Magic 2015: Garruk's Revenge Review

After being greatly disappointed by the core game of Magic 2015, I approached Garruk’s Revenge, the latest expansion pack that sheds light on events before Magic 2015, expecting similar results; a cheap money grab which has very little actual content.

In Garruk’s Revenge, you play as the antagonist of the core game, Garruk. It follows the story of Garruk just after he was cursed by the Chain Veil, and during the time he still had a slight control of himself, before he was lost completely to the curse and the primary game begins.

Throughout Garruk’s Revenge, you can only use Garruk’s deck, which is a Green and Black deck that mainly consist of Mana-Ramp (using spells to increase your mana to bring bigger creatures out earlier) and the bigger creatures you’re going to be bringing out. It’s one of the most simple ways to play Magic, but this means that someone who hasn’t played the main game can play Garruk’s Revenge without too much worry.

Besides the new campaign, what else does Garruk’s Revenge actually add? Erm… Thats the thing. Not a lot. There’s a new set of cards to unlock and once you complete the five new battles, you can explore the plane of Alara for several random encounters for you to play against. But apart from that, that’s pretty much it. This could last you five hours at an absolute maximum.

On a bit of a brighter note, Wizards of the Coast did do something right with this, at least. If you have bought a premium booster pack or anything from the store, then you got Garruk’s Revenge for free on release. However, they didn’t inform people of this, meaning a lot of people were very angry and confused when they went to buy it and, after buying it, were informed they were getting it free. At least you tried, Wizards of the Coast, at least you tried.

Whilst Garruk’s Revenge makes the multiplayer matchmaking and experience better, faster and more accessible (thus more enjoyable and easier to play) by improving the quick join feature, the community of the multiplayer itself ruins it. One of my most annoying experiences was when my opponent exploited a new glitch so their turn didn’t end, leaving me no choice but to leave the game, meaning they won.

Overall, Garruk’s Revenge tries to save Magic 2015. Its short length was a major downside, but what really stopped this from getting a high score was not the game itself, rather the community, which is unfortunate.