MTG 2014 - Expansion DLC (XBLA)

Wizards of the Coast, and Stainless Games up the ante with their latest MTG 2014 expansion DLC. Along with five new decks, and five new challenges you'll find a completely new story arch with an entirely different protagonist. This latest female planeswalker known as "Elspeth Tirel" is basically on a quest for immortality. In her quest to find the items she needs to complete the spell she first seeks out the gods' council, and ends up challenging some of the most formidable adversaries seen thus far in the planeswalkers storyline. You will follow her through five of the most difficult challenges you have ever encountered within the console series of the game, as well as ten campaign encounters, three planeswalkers duels, and five revenge duels all of which will put your MTG knowledge to the ultimate test. Whether, or not you, and this planeswalker prevail will lie heavily on your understanding of the game thus far.

The campaign of the 2014 expansion will take you, and the new planeswalker to new locations that weren't yet featured in the planeswalker's multiverse. Among these new sites is the Japanese inspired Kamigawa locale (my personal favorite) as well as 'Alara', and 'Ravnica'. When you first begin your playthrough of the campaign you will go head to head with the main protagonist herself, and will ultimately begin your quest in doing so. Defeating her will not only gain you the "Hall of Champions" tri-color (White/Blue/Green) deck, but will also reveal a cinematic intro in which her story is given meaning. Unlike Chandra Nalaar's campaign this latest protagonist's playthrough will be told through the voice-overs of a male narrator which plays out before each duel. In that sense it's more like a story being told than a hands on adventure with an actual planeswalker. You do at least get to hear the protagonist's voice during the cinematic cutscene though, so it's not entirely in the form of a third person perspective. As far as the plot goes this latest story arch takes place after Chandra's final encounter with master planeswalker Ramaz.

Aside from the campaign which spans ten individual encounters there's also five new advanced level challenges which will give you a proper run for your money should you opt to take them on. Through hands on experience, and full completion of the challenges I can honestly tell you that it will more than likely take a veteran MTG player to solve the puzzles contained within them. Even with multiple playthroughs of each individual challenge it will still take advanced knowledge of the game for full completion. The fact that this sort of gameplay was never really explained in the core experience of the MTG 2014 game only enhances the difficulty of the tasks placed in front of you. This in itself was likely a poor choice seeing as the expansion wasn't labeled as an advanced MTG players' add-on. Even the campaign can be quite the brutal, and unforgiving experience to someone who just got through learning the core game. I guess what bothers me the most about the campaign portion of the game is the fact that the difficulty isn't so much the duels that you take on, but is more so the fact that the AI is extremely smart, and that most of the time you'll be dealt a hand that will not win you the game. Even with the most well constructed decks I had to make multiple playthroughs of a single encounter just because I was repeatedly dealt a bad hand.

When it comes to the new decks there are some exceptionally good, and exceptionally bad offerings to be explored. These decks include Elspeth Tirel's "Hall of Champions, Dack Fayden's "Dodge and Burn", Nissa Revane's "Sylvan Might, Sugihara's "Sword of the Samurai, and Bolkru's "Lords of Darkness". To gain access to these decks you must of course defeat each one of the five planeswalkers associated with each new deck. Four of the planeswalker's decks can be obtained through a simple expansion campaign playthrough, but Nissa Revane's "Sylvan Might" has to actually be won after all other core expansion campaign encounters have been completed. Once you've done so you can challenge her to a duel by unlocking her previously locked planeswalker duel in the expansion campaign menu. One thing that I forgot to mention is that the expansion DLC has it's own separate menu that is set apart from the offerings of the core game. In this way it's easier to access all of the DLC content.

The first deck you'll obtain during your expansion campaign playthrough is Elspeth's "Hall of Champions". This particular deck is a tri-color deck that requires the use of White, Blue, and Green mana/lands. Those colors alone should let you in on the fact that this is quite the powerful deck should you be able to adapt to the tactics associated with the cards contained within. As far as creature cards go they are most white oriented, but for the most part have the "exalted" feature tacked on. This means that when a "Hall of Champions" creature with exalted attacks alone It gains an extra attack, and defense point for each other exalted creature you have on the playing field. As such the deck is more of a power by numbers sort of deal. You'll also find some spells (sorcery, instants ...) that can add attack, and defense points to your creatures giving them amplified effects when dueling with your opponent. There's even a powerful lifelink plus attack/defense artifact (Behemoth Sledge) that can greatly increase your chances of winning should you pair it with a worthy creature. For the most part all the cards contained in this deck are low cost, so you can get them out on the playing field quickly. This is a plus in battles against duelists using decks that contain stronger creature cards.

The next deck you'll happen upon is Dack Fayden's "Dodge and Burn" (Red/Blue). The title of this deck alone should give you a good idea as to it's contents. For those of you looking to really piss an MTG player off this is the deck to do it with as it has a !@#$ ton of counter spells. The real kicker though is that as limited as the creature card selection is there are still some creatures with added effects that can take your opponent out quickly while their creatures are being blasted off of the playing field. Out of all the creature cards included in the deck you'll often times see duelists pull out multiple "Kiln Fiend" cards as they gain +3/0 whenever you cast an instant. The fact that you'll be casting plenty of instants (Thoughtblind, Cancel, Remand ...) when playing this deck assures you that you'll be able to take full advantage of this particular creature card. Another creature card you should look out for when using this deck is the "Charmbreaker Devils". Like the "Kiln Fiend" it too gets a power/defense boost when you use a sorcery, or an instant. If I remember correctly it's initially a 4/4 low cost creature, and will gain +4/0 when an instant/sorcery is used. Not only that but it puts a random sorcery/instant from your graveyard into your hand at upkeep giving you the ability to continue relieving your opponent of their creatures. It's best to take this creature out as soon as possible should you be on the receiving end.

Next up is the "Lords of Darkness" deck. Ominous sounding isn't it? This black deck surprisingly has a creature size comparable to the core game's two green decks. That's a five star rating for those of you interested in stats. As the title of the deck suggests you will mostly be dealing damage with powerful demon creature cards. While there are plenty of such demons to choose from though you'll find that the deck speed is a wee bit low, and that the synergy is low as well. Through hands on experience though this deck can be quite the threat as it is filled with creature clearing instants (Diabolic Edict, Doom Blade ...) as well as creatures that deal bonus damage to players. There's even an instant card (Tendrils of Corruption) that will regain life points for you when you are in a pinch. Out of all the creatures included initially I think you'll find that "Bloodgift Demon" will reward you for usage the most. Not only is it a 5/4 creature card, but during upkeep you can use it to deal damage to an opponent as well as make them draw a card, or do the opposite, and score yourself a card for the cost of one life point. Either way "Bloodgift Demon" will prove to be a worthy asset in your fight against other duelists.

I had almost forgotten about the Kamigawa decks until the Kamigawa plane, and the "Sword of the Samurai" deck was reintroduced in this expansion. For those of you who don't know about Kamigawa decks they are all about dishing out extreme punishment with lowly creature cards. Like the "Hall of Champions" deck this  dual colored (White/Red) deck uses a special type of card as well as the power of numerous creature cards to inflict brutal, and unrelenting damage on any player that should challenge it's wielder. The special cards I speak of are cards with the "Bushido" added effect. Bushido cards vary in numerical value, and deal bonus damage according to that number when you block using a Bushido card. In other words it's the exact opposite of "Exalted" cards. By having numerous samurai creature cards on the playing field you can often times enhance other creature cards in your possession with low cost mana effects. As such you can amass quite the powerful army of samurai should you be able to get enough of them onto the playingfield. You should also note that the deck contains some noteworthy artifacts, and equipment that can increase your creature card's effectiveness.

Last, but certainly not least we have what could quite possibly be the most powerful, and effective deck in this current version of the game. There's obviously a reason that Nissa Revane's "Sylvan Might" was the most difficult to obtain. As with Elspeth's "Hall of Champions", and Sugihara's "Sword of the Samurai" you will find that this fast paced, and unforgiving green deck deals most of it's damage through numerous creatures, and bonus effects that are added through instants, sorceries, artifacts, and equipment. By having multiple elf cards on the playing field you'll often times get a collectively beneficial low cost effects that in turn award all of your elf creatures with boosted stats, and other bonus effects as well. For the most part all creature cards in the "Sylvan Might" deck are low cost, so it'll be easy to accumulate an army of elvish creatures in no time at all. With the additional effects from instant, sorceries, artifacts, and equipment cards you'll have a deck that will get the job done, and get it over with fast.

Now on to the verdict ...

For a measly $4.99 this MTG 2014 Expansion DLC is not that bad of a deal. Not only do you get five new kickass decks that are each powerful in their own way, but you also get two campaigns (Expansion Campaign & Expansion Revenge Campaign) as well as five of the most difficult challenges you've faced yet. Beating the five challenges will of course give you proper bragging rights as they are more geared towards advanced/veteran MTG players. On the downside your complete playthrough might prove to be extremely aggravating at times. The AI seems to have been ramped up, and often times you'll find that many encounters require multiple playthroughs as the game just doesn't want to give the cards necessary to win. Even with a well constructed deck (via deck manager) I was often time left without enough lands, or damage dealing cards. Even so I still think the expansion is worth getting as the available decks this time around are beasts! Let's also not forget the additional achievements you can add to your gamer score!