Duels of the Planeswalkers Guides [XBLA]

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Although it’s a little embarrassing to admit, I’ve been an avid fan of Magic: The Gathering since 1998. Back then Magic was a pure experience. There weren’t any “mythic rares” or “double strike creatures” or “ways to walk home from school without getting beaten up.” You put together your horrible, 170-card vampire deck, and you threw down, son.

I say “fan” because, like many who’ve dabbled in the dark cardboard arts, I’ve played on and off over the years. From my cash-burning high school years to my poorly-pronounced draft tour of Paris, it’s always been a balance of cost, time, and finding someone willing to play with me. While Magic: Online is a great proxy for the real thing, it’s also just as expensive. Spending $8.00 for a shiny Serra Angel doesn’t feel as good if you can’t sleep with it under your pillow hold the card in your hands.

Enter Magic: the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers. For $10.00, you get 8 decks, 8 game modes, and tons of replay value. It’s a great purchase.

“But WiNG, this game sucks! You can’t even make your own deck!”

You couldn’t even make your own whiny retort, anonymous Internet interlocutor. I made it for you, so shut up.

Sure, there’s limited deck customization. Basically, you get8  precons; winning unlocks additional cards, which you can add to your deck. Unfortunately, you can’t remove any of the original cards from the deck. Fortunately, you get to tear people up all day every day while shouting obnoxious, Magic-themed taunts into your microphone.

In between games of total, nerd-flavored domination, I managed to write comprehensive guides to three of the game’s decks. In true patriotic spirit, they’re for mono-red, mono-white, and mono-blue. I chose these decks because, in my opinion, they’re the hardest to pick up and play effectively. Winning with them takes a mindset that may not be obvious, even after the first time you get trampled to death by a dozen 14/14 elves.*

Without further ado, here are the guides:

Hands of Flame (mono-red) Guide

Wings of Light (mono-white) Guide

Thoughts of the Wind (mono-blue) Guide

I hope you find these useful. While none of the other decks is a cakewalk (except one)* I believe that, if you learn the basics for each of these decks, you’ll have a strong foundation for winning with the other decks. Unless, of course, you get matched against yours truly, right?

*Fuck the elf deck.