Tournament Report! April 1, 2017 – PDC Prime Store Championship

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

Saturday was our Pro Dice Circuit Prime Store Championship event. We had a total of eight players attend and I’ve put links to their teams from DM Retrobox below. We played three rounds with no top cut. I had tons of fun and it seemed like everyone else did as well. We had enough PDC dice to give everyone one right at the start.

In prepping for this event, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to play Bat-Bomb with Dick Grayson or Inhumans with Black Adam. I was very close to choosing Inhumans, but I really wanted to try Bat-Bomb.

My Team

You can find my team on DM Retrobox, here.

This is your average, everyday Dick Grayson Bat-Bomb team. Without the addition of Unstable Canister in the TMNT2 box, this team would not function near as well as it’s meant to. I had a build where I used the uncommon Cold Gun instead of the rare version, so that I could KO my Alfred dice and not have to worry about blanking them. I wanted to use Babs, just because I’ve never used her in a tournament before. Travis suggested that I pair her with Static for field control. I love my Cuckoos, but I only bought them once during the entire tournament. Reclaim is probably one of my favorite BACs in Prime. It’s a churn machine with the chance to give you energy instead.

Round One

Josh and I finally get a rematch! We played at the Owensboro WKO back in 2016 in round one. We saw each other at the WKO this year, but didn’t get an opportunity to play against each other. I knew I was going to have a fun match, win or lose, because Josh is an all around nice dude and a great sport. I also knew I was going to be in trouble if I made any mistakes because he’s a really good pilot. I made a huge mistake by waiting until late game to purchase a Babs. I made an error with Dick Grayson during the match, which was caught by Travis. I didn’t apply the bonus from Alfred being KO’d and almost lost my Dick Grayson die because of it. I also made a mistake in turns, which wasn’t caught. Static was active and I didn’t use his ability – but I highly doubt it would have made much of a difference in the outcome of the match. But the error is still there because his ability is not optional. You can watch our entire match on YouTube, here. I made lots of tactical mistakes in this match and I probably would have put up a better fight if I had purchased Babs sooner, or maybe started cycling a second Cold Gun. I was afraid of making my bag too clunky with too many Cold Guns, but in hindsight, I probably should have done it.

And I’ve already told Josh this, but I am so very proud of how much he’s advanced in his Dice Masters skills. If you live around the Nashville area and you’re looking for a group, get in touch with his group. I’ve heard they have a nice bunch of folks that play at Blackthorn in Dickson. I hope to make my way out there sometime and get a few games in!

Record after Round One: 0-1-0

Round Two

Aaron came to the event without any of his Dice Masters stuff. When I realized that he didn’t have anything at all to play with, I scrambled to adjust my Inhumans team so he could play. I didn’t have a spare rare Cold Gun, so I subbed in the uncommon, which is really a good card in its own right. I also didn’t have a spare Wasp: Fashionista, so I threw Bane in her place. Haymaker is supposed to be Reclaim, which I didn’t have a spare of either. That was the Inhumans I was thinking about playing, but chose Bat-Bomb instead. I don’t regret that choice. Aaron had a ton of fun playing this team and even came in third place with it!

This team is a little more devastating than I realized. Black Adam was slowly picking me off, because I didn’t want to put my characters back on their cards. I couldn’t buy all of the pieces I needed and deal with Medusa-Black Adam at the same time. Hacker made me spend that extra bit of energy to field my characters, leaving me unable to purchase other dice I needed. Many times, I desperately needed those characters in the field because he would be able to KO me if I didn’t have a blocker! Do not underestimate Inhumans in Prime. There were two Inhumans teams and they took second and third place! There was nothing I could do in the end and the Inhumans overwhelmed me.

Record after Round Two: 0-2-0

Round Three

Hannah was playing her signature Storm Burn, with a few adjustments. I know how fast this team can fire off, so I went straight for Static and Babs to help me keep Storm in check. That worked well for me and bought me some time to get Dick Grayson and set the timer on the bomb. She was doing okay without Storm. She was using her Unstable Canisters, and my own, to whittle my life total down. We were coming down to the end of the match, with me at next to no life and her rolling two Canister dice. Her Canister die rolled an action face, but my Canister die that she had purchased, did not. My die didn’t betray me! I was left at one life, and I needed to roll a couple of Bolt energy to have a chance to win. I drew four Sidekicks and rolled a Bolt and a Wild. One Alfred ended up failing to return to the field, but my second Alfred gave Dick Grayson more than enough attack to KO Hannah in one attack. This game was down to the wire and very exciting to play!

Record after Round Three: 1-2-0
Final Standing: 6th

Final Thoughts

I love my Bat-Bomb, so very much. There are a few things I would change on it, like Cuckoos. They have their place on several of my teams, but this isn’t one. I like the Babs and Static combo, but I think I’d rather use it on a different team. I need to find a way to make Dick Grayson the center of attention and just use accessory and utility pieces around him.

The event overall was a great success and everyone had fun. I was very happy to see Josh and Jeremy from the Nashville area and hope to see them at Origins or another event in the near future. I’m so proud of Josh for winning this event and earning a spot in the PDC State Championships! Josh was lucky enough to be in all three videos since he was the top match each round.

First Place – Josh B.

I’m very proud of everyone that played because everyone tried their best, but they didn’t let a defeat get them down. I give major kudos to our two Satchel players. They both worked hard on their teams and did the best they could. This was Jamie’s first tournament for Dice Masters – ever. He’s played casually, but decided to jump into this event and give it a shot. Maybe our other locals that didn’t attend will decide to brave the more competitive waters next time and join in the fun!

Top Four (left to right) – Jeremy C., Travis F., Josh B., and Aaron H.

Full List of Teams

Here are the team lists for each team played, who played it, and the order they placed. Click the team name and it will take you to DM Retrobox, with all the card details. If your team name is different than the one shown, let me know and I’ll correct it. I neglected to ask everyone what they called their teams.

First Place:
Josh B.
X-23/Babs

Second Place:
Jeremy C.
Inhuman Justice

Third Place:
Aaron H.
Adam and the Inhumans

Fourth Place:
Travis F.
War-Hulk

Fifth Place:
J. North
Satchel

Sixth Place:
Kat F. (DDK)
Bat-Bomb

Seventh Place:
Jamie T.
Satchel/Storm

Eighth Place:
Hannah N.
Storm Burn

Congratulations to everyone on a successful event! Now it’s time to prep for Origins – Modern Age.

If any of the other players at this event choose to do a write up, please let me know. I would like to add a link to your article!

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

You can find videos from this event and many other events on my YouTube channel.

Roll on, Dice Masters!

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

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

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

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

Ruling – Ally

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

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

Ruling – Ability

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

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

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

Miscellaneous Card Information

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

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

Examples

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

Example One:
Sacrificing more than one Howard Stark.

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

Official Sources

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

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

You can find a ruling about Sacrifice, here.

Turn Order Summary Reference

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

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

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

Prime Play Rating

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

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

Casual Play Rating

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

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

Mistakes Were Made!

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

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

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

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #75 – Renet Tilley: 79th Dimension of Null-Time

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

Review! TMNT: Heroes in a Half Shell Dice Building Game Box Set

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!

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

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.

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 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 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 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 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.

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 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 – 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 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 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.

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!

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.

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 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 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 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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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!

Confusing Card of the Week #74 – Turtle Van: Basic Action Card

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at the Turtle Van: Basic Action Card from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles box set. This is in celebration of the release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half-Shell box set that’s due out tomorrow!

Ruling – Ability

Turtle Van is a Continuous Basic Action. If a card ability would affect an Action Die, Turtle Van could be chosen for the effect. One such example is Constantine: Antihero.

Continuous is a keyword found on Action cards. When you use the action die, it is placed in the Field Zone and will remain in the Field Zone until the ability is activated or triggered. Activating or triggering the ability is not considered ‘using’ the die. Using the die is when you move it from your Reserve Pool into the Field Zone. It can remain in the Field Zone after your turn.

Turtle Van’s ability says that you can send Turtle Van to your Used Pile and prevent all damage to a target blocking character. This ability targets a single character die when you activate it. You may target one of your character dice or one of your opponent’s character dice. When activated, the target blocking character die will take no damage from the character it’s blocking. It will also be protected from any Globals or abilities that would damage it after the activation of Turtle Van.

There is a specific timing window for when you can activate Turtle Van. You can only activate the ability on a Turtle Van die after blockers have been assigned, during the Actions and Globals portion of the Attack Step. If you’re the active player, you will have priority to use Actions and Globals. If you’re not the active player, you will have to wait until your opponent passes you priority before you can activate Turtle Van. That means your character can still take ability damage before you’re passed priority and able to activate Turtle Van.

When you activate Turtle Van, it will go directly to the Used Pile, as per the card text.

Turtle Van has a special interaction with Overcrush. Overcrush will only work if all of the attacking character die’s blockers have been KO’d or removed by an effect. If the blocker is still present, but the damage to the blocker is prevented by an ability like Turtle Van, Overcrush will not work.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Turtle Van is a Basic Action with no energy type.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of three.
~ This card is a Common and is #58 of 58.

If you purchase the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes Box Set, 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 Turtle Van on your turn.

~ I have one Turtle Van die and a level three Gorilla Grodd: Force of Mind die in the Field Zone. My opponent has a Sidekick die in the Field Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I assign my Gorilla Grodd as an attacker, moving him into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) My opponent assigns their Sidekick to block my Grodd, moving it into the Attack Zone in front of my Grodd die.
~ (Attack Step – Actions and Globals) I activate my Turtle Van, targeting my opponent’s Sidekick die and placing my Turtle Van into the Used Pile. The Sidekick will take no damage for the rest of the turn. I don’t activate/use any other Actions or Globals, and my opponent doesn’t use any Globals.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) My Grodd’s seven damage is assigned to the Sidekick, but the Sidekick will take no damage. The Sidekick assigns its one damage to Grodd, but it’s not enough to KO him.
~ (Clean Up Step) Both character dice are returned to the Field Zone. All effects end and all dice Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.

Example Two:
Turtle Van interaction with Overcrush, on your opponent’s turn.

~ I have one Turtle Van die and two Sidekick dice in the Field Zone. My opponent has a level three Gorilla Grodd die in the Field Zone. My opponent has one Bolt energy in the Reserve Pool and has Magic Missile: Basic Action Card.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) My opponent assigns Gorilla Grodd as an attacker, moving him into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) I assign both of my Sidekick dice to block Grodd, moving them into the Attack Zone in front of the Grodd die.
~ (Attack Step – Actions and Globals) My opponent has priority on Actions and Globals, so they use their Bolt energy (moving it Out of Play) to activate the Global on Magic Missile and target one of my blocking Sidekick dice. The Sidekick is KO’d and placed in my Prep Area. My opponent passes priority to me and I activate my Turtle Van, targeting my remaining blocking Sidekick and placing my Turtle Van die in the Used Pile.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) Grodd’s seven damage is assigned to the Sidekick, but the Sidekick will take no damage. The Sidekick assigns its one damage to Grodd, but it’s not enough to KO him.
~ (Clean Up Step) Both character dice are returned to the Field Zone. All effects end and all dice Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.

Official Sources

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

Turn Order Summary Reference

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

Overcrush is not a huge deal in the current meta, but as soon as you don’t bring an answer for it, you’ll face off against a rogue Overcrush team. This action isn’t just good for stopping Overcrush, it’s also handy in preventing your opponent’s blocking character from taking damage and getting some crazy effect to go off or even save one of your own blockers from being KO’d. I could see someone adding this to a team if they’re worried about Overcrush and it’s not a terrible card. But since Overcrush isn’t a major meta thing, I can’t give Turtle Van more than a rogue rating. It’s useful for other things besides stopping Overcrush, but there are also tons of other really good BACs out there that someone may want to use instead.

Turtle Van: Basic Action Card gets a rating of three out of five stars.

Prime Play Rating

Turtle Van has been a huge deal in our local Prime meta. Everyone has an Overcrush team of some kind and Turtle Van is a great tech against it. If other meta scenes even slightly resemble ours, then I could see this particular BAC making it onto lots of teams. It’s also great for stopping double damage that a character may be dealing with against Lady Bullseye’s ability. I really like this card and I’d be surprised if it didn’t make at least Prime rogue status, even with the new versions of Polymorph and Magic Missile coming out tomorrow in the new TMNT Box Set.

Turtle Van: Basic Action Card gets a Prime rating of four out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

I’ve seen this card in lots of casual matches. It’s not a super confusing ability, but the tricks of how to use it against Overcrush are not as apparent to new players. Learning to use the card in that way is something that comes with experience. The one major thing about this card that confuses players is the Continuous part. Even after some explanation, beginners and less experienced players still have a hard time understanding that action dice do not stay in your Reserve Pool – you can’t use action dice on your opponent’s turn. Newer players confuse using an action die with activating an action die’s ability. That’s really the only thing holding Turtle Van back from a five star casual rating. I still recommend this card to our newer players because it’s a great way to learn how to use action dice and how/when to activate Continuous action dice. Don’t discourage new players from Continuous actions just because they can be difficult to understand at first. If you’re a newer player reading this, I encourage you to add at least one Continuous action to your team and play with it. There are lots of great Continuous actions out there, including Turtle Van!

Turtle Van: Basic Action Card gets a casual play rating of four out of five stars.

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

Confusing Card of the Week #73 – Batcave: Home Sweet Cave

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

For this week’s confusing card of the week article, we’re going to take a look at Batcave: Home Sweet Cave from the DC World’s Finest set.

Ruling – Ability

Batcave is a Continuous, Non-Basic Action. If a card ability would affect an Action Die and does not specify Basic Action Die, Batcave could be chosen for the effect. One such example is Constantine: Antihero.

Continuous is a keyword found on Action cards. When you use the action die, it is placed in the Field Zone and will remain in the Field Zone until the ability is activated or triggered. Activating or triggering the ability is not considered ‘using’ the die. Using the die is when you move it from your Reserve Pool into the Field Zone. It can remain in the Field Zone after your turn.

Batcave’s ability says that when one of of your character dice is KO’d, you can place it under your Batcave die instead. This is optional, which means if you forget to place a KO’d character die under Batcave and realize it later in the turn, you can’t back up to place it under Batcave. If a character ability would put the character die somewhere other than your Prep Area, you may still place that die under Batcave. When KO’d abilities on character dice would still happen but if there is a timing conflict, the active player’s abilities would happen first. If the active player controls both abilities, that player chooses the order in which they happen.

During your Main Step, you can move your Batcave die to your Used Pile and take all of your character dice that were under it and return them to the Field Zone. Those dice return to the Field Zone at level one, and they are not considered to be fielded for When Fielded effects. You can only activate Batcave on your turn. You can have multiple Batcave dice active and you can choose which die to place your KO’d character under. You can also activate as many Batcave dice as you have during your Main Step.

If a card ability would remove your Batcave die (sending it Out of Play, to the Used Pile, etc), then your character dice that were under Batcave would go to your Used Pile.

Miscellaneous Card Information

~ Batcave: Home Sweet Cave is a Shield Action.
~ It does not have an affiliation.
~ It has a max dice of four.
~ This card is a Common and is #37 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:
Characters KO’d during the Main Step and the Attack Step.

~ I have two Sidekick dice and one level two Zatanna: Actual Magician die in the Field Zone. I also have a Batcave active in the Field Zone and three Wild energy in my Reserve Pool. My opponent has two Sidekick dice in the Field Zone.
~ (Main Step) I spend one Wild energy as a Bolt (moving it Out of Play) and KO my Zatanna die to use Blue-Eyes White Dragon‘s Global. I choose to put Zatanna in the Prep Area and not under Batcave.
~ (Main Step) I spend one Wild as a Mask (moving it Out of Play) to purchase another Zatanna die, placing it in the Used Pile. Blue-Eyes Global allowed me to purchase the die for two less.
~ (Main Step) I pass priority to my opponent and they don’t use any Globals.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Attackers) I assign my two Sidekick dice to attack, moving them into the Attack Zone.
~ (Attack Step – Assign Blockers) My opponent assigns each of their Sidekick dice to block mine, moving them into the Attack Zone and placing each one in front of mine.
~ (Attack Step – Assign and Resolve Damage) Each Sidekick has one attack and one defense. All Sidekicks will deal one damage and KO each other. I choose to place both of my Sidekick dice under Batcave instead of the Prep Area.
~ (Clean Up Step) All character dice that were KO’d by damage from blocking or by being blocked are now sent to their respective Prep Area, unless otherwise stated. My two Sidekicks will go under my Batcave. All effects clear from active dice (unless otherwise stated). All dice that are Out of Play are moved to the Used Pile.

Example Two:
Activating Batcave.

~ I have a Batcave die in the Field Zone with three Sidekick dice and three Guy Gardner dice under it. It’s currently my Main Step.
~ (Main Step) I choose to activate Batcave. I move my Batcave die directly to the Used Pile, and then all the character dice that were under it are returned to the Field Zone at level one.
~ (Main Step) I now have three level one Guy Gardner dice and three Sidekick dice in my Field Zone.

Official Sources

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

Turn Order Summary Reference

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

I can’t think of a team that this would be good for in the current Unlimited meta. With Antihero being such a widely used piece in the meta, I can’t see this card being used much – if at all. The card isn’t bad but it’s not good to use something like Batcave when there is a counter for it being played on numerous teams.

Batcave: Home Sweet Cave gets a rating of zero out of five stars.

Prime Play Rating

From the matches I’ve played in the prime format, I could see someone being able to pull off some fun things with this card. I don’t see it making a top tier list, but I could see it squeaking into the rogue tier somewhere. We don’t have major threats like Antihero to worry about in prime, unless I missed them. If you find some, don’t be shy – leave your findings and ideas in the comments! But even in the slower prime format, I don’t know if this card has a place in the meta. I’m sure someone can find a creative way to build around this card and surprise us all.

Batcave: Home Sweet Cave gets a Prime rating of two out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

I have played this card a bunch of times in a casual setting, and it’s actually really fun. A team with the Batcave and Guy Gardner is effective and fun to play. But the use of the card and die leaves many folks confused, especially when they don’t know what to do with characters when their Batcave gets removed by another effect. It left me stumped for a while too, until they posted the official ruling. A beginner may have trouble with this card until they have a better understanding of the game, but a more advanced player may find it useful. I have shown this card to newer players and explained how it works. They seemed to understand it well enough and some have even picked it up and played with it. They had additional questions, but with a little explanation, they were able to figure out some strategy and uses for it on their own. I can recommend this card for advanced casual players, and some beginners that have backgrounds in other games.

Batcave: Home Sweet Cave gets a casual play rating of three out of five 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!

Tournament Report! January 21, 2017 – First Local Prime Format Event

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

I apologize for the lack of tournament reports the last few weeks. We’ve hosted events each week, but I was working on videos and neglected to get pictures of my opponents’ teams the last few weeks. I think I have a decent understanding of how to use my camera and software now, at least enough to get some featured matches up on my YouTube channel. Please subscribe to my channel on YouTube so you don’t miss any upcoming review videos or featured tournament matches!

I want to mention that we do not do ties in our local events. All of our players are aware that in larger events such as a WKO or PDC event, if you go into turns and do not defeat your opponent by reducing their life total to zero, the match ends in a tie.

My Team

You can find my team here, on DM Retrobox.

Ever since the release of the Deadpool set, I’ve been trying my hardest to find a way to make Lady Bullseye work. It’s almost impossible in an unlimited format, because it’s too difficult to get all the proper pieces to align perfect every time. But I thought I’d give it go in a prime format to see if I could make a somewhat functional team with her and Gorilla Grodd. Putting those two together is almost a no-brainer – they’re perfect for each other. I chose Stepford Cuckoos: Celeste for a few reasons. She can target herself or I can use her to target one of my Lady Bullseye or Multiple Man dice that may be stuck in the field. She gives me an opportunity to remove a potential blocker or trouble character from my opponent’s Field Zone as well. Even though my opponent gets to choose which character they move to the Prep Area, it’s still a benefit for me. Multiple Man: Pile On! is an easy choice. He’s got a max dice of six, Swarm, and only cost two. Agent Carter: Answered the Call was another easy choice, for that bit of control. I may not have an Elf Thief to steal energy, but my opponent is going to waste an energy to field a Sidekick or any character with the Ally Keyword. I like my control pieces and Captain Cold’s Cold Gun: Frozen “Firearm” was an easy choice as well. Bane: Professional Criminal and Wasp: Fashionista are both great control pieces for their Globals. I could taunt a character into attacking and either block it to KO it, or let it through to force it back into the bag cycle. The force block Global is key for Lady Bullseye and Grodd. I use it on the character that Lady Bullseye targeted with her ability to ensure I get my double damage Overcrush. I chose Heroes in a Half-Shell and Too Big To Fly for my two Basic Action Cards to help boost my attackers if I needed that extra push. Too Big To Fly’s ability is extremely beneficial in getting rid of troublesome characters.

Round One

My first round match was the featured match. You can watch the video on my YouTube Channel, here. If you watch the video, you can see that Hannah didn’t have the best rolls and I had pretty decent rolls. I was able to Rip a Grodd in this game, and she didn’t have many ways to stop or counter Overcrush. I’ve seen her team in action before and it’s a really good team, but her dice didn’t want to roll for her this time.

Record after Round One: 1-0-0

Round Two

Round two I found myself facing off against Mr. DDK. I suspected his team was going to be rather speedy and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. I used my Cuckoos to clear some of his characters out of the field, helping me slow down his progress a little. This particular match made me realize that I need to add one more Cuckoos and reduce Agent Carter by one. If I would’ve had a third Cuckoos die, my match may have gone much easier for me. He purchase all of his Rocket dice, but thanks to the Cuckoos I used, it kept many of them in rotation and out of the Field. His Lockjaw helped him regain some of the life I chipped away at early in the game. Agent Carter made it more difficult for him to field his Sidekicks for Justice. He used his Motorcycle Global to great effect during our match. I originally thought that this card was terrible, but that was before PDC announced Prime, and Motorcycle isn’t terrible for Prime. I fielded a Grodd very early against Mr. DDK, which I’m convinced helped me defeat him. Once I was able to get enough characters fielded and several Lady Bullseye dice circulating, I was able to overcome his defenses for my second round victory.

Record after Round Two: 2-0-0

Round Three

I’ve seen North’s Satchel team in action several times over the last few weeks as he’s worked on fine tuning it. I was thrilled that he played it in our first local Prime event. I know that several folks out there think Satchel is terrible, but this team won our event. It was slow going for both of us in the beginning, but we were both able to pick up speed a few turns in. He was using Oracle: Master Investigator, which slowed me down a little, but not a lot. She made it harder for me to Rip and purchase certain characters, like Grodd. His Ronin absorbed several of my Overcrush hits throughout the match. I tried to cycle my two Cuckoos to the best of my ability, but when I needed both to roll a character face, they didn’t. He did well in keeping a Cold Gun with burst(s) in the Field Zone in order to blank Grodd when I attacked. We went into turns, but even with my final attack, I couldn’t get enough damage through. My biggest mistake in this game was not purchasing my Cold Gun dice. By the time I realized I needed them, it was too late. North defeated me and took first place in our first prime tournament.

Record after Round Three: 2-1-0
Final Standing: 2nd

Final Thoughts

This was our first experience with the prime format in a tournament setting. Lots of things were as I expected, and others were a bit different. I expected the rounds to take a little longer as the games would go many more turns than they do in an unlimited format, and this turned out to be true in our event. I also expected to have a difficult time in buying and fielding Grodd, but this was not as difficult as I originally thought. He is a very expensive character and without ramp or cost reducers, you would think him impossible to obtain. There are several ways I tried to get around the ramp issue, like with Stepford Cuckoos and Multiple Man. They worked amazingly well, but I did realize that I need one more Cuckoos die an one less Agent Carter die. I’ve also considered changing out Heroes in a Half-Shell for Superhero Registration Act. My one concern in doing so is that I won’t have my cheaper action to purchase if my dice don’t roll the energy I want or need. Having that action that only cost two energy is a major plus, especially if my opponent is using Rip, allowing me to Rip it on my first turn for a potential two extra energy on my second turn. I’m not sure I want to make that change, but I’ll be testing it in the future. I was very pleased with how my team performed. I did some minor play testing with Mr. DDK against Bat-Family, but I didn’t test it against the team he played in the tournament. I felt like I should have tested it against other builds, just to get the feel for how it would play against other things that weren’t Bat-Family. But overall, I really like this team and I can’t wait to try it out again!

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

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Confusing Card of the Week #68 – Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

During the month of December, I’m featuring a different cold/ice/snow related card each week to celebrate the winter holidays. Today, we’re going to take a look at Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice from the DC World’s Finest set.

I’m also adding a new Prime Rating to each of my Confusing Card of the Week articles. They will follow the same rating system as the Unlimited Competitive Rating, since Prime is also a competitive format. You can find a breakdown of how I choose my ratings on my sticky article, Helpful Sites and About this Blog.

Ruling – Ability

Mr. Freeze has a While Active ability. While Active abilities will work regardless of how many of that character’s dice are active in the Field Zone. Think of this ability like a light – it’s either on or it’s off.

Mr. Freeze says that while he’s active, you may choose any die that’s in your opponent’s Prep Area and they can’t roll that die this turn. You must choose the die before your opponent’s Clear and Draw Step. If you forget or choose to not use the ability, you can’t backup once your opponent has begun their Clear and Draw Step because his ability is optional and not mandatory. It may be helpful to declare that you are intending to use Mr. Freeze’s ability when you end your turn so that your opponent doesn’t accidentally begin their Clear and Draw Step before you have a chance to choose a die.

Mr. Freeze’s ability does not specifically state what type of die to choose. This means that you are able to choose any type of die – character, action, or Sidekick die. Once you make your choice, your opponent should move that die away from any other dice in their Prep Area so it doesn’t get mixed in accidentally. Mr. Freeze’s ability does not state that you must choose a different die each turn, which means you can choose the same die again or choose a different one.

Miscellaneous Card Information

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice is a Bolt Character and has the Villain affiliation. This card also has a Max Dice of four.

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 Mr. Freeze’s ability on a character die.

~ I have two Mr. Freeze dice active in the Field Zone. My opponent has an Ultraman die and a Kryptonite die in their Prep Area.
~ (Clear and Draw) Before my opponent draws, I choose my opponent’s Ultraman die for Mr. Freeze’s ability.
~ (Clear and Draw) My opponent draws four dice from their bag.
~ (Roll and Reroll) My opponent rolls the four dice they drew plus the Kryptonite from their Prep Area. My opponent is not able to roll the Ultraman die this turn because of Mr. Freeze’s ability.

Example Two:
Using Mr. Freeze’s ability on an action die.

~ I have two Mr. Freeze dice active in the Field Zone. My opponent has an Ultraman die and a Kryptonite die in their Prep Area.
~ (Clear and Draw) Before my opponent draws, I choose my opponent’s Kryptonite die for Mr. Freeze’s ability.
~ (Clear and Draw) My opponent draws four dice from their bag.
~ (Roll and Reroll) My opponent rolls the four dice they drew plus the Ultraman from their Prep Area. My opponent is not able to roll the Kryptonite die this turn because of Mr. Freeze’s ability.

Example Three:
Using Mr. Freeze’s ability on a Sidekick die.

~ I have two Mr. Freeze dice active in the Field Zone. My opponent has a Sidekick die in their Prep Area.
~ (Clear and Draw) Before my opponent draws, I choose my opponent’s Sidekick die for Mr. Freeze’s ability.
~ (Clear and Draw) My opponent draws four dice from their bag.
~ (Roll and Reroll) My opponent rolls the four dice they drew but they can’t roll the Sidekick die from their Prep Area this turn because of Mr. Freeze’s ability.

Official Sources

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

Turn Order Summary Reference

Unlimited Competitive Play Rating

This card could be useful in an unlimited format, but the main drawback is his purchase cost. Most unlimited meta cards have a much more lethal or useful ability and they cost less to purchase than Mr. Freeze. There are also too many ways to blank his text and render him useless. In an unlimited meta, a useless character that costs you five energy to purchase is a huge waste of resources. If someone can build a team that uses Mr. Freeze as a major control piece, that would be pretty cool. But again, some of the best control cards cost four or less and have a much more devastating effect. His ability is definitely useful and could even cause someone to lose if they can’t get their main lethal piece into play. But getting Mr. Freeze into your dice rotation and then putting him the Field while having to keep him safe from blanking effects is a lot of work. There are better control pieces, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone found a way to use this card to their advantage.

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice gets a Unlimited rating of two out of five stars.

Prime Play Rating

I feel like Mr. Freeze has more potential in the Prime format, even without some of the good cost reducers. There are still cheaper control pieces, but he adds another control option that may be more useful since Rip Hunter’s Chalkboard is possibly going to be a key meta card because of its Global. I think a player could possibly benefit from a card like Mr. Freeze much more in a Prime format. And while his ability is really good, his attack stats aren’t terrible – meaning he could possibly lend that additional pressure or even a lethal blow. I could definitely see him making a rogue team, and I would hope that he’s not overlooked by control players. He’s expensive in a format with little to no cost reduction, but the payoff could be bigger than expected. We haven’t seen a Prime meta yet, so there isn’t a definitive way to know if he’s going to be worth the effort yet. I still think he’s worth a few looks and at least a test play though.

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice gets a Prime rating of three out of five stars.

Casual Play Rating

Mr. Freeze’s ability is pretty clearly written and not too complicated, but some of the tricks to it might be lost on beginners. For instance, being able to name an action or Sidekick die may not be something that a beginner or newer player would think is a possibility. But a quick explanation could open a whole world of possibilities for a new player, which makes this card great for a player that understands the basic turn order. His ability is definitely unusual and fun to use, which is appealing to most newer players as well. He also helps teach patience and a bit of strategy because it’s not always best to attack with him if your opponent has dice in the Prep Area. I could easily recommend this card for any player of any skill level.

Mr. Freeze: Heart of Ice gets a casual play rating of four out of five 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!

News! PDC Announcement – Draft Championship and Prime Championship Formats

Greetings Fellow Dice Masters!

 

Yesterday, the PDC (Pro Dice Circuit website and Facebook) announced that they will be adding a Draft Championship format and a new constructed format called Prime Championship. The new Prime format is a constructed format that uses a set rotation.

Quotes are excerpts from the PDC article and applications found here.

Draft Championship Format

The PDC Draft Championships will be familiar, as it is the standard Rainbow Draft that we all know and love! This is a popular format across the Dice Masters Community, and the feedback that we received from players and stores was that everyone wanted a friendly, yet competitive component to it. All BAC’s will be legal for this format, so come prepared with all of your cards, or just bring your trusted two that you always play with!

According to the application link in the article, there will be Draft Kits available for stores to purchase. Please speak with your FLGS before signing them up!

2017 Store Draft Championship Kits Include:
– 1 Custom 2017 Draft Store Championship Playmat
– 10 Double-Sided BAC Color Indicator Cards (2 each for the Top 4, 1 for TO and 1 for Fellowship)
– 10 Custom 6-sided Dice (Extras available at $1/per die)
– 1 Free Entry to a 2017 Draft State Championship

I think a Draft Championship is a really cool idea and I’m really pleased to see the PDC doing this. I hope that WizKids will also add a similar format. Drafting in Dice Masters is a lot of fun, and it’s an ever changing game. No two drafts are exactly alike even if you draft a similar team, you won’t come up against the same teams you did before. Drafting is probably one of my favorite Dice Masters formats.

Prime Championship Format

The second format that the PDC is adding is their version of a constructed rotation, called Prime. We’ve all been anxiously awaiting further word from WizKids on a rotation for official WizKids tournaments, but until then we get a taste of what a rotation could look like on a large scale. This new Prime format is not an official WizKids format. For those that plan to play in WKOs and PDC events, you’ll need to test two teams! We are planning to alternate formats at our FLGS to accommodate both formats.

The PDC Prime Championships will focus on constructed play with the newest released sets, similar to the “Modern” format that is found in other CCG’s. For the first year of this format, all sets from World’s Finest forward will be legal including all OP, Team Packs and starters that were released with or after World’s Finest (Alt-Arts and Alt-Art OP’s rotate out with their original card). As additional sets are released, they will become legal for Prime play. Sets will be rotated out annually so that the format stays fresh, engaging, and open to new and seasoned players alike.

I have seen several players speculate about the Alt-Art cards and their legality in a potential WizKids rotation. I think that WizKids is reprinting certain cards, like Focus Power in the Archers OP Kit, so that players can have access to those cards in a rotation format. However, I have no issue or complaint with the PDC for excluding those reprinted cards. If WizKids keeps the reprinted cards in their rotation format, that will give us a different rotation format with different options for play.

The application link for the Prime Store Championship shows what the Prime Kit will contain. It’s very similar to the Draft Kit, except for the playmat wording and the Championship entry. Remember to talk to your FLGS before signing them up!

2017 PDC Prime Store Championship Kits Include:
– 1 Custom 2017 Prime Store Championship Playmat
– 10 Double-Sided BAC Color Indicator Cards (2 each for the Top 4, 1 for TO and 1 for Fellowship)
– 10 Custom 6-sided Dice (Extras available at $1/per die)
– 1 Free Entry to a 2017 Prime State Championship

The dates for the events will vary depending on venue. The date ranges are:

Draft Championships
February 20, 2017 to March 19, 2017

Prime Championships
April 1, 2017 to May 7, 2017

So how does someone prepare and build for an event that’s so very different from an unlimited format?

If I don’t already have an idea of what I want my team to be centered around, I usually start with a win condition, typically using a character ability. I then try to add utility characters to help move the team along to my win condition, and lastly I choose my Basic Action Cards. I usually choose my Basic Actions Cards last because there are several that are practically staples. Most of those Basic Actions are from sets prior to World’s Finest, so for this new Prime format, the first thing I want to do is familiarize myself with which Basic Actions are available. None of the BACs in the currently allowed OP Kits are legal in Prime. Here is a list of the BACs that are currently legal in Prime (which will change between now and April):

World’s Finest BACs

• Brave Sacrifice
• Call to Action
• Dark Avenger
• End of Days
• Kryptonite Threat
• Man of Steel
• To the Rescue!
• Too Big To Fly
• Trusted Friend
• Vigilante Justice

 

Civil War BACs

• Brother Fights Brother
• Civil War
• Driven Underground
• Escape Incarceration
• Field Promotion
• Internal Dispute
• Long Live the Resistance!
• Suffering and Satisfaction
• Superhero Registration Act
• The Front Line

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Set One) BACs

• Cowabunga!
• Enraged
• Give Me a Break!
• Heroes in a Half-Shell
• Lethal Blow
• Pizza!
• Reckless Abandon
• Special Delivery
• Tactical Cover
• Turtle Van

 

After I’ve familiarized myself with the current list of Prime-Legal BACs, I’ll move into the Character and Non-Basic Action Cards. From there, it’s just like building a regular team. The only difference will be which cards are available. As you’re building, remember that there are key staple cards that will not be available like PXG, Red Dragon, and Blue-Eyes. The Prime format eliminates the use of any Yu-Gi-Oh! or Dungeons and Dragons cards. This is probably the hardest adjustment to make. I’ve already run into that issue where I instinctively want to reach for a D&D card or YGO card and then remember that I can’t use those cards. Building a team without the usual staple cards will be a challenge for all of us veteran-competitive players. I can’t wait to start working on a Prime team for April!

There are still sets and starters that will be added into the Prime format. I would definitely suggest players begin familiarizing themselves with all the current Prime-Legal cards and maybe even practice team building before April.

Players should keep in mind that this is not an official WizKids announcement. For local play, TOs should continue to do what works for their scene. Talk to the players about the PDC’s Prime format and gauge their level of interest. Try not to alienate players that may not be able to afford to purchase newer starters for BACs. If someone wants to play in local Prime events but doesn’t have the appropriate BACs, they should ask their fellow players and see if someone would be kind enough to loan them some for the event. With the way WizKids has planned starter releases, most players will be able to keep up with the starters now. I think that was a great move on the part of WizKids, and it’s helping them set up for their own rotation.

I’m really excited to see how this new format changes up the competitive scene because while many of us are prepping for WKOs, we’ll also be prepping for Prime events. This will definitely open up more topics of conversation at WKOs and even local events. Our locals are already buzzing about this and we will be scheduling a mix of Prime and Unlimited events beginning in January 2017.

What do you and your locals think of the new PDC Championship formats?
What do you think the cutoff for a WizKids rotation should be?
Should WizKids rotate reprints with the originals?

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Helpful Sites and About this Blog

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

If you’re here, it’s because of Dice Masters – or you accidentally stumbled upon my ramblings. If you read my first blog post then you know this blog is going to be about all things Dice Masters: strategies, competitive team builds, fun team builds, dealing with RNG, accessories, spoilers (if I can find them), confusing rulings, and more!

You might also be here because I’ve branched out into casual HeroClix play and you’re looking for my tournament articles.

I welcome all gamers of all kinds to check out my articles and thanks for finding me!

Helpful Links

Dice Masters Rules Forum
I use the Wizkids Forums to find rulings or at least a base for rulings. That’s one of the most important sites out there!
Wizkids Rules Forum Home
This is the Forum Home Index. They have the rules forums for all their games here.
Wizkids Info Network
The Wizkids Info Network is where you need to sign up so that you can play in events at your friendly local gaming store (or FLGS) and find tons of other info.
Wizkids Home
This is Wizkids’ home page. If you don’t know already, they make Dice Masters.
WizKids Keywords Page
This is an official comprehensive list of all the Keywords in Dice Masters.
The Reserve Pool
TRP has several different podcasts and is a wonderful resource site for any player.
Double Burst Website and Facebook
This is a great resource for new players and veterans alike! I’ve enjoyed their podcast and recommend it for any Dice Master out there.
Dice Masters Reddit
This is a forum where you can trade and discuss everything Dice Masters!
DM Retrobox
This site is great for team building and researching cards.
Pro Dice Circuit
These folks are super cool. There are PDC State Championships and team lists on their site. You can see what the meta is in other parts of the country compared to where you live.
Dice Masters Dyersburg
This is a link to the group for my FLGS. If you’re in the area, stop on in for a few games!
Dice Dice Kitty Facebook
This is the link to my official Dice Dice Kitty Facebook page!
Dice Dice Kitty Instagram
This is the link to my official Dice Dice Kitty Instagram!
Dice Dice Kitty Twitter
This is the link to my official Dice Dice Kitty Twitter!
Dice Dice Kitty YouTube Channel
This is the link to my official Dice Dice Kitty YouTube Channel!

If you find a useful link, leave a comment here or in the Facebook group and I’ll add it to the list here. If any of the links here are not working, please let me know so I can adjust the post accordingly.

Sellers of Nifty Accessories

These are folks that I have ordered accessories from and have reviews up for their products.

Litko Game Accessories
For all of dice tower and token needs!
Turn One Gaming Supplies
For all your sleeves and other accessories needs! If you want a Roll Master Mat, they have them.
PlaymatMasters on Etsy
Want an awesome playmat design? Check this out!
Inked Gaming
Have a playmat design but need it printed? This is who I use.

About this Blog

This blog is for my opinions on Dice Masters cards, abilities, dice stats, etc. My opinion is not an absolute – it’s a different view point that may help you decide on whether or not to use one card over another. I’m also human, so mistakes will be made. I make calls on cards based on the knowledge I have of Dice Masters and WizKids, but sometimes, WizKids will make a ruling in a different direction. I fully support and enforce all WizKids rulings. I’ve linked a few sites above that also give their opinions. Always do your research and weigh all your options.

I also go over my team builds for the HeroClix tournaments that I play in. I do not currently play competitive HeroClix, yet. I hope to one day be able to move into the competitive scene and look forward to meeting lots of new friends in the Clix Community!

Sportsmanship

I encourage all players in our area to use good sportsmanship. Treat your opponents with respect, be honest, and above all – have fun! Games are meant to be fun and not taken too serious. I understand that if you pay an entry fee you want to win, but that doesn’t mean you have to be hateful to your opponent if they defeat you.

Lately, I’ve seen an increase in what veteran gamers call elitism, and most of this attitude is centered around which rules questions that WORF chooses to answer. When a player asks for a ruling on a card that you think is simple or obvious, keep in mind that not all players have the same gaming experience or gaming knowledge that you may have. There are also potential language barriers for players to overcome as well. Please be kind and try to be helpful, and if you feel you can’t, then don’t say anything at all. It’s very destructive and damaging to make fun of a person for not knowing what you may consider to be something simple. It’s also very hurtful to criticize WORF for answering a ‘stupid’ question. The person that asked that question because they needed to ask it. Imagine if they saw your hurtful comment and then took it personally. No question is stupid or unimportant if asked in sincerity. I will not tolerate any hateful comments on my articles, or on any of my social media sites – they will be removed.

Ratings

In some of the posts, specifically in my Confusing Card of the Week posts, I use two different rating systems. One rating is how well the card fits into the constructed format for Competitive Play, and the other is for Casual Play. I use two different systems because one card that’s amazing for a competitive team may be horrible for casual because it’s just too good. Cards that are good in casual are not usually good in competitive play.

Competitive Play Ratings

Golden Age, Modern Age, and PDC Prime

For competitive play, you want a team that’s fast, effective, and lethal. The competitive scene is about taking home the prize, especially if you pay an entry fee to play. I will do my best to rate cards effectively based on information I’ve gotten from competitive events, through personal experience, and reports. These ratings are for constructed formats only – not competitive draft formats. If you disagree with a rating, that’s fine – leave a comment with your opinion!

Zero out of five stars – Cards with this rating are normally not seen at all on top competitive teams. These cards are not recommended for competitive play.

One out of five stars – Cards with this rating are usually not seen on top competitive teams. These cards may have a useful ability but are dependent on a combo or something else for you to get the full benefit of the card. Cards with this rating are not recommended for competitive play.

Two out of five stars – Cards with this rating might see some competitive play, but are very difficult to use. These cards may have a useful ability that’s difficult to utilize, but has a huge benefit if you can get it to work. These cards usually require big combo set ups that typically won’t go off until the last minute and aren’t always enough to earn you a victory. These cards are not recommended for competitive play, but are sometimes worth revisiting when each new set comes out.

Three out of five stars – This is the rogue category, not to be confused with Rogue from the X-Men, or Star Wars: Rogue One. A rogue team is one that consists of cards not typically seen in the meta, but can catch the meta off guard and defeat it. You generally only see three or four rogue cards in a top eight list. These cards are usually paired with others, but they can also be solo cards. These cards are recommended for consideration and should always be revisited with each new set.

Four out of five stars – These cards are seen on most competitive team builds, or have the potential to be meta cards. They are powerful on their own or in combos. These could also be important characters for a team mechanic or have an important utility ability or Global. These cards are highly recommended for competitive play and should always be revisited with each new set.

Five out of five stars – Not many cards will get a rating this high. These cards are seen on almost every competitive team build. They are extremely useful and do not require any other cards to be useful. These cards are typically the ones that fuel teams and make other cards playable.

Casual Play Ratings

Casual play should be fun and educational for beginning players. This is not the platform you should bring that new tournament team you want to test to. When you beat down a new player, they many times will not come back because they’ve been discouraged or they think they have to have the best to play for fun. Even more experienced players can become discouraged. These ratings are based mainly on personal experience and observation from our casual group. This type of setting should be strictly fun and entertaining and not where you go to beat down folks with the best teams.

Zero out of five stars – Cards with this rating are ones that are either too powerful for casual play, or they have abilities that are too difficult to use. If they’re overpowered, they will get zero stars because overpowered cards can ruin the game for casual players. I don’t recommend playing these cards in casual settings at all.

One out of five stars – Cards with this rating are usually too complicated or difficult for casual teams. They typically require a more focused team and generally are not fun to play. These cards could also be very powerful for competitive teams but not much fun for your opponents. Some of these cards can still be played for Globals or abilities, but it is recommended that these cards be used with care.

Two out of five stars – These cards are ones that have difficult abilities, but can be fun to play when paired with the right cards. They are typically not one of the overpowered cards that ruin games for casual players. These dice usually need to be bought at the right time or need other cards to be effective. These cards are not usually recommended for beginners, but can be used by more skilled players.

Three out of five stars – These are cards that are recommended for beginners. They’re average cards with average abilities. They have easy to understand abilities, or abilities that can be explained easily.

Four out of five stars – These cards are excellent to play in casual. They have Globals or abilities that need little assistance and make for an entertaining game. Cards with this rating can enhance other cards on your team as well. These cards can sometimes have a more complex ability or Global, but they make for great teaching tools against beginners. These cards are highly recommended for casual play.

Five out of five stars – Cards with this rating are some of the best for casual play. The abilities and Globals on these cards can make the game fun and even boost the team they’re added to. These cards can work by themselves or with additional cards without any major complications. These cards are the most recommended for any player of any skill level, especially a beginner.

Half-Star Rating
I will rarely give any card a half of any star. If I do, it’s because it’s too good for the lower star but not quite good enough for the next star. So if I rate a competitive card at four and a half out of five stars, it’s because it may be used on a number of teams, but only because it’s part of a specific combo. It could also be that they’re better than other four star cards, but not quite worth five stars. Cards that get five stars are typically solo cards that do not need other cards, but enhance other cards. So, half-stars are going to be rare, but possible.

Closing

I’m always open for Confusing Card of Week suggestions, so don’t be shy! If you ask a question in sincerity, then there isn’t such a thing as a stupid or unimportant question. Feel free to leave a comment and ask anything Dice Masters related and I hope you find my articles helpful and enjoyable!

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