Scariest TCG Set Yet? A Look Into the Haunted Woods

Be careful when wandering through the Haunted Woods this season. A terrible curse plagues the inhabitants of Neovia, and it’s wise to stay away. Or are your neopets brave enough to find the cause? Find out with the newest Neopets Trading Card set, Haunted Woods. This article is to warn you about some of the dangerous new cards, or to bring your attention to cards that any player should have in their deck if they want the upper hand.

If you have never played the Neopets Trading Card Game, or never heard of it, you might want to go and research it a bit before continuing. For anyone who doesn’t know the setup of the game, this article is just a bunch of gibberish.

Pets

It is important to start with the Neopets in this set. After all, no deck is complete without them. One thing you should have noticed pretty quickly is that there are no new pets. Even Travels in Neopia, a reprint set, had new pets. “I think it's kind of odd, considering all of the new species that have come out that haven't had any cards in the TCG yet (and the poor Chias!). I'd like to see a lot more variety next set,” says TCG collector cosmicfire918.

Anyways, here are some of the Neopets in the set and a summary of them.

It’s been a while since the Korbats have shown up. A long while. Not counting Travels in Neopia (because it was a reprint set) the Korbat hasn’t been included since the Base Set. The basic Korbats come in blue and orange. Their best arena tends to be intelligence.

Cat-like Aishas have made another comeback in this particular set. They are strongest in Magic and weakest in Strength and Agility.

One more pet I would like to focus on in this set is the Tonu. Not the most popular limited pet, it has a lot to make up for in the cards. Tonus come in Red and Yellow this time around. Their best arena is Strength with a stat of 7 on both cards.

Other than the Korbat, Aisha, and Tonu, a few other pets have made it to the scene. They are the Cybunny, Acara, and Lenny!

Haunted Cards

This set brings with it new haunted cards. They are not a new type, like items and fates. They are just used to describe a pet or item. Example: The Werhond is a “haunted petpet.” Just clearing that up for those out there who thought it was a new type of card.

Return of the Fates!

Fear not, fate fans! After a long absence, the fate cards are back. Many feared the end of fate cards when none were included in the Darkest Faerie set, and then again went missing in the Travels in Neopia set. They just took a vacation, and are here again with quests and curses alike.

Cuteness?

Where did the cute pets come from? This is the Haunted Woods we’re talking about, yet there are Pink Cybunnies and Baby Korbats. They do not seem to fit in with the horrific air of the set, and it leaves many TCG fans wondering if these cards should have been put in, when more spooky cards could have been in their place. “It is a bit weird... maybe they are trying to lead us into a false sense of security and then have a really out there spooky plot...?” basketball2damax87 guesses.

Now that we have covered the broad things, I shall cover some of the individual cards. Ones to love, and ones to keep out of the way of.

Fate

Curing the Plague- This is a nice card to have in case your opponent is curse-crazy. After this quest is put into effect, when your neopet wins a contest, discard this quest and any curses on any of your neopets or heroes. Poof, all curses gone!

Heroes

Followers of Meow- Not the strongest hero out there, but very well balanced. All stats are either ten or eleven. Nice hero to play if there’s the threat of cards being moved around. This card gets +2 to each stat for each Kougra, Aisha, and Wocky in play. Guess this would be very good if you have a cat-based deck!

Sasha the Dancer- One of the twelve protectors of Altador, Sasha the Cybunny. This holographic card is one of the reasons you don’t want to be cocky. Make your opponent mad and they could pull out this card. When played, each player discards their whole hand and draws the same number of cards. Depending on when it’s played, this card can be your friend or your foe.

Item

A Tale of Woe- A good card for a deck based on haunted cards. Along with a nice illustration of Sophie reading a book, you can draw two cards when you bank the card with a haunted pet.

Squeezy Spyder- This is a great card if your opponent is just about to win. If it’s their turn and you have no other way to keep them from winning, this is a card that can save you. While this card is in your bank, you can discard it to tap your opponent’s pets and heroes in an arena of your choice.

Location

Gypsy Camp- This location does not sound very nice. Beware the Gypsy Camp! When this location is in play, players must discard a card to start a contest or move a neopet from that arena.

Something Has Happened

Bony Grasp- Now you can play that card you’ve been saving for your bank, and still bank it after using it! Bony Grasp allows you to bank a card from your discard pile instead of your hand when you win a contest.

Dance of the Meepits- I swear those Meepits are up to something. If you play this fire-based card, you can exchange one of the equipments attached to your pet with an equipment on your opponent’s pet. Nice if you’ve been eyeing one of those Swords or Petpets.

Transformation- This card is great if you don’t like how you or your opponent's pets are shaping up the first few turns. You need to tap a water pet to play the card. When you play it, you put all of the basic pets on the bottom of their owner’s basic pet stack and replace them with those on top of the stack. And you can’t look at the stats and choose where they go. It’s random!

Trick or Treat- Treats, anybody? Sure, it may not be candy, but who wants to rot their teeth anyways? This card lets you draw the top four cards of your deck and put any haunted ones in your hand. Then your opponent follows suit. If your deck is based on haunted cards, this card is great, because more than likely your opponent won’t have any and therefore will not benefit from this card. Another excellent card for a deck based on haunted cards.

Villains

Evil Trees- These guys would certainly get annoying! When a neopet moves to an arena where there are no other pets or villains, this villain moves to that arena. There’s no way to escape him! Those of you who use the “avoid the villains by moving” idea need to find some other way to deal with the baddies.

This set is not to be missed despite its lack of new pets. Von Roo, Evil Trees, and Meepits aren’t the only creatures lurking in those woods. Why don’t you join me in discovering them all and finding a pack or two for yourself? It’s great fun. Don’t forget your candle!

“Many evil things were out there in the dark, but as long as he had light, he had hope.” –Bruno