I recently sent off some Achroma cards to Ace Grading to get graded. I’ve never had cards graded before; I wasn’t even aware that it was something people got done. But after seeing some graded cards that Bryntheaction in the community had done, I decided to go for it.

I like the idea of turning favourite cards of mine into something I can display, and Ace seemed like the best choice thanks to their custom labels that only cost £3 per card. Each card I submitted was sent to their artist to create a unique label that complements the design on the card.

One thing I also want to add is that when these cards were identified by Ace, they listed the Alt Arts as being from Kickstarter. I didn’t want the Kickstarter label on these cards, as I thought it was misleading, since they’ve been distributed via Kickstarter, unlimited palettes, and boosters. Thank you to Troy and Ace for agreeing to remove this tag from the final labels on my Alt Arts.

I wanted to grade cards that meant something to me, but that which were also not your usual cards. I went for 5 cards, the minimum allowed, to see how they turned out before I considered getting more done. Here’s the cards I got graded:

Conjurer Otrix, alt art
Otrix was literally the first legendary I ever played in a game of Achroma. I love this character from a gameplay and lore perspective. My Achroma T-shirt I ordered on Kickstarter features Otrix. Plus she was my legendary of choice for my first ever Achroma tournament, in which I finished Top4, missing out on the final by the narrowest of margins. The fact that she got turned into an Alt Art made this the perfect choice.

Countess Issadora Curdle, alt art
Not only do I love Otrix herself, the Occultists are my favourite faction in Achroma. As leader of the Occultists, and with a powerful mechanic, Issadora has appeared in countless decks of mine, most recently in one of my favourite Dark Rainbow builds. When the Alt Art concepts were spoiled on Kickstarter, I immediately loved the Issadora design thanks to its spectre-like nature. The team almost dropped this design from their Alt Art list, but she was restored thanks to an outcry from the community.

Tenebris, alt art
I had to get a Draco Temple card graded, naturally. My favourite Draco deck ever is the one I built to beat Rayders, which I wrote about here. When I played that deck against Torus late last year, I said I couldn’t make the next Grand Tournament, and he suggested he could play the deck in my place. Torus went on to win the tournament, beating Rayders in the final, a fitting denouement to the anti-Rayders saga of my Achroma career. Now, it’s worth saying that Tenebris wasn’t in that deck. Kocoro Bri made the cut thanks to his cyan shard which worked with Ice Falls. However, the deck has undergone some subsequent revisions, and Tenebris has proven to be a much more consistent legendary, with the same killer ±3 resolve. Plus, there’s no Kocora alt art, and the art on Tenebris is amazing, with him snaking around the Corrupted Portal.

Pledge
I had two copies of this card, and decided to get them both graded. This card ticks two boxes for grading cards: it’s rare, and it’s virtually unplayable in competitive decks (unless future cards make it playable, along the lines of a Hod-like ability). No more explanation required.

I have never ever made an “unboxing” video before. But I thought it’d be fun to do so this time. Therefore, here’s a video of me unboxing these cards from Ace.

The obvious missing piece from my Achroma history is Ray. Rayders has been a big part of Achroma to me, so it is my intention to get a Ray graded in the future (despite the lack of an Alt Art Ray). Just need to source a spare Ray first.

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Next time you’re ordering achroma products, please use the discount code dracotemple at checkout on the achroma webstore for 10% off all orders, including pre-orders. By using this code, you are also supporting me, as I earn commission on any sales using this code.