Kaijudo - First Impressions

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Hi. Today we're going to give our first impression of Wizards of the Coast's new card game, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters, which is a rebirth of the game 'Duel Masters' they produced years ago. For those of you who played that game when it was active, this article will give you a overview of what to expect from the new one. For people who didn't play the original game, we hope that this article is still helpful to you in getting into the new game.

Success Prediction

First of all, let's start by saying that Wizards seems really serious about this revamp. They're re-using the art for the simpler creatures, which gives them more money and time to put into development of the show. For those who don't know, part of the reason the first version of this game did not do so well is that it did not take itself seriously enough, in terms of promotion. Now, we've got a great show where the focus isn't on the card game itself, but rather on the creatures truly 'coming to life', much more similar to Pokemon's TCG, where you already have a good idea of what most everything does from watching the show. This means that younger and older fans alike will be able to connect well.

Those of us who played these games before online, or had to buy fake cards to play in distant (from the US) countries, may not see why, but this game is likely to do really well. The power of rarer cards is higher than before, and while this may be a lot different from what we are used to, it also means that the thrill involved in buying packs and getting good cards, or trading, is going to be a lot higher. This is actually a really big part of the enjoyment of a card game for the average player, and not everyone is super serious about these things. Even more importantly, they made sure that the strong cards in the sohow are really good cards, even if they are rares, so it helps branding. People can connect the 'power' of the show to the cards they get, making it easier for younger players to know which cards to hold onto. Not good for the 'sharks' that try to get their cards easily, but good for the game overall!


What's Changed

On a visual level, not much. The cards look about the same, except for the cool new logo on the back, and mostly the art is in the same style as before. The new cards fit in with the older, reused cards and card arts. Play wise, so far, we've seen some changes that will have the overall effect of slowing the game down relative to the last version. People who didn't play the last version, this basically means that at the moment, the early turns aren't going to be very interesting, unless you are playing Fire. There are a lot of accessible Shield Blast (Shield Trigger to you veterans) type cards, that can be played for free when your opponent breaks a shield in an attack. For this stage of the game, this is really exciting, though it may not be very fun for those people who did not like to deal with this aspect of the game before. Overall, the game will pick up toward the latter stages, especially because of one of the biggest balance changes involving discard cards, but it's too soon to tell for sure, with just the base set coming up. Another huge change that is only partly confirmed at this point is a change in the level of restriction of the mana system, but we suggest you look into that yourself.


What Hasn't Changed

So far, it looks like removal and resources are still 'the name of the game', in that order, so building your deck is still going to be easy if you are aiming for efficient winning. Even though some of the staple older cards are now higher in cost, what this is really going to do is prevent late game dominance with chains of them, rather than giving players more of a chance to play around them, since everything else is slower too, and the changes aren't actually very uniform. What this means is that most people who played the first version of the game, especially in its early sets, will feel right at home with the play flow. Hopefully we will see more actual tactical strength available in the Light civilization early on, this time, as it was considered very lacking in the early sets last time, and there's no sign of that changing... yet!


Shopping Advice

For those of you who intend to jump right in money first, here's our shopping advice if you want to get a good start on winning in the obviously coming Tournament Circuit. As you'd expect, you will do well for yourself if you buy more than one of the Battle Decks to get started with so you can vary your strategy, but surprisingly, you actually have to buy two, the decks come together in a set. This means it's harder to just do the optimal thing and buy two Razorkinder decks. If you want to play seriously, therefore, you will actually need to buy four decks. If you can split this with someone and let them take the second Tatsurion deck, that is best for you. The reason for aiming to get two Razorkinder decks is preparation for serious play. Not only is 'stalling' going to be the better option for a while, the fact is that certain cards, mostly in the Tatsurion deck, are only really useful when you have a lot of them, and need to be supported by other cards. Buying two Tatsurion decks would give you enough of these cards but not enough of the cards from the Razorkinder deck that would be used to back them up, so it's better to start there. This is even more true if you hope to play the Light Civilization when it starts to make an appearance, because Light cards in general combine better with Water cards than anything else, so you will need 'extra' water cards.


Concluding Thoughts

Overall, it looks like the game is slightly more balanced and even EASIER to play than the last version, and it might just make it big if the show is well liked (which you can practically count on given Hasbro's effort). If there is a downside, it is the fact that rares are much more clearly powerful, so there will be higher 'competition' on the trading scene, for cards that 'work'. This will be great for sales, but at the same time, it may make the competitive play scene a little stale if skill doesn't do a good enough job of filling the gap between the power of the 'top decks' and everything else. That doesn't look likely YET but since that was part of the game's downfall the last time, we can probably trust that Wizards won't make the same mistake again.


Deck Suggestion (not in video)

For those of you who just want an idea of 'a winning deck to aim for', here's what we've come up with from the information on current and upcoming cards, based on past experience. This assumes that you have unlimited money, but you can get a lot of these cards just from two Razorkinder and one Tatsurion deck purchase. (old players who are wondering why there are only 3x of critical looking cards, should know that the new limit is 3 per deck).


Brain Storm

Sprout x 3 - This card has always been useful in this game's design, allowing you to jump forward a whole early turn
Essence Elf x 2 - Add more as soon as you get them, but don't expect other buyers to give these up easy
Ambush Scorpion x 3 - Good to fill the space with Nature cards for early play.
Skeeter Swarmer x 3 - Any 'veteran' can tell you that in the early sets, even considering its drawback, this was the card to have (trade off your second set)
Aqua Seneschal x 3 - While this card's effect is not instant, it lets you attack other creatures and get a new card out of it
Dream Pirate x 3 - This alone gives you enough blockers to go with, and the power is important, plus it can at least sacrifice attack
Hydro Spy x 3 - This card is one of the most important things to any deck at this stage, don't let yours go!
Rusalka, Aqua Chaser x 3 - This will be THE card to get for a long time. As soon as you can, snap these up!
Gilaflame, the Assaulter x 3 - Just as vital as Rusalka, and even harder to get. Hoard them all, for every deck!
Rock Bite/Bone Blades x 5 - So far, Bone Blades is preferable, most threats over level 4 so far, have too much power for Rock Bite anyway. This may change.
Bronze-Arm Tribe x 3 - more (Nature) mana always helps (though you can substitute cause that's mostly what you need it for)
Zagaan, the Bone Knight x 2 - Two is enough but if you're not a really heavy collector, see below
Tatsurion x 1 - This card works best in large numbers, so if you can trade it for another Zagaan go ahead, easier to get a set
Terror Pit x 2 - Three would be ideal but at this point not that necessary, because...
Razorkinder x 2 - You should have two of these to make up for it (and maybe a Death Smoke you held onto)
Root Trap x 1 - Only need one of these and probably got one if you bought three decks

This should be a solid enough base, but since this is only 42 cards and 6 of the mentioned cards are hard to get and not in the Battle Decks at all, substitute in whatever you feel most comfortable with. Little Hissy is a good pick due to the lack of Fire cards for mana, otherwise, and Overcharge can be helpful in a pinch. We hope everyone enjoys the new game and has lots of luck whenever they buy booster packs!