If you don’t know the name Josh Krause then it’s very likely that your Magic: the Gathering experiences aren’t nearly as fulfilling as they could be with Josh’s help. Josh has outdone himself once again with the creation of his fourth Kickstarter campaign: Relics of Wizardry. Go on, click the link, and salivate over how excited you’re going to be to play with the gaming tokens that you didn’t even know you needed in your life.
It’s funny, I’ve been a gamer for a long time. I can remember the first AD&D box set I got. I can remember playing Hero Quest with my little brother. I vividly remember the first starter deck of Ice Age I bought at my local comic store. I say this because I want you to know that I fully understand the intimate relationship we as gamers have with our gaming supplies.
So when I first laid eyes upon Relics of Wizardry my first thought was, “How did Magic get to be 25 years old without this existing in our lives?” I mean, specialized gaming supplies have existed since the first twenty-sided die was rolled by the Egyptians. In games where we all share common objects we strive to make our experience our own and Relics of Wizardry will allow us to do that in a way Magic players previously haven’t been able to do.
It’s been about a day now since Josh’s fourth Kickstarter campaign began and the community has already raised over 70% of the total Josh needs to make these tokens a reality. It’s a pretty safe assumption that he’ll get there and put the first wave of tokens into production, including Embalmed, Eternal, Exerted, Treasure, and a double-sided +1/+1|-1/-1 token.
I was fortunate enough to have Josh send me a prototype of the double-sided +1/+1 and -1/-1 counter. You can see them in the videos on the Kickstarter campaign but you won’t be disappointed when you finally get your grubby mitts on them. They’re not heavy but they are certainly substantial, especially if you have a small dice bag full of them.
The entry point for this campaign is $12, about the cost of three packs of Magic cards, a draft set. In exchange for one set you’ll get one of each token and I feel comfortable predicting you’ll get more than five. Up your pledge to $20 and you’ll double your bounty at a cost of $10/set. Looking for a better deal? Find four friends and chip in $49 for five sets (less than $10/set) or you can each pitch in $19 and get two sets ($9.50/set for 10 sets).
Where this campaign really shines though is in the stretch goals, which Josh has mapped out as five stretch goals bringing the total campaign to $25,000. Among the ideas Josh has floated for stretch goals include tokens to represent counters for Brick, Energy, Time, Clue, Cage, Poison, and The Monarch. Magic has such a rich history of tokens that I’m sure Josh could stretch this out far beyond 10 tokens.
Do you have a retail outlet? Or maybe you’re a small blog that likes to give stuff away to your subscribers? For $199 you can get 25 full sets of tokens, a total of at least 125 tokens but maybe 250 if Josh reaches all of his planned stretch goals. Of course, if you just have the dough to spare and like to host Magic events at your kitchen table, it might be worth the investment.
Besides, you spent more money on the sleeves and basic lands for your cube. You know it. I know it. Josh knows it. Don’t be left in the dust.