Gods of the Arcana is a very consistent release, with very little in the way of bad cards, but only a few stand out must haves. There are basically no real duds, and while there’s not too much to rave about either, I definitely recommend picking up a couple of packs or even a booster box.
Visuals:
Firstly, there is some quite interesting art in this new set, with some unique beautifully designed borders making some of the cards such as Springwell Dragon Keeper desirable pulls, it’s also almost unique to the set, which is definitely a selling point. The general set theme is also well made, the boosters and display box both having some great art design, something that doesn’t matter to everyone but personally I like a lot. It also makes booster boxes a worthy purchase if you want to use them as card storage.
Gods of the Arcana is a very consistent release, with very little in the way of bad cards, but only a few stand out must haves. There are basically no real duds, and while there’s not too much to rave about either, I definitely recommend picking up a couple of packs or even a booster box.
Visuals:
Firstly, there is some quite interesting art in this new set, with some unique beautifully designed borders making some of the cards such as Springwell Dragon Keeper desirable pulls, it’s also almost unique to the set, which is definitely a selling point. The general set theme is also well made, the boosters and display box both having some great art design, something that doesn’t matter to everyone but personally I like a lot. It also makes booster boxes a worthy purchase if you want to use them as card storage.
While I feel like the quality of the card art doesn’t on the whole quite match up to some of the previous series, there are definitely some very good looking cards, a few of my personal favorites being One Winged Traitor, Selfless noble and Wolfraud the Hanged Man to name but a few. There’s certainly nothing here that looks bad, and collectors will be happy with the quality of the scans.
The Cards:
The general effectiveness of the set’s cards feels slightly mediocre compared to some other sets, there’s nothing much here that’s going to massively shake up the meta for serious play. For casual play there’s something to be gained here however, as those who aren’t trying to win tournaments will find a lot of fairly decent cards. There are also a good amount of cards with niche uses that could see some limited use with less common decks, and while there’s not a load that will see extensive use in the competitive scene, there are definitely some cards that will help out, like the low cost damage Magical Augmentation gives Runecraft.
Something that’s also definitely worth considering a couple of packs for though is the good quality of neutrals in the set, with a lot of very useful reasonably low cost cards knocking about. These are especially desirable for their utility in deckbuilding for those of us who don’t own expansive collections, as padding out with neutrals is often the only way to make certain decks work on a budget.
The quality of the Legendary or above cards in the set is also quite good, with most of them being pretty great additions to decks of their respective crafts, and also being good enough it’s well worth trying to build a deck around them. A lot of them do require evolutions or unique support cards though, which means that to get the best out of them you’ll need to dedicate a modest portion of your deck to supporting them.
There’s a lot here to like, none of it especially overpowered, but for those who know how to build a deck, there is something to gain from what is on offer in this set.
Card Pack Value:
There is a good amount of value to be found in your average Gods of the Arcana pack, as you usually get a good spread of cards from all the crafts, and the set certainly isn’t stingy with its legendaries. In one booster box alone I managed to get four legendaries and a super legendary, not bad going. A word of warning to that end is that it obviously doesn’t account for the fact that most require evolutions of some sort, and a lot of the legendary cards need certain other support cards to get the best out of them. Still, all in all I’d say the value per pack is pretty good, and at least very consistent.
In Conclusion:
Gods of the Arcana is not exactly the best set to come out recently, but it’s a good choice for anybody who wants some solid options for deckbuilding or just to expand their collection. There’s definitely enough here to justify anybody who plays Shadowverse Evolve picking up a few packs. There’s nothing in the set that feels like a bad pull, and the variety and general quality is enough that most people will find at least one card they want to use in every pack. The visuals are also pretty good, and the set’s unique artstyle visible in the card borders and backgrounds is highly desirable.
Zatu Review Summary
Zatu Score
75%
