Event Decks SGD price update

I saw the prices for the other Event Decks and they are not as high as the Infect & Defile one that the shop  personnel quoted. $32.90 for Hold the Line, $29.90 for Deathfed.

Before you go buying any MTG Event Decks, read this...

I used to check my Magic card prices from the magazine, Inquest, but that magazine was discontinued from 2007. I stopped reading way before that once I quit Magic long ago. I found another source to check for Magic card price: tcgplayer.com store.

I was actually studying the Event Decks thinking of combining 2 to form a viable deck but then I found the above site which list out the card prices from various sources. You will be shock to find that most of the rare cards in the event deck barely make up the retail price of USD$25 set by Wizards of the Coast.

Hold the Line cost from rare-s: Approx $13
Deathfed cost from rare-s: Approx $11
Illusionary Might cost from rare-s: Approx $12
Vampire Onslaught cost from rare-s: Approx $18
Rot from Within cost from rare-s: Approx $17
War of Attrition cost from rare-s: Approx $17
Into the Breach cost from rare-s: Approx $6
Infect and Defile cost from rare-s: Approx $8

Granted you will also get uncommon and common cards which I did not factor in for the cost, the most expensive cards you can get from the event deck are Inkmoth Nexus($12-13) and Phantasmal Image($9-10). The uncommon and common cards aren't very expensive and if you order everything over the net, the decks are going to be cheaper and you can probably build a stronger deck as you get to pick cards. Buying 2 Event decks suddenly do not seem like such a good idea...

On another note, you will be able to checkout the upcoming Dark Ascension cards at the tcgplayer.com store. Looks like Wolf/Werewolf are going to get a lot of support.

About the Innistrad Event Decks...

Magic's Event Decks are somewhat like Yugioh's Pre-constructed decks. (Priced SGD$45.90 at Comics Connection) I found out about them quite late  and they seem to be pretty competitive out of the box unlike Yugioh. They give the max copies of quite a number of cards (the common rarity ones), about 2 each of the uncommon-s and 1 each of the rare-s, compared to Yugioh's 1 each of most of the cards. To do a little better, you might need to buy up to 2 to get the max copies of the uncommon cards.

For Innistrad set's 2 Event Decks, they are themed around White Weennies, called "Hold the Line" and a Graveyard-based deck, similar theme to Lightsworns, Deathfed. (Magic also has a Flashback spell card mechanic that enables casting of these spells from graveyard which makes it better than Lightsworns) I think White Weenies are pretty straightforward and this deck-type has been around since over 15 years ago when I was playing Magic. The Graveyard-based deck needs a bit of setup and I personally think you should get more fun playing it, out of the two.

Useful links on the 2 decks

Wizards of the Coast Official Page

Ertai's Lament Hold the Line Review 1 & 2

For how to improve Hold the Line, refer to the White Weenies/Human first deck here

Ertai's Lament Deathfed Review 1 & 2

Wizards of the Coast's Article on Splinterfright, main creature of Deathfed

Assassin's Creed Recollection Early Impressions

I've tried out the tutorial missions and have learned how to play. It has a fixed playing field/board (Yugioh) and a resource system. Cards cost resource points (called gold in this game) before you can play them and I'm already thinking of building decks (called sequence in this game) along a "mana-curve": more lower resource cards and fewer higher resource cards. In summary, the aim of the game is you trying to control 2 out of 3 regions with 2 monsters (Assassins in this game) "attacking" each region at a time.

The most unique feature and why this game might stay digital is that there is a timer aspect to it. Other than resources, cards take a short period of time to "activate". I find the game not too tough to pick up and from the forum postings at TouchArcade, it seems that you might need to spend some more money buying packs (via in-app purchase) if you want to build a stronger deck fast or to complete your card set. I personally might go the route of slowly building points via single campaign and multiplayer. The interface to edit your deck is nicely designed and not a hassle unlike the Marvel Trading Card Game, this is a really important aspect which Yugioh has excel at.

Assassin's Creed console players who have sign up for Ubisoft's UPlay account can login from this game too and it looks like there might be some link between this iPad game to the Assassin's Creed universe. Overall, the graphics look beautiful and the sound is just like the console, although I suspect I'll be playing mute when outside. It shows that a card game can be played out well on an iPad and it is a shame that big names in trading card games have not arrived on a tablet first. Wizards of the Coast and Konami, are you looking at this game?

iTunes App Store link: Assassin's Creed Recollection - Ubisoft