Break

Just going to take a couple weeks break: I'm feeling kinda burnt out, so a short vacation will be nice. 

See y'all back in a couple!

Sandstorm Complete

So let's catch up since I failed to update the readers on Sandstorm!

4 Shuko

4 Heartfire Hero
3 Manifold Mouse
3 Stirring Hopesinger
3 Valley Questcaller
3 Emberheart Challenger
3 Flowerfoot Swordmaster
3 Seedglaive Mentor

4 Erode
4 Monstrous Rage
1 Loran's Escape
3 Legion Leadership
2 Shelter

2 Glittering Massif
7 Plains
7 Mountain
4 Elegant Parlor

There've been two real changes: first, Stirring Hopesinger. An evasive creature that can gain life and give me a boost every time I cast a non-creature spell? This seems pretty good. The card draws a lot of attention when I play it, so clearly I'm doing something right. 

The other change has been to remove Restless Bivouac for Glittering Massif. My reasoning here is that if Massif shows up in the first two turns, great I can use the color fixing. 

If it shows up anytime after I have 3 or more lands, I can cycle it away for another card. 

The spell suite might be a bit more challenging. I've been looking at Adventures, Omens and Prepared spells in hopes of finding something that might add to the spell count while keeping a threat base high but very little fits. Because I would like something that either offers me some removal redundancy. Erode has been a solid card and it wouldn't suck having another. It's possible I should look at replacing a card like Shelter for something more aggressive but I'm not sure at the moment. 

Still; it's a solid deck and for now it's doing well!

Vibro-Sword

After some time revamping more, this is the list I settled on.

1 Deep Forest Hermit  

1 Emeritus of Woe

2 Eldrazi Repurposer
1 Grim Haruspex
1 Massacre Girl
1 Murderous Rider // Swift End
3 Ohran Viper
4 Misery's Shadow
1 Springheart Nantuko
1 Vein Ripper
3 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Fume Spitter

4 Fecundity
3 Mortuary

6 Swamp
2 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Llanowar Wastes
7 Forest
4 Blooming Marsh

4 Final Vengeance
4 Malevolent Rumble

Sideboard
SB: 2 Fulminator Mage
SB: 1 Murderous Rider // Swift End

It pained me to cut a Mortuary but the chance to utilize Emeritus of Woe in order to get some of the silver bullets in the deck seemed strong. I'm also experimenting on a few things: Ohran Viper over Wall of Blossoms to increase the creature control element. If my opponent isn't attacking me because of the Viper, that's more time. If my opponent isn't doing anything else, I can draw cards. 

How will it do? I'm not sure. But I like the configuration.

Tiny Arms

 I like Grimlock, but I got a lesson in it's limitations recently.

I was playing Matt who was playing my Sandstorm deck-which I am just now realizing I never followed up on!

So I'll get that posted soon. But Matt couldn't get the deck going, which meant I had time to both set up my deck and take out his smaller creatures. I chalk a little of that up to him being a new pilot 

However, later that day, I was playing against a B/W Bats deck that just had my number. Cheap creatures with evasion, scaling power and lifegain meant that by the time I could get my deck set up, the game was over. 

The closest I got was when I landed a Vein Ripper and even that wasn't enough.

Now there's a couple lessons: one is that Grimlock is going to be taken down by fast decks, and I should be looking at board resets. My deck should be more resilient to resets than my opponent's. 

But also: this deck, as neat as it is, can't be all things. And that's OK. Take the wins where you can. 

2027 Hype

Nauctis trailer.

Titanbreach trailer.

Zhalfir trailer.

Of these, the one I'm most excited for is Titanbreach. Pacific Rim set? Yes please.

The most interesting one is Zhalfir of course: Wakanda mythos writ large? Alright let's see what you got! It doesn't hurt that it's a riff off of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor and Lorwyn Eclipsed, a modern set I loved, with Shadowmoor, a set I'm very fond of. 

Plus, I always enjoy it when Magic goes to a place that doesn't get a lot of exposure. It's an opportunity for a window to be opened in my world that wasn't there before.

Which is probably why I feel that Nauctis has something to prove. Atlantis was never a thing. I know, it's a high fantasy staple and truthfully, I'm shocked Magic hasn't done it. But it's such an old trope that I don't feel much excitement about it. 

The trailer said that it's the first Magic set-maybe ever?-without flying as a mechanic, which is great, I love that.

It also says that there's a mechanic to replace that aaaaaannnnnd that raises some eyebrows. Because previous attempts at making creatures "unblockable except by X" (shadow, horsemanship) have had some very bad impacts on the game, especially in limited.

Sill, I'm glad to see these sets coming next year and I hope y'all are too.

Always Here

 So, been getting into the Arkham Horror LCG and it's been neat! As is so often the case with me, I've been doing dives into reviews of expansions, how to build decks, all that neat stuff.

Then I found this review and it just stuck in my craw.

"Woke" is such a terrible criticism here, even without having played that expansion.

Black people existed in the 1930s. Queer people existed in the 1930s. That may have been to Lovecraft's dismay but we shouldn't be taking his bullshit into the future, and it certainly doesn't change the truth.

So complaining that showing the existence of people in a game where you play as a person is...trash. 

Big Business is not your friend

Well, Sony have announced the elimination of physical media for games. 

And it's a bad, dumb idea. 

There are a lot of takes out there right now as to why it is and some of them carry more weight than others. Your mileage may vary, as always. 

However there is one thing that I feel becomes undeniable: once Sony controls their own marketplace, they have a monopoly. 

And that is bad for everyone. 

For me, personally, I hate that we are going back to 'company store' days. You don't own what you own; you rent it all from the company. We already know that businesses consider digital content to be something they can take from you.

I like to own the things I buy-that is why I buy them.

And it means I'm going to have to reconsider my gaming habits for the future. That also kinda sucks. I liked it when things were easy. 

And that's it for a week! I'm going on vacation and going to play some Warhammer Conquest!