Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid Allies Pack 1 Review

There are times where a full team of Power Rangers just aren't enough to save the day. The villains bring in a new dangerous general to their ranks or some horrific doomsday weapon escalates the fight to where the team just can't handle it. But, there is always a sixth ranger that arrives. They're either a mentor figure that joins the fight, or a mysterious helper that comes to the team's aid with newfound knowledge and power. Now, those same teammates can join your game of Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid with Ally Pack 1.

Ally Pack 1 contains the following. You get five brand new playable character figures: Commander Anubis “Doggie” Crueger, Ninjor, the Zeo Gold Ranger, the Magna Defender, and the Phantom Ranger. Each of them have their own unique combat deck, character card, and Zord card associated with them. Finally, there is a brand new Megazord card in the box.

First, it cannot be understated how each and every character in this pack brings something new to the table and feels rewarding to play in their own right. In addition to the characters having passionate fan followings in their own right, in terms of Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid's overall meta, everyone here is high-tier. If you plan on playing high level scenarios like Drakkon's Gauntlet or facing Master Vile, this pack is a must have.

First, a closer look at Anubis Crueger the mentor and commander of Power Rangers SPD. Fitting Crueger's militaristic background, his deck is about tactical assessment and precise strikes. Bark Orders lets another ranger in the battle play a card then have it go to the top of their deck rather than discarded. Discipline is a Reaction that allows any player to re-roll damage dice. Then there's Judgment, where Cruegar can just add energy to the shared pool for a fight, ranging from just one energy against footsoldiers to a whopping three if the team is facing a villain.

Even Crueger's attack cards are nothing to scoff at. Crowd Control only has two dice for damage, but if it targets a footsoldier card, you can immediately attack again with two dice on a different footsoldier. Alternatively, Shadow Slash is a three dice card which is great for monster and villain cards, but you can drop one die to add two energy to the shared pool.But if Crueger really needs to deal serious damage to a villain, his three energy card, Shadow Saber will do the trick. The amount of dice you roll for damage is equal to how much health is on the card itself. Any damage tokens on the card are subtracted from this total. Considering the health of some cards can reach up to six –  or in the case of King Mondo's Sword of Damocles a whopping ten –  this one attack can shut down some devastating cards before they even go off.

If there is a downside to Crueger, it's his Zord card and Character ability. The Delta Base Zord card can be exhausted to allow a player to recover an additional four shields worth of cards when they do the Recover action. It's not a bad support ability, especially if you're on the back foot due to an unlucky deployment, but it's a little too situational. Then there's Crueger's ability of Squad Commander, which allows another player in a battle to, at the cost of one energy, perform an attack with three dice instead of playing a card. It's a very underwhelming ability considering Crueger's whole deck is all about letting players keep cards, maximize damage on attacks, and enable combos by ramping up energy, but it's manageable.

Next up is the Zeo Gold Ranger from Power Rangers Zeo. The first big to note is that this character actually has two different character cards. This is important since they determine how a unique Zeo ability on every card in the deck is handled. The original Zeo Gold Ranger, Trey of Triforia, has the ongoing ability that every time you play a card, you also resolve the Zeo ability attached. Furthermore, if you spend one energy, you may resolve that ability a second time.

This makes the entire combat deck a lot more aggressive and straightforward. The Lightning Rod attack is strong enough with two dice followed by one guaranteed damage on your target, but the Zeo ability to deal one additional damage to another card. For a one energy cost attack card, that is powerful. Inspiring Presence let's another player play a card, but the Zeo ability also adds one energy to the shared pool. The list goes on.

On the other end of the spectrum is the second Gold Ranger and original Mighty Morphin' Red Ranger, Jason Scott. Every time you play a card in combat, you may reveal a card from your hand and resolve the Zeo ability on the card revealed. But once you do this, you put the revealed card on the bottom of your deck and draw a card. This makes the entire combat deck lean more on adaptability and support, allowing you to mix and match Zeo abilities for whatever situation calls for it. This does lead to a hand that's always changing around, which does make long-term strategy a little trickier but it's a decent pay off.

As for the Gold Ranger's Zord card, Pyramidas, it is very versatile. It can be exhausted whenever a player takes damage to increase their defense by one shield, deal one damage to a card, and add one energy to the shared pool. It's a scattershot approach to support but it's appreciated nonetheless.

Following that is Ninjor, aid to the original Mighty Morphin' team and the creator of the power coins. Fittingly for a ninja, Ninjor's entire deck is all about avoiding damage, staying alive, and shutting down attacks. Encouraging Word and Ninjato Blade all let players put cards from the discard pile back into their deck. Unlock Potential basically refreshes a Zord card so it can be used twice in a single turn. Finally, Showboating lets you just ignore all effects of an enemy card, although it does skip your next turn. Even his Power of the Ninja ability and Ninjor Battle Mode Zord Card is all about keeping players in the fight longer with bringing cards back from the discard pile.

The only downside is that he doesn't have the best direct damage cards. You can't have everything I suppose.

Fourth in the pack is the Phantom Ranger. No one really knows who this character is, only that he pops up unexpectedly helps out, then vanishes. Unsurprisingly, that's how his entire playstyle works. His Cloaking Device ability allows him to move off the map completely, putting his figure on the character card, and most of his combat cards allow him to assist in any battle regardless of location. Furthermore, most of his attacks and abilities, including his Zord Card Artillatron, ignore the Guard keyword, letting him penetrate defenses with ease. The downside is that he can't really benefit from teamwork combos like this. But if you're looking to add some guerilla tactics to your game, the Phantom Ranger has you covered.

The final character is the Magna Defender from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy. In the simplest terms, this character can be summarized as spike armor. He can sacrifice cards to let players get cards back. His attack and defense cards become more powerful if copies are in his discard pile. His Avenging Knight ability and Torozord Zord card are all about dealing damage to whatever attacks him. Finally, if the right cards are discarded, his Magna Blade attack can ramp up to being five dice worth of damage that ignores Guard and can have its dice rerolled. The only downside is that you're basically playing with a glass cannon. Make sure your deck doesn't get too low while balancing the potential benefits of having certain resources discarded.

Finally, there is the new Delta Command Megazord. If you manage to get this Megazord out, you can move it to an area on the map, at which point any player who moves their character to that location or Recovers while in that location instantly powers up. This is fantastic for a final push on a villain since it opens up actions and lets players be more reckless with big combos and attacks since they can just recover everything and get back in the fight.

The Bottom Line

Much like the sixth ranger trope itself, if you need some extra help from some stellar characters for your game of Heroes of the Grid, then Ally Pack 1 is a must have. Each character brings something new to the table and can be the key to turning a game around. They aren't completely perfect, but that's what teammates are for.

Get This Pack If...

• You Like Any The Characters

• Want Diverse, Deep Character Combos

• Need Some Recovery Game For Your Megazord

Don't Get This Pack If...

• You Hate Dogs

• Want Rita To Win

The Ranger Allies 1 Character Pack for this review was provided by Renegade Game Studios