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

I often mention how underrated this game is, and I still stand by that idea! The variety in cards is staggering, thereby creating tons of strategies. Playing against the solo opponent creates challenging situations and even potential restrictions partway through deck construction. Shur Wen Na was in it to win it with a Sure Win!

Ripping Into New Packs

The card backs are ingenious in simulating the appearance of f0il card packs. But don’t be fooled! Each one is just a single card to mirror the pure luck of opening packs.

I never got into collectible card games, although my brother and I used to ask for Pokemon card packs back in the day. I remember the excitement of ripping into them!

Let’s not get into how I found an original Charizard, completed a full deck, and then sold the card for nothing…

Some cards are mediocre, and then there are the groans or cheers. It’s all right here with a good deal of humor!

The Entertainment

In the past, I used the same boss deck to keep the others as surprises. But today, it was time to mix things up! To the table with the Eldritch Entertainment Group deck.

There is an identical deck box card in each deck, save for its artwork. This was more important than I imagined… Because those 75 points are nothing to forget about.

I imagined Shur Wen Na in her early days, just barging into a local tournament and diving in with the masters.

See, she could definitely do that… Me? Not so much. My deck construction skills were about to be put on the spot!

A Tower of Cards

Perhaps I don’t always explain the sheer amount of variety with the cards as well as I can… See this leaning tower? Those are most of the cards that can come into play.

In reality, I typically use a very small portion of those available. Is it too much? Not at all! The cards work nicely together in different ways that emerge during play.

And it doesn’t end there. The number of unused cards is probably even greater. Now that’s variety!

I missed out on preordering the upcoming expansion, but I hope to get my hands on it someday. I love the choices!

Bad Fashion

The solo opponent, also known as the co-op boss, has a small set of 4 accessories. At the standard difficulty level, 2 of them will come into play at different times.

Each one sort of guides the path of deck construction. With just 8 cards, 2 accessories, and 1 deck box to bring to the tournament, it’s critical to choose carefully.

And then the Eldritch Fashion Ring came along. Gross! What a horrible sense of fashion… For my deck.

I basically had to limit myself to 2 actions, or give away 50 points. Alright. I could work with this!

Possessed Protection

As the sun fell and the tournament took shape, I had to rely on an odd ally… A possessed flippable table! Tell me that flavor text isn’t at least remotely funny. Ha!

The only caveat to the game is the real-time rounds. As decks are built, there are timed sections of 7 minutes, 7 minutes, and 6 minutes. And I don’t like timed things.

But here, it works. I feel a little pressure but typically spend the final 6 minutes making last-minute decisions.

Maybe my choices come down to keeping the funniest cards… I’ll work on that. But only maybe. I like to laugh!

Taking Big Risks

I had many actions open to me, but my sell tokens were severely limited. In particular, there was a single chance to pick up a promo from each of the 3 different decks.

This is where the excitement of “opening” a new card pack comes in! These promos are very unique and can be extremely powerful. Or useless, depending on the strategy.

Sell tokens are also used for what you would imagine… Selling! That’s about the only way to get more cash.

My luck didn’t quite pan out with these decks, but I made it all sort of work. Tournament time!

Session Overview

Play Number: 6
Main Expansion: Millennium Blades: Set Rotation
Other Expansions: Mini-Expansions #1-6
Solo Mode: Included in Millennium Blades: Set Rotation
Play Details: Standard Difficulty Level
Required Play Space: 32″ x 26″
Setup Time: 10 Minutes
Play Time: 40 Minutes
Outcome: 145-205 (Loss)

Best card right here. The Fly Duke did not do his job as I lost, though he had a pretty catchy tune. Ha ha!

Affordability

Price & Value

10

Functionality

Challenges & Mechanics

10

Originality

Design & Theme

10

Quality

Components & Rules

7