If you have been following my TCG journey, you will have seen that I have been checking out the Kiwi made Flesh and Blood. To try it out, I took Round the Table for a spin and loved it as a sealed product. Well, there is another beginner product that has been out for a while called Classic Battles: Rhinar vs Dorinthea, so I decided to see how that compares.
What’s in Flesh and Blood Classic Battles: Rhinar vs Dorinthea?
The box comes with two Blitz decks. Can you guess the heroes? That’s right, Rhinar and Dorinthea. Alongside the decks are a paper playmat and a lore booklet. So basically, what you need to play and a little bit more.
I will get into the Blitz decks a little bit more soon but will cover off the other bits first. The paper playmate is a folded playmat and is not for repeated use. It is to help you play your first games. If you already know what you’re doing or have neoprene mats, this will likely go straight in the bin. The book itself is kind of cool. It has some awesome lore information and some great art. The problem is that it’s soft-covered, magazine type paper, and also small as heck. If it was an inch bigger and had a hard cover, this would be awesome.
So, for the $60-$65 you are paying for the two blitz decks.
Are the Blitz decks worth it?
This is a bit of a challenge to define completely. There are two pre-con Blitz decks, and for $60 you can nab three new pre-cons, which adds some variety. Or throw an extra $20 on Round the Table, where you can have four Blitz decks, a neoprene mat, and an awesome storage box. So on the value of having a set to play at home, the variety isn’t there.
But these are slightly souped-up decks. With a Cold Foil hero and weapon, your deck does look nice and shiny. Then there are full-art mentor cards and some Rainbow Foil equipment, so it’s a snazzy-looking kit. Add to this that they are powered up with some dope equipment, like Dorinthea with the $30 Glistening Steelblade, and there is a little bit extra value here over standard Blitz decks.
Best of all, as I discovered at my first Blitz Armory Event, they held up surprisingly well. I took Dorinthea along with no modifications, and I had a win, a close loss, and a stomping. Not bad for a pre-con made two years ago. Using them out of the box against each other, they were nice and balanced, with multiple victories going to each deck when head-to-head.
So should you get Flesh and Blood Classic Battles: Rhinar vs Dorinthea?
As far as value for money goes, it isn’t as great as Round The Table is for beginners. But if the decks interest you, then they are solid starting points for Blitz decks that you can beef up over time. So if you are looking for your starting point for Flesh and Blood, then it’s not quite worth it. If you have already started like I have, then I will say I am happy with what I paid.
