Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalkers wants to deck you this summer

Stabbing your opponent with an arrow is generally frowned upon in official Magic tournaments.

Yes, “wants to deck you.” Yes it’s the 1990s and I’m back in primary school. I didn’t play Magic: The Gathering back then though, despite being precisely the kind of Fighting Fantasy book-loving nerd to get hooked on that stuff. I fell in with Warhammer instead, until Dark Elves began to cost £5 each or something.

What was the point of this anecdote again? Oh right, yes, Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalkers has been announced by Stainless (they of Carmageddon fame, which always amuses me.) If you care about it, you probably know how the Duels of the Planeswalkers series works by now. You get a series of Magic matches with semi-fixed decks against various characters in a campaign mode, a few “puzzle” type situations utilising specific deck mechanics and some multiplayer modes of varying types.

That’s what it was like the last time I played one of the games in the series, anyway.

It’s less about deck building (though that last couple have had some limited scope in that area,) and more about getting people to understand and love Magic: The Gathering so Wizards of the Coasts can sell more packs of cards. Aw, that felt a bit too cynical. It’s also a decent way to get a deck-limited game of Magic against either AI opposition or over the internet.

That said, this installment is promising “the ability to build customized decks … and an even more robust deck builder,” so perhaps they’re expanding the deck-building side just a little bit more this year. The campaign will culminate in a battle with Garruk Wildspeaker who is apparently a big deal in the Duels of the Planeswalkers universe.

Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalkers is due this summer.