It's been a while since I've written anything here. I almost thought it would reject me. I find myself asking at times why I bothered creating a blog in the first place, when I feel that I don't have stuff that are worth making an update to my online journal every so often.
Now what?
I might as well stay true to form and stick to my tried and tested time-walk through the past week, talking about games and the world as it revolves around me.
I pause as a certain conversation with someone runs through my head as I write, a conversation about what you type out on your blog for the world to see.
My blog is not meant to be a tour guide through my thought processes. By reading this blog, you are looking at the inner workings of a geek who's proud of it, one who will tell you to look it up on Wikipedia or Google if you ask for a detailed explanation of things he doesn't feel like explaining himself. If it seems abrasive to you, I apologize, but given the alignment of stars and planets on my hour of birth, this is me straight from the can.
This blog will not be a pretty show and tell site, with illustrations accompanying the text paragraphs. I find it too much of upkeep and effort to do so, and I'm not running for hits anyway. Just because I'm a geek doesn't mean I can't be lazy in some aspects.
Wanna know a secret? I just made a blog so that (assuming the Internet does not get destroyed in the near future) my descendants can take a look at it, read it perhaps, and say to themselves, "The old man was whacked, but at least he left behind a bit of himself."
If you're scared of a sea of words which may contain unfathomable, incomprehensible ideas and big, high-falutin' words, turn back now. There are other pages out there. This is your last warning.
THE WEEK THAT WAS...
As always, I end up with a pile of cards with very few playable rares. I tell myself it's ok, I'm only in it for the Pre-Release foil card, a hybrid blue-green monster called the Overbeing of Myth, which in my opinion should have been called Overbeing of Hype. It's a */* creature where * is the number of cards in your hand, and to make sure it can swing big it has you draw an extra card per turn. It doesn't fly, so with the draw ability it's technically an upgrade of the old and lovable Maro from the Mirage block. Essentially a dud when it's the only card in your hand, unless you've got a permanent that boosts the toughness of your blue and/or green creatures, it's awesome when you have a full hand or close to it.
If you're wondering about my deck, I unfortunately disassembled it before I could document it. It was a red-white concoction, focusing on playing my usable rares, Windbrisk Raptor from Shadowmoor and Nobilis of War from Eventide. I also had a mini-combo in the form of Power of Fire and a couple of Kithkin that could untap themselves. The deck, which in my opinion was the best my card pool could produce, did have some great moments.
There was one game where a Powered Patrol Signaler was able to clear my opponent's board, including a Kulrath Knight, and kept it clear, while generating a Kithkin token army. My opponent thought he still had a long clock (Magic jargon for the number of turns you might still have to be able to pull of a win) - until the Nobilis of War came down, turning each token into 3/1 creatures when attacking. My war-crazed tokens were willing to tussle with the enemy defenders, knowing that there would be more to follow once the flame-throwing Patrol Signaler finishes off the blocking creature.
If you still didn't get it, Power of Fire allows you to tap your creature to and have it deal 1 damage to any target. Patrol Signaler can untap himself for 2 mana and net you a 1/1 Kithkin token as well. Combined, my board can actually deal 4 points of damage to any target - at the point I was able to complete the combo I had 5 lands, three of which were Plains, and was able to draw a fourth.
Then there was the game where I was able to play Windbrisk Raptor (a whopping 7 mana investment) and was able to enchant it with Scourge of the Nobilis. The Scourge is part of a set of 2-color enchantments that provide a certain bonus to a creature if it's one of two colors. If a creature is both the colors, these enchantments provide 2 power-ups to the creature - a strong incentive to play 2 colors. Anyway, the Scourge gives +1/+1 to red and white creatures, grants the ability to increase damage output with mana to red creatures and lifelink (AKA damage = life gain) to white creatures. Putting it on the Raptor turned it into a 6/8 flying beast that grants attackers lifelink - including itself. Now, according to the rules, each instance of lifelink triggers separately. Which meant whatever the Raptor hits (for 6) I gain 12 life, a blessing considering that I was on the ropes then. After confirming with a judge that this was the way double lifelink works the game quickly grew out of hand and my opponent conceded.
Another cute cycle in the Eventide block were the hatchlings. These were 6/6 creatures for 4 mana, which came into play with 4 -1/-1 counters each. Each hatchling had a special ability, and each would shake off a -1/-1 counter whenever its controller plays a spell that belongs to one of its two colors. If the spell was both colors, (say a Scourge of the Nobilis) the hatchling shakes off 2 counters. It happened in my next game, where my opponent was stuck with 2 lands and I had a lot of lands and no creatures until turn 4, the red-white Belligerent Hatchling. So I tapped 4, played it, and when my opponent discarded another card to end his turn, I tried to contain my glee as I dropped a fifth land and played my other creature I was holding since Turn 1: Nobilis of War. Suddenly my Hatchling was taking a 6-point chunk of my opponent's 20 life. Still my opponent's deck refused to cooperate and it was over on my turn when I drew Scourge of the Nobilis and enchanted the Hatchling with it, turning it into an 8/8 first strike creature with lifelink and the capacity to do more damage. My opponent was staring down at a maximum of 17 damage in one attack - he extended his hand and shook mine, commenting that "Suddenly, my three color fast attack deck seems SO SLOW right now."
"Mana screw, dude. It could happen to anybody," I replied.
Of course, I lost the next two games after that, I mean I was utterly defeated, 0-2 for the next duels. It sucked, really. I lost, and I lost quickly each game, and I can only curse the Fates - the blonde Testarosa one not included, of course.
I modded the deck as soon as I got home with the prize packs, which yielded another Scourge of the Nobilis and 2 perfect candidates to bestow it to: a pair of first-striking hobgoblin knights mounted on cicadas that could bear their weight. The 1/2 fliers suddenly turn into flying, life-sucking bringers of DOOM that can engage any opponent and kill it if there was enough red or white mana available - yes, you read that right.
That's the dream, at least. Only in 40-card constructed.
I step into St. Paul's Hellgate after realizing that the enemy just continuously re-spawns like mad. While it was probably good for racking up experience points, dinner was about to be served, and I wanted to see with my girlfriend what the final battle would be like.
The witch lady I've been traveling with seems to be a heavenly avatar of some sort and instructs me to finish off 5 demon generals while she keeps the big guy distracted. It appears to me that her method of distracting the final boss is to play telepathic mind games with him while hovering after me for protection, or perhaps a lack of sense of direction.
So, onto hunting the mini-bosses. I had to constantly re-build my conjurer's army of elementals and make sure that the tanking Carnagor didn't fall. The mini-bosses were essentially re-colors and re-sizes of some enemies I've faced before, with the exception of the Reaper mini-boss - I don't think I've ever encountered a Reaper enemy before, if memory serves me right. What made the Reaper mini-boss slightly annoying was that it was in close proximity to a flying ethereal type mini-boss. The combination almost spelled death for my Carnagor, but timely use of my blood (read:HP) in exchange for my pet's and ordering it to execute its Meat Shield special ability both kept it alive and drew the stupid flying boss down closer to the ground. At this point I was thankful that I took some points in and Storm Elemental, Toxin Elemental, and Elemental Nova. I was able to strip its shields quickly, prevent it from healing by afflicting it with poison, and land Fire Damage Over Time and Defense Down de-buffs on it while stunning it every so often - that's what an entire family of elementals that just went Nova could do. The Elemental Nova doubles the chance of my little glowing pets adding special effects to their attacks, and boy, what a demonstration.
Now what?
I might as well stay true to form and stick to my tried and tested time-walk through the past week, talking about games and the world as it revolves around me.
I pause as a certain conversation with someone runs through my head as I write, a conversation about what you type out on your blog for the world to see.
My blog is not meant to be a tour guide through my thought processes. By reading this blog, you are looking at the inner workings of a geek who's proud of it, one who will tell you to look it up on Wikipedia or Google if you ask for a detailed explanation of things he doesn't feel like explaining himself. If it seems abrasive to you, I apologize, but given the alignment of stars and planets on my hour of birth, this is me straight from the can.
This blog will not be a pretty show and tell site, with illustrations accompanying the text paragraphs. I find it too much of upkeep and effort to do so, and I'm not running for hits anyway. Just because I'm a geek doesn't mean I can't be lazy in some aspects.
Wanna know a secret? I just made a blog so that (assuming the Internet does not get destroyed in the near future) my descendants can take a look at it, read it perhaps, and say to themselves, "The old man was whacked, but at least he left behind a bit of himself."
If you're scared of a sea of words which may contain unfathomable, incomprehensible ideas and big, high-falutin' words, turn back now. There are other pages out there. This is your last warning.
THE WEEK THAT WAS...
- Eventide Pre-Release
As always, I end up with a pile of cards with very few playable rares. I tell myself it's ok, I'm only in it for the Pre-Release foil card, a hybrid blue-green monster called the Overbeing of Myth, which in my opinion should have been called Overbeing of Hype. It's a */* creature where * is the number of cards in your hand, and to make sure it can swing big it has you draw an extra card per turn. It doesn't fly, so with the draw ability it's technically an upgrade of the old and lovable Maro from the Mirage block. Essentially a dud when it's the only card in your hand, unless you've got a permanent that boosts the toughness of your blue and/or green creatures, it's awesome when you have a full hand or close to it.
If you're wondering about my deck, I unfortunately disassembled it before I could document it. It was a red-white concoction, focusing on playing my usable rares, Windbrisk Raptor from Shadowmoor and Nobilis of War from Eventide. I also had a mini-combo in the form of Power of Fire and a couple of Kithkin that could untap themselves. The deck, which in my opinion was the best my card pool could produce, did have some great moments.
There was one game where a Powered Patrol Signaler was able to clear my opponent's board, including a Kulrath Knight, and kept it clear, while generating a Kithkin token army. My opponent thought he still had a long clock (Magic jargon for the number of turns you might still have to be able to pull of a win) - until the Nobilis of War came down, turning each token into 3/1 creatures when attacking. My war-crazed tokens were willing to tussle with the enemy defenders, knowing that there would be more to follow once the flame-throwing Patrol Signaler finishes off the blocking creature.
If you still didn't get it, Power of Fire allows you to tap your creature to and have it deal 1 damage to any target. Patrol Signaler can untap himself for 2 mana and net you a 1/1 Kithkin token as well. Combined, my board can actually deal 4 points of damage to any target - at the point I was able to complete the combo I had 5 lands, three of which were Plains, and was able to draw a fourth.
Then there was the game where I was able to play Windbrisk Raptor (a whopping 7 mana investment) and was able to enchant it with Scourge of the Nobilis. The Scourge is part of a set of 2-color enchantments that provide a certain bonus to a creature if it's one of two colors. If a creature is both the colors, these enchantments provide 2 power-ups to the creature - a strong incentive to play 2 colors. Anyway, the Scourge gives +1/+1 to red and white creatures, grants the ability to increase damage output with mana to red creatures and lifelink (AKA damage = life gain) to white creatures. Putting it on the Raptor turned it into a 6/8 flying beast that grants attackers lifelink - including itself. Now, according to the rules, each instance of lifelink triggers separately. Which meant whatever the Raptor hits (for 6) I gain 12 life, a blessing considering that I was on the ropes then. After confirming with a judge that this was the way double lifelink works the game quickly grew out of hand and my opponent conceded.
Another cute cycle in the Eventide block were the hatchlings. These were 6/6 creatures for 4 mana, which came into play with 4 -1/-1 counters each. Each hatchling had a special ability, and each would shake off a -1/-1 counter whenever its controller plays a spell that belongs to one of its two colors. If the spell was both colors, (say a Scourge of the Nobilis) the hatchling shakes off 2 counters. It happened in my next game, where my opponent was stuck with 2 lands and I had a lot of lands and no creatures until turn 4, the red-white Belligerent Hatchling. So I tapped 4, played it, and when my opponent discarded another card to end his turn, I tried to contain my glee as I dropped a fifth land and played my other creature I was holding since Turn 1: Nobilis of War. Suddenly my Hatchling was taking a 6-point chunk of my opponent's 20 life. Still my opponent's deck refused to cooperate and it was over on my turn when I drew Scourge of the Nobilis and enchanted the Hatchling with it, turning it into an 8/8 first strike creature with lifelink and the capacity to do more damage. My opponent was staring down at a maximum of 17 damage in one attack - he extended his hand and shook mine, commenting that "Suddenly, my three color fast attack deck seems SO SLOW right now."
"Mana screw, dude. It could happen to anybody," I replied.
Of course, I lost the next two games after that, I mean I was utterly defeated, 0-2 for the next duels. It sucked, really. I lost, and I lost quickly each game, and I can only curse the Fates - the blonde Testarosa one not included, of course.
I modded the deck as soon as I got home with the prize packs, which yielded another Scourge of the Nobilis and 2 perfect candidates to bestow it to: a pair of first-striking hobgoblin knights mounted on cicadas that could bear their weight. The 1/2 fliers suddenly turn into flying, life-sucking bringers of DOOM that can engage any opponent and kill it if there was enough red or white mana available - yes, you read that right.
That's the dream, at least. Only in 40-card constructed.
- Finished Hellgate:London At Last
I step into St. Paul's Hellgate after realizing that the enemy just continuously re-spawns like mad. While it was probably good for racking up experience points, dinner was about to be served, and I wanted to see with my girlfriend what the final battle would be like.
The witch lady I've been traveling with seems to be a heavenly avatar of some sort and instructs me to finish off 5 demon generals while she keeps the big guy distracted. It appears to me that her method of distracting the final boss is to play telepathic mind games with him while hovering after me for protection, or perhaps a lack of sense of direction.
So, onto hunting the mini-bosses. I had to constantly re-build my conjurer's army of elementals and make sure that the tanking Carnagor didn't fall. The mini-bosses were essentially re-colors and re-sizes of some enemies I've faced before, with the exception of the Reaper mini-boss - I don't think I've ever encountered a Reaper enemy before, if memory serves me right. What made the Reaper mini-boss slightly annoying was that it was in close proximity to a flying ethereal type mini-boss. The combination almost spelled death for my Carnagor, but timely use of my blood (read:HP) in exchange for my pet's and ordering it to execute its Meat Shield special ability both kept it alive and drew the stupid flying boss down closer to the ground. At this point I was thankful that I took some points in and Storm Elemental, Toxin Elemental, and Elemental Nova. I was able to strip its shields quickly, prevent it from healing by afflicting it with poison, and land Fire Damage Over Time and Defense Down de-buffs on it while stunning it every so often - that's what an entire family of elementals that just went Nova could do. The Elemental Nova doubles the chance of my little glowing pets adding special effects to their attacks, and boy, what a demonstration.
Truth be told, Sydonai, the final Boss, was a let down. Compared to fighting the titular enemy in Diablo 2 or any of his brothers, Sydonai bombed. He never got to me, always going after my elementals, and finally was unable to break away from my loyal Carnagor, at which point we buried him under a ton of fireballs, lighting bolts, poison spit (eww), warp blasts, brute force, and electric eels. I kid you not, that's what the rifle was called, an Electric Eel Launcher, and aside from not missing once the target is in 20 meters, I added power-ups to it that made it deal fire damage, cause the Ignite status effect, and increase the chance of the Shock status effect to prevent skill and spell use.
After all that work, what do you get? Nothing. Absolutely, positively nothing. A little cinematic is shown where it's revealed that Murmur who was thought to have been eaten by Sydonai is still alive despite all the massive damage on his human body, and thanks you for knocking this particular obstacle out of his way. He pays you back by sending you through a rift, then brings out a book which might have been important to his plans. The joke's on him though, as the pages turn into cinders, leaving him with a look of disbelief on his face. Cue crappy ending credit sequence here.
Perhaps there would be more on the second time you finish the game, you might say? Perhaps. I'm in no mood to challenge it again anytime soon though. I want to get back into writing, and I have a little loose end I want to tie up.
Until next time, may your saving of the world, your prevention of the apocalypse, and heroic efforts be met with the fanfare you deserve. Remember, tempt not the Fates, especially the blonde Testarosa one - she has some kick-ass friends, notably one Demon Cannon Girl.
