Sanctum Showdown

We got a new game mode for Marvel Snap: Sanctum Showdown. After putting in just under a week into it and getting what I wanted, here's my takeaway.

It's fine. 

The new take on the game is an interesting one, where locations matter for points and the game doesn't end on turn 6-but rather the first player to 16 points. 

It's also a bit grindy, as you need a "scroll" to enter and while if you win you keep your scroll, if you lose there goes your scroll. And with scrolls being handed out at what feels like a paltry 2 per 8 hours losing feels like a pretty big punishment.

That said, if you remember to play for points, it doesn't seem to be too restrictive. And since you take points with you, win OR lose, players want to exploit the system for points. 

So the gameplay mode does change things up in interesting ways. And I firmly believe that if you play it smartly and with some consistency, you'll get the three new cards, no problem.

But the grind IS a thing and the gameplay doesn't change things up quite enough; the best deck to be running was quickly discovered (Bully move, then Guardians) and a meta that is solved is rarely a good one. 

To the devs' credit; they nerfed things so Bully move couldn't wreck the day and Guardians has counterplay.

Which is why I run this: 

It's been a fun deck to play, with some surprising wins! It can struggle when locations add cards, like Central Park, but all in all I am having a good time with it.

Free Pizza: Brave New World

 I finally got over the hill with my Black Knight deck but the deck that got me into the neck of the woods was a Namora one!

I had the idea awhile ago; Agony & Hulkbuster to suit up a character and then use the Wong/Namora/Odin combo to really blow things up. However I didn't have a Namora at the time-but Rebecca did and took on the challenge of making the deck a thing. That means I have her testing to thank for this build. She was the one who came up with Sebastian Shaw, which was such an obviously good idea I almost smacked myself for not coming up with it. 

It's definitely a bit of a meme--I've even titled it "The Meme Is Alive" since this pic-- but it's been fun to play! Captain Marvel is probably the weakest link in the deck, which is strange to say but I just never want to play that card. Rescue might be a better option, since once the Ironheart goes down, I usually want to play multiple cards in the same lane. 

Colossus became important because it was too easy for an opponent to Shang-Chi a lane but otherwise it's been a pretty fun lark! 

On Balance

Not much to add here: There's an article at BoardGameGeek.com from Richard Garfield on game balance. As someone who has been a part of how a game gets made, and experiences the result of games that are perpetually tweaked, from Magic to Remnant 2 to Marvel Snap, I found this to be quite informative!

So, How'd It Turn Out?

The pauper Commander event last last Sunday and I decided to go with Hallar in both games.

And...they did not go well!

One issue that I had was a misunderstanding of how Commander damage worked; namely, Hallar's trigger would NOT count as commander damage. So, that kinda sucked-but that one is on me. 

The other is that I underestimated the value engines people would be running; in both games there was a LOT of splash damage or heavily synergistic combos that did not leave a lot of room for me to develop my board. A little lifegain would have gone a long way, I think. But also some more out-of-the-box thinking in the way of disruption could've been good. What, I'm not sure. Because:

I also didn't do enough research, as it turns out. After the event, Rebecca pointed out to me that Moxfield has a Pauper Commander field and I could've used that to get ideas and hone the build. 

Because what I experienced were games where I just played "draw, go" and didn't get to do much of anything. I waited on creatures-maybe longer than I should have-in order to get kicker costs paid, and I kept drawing pump spells-which are nice but only really work if I'm attacking. 

And it wasn't until garbage time in the last game that I had more than two creatures on the table-an event that was fixed by someone's Crypt Rats. (I'm not upset by that-it was a good play).

However, I spent my time really not doing anything in the games and that just feels bad.

Finally, I think I just did not plan for flying creatures well enough. As with many limited formats, flying seems to be a HUGE ability here. In my first game, I was KO'd by an aura'd up 16/16 flying creature. How am I going to remove that at the common level? 

(Hint; Tranquil Path would've been awesome! But I didn't draw it.)

On the other hand: everyone else had a great time! And from what I heard/saw, the games were interesting and engaging. So I think it's just back to the drawing board for me, not: I hate this idea.

And maybe use a little time to do some research for Aryel, before that one gets taken for a ride. 

On the other hand: of the seven decks at the table, five had black. What I hope that means is that we are just trying to find out what works, with plenty of room to explore, and not that the best colors are rooted in black. The latter means that the metagame is already skewed and not as interesting. 

Two Paupers

 We'll start with Aryel, Knight of Windgrace 

Instant 1 Ardenvale Tactician // Dizzying Swoop 1 Raise the Draugr 1 Unmake 1 Rootborn Defenses 1 Demon's Due 1 Acrobatic Maneuver 1 Maximum Overdrive  1 Riot Control  1 Disenchant	Artifacts 1 Commander's Sphere 1 Orzhov Signet 1 Orzhov Cluestone 1 Whispersilk Cloak 1 Cliffhaven Kitesail 1 Tithing Blade
Enchantment 1 Hopeful Vigil 1 Knightly Valor 1 Pestilence	Sorcery 1 Smitten Swordmaster // Curry Favor 1 Call the Cavalry 1 Fell Horseman // Deathly Ride 1 Besotted Knight // Betroth the Beast 1 Return from Extinction 1 Diresight 1 Eriette's Lullaby 1 Risky Shortcut  1 Blood Tithe
Lands 12 Swamp 12 Plains 1 Sunlit Marsh 1 Silverquill Campus 1 The Fair Basilica 1 Path of Ancestry 1 Orzhov Basilica 1 Forsaken Sanctuary 1 Neglected Manor 1 Remote Farm 1 Hidden Necropolis 1 Peat Bog 1 Desert of the Glorified 1 Desert of the True 1 Mortuary Mire 1 Thriving Heath 1 Thriving Moor	Creatures 1 Knight of the New Coalition 1 Order of the Ebon Hand 1 Inspiring Captain 1 Benalish Cavalry 1 Benalish Knight 1 Parhelion Patrol 1 Leonin Skyhunter 1 Order of Leitbur 1 Skyhunter Patrol 1 Sigiled Sentinel 1 Attended Knight 1 Cadaverous Knight 1 Lost Legion 1 Argivian Cavalier 1 Barrow Witches 1 Locthwain Paladin 1 Relief Captain 1 Swordsworn Cavalier 1 Caravan Escort 1 Dauthi Mercenary 1 Ardenvale Paladin 1 Gryff Rider 1 Desperate Farmer 1 Cabal Paladin 1 Knight of Sursi 1 Devout Witness 1 Engine Rat  1 Grasping Thrull  1 Breathless Knight  1 Disciple of the Sun  1 Gravedigger  1 Eldrazi Devastator

Then we'll see what Hallar, the Firefletcher has to offer.

Instant 1 Colossal Growth 1 Falling Timber 1 Might of Murasa 1 Shivan Fire 1 Vines of Vastwood 1 Lifecrafter's Gift 1 Fissure 1 Overload 1 Lightning Bolt  1 Sulfurous Blast	Artifacts 1 Everflowing Chalice 1 Moss Diamond 1 Gruul Cluestone 1 Gruul Signet 1 Bumbleflower's Sharepot 1 Whispersilk Cloak 1 Armory of Iroas 1 Commander's Sphere
Enchantment  1 Bestial Fury	Sorcery 1 Grow from the Ashes 1 Reclaim the Wastes 1 Roil Eruption 1 Savage Offensive 1 Saproling Migration 1 Hull Breach 1 Tranquil Path  1 Elven Cache
Lands 12 Forest 10 Mountain 1 Gruul Turf 1 Racers' Ring 1 Rugged Highlands 1 Evolving Wilds 1 Terramorphic Expanse 1 Looming Spires 1 Sandstone Needle 1 Teetering Peaks 1 The Autonomous Furnace 1 Smoldering Crater 1 Hickory Woodlot 1 Khalni Garden 1 Slippery Karst 1 The Hunter Maze  1 Desert of the Fervent  1 Desert of the Indomitable	Creatures 1 Baloth Gorger 1 Gnarlid Colony 1 Gnarlid Pack 1 Goblin Bushwhacker 1 Krosan Druid 1 Mold Shambler 1 Oran-Rief Recluse 1 Skitter of Lizards 1 Torch Slinger 1 Viashino Branchrider 1 Longshot Squad 1 Citanul Woodreaders 1 Deepwood Denizen 1 Elvish Visionary 1 Generous Stray 1 Keldon Raider 1 Llanowar Visionary 1 Sarulf's Packmate 1 Seismic Monstrosaur 1 Yavimaya Elder 1 Bramble Wurm 1 Cactarantula 1 Hand of Emrakul 1 Krosan Tusker 1 Oliphaunt 1 Nacatl Outlander 1 Mountain Yeti 1 Wickerbough Elder 1 Aquastrand Spider  1 Panicked Altisaur  1 Pheres-Band Tromper  1 Spitfire Lagac  1 Anarchist  1 Zhur-Taa Druid

I've been testing these decks with Rebecca and Noah and they both have performed well! I'm not sure what might be the best of them, though I usually have a soft spot for RG decks, Aryel has been quite good-evasion, removal, good creature type to support. 

Maybe I'll get the chance to play both!

Pauper Commander Selection

Some friends of mine are getting together to do a pauper Commander day and I've been trying to pick a good Commander.

My current creatures under consideration are: 

Hallar, the Firefletcher 

Aryel, Knight of Windgrace

Eron, the Relentless 

Now, clearly one of these is not like the other. Of the Commanders, I think Hallar might be the strongest one, since it has an ability that pings all opponents, and +1 counters are pretty easy to add in Green. The plan is to do multiplayer games, so I'm encouraged to build my deck knowing that. 

Arvel might have the most synergy though: knights are very easy to produce in those colors and the removal suite is probably excellent. I feel as though this Commander would offer me a lot of resilience, and a typal theme is pretty easy to execute on.

Eron though...well, yeah it's not a great card but wouldn't playing a bunch of hasty red creatures be amusing? It's also so old school that I can't help but appreciate it and I could even go full scoundrel with Chandler and Joven.  

Note to future self; Do not do that.

As it turns out, I'd also misunderstood the assignment a little. I had thought that your Commander had to be an uncommon Legend-there are 380, so plenty of choices! But Matt pointed out that the Commander could be any uncommon creature. Which is WILD, as there are 4,999 of those. And that number seems small. 

Still, I'm sticking to my guns on this one.

Commander Tier List

 In case you haven't seen it, they've put identifiable tiers for Commander decks. 

It's a lengthy article but I do like the direction this is going in. Even though I'm a dabbler in Commander at best, I am glad they are taking the stewardship of the format seriously.