The Millennium Blades Solo Tournament of Randomness
Enjoy the world of collectible card games from a safe and humorous standpoint with Millennium Blades.
I was mostly lucky enough to avoid the world of collectible card games, or CCGs, when I was growing up. The world of Pokemon cards was inescapable, though, and I remember frequent trips to pick up plenty of card packs! In Millennium Blades, that same feeling is replicated… Only without the costs! I was ready for a new deck, and a fresh tournament.
Game Overview
Game Name: Millennium Blades
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: D. Brad Talton, Jr.
Artist: Fábio Fontes
Solo Mode: Included in Millennium Blades: Set Rotation
There are countless ways to increase the variety of the cards. However, I stuck with the same setup just to get an idea of how much variability I could truly expect.
Just speaking from the standpoint of the store offering, it all looked very unique and completely different!
First Play
March 27, 2020
Complexity
3
Latest Play
August 6, 2025
Expansions
6
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
16
Play Time
40 Minutes
High Score
204
Game Area
32" x 26"
Low Score
76
A Masterful Snafu
The first half of the game is about building a deck to take on the boss during the tournament. There are timed rounds, although the timer works quite well!
Still at the easy difficulty level, I had a chance to see the only accessory the boss would use against me.
This wasn’t too terrible, although it called for a lot more diversity. Each set usually has a lot of cards that work together. I could see a difficult road ahead.
However, I felt really excited! I had some ideas in mind, and wanted to beat the boss for the first time.
Sensible Accessorizing
With Deques Applenti still in play, I had the chance to use an additional deck box and accessory. Of course, not a lot of them showed up while I purchased new card packs.
However, the Branded Card Binder showed up early on. Normally, only 8 singles may be brought to the tournament. With this, I could bring up to 11 singles.
What’s the significance? More cards mean more possibilities, especially when the boss attacks!
I felt pretty confident with this small but vital addition. Sadly, the matching sleeves were not to be found today.
A Quirky Bit of Humor
This card may have made me laugh a little too much! Bessie, the Holy Cow had a useful scoring ability. With a little planning, I could earn 18 ranking points.
It was her flavor text that really got to me, though. “Sometimes cows know too much, so angels are sent to take care of them.” Such a random statement!
Perhaps it takes the right audience to appreciate a lot of the card and deck references. I still find them funny!
Many of them probably don’t make as much sense to me, yet I love coming across parodies I recognize.
A One-Two Punch
After the deckbuilding phase, I was ready to see what the boss had in store for the tournament. It started poorly.
Spaceman Wrestlelord was just bizarre, but so was his ability. A Top card is the rightmost card in the tableau. So for a single turn, I had to play a random card.
This wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it completely threw off my original plan for the order of play.
Then Space Archer Trenneth showed up to be terrible. He forced me to basically play the best of 4 random cards that didn’t necessarily synergize with my deck. Goodness!
Constellation Man
Things progressed in a somewhat smooth manner for a few rounds of the tournament. Each side typically plays 6 singles before the end. Then, a winner is crowned!
So it was with a heavy heart that I saw the arrival of the most ridiculous card… Constellation Man.
Once again, I had a little laugh! But his ability was terrible. I had to lose my leftmost card and replace it with a random card from the top of the store deck.
I had a whole plan to use my leftmost card in conjunction with another card. Dang it, Constellation Man!
A Bitter Farewell
It wasn’t like I lost a throwaway card. This was my gold promo card! His ongoing ability was supposed to grant me a ton of ranking points throughout the tournament.
I built most of my deck around him, aiming for almost every card to have a star value between 1 and 4.
Additionally, I attached an accessory to him to protect him from being flipped. Unfortunately, this didn’t do anything in relation to being discarded. Tricky, tricky!
The boss’s deck can be examined during deckbuilding, but I still like the thrill of slowly finding out the secrets.
Session Overview
Play Number: 2
Expansion: Millennium Blades: Set Rotation
Solo Mode: Included in Millennium Blades: Set Rotation
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level
Required Play Space: 32″ x 26″
Setup Time: 10 Minutes
Play Time: 40 Minutes
Outcome: 129-115 (Win)
Well, well! Even though my entire plan was thrown off, I managed to pull off the victory. Take that! I thanked Poppin the Unfriendly Ghost for his major role. Well done!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
10
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
10
Quality
Components & Rules
7
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
10
Victory Conditions
Defeat the Boss
- Overall Goal Progress 63%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game against They Game from Space.
Win at least 1 game as Deques Applenti.
Win at least 1 game as Fulton Suitcase.
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the standard difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game against EEG.
Win at least 1 game as Greline Alcartone.
Win at least 1 game as Shur Wen Na.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of the cards in Millennium Blades? The flavor text may not add a lot to the actual gameplay, but I love how unique each card is! Do you have any favorite cards or decks from the game? I can’t really pick any favorites yet. Everything seems excellent in its own way, and I’m excited to discover more strategies and bits of humor!
Epic game. Constellation Man always gets me when fighting this boss. Great recovery.
This was the first time I saw Constellation Man and he was the worst. I think some luck played into it, but I think the Branded Card Binder ability to bring 11 singles to the tournament may have saved me. I had a lot of other options. Such a great game! I’m hoping to play again either today or tomorrow… There’s more to come, I’m sure!
I’m excited to see more sessions up here. Constellation Man is indeed THE WORST. But you planned to be disrupted and you had an out. It’s a big skill when fighting these bosses. 🙂
The same boss definitely offers up surprises with the way the cards are played. I’m far from an expert playing at the easy difficulty level, but it’s still nice to feel like I’m improving and learning new things! We’ll see how that pans out with a new boss…