Magic Duels: Origins

 PC
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Game Informer
    Jul 22, 2015
    88
    If you’re a new player looking to learn Magic: The Gathering, Magic Duels is the best place to start. If you’re a seasoned veteran, the way the game uses rarity restrictions to create a unique environment make it an attractive alternative for some duels.
  2. Multiplayer.it
    Aug 11, 2015
    85
    This is a good relaunch for the Wizards of the Coast’s card game. Now we have to wait and see what kind of support it’ll have.
  3. IGN Spain
    Aug 5, 2015
    85
    Despite having some imperfections that would be easy to polish the character of true free-to-play makes more lift up his hand as to the requirements with the work of Wizards of the Coast.
  5. GamingTrend
    Jul 15, 2015
    80
    Magic Duels: Origins breaks very little new ground, but the formula has been polished to a beautiful finish over the last several years. The micro-transaction model may hamper the enjoyment of those players looking for a more straightforward gaming experience.
  6. GamesVillage.it
    Jul 13, 2015
    80
    After the problems of the 2015 edition, the Stainless Games series returns to be a catching card game, thanks to the new free to play formula which, fortunately, does not bet everything on the pay per win system.
  7. Pelit (Finland)
    Sep 9, 2015
    79
    The lightweight free-to-play version of the Magic the Gathering misses, above all things, a bigger card pool to be interesting. [Sept 2015]
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  8. Everyeye.it
    Aug 12, 2015
    73
    The potential is really good, but not really capitalized on. It's nonetheless an evolving platform, and future updates could work around the bugs and crashes, making it really interesting for all Magic fans out there.
  9. Eurogamer Italy
    Aug 28, 2015
    70
    With Magic Duels: Origins, Wizards of the Coast tries a new beginning for the digital series, managing to build a solid game that will probably satisfy most players’ needs. That said it’s too early to praise unconditionally, as future updates will be vital for the health of the game.
  10. GameStar
    Aug 1, 2015
    70
    No Hearthstone killer - yet. But with improved quests and the promised new card sets it could soon be one of the best games of the genre.
  11. Destructoid
    Jul 31, 2015
    70
    Those new to Magic will find it easy to dive in and learn the intricacies of deck-building, while more experienced players should finally have the customization and card variety they’ve been asking for.
  12. Game Revolution
    Jul 16, 2015
    70
    Magic Duels: Online reforms the Duels of the Planewalker series with an approachable, free-to-play edition that serves as a fertile platform for all future MTG games.
  13. CD-Action
    Nov 15, 2015
    65
    A great way to enter the world of Magic: The Gathering, but due to some simplifications and design choices that’s pretty much all Magic Duels is good for. [11/2015, p.59]
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Awards & Rankings

95
#95 Best PC Game of 2015
98
#98 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

User Reviews

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User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 63
  3. Negative: 18 out of 63
  1. suneater
    Aug 2, 2015
    1
    By some miracle of ineptitude, Magic Duels somehow manages to be worse than DotP 2015 across the board. In terms of game design, gameplayBy some miracle of ineptitude, Magic Duels somehow manages to be worse than DotP 2015 across the board. In terms of game design, gameplay content, the cash shop, and even down to the card selection, this is by far the worst work by Stainless Games yet. Wizards need to seriously re-evaluate their digital presence and either needs to find a new studio to work on these games or stop making them altogether.

    Gone are the extra game modes, challenges, and even campaign deck construction of previous years. Instead, we have a 20 mission campaign (with unadjustable difficulty) with tutorials sprinkled throughout that can only be played with uneditable decks that get "upgraded" after completing missions. How are they upgraded? It's hard to tell, since most of them are very bad from the start and the game doesn't tell you what changes it makes to your deck. Gideon's deck is the most playable and even that is just dumping your hand and turning everything sideways. I get the feeling that they thought that cramming the challenges of old DotP games into this game's campaign would be a good idea but it really doesn't work. This campaign is (once again!) a terrible introduction to MTG for new players since it ignores deck construction, has a locked difficulty, and has many purposefully unbalanced fights.

    Once you finish the very short singleplayer content, you have the incredibly deep and rewarding online play to look forward to. 2-Headed Giant is back! ...But you can't get coin rewards from it. There's a ladder system and matchmaking system finally! ...But server/game crashes and disconnects will give you no rewards. You can quickly play games through Steam invites with your friends! ...But there's no rewards. Playing MTG is fun and all but its frustrating when everyone is playing with the same trash and new boosters are hard to come by because of the stingy cash shop system. Even if you do decide to sink some cash into this game, you're only getting SIX cards per booster! Physical MTG boosters, while in all honesty are meant to be played in Sealed or Draft and not solely to be cracked for value, at least have 15 cards in them for a MSRP of $4. At the worst conversion rate, you're looking at spending $2 for a six card booster. At $39.99 for 7500 coins, you're spending roughly $0.80 per six card booster... but at this point why not spend your $40 on actual MTG cards (or a new video game)? The worst part about this is that even if you do get the most bang for your buck with the coins, you are still gambling on boosters and aren't guaranteed to unlock every card.

    Opening overpriced boosters might be acceptable if they had anything worth playing inside of them. Origins is the worst core set I have ever played with, full of worse version of old cards that are purposefully designed to be weaker and/or bad. This set has the format design of MM2015 (which was also terrible to actually play with and people just rare drafted it) and the mechanics design of Theros (Renown is an obvious leftover from Theros's crap keywords). Do not waste your money on physical or digital boosters of this product.

    It amazes me why Wizards hates money so much. I understand they want people to dump their money into either physical product or the digital variants available on MTGO, but then why release a barebones mobile game every YEAR then? These games make the MTG brand look bad (because MTGO is poorly advertised) and with every annual release, the DotP series is on the front of everyone's desks. Did reviewers see the improvements to MTGO's UI and layout during its last upgrade? Not really, because MTGO has been out for 13 years. Did reviewers see Stainless drop a complete turd the past two years, with more content stripped from each annual release and with more cash grab attempts built in? Even if reviewers haven't, the playerbase sure has noticed it judging by Steam reviews.

    Wizards needs to wake up and find a new dev to work on these games. Stainless has been dragging their ass since the beginning of the DotP series; releasing cookie-cutter annual rehashes with slightly different cards every year, and with recent years actually removing content. Even with being a free2play CCG, this isn't worth your time because of the cut content, lack of polish, always-online connectivity, and incredibly stingy rewards for online play.    … Full Review »
  2. FogCityRoller
    Jul 30, 2015
    1
    I was so excited for this on PC because I don't have an Apple phone. What a huge disappointment so far. Where to begin...

    1. Unless I    I was so excited for this on PC because I don't have an Apple phone. What a huge disappointment so far. Where to begin...

    1. Unless I somehow missed it, there is no way to skip the tutorial. This is incredibly annoying for anyone with even a basic knowledge of how MTG is played. You have to play it in order to unlock other parts of the game. It's sooo slow.
    2. The cutscenes are a complete joke, with graphics straight out of the year 2000. I can't believe a company that makes millions of dollars a year like Wizards can't afford to hire better animators.
    3. The interface is incredibly dated. There is no thrill added by implementing a 3D game board. It is completely unnecessary.
    4. Tapping mana is far more tedious and complicated than it needs to be. Why can't we just click on the lands we want to use? Why is a keybind attached to the most basic concept of the game? What the hell were they thinking?
    5. It's pretty obvious they copied the "let's be cheap with cards in boosters" design from Hearthstone. 6 cards, seriously? Did you really have to soak your customers for more money by reducing the number of cards that have been in boosters for two decades?
    6. Bugs everywhere.

    The only positive things I can muster so far about this game is that it's great for teaching people completely new to MTG how to play the game and the lore was pretty cool. I quit MTG long before the Planeswalker cards were ever a thing, so getting some backstory on them was nice. The tutorial is incredibly thorough, but again it should not be mandatory for anyone who has played the game before. I pray to god they fix this dumpster fire before its too late, I can't properly put into words how utterly disappointed I am. :[    … Full Review »
  3. maestroanth
    Aug 14, 2015
    9
    This game has been getting bombarded by harsh reviews that are 80% junk reviews complaining about bugs which inevitably become fixed, but thisThis game has been getting bombarded by harsh reviews that are 80% junk reviews complaining about bugs which inevitably become fixed, but this game is pretty fun. A lot of people complain about "crummy cards" an the 4 common/3uncommon/2rare/1mythic deck construction restrictions, but it keeps the game BALANCED. It's kind of nice having magic games again where you don't have to deal with a 3rd turn Rafiq that enables your lifelinker to deal 10 drain damage on the 3rd turn anymore. My biggest qualm is that the set size is waaayyyyy too small. At least with hearthstone it feels like your a card collector with a lot of random chance when opening packs, with this, it's more like X amount of packs you either need to buy or free-earn to get the entire set automatically. They can remedy this by adding a disenchant copied cards feature like in hearthstone or make it so you can actually trade cards with people online to give these cards some real value.… Full Review »
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