With its July 23 release date fast approaching, Magic: The Gathering Adventures in The Forgotten Realms has been creating plenty of buzz. And there's a good reason for that. Judging by the cards I got a sneak-peek of, it's the perfect way into the game for fans of Dungeons and Dragons.
- Adventures in The Forgotten Realms: Browse the range at Amazon
Namely, it's a pick-and-mix of D&D's best bits. As someone that's flirted with the idea of playing Magic but always gets scared away by the learning curve (what the hell is an Emblem? How do you use mana? I'll be damned if I know), it presents a more accessible entry-point. Because it's based around D&D's primary setting that's used in everything from novels to Dark Alliance, classic spells and characters take pride of place. As such, Magic: The Gathering Adventures in The Forgotten Realms offers familiar scaffolding for its gameplay if you've got even a passing interest in the tabletop RPG. Which you might well do, considering the fact that the game had its best year of sales in 2020.
Criminal kingpin Xanathar is one of the game's Legendary Creature cards, for example. The latter's ability allows you to look at, steal, and use the top card from your opponent's library, which is very true to his underhand personality. It's a similar story for the iconic beholders (greedy, highly paranoid aberrations) and purple worms, mainstays of best Dungeons and Dragons books or video games like Baldur's Gate 3. Take a look:
Even dungeons are woven into the set's mechanics. Put to one side of the table, they offer benefits depending on the route you take through its rooms. Because D&D is about choice and creating your own story, that's a neat touch.
The breadth of ideas represented in the set makes it a fair place to start if you want to know more about Dungeons and Dragons lore, too. Major figures from D&D canon are represented here, and they're accompanied by little snippets of info that aren't too overwhelming. It's a taste to whet the appetite and ground you in the world of The Forgotten Realms.
When combined with stat cards ripped straight from the pages of a D&D book, TRPG adventurers will feel right at home with Magic: The Gathering Adventures in The Forgotten Realms.
Which bundle should you get?
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This brings us neatly to our next conundrum. Which Magic: The Gathering Adventures in The Forgotten Realms bundle should you pick up? There's a lot of choice, after all.
If you want to make life as easy for yourself as possible, your best bet would be one of the Commander sets. There are four different kinds on offer (Dungeons of Death, Draconic Rage, Aura of Courage, or Planar Portal), and each one gets you a 100-card ready-to-play deck with 10 double-sided tokens and a reference card. This gives you everything you need to play against someone else.
Other packs are available, of course, but these seem like the most sensible options if you're dipping a toe into the world of Magic: The Gathering for the first time.
Magic: The Gathering Adventures in The Forgotten Realms
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Want more tabletop action? Check out our guide to the best board games, board games for 2 players, or the top board games for adults. As for adventures like D&D, don't forget about the best tabletop RPGs.
