Wizards of the Coast was kind enough to send Major Spoilers an intro pack for the upcoming Magic 2013 let’s crack it open.
FANCY FANCY
First off, I love the new packaging. It’s very cool and the black really makes everything pop. The past few core sets have had either an “ancient stone” or “mystical runes” look, which is cool, but I’m a much bigger fan of the black and silver look.
Alright, now for some of the important cards.
ODRIC AND CREW
Odric, Master Tactician is the big splashy rare that the deck is built around. Now, I understand that each of the intro packs is based on a new legendary creature of the appropriate color, but I have to question the decision to have such a potentially complicated card headlining a product that is meant to be for new people getting into Magic. For one, are new players going to know that usually the most beneficial choice with Odric will be “None of your creatures block”? Then again, I guess any newbie that picks up this deck and sticks with it will be very clear on the attacking and blocking rules within a few games.
Arctic Aven is a very strong card for limited, but like all other blue cards in the deck it feels tacked on. My advice for up-and-coming Magic peeps who buy this deck is to find a handful of white creatures and instants with similar costs and trade out the Arctic Avens, Courtly Provocateurs and Downpours (and also all the islands for plains)
Attended Knight is probably the best card in this deck, three mana for a 2/2 and a 1/1 is the sort of amazing value that may just fly over a new player’s head. AND! it has first strike! the deck comes with three, and you really wouldn’t be out of line for you to track down a fourth (and maybe trade it for that Courtly Provocateur).
Oblivion Ring is back for M13, and continues to be one of my favorite cards, I just wish they’d go back to the original art… oh well, maybe next year.
FINAL VERDICT: GIVE IT A SHOT!
All together, the deck accomplishes what these intro decks are supposed to. It gets a new player to start chewing on the rules, while also providing top tier cards to keep and so-so cards to trade out. My only real issue with it is that Odric is definitely not a beginner-level card and may cause some headaches.
I’ll give the Path to Victory intro pack thee stars. A solid deck for new players and a good value. Oh! And don’t forget that each of these comes with two bonus booster packs too!
[rating:3/5]
7 Comments
Have all the intro packs before now come with just one booster? I like them for getting specific cards or as a skeleton for a certain build. I’m curious if the price is still okay for new players.
This is the first time they’ll come with two.
Have you looked at the Ipad game yet. Love to hear your thoughts on it.
I’ve played it a few times, but then work, family, Major Spoilers, AND San Diego Comic-Con coverage got in the way.
I am pretty new to magic, this is my third intro deck. I am aware they are not the greatest decks, but I enjoy playing with these sort of noobie decks to learn what I can do with what I have.
I would like to work from this deck but I need more suggestions on how to make this deck legit. Any suggestions?
A lot of that can be accomplished by taking some cards out and increasing the numbers of others, an additional oblivion ring, for example, will strengthen the deck. Also weenie decks need mass destruction, so tracking down a Planar Cleansing or Day of Judgement would be helpful. Also, as I touched on in the piece, making the deck mono-white will make this deck a lot stronger.
I’ve played with the Odric deck on the iPad game and as a new player I was quite confused by the cards description (as Rodrigo suggested). It was only when the iPad prompted me to pick the blockers and I just clicked next that I worked out how power that card was.
If I was playing IRL I probably would have assumed that at least one thing needs to block (which i know isn’t the case now).