More Secret Wars Spoilers? New Set Feature in GTM

Oh, hey folks, how’s it going? In all the Memphis World Championship hullabaloo this weekend I forget to mention something. There’s a couple of new Secret Wars spoilers in Game Trade Magazine this month!


Game Trade Magazine?

For the uninitiated: Game Trade Magazine is a monthly trade publication that describes itself as “a serious games magazine for serious gamers”. The mag covers the length & breadth of tabletop gaming, and includes features, articles and previews. Its frequently been a source of Dice Masters new release information and spoilers over the years. If you do a quick search for “Game Trade Magazine” on this site you’ll find a few articles covering their spoilers. It’s a good spot to keep an eye on for cheeky Dice Masters spoilers as new releases approach.

Here’s a little summary of the key takeaways from the Secret Wars article…


Secret Wars Spoilers

I suppose the bit that we, the informed Dice Masters hardcore, are most interested in is the spoilers. So, with that in mind, I’ll get that done first…

The article is a single page spread, so there were just two card sneak peeks included. Here they are:


Franklin’s Galactus – Earth Shatterer – Full Art

The first card pictured in the article is curious, as it is yet another reveal of a full art card. Why curious? Well… because we’ve now seen Full Art Alt versions of character WITH text in the World Champs Fan Appreciation reveals, so we don’t know if this one has text for reals or not!

Marvel Dice Masters - Secret Wars - Franklin's Galactus Earth Shatterer (Full Art)

There’s not really a great deal to say here that hasn’t been said already. This character is notable as the first in Dice Masters to have 4 character die faces. We took a closer look at the Uncommon reveal a couple of months ago and discussed the extra character face a little then. (You can find that article here: “A New Dice Masters First in Secret Wars – Four Character Faces“)

The full art aspect is a big part of the “new look, new feel” Dice Masters starting with the Secret Wars set. To quote the article: “Stunning artwork has always been an important aspect for Dice Masters and the new frames continue to showcase some of the greatest talent working in comics today”. The full art frame definitely puts the focus firmly on the artwork.

Otherwise its hard to judge. If it is textless then this is a Vanilla chunk of stats with the extra character face. If it DOES have a text we’ll have to reserve judgement. Just enjoy the interesting artwork for now…


Phoenix Force Cyclops – Bonded to the Force

A fun one here – and not one I imagined in my set character speculations – Phoenix Force Cyclops…

I’m once again feeling super-happy to see some chunky Control coming into the game. By all means force attack those stats LOL.

It’s an expensive purchase mind. The 5 cost isn’t *too* bad, but the fielding costs will catch up with you if you’ve not planned for it. It’s a pretty specific bit of control too, but there’s enough big stat’d stuff knocking around right now that a deduction of 5 could be worth it.

I’m kind of surprised that the card isn’t affiliated. Way back in the very beginning the first OP kit cards ever had a Phoenix Force affiliation in it. I can only assume this is some acknowledgement that this particular incarnation of the Phoenix Force isn’t technically part of the Phoenix Five unit?


The Article

Its a great little marketing piece and I always appreciate the game’s exposure in a publication like this. BUT, as well written and promotional as it is, if you stay on the pulse of this stuff it doesn’t tell us much we don’t already know.

The listed release date is simply “Q4 2022“. This is consistent with the December date currently listed on the Wizkids solicits, as well as the more fluid nature of Dice Masters releases.

Outside of this its got pretty much everything you’d expect. It promotes the “new look, new feel”. It highlights the new Origin Packs starter sets. There’s reference to the superstar designers and the award winning status of the game. Y’know, its a promo piece.


Show Your FLGS

Game Trade Magazine is widely read by FLGS retailers so its great to see the game getting exposure in such a publication.

If you’re down your FLGS trying to organise a pre-order then you’ve got a strong reference point (with the SKU there too) to call upon. Ask if they’ve got a copy of the mag behind the counter, or if they’ve read the article. It all helps.

There’s a moment of real potential with the release of Secret Wars for game growth, so as a community now is the time more than ever to leverage coverage of this nature.

Or, at the very least, enjoy the small selection of new spoilers it brought us.

How do you feel about the article? What are your thoughts on the exposure the upcoming Secret Wars release is getting? Have you made a pre-order yet? Let us know in the comments below…

5 Comments

  1. The full art blank cards we’ve seen that otherwise have text, Star-Lord and Miles, are alt art cards are they not? That would suggest that this Galactus will just be a vanilla card with no ability.

    1. Yes, they are alt art cards. That’s the point: their reveal means that there is alt full art versions of cards WITH text in addition to the full art approach to the vanilla cards on set. We don’t know right now whether this is a Vanilla card (and therefore full art) or a Alt Full Art at this point. There’s nothing to indicate either way presently. You’re right – in all likelihood it is a Vanilla Full Art, but we don’t know for sure presently.

      1. We do know for sure because this is the second Franklin’s Galactus we have seen, that was my point. Earth Shatterer and No Mercy. Both use the same art. This isn’t an alt art card, so it has to be a vanilla textless full art.

        1. *FacePalm* You are soooo right! I was being a bit dense there, missed what you were getting at altogether. LOL 🙂

          So blinded was I by the excitement of the Star-Lord & Ultimate Spider-man reveals that my powers of deduction failed me. It’s obviously the actual common. Thanks Artemis, good catch friend. 🙂

      2. Also the bottom strip of the Blank Alt Arts With Text we have seen are different. The rarity color is all black rather than the usual color and the ‘Max Dice’ is part of that black strip instead of the white box cutting into it as we see with Galactus and Colossus.

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