and too much unecessary knowledge to get into (trading), and is simply to hardcore and too obsolete when it comes to engine to attract new players. DotP is a shade of what it could have been. A demo to Magic which each year looses field to new competition and doesn't even try to improve anymore.

    Shame. Because Magic the Gathering is still the best card game out there. Just poorly managed and/or archaic in marketing and digital development.    … Expand
  30. chez
    Aug 3, 2014
    0
    Huge money grab using recycled content. Decks are very basic and not fun to play with. No new gametypes or multiplayer content over previous versions. Do not waste your money.
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Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 25
  3. Negative: 5 out of 25
  1. CD-Action
    Oct 22, 2014
    70
    Duels of the Planeswalkers is an invaluable tool for learning how to play Magic: The Gathering. [10/2014, p.64]
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Sep 17, 2014
    77
    The card game takes one step forward and two steps backwards. Free deckbuilding is a big plus, but when you consider that the play modes from old Duels are cut completely and some of the card pool available is behind an IAP paywall, the new Duels doesn't compare well against other, cheaper, slicker and - quite frankly - more fun competition like Hearthstone. Duels is simple not on par with the competition. [Sept 2014]
  3. games(TM)
    Sep 16, 2014
    50
    The poor AI becomes increasingly apparent and even more of a chore upon completing the campaign. [Issue#152, p.114]
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