The dragon that all our planewalker friends are facing in the above image is Nicol Bolas. Bolas is one of the “big bads” in the world of Magic, and has the distinction (as far as I can tell) of being the only non-humanoid planeswalker that Wizards of the Coast has created. Why is he the planeswalker subject for this article? I really don’t have a reason, other than I think the image is really nice, and its a group image. The grouping is important, because after comparing Duels of the Planeswalkers to a bunch of other CCG’s, it’s time to compare it to Magic itself.
After the jump, why do I still play Magic? Continue reading →
Jace Beleren is a blue mage. From his picture, you can tell he enjoys both looking mysterious and magical glowy hands. From Duels of the Planeswalkers, I learned that he has fought with Chandra Nalaar, that he worked for something called the Infinite Consortium, and that he has visited the planes of Ravnica and Zendikar. Absolutely none of the above information has helped me in any way in the Duels of the Planeswalkers game, or in Magic in general. Why does Wizards of the Coast consider plot and characters such a selling point for collectible card games?
After the jump, an example of when lore can matter in the play of a game Continue reading →
I started this article after finally downing Karn (the “final boss” of Duels of the Planeswalkers) for the first time. Karn’s deck is a brutal artifact deck that in the first game wiped my board with Steel Hellkite’s special ability. That was rough, but fair. The second game, Karn used both a Mox Sapphire and a Tinker. And I now had evidence that Karn was cheating.
After the jump, Karn is cheating. But now, so am I? Continue reading →
Chandra Nalaar saved my life yesterday, and I wasn’t expecting it at all. It was my first game of Archenemy mode, and I was going in blind. Chandra and Sorin Markov were my partners, and we were facing off against a powerful Koth. The first few events were mana and board sweepers, and my team was having trouble putting our defenses together. I took the brunt of the attacks, and my life total was falling fast. I was prepared to restart the match, when Chandra suddenly began picking off creatures that were attacking me. That help gave me the space I needed, and my team roared back and took down Koth’s 40 life.
After the jump, is Archenemy mode a great group game? Continue reading →
Koth was a challenge. Between his Rockslide Elementals and his multiple copies of Spitting Earth, he was clearing my creatures off the table faster than I was able to play them. In the end, it took three tries to finish him off and unlock both his deck and the first upgrade to my own. That said, I didn’t care. An AI opponent to play against can sometimes be exactly what a collectible card game needs.
After the jump, why even the simplest AI can improve a collectible card game Continue reading →
