Written by: Jason Zieba

Sorcery. It’s not just a card type in Magic anymore.

Whether you’re new to the hobby, or just looking for a different TCG to get into, I highly recommend Sorcery: Contested Realm. Sorcery has some of the best mechanics, flavor, and art of any game out there. Let me break it down for you.

Game Mechanics and the Golden Rule

Games these days suffer from having either so many rules that they’re intimidating, or having too few rules that things are vague and confusing. Sorcery finds a great middle ground with having a reasonably sized rule book. 

Another thing that makes Sorcery more approachable is the Golden Rule. Because the cards are written informally and compactly, you are encouraged to use common sense and to be cool. Making “rules as written” a very easy thing to both interpret and follow.

The Realm is a core aspect that makes Sorcery compelling. The game starts as an empty five by four grid that your Avatar fills with varied and interesting sites. You summon powerful minions and cast fantastic magics to take your opponent to Death’s Door while fighting above and below these sites. When you deal them one more damage, you have won the game!

Now, while most other TCGs have a single deck to draw from, Sorcery is unique in that you actually draw from 2 separate decks. The Atlas deck is filled with sites to expand the usability of the Realm, as your Avatar and Minions cannot step into the Void (empty spaces on the grid) without a specific keyword (Voidwalker). The Spellbook deck contains game-adjusting spells and Minions to do the bidding of your Avatar.

An Immersive and Expanding World

Since the early days of the game, Sorcery has provided a rich medieval setting with lots of real world inspired lore. The Arthurian Legends expansion takes you to a more chivalrous land of Knights, Ladies and Royalty. Dragonlord introduces a variety of elemental dragon-themed cards that add a lot of power to the game. Gothic explores a dark Evil world and the struggle to find hope in the darkness.

Alpha/Beta has some core staples like Philosopher's Stone and the dual threshold sites to make your deck consistent. Arthurian Legends provides lore-themed triple threshold sites to expand deck building versatility. Gothic introduces the Collection, 10 cards in reserve and played with special effects. 

Artistic Nostalgia 

A lot of people I show my cards to say the art of this game reminds them of the MTG of old; and for good reason! Sorcery has hired and licensed some of the best known artists from Magic’s early days: Melissa Benson, Brom, and Drew Tucker just to name a few. In addition, all art is done by hand, and each card is borderless. All of this gives the game a sort of ‘retro’ feel, and a beauty that comes from a passion for art.

The foil cards are another compelling aspect of the art and style of the game. The foil has a raised texture on the text and augments the art, instead of just being a treatment on the card. Also, foil cards are all double sided, with the foil on the front and the full art on the back. 

What Goes Up…

When it comes to my criticisms, I boil it down to two main issues: cost and availability of cards, and the inconsistency of decks.

While I love opening packs, I know that the best way to ensure that you get a card is to buy it directly. With Sorcery being so new and sets only coming out once a year, powerful and useful cards either aren’t getting sold or are a little pricey for your average casual player. Thankfully, more stores (including ours) are starting to carry singles, which helps with the availability issue. And despite there being some difficulty acquiring the optimal card for a deck, there is usually a cheaper alternative that allows the deck to function. 

As the card pool for Sorcery expands, the designers of the game have raised the minimum number of cards in a deck. What started as a 40-card Spellbook deck plus a 20-card Atlas deck has grown to 60/30 count decks with Gothic. This, combined with the card rarity system (you’re allowed four ordinary, three exceptionals, two elites and one unique) reduces the consistency of decks that simply upgrade from expansion to expansion. In a game that doesn’t go much longer than eight or nine turns, you’re not as likely to see cards that are meant to be a showcase in your deck.

Wrapping Up

With all that Sorcery has to offer, it is no surprise to see it growing in popularity. I recommend grabbing a box of four preconstructed decks and using those as the base of a deck or two.  Check each store’s event page for their Sorcery weekly event! And be sure to check out the Sorcery singles in each store’s ever-changing inventory.

Hope to see you at the tables!