Here’s the next review of the Graphic Policy spoilers that hit their Youtube channel this month. This time I’m going to take a look at the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Heroes in a Half Shell’ set revealed in the following unboxing vid (Thanks once again to Graphic Policy for all their hard work):
Paul K (PK2317) has also worked his best screen-capping skills once again to bring us a handy guide to the cards we can revisit with ease. Thanks Paul! Those screen shots can be found on his imgur page over two galleries here:
As usual with my spoiler reviews – this will a short post of immediate feedback & ideas. Here’s my thoughts…
April – No Mere Damsel
One issue I always had with the first TMNT set was the purchase costs of the Turtle team themselves. While it had some discount mechanic in there, the initial cost was so high that if I was able to set up some ramp to a purchase of a Turtle with a discount game-text in the first instance what benefit would the discount be.
So ‘April – No Mere Damsel’ has leapt out at me immediately as her purchase cost is so low we’ve now got a discount providing solution that can be made as a first turn purchase. This makes the Turtles team, on this surface at least, appear most cost viable.
Casey Jones – Broken Home
I’ve always been a fan of multi-blockers. I have been especially fond of ‘Black Widow – Mistress of Pain’ in the past, and ‘Medusa – Tangled Up’ is on my list of newly acquired ‘Deadpool’ cards to have a good play around with.
He’s currently got a small edge on ‘Black Widow’ in my mind at the moment. He’s got a purchase cost of two, a small improvement on stats, and I think in the current meta his game-text is slightly stronger. Not too keen on the purchase cost, but it’s manageable.
I expect to be playing with this guy in the future for sure.
More Basic Action Re-Prints
I’m not going to re-tread all my comments from the ‘Iron Man & War Machine’ starter set spoiler review (You can go back and have a look at it HERE if you like) but the re-titled Basic Action cards appearing in this set also serves to fuel my concerns of a set rotation on the horizon.
Hamato Yoshi – Shidoshi
This guy’s game-text looks like it might have some interesting potential in certain circumstances. His ability to force all of your opposing characters to block when he attacks has much potential for abuse in teams that use ‘Deadly’ and ‘Overcrush’.
He comes at a high cost though, which may be a hindrance (getting a ‘Hamato Yoshi’ and a ‘Gorilla Grodd – Force of Mind’ would be quite the ramp challenge), but he has strong defensive stats so will have staying power once he arrives.
We’ll see… but I’m certain we’ll see a bit of experimental play with this guy…
Metalhead – Disassociative Identity
Like ‘April’, this version of ‘Metalhead’ stands out as yet another card in this set that makes a Turtles-centric team more viable than its ever been.
He makes all the other Turtles unblockable! Awesome! Let’s face it: The TMNT character’s attack stats are pretty solid, especially at the higher levels, so putting together an unblockable attack force that can deliver 20 lethal points of damage is far from unreasonable.
It’s not top tier, but could prove to be an effective & fun casual strategy to play.
———
There we go then – my first impressions look over the TMNT: Heroes in a Half Shell box set preview.
What about you? Any stand out cards that I’ve not mentioned? Any curious combos you’ve clocked and care to share? Let me know in the comments below…
