Tag Archives: CCG Corner

On the Tabletop

2023 Collectible Card Game Preview

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Introduction

Christmas break ended yesterday and we all went back to work and school today. Well, most of us. Quinn stayed home because he is sick with something. We tested him for Covid and it came back negative, but he’s still blowing gross snot all over the place. Sorry, bad image there. In spite of all of that, I return with our 2023 Collectible Card Game Preview.

News moves fast in this day and age. Our mobile game article is already outdated. I discovered yesterday, after paying for their stupid battle pass, that Valve discontinued support for Underlords. Good news? I guess I have like 8 or 9 years to finish out the five dollar battle pass. Hopefully, nothing goes out of business after writing this article.

The Old Gray Lady: Magic the Gathering

I wrote more than once that MtG no longer holds the same place in my heart. Yes, I enjoy the game and play daily on Arena. Chris also just mentioned yesterday to try to get together for another day of Commander or whatever other crazy shit Jason convinces us to try. However, I wonder if I am done with collecting. I bought product for neither Brother’s War nor Dominaria United. I must say that in the past, Phyrexia got me back into the game on more than one occasion.

And, just like that, I’m back in.

According to this page, after that we travel back to Eldraine and then Ixalan. I don’t care all that much about either of them, but Quinn enjoyed Ixalan because of the dinosaurs. Amazing. I went from completely out to back in for the rest of the year in only half an hour. So, look forward to my previews of all of those sets.

The Precocious Adolescent: Hearthstone

Unlike Magic the Gathering, little information exists on the Hearthstone front. We know from previous years that the new year drops sometime in the early spring. Until then, we get three months of an increasingly perverted meta as players scream for a new expansion. Maybe we get a broken card or two from a mini set related to the Lich King. Otherwise, they can make it up to me personally by updating Battlegrounds to make up for not doing so with the most recent expansion.

The New Kid on the Block: Disney Lorcana

Normally, I wouldn’t mention this game. I’d file it away as another game with potential that never realized that potential. I mean, the landscape is littered with them. But, the game came up in the group text with Chris and Jason. I figure, if it is popping up on the radar of a guy who considers himself an MtG purist, they must be doing something right. Join us here for world exclusive content about this game.

The Verdict

Other than Lorcana, I don’t see myself straying from the games I played in the past. I picked up Legends of Runeterra again, but haven’t worked it into my daily rotation. I enjoy the game but just haven’t developed that same attachment to it that I have with the other games. Hell, even Lorcana makes me think of Kingdom Hearts and that game still gives me goosebumps when I think about it. Thanks for reading our 2023 collectible card game preview and come back around tomorrow for the PC article.

Digital Playground

2022 PC GOTY: Yeah, About That…

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Introduction

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I wrote 2022 PC GOTY in my calendar for this week. I knew that I’d be home the whole week and able to write every day. Definitely, I wanted to fill the week with posts. Surely, I had an idea for this when I put the plan together, right?

Right now, goodness only knows what that plan was. While I have a laptop and recently accessed my Steam account again, I played little to no games on the PC. I loaded up 1 Screen Platformer a month ago to write an article and keep the page active. But, to call it the game of the year is a stretch.

No Time to Game?

When I set up the two computers in the basement to work on my IT stuff, I played some Magic the Gathering Arena and Hearthstone. Mostly, this year, I messed around on CodeWars and W3Resource to practice my coding because I thought I might go back to school for computer science focusing on data analysis.

More recently, I wrote a few programs for Raspberry Pi Pico W.

That still may happen. However, I found a new job that so far I enjoy much more than my previous teaching job. So, I postponed my enrollment in the Master’s program until next year. I will revisit it again over the summer depending on how the rest of the school year goes. Right now, though, things look positive.

I suppose I could take the cheap way out and name Magic the Gathering Arena or Hearthstone as the 2022 PC GOTY. Actually, now that I say that, I think my plan was to give the award to Hearthstone. So, let’s go with that one.

Congratulations? Hearthstone

Now this just feels weird. I mean, technically, Hearthstone is available on the PC and I played it on the PC. I probably played it the most of any other PC game this year. But, I played it mostly on the phone and consider it a mobile game at this point. Okay. Let’s make this work.

So, what’s the big deal with Hearthstone this year? Well, they are getting almost as bad as Magic the Gathering with the expansion releases. I count three major set releases plus 2 mini set releases in the calendar year. For some reason, I don’t feel the same fatigue, though. I think it might be for a couple of reasons, actually.

First, Hearthstone has varied game modes. The one that I play the most is Battlegrounds, but I also messed around with Mercenaries some this year. I never play Arena, Tavern Brawl, or Duels anymore, but they still exist. Also, since Hearthstone is only digital, I just have to buy the set digitally, where in MTG I buy online and in real life. That’s exhausting.

The Verdict

So, while Hearthstone brings me the same amount of joy and, more accurately, stress and anger as Magic the Gathering, I follow in the footsteps of the previous article and give this infuriating game an award for 2022. What this tells me is that I need to play more games on my computer next year.

On the Tabletop

2022 Card GOTY: Magic the Gathering

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Introduction

We continue our annual celebration at the end of the year with the 2022 Card GOTY. I wrote an article about a week ago trashing the game. That’s right, I spent a good 700 odd words talking crap about a game that I am about to give an end of the year award. Granted, the game is in the title of the post, so this reveal is a bit anticlimactic. Nevertheless, congratulations to Magic the Gathering for the win.

You might make the argument that this proclamation is obvious or by default. And, you’d probably be right. After all, how many card games are there out there. Probably more than I’d expect and certainly more than I ever have time to play. Nevertheless, allow me to make an argument that Magic wins in spite of these technicalities.

Magic the Gathering Digital

In spite of trying to talk him into it, I haven’t been able to get Chris to commit to playing Arena on a regular basis. I, on the other hand, sink money into every release by buying both combo packs to collect all of the packs and goodies. One of those goodies is the ever present reward track. That inspires me to play on a daily basis until I finish a quest and/or get 2 wins to the 15 week limit.

While I sometimes skip Hearthstone and recently deleted Eternal from my phone, I always log into Arena to both finish the quests and see what daily deals they offer in the shop. This keeps me connected to a game that I admitted in that previous article to losing some interest in the collecting aspect, at least.

Magic the Gathering Physical

Okay, so you play the game on your phone regularly. Notice that you said nothing about enjoying the game other than the cosmetics and other stuff they give away. Fair enough. I admit to spending much of my time complaining about land drops or my opponent’s luck. Plus, it remains to be seen if I ever buy product for binders ever again. There are just so many releases lately. Fatigue is a real thing.

But, I still found joy in the game again this year. I sat down and played Magic the Gathering against actual people more this year than the last three or so years combined. A student asked me to play some Commander and we ended up matching up for a couple of games. Chris and Jason inspired me to put some money into my precon decks to make them slightly more competitive and we played three or four games at the beginning of autumn. We planned to play again, but Chris and his wife got Covid again. So, the second meeting remains up in the air right now.

The Verdict

Magic the Gathering remains the frustratingly expensive and predictably unpredictable game that I love to hate. I also love to love the game. Opening packs brings me indescribable joy at the art, story, and possibilities of how to use those cards in decks. I goldfish my Commander decks at least once a week. I played around with the landfall one again a couple of weeks ago at Aiden’s soccer practice. Simply writing this post makes me want to go out into the car and grab them. All those reasons and more are what make Magic the Gathering our 2022 Card GOTY.

Digital Playground

2022 Mobile GOTY: Marvel SNAP

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Introduction

We debuted Game of the Year articles two years ago. I only wrote Console/PC, Tabletop, and Mobile articles last year and the year before. This year, I plan to add two new categories; card and a separate articles for console and PC. To be honest, I played less on consoles and especially PC than any other format, but I know what to do when I get to those categories later in the week. Today, I celebrate our 2022 mobile GOTY: Marvel SNAP.

As often happens lately, Chris texted me about the game to say that he tried it. I saw advertisements for it, but heard little about the game. So, he got a chance to play it before me. He told me a little about the game and said he mostly enjoyed it. That’s when I downloaded and gave it a try.

Marvel SNAP Humble Beginnings

Chris explained the game as “War” with additional features. Okay, I thought, how does that work? Exactly as I should have known. You build a deck of 10 cards with Marvel heroes and there are three “locations” in the middle of the board that sometimes have special abilities like modifying your cards or moving them to other spots on the board.

See? War with additional features.

I still only played part of the tutorial. The game seemed a bit too basic for me. What can this game offer in the face of other card games like Magic the Gathering and Hearthstone? As usual, I looked at it the wrong way. It wasn’t until a couple of students in my first block class at Conant mentioned the game again that I gave it another chance. I started playing it again shortly after that. I earned some new cards, tried some of them in new decks, and the game finally worked its way into my regular rotation.

Missions, Rewards Track, and All That

After playing through the introduction rewards, I opened the actual rewards track. I searched for the price a couple of times before realizing that I needed to unlock it and then pay. $9.99 seemed a bit high, but mostly worth it for daily play, so I paid the amount and regularly check the game to see if my missions refreshed (it happens about every 8 hours instead of daily, which is nice) in between other games.

The game still seems basic and almost too easy. I don’t have any actual statistical analysis, but it feels like I win 9 out of 10 matches. Until today, I couldn’t remember the last time I actually lost a match. I mean, as I play, I see strategy and misplays by my opponents, so maybe it is just in that weird space where everyone is learning the game and how to play. Maybe my opponents just don’t care all that much about winning. Honestly, the game offers little in the way of incentive to win. Most of the rewards simply come from playing the game.

The Verdict

In spite of that minor drawback, I enjoy the game and look forward to seeing the new upgrades to cards that I unlock periodically. Several of the cards made me say, “Oh wow!” But, we saw with the most recent Hearthstone set that isn’t always an indication that cards are memorable.

Is SNAP my favorite mobile game? No. Did I play it the most often during 2022? Not even close. I only started actually playing a month ago. Plus, seeing as how my play sessions are only about 5-10 minutes each, I don’t even anticipate playing it the most next year. Still, I like the game and have no problem naming it our 2022 Mobile GOTY. If you want to learn more about the game and give it a try, click the link.

On the Tabletop

Magic the Gathering is a Gift?

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Introduction

Recently, I started a new job. That gave me more time to focus on things that are important to me. I discovered, again, that keeping this web page on life support is one of those things. And, so, I updated the page semi-regularly in October and November. I even came up with new theme banners for the page. Then, December arrived and things got chaotic again. I actually started the job. That required more time put into the previous job. Add in Christmas shopping and soccer and things went a bit sideways on the page. But, I started break at 10:30am today and prepare to plan the page for the next few months at least. I already know that next week brings our annual games of the year. Today, I ask the question of whether Magic the Gathering is a gift.

Gaming is a Gift

I got the idea for theme months several years ago when Chris and I still held a glimmer of hope of making the page a hub for a collection of podcasts. We, obviously, gave up that ghost a while ago. But, I continue to write here. Simply because I enjoy writing and, who knows, something might eventually make its way out there into the ether and get me more readers. To cut to the chase, the obvious theme for December is “Gaming is a Gift.”

Magic the Gathering is a Gift?

So, why the question mark? Surely, you think good things about this game you invested so much time, energy, and money into over the years. Of course I still enjoy the game. I play Magic the Gathering daily to finish quests and push my completion of the rewards track. Chris, Jason, and I share Magic the Gathering news and memes at least once a week.

Speaking of them, we actually gathered together to play Commander against one another for two games. I spent about 50 bucks and a couple of weeks of research to upgrade my preconstructed decks that I bought a couple of years ago. They didn’t help me win, but I put up more of a fight that I ever have against either of them. So, I consider it a success.

So, Magic the Gathering is a Gift!

Well, not quite that, either. For the first time in at least a decade, I texted Chris the following. “The collector in me just died a little bit, but I think I’m done buying product for binders.” He said something along the lines of how he just buys singles now, something that I already knew. I agreed and even admitted that I might get into whatever crazy formats that Jason wanted to play and invest my collecting money into that.

It seems like every other month, Jason discusses some new format. Old School, 93-94, Triple Lindy. Okay, I stole that last one from the Rodney Dangerfield movie, “Old School”. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually was the name of a format. I usually just roll my eyes when he mentions something because I’m not one for the competitive aspect of these games. I just want to play and have fun with friends. So, why the possible change of heart?

Another thing Chris said when I texted him, “The set releases are just so ridiculous right now.” “Right?” I responded. “By the time Phyrexia comes out, I will be three sets behind and I just don’t care that much to get caught up right now.”

The Verdict

As it stands right now, I have no plans to buy product for Dominaria United, Brother’s War, or the new New Phyrexia. I’m sure that by the time the set actually releases, I’ll find it in my heart and wallet to purchase the product and put together the binders. Especially since the last time that we tried to get together, Chris and his wife got Covid and we had to cancel/postpone. Let me know if you still collect or plan to start again with any of the new sets.

Snap *censored* Pop Culture

December 2022 Hearthstone Battlegrounds Update

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Introduction

As you all know because you read my most recent articles, Hearthstone released a new card set. Blizzard brought us back to Northrend and one of the greatest fantasy story lines ever. The fall of Arthas still haunts my dreams. You all know what a sucker I am for story in video games. I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that this set came with an update to Battlegrounds, too. And, so, I planned to write a December 2022 Hearthstone Battlegrounds update.

Best laid plans, as they say. Spoiler Alert: No major new update to Battlegrounds ever came as a result of March of the Lich King. No new minion types or minions. No new quests. And, no update to the rewards track. I, and I assume most other players since I’m nowhere close to the top time played in this game, finished the track about a month ago. Now, I mainly play to finish the main weekly quest and advance that rewards track.

So, Nothing Then?

Not nothing, no. While I thought that the introduction of the “Undead” keyword into Hearthstone meant big things for the world of Battlegrounds, for now Blizzard kept them out of the game mode. I trust the developers and programmers, so I know they will eventually add them into Battlegrounds, but it’s curious that they didn’t as part of the new set release celebration.

What, then? A new undead hero to serve as a foil for The Lich King? Well, yes and no. Or, rather no and yes. They gave us a new hero. I played him the other day. He’s pretty fun. Technically, he isn’t alive, so you could argue that he fits the theme. Okay, I pulled a muscle stretching that metaphor. Okay, with little further ado, our new hero! *drum roll*

Yes, it’s true. Our intrepid new hero is Enhanc-o-Mechano. *cymbals crashing awkwardly* *a lone cough in the back of the room*

Yeah, a bit of a let down. But, along with this new hero comes a new quest reward. I admit to being underwhelmed by most quest rewards. I had a lot of fun with the one that gives your minions plus seven on stats, but they die after attacking. That took me to a first place finish a couple of weeks ago. Giving a hydra plus twelve stats in your hand every turn is fun, too, and figuring out when to finally play it adds some strategry. But, I think this one might be my favorite.

You can roll the usual bonuses; divine shield, windfury, and reborn are the most fun in that order. There’s also one that gives taunt, which pairs well with Leeroy and poisonous minions. Man, just talking about it makes me want to load up and play Battlegrounds even though I already finished my quest for the week.

The Verdict

Yeah, the December 2022 Hearthstone Battlegrounds update underwhelms for sure. I expected much more. Really, I just wanted them to add undead type to the game mode. That, alone, makes me sad. I hope you’re listening, Blizzard.

Digital Playground

Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior Lich King Cards I Love

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Introduction

Later than expected, but we arrive at the end of our March of the Lich King preview with Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior Lich King cards. As I mentioned more than once in previous articles, my reaction to opening packs from my bundle inspired me to write these articles. Then, as often happens, I found myself much less enamored with the cards when declaring my love for them.

Nevertheless, the articles kept me writing through the last couple of weeks when some of my other activities fell off. I have not worked out more than twice a week over the last month. I thought I might be able to work out more now that I switched jobs, but I still choose other things over working out right now. Oh well, a conversation for another time.

Shaman Lich King Honorable Mention

I’m sure one of the jank streamers out there figured out a way to work this into an OTK combo. When I first saw the Scourge Troll card, I gave it no second thought. Then, I looked at the Shaman gallery and saw they pushed Deathrattle Shaman a bit in this set. Then I saw these two cards and my brain went where all Hearthstone players brains go when they see something like this. How can I abuse this beyond recognition and annoy the entire community?

Shaman Lich King Card I Love

This is either the best board clear ever, a dead card that sits in your hand for the rest of the game, or most likely both at the same time. After all, Hearthstone cards often toe that line between functional and trash. Having played against this one a couple of times, I can confirm that this one at least works as a frustrating as hell board clear. Surely, when I put it in a deck, it fulfills the trash destiny.

Warlock Lich King Honorable Mention

I like the looks of this combo. Sure, it makes little to no sense to actually run it and looks rather medium. However, think of the possibilities! An entire board full of Walking Dead for free! Free! FREE! Muhahahahah!

Warlock Lich King Card I Love

Three mana to draw two? But, but, you fix your hand. Plus, more potential for walking dead en masse. I’m telling you, sooner or later, I’m getting that board state and posting it on our dead Instagram.

Warrior Lich King Honorable Mention

I tried playing World of Warcraft again a couple of years ago during a particularly long break. I signed up for three months of game time, played a couple of hours, stopped, and never signed in again after that. So, there might be some precedent in the game for Warriors and “fire” spells. As it stand, it surprised me to see such a mechanic in Hearthstone.

Warrior Lich King Card I Love

This thing sucks. It won’t see play in any deck in the top 95% of play. I guarantee that. Of course, now that I said that, some random Twitch streamer got his wings and figured out a way to break this in such a way that everyone will play it. You’re welcome.

The Verdict

For whatever reason, the Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior Lich King cards best capture my thoughts of what Hearthstone cards should be. Silly, fun, sometimes good, and occasionally game breaking. I enjoyed each and every one of these cards and I’m not joking. Be on the look out for Walking Dead Warlock on the ladder.

Disclaimer: All images taken from this page.

Digital Playground

Paladin, Priest, and Rogue Lich King Cards I Love

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Introduction

This article brings me to three for three in writing my review articles for March of the Lich King, the new expansion for Hearthstone. I already reviewed neutral (with two special bonuses!) cards and Druid, Hunter, and Mage in my previous articles. As the title so eloquently states, this one covers Paladin, Priest, and Rogue Lich King cards. (Editor’s Note: While three for three in writing them, I botched the release and pushed these two articles back into this week. I have a new plan to get to the end of the year, though.)

These articles came to me because as I opened my packs from the bundle I bought, I kept saying, “Wow!” “Cool!” and “Neat!” However, as I wrote in my previous article and reiterate here, the initial high seemed to have worn out or I read cards wrong. Because, as I look through the card listing, I find myself saying any of those words much less and struggling to find cards that I actually love.

Paladin Lich King Honorable Mention

The one thing I noticed while looking through the Paladin cards is that they are leaning into self damage as a mechanic. While not new to the game, it is new to the Paladin class. Usually, Warlocks (and sometimes Priests) have this mechanic on their cards. As a potential healing class, it makes sense in the priest context. This could also be fun if they ever end up doing another multi-class focused set like they did in Gadgetzan.

Paladin Lich King Card I Love

Not a great card. Heck you might even argue that it isn’t a good card. But, that’s not why we are here. We pick fun cards and I see this card being a ton of fun. Also, not for nothing, but it can serve some utility functions in the right deck. Phase your own minions against inevitable board clears or phase others to give yourself time to dig for your own.

Priest Lich King Honorable Mention

These cards look like they work well together in my least favorite priest archetype. I despise playing against thief priest. I know it stinks of logical fallacy, but I always feel like they steal the best cards from my deck/class/etc at the best time to counter what I try to do.

Priest Lich King Card I Love

I know what this looks like. But, I promise I’m not just picking Legendary cards for the cards I love. Yes, legendary cards often have powerful effects and lend themselves to being the “best” cards. However, I don’t always go for the “best”. You know that about me by now. I like this card because of the permanent card that you get. When Hearthstone first came out, Chris and I wondered how a digital card game might distance itself from it’s paper counterparts. Cards like this. That’s how.

Rogue Lich King Honorable Mention

I saw the word concoction and wondered why we needed something else when we already had poisons. I should have known that Blizzard’s development team knew what they were doing. Concoctions are like the old Kazakus spells in that they can be combined to do things. See all of the concoctions and combinations here.

Rogue Lich King Card I Love

See? Not a legendary. Hell, this one is even a common. And, no I didn’t simply choose a common to contradict the assumption that I chose only legendary cards for the cards I love. I genuinely think this card is cool. To my knowledge, it is the first Hearthstone card with two different minion types. Does this show the future of the game? Provide for a more diverse and deeper Battlegrounds experience? The possibilities are endless.

The Verdict

I left the previous article underwhelmed by the choices in my cards. I genuinely enjoy all of these cards and plan to play many of them over the next few weeks to see if they wow me as much as I hope they will. Paladin, Priest, and Rogue Lich King cards are truly some cards I love. See you in a couple of days for the rest of the set.

Disclaimer: All images taken from this page.

Digital Playground

Druid, Hunter, and Mage: Lich King Cards I Love

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Introduction

The other day in my review of the March of the Lich King neutral cards (also with two added surprises!), I promised three new articles this weekend to complete my review of the set. Today brings us Druid, Hunter, and Mage Lich King cards. While I played little druid only played hunter to finish quests in wild, I played a ton of mage in all formats. I particularly enjoyed playing questline mage and hero power mage.

The genesis of these articles is that when I opened my packs from this set I continually said to myself, “Wow!” “Oh, cool!” or “That looks like a neat card.” I also wrote a couple of days ago that I finally found my peace with Hearthstone. I went from a hate/hate relationship to a tolerate the main mode/love Battlegrounds relationship. So, when I write these articles, know that I genuinely mean what I say.

Druid Lich King Cards Honorable Mention

Once upon a time, a particularly annoying archetype for druid was armor druid. I played it a couple of times when I thought a quest required me to gain a bunch of armor. It actually wanted honor, so I played the stupid deck for nothing. I never checked to see if they updated the deck with any of these new cards, but Anub’Rekhan seems like a fun card to play with a ton of armor.

Druid Lich King Card I Love

This card feels liek a really cool removal tool in an archetype that I’m calling “Undead Druid”. I have no actual deck in mind and I never actually researched any of this. However, it definitely feels like this card encourages such a build. If I get a quest to play druid, perhaps I will look up a deck and play it.

Hunter Lich King Cards Honorable Mention

This actually ended up being a tough pick and I thought about three cards. There’s nothing preventing me from picking three other than the rule that I set in the last article that I only chose three from each of the classes. The third I wanted to pick was Hope of Quel’Thalas. But, I like the perpetual spell damage and the autoremoval of these two.

Hunter Lich King Card I Love

I just love this mechanic from the other Lich King set. Discover two beasts and jam them together? Heck yeah, sign me up. I’m going to find a place for this in my Wild Hunter deck. Can’t wait to see the crazy shit that I build.

Mage Lich King Cards Honorable Mention

They seem to be pushing the arcane bolt thing in this set. It seems bad to me. It takes 8 mana to get one more damage? But, I’m sure I’m missing something and someone already constructed an OTK deck with this thing, some mana reduction, and spell damage. Stay tuned for when I play that deck. The Prismatic Elemental lets me discover (my favorite!) and from any class. Hell yeah, Casino Mage.

Mage Lich King Card I Love

I generally despise the randomness of Hearthstone. For whatever, reason, I softened my stance for this card. I have a spell mage deck that it seems like this could be a fun card as either a last resort or just for poops and giggles.

The Verdict

So far, none of the cards reviewed made me say the same things that I mentioned in my introduction. Not even the druid, hunter, and mage Lich King cards. Sure, some of the cards look fun. But, none of them wow me like I remember them doing so the other day. Either I felt better about the cards the other day and they aren’t as good as I thought or I’m just feeling more underwhelmed today. In either case, join me tomorrow and Sunday to see if I can find my groove again.

Disclaimer: All images taken from this page.

Digital Playground

March of the Lich King Neutral Cards I Love

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Introduction

I got semi-back into the habit of writing on a weekly basis yesterday with my short love poem about Hearthstone. I questioned if I would follow up with my (in the recent past of about a year ago) with my individual reviews of cards for the new set that released this week. Initially, I thought I might just write one review on Friday of the whole set. Then, today, in between working through the Death Knight prologue, I opened my packs from the bundle I bought. After that came the idea to write an article about Lich King neutral cards.

As I opened the pack, I said to myself, out loud, “Oh, wow!” “Cool!” “Nice!” I said them all more than once and must have said them enough that my brain got the idea to start the “Cards I Love” series again for Hearthstone. I guess I lost track of the number of heroes in the game because I only wanted to do Lich King neutrals in this article. But, stay tuned for a special surprise or two at the end.

Lich King Neutrals: Honorable Mention

ell Taunt, Lifesteal, and Manathirst, oh my!

Sanctum Spellbender brings an often requested mechanic to the game. Technically, it already exists, but the other Spellbender is a secret. This one explicitly defines the mechanic and gets us one step closer to a keyword or evergreen mechanic. Maybe next set. I like the San’layn because it made me look up lore. Any card that leads me to a lore rabbit hole is a good card by my book. The third card, as usual, highlights a new evergreen. Manathirst adds functionality to a card if you have that much mana in your pool.

Cards I Love: Lich King Neutrals

You all know how much I love my janky cards that have the potential to break the game. While this one doesn’t quite have that potential, it is one heck of a combo card and I feel like I’m going to have a ton of fun playing this one. Plus, I opened it in one of my packs.

Special Surprise: Demon Hunter Honorable Mention

Minions? We don’t need no stinking minions!

After opening my packs this morning, I downloaded a deck list to finish the special quest for the set release. Coincidentally, it matched one of my daily quests to play as Demon Hunter. They seem to be pushing minionless as an archetype in Demon Hunter. I played both of these cards multiple times in my two games and they both have crazy utility.

Special Surprise: Demon Hunter Card I Love

This one came with the deck list I played earlier. It takes the only three minions in the deck (very good minions) and turns them into spells, thereby unlocking the minionless strategy for the deck. In addition, you get a Fiery Win Axe+. Good deal.

Special Surprise: Death Knight Honorable Mention

Rise, my legion, and serve your king!

The Death Knight class comes with some new and interesting mechanics. One of them comes in the form of corpses. You collect them either by having minions die or through other means. As these cards show, you use them to unlock spells and sometimes minions. I only used these cards in the prologue, so I can’t speak to their actual functionality.

Special Surprise: Death Knight Card I Love

Seemingly an underwhelming card and you’re not wrong. It does have my favorite mechanic, discover, and it teases the concept of corpses and runes. So, while not a “good card”, it unlocks the potential for a ton of fun.

The Verdict

As I looked through the Lich King neutrals, I felt less “Wow!” than I did when opening the packs. But, those cards (and the others here, plus still others coming this weekend) got me to download a deck list and play a couple of games. I enjoyed playing actual Hearthstone more than in recent memory and who knows? Maybe the Lich King will get me to play Hearthstone more just like he did World of Warcraft all those years ago.

Disclaimer: All images taken from this page.