Will there Still be "Planeswalker-Versus-Planeswalker" Duel Decks?

Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum

Posted on Nov. 8, 2015, 12:59 a.m. by DemonDragonJ

With the announcement of Duel Decks: Blessed versus Cursed, there shall be two consecutive "faction-versus-faction" Duel Decks, which has me worried that WotC may discontinue making "planeswalker-versus-planeswalker" Duel Decks. I enjoy both types of Duel Decks, so I hope that WotC continues to print them.

What does everyone else here have to say about this? Will there still be "planeswalker-versus-planeswalker" Duel Decks?

Epochalyptik says... #2

You already raised this concern in another thread you posted in this same forum six days ago. Is there a reason you're beginning a new thread instead of posting in the old one?

November 8, 2015 1:04 a.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #3

Epochalyptik: because I have received too few satisfactory responses to the question in that thread, and I believe that the other thread should focus only on the set itself, and not what implications that set has for future sets. By having a thread dedicated to my question, the users can focus specifically on that question and not worry about other subjects distracting them from it.

The fact that you are asking me that has me worried: not even three months have passed since I joined this forum, so I am not jeopardizing my membership here, already, am I?

November 8, 2015 1:10 a.m.

DrFunk27 says... #4

DemonDragonJ You'll learn that you won't always get the satisfactory answers you are looking for, but that doesn't mean you should just create another thread on the topic x days after posting. Where did Wizards say this is a Faction vs Faction duel deck? The name itself doesn't imply it, it could easily have Sorin as the PW for Blessed and Liliana as cursed.

November 8, 2015 1:19 a.m.

Demarge says... #5

heh waiting almost a whole week before bringing the topic up is plenty of time to get new eyes on the subject and even people from the other thread back in with a more refreshed mindset (which really would almost always just be those glued to the site at all times), really I see zero issues in even just waiting a day to bring it back up so long as it's not some subject so popular the old thread is still showing up in it's section.

Now for my take on this subject I'd say that blessed vs cursed sounds more in line with the initial duel decks and not so much grounded on factions from 1 plane, so it's likely they're just going with a 3 duel deck flavor rotation.(though I will admit to rarely even playing a game with any of the duel decks before dismantling them...)

November 8, 2015 3:07 a.m.

K34 says... #6

Probably Angel vs either zombies or vampires. We are going back to innistrad after all.

November 8, 2015 8:11 a.m.

Named_Tawyny says... #7

Is there a reason you're regularly using 'shall' when you actually mean 'will'?

November 8, 2015 8:17 a.m.

GreenGhost says... #8

Well typically the planeswalker vs planeswalker duel decks come out just before a set rotates out.

November 8, 2015 10:03 a.m.

DrFunk27 says... #9

Named_Tawyny I wondered the same thing. haha =D

The set symbol looks identical to the new Shadows of Innistrad symbol, and this duel deck will most likely be a precursor to the set, with a around 6 cards from the actual set. I'm pretty excited.

November 8, 2015 11:35 a.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #10

Named_Tawyny: I was an English major in college (before switching to history, and then to technical support), so I have long thought that those two words were interchangeable. I also use "shall" more often than "will" because it sounds more formal and more archaic, which I hope gives an air of authority to any sentence that contains it.

November 8, 2015 1:33 p.m.

The formality and archaisms come off to some as insufferably pretentious. This is a hobbyist community, not an academic conference. But that's an aside.

Just be careful about starting new threads if the topic is almost the same. Wanting to get new opinions is fine, but every thread you create just stacks up in the forums. If you don't need multiple threads for an idea, then consolidate.

November 8, 2015 2:07 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #12

Epochalyptik, you are not the first person to say that my behavior is pretentious, which makes me worry that more people shall say the same thing to me, at some point in the future.

As for the main subject of this thread, I do not believe that every block needs to have a product that previews it, or the previews shall lose their impact. Why not keep the current model of having the first Duel Deck of the year feature two factions that somehow relate to the upcoming block, and then having the second DD be focused on two planeswalkers who were strongly involved in a recent block?

November 8, 2015 2:21 p.m.

DrFunk27 says... #13

DemonDragonJ So you enjoy using big words to sound smart. Got it.

Anyways, back on topic, Wizards released a statement that the Duel Deck rotations will shift now that the block rotation have changed. The new release format will most likely be Faction v Faction, Faction v Faction, PW v PW. This allows Wizards to sync the Planeswalker duel deck with PW cards that need a reprint in order to help lower standard costs.

November 8, 2015 5:33 p.m.

Why should Duel Decks focus on some strict schedule rather than be driven by lore and demand?

Magic is a product. WOTC should be planning releases based on what will pique player interest and what would be in demand. I don't think the decision to release one style of Duel Deck over another should be interpreted as a sign that that other style will never come back. That seems like a nonsensical conclusion.

November 8, 2015 5:51 p.m.

Named_Tawyny says... #15

DemonDragonJ, shall and will are not interchangeable at all. Will tends towards a more descriptive nuance, while shall is very much more normative.

Put simply: "will" is a statement of fact, "shall" is a command.

November 8, 2015 6:31 p.m.

DrFunk27 says... #16

Epochalyptik I'm confused by your post. I didn't make that up -- I'm looking for the WotC release statement. DD printings are going to change for sure, and they have always followed a pattern.

November 8, 2015 7:13 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #17

DrFunk27, Epochalyptik: are you saying that Duel Decks will now be random, rather than alternating between the two types, and that planeswalker-versus-planeswalker decks shall still be printed, but not as frequently as before?

November 8, 2015 7:16 p.m.

The point is that without a confirmed "hard" schedule for Duel Deck formats, we shouldn't assume that something isn't on the table. It's a nonsensical conclusion to assume that because the most recent Duel Deck wasn't planeswalker oriented that the planeswalker Duel Decks have been phased out of the game.

November 8, 2015 7:20 p.m.

DrFunk27 says... #19

I totally agree with that. Honestly, I don't see what the point of speculating is.

November 8, 2015 7:28 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #20

DrFunk27: in that case, it seems that there is no reason to continue this thread, any further.

November 8, 2015 10:35 p.m.

DrFunk27 says... #21

DemonDragonJ You claim to have studied English but you don't use it well. Your comma should not be after "thread," because you are saying, in essence -- "in that case, any further." The comma's you have placed in your sentence close the thought "it seems that there is no reason to continue this thread" in which case "in that case, any further" does not make sense. I'm not here to correct your grammar, but if you throw out that you study it then you should use it properly.

And No, I don't see a reason to continue, let alone create, this thread.

November 9, 2015 12:25 a.m.

xavrr says... #22

I'd love to see some of the more 'obscure' walkers...

Ashiok, Tamiyo, Ral Zarek... Dack Fayden...

December 19, 2015 1:52 p.m.

DrFunk27 says... #23

Well the next duel deck is confirmed to be creature v creature.

December 20, 2015 10:12 a.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #25

DrFunk27, are you referring to Blessed versus Cursed? If so, is it safe to presume that there is no pattern, any more? Will it now be completely random whether a Duel Deck is "faction-versus-faction" or "planeswalker-versus-planeswalker" set?

December 24, 2015 3:58 p.m.

Named_Tawyny says... #26

There is a 0% chance that it will be even remotely random whether a Duel Deck is faction/faction or walker/walker

Wizards doesn't leave things up to chance.

December 24, 2015 4:44 p.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #27

Named_Tawyny: first, why do you believe that? Second, what shall be the new pattern for the Duel Decks series? When will there be another PW-versus-PW deck?

December 24, 2015 8:33 p.m.

It would seem to any reasonable person that if you're going to go through the process of funding a product, from conception to design cycle to production to distribution, you would be very deliberate about your choices. WOTC doesn't just randomly slap products together and kick them out the door.

That said, they don't have to follow a set pattern. Nothing that they've released (that I've seen) says they plan to do a set schedule of walker, faction, or creature oriented Duel Decks. So trying to predict when the next of any of those kinds will appear is, in my opinion, pointless.

December 24, 2015 9:07 p.m.

Named_Tawyny says... #29

DemonDragonJ, I have no idea what pattern the Duel Decks will take. Heck, Wizards probably doesn't even yet know once you go more than a few years out.

But it's a long way from 'not yet planned' to 'random'.

December 24, 2015 10:32 p.m.

DrFunk27 says... #30

Also, yes I was referring to blessed v cursed. Geist of Saint Traft is the blessed leader.

December 25, 2015 12:10 a.m.

DemonDragonJ says... #31

One major reason that I wish to see more PW-vs-PW decks is that they provide easy-to-obtain reprints of planeswalker cards, some of which may be highly-desired by the players or otherwise expensive.

Also, some planeswalkers who have not yet had Duel Decks really deserve to have them, in my mind, most notably Sarkhan, given how important he has been in the storyline, recently.

December 26, 2015 12:43 a.m.

This discussion has been closed