Just the right amount of Magic?
I played Magic a good bit when I was in college ten years ago. I was at the level that I participated in local tournaments and maybe bought multiple boxes of a set so I could get 4 Rares to put in a deck. I stopped playing as my life got more full, and now I play once in a blue moon. I have to admit the thought of trying to get back into it is a daunting one because I don't want to spend the time accumulating all of the cards needed to play at the level I want to.
So when I heard about Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers coming out on Xbox Live I was intrigued. I grabbed the demo and shortly after went ahead and spent the 10 bucks for the game. I've been playing it rather intensely for the past two days, and at this point I think I can strongly recommend the game. For a seasoned Magic player, there are a lot of pieces missing and a lot of extraneous parts of the game. The turn structure took a while to get used to, especially because there is now a timing element to countering spells. The deck customization is weak at best, only consisting of adding cards to a 60 card pre-determined set of decks that you earn during the game. I'm certain that this will lead to a "master deck" problem at higher levels of game.
But despite its short comings, Magic still has enough depth to keep me interested. Others will write about how it is a good introduction to the game, and the tutorials (while being a bit cumbersome) will teach you about many of the rules-exploits. I want to focus on the small number of exploits and why that makes the game fun for a mildly seasoned player.
On the Bombcast this past week, someone (I think it was Vinny) commented on how they like playing Street Fighter 4, but not as much so that they want to learn the right thing to do in every circumstance. This same problem occurs in Magic, where eventually there are a small number of viable decks and you better have them or you are going to get thwomped.
Duels of Planeswalkers takes out that element by standardizing the decks. This can be frustrating because a lot of fun comes out of deck customization, but it also alleviates the problem of a killer deck ravaging your poor cards. Unless you simply have to go over the top, Magic packs a solid experience in it that can work for new players as well as seasoned vets to the franchise.
