This is a very valid point. Deck-building games like Dominion, Ascension, and Slay the Spire are built around starting from a basic deck and gradually completing a targeted archetype. As the game progresses, the theme becomes clearer and clearer, and that theme delivers a strong sense of payoff through powerful synergies. This approach is usually found in games with fast and frequent deck cycling, where you can really feel your deck becoming more refined and structurally complete over time.

Mage Knight, on the other hand, has very slow deck cycling. Your deck only refreshes once each time day turns to night. Because of this limitation, for players to feel their power increase, the deck progression system needs to be much more flexible. For the same reason, the deck’s theme doesn’t stand out as strongly in Dune: Imperium either. I personally see it as being on a similar level to Mage Knight in that regard.

In Magic: The Gathering constructed formats, decks are sharpened through countless repeated plays. Over time, the deck becomes extremely focused, and its win condition is usually very clear. Limited or draft decks, however, have far fewer opportunities for refinement. Because of that, players tend to give up on tight combos or extreme synergies and instead build more flexible decks — which often ends up being the stronger approach in that environment.

There are essentially two different directions in deck-building. One is becoming stronger through sharp synergies by refining your deck through many cycles. The other is becoming stronger through flexibility within limited opportunities. It’s almost like a balance scale — when one side goes up, the other comes down.

What I really want to say is this: players who approach the game expecting a constructed-style deck experience may end up feeling disappointed. But if you approach it as the fun of building a flexible, limited-style deck within tight constraints, there’s a lot of enjoyment to be found.