Mystic Vale: Conclave
Expansion of: Mystic ValeMystic Vale: Conclave provides the ideal storage solution designed to hold all of the previous releases, with room to spare for future expansions!
45m - 60m
2 - 5 Players
Ages 14+
Mystic Vale: Conclave provides the ideal storage solution designed to hold all of the previous releases, with room to spare for future expansions!
Opus69
An absolute unabashed cash grab. Stores cards vertically so they end up warping in storage. The ONE foam block they've included won't hold anything in place as it's a different shape than the space it's supposed to fill. The components that come IN Conclave (the day/night banner) don't actually fit in the box in any meaningful manner.. The original game rarely warrants more than the original four player card sets. The totem cards (all twelve of them) are the only reason to want this product and twelve cards are simply not worth the asking price for an empty cardboard box. For an "expansion" that's marketed as a storage solution, it completely fails to serve that purpose. At the time Conclave was released, the Broken Token insert, at almost half the price of Conclave, stored all Mystic Vale cards and components and had a much nicer component tray than AEG included in this total white elephant. The BT insert also fits in the original MV box. The fact that Broken Token now makes an insert for this is a complete slap in the face for AEG; the "storage solution" needs a third party storage solution.
KageSasurai
So this box is a pretty mixed bag, but overall very positive. The box itself is great and almost a necessity for players who have been collecting the game up to this point. It is attractive and holds everything nicely. Unfortunately the rest is really a mixed bag. The night and day system is probably the best way to make an attempt to play a six player game of this, but really the proper way to do that is just don't. If you really must play with 6 players facing off, just have 2 x 3 player games and then have the top 2 players play a second game for the championship and the remaining 4 face off for 3rd place. It will be far less aggravating and probably faster too. The conclaves I can take or leave, mostly leave to be honest. I really like the idea behind selecting a few of them to pare down the now massive amount of cards the game has and set a theme for the match. But on the other hand, Mystic Vale has a substantial setup and teardown (Ye gods, the teardown!) time as it is, so I rarely bother. I almost always gravitate to playing these sorts of games in "epic" mode anyhow, but your personal mileage may vary on this one. Overall, worth it as a for a storage solution for collectors, otherwise a pass.
duzzloe
Mystic Vale is a fun take on the drafting formula, and, importantly, the Conclave expansion is my first exposure to the idea of 2 players taking turns simultaneously in games with more players. The system is very clever, making 5 and 6 player games much quicker than they would otherwise be. Mystic Vale's fantasy theme is also very fun and makes for some really cool and powerful moments when your engine really starts coming together. Great game!