It's finally here! After cosmic travel through the stars in UFO, our MetaZoo journey through the Cryptid Nation now brings us to the SEANCE! A new 165-card "Halloween" set with occult magic themes. MetaZoo's 5th set overall, coming in hot after Cryptid Nation, Nightfall, Wilderness & UFO. Let's take a look at what's inside this set!
This set features an abundance of new Spirit beasties (hinted at by the Spirit aura colour & Walking Sam on the booster box), as well as light and dark, similar to Nightfall. A lot of the spooky vibes and good vs evil battles are also similar to Nightfall, but there is something completely new in this set, never before seen in MetaZoo: true Dual Aura beasties! Creatures that are specifically Dark & Spirit, Water & Ice...and even wilder combos like Forest Lightning! We also see a return of the Artifact Essences in awesome cards like Reaper's Crown & Houdini's Hat, each generating 2 aura of a specific type. Orbs also make a comeback, and there are many cards with dual effects and attacks, making even more deck combination possibilities. A lot of players of the game have said this set will cause a big shift in the meta and I can definitely see it.
It wouldn't be a new MetaZoo set without a powerful new Special Aura, and this time we get the Possessed Aura, keeping with the haunted theme. Like the Prism Aura in Wilderness, this will also be a key card in dual aura decks, allowing you to copy an aura page already in the arena. Other chase cards in the set include the 'Hateful 8', eight rare cards that seem to be much harder to pull and only come in full holo form, cards with some very powerful game-changing effects, as is always the case with new MetaZoo pages!
For the Theme Deck leaders this time we get some very recognizable characters in the MetaZoo story & lore, such as Loveland Frogman, Rainbow Wizard & M! Very powerful characters in the story and also in the card game as can be seen by their effects & attacks. These cards are sure to be worked into competitive MetaZoo decks in the near future, and it's always nice to see some playable reprints in these theme decks as well. A standout in the Release Event Decks is Sarah Good, a historical figure from Salem, very fitting to the theme of the set. Her effect is quite powerful as it is one of the few cards that lets you search your deck for a Spell card, as long as you're wearing a witch hat of course. Lots of fun flavor like this can be found throughout MetaZoo card effects, part of their unique design & style.
In conclusion, this brand new SEANCE set from MetaZoo is another step in the right direction for the company, with many new cards sure to excite both players & collectors. The theming and packaging is impeccable and as Casters discover the true power of these cards there is a lot of new fun to be had. If you're new to the game I'd reccomend picking up a Theme Deck or Release Event Box with some packs to check out the game mechanics, or a Spellbook if you want to crack some boosters & build your own deck from there - there are a ton of different deck types and play styles for new Casters to discover!