Blast Off

 I think I may have to retire this one.

I was playing a game against Fuz and butting up against the tension in the deck. Namely; I need ways to keep both the board and opponent's hand size clear. That's a lot to ask for. 

Sure, cards like Oppression fit in well but Magic is just so fast that now I need ways to clear the board before Oppression and Noetic Scales come online. I will lose the game if I haven't advanced a plan before then, because everyone else has things to do on turns 1-3. 

4 Anvil of Bogardan
3 Necrogen Spellbomb
4 Noetic Scales

4 Guiltfeeder
2 Master of Cruelties

4 Oppression
3 Seal of Fire

4 Geth's Verdict

4 Tainted Peak
4 Mountain
14 Swamp
2 Rocky Tar Pit

2 Demonfire
2 Persist
2 Black Sun's Zenith
2 Glimpse the Impossible

So how to adjust this? Well, Fuz suggested that I just blow up the removal effects but I'm wondering if the discard is the real problem. 

Oppression might be better as a straight up discard spell, like Hymn to Tourach or if I'm getting really weird, Brink of Madness could be wild. (Note to self, do not do that). But even Cerebral Confiscation or better, Mind Drain, could do a better job at keeping my opponent's hand restricted and making Noetic Scales better. 

So I'm not abandoning this one, because I still think there's some there, there. And it's interesting! But I don't think it can get beyond a B- power deck. For now, I'm going to leave it. 

Disco Candybar

 A friend of mine is detailing the work he's doing on a boardgame here. 

If you ever wanted a peek behind the curtain to see how games get made, you might find this interesting! Sean is a veteran designer and has worked on a lot of different things. 

Full disclosure; Sean's a friend and I've even been part of playtest groups for games he's designed or been a part of designing. 

Vortex

So; let's get a little weird. Because after a few more games, I still didn't feel as though I had enough control. It's important to get to four mana for Noetic Scales but I also need ways to stall until I can get a Scales.

I also need ways to dig for cards so: I'm trying on two copies of Commune With Lava, a Master of Cruelties, and two copies of Black Sun's Zenith. 

Commune can help me dig into my deck and it gives me a full turn to play the cards, so if I need to tap out, that isn't a problem. Black Sun's Zenith isn't a card that destroys creatures but it should slow them down. -1 to everything in play is great if my only creature is a Guiltfeeder or Master of Cruelties. 

I feel as though I'm on the verge of something but I can't quite get there. It may be that I'm barking up the wrong tree entirely. 

Brawl

After the changes made, things feel better. Not great, but better. 

I lost two matches because in one case I couldn't find my removal and in the second, the rules pulled a gotcha on me.

Noetic Scales is good, y'all. I managed a near one-sided Wrath of God-leaving behind a lonely Springheart Nantuko that had been bestowed on another creature. At three life, I was easily dispatched. Of note: I drew one removal spell in the meantime, a Dead/Gone. Four Geth's Verdicts added but all went hiding in that game.

In my second matchup, I realized the Glory of Cool Things element that was plaguing the deck: Gibbering Descent. I'm trying to madness this card out without any real madness enabler cards. Sure: Anvil of Bogardan helps but that's one card. Then I pay four mana to put the Descent into play and do what exactly? Get one point of damage in per turn? 

Yikes. 

I thought about The Long Reach of Night and that may work better. Bandit's Talent was also something I thought about but I feel like the payoff might not be very consistent. I want to bounce cards to my opponent's hand AND I want to make them discard. These things aren't humming along together. 

Master of Cruelties is still worth considering though, so maybe a one of-fun of, along with two Long Reach? 

Let's find out.

Onslaught

I played one game with Bruticus against Noah, who was doing a MUD (big mana artifacts, do bad stuff) thing. The game went much like one might expect and the obvious problems where there; Older cards that have cheaper reprints now, like Megrim, were not as efficient, and not nearly enough removal to keep the early rush of creatures off my back.

Noetic Scales can do a lot, but since it doesn't come down until turn four I need to invest in early game removal. 

After a lot of thinking I began to wonder: what if Megrim is the stumbling block? The obvious replacement is Liliana's Caress but what if I don't need that card at all?

I thought about Master of Cruelties and I may try it anyway? But one copy of Gibbering Descent, Keldon Megaliths and the Megrims are coming out for removal. Geth's Verdict seems like a fine addition.

Bruticus

 Are you ready for a weird one? This one, named after the most brutal Combaticon, is coming from the wayback machine, as you can see by the card choices.

3 Anvil of Bogardan
4 Necrogen Spellbomb
4 Noetic Scales

4 Guiltfeeder

4 Gibbering Descent
4 Oppression
3 Seal of Fire
3 Megrim

4 Dead // Gone
3 Skeletal Scrying

1 Keldon Megaliths
4 Tainted Peak
4 Mountain
12 Swamp
2 Rocky Tar Pit

1 Demonfire

Obviously, there are some very old cards here! But for people who don't see how the deck works, the idea is to use Noetic Scales to keep creatures off the table, and Guiltfeeder to freely attack and do outsized levels of damage.

Oppression is there to help keep cards out of my opponent's hand, and then there's some removal to take care of the early creatures, and Skeletal Scrying to draw me cards and help me find what I need. 

Gibbering Descent is probably the glory of cool things, but we shall see!

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!