Category Archives: On the Tabletop

Adventures from cards, miniatures, pencil and paper RPGs, and other old fashioned games from before the internet ruined everything.

On the Tabletop

Proof of Evolution

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(Editor’s Note: Poke A Man? Poke E Mons? I don’t understand any of these names.)

We are scheduled to get back on…well, schedule…with our podcasting this week with a new episode about Pokemon Sun and Moon and a look at the latest (as far as we knew at the time since I’ve recently learned that they are releasing Sun and Moon cards) card set, Evolutions. I already did an article a couple of weeks ago on my experience in Sun and Moon tutorial. However, I have to update that article because I hadn’t even made it through the whole tutorial as of the writing and I have made it considerably farther into the game. Look for that update in a couple of days. This article will focus on our recent adventures in the card game.

One of my favorite formats in Magic has become limited, as evidenced by my drafts with Chris. I am less fond of sealed than I am of draft, but sealed seemed like a better format to play with the boys as they have a little bit of experience from doing a Magic prerelease with me. There were some issues with the plan. First, how to compensate for the fact that Pokemon packs contain less cards than Magic packs. That one was easily remedied by mathing the situation. 6*15 = 10 * x.

I wasn’t told that there was going to be a quiz today!

(Spoiler Alert: x = 9. Give yourself a gold star if you got it right.)

That brings us to the second potential dilemma. We needed 36 packs, which is a whole booster box. Okay, no problem, I buy booster boxes of Magic all the time. Hop onto Amazon, eBay, where ever you can get the best price for a box, and get that box. Wait, what’s this? Pokemon boxes run about 110 dollars. That’s odd for two reasons. One, that’s about 20 to 30 dollars more than I’ve ever had to pay for a booster box of Magic. Two, and I already mentioned this, Pokemon booster packs come with only 10 cards as opposed to 15 (well, sometimes 14 because of lands in packs), so that makes them more expensive on two levels.

I hemmed and hawed and went back and forth. I will pick one up because it will be fun and maybe it will get the boys interested in their Pokemon and Yu Gi Oh cards again. No, that’s too expensive and we already have so many cards. Maybe it will get me interested in Magic again. The return on investment is nowhere near what a Magic box potentially offers. The boys are only young once, we haven’t had nearly enough time to game together, and it’s only money. Okay, fine, you win.

I don’t care. Even as a “good dad” who makes ample time for his kids, I can’t escape the feels from this song.

I ordered the box and it sat in storage for a month or so until we were able and willing to go through with the “event”. Since Christine has little use for our silly games, we chose a night when she was out. Or, maybe she locked herself into her room to watch Grey’s Anatomy or some other such nonsense. Whatever her excuse, we also had to work around the fact that when you have 3 children, often you have varied interests and each night of the week becomes a battle to get everywhere that they need to be on time and in a proper mood to conduct themselves.

We finally won that battle one night a couple of weeks ago. I pulled out the box, we distributed the packs, and opened them. The first thing I noticed, and this was a huge positive for me, was that the cards mostly were the original Pokemon. More than that, they were the original art. I said to Chris that it was almost like opening an original art Ancestral Recall. Almost, but not quite. Let’s not get carried away. It was cool seeing all of the old cards and the original art and it took me back to when I first introduced Liam to the game, but we were only opening Charmanders and Squirtles, after all.

What have you got against Charmander? Huh, buddy? I bet you wouldn’t say that about me if I was a Charizard or a Charmeleon, would you? You just wait. You will get yours.

After opening the packs and admiring the cards that we all opened, we got to building our decks. Before I talk about that process, though, let me speak a little bit more about the minor treasures that we pulled from the box. Remember when I was a bit surprised that Pokemon cards were more expensive by the box on two levels? Well, one of my theories was that it might be that the game was more popular at the international level (especially in Japan where Nintendo and Pokemon are very popular) that maybe there might be some return on investment into the box through resale of singles. While we got some good cards and some interesting cards, none of them approached the level of the cards that I’ve been able to resell out of Magic packs.

Mind you, I’m not complaining. I didn’t buy the box for that reason. I bought it strictly to play Pokemon cards with my kids. Still, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tiny bit disappointed. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get into some of the specifics. Aiden, Liam, and I all have some experience with sealed Magic. I’ve done two prereleases, one with them, and many, many other rounds on xMage and a few on MTGO. Quinn, of course, hasn’t done any partly because he’s only 5. Still, he is remarkably good at building decks for Pokemon, so he more than held his own.

Having done some research on the topic before diving right in, I expected it to be more difficult to find a strategy for my deck. Pokemon has 9 (? Okay, I didn’t do a ton of research) types while Magic only has 5 colors. So, I thought that the cards would be more spread out and it would be harder to build a 2 type deck (similar to the 2 color deck that is most common in a Magic limited setting. In fact, it was a bit harder to fill out the deck because of there being less of each type of Pokemon. However, Pokemon has more colorless trainer cards that made it a little easier to get a good amount of cards in the deck. It made the overall power of the deck lower, but that can be fixed with time and more experience.

Ultimately I got a Charmander and Charizard, so I started with fire type. I also got a Squirtle and Bulbasaur, so I complemented fire with water. It’s not a strategy that I usually play when I play Pokemon and it showed. I lost 2-1 to Aiden and then got destroyed 2-0 by Liam in the second round. Our impromptu tournament ultimately fell apart because Quinn lost in the first round and then threw a bit of a 5 year old temper tantrum about it. We almost talked him into playing again, but he refused. So, Liam and Aiden should technically play in the finals to see who is the Lucas-Mullen Pokemon Evolutions tournament champion.

The grand prize is neither a trophy nor a cash prize. We just play for the love of the game. (Actually, we just don’t have money for such luxuries.)

Overall, the experience was a good one. Even though I lost fairly convincingly, I can’t wait to try it again with Pokemon Sun and Moon, which I noticed has released over at Wal*Mart. So, I just have to order a box, figure out a time that will work with every schedule, and try again. I also did a little bit of research to put together a Pokemon cube that will allow us to practice more with the sealed format. We will have plenty of Pokemon fun to keep us busy over the next few months.

On the Tabletop, Uncategorized

Lessons From The Kitchen Table: A Fond Adieu

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It wasn’t that long ago (about a month) when I was singing the praises of Modern MTG. Since then real life has stepped in and the time I had to go to Modern on Monday nights has stepped out. Admittedly, this “cooling off” period happens this time every year. It’s usually driven by work and Shawn’s family obligations and prevents our nerdy nerd nights from happening, which in turn causes my decks to collect dust. This year is different however. I’m actually not upset about my decks collecting dust.

So what happened? Well I won’t recycle Shawn’s thoughts in his article “I’m on a Boat”, but his assessment of Modern is essentially spot-on. It is basically a format of unoriginal ideas and mechanic abuse. I play against Tier One decks like Jund, Grixis, Dredge, ..etc, where I see the same cards over and over again. Your opponent splashed white? Path to Exile is coming. Multiple times. First turn Swamp? Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek will make an appearance in a second. Blue? Remand. Baby Jace or worse, JTMS. You get the point. The games are predictable. The guys in my group tend to stick with Tier One decks, so there isn’t much that catches me by surprise anymore. It has slowly turned me to other formats that offer a more intriguing experience. As Shawn pointed out in the aforementioned article, we have drafted a couple of times and it is now my format of choice. Standard, once considered a money pit to me, has me actually reading daily articles about deck strategies. Although, it does seem like a slight waste of time as no one in my group plays standard. They are firmly embedded in their modern world. To each their own, and who am I to say what format is better or worse? I just know that my Modern days are behind me at this point. Drafting puts Shawn and I on equal footing, instead of him trying to deal with Modern decks, or more accurately, not wanting to play at all. It makes every game more interesting and even more strategic.

It hit me a few weeks ago. After writing my “Modern Night” article, I said “eff this” and decided that my losing days were over. It was time to brew a broken deck. After going back and forth between building Infect or Mill (both of which are in the shallow end of the proverbial strategy pool) I decided that I was going to build a B/U mill deck. I had gone to the dark side. Suddenly I was very focused on having a strong showing at the next Modern Night. This wasn’t about a game. Or even about having fun. I wanted to win. I was tired of losing to my friends. I bounced my deck list off of one of my friends and he took the deck to task, not because it essentially craps on the spirit of the game but because he felt like it wasn’t built right. It wasn’t a top 8 deck essentially. I had added my own creative twist to the deck which made him believe that it was no good. After going back and forth on it via text, I realized that the debate had gone from if my deck was competitive or not to me saying that I didn’t care if it was a Mill deck, I just wanted it to be fun and my idea, not a net deck. And that’s when I realized that it’s tough to build a creative deck in modern and hope to be competitive.

So, where does that leave me? The bimonthly drafts as well as the collecting aspect of the hobby are what keep me going. I often find myself watching videos of drafts and of Standard games in general. I’m also a big fan of Tiny Leaders. So, even though my Modern days are over with for the foreseeable future, the game is not over for me. I do not regret my time dabbling in competitive Modern tournaments. I met some really cool people, built up a huge collection, improved my game and well, that’s good enough for me.

On the Tabletop

I’m on a Boat!

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(Editor’s Note: Every time I think I’m out, Chris pulls me right back in.)

(Editor’s Note 2: The first standard tournament on Star City Games after the release of this set was filled with these types of jokes. I’m not hip enough to actually know the source of the joke. I am just hip enough to understand that it is a joke and to chuckle when I hear it. We truly live in a wondrous time.)

I was out. Way out. Orbiting the planet with plans to travel to Mars out. In the past when I’ve been out, I’ve stayed connected through tournaments on Twitch. I wasn’t even doing that this time. Chris had a group that he played modern with, so I wasn’t even as inspired to keep connected for our monthly nerd nights. I honestly thought that I might be done with the hobby.

That all changed with Kaladesh spoilers. The set looked so much different from anything else they’ve released recently. While the story is just as depressing as recent sets, the art direction is much more bright and cheerful. Though, as I said to Chris, “The next set is called Aether Revolt”, so it is only a matter of time before the Eldrazi or Phyrexians or Phyrexdrazi return to bring the pain. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I did have too much fun playing with this card in the first duels game against the computer.
I did have too much fun playing with this card in the first duels game against the computer.

My actual return to the game started with a draft. Let me explain. Before you think that I’ve evolved from an awkward Caterpie to a Social Butterfree, it was only between me and Chris. Unlike him, I have little to no use for constructed Magic. It is always the same decks and strategies with almost no room for imaginations. Once decks are found that work, they are set. Vintage is Eldrazi or Shops (sometimes both) and Jace. Legacy is Miracles or bust (and, by extension Jace) and modern is all about comboing out by turn four. I don’t mind watching them, but I don’t know if I’ll ever play any of those formats. I used to say the same about Standard, but there are some interesting control decks that are evolving in the format. I might try some of hem if I can ever get the computer set up long enough to use xMage.

Draft doesn’t have that problem. Since you open fresh packs per person, everyone is on an even field with respect to availability of cards. Well, still to busy or nervous or both to make it out to an actual store with other people to play, I started researching ways that Chris and I might be able to draft. I admit that I didn’t have much hope for our prospects.

Magic is traditionally between two players, but the limited formats always seem to favor between 6 and 8. Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to find several two player draft possibilities. I settled on Winchester and Chris went along with it after I explained to him how it worked. I made a date to play, grabbed the appropriate amount of packs, and got to it.

Once again, Shaun of the Dead offers the best advice.
Once again, Shaun of the Dead offers the best advice.

For those who are interested, we chose a Winchester draft according to these rules. (Edit: The page that I got the rules from seems to no longer be active. Guess that means that we can write our own. Look for that soon!) This removed much of the mystery and strategy of not knowing what cards were chosen. We further removed any of the unknown by keeping our choices face up. Honestly, though, most of the surprise was gone simply by having only two players.

Don’t interpret that to mean that we didn’t have fun or that there was no challenge. Quite the opposite. I still found it quite challenging to find the cards to build a deck from my half of the hodge podge of cards presented by the 6 packs. The games were fun, too I’m almost positive that Chris felt the same way because he agreed to redraft and then to get together after Kaladesh release to do it all again.

That draft got me back into the game, but Kaladesh cemented my interest and has kept me coming back for more. I watched the first SCG event after the release and even watched the top 8 of the GP. I’m glad that I did because control was on full display in those matches and I’m a huge control fan.

I love the games that go on for time and then need turns after to settle. Clog the board to stave off defeat and then crush your opponent’s will in the late game. Blue Magic is the only true Magic!

I mean, look at that board and this is a draft.
I mean, look at that board and this is a draft.

That’s what I did to Chris in our two Kaladesh head to head drafts. It is tough to do a pure control build in draft unless you get a bomb (we didn’t), but I put together a decent Esper-ish (mostly UB with a splash of W for Dovin Baan) deck that stabilized after a sizzling opener by Chris. Not overly impressed by the card, Dovin Baan actually helped greatly.

I don’t remember if we redrafted this time. I should really start keeping a record of these things if I’m going to report out on them. In any case, I had Dovin Baan in both games. The second game went much like the first game expect Chris got me much lower much fater in that one before I stabilized. Also, Dovin Baan wasn’t as integral in my plan. We was more of the “win more” card I expected him to be when I first saw him.

He does blue things and some white things, so I was pretty happy to durdle along with this chap.
He does blue things and some white things, so I was pretty happy to durdle along with this chap.

Kaladesh more than lived up to my expectations. That’s saying something because I had high hopes for the set. It did not disappoint and was fun to play as a draft set. More surprising, the set got me to watch Standard and even get excited about the format. As Chris agreed when I texted him that I wanted to watch Standard and was excited for it, “That never happens.” Heck, I even clicked on Wizard’s link for “Standard show down” when it popped up in my feed. I’m not going to enter, but I considered it briefly, so that’s something.

Finally, and least important to everyone but me, I have started collecting again. I took my spending money from the last few checks to buy boxes and fat packs of the sets that I missed during my break from the game. After the holidays, I plan to do some singles shopping to fill out my binders. I will also have to buy Aether Revolt.

As much as I’ve ever been, I am back into the Magic scene. I’m not going to be entering any tournaments (but, as always, I might to a draft or two), but I am watching them. I’m not building competitive decks (though I have proxied a Legacy/Modern dredge deck that I might try to construct), but I do have 3 fun Tiny Leaders decks and ideas for others plus a few Commander decks. Who knows? I may grow bored again or find some other expensive distraction. For now, though, I am completely and totally invested in Magic.

On the Tabletop, Uncategorized

MTG Modern Night

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Hey guys and gals! Recently I took the time to attend a Modern Night at my LGS and I wanted to share not only the results of my matches but my experience as a whole. So what did I play? After some last minute hmm’in and haww’in combined with texts to Noob to get his last minute words of wisdom, I went with Tron, which is always a solid performer in competitive tournaments. I was going to go with Bushwacker Zoo as I’ve played in a few modern nights at this store and know that the regular participants usually run Aggro or Control decks, but I decided to go with giant colorless beatsticks instead.

Match 1: Tron vs Bogles

The guy I played kind of froze the minute I dropped an Urza’s Mine. “Yeah, I don’t do well against Tron”, he laughed. The minute “Tron” came out of his mouth, heads turned. I was enemy #1. Another player told his opponent that he hoped he got matched up with me in the next round because he wanted to see how his deck would do against Tron. I tried to ease my opponent’s nerves a bit by reassuring him that it was MY Tron deck, not the RG scourge of the tournament scene. By turn 3, I wished I had the RG version as I was staring at two Urza lands and an Eldrazi temple on my side with a wimpy Eldrazi Mimic as my only form of defense, and on my opponent’s side, a couple of Slippery Bogles each pumped up to Eldrazi-esque proportions with Ethereal Armor, Daybreak Coronet and Rancor. I quickly conceded. Game 2 went exactly like game 1, I wasn’t able to get the correct cards in hand to loot for the Urza Tron pieces and was dispatched of with ease. We shook hands and he gave me some tips for tweaking my deck to make it slightly faster. We still had another 18 minutes left before the next round began so we played a couple more casual games to pass the time. The first one went like the last 2 “real” games as he blew me out, although I sensed that he gave me an extra turn or two to get something going on my side. The 2nd casual game went my way as I took a chance and aggressively mulliganed to get an opening hand that I could work with. This tactic stuck in my head and I realized that I was playing my deck wrong. Always mulligan (well down to 5 cards if necessary) til you get an Urza land or two, a green mana source and Sylvan Scrying or forgo the hunt for the green mana source and have either the aforementioned 2 Urza lands (or 1 Urza land and 1 colorless source) with Expedition Map in your opening hand.

End of Round 1: 0-1

Round 2: Tron vs Infect

I hate infect. Just absolutely hate it. Infect is such a garbage mechanic. It’s basically the equivalent of you starting with 10 life. So yeah, I lost in 2 straight games. Hate the deck but liked my opponent as he was a really friendly guy that offered me some good advice on making my deck run better. Notice the theme? Since he won the match fairly quickly he wanted to play a couple of casual games. He suggested that I play against his Burn deck as it would be good practice for my deck. We played two really close games, he won the first and I won the second with Kozilek, the Great Distortion and basically used it’s ability to counter his spells. Seriously, how does Kozilek not get more love? He is basically a 12/12 counter engine that also lets you fill up your hand with cards. Total late game nightmare.

End of Round 2: 0-2

Round 3: Tron vs Grixis Control

I felt good going into this one. My friend has a Grixis deck that he likes to play often, so there wasn’t any surprises here. I mulliganed down to 5 to start the game and ended up with Tron in my opening hand. Unfortunately my opponent was mana screwed and only was able to put down a couple of lands. Even being screwed, Grixis isn’t a joke and he was able to fend me off for a few turns, countering everything I did, including using Remand on Kozilek back to my hand. Unfortunately Kozilek’s ability triggers when it’s cast and I was able to fill my hand with the necessary weapons to seal the game. On my next turn I dropped 2 Reality Smashers with an Eldrazi Mimic already in play and ended it. Game 2 was all him. Classic Grixis control game. He had an answer for everything I tried, and was able to use a devastating mix of burn spells, Snapcaster Mage and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet to take me out. Game 3 lasted quite a few turns as I had a hard time drawing a creature that could do some real damage. Game 1 repeated itself as my opponent was unable to hit his land drops and when he did, it seemed like I was drawing Ulamog, Ceaseless Hunger on the next turn. Even though it was being countered, his ability to exile permanents still triggered and I would exile his lands, keeping him at only 2 lands again. I ended up winning by playing Kozilek,and ironically, using its ability to control the control deck.

End of Round 3: 1-2

Well, I was happy that I was at least able to get into the win column, even though I knew that I wasn’t going to be a finalist as the tournament is 4 rounds and I had lost 2. I didn’t expect to make it to the finals even before I played the first game so I wasn’t terribly disappointed. I did regret not playing my Bushwacker Zoo as I think I could have started the tournament stronger but it is what it is. One more round to go..I was hoping to bat .500.

Round 4: Tron vs Esper Mill

My opponent was really friendly as we both knew that this was essentially a casual game as I was 1-2 and he was 0-3. I was battling to just finish in the middle of the pack and he was attempting to avoid being last. We chatted for a while even after the final round had started, sifting through each other’s deck and making observations. He told me that I should ditch blue in my deck and just stick with Green and colorless and include copies of World Breaker. I offered my opinion that although impressive, 4 copies of Liliana of the Veil didn’t fit with his deck and that there should be more Mill cards. Game 1 started with him casting Gitaxian Probe and looking at my hand. He laughed out loud because I had all the pieces of Tron in it. Nonetheless, he put up a good fight and was able to counter a lot of what I was trying to do but a Thoughtknot Seer removed a Path To Exile from his hand and a Reality Smasher ended the game as besides some Snapcaster Mages, he didn’t have much for creatures in his deck. Game 2 went his way as he milled me out after about 10-12 turns in which I had accumulated over 26 mana but had no creatures as he had milled or countered then all. Game 3 was all me as he had mana issues and I was able to use Ulamog to exile the few lands he had and then used Kozilek to counter whatever he tried to play.

End of Round 4: 2-2

Well I achieved my goal of at least breaking even. To be honest, even with not having the strongest showing I had an enjoyable time. I learned a lot about my deck thanks to everyone wanting to help me out between rounds. I used to be turned off of competitive Magic because of all of the horror stories of poor nerdsmanship I had heard over the last few years..but I can honestly say that I have participated in a few tournaments so far and haven’t experienced anything but good natured Magic players who are more than willing to offer advice. Now I can’t guarantee that it’s the same wherever you go to play, but I’m willing to bet that a majority of the players you run into are good people. And if they’re not, well, a throat punch solves everything.

On the Tabletop

Rapid Fire: Random Thoughts Vol.6 Kaladesh Edition

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-Tomorrow’s the day, folks. MTG’s Kaladesh will finally be released to the nerdy masses. I, for one, absolutely can’t wait. The power level of this set seems to be slightly above average and is already drawing comparisons to the Kamigawa block.

-The Masterpiece subset is amazing looking. I’m already having copper foil dreams of Masterpieces, although with my luck, a dream is as close as I’m going to get to one of these. The odds of pulling one of these babies? 1 in every 4 boxes. Zoinks.

-So if my luck is just so awful, then why am I excited about them? Well because it adds excitement to opening a box. Also, I’m cheap and with all the MTG financiers opening box after box hunting for the elusive Masterpieces, the value of the mythics and rares in Kaladesh will take a hit, making it easier for budget-minded people like myself to load up on the best cards in the set. Sucks for the people looking to turn a profit on their box(es) but great for the players.

-The general consensus is that Chandra (the red Mind Sculptor) is the best card in the set. I agree but still wanted to give you my other top picks. Fleetwood Cruiser is fantastic and one of my favorite vehicles. 4 colorless gives you a 5/3 runaway car with Trample and Haste and requires no Crew on the turn it enters the battlefield. Skysovereign, Consul Flagship and Smuggler’s Copter are my other two favorites. Both of which are extremely powerful. Verdurous Gearhulk and Cataclysmic Gearhulk are the two of the best creatures in the set. Verdurous can essentially become an 8/8 trampler for 5 mana if you use its ability on itself. Cataclysmic is a walking boardwipe and the best part of all is that it’s an artifact creature so it can be your artifact pick and you can save another one of your creature when it’s ability triggers. Finally, my favorite card in the set is….Kambal, Consul of Allocation. This guy is pure burn hate and I love it. Although he isn’t an Eidolon of the Great Revel, he doesn’t bite his owner like Eidolon does, and gives life while stinging your opponent. This guy will see a lot of play in Tiny Leaders and also other Commander decks. I expect him to see some play in Standard if Black-White control becomes a thing like I think it will.

Alright, that’s another Rapid Fire in the books..good luck with your Kaladesh boxes, I hope all of you get what you’re looking for. As always, thanks for reading!

On the Tabletop

Standard Shakeup

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Well gang it’s that time of the year again. The leaves are changing color, well here they are anyways, summer is slowly slipping away and Wizards has decided to raid your bank accounts with their latest release, Kaladesh. As the title suggests, I’m not going to talk about the newest entries into the world of standard, but instead let’s discuss the staples from Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins that will be saying adios amigos on 9/30.

Collected Company: Let’s start off with the big dog of the bunch, Collected Company. Obviously it’s the lynchpin of the standard meta powerhouse, Bant Company. Well to be honest it’s the lynchpin to a lot of powerful decks. I’m looking forward to seeing the meta after this rotates. Will its absence be enough to completely take Bant out of the Top 8? My guess is no, not with Archangel Avacyn, Reflector Mage and Spell Queller still being legal. Although there are other Bant staples that are rotating too, but more on that later. Now CoCo will be the bane of modern players instead of a multi-format monster.

“Flip” Planeswalkers: Yes, Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy, Nissa, Vastwood Seer, Liliana, Heretical Healer, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh and Kytheon, Hero of Akros will be leaving us in a few weeks. Kytheon wasn’t played much when he first came out, but with the current Human meta, he became pretty popular. Both Nissa and Jace appear regularly in Bant decks and frequently in Jund (Nissa) as well. It will be interesting to see what happens to their value after rotation. Remember Jace was hovering around the $90 Mark for awhile, but fell to $20-$30. He still sees some action in modern so I don’t expect too much of a plummet unlike the rest of the flip walkers.

Enemy Painlands: With these lands leaving, it shakes up all decks going forward. Yes, it was annoying to keep taking 1 damage to get some color mana but they don’t enter the battlefield tapped which makes them much better than what we are left with as their replacements; Manlands and the duals from Shadows of Innistrad, both of which enter tapped. Too bad Amulet of Vigor isn’t standard legal eh? However, Kaladesh will contain enemy fastlands, but to me the painlands are slightly more useful in the mid-game. Eldrazi decks will also feel the pain, well not feel the pain in this case, heh, as the painlands also served as a source of colorless mana. I foresee Eldrazi decks falling out of the Top 8 but still having a presence in modern.

Languish: Ah, the boardwipe favored by black control/Delirium players is outta here, although Kaladesh has some interesting options to replace Languish with.

Kolaghan’s Command/ Atarka’s Command/ Dromoka’s Command: These pick 2 utility spells will be missed. Kolaghan’s Command is arguably the best of the bunch and is a regular inclusion in modern Grixis. Dromoka is popular among Bant players, so it’s yet another hit to the most played meta.

So in closing, if you’re a Bant player, you will be unhappy on the 30th, if you’re not or you’re not afraid of change, Kaladesh is looking like one of the most innovative and powerful sets in a long time. It’s going to be an interesting block.

On the Tabletop

Deck List! Izzet Storm or Izzet Prowess?! (Modern)

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Hiya gang! Today I’m going to share one of my personal favorite decks with you, Izzet Storm. I believe I first mentioned this deck way back in December of last year but have been constantly play-testing and tweaking it. I’ve brought it (in its current form) to a couple of modern nights at my LGS and have been happy with the results. This deck has a fairly simple strategy: play one mana cantrips, pump up your prowess creatures, or for faster victories, Nivix Cyclops, and swing for the fences. That’s not all though. You can also unlock Thing in Ice within the first or second turn of it hitting the battlefield for board-clearing shenanigans, or use Thermo-Alchemist like a Grapeshot. It’s a blast to play and even better, it’s fairly inexpensive to build.

The Deck (60 cards)

Creatures

4x Nivix Cyclops

4x Stormchaser Mage

2x Monastery Swiftspear

2x Thermo-Alchemist

2x Delver of Secrets

2x Thing in Ice

Spells

4x Expedite

4x Cerulean Wisps

2x Crimson Wisps

2x Faithless Looting

4x Serum Visions

4x Slip Through Space

2x Gitaxian Probe

4x Lightning Bolt

Lands

4x Steam Vents

4x Shivan Reef

4x Mountains

6x Islands

 

On the Tabletop

Deck List! Goblin Burn (Modern)

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Hey guys n’ gals, we’re back again to share this really neat Goblin tribal deck. This deck is explosive right out of the gate with the ability to drop three 1/1 goblin tokens on turn one and thirteen damage on turn two. How, you ask? Well, by using Kuldotha Rebirth. Ideally, a good opening hand will include one Rebirth, a “0” cost artifact like Ornithopter or Memnite, a couple mountains and a couple Goblin Grenades. Sac the artifact creature to Kuldotha Rebirth on turn one to get the three tokens. On turn two swing with all three tokens, and during the second main phase sac two of them to Goblin Grenades. Bam. Thirteen straight to the face.

 

The List: (60 cards)

Creatures

4x Reckless Bushwhackers

2x Goblin Piledriver

2x Goblin Rabblemaster

2x Foundry Street Denizen

2x Memnite

2x Ornithopter

Spells

4x Hordeling Outburst

4x Goblin Grenade

4x Lightning Bolt

2x Shrapnel Blast

4x Kuldotha Rebirth

2x Lightning Strike

2x Rift Bolt

4x Dragon Fodder

2x Faithless Looting

Lands

18x Mountains

On the Tabletop

Earth’s Mightiest (and Miniest) Heroes!

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(Editor’s Note: We actually made it through this article without infringing on Stan Lee’s Excelsior copyright. It hasn’t yet had the intended effect of getting sued by the Generalissimo, so maybe we’ll just drop that and try to get famous the old fashioned way. Then again, the well behaved rarely make history, so… Excelsior, fellow Marvelites, and tally ho into the world of Herocilx!)

Imagine, if you will, a future in which the entire Marvel Universe was put into Ant Man’s shrinkerator, or injected with shrinking serum, or however it is that he is making himself so tiny in this iteration of the character. Then, suppose that you could freeze those tiny heroes in a pose that best captures their character. Finally, what if you could then make those mini super powered beings team up, fight, or do whatever you wanted them to do. How cool would that be? Maybe not cool at all for them, but really cool for us. Well, wonder no longer, because we live in that future!

You can almost hear him screaming, "This monster has trapped me in this (admittedly cool) plastic model. Please, release me. Vengeance must be served!
You can almost hear him screaming, “This monster has trapped me in this (admittedly cool) plastic model. Please, release me. Vengeance must be served!

The Gamer Bros and I talked about Heroclix in the latest episode of Noob and Sons. Chris and I talked about it on the main show, too. We’ve both written articles about our experiences in the game. When introduced to it, I never thought that this game would become one of my most played and discussed. But, the gaming gods work in mysterious ways.

When Chris and I played, we were both overwhelmed by the sheer number of rules and interactions. Now that I’ve researched other miniature games, I understand that rules and interactions are par for the course in the genre. Moreover, those who are interested in such games actually prefer having all of those rule. I don’t mind having all the rules. It is a trade off for having such a dynamic game environment.

However, one of the times that Chris and I tried to play was later at night and I just could not focus well enough to finish the game. Also, that rule set can be intimidating and scare off new players. That is the reason that I’m focusing so heavily on the rules in this article. I tried playing the game with Aiden when he was younger because he was the first to buy the figures. He had to play with a greatly reduced rules set just so that he could enjoy himself. Lesson learned, I suppose. these games are not for the weak.

You hear that, you *bleep* *bleep*. This game isn't for *bleep* *bleep* *bleep*. You better get your *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* in *bleep* shape or you will get *bleep* in your *bleep* *bleep*.
You hear that, you *bleep* *bleep*. This game isn’t for *bleep* *bleep* *bleep*. You better get your *bleep* *bleep* *bleep* in *bleep* shape or you will get *bleep* in your *bleep* *bleep*.

Still, the games with Chris inspired me to play more. It was during Christmas break, so I only had the boys as partners. Even though they are both older, I don’t think that they have the patience for the actual rules. Heck, as we’ve seen, I barely have the patience sometimes.

I looked up ways to play more than two players. The version I found most intriguing was called “King of the Hill”. You mark off a 3 by 3 (or maybe 4 by 4) area in the middle of the map, designate 4 potential starting zones and the teas battle to be king of the hill. We awarded points based on the number of characters on the “hill” during our first game. That turned out to be neither fair nor representative because larger teams with more characters received a potential disproportionate number of points. In an attempt to fix that, we recorded the point values of the characters in the “hill”. The effect of this was actually two fold. First, it gave all teams access to the maximum number of points. Second, it added strategy to the games in that you wanted to target the higher value opponents and keep them off the “hill”.

The other consideration when playing with the boys is the actual rules of the game. I already discussed this aspect a little bit. From movement to special powers, line of sight to push damage, the rules set of any miniature game is overwhelming. Heroclix, because it is geared to a younger audience is less so. Still, there is a ton of information to process each turn. We eliminated all special powers in the first game. Chris and I spent most of our time looking up the powers on our phones and computers, so that one step eliminated most of the idle time and made the game faster.

[in an unexplained British accent]: But, without my powers, I am just a pretty blonde muscular guy with a big hammer. Then again, I suppose that isn't all bad.
[in an inexplicable British accent]: But, without my powers, I am just a pretty blonde muscular guy with a big hammer. Then again, I suppose that isn’t all bad.
We played with powers in the second and third games. By then, though, I had played enough that I knew most of the powers and the rest only required a quick reference check to remind myself. The only thing left was to tackle the somewhat convoluted movement rules of the game. I’m a bit ashamed to admit that I don’t fully understand how actual movement is supposed to work each turn, so we simplified that, too.

Each character got one move or attack per turn. You could take “push” damage to give the option of a second action on any character. This method improved the flow of the game and kept the action at appropriate comic book levels. As I said, I don’t fully know the actual rules, so I’m not sure how different our version is from the official. I do know that it worked for me and the boys and Chris is open to trying them, too, the next time we play.

Now that we’ve worked out the things about the game that we didn’t like, it is a fun game. We have been busy and not able to play at all since the games at Christmas, but summer is coming and we will have more time. Who knows, as we play more, maybe we’ll go back to the actual rules of the game. Probably not, though, because I like our version.

Also, I'm not usually one to respect the rules.
Also, I’m not usually one to respect the rules.
On the Tabletop

Out of the Shadows

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(Editor’s Note: Haven’t we done this dance before?)

In addition to my absence from the web page ( for which I have no excuse), I have also been absent from Magic. Chris and I have not gotten together for a couple of months because it is hard being a grown up with kid hobbies. He has other magic contacts that have more or less kept him in the game, but I haven’t made those contacts. Again, it’s rough out there for a grown up kid. Especially one that is a bit antisocial. However, even with his involvement with the game, he still felt the same way about going back to the Eldrazi as I do. We were both completely underwhelmed by both sets in the block. I skipped the second set completely and didn’t even buy a token fat pack.

Signs that things might be different with the latest set showed up early in the spoiler season. We both expressed that, even though it seemed strange to have another repeat visit to a plane, we were both excited to go to Innistrad. I’ve always loved vampire and werewolf lore (except for the more recent strain of Twilight garbage), really enjoy the concept of flip cards, and couldn’t wait to see what new cards and mechanics would be introduced with the set.

I shared a few of the early spoilers with Chris. We discussed others, including the planeswalkers. We joked that everyone whines that the new Jace is crap until some blue mage figures out a way to abuse it. Honestly, though, I’d be hard pressed to tell you anything about this set other than there’s a new Avacyn, a new Jace, and a potentially neat flipwalker. As I said to Chris last night when he joked that I wouldn’t even open the product that I ordered, “I’m just so out of the game right now.”

It scries, it draws, it bounces creatures. It does what Jace does. Is it a bit expensive? Sure, but that's exactly what they said about JTMS when it released.
It scries, it draws, it bounces creatures. It does what Jace does. Is it a bit expensive? Sure, but that’s exactly what they said about JTMS when it released.

Those of you who are regulars to the page (shout out to the two of you who stick through our random disappearances!) know that this is not a new sentiment. I obviously go through phases in the game where I love it and others when I’m moderately disinterested. This time is different, though. Usually when I take one of my breaks from the game, I’m still engaged through conversation or watching Twitch streams. The conversation has been only the minimal ones mentioned earlier and I haven’t watched any Magic streams except for Vintage over the last few months. As I said, completely out of the game.

Cue the (probable mis)quote from a famous movie, “Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back in.” Later today, I’m going to hang out with Chris and another friend that we played against a few times a couple of years ago. Armed with nothing but a couple of Tiny Leaders decks and a proxied Vintage deck with no purpose other than to fulfill my fantasies of being a Vintage guy, I’m going to wade into Chris’ new Magic frontier with tournaments and actual meta strategy. Wish me luck.

Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Africa anymore. I know I nailed that one.
Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Africa anymore. I know I nailed that one.

I may revisit this adventure in a later article. For now, I’m boarding a plane (train? time machine? How do you get there?) to Innistrad to see what the set offers filthy casuals like me. I’ve been thinking about buying into the game again. Should I? Let’s explore together, shall we?

Angels and werewolves and vampires (Oh my!) Do you love tribal decks? I know that I do. If you have read, or search for, my deck lists, you will see that my decks are almost always constructed around a theme. More often than not, I also try to choose a tribe. I’ve done goblins and elves (who hasn’t?), zombies, merfolk (not the good kind), minotaur, and the aforementioned angles, werewolves, and vampires (Oh my!) Hell, I think I even got the crazy idea once to build a Homonculus deck. It didn’t go anywhere.

Heck, what can possibly go wrong?
Heck, what can possibly go wrong?

Flip Cards (that aren’t Delver). Chris has expressed disinterest (and even outright disdain) for the idea of flip cards. Nevertheless, the cards persevere in spite of his irrational hatred and prejudice against them. One has even risen above it all to become a Modern and Legacy staple. But anyone can win with Delver. Can anyone build a deck around Arlinn Kord? Yea, probably, but it won’t be one of my signature terrible decks.

I mean, just look at her, won't you? She's beautiful.
I mean, just look at her, won’t you? She’s beautiful.

Graveyard shenanigans. Both the delirium and madness mechanics allow you to interact with the graveyard–as far as I know–in new and different ways. One of my first decks was an annoying zombie mill deck. Additionally, I have been eyeing a dredge deck online to dip my toes into Vintage without having to take out a second mortgage. So, graveyard shenanigans are right in my wheelhouse. Can’t wait to build my delirium or madness (why not both) deck.

Well, the trip to visit Chris last night was successful. I won both games that I played. When combined with my newly discovered excitement about the new set, I’m right back in. really, though, did you expect any other outcome? Once Magic sticks its hooks into you, you can never truly be free.

I love you, too, Magic the Gathering.
I love you, too, Magic the Gathering.