Deadlands: Pine Box A weird twist on how the West was won is being told in the tales of the Deadlands: Pine Box trading card game, the newest release for the award-winning Deadlands trading card game. Highlighting the best cards from previously released Doomtown Episodes 1 through 9, the Pine Box set showcases 320 cards in three rarities. Additionally, the game offers tournament players five unique, semisorted, dual-faction decks ideal for sealed-deck competitive play. Pine Box cards are available in 15-card booster packs and in 79-card starter decks that include four rare cards, a rulebook, and 36 full-color "Big Doc's Casino" poker chips. Each of the decks has been semi-sorted to include a preponderance of cards from two rival gangs. Thus, a player can buy a single 79-card deck, and then build a 52-card themed deck for play that is affiliated with either of those gangs (and then just as easily reconfigure the play deck to affiliate it with the other gang). Each of the decks is labeled with the two gangs it covers and marked with their symbols (the box for the Law Dogs/Sioux Union deck is shown above, which is themed toward the tough but harried sheriff and his deputies and the local Indian gang, which is strong in both warriors and shamans). The others are Blackjacks/Flock gang, themed toward a ruthless gang of cardsharps and bandits on the one hand and religious fanatics on the other; the Whateleys/Rangers, a family of wizards and the Confederate States of America's contribution to the Weird West; Maze Rats/Collegium, a shipborne pirate gang and an alliance of the local mad scientists; and Sweetrock/Agency, the most powerful local mining concern and the Union military's ghost busting brigade. Each deck has its own strengths and weaknesses and is pretty fun; most players should be able to find a least a few that appeal to them (they all appealed to me in one way or another). Deadlands is the first trading card game developed with a poker game play feature that is also available in the Pine Box edition. Capturing the nostalgia of ornery hucksters and the horror of gunslingers who have risen from the dead, the Pine Box set introduces new art and approximately 20 completely new cards in faction-specific decks of Deed, Weapon and Dude cards. Pine Box cards are available through most hobby, game, book, music and toy stores. Suggested prices for Pine Box cards are $11.99 each for the complete boxed decks $2.99 each for the booster packs. --Michael J. Varhola, Editor-in-Chief