Dueling Planeswalkers and Core Set 2013

Fans of the Magic video game Duels of the Planeswalkers may be aware of the what now seems to be yearly release of the latest version of the game. I’ve played both Duels of the Planeswalkers games so far and they have been pretty fun. I’m much too impatient to play it at times, having to wait out every step of a turn and every chance for a response to spells and abilities. Yet for this reason the game is great as an introduction or refresher course to Magic.

If that’s all the games offered then it wouldn’t be a very exciting game for more experienced Magic players. My favorite has always been the puzzles, giving you one turn to win the game from what usually looks like a hopeless position. What looks interesting in 2013 in addition to puzzles are encounters. These sound like a normal game against a deck built to win using popular strategies such as mill, elves, burn, and others. The games always try to mix things up too, with 2012 including Archenemy and now 2013 will have multiplayer Planechase. It doesn’t look like they will include Archenemy again this time though. But as usual, the new game comes with brand new decks to try against new opponents.

A lot of these decks are also tied to the new 2013 Core Set as well. The game is doing some heavy duty promotion for the next core set, including tons of cards from the core set in these decks. Wizards has been using the week before the release of Duels 2013 to preview new cards While most are reprints as usual, the coolest cards make use of this years mechanic, Exalted, in some awesome ways. I don’t want to spoil too much for those that prefer to be surprised, but there are lands with Exalted, black creatures with Exalted, and even a way to give every creature Exalted.

One thing worth spoiling, if you haven’t seen it already, is the promo cards for buying Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013. Now you get a little booster pack of 6 cards, probably an assortment of 2013 cards that can be found in the game. You are guaranteed a great card though, depending on which platform you buy the game on. Xbox users get an excellent green Primordial HydraPrimordial Hydra to go along with the logo. Those that buy it on the sleek, black PS3 get an intimidating Vampire NocturnusVampire Nocturnus. Those that buy it on Steam or the clean, white iPad get a Serra AvatarSerra Avatar. All cards worth playing and a great bonus for buying the game when it’s released June 20th.