Kaijudo. You may have heard this word recently, and wondered exactly what it was. Perhaps you saw an episode on the HUB channel, or your children have asked you for the cards, or you listened to a commercial for it online. Or, just maybe, you're one of the many gamers who are eagerly awaiting an opportunity to prove your skills at one of our tournaments starting in September.
Regardless of which category you fit into, I'm sure that this review will help to answer some questions about this exciting new CCG from Wizards of the Coast. I'll divide it into two parts; Part One will detail all the current releases for Kaijudo, whereas Part Two will be about the gameplay, and card types.
PART ONE-PRODUCTS
There are quite a few Kaijudo items available now for hobby stores like ourselves, which I feel is something that Wizards actually got right. By allowing non-big box retailers to have more exclusive products than Walmart and Target, they are helping the player community to get much stronger.
Battle Decks
The first product that came out was the Battle Decks, essentially a starter. It contains two fully playable 40-card decks, two code cards for use with the online game, two playmats, and a full-color Quickstart page for beginners. All this comes in a nicely put-together box with a $20 MSRP.
Now, the first thing you'll probably notice upon opening this is that the two deck boxes are awesome. They can hold up to 120 sleeves cards, are made of a very sturdy and glossy material, and have a strong magnetic closure. Seriously, these boxes are great!
When we open them up, we see the two different decks, the playmats, the Quickstart and the code cards. The Tatsurion deck is a red/green and the Razorkinder deck is a purple/blue. While Tatsurion's deck is very powerful, it seems that Razorkinder is easier to master due to the majority of cards having a lower Mana cost.
The Quickstart page is literally that...just a single page. However, I think it speaks volumes about Kaijudo that it has rules that are actually easy to remember and play with. In my opinion, there is always time to update the rules and introduce difficulty levels, but to immediately start out with harder instructions would only serve to isolate new players before they even start.
The playmats are simple glossy paper ones, similar to what you would find in a starter for Yugioh, Pokemon or Vanguard. They probably won't last very long (especially once tournaments start next in September), but they should suffice til Ultrapro comes out with their new line of Kaijudo branded sleeves, mats and deck boxes. As it is, they at least provide a way for new players to easily set up their play-area and recall the turn orders.
The code cards are a newer addition to modern card games and Kaijudo is no exception. Each deck comes with a single code card, which can be redeemed online at www.Kaijudo.com in the upper right-hand corner. If you don't have an account, you will need to make one as well. The codes you receive in decks/boosters are referred to on the website as Product Codes, and can be used to unlock a new Creature Card for use in the online TCG.
Bull Rush Deck
The second product our store ordered was the Bull Rush Deck. It is the first of three announced competitive decks, and was extremely well recieved by our Kaijudo customers. It contains two Premium cards, another 40-card fully playable red/green deck, a paper playmat, another Quickstart page, AND a 9-card Booster Pack. For only The next two, Sonic Blast and Rocket Storm, don't release til Sept. 7th...but I have a feeling they'll be just as sought after!
League 2012 Promo Card P1
Sent about a week after we got the Bull Rush Deck is the first product-related promo card. It is a Fire Civilization Level Four with 2000 Power (more on card types tomorrow!). The card's name is "Draglide the Swiftest" and is an "Attack Raptor". It also has the ability Fast Attack, which allows it to attack on the turn it enters the Battlefield. How do you get such an fantastic promo? Very simple...you buy the Bull Rush Deck and automatically get one!
Dojo Edition Booster Pack
Lastly, there are the booster packs. There are 9 cards in a pack ($4 MSRP), 24 packs per box ($70-80 MSRP depending on location). Strangely enough, these packs will be the only ones to feature a "First Edition" label on the packaging, making them a bit more of a collector's item than previously thought. The entire Dojo Edition set has 60 cards in it, but Wizards has been very secretive about exactly what the typical rarity of a pack is. However, we've opened up a few in the store and it seems that the ratio is thus;
5 Commons
3 Uncommons
1 Rare
Now obviously this doesn't account for any other rarity...there COULD be Super or Ultra Rares that no one has posted about yet. Given the relative new-ness of this game, I expect that to change in the next month when more stores can carry it and/or tournaments start.
Another point worth mentioning is that of the Five Civilizations (Fire, Water, Light, Darkness and Nature) only the Light faction has not been featured in a deck yet. Fire/Nature has been in both the Bull Rush and Battle Decks, and Water/Darkness was the other Battle Deck. So far...Light has not gotten any love, except in the booster packs. Hopefully this will change when the next two compeititive decks come out! I'd also like to see some Multi-colored cards make an appearance...after all, Tatsurion the Unchained (aka "Bob") is a Fire/Nature creature himself.
Well, that concludes Part One of my Kaijudo review. I hope you have enjoyed reading, and that you'll return on Tuesday to read Part Two. Remember I'll be going over the actual "How-To's" of the gameplay and discussing the two different card types. See you then!
Stasi "Dengirl" King
Regardless of which category you fit into, I'm sure that this review will help to answer some questions about this exciting new CCG from Wizards of the Coast. I'll divide it into two parts; Part One will detail all the current releases for Kaijudo, whereas Part Two will be about the gameplay, and card types.
PART ONE-PRODUCTS
There are quite a few Kaijudo items available now for hobby stores like ourselves, which I feel is something that Wizards actually got right. By allowing non-big box retailers to have more exclusive products than Walmart and Target, they are helping the player community to get much stronger.
Battle Decks
The first product that came out was the Battle Decks, essentially a starter. It contains two fully playable 40-card decks, two code cards for use with the online game, two playmats, and a full-color Quickstart page for beginners. All this comes in a nicely put-together box with a $20 MSRP.
Now, the first thing you'll probably notice upon opening this is that the two deck boxes are awesome. They can hold up to 120 sleeves cards, are made of a very sturdy and glossy material, and have a strong magnetic closure. Seriously, these boxes are great!
The Quickstart page is literally that...just a single page. However, I think it speaks volumes about Kaijudo that it has rules that are actually easy to remember and play with. In my opinion, there is always time to update the rules and introduce difficulty levels, but to immediately start out with harder instructions would only serve to isolate new players before they even start.
The playmats are simple glossy paper ones, similar to what you would find in a starter for Yugioh, Pokemon or Vanguard. They probably won't last very long (especially once tournaments start next in September), but they should suffice til Ultrapro comes out with their new line of Kaijudo branded sleeves, mats and deck boxes. As it is, they at least provide a way for new players to easily set up their play-area and recall the turn orders.
The code cards are a newer addition to modern card games and Kaijudo is no exception. Each deck comes with a single code card, which can be redeemed online at www.Kaijudo.com in the upper right-hand corner. If you don't have an account, you will need to make one as well. The codes you receive in decks/boosters are referred to on the website as Product Codes, and can be used to unlock a new Creature Card for use in the online TCG.
Bull Rush Deck
The second product our store ordered was the Bull Rush Deck. It is the first of three announced competitive decks, and was extremely well recieved by our Kaijudo customers. It contains two Premium cards, another 40-card fully playable red/green deck, a paper playmat, another Quickstart page, AND a 9-card Booster Pack. For only The next two, Sonic Blast and Rocket Storm, don't release til Sept. 7th...but I have a feeling they'll be just as sought after!
League 2012 Promo Card P1
Sent about a week after we got the Bull Rush Deck is the first product-related promo card. It is a Fire Civilization Level Four with 2000 Power (more on card types tomorrow!). The card's name is "Draglide the Swiftest" and is an "Attack Raptor". It also has the ability Fast Attack, which allows it to attack on the turn it enters the Battlefield. How do you get such an fantastic promo? Very simple...you buy the Bull Rush Deck and automatically get one!
Dojo Edition Booster Pack
Lastly, there are the booster packs. There are 9 cards in a pack ($4 MSRP), 24 packs per box ($70-80 MSRP depending on location). Strangely enough, these packs will be the only ones to feature a "First Edition" label on the packaging, making them a bit more of a collector's item than previously thought. The entire Dojo Edition set has 60 cards in it, but Wizards has been very secretive about exactly what the typical rarity of a pack is. However, we've opened up a few in the store and it seems that the ratio is thus;
5 Commons
3 Uncommons
1 Rare
Now obviously this doesn't account for any other rarity...there COULD be Super or Ultra Rares that no one has posted about yet. Given the relative new-ness of this game, I expect that to change in the next month when more stores can carry it and/or tournaments start.
Another point worth mentioning is that of the Five Civilizations (Fire, Water, Light, Darkness and Nature) only the Light faction has not been featured in a deck yet. Fire/Nature has been in both the Bull Rush and Battle Decks, and Water/Darkness was the other Battle Deck. So far...Light has not gotten any love, except in the booster packs. Hopefully this will change when the next two compeititive decks come out! I'd also like to see some Multi-colored cards make an appearance...after all, Tatsurion the Unchained (aka "Bob") is a Fire/Nature creature himself.
Stasi "Dengirl" King
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