Magic Duels

Magic Duels

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thiccster May 26, 2016 @ 5:51pm
Best digital Magic game for total beginner?
I'm a person looking to learn how to play paper Magic, but I've never touched the game in my life(picking up a Welcome deck in a day or two). Would this or one of the Planeswalker games be better suited for someone trying to learn the rules, what with all this phase skipping I'm hearing about?
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Showing 1-13 of 13 comments
Restless May 26, 2016 @ 5:57pm 
The benefit of Duels is that it is free. You only pay with your time. You can certainly use Duels to get accustomed to Magic, but just keep in mind that there are differences between Duels and "regular" Magic. Duels does have some campaigns and skill quests to do, so you can treat it like a very long free tutorial.
bookstooge May 26, 2016 @ 5:58pm 
This game will teach you the wrong way to play paper mtg. Be aware.
Skinpopper May 26, 2016 @ 6:03pm 
Would steer clear of MtGO though...it will teach you the intricacies of the stack, etc but the interface is horrible and it is a huge money sink for cards you never technically own.
Жора May 26, 2016 @ 7:07pm 
Don't listen to what this "bookstooge" dude said. The tutorial in this game is pretty good and fast way to learn magic.
Last edited by Жора; May 26, 2016 @ 7:08pm
thiccster May 26, 2016 @ 7:19pm 
Well, it's free, so I may as well give it a try. Thank you all for your answers!
Arkhne May 26, 2016 @ 9:06pm 
Originally posted by Жора:
Don't listen to what this "bookstooge" dude said. The tutorial in this game is pretty good and fast way to learn magic.

But after that, it teaches wrong because of how badly everything is implimented.
Xenial Jesse May 27, 2016 @ 6:43am 
Ignore advice against it; MTGO is what you want. Yes the interface is straight out of Windows 95 and you can drop money on it if you really want to, but it's not necessary. You asked for a good digital way to learn the rules of the paper game and MTGO is the clear and obvious solution, and is free for all that you need.

You get 10 decks for free that you can play online with. Lots of formats. The rules engine is rigid and guaranteed validated, and you use real-life waiting instead of forced casual-friendly timers.

Magic Duels is pretty much the opposite of what you have asked for.
-- You could get a MTG client that has a rules engine (MTGO, Duels 2012-2015 are mostly correct too),
-- or a MTG client that doesn't have a rules engine (Apprentice, Cockatrice),
-- or literally the world's only MTG client with a rules engine that doesn't follow the rules (Magic Duels). It does indeed have a good tutorial, but simply in terms of what you asked I think Magic Duels is the worst answer.

If you dislike MTGO's Winterface and don't mind playing against AI, try out the free demos of Duels 2012-2015. These 4 alternatives will let you try a few different modes too, like Planeschase, 3FFA, 4FFA, and will let you enable hold priority like you would in real life. Magic Duels has none of this.

Duels 2012-2014 also have challenge mode if you buy the full game (sometimes they are dirt cheap in a sale). The challenge mode puzzles are excellent for improving your understanding of the game; really, really good for it. Of everything described above, Duels 2012-2014 are the only places you'll find them, and yeah they really are super useful for what you're asking. In one move you have to test every boundary of the rules to pull out a perfect play. Again, Magic Duels doesn't have this.

There are a few things Magic Duels provides that the other Duels games don't, and therefore, won't teach you about: Planeswalkers, mana pools, and 2HG opponent selection. But you wouldn't be able to access these things without sitting through the game straight up playing wrongly at you. But going right back to the first answer, MTGO is your best bet. It has everything, it's free for 10 decks, and its rules execution is official and validated.
Last edited by Xenial Jesse; May 27, 2016 @ 6:47am
bookstooge May 27, 2016 @ 7:39am 
Originally posted by Жора:
Don't listen to what this "bookstooge" dude said. The tutorial in this game is pretty good and fast way to learn magic.

No, the tutorials teach you how to play Magic Duels. You try some of those rules in paper magic and no one will ever play with you again.
mirrors-edge May 27, 2016 @ 7:43am 
If you are interested primarily in using a digital version of Magic, to learn how to correctly play paper Magic, then I would recommend NOT using Duels.

At moment, due to the changes they've made to the handling of priority; which is a fundamental concept of the game, it simply isn't working properly.

Furthermore, turn progression and priority in this game, even when it is working properly, has been simplified anyway and to be honest, I've always found it to be unnecessarily nondescript; perhaps even convoluted, and counter-intuitive, compared to the way it's presented in Magic Online(MTGO) for example.

As a player, I have abandoned MTGO, for a multitude of different reasons. The history of it's development, deployment and implementation, has been plagued with problems. It has seen little to no evolution, progressiveness or forward thinking development since it was first released and as a game client, it is clunky, grotesquely out-dated, unintuitive and devoid of customization. But as an educational tool, where learning paper Magic is concerned, it is more appropriate, because it adheres strictly to the actual rules of the game.

Money might possibly be an issue though, Magic Duels is as free to play as you want it to be and it doesn't take an unreasonable amount of effort to quickly build a collection. MTGO on the other hand, can get quite expensive after a while and virtual cardboard, just doesn't feel as valuable as real cardboard does. lol

There is presently another Magic product in development, code-named Magic Digital Next, that might get the balance between the two clients(Duels and MTGO) right, but as far as we know, it's a good few years away from release.

One thing I would highly recommend, is follow coverage of professional play, it might be a bit difficult to follow at first, but you'll soon pick it up and it will provide you with competent demonstrations of the game's principles and mechanics being used properly, the archive of past event coverage of pro tournaments and GPs online is absolutely massive. Also, follow the set reviews, they generally provide some great analysis of Magic cards that can be useful.

Here's a few links :-

Do you have anybody to play real paper with at all? It could be a good idea buying a booster box every so often, keep the rules handy (Comprehensive MTG Rules[media.wizards.com]) and then combined with information you gain from watching coverage and other Magic related videos online, build up knowledge about how the game is played and gain practical experience that way.

At the moment, sadly, digital versions of Magic The Gathering aren't really as good as they should be and it's going to take them some time to change that, if indeed they ever do.

The digital versions of Magic, don't really hold up to the experience of paper, which is much more fun.
Last edited by mirrors-edge; May 27, 2016 @ 7:48am
thiccster May 27, 2016 @ 8:55am 
Alright, well, Duels doesn't sound like the way to go, and after hearing some things about MtGO, and the fact that you can't get it through Steam, I'd rather not go that way either. So; Duels 2014 or 2015?
Arkhne May 27, 2016 @ 8:59am 
Originally posted by The Truck That Chases Pepsi Man:
Alright, well, Duels doesn't sound like the way to go, and after hearing some things about MtGO, and the fact that you can't get it through Steam, I'd rather not go that way either. So; Duels 2014 or 2015?

I thoroughly enjoyed 2015, it was a great game with a great cardpool.

The only problem with it is that you can't play online with it anymore.

So, if you can wait for a sale, it's a pretty good choice.
Gryfn May 27, 2016 @ 3:24pm 
Magic Duels is free so just download it and try it. Even with the current main phase skipping problem, the tutorials and skill tests are still ok for a beginner and will teach you the basics.

This basic rulebook is also useful:
https://www.wizards.com/magic/rules/en_mtgm11_rulebook_lr_web.pdf
Last edited by Gryfn; May 27, 2016 @ 3:24pm
Quicksilver May 27, 2016 @ 5:36pm 
Duels will teach you, but you will pick up a lot of bad habits from playing it. Usually from intentional but misguided cocking up of the basic game mechanics "to make it more accessible".

If you are looking to learn the current paper magic metagame so you have an idea what to build around, then Duels will help a little. However the restriction we have on how many copies of a card we can include based on rarity will give you an unrealistic impression of what you need to build around in a competative environment.

Tbh, the best way to learn magic is to have a friend or two starting at the same time as you, and to pop along to friday night magic where there are experience players to learn from. That way you and your friend(s) can play against each other and have relatively fair/balanced matches, and be around people who can answer questions that come up during play. Sealed play formats can also be a good learning experience, with certain caveats of its differnt from usual play.
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Date Posted: May 26, 2016 @ 5:51pm
Posts: 13