Posts Tagged ‘Action Dice’

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Yuan-Ti Pureblood: Epic Humanoid from the Dungeons and Dragons: Tomb of Annihilation set.

W Yuan-Ti Pureblood, Epic Humanoid

Ruling – Attune Ability

WizKids Keywords Page:

Attune: While a character you control with Attune is active, when you use an action die, that character deals 1 damage to target player or character die (no matter how many of that character’s dice are active).”

Attune 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.

while-active-light

Attune triggers when you use any kind of action die, whether it’s a basic action die or a non-basic action die. Using a Continuous type action die requires you to place the die in the Field Zone from the Reserve Pool. If you activate a Continuous die’s ability from the Field Zone, this is not considered using it. For example, activating a Captain Cold’s Cold Gun: Frozen “Firearm” after it’s in the Field Zone is not considered to be the same as using it. Using it would be placing the Cold Gun die into the Field Zone from the Reserve Pool.

While a character die with Attune is active, when you use an action die, the character die with Attune will deal one damage to a target character die or player. For example, if you have three Yuan-ti Pureblood dice in the Field Zone when you use an action die, your Yuan-ti Pureblood will deal only one damage total (not three damage) to a target character die or player.

Attune abilities are mandatory and not optional. When you have an active character with Attune and you use an action die, you must deal one damage to target player or character die, even if you would be forced to target one of your character dice or yourself.

Ruling – Ability

“While Yuan-ti Pureblood is active, when you purchase an action die, trigger the Attune ability of all active character dice.”

Yuan-ti Pureblood’s ability is a While Active ability. While you have at least one Yuan-ti Pureblood die in the Field Zone, you will trigger her ability when you purchase an action die. Her ability triggers when you purchase any kind of action die, whether it’s a basic action die or a non-basic action die.

When you purchase an action die while you have an active Yuan-ti Pureblood character die, you will trigger each character die’s Attune ability. Attune abilities will only trigger once for each character, regardless of how many of that character’s dice are in the Field Zone, because Attune is a While Active ability.

For example, if you have three Yuan-ti Pureblood dice in the Field Zone, and purchase an action die, you will trigger the Attune ability of your Yuan-ti Pureblood. You will deal one damage (not three damage) to target player or character die. This is because all three dice are from the same character – your Yuan-ti Pureblood. Her Attune ability can only be triggered once, per instance, while there are any of her dice active in the Field Zone. If you were to purchase another action die, you would trigger her Attune ability a second time and deal one damage again.

This ability will also trigger the Attune ability on your opponent’s character dice. If your opponent has the same Yuan-ti Pureblood dice in the Field Zone, you still trigger her Attune ability as well as yours, because the two character cards are considered to be different characters. One is your Yuan-ti Pureblood, and the other is your opponent’s Yuan-ti Pureblood, making them different characters for game effects such as this ability.

If you trigger an opponent’s Attune ability, you do not get to choose the target of that ability because you are not in control of the ability. Triggering an ability is not the same as controlling or using the ability.

Yuan-ti Pureblood’s ability is mandatory. If you purchase an action die while she’s active, you must trigger the Attune abilities on all active character dice with Attune.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Yuan-ti Pureblood is a Bolt type character card.
~ She has the Monster affiliation and the Evil alignment.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Super Rare and is #132 of 136.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
You can find an official ruling for Yuan-ti Pureblood: Epic Humanoid, here.

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

turn-order

Strategy and Opinion

Yuan-ti Pureblood is great for action centered teams, but if your opponent is using characters with Attune, her ability could become a nuisance for you. Her ability is still great and definitely worth trying out. She only cost two energy to purchase, but she can be blasted out of the Field Zone very easily. She’s got a defense of one on level one and level two, making her an easy target for Unstable Canister‘s Global. Her level three side is slightly safer with a defense of three, but she still falls victim to uncommon and rare Cold Guns.

I think she’ll be fun in casual play with the Satchel teams I’ve seen floating around, and she might even have a place in the major competitive meta, even though she could be troublesome against a similar team. I’m not sure I’d recommend using her as a main win condition in a draft, only because there are plenty of other characters out there with Attune and her ability could cost you in the end. But at the same time, because she’s so inexpensive, she could allow you to race your opponent to victory!

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Roll on, Dice Masters!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Poison Dart Trap: Lesser Trap from the Dungeons and Dragons: Tomb of Annihilation set.

W Poison Dart Trap, Lesser Trap

Ruling – Ability

Trap (Place in your Field Zone when used. Send to your Used Pile when triggered.)
Trigger: Your opponent would roll 2 or more of the same non-NPC character die at the same time.
Effect: Before the roll occurs, place one of those character dice into your opponent’s Used Pile.”

Poison Dart Trap has the Trap keyword.

WizKids Keywords Page:

Traps: Traps are action dice that move to the Field Zone when used, and stay there until Triggered. When the criteria of the Trap die’s Trigger is met, you must immediately send the die to your Used Pile and use its Effect.”

Using this die places it into the Field Zone. It will only leave the Field Zone if its effect is triggered or another card ability removes an action die.

Poison Dart Trap is a non-basic action die. Anything that affects action dice could affect this die. If the effect says ‘Basic Action’, it would not apply to Poison Dart Trap.

When the ability is triggered, you must send the trap to the Used Pile. This is not an optional ability. When a trap is triggered, it will grant you its effect.

The term non-NPC means non-Sidekick. NPC is the wording on Dungeons and Dragons cards that means Sidekick. This applies to Ally characters, which are considered Sidekicks while in the Field Zone.

Poison Dart Trap’s trigger is when your opponent would roll two or more of the same character dice, that aren’t Sidekicks. For example, I have an active Poison Dart Trap and my opponent is about roll three Guy Gardner dice. Poison Dart Trap triggers and goes to the Used Pile. I get to choose one of the Guy Gardner dice and it goes to their Used Pile. My opponent gets to roll the other two.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Poison Dart Trap is a Bolt type non-basic action card.
~ It has no affiliation, but has the Neutral alignment.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #35 of 136.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
There is no official ruling for this card.

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

turn-order

Strategy and Opinion

I like the new Trap keyword, as well as how they clarified when the trap die is actually used. I would like for other abilities, like the one on Cold Gun, to eventually be worded similar to this. That would clarify a lot of confusion over using action die and activating them.

But as for this card’s ability, it’s great against Swarm! You would be able to reduce the number of dice they roll by one, which could be a big deal. Outside of drafting, I’m not sure how much play this card will see. If Swarm characters are a pain and someone has room, they could add this card to see if it helps. It’s not expensive with a cost of three and it only needs to be in the Field Zone.

I’m don’t think this card will see major meta play, but some casual scenes probably will – especially if Swarm is big. This card could be useful in drafts as well, but only if players are drafting multiple copies of a character and using three or four of that character’s dice.

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Roll on, Dice Masters!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Nocturne: Shadowy Lineage from the Marvel X-Men First Class set.

W Nocturne, Shadowy Lineage

Ruling – Ability

While Nocturne is active, the first time your opponent uses an Action die each turn, you may redirect the effect to another legal target.

Nocturne’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.

while-active-light

Nocturne’s ability will only trigger the first time your opponent uses an action die each turn. Activating an action die’s ability, like Captain Cold’s Cold Gun: Frozen “Firearm”, is not considered the same as using the action die and will not trigger Nocturne’s ability.

Nocturne can only redirect the action die if there is a legal target for the action die’s ability. For example, Betrayal: Basic Action Card says, “Deal 1 damage to target opponent for each character die in their Field Zone.” If that’s the first action die your opponent uses, Nocturne cannot redirect it to your opponent because they are the one using the action die. Betrayal would still deal damage to you for each character die in your Field Zone.

Nocturne can redirect an ability from a Basic Action die or a Non-Basic Action die, because her text does not specify a type of action die.

If the action die has multiple legal targets, you may choose any legal target. For example, Power Bolt: Basic Action Card says, Deal 2 damage to one target character or player. If that’s the first action die your opponent uses and they target a character die, Nocturne can redirect the effect to your opponent, another character die, or yourself. Any of those targets are legal targets for the effect of the action die.

Nocturne’s ability is not a mandatory trigger. Because her ability is optional, if you forget to use it when her trigger condition is met, you cannot back up once the game has progressed beyond the resolution of the action die’s ability. Also, if the trigger condition is met, but there are no legal targets, you will not be able to use her ability that turn.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Nocturne is a Mask type character card.
~ She has the Exiles affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Rare and is #99 of 124.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
You can find an official ruling for Nocturne, here.

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

turn-order

Strategy and Opinion

Nocturne has an interesting ability, but because she requires a ‘legal’ target for the redirect, her ability can easily be avoided. You only need to play an action die that she can’t redirect before you play any other action die. The only difficulty in that strategy is getting multiple action dice on the same turn, unless your team is set up for such plays. She’s not expensive, but her defense is kinda terrible because a Cold Gun can easily blast her out of the field on any of her levels.

I like her for drafts and limited constructed events, but as far as Modern Age or Golden Age constructed, I don’t think she’s as useful as other cards. Scarlet Witch: Careful What You Wish For and Bishop: Butterfly Effect are two highly useful cards that I would use over Nocturne.

Fun fact – Nocturne is from not from Earth 616 (Earth Prime). She’s the daughter of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch from Earth 2182.

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Roll on, Dice Masters!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Scarlet Witch: Careful What You Wish For from the Marvel X-Men First Class set.

W Scarlet Witch, Careful What You Wish For

Ruling – Ability

“While Scarlet Witch is active, during your opponent’s Roll and Reroll Step, your opponent must reroll any Action dice that land on an Action face and cannot reroll any Action dice on energy faces.”

Scarlet Witch’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.

while-active-light

While Scarlet Witch is active, only during your opponent’s Roll and Reroll Step, if they roll any action dice and those dice land on an action face, they must choose to reroll them. They are not able to choose to reroll any action dice that show an energy face.

Scarlet Witch’s ability applies to all action dice: basic action dice, non-basic action dice, equipment, etc. Anything that is considered to be an action die will be affected by her effect.

If you have Scarlet Witch active, any action dice that show an action face after your opponent rolls their dice during the Roll and Reroll Step, must be chosen by the opponent to be rerolled. They can choose any other dice, except action dice showing an energy face, to reroll with the chosen action dice.

If the rerolled action dice land on an action face after they are rerolled, your opponent does not have to reroll them again. Scarlet Witch’s ability only forces them to choose to reroll them once during the Roll and Reroll Step.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Scarlet Witch is a Bolt type character card.
~ She has the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and Villain affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is an Common and is #31 of 124.

Official Sources

WizKids Official Rules Forum (WORF)
You can find a ruling for Scarlet Witch, here.

You can find the cross IP compatibility wording, here.
You can find more info about specific Keywords on the WizKids Keywords page.

Turn Order Summary Reference

turn-order

Strategy and Opinion

This Scarlet Witch could be powerful in almost any format where action dice are highly utilized. She’s a great soft counter for action dice teams or even a team that only uses one really powerful action die, like Lantern Ring: Limited Only By Imagination. With Scarlet Witch active, your opponent would essentially need to roll their action dice on an action face twice to keep them. Any action dice that are rolled on an energy face are stuck that way. Cards like Parallax will come in handy against Scarlet Witch, so if you’re using Scarlet Witch, don’t bring Parallax too!

I’m highly considering a spot for her on my Modern Age constructed team, mainly because there are so many good action dice out there that could be a problem. I plan to do some test playing with her very soon. It’s so difficult to test play right now because there are still so many sets scheduled for release and there could be something new or something better that would just take her place or make her obsolete.

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!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

Wow! 100 Confusing Card of the Week articles! I’m proud of myself for making it this far and I can’t wait to reach article #200! John P. gave me a great idea for an article and I’m definitely going to work on it. He suggested that I do an article about all the cards with a collector number of 100 and rank them. Turns out, there are 14 cards with the collector number 100 and many of them are actually really good. Then there’s that one… But, what a great idea! So in honor of that idea, I chose a card from that list for this week’s CCW article. Be on the lookout for my Top 100’s article – coming soon!

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Oni: Greater Giant from the Dungeons and Dragons: Faerûn Under Siege set.

W Oni, Greater Giant

Ruling – Ability

Oni has 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.

Oni’s ability says that when his die is fielded, you may put a target Action die from your opponent’s Field Zone, Prep Area, or Reserve Pool in their Used Pile and cancel any effect that particular die may have had.

This ability targets Action dice and opponents.

This ability is optional, so if you forget to use the ability when you field an Oni die and you begin another game action, you cannot back up.

When you move the die to the Used Pile with Oni’s ability, any effect that the die had is cancelled. If your opponent were to activate a second copy of the same die, that effect is not cancelled. For example: You remove a Lantern Ring from your opponent’s Field Zone. They have a second Lantern Ring active. The effect of the second Lantern Ring die is not cancelled.

His affiliation is Monster – Evil. He is not considered to be a Villain. This is important for cards that reference Villains. Monsters and Villains are not interchangeable affiliations.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Oni is a Bolt type character card.
~ He has the Monster-Evil affiliation.
~ He has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Uncommon and is #100 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:
Using Oni for an Action die in the Field Zone and one in the Prep Area on the same turn.

Game State
~ I have two level one Oni dice and two fist energy in my Reserve Pool.
~ My opponent has a Lantern Ring action die in the Field Zone and a Big Entrance action die in their Prep Area.
~ It’s during my main step.
(Main Step)
~ I spend one fist energy (moving it Out of Play) to pay the fielding cost for one of my Oni dice, moving it into the Field Zone.
~ I can now trigger Oni’s ability if I choose to do so. I choose to use his ability and I target my opponent’s Lantern Ring that’s in the Field Zone. The Lantern Ring die is moved to the Used Pile and any effect it would have had is cancelled.
~ I spend my last fist energy (moving it Out of Play) to pay the fielding cost for my second Oni die, moving it into the Field Zone.
~ I can now trigger Oni’s ability if I choose to do so. I choose to use his ability and I target my opponent’s Big Entrance that’s in my opponent’s Prep Area. The Big Entrance die is moved to the Used Pile and any current effects of that die are cancelled (which there aren’t any effects for Big Entrance while it’s my turn).
~ 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

turn-order

Opinion and Strategy

I’ve been an advocate for this card as an anti-action card for a long time. I think the only downside is his fielding cost, but with such a good ability, it’s worth it. You can use him to remove one of the most used Action dice in the game – Lantern Ring: Limited Only By Imagination. It goes away! It leaves the Field Zone and goes directly into the Used Pile. That means your opponent needs to work it back through their bag and roll it on an action face again. Do I think Oni is worth adding to teams? Absolutely – if you’re concerned about Action dice. If your local meta isn’t heavy on Action dice, don’t worry with him.

His purchase cost is good and his stats aren’t terrible overall, but that level three fielding cost can be painful if it hits you at the wrong time. But I do love his die – the light blue and the dark mauve/purple-ish color is a really pretty color combo.

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!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Batarang: What Goes Around Comes Around from the DC Batman set.

W Batarang, What Goes Around Comes Around

Ruling – Ability

When you use this action die, you deal three damage to one target Villain character die. If you use a second Batarang die, you can choose to target the same die again if it’s still active in the Field Zone, or you can choose a new Villain to target.

You can target opposing Villains or your own Villains with Batarang action dice.

A Sidekick die or character die that does not have a printed Villain affiliation on their card can be legal targets if they have been given the Villain affiliation through a game effect. For example: Superman is not a Villain. I can pay a Mask energy and a Fist energy for the Global on the Monument to Evil: Basic Action Card, and target Superman so he gains the Villain affiliation. This makes him a legal target for Batarang.

A character with a printed Villain affiliation can have the Villain affiliation removed by a card effect and no longer be a legal target for Batarang. Removing the Villain affiliation will not affect Batarang dice that have been used prior to the removal of the affiliation. For example: My Joker (Villain), with a defense of six, has been hit with a Batarang for three damage. In the same turn, I can remove his affiliation with Ra’s al Ghul‘s Global and he will still have three damage on him until the Clean Up Step. He can no longer be targeted by Batarang dice this turn, unless he regains the Villain affiliation.

What is considered ‘using’ an Action Die?
~ When you have a non-Continuous action die showing an action face in your Reserve Pool and you use it for it’s effect, moving it Out of Play, that is considered using it.
~ When you have a Continuous action die showing an action face in your Reserve Pool, using it means putting it into the Field Zone. When you activate a Continuous action die for it’s effect, that is not the same as using the action die because the die was used by fielding it.
~ Abilities that say ‘use an action die’ or ‘use the effect of an action die’ are all considered to be using an action die.

Ruling – Boomerang Keyword

From the WizKids Keywords page:

Boomerang: Action dice with boomerang are re-rolled after they’re used. If they reveal an action face, add them to your Prep Area.

 

After you roll the action die, if it shows an action face (non-energy face), you get to add it to your Prep Area. If it shows an energy face, the die will move Out of Play as normal. The image below shows where you can find the different faces on the Die Face Reference part of the card.

Boomerang is mandatory. If you use an Action Die with Boomerang, you must reroll it.

Action and Energy Faces 2

 

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Batarang is a Bolt type non-Basic Action card.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #4 of 124.

Batarang is a special Action called a non-Basic Action. You place this card in a character slot on your team. Your opponent can not purchase your non-Basic Action dice.

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 Batarang during the Main Step and the Attack Step.

Game State
~ I have two Batarang dice showing action faces in my Reserve Pool. I have a level three Huntress (4A/3D) die and a level three Hawkgirl (4A/4D) die in the Field Zone.
~ My opponent has a level three Killer Croc (7A/7D) die in the Field Zone.
~ It is currently during my Main Step.
(Main Step)
~ I use one of my Batarang dice, targeting my Huntress die. Huntress takes three damage, KO’ing her and sending her to my Prep Area. I must use the Boomerang ability on my Batarang die, rerolling Batarang. It lands on an energy face and is placed Out of Play.
~ I pass priority to my opponent and they choose to not use any Globals, passing priority back to me.
~ We now move into the Attack Step – or – Skip the Attack Step and go straight to Clean Up. I decide that I want to attack, so we move into the Attack Step.
(Attack Step – Assign Attackers)
~ I assign my Hawkgirl to attack, moving her into the Attack Zone.
(Attack Step – Assign Blockers)
~ My opponent assigns their Killer Croc to block Hawkgirl, moving Killer Croc into the Attack Zone and placing him in front of Hawkgirl.
(Attack Step – Actions and Globals)
~ I use my second Batarang die and target Killer Croc. Killer Croc takes three damage and since it wasn’t enough to KO him, he remains in the Attack Zone blocking Hawkgirl. I must use the Boomerang ability on my Batarang die, rerolling Batarang. It lands on an action face and is added in my Prep Area.
(Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage)
~ Hawkgirl deals her four attack to Killer Croc’s seven defense, but he already has three damage on him. This will be enough to KO him. Killer Croc deals his seven attack to Hawkgirl’s four defense, which is enough to KO her. They will both go their respective Prep Areas during Clean Up.
(Clean Up Step)
~ Character dice that were KO’d by combat damage during the Attack Step are now placed in the Prep Area. Killer Croc is placed in my opponent’s Prep Area and Hawkgirl is placed in 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.
~ 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)
You can find a relevant ruling about similar text for using an action die, here.
You can find a relevant ruling about Continuous actions and abilities, here.
You can find a relevant ruling about While Active text being missing from the card, here.

Basic Information

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

Turn Order Summary Reference

turn-order

Opinion and Strategy

I think Boomerang is a really neat ability, but I have yet to play it. I’ve seen plenty of Unstable Miracle teams floating around, but I want to use a die that already has Boomerang, like Batarang. I’ll have to use Batarang if I want to play with Boomerang because it’s the only action card with the Keyword and all three versions have Boomerang.

I am definitely looking forward to adding this to my “FREEZE!” team. While useful against opposing Villains, I think it’ll be much more of an asset when it comes to KO’ing your own Villains that have When Fielded abilities. Mr. Freeze: Dr. Victor Fries has a cool When Fielded ability that puts Stun Tokens on your opponent’s character cards. Sometimes, it’s hard to get those type of character dice back into your Prep Area to reuse quickly. Batarang definitely provides a viable option that your opponent won’t have access to, like Unstable Canister. Mr. Freeze has a defense line of 2/3/4, making him a prime target for Batarang. The only level that would give you trouble is level three.

Some other characters that I would love to pair this Batarang with are Huntress: No Rest for the Wicked and Firefly: Ted Carson. I absolutely love the idea of using Huntress to potentially KO their dudes and then field Firefly to blast them for some damage. Batarang would help cycle those two in the early game because they’re both Villains and make for great targets for Batarang.

And if blasting your own Villains into the Prep Area for next turn wasn’t good enough, Batarang has the potential to come back too, thanks to Boomerang!

I think all versions are great for casual level play and especially for drafting. I’m not sure it has what it takes to stand alone in the Modern Age competitive meta, but I’m holding out hope that someone finds a creative way to use this card.

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!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Storm: Extra Lightning  from the Marvel Deadpool set.

W Storm, Extra Lightning

Ruling Ability

Storm has 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.

while-active-light

Storm’s ability will deal one damage to an opponent or a character die when you use an action die. This will only happen while Storm is active in the Field Zone.

Using an action die is different from activating an ability on a Continuous action die. Continuous action dice are ‘used’ when they are moved from the Reserve Pool to the Field Zone. A Continuous action die that has a second ability, like Captain Cold’s Cold Gun: Frozen “Firearm” will not trigger Storm’s ability when you activate the second ability. For example, placing the Cold Gun in the Field from the Reserve Pool is considered ‘using’ the action die. That will allow you to use Storm’s ability. If you move the die to your Used Pile to deal three damage to a character, you will not be allowed to use Storm’s ability. You are activating an ability and not using the die.

You can use this ability as many times in a single turn as you have action dice to use. You can use this ability each time you use an action die, even if you’ve used one of the same action dice previously in the turn. For example, I use Reclaim in my Main Step. I get to use Storm’s ability. I use a second Reclaim die in the same Main Step. I get to use Storm’s ability.

Storm’s ability is considered a targeting ability. Cards that prevent targeting or redirect abilities, can be used against Storm’s ability.

The damage from Storm’s ability is considered ‘ability damage’ and not combat damage. This type of damage is sometimes called direct damage or burn.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Storm is a Bolt type character card.
~ She has the X-Men affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Rare and is #114 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 Storm’s ability.

~ I have two Storm dice in my Field Zone. I also have one Captain Cold’s Cold Gun die and one Reclaim die, both showing an action face, in my Reserve Pool.
~ (Main Step) I use my Cold Gun die and place it into the Field Zone. I choose to have Storm deal one damage to my opponent.
~ (Main Step) I use my Reclaim die, moving it Out of Play, to move a Sidekick die from my Used Pile to my Prep Area. I choose to have Storm deal one damage to my opponent.
~ (Main Step) I activate my Cold Gun, dealing three damage to my opponent’s Sidekick die. Storm does get to deal damage because I’m not ‘using’ the die, only activating the ability on it.

Official Sources

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

Turn Order Summary Reference

turn-order

Ratings

I am temporarily removing my ratings from the Confusing Card of the Week articles. I plan to redo my ratings system and improve it!

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!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at the Renet Tilley: 79th Dimension of Null-Time from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell box set.

w-35-renet-tillet-79th-dimension-of-null-time

Ruling – Ability

Renet Tilley has 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.

while-active-light

Renet Tilley’s ability lets you spin an action die that’s on an action face to any other side, but only right after you complete your Roll and Reroll Step and before you begin your Main Step. The action die must be on a non-energy face for you to be able to use her ability for that die. You can spin the die to any energy face or any action face.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Renet Tilley is a Bolt Character.
~ She does not have an affiliation.
~ She has a max dice of three.
~ This card is a Common and is #35 of 58.

If you purchase either of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Box Sets, you will have one copy of each card in the entire set, as well as the maximum number of dice for each card.

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 Renet Tilley for one Action Die.

~ I have one level one Renet Tilley in the Field Zone.
~ (Clear and Draw Step) I draw four dice from my bag. I draw two Captain Cold’s Cold Gun action dice and two Sidekick dice.
~ (Roll and Reroll Step) I roll my four dice and they land on two Wild energy, one Cold Gun on an action face with no bursts, and one Cold Gun showing its single generic energy side. I choose to reroll the Cold Gun on the energy face and it lands on the same single generic energy face.
~ (Roll and Reroll Step) If I want to use Renet Tilley, I must do so now before I begin my Main Step. I choose to spin my Cold Gun on the action face to an energy face with the Bolt and Fist energy. I could have used her ability to spin it to an action face with bursts or even the single energy face, but I want the Bolt/Fist energy this turn instead.
~ (Main Step) I now begin my main step.

Official Sources

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

Turn Order Summary Reference

turn-order

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

I could see her being a useful rogue level card. There are not many action cards that benefit from a burst ability in the unlimited meta, but Cold Gun is definitely the biggest one. She can be useful in getting energy from a die that rolled an action face that you didn’t want an action for in that particular turn. In an unlimited setting, she is a good card, but I don’t think she’s that good to make a huge splash in the major meta. There are too many ways to get rid of her – easily. Her defense stats make her an easy target for the Magic Missile/Unstable Canister burn Global (or even the action ability). I think the most useful spot she can find is on a Bolt Ring team variant. She can spin those Kryptonite action faces over to bolt faces to help boost your damage. She does make for an easy DWiz distraction if your opponent is worried about you benefiting too much from her ability which could keep some of your other major pieces safe from the DWiz. But overall, I don’t think she’ll be as useful as some players have thought, and mainly because I think some folks have misread her ability. She doesn’t spin energy faces to action faces, which definitely would have made her over powered.

Renet Tilley: 79th Dimension of Null-Time gets a rating of three out of five stars.
3 Stars

Prime Play Rating

As far as Prime goes, the limited ramp and churn options make Renet Tilley a little more valuable. You don’t have to worry about a whiffed energy roll on an action die, or you could easily spin that Momentum to it’s double burst from its other action face. I think we’ll see her a lot more in Prime than unlimited. There are definitely less threats out there for direct removal in Prime too. A Cold Gun would KO her on any side because of her low defense, so she makes for a great no-burst Cold Gun target. I really like this card for Prime and I think we’ll see a lot of her in this format.

Renet Tilley: 79th Dimension of Null-Time gets a Prime rating of four out of five stars.
4 Stars

Casual Play Rating

I love how easy this card is to understand for a new player. The ability is worded well and there isn’t a lot of room for confusion. This is one of the many awesome cards in the newest TMNT box. That box is truly a comprehensive box of goodness and I will be recommending it to every new player! I’m really happy that the characters in this box are easy for beginners to understand and use, including this Renet Tilley. A new player will benefit from using this character because she’s not one that they would want to attack with, teaching newer players about the benefit of leaving your character active instead of attacking. I definitely recommend this card and the Heroes in a Half Shell box set for every player out there!

Renet Tilley: 79th Dimension of Null-Time gets a casual play rating of five out of five stars.
5 Stars

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!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

I’ve just had the greatest weekend of Dice Masters! I went to this WKO with the intention of playing a non-meta win condition and just having fun with it. I wanted to focus mainly on chatting with old friends, making new ones, and trying to make the experience fun for everyone. I hope that everyone else had as much fun as I did!

I also want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day! Spread the love!

turtle-hug

My Team

my-team

You can find my team here, on DM Retrobox.

I changed my mind about Grodd – I’m a woman, and therefore change my mind frequently and for no reason at all sometimes. I had been test playing this team as well as Grodd and was really liking Grodd, but in the end, I’m glad I decided to play my competitive version of Gandhi instead.

This team earned a new nickname from a friend this weekend – Hugs. My win condition is Colossus. His ability allows each character die of level two or higher to deal two damage my opponent at the end of my turn. The idea was to field dudes and keep them there if possible and spin them with the Poly Global when I needed to. Poly was there as a potential purchase to help me get dudes into the field or get opposing dudes out of the field. Blink was a crucial piece to help me survive unblocked attackers or bring my taunted level 2-3 characters back to the field.

The rest of the pieces are either utility to help me get to Colossus or meta control pieces. Blue-Eyes and PXG were a must for Colossus to even get going. Elf Thief was an easy pick for the team because he costs two and if my opponent was using Rip Hunter’s Chalkboard Global, I could Rip a Thief on turn one for some early game momentum. Oracle was another easy choice. She is supposed to chill in the field and tax my opponent when they use a Global. Scarecrow was a card I added through test playing. I test played against Bard variants and decided that this Scarecrow was the best piece to add for what I thought would be a predominant piece on other teams. Cold Gun was a really easy choice over Dwarf Wizard. I’m so sorry, my poor DWiz… I loved you so, but in all my test playing with Mr. DDK, I ran into many problems with losing my DWiz to his Cold Gun and Imprisoned. I ultimately decided that an action die would give me more versatility than a character.

For my final card, I had a difficult time choosing. I didn’t know what to add to my team to help it or what I could add to slow my opponent to more my speed. There were a few options that I ran through. One of the options was RareCrow (Scarecrow: Hallucinogenic Vapors), but that would mean I would have to take off Scarecrow: Legion of Doom and I wasn’t willing to sacrifice him. Another option was Rip, just on the off chance my opponent didn’t bring it. There were loads of other options, but none of them seemed better than Rip. I don’t like Bard so he wasn’t even considered. I’m not a fan of Hellblazer, but I did consider him at one point. I decided to test play what I had, with Rip as my eighth card, against some Ring variants. I had way too much trouble with them, so I started digging for a possible response. Ronin came up as an option and I just wasn’t feeling the flow with him on my team. Then, like a glorious ray of sunshine, beaming through the clouds onto a field of pink and purple flowers, I remembered Lex Luthor.

I love my Grodd team and I want to play it in something big, but when the universe tells me to play something else, I listen. I always go with what I feel is right and Colossus just seemed right. I had test played both teams for a while and did all my adjusting to both teams while mulling over which to play. Grodd was a shiny new toy for me, but I’m glad I went with the team I first started working on.

Round One

round-1-lauren-hack

Lauren H. was my first round opponent. Apologies for the glare on that gorgeous full art Joker. When I sat down across from Lauren, I was so happy to see her playing a team with a rogue win condition. I have so much fun against fellow players that use something outside the box. Her team was really fast compared to mine, and before I knew it, Angels with Helicarriers were smacking me in the face for double their attack. I think the highlight of the match was seeing two unblockable level two-three Angels with Helicarriers flying at my face while Nick Fury was active. Each of those Angels would have hit me for twelve damage. And seeing her team function like that was amazing, and absolutely a highlight.

I only survived the aerial onslaught because of Blink, which allowed me to push both of her attackers back. I had an Oracle and a Scarecrow in the Field Zone with Colossus, and Scarecrow was stopping her lower level Angel from attacking. She had her Invulnerability Global to increase their attacks in order to get around Scarecrow, but I kept energy handy each turn for Blink. She had hit me for quite a bit with a couple of Angels before I got my Scarecrow in the Field, and if not for Blink, she would have very likely defeated me. She played an excellent game and I couldn’t have asked for a better opponent for my first round. Lauren is a beautiful person and really fun to play against. I hope to see her again at a future event! Many hugs to my new friend!

Record after Round One: 1-0-0

Round Two

round-2-dennis-beard

I got to play against Dennis B. in round two. I’ve seen him in the Facebook groups plenty and was excited to be playing against him! He was playing some characters that I’ve been tinkering with as well, Katana being one of them. I loved that he was using Superhero Registration Act – I think it’s a highly underrated card. But then I saw his Betrayal and Iron Fist. Both are not nice against my team. I wasn’t sure which way this match was going to go, but I was determined to have fun either way. Playing against someone as nice as Dennis, it’s easy to have fun and enjoy the match. I got super lucky and had really good rolls, while Mr. Dennis was not as lucky. He attacked me with Tsarina and Iron Fist, knocking my life down quite a bit, but then his characters weren’t being nice to him. I was able to get set up before he could get anything going for him. He needed to get a Hulk, or at the very least a Nightwing, to help clear my dudes out of my field.

I had fun, but it would have been more fun if his dice had been nice and rolled halfway decent for him. I get that it’s a dice game, but Tsarina is the meanest die out there. When she’s on a two fist side and I reroll her hoping for a character, she always comes back up as energy – usually a single fist. I watched that very thing happen to Mr. Dennis and I was heartbroken for him. I still enjoyed chatting with Mr. Dennis, who is super nice and a very good sport. I almost cry when Tsarina does that to me, but he took it in stride and pushed on in our match. He did the best he could with what his dice gave him. I really want to play against Mr. Dennis again one day because he’s such a pleasant person to chat and play with, which makes the game that much more fun.

Record after Round Two: 2-0-0

Round Three

round-3-craig-richards

I faced off against Craig R. in round three. He was playing a Bard variant, which I knew I would have some trouble against. We both had average rolls, with the exception of his Imprisoned die. It did not want to roll up an action face for most of the game. I was able to slowly chip away at his life total with Colossus until he finally got his die to roll on the side he wanted. He then scooped up most of my field, leaving me with only two blockers against a Bard army. When he attacked, he wasn’t able to deal lethal damage to me, which returned my characters to me from Imprisoned. I was able to get my Colossus, Oracle, and Scarecrow back into the field and all of them were level two or higher. This put his life total at six. I realized I didn’t have enough Cold Gun dice to stop all the Bards he had and I thought I was done for because of the massive army that was going to be attacking me next turn. I had forgotten my Scarecrow had returned to the field which would prevent all of his characters from attacking. He had a Dwarf Wizard in the field that had my Oracle blanked. We were about to sign match slips when a spectator pointed out that he couldn’t legally attack and KO me if my Scarecrow wasn’t blanked. We realized our mistake and continued our match.

I felt like the most horrible person in the world at this point, and I told Craig that if he didn’t win, I was going to feel even worse. He used the energy he had in his Reserve Pool and KO’d his Wizard in an attempt to roll and blank Scarecrow on his next turn. He also had an Imprisoned die to roll that turn too. He had to get his Imprisoned die in order to secure his victory, but it didn’t roll for him. He could have used his Wizard, but I could use my Cold Gun when priority was passed to me and KO or blank the Wizard. I was not happy about this victory at all. I felt so awful about it, and I still feel a little bad about it – even now. Craig was a real gentleman and very polite about the situation which I know couldn’t have been easy for someone that was trying very hard to qualify for Nationals. We did get to play again later – which definitely was more fun.

round-3-craigs-army

This was the army that was staring me in the face. It’s missing the Dwarf Wizard because this was taken after the match was officially over. I will discuss my opinion on Bard’s ability later, but all of these characters would have had a +12 to their attack and defense if those Bards had been able to attack.

I’m just glad that Craig did well and made it into the semi finals. He was a great player and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to play against him multiple times in this event.

Record after Round Three: 3-0-0

Round Four

round-4-michaela-kuba

I was so very excited to play against my fourth round opponent and she tried to make me feel better about what happened in my previous round. I’ve had plenty of conversations in Facebook groups with Michaela K. I loved the episode of TRP’s podcast where she was interviewed and was also a guest host. I heard she was making the trek to Owensboro and I couldn’t wait to meet her! I was lucky enough to get to play against her, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen when I saw that she was playing Beholder. Beholder was the biggest weakness for both Colossus and my Grodd team because I couldn’t tech for Beholder on either team without compromising my team. But Michaela is a great player and pretty much as nice as I expected! Our match didn’t go very long before she blew me up with Beholder and Front Lined Kobolds and Sidekicks. I did what I could, but it wasn’t much. A slow control team like mine does not stand a chance without RareCrow or an action tech like End of Days or Oppression Begins. But I couldn’t risk swapping one Scarecrow for another and even though I lost to Michaela, I think I made the right call in the end. My Scarecrow was way more beneficial in my other matches than RareCrow would have been. I don’t mind losing to a player like Michaela, especially since she was playing such a strong team. I’m still super excited to have met her and I definitely can’t wait to meet up with her again at a future event. Even if we don’t get to play against each other at the next event we’re at, it’ll be awesome just to chat with her again!

Congratulations to Michaela on her Top Eight finish!

She has her tournament report up on The Reserve Pool, which you can find, here. I love seeing multiple reports from the same event because it gives players a multi-perspective view of a single event. Please be sure to check out her article as well. I always enjoy reading her work.

Record after Round Three: 3-1-0

Round Five

round-5-josh-kerner

Something pretty amazing happened in the fifth round. I got paired against the same fifth round opponent that I had last year! Josh K. is a super cool guy with a really nifty playmat. Josh and I had fun last year and this year was more fun. I was happy to see him playing another rogue team this year, and that Bard is not the nasty Bard, it’s Half-Elf Bard: Apprentice Order of the Gauntlet. Travis (Mr. DDK) and I like this particular version of Bard, so to see someone playing it at an event of this level made me very happy. It was even more awesome that Josh was playing it! He has a way with rogue teams and if you aren’t careful, he can have you KO’d before you know it. I was being careful and he still Magic Missiled me and attacked me Angels enough that before I knew it, I was at three life! Scarecrow saved me a lot in this game by keeping level one Angels from attacking me. I was using Polymorph to swap his level two-three Angels out with other Angel dice, putting them in at level one. He used his Enrage Global to boost their attack so he could attack with them. Poly-Global is great to use with Elf Thief dice and then feed them to Blue-Eyes, or attack with them, just to see if they get through. This was the only match that I remember attacking in, and if I hadn’t attacked those few times, the outcome would have definitely been different. Luck was on my side again in this match. He had rolled all three Magic Missile dice, got two of them on an action face, but he needed all three of them to secure a victory. With me at next-to-no life, and him sitting in single digits as well, I only needed to end my next turn. Using Poly Global on Thief dice and then cycling them is what helped me get my lower level characters up to Colossus range. I even used Poly Global on my level three Colossus to spin another level one character up, just to push that additional two damage. I ran the risk of him being easier to KO by doing that, but it was the right call.

I was so excited to see Josh and the other players from Indianapolis. They are a great bunch of folks and they’re always fun to play with. I look forward to playing against Josh again in the future and I can’t wait to see what uniquely awesome team he brings nest time!

Congratulations to Josh on his Top Eight finish! Josh finished Top Eight last year as well at Owensboro. I’m rooting for him to finish Top Four or better next year!

Record after Round Three: 4-1-0
Top Eight Seed – 3rd

Top Eight

round-3-craig-richards

I couldn’t have been happier to see that Craig and I would be playing each other in our top eight match. I really wanted to play against him again, and we took special care to pay attention to all of our dice in these matches – lesson learned! I had some pretty terrible rolls, but Craig’s Imprisoned die continued to roll bad. His victories were relatively quick, even with the bad rolls on both sides. I couldn’t keep a character in the Field after he got one of his Imprisoned dice to roll an action face, which left me completely vulnerable to attack. His Bards made quick work of me in both games. We had much more fun in these matches. It didn’t feel as stressful and we just cut up with each other most of the time as we were more carefree and just happy to be in top eight. We both earned our foil, alt-art The Front Line and foil Big Entrance from making it to the top eight. The Big Entrance was the one card that I wanted really bad from this event because I use Big Entrance on lots of my teams.

my-spoils

I was so very proud of my team for doing so well for me. I was so very proud of Craig too, because he was trying so hard to get his Nationals qualification. There were going to be three qualifications given out from this event, meaning three of the top four players would qualify. As the matches around us finished, we realized that one of the top four already had his qualification, meaning all of top four would be qualified for Nationals! This was super exciting and I was so very happy for Craig. He fought his way up and earned his qualification.

It was a pleasure to play against Craig, and I’m so glad that he got his qualification from this event. He finished in the Top Four and I know how much it meant to him to achieve that goal. I’m also happy to have made a new friend in Craig as well as the other folks from St. Louis! They’re a great bunch of folks and also really great to play against.

Congratulations again to Craig on his Top Four finish, as well as his Nationals Qualification! He absolutely deserves that qualification.

Final Standing in Top Eight – 8th

Final Thoughts

So, I set out to use a crazy rogue win condition, play some Dice Masters, and write about the folks I played against. I think I accomplished that. I had so much more fun this year than I did last year. It felt like there was no passage of time as my friends were arriving and greeting me. You can’t get that warm, fuzzy feeling in any other competitive gaming community. I’ve been around a lot of those other scenes and none of them can even compare to Dice Masters. I got to play against an old friend from last year and lots of new folks. My opponents are no longer opponents – I call them friends. I’ve never seen a community of players like this and it makes my heart swell with joy. I also feel like I picked the best possible team to play. Colossus is definitely all Hugs. My buddy Joe said that I was playing Ponies without using Pony characters. I didn’t realize it until he pointed it out, but he’s totally right. My team matched that awesome MLP playmat! Lots of folks were commenting on how cool and unique it was and I totally have Mr. Glen to thank for that (Review article, here).

Now the world is not all full of sunshine and rainbows, though I wish it was. I have never been so upset in a match as I was in round three against Craig R. He was a really good sport about it and he was upset as well, but I think for different reasons. It really didn’t make me feel good to win that round and when I realized that I was going to win, I couldn’t hold back the tears. I’m super sensitive and wear my heart on my sleeve. But got to match back up in top eight and that was much more fun. So it all worked out in the end and I felt much better about it all after Craig defeated me in top eight.

As far as the meta goes, I didn’t go there with a meta team. Yes, I had meta control pieces, but my win condition is so far from the meta that lots of folks don’t know that card exists. I play different and unique win conditions in order to give those cards a chance to shine, even if every round is a loss, those cards were used and loved for a time. I didn’t go to win – I went to have fun. I feel like everyone should go with that mindset. We drove about three and a half hours, paid $15 entry fees, and had zero expectations about winning. The focus was completely on the fun for me. But Travis and I have discussed the state of the meta for hours upon hours with each other and our locals. We all dislike Bard, with a great passion. Bard should not have the ability it does for a character that only cost four to purchase. We hope they’ll errata the card to a While Active effect, so it won’t stack, but still be a very viable meta piece. If they don’t then I hope they errata it to something to keep it from being too overpowered. Bard’s ability to stack its buffs is just too much. As you saw in my picture above, Craig R. had a +12A/+12D buff to EACH character die. That was an impressive army he going. I just think Bard has too much power and not enough responsibility and he needs to be taught how to be responsible!

I didn’t have room for a Beholder tech, and if there had been a flood of Beholder teams, I would’ve been losing each match for sure. It was a risk I took, mainly because if I had to face a bunch of Beholder teams, I wanted it to be over quickly and not drawn out. I did put it out there on my Facebook that Beholder was my weak spot, but I honestly thought I’d see more Ring variants. I didn’t play against a single Ring team, but I know there were some there. I put a very specific card on my team to help me against Ring teams. Because of how specific Lex Luthor’s ability is, he was of no use to me the entire tournament. I basically played with a seven card team the entire tournament. But that’s part of the risk you run when you’re building and don’t know what the meta will look like at a particular venue. Cold Gun could have been useful against Beholder, but it’s not always the easiest thing to buy and you need them cycling consistently to keep yourself alive against Beholder.

The top eight at Owensboro consisted of my team, Josh K.’s rogue team with Protection Bard, Beholder/Imprisoned, a Mask Ring team, and four Bard variants. I’m happy that we only had four Bard variants in the top eight, but that quickly became the Bard top four slugfest. I’m totally not disappointed that I didn’t make it further, as I didn’t expect to do anywhere near as well as I did. But I thought at least one of the other non-Bard (I’m including Josh’s team as a non-Bard team) teams would make it. I’m proud of all the players in this event. They all played the best they could and I hope that everyone had fun. I didn’t have to try too hard to have fun because everyone was fun to be around!

I know how much it killed Travis’s soul to play with Poly-Venom Bard. He didn’t want to play it, but he wanted to do well and he felt that his Bard variant would get him at least into top eight. He ended up finishing second, losing to Mr. Craig H., in an epic defeat that made the entire crowd erupt into a huge uproar of excitement! They each had won one game and time had been called after they finished their second game and before they had begun their third game. They had to start their third game in turns. I wasn’t watching the game too closely because I always get so nervous when Travis is playing and I don’t want to make him nervous! I did watch the final turns of the match and saw where Travis had a lead on life (by one!) and Mr. Craig H. needed at least two Sidekicks to secure a victory. He rerolled three of his Sidekicks that were showing energy and two of them hit a Sidekick face! Travis jumped up cheering along with all the spectators! Mr. Craig has visited us in Dyersburg before and so Travis and I were thrilled that he won the event! Travis said that it wasn’t really a loss a for him because a friend won, and I couldn’t agree more. There were many hugs between the two of them, cheers, and lots of congratulations going around to everyone for a well-played tournament. Travis and Mr. Craig H. earned their Nationals qualifications in the top four alongside Craig R.

Travis did tell me that RareCrow was his MVP for most of the event, so I bet the KO King from Double Burst will be tickled to hear that!

Big Bang is a stand up venue with the most amazing Tournament Organizer, Mr. Jason A. Cory C. was a wonderful judge and they deserve some super kudos for rocking this event like pros. The event ran smoothly and quickly with a break after round three for lunch. All the players were prompt in finding their seats and everyone seemed to be having a great time. We had 22 players and most of the teams were either rogue or variants of meta teams with a personal tweak. The other employees at Big Bang are always helpful and very patient with folks. Thank you Big Bang for having a copy of IvX #1 for me to pick up! Our store is still waiting for our copies that were short from our order… One of the employees got down into the comic boxes with me, trying to help me find a copy of Uncanny Inhumans #6 (I still can’t seem to find it anywhere – besides online). Great store and great tournament location!

Congratulations again to all those that got their Nationals qualifications!

What have you built or seen that looked like fun to play?
What was one of your highlights from a match?
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

WizKids has released another complete box set for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! This set is called, Heroes in a Half Shell. If you purchase this box set, you will get the entire set, max dice for each character, and a bunch of other goodies!

TMNT 2 Heroes in a Half Shell.png

This box can be played as a stand alone product, added with the previous TMNT Box Set, or mixed in with the vast library of Dice Masters cards to enhance any team for various formats. This box set is great for casual players and seasoned players alike. If you’d like to take a look at the previous TMNT Box Set, you can find my review here.

You can find my review video on YouTube, here.

Dice Building Game Box Set

boxes

Box Contents

~ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rulebook
~ 4 Color Coordinated Paper Playmats
~ 4 Color Coordinated Dice Bags
~ 12 Basic Action Dice
~ 32 Sidekick Dice
~ 48 Character Dice
~ 48 Character Cards
~ 10 Basic Action Cards
~ 4 Action Reminder Cards
~ Collection Tray with Clear Cover

Rulebook

Both this rulebook and the one from the first box have the doubles start up rules in the back. The rulebook feels durable and looks really nice. It’s one I’d like to keep on me as my reference rulebook.

rulebook

Keywords

There are several returning keywords in this set, but you won’t find any new ones.

Ally
Overcrush
Swarm
Turtle Power

WizKids has a comprehensive list of Keywords on their site. You can also find expanded descriptions for all the keywords on The Reserve Pool‘s site.

Affiliations

We don’t see any new affiliations, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle affiliation returns in this box set. The other affiliation you’ll find is one that crosses over almost all other IPs, Villain.

Characters

If you haven’t seen any or most of the 2012 animated series, but plan to watch it later – you may want to skip reading some of this. I discuss lots of things from that series which could be seen as spoilers.

april

April makes her second appearance in Dice Masters. This time, she looks a little different. We now have the 80s animated version and the 2012 animated series version of April. She’s a Shield character and all of her versions have a cost of two. She has the Ally keyword on all three cards and each card does something directly related to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle affiliation. Please take note – she does not carry the TMNT affiliation herself! No Mere Damsel is absolutely my favorite of all three because she’s easy to purchase and helps reduce the cost of your other TMNT characters. A cheap character with Turtle Power seems really good for any team built around the TMNT affiliation. I don’t think any version of this April will make it into the unlimited scene, and it’s not likely she’ll see Prime play either unless someone finds a super awesome TMNT team build.

casey-jones
Casey Jones is back again as a Fist character with a purchase cost of two and three. Penalty Box is pretty handy for gaining life, but life gain is not all that prevalent in unlimited or Prime. I think he may be a nice tech piece for someone that can’t decide what their eighth character should be and it’s great that he has a Global already built in that helps his ability. I don’t like either of his other cards in this box. Penalty Box is not a bad choice for playing in casual or limited type event. Casey Jones would be an easy addition to any team that needs a cheap character. Although he’s not a Villain affiliated character, he could still be added to a Villain team and wouldn’t necessarily break theme because he was a vigilante that wasn’t always a friend of the Turtles.

donatello

Donatello is my dude! All of Donnie’s versions cost five energy, and we see the return of Turtle Power to the Turtle cards on Notice Me!. I don’t think Turtle Power is especially useful on characters that cost more than three or four. Something I like about all four Turtles is that they all have a version that does something similar to Intellectually Inclined. When they attack, they can each deal two damage to target character die or opponent if you pay an energy that corresponds to their energy type. Donatello is a Bolt character, so when he attacks, you can pay a Bolt energy to deal the two damage. I like that they all have a similar ability like that. Intellectually Inclined is my favorite of the three. Technologic would only be useful in a limited format where you’re only using the TMNT box sets. I don’t think that any version of Donnie will make it into unlimited play, but it’s possible that Intellectually Inclined might find a rogue home in Prime.

foot-ninja
Foot Ninjas are back! They are Bolt characters that all have the Ally keyword and all cost three energy. Shinobijutsu has the Swarm keyword as well, but it has the same issue as the other Swarm Foot Ninja from the first box set – max of three dice. I find Swarm to be much more effective when you have four or more dice for the card. Shinobijutsu also works with Shredder, so if you’re playing this guy in a limited setting, he may be fun. But then I saw Stick to the Shadows and fell in love with this card. I’m the type of player that loves Overcrush or direct damage, like the type of ability damage on Stick to the Shadows. The only trouble you might have is getting two or three of them active at the same time to attack with. I can see this version possibly making a splash in the Prime format, but not likely in unlimited. I don’t much care for the ability on Glass Jawed.

hamato-yoshi
First newcomer card – Hamato Yoshi. Hamato Yoshi suffers from an identity crisis over the various canons for TMNT. In one canon, he was the man that owned Splinter. Splinter watched and mimicked his movements while he was practicing martial arts. Splinter mastered the martial arts from his cage. Splinter went on to become the mutated rat we all know and love. In another canon, Hamato Yoshi was the adversary of Oroko Saki (Shredder) and was followed by Saki to the US. Yoshi was later exposed to mutagen causing him to mutate into a rat-man because he was mostly in contact with rats since he was living in the sewer with them.

Now, as for card abilities, I don’t like any of them. None of these type of cards fit how I play. All of the versions are expensive Shield type characters, and even the Global on Shidoshi isn’t good enough to justify adding him to a team. If you’re looking at him for limited or casual play, I’d probably go with Shidoshi. He would help your other attackers get through and with his huge defense, he might just survive!

karai
Karai is another new character to Dice Masters. She’s no stranger to fans of the comic and the 2012 animated series. Her card art comes from the 2012 series. She’s a four cost Fist character without an affiliation, and all of her versions do something in relation to Sidekicks. I really like Dark Lineage, because she could help slow the damage coming from Front Line teams. You have to keep her in the Field Zone though, which is not easy to do since Front Line typically runs Imprisoned (in unlimited) and they would snatch up any Karai threat. I could see her being really useful in Prime, casual, and limited. I’m not excited about Torn Between Two Worlds, but she could potentially eliminate a threatening Ally. I like anything that’s cheap to purchase and buffs my Sidekicks, like Uneasy Alliance. My favorite is definitely Dark Lineage, even though I like Uneasy Alliance a lot.

leatherhead
Leatherhead – the Cajun Gator that’s typically a villain in the TMNT universe, but becomes an anti-hero of sorts in the 2012 series canon. All the fun, conversational characters seem to cost the most… He’s also a new character to Dice Masters. He’s a five and six cost Shield character that does something with TMNT characters on all his versions. Of all of them, I like I Guarantee! the best, but none of them seem good for unlimited or even for Prime. In a limited format where you’re only playing with the TMNT boxes, I Guarantee! would definitely be my pick for a Villain team. He’s got some really beefy stats too and his fielding cost isn’t bad.

leonardo
Leonardo is our next Turtle in the box. All of his versions are five cost Fist characters. Fearless Leader has Turtle Power, which like I mentioned before, I don’t like on a five cost character – even in limited. Multifolded Steel is kind of interesting, if you somehow found a way to use the TMNT affiliation effectively. Plight of the Eldest is by far the best of the three. He has that cool ‘burn’ type ability that you can pay a Fist energy to use when he attacks. Just like with Donnie, I don’t think Leo is gonna see any unlimited play, and possibly only a rogue status in Prime. As for casual and limited, I could totally see someone finding a use for one the Leo cards.

metalhead

Metalhead makes his debut in the Dice Masters world. This character has a majorly distorted backstory. And like his backstory, his abilities are all over the place. Rogue Robot, purchase cost of five, gets an attack and defense buff for each other non-Metalhead TMNT affiliated character die – not character, but character die. This could potentially make him a monster of an attacker or defender. I’d say he’s probably my favorite of the three, but he’s not going to see any unlimited play and most likely not any Prime play either. His place to shine is limited and casual. Dissociative Identity works with other non-Metalhead TMNT character dice, making that die unblockable when he attacks. I don’t see him making it into unlimited or Prime either. Upgrading the Arsenal is probably the best candidate for Prime, but I doubt he’ll even make it to a rogue status. When he’s fielded, you can deal damage to a Villain die equal to his attack. It’s good, but not great. I still prefer Rogue Robot for fun stuff.

michelangelo

Here’s the party dude, Michelangelo! His five cost Turtle Power version on Booyakasha! is at the bottom of my list. Insatiable Appetite is the direct damage ability version, and since Mikey is a Mask character, this makes him very useful. Chuck and Chuck II: The Sequel has a very situational ability. There are ways to manipulate blockers and attackers to help ensure that situation happens, but it takes a lot to set up and use. Insatiable Appetite is my favorite and it looks like all those similar burn ability Turtles are going to my preferred versions. I don’t think any of Mikey’s cards will see any unlimited play and maybe only a rogue status in Prime, just like his brothers. For casual and limited, Insatiable Appetite is the way to go!

raphael

Rude dude Raphael is a five cost Shield character with the awesome ‘burn’ ability on Nightwatcher. He also has Turtle Power on Controlling His Temper, which is not exciting. Second Son could be useful in limited because he keeps your TMNT affiliated characters safe from being targeted by opposing action dice and Globals. I like Second Son a little more than Nightwatcher because his ability could be somewhat useful in a Prime format, depending on what TMNT affiliated character you can effectively use. As far as unlimited goes, there isn’t much that can break into the current meta unless it’s cheap and fast. I would love to give Second Son a try in casual and limited.

renet-tilley

Speaking of cheap, Renet Tilley is only a three cost Bolt character with decent abilities for all her cards. This is her first appearance in the universe of Dice Masters. Now, Renet has been around for a long time, but most folks don’t have a clue who she is. She has a lot to do with time traveling, which already scores her some negative marks in my book (as a character outside of Dice Masters). I don’t like needless time travel and she was a careless Time Master in the 2012 series. She is a friend of the Turtles, but she does not have the TMNT affiliation on her cards. As far as her card abilities go, 79th Dimension of Null-Time is definitely my favorite. Being able to spin that Cold Gun over to a burst face is HUGE! She’s likely going to see play in both unlimited and Prime. Impeccable Timing has an interesting ability that I need to play around with before saying I like it. Apprentice Timestress is a lesser version of Kang: The Conqueror or Scarlet Witch: Controls Probability. I can see all of her versions finding homes in limited and casual play, but 79th Dimension will most likely make it into unlimited and almost certainly into Prime. As a side note, the t on the end of her first name is not silent.

shredder

Shredder is a huge iconic Villain in the TMNT universe, so his cards deserve to be huge in purchase cost and have outrageous abilities that you’ll probably never get to go off. Surprisingly, Shredder has two versions that only cost six to buy. I know, it’s still a six cost character, but I expected him to be seven and eight costs. Scarred is interesting, but most likely not as useful as he could be since he costs six and then you need to Field him. His monstrous eight cost version, False Bushido, is not worth the effort it takes to get that ability to go off. Dining on Turtle Soup! is easily my favorite of the three. There are Globals that can force a character to attack, or better yet, force multiple characters to block and only attack with Shredder. That seems so silly and fun – I really want to build around that for our next event. Getting him into the Field could be difficult, but that’s when Polymorph Mutation comes in handy. He seems like a fun casual character, but I don’t see him making any team in unlimited or Prime.

slash

Slash is another of those Villains turned anti-hero later in the 2012 series. I kinda wish we had a version that wasn’t a Villain for that reason since they used the 2012 series art for the card. Don’t misunderstand me – I’m super excited to have Slash in our Dice Masters world. He’s a Bolt character with a purchase cost of five on all cards and each version has an ability that has something to do with ‘burn’ type ability damage. Specimen 6 deals damage equal to his attack to target opposing character die that isn’t blocking him. I like it, but I don’t love it. He won’t see unlimited play and I doubt he’d make a rogue status in Prime. Portal from Dimension X deals damage equal to his level to an opponent when he’s KO’d. You can pair that with Blue-Eyes or a Fabricate keyword to get some direct damage in to your opponent. It’s a relatively expensive way of burning your opponent and I don’t see it being used in unlimited or even Prime. Never Liked the Name “Spike” has a when KO’d ability as well. He deals damage to your opponent equal to the total amount energy in their Reserve Pool. I could see this being used in unlimited, if he didn’t cost five to purchase. I’m not sure how much Prime play he’ll see since there aren’t many effective or useful ways to KO your characters to get the most out of his ability. I like this version the best though, because I can easily use him in a casual setting and have fun with him.

tiger-claw

Tiger Claw is a new character to the TMNT universe, as far as I can tell. This is also his Dice Masters debut. There are several other tiger/cat mutant like characters, but I think this specific character didn’t come around until the 2012 series. Tiger Claw is another one of those expensive Villain characters, but one of the abilities and the stats almost make me want to attempt to play this card. I feel like Lost Humanity is too expensive for his ability, and Kraang Experiment just doesn’t seem good to me. I don’t like KO’ing my opponent’s character dice like that because it gives them more dice to roll on their next turn. I don’t see either of those two versions making it into unlimited or Prime. Seeking Vengeance is the version that I like the best and I’m a sucker for pricey characters that I can’t play in unlimited. I love Cheetah: Cursed Archaeologist, and Seeking Vengeance’s ability and attack stats are double that of Cheetah’s. Unfortunately, his cost is double too. I don’t think this card has a place in the current unlimited meta and I’m not sure he’ll make it in Prime either. As for the casual scene, this guy looks like loads of fun for a Villain team!

triceraton

Triceratons are a race of alien creatures that look like a triceratops-man thing. In almost all the TMNT universe canon, they’re strictly villains, which makes them Villains in Dice Masters! I welcome Triceraton to the Dice Masters universe! Triceraton is a Fist character with purchase costs of four and five. Cretaceous Crusher is the only four cost and he has no ability text. There are definitely cheaper Villains with better abilities for unlimited, and probably Prime too. But if you really need a four cost Villain with no ability, here he is! For limited play, he’s a great addition to a Villain team since he’s one of the cheapest. Orders from Captain Zorax gets a bonus of three to his attack, but only when he attacks. That would make his level one attack a total of six, and his level three attack a total of eight. That’s not too shabby. Loyal to a Fault has one of my favorite words as his keyword – Overcrush. I’d like to be able to buff his attack stat if I were to use this version, and there are definitely ways to do that. I think I like this dude better than the other two versions. For unlimited and Prime, I can’t see any Triceratons making the cut. For casual and limited, I think these guys are a great addition to Villains.

Character Thoughts

Renet Tilley is by far the most useful of all the characters in the box. Foot Ninjas and Karai are also good. Is the box worth purchasing for just those three characters? Maybe, depending on how bad you want or need those abilities. If you’re not excited yet, wait until you see the Basic Action Cards.

Basic Action Cards

The biggest selling point for this box set is probably the vast assortment of Basic Action Cards. Sure the characters fun and some are possible meta dudes, but with revamps of some major meta BACs in this box, I can’t think of a better argument to buy a box or two – that’s right, I said two.

w-haymaker-bac

Hello Anger Issues! I can’t tell you how happy I am to see a revamp of Anger Issues that will be legal for Prime. I have an attack buff and Overcrush all in one Action with Haymaker. This card is really high on my list of favorites for the BACs in this box. It’s a great card for all different formats from unlimited and Prime to casual and limited.

w-ingenious-tactics-bac

I did a quick search on DM RetroBox for a card that did something similar to this and I couldn’t find one. This ability seems really familiar to me but I can’t find where I’ve seen it. Ingenious Tactics is an interesting card. Using this action die will prevent all combat damage to each of your attacking character dice. I really like this BAC, but I’m not sure how I’m going to use it yet. It’s handy for keeping your dudes in the Field when your opponent’s blockers will likely get KO’d. I’ll be playing around with this to see if I can find a use for it, but the one major deterrent is the cost. If I’m paying five for an action, it better be AMAZING.

w-momentum-bac

Everyone is going crazy over this BAC. I don’t think folks are going to realize how much of a risk it is to use it until they try it on a team. Everyone went crazy over Pizza! until they realized how much is clunked up their bag and wasn’t as useful as they thought. I don’t think this die is gonna clunk up your bag or slow you down, but the risk you run by using this on your team is that your opponent can nab all of them before you even have a turn. I really love the ability on this BAC, but if my opponent brings this and I go first, I’m stealing all the Momentum.

w-mutation-bac

Welcome to Prime, Polymorph. This revamp made me happier than Haymaker. I’m a big  Poly-Player so it’s safe to say that Poly is getting replaced with Mutation. I love Turtles, so if I can replace a card with a TMNT version, I’m so going to. I don’t think this card needs much of a review since it’s a major unlimited meta card. Now it gets a shot in Prime, which I imagine it will be on many teams out there.

w-mysterious-shredder-transport-bac

Okay, several folks aren’t excited about this BAC, but I am. When a character is sacrificed, it doesn’t get KO’d, therefore it doesn’t gain the advantage of a When this character is KO’d ability. Mysterious Shredder Transport only costs three to purchase and has a great benefit. It’s a form of removal, which is not something we have a lot of in Prime. In an unlimited format, sacrificing characters could gum up someone’s bag or ruin someone’s plan. I really like this card and I’m totally gonna test it.

w-nefarious-broadcast-bac

Nefarious Broadcast is another BAC that I think could be highly useful. It can clear buffs or other active effects that come from Global Abilities and stop Globals from being used for the rest of the turn. This hurts you too, but if you’re not relying on active Global effects or planning to use any Globals, then you have nothing to worry about. It only cost two to purchase, so it’s an easy turn one purchase on a bad roll. I imagine someone will find a way to work this onto a team in unlimited and I can see it being used in Prime – especially since there are buff Globals available in Prime. For casual and limited play, it could be useful but completely depends on the local meta.

w-reclaim-bac

Escape Incarceration, minus the Resistance, has found its way into Prime… wait – it’s already Prime-Legal. Reclaim does cost one less than Escape Incarceration, which could be what makes someone choose Reclaim over Escape Incarceration. Escape Incarceration didn’t take off in unlimited, and I don’t see Reclaim finding a foothold either. As far as the Prime format goes, it’s possible we could see Reclaim over Escape Incarceration. A really bad roll on turn one could leave you with only two energy instead of three – and the wrong energy type too. This wouldn’t be a bad backup option and may be more useful to you than Nefarious Broadcast. In a casual and limited atmosphere, this BAC is definitely one I’d recommend over Escape Incarceration. It’s simpler to use and cost one less to buy.

w-speedy-delivery-bac

This is a revamp of Enrage from Uncanny X-Men. I can’t say that I’ve ever found a use for Enrage in an unlimited format where Invulnerability was available to me. There are plenty of taunt Globals out there, so the best thing about this BAC is the Global. This gives us a Bolt energy buff Global for Prime, which I don’t think we had. There are times where I’d rather have a Bolt buff than a Fist buff Global. It’s not a BAC that I’d toss to the side and forget about, but it’s not one that’s high on my list of BAC’s.

w-splinters-teachings-bac

This BAC is a revamp of Transfer Power from Uncanny X-Men, and a combination of Monster Reborn‘s ability and the Global on Mystic Box from the Yu-Gi-Oh! set. Transfer Power is a very useful card in unlimited, and now we have a revamp of it for Prime. I imagine that Splinter’s Teachings will see lots of play in Prime. For casual and limited, this is an awesome card, and not just for it’s Global. Like its predecessor, it only cost three to purchase, making it a good buy on your first turn if you don’t get the right energy for your characters. I would definitely recommend this BAC for both the competitive formats as well as casual and limited play.

w-unstable-canister-bac

Here is my second favorite BAC in this box set, the Magic Missile revamp. I love Mutation, but Unstable Canister is a close second. The major difference between Unstable Canister and Magic Missile’s abilities are that Canister references a TMNT affiliated character and Magic Missile references an adventurer. This BAC will allow Batman Family Bat-Bomb to go off easier with a more reliable way to KO Alfred dice in the Prime format. It’s also great for Storm: Extra Lightning on a Prime team. For a casual or limited format, this is a great card. BACs that cost three or less are ones that I prefer.

BAC Overview

Wow! Talk about a loaded box! This box has all the major BAC abilities that anyoen could want! Oh, except for Big Entrance… I love that card almost as much as Polymorph. I would love to be able to use it in Prime. Here’s hoping it’ll see a revamp in the Superman/Wonder Woman starter. But really, you couldn’t ask for a better comprehensive assortment of BACs. Not only does this help new players that can’t afford all those different starters, but it helps other players that didn’t want to purchase D&D products. Good call, WizKids.

Action Reminder Cards

action-reminder-colors
The four Action Reminder Cards are color coordinated with the four Turtles, which is a nice touch. It makes it easy for players to use their favorite color of the four, or play with their favorite Turtle’s color.

Paper Playmats

playmats

Just like the previous box set, the paper playmats’ artwork and color coordinate with the four Turtles. There are lots of reminders and tips on the playmats to help new players.

Dice Bags

The four dice bags are the normal paper bags that we’ve seen in the previous box set and other starters. The dice bags have artwork and colors that coordinate with the Turtles, just like the first box set. I love that they do that, making it easy for anyone to pick their favorite Turtle and represent them. #TeamDonnie Purple for me please!

Action Dice and Sidekick Dice

sidekicks-and-action-dice
You’ll get enough Sidekick dice for four players as well as four different colors of Basic Action Dice. The Actions are color coordinated with the four Turtles, just like the bags and playmats.

As with the first box set, each of the Turtles have their very own dice designs. These are the dice for each of the four Turtles from the first box set.

01 Turtles Dice

These are the dice for the four Turtles from the new Heroes in a Half Shell box set.

tmnt-2-turtles

I think I like the first set’s dice best, but images on the second set’s dice are cool too. They used silhouettes of the Turtles from the 2012 animated series.

Storage Box

The picture on the right shows the box with both sets of dice and cards, including both sets of Sidekicks and Basic Action Dice.

The first box set didn’t have the clear tray cover which caused lots of transporting issues. Dice would slide and bounce all over the box, and even jam themselves in such a way that the box lid would lift up and possibly spill the contents everywhere. I’m so happy that WizKids added the clear cover to this box. I can put all of my TMNT dice in this second box and not worry about the box lid coming off just because the box tilted or slid onto its side in the car.

Final Thoughts

There were major improvements from the first box set. I loved the first box, but I’m in love with this one. When a new player joins our group, this is going to be the very first product that I recommend for them to purchase – not just because I love TMNT so much, but because you can’t find a better assortment of vital and useful card abilities in any other Dice Masters starter or box set. If you’re new to Dice Masters or you’re trying to help a new player with recommendations, this is the product to look at. Many of these cards are great for casual and limited play, but also highly useful in the new PDC Prime format and even unlimited.

Aside from the obvious usefulness of many of the cards for unlimited and Prime, I love how the cards work so well together within the box too. A new player can combine both box sets for even more Turtle fun! These two boxes make for a great purchase for any Turtle fan that wants to play a game using their favorite TMNT characters but doesn’t want to jump all in to the larger world of Dice Masters.

WizKids has done some amazing things with the additions of the Box Sets, the yearly Starters, and the Team Packs. It makes the game more affordable for folks that also play other collectible games, therefore keeping those folks in the community. It also allows players like myself to expand into the other games that WizKids produces, like HeroClix, where I wasn’t able to before. I really feel like WizKids is on the right track, so long as they can better balance their release dates. That’s another growing pain that younger games experience and the balancing act will come with time. They’re just now introducing the yearly starters, so once they find the best form of product releases, the release date balancing should improve. I’m excited for what the future holds for Dice Masters. I hope that WizKids decides to branch out into other IPs and release them as all inclusive Box Sets.

What are your favorite cards?
What do you think of the Dice Building Game box?
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!