Players: 1 - 4
Online Trophies: 2, Gather Your Allies and Duelist
Cheat Codes Affect Trophies: No Cheats Available
Estimated Time to 100%: 5 - 10 Hours
Minimum Playthroughs: 1
Collectible Trophies: None
Missable Trophies: None
Glitched Trophies: None

Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 takes last year's massive hit game to even greater heights with better graphics, more options, and new challenges.

Face off against the AI, or gather your allies for the new multiplayer format: Archenemy, where you team up to take down a single opponent. And if one of your fellow Planeswalkers drops out, no problem, the AI will step in for uninterrupted action.

Featuring ten unique decks, Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 also lets you customize those decks. As you progress in the game, you can enhance your deck by swapping in new, unlockable cards. However, unlike the previous game, this time around you can remove any card in your deck as long as you still meet the 60 card requirement.

• The biggest and probably most useful tip or strategy to use while playing the game is to take advantage of the button which stops the timer. Do this whenever someone plays a card you're not familiar with and read the description. This leads to point number 2.

• Use the button to zoom in on a specific card and read its ability. This often goes hand in hand with the first tip. Once you press to stop the timer, select the card and then press to zoom in and read its ability.

• Don't be afraid to mulligan (see spoiler below for defiinition). If you start off with a bad hand, mulligan and draw a new one hoping it ends up being better. However, if you have to mulligan several times in a row its better off just restarting the duel.

• Always try to act last in each altercation. The chance to go last means that your spell/ability will resolve before the spells/abilities that are already being played. This is known as FILO (First in, Last Out) and using this to your advantage will make many of the more difficult tasks easier.

Step 1: Play through and complete the Single Player Campaign along with the 12 Challenges.

By going through the Single Player Campaign you'll encounter 10 other Planeswalkers who you'll have to duel and defeat in order to finally face Karn, who is the last Planeswalker you need to duel. Once you defeat Karn you'll unlock the Final Exam trophy.

After you defeat each Planeswalker, you'll unlock their deck. After doing so, switch to that deck and use it to win the next match to progress towards unlocking the following bronze trophies: Soldier, Mind Sculptor, Vampire, Hot Shot, Predator, Hammer, Summoner, Artificer, Dragon, and Savior.

Finally, complete the 12 Challenges available during the Single Player Campaign which will earn you Magic: The Puzzling. This will in turn count towards Puzzling Master.

Step 2: Play through and complete the Archenemy Campaign along with the 3 Challenges.

During the Archenemy Campaign, you have to work together with two other people (AI, local, or online multiplayer) against one of the Planeswalkers who have the advantage of using Scheme cards along with having 40 life (double the normal amount). Every turn before your opponents Main Phase begins, a Scheme card will come into effect. These are random cards which benefit your opponent and hinder you and your allies by providing effects like drawing X cards, play X lands, create a x/x token, etc...

By playing through and completing this campaign, along with the 3 Challenges you'll earn the following bronze trophies: You'll Never Get Away With It, Evil's End, and Puzzling Master.

You can also play through the Archenemy Campaign with other players online by pressing when you're at the deck selection screen. By doing this you can also unlock the Gather Your Allies and Duelist trophies.

Step 3: Clean Up

After you have completed steps 1 and 2, just go for any trophies you may have missed along the way.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Gideon's deck.

His Wielding Steel deck is one of two available at the start of the game. The deck is Mono White and consists mainly of small creatures with several Artifact Equipment cards thrown in.

The best method of winning with this deck is to apply pressure to your opponent using your small creatures and Artifact Equipments to deal as much damage in the early stages as possible. Both Kitesail Apprentice and Kor Duelist are good choices to use any of your Artifact Equipments on as you'll also have the added bonus of activating their abilities when they become equipped.

You can also use cards like Kor Hookmaster or Arrest to help control any creature your opponent controls which could give you grief. By doing this, eventually you'll be able to play your bigger cards like Captain of the Watch and Serra Angel which should help you easily win the duel.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Jace's deck.

His Realms of Illusion deck is Mono Blue and consists mainly of Illusion type creatures. Because of this, his Krovikan Mist card whose power and toughness is equal to the number of Illusions on the battlefield can quickly become overwhelming.

The deck also uses a lot of cards which allow you to draw more cards and even debuff and/or counter spells such as Cancel, Fleeting Distraction, and Repulse to name a few. You can also play Mind Control which allows you to enchant and gain control of a creature. However, the best card available in this deck is Time Warp which allows you to take an extra turn.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Sorin's deck.

Similar to MTG Duels of the Planeswalkers 2010, his deck Blood Hunger still relies mainly on annoying vampire creatures such as Vampire Nighthawk and Ruthless Cullblade to name a few. However, this time his deck also features several cards with the new Bloodthirst ability that wasn't featured in the previous game along with several debuff/removal spells such as Spread of Sickness and Vicious Hunger.

By using Captivating Vampire and Vampire Nocturnus you can quickly buff all of your other Vampire creatures which can often result in an early win.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Chandra’s deck.

Her Unquenchable Fire is a Mono Red Burn deck which relies heavily on creature, sorcery, and instant spells that can damage other creatures and/or players directly. You'll want to try and destroy your opponents creatures by using spells like Flame Slash, Pyroclasm, and Volcanic Hammer early on until you can finally bring out your heavy hitters such as Fire Elemental and Fire Servant. However, the best creature used in this deck is Kiln Fiend as it gets +3/+0 until end of turn whenever you play a sorcery or instant spell. Because of this, you can easily boost him to 4/2 and often 7/2 early in the game and cause some major damage to your opponent.

Alternatively, you can use spells like Blaze, Lava Axe, and Sizzle to target your opponents life directly for the win. However, by doing a mixture of both, depending on the circumstance, you should be able to pull off the win.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Garruk’s deck.

His Apex Predators deck is Mono Green and one of the two available at the start of the game. It relies heavily on creature cards with a few sorcery and instant spells thrown in.

The key to winning with this deck is to play your creature cards and attack as often as possible. You'll want to use cards like Garruk's Companion, Runeclaw Bear, and Grazing Gladehart in the early stages as they have some of the cheapest combined mana costs in the deck. Also, by playing Grazing Gladehart early, you'll be able to take advantage of its ability to start earning more health with each land you play. You'll also want to use the Giant Growth card as well. By doing so, you will boost one of your creatures by +3/+3 until end of turn which can be effective when blocking bigger creatures or simply used when attacking to dish out extra damage.

As the game progresses, you'll eventually be able to play your bigger creatures and start racking up the damage. Some cards to look out for include Garruk's Packleader, Cudgel Troll, and Thrun, the Last Troll. Garruk's Packleader is especially effective because Whenever another creature with power 3 or greater enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card. Also, Cudgel Troll and Thrun, the Last Troll both have the Regenerate ability making them effective blockers because of this. You should also note that if you play Thrun, the Last Troll you can earn the Mythic trophy as well, if you haven't already up to this point.

Finally the card you really want to look out for is Overrun. By playing this, creatures you control get +3/+3 and trample until end of turn. If you play this when you have four or five creatures on the battlefield you can usually secure the win or destroy your opponents creatures should your opponent have enough health to survive after the blockers are declared.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Koth’s deck.

His Strength of Stone deck can be described as if Garruk Wildspeaker and Chandra Nalaar had a baby together taking aspects from both their decks in order to make his own. It relies on small to medium creatures with a mixture of spells that can boost you own creatures stats as well as damage your opponents.

The main creature you'll want to look out for is Rockslide Elemental because whenever another creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, he gets a +1/+1 counter and he also has the First Strike ability. Due to this he can quickly rise in strength and toughness.

Another card you'll want to look for is Act of Treason which lets you gain control of target creature until end of turn, untap it, and also give it haste. Finally, the last two cards I'll mention are Claws of Valakut and Spire Barrage. Both of these cards are dependent on the number of Mountains you control. Claws of Valakut lets you Enchant a creature giving it +1/+0 for each Mountain you control and first strike, while Spire Barrage deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of Mountains you control. By using these cards you can boost one of your creatures strength considerably, or take out your opponents creature or health directly.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Kiora’s deck.

Her Ancient Depths deck is made up of medium to large Blue and Green creatures with a lot of other cards that allow you to play extra lands to get these creatures out as quickly as possible.

During the early stages of the game, some of the cards you'll want to keep an eye out for include Coiling Oracle, Elvish Piper, and Explore. These cards will either help you get more land out, play larger creatures for cheap, or simply draw another card and thin out your deck.

You'll also want to rely heavily on cards like Cultivate and Explosive Vegetation because they allow you to play extra lands which you'll need to play your large creatures. Finally, after using the above suggestions, you should be able to finally start playing creatures like Isleback Spawn, Lorthos, the Tidemaker, Simic Sky Swallower, Tidal Kraken, and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. Once this happens you should have no trouble dealing massive damage to your opponent and winning especially if you can get Kozilek, Butcher of Truth out due to his Annihilator 4 ability.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Tezzeret’s deck.

His Machinations deck is comprised of White, Blue, and Black mana and relies on artifacts and artifact creatures which help each other due to the new Metalcraft ability.

A key card in this deck is Etherium Sculptor because of its ability which makes your artifact spells cost one colorless mana less to cast while only costing one blue and colorless mana itself. If you can manage to play one or more Etherium Sculptor's in the early stages of the duel it will make things considerably easier for you as the duel progresses.

Another card which really helps this deck is Steel Overseer because of its ability which allows you to tap him and put a +1/+1 counter on each artifact creature you control. By doing this every turn, you can quickly boost your smaller artifact creatures which will allow them to start dealing massive damage to your opponent.

Other cards to keep in mind are Go for he Throat, Stoic Rebuttal, and Undermine. These three cards will help you control the match by destroying your opponents creature or countering any spell they want to play.

Finally, two creatures you can use to dish out massive damage include Magister Sphinx and Darksteel Colossus. Magister Sphinx's ability is particularly useful because when he enters the battlefield, target player's life total becomes 10. Therefore if you are low on life you can use this to gain life, or if your opponent has more than 10 life you can lower his.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Sarkhan’s deck.

His Dragon's Roar deck is made up of Red and Black mana and relies heavily on Goblin and Dragon type creatures along with a few instant and sorcery spells which can be used to debuff and/or destroy your opponents creatures.

In the early stages of the duel, look for cards like Festering Goblin, Raging Goblin, and Giant Scorpion. These creatures can be used to do some early damage, however Giant Scorpion's Deathtouch ability makes him particularly effective as a blocker against large creatures without the Trample ability.

You'll also need to rely on cards like Assassinate, Burst Lightning, and Disfigure to help control your opponents creatures until you can play your larger creatures like Volcanic Dragon, Voracious Dragon, and Furyborn Hellkite. Voracious Dragon's ability allows him to boost his own strength and toughness by devouring other creatures you control. When you do this its recommended that you select Goblins because it goes towards his second ability which can be used to deal damage to an opponents creature or health directly. Finally, if you're able to damage your opponent before you play Furyborn Hellkite on your second Main Phase, you'll activate his Bloodthirst ability and he'll enter the battlefield receiving +6/+6 making him 12/12.

To unlock this trophy you need to win any game type using Nissa’s deck.

Her Guardians of the Wood deck uses both Black and Green mana and relies heavily on Elf creatures with a few sorcery and instant spells that can be used to destroy your opponents creatures.

With the majority of her Elf creatures having a combined mana cost of three or less, you'll have no trouble finding creatures to play. However a few cards to look out for early on include Elvish Visionary, Imperious Perfect, and Sylvan Ranger. These cards will either let you draw an extra card, buff your other Elf creatures giving them +1/+1, or let you search for another land card and place it into your hand.

You'll also be able to use cards like Essence Drain and Eyeblight's Ending to destroy your opponents creatures. Finally, the best creature card is this deck is Heedless One because of its ability which makes its power and toughness each equal to the number of Elves on the battlefield. If you're able to play Heedless One and later play Elvish Promenade you'll double her stats which should secure you the win.

Refer to Puzzling Master below.

Refer to Evil's End below.

Start by selecting Muliplayer, then select Create Match, finally select Archenemy to create an online match. If you have a second controller you can fill one of the spots using it and now you just need to wait for another person to join. If you don't have a second controller you'll need two people to join the game before you can start. Once you have the slots filled, start the game and you'll get the trophy. You can also make this trophy easier by signing up in the Official Magic 2012 Boosting Thread and getting other people to help you.

This trophy is easily earned by using Tezzeret's Machinations deck which consists mainly of artifact creatures. Once you have played and still control three artifacts you will get the trophy.

A Mythic rare spell is noted by having an orange color in its set symbol, such as the Baneslayer Angel used in this example. There are 16 Mythic rare cards in total among the 10 different decks. However, only 7 of them are available to use from the start, leaving the other 9 to be unlocked. The following are the ones available at the start and the decks you can find them in:

Thrun, the Last Troll in Garruk Wildspeaker's Apex Predators deck
Time Warp in Jace Beleren's Realm of Illusions deck
Darksteel Colossus in Tezzeret's Machinations deck
Furyborn Hellkite in Sarkhan Vol's Dragons Roar deck
Vampire Nocturnus in Sorin Markov's Blood Hunger deck
Lorthos, the Tidemaker in Kiora Atua's Ancient Depths deck
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth in Kiora Atua's Ancient Depths deck

When going for this trophy, I highly recommend using Kiora Atua's Ancient Depths deck for three reasons. First she is the only person whose deck starts with two Mythic rare cards. Secondly, if you're lucky you can use Elvish Piper to play creature cards for a single green mana which is good because Lorthos, the Tidemaker and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth have a converted mana cost of 8 and 10 respectively. Third and finally, I suggest using her deck because she uses a lot of cards like Cultivate, Explore, and Tidings which allow you to play extra lands and/or give you cards in your hand which results in thinning out your deck so you can get one of the Mythic cards sooner.

To earn this trophy you need to win 5 games from the following online types available:

Two-Headed Giant
Free-for-All
Archmage co-op

You can make this trophy easier by joining the Official Magic 2012 Boosting Thread and working together with another person online taking turns earning the wins.

Every time you win a game you unlock a new card(s) for the deck you're currently using. Each deck has 16 cards which can be unlocked by winning one of the various game types besides the challenges. After each win, you will unlock one, two, or even three new cards so it will take around 8 wins to unlock this trophy.

To help speed this up, you can boost the wins by playing with someone else online, taking turns conceding to each other and repeating until you both have this trophy. Check out the Official Magic 2012 Boosting Thread to do so.

Karn is the last Planeswalker you face in the Single Player Campaign and uses a Mono Blue deck consisting of mainly artifacts. By now you should have unlocked all of the other decks and found one which suits your playing style. Therefore you should have very little trouble defeating Karn. However, if not, then you can simply continue to experiment with the decks and unlock more cards to help you defeat him.

The biggest tip to remember when fighting him is to make sure you start off with a good hand. If your starting hand isn't that great, you should restart the duel until you're satisfied with the hand as this will make defeating him much easier. After you defeat him you'll unlock the trophy.

During the Single Player and Archenemy campaigns you will notice small circles branching off from the Planeswalkers paths. These circles are challenges which place you in a predetermined situation where you have to figure out a way of winning, usually before your opponents next turn. They range in difficulty between easy and hard with the majority of them (12 in total) being located on the Single Player campaign. However there are three additional challenges during the Archenemy campaign. Finally, thanks to RappappaR for the Challenge guide writeup and allowing me to post it. Props to him for that.

To unlock this trophy you need to defeat all 11 Planeswalkers in the Archenemy Campaign. During the Archenemy Campaign, you have to work together with two other people (AI, local, or online multiplayer) against one of the Planeswalkers who have the advantage of using Scheme cards along with having 40 life (double the normal amount).

The duels will still play the same as normal with the exception of the Scheme cards that benefit your opponent while hindering you and your allies. However there are a few things you should remember when going through this campaign to help make it easier.

• You can't use your creatures to defend an ally when your opponent attacks them and vice versa. You each have 20 life and must defend yourself with your own creatures. However, you cans till use sorcery, instant, and enchantment spells on each other.

• You can't use or share your mana on/or with another ally. Because of this its very important to make sure that you and your two other allies all start with a decent amount of lands and good cards. If you have a bad hand you should either mulligen once or restart the duel.

• If you or one of your allies die, the game will still go on until the remaining two die as well or they defeat your opponent.

• Try to use a good mixture of decks to make things easier. For example, if all three of you are using a deck with large creatures, one, two, or even three of you might end up dying before you get a chance to play them. The same holds true for using a deck like Chandra’s which relies heavily on spells.

• To make things easier, if you have access to three controllers, make the game local co-op and play all three decks yourself or press and let other people online join you. You can rely on the AI, but depending on what difficulty setting you have them set at, it will either benefit you by having your opponent go easy on you along with your allies, or have the opponent play very smart along with your allies. Because of this I preferred to just use three controllers myself.

Finally, there is a way to almost guarantee you'll win this match. If you follow the last point listed and have access to three controllers, select Jace for all three characters and play them yourself. Because Jace relies heavily on Illusion type creatures. Once you play Krovikan Mist who has flying along with having power and toughness are each equal to the number of Illusions on the battlefield, you'll quickly be able to pummel Nicol Bolas.