I suppose I should preface this by saying that as a veteran of the Shadowverse digital CCG. I’ve been looking forward to the physical release of the ‘Altersphere’ set, (now called ‘Alterchaotica’ in print) for a long time, and it certainly did not disappoint. There is a lot to praise in this release, along with a couple of lumps as is always expected, but we’ll get to that later.
Visuals:
First things first, as always with a Shadowverse: Evolve expansion the visual design is top notch. The usual plethora of art styles are at play, and they all come together very nicely into a cohesive expansion. The set has a strong visual identity (well, bar a couple of odd outliers. I’m looking at you Tart Man), and Shadowverse’s whimsical dark fantasy style is on show here front and centre. Fans of the digital game are eating well here with physical versions of some old favorites, High Enchantress, Mana Pistol Merc and Annerose to name but a few. You can see a few of my personal favorites pictured, clad in Dragon Shield sleeves (other card sleeves are available) which I highly recommend. Dragon shield is of course available right here on Zatu if keeping your cards neat and safe is a concern for you.
I suppose I should preface this by saying that as a veteran of the Shadowverse digital CCG. I’ve been looking forward to the physical release of the ‘Altersphere’ set, (now called ‘Alterchaotica’ in print) for a long time, and it certainly did not disappoint. There is a lot to praise in this release, along with a couple of lumps as is always expected, but we’ll get to that later.
Visuals:
First things first, as always with a Shadowverse: Evolve expansion the visual design is top notch. The usual plethora of art styles are at play, and they all come together very nicely into a cohesive expansion. The set has a strong visual identity (well, bar a couple of odd outliers. I’m looking at you Tart Man), and Shadowverse’s whimsical dark fantasy style is on show here front and centre. Fans of the digital game are eating well here with physical versions of some old favorites, High Enchantress, Mana Pistol Merc and Annerose to name but a few. You can see a few of my personal favorites pictured, clad in Dragon Shield sleeves (other card sleeves are available) which I highly recommend. Dragon shield is of course available right here on Zatu if keeping your cards neat and safe is a concern for you.
All in all, this is a very pretty set, and will have something old or new fans alike can appreciate. The set is also mercifully free of some of the dodgy scans that nearly spoiled a couple of cards from some earlier sets, everything here is crisp and high fidelity, and very nice to look at!
The Cards:
The general usefulness of the cards in this set is I would say, pretty high. And there’s a lot in Alterchaotica that deck builders will love whether you are playing casual or competitive. Crimson Rose Queen is there for Abysscraft making 2 cost swarm decks look pretty attractive, and Michelle the Mind reader is a great low play cost search card for Forestcraft, as long as you don’t mind that part of the search cost is an evolution point (It’s an admittedly high price, but if you ask me, too many people are sleeping on this card). There’s even a few must have neutrals like Alterplane Arbiter which gives some amazing board clear potential in a consistent deck, and, ugh… yes, Tart man. Which I am loath to say offers probably the best deck search in the entire set, curse his buttery hide. 4 cost targeted search that’s also a 4/4 creature is insanely good especially for some portal or forestcraft decks. Even so, most decks could justify spending 4 play points on the search alone.
This Shadowverse set also contains new Omen cards, which have some great combo potential with decks from Omens Eternal, so if you’re an Omen deck enjoyer such as myself, you’re going to want to get your hands on some of those.
One More thing to note is that this series introduces new double sided evolution cards. These add a lot of flexibility to your strategy if you can manage to get your hands on them, giving you as they do the ability to choose between different effects or playstyles as the situation arises. These cards can be very important for those high stakes back and forth matches that are some of the most fun you can have in card gaming.
Card Pack Value:
8 cards per booster is a little lean compared to some other games. However the consistency of the Alterchaotica pull rates, plus the aforementioned consistent quality of the cards in the set means I can recommend Alterchaotica without hesitation. I found that every pack I opened had something that was worth putting in one or another of my decks. There is also some good synergy to be had with new and existing play styles which makes it worth anybody’s money picking up a pack or two. Though remember if you are buying in bulk you are as always going to get the best value and pull consistency with a booster box, as each box contains a guaranteed SL+ rarity card, quite important if you are hunting a specific rare something. It is however still more than worth buying single packs if you don’t want to commit to larger spending, as each pack contains at least one Gold+ rarity, and as mentioned before, the quality of cards across the set is consistently great no matter the rarity.
The Lumps:
As always, it’s not all good news, there are of course some who are a little disappointed that a few of their favorite cards from the digital version did not make the cut (And yet somehow Tart Man did… grr). But truthfully most of the best and brightest of Altersphere is right here on display in Alterchaotica, so on the whole it’s not much of an issue.
The absence of Leader cards however is a bit harder to swallow, as those who were hoping to get Alexiel or Orchis for their leader are sorely disappointed. No extra thick leader cards in the packs means no need for extra thick tokens, you don’t need to hide what isn’t there. Thin tokens isn’t as much of an issue as the lack of leader cards, but it’s still annoying for those who use token heavy decks. The thin tokens need to be sleeved if you want to keep them looking nice.
In Conclusion:
Alterchaotica is without doubt one of the strongest Shadowverse: Evolve sets released to date. Despite a couple of nitpicks, it’s well worth grabbing a couple of packs or even boxes for the casual or competitive player alike. With a great presentation that extends to the boxes and packs themselves, and practically every card being useful in one deck or another, there is a lot to recommend Alterchaotica, and I am thoroughly glad Cygames and Bushiroad finally got around to releasing it. It’s a must for returning players, and also a great set to buy into if you are new to Shadowverse: Evolve. Don’t miss it!
Zatu Review Summary
Zatu Score
90%
