In theory it's an elegant way to implement the complex timing of the tabletop version of the game, but digital card games are traditionally about fast play, and the timer meant the pace never felt quite right. The implementation of the timer is a mixed blessing, and it's really at the heart of my problems with Magic Duels. Pause the timer and zoom in on your cards to keep track of their special abilities. Either player could jump in to make one of these plays, or pause the clock to take a little more time to plan things out. Any time you could trigger an Instant spell or ability, the clock would tick down. The solution was a 3-second timer in the bottom right corner of the screen that I came to think of as the shot clock.
The game isn't truly turn-based, since you need to be aware of every card that gets played and take advantage of these windows of opportunity. It's part of what makes a digital version of Magic so hard to get right. If several of these are played in the same window, the effects go on a "stack," with the most recently played effect triggering first. However, there's also an important timing structure to Magic because certain spells (called "Instants") and other abilities can be used at almost any time on either player's turn. Your opponent will be able to defend against it with creatures they already have on the board. You'll draw a card from your deck, play your spells and launch your attack. And an early, burning hatred for playing against blue control decks, but that's neither here nor there.īeyond the solo play, there's also a casual multiplayer mode and a more serious ranked mode to test your decks against other players, as well as a two-versus-two team battle called Two-Headed Dragon. It's a smart way to give newcomers a taste of what the game itself has to offer.
Completing a round upgrades your deck, giving you access to more advanced cards, which is a clever way to sneak in lessons on complex card interactions and customising decks. The first of these serves as the tutorial, and most of the game's functions are locked until you play through all five rounds. There are five separate campaigns in Story Mode, each following a central Magic character through their origin story, which will take you a few hours to play through. In fact, the whole single player mode seems designed to give players a taste of Magic: The Gathering, from learning the rules to playing with different types of decks. But if the legalese rule explanations don't do it for you, you can play a turn or two on a test table to see how it actually works. You might remember that if a Trample creature's power is greater than the defender's toughness excess damage will be dealt to the defending player. Take, for example, the first time you see a creature with the "Trample" effect. When a new ability appears, you also have the option to immediately play a quick "Skill Quest" to see how it works in practice. If you've never "tapped a basic land" before (or have no idea what those words even mean) there's a short set of quests at the start of the game that leads you through the basics of playing Magic. Magic Duels should be lauded for its tutorial. If you're confused, you'll probably appreciate how well the game eases you into it all. From there, you can play one land every turn and as many spells as you can afford. Players each have a deck of 60 cards, containing spells and lands (the resource you use to pay for spells). Here's a quick run-down of how Magic Duels works.