New 2012 MtG DotP Out!

[erilar]

A new version of Duels of the Planeswalkers (dubbed DotP 2012) was released on XBLA today!! I had no idea this was coming - they really haven't marketed it much!

It's a new game engine, with a new set of 10 decks. Don't seem to have access to the decks from the old 2009 DotP game, although we can always play the old game separately I guess.

The new engine is prettier, faster, and more streamlined. So far, I like it better.

However, I'm worried that it's really damn hard. I started off on the highest difficulty, and lost 5 times in a row. Then bumped it down to Medium, and lost about 3 more. The two decks you start with are mono-white and mono-green. I'd been playing mono-green against the first campaign opponent (mono-red), and am getting my ass handed to me repeatedly. I checked out the WotC DotP forums though, and not really anyone else complaining about difficulty. I think green is simply weak vs red out of the gate. I'll try white tomorrow.

Some improvements / additions:

• You can subtract cards out of the base 60-card decks this time, and replace them with ones from their unlockable 16-card sideboard. (Last time you could only add more cards from the sideboard and were stuck using all the ones from the base deck.) It's not true deckbuilding from scratch, but you can tune and trim to your hearts content. Much better!
• The sideboard cards are also unlockable with purchased keys like before.
• These new decks contain cards from the new M:tG 2012 Core set.
• 2-headed giant is now playable online over XBL - woot!!!
• New Archenemy co-op mode where 3 players are pitted against an AI Archenemy deck like those ones Branden has!
• 15 new puzzle levels

[Hardcorhobbs]

I enjoyed the first game a bit, but not as much as you guys. I never got to the expansions and I don't know if I unlocked any of the decks completely. I completed all the challenges, and played with you guys mostly... However between the xbla two headed giant and co-op vs AI I think I'll have to get this one!

Are there other decks?

[Jonkga]

Awesome! I knew this was coming, but hadn't expected it yet.

I have two decks to complete in the old version, and this one must be mine, too. One of my favorite xbla experiences so far...

[erilar]

I don't know if I unlocked any of the decks completely.

That's why I loved when Stainless began offering the option of paying a dollar each to fully unlock the decks. It takes a LOT of playtime to fully unlock a deck sideboard, and we all have differing amounts of free time.

Are there other decks?

Not sure I understand your question. There are 10 new decks in the base DotP 2012 game (each 60 cards plus 16 more unlockable). There will be multiple expansions down the road adding new decks (and probably new unlockable cards for the previously-released 2012 decks).

The game is 800 MS points ($10), so they are being aggressive on the pricing too. I think this is a good move - helps to alleviate the burn of the "deprecated/retired" decks from the previous DotP game.

George - time for you to get an Xbox!!

[Hardcorhobbs]

Not sure I understand your question. There are 10 new decks in the base DotP 2012 game (each 60 cards plus 16 more unlockable). There will be multiple expansions down the road adding new decks (and probably new unlockable cards for the previously-released 2012 decks).

You answered it there, I was just making sure there were more than the two decks you talked about. So you have to unlock the other 8? Mainly I just wanted to make sure they aren't starting you with only two and offering more at an extra fee. I'm cool buying a "full" xbla game and optional expansions, but if this game ever goes completely micro transaction I'm out.

[erilar]

I was just making sure there were more than the two decks you talked about. So you have to unlock the other 8?

Correct. You start with two unlocked decks - monowhite and monogreen. You unlock decks by defeating AI opponents in the campaign mode. For example, beating the very first opponent will unlock a third deck. (Except the bastard keeps slaughtering me... You'll like his deck, Cory - it's monored critters and burn.)

Ditto with the sideboard cards. You can unlock them all through gameplay - no microtransactions required. The next item that would require cash would be the first DotP 2012 expansion, which I'm sure is months away.

[Hardcorhobbs]

Good! Just wanted to check, because I remember there being more starting decks last time (though to be honest I only ever played red ).

[NukeHavoc]

Very cool. MtG is my insomnia game of choice (and is likely the reason why was able to unlock all of the decks and most of the cards through sheer game play ... it was a rough winter). I look forward to another edition, and this sounds like a good upgrade.

[Hardcorhobbs]

Picked it up last night. Checked out the Green, white, and red (first unlocked) decks. While I'm normally a red player, I wasn't too impressed with the initial red deck. Lots of big creatures, not enough damage cards. Green has a similar build (and normally does), so I've been rocking white. I love the soldier build! It reminds me of my old goblin decks, but with equipment rather than direct damage.

So now I'm kind of excited for my little rag-tag army to travel across the planes beating down other wizards!

So Lance... when we going to get some archenemy in?

[erilar]

The Archenemy will fall under the weight of my mighty fleet of kraken!

My sister and I played some 2-headed giant last night against AI opponents, and one of them was rocking Chandra's red deck - it is most certainly the burn-focused kit you're looking for!

This blue/green Kraken deck is insane. It builds up your lands really quickly - typically two per turn. All the while, you are drawing tons of cards. There are hardly any creature defenses available to you early on - you have to grin and bear any attacks. But once you have the mana to start throwing down your ridiculously powerful sea monsters, it's all over for the other guy!

The first time I played against it, I had the AI down to 2 life to my 20, and he had no monsters out to oppose my three or so. All the sudden, there were kraken everywhere and I was very dead.

Here's how I fared against the black/red dragon deck playing my kraken deck: On turn 5, I had 10 lands out to his 5. I had a giant 12/12 hexproof kraken out (that also destroys 4 permanents every time it declares an attack), plus another 12/8 kraken, plus a 6/6 flyer with trample and hexproof, and I destroyed his two blockers by turning them into (12) 1/1 saproling tokens on my side. On turn 5!

[Jonkga]

The Archenemy will fall under the weight of my mighty fleet of kraken!

Here's how I fared against the black/red dragon deck playing my kraken deck: On turn 5, I had 10 lands out to his 5. I had a giant 12/12 hexproof kraken out (that also destroys 4 permanents every time it declares an attack), plus another 12/8 kraken, plus a 6/6 flyer with trample and hexproof, and I destroyed his two blockers by turning them into (12) 1/1 saproling tokens on my side. On turn 5!

Amazing!

[NukeHavoc]

I've been having a lot of luck with the Artifact deck; it clicks better than the previous Artifact deck thanks to the "metalwork" cards that grant you bonuses if you have 3 or more artifacts in play. Coupled with decent mana generation, that's allowed me to power through the first few opponents (though I did have to drop down the skill level to the medium setting; hard was just pummeling me too badly).

One of the things I really like about this expansions it that when you unlock cards, it sometimes locks more than just a single card -- sometimes you get three cards at once. I just unlocked three cards for my deck that let me let me gain one health for each artifact spell I cast.

All in all, a very good game. I can't wait to play it online.

[Hardcorhobbs]

I'm still playing the Solder deck... though I'm stuck at the blue illusion and black/blue deck. It's mostly due to poor draws on my part though, and I'm confident I can beat them soon.

[NukeHavoc]

Speaking of the white soldier deck, it is currently kicking my artifact deck's ass. Unlike the previous build, this one seems to click a lot faster (at least for the AI) and he's got some of the killer combos in play (like the double-attack-with-equipment one) before I can bring my big guns to bear.

It's a tough deck, no doubt about it.

[Jonkga]

Yeah, I don't know about this version yet, but the last iteration of the game really rewarded switching up decks to progress through the campaign. So very often you'd end up in match-ups like that where you'd get routinely trounced until you switched up decks to change the dynamic and oppose with a different strategy.