Power Rangers Omega Forever is the very first small box expansion for Power Rangers: The Deck-Building Game. It is also unique in that it’s an expansion that doesn’t draw from a season of the TV show but from a single story arc in the Boom! Studios comics. Yet, there are some impressive twists on the core gameplay that help each game feel faster and more dynamic.
What is in Power Rangers Omega Forever?
Picking up Power Rangers Omega Forever will get you the following. First, you’ll get eight new characters complete with their own Signature Item, Zord, and Master cards. These include the titular Omega Rangers: Jason, Trini, Zack, and Kiya, as well as the Anointed: Dayne, Garrison Vox, Cavotus, and Anointed Kiya. In addition, you’ll get 36 new main deck cards featuring characters and locations from the Omega Rangers comic storyline Necessary Evil, four Omega Coin tokens, and four new Starter cards.
Putting Power Rangers Omega Forever’s content into the original deck-building game does take some time to set up. First, there is a new stack of cards called Omega Strikes. These replace Blade Blasters during set up and mostly serve the same function as early resource investments and combat options. The difference is that Omega Strikes can be played for resources, then destroyed to either heal or deal damage to both you and your opponent, which can end or protract battles if used strategically. Next, you have to take out a fixed number of cards from the main deck of either the base version of the deck-building game or its expansion Zeo: Stronger Than Before, and shuffle them into the Omega Forever main deck to serve as The Grid. This also includes what version of the Zord Bay and Villain Lair you want to use. Finally, if you’re playing as an Omega Ranger or an Anointed, you shuffle a single Omega Morpher or Anointed Starter card into your deck.
However, once all of that set up is done, Power Rangers Omega Forever does bring a more aggressive energy to your games. Various cards now have multiple effects. Come Get Some! Is a Block card that also deals damage when it stops an attack. The Zernox-2 Location card automatically attacks your opponent for 2 damage at the start of each of your turns. In addition, there are multiple cards that allow you to draw additional cards or destroy cards in The Grid. If you don’t invest in blocking or healing, a game in Power Rangers Omega Forever can end fast.
What new villains are in Power Rangers Omega Forever?
This forward momentum is even more involved when it comes to the playable characters. On villains, the most straightforward is Anointed Kiya, whose Scheming side gives you a small discount when you’re buying something from the Grid, with her Empowered side allowing you to deal damage as well as destroy Hero cards in the Grid.
Garrison Vox is all about beating things down with his Scheming side allowing you to attack for 1 and heal for 1 every turn, which only gets worse when his Empowered Side let’s you deal damage as well as draw cards. Couple that with his Savage Charge Signature Item, which deals damage equal to how many cards are in your discard pile, and he can sweep if you buy low and buy fast.
Cavotus is a glass cannon. His attacks are weaker, he loses health every turn, and he’s the only character who doesn’t become Empowered when four cards are equipped. This is because if he takes 5 or more damage in a single turn, he transforms, which enhances the damage of every attack he makes. Considering his Signature Item, Morphin Energy Blast, can deal 8 damage by itself, it’s something to keep in mind.
My personal favorite villain of the bunch however is Dayne. While he was the stuff of overlapping passive nightmares in his tabletop debut of Heroes of the Grid, Dayne in Power Rangers Omega Forever is a highly versatile character. His Scheming side seems underdeveloped at first, you just get one of his Signature Items, his Plasma Energy Batons, added to your deck at the start. But once Dayne becomes Empowered, you can swap out the Plasma Energy Batons for a completely different Signature Item in his personal stack. This can be as direct as the Plasma Longsword which deals damage, the Plasma Whip which adds three Stuns to an enemy deck, the Plasma Shield which can block damage, and even a Plasma Torch which you can use to search your deck for a card and add it to your hand. You can even use and then swap out these weapons multiple times. The big downside to all of this is that these abilities cost a lot of Energy, so start building your batteries early.
What new heroes are in Power Rangers Omega Forever?
As for the playable heroes in Power Rangers Omega Forever, their most unique abilities come from their Omega Coins. Every time you play the new Omega Morpher card, your coin is placed on your character card. At any point during your turn, you can remove that coin and instantly morph your Ranger until your turn ends. You can even spend your coin right before you play another Omega Morpher card to get it back. Not only does this lead to faster early strategies, it ties into some new mechanics built around the coins. Jason can place his coin on an enemy’s equipped card to deal damage whenever it exhausts. Zack can use his to instantly ready and activate a Zord for free. Trini can place hers on her own equipped cards for a damage boost. Finally, Kiya can place her coin on a card in the Grid to stop the enemy from buying or battling it as well as giving a discount to her and her allies. While it does get some getting used to, managing your Omega Coins can lead to some impressive combos or returns from the brink.
Finally, Power Rangers Omega Forever introduces Fused Zords. This is a unique property that all Omega Zords have, and its implemented quite well into Power Rangers: The Deck-Building Game. In addition to each Omega Zord having an attack ability, they also have a fusion cost. Pay the energy cost, and you take the Fused Zord card from the stack and attach it to another Zord in the Zord Bay. This attached card gives that Zord an additional ability like making its attacks unblockable or letting it perform its ability a second time. Finally, whenever this is done, you take another Zord card from outside the game and add it to the stack. What this means is, if you invest in your Zord Bay, you can potentially have enhanced versions of classic Zords at your disposal.
Should I Buy Power Rangers Omega Forever?
Despite it being a small box expansion, Power Rangers Omega Forever packs a lot of strategic depth and exciting new playstyles into the game. T.C. Petty III has done a great job designing the function of the cards, both Dan Mora and Valeria Favoccia’s comic book artwork is used to phenomenal effect, and the overall style and quality of the box is impressive. If you want a bit more cosmic action in Power Rangers: The Deck-Building Game matches, this is a must buy.
The copy of Power Rangers Omega Forever used in this review was provided by the publisher
