magic2014I finally got a chance to sit down and play with one of the new Magic: The Gathering Intro decks for the 2014 Core Set. The deck, Fire Surge, is a blue and red deck with Chandra’s Phoenix as the foil card. This deck is all about dealing damage while stalling your opponent. It’s balanced, fun to use, and pretty solid out of the box. Granted it’s not as exciting as the decks coming from the 3 Ravnica blocks, but it’s an excellent deck for both new and experienced players to delve into the new core set.

So far I’m liking what I’m seeing. The core set makes up the staples of Magic the Gathering. Nothing super flashy, but real brick-and-mortar stuff. 2014 looks to be a good year for Magic, though I can’t say recent years haven’t also been good for the CCG giant.

A copy of Fire Surge and some booster packs were provided free for review by Wizards of the Coast