With the release of Theros, the latest real-life expansion to the gargantuan Magic: The Gathering collectible card game, it seemed only fitting that Stainless Games would release some new content for the latest iteration in the Duels of the Planeswalker series.

Magic 2014 has been the best low-level introduction to the frantic and occasionally-complicated world of Magic, partly because the series is now on tablet devices and partly because the customised in-game card pool contains just enough mechanics for depth without making the game too convoluted.

Making Magic easy to learn has always been a problem for Duels of the Planeswalkers though: the more choices and more problems you remove from the player's path, the less fun they end up having in the end. It was especially annoying in the campaign, where the matches were nothing more than a set of scripted encounters against the AI. The AI would draw the same cards and play in them in more or less the same order every single time.

It's a feature that was carried into Magic 2014, and it's here in the expansion content too. For US$4.99, you get six new campaign chapters, five new challenges and a host of new decks. Considering the cost of getting into either Magic Online (the digital version of Magic provided by Wizards of the Coast) or the real-life variant, it's incredibly good value for money.

While the expansion doesn't include any new cards from the Theros expansion, there's plenty of new mechanics (at least new ones that weren't really used in the base game). The Hall of Champions deck, for instance, revolves around the exalted mechanic, where creatures become stronger during combat as long as they're the only one's attacking. There's a black-red (a combination known to Magic veterans as Rakdos) deck that abuses the hell out of making you discard cards, and an Izzet (red-blue) deck that buffs its creatures every time you play an instant or sorcery.

The latter two are chockers with the kinds of cards new Magic players want. The individual cards are powerful, the mechanics are cool and they lead to interesting board states. While it's a little disingenuous to design Magic 2014 as far away from the slower, controlling styles of play that are prevalent in the real-life game, it creates a better experience for the uninitiated.

Even the new decks that utilise counterspells have opted for a stronger reliance on Remand rather than the typical Cancel/Counterspell a card that returns the offending spell to its opponent's hand instead of dumping it to the graveyard entirely. Remand's a rubbish card, but if you're just playing with a friend who's as new to the game as you are, it's more fun for one player to be able to buy time with Remand instead of being able to stall the game out with a suite of counterspells (or the threat of counterspells, which can be just as bad).

Once you work through the challenges and campaign and mess around with the unlockable cards though, that's it. The multiplayer scene for Magic 2014 is pretty dead, and the expansion hasn't fleshed out the Sealed Play mode further.

You can finish all of the new content within a few hours if you know what you're doing, and that might be disappointing for some. But you're also only paying a fiver; unlocking five decks, or purchasing five additional sealed-deck slots would cost the same amount. And the content on offer isn't going to inspire anyone who didn't pick up the original Magic 2014 when it released in June.

But for those that made the effort to complete the campaign, sealed play and the challenges, you'll easily get your money's worth from the expansion. Just don't expect it to last too long.

The Magic 2014 - Duels of the Planeswalkers expansion DLC is available for PC, Android and iOS for US$4.99 now.

Alex Walker is the regular gaming columnist for ABC Tech + Games. You can follow him on Twitter at @thedippaeffect.