On Duel Decks and WotC new product
Today Wizards of the Coast has announced the end of the Dual Deck product (in April). You can find that article here.
So I’m here to talk about the Good, the Bad, and the Odd. A disclaimer? I’ve been around since the the first ever Duel Decks. Duel Decks: Elves vs. Goblins. So there might be some bias? Whenever Wizard’s of the Coast retires a product, we must first ask the question. Why? For Duel decks, they have been a popular item for the past ten years, offering reprints for much needed cards, alternate art for collectors, and giving a moderately priced product that LGS’ can sell with out worry (for the most part). Duels decks, unlike the starter decks of yore. Offered a slightly cheaper option than buying two starter decks, and for the most part offered a more balanced option for beginners. As time went on, future releases of course had issues. Most recently Zendikar Vs. Eldrazi had some major balance issues. So let’s sum up the good.
- Great for new players. - Sold well for LGS’. - Offered reprints and alternate art cards for collectors and players alike. Though all products have their flaws, duels decks also had some problems. Most notably was their release schedule. While starters decks, and now the new Planeswalker decks were/ are released at the time of release for a Standard set. Meanwhile Duel decks came out anywhere between 30 days before a set, to 60 days after a set. Some of which had no connection to current sets. Like the more recent Duel deck: Mind Vs. Might. The other issue that the Duels decks have, and one that I experienced upon the initial release. They aren’t standard oriented. For new players this can be confusing. While most LGS’ would alert the buyer, places like Amazon, or other online stores, do not. That can be a big disappointment for a player who buys it and tries to use it for FNM. Let’s sum up the bad..really flawed. - Balance issues were beginning to show. - Many times the product was too early/ late from a Standard set. - No cohesiveness to Standard sets. - Not Standard legal: which can confuse newer players. Now what’s odd, is the replacement to Duel Decks. These are called Event Decks Challenger Decks. These Standard only decks are meant to represent many play styles of Magic the Gathering. They are “FNM” ready decks. I mean, these are event decks...that’s what event decks did. Also, without MSRP, no one can estimate the value on can receive on buying this. If they’re $30.99 on release...LGS’ are going to take a hit, because unless they’re good. They’re not selling. As to why they think Duel Decks needed to go, I can’t talk on behalf of Wizards, but I feel this is another step in either promoting the Master sets, or taking reprints (good ones), to the Standard Market, and perhaps we’ll see that in the new Core Set. Perhaps in the future we will see a new and improved Duel Deck product. All in all, it is upsetting that we are losing a fun product for all types of players. Though as time goes on, we must expect change. As always, thanks for reading. Gryffnwing~
