2015 takes you on a tour of six worlds in the Magic universe. The timer still makes thinking out turns awkward you must rush to stop the countdown before you map out your next, a necessary conceit to make sure people don't stall out in multiplayer that feels unnecessary in Campaign mode. You still get a Campaign mode in which you face AI opponents using your pick of premade decks, you still win cards that can enhance your base deck, and the interface is still as friendly as it ever was, breaking down the many phases that make up each turn into easy-to-understand segments. In this light, 2015 represents a holding pattern. As always, Duels of the Planeswalkers provides neophytes with a nice little cross section of the game proper without taking anything away its core. A carefully-curated selection of cards ensures players aren't overwhelmed by choices, and premade decks eases them into the game without needing to worry about deck building until they're used to playing. As such, Duels condenses 20 years of Magic into a complete, standalone package designed to entice people to check out the paper game. You need only look at the menu for proof, as an entire section is dedicated to promoting Friday Night Magic, the centerpiece of Wizard of the Coast's organized play for tabletop game stores, even going so far as including a store locator. Ultimately, however, the primary function of Duels of the Planeswalkers is to be a big, fat advertisement for the physical game aimed at the video game enthusiast crowd. The game interface point of view makes it look like you're playing at a real table. The game exists as a convenience, leveraging the power of the medium of video games to give us a way of playing Magic on our own terms, even connecting players across the world thanks to online play.
The built-in Campaign mode also means you never need to worry about finding someone to play with, because the AI is more than capable of piloting the wide variety of enemy decks the developers programmed into the game. It's the video game version of the most popular physical card game in existence, a simulation that allows interested parties to avoid the massive money pit Magic is associated with creating. Of course, Duels was always meant to be a limited experience to some extent. But even though Magic 2015 makes some significant additions that people have been asking for since the first Duels was released, its feature-light foundation and odd limitations keep it from being the joyous celebration of Magic's virtues that it should have been. A game like Duels of the Planeswalkers, which exists to speak to the greater game-playing community outside of Magic, should reflect this diversity in play. And the countless variations that sprung from the original game speak to even more people, such as formats that force you to build decks from a limited pool of cards.
Others love the thrill of outsmarting their opponents. Some people get a kick out of building clever, efficient decks using powerful cards. Aside from being the biggest, most important card game of the past 20 years, Magic: The Gathering has become a nexus point for different types of players.
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