It's Really Nothing New

I think I'm done with Ready to Die. Last weekend I went through four different versions of the deck and made a stinkface at all of them, so I'm going to go for the most consistent build, and call it finished.

It's not crazy good, but I think it's in a consistent spot and will do what I need it to do. Tier 2? Sure. Effective for it's power level? Yeah, I think so.

3 Mirari

4 Impact Tremors

2 Second Harvest

8 Mountain
4 Gruul Turf
9 Forest
1 Westvale Abbey/1 Ormendahl, Profane Prince
1 Dwarven Mine

3 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator

4 Chatter of the Squirrel
3 Overrun
3 Rampant Growth
2 Acorn Harvest
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Firebolt
3 Make Mischief
2 Assault // Battery

 Sideboard
3 Fresh Meat
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Veil of Summer
3 Sundering Growth
3 Overmaster

In order to give Ready to Die a little more consistent reach, I went up to four Impact Tremors. Yes, they fight for position with Dragon Fodder, but if Dragon Fodder now reads: "Create 2 1/1s and do 2 damage to each opponent-you may only play this card on turn three or later", well I figure that's a pretty good trade.

Second Harvest can function as an 'oops I win' spell under these circumstances, and in a pinch just pop my tokens from three to six creatures, making Overrun a legitimate finishing threat. Attacking with three 4/4s isn't as good as attacking with six. It's just math. Plus, it opens up the possibility of just flipping Westvale Abby.

So I'm leaving for now; this deck might've been stronger in W/G or W/G/R but it also would've been very, very different. I think it's in fine shape and I'm glad I stuck to my thematic guns. 

Tearaway Unfolded

Going through the videogame backlog, I've been playing Tearaway Unfolded for the past few days.

It's not a difficult game and it may not even have enough challenge, really but this is an excellent time to talk about how the sum of the parts give you more than the individual bits.

Because Tearaway is, above all other things, charming as hell. It has a great aesthetic and a lighthearted storyline-it's very much in line with Media Molecule's other games (Little Big Planet, Dreams).

But it's also all over the place-there doesn't seem to be a primary gameplay loop for me to focus on: combat isn't really a thing, taking pictures doesn't bestow any novelty beyond doing that action, drawing is fun only so long as I don't care about it, because while you can draw goofy stuff, you can't draw anything well. Collecting packages for confetti (the game's version of currency) is nice, but it isn't necessary since there's nothing for you to upgrade, except for aesthetic choices like: What camera filter you have or number of shapes to use to decorate things with. However, one could just ignore that and use the defaults and do fine.

And all of those things make Tearaway sound like it isn't very good. Except, I keep playing it. It's a lovable puppy that just wants you to like it, and sure it's messy but I'm still having a nice time.

Fun might be too strong a word. But engagement? Yeah, it's got me there. I like making a pattern for a snowflake that looks like a blind drunk hobo did it, and then seeing that pattern manifest itself in the game world. It's enjoyable to tap the gamepad to make drums thump or swipe to make the wind blow-it really does give me a sense of the game world responding to what I do.

I've surprised myself by finding what look like little secret entrances-twice!-to small rooms. It's neat!

It's not a heavy experience and maybe right now, that's perfect.

It's Just A Thing We Like

It wasn't until Tyler saw Ready to Die that a "Eureka" moment hit.

"What about Tilonalli's Summoner?"

For obvious reasons, I had been focused on non-creature ways to make tokens. Mirari's usefulness declines with every creature I play. But this is a pretty solid add, I think, at least as just a couple cards. It'll be useful at any stage of the game, by itself or with an Impact Tremors out. It might give me another win condition, in the same way Fresh Meat would-and it would combo well with Fresh Meat, should I use the mana wisely.

Unfortunately, things haven't been playing out as kindly.The trouble with Tilonalli's Summoner is twofold: first it represents a huge target for removal. This is the opposite of all my other creatures: they don't matter, so your removal is all dumb. But with the Summoner taking a spotlight, now there is a focus.

Which wouldn't be a huge problem except for the second thing: There isn't a backup to the Summoner. I've put eggs in a basket that has a bottom that's too thin, and when it breaks I am finding myself without enough pressure to make a convincing game come together.

I got to spend time playing this deck last weekend and it honestly gave me so many issues. I'm just realizing it now, but there is another problem with the Summoner and it's one of the hidden cost of playing it.

Mirari effectively gives all my spells kicker. The Summoner does the same thing when it attacks. But both of them are asking for me to use all of my mana, every time. There is no point in attacking with the Summoner and holding mana back so I can cast a Dragon Fodder, right? Similarly, there's no point in attacking with the Summoner if I can't make creatures, because I want to cast Dragon Fodder and copy it with Mirari.

And because the theme of the deck centers around being able to use Mirari, I need to hold to the theme, and let the Summoner go. This opens up some space-but where do I go with that space?

When in doubt, always look for cards that say 'draw a card'. There are some intriguing possibilities here, including Lace with Moonglove, Ignorant Bliss, and Merchant of the Vale. Lace With Moonglove is probably my best option, since it can be used offensively and defensively and copying that spell seems like all upside. I'd definitely like to give it a go.

Flabby

I've been playing through Life Is Strange and I have to say, it's got a great hook: What if you could reverse a decision? I can't tell you how many times I've thought: ah, if I could just get that moment back!

The problem, I think is that it's a great storytelling decision, but not a great gameplay decision, or a great gameplay decision but a bad storytelling one.

As always, it's all about the execution.

From a storytelling perspective, the narrative is giving me a ton of stream-of-consciousness from the main characters point of view. I get to find out what she thinks about everything and everyone.

But what she thinks about everything and everyone isn't relevant to the story at hand. So I get her thoughts about finding syringes on the ground in a junkyard (it's gross), but this information doesn't a) give me any depth to this character nor b) advance the story in an important manner, or even an incremental one.

This is all over the place and it's distracting. I can look at and get her thoughts on so much stuff, but none of it feels informative.

This is made worse when paired with the primary gameplay loop; changing a moment in time and reversing it. In any situation that results in a 'game over' state, (your friend dies, you aren't allowed into the dorm) then the implication is obvious: Go back and do it over, kid.

In any situation where it doesn't end the game, the main character seems to have no confidence about her decision. I feel as if I could reverse my decisions twenty times and it wouldn't matter: I wouldn't be any better informed and she wouldn't be any more certain of her judgment.

 And since those situations don't feel like they have an impact on the overall story, the choices no longer feel meaningful or important.

So what drives this game? What matters to this character? I never get a sense of what that is, and if your primary gameplay loop doesn't matter, and the story you tell is poorly executed, what's my motivation to continue?

It's a bummer, because I like the concept, and I like that the protagonist is rarely seen in videogames, with the potential of a refreshing point of view. But, stories need to have meaning and the execution of the gameplay loop undercuts that meaning. Conversely, the story doesn't give that gameplay any weight, because any choice you make never seems to have consequences, but more importantly, the main character never seems to have any conviction.

0-6

I took Omega Supreme to the event last Saturday; I felt that the 'draw all the cards' plan would allow me the flexibility to overcome multiple challenges that I might face from a Titans and Combiners field.

The field was only comprised of Combiners: Aerialbots, Sentinels and a clever Six-Gun/Dreadwing deck. I lost to all of them, and in short order-not even winning a game.

On the upside, my opponents all told me that they thought I played well, making good decisions, and the games themselves weren't lopsided.

But the weaknesses of Omega Supreme pops up here, too: outnumbered, the team takes a lot of extra damage, with numerical advantage, the combination trigger doesn't happen in time. And, whether I like it or not, the strength of Omega Supreme-drawing all the cards so I have answers, well that's very fortune-dependent. If I get a Pocket Processor or a Universal Network Access, I'm in good shape! But if I don't then those weaknesses get glaring, fast.

In the end, I wasn't able to overcome the other builds. I was good but I wasn't good enough and the deck was strong but aligned badly against the field.

In retrospect, I think I would've liked to have combined the discard element of Predacons with Omega Supreme. I don't think many decks are ready for losing their best action, and that strike at their tempo might have helped me get to where I was going. 

Finally, this was the last gathering that I'll probably be able to attend due to the COVID-19 virus. It's pretty challenging to write about games you play with people when people should not gather to play.

I think I'll be putting up some videogame content as I can. Hopefully I will still be able to play Magic online via Cockatrice: I wish I could play Transformers that way but alas, it isn't possible via Mac.

Still, I've been playing some Life is Strange lately, and I've been noticing how it's narrative continually butts up against my notion of gameplay, and Doom Eternal comes out on Friday.

And I loved the 2016 Doom. So I'll do my best, and hopefully we'll get through all this together.

Two Choices

The next Transformers event at Red Castle (this Saturday!) has a Combiners or Titans theme. I decided to look into Predacons and Captain Omega Supreme as my possible deck choices. (I've included screenshots of the decklists, because converting Excel tables into HTML tables is a pain.)

These are both fun choices, and I'm not sure how to work them against the possible field. With Predacons, I want to focus on having the best weapons I can, while making my opponent discard their actions. That should be really good against other combiner decks and hopefully put a dent in the plans of Metroplex. Trypticon might well make an appearance and Disruptive Entrance can help slow them down, too.

With Captain Omega Supreme I want to draw all the cards with and always have an answer in hand, while also attacking for a lot. The ability to move into the midgame and then become a powerhouse that doesn't rely on my getting lucky enough to draw a card to do so, seemed far more advantageous.

Both decks need strong sideboarding plans, I think. With Predacons, The Bigger They Are is going to be useful against any Titan deck. There's also a possibility it would be good with Omega Supreme, too; even combined, Capt OS has fewer stars than the other Titans and the other Combiners, once they've combined.

A card I'm not sure about for Predacons is Enemy Combat Analysis. Against every combiner team except Constructicons it should be really good! But I expect Constructicons and Aerialbots and I don't know that ERC is worth the slots when I need pierce protection from Stable Cover, Point Defense System and W-5 Gyro Blaster. 

Squish Them Like Bugs is definitely a possibility with Omega Supreme: it's going to be useful almost every time against Combiner teams. Armed Hovercraft also has a place here; at worse it does one damage, at best it will do five. That's pretty helpful and I may have to create space for that maindeck.

But the devil's in the details, right?

At the moment, I'm tilting more towards playing Captain Omega Supreme: I like drawing a bunch of cards and getting to make choices. The Predacons are just a little too vulnerable, unfortunately, even with a lot of blue pips to shore up defenses. I need to be able to attack with +3 or +4 every time but I also need the disruption that Disruptive Entrance provides. The best weapons having blue or black pips on them, save Grenade Lanucher doesn't play nice with the need to aggressively boost the damage I need to do.

Still, it offers me some interesting choices and some more flexibility than Captain Omega does. But I don't know that this flexibility means a better game plan.
 

That Loop

I've just finished up the most recent Spider-Man game, and there is a lot to like about it. Yes, I know I'm two years behind but there are only so many hours in the day. Plus, I got it cheap!

After playing it for awhile, there is one thing they do very, very well and that is: webslinging Spider-Man through Manhattan. You can see what I mean, here.

Though a 'fast travel' option opens up during the game, I almost never used it, because getting from point A to B was entertaining. It also meant that some of the ingredients in the game that weren't as good didn't matter, because the thing I spent the most time doing was pretty awesome to do.

It made me think of what the primary loop in Magic is: Draw a card, play a land, play a spell. But then there are loops inside of that: Combat involves a creature, tapping, actions, damage. I've deeply simplified how that works, but it's interesting how much effort goes into making as many steps of the game as possible engaging.

The Transformers primary loop works similarly: Draw a card, play a thing, attack with giant robot. Attacking with the robot is actually key to the entire sequence-and has a loop of its own: tap robot, flip cards, see what the math says.

When these loops work, they really work and give me a reason to keep playing-or to find other people to play with. When they don't work for me, I tend to quit pretty quickly because I have lots of things to do with my time.

Where it gets weird is in the in-between stuff.

I just finished Uncharted: Lost Legacy (you can see the beginning of that here) and for the most part, I had a very good time with it. Like most of the Uncharted games, it plays like a modern day Indiana Jones film, but what that means is a little weird: The loop is: find your way through a deadly maze, pick up treasures along the way, hear witty dialog, gun battle. The extra thing they sprinkled in for Lost Legacy was the opportunity to take photos at certain places. But the primary loop involves finding your way through a maze: the treasures, photos and dialog were piled on top of that.

That's important, because the Uncharted gun battles have always been a little dodgy, lacking precision and with a limited supply of ammo, I was having to pick up a new weapon-one that didn't work the same way-and try an use a new thing. In a battle, this is not the best time to have to learn a new skill.

Worse, the hand-to-hand combat never seemed to line up with my intentions. I could tell what they were going for: dodge your enemy until you see an opening to strike back, but I could never get my dodges down.

So that leaves the maze navigation, dialog moments, photography and treasure collection as the loop and those worked out really well. I kept my eyes out for just those things, because I enjoyed them!

Except when I finished the game, I found out I had missed ten different photography spots and ten different dialog moments. I had no idea why, and nothing in the game had given me a hint that I was blowing past something.

Sure, I could replay it-but then I'd have to endure all the things I didn't like, too. Uncharted games are one-and-done for me. I love them for that! The overall experience is really good. But it isn't rewarding enough for me to go back, and so instead I feel as if they withheld something from me, something I earned by giving them my time and money. One might argue: well, this is like a good movie or a book; re-visiting that experience can be rewarding because you notice things you didn't before.

To which I say: the difference is that everything in a book or movie is there, already. Lost Legacy didn't give me something that I was on the lookout for and didn't tell me where to find it. Every time it does that, it breaks the gameplay loop that I'm there to experience and that isn't a successful thing, in my mind. 

Solid Commander Video

I've been playing a bit of Commander in preparation for an upcoming deck to write about when I stumbled on this neat video: Suggestions from competitive Commander that can be applied to regular Commander.

It got me thinking about manabases for certain, and if it's really worth pushing that manabase down so far, in order to ramp up the mana rock and land search functions. Clearly the competitors are on to something. Since some of those mana rocks can be translated into cards in the late game, perhaps I would be wise to follow their lead.

Some food for thought, at least.

It's Really Nothing New

I went with Atarka's Command instead of the Cavalcade of Calamity. It seemed like a good idea, since it can be copied with Mirari. But with only two copies of a spell, it really needs to be a game changer when it shows up on my hand.

And the Command is good, but it isn't game changing.

Playing Caitlin, she suggested perhaps that more devil token making cards could be added. Having cards that pop for damage when they die is pretty good value. The drawback: they're expensive. Getting two 1/1s for four mana isn't a great rate, even if they do pop for damage on death. At least Make Mischief does a point of damage to any target while giving me a 1/1.

One card I played around with was Second Harvest.With only two copies, it wouldn't show up too often, but once the board had moved to a stalemate, a Second Harvest could help me go wide.

The drawback: if I didn't have any tokens, Second Harvest did nothing. That ended up happening at least once-but to be fair, there was the time where I duplicated four tokens and next turn had the Overrun.

When I played this against Fuz, he approved, nothing that the first time I played Overrun with a bunch of tokens, he laughed. That's a good sign, too.

More data is needed, but I want to contrast Second Harvest with Fresh Meat, a card I've had in the sideboard. Why double my tokens when I can effectively replace them (doubling them in a different way) with bigger critturs?

It's those last two slots, though. If I can figure out what's good there, then I think this deck is worth keeping. It'll be a solid tier 2 deck that can have some fun and pull out the occasional win, and I'm not sure there's a better deck in a different color, at least with this concept. Adding White, for example, brings this deck in a very different direction or stretches the manabase considerably. Good thing to keep in mind though, if I need to stick with 1/1 creatures, since White tends to knock off larger ones better than Red does.

I think I'm settling into a decent tier 2 deck; I can pull some wins out with it, and it'll be a good 'almost getting there' deck that doesn't use up a lot of weird resources but does have some punch.