Thanks to The Dice Tower and other outlets, we have a lot of information about DC Dice Masters, the characters involved, and the like.

The three dice we had the hardest time identifying and were the least sure of are now known to us as well, and at least one or two surprised us.

Let's take a look at everything we have and we'll give some quick thoughts on each! There is a lot of stuff and as a means of avoiding reader fatigue (and writer fatigue, to be honest) we're going to split this into multiple parts. Here are the first twenty.


By the way - there are a lot of images and a lot of text. We did our best to compartmentalize things as much as possible. Everything is as well aligned as it can be. Enjoy!


Aquaman - Common 

A little bit of purchase cost manipulation is welcome here, and with Aquaman being pretty cheap to buy and field, this is definitely a useful card in a Justice League-themed deck.

It's also nice to see shields get a little more useful.

To this point, shields are probably not giving the kind of utility that you'd like, short of the Iron Man global on a villain themed deck. I think there are a few useful shields here. It's a welcome enhancement of the game.



The Atom - Common

This guy is basically a useful chump blocker, and is probably an early buy if you're going for a long game, controlling strategy. You want to put him out there and keep him there, ideally.

And really, you want him on level one. It would be a bummer to field him on level three, as then his ability is useless.

This one gets a "playable" rating from me for now and I doubt that will go any higher.



Batarang - Common

A really nice use of the burst here.

Batarang provides a useful means of spot removal unless you're going against a level three character, in which case you are out of luck.

The double burst ability is especially neat and very thematic.

I don't love the card, it's not bad, but I do love the way that burst is used and the way that these nonbasic action cards are integrating the theme of the item used.


Batarang - Uncommon

I do love this version of the Batarang, on the other hand.

The drawback is that it could damage a villain of yours as well, as all villains must be effected.

However, imagine this on a team with Nasty Boy (and other villains that we get in this DC set), intentionally KO'ing villains in one fell swoop?

That could be a pretty interesting subversion of this card. Otherwise, a nifty board sweeper for villains.

Batman - Starter Common 1

The ability on its own isn't great, but throwing in retaliation isn't bad at all and makes it worthwhile.

 If you play your cards - or perhaps your dice - right, you can start some big swings with life gain.

Retaliation is nifty, and it is widely used in this set.

One of my favorite things about these named abilities is that it can take a card that is only OK based on the ability and make it something special.


Batman - Starter Common 2

Bats is getting some use out of his utility belt here.

The only thing that could be cooler with this is if it had synergy with the Batarang nonbasic action, but what can you do?

I'll welcome anything that makes the basic actions more purchasable than they currently are. With some exceptions, the basic actions that we have right now are losers except for the global abilities that they bring. Of course, at this point we must note the high TFC of Batman. Win some, lose some.


Black Canary - Uncommon

This version of Black Canary seems to have its uses.

Taking Sidekicks out of the equation means that it'll be that much easier to swing through with something that you really want to deal damage.

Getting the uncommon Black Canary out on the board could be an important step towards the win condition for some teams, and she really isn't that pricey to field.

That said, she has other versions that are exciting too.


Black Manta - Uncommon

Black Manta, it should be noted, adds another nonstandard TFC 3 character to the mix.

This brings the retaliation mechanism to bear within the villain side of things, and this is where I think that things could get interesting when combined with something like Mister Sinister - Nasty Boy and the Batarang.

There are probably easier ways to do it, but that's the one that pops out at first glance. This will likely see some use.


Black Manta - Rare

I forgot to mention how awesome the art is.

Another card that sources strength from villains. I love the faction synergy in this edition of Dice Masters.

There are lots of ways that this could fit into teams, both in-set and cross-set. Not only is Black Manta consistent in fielding cost, he is also consistent in terms of purchasing cost. And he's a case where the villain is way cooler than their nemesis (Aquaman). Sorry, Aquafans.



Blue Beetle - Common

This is another one that would fit nicely into many different villain teams. He's like Johnny Storm, but only for villains - yet he impacts both sides of the board. If you have him, he is a deterrent for playing a villain team.

However, he can also be a boon to a villain team by keeping the damage going.

Why is it so good to be bad?


Booster Gold - Common

Give me my favorite hero in a set, and you make him THIS?! Are you kidding me? Where do I start?

HE IS NOT A MASK. He should be a bolt.

And you made him a coward?! He's the one protecting the time stream from people who would kill Superman as a baby. He's the unsung hero that we NEED.

And I need an antacid. The UC and Rare better be killer.


Brainiac - Common

This will be a cool means of control within the set, and it makes me think of a Counterspell in magic. I don't want you to roll that thing, get it out of my face.

Depending on your timing, you could get it back into what will be a full dice bag by their next draw.

However, in cross-set play, thanks to PXG, there are plenty of times when you're rolling all or nearly all of your dice, and so this wouldn't have much of an impact.

Brainiac - Uncommon

This is a lot like the uncommon Toad that we currently have in UXM.

I like adding the ability to the format, though, because there are lots of nasty things that you could force your opponent to attack into in this set, especially when dealing with villain cards.

Like Toad, he could also provide a means of breaking up the board so that you can do something big in your next turn. Brainiac is a pretty decent blocker on his own, so you have the means.



Captain Cold - Uncommon

This is definitely a character that we got wrong in the early guessing. We thought it might be Spectre.

The ability brings up some questions - is this paying one for every attacker, or just as a gateway into the attack step? I think it's probably the latter, but I see the argument for the former.

Also, I haven't mentioned it up until now, but boy - there are a lot of TFC 6 cards in this set so far.


Catwoman - Common

As we go through this set, you'll see limited options for churn. Zatanna gives us one, and Catwoman provides a similar one.

This isn't bad and you'll need to cycle her to get the most use out of this. Unfortunately, she's only easy to cycle on level one, maybe level two.

The other problem is her TFC of three. This gives you acceleration, but not necessarily energy efficiency. She'll take some testing to suss out.



Catwoman - Super Rare

Situationally, this could be amazing. Situationally.

But as we said in a recent podcast, we have to look at the average case scenario for a card, and on average, it's not likely that you'll reap a ton of benefit from this beyond the potential of getting someone's bomb into used. I don't think it's always worth it.

This is a fascinating card, and we'll have to see if we can break it, but on an island and without playing the set yet, I'm lukewarm on it at best. What do you think?


Cheetah - Uncommon

Spot removal of a sidekick. Depending on how it is blocked, it could give you a two-for one, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

This is "the brown and gold one on the right" that we didn't have an answer for in our DC Dice spoiler post on the blog.

This is a cheap villain, so there are possibilities in that way as well, and I see where you could turn a sidekick into a villain with a global and make Cheetah trigger other stuff, but I'd like to see what the common and rare bring for this one.


Constantine - Common

If basic actions are sticking in your craw, Constantine could be your way around them. Imprisoned is a danger, and some of the new ones are as well (especially with Batarang and Batman's ability to purchase basic actions on the cheap). Constantine gives you a possible way around them.

Again with some solid shield utility. Good show, Wizkids! Actually, we're 17 cards in and this is the first shield we've seen since the first, Aquaman. Hmmm.

Regardless, this is a good ability for cheap and will see play anywhere that actions become a headache.

Constantine - Uncommon

This is a really cool ability because unlike all of those other blind draw abilities, the Catwoman super rare for example, this is based on your regular old draw, and you will always know what is in your dice bag.

This is a cool way to get a high TFC character out for free, especially if you have enough other churn going.

Once again, we see purchase cost manipulation in this set, seemingly as a substitute for churn as we currently know it, though it would seem to partner well with current efficiency strategies. It's a Mr. Anger, but for everyone.

Cyborg - Uncommon

This is a case where I don't know if retaliation and the card ability mesh all that well. It probably want to attack with more than just Cyborg for varying reasons, especially if I think that my opponent will eat a bunch of blockers.

Still, he's not that expensive to purchase, nor that expensive to field, so it's possible that he'll have his uses. This is another that I'm skeptical on until I get to play with it.




More to come!

This is just part one - there are many, many more cards to look at! We'll see you again soon with part two.