Much better than 2014 and 2015 due to having Planechases. It is much more fun to play than the newer games. The newer ones feel like money-grabs to me.

TL:DR
THE BEST OF ALL THE DUELS GAMES HANDS DOWN
if you want the stupid planechase anthologies box, get this instead, its cheaper and plays the same way but with more powerful decks and cards, and more selection (select your deck, dont build it, and be pre balanced against all other deck options, then either do or do not do planechase) buy the deck unlocks if you want to jump right into multiplayer.

A very good game with flaws, this game should be compared against things like planechase anthologies or the archenemy box rather then against MTGO or normal paper magic. for me and my friends (highly experienced magic players of multiple years) we like how all the decks are actually quite good (yes I said GOOD, precon decks, WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED?!?!?!) the fast decks are fast, the blue deck goes infinite at the drop of a hat, and the 5 color deck has ramp, progenitus, and godsire. but it also keeps you within the confines of the precons (you can unlock better cards by using the deck, ill address this later) meaning you dont reach the point where you have to play black, blue, or kill before turn 5 to be competative (thanks modern) while still using stupidly powerful and in many formats banned cards, vindicate is amazing but not oppressive without thoughtsieze, path, and dark confadant.
also keep in mind, this is the only duels game that feels like it knows its not supposed to be "babbies first mtg" (though it is a great jumping off point for learning the game) or "the full mtg experience" it plays like a box set of precon decks, and for that purpose its amazing, dont expect anything else and you wont be dissipointed.

THE BAD
ok, this game isnt perfect, to start, if you start from nothing and your friend has all the cards unlocked (or bought the unlocks, this isnt pay to win its pay to skip, though i do advise buying the deck unlocks if you want to do multiplayer and compete) you are going to get STOMPED! for instance, the blue deck may be a bit too strong but doesnt really get good until you have unlocked 25 or so cards or entered all the free codes (included in the game, check the extras menu in the main menu) for just enough "take another turn" spells to pull through victories against even the AI. though this is the most aggregious example most of the other decks are similar, the best cards are all unlocks, and you need to spend about an hour per deck (if you know what you are doing) smashing the AI and getting cards to be able to play them online.
This game plays slower then MTGO, theres a lot less weird f6ing and such to swap priority but you get a timer, and on one side, if you miss the timer you dont get another chance to do whatever instant speed thing you wanted, and on the other this timer is not skippable, even if nobody has anything they CAN do. fortunately the games quality is high enough that it doesnt bother me, and if you have gotten to this point in my wall of text it probably wont get your goat either.
Planechase is inherantly unbalanced, the main draw of this game is the multiplayer planechase mode, and the cards in the planechase deck are absolutely nuts. if the first card is the one that gets you lands when you attack and you are against the green elf deck you are probably just dead. run into the rebound plane against the blue deck? probably dead. double strike and haste against one of the agro decks? DEAD! fortunately there are very few planes that insta lose the game, and the game tends to be very short if those planes get hit, but keep in mind, every plane is going to be good for someone and bad for someone else, and sometimes the dice will stick you on a plane that isnt good for you.
ALSO, THIS GAME USES THE 2013 RULESET, THERE ARE CARDS WHICH WORK DIFFERENTLY THEN THEY DO CURRENTLY, PLEASE KEEP THIS IN MIND.

so to re summarize, weigh this game against your options buying the new nicol bolas archenemy or planechase anthologies, and to a much lesser extent commander anthologies, not anything else in MTG. prepare to spend some time or money grinding or buying to unlock cards in the decks if you want to play with people who have the cards unlocked before you. the game plays a little bit slow. the decks are fairly well balanced, the campaign is cool, and I PERSONALLY think the game is worth the buy even off sale, if you see this thing on sale JUMP ON IT!

A fragmented player base brought on by new year to year versions instead of add-ons to a base game.

A weak, difficult, and time wasting multiplayer experience brought on by said fragmentation and lack of basic functions like rank/matchmaking or even the simple ability to add someone to your steam friend's list while in game. This in addition to the general problem of online games being invisible to the player or knowing how many people are online playing at a given time - thus giving the impression of a dead multiplayer experience. Hell you can't even vote to restart a multiplayer match in-game that you might have drawn no lands in.

Confusing, overpriced DLC that often ends with people not knowing what they have bought, have already, or should have and thus ends with a multitude of complaint threads on these forums.

Slow UI, slow load/boot up, problems with card selection/assignments, & genreal bugs that seem to never be fixed year to year as one game is thrown out for the next.

This game has now 4 editions 2011,2012,2013,2014. The consistency between all versions seems to be a lack of attentiveness to increasing value to the basic player experience through debugging and improved multiplayer funcionality while adding as many ways to fleece the player of their money.

This combination of problems diminishes intrest year over year and will eventually lead to a product few want because those potentially interested have already had some form of irritation or negative experience with a past iteration of it.

The future is dim for a product that adds little - if any - value, year to year, while holding fast to the mountain of mistakes in its past.

Buyer beware.

Great game if you're new to Magic and want to try it out, and it's great if you're an experienced Magic player that's looking for some challenges. The only thing about this game I didn't like was the online pvp matches were dead. All the single player stuff is very enjoyable. Get it, you won't regret it!

Much like the table top version of the card game, but on PC. You need to take care of how you send spells to the stack, as the game will follow the rules to a T - often times leading to effects you may not have desired.

Overall a fairly fun experience, gets even better if you have friends to play with. It is slightly trying at the beginning if you are used to playing your own decks, as they limit you with what you can use to start out. The game does provide the option to unlock more decks and cards for the provided decks as you play.

Review for badge progress - feel free to ignore

This installment is basically the same as the previous year, with a few improvements. The campaign does a better job characterizing each of the planeswalkers this time; There are several animated "cutscenes" created from still artwork that show each of the planeswalkers in action, and you're given a brief bio before going up against each of them. The story takes you to several planes, which is is a nice touch missing from the last game, but ultimately just amounts to you having a different background in the menu and different looking picture in the corner of your screen during gameplay.
You'll see in screenshots the battlefield has a huge orange glowing ring that doesn't go away. It's annoying but easy to ignore.
Though you still can't create a new deck from scratch, each of the playable decks have up to 30 cards you can unlock, compared to 16 in the previous installment.
You'll take on several of the returning planeswalker characters as well as decks themed around minor characters from Innistrad, Alara, and Ravnica, finishing up with a battle against the dragon god Nicol Bolas.
New to the campaign ladder are "encounter" decks which are challenges involving a specific card that your opponent has a deck full of. I found these to be a lot more fun than the previous challenge type, which are also back but have been moved away from the main campaign ladder.
Revenge returns for those seeking an endgame higher difficulty. In place of Archenemy, the game has Planechase, another multiplayer format I'm not particularly interested in. Unfortunately the pay-to-unlock-quicker and foil cosmetic DLCs are also back, though I do recommend buying the downloadable expansion that includes a campaign mission and deck for each of the Ravnica guilds.
I said 2012 did a pretty good job of replicating tabletop Magic, and that also applies to 2013. This one is probably all around the better game. The decks feel a lot more varied and the Encounter missions were a good inclusion. I'd say this is one of the better single-player TCG experiences on Steam.

Magic 2013 is a card game, in this game you battle an opponent by summoning monsters and playing artifacts and spells to get their life to 0, make them run out of a library (deck) or win by card effect. everytime you win a game you unlock a card for the deck you are using unless you've unlocked all the cards for that deck. you do have to unlock decks by beating certain levels of the campaign.

Pros -
- I found this game to be very addictive, clever and fun.
- you can customize decks with set cards to make your decks unique and to work around your play style whilst stopping decks becoming over powering.
- this game has 3 game modes on multiplayer which are free for all, 2 head giants (2 v 2) and planeschase which is FFA but with a deck in the middle which changes the game by adding new rules, effects, abilities, adding life and even destroying cards.

Cons -
- The AI knows what's in your hand and the order of your deck. i believe this since the goblin deck has a card that has an ability, which reveals the top card of your opponents deck that player can play it if its a land.
- Do not be zoomed in on a card as its leaving the battlefield since this can cause the game to crash and you can have the card stuck on your screen zoomed in making the game unplayable since you can't see what's going on.

This game does require alot of time if you want every card unlocked or if you don't want to spend lots of time unlocking cards you can purchase a deck unlock if you prefer. I chose to unlock the cards through winning games since I don't want to pay for something i can get for free whilst playing a game I enjoy. I would recommend this game since the game is only around £15 if you purchase the DLC which gives you more decks and it's a load of fun, especially the multiplayer.

ENG:

The best card game on Steam, updated version!

FIN:

Paras korttipeli Steamissa -päivitetty versio!

Are you like me and not terribly interested in the rapidly changing world of Magic: The Gathering, be it the physical card version or the digital Magic: The Gathering Arena, yet still love the game you used to play?

Well, this is one of my favorites versions. And up front, I'd recommend the 'Gold Game Bundle' over the complete as it contains the extra campaigns as well as a few additional decks. But, if you're a hyper enthusiast, there are more decks and foil conversions should you just really like them.

While different, having their own twists and unique attributes, they're all games that are effectively trying to recreate the... magic of MTG.

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is a largely single player version of MTG with over 15 pre-built decks that unlock more cards as you use them. The deck manager allows you remove or add the extra cards earned through play to optimize each deck to how you play. That might be frustrating to some, but it doesn't honestly take that long to unlock them all and you'll have a better idea of how you want to build the deck after having used the deck against various other types of decks in the meantime.

The campaign is rather lengthy consisting of various Planswalker 'boss' battles wherein you face that deck controlled by AI. With encounter battles in between, typically involving some odd mechanic that'll force you to think and therefore play differently, even when using the same deck and subscribing to a tried-and-true methodology. There are also Revenge campaigns as well as extra challenges. There is also a “Planechase” mode campaign. Back when I was playing this was fairly new, in case you're unfamiliar, it's essentially a shared 'planar' deck in the middle of the field that is drawn that augments the rules of all players. It's used in conjunction with its own die that dictates how the planar card will function that round.

The custom game mode consists of 'Free-for-all', classic 2-4 (AI or players), 'Two-Headed Giant' — which is 2v2. And the aforementioned 'Planechase'. These modes can be used for practice in the campaigns, testing strategies, unlocking new cards from new decks or for a challenge depending on your settings.

As for multiplayer, it does have online, but I would simply be astounded if anyone was still playing this online. However, it supports 'Remote Play' through Steam and I can't imagine that if you're interested in playing this online (and aren't already using Arena), that that interest would not be for playing against 'Garruk0176' instead of a friend that you've premade arrangements with anyways.

THE GIST:
It's got achievements, avatar unlocks, deck progression, campaign progression — all the things you'd want out of a single player focused MTG. It's got a decent tutorial as well if MTG is completely foreign to you.

If you've read this far, consider following my curation — Station Argus

Forest/Swamps deck 4 lyfe! — Fun Fact: The most expensive (specific) physical card I ever bought to 'complete' a deck was a “Garruk, Primal Hunter” which I paid $7 for.

tfw nobody plays this dead game.. :c