Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate

Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate

Feature

Go for the eyes, Boo

I have fond memories of the Baldur's Gate video game series, the RPG set in the high fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms. As someone who hadn't been a tabletop role-player at the time, it was my first real foray into the world of computer RPG's. I had dabbled with games such as Ultima, but it was Baldur's Gate and the stories and characters within that had me enthralled. Being able to recruit companions to your cause and have them fight side-by-side with your character. So, when I heard that Magic: The Gathering would be bringing out a Commander Legends set with a Baldur's Gate theme, I was intrigued.

The Commander Legends style of game lends itself to the Baldur's Gate story, with the multiplayer aspect being similar to having companions and alignments in the RPG.

New Mechanics



Initiative
Allows players to enter into a dungeon (or in this case, the Undercity). Each turn that the player has the Initiative, they delve deeper into the Undercity and are granted bonus abilities on their turn. These abilities grow more powerful the further a player travels into the Undercity, so it pays to hold the Initiative for as long as possible.

Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate


Myriad
In our preview matches, I found Myriad to be a powerful keyword mechanic. Whenever a creature you control with myriad attacks, for each opponent other than the defending player, you may create a token that is a copy of that creature to attack that opponent or a Planeswalker that opponent controls. This effectively gives players temporary multiple versions of that attacking card to attack multiple opponents at once. In our games, using a card that had both Myriad and Flying keywords made for an awesome coupling.

Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate


Adventures
Adventure cards give players two options. They can be cast with their usual cost and act as creatures or artifacts. But these cards have a secondary option known as an Adventure, all of which are Instants or Sorceries. These Adventures are cast at a reduced value and once it has resolved is sent straight into exile. However, the permanent (creature or artifact) can be cast from exile if players have the spell to do so at a later point.
Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate


Dungeons, Dragons, and dice
It would not be a D&D themed deck without there actually being some Dungeons and Dragons. As mentioned previously, the dungeons take effect when players hold the Initiative. Players who hold the Initiative delve further into the dungeon and can claim the abilities on offer. There are also plenty of dragons spread across the set, so if you’re a fan of flying creatures, this would be the ideal set. Being that the set has a Dungeons and Dragons base, there are also cards that require the use of a d20 to determine the outcome in true D&D fashion.

Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate


Baldur’s Gate
But with the set specifically themed on the Baldur's Gate storyline, it is great to actually see the Gates. The Gates are specialized land cards that have abilities that care either about which other Gates you control or the number of other Gates you control.

Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate



The card and the art


The artwork in Magic: The Gathering has always set the scene for the story within the deck wonderfully. But with a setting that has already been visualised in numerous forms, it was going to be interesting how it would be depicted in this Commander Legends set

Planeswalkers
Elminster (blue/white)
Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes (red/green)
Tasha, the Witch Queen (blue/black)

Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate


Lands
As well as the special land cards mentioned previously – The Gates, the land cards feature some gorgeous scenes from the Sword Coast, the location of Baldur's Gate. Each of the coloured lands depict the landscapes across the Sword Coast beautifully.

Away From Keyboard - Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate


The Commander Legends style of play fits in wonderfully with the Baldur's Gate story. With multiple players, you can either work alone or recruit other players to your cause (well, for a short time, anyway) to help defeat other players. The new mechanics work well, although I found that the Myriad keyword was the more powerful of them - although if you could stay within the Undercity for a period of time that could change. The inclusion of some d20 rolling does allow for some randomised options, which could alter some well made plans. The Magic: The Gathering - Battle for Baldur's Gate is definitely an enjoyable set that would have fans of the D&D series satisfied.


As always, follow us on Instagram for news updates, reviews, competitions and more.