Dice Masters fans!
Dice Masters is going to start 2018 with a bang in Marvel Dice Masters: The Mighty Thor! Whether you’re cracking into a gravity feed or draft packs, this set has new stuff that can’t-be-missed!
The Mighty Thor brings us some of the best characters from the Marvel universe, including some never-before-seen in Dice Masters heroes and villains! Long time comic heroes are probably familiar with the world of Earth X – a world where everyone has mutated due Black Bolt releasing the Terrigen Mists. Aaron Stack (X-51) watches over Earth, and you’ll want to watch out for these Super Rares in your booster packs!
The celebrated series took a hard look at some of our favorite heroes and villains and introduced some new faces as well. It makes for a great read when you’re not busy playing Dice Masters.
Before we jump into the cards take a look at their shared keyword: Underdog. Underdog abilities can be used when you have fewer character dice in the Field Zone than your opponent. Underdog first came onto the scene in Marvel Dice Masters: the Amazing Spider-Man and has appeared on select characters since. The most popular Underdog character for tournament play has probably been Black Cat: Party Hardy.
Spider-Man and his allies often have the deck stacked against them, but the heroes featured in Earth X range from being in big trouble to being behind a cosmic 8-ball!
First, we have the hero Earth X Captain America: Freedom Fighter. On the surface he has solid stats and a consistent fielding cost making him easier to plan for coming out of your bag.
Cap is a trifecta of options-he really is a triple threat. First off, he cannot be blocked by villain dice. Lots of Dice Masters games lead to people “walling up” by fielding lots of character dice and waiting to overwhelm their opponent. Anytime you have a character that cannot be blocked (even conditionally), it may be a way for you to jump that wall as a player. Never underestimate unblockable character abilities even if they have a catch.
His Swiss-Army Knife nature helps him combo with tons of cards that are already worthy of competitive consideration – cards like Norman Osborn Don’t Call Me “Gobby”! and Danger Room: Flame-Thrower and Rotating Knives.
Norman and Cap work well together because Cap’s Underdog ability can potentially bring in 2 small villain character dice to fuel Norman’s ability. Norman could even be one of those dice!
Danger Room can make the combo even stronger by making all character dice into villains temporarily so Norman can hit for enormous damage. Even having this combo at your disposal might cause your opponent to keep less characters in the Field Zone, perhaps to their detriment!
Even if you aren’t comboing with Norman, there are some great utility characters Cap can pull in with his Underdog ability – Jubilee, Banshee, Boom Boom, and Casey Jones are on the short list. Even some more expensive characters are worth pulling in like Shriek, Blob, or Batgirl.
Secondly Cap has a “when fielded” effect that gains life. Life is a resource, and the ability to gain life is an under-utilized mechanic in this game. Gaining 4 life helps put you out of range for your opponent to win a lot of the time – you’ve probably found games where the difference between 12 and 16 life, or 1 and 5 life is enormous.
Since most of Cap’s abilities depend on him being fielded, being able to KO him with other cards on your team or by constantly attacking is very helpful. The Collector: Taneleer Tivan is a great character for Cap to combo with. The Collector can field Cap, or vice versa, and they both pair with a lot of the same characters for the remainder of your team. There are almost TOO many choices with them that you’ll need to get in some practice games and find your favorites!
Next up is Earth X: Machine Man.
Machine Man brings a unique ability that you cannot beat in the current state of Dice Masters,
he is untouchable by targeting and action dice do nothing to him. Popular characters like Shriek, Dwarf Wizard, The Blob and other targeting effects are ineffective. Action dice that seek to bring him harm, KO him or otherwise effect him in a negative way fizzle with no effect when thrown his way. This makes the Machine Man very difficult to move once he is set securely in your field. The other ability he comes with is underdog-dropping his cost to an extremely good deal of a 3 cost fist purchase. This underdog ability exists as long as your opponent has more characters in the field than you-so with the right management of dice you can get this to fire very early.
There’s a common early game play you’ll be able to take advantage of with Earth X Machine Man. When your opponent has 1 fielded Sidekick, you’ll be able to purchase him for 3 and use a Global Ability (like Rip Hunter’s Chalkboard) to roll X-51 during your next turn. Even though he isn’t going to single-handedly win you the game, he gives you some speedy staying power.
Those are two of the most exciting cards from Marvel Dice Masters: The Mighty Thor. Join us next time for more spoilers!
