The Training Grounds Review (21183)

Hello everyone! Today we will be stealthy and silently sneaking into the largest set of Minecraft May, The Training Grounds! Enjoy! Since this was clearly the biggest set of Minecraft May I was pretty excited to build it. I brought it along to build at the PERTHLUG Build-a-palooza. See if you can spot me building this set in the first picture!

The base of the set is pretty big, and it seems to be a lush cave. The base is dotted with plants (such as the azalea bush) and there is a small water pond to the side. On the opposite side of the cave there is a part with some ores for the player to mine. Glow berries (which are basically vines with golden berries) hang from the ceiling just like in the real game. There are some cool supplies dotted around the cave as well, such as an anvil, furnace with candle, and a box of weapons. The cave is built with stone supports that hold up the base of the actual dojo.

The base of the dojo is dirt with grass on top and there is a nice custom pink tree to the side. This tree does not generate naturally in game, but I think they are meant to look like cherry blossom trees from Japan, and they do! On the opposite side of the grass is an azalea tree, it has a vine leading down to the cave area, just like how the roots of the tree lead you to lush caves in the real game! In between these trees is where you construct the actual dojo house.

The base of the dojo is stone bricks and the floor is stone as well. You build up columns made out of wood and what I think is meant to be birch wood trapdoors. It looks great and mimics the cloth wooden entrances many dojos have. The top then made into a support for the roof just like the cave does for the dojo. The roof is made of a nice pink colour that is meant to resemble crimson wood, (but I think it’s a bit too bright to look like crimson wood) and the corners each have little spikes. In the middle of the roof there is a small, open room that is surrounded by fence posts. These posts hold up an even smaller roof which finally caps off the dojo.

On the inside of the dojo house, there is a nice cosy orange bed, along with a crafting table and water bottle. There are also some hanging soul lanterns, but by far the best part is the opening trapdoor. When you pull out a block next to the azalea tree, it causes a trapdoor to open up inside the dojo. Enemies can fall all the way down into the cave and it’s personally my favourite part of the set.

To finish the review, I’ll go over the minifigures. The set comes with a classic skeleton, and also a small bat which can hang upside down in the cave. The 2 other minifigures are the 2 ninjas, one of them has a full purple suit that only shows their eyes. And the other has the same type of suit, except with some red and black detailing. The red and black ninja was actually from a fan vote on Twitter, in which fans had the opportunity to vote for a warrior, this ninja, or a ranger. The ninja won and secured a place in the 2022 Minecraft Wave. (To be precise, this set!)

Overall Thoughts

This was a great set that is packed with play features and Minecraft details. It does seem just a bit empty for the biggest set of the wave, but the minifigs have great printing and the building looks like a real dojo. I enjoyed making this one, what do you think?
Hope you enjoyed the review in our ongoing Minecraft May bonanza!

A special thanks to our friends at Zavvi who supplied this set for us to build.

Overall: 83%

Congratulations to the three winners of Minecraft May!

1st Prize – The Training Grounds Roger De Laborde
2nd Prize – The Rabbit Ranch Krystal Nesbit
3rd Prize –  The Fox Lodge James Sharpe