Dice Masters Unboxing and Review! X-Men First Class Gravity Feed

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

WizKids is cranking out the sets lately! We have another new set, just in time for the Fall WKO season. This set features mutants from all over the X-Men universe – heroes and villains alike! Build your own team of X-Men, Exiles, or Brotherhood of Evil Mutant characters and face off against other Dice Masters!

WizKids has not put the checklist online yet. When they do, you can find it on this page, here. I will update this article when they make the link available.

Promo Card and Pack Insert

Just like with the Guardians of the Galaxy set, we get an alternate art card as the incentive promo. This is different from the blank sketch variants that we used to get. I really miss the blank sketch variants though and I hope that they bring those back at some point in the future. The art on this Wolverine is pretty amazing though and I’m very thankful to WizKids for giving out free promo cards!

WizKids has not put the rules insert online yet. When they do, you can find it on this page, here. I will update this article when they make the link available. Make sure to check the WizKids Keywords page to see the current and updated wording on Keyword Abilities.

Gravity Feed

Commons

We pulled 112 common cards; 10 of our commons were foil. We didn’t get any duplicate foil commons. I highlighted the ones we pulled foils of with red text, and the total includes the foil version.

x2     #01     Angel
x3     #02     Avalanche
x3     #03     Banshee
x2     #04     Beast
x3     #05     Bishop
x3     #06     Blink
x3     #07     Blob
x2     #08     Boom Boom
x3     #09     Colossus
x2     #10     Cyclops
x5     #11     Danger Room
x2     #12     Doop
x2     #13     Emma Frost
x2     #14     Havok
x2     #15     Iceman
x2     #16     Jean Grey
x3     #17     Jubilee
x3     #18     Juggernaut
x2     #19     Kitty Pryde
x3     #20     Magneto
x3     #21     Mimic
x3     #22     Morph
x3     #23     Nocturne
x3     #24     Onslaught
x4     #25     Polaris
x3     #26     Professor X
x4     #27     Pyro
x3     #28     Quicksilver
x2     #29     Sabretooth
x3     #30     Sasquatch
x4     #31     Scarlet Witch
x3     #32     Sebastian Shaw
x2     #33     Sentinel
x2     #34     Storm
x2     #35     Sunfire
x4     #36     The Blackbird
x3     #37     The Hellfire Club
x3     #38     Thunderbird
x3     #39     Wolverine
x3     #40     Xavier’s School

Uncommons

We pulled 50 uncommon cards; 9 of our uncommons were foil. We pulled all but one of the uncommons and none of our foils were duplicates.

x1     #41     Angel
x1     #42     Avalanche
x1     #43     Banshee
x2     #44     Beast
x1     #45     Bishop
x2     #46     Blink
x2     #47     Blob
x2     #48     Boom Boom
x1     #49     Colossus
x1     #50     Cyclops
x2     #51     Danger Room
x1     #52     Doop
x1     #53     Emma Frost
x1     #54     Havok
x1     #55     Iceman
x1     #56     Jean Grey
x2     #57     Jubilee
x2     #58     Juggernaut
x1     #59     Kitty Pryde
x0     #60     Magneto
x1     #61     Mimic
x1     #62     Morph
x0     #63     Nocturne
x1     #64     Onslaught
x2     #65     Polaris
x1     #66     Professor X
x2     #67     Pyro
x2     #68     Quicksilver
x0     #69     Sabretooth
x2     #70     Sasquatch
x1     #71     Scarlet Witch
x2     #72     Sebastian Shaw
x1     #73     Sentinel
x2     #74     Storm
x1     #75     Sunfire
x1     #76     The Blackbird
x1     #77     The Hellfire Club
x1     #78     Thunderbird
x1     #79     Wolverine
x1     #80     Xavier’s School

Rares and Super Rares

You won’t get all the rares in one feed, but you get a good amount of them. We pulled 16 rares and none of them were duplicates; 4 of our rares were foil. We also pulled two Super Rares, which are foil.

#84     Beast
#86     Blink
#87     Blob
#89     Cyclops
#90     Danger Room
#92     Havok
#93     Iceman
#94     Jean Grey
#97     Magneto
#99     Nocturne
#101     Polaris
#103     Pyro
#106     Sasquatch
#107     Scarlet Witch
#109     Sentinel
#110     Storm

#117     Boom Boom (Super Rare)
#121     Blink In-Betweener (Super Rare)

New Ability Keywords

Awaken – When a die with Awaken spins up 1 or more levels, you may use its Awaken effect. You get to use the effect for each individual die that spins up, so if you have two copies of the same die active and they both spin up, you will get two instances of the effect.

Awaken seems like a really cool ability and lots of cards have interesting benefits when they use their Awaken ability. My favorite of all of them is on the uncommon Jubilee: A Real Firecracker, which I featured in this week’s Confusing Card of the Week article, here. Just like with the Guardians of the Galaxy set’s new keywords, WizKids has put more effort into making sure the description is detailed.

Even with the better keyword descriptions, there are still questions that come up. There has been lots of discussion over whether or not a character die needs to be active in order to use its Awaken effect. Based off their answer to this ruling, I’m of the mind that Awaken will only work if the die is in the Field Zone. Also, if you look a little closer at the wording in the description from the WizKids Keywords page, it says, ‘if you have two copies of the same die active and they both spin up…’ which also leads me to believe that a character die must be active in the Field Zone to use Awaken.

Returning Keywords

Remember to always check WizKids Keywords page for the most recent and updated definitions. There may be other keywords in this set. Not all of the cards have been revealed yet so some of the card text is unknown.

Impulse
Infiltrate
Overcrush
Regenerate

Affiliations

There are returning affiliations and some new affiliations too. Not all of the cards have been revealed yet, so there could be other returning affiliations.

New!

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

Exiles

Returning

X-Men

Villain

Favorites

Here are several of my favorite cards from my Gravity Feed. Be sure to check out my Gravity Feed Unboxing  and Preview videos to see all of our pulls! You can also find my preview article, here.

Blob: “Crash” Diet (left) – This guy is going to be a beast in drafts! He’s going to clear out all those troublesome Sidekick walls and clear the way for your attackers. He’s got a ridiculously good purchase cost of three and a TFC of three. His defense stats are really good too so you don’t have to worry about someone pinging him for a few points and KO’ing him. It’s gonna take a little bit more to get rid of him.

Blob: Nothing Moves the Blob! (center) – All the Blobs are just silly good with their inexpensive purchase costs. This one costs four, but rightfully so. He captures any target opposing character die for as long as he’s in the field. Each Blob you field is gonna snatch up another dude and they’re not getting free until he’s gone. That’s just absolutely amazing.

Blob: Appetite for Destruction (right) – I like the other two Blob cards a lot, but this one takes the cake! Well, probably the whole bakery – he is the Blob after all. This card stops the purchase and fielding of any opposing card! That could be an action, basic action, or character card, and that’s ridiculous! Sure, he can fall victim to DWiz and Shriek – but he’s still so good! And he’s another Blob that works as long as he’s active and with a defense like his, your opponent better hope they have an answer or one of their cards is getting locked out!

Boom Boom: Time Bomb (left) – Her name says it all. She’s another direct damage character that only needs to be active when you use a Basic Action Die to deal damage to your opponent or a character die. Storm: Extra Lighting might have just got replaced on teams that use Unstable Canister. Boom Boom has a TFC of four which is painful to think about, but once she’s out there, she’s working for you. She has a low defense and can easily be pinged out of the field, but that makes your opponent waste their resources to get rid of her instead of buying s die they need.

Boom Boom: Mutate 35 (center) – This Boom Boom is another one that needs to be active, but she deals damage to your opponent the first time you use a Global each turn – that’s one on your turn and one on your opponent’s turn. She’s also inexpensive to purchase and can be a serious headache for anyone playing against her.

Boom Boom: Meltdown (right) – Here’s a Boom Boom I can get behind. She deals one damage to your opponent for each of your active characters when you field her. Sure, you need several different dudes, but there are plenty of cheap ones that are easy to buy and field, and she’s also a cheaper character. That makes purchasing multiples of her easy and even with that scary fielding cost, you’re gonna get your ‘bang’ for your buck.

Danger Room: Training is Key (left) – This is a great way to potentially clear your opponent’s field of a Sidekick wall, making this card a great draft pick if you don’t see that common Blob. It could also potentially get rid of characters that are in your way or ones that have kidnapped some of your dice. Danger Room does cost four to buy, so it’s not cheap, but it’s totally possible in drafts.

Danger Room: Housing Hidden Perils (center) – This Danger Room is gross with Unstable Canister or any card that does at least one damage to all opposing character dice, like the common Jubilee: Life on the Streets. I didn’t feature her, but her Awaken ability deals one damage to all opposing character dice. Talk about a combo field wiper! If you’re lucky enough to get these two cars together, you’ll never have a problem getting damage across to your opponent!

Danger Room: Flame-Throwers and Rotating Knives (right) – Oh my Pinkie Pie. Hello Norman Osborn: Don’t Call Me “Gobby”! combo card! This is just silly. It makes every character die in the field a Villain and ‘Nobby’ (as he’s called) deals one damage to your opponent for each Villain character die in the field – yours and your opponent’s. Sure, the Global is cool, especially if you have a Villain that does something when they take damage, but this Danger Room is likely going to be Nobby’s new home.

Scarlet Witch: Careful What You Wish For (left) – This Scarlet Witch could end up seeing some meta play if action dice keep going the way they are. Not only does she stop your opponent from rerolling the actions that land on an energy face, but she forces them to reroll any actions that land on an action face. There definitely needs to be a clarification on this card though. It’s not clear if they continue to reroll the action dice until the die lands on energy or if the opponent is simply forced to choose those action dice as dice to reroll. I would rule in favor of the latter because she says that they must reroll the action dice during the Roll and Reroll Step, which leads me to believe that she works similar to Black Cat: Possessive. Check with your TO’s on this one!

Scarlet Witch: Reshaping Reality (center) – I really like this Scarlet Witch because she helps you set up your characters with Awaken before you field them. If you roll a Jubilee on level three, you can spin her down a level and then place her in your Reserve Pool. This ability also helps if you really need a character on a particular face for a burst ability. I think this Scarlet Witch is a handy utility card for specific teams, but I doubt she’ll be a big meta card. She doesn’t trigger Awaken abilities since the dice are not in field when they’re being spun.

Emma Frost: All That Glitters (right) – I really like this Emma Frost, even though she only prevents the first point of damage each turn. That’s a whole point of damage that could be enhanced by a Cosmic Cube. And while there isn’t a ruling on this officially, I believe the Cosmic Cube only enhances the damage if it’s actually dealt. If it’s prevented, there isn’t any damage to increase, so this Emma Frost could potentially save you three points of damage that’s coming from King Black Bolt’s ability. I like her more for drafts and casual play though, where I think she’s be more useful.

Mimic: Borrowed Talent (left) – I love this Mimic! I can copy a Sidekick die with his ability because his ability doesn’t specify non-Sidekick character die. If he’s copying a Sidekick, then every time either player fields a Sidekick the turn he’s fielded, I get to prep two dice from my bag! This is likely going to be my go-to card for ramp in a draft, or possibly casual play too. I’d like to see if Mimic has what it takes to find a foothold in competitive play.

UPDATE! Rulings just came out for this card. I did a strike through on the text that is not accurate. Here are the rulings, Morph and Mimic. Morph’s ruling mentions this Mimic.

Banshee: Fallen Hero (center) – This Banshee makes me smile. He’s daring you to use that Cosmic Cube. You won’t take one damage when you do – you’ll take three! It may not be a huge amount of damage, but if they’re using multiple Cubes in a turn, they may want to rethink that. He does that damage even if they put a Cold Gun or any other Continuous die into the field. He can be popped out of the field fairly easily, but it still makes the opponent choose between using resources to get rid of him, or using those resources for something else.

The Blackbird: Under the Radar (right) – The Blackbird is a card that’s likely going to be used primarily for its Global. Rightfully so! I can’t say if it’ll be meta or not, but I wouldn’t rule it out. If your opponent wants to stop you from using this Global on one of their Globals, then they have to waste an energy every turn to shut down Blackbird’s Global. That’s energy that likely needs to go somewhere else. If they don’t do it, they’re losing a Global that they obviously have for a reason. Or you can use it on one of your own Globals that you don’t want them to have access to on their turn. For the Golden Age meta, this card has the potential to be really good.

The Hellfire Club: Members Only (left) – This is where Jessica Jones: Ladies’ Night likes to hang out. I’m itching to try that build and fully plan to do so on Saturday. You use Hellfire Club to KO everything except your big nasty, then field any characters you may be holding in your Reserve Pool, and then go in for a big hit! It cost four to buy, but it’s totally worth it! You can even add this on a team with Infiltrate characters if you don’t have the super rare Angela from the Guardians of the Galaxy set so you can get that Infiltrate damage in and still have blockers.

Polaris: Mistress of Magnetism (center) – Polaris is the ultimate card to pair with any Awaken card. Throw in a cheap shield type character or the rare Cyborg: Technis Imperative and keep a shield energy handy. I’m totally building a team with Polaris and uncommon Jubilee, so I can easily get Jubilee back into my field at level one. She definitely has other uses, but she goes so well with this set’s featured keyword.

Blink In-Betweener: Agent of Order and Chaos (right) – I like to feature any super rare cards I pull, whether they’re good or not. Like many of the Max 1 cards (What If?, White Lanterns, and Black Lanterns), Blink is overpriced for what she does. Not only is she a Crossover character but she also has the stipulation on her purchase which makes her that much harder to purchase. And I absolutely dislike When Fielded abilities on Max 1 characters. If you can get her ability to work for you, it would be cool. As a collector, I adore this card for the aesthetics and I’m happy to have her in my collection.

Final Thoughts

There are lots of pretty dice in this set. It was hard to narrow it down, but I did… to six. I really love the rainbow sparkle swirl that Scarlet Witch’s die has. It’s really hard to see, even up close in person, but I tried to catch it in a picture. Kitty Pryde and Blink have gorgeous translucent colors, which I tried very hard to capture as well. Sentinel and The Blackbird both have a shimmer swirl type die and the colors are very pretty. Jubilee’s die is so cute! I love the pink-red firework icon on the yellow background of the die. One of my favorite things to do with a new set and sit and study all the new dice. I’ve never enjoyed it as much as I have with the dice in this set.

Not only are the dice pretty, but the selection for the card art is excellent as well. There is a nice variety of art styles and all of the characters are represented well. The only art selection that I don’t like is Scarlet Witch. And it’s not because the art is bad, it’s because it’s too similar to the Scarlet Witch from the Deadpool set.

The set overall seems to have some interesting card abilities and maybe even some cards that could see major competitive play. With every new set, I usually have several cards that I don’t like at all. It’s not like that with this new X-Men set. I even like the Sentinel cards, though they won’t see any major competitive play. This set looks like a great set to draft with because there are so many cards that work together or work off of each other. There are also lots of inexpensive characters with decent abilities and I can’t wait to get these cards onto constructed teams too!

What are some of your favorite cards in the set?
How do you think the meta will shift, if at all?
What cards are you excited to try in a casual setting?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

Review! DC Dice Masters Superman Wonder Woman Starter

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

WizKids is about to release its annual DC Starter, Superman Wonder Woman, and I’m super excited about the characters that it brings back as well as the new characters it introduces! Be sure to check with your friendly local game store and reserve your copy today. The Monthly Solicits page currently shows a release date of July 12, 2017.

You can find my review video with Mr. DDK on YouTube, here.

Starter Box

Box Contents

~ Superman Wonder Woman Rulebook
~ 2 Dice Bags
~ 12 Basic Action Dice
~ 16 Sidekick Dice
~ 16 Character Dice
~ 24 Character Cards
~ 10 Basic Action Cards
~ 4 Action Reminder Cards
~ 1 Rules Insert Card

Rulebook

This is the first time we’re getting the first turn rule change detailed in a rulebook. It was announced on November 7, 2016 and you can find it on page 2 and 8.

Rules Insert Card

The rules reminder card is a great quick reference tool for all the affiliations and keywords in the set. This particular rules insert details the first turn rule change.

The back of the rules insert card has a bump for tournaments, which is a great promo piece.

Keywords

You will not find any bold text keywords in this starter. There are plenty of character abilities and a few Globals between the Basic Actions and Characters.

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 have any new affiliations in this starter, but there are some returning ones.

Justice League
Team Superman
Villains

Characters

I’m thrilled to see an Amazon, even if she’s from a different tribe than Diana, she’s still an Amazon. I hope WizKids will eventually add an Amazon affiliation along with many of the other notable Amazon characters. I think all of the versions of Artemis are interesting. Her two When Fielded abilities are very manageable with her TFC (Total Fielding Cost) of two. She’s got really good stats as well, and a purchase cost of five isn’t totally out of reach. I think my favorite version is Renouncing Olympus. I don’t build teams that are centered on keeping Sidekicks in the Field, and this is a great way to keep my opponent from building up a wall. Did I mention that I love having another recognizable Amazon character in the game?

Cheetah is one of my favorite Wonder Woman villains. I love all of her abilities and they all fit the character. She’s not an expensive character to purchase and her TFC is three with a fielding cost of one on all levels. She only has one When Fielded ability, but I don’t think her fielding costs are an issue at all, especially when you factor in her stats as well. I think I want to try using Goddess of the Hunt on a new Villain team I’m brewing. She seems like she would fit best with that build. But each version can easily find a place on a team somewhere!

I’m super thrilled to see another Wonder Woman villain in the starter! Even though she isn’t my favorite Wonder Woman villain, I do like her in the comics. I didn’t like her versions from the Green Arrow and The Flash set, so I was glad to see her back again. Her abilities are very thematic for her character and I like them all, but Standing Tall is definitely my favorite! It just so happens that Standing Tall is the only character card with a Global in the starter. Her Global fits with her ability perfectly! You can give her Overcrush with Upgrade – Proton Cannon from the Iron Man and War Machine starter to help her punch through your opponent’s defenses. Her dice stats are the same as her previous set. She’s got really good stats and her fielding costs are great too! My villain team is going to end up having a bunch of Wonder Woman villains on it!

This is Jimmy Olsen’s debut! Signal Watch and Superman’s Pal are both good for any team that uses Superman or Supergirl. It just depends on your team build and play style. Seeing Is Believing is definitely interesting… but I’m not believing in him. It stops him from being targeted by opponent’s Globals, and stops damage from non-targeting Globals which is cool, but it only prevents Jimmy from taking the damage. And it only works while Superman or Supergirl is active. I just feel like the ability is over complicated and probably not worth using. At least I can build a decent Team Superman team now that we have Conner Kent in the Batman set and Jimmy Olsen! I have too many teams to build and not enough time to build them.

Steve Trevor, ally and love interest of Wonder Woman, is making his debut! I like all three cards. Bachelor in a Bind doesn’t have ability text, but did you see those attack stats and fielding cost?! He only cost two to purchase making him a fantastic card for lots of teams that need those cheaper dudes. The Man from A.R.G.U.S. is actually really cool. Steve Trevor has a defense of one on all sides, but he has a 2/3/4 attack line. If you have Wonder Woman active and way to give Steve Trevor Overcrush, he becomes an instant threat. Themysciran Liason is fantastic! You can purchase Wonder Woman for three less when he’s KO’d. With that defense line of 1/1/1, it’s not hard to KO him. His ability will allow you to purchase Wonder Woman outside of your Main Step, and then you get to Prep her too! Perfect!

Finally! A Supergirl I can get behind! Her dice at the exact same model as her World’s Finest dice, but a reversed color scheme. I definitely prefer these dice and this card art to the WF versions. All in the Family feels like it should have been a Flip card. I like her ability, but I wouldn’t want to put her on a team and then not face off against a Villain team. I like Guarding National City, but I hate having a TFC 5 or higher on characters that have a When Fielded ability. Aside from that, she cost seven… I Have All Your Powers! has to be my favorite Supergirl card and ability. I like to give dice Overcrush or make them unblockable. She’s the perfect card for me!

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, it’s Superman! Superman’s die is the same model as his World’s Finest die, but not the same color style. I prefer the other color style, but I like his stats which are the exact same as Supergirl. Superman has abilities similar to Supergirl’s on some of his cards. Phone Booth also feels like it needed a Flip side and Symbol of Hope does not have an ability that appeals to me for the cost of the character. Living in a World of Cardboard seems kinda cool, but he needs Overcrush or to be unblockable. Sounds like a job for me! Oh, and he’s Justice League – not Team Superman. Guess I need to start looking at Justice League characters now too.

Wonder Woman is the epitome of awesome and now we have some Dice Masters cards to reflect that. With Child of Clay, you can use Unstable Canister on your team and no longer fear it being used against your characters. She’s easy to purchase, but you don’t want her leaving the Field if you can help it. She has a TFC of three which is isn’t horrible, but most of the time I end up rolling the highest level face when I don’t want it. Her fielding costs fit for the stats she has on each level. Ambassador of Peace is another Global stifling ability that stops both players from using Globals on their character cards. This would be better if it just stopped your opponent and not you too. It doesn’t stop either player from using the Globals on Rip Hunter’s Chalkboard or S.T.A.R. Labs, but it stops a player from using Parallax’s Global if it’s on their team. Reflections is probably the most powerful of all three cards. She stops one of the biggest meta cards – Lantern Ring: Limited Only By Imagination. She does cost five, but if I see Ring across the table, I’m going for Wonder Woman first.

Character Thoughts

There are plenty of great beginner character cards in this starter. There are cards that work very well with other cards in the starter, and then you have other cards that make for great additions to existing teams or good starting points for new players to begin building a team with.

There are at least two character cards that I see potentially making it into the Modern Age meta. One of those is Wonder Woman: Reflections for her amazing Lantern Ring stopping ability, and the other is Steve Trevor: Themysciran Liason for his ability to help you get Wonder Woman easier. I’m not totally sure about Steve Trevor, but he is definitely handy. There is a third character that very possibly could find a foothold in Modern Age meta, and that’s Giganta: Standing Tall. With the upcoming X-Men First Class set, she could come in handy.

Team Superman definitely got a needed boost in this starter. For all those folks out there that are struggling to make a Team Superman team function, you’re definitely going to want Jimmy Olsen. I believe that with the addition of Conner Kent from Batman and Jimmy Olsen from this starter, those casual Team Superman builds are going to be running a lot smoother.

Basic Action Cards

Now it’s time to take a look at all ten of the Basic Actions cards that you’ll find in the Superman Wonder Woman starter. Five of these cards are revamped cards, and five are completely new cards, though some of them have similarities to previously released Basic Actions.

This is a revamp of Dimension Door from the Dungeons and Dragons: Battle for Faerûn set. I mentioned this in the video and I’ll say it again; this card should have been called “Boom Tube” to fit with the theme. I know they make references to ‘dimensional doors’ in various media, but I really want this card to be Boom Tube. The art is Booster Gold and Blue Beetle (I think) jumping through a Boom Tube, so at least there’s that.

But as for the card ability – I love it. I don’t like the purchase cost, but if it was any less, it’d be too good. I want to pair this card with that awesome Giganta and just make her totally unblockable. This card also pairs well with the Supergirl: I Have All Your Powers! in the starter.

Misdirection is a new Basic Action as far as I can tell, but it has similarities to Teleport. I definitely prefer Misdirection over Teleport for tons of reasons. With a purchase cost of two, this a great card to add to your team if you don’t like Mutation. The additional Prep ability on the burst and double burst is absolutely great! We have definitely been missing those additional dice in the Prep Area. I could totally see using this with some Back For More cards because of that prepping ability. I really like this card and it very possibly could see some Modern Age meta play.

Plot Twist is a new Basic Action, with a really unusual ability. So, WORF, I’m totally going to be asking you about this card. Do I draw from my opponent’s bag, or do they? Can I look in my opponent’s bag before drawing or does that still go against the general rule that you can’t? Do they roll the character dice or do I?

My assumption is that you draw the dice from their bag and roll the characters. I don’t think you would be allowed to look in the bag before you draw because it’s not your bag.

Personally, I don’t like the idea of someone taking my dice bag from me and drawing from it. It just doesn’t feel right… I don’t feel comfortable drawing from my opponent’s bag either. It’s like a safe zone that you know you’re opponent can never violate… until now! This is not a card that I will ever play. I would totally be okay with my opponent drawing the dice, letting me roll the characters, and then fielding any characters I roll for free. Since the card doesn’t specify, I believe that any energy you roll would go to your Reserve Pool, which you could use at your discretion until end of turn.

This is a very powerful card and I’m glad it cost five to purchase. Potentially denying your opponent the chance to draw those two character dice on their next turn could be devastating.

This is a revamp of Resurrection from the Dungeons and Dragons: Battle for Faerûn set. You have no idea how happy I am to see this card back. The next one I want back is Nasty Plot, which was a highly underrated card. But for now, I’ll be content with Resurrection. While most use it for its Global, the action ability is not without its benefits. It does cost four to purchase, so it’s a die I don’t buy unless I’m in desperate need of a boost.

This is a revamp of Save Civilians from the DC Justice League set. I have never liked this card. It cost too much for what it does. You have to field a Sidekick to get the ability to trigger – after you use the action die. It works for each Sidekick and that you field, and an Ally will trigger this ability. That’s the only saving grace for this card. Sure, it gets you dice in your Prep Area, but you have to roll this die and roll Sidekicks (or Allies) on the same turn. I feel like it’s too much work for not enough pay off.

Small Step For Man is a new Basic Action that can be punishing for both players, unless you’re planning ahead for the X-Men First Class set… and using Giganta. I didn’t make the connection with how good this card can potentially be in the future until after we filmed the review video. I’m now looking forward to using this card later! This ability is not a targeting type ability either. There are very few abilities in the current Modern Age meta that don’t target. This is a great way to get those troublesome characters onto a lower, more manageable level.

This is a revamp of Take Cover from the Marvel Avengers vs X-Men set. This card is all about the defense. If you’re worried about your characters getting KO’d, then you better be looking at Take Cover. If the die is rolled on a burst or double burst, you can give a character a total of +5D. If that’s not enough, just pay as much Shield energy as you have and they get even more defense! This card pairs well with those other cards that swap the attack and defense of a character.

Read carefully! This is not a revamp of Teamwork. Team Up is a new Basic Action. There are a few abilities and Globals that give affiliations to characters that could potentially make this a huge nuisance to play against. Team Up only cost four to purchase and if you’re already using three of four different affiliations, you could beef up each of your characters for some massive damage. Now imagine this card paired up with a card like Gorilla Grodd: Force of Mind where all those attacking characters have Overcrush and an additional +1A. I think I just found a new Basic Action for my Grodd team!

This is a revamp of The Outsider OP card, with updated wording. In the video, we were discussing the Prep part of the ability. If you draw a die that isn’t a Villain, it goes to your Used Pile. If that die was a Sidekick, the Sidekick goes to you Used Pile and The Outsider action die goes to your Prep Area. That’s such a confusing and complex ability that I don’t want to buy the die and use it, just to save me from having to explain how it works… But I’ll be happy to use that Global! It goes really well with my Two-Face: Double Deal, or a Hit-Monkey: He’s A Hitman. Who’s a Monkey. turned Villain!

Truce is a new Basic Action that could become very useful against those characters that can’t be targeted, like Raven: Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos! You would want to use characters with a When KO’d ability like Alfred Pennyworth: MI-5 or even Steve Trevor: Themysciran Liason from this starter. This ability does not target your opponent’s characters, so it gets around that Raven ability. Truce is only a purchase cost of three, which is very affordable. And you don’t necessarily need characters with abilities, because your plain Sidekicks will work for either end of this ability.

BAC Overview

Half of the Basic Actions in this starter are revamped cards with updated wording. Most  of those revamped cards are ones that needed to be brought back into Modern Age for various reasons. The only BAC that I don’t like seeing revamped is Save Civilians, but maybe there’s something coming down the pipeline that I don’t know about that makes this card more fun. With only two Starters each year, there need to be mostly good BACs and none of those silly ones.

I really like most of the new BACs as well. I cringe at Plot Twist every time I read it. It makes my soul ache. The idea of some strange hand reaching into my dice bag is just too much for me to take! That may sound silly to many of you, but for someone like me that suffers from varying degrees of social anxiety, it’s a big deal. I surely don’t want to stick my hand in a strange bag either. That card is very unsettling to me.

But overall – the Basic Actions are really good and well worth investing in the Modern Age copies of the revamps.

Action Reminder Cards

There’s nothing super special about the reminder cards. They’re Blue, Purple, Orange, and Red.

Dice Bags

I most definitely like the artwork bags more than the plain colored bags. I like to collect these bags too.

Starter Dice

Sidekick and Action Dice

You get a standard assortment of Sidekick Dice and Action Dice.

Character Dice

You only get two of each character die in the starter. If you’re wanting to put three or four dice on a particular character, you will need to buy a second starter (or trade, exchange, etc.). It’s never a bad thing to have duplicates of the character cards and BACs.

Giganta’s dice are not easy to see because of her icon color. I love Jimmy Olsen’s camera as his dice icon, but I wish his die wasn’t such a flat green. Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor have the best looking dice out of all of them.

Final Thoughts

We haven’t had a starter that was this awesome since World’s Finest. It works within itself, but can also be easily integrated with current teams. Many of these cards can be the corner stone for a completely new team! The characters are all thematic in choice and abilities. The card art is beautiful on all the cards and the dice are pretty, overall.

I also think there are several must haves for the Modern Age meta, one of them being Wonder Woman: Reflections for her Lantern Ring stifling ability. That ability is just too good and I plan to use three or four of her dice for a particular build I’m thinking about. Steve Trevor and Jimmy Olsen are also great characters and purchasing two of these starters for max dice is probably not a bad idea. I also think Misdirection and Truce have their own places in Modern Age. If you’re not interested in the characters, the Basic Actions alone are worth the purchase.

This is definitely the starter to buy if you’re new to the game, and totally a worthwhile purchase for veteran players as well. WizKids has done a great job with this starter and I can’t wait to get my hands on another one!

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

Special thanks to WizKids and The Reserve Pool for the use of their sites. And a very special thanks to WizKids for sending me this starter to review and discuss with all of you!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

 

Review! DC Batman Gravity Feed and Promo

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

The Batman is here! I was excited for this set because of the characters that it could potentially bring. I wanted a Batwoman card, really bad, and we have her in this set! The Batman set does not have a starter or collector’s box – only a gravity feed. Here’s my review and pull list from the new DC Batman set!

You can find a checklist for the set, here. I like printing mine so I have them handy during drafts.

Promo Card and Pack Insert

WizKids has been offering a blank sketch card with their Gravity Feeds recently. The promo for this set is Batgirl: Carrying the Mantle. I really like that they’re offering a variant incentive for large sealed product purchases. Since it’s only a variant, players that only want functional copies of cards won’t feel like they’re missing something. For collectors, this is a great incentive for them to make a larger purchase.

They chose a card that’s also the participation prize in The Animated Series OP Kit, which I thought was a little disappointing. But, it is a free ‘thank you’ incentive for buying a whole feed and I don’t want to seem ungrateful, so it’s the most minor of complaints.

I much prefer the rules insert to the WIN promotional card. You can find the insert online, here. Make sure to check the WizKids Keywords page to see the current and updated wording on Keyword Abilities. My only real issue with this particular insert is that they put Swarm on the card and not Boomerang. Swarm has already been featured outside of the D&D sets and I didn’t think it needed to be on the insert, but Boomerang definitely does!

Gravity Feed

Commons

We pulled 112 common cards; 9 of our commons were foil. We didn’t get any duplicate foil commons. I highlighted the ones we pulled foils of with red text, and the total includes the foil version.

x2     #01     Ace the Bat Hound
x2     #02     Bane
x3     #03     Bat Signal
x2     #04     Batarang
x3     #05     Batgirl
x3     #06     Batman
x4     #07     Batwoman
x4     #08     Big Barda
x3     #09     Catwoman
x3     #10     Commissioner Gordon
x3     #11     Conner Kent
x3     #12     Darkseid
x1     #13     Dove
x3     #14     Firefly
x3     #15     Harley Quinn
x3     #16     Hawk
x3     #17     Hawkgirl
x3     #18     Huntress
x3     #19     Hush
x3     #20     Jervis Tetch
x3     #21     Killer Croc
x2     #22     Mister Miracle
x3     #23     Mr. Freeze
x3     #24     Nightwing
x2     #25     Orion
x3     #26     Owlman
x3     #27     Parademon
x3     #28     Ra’s al Ghul
x3     #29     Red Hood
x2     #30     Rip Hunter
x3     #31     Robin
x3     #32     Talia al Ghul
x2     #33     The Joker
x4     #34     The Penguin
x3     #35     The Question
x2     #36     The Riddler
x2     #37     Thomas Wayne
x3     #38     Two-Face’s Coin
x3     #39     Two-Face
x3     #40     Utility Belt

Uncommons

We pulled 50 uncommon cards; 9 of our uncommons were foil. We pulled all but three of the uncommons and none of our foils were duplicates.

x2     #41     Ace the Bat Hound
x1     #42     Bane
x2     #43     Bat Signal
x0     #44     Batarang
x1     #45     Batgirl
x2     #46     Batman
x0     #47     Batwoman
x1     #48     Big Barda
x1     #49     Catwoman
x2     #50     Commissioner Gordon
x1     #51     Conner Kent
x2     #52     Darkseid
x1     #53     Dove
x1     #54     Firefly
x2     #55     Harley Quinn
x1     #56     Hawk
x2     #57     Hawkgirl
x1     #58     Huntress
x1     #59     Hush
x1     #60     Jervis Tetch
x1     #61     Killer Croc
x1     #62     Mister Miracle
x1     #63     Mr. Freeze
x1     #64     Nightwing
x1     #65     Orion
x1     #66     Owlman
x3     #67     Parademon
x1     #68     Ra’s al Ghul
x0     #69     Red Hood
x1     #70     Rip Hunter
x1     #71     Robin
x1     #72     Talia al Ghul
x1     #73     The Joker
x1     #74     The Penguin
x2     #75     The Question
x1     #76     The Riddler
x1     #77     Thomas Wayne
x2     #78     Two-Face’s Coin
x2     #79     Two-Face
x2     #80     Utility Belt

Rares and Super Rares

You won’t get all the rares in one feed, but you get a good amount of them. We pulled 16 rares and none of them were duplicates; 4 of our rares were foil. We also pulled two Super Rares, which are foil.

#84     Batarang
#87     Batwoman
#88     Big Barda
#89     Catwoman
#91     Conner Kent
#92     Dove
#95     Hawk
#96     Hawkgirl
#98     Hush
#99     Jervis Tetch
#100     Killer Croc
#102     Nightwing
#104     Parademon
#109     Talia al Ghul
#113     Thomas Wayne
#116     Utility Belt

#120     The Joker (Super Rare)
#124     White Lantern Superman (Super Rare)

New Ability Keywords

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

I really like this ability. You have a fifty-fifty chance at getting to add that action you just used to your Prep Area to roll next turn! There is a huge opportunity for this ability to do some pretty cool stuff with other abilities like Back for More from the Deadpool set. It just depends on what Back for More ability you use.

Common Ground – When a character with Common Ground attacks with at least one Villain character die, you get to use their Common Ground ability.

So I think this particular mechanic is going to be a lot of fun in casual settings. I don’t think there will be a huge showing in the competitive metas, but I like how Common Ground works and seems like it might be a lot of fun to use with the Flip cards like the common Catwoman and rare Nightwing.

Flip – Character cards with Flip have two different faces, with different affiliations and abilities. All dice in all zones are represented by the face up side of the card, regardless of which face the card was on when the die was fielded or purchased. At the beginning of each of your turns, you may flip any card with the flip keyword to its other face. There also may be game effects that direct you to flip cards. Only cards with two faces may be flipped.

I think this particular mechanic has huge, and I mean HUGE, potential. We have a good spread of it here in its debut set with lots of casual level cards, but the potential that some of these Flip cards have is so awesome. There are definitely some Flip cards that should be carefully considered for meta teams. I’m excited to see how folks build with them and build around them too!

Gadgeteer – When a character die with Gadgeteer attacks, you may roll an action die with a Continuous effect in your Used Pile. If you roll an action face, you may move it into your Field Zone.

So, I really like Boomerang, but Gadgeteer is super amazing! I would love to be able to get a Cold Gun back into my Field Zone instead of having it cycle through my bag. I think this is a really useful ability and I love that WizKids did two different abilities for Continuous and non-Continuous Actions.

Stun Token – Certain characters let you place Stun tokens on cards. While a card has a Stun Token on it, its dice cannot attack or block. The owner of the card with a Stun Token on it may pay two generic energy at any time they could use a Global Ability to destroy the token.

Now this is super cool and super thematic for Mr. Freeze and he should have had this ability a long time ago! It won’t remove text, but it could compliment the rare Cold Gun on a team. You could Cold Gun a character with troublesome text and put the Stun Token on the character that needs to attack or block to activate their ability. I love control cards and the Stun Token is a new mechanic I will totally be testing with.

Returning Keywords

Ally
Continuous
Fast
Intimidate
Regenerate
Suit Up (Not currently listed in TRP’s Lexicon.)
Swarm

New Affiliations

There are several returning affiliations like Villains, Batman Family, etc, but this is a brand new affiliation!

New Gods

Favorites

Here are several of my favorite cards from my Gravity Feed. Be sure to check out my Gravity Feed Unboxing video to see all of our pulls! Sorry about that video being backwards though… We didn’t realize that flipping the camera view on the phone would literally flip the image.

Firefly: Ted Carson (left) – It’s no secret that I like using direct damage (Nova and Colossus rares from AvX) to KO my opponent, so Firefly is definitely high up on my list. There are plenty of good, cheap Bolt type characters over all of the sets to make this card a star on a variety of teams. There are also lots of Bolt characters in this set that would make this particular card a really good draft pick. His purchase cost is only three, meaning you could easily buy him on your first turn. You just need to be sure you grab enough of those other Bolt dudes!

Huntress: No Rest for the Wicked (center) – Here’s another direct damage type card, but I chose this one as a favorite because she deals her damage to a character instead. I really like that she only cost one energy to field on her level two and level three sides. I think she would go well on a draft team with Firefly since she’s a Bolt character and she only cost three to purchase!

Orion: God of War (right) – So this guy – he doesn’t really go away. There aren’t many cards that remove characters without KO’ing them, but there are a few. This dude has got some pretty awesome stats and a decent ability for his purchase cost. I’m not sure how good he’d be in draft, but a casual team would show him the love he deserves! I already have a New Gods team that I’m cooking and this is one of my picks for that team.

Red Hood: Jason Todd (left) – Wow… this is familiar… where have I seen this before? Oh – Guy Gardner! But what’s this? He doesn’t have to attack each turn! Sure, he costs one more… but that’s just one more and he has better stats on level two and three. This is definitely one to watch for in a draft and also in the Modern Age and Prime metas.

Two-Face: Two Sides of the Same Coin (center, side a; right, side b) – My locals know how much I love my WF Two-Face, but this one actually gives him a run for his money. With Fast showing up on more cards and possibly becoming more popular, Two-Face’s Side A is really good. It even says ‘opposing’ and it’s not limited to an affiliation or lack of one! But if you’re against a team that’s not using Fast or Regenerate, no big deal! You just flip him over to Side B and he has Fast AND Regenerate! Crazy! Something else that’s crazy is that he’s a Bat-Family affiliated character on one side and a Villain on the other. This is such a fun looking card and I really want to try him out. He has the same dice stats as the WF Two-Face and also cost five to purchase, but that’s okay with me! He may get picked up really quick in a draft too – so be on the lookout for him. If you don’t get him, someone might use him against you!

Utility Belt (left, side a; center, side b) – Here’s another Flip card, but this time it’s a non-basic action card. The Utility Belt has to start the game with Side B down, but when you activate the ability on any burst face, you can flip it from Side A to Side B. It’s a Continuous action on both sides too, so if you don’t have a legal target when you roll it, you can field it and activate it later. I like the Utility Belt for it’s… utility. It’s a great way to boost your Bat-Family character’s stats and it only cost three energy to purchase. For a Continuous stat booster, I think that’s more than fair! You do need to send it to the Used Pile in order to activate it, but that’s why you should think about some Gadgeteer dudes.

Hawk: Might Makes Right (right) – I love this Hawk. Imagine a team with him, Dove, and Fabricate. You can increase Hawk’s attack stat and then Fabricate Dove for a little extra damage. Not that he really needs a stat boost. He’s an attack beast on level two and three. He’s still manageable for someone looking across the table at him, because his defense is only a 2/2/4. A Cold Gun can handle him on two sides, and then a Cold Gun plus a blast from an Unstable Canister Global. He’s not overpowered, but he is really awesome! He’s absolutely my kind of card!

Parademon: Strength in Numbers (left) – If I didn’t throw this guy in my favorites, then what kind of Swarm lover would I be? This is by far, my favorite Swarm character! I can use a whole team of Swarm dudes and just deal damage to my opponent when I draw a Multiple Man, Parademon, Mindless One, and whatever I can find with Swarm from FUS that’s still Modern Age. Those all have to be Swarm triggered draws, so I need at least one of each in the Field to get the full benefit of this ability. Like most other Swarm dudes, their defense isn’t the best. This poor Parademon only has a 1/2/2, but regardless, I still love him! It’s what’s on the inside that counts!

Ra’s al Ghul: Fighting Death Himself (center) – Ra’s has a pretty good ability, but I like him mainly for his Global. He shuts down those nasty Villain teams by removing what brings harmony to their strategy – their affiliation! This is the first affiliation removing Global and I love it! If Villains are an issue in your meta, throw this guy on your team! His ability works fairly well with his Global and like I mentioned before – it’s pretty good. I like control pieces, but I don’t like paying six energy for them. But he does have some fairly beefy stats too, making that purchase cost more justifiable.

Rip Hunter: Through the Vanishing Point (right) – Oh my Pinkie Pie. What’s happened here!?!!? This guy is ridiculous! He guarantees you the chance at that game winning piece and not just once, but every single time you draw it! No more botched rolls for that die, so long as Rip Hunter is in the Field. This card is absolutely ridiculous, especially for his stats and purchase cost too. It takes some effort to get rid of him and I expect that this dude is possibly going to see some major meta play. Control players like me will most definitely be looking into this guy.

Dove: The Light of Order (left) – We saw Hawk earlier, so here’s Dove! I absolutely love this Dove. All of her versions cost four so there isn’t a cheaper one that’s better to pair with the uncommon Hawk. This one helps a lot while you’re building up to buying Hawk. When your opponent attacks, they are attacking into an eight defense character. If you take damage from any source, you get to spin all of your Dove dice to level three. You can very easily have a wall of level three Doves by the time you’re able to purchase Hawk. I can’t wait to try this team out! It just seems like loads of fun!

Nightwing: Protector of Blüdhaven (center, side a; right, side b) – This Nightwing is just too good. It’s easy to put an Alfred in the Field so Nightwing can attack, and his stats are really good for a two cost character. While drafting, a common Catwoman is a must have for this particular card. She makes it that much easier to attack with Nightwing on either side. You could get a lot of damage in very early in the game. If you’re drafting and you see this dude – don’t pass him up!

Final Thoughts

With the lingering disappointment of the Defenders Team Pack, I really needed this set to be super awesome amazing fantastic, in order to bring my spirits up. WizKids did not let me down at all! I think it more than makes up for it. I can’t wait to start integrating these cards and begin my prep for Origins. I won’t be playing in Nationals, but I was thinking about playing in the World’s Qualifiers, just for fun. Using newer cards that haven’t been fully tested in a competitive meta is always fun!

This set looks like it will be so much fun to draft! I had loads of fun drafting Deadpool, even though many folks outside of our local meta don’t care for it. But Batman looks to be even more fun and super exciting! There are plenty of low cost characters as well as characters with decent or really good abilities that will make that first pick really difficult.

The foils in this set are absolutely gorgeous! Of the foils I’ve seen so far, the Joker is my favorite. He’s got some cool, crazy eyes! I can’t wait to get more of this set and I’m excited for the upcoming foil hunt for this set.

What are some of your favorite cards in the set?
How do you think the meta will shift, if at all?
What cards are you excited to try in a casual setting?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

 

Review! Marvel Deadpool Gravity Feed

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

 

This new set does not have a starter or collector’s box. It only has a gravity feed. There are new affiliations and new abilities that I will cover in this article. Here’s my review and pull list from the new Marvel Deadpool set!

I like having a checklist for all of my sets and unfortunately, there hasn’t been a checklist released online yet. You can find a complete card list on The Reserve Pool, here.

UPDATE! The official Checklist has been released! You can find it here.

Promo Card and Pack Insert

WizKids has offered a blank sketch card with their Gravity Feeds. The promo for this set is Deadpool: My Set. My Rules. I really like that they’re offering an incentive for sealed product purchases.

I’m really happy that WizKids decided to put this rules insert in the packs again instead of the WIN promotional card. The only major issue I have with the rules insert is that not all of the wording is consistent with the current wording on the WizKids Official Keywords page. You can find the insert online, here. Make sure to check the Official Keywords page to see the current and updated wording on Keyword Abilities.

Gravity Feed

Commons

We pulled 111 common cards; 9 of our commons were foil. We didn’t get any duplicate foil commons. I highlighted the ones we pulled foils of with red text, and the total includes the foil version.

x3     #01     Agent Carter
x3     #02     Agent X
x2     #03     Angel Dust
x3     #04     Angela
x3     #05     Black Bolt
x3     #06     Black Tom Cassidy
x2     #07     Blind Al
x3     #08     Bob, Agent of Hydra
x2     #09     Colossus
x3     #10     Deadpool
x2     #11     Dogpool
x4     #12     Domino
x2     #13     Elektra
x2     #14     Evil Deadpool
x2     #15     Fantomex
x3     #16     Flying Car
x4     #17     Free Chimichangas
x2     #18     Hit-Monkey
x3     #19     Kidpool
x3     #20     Lady Bullseye
x3     #21     Lady Deadpool
x3     #22     Lockjaw
x2     #23     M.O.D.O.K.
x5     #24     Madame Hydra
x2     #25     Medusa
x3     #26     Miguel O’Hara
x3     #27     Mister Sinister
x3     #28     Motorcycle
x3     #29     Multiple Man
x3     #30     Negasonic Teenage Warhead
x3     #31     Outlaw
x2     #32     Sandi Brandenberg
x3     #33     Satchel of Unlimited Weaponry
x3     #34     Scarlet Witch
x2     #35     Shiklah
x4     #36     Stepford Cuckoos
x1     #37     Storm
x3     #38     Taskmaster
x3     #39     Wolverine
x3     #40     X-23

Uncommons

We pulled 51 uncommon cards; 10 of our uncommons were foil. We pulled all but two of the uncommons and none of our foils were duplicate.

x0     #41     Agent Carter
x1     #42     Agent X
x2     #43     Angel Dust
x2     #44     Angela
x2     #45     Black Bolt
x1     #46     Black Tom Cassidy
x1     #47     Blind Al
x1     #48     Bob, Agent of Hydra
x2     #49     Colossus
x2     #50    Deadpool
x1     #51     Dogpool
x2     #52     Domino
x1     #53     Elektra
x1     #54     Evil Deadpool
x3     #55     Fantomex
x2     #56     Flying Car
x2     #57     Free Chimichangas
x1     #58     Hit-Monkey
x1     #59     Kidpool
x1     #60     Lady Bullseye
x2     #61     Lady Deadpool
x1     #62     Lockjaw
x0     #63     M.O.D.O.K.
x1     #64    Madame Hydra
x1     #65     Medusa
x1     #66     Miguel O’Hara
x1     #67     Mister Sinister
x1     #68     Motorcycle
x1     #69     Multiple Man
x1     #70     Negasonic Teenage Warhead
x1     #71     Outlaw
x1     #72     Sandi Brandenberg
x1     #73     Satchel of Unlimited Weaponry
x1     #74     Scarlet Witch
x1     #75     Shiklah
x3     #76     Stepford Cuckoos
x1     #77     Storm
x1     #78     Taskmaster
x1     #79     Wolverine
x1     #80     X-23

Rares and Super Rares

You won’t get all the rares in one feed, but you get a good amount of them. We pulled 17 rares and none of them were duplicates; 5 of our rares were foil. We also pulled one Super Rare, which was foil.

#81     Agent Carter
#83     Angel Dust
#86     Black Tom Cassidy
#87     Blind Al
#88     Bob, Agent of Hydra
#90     Dogpool
#92     Elektra
#93     Evil Deadpool
#97     Hit-Monkey
#102     Madame Hydra
#103     Medusa
#104     Miguel O’Hara
#105     Minster Sinister
#106     Motorcycle
#110     Satchel of Unlimited Weaponry
#111     Scarlet Witch
#112     Shiklah

#123     Phoenix Force Magneto (Super Rare)

New Ability Keywords

Back for More – When a die with Back for More begins the turn in your Prep Area, and is rolled during the Roll and Reroll Step, use its Back for More effect (this isn’t optional).

This wording is straight from the WizKids Official Keyword page. The text on the rules insert left out ‘begins the turn in your Prep Area‘ and had caused a great amount of confusion. Most of the players believed it was intended to work the way described on the Keywords page, and we’re all thankful that WizKids corrected this wording issue quickly!

Back for More triggers when you roll the die and not when you roll and reroll the die. If you compare the Back for More ability’s wording to the wording of a card like Static: Virgil Hawkins, it appears that Back for more would only trigger a single time for each die and not each time the die is rolled in a single Roll and Reroll Step. Parallax‘s Global does not have any effect on this ability since it only triggers during the Roll and Reroll Step.

*UPDATE*

I seem to be slightly outnumbered on the interpretation of how many times you can trigger Back for More during the Roll and Reroll Step. At any time you roll a Back for More die during the Roll and Reroll step, you must trigger the Back for More ability.

Example:

~ I have a Deadpool Affiliated character active, and three Dogpool dice in my Prep Area. I draw my four dice for the turn (four Sidekicks).
~ (Roll and Reroll) I roll the four Sidekicks I drew, plus the three Dogpool dice. Each Dogpool’s Back for More ability triggers when I roll them.
~ (Roll and Reroll) My Deadpool affiliated character gets +1A and +1D for each of the Dogpool dice I rolled, for a total of +3A and +3D.

Here is where the disagreement comes in.

What I think happens:
~ (Roll and Reroll) I decide to reroll my three Dogpool dice. Back for More does not trigger again, because they have each triggered that ability for the turn.

What the slight majority thinks happens:
~ (Roll and Reroll) I decide to reroll my three Dogpool dice. Back for More triggers on each die a second time, giving my Deadpool affiliated character an additional +1A and +1D each, for a total of +6A and +6D (counting the bonus from the first roll).

My Reasoning

If you treat Back for More like a When Fielded or When Attacks ability, which it has similar wording to, then you only get to activate it once per die. You do not have a second Roll and Reroll Step in order to trigger it an additional time.

The Majority’s Reasoning

These players that believe you are able to trigger it multiple times have been using the Manticore’s ruling as a basis for their belief in how many times this ability triggers for each die with the ability in a single Roll and Reroll Step.

There has already been much debate about this ability in my local scene and I’ve gone over every bit of information and looked at the wording. Personally, and for my local events, I will not be going along with the majority. I do see both sides to this discussion, but since there is an actual debate and a divide over how this ability functions, I will invoke the Judge Guidance on this and go with the weaker interpretation until WizKids responds either on WORF or by some other means.

******

Deadly – Character dice that are engaged with a character die that has Deadly are KO’d at the end of the turn (even if the character with Deadly has been KO’d or leaves the Field Zone).

I love this ability! All you need to do with a Deadly character is declare it as a blocker or have it blocked and it becomes ‘engaged’ with the defending character. It’s as simple as that. Just imagine, forcing a nasty character to block with a Global like Wasp: Fashionista, attacking with a Deadly character, then Blink/Distraction Global your attacker back. The blocker would be KO’d because it had been engaged with the Deadly character, but your character would remain unharmed. Such a great ability! This is exactly what we needed to combat against Hulk: Green Goliath or other characters that can be a nuisance when dealt damage. Deadly doesn’t need to do damage the character, they just need to have been engaged.

Returning Keywords

Ally
Fast
Impulse
Regenerate
Swarm
Underdog

New Affiliations

There are several returning affiliations, like Villains and X-Men, but these are brand new affiliations!

Deadpool

Inhumans

Favorites

Here are several of my favorite cards from my Gravity Feed. I wish I could show all the cards I got, but until I get a scanner, I can only do a few favorites.

Domino: Neena Thurman (left) – Anytime I can get some rerolls for free, I’m happy! I like her ability, but I also like her fielding costs (TFC 2) and her attack stats. Her purchase cost is only three and she would make a great aggressive character by making her unblockable or giving her Overcrush. I really do like this character and even though her defense isn’t great, I think she’ll make a great character for a casual Overcrush team.

Lady Bullseye: Attack on Two Fronts (center) – Lady Bullseye has the potential be a very lethal character. Her ability does not say that she must be the source of damage nor does it specify that it must be a specific kind of damage. You could field her and then Magic Missile a character for two damage instead of one – for a single Bolt energy. You can force a character to block and then attack with her to do a minimum of six damage to the blocker. With such a low defense, you can almost guarantee that a blocker will KO her so you could possibly get to use her ability all over again on your next turn. Her purchase cost of three and a TFC of two is amazing in itself, and when you consider that with her ability, I think she could possibly find her way onto a competitive team somewhere.

Lockjaw: Fiercely Loyal (right) – This card can be extremely powerful. His text says: “While Lockjaw is active, before your opponent’s Clear and Draw Step, name a non-Sidekick die. If your opponent draws that die, deal 2 damage to all of that opponent’s character dice and each of your Lockjaw dice get +2A.” If I name Deadpool, and my opponent draws at least one Deadpool die during their Clear and Draw Step, Lockjaw deals two damage to all their character dice and all of my Lockjaw dice get +2A. That’s how I interpret his ability to work which is pretty powerful. He’s got a near perfect TFC of one and his defense stats aren’t bad. I could see him being played quite a bit in casual play, and maybe squeaking onto a rogue competitive team.

Madame Hydra: Viper (left) – There aren’t many card abilities in the game that move dice out of an opponent’s Prep Area. I like this ability because it can mess up your opponent’s bag flow a little bit which could be all you need to help you make a comeback or pull ahead in a game. Her purchase cost, fielding costs, and attack stats are decent. But for her ability to be effective, she needs to damage an opponent. That would most likely require the use of another card, like Silver Sable: Hero for Hire or Stealth Ops to help her get damage in to your opponent. You could give her Overcrush, but with an attack of 2/3/4, you’d need her on level two or three or use an ability to boost her attack to make it worthwhile. I really like this ability, but I feel like she needs a team that’s partially built around her.

Medusa: Tangled Up (center) – Oh my, how I love this card! Not only is Medusa’s die pretty, but her art is gorgeous too. She’s got Deadly, which seems fitting, and she has an additional ability that allows her to block up to two character dice. If you know anything about the comic character, you’ll agree that this ability seems perfect for her. When you look at her for a team, she’s an awesome blocker. If your opponent doesn’t want their attackers KO’d, they are not going to attack while Medusa is in your Field. She only cost four energy to purchase and she’s a Mask character. She’s got a TFC of four, so once you get her active, you probably won’t want to have to field her again. He lowest defense is four which is really good for a defensive character. She doesn’t necessarily need a high attack stat, but her attack isn’t bad with it being a 2/3/4. She will most likely see casual play and possibly be a consideration for a few competitive teams, though I don’t think she’ll make the big lists.

Free Chimichangas: Aged to Perfection (right) – If something that only costs three energy could possibly give one of my characters Deadly and +2D, I’m totally down to try it on a team! Not only is the ability pretty good, but it’s chimichangas… that are free… and age to perfection. But seriously, adding this to a team with the common Domino, seems like a fun team. If you like to use PXG, this die is a win-win since it’s a Mask die. The defense boost could keep her alive if she’s blocked while attacking, and it gives her Deadly so anyone that’s engaged with her will get KO’d. I think that’s the part I like best. I’d totally pay three energy for a die that could give any of my characters the Deadly ability. The boost to defense is just cheese on the chimichanga.

Medusa: Bad Hair Day (left) – Here she is again – Medusa with her Deadly ability. But this Medusa has a different ability from her common counterpart. When she KO’s a character die with combat damage, you can send it to the Used Pile instead of the Prep Area. It’s that extra little jab – not only did she knock out the character, but they don’t get to reroll it next turn. Her attack stats aren’t bad but if you needed a higher attack, you could easily use Ant-Man: Pym Particles Global to fix that. Just to make sure this is clear – Deadly does not work for her other ability. She would need to deal damage with her attack in order for you to gain the benefits of her second ability. I think she’ll possibly see lots of casual play, but again, she falls just short of competitive play. Part of the reason is her purchase cost of five. I still really like her ability and it looks like it could be fun to play around with.

Mister Sinister: Gene Splicer (center) – The one thing that I don’t like about this card is that he cost six to purchase. His TFC of five is kinda high, but once you field him, you will do what you can to keep him there. I just really like his ability to force your opponents into choosing to pay life for a reroll, or just to deal with the initial roll results. I don’t see this guy making competitive play, or even much in the way of casual play. I just wanted to feature him for his ability.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead: Bored in School (right) – This character is probably the only character with an Underdog ability that I actually like. I’ve played around with Underdog and I have had a hard time trying to get it to work for me. But Negasonic Teenage Warhead’s ability seems like it’s totally worth the work. If you have less characters in the Field when she attacks, she gets to spin up to level three and she gains Fast. That’s so good! She only cost three to purchase, her TFC is two, and her attack on level three is six! You pair her with Overcrush and she’s a force to be reckoned with! To help yourself achieve Underdog, you can use Blue-Eyes Global or Fabricate to reduce the number of your characters in the Field Zone. I can’t wait to give this character a go in our casual scene. Not sure she’ll see competitive play, but I bet she’ll be super fun to play around with in casual play.

Agent Carter: Answered the Call (left) – This is a card that could see a decent amount of competitive play. She only cost two to purchase, has a TFC of one, and also has a decent defense. Her ability is pretty good for both competitive and casual play. Adding onto the fielding cost of Sidekicks could definitely throw a wrench into someone’s plans. She wouldn’t affect Ally dice though, since they wouldn’t be considered a Sidekick until after they enter the Field Zone, and by then you’ve already paid their fielding cost. I still think she’s an excellent card and I would not be surprised to see her on competitive and casual teams.

Medusa: Queen of Attilan (center) – It’s not often that all three versions of a card make it into my favorites, but Medusa did. Again, she has Deadly and another ability. Her second ability works only with combat damage, like her uncommon version. But if she KO’s an opposing character die with combat damage, you gain one life. Life gain is not a big deal right now, but every point of life counts! Her purchase cost could prevent her from seeing the competitive scene, but she could be the most desired version for casual play. If I had to choose one right now to try, I would definitely take the rare. You can always force characters to attack or block and then use her to counter that character. You can boost her attack or even swap it with her defense to help KO a character. She has great potential and I’d love to see her make it out of casual play and into the competitive arena.

Miguel O’Hara: Lyrate Lifeform Approximation (right) – I began collecting comics with Spider-Man. Later, I branched out into the other Spider-Comics like Spider-Man 2099, which is Miguel O’Hara. I’m not disappointed with this version of Miguel O’Hara. His Back for More ability is a nice paper cut, but his purchase cost of four and Fast ability is what I really like. I do not like expensive Fast characters, because they don’t seem ‘fast’ to me. I like his attack stats, but I’m not a fan of his level three fielding cost. I’d probably reroll a level three Miguel O’Hara if I wasn’t in dire need of a character for that turn. His level one and level two stats are just fine though. I’m thrilled that he has the Spider-Friends affiliation, because I feel like I can possibly build a decent casual Spider-Friends team now! I really love his die too. It’s one that you need to see in person – pictures would not do it justice.

Final Thoughts

Normally I have several dice that I like to showcase because they’re really pretty or really nice looking. I wasn’t overly impressed with the dice in this set. Miguel O’Hara and Medusa are cool, and Lady Deadpool is neat, but not ones I feel the need to show. I would actually put up a picture of Miguel O’Hara’s die, but none of the pictures I’ve tried do his die justice. There are dice of all kinds in this set from plain opaque ones to sparkly glittery and two toned colors.

Every card in this set has a foil version, just like the Green Arrow and The Flash set. It’s safe to assume that all the Super Rares are foil only, just like GATF. I would hate to have to chase regular and foil Super Rare cards. Like the previous set, the foils have a watermark in the shape of their die symbol in their text box.

From all the cards I pulled in my feed and from other reports I’ve heard, there is only one card with a Global Ability in the entire set. I’m totally okay with this! Lots of the previous sets are loaded with Globals and having a set that’s light in Globals in kind of refreshing. This should be a fantastic slugfest of a draft set! I can’t wait to draft on Saturday, and I have no clue what two Basic Actions to bring.

What are some of your favorite cards in the set?
How do you think the meta will shift, if at all?
What cards are you excited to try in a casual setting?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Roll on, Dice Masters!

News! Back for More Clarification!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

Before roughly 10:00 am central time, Back for More read as follows (from the rules insert):

When a die with Back for More is rolled from the Prep Area during the Roll and Reroll Step, use its Back for More effect (this isn’t optional).

But now, we have an update on the WizKids Keyword Page!

When a die with Back for More begins the turn in your Prep Area, and is rolled during the Roll and Reroll Step, use its Back for More effect (this isn’t optional).

The reason this is important is because it keeps Back for More from triggering off of dice that were drawn during the Clear and Draw Step. There should be no reason for any debate in regards to which dice can trigger Back for More. They must have the Back for More ability and also be in your Prep Area at the beginning of your turn.

Thank you WizKids for being so quick to address this potential rules issue and thanks to KeymanDM on Reddit for finding the change on the Keywords page. Make sure you spread the word so that everyone is clear on how this ability is supposed to work!

Roll on, Dice Masters!