Ever wanted to raid Shadowfang Keep? Wanted to show Scarlet Commander Mograine who is the boss? Thought it would be awesome to play against The Deadmines? Then the three newest dungeon decks for the WoW TCG are here to help you!
On 15 November Cryptozoic released three new dungeon decks – Shadowfang Keep, Scarlet Monastery and The Deadmines. All of them offer an original twist to the group efforts that players may have been familiar with when the game was still run by Upperdeck. Where the older raids were completely controlled by one of the players, these new dungeons are played by a player who also still controls a deck of his own. Making the meat requirement that much smaller.
The rules of playing these new decks have also changed. Previously, the content in the game mirrored the TCG flavor. In these new dungeons the boss has a power called Flip; the number after Flip tells you how many cards are getting flipped from the top of the deck. Whatever gets revealed will be played. The concept is nicely done, and, to be honest, I like it. Besides the flipping, the bosses now gain levels (after certain criteria are met, of course) making them harder because this often makes them flip more cards. Resulting in total chaos. The good kind.
After playing both Shadowfang Keep and Scarlet Monastery I can safely say the difficulty on these new decks is ridiculous. The easiest difficulties – where the boss cards start at level one – remains a breeze, sometimes just way too easy. For the more experienced raider there is an option to let the boss start at level two. Despite the anemic difference, the single level somehow makes it a lot harder. “As it should be, ” you say? Realize, that the difficulty goes up an incredible amount for that one card. It can make the dungeon impossible to beat. Then there is the Legendary setting, which actually has a warning on it that it isn’t for the faint of heart. Not only a Legendary warning, but it also warns you that you might get the feeling of overwhelming power and odds against you.
In my opinion, I like the older raids better, apart from the Lich King, they make for a better challenge than the new dungeons. Mainly, when you died in the old school flavors, you know why it happened. It wasn’t a random of RNG violence. It was a known cause, something that could have been planned for. Not so in the latest pack.