I struggle to say Valkyrie so I was getting all kinds of messed up, you're probably going to hear multiple pronunciations and I doubt I'm saying Valkyrior right. I got tired of rerecording it and just went with it. 😤
Nice review! I agree with a lot of it - the art to be kind is patchy, she favours very specific builds (Solo Justice, MP Aggression; I think the defending stuff is just a trap). The Nemesis set is suitably challenging (I haven't actually lost to it I have drawn it a lot just not early). On the other hand I don't mind it being reused, in fact I am happy for them to reuse fun mechanics like Ultron's drones so they get wider use. The exact copy of a modular set is less ideal but I'll live. Where I differ more is the theme. I have not read the comics or seen the movies more than once or played any games. I have however read the mythology, watched the Opera and seen Apocalypse Now. Valkyrie has a Spear, Sword & Flying Horse all suitable gear for a warrior, the wings on the horse are not needed though. She Chooses the Slain - this is the Valkyries' core raison d'etre. I assume Deathglow marks the chosen. Once they are slain they are taken to Valhalla (to prepare for Ragnarok & drink refreshing mead). She challenges her targets with Have at Thee! (I prefer the card's French title "En Garde!" to the corny Olde English). then wins her duel. Her sister Valkyries help out with an intervention flight nodding to the Ride of the Valkyries. Shield Maiden is the Norse term for a female warrior and that card "shields" her or would if I ever played it but it's terrible. These titles all enhance the spectacle of the way she plays: storming around the battle field picking her targets for a visit to the afterlife then sending them there one after another like the ultimate bad ass. If the cards all had descriptive titles the game would be very prosaic - poke with spear! - especially as thwarting is incredibly abstracted. As it is many cards have evocative names that capture some of the flavour of the characters without stating exactly what is going on. I particularly like Chooser of the Slain compared to Thor's Defender of the Nine Realms. He has to flip the encounter deck to see who is causing trouble while she CHOOSES who to slay. As you say it can amount to treading water but she can pick some feeble mook (I concede this is a thematic miss) and make a profit of Valhalla or get extra use out of say Relentless Assault, which turns into a readying effect. Plus cycling is usually good. To date Valkyrie is the character who has most exceeded my expectations in terms of both fun and effectiveness though tbf my expectations were low.
You bring up an interesting point because I'm well versed in North Mythology too and everything you said is absolutely correct. My connection to the comics and MCU 100% overrides the thought pattern so I pretty never connect Norse Mythology with Marvel's version of it unless someone specifically points it out. If I were to look at her as a Norse Mythology Valkyrie disconnected from Marvel, I'd be inclined to agree. She fits that mold a lot better than that of a superhero, though I guess at this point the term superhero is pretty ambiguous anyway. I'm glad you enjoy her!
@@GideonsGaming I'm not much into the MCU & that's my only point of contact. I have enjoyed most of the films but I am really bored of them now & I don't like the alternate reality they have made that drifts farther from the real world. So I like the Ragnarok Thor who was the butt of the joke as the mythological one so often is. I think the play style is very cinematic though. It's the corridor battle scene where the minions all line up and she chops through them to get to the villain!
I struggle to say Valkyrie so I was getting all kinds of messed up, you're probably going to hear multiple pronunciations and I doubt I'm saying Valkyrior right. I got tired of rerecording it and just went with it. 😤
Nice review! I agree with a lot of it - the art to be kind is patchy, she favours very specific builds (Solo Justice, MP Aggression; I think the defending stuff is just a trap). The Nemesis set is suitably challenging (I haven't actually lost to it I have drawn it a lot just not early). On the other hand I don't mind it being reused, in fact I am happy for them to reuse fun mechanics like Ultron's drones so they get wider use. The exact copy of a modular set is less ideal but I'll live.
Where I differ more is the theme. I have not read the comics or seen the movies more than once or played any games. I have however read the mythology, watched the Opera and seen Apocalypse Now. Valkyrie has a Spear, Sword & Flying Horse all suitable gear for a warrior, the wings on the horse are not needed though. She Chooses the Slain - this is the Valkyries' core raison d'etre. I assume Deathglow marks the chosen. Once they are slain they are taken to Valhalla (to prepare for Ragnarok & drink refreshing mead). She challenges her targets with Have at Thee! (I prefer the card's French title "En Garde!" to the corny Olde English). then wins her duel. Her sister Valkyries help out with an intervention flight nodding to the Ride of the Valkyries. Shield Maiden is the Norse term for a female warrior and that card "shields" her or would if I ever played it but it's terrible. These titles all enhance the spectacle of the way she plays: storming around the battle field picking her targets for a visit to the afterlife then sending them there one after another like the ultimate bad ass.
If the cards all had descriptive titles the game would be very prosaic - poke with spear! - especially as thwarting is incredibly abstracted. As it is many cards have evocative names that capture some of the flavour of the characters without stating exactly what is going on.
I particularly like Chooser of the Slain compared to Thor's Defender of the Nine Realms. He has to flip the encounter deck to see who is causing trouble while she CHOOSES who to slay. As you say it can amount to treading water but she can pick some feeble mook (I concede this is a thematic miss) and make a profit of Valhalla or get extra use out of say Relentless Assault, which turns into a readying effect. Plus cycling is usually good.
To date Valkyrie is the character who has most exceeded my expectations in terms of both fun and effectiveness though tbf my expectations were low.
You bring up an interesting point because I'm well versed in North Mythology too and everything you said is absolutely correct. My connection to the comics and MCU 100% overrides the thought pattern so I pretty never connect Norse Mythology with Marvel's version of it unless someone specifically points it out.
If I were to look at her as a Norse Mythology Valkyrie disconnected from Marvel, I'd be inclined to agree. She fits that mold a lot better than that of a superhero, though I guess at this point the term superhero is pretty ambiguous anyway.
I'm glad you enjoy her!
@@GideonsGaming I'm not much into the MCU & that's my only point of contact. I have enjoyed most of the films but I am really bored of them now & I don't like the alternate reality they have made that drifts farther from the real world. So I like the Ragnarok Thor who was the butt of the joke as the mythological one so often is.
I think the play style is very cinematic though. It's the corridor battle scene where the minions all line up and she chops through them to get to the villain!
I kind of wish they'd done more with her Pegasus.