27 Jul
Posted by Rob Kalajian as Miniatures
Hasbro’s PR company just sent out a new release with two high-res images of Arena of the Planeswalkers: Shadows Over Innistrad along with the contents of the set:
The new base set will hit in Fall 2016 for $29.99 at most major retailers, hobby stores, and on HasbroToyShop.com.
28 Jun
Posted by Rob Kalajian as CCGs, Modern Board Games
Arriving August 1st, Arena of the Planeswalkers: Shadows Over Innistrad is stand-alone set instead of just an expansion to the popular Arena of the Planeswalkers game. While the box image isn’t clear, we know we’ll be getting 5 Planeswalkers: Sorin, the Innistrad version of Jace, and what possibly looks like Arlinn and Nahiri. I can’t really make out the fifth one.
MSRP will be $29.99.
I’m really glad Hasbro is still supporting the game, though I miss the wave-style releases of figures that Heroscape used.
UPDATE: It’s been brought to my attention that both the 4th and 5th Planeswalkers in the box are Arlinn in her human and werewolf form.
08 Oct
Posted by Rob Kalajian as CCGs, Miniatures
We knew that we were getting two new Planewalkers, one being multicolored, in January with the Battle for Zendikar expansion for Arena of the Planeswalkers. Now Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have announced that the expansion will come with a new Battlefield scenario that pits the players against a colorless Eldrazi Ruiner controlled by another player.
The miniatures look amazing in this set, and the inclusion of the cooperative scenario is huge. While I was just hoping for more spells and units in this expansion, I’m now even more excited with the news of this inclusion.
You can preorder the Battle for Zendikar Board Game Expansion Pack from Amazon now for $19.99. I’ll have a full review in January when I receive my set.
29 Aug
Posted by Rob Kalajian as CCGs, Miniatures
Announced at PAX Prime, the first expansion to Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers will be bringing Zendikar love to the game. Two new Planeswalkers, Kiora and Ob Nixilis, join the battle with new squads and spells. The really cool part? Kiora is multicolor, allowing you to field a force of Blue and Green. Exact details are sparse right now, but I’ll make sure to post what I find as soon as I know more.
11 Aug
Posted by Rob Kalajian as Miniatures
A few days before GenCon a wonderful box showed up at my door. Inside this wonderful box were several wonderful items, once such item being Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers. The wait for this game has been excruciating, but was it worth it?
While I have on major complaint (and a few minor) about the game, it was well worth the wait.
Arena of the Planeswalkers is a game of miniatures combat that feels like a rebirth of Heroscape. It’s been streamlined with a spell casting element mixed in, but those familiar with Hasbro’s earlier game will be jumping in with no problem at all. New players will also find the game easy to pick up and play with very little prep at all. My 10 year old son and I were in the thick of battle in around 10 minutes.
Let’s start off with the components. The cardboard terrain pieces can be arranged in different ways, and provide a nice, easy setup of the initial battlefield. Then the old Heroscape-style plastic tiles can be connected, stacked, etc… and be placed on the board to give some elevation. There’s also two large cardboard structures that you can use to provide some larger cover. I’m a bit sad there weren’t more plastic tiles in the box, as there’s not a lot to be done with two 3 tiles pieces and two 1 tile pieces. Thankfully I have buckets of Heroscape tiles to work with, but not everyone is going to have that.
The miniatures in the game are excellent. Each Planeswalker is pre-painted, while each of the squad units are a translucent color depending on their faction. As a cool side note, each unit in the squads are unique sculpts, so you don’t just have cookie cutter minis on the board.
How does it play? Like I said earlier, the game is a streamlined Heroscape with a spell system, and it all blends together very nicely. While the mechanics of play are fairly simple, it’s the unit powers and spell cards and how different combinations can be made to effect the game that really make Arena of the Planeswalkers a fun game. You’ve got the 5 major Planeswalkers and 2 squads each to choose from in the game, each with their own unique stye of play.
Play time is fairly quick, depending on the scenario chosen. The initial 2 player scenario can last up to 30 rounds, but my son and I wrapped the game around turn 16 with him wiping out my last units (Jace, how could you fail me!?)
So what’s my major complaint about the game? There doesn’t feel like there’s enough in the box. There’s not enough units, not enough plastic tiles, and not enough spells. Granted this is a introductory box with more stuff promised in 2016, but it feels like there could have been just a bit more included to hold us over until expansions start coming out.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of the game, and I’m sure it’s going to see a lot of play, but I really wish there was more on the way for the holiday season instead of having to wait until after the New Year. Of course, I’m sure we’ll see some Heroscape conversions for the game from fans in short order.
Worth purchasing? For $30, you bet.
A copy of Magic: The Gathering – Arena of the Planeswalkers was provided free for review by Hasbro, along with a few other goodies.
That reminds me. The other goodies packed into the box? Two 30-card Magic: Origins sample decks (green and white), a fancy PR letter, and a POP! Games: Magic the Gathering figure of Gideon.
Pretty sweet, and one of the best PR packages I’ve received to date.
Of course now I need to collect the rest of the figures in the POP! Games: Magic the Gathering set. Damn you Funko and Hasbro.
30 Jun
Posted by David Miller as CCGs, Modern Board Games
Hasbro has moved up the release date for the Magic: The Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers board game. Select hobby game stores will have it for sale tomorrow! And so will Amazon.
Though other major retailers and Hasbro’s own online shop won’t be selling the game until August 1st as previously announced, a simultaneous release with Amazon is likely to be a sensitive issue with hobby retailers.
In any case, for the fans we have a couple of new images provided by Hasbro. Click them to view full-sized. Or to get a hands-on look at Arena of the Planeswalkers, stop by the Hasbro booth at San Diego Comic Con.
UPDATE: A day late but the game is now available on Amazon.
15 Feb
Posted by Rob Kalajian as Modern Board Games
A follow up on our previous posts about the Magic the Gathering Board Game, we now have some pictures from Toy Fair! The game, Magic the Gathering: Arena of the Planeswalkers, will be out this August, and follows in the footsteps of Heroscape. Note that awesome interconnecting cardboard base terrain for quick setup!