October 30, 2008
Bring Your Own Two Team rules
This event is similar to BYOT events, except that players choose two teams that are automatically crossed-over during the game. Players may only play with characters from, or cards that reference, one or both of those teams. You may not play with "generic" cards. This includes ALL cards in your deck, so plot twists, locations and equipment must also reference one of the two teams you are playing with!
Multiplayer Re-cap
The past few events have been great in terms of participation! Over the past two months I don't think we've had an event with less than 10 players signed up, and to me that is just awesome. I love seeing the group grow and change with the addition of new players, deck ideas, and friends.
For the multi-player game night last week, it was a little odd. I was running a little late and had had a rather long day before heading down to Trilogy, and wasn't quite prepared to be greeted by a dozen beaming faces all waiting to play some cards. I hadn't expected quite that many players, and had only brought one Galactus set and one Starro set, which wasn't enough for that many players.
What we ended up doing is something we've done once before, and while I'm a fan of it, I am sure some of the players aren't quite sure what to make of it. We ran two 3-player games, and one 2-on-2 game, for three rounds. The way we determined the winners for the tournament wasn't by who won, but rather by vote. Each round, every player voted for someone who played in their game that they thought was the best player, but not necessarily who won. It makes for an interesting dynamic, and is something quite different from the norm...as playing to win doesn't always net you a lot of votes. I think it fosters good sportsmanship and fun play and plan to keep the format around.
With that, I have to congratulate our 1st prize winner Matt, who took home the second of our two Ultimates play mats, and Harry who was the winner of the rare MUL Submariner cards!
Next up with be our Golden Age "Bring Your Own 2 Team" event.
For the multi-player game night last week, it was a little odd. I was running a little late and had had a rather long day before heading down to Trilogy, and wasn't quite prepared to be greeted by a dozen beaming faces all waiting to play some cards. I hadn't expected quite that many players, and had only brought one Galactus set and one Starro set, which wasn't enough for that many players.
What we ended up doing is something we've done once before, and while I'm a fan of it, I am sure some of the players aren't quite sure what to make of it. We ran two 3-player games, and one 2-on-2 game, for three rounds. The way we determined the winners for the tournament wasn't by who won, but rather by vote. Each round, every player voted for someone who played in their game that they thought was the best player, but not necessarily who won. It makes for an interesting dynamic, and is something quite different from the norm...as playing to win doesn't always net you a lot of votes. I think it fosters good sportsmanship and fun play and plan to keep the format around.
With that, I have to congratulate our 1st prize winner Matt, who took home the second of our two Ultimates play mats, and Harry who was the winner of the rare MUL Submariner cards!
Next up with be our Golden Age "Bring Your Own 2 Team" event.
October 13, 2008
Clone Saga Results
Another really good tournament has come and gone, this time with 11 players coming out to compete in our Clone Saga event. There were a few gimmes, and a few surprises among the characters chosen; including Darkseid, The Joker, Captain America, Dr. Doom, Captain America, Brainiac 13, Silver Surfer, Rha' al Ghul and more! I wasn't able to take a close look at every player's deck, but I was very impressed with the creativity shown in some of the builds. From those that did have a chance to look at I think the Captain America and Silver Surfer decks had some really good potential, with the Cap deck coming in second only to Doom. Once again Scott walked away with top prize, smashing all comers in an impressive 4-0 tournament win. We'll have another Ultimates play mat and the final three MUL cards up for grabs in an upcoming event.
Next time however, we're going to play some multi-player games. Depending on the number of players we'll either play some 2-on-2 team games, some 3-player battles, or possibly some Giant-Size games up against Galactus and Starro. Yes, I said Starro. Captain Spud on VS Realms put together an excellent Starro deck that I've play tested a few times and I think will be a lot of fun for everyone.
Just a reminder to everyone, banned cards are not legal in our Golden Age events, so please be sure to check the banned list, or check with me if you're not sure what cards have been banned. I'll try to put together a list for the site here as soon as I can.
Next time however, we're going to play some multi-player games. Depending on the number of players we'll either play some 2-on-2 team games, some 3-player battles, or possibly some Giant-Size games up against Galactus and Starro. Yes, I said Starro. Captain Spud on VS Realms put together an excellent Starro deck that I've play tested a few times and I think will be a lot of fun for everyone.
Just a reminder to everyone, banned cards are not legal in our Golden Age events, so please be sure to check the banned list, or check with me if you're not sure what cards have been banned. I'll try to put together a list for the site here as soon as I can.
October 10, 2008
Marvel Evolution: Preview Thoughts
Ok well this isn't so much about what I think of the individual cards we've seen previewed on various spots online, but an overall impression so far. Maybe.
First and foremost, I am sad that with Evolutions being a direct follow-up to Universe we see an end to the previous Marvel / DC alternating release schedule. I know that many other players share my fear that DC may no longer be represented in the game. I admit to leaning more towards the DC camp when it comes to what characters I enjoy more, but this really isn't about personal preference. The fear for my player group is that over time, we will lose players who play more DC cards, or DC exclusively. That's not a good thing, and I hope it won't happen should DC sets truly be out of the picture.
So along comes Marvel Evolutions, the first time ever that we've had two Marvel expansions released back to back. Unfortunately, I feel there are a lot of things going against this set. I can't really prioritize them so here's my list in no particular order. Keep in mind this is all my opinion, based on my local group and news online. Feel free to disagree. That's what your blog and the realms are for.
- It's another Marvel set: A lot of players are disappointed that we didn't get another DC set, and fear that the DC cards can no longer compete with the Marvel teams. I think this is a valid concern, based on the sheer number of great cards and effects we saw in Universe.
- It's coming after Universe: While I initially thought that Universe was too big as an expansion, I've obviously been playing with cards from it for the past 6 months or more. I can't deny just how freaking GOOD the set is. I've incorporated cards from it into probably every deck I've built since it was released. It's going to be hard to top or even match.
- It's X-Men: Ok, so this will likely get me a lot of flack, but I'm fucking tired of X-people. I admit, I used to be a long term reader back in the 90s, but haven't read much of anything in around 10 years. The simple fact is that I just don't care anymore. There are what seems like 8 billion mutants, even after the House of M was supposed to clear them all away, and they all seem stupefyingly powerful yet completely uninteresting. It's hard for me to get excited about the set when I don't care for the 90% of the characters.
- The packaging: Who the hell thought that putting a dude holding a baby on the box and wrapper are was a good idea? No really! I want to know so that I can congratulate them on getting that turd of an idea past Marvel and their own marketing departments and stamped with an "Approved". I've never met a female that plays this game, and maybe only 10 or 15 females ever who even read comics. While I'm not saying that guys don't like babies, it just seems so ridiculous. The game is based on comic characters beating the crap out of each other so seriously, WTF?
- The legend characters: Cyclops, Madrox, Gambit...ugh. Ok yeah, Cyclops has been around for EVER, but he's still boring as hell.
Ok now that I've effectively pissed of everyone who's ever liked X-Men or me, I do have a few hopes for this set.
1. It will have good cards that I can use. I know this will be true, because every set there seems to be at least 4 or 5 cards that make me go "Holy crap, this is awesome!"
2. It might have some original Alpha Flight members in it. The AF characters in Universe were actually Omega Flight, yet that was their version. This gives me hope that I'll see some of my favorites in there. If there are...this set will automatically get my gold-seal of approval.
3. I used to like X-Factor. Yes, the old one, which was basically the original X-Men in new outfits. I'm hoping to see some of those, which might make me smile and have fun.
4. It's a new VS set. That is ace in my book no matter what universe it's set in or what characters are in it. I'll keep buying and playing as long they keep making cards. Hell, I'll probably keep playing as long as I can find people to play against.
First and foremost, I am sad that with Evolutions being a direct follow-up to Universe we see an end to the previous Marvel / DC alternating release schedule. I know that many other players share my fear that DC may no longer be represented in the game. I admit to leaning more towards the DC camp when it comes to what characters I enjoy more, but this really isn't about personal preference. The fear for my player group is that over time, we will lose players who play more DC cards, or DC exclusively. That's not a good thing, and I hope it won't happen should DC sets truly be out of the picture.
So along comes Marvel Evolutions, the first time ever that we've had two Marvel expansions released back to back. Unfortunately, I feel there are a lot of things going against this set. I can't really prioritize them so here's my list in no particular order. Keep in mind this is all my opinion, based on my local group and news online. Feel free to disagree. That's what your blog and the realms are for.
- It's another Marvel set: A lot of players are disappointed that we didn't get another DC set, and fear that the DC cards can no longer compete with the Marvel teams. I think this is a valid concern, based on the sheer number of great cards and effects we saw in Universe.
- It's coming after Universe: While I initially thought that Universe was too big as an expansion, I've obviously been playing with cards from it for the past 6 months or more. I can't deny just how freaking GOOD the set is. I've incorporated cards from it into probably every deck I've built since it was released. It's going to be hard to top or even match.
- It's X-Men: Ok, so this will likely get me a lot of flack, but I'm fucking tired of X-people. I admit, I used to be a long term reader back in the 90s, but haven't read much of anything in around 10 years. The simple fact is that I just don't care anymore. There are what seems like 8 billion mutants, even after the House of M was supposed to clear them all away, and they all seem stupefyingly powerful yet completely uninteresting. It's hard for me to get excited about the set when I don't care for the 90% of the characters.
- The packaging: Who the hell thought that putting a dude holding a baby on the box and wrapper are was a good idea? No really! I want to know so that I can congratulate them on getting that turd of an idea past Marvel and their own marketing departments and stamped with an "Approved". I've never met a female that plays this game, and maybe only 10 or 15 females ever who even read comics. While I'm not saying that guys don't like babies, it just seems so ridiculous. The game is based on comic characters beating the crap out of each other so seriously, WTF?
- The legend characters: Cyclops, Madrox, Gambit...ugh. Ok yeah, Cyclops has been around for EVER, but he's still boring as hell.
Ok now that I've effectively pissed of everyone who's ever liked X-Men or me, I do have a few hopes for this set.
1. It will have good cards that I can use. I know this will be true, because every set there seems to be at least 4 or 5 cards that make me go "Holy crap, this is awesome!"
2. It might have some original Alpha Flight members in it. The AF characters in Universe were actually Omega Flight, yet that was their version. This gives me hope that I'll see some of my favorites in there. If there are...this set will automatically get my gold-seal of approval.
3. I used to like X-Factor. Yes, the old one, which was basically the original X-Men in new outfits. I'm hoping to see some of those, which might make me smile and have fun.
4. It's a new VS set. That is ace in my book no matter what universe it's set in or what characters are in it. I'll keep buying and playing as long they keep making cards. Hell, I'll probably keep playing as long as I can find people to play against.
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