Anyway, how exciting it is to finally have another DND set. This set is special, as it does not come in a gravity feed but rather a draft pack. For those who don't know what a draft pack is, instead of each pack having 2 cards and 2 dice, a draft pack has 2 basic action cards, character/action cards and 24 corresponding dice.
That's right, it is meant to play draft. What I like about this is this concept is that if you were to play a draft, instead of opening 12 foil packs from a gravity feed, you just need to use 2 draft pack. Each draft pack has 2 guaranteed rare cards, so you are guaranteed at least 2 rare in your draft, unless if you don't want to draft it, compared to foil packs where unlucky individual might not even draft 1 rare in the draft.
The only difference when playing this draft pack is that you no longer get the luxury of picking your 2 basic action card and can only use the basic action cards you drafted, so be careful of the cards you draft.
Without further ado, let's review what this set has to offer. As always, Marvel and DC fans are welcomed to check out the cards in case you find something interesting.
Disclaimer: As much as I am a comic book fan, I do like DND concept as well, all my reviews are strictly based on the game and nothing personal against any creatures or characters. :)
Also, there might be some words that you might not understand from this article, these are terms we used in the game,
Beefy - Strong stats
Ramp - Effects that allows you to roll more dice
Ping - Dealing damage to a character
Pump - Additional stats to a character
Spill damage - Damage from overcrush
Swarm - Having way more characters in the field than your opponent and attacking with all of them. Not to be confused with the Swarm Keyword.
New Keywords
Attune - When a character with this keyword is active, whenever you use an action die, deal 1 damage to target player or character.
Traps - When a trap action die is played, move it to the field zone, anytime when the criteria of the trap is met, trigger the effect immediately and place the action die into your used pile.
Also, each card will be rated according to their ability, cost, stats and affiliation.
1/10- This card is useless, it helps your opponent more than you do.
2/10- This card is almost useless, try not to use it.
3/10- This card is too expensive and the ability is not as great.
4/10- This card is cheap, but the ability could be better, use other cards that have the same cost but better ability instead.
5/10- Mediocre card
6/10- With some set up, you can make this card work, but it really takes a lot of effort to make this card work.
7/10- This card is above average
8/10- This card is great, with the right combo you can destroy your opponent with this card
9/10- This card is amazing, you can use this card in almost any environment
10/10- The perfect card, if you play with this card you have an extremely high chance of winning the game.
(Note: The rating are based on my opinion, your point of view will definitely be different)
New Keywords
Attune - When a character with this keyword is active, whenever you use an action die, deal 1 damage to target player or character.
Traps - When a trap action die is played, move it to the field zone, anytime when the criteria of the trap is met, trigger the effect immediately and place the action die into your used pile.
Also, each card will be rated according to their ability, cost, stats and affiliation.
1/10- This card is useless, it helps your opponent more than you do.
2/10- This card is almost useless, try not to use it.
3/10- This card is too expensive and the ability is not as great.
4/10- This card is cheap, but the ability could be better, use other cards that have the same cost but better ability instead.
5/10- Mediocre card
6/10- With some set up, you can make this card work, but it really takes a lot of effort to make this card work.
7/10- This card is above average
8/10- This card is great, with the right combo you can destroy your opponent with this card
9/10- This card is amazing, you can use this card in almost any environment
10/10- The perfect card, if you play with this card you have an extremely high chance of winning the game.
(Note: The rating are based on my opinion, your point of view will definitely be different)
Basic Action Cards
Having an action card that can deal indirect damage to your opponent allows you to have at least 1 offensive option in a draft. This action is not hard to trigger, but to use it to it's full potential might need some luck, unless you have ways to get all 4 different energy in your reserve pool. I would still prefer Magic Missile since it's cheaper and guarantees you 2 damage, but in a draft, if you have no better source of offense, this is a good alternative.
7/10 (Draft)
6/10 (Constructed, it's really not easy getting different type of energy in your reserve pool, you probably deal only 1 or 2 damage each time you use this action)
I like how the game actually gives good basic action cards in your draft pack. This card is good because it allows you to have a choice between ramping dice this turn or for the next turn, it's simple, easy to use but critical especially in a draft since very little characters have ramp abilities.
9/10
I believe this is the third print for this action card in the dice masters universe. A great action card to help you clear the opposing field. The global is very useful for overcrush characters, or in case you need to pump your characters to knock out an opposing character.
8/10
This action is great to use in the early game when your sidekick dice are still inside your bag, if you are lucky you might ramp 8 additional dice for this effect, but that's the extreme case. Normally, I believe you would ramp at least 1 or 2 dice for this effect. Great early game ramp, if you are lucky, you might be way ahead of your opponent in terms of dice prep. The global does compliment with the effect too, or you can use it for a chance to draw a weaker die and place it in your used pile so you won't draw it next turn.
9/10 (Great early game ramp and can be the game changer)
This a good defensive action. When an opposing character attack, if you don't want to block it, you can use this action to 'block' that character. The issue is that only on burst sides then you get to use it against any character of any level. It's a decent action and it's continuous, it might save you if you don't have blockers.
7/10
A 2 cost Gear is great and it's a cheap counter to overcrush, even without the double burst face, the effect is like doubling the equipped character's defense and if you equip to a strong blocker, it's even more durable now. The global can also come in handy to prevent characters from dealing spiel damage or getting knocked out.
8/10 ( It should have higher rating but it cannot be equipped to everyone, so this is the maximum I can give)
This is a really unique and interesting basic action card. You get to use your opponent's die. Don't just look at the fact that you will help your opponent prep a die, but the fact that you get to use their dice, I mean you get to choose between the 2 dice that was drew, so you definitely would give the weaker one for your opponent to prep and you will use the stronger one. It will depend on some luck but in the late game, your opponent's bag will be filled with strong characters or action, so you can used it against them, also, the returned dice goes to their used pile, so you pretty much delayed their usage of the good dice.
7/10 (It's really fun using this effect and what's good is it actually works when you draw a good die)
A gear that pumps attack and can save the equipped character from being knocked out, nothing bad about it. If you are using characters with equip symbol like adventurers or pirates, you can consider this gear.
7/10
1 cost action are always good, it will provide you 2 energy from a 1 cost die. The effect is great as well, on one hand, you can pump a character's attack, which can be crazy if the rolled die has high attack value, and on the other hand, you get to prep a die, from a 1 cost action you GET TO PREP A DIE, how cool is that! This is one of the action cards that you need to look out for in a draft.
10/10
The effect of the action may not be very powerful if your intention is to field sidekicks, because of the fact that you could end up moving any non-sidekick dice into your used pile. The global however, is very powerful. Don't look at the sidekick's stat thinking that it's harmless, if it's pumped up, it can still do heavy damage to the opponent. This action is great in a sidekick combo and in a draft, if you have no source of offense, you can build your team around pumping a sidekick and using the global.
8/10
This basic action card changes the entire complexion of the game, it introduce a ping global and it's so commonly use to pair with effects that triggers when an action is used, a good and retro basic action card, so glad it's in the draft pack so you get a chance to use it.
9/10
This action does require some luck, but if you luck is good, you might deal as much as 7 damage to your opponent. On the other hand, if your luck is bad, you might not deal any damage to your opponent. So do some dice management before using this action to deal as much damage as possible.
7/10 (When you are desperate, this action might just help turn the tide)
Character / Action Cards
Before I begin, for those who are unsure of the Experience Keyword, it is an ability that if a character with Experience is active and knocks out an opposing monster (a character with monster affiliation), place an experience token on that character's card. One character card can only gain 1 experience token per turn. Each experience token on a card equates to +1A and +1D to the character dice.
An adventurer is a character with the experience keyword on it's card.
Experience character are quite underrated in a draft, those experience token, when stacked, can be very deadly. Paladin is a decent character you can use in the draft, she has good stats and her ability helps to protect your adventurer from Evil characters, which in the draft is a lot. However, in the constructed format, not a lot of people will use Evil characters, not as of now, so her ability might not help you.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed)
Aasimar Paladin has really defensive stats, preventing half of combat damage from Evil character will make her more durable against Evil characters in combat, especially against one that has overcrush. It's a decent ability for a draft.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed)
(NPC are simply sidekick dice)
Evil characters are not rare to fight against in a draft since they are playable. So your sidekicks are pretty much going to get the pump when she is active. A pumped sidekick is so much better as they can be a threat and those stats will come in handy.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed)
Acererak has such a defensive stats. He may be very costly, but his stats does justify his cost. He has 2 abilities, the first one is great if you are playing an action combo, just keep him active and play a cheap cost action die and you can deal damage to your opponent. His second ability is as good, but because it's a fielding ability, so you probably can trigger only once in a game since he won't have a chance to leave the field, thus, make sure that when you trigger his second ability, the double burst effect has to be a deadly one.
7/10 (Draft, mainly because your choice of basic action cards is quite limited for his second ability)
8/10 (Constructed)
This version of Acererak supports Evil character instead. Both his abilities compliment one another, the first one allows you to deal damage when you use an action die when he is active, and the second one allows you to reduce cost of a Evil character, great ability! His global ability also helps both his abilities since you have a chance to reroll action die, it's also great to support an Attune team.
8/10
Attune ability is great, so to purchase a character with Attune at only 3 cost is so worth it. Traps, Undeads, Constructs and Ras Nsi are not expensive dice, you can buy 2 of them and keep them in the field and Acecerak will reduce to 3 cost, which is really cheap for his ability and stats.
8/10
Dinosaurs in DND series, I always want to see a Dragon fight against a Dinosaur. Allosaurus does not have any ability and it's stats is decent, just decent. Unless you have nothing else to pick, try to draft or choose another character with abilities or cheaper cost.
5/10
For an additional cost to get an additional pump when it attacks does justify the increase of cost. Despite that, for 5 cost, and no other ability to pressure my opponent, I would suggest using other characters instead.
6/10
Overcrush does add a little benefit to a 5 cost Allosaurus, still, the attack value is not significant enough for you to deal any spiel damage. It's actually more efficient to spend 5 cost on a cheap cost character and cheap cost action that gives overcrush, Unless someone can boost Dinosaurs, you might want to use other more powerful creatures.
6/10
Great to see the Golems back in the game. Fabricate is an ability that changes the complexity of the game, you can knock out characters that have fielding abilities but hard to leave the field and at the same time, purchase a Golem for free.
I believe if anyone were to use a Golem, you are going to buy 1 for free using Fabricate, so that leaves us to the ability part. You can use Amber Golem to help you to get rid of any opposing character in the field, just attack with it and as long as it is blocked, you can use the ability to deal damage to a different opposing character. If your opponent doesn't block, you get to deal combat damage to him/her, so nothing bad coming from a 'free' character.
7/10
As long as the fabricate cost is the same, I don't think the printed cost matter, you probably not going to purchase it the traditional way.
Usually when a character is declare as a blocker, it's usually a character with fielding ability that the owner hopes would get knocked out and can trigger it's ability again next turn. Amber Golem changes that, if it knocks out a character, you can pay 1 energy to send it to the used pile, affecting your opponent's game play in the process. And again, it's a great ability coming from a 'free' character.
7/10 (would have given higher rating if you don't need to pay energy to trigger the ability)
Amber Golem rewards your effort of Fabricating by giving you 2 life. Reducing the cost of Fabricate might not necessary be a good thing, knocking out 2 characters with combine 5 cost can be easier to do than knocking out 1 character with cost 4, so you need to make sure that the ability helps you, fabricate abilities cost reduction is a bit more tricky than normal purchase cost reduction, it's not that direct, you have to form your team carefully based on the Fabricate cost of the Golem you use, if you don't think you need the reduction cost of fabricate, don't include this. Still, you can keep an Amber Golem in your team for the healing effect in case you desperately need it.
7/10 (Will be good if you have more dice)
In a draft, you can take advantage of the situation where your opponent has a lot of Evil character dice in their field. A force block ability is lethal, it forces all opposing character to block Artus Cimber and leave most of your characters unblocked and hopefully win the game.
7/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed, don't bet on your opponent using Evil characters in constructed format)
If you need a counter against Evil characters, and you have a team of non-evil characters, look no further, decent ability, but questionable if it's worth 5 cost.
Still, in a constructed format, don't expect him to trigger his ability.
7/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed, don't bet on your opponent using Evil characters in constructed format)
This version of Artus Cimber simply weakens an evil character, yours and your opponent's. In a draft, I don't think weakening an evil character by spinning them down to level 1 possess any major threat against your opponent simply because most Evil character in this set does not depend on their stats to win the game.
7/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed, don't bet on your opponent using Evil characters in constructed format)
I don't think you want to use Basilisk to counter an opposing character. First, a fielding ability on a character with high defense is not ideal. Second, there's a chance, 50 percent to be exact, that you won't trigger it's ability upon fielding it. Third, you can only knock out opposing character that is the same as your rolled character face for it's ability, so more luck involved. Lastly, you don't get to ramp any dice for this effect, all this effort and luck from a 5 cost character is ridiculous.
2/10
Deadly is an ability, where any character that engages with a character that has this ability will be knocked out after combat damage is resolve, literally deadly.
A more usable Basilisk, the second ability complements with the Deadly keyword, you can use it to knock out any opposing character regardless of their stats. For only 4 cost, it's a great counter to any opposing character.
9/10
Basilisk still has the Deadly keyword, so it's a bonus, this version is more used against a sidekick team. if your opponent has too many sidekicks in the field, you can attack with Basilisk and the chances of those sidekicks being active will decrease.
7/10
A 2 cost character with Swarm keyword is always good especially in a draft. Right after you are done using the swarm effect, you can field all your Battle Stack in the field, and their stats will increase, for only 2 cost and potential 5A 5D, it's really a good card.
7/10
This version is better if you only want to use the Battle Stack for ramp purpose and you don't intend to attack or block with it in the long run. One issue about swarm effect is that your opponent can ping the only active die in the field and ruin your ramp, this version of Battle Stack allows you to capture a sidekick die of your own and pump it's stats to prevent getting knocked out easily. Another way to view is that a Battle Stack can help you to capture your own sidekick dice so you won't have to draw them and you have a higher chance to drawing better dice.
7/10
For 3 cost, it might seem that the ramp effect would slow down. Fear not, if you have Queen Grabstab active, you will ramp 2 dice instead if you swarm with Battle Stack's ability, and that's powerful. Plus, you get the pump if Queen Grabstab is active.
8/10
3 cost Adventurer with the effect of spinning an adventurer up a level every turn. Not bad.
7/10
If you have a wall of character and you attack with 4 Birdsong, they all get +4A +8D, poweful and durable, could potentially end the game for your opponent. In a draft, if you don't have good characters, you can use him and build an army of cheap characters around him.
8/10
If you want to build a team of Adventurer, you need to include Birdsong in it. Having the ability to ramp a die each time you field an adventurer is great, the thing is you need to keep Birdsong at level 3 so you get to ramp a die for every Adventurer you fielded.
7/10
I believe Captain Jaharwon is a pirate, oh wait, he actually is. For 4 cost, his stats seem decent but the thing about his ability is once you equipped him with a gear, his attack value rises. Depending on the gear you equipped him with, but if you can combo him with a good gear, he can be quite powerful.
7/10
Instead of equipping him with gear to pump his attack, this version of Captain Jaharwon relies on other pirate characters to boost his attack. The issue is that there is literally only 2 pirates in the game, so he will only get a maximum of +3A, and if that's the case, you might as well use the common version.
4/10
Instead of being offensive, this version of Captain Jaharwon is supportive, but only for Evil characters. Adding a purchased dice into your bag can be crucial especially if you desperately need that character as soon as possible.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed, I believe Big Entrance BAC does the job better in terms of adding dice into your bag and doesn't restrict to Evil characters)
Similar to Captain Jaharwon common version, so I won't repeat myself.
7/10
Similar to Captain Jaharwon uncommon version, so I won't repeat myself, seriously, is Wizkids getting lazy or something.
4/10
I actually thought the rare version will be the same as Captain Jaharwon, glad that it's not, I don't really like 2 different character cards having the same text purchase cost, same energy, same stats and same ability, they are the same but you can't compile them into 1 slot in your team, makes drafting a little hard.
Anyway, giving Captain Laskilar fielding ability seems like a bad move and the ability isn't even that strong. Adding the next die you purchased into the bag seems fine but there's no other ability that comes with it.
4/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed, Big Entrance does the same effect but it's easier to trigger than this card)
A 1 cost card is always amazing based on the fact that you can get 2 energy out from it. Unfortunately, for Chwinga, there's a price to pay for using this super cheap swarm effect, it must attack if it's at level 2 or 3, so it's gonna be hard for you to ramp with it's swarm since your opponent is going to block and knock it out to prevent you from ramping, so hope you get to field it at level 1, plus, the level 2 and 3 fielding cost is ridiculous.
7/10 (I wanted to give more, but if you can't ramp with a swarm character, it kind of defeats the purpose, but still, 1 cost character, so it's worth trying your luck to field it at level 1)
The difference between a 1 and 2 cost character with swarm is the speed of getting it during the early game, it's a snowball effect, the faster you get a character, the faster you can ramp and start to build your offenses.
A 2 cost Chwinga is not bad but not as good as a 1 cost swarm, plus, there are plenty of 2 cost swarm characters that can do the job and has way better stats. The stats and fielding cost doesn't justify with one another as well.
4/10 (Sorry but I think there are better Swarm characters out there, be it draft or constructed)
It's like wizkids heard what I said about the uncommon version and immediately makes the rare version playable.
As I said, 2 cost swarm characters are not as fast as their 1 cost counterpart, however, this version of Chwinga does not have the force attack ability, the third ability on the other hand actually protects you from making a loss from using Chwinga, if your opponent wants to ping it and knock it out, you get to prep a die for your loss, which is a good consolation prize and also a reason to choose this version over the common one.
Use the common version if you want to be very aggressive with your swarm and you don't mind trying your luck to field it at level 1, use the rare version if you want an almost guaranteed swarm effect overtime and you don't mind starting slower.
7/10
Copycats are wild cards, Doppelganger is an amazing copycat because it's low cost and literally copied everything from the target character. So you can have it copy a high cost character with great ability or great stats. There's so much ways to use it, it;s just so versatile.
9/10
The difference for this version is you get to copy your opponent's character. It's a bit risky because Doppelganger is a 3 cost, you can never copy a character with cost 3 or higher, so your choice is quite limited.
4/10 (Use the common version)
The super rare version also allows you to copy an opposing character die instead, but it has to be equal or lower level than Doppelganger's. Copying an opposing character's ability can be quite fun but lethal, you can literally using your opponent's move against him/her. It's quite worth the trade as you only spend 3 cost for a chance to copy a much high cost character. Good super rare.
9/10 (Anything your opponent plays will be useful as your opponent wants to win so he/she will have at least 1 strong character in play, so why not copy it and use it against your opponent)
We have our first trap action card here.
This Trap action card can act as a protection in case your opponent overwhelms you with characters. Area damage can be devastating especially if you can wipe out your opponent's field. With this trap in play, your opponent wouldn't be too aggressive in case you can wipe out their field when they attack and leave themselves vulnerable during their turn.
7/10
Dragons are pretty expensive in the game mostly because their abilities are good or they have beefy stats. Dragon Statue Trap act as another form of protection, whenever your opponent declare attackers, you can immediately field an unpurchased Dragon into the field at max level and can use it as a blocker, one 'free' blocker would definitely be advantageous to you, plus, you could also trigger the Dragon's ability if it has any.
7/10 (Only 1 die is allow so you can't trigger the trap as fast as you could if you have 4 dice, but good defensive card nevertheless)
This action die does support a Dragon Team. When triggered, you will be able to roll ALL of your Dragon dice in your used pile, It helps you to field your Dragons faster and the double burst effect of the Trap allows you to prep it when triggered so you have another chance of using it on your next turn. Again, the drawback is that it only has 1 die.
6/10 (It's not really that easy to pull this one off)
Dragonborn Sorcerer acts as a good defensive Adventurer. That's about it.
5/10
Just adding the Attune ability makes this card so playable. The third ability compliments it's Attune ability, if you are using an Action combo, you are mainly relying on action dice that deals non-combat damage to your opponent, so that damage increment sure will help. In draft, you just need to use him and 1 action die that deals non-combat damage and that is pretty much your offensive option for the game.
9/10
A fielding ability on Dragonborn Sorcerer isn't ideal, plus, the ability only deals 2 damage to Evil character, and from a 5 cost character, the area damage seems weak. Even in draft, you can't guarantee that the area damage will knock out your opponent's field, let alone a constructed format. I will still prefer the uncommon version over this.
5/10 (Draft, still usable, but mediocre because hard to trigger ability over and again)
3/10 (Constructed, I don't think your opponent will play an all Evil character team)
As said earlier on, Adventurer can be very powerful if they have a lot of experience token on their card. Elf Druid helps you to gain even more experience token on her card. Simply have 1 Dragon character active and she gets the pump every turn. Since experience tokens are permanent, it's not surprised to see a 10A 11D Elf Druid in the long run, so much potential from a 3 cost character.
7/10 (Deadly as it can be, it still takes time to set up the experience token)
Well, 3 cost character with Attune is good enough.
7/10 (Good ability but her fielding cost can be expensive)
There are so many supporters in the game, Elf Druid becomes another Dragon supporter. However, unlike other combo, Dragons are high cost and don't usually exits the field, mainly because of their beefy stats, so you might not need Elf Druid as you won't be fielding Dragons often. However, if you combo this with Dragon Statue Trap uncommon, each time you field a Dragon for the effect, you also get to ramp a die, so that's one way to use this card.
7/10
Flipping a character's stats is critical at times where a defensive character can become a lethal attacker. Fenthaza helps a character to flip their stats when you need to. However, her defense is high so it's hard for her to exit the field and trigger her ability, do use Fabricate for her to exit the field. Her ability can change the game, so in a draft if you ever need to flip a character's stats, do look out for her.
8/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed, Kal-L or Ant Man global is more easier to used to flip stats)
Shield characters tend to have high defense and low attack, using Fenthaza to make their attack as high as their defense could change the game as they can be a source of offense for a turn. Still, to build a team around Shield characters can be risky, and to set up a finishing move using her ability really does take a lot of time.
6/10
Attune ability is always welcome in today's game, it has become one of the meta to use action dice to win the game.
Fenthaza second ability can come in handy, those +1A pump for your characters could finish your opponent off. You can build a team of low cost characters and plays action dice that deals area damage to wipe out your opponent's field and finally rush in with all your characters, that should be the end of your opponent's game. Quite versatile card, very supportive and offensive.
8/10
I believe this is the first DND character to have a second print in the Dice Masters Universe. Frost Giant appears in earlier DND sets.
Frost Giant's stats is crazy, and the ability helps you to deplete your opponent's energy. Your opponent have to spend 1 energy to declare 1 attacker, and it will slow down your opponent's aggression.
7/10 (I can't give more because a lot of people will be using non-combat damage, so Frost Giant might not be needed in a lot of game, nevertheless it's a great ability)
As good as Frost Giant stats is, there are a lot of level 2 or 3 characters that have low cost and good stats to block Frost Giant even if it has overcrush, unless you have a way to spin all opposing character to level 1, I don't think Frost Giant can deal a lot of damage for you in a game.
6/10
Surprisingly, the defense of Frost Giant makes it easier for it to exit the field. So fielding ability isn't the worse ability it can have. A 4 area damage to all adventurer could knock them out but to spend 7 cost on it seems dangerous. Plus, even in a draft, if your opponent were to use an Adventurer team, they would be pump by the time Frost Giant enters the field, so those area damage might not do any good for you. There are great 7 cost ability and unfortunately, this isn't one of them.
6/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed, don't expect the ability to work against any opponent)
A recap on Breath Weapon Ability. The number beside the keyword represents the energy needed to trigger the ability. Once per turn, when the Dragon is active, you may pay that energy to deal that amount of damage to each opposing character and opposing player.
This is the first Dragon in this set, Gold Dragon does have good stats and if you think your opponent is going to play a Dragon or if you think your team is vulnerable to Dragons, you can use Gold Dragon's Anti breath weapon to stop it.
7/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed, not many people plays Dragon combo nowadays, so you don't have to be scared of Breath Weapon)
Instead of using Anti Breath weapon to defend against a Dragon, you can use Gold Dragon to counter your opponent's Dragon. If your opponent uses any Dragon, he/she will think twice before using Breath Weapon and they might wipe out their own field with it.
7/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed, not many people plays Dragon combo nowadays, so you don't have to be scared of Breath Weapon)
A Breath Weapon 3 is scary, so is an Attune ability, combine this 2 up and you get a really scary Dragon.
7/10
Another Adventurer that can get experience token really fast. Sidekicks are easy to knock out, and I would gladly trade 2 opposing sidekicks for 1 experience token. Even in constructed format, you could force your opponent to field sidekicks and knock them out to pump Goliath Fighter, so it's playable.
7/10 (Draft)
6/10 (Constructed, with evil characters to help you gain experience token, it might take a long time to build up Goliath Fighter)
Another alternative to pump up your Goliath Fighter. With his ability, experience token and maybe gears that can further pump his stats, he can be a force to be reckon with.
6/10 (It does take a while to pump him)
In a draft, Goliath Fighter can gain lots of experience token if your opponent plays a lot of Monsters. Still, level 1 monsters doesn't really help the ability, but having a chance to gain an extra experience token is not a bad thing.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed, monsters are not a meta in the game now so Goliath Fighter might end up being a vanilla card if no opposing monsters is active)
This trap controls your opponent's field. It forces your opponent to reroll all their character if they have 4 or more character dice, and if they failed to roll on a character face, they go to the used pile, now that's one way to punish your opponent! Your opponent will be forced to use 3 or less characters in their field in their entire game to prevent losing them, and this kind of pressure puts you in a game spot. I see this being used a lot in a draft, so be careful when you play a draft, try not to rely on a bunch of characters for your game in case you lose them because of this effect.
9/10
My understanding of this trap effect is that if my opponent fields a character with purchase cost greater than the purchase cost of ANY of my character, I get to prep 3 dice, which means as long as I have an active character that is lower purchase cost than the fielded character, the trap effect triggers. I might be wrong, but this is how I interpret it, hope wizkids clarify.
I will review the card based on my interpretation , will edit it if i am wrong.
The trap effect acts as a ramp, just have a sidekick fielded and when your opponent fields any character that have a cost 1 or more, you get to trigger the trap and prep 3 die. The ramp effect is so good and in a draft, it will be so helpful, so look out for it in the draft. In constructed, this action is good too, but it does take a while to trigger, regardless, you get to prep 3 dice, that's amazing.
9/10
This version of Green Devil Mask helps you to protect against area damage. If your opponent decides to use breath weapon or any area damage to your field, you can use this trap to 'revive' your characters. It's more of a safeguard, and it's good to have since there are a few characters and action that are capable of wiping out the entire field.
7/10 (If area damage becomes a meta, this will increase to 9/10)
In a draft, this can be a good supportive character, being able to reroll 1 die one more time can be crucial especially if you need the die, However, in constructed format, there are cheaper characters that allows you to have 1 more reroll attempt, not just reroll 1 die, so you have better alternatives in constructed.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed)
For 4 cost to pump your sidekicks is a little expensive because there are other cheaper cost character that can do the same thing. In draft, if you need stronger sidekicks, she is one of the few options though.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed)
A more usable Human Outlander. You can give her overcrush and deal some spiel damage and because of her low defense, she will probably get knocked out, so you can deal 2 damage from her ability.
8/10
A unique action, the Aarakocra characters can act as an additional active character for your team, 2 3A 3D characters can come in handy if you need to finish your opponent. The good thing about the effect is you get to knock out those 2 characters and it's like moving 2 sidekick dice from your used pile to your prep area but in the process, you can use them to attack. If the max dice allow is more than 1, this action would be so imba, but 1 is enough to do the job.
8/10
OMG, how many 1 cost cards are there in this set?! It's a good thing, don't mistaken, I am just surprised, but in a good way.
The trap effect is awesome, you get to buy a 2 cost or lower character for free when the trap effect triggers, which is not a difficult task, your opponent is bond to field a level 2 character some point in the game. Not only do you get to purchase a die for free, you get to move it to the field as well, and that's coming from a 1 cost card effect!
10/10
In a draft, you can use this action to support your character with swarm ability. Purchasing them for free from a 1 cost trap is never a bad thing, and your opponent should field at least 1 adventurer in a game since there are so many Adventurers in this set that are usable.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed, the common version is stronger and in constructed format, don't expect all your opponent to play Adventurer)
It's crazy to have so many 1 cost card. This trap helps you to get your swarm character into the field faster and your opponent should field sidekicks in the early game, even if they don't, you can use effect to force them to do so and trigger this trap. For 1 cost, I think it's a great effect.
7/10
This trap helps you to slow your opponent's swarm ramp effect, and it prevents your opponent to rely on 1 character throughout the game. This trap has potential but even if your opponent use swarm effect, you only remove 1 of those die they swarm with, and they are still left with a lot of dice to roll. Also, it's not common for your opponent to roll 2 or more same character dice at the same time. It's easy to counter this trap effect.
4/10
This trap prevents your opponent from fielding sidekicks, the effect is good but the chances of your opponent getting 2 or more sidekick dice on their character face on their first roll attempt is very very slim, so you might not trigger the effect for the entire game.
5/10
A good preventive measure against your opponent. Unfortunately the trap counters only level 1 character, but you get to knock it out before it can even deal any damage, coming from a 2 cost trap, it's decent.
7/10
This unfortunately isn't a dragon, if it is, it will be such a powerful asset to Dragon combo.
The purpose of Pseudodragon is for you to purchase it at 1 cost. There are so many characters with Attune ability, so it's not hard to buy Pseudodragon at 1 cost. For only 1 cost, it does have decent stats.
7/10
Even if you only have 2 active characters with Attune ability, each time you field Pseudodragon you get to ramp 2 dice, and more if you have more active Attune characters. That is so powerful, coming from a 2 cost character.
8/10
OMG, if non-combat damage is already so powerful in the current meta, Pseudodragon just make them more powerful! Coming from a 2 cost character, increasing Attune ability's damage to 2 is crazy, this is a must if you are using Attune characters, and in a draft, if you ever get this card, don't let it go!
10/10
First, let me say that the defensive stats for Queen Grabstab is impressive. And with that, I don't think it's a good idea to give her fielding abiltiy, plus, the Battle Stacks are meant for swarm effect, so you don't want to field them until you are done ramping for the game.
4/10
If you don't have the rare Battle Stacks, you can use this version of Queen Grabstab and support all your 2 cost Battle Stacks. With the characters around, the ramp can get pretty crazy.
PS: The rare Battle Stacks and the uncommon Queen Grabstab doesn't stack, so you still draw 2 instead of 1. Correct me if I am wrong, wizkids.
8/10
Well, Queen Grabstab helps you to protect your low cost characters from getting targeted, decent ability, but if I were to use Queen Grabstab it would be for her to support the Battle Stacks so I would use the uncommon Queen Grabstab instead.
7/10
If there is an expensive gear that you wish to purchase, you can use Ras Ni effect to buy it for only 1 cost and you can immediately equip it to Ras Ni. Decent ability, nothing to complain.
7/10
This version of Ras Ni is meant for you to pump it's stats. You can equip it with a gear that pumps stats and the overall stats for Ras Ni can be super high. If you need a character that has potential high stats, look no further.
7/10
Area damage is lethal, Ras Ni can be used to deal area damage since it's ability triggers when you equip it with a gear. However, it does take some time to set up the effect and you could have do so much more other things during this time.
6/10
For 7 cost to have only 2 Breath weapon and no other abilities is a little costly.
5/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed)
Same problem, 6 cost, breath weapon 1 and no other ability seems expensive.
5/10
To make the ability work, you would need to deal area damage that is strong enough to wipe out your opponent's field before Red Dragon uses it's breath weapon to deal that extra 2 damage. There's so much other ways to deal 2 damage to your opponent, you don't have to use a 7 cost to do so.
6/10
The action die helps a Dragon combo. However, the global is generic enough to make a high cost character more affordable. Given that there are so many cheap cost character that are so powerful, the high cost character might be overlooked because to buy them just takes too much time, this global ability will change everything and make those character more affordable.
9/10
Silver Dragon is one the of cheapest Dragon in the universe, yeah, Dragon are that costly.
The ability is decent, getting 1A extra when it attacks can make a small difference and it also can be used to stop Dragon, however, with Anti Breath weapon that only reduce the breath weapon damage by 1, it seems a little weak, if you want to use defend against Dragon, you might want to defend the breath weapon fully.
4/10 (Many players probably are going to play Attune ability characters in the draft, so you don't have to worry too much about Dragons)
Breath Weapon is deadly but it's not the current meta right now, you don't need a character just to counter Breath Weapon in draft or constructed.
3/10 (Will become 9/10 if Breath Weapon ever becomes a meta)
For a 5 cost Dragon to have Breath Weapon of 2 is amazing, plus Silver Dragon helps you to reduce Dragon's cost, so it's a good card to have if you are building a Dragon team. In draft, with this card, it makes a Dragon team usable and affordable.
7/10
Trap dice can soon be a meta since it's cheap and good. Skeleton Key can help you to remove trap dice from the field, nothing bad but if your opponent really want to use a trap, they would have multiple copies of the trap dice. Still, it's good to have a counter against it.
9/10 (Draft)
7/10 (Constructed, if trap ever becomes a meta, i will increase the rating)
If you want to build half of your team around Trap dice, it's best to include Skeleton Key in your team. Trap dice cost as low as 1 cost and it's not hard to trigger traps, so you will be able to ramp tons of dice using Skeleton Key's ability. Plus, if you prep a die from this ability and it's a trap die, you get to prep another die. What's great in the draft is that you can even prep a die if you trigger your opponent's trap, and trap is very common in a draft.
9/10
Trap dice are cheap and you can get plenty of them in the field. You can use trap dice to support or defend your team, and you can use Skeleton Key as your source of offense. The stats can be very powerful if you have enough Trap dice and it's only 2 cost.
8/10
The effect of this action is very deadly. When you use the action die, you can simply ping your opponent and you can immediately knock it out, that would hurt so much if that character is beefy or expensive cost. It makes your opponent's character with vulnerable, and area damage effect such as Breath Weapon will go so well with this action. Plus, on the burst sides, you get to ramp some dice, so for only 3 cost, this action is fantastic!
9/10 (If the max die is more than 1, I might give full marks for the rating)
Preventing only 1 combat damage may seem useless but if you are overwhelm by characters, the ability might just save you from losing the game. Plus, it's a 'free' character, so what's the harm of reducing some combat damage to you.
7/10
Redirecting of damage helps if you want to protect a certain character from being knocked out. It may seem useless, but that 1 damage may be the difference between winning and losing, for example, you have 4 sidekicks and 1 Stone golem and 1 life remaining, your opponent has 2 sidekicks and use an effect to deal 1 area damage to your characters, without Stone Golem's ability, you would have lost the game, but because the damage from one of your sidekicks was redirected to Stone Golem, it survives the area damage and can block for you.
6/10 (It's not as good, but it's 'free', so you can consider using it in your team)
Reducing 1 damage dealt to you each turn is nothing bad especially from a 'free' character. The global, although costly, does compliment with the ability. If you have spare energy, you can use 2 energy to deal both you and your opponent damage and if Stone Golem is active, you are immune to it, so you can deal some small damage to your opponent, which can make a difference.
9/10
In every good team, there's always a source of support to ramp dice for the player, other than swarm ability, Tabaxi Rogue will help you to punish your opponent if they consistently ramp dice in their game, it's fun to see your opponent takes damage when he/she tries to ramp a die, it makes think twice if they want to ramp dice or not if their life is low. The global is a good ramp but cost 2, it is used to combo with Tabaxi Rogue, you can ramp a die and if it's active, it will deal damage to your opponent with your use the global, plus, your opponent wouldn't use it against you since they will take damage from Tabaxi Rogue, I mean even if they do, you will prep a die, so what's bad about it.
9/10
Trap dice could be the next meta if it's overused in every game by every player. Tabaxi Rogue is a counter against Trap but since Trap are way lower cost than Tabaxi Rogue, it probably won't be able to stop the trap fast enough. Plus the fielding cost of Tabaxi Rogue is not cheap, so you don't want to keep fielding it just to remove traps.
5/10
This is another way to ramp dice in a game. Your opponent is bound to field sidekicks at some point, so Tabaxi Rogue's ability will trigger. The problem is whether your opponent will frequently field sidekicks or not to trigger it's ability. With Tabaxi Rogue active, your opponent probably won't want to field sidekicks, so you might waste it's ability.
5/10 (If sidekick combo becomes a Meta, this card will rise to 10/10)
There is a potential for this action. Of course, you will have to build your team around it, which in this case, would be playing with Evil character dice. One way to look at this action is that you can go aggressive with your characters and even if they are knocked out, you can return them to the field with the action effect. If I were to use this action, it would be for the double burst effect, I can go really aggressive with cheap evil characters and even if they are blocked and gets knocked out, I will deal 2 damage to my opponent, and if they are unblocked, they might deal even more combat damage, so getting the double burst face can pretty much end your opponent's game.
6/10 (You would need some luck to get the double burst effect and there's only 1 die for this action, so you probably have a hard time setting up your combo if you build your team around this action, it's a hit or miss. )
Well, if trap cards aren't cheap for you, Tomb Dwarf just make them even cheaper. You can definitely build a trap combo and include Tomb Dwarf, the cheaper your trap is, the faster you can get them and the faster you can use it. Great supportive character if you intend to play trap combo.
8/10
The bad thing about Trap is that it's an active effect, so when it triggers, no matter how matter dice there are for that trap that is in your field zone, you have to move all of the dice into your used pile. It will take some time to cycle the trap back in your field. Tomb Dwarf prevents that issue, imagine every trap you trigger can go to your prep area for you to have a chance to use it again in your next turn, how deadly will the trap be.
8/10
In a draft, if you are playing trap dice, having an additional roll and reroll would be good and increase the chance of you playing that spell. In constructed, there are other characters with better reroll effect and cost cheaper, so you can use them instead.
7/10 (Draft)
4/10 (Constructed)
The first non Golem with a fabricate ability.
Tomb Guardian is easier to get since the fabricate cost is cheaper. This version protects your monsters. If you have a weak monster with swarm ability, your opponent will ping it probably with magic missile global, Tomb Guardian prevents it the first damage to it. It makes your opponent spend more energy just to ping a character, also, it protects 1 area damage to your monsters. Combat damage too, the point is, it makes your monsters slightly more durable and it's a 'free' character so why not?
7/10
As much as this is a 'free' character, action dice does deal area damage but not a lot of action that is use by players nowadays deals area damage, even in draft, character ability like breath weapon are more usable than action dice area damage, so Tomb Guardian might not be useful in your team.
3/10
This a great control card especially if your team doesn't rely on global abilities. First, it's a cheap Fabricate cost, so you can get it out early. Second, if your opponent relies on global ability, even a little, this effect will definitely hurt your opponent. In the long run, your opponent is going to be shortage of energy, and it also force them to use other methods other than global to play their game. So much good effect from a 'free' character.
8/10 (Please, if you are playing this card, don't use global, not even one. I wanted to give higher rating, but since it's a double edge sword, I can't give it too high)
In the early game, Triceratops' ability would be devastating since it has overcrush and your opponent probably won't have too much level 2 or 3 characters in the field. The issue, however, is that it's 5 cost and by the time you use it, your opponent will have characters good enough to block Triceratops. If the cost would be cheaper, even for 1 cost cheaper, it would have been a powerful character.
6/10 (Still usable, but you need to put in some effort to make it work really well)
Triceratops' stats are good for it to have fielding ability. The ability, however, is weak, for a 5 cost character to only be able to knock out a level 1 character really doesn't help much in the game.
4/10
This seems like a more usable Triceratops. Although it only target towards level 1 characters, but the attack Triceratops possess can pretty much knock out almost any character, so it's active like your opponent cannot field any level 1 character and keep them in the field because of Triceratops' ability. It does put some pressure on your opponent, if your opponent really wants to field a level 1 character with an active effect, they will have to reroll it to a level 2 or 3.
7/10
Looks like we are not getting a T-rex but a T-rex zombie. T-rex zombie has a beefy stats, so a fielding ability doesn't really work for it. The ability helps if you have a lot of zombie die in your used pile, but it's hard to set up. so worse case scenario is that you field T-rex zombie and you have no zombie dice in your used pile. You can just field zombie normally and I believe it would be faster than setting up for this effect.
3/10
Again, a feilding ability on T-rex zombie is not that good and to be able to field a zombie at level 2 is just mediocre. A zombie character cost at most 3 cost and you can field them normally instead of spending so much effort to set this up.
3/10
Fielding a sidekick from your used pile in the late game helps you to put your weaker dice in your field so you have a higher chance of drawing a stronger dice. T-rex zombie also pumps your sidekick to 3A 3D and they are considered zombie, they don't get any boost for sidekick effect but it's okay, because 2A and 2D character is better than 1A and 1D. More importantly, it's the abilty to field sidekicks from the used pile that is good, in a draft, it will help you in the long game.
7/10
Energy drain is an ability where any characters engaged with a character with this ability is spin down a level, if Energy Drain value is 2, spin engaged character down 2 level.
Valindra has attune and energy drain, she can weaken your opponent's character on one hand and help you to support your attune team on the other. Decent ability.
7/10
Adventurer can get very danagerous if they have a lot of experience token on their card. Valindra prevents them from stacking their experience token. Her ability is easy to trigger, just use a cheap basic action die and you can remove 1 experience token. However, in constructed, don't expect her to help you, adventurers are rare and no one plays an entire team of Adventurers for Valindra to use her ability against, I mean, if you don't play monsters, your opponent won't even have chance to gain experience token.
7/10 (Draft)
3/10 (Constructed)
In constructed format, expect her ability to go wild and reduce all your opponent's character's stats. Weakening a character's stats help you in the long run, your opponent's character get weaker and doesn't deal you or your character as much damage as they should have. In draft, it's the opposite, your opponent is bound to have some evil characters so don't expect her to help much.
5/10 (Draft, everyone will have evil characters, because they consist of half of the characters in this set)
7/10 (Constructed, how rare is a card more usable in constructed than draft)
A fielding ability on Xandala might not be the best thing but it has Attune ability, so all is forgiven. The global ability is unique though, it remove good, evil and neutral from a character, not the greatest global ability but can come in handy if someone is protected or harmed because of alignment, you can use it to remove it for a turn.
7/10 (It has attune, so it's decent)
Her second part of her ability won't be activated in constructed since not everyone plays good characters, but she is 3 cost and has Attune ability, so she's still usable, I mean her second ability is not totally worthless, it's still powerful, I mean she basically cannot be knock out if you opponent has good characters in their field, that's amazing.
9/10 (Draft)
7/10 (Constructed)
Here's how you make an attune character powerful, you make give it a second ability that compliments with the attune ability. Xandala's attack value might not be good but her ability sure is. If you build your team around action dice, you are bound to draw action dice for her effect. Even if you failed to roll action face on your dice, you still get to prep them, so it's a good thing. It allows you to use your action dice more and your attune characters can trigger their ability more as well. Just to make things fun, you can flip her stats and give her overcrush and your opponent will have a hard time against her.
8/10
The way to make good use of Yuan-Ti Abomination is having him attack and give him overcrush. To be able to remove a blocker is great especially if your opponent have a high defense character ready to block your overcrush characters. You can also use him to support a bunch of characters with overcrush effect, that way, you get to remove a character with the highest defense and then assign one character to be given the overcrush effect for you to deal more spill damage.
7/10
For 5 cost to only be able to knock out a sidekick, I will pass.
3/10
One way I can think of using Yuan-Ti Abomination is to give him overcrush and make him as high level as possible. Still, in an environment where almost everyone uses non-combat damage as their primary source of attack, you might not want to waste too much time setting up for abilities like this.
6/10
I thought character with 3 cost having Attune is cheap enough for such a good ability, Yuan-Ti Pureblood just makes the ability more deadly as she only cost 2. Plus, for only 2 cost, every time you use an action, not only you get to deal 1 damage to your opponent, she is unblockable as well, looking as her stats, she is very powerful for only 2 cost. It's a common card, so do look out for this card in a draft because this is one of the easiest way to win in the draft.
10/10
Well if you don't want to use Yuan-Ti Pureblood for the aggression, you can keep her in the field for you to use her attune ability. Given her defense, your opponent would want to get rid of her by pinging her, but her abilities prevent her from being the target of an action or global effect, so she can stay in the field without you worry that your opponent might ping her.
9/10
If the common and uncommon version are so sick, the super rare must be even more imba. Which is exactly the case. Attune ability are so powerful, just place 4 active characters with attune ability in the field and each time you use an action die you deal 4 damage to your opponent, and that's before the action effect resolve! This version of Yuan-Ti Pureblood help you to trigger the attune ability of all active character dice when you purchase an action die, that's really powerful if you have a lot of attune characters in your field. The drawback, however, is that if your opponent has more Attune characters than you do, then you will be dealt more damage when her ability triggers, so make sure that you have way more attune characters than your opponent to make her effect powerful.
7/10 (Draft, since everyone is going to use Attune ability in draft, you ought to be damage by her effect)
9/10 (Constructed, if attune becomes a very strong meta in the game, this card rating will decrease)
It's kind of cool that when a character has 2 abilities and you can choose of it when it trigger. It's easy to trigger zombie's ability, you can make it go aggressive in the early game and your opponent would probably block with a sidekick. The effect is decent, spinning up a zombie character up a level or fielding one from your used pile will be helpful for you. It's a 2 cost character, so quite decent to use in a drat.
7/10 (Draft)
5/10 (Constructed, compared to other 2 cost character, this one seems a little weak)
Zombie can be a good blocker since it has regenerate, plus, you can go ahead and aggro with one knowing that you have a chance to 'revive' it after it's knocked out. The good thing about the ability is after you regenerate a zombie, you can prep more zombie from your used pile into your prep area. Decent effect for a low cost character.
7/10
One way to make good use of this zombie is combo with characters with Ally keyword that have good fielding ability. In a way, if you successfully roll a zombie character face for it's effect, you get to field it and you get to knock out an Ally with good fielding ability so you can trigger it again next turn. In a draft, you can use it since it's a cheap cost character and can help you to cycle your dice in the early game.
7/10
Conclusion
Find of all, I hope the post was better than all my previous post after all your constructive feedbacks. I have enlarged all the cards so you can view them clearly without having to zoom in. I also reviewed each cards based on draft and constructed so you can have a rough idea on what to draft in a draft format and which character are good for constructed format. Anyway, I do have to say that I am doing this review purely out of passion and wizkids or anyone does not pay me to review their product.
With that aside, this series is awesome, it has so much playable cards. However, I would say that this set encourage players to play Attune ability since there are just so many cards that support this ability especially in a draft. Still, it's great to see that they introduce pirates, dinosaurs and traps in the DND universe.
Do go for a draft session as you might get some of this awesome cards and I would encourage collectors or fans to get more draft packs, the cards are very good and I think they will do very well for constructed format. With that, I hope my review helps, and thank you for reading.
