Dice Masters Confusing Card of the Week #101 – Killer Croc: Out of the Depths

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

I’m still excited over reaching the triple digits in my Confusing Card of the Week articles! I decided to continue the #100 trend this week and cover one of the cards that I used on my team this past weekend.

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Killer Croc: Out of the Depths from the DC Batman set.

Ruling – Ability

Killer Croc’s ability is a When Fielded ability. A When Fielded ability can only be used when the character’s die is placed into the field from the Reserve Pool by paying it’s fielding cost, or by an ability that specifically states that the die is ‘fielded’ and not moved, swapped, placed, etc.

When Killer Croc is fielded, any level one and/or level two character die with an attack lower than his, will be KO’d. This will include your character dice as well as your opponent’s because his ability does not specify ‘opposing’ character dice.

In the picture above, you can see the sides of the dice as shown on the bottom of Captain America’s card. All character dice levels are displayed in the same place on character cards. The first three images are of the energy faces and do not have levels. The first character face is Level 1, the second character face is Level 2, and the third character face is Level 3. This is the same for all character dice, except for basic Sidekick dice. Basic Sidekick dice don’t have a character card and while they are in the Field Zone, they’re only Level 1.

Character dice may be spun up or have their attack increased prior to fielding Killer Croc in order to keep them from being KO’d by Killer Croc’s ability. The opposing player will not have an opportunity to use Globals unless the active player passes them priority before they field Killer Croc.

If a level one or two character die has an attack equal to Killer Croc’s, they will not be KO’d by his ability. The attack must be lower than Killer Croc’s.

Killer Croc’s ability does not target. Abilities that protect characters from being targeted will not have any effect against Killer Croc’s ability.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Killer Croc is a Fist type character card.
~ He has the Villain affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Rare and is #100 of 124.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Using a Global to spin a character die up, then fielding Killer Croc.

Game State
~ I have a level two Killer Croc and three fist energy in my Reserve Pool. I have a level two Red Hood (3A/3D) in my Field Zone. I have Giganta: Standing Tall on my team. Her Global says: “Pay [FIST]. Spin target character die up 1 level.”
~ My opponent has a Sidekick and a level two character with 4A in the Field Zone.
~ It’s during my main step.
(Main Step)
~ I spend a fist energy (placing it Out of Play) to use the Global on Giganta and target my Red Hood die. Red Hood spins up to level three (5A/5D).
~ I spend two fist energy (placing it Out of Play) to pay for Killer Croc’s fielding cost.
~ Killer Croc is then moved into the Field Zone from my Reserve Pool and his ability triggers as he’s fielded. My Red Hood is level three and is not affected. My opponent’s Sidekick and level two character are both KO’d because they level one and level two, and their attack values are lower than Killer Croc’s.
~ The rest of the turn proceeds as normal.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
WORF doesn’t have an official ruling on this card yet.

Basic Information

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion and Strategy

I used Killer Croc and Small Step for Man: Basic Action Card on my team this past Saturday. I love the combo idea, but I’m running into problems with purchasing Killer Croc. I play Grodd a lot and don’t have this issue, so I’m not sure what the problem is. The game I won, I won with Red Hood and didn’t even purchase Killer Croc. For a Johnny like me, that’s no fun at all. But the Spike in me couldn’t pass up the chance at victory. While I won a match, I wasn’t happy with how I won it. I really wanted my combo to go off. I got it to work – once. But it didn’t lead me to victory because I bought Killer Croc too early and couldn’t get a decent bag flow established. I still like this card and I plan to adjust the team by taking off Batcave and adding Rip Hunter: Navigate the Sands of Time.

I definitely don’t see this card being a meta card for competitive play, but for casual level events or store level events, he could be fun – if you like the silly combos like I do!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Need to look up a card? Be sure to check out DM RetroBox! It’s the best searchable card database I’ve found for when I’m at the computer.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #98 – Jervis Tetch: Malice in Wonderland

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Jervis Tetch: Malice in Wonderland from the DC Batman set.

Ruling – Ability

Jervis’s ability is a When Attacks ability. His ability will trigger for each of his dice that attack.

When Jervis attacks, you gain control of a target opposing character die with a purchase cost of four or less. That character die is required to attack, if they’re able, on this same turn.

When a Jervis die attacks, you can target any character die with a purchase cost of four or less, which includes basic Sidekick dice. Basic Sidekick dice are considered level one characters with a purchase cost of zero while they are in the Field Zone.

The targeted die is then moved into the Attack Zone with Jervis to show that both of the dice are attacking.

When the control of the die ends at the end of turn or when the controlling die is KO’d, you must return the controlled die to the area you took it from. You can use an ability like the Global on Blink – Transmutation (during the Attack Step) to move a Jervis die back to your Field Zone and the controlled die will still be attacking.

If the controlled die would be placed in your Used Pile or Prep Area, it goes to your opponent’s Prep Area instead.

If you control a die that is the same die of a character on your team, the controlled die will reference your opponent’s character card.

Normally, a controlling die cannot attack but because Jervis is required to attack in order to control a die, he is an exception.

Jervis’s ability is not optional. You must take control of a character die with a purchase cost of four or less when you attack with Jervis (if there is a legal target). That die is also assigned to attack, which is not optional.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Jervis Tetch is a Shield type character card.
~ He has the Villain affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Rare and is #99 of 124.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Attacking with multiple Jervis dice.

Game State
~ I have two level two Jervis Tetch (2A/1D) dice in the Field Zone.
~ My opponent has a level three Red Hood: Jason Todd (5A/5D) die and a Sidekick die in the Field Zone.
~ The turn is moving into the Attack Step.
(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ I assign both of my Jervis dice to attack, moving both of them into the Attack Zone.
~ Both of their abilities are triggered simultaneously when they attack.
~ The first Jervis die will gain control over my opponent’s Sidekick die, moving it to the Attack Zone on my side.
~ The second Jervis die will gain control over my opponent’s Red Hood die, moving it to the Attack Zone on my side.
(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent does not have any characters to assign as blockers.
(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ I choose not to use any Actions or Globals. (This would be the moment that I could use the Global on Blink – Transmutation to push my Jervis back to my Field Zone and not lose control over the controlled dice.)
~ My opponent does not use any Globals.
(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ Since none of the characters were blocked, they will all deal their attack value in combat damage to my opponent’s life total. Red Hood is going to deal 5, each Jervis will deal 2 each, and the Sidekick will deal 1 – for a total of 10 damage.
~ As soon as the character dice damage my opponent, they move Out of Play.
(Clean Up Step)
~ Character dice that were KO’d by combat damage during the Attack Step are now placed in the Prep Area.
~ Characters blocked, but not KO’d are removed from the Attack Zone, but stay in the Field Zone. The Attack Zone is part of the Field Zone, but only attacking and blocking characters can be in the Attack Zone.
~ Dice that are Out of Play will move into the Used Pile. My opponent’s Red Hood and Sidekick die will go to my opponent’s Prep Area instead of the Used Pile.
~ All effects end unless otherwise specified (like a While Active or ‘End of Turn’ ability).
~ All damage is cleared.
~ End of turn abilities will resolve.
~ My turn is now over and my opponent’s turn will begin.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
I have a pending question with WORF in regards to the Jervis Tetch cards. There are no official rulings at the time this article was written. I will update with red text when I see an official ruling.

Basic Information

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion and Strategy

I really don’t like the wording on any of the Jervis cards. And until there is an official ruling, my ruling is how we will be playing it locally. I wanted to wait for the official ruling before doing a CCW on any Jervis, but I’ve been getting several requests and questions about him. This prompted me to sit down and really pour over rulebooks and WORF posts in an effort to decipher how this obscenely confusing card is supposed to work.

If/when WORF gives us a ruling, I will most definitely update this article, or post a corrected article if need be. I’ve never claimed to be an expert and if you have a different way you think he should be handled, I’m totally up for discussion!

As far as the ability, it can devastating, for sure. He can easily remove parts of that wall to allow for some damage to get through, or take all their characters from the field and smack them with them. I would not use Blink or Distraction Globals because that could hinder your overall goal if your opponent uses those Globals to push their stolen characters back so they get them back.

I think this guy has potential in drafts for sure, but because there isn’t a solid ruling from WORF on him, I’m not planning on testing him in Modern Age or Golden Age.

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Special thanks to The Reserve Pool and WizKids for the use of their sites.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #95 – Captain America: Anti-Reg

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Captain America: Anti-Reg from the Marvel Civil War Starter set. I wanted to go with a patriotic theme since today is Independence Day here in the US, and what better character to choose than Captain America himself!

Ruling – Resistance Ability

Resistance is a keyword that can be found in the Civil War set. A character with Resistance will grant you some kind of benefit if a character you control was KO’d. These benefits from the different Resistance abilities will vary and the keyword can be found on characters, Basic Actions, and non-Basic Actions.

Any game effect that KO’s a character could trigger a Resistance ability. For example, Fabricate – if you have Captain America active and you Fabricate two characters, you will gain the benefit from his Resistance ability and gain one life at the end of your turn. Another example would be if your opponent used the Unstable Canister Global during your turn to KO one of your Sidekick dice while you have Captain America active.

When you Sacrifice a character die, that is not the same as KO’ing them, which will not trigger a Resistance ability.

If a character with Regenerate is successful in regenerating, you will not gain the Resistance ability. Regenerate is a considered a KO replacement effect.

Captain America’s Resistance ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

Captain America’s Resistance ability says that as long as he’s active at the end of your turn, if a character die you control was KO’d this turn, you gain one life. This ability only checks that the requirements were met and not how many times they were met.

This ability is not optional and you must gain life if the Resistance ability was triggered. You cannot go above 20 life, so if you’re already at 20 life, you will not gain life.

Ruling – Ability

Captain America has a second ability on his card and it is also a While Active ability. At the end of your turn, as long as Captain America is active, you spin each of your Captain America dice up one level.

In the picture above, you can see the sides of the dice as shown on the bottom of Captain America’s card. All character dice levels are displayed in the same place on character cards. The first three images are of the energy faces and do not have levels. The first character face is Level 1, the second character face is Level 2, and the third character face is Level 3. This is the same for all character dice, except for basic Sidekick dice. Basic Sidekick dice don’t have a character card and while they are in the Field Zone, they’re only Level 1.

If an ability instructs you to spin a character die to a different level, always reference the character card to confirm the correct level, then spin that character die accordingly. Basic Sidekick dice do not have multiple levels and they cannot spin to a different level.

This ability is not an optional ability. At the end of your turn, you must spin all of your active Captain America dice up one level from their current level. A level two Captain America die will spin up to level three and a level one die will spin up to level two. Any level three Captain America dice will not be affected by this ability because they are at the maximum level for a character die.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Captain America is a Shield type character card.
~ He has the Avengers affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #4 of 142.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Triggering Captain America’s abilities.

Game State
~ I have a level one and a level two Captain America die in the Field Zone. I also have a Sidekick die.
~ My opponent has two Sidekick dice in the Field Zone.
~ My Attack Step has just begun.
(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ I assign my Sidekick die and my level one Captain America die to attack, moving them into the Attack Zone.
(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent decides to block with both of their Sidekick dice.
~ My opponent assigns the first Sidekick to block my attacking Sidekick, moving it into the Attack Zone and placing it in front of my attacking Sidekick.
~ My opponent assigns the second Sidekick to block my attacking Captain America die, moving it into the Attack Zone and placing it in front of my attacking Captain America die.
(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ My Sidekick deals one damage to the blocking Sidekick and the blocking Sidekick deals one damage to my Sidekick. Both will be KO’d.
~ My Captain America die deals two damage to the Sidekick die that’s blocking him, and that Sidekick deals one damage to Captain America. Captain America has a defense of four, so that one damage will not KO him. The Sidekick will be KO’d because it only has a defense of one.
(Clean Up Step)
~ Character dice that were KO’d by combat damage during the Attack Step are now placed in the Prep Area. My opponents two Sidekick dice go to their Prep Area and my Sidekick goes to my Prep Area.
~ Characters blocked, but not KO’d are removed from the Attack Zone, but stay in the Field Zone. The Attack Zone is part of the Field Zone, but only attacking and blocking characters can be in the Attack Zone.
~ All effects end unless otherwise specified (like a While Active or ‘End of Turn’ ability).
~ All damage is cleared, so Captain America will no longer have the one damage from the Sidekick.
~ End of turn abilities will resolve. Captain America’s Resistance ability will trigger and allow me to gain one life if my life total is below 20 because a character that I control was KO’d this turn. His other ability triggers as well and my level one Captain America die spins up to level two and my level two Captain America die spins up to level three. Since both abilities happen at the same time and I control both abilities, I can choose the order in which they resolve.
~ My turn is now over and my opponent’s turn will begin.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
You can find a relevant ruling, here.

Basic Information

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion and Strategy

This is one of my favorite Captain America cards that is currently legal for Modern Age. I love the art, love the die, and really dig the ability on it. There are plenty of ways to KO your Sidekick dice, like a force block Global, Fabricate, or even a burn Global. Captain America is one of those cards that just dares your opponent to Unstable Canister Global your little dudes. When they do and Cap sees it happen, you gain life back! I have yet to really be able to play with this card outside of Limited constructed events that we held for Civil War. I think I may try to add him onto a current Lockout League build I’m working on for Saturday. I don’t think he’s necessarily worthy of a competitive team spot, but I’ve seen much less deserving cards on highly successful teams in the past. I hope someone sees what a gem this guy can be and tries using him. His major downside is that atrocious fielding cost, but at least he’s not really expensive to purchase. A four cost character that just needs to stay in the Field is not a terrible purchase. I think the best place for this Cap to shine is in the casual and Limited areas.

I also want to take a moment to say Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Dice Masters here in the US. I hope that everyone has a safe and fun holiday!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Special thanks to The Reserve Pool for the use of their site.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #92 – Rip Hunter: Navigate the Sands of Time

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Rip Hunter: Navigate the Sands of Time  from the DC Batman set.

 

Ruling – Ability

Rip Hunter’s ability is a While Active ability. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

Rip Hunter’s ability can only be used once during your turn and only during the Clear and Draw Step. Rip Hunter must be active at the start of your turn to be able to use his ability that same turn. To use Rip Hunter’s ability, you draw dice for your Clear and Draw Step, and then you can send any number of those dice to the Used Pile and draw that many dice. You may choose any number of the dice you’ve drawn to go the Used Pile. You do not have to send them all.

The dice that you send to the Used Pile, go directly to the Used Pile and not Out of Play. This is because those dice have not entered the Reserve Pool.

If a card ability would allow you to draw extra dice during the Clear and Draw Step, you can use Rip Hunter’s ability for those dice as well. For example, if you have a Swarm trigger that allowed you to draw an extra die, for a total of five dice, you can send all five dice to the Used Pile and then draw five more dice using Rip Hunter’s ability. If any of those dice have the Swarm keyword and match an active character of the same name, you get to trigger Swarm again.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Rip Hunter is a Shield type character card.
~ He does not have any affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #30 of 124.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Using Rip Hunter’s ability.

Game State
~ I have two Rip Hunter dice and a Sidekick die active. I have seven Sidekick dice and one Batman die in my bag.
~ It’s the beginning of my turn.
(Clear and Draw)
~ I don’t have any dice to clear.
~ I draw four Sidekick dice.
~ I use Rip Hunter’s ability, sending three of my Sidekick dice to the Used Pile and I draw three more dice.
~ I draw two Sidekick dice and my Batman die.

Example Two:
Rip Hunter’s ability with Swarm.

Game State
~ I have one Multiple Man: Pile On! die, one Goblin: Lesser Humanoid die, and two Sidekick dice active in the Field Zone.
~ I have a Goblin, Multiple Man, and four Sidekick dice in my bag, and two Sidekick dice in my Use Pile.
~ It’s the beginning of my turn.
(Clear and Draw)
~ I draw four dice: one Multiple Man, one Goblin, two Sidekick dice.
~ I trigger the Swarm ability on Multiple Man and Goblin and draw two more dice: two Sidekicks.
~ I use Rip Hunter’s ability and send Multiple Man and Goblin to the Used Pile.
~ I now draw two more dice, but my bag is empty, so I refill it with the Used Pile (two Sidekicks, Multiple Man, and Goblin). I draw a Goblin and a Sidekick.
~ I trigger Swarm on the Goblin die, drawing one more die – Multiple Man.
~ I trigger Swarm on the Multiple Man die and draw my last die, which is a Sidekick.
(Roll and Reroll)
~ I roll all eight dice and proceed with the rest of my turn.

 

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
You can find the official ruling, here.

Basic Information

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion and Strategy

I will continue to stand by my opinion that the dice moved by Rip Hunter need to go Out of Play. I’ve seen Ultraman abuse this to devastating results, as well as Parademon Swarm Burn. However, I will never rule against anything that’s been officially ruled on by WORF and I completely understand the reasoning behind their ruling. I just think it’s absolutely silly.

That being said, Parademon’s Burning Swarm is a team that Mr. DDK and I have been discussing since before they officially ruled Rip Hunter. I really want to use Darkseid: Force of Entropy with Parademon: Strength in Numbers and a cheap Swarm dude, like Multiple Man: Pile On!, because that’s just too silly. Rip Hunter’s ability can make a team like that more lethal. I’ve already played against someone that’s headed that direction with their team anyway, and the Parademon with Goblin Swarm is bad enough.

Rip Hunter has his benefits outside of breaking things. He’s exceptionally handy in drafts and he makes for a great addition to many teams that are desperately missing their PXG Global. He’s obviously not as good as PXG, but it’s totally better than nothing! I’ve been using the Uncommon Rip Hunter with my New Gods, but I might have to swap him for this version, unless I can speed the team up some other way.

I think that Rip Hunter is a good card in the competitive scene, but he does cost four to purchase. It’s not too much, but it could be too slow to use against some teams. Be sure you’re not adding him to your team as a necessary purchase, because if you’re buying him, you’re not buying your win condition (unless he contributes to that win condition). Your team shouldn’t be relying on him to function. If you’re using the rare Dwarf Wizard, this is probably going to be the character you want to target, unless of course there is a much larger threat at the time. But using DWiz to slow their churn is a really good idea early in the game.

If you’re playing casual, he’s a great addition and I don’t think he should be overlooked. He could help some of those casual teams churn through their dice a little faster to get to the good stuff!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Special thanks to The Reserve Pool for the use of their site.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #91 – Dove: Danger!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Dove: Danger!  from the DC Batman set.

 

Ruling – Ability

Dove has a special ability that does not require her to be active to use. Dove’s ability says that if she’s in your Used Pile and you take damage, you move her die to your Prep Area. Most of the abilities in the game require that the character be active to use their abilities, but her ability does not say While Active.

Dove’s ability is not optional. If you take damage, you must move Dove to your Prep Area.

Dove’s ability will trigger from any kind of damage, like ability or combat. Any ability or effect that makes you lose a life or pay life will not trigger her ability.

Ruling – Global

To use the Global on a card, you only need to pay the cost. The die does not need to be active to use the Global, unless it specifically says so.

Dove’s Global says that an attacking character die will get -1A when you pay a Shield. You can pay for her Global as many times as you have the energy to do so. Each time that you use her Global, the target attacking character die will get a -1 to their attack.

You do not have to target the same character die if you use her Global more than once.

You cannot use her Global during the Main Step, because there aren’t any attacking characters to target.   Her Global can only be used during the Actions and Globals portion of the Attack Step, and only to target an attacking character die. A character that is not attacking cannot be targeted.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Dove is a Shield type character card.
~ She has the Teen Titans affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Uncommon and is #53 of 124.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Dove’s ability used during the Attack Step.

Game State
~ I have one Dove die in my Used Pile and no character dice in the Field Zone.
~ My opponent has a Sidekick in the Field Zone.
(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ My opponent assigns their Sidekick die to attack, moving it into the Attack Zone.
(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ I do not have any character dice to assign as blockers.
(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ My opponent does not use any Actions or Globals.
~ I do not use any Globals.
(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ Because the Sidekick is unblocked, it deals one damage to me and goes Out of Play.
~ Dove’s ability will trigger, allowing me to move her die from the Used Pile to the Prep Area.

Example Two:
Dove’s ability used during the Main Step.

Game State
~ I have one Dove die in my Used Pile, a Fist energy in my Reserve Pool, and Luke Cage: Bulletproof is on my opponent’s team.
~ It’s during my Main Step.
(Main Step)
~ I pay a Fist energy (placing it Out of Play) to use Luke Cage’s Global, dealing one damage to both players.
~ Dove’s ability triggers, allowing me to move her die from the Used Pile to the Prep Area.

Example Three:
Dove’s Global Timing.

Game State
~ I have a Sidekick in the Field Zone. I have Dove: Danger! on my team, but have not purchased any of her dice yet.
~ My opponent has a Sidekick in the Field Zone and a Shield energy in their Reserve Pool.
~ It’s my turn and we’re headed into the Attack Step.
(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ I assign my Sidekick to attack, moving it into the Attack Zone.
(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent assigns their Sidekick to block, moving it into the Attack Zone and placing it in front of my Sidekick.
(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ I do not use any Actions or Globals.
~ My opponent spends their Shield energy (moving it to their Used Pile) to pay for Dove’s Global and targets my Sidekick. My Sidekick now has a -1 to its attack, making its attack a 0.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
You can find the official ruling, here.

Basic Information

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion and Strategy

So, I’m brewing a new Teen Titans team and this is one of the Dove cards that I’m considering. I want to pair her with Hawk: Might Makes Right. My only concern in using this particular version of Dove is that my opponent can use her Global against me when I attack with Hawk. I’ve been thinking about adding Raven: Azrath, Metrion, Zinthos! to the team to protect my Teen Titans from Dove’s Global, but I’m not completely sure if want another character that I need to purchase on the team. Using this Dove won’t backfire on me that much though, because my main damage is done during the Main Step – with Hawk’s ability. I use Dove and a Sidekick to Fabricate a Golem and because Dove is KO’d for the Fabricate ability, Hawk’s ability triggers. Dove’s Global is only usable during the Attack Step, and even if it wasn’t, my opponent would still have to wait for me to pass them priority.

I’m just so torn between this Dove and the rare version of her. I like being able to spin her up, but I think I like being able to move her from my Used Pile to my Prep Area better. That makes my opponent think a little harder about swinging with a Sidekick while I have Dove in my Used Pile.

I’m also thinking about ways to utilize her ability that won’t necessarily be accessible to my opponent. For example, Luke Cage is not the character I want to use. I don’t want my opponent having access to a Global like that. I’ve thought about Rocket Raccoon: Not a Raccoon. I think he might be more useful and help me control when I trigger her ability without giving my opponent full access to a burn Global.

I like this Dove and the more I think about it, the more I like her. I don’t think she’ll see much play in the major competitive metas, but for casual play, she’s definitely a great Teen Titan to consider. I can’t wait to finish brewing this team and put it together!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
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Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #90 – Jessica Jones: Ladies’ Night

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Jessica Jones: Ladies’ Night  from the Marvel Defenders Team Pack.

Ruling – Ability

Although her ability doesn’t say it, it acts as a While Active ability. You can find that ruling here. A While Active ability is one that works regardless of how many of the character’s dice are in the Field Zone. While Active abilities are like a light – it’s either on, or it’s off.

Jessica Jones says that whenever one of your character dice are targeted by a Global or character ability, she will get +1A and +1D. Her ability is not limited to opposing Globals and character abilities. If you target one of your own character dice, including a Jessica Jones die, her ability will trigger. Her ability does not target, so she would not get additional bonuses from her ability triggering.

Her ability will trigger each time one of your character dice are targeted by a Global or character ability, and not just once in a turn.

When Jessica Jones’s ability is triggered, it will apply to each of her dice that are active at the time it was triggered.

Action dice abilities can affect Jessica Jones and characters friendly to her without triggering her ability. Targeting her, or a character friendly to her, with a Global on an Action card will trigger her ability.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Jessica Jones is a Fist type character card.
~ She has the Defenders affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #17 of 24.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Jessica Jones and a friendly character targeted during my opponent’s Main Step.

Game State
~ I have a level three Jessica Jones die and a Sidekick die in the Field Zone.
~ My opponent has a level one Shredder: Dining on Turtle Soup in their Reserve Pool and two Bolt energy.
~ It’s during their Main Step.
(Main Step)
~ My opponent pays one energy, sending it Out of Play, to field Shredder.
~ They use Shredder’s ability and target my Sidekick, which is now KO’d and placed in the Prep Area and I lose one life.
~ Because a character die I control was targeted by a character ability, Jessica Jones gets a +1A/+1D.
~ My opponent spends their last Bolt energy, moving it Out of Play, for the Global on my Unstable Canister Basic Action Card. They target my Jessica Jones die.
~ My Jessica Jones die takes one damage from the Global ability, but because a character die that I control was targeted by a Global ability, Jessica Jones gets a +1A/+1D.
~ My Jessica Jones die now has a +2A/+2D, making her attack an 8 and her defense a 5. But because that die has taken one damage this turn, she can only take 4 more damage before she’s KO’d.
~ My opponent passes priority to me, but I choose to not use any Globals. I return priority and we move into the Attack Step.
(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ My opponent assigns Shredder to attack, moving his die to the Attack Zone.
(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ I assign Jessica Jones to block Shredder, moving her die to the Attack Zone in front of Shredder.
(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ My opponent does not use any actions or Globals.
~ I do not use any Globals.
(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ Shredder assigns his four damage to Jessica Jones’s remaining defense of four.
~ Jessica Jones assigns her eight damage to Shredder’s defense of four.
~ Both characters are KO’d.
(Clean Up Step)
~ Character dice that were KO’d during the Assign and Resolve Damage portion of the Attack Step are moved to the Prep Area.
~ All dice Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.
~ All damage on character dice is cleared.
~ All effects end unless otherwise stated.

Example Two:
Jessica Jones die targeted during the Attack Step.

Game State
~ I have a level three Jessica Jones die and a Sidekick die in the Field Zone. I also have one Fist energy and one Bolt energy in my Reserve Pool.
~ My opponent doesn’t have any characters in the Field Zone and no energy in the Reserve Pool.
~ None of my characters stats have been altered.
~ We’re moving into my Attack Step.
(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ I assign my Jessica Jones die and my Sidekick die to attack, moving both of them into the Attack Zone.
(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent does not assign any blockers.
(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ I spend one Bolt energy, moving it Out of Play, to use the Global on my Unstable Canister Basic Action Card and target my Jessica Jones die.
~ Jessica Jones takes one damage and her ability triggers because one of my character dice was the target of Global ability. My Jessica Jones die gets a +1A/+1D.
~ I spend my Fist energy, moving it Out of Play, to use the Global on my opponent’s Haymaker Basic Action Card and target my Jessica Jones die.
~ Jessica Jones gets a +1A from the Haymaker Global and her ability triggers because one of my character dice was the target of a Global ability. My Jessica Jones die gets a +1A/+1D.
~ My Jessica Jones die now has a +3A/+2D making her attack a 9 and her defense a 5.
~ My opponent does not use any actions or Globals.
(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ Both of my character dice are unblocked. They each deal their attack directly to my opponent.
~ My opponent is dealt 10 damage and both of my character dice are immediately placed Out of Play.
(Clean Up Step)
~ Character dice that were KO’d during the Assign and Resolve Damage portion of the Attack Step are moved to the Prep Area.
~ All dice Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.
~ All damage on character dice is cleared.
~ All effects end unless otherwise stated.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF) does not have an official ruling for this specific card.

Ruling about abilities that need the character to be active, but the card doesn’t say While Active, here.

Basic Information

You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Opinion and Strategy

Out of all the cards in the Defenders Team Pack, this Jessica Jones and Iron Fist: Holding Back the Storm are the only cards I like. I went straight for Iron Fist instead of test playing Jessica Jones because I loved his ability. But after playing with him a little and trying to make him work, I think Jessica Jones is the route I need to go.

When playing a card like this, you want to bring Globals that tempt your opponent into using them on your dudes, like Unstable Canister. They can target Jessica Jones as much as they want, but unless they have some other way to deal her damage, she won’t get KO’d by Canister Global strikes alone. Using Haymaker isn’t a bad idea either – or Goliath if you want to use a different Basic Action besides Haymaker. You don’t have to rely on your opponent to use Globals/character abilities on your characters. You could just pump her up on your own and then give her Overcrush for those potential blockers. You could make her unblockable with an ability like the on Silver Sable: Hero for Hire. And because it targets, it buffs her stats too.

For the competitive scenes, I think she might fall just short of being a top tier card. It’s not her purchase cost that’s the issue – I think it’s very reasonable for her ability and stats. There is way too many Cold Guns out there that can take her out. Her ability doesn’t trigger off of Action abilities, just Globals and character abilities. But even if it did trigger off of Action abilities, a Cold Gun shuts her down before she attacks. You would need to put pressure on your opponent with multiple Jessica Jones dice, which can be difficult since she cost five to purchase.

I don’t think she’s too overpowered on her own for a casual setting, but I would be mindful of what your other locals are playing.

I like this card and I think she’s probably the best card in the Team Pack. I can’t wait to give her a go this week! I might even pair her with some of this crazy new Batman stuff. And just because I don’t think she’s good enough for meta competitive play, doesn’t mean I won’t try her!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
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Special thanks to The Reserve Pool for the use of their site.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Card Comparison – It’s Not Monkey Business with Gorilla Grodd

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

It’s been too long since my last Card Comparison article. I love doing these, even though I’ve only done a few. In the Card Comparison articles, I take a look at all the different versions of a character from one set and give the pros and cons of each one. In the end, I reveal my favorite and leave it to you to decide which one you prefer.

Every card has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some cards just have weaknesses, especially compared to their other set versions. But those versions that aren’t as good as the others still come packaged with that character’s die, so they are still good for obtaining those extra dice!

For this article, we’re going to be comparing the common, uncommon, and rare versions of Gorilla Grodd from the DC Green Arrow and The Flash set.

Gorilla Grodd: Supplanting Solovar – Common

I also want to take a look at the character’s subtitles and where they may have come from. Supplanting basically means to supersede or replace, and Solovar is the name of the ruler of Gorilla City. Solovar was a peaceful leader and he was overthrown by Grodd during Flashpoint. Both Grodd and Solovar are supporting characters in The Flash comics, but they also appear in other DC comics from time to time.

This version of Grodd has both the Villain and Legion of Doom affiliations. The Legion of Doom is subgroup of villains that work together to accomplish a common goal. There are several Legion of Doom affiliated characters in Dice Masters, but as far as I can find, Lex Luthor: Legion of Doom is the only one with a tribal ability. A tribal ability is one that affects cards that have the same affiliation. There are a few cards that reference card names or subtitles that are considered tribal abilities, but tribal abilities primarily reference affiliations. WizKids does not officially recognize the use of the phrase ‘tribal ability’ for Dice Masters on the Keywords page. It’s primarily used by players.

His affiliations are both pros and cons. There aren’t many cool gimmicks with Legion of Doom characters, but Villains are always finding ways to buff themselves. If you’re using Villains, it could also work against you. There are plenty of anti-Villain cards in the game, but not any anti-Legion of Doom cards.

Another pro for Grodd that really stands out is his fielding costs and his stats. He has a TFC (Total Fielding Cost) of four! With his defense matching his attack on every level, this is one nasty dude. The purchase cost fits in with the pros for his stats too. Characters with large attack stats are usually expensive to purchase and field, but this particular Grodd only cost five energy to purchase and can easily be fielded on any level and is worth the fielding cost.

This Grodd doesn’t have text which is a pro and a con. “Wait a minute…” you might say, “How is that a pro?” Well, with text blanking cards being so popular, it doesn’t hurt to look at these blank cards that have a decent purchase cost and beastly stats. If you’re playing in a casual setting, this dude is actually a really good card! If you’re looking at a more competitive setting, he’s not terrible, but there are better options out there. He could be a great win condition in a draft though.

Gorilla Grodd: Force of Mind – Uncommon

Grodd isn’t just a gorilla – he’s a psionic gorilla that gained his powers by different means in different continuities. Force of Mind is likely a reference to the different psionic abilities that Grodd possesses.

As for the affiliations, they are the same as his common version, with the same pros and cons.

The main differences between the common and uncommon are the purchase cost and the card text. This Grodd has a purchase of seven – wow! That’s a little expensive, until you factor in his fielding costs, stats, and then his ability text.

His ability text is really good, in my opinion. You only need one of his dice in the Field Zone and he grants all of your character dice the Overcrush ability, including himself! If that wasn’t good enough, he can empower your other character dice by giving them a +1A. He doesn’t benefit from the attack buff, but all your other dice do, meaning that Sidekick just got a +1A and Overcrush.

One of the major cons to this version is that he can be blasted with a burst or double burst Cold Gun and lose his text. His ability is not an applied ability so if his text is removed, his static ability goes away too. Not that exciting to think about – seeing your big seven purchase cost character getting blanked and becoming useless for turn by a three cost Continuous Action die.

This card is a powerful card, for sure. The only real negative is his purchase cost, but he kind of deserves it. It just makes him harder to play in the faster metas with any kind of rush or aggro teams. I definitely consider his purchase cost to be a con, because I think a six cost would have been appropriate. I think he’s almost too powerful for a casual setting, but he has a chance to shine in the Modern Age and Prime competitive scenes.

Gorilla Grodd: Brains and Brawn – Rare

I love this subtitle. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “brains over brawn” which is encouraging folks to think first before using force, or that intelligence is preferred to physical abilities. But with Grodd, it’s brains and brawn, meaning he has the intelligence and physical strength. Why not both, right?

This version of Grodd also has the same affiliations as the common and uncommon.

The main differences with this version are, again, the purchase cost and ability text. This version has a purchase cost of six, which is definitely appropriate and not really a pro or a con.

When you look at the ability text on this Grodd, he says that only Crossover character dice can block him. I think that’s a good thematic ability for Grodd as well as a decent character ability in the game. There are not a ton of Crossover characters being played in the major metas, so this guy has a chance to shine. But a huge con is that he falls victim to the same major meta card as the uncommon Grodd – the Cold Gun. If you blank this guy’s text, any non-Crossover character can block him.

This Grodd also has a Global ability on his card. You can spin a Sidekick from your Field Zone to its single fist energy side at a cost of zero! This is a particularly useful Global in any meta, but it is a Global ability, meaning your opponent can use it too. That’s the downside to any Global ability, and one this good could potentially bite you back!

DDK’s Pick!

I like the common and even the rare Grodd for casual play. But those are not my favorites at all.

I absolutely love the uncommon Grodd. His major cons are his purchase cost and that his static ability can be easily blanked by a Cold Gun or other blanking type effect. It’s not easy, but you can work around those blanking cards and effectively take your opponent down with Grodd being the key piece to your win condition. He can easily be paired with cards like Lady Bullseye: Attack on Two Fronts or Guy Gardner: Blinding Rage. He buffs Sidekicks too, so if your opponent blocks your Sidekick with one of theirs, they’re still taking one damage! You can use a force block Global, like the one on Wasp: Fashionista, to help ensure some of your attackers make it back into the Field Zone. One of my favorite things about the uncommon Grodd is that he doesn’t have to attack to buff your other characters. If you attack with him, your opponent is likely to let him through just to get him cycling through your bag and slow you down. But with his ability, you only need to attack with your other characters.

My pick is easily Force of Mind, the uncommon Gorilla Grodd. How about you? Is the choice easy for you or are you torn between different Grodds?

I would love to hear your thoughts on Gorilla Grodd.
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty!
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Special thanks to The Reserve Pool for the use of their site.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Review! Marvel Dice Masters – The Defenders Team Pack

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

WizKids has released its second Team Pack, The Defenders. I hope they plan to release some DC Team Packs at some point, but so far there have only been the two Marvel ones, and another Marvel one scheduled for release later this year.

I did an unboxing video for The Defenders Team Pack and you can find it on YouTube, here. I goofed toward the end of the video though. I meant to say, “check out my review article” – not “check out my review video” – Oops!

Team Pack

Pack Contents

~ 24 Character Cards
~ 16 Dice

Keywords

There is one returning keyword in this set, and no new ones.

Returning Keywords:
Overcrush

Affiliations

There is a new affiliation and a returning affiliation.

New!
Defenders

Returning

Villains

Characters

Star Crossed has a ruling on WORF in regards to Overcrush – which is important to mention here. A character with Overcrush that is ‘blocked’ with Clea’s ability will deal it’s full damage to the defending player. Don’t use Clea’s ability to ‘block’ a character with Overcrush unless you want to take the full amount of damage. Since that character is declared blocked, it would also remain in the Field Zone. Not sure I like Star Crossed much and I don’t like Mistress of the Dark Dimension‘s ability that much either. On Stranger Tides is the only version of Clea I like, but at a cost of six, I don’t think she’ll be making any of my casual teams – especially since every version of Doctor Strange is also expensive to purchase.

I was desperately hoping for a cheaper Doctor Strange. There are now nine versions of Doctor Strange in Dice Masters. Three of them have a purchase cost of six and the the remaining six have a purchase cost of seven. Why can’t I have a five cost Doctor Strange. Hulk has a five cost version! I mean, is that too much to ask? He doesn’t need to have the incredible stats that both dice versions have. He’s a powerful character, sure, but there can be versions with less attack and defense if it means a cheaper purchase cost.

As for the abilities, Book of the Vishanti – thank you WizKids for the wording clarification! I would like the ability if we didn’t already have Lady Deadpool that’s cheaper (by two!) and does almost the same thing for a Bolt. The Doctor is In feels like an ability that belongs in AvX or Uncanny X-Men. But not every card should have a super awesome ability. Shields of the Seraphim would have been cool, if we didn’t already have a three cost Scarlet Witch (purchase cost of FOUR) that puts a die in the Prep Area at the cost of one energy. I do love the art choice for this card though – that’s something at least.

Thank goodness – a character cheaper than five! It’s Patsy! is a lesser version of Lyssa Drak from War of Light. For anyone tinkering with Lyssa Drak, this would be her replacement when WoL eventually rotates to Golden Age. Hell’s Belle – I love this card. I didn’t care for her ability at first, until I realized that I have various ways to get her into my Prep Area. She’s only a purchase cost of three as well, so you could buy multiples of her and keep them cycling – preventing your opponent from potentially purchasing their win condition. Demon Sight for Sore Eyes has a cool ability, but it’s way too conditional for a competitive format, and even more so for casual. I’m not sure she would be worth teching into a team build with the current metas. I like this artwork as well, and I know very little about Hellcat. This card kinda makes me want to check her out books.

I just don’t like any of these Hulk cards. If I had to choose one, I’d probably choose All the Rage, but his purchase cost and fielding cost is way too expensive for that. You also want to keep him active, meaning you’re not getting the full benefit of his beefy attack stat. I guess the others have their place on various team builds, but not for me.

I read Healing Hands first and thought, “Cool. I like this ability, but may be difficult to manage each time I’m ready to attack with him.” I was a little disappointed to see his purchase cost was five, but at least he’s under six! Then I read Pulling Punches and thought, “Now this is unique and interesting. I like this one better.” There are ways to force Sidekicks into your opponent’s Field Zone so you could always get at least one damage on your opponent with this ability. Not too bad for a five cost, but still, he could have had a purchase cost of four and been fine. Then I read Holding Back the Storm. My eyes lit up. It felt like this card was made for me – a DDK kind of card. It’s really easy to not field any characters. His attack stats then become 6, 7, 9. Holy stat increase Batman! Give him Overcrush or make him unblockable and he’s a beast! Sounds like the perfect gimmick combo team for me to build! His purchase cost of five is totally justifiable for his ability and stats – which also makes it a DDK card. I don’t usually build teams with win conditions that have a purchase cost less than five.

Mother of the Year Award – not the worst, but no. Not worth it for a character with a purchase cost of five and low defense. She can be blasted out of the Field with an uncommon Cold Gun on any level. No thanks – next. Ladies’ Night – this could be somewhat usable. It doesn’t specify opposing Globals or opposing character abilities and it doesn’t say ‘other’ character dice. You could target her with a stat increasing Global and get double what you pay for. I think I like this one a little. This sounds like another DDK gimmick combo card! Redeemed is okay too. She’s not the best, but not awful. You can give her Overcrush and your opponent can’t Blink her back. They can still Cold Gun her though! That’s why I don’t like her near as much. Ladies’ Night can stand up to a Cold Gun blast on your turn, after you get the use of her ability. She may get blanked, but she keeps those applied bonuses!

And here we have… a Villain… What? Why on Earth 616 is there a Villain in the DEFENDERS Team Pack? I’m all for diversifying affiliations in certain releases, but with such a limited number of cards in the Team Pack, don’t do that. I’d rather have had a half-way decent Daredevil or a better Moon Knight! *Sigh*

The only Loki that I feel has a remotely decent ability is Master of Delusion. But because of his purchase cost, and because he needs to be fielded to use his ability, he’s not that great. I’m not impressed at all with any of the Loki cards. I definitely would have rather had a four cost Daredevil or Moon Knight in this spot.

Harlem Raised – the only card with a bolded Keyword on it. And the funny thing is, he doesn’t just have it. You have to reroll him – if he’s blocked – to give him Overcrush. And if he lands on level one or two, congratulations, he now has a two or three attack and Overcrush! I wish you could see my face right now… I’m very confused and trying to understand WizKids’ choices for many things in this Team Pack.

But there is a glimmer of hope. Always Forward can buff your other Defenders, which is awesome. But he has to be active, and he has a purchase cost of five. The upside to his purchase cost being five is that you probably only need one of him because with a defense line of 5, 6, 6, he’s probably not getting blasted out the Field anytime soon. I look at Street Sweeper and I’m a little happier, but then I see his purchase cost and I’m not happy anymore. If I’m going to buy a cost reducer of any kind, it’s not going to be one that costs the same or one less than a die it’s reducing the cost of. He’s got that additional ability that lets you prep a die when you field a Defender character die, but I’d rather have had a three or four cost Street Sweeper with just the cost reducer on it.

Positive note – I absolutely love the art on this card. At least Daredevil was in this Team Pack somewhere!

Character Thoughts

Oh boy…These characters are all so expensive, except for Hellcat, and most of the abilities on the all the cards are underwhelming. It’s a rare occasion when I can’t find something in a starter or team pack that I really like. I just don’t know what to say about this Team Pack. I don’t think this is the best Team Pack for a beginner and I don’t think many advanced level players are going to find these cards useful or even fun to play with. The overly expensive characters are not fun – they’re frustrating. You typically just waste a spot on your team for them because most games are done, or close to being done, long before you get to purchase those characters.

I’ve heard TRP say this and I agree with them – if a character costs six or seven energy to purchase, it better be winning you the game. None – zero – zip – of these expensive characters do that.

Character Dice

You only get two of each character die in the Team Pack. If you’re wanting to put three or four dice on a particular character, you will need to buy a second Team Pack (or trade, exchange, etc.). It’s never a bad thing to have duplicates of the character cards, but I’d rather just have max dice in one purchase.

I like the image and color choices for the Iron Fist die and the color of the Doctor Strange die. Clea’s die has the ‘shimmer swirl’ look to it, so it’s pretty as well and I love Hellcat’s kitty image. But of all the dice, Loki’s is definitely my favorite. But I want to talk about Luke Cage’s die for a moment.

After filming the unboxing video, I asked the owner of my FLGS (Jeff), if he knew what the image on Luke Cage’s die might be. He studied it for a minute or two and concluded that he wasn’t sure what it was. We continued looking at this image for the better part of ten minutes, trying to figure out what it was. We didn’t think it was a flexing arm at first because we were both looking at the shoulder as the fist. I’m sure it was a sight to see us both flexing and trying to recreate the backward view we were seeing. We decided it couldn’t be an arm – it had to be a cracked stone or a wonky heart of some kind. We were searching any mental knowledge that we had of Luke Cage for a heart or stone reference and came up empty handed. I was about to leave when it suddenly hit me. We were looking at the arm backward. *Sigh*

WizKids, you have successfully trolled me, and Jeff, whether you meant to or not. Nice one. You’ve apparently claimed a few other victims too as most of the folks that have commented on my social media pictures also thought it was a weird heart of some kind.

It did give me a giggle on my way home from my FLGS last night. When I got home, I showed the die to Mr. DDK and asked what he thought it was. He quickly – without any hesitation – responded, “It’s an arm. It’s flexing, like this. See, here’s the fist.”

I felt even more silly than before. But I see it now!

Final Thoughts

I’m so disappointed in this Team Pack. I know this article probably sounds like one long rant, but I’m not going to sugarcoat how I feel or curb my opinions to appeal to the masses – or WizKids. I love WizKids and Dice Masters, but I want to give an honest opinion on their products. We’re all entitled to our own opinions and if you disagree with me, that’s totally fine. Maybe you see something that I don’t, or maybe most of these cards fit your style of play, but for me, this was a wash. Hellcat is the best character in the Team Pack. Is it worth buying the Team Pack just for her? In my opinion – No. Sorry, WizKids, but I’m not a fan of this Team Pack.

I know this is a broken record type statement, but less than max dice in the Team Pack is still an issue. That’s all I’ll say about it because I’ve complained about this particular topic on more than just a few occasions.

Just because I personally don’t like the Team Pack overall, doesn’t mean I won’t be tinkering with some of the cards. I like Iron Fist: Holding Back the Storm. That’s totally a DDK type of card. I don’t mind that he costs five to purchase because he has great stats and his ability is really nice too. I will most definitely be tinkering and brewing with Holding Back the Storm. I think he’ll be fun to play around with. I need to buy another Team Pack though, just in case I want to use four dice for Iron Fist or Hellcat.

What are your favorite cards?
What cards do you think will make it into Modern Age or Prime metas?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Special thanks to WizKids and The Reserve Pool for the use of their sites.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

REVISED Confusing Card of the Week #76 – Howard Stark: Expert Businessman

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

This is the corrected article. Thanks to Michaela for making me think about my original ruling and dig a little deeper!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Howard Stark: Expert Businessman  from the Marvel Iron Man and War Machine Starter set.

Ruling – Ally

Ally is a keyword that means the character will count as a Sidekick in addition to any other type that it currently has, but only while the character is active in the Field Zone. A character with the Ally keyword does not count as a Sidekick in the bag, Prep Area, Reserve Pool, etc.

A character with Ally will become a Sidekick the very moment that it enters the Field Zone. This is not an optional keyword and you cannot trigger it because it applies the instant the character is fielded. This matters specifically for abilities like the one on Punisher: War Journal.

Ruling – Ability

Howard Stark’s ability is definitely a interesting one. You can only use it at the beginning of your turn, before you start your Clear and Draw Step. You can sacrifice a Howard Stark die to give the characters your active characters that you control a +2A for the rest of the turn. You may sacrifice any number of Howard Stark dice and each will give a +2A, but you must do it before your Clear and Draw Step. This ability is optional to use. If you start your Clear and Draw Step and didn’t sacrifice a Howard Stark die first, you cannot back up because you missed the timing window for his ability.

When you sacrifice a character die, that die goes Out of Play until the Clean Up Step where it then goes to the Used Pile. When a die is Out of Play, game effects cannot affect those dice. Examples – Professor X: Recruiting Young Mutants Global cannot be used on Sidekicks Out of Play and Reclaim cannot be used to get a Howard Stark die into the Prep Area on the same turn it was sacrificed.

The buff that Howard Stark’s effect gives affects all characters you have active in the Field Zone at the time you sacrifice his die. Each of his dice that you sacrifice will give your active characters a +2A. If you sacrifice two Howard Stark dice, you characters that are in the Field Zone will get a +4A until the end of your turn. This type of ability is an applied bonus.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Howard Stark is a Mask Character.
~ He has the S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #2 of 34.

If you purchase the Iron Man and War Machine starter set, you will get all the cards, but not maximum dice for each character. You will need two starters for maximum character dice because those dice are not available in any other set.

Examples

These examples are for information purposes only, to show what would happen in certain scenarios. I am not suggesting that these examples are the best outcomes for each scenario and each example only features relevant parts of the turn, not the entire turn.

Example One:
Sacrificing more than one Howard Stark.

~ I have two level one Howard Stark dice and three Sidekick dice in the Field Zone.
~ I begin my turn by sacrificing one of my Howard Stark dice. This will give my three Sidekick dice a +2A until end of turn. I sacrifice my second Howard Stark die, giving my Sidekick dice an additional +2A for a total of +4A until end of turn.
~ (Clear and Draw Step) I clear any dice remaining in my Reserve Pool from the previous turn and draw four dice from my bag. Any character dice that I draw, roll, and field, will not get the +4A buff.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF) does not have a ruling for this specific card.

You can find an Ally ruling in the Punisher: War Journal ruling, and many other rulings, here.

You can find a ruling about Sacrifice, here.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

While I think this card is quite good, I don’t see anyone playing it unless Bard gets an errata or somehow makes the banned list (not likely). He costs one less than Bard, but you have to sacrifice him for his ability. Someone like me would try to use Stark in a major event, but I don’t see him making many team lists out there. There are better options for his type of ability – the big one being Bard. He does have the advantage of getting around Cold Guns though, so he’s not a card I’d forget about anytime soon just on the chance that we see a WizKids rotation that hits Bard.

Howard Stark: Expert Businessman gets a rating of one out of five stars.

Prime Play Rating

I think this card is great for Prime, but I don’t expect a lot of folks to play him if they aren’t using Overcrush. He’s got great fielding costs, especially since you may be sacrificing him! But if you’re using Reclaim, he could easily be churned many times over for some pretty devastating results. Just remember that you don’t want a Reclaim die the same turn you sacrifice him, because he’ll be Out of Play on the turn he’s sacrificed. I have the perfect place for this card on my Grodd team and I can’t wait to try him out.

Howard Stark: Expert Businessman gets a Prime rating of three out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

Howard Stark’s ability is absolutely confusing. I’m not sure why I thought it was a static type bonus, but he had all of us here confused. Thankfully, Michaela mentioned that it might be applied and not static, which got me to thinking and digging deeper. Glad she said something! So, Stark is lucky I don’t knock him down to a three for causing so much confusion. The needed knowledge for sacrifice can be obtained easily if the player is looking for it. Some new players may confuse sacrificing for KO’ing, but once they know the difference, it’s not usually an issue. Lots of players forget or don’t know that sacrificed characters go Out of Play instead of the directly to the Used Pile. It’s a common mistake among players of all skill levels. I can still easily recommend Howard Stark for players of all skill levels, even with his earlier confusion. He’s a great card, and he offers a great way to showcase the rarely used game mechanic, sacrifice.

Howard Stark: Expert Businessman gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

Mistakes Were Made!

And this goes to show everyone – I absolutely do make mistakes. I’m definitely not perfect and for all my understanding of the game, this one card tripped me up today. I’m a one person operation here, but I will usually consult with Mr. DDK and a few of the other locals that are more competitive for their opinions, just to be sure I’ve got my interpretation right. Very rarely do we have this issue, but Howard Stark had all of us fooled today! But I’m still so glad I picked him for the Confusing Card of the Week. Never be afraid to question things you think may not be accurate. You could save someone a world of problems, like Michaela did for me today! And don’t be ashamed or embarrassed by a mistake. Admit the mistake, pick yourself up, and roll on!

Opinions on this card? Leave a comment!
Is there a card your confused on?
Is there a combo that seems too good to be true?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Special thanks to The Reserve Pool for the use of their site.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Tournament Report! February 18, 2017 – Prime Format

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

We held a Prime format event this past weekend and I decided to play with a mostly TMNT team. Before I go any further, I have a little bit of bad news. I did not take pictures of my opponents’ teams, and an unfortunate technical issue has destroyed two of my three videos. I will post the video I have on my YouTube channel when I get done editing it. I did not take pictures of my opponents’ teams for this report because I was doing videos of all my matches this week. I apologize for the lack of content in this report.

My Team

You can find my team here, on DM Retrobox or in the Slideshow below.

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I put April, Michelangelo, and Leonardo on my team to decrease the cost of my TMNT characters. I like Donatello because he does ability damage directly to my opponent for each of my other active TMNT characters when each of his dice attack. Metalhead is a really beefy attacker when you have lots of TMNT dice active. Raphael protects my TMNT characters from Action Dice and Globals, which came in handy! I put Casey Jones on the team to help me clear Sidekicks/Allies out of Metalhead’s path. Rip was the only card on the team that wasn’t from a TMNT set. I wanted to have access to the Global if my opponent decided not to bring it. Reclaim was useful for moving over those recently purchased character dice. Mutation is just a great card for Mutating Sidekicks out and bringing in those TMNT characters as well as Mutating out characters on my opponent’s side, for less threatening characters.

I had lots of fun playing this team, and every game I played was somewhat close – except for my first match. I ended with a record of 0-3-0 for the event, but the fun I had was totally worth playing with my Turtles! I would like to take Casey Jones off the team and add a force block Global, like Wasp: Fashionista so that I can force my opponent to block my Donatello dice, hopefully putting them back into the Field Zone. I would also like to swap my Metalhead out for this one:

Using Dissociative Identity with the four Turtles would be a huge benefit. I can attack with all of my dice; Donatello dice will be doing their direct damage first; then Metalhead’s ability will make the four Turtles unblockable; then the four Turtles will all hit my opponent, hopefully for lethal. I can use one or multiple Donnie dice to soften my opponent up first, making the victory easier to accomplish.

I played against a Bat-Family team, an Action Burn team, and a Satchel team. The Action Burn team won the event on tie-breaker points, but all three of those team were 2-1-0 for the event. I plan to make the appropriate adjustments to my team and play it again in a future Prime event. I also have a Gorilla Grodd team that I enjoy playing and Hypervelocity team that I’m working on.

I apologize again for the lack of content in this report, but I wanted to put something out there for folks to read. Something is better than nothing! I hope I have the technical kinks worked out for next week.

What are some changes you’d make without changing the spirit of the team?
Have a build you like better?
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Special thanks to The Reserve Pool for the use of their site.
Remember to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for Dice Masters and HeroClix videos!

Roll on, Dice Masters!