Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Ever since I first played Tag Team with Meeple Mountain’s Justin Bell at Gen Con 2025, I’ve racked up dozens of plays of the 2-player autobattler card game. I revel in its simplicity. After playing thoroughly with the entire stable of Fighters, I still craved more. Enter Tag Team: Arthur’s Legacy, introducing six new Fighters from Arthurian myth, available to play standalone or combined with the base game.
Tag Team: Arthur’s Legacy: By Merlin’s Beard
Instead of rehashing the main mechanics of the original game, I’ll let Andrew’s Tag Team review speak to that. Tag Team: Arthur’s Legacy uses that same core gameplay loop, so instead I’ll focus on the six new Fighters and the shenanigans they bring to the (round) table.
First up is Excalibur, the fabled sword gifted to Arthur by the Lady in the Lake, or the sword that he pulled from the stone, depending on the tale you follow as canon. Excalibur enhances your partner, typically offering benefits like increased power. If Excalibur’s HP goes to 0, the game isn’t over like it normally would. Instead, the card gets flipped over to its Broken side and those positive abilities on Excalibur’s deck become accompanied by a negative effect.
Morgan places a Crow token on their deck which serves as a reminder that they choose their next Fight deck card after their opponent shows their own card selection. They don’t get to know where their opponent’s card is slotting into the deck, but knowing the card offers some hints.
The Green Knight is a tanky character whose max health lowers each round. As his health decreases, his attacks are more powerful, thanks to the temporary power buffs conveniently located alongside the health track. He also fully heals up to max health every round, an ability that should not be slept on.
Perceval—the Grail Knight—is the Fighter with the most thematic gumption. His attacking power is typically amplified by the number of Perceval’s cards played that round, imparting the feeling of his deeds bolstering his resolve.
The most complicated of the lot is Merlin who comes with a separate Tree board card that has four specialized branches ala a MMORPG skill tree. He can focus on healing, blocking, direct damage, attacking, or a combination of the three. Reaching specific nodes grants bonuses in those specific areas.
The sixth Fighter is the Dragon, a low complexity character that accumulates Scales on their card. Each Scale blocks a single point of attack damage (read: not direct damage) which makes them a semi-effective pseudo-block effect. Scales can also impact attack damage on other cards, so you don’t necessarily want them soaking up damage.
Tag Team: Arthur’s Legacy: Gather ‘Round the Table
One of the main draws of a game like Tag Team is in the unique mechanics and playstyles associated with each Fighter, and how they interact with one another. Arthur’s Legacy puts a strong foot forward with a tight cast of characters that gel well together. Like the original, some pairs are stronger than others, but none of them feel leagues ahead of rest.
The versatility of Merlin makes them one of the most impactful partners of the bunch. He can easily slot in and fill any deficiencies that your other Fighter might be lacking. It’s sort of a slow burn to ramp up into full effectiveness, although the same could be said of a lot of the now-18-strong group of Fighters.
Over my plays, the only Fighter that I feel underwhelmed with is Morgan. Her ability is strong; being able to see your opponent’s card before drawing and determining your own strategy is huge. The problem is that many of her cards lean so heavily on maximizing that information that whiffing on your conditional effects through cards like Magical Mirror or The Enchantress makes her feel flat. That’s why her 3/5 complexity rating is poignant, as it requires a decent understanding of the mental planning required in this game.
Tag Team: Arthur’s Legacy has a smaller footprint than its predecessor, but that is a strength when it comes to introducing new players to this game. The standard teaching set of Wong Fei-Hung, Joan, Ching Shih, and Bödvar from the original is somewhat lacking in comparison to using the Fighters from Arhtur’s Legacy to teach new players. The “gimmicks” in Arthur’s Legacy create Fighters that are more flavorful, unique, and exciting that can get newer players hooked.
My ideal introduction matchup would be something like the Dragon and Excalibur versus Perceval and the Green Knight. This eliminates the opposing complexities of Morgan and Merlin while still offering some powerful abilities and combinations. Each side has a tanky character and a way to quickly dish out a burst of damage. The best words to hear after teaching someone Tag Team are the words, “Let’s run it back.”
Even though King Arthur may have never found the grail, Arthur’s Legacy might have been the real treasure all along.
