duel decks tagged posts

My love of Duel Decks isn’t a well kept secret. I know, it sounds absurd to say that I love these little pre-constructed decks that draw across the planes of Magic, but I really do love them! With the September releases acting as a preview for the upcoming set, Heroes vs. Monsters is a good, old-fashioned battle of giant creatures. While Sorin vs. Tibalt soured on me as time went on (well, mostly just Tibalt – even I can’t get him to work), Izzet vs. Golgari are both intact in my deck box because they’re so much fun!

Suggested Ages: 13+
Suggested Players: 2 players
Contents:

• Two ready-to-play 60-card decks
• Two deck boxes
• Two creature tokens
• A strategy insert
• A Magic “Learn to Play” guide

Retail price: $19.99 available at Amazon.com

Duel Decks is a series of decks that Wizards releases biannually in the spring and fall. In the spring, they are based around a duel of two planeswalkers from the previous block, while in the fall they act as a preview of the upcoming fall release. In the case of Heroes vs. Monsters, both decks are drawing a great amount of inspiration from the upcoming Theros set.

The newest Magic: the Gathering Duel Decks got released over the weekend, and like always, the price kept climbing so I waited until I spotted them for MSRP and picked up a pair. Once a year, Wizards release a set of Duel Decks focused on a pair of Planeswalkers battling it out and this year, we’re going back to Innistrad as Sorin and Tibalt go head to head.

Suggested Ages: 13+
Suggested Players: 2 players
Contents:

• Two ready-to-play 60-card decks
• Two deck boxes
• Two creature tokens
• A strategy insert
• A Magic “Learn to Play” guide

Retail price: $19.99 available at Amazon.com

Like the other Duel Decks, Sorin vs. Tibalt is two 60-card decks specially made to battle one another. For the spring releases now, it seems like Wizards is sticking to two planeswalkers from the previous block which I love for two big reasons: it makes planeswalkers super accessible to casual and new players and it ties back in with sets you can currently buy. These Duel Decks also include two spirit tokens with Magic card backs (with the Avacyn Restored art),  two deck boxes (which can’t fit sleeved decks), a how-to-play insert and a strategy insert outlining how the decks work.

I love the Duel Decks in Magic. It only took Wizards five years to really get into the swing of things. With the new schedule of the fall decks previewing the upcoming big set and the spring ones revisiting planeswalkers from the world before, it’s a great system. But this set is special because it returns us to Ravnica before we, uh, return to Ravnica.

Two Guilds Clash beneath the Streets of Ravnica

The Izzet League, under the ingenious mind of its guildmaster, the dragon Niv-Mizzet, has dabbled, delved, and decoded many mysteries in its insatiable thirst for knowledge. Now the dracomagus seeks to plumb the depths of Ravnica’s undercity. But the Golgari don’t welcome interlopers in their dank, moldy realm.

Under the command of the elvish lich lord Jarad, the Golgari have dwelled in darkness long enough. The Swarm grows restless and its rot farms need fresh corpses. Jarad believes the time is right to teach Niv-Mizzet’s magewrights a lesson: that there is no place for Izzet research in the vicious cycle of life and death.

Suggested ages: 13 and up
Number of players: 2
Playing time: 30 minutes
Contents: 2 decks of 60 cards, two deck boxes, two inserts, two tokens
Retail price: $19.99 at retailers everywhere

The latest Magic: the Gathering Duel Decks set just got released and I managed to track down a copy with minimal ease for once. Telling the story of Scars of Mirrodin, Koth versus Venser is an interesting set of decks. If you’re looking for a deck with the absurd value of Elspeth vs. Tezzeret, you aren’t going to find it here. But for casual players looking for some well balanced decks ready to be tweaked and a handful of Commander cards, this is a great starting point.

Two Planeswalkers, one compassionate, one calculating, gave their all to save a world. The Planeswalker Koth, from the metal plane of Mirrodin, sought help when his world darkened. He traveled to Dominaria to enlist allies and met fellow Planeswalker Venser.

When Venser recognized the threat to Koth’s world was none other than Phyrexia, he knew that the only hope for Mirrodin was to find its maker. But that would mean forsaking its people in the meantime. Koth would rather die than turn his back on his fellow Mirrans. But Venser knew they would all die anyway if they failed to reach Karn, his former mentor and creator of Mirrodin.

Two Planeswalkers, one goal, very different methods. Recreate the struggle to lead the way to Mirrodin’s salvation.