Aside from the Archenemy format (which is epic), this is one of the best bag for your buck. Each deck well-built and is relatively powerful. The Bolas deck is freaking-burt-kicking-awesome. Out of the box, I destroy all puny Planeswalkers that dare defy my draconic might! But really, this is a great set even if you are just looking to build a decent card base. There are plenty of great cards you can pillage for your various decks. All colors are represented to some degree making this one of my most highly recommend set I would use to kickstart a collection. And ON TOP OF THAT, the Archenemy format is an epic alternative format. I played a round and the sheer intensity of the game was overwhelming. Needless to say, this is best money I have spent in a while.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Archenemy is a long time favorite, 1vs many, way to play MTG. This box set contains almost everything you need to play. 4 full player decks based around named characters in the MTG world. They are easy enough for beginners to pick up, but interesting enough to entertain long time players. The decks are best kept as they are and used as a set since they are well balanced with each other. Against conducted decks in other formats, they are a bit weak. Changing them by swapping our adding cards might imbalance the set, so I suggest just keeping these together to play right out of the box. You certainly could use them as a starting base for building your own deck though, it would just take some work to make them competitive. My only real complaint about the set is that they only give you one life counter and no dice it anything to keep track of the other 3 players life totals and, possibly even more importantly, there are no instructions on how to play the actual game! They do include a rules sherry explaining how to play Archenemy, but they just assume that you are already familiar with MTG and have no instructions for how to play. It wouldn't have been hard to include one of those "how to play" basics fold out sheets that come with nearly every store bought deck it there and a couple of D20's for life trackers. A major oversight there that could have easily been added. Overall though, it is fun as a standalone box set. If you keep the decks as is and use everything together without customizing the decks, it is a fun game (though strongly bias towards Nicol Bolas winning, as it should be). Keep in mind that the Archenemy will win the majority of the time and it takes all three of the others working together at their best to defeat him. Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
After a 20 year hiatus, I bought this set just to try out the new cards. The added Nicol Bolas Archenemy cards really add another play level to this set. To have the ability just to hand out four pre-made decks and play, is nice to get beginners into Magic. Great set to add for just some fun MTG play.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I brought this to my local kitchen table group and we had a good time hanging up to battle the archenemy. Though how the schemes play out has a lot to do with which way the game will fall.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Arrived before expected date, thanks!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
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