Archive for the ‘Featured Post’ Category
‘Magic: The Gathering’ revisits an old location in ‘Shadows Over Innistrad’
Monday, November 2nd, 2015
Fans of the game Magic: The Gathering received some exciting news this past weekend during the broadcast of Grand Prix Indy. That’s when Wizards of The Coast announced the spring set – Shadows Over Innistrad.
This makes sense since the company has made it clear they would like to keep revisiting previous planes. The most recent set, Battle For Zendikar, did the same thing.
For those of you who don’t remember, Innistrad was the home of werewolves, vampires, and other dark creatures. It was also home to some of the most powerful cards in the game today. Some of those included Snapcaster Mage, Liliana of the Veil, Delver of Secrets, and much more.
The rest of the block included Dark Ascension and Avacyn Restored. However, under the new formatting, there will only be one other set in the Shadows Over Innistrad block. Here is some additional information and dates regarding the set:
Number of Cards: 297
Prerelease Events: April 2, 2016
Release Date: April 8, 2016
Launch Weekend: April 8–10, 2016
Game Day: April 30–May 1, 2016
Magic Online Prerelease Events: April 15-18, 2016
Magic Online Release Date: April 18, 2016
Magic Online Release Events: April 18-May 4, 2016
Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad: April 22-24, 2016
Pro Tour Shadows over Innistrad Location: Madrid, Spain
Finally, Mark Gottlieb will head the initial concept and game design team while Dave Humpherys will head the final concept and game design team.
Tags: Magic the Gathering, MTG, shadows over innistrad
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This week in Magic: Bant Aggro Takes 1st At The TCG States Championships
Friday, October 30th, 2015
Welcome to another edition of This week in Magic! It’s a new week, and we’re playing with a new format! No more huge essays. We’re going to save those for special ocassions. Instead, we’re going to highlight different things in the game. It could be a player, a piece of artwork, or a deck. This week, we’re going to take a look at the deck that took 1st place at the recent TCG Player State tournament. This was piloted by Brandon Harrison and he played a version of Bant Aggro. Here’s the list:
Bant Aggro
Brandon Harrison
TCG Player State Championship – 1st Place
MAIN DECK
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Den Protector
4 Hangarback Walker
3 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Stratus Dancer
4 Warden of the First Tree
3 Wingmate Roc
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Dispel
4 Dromoka’s Command
3 Silkwrap
2 Canopy Vista
4 Flooded Strand
5 Forest
2 Lumbering Falls
3 Plains
2 Prairie Stream
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
Side Board
2 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Dispel
2 Evolutionary Leap
3 Lantern Scout
1 Mastery of the Unseen
1 Stratus Dancer
2 Valorous Stance
So as you can see, it’s basically a solid GW deck but makes a couple of splashes for a single copy of Dispel and a couple copies of Stratus Dancer. There is nothing wrong with having a couple of extra morph creatures when you’re playing a full package of Deathmist Raptors. They’re also a great decoy for you Den Protectors. And, finally, they’re morph ability is added protection against removal spells because those spells will ruin your deck since your so heavy in creatures.
Otherwise, playing the deck is simple. Play your extremely efficient creatures and beat your opponent down. Every single creature is something your opponent must deal with.
The side board is pretty resilliant against a lot of decks in the format. My only issue with the deck is probably the one Dispel in the main board. I’m not a fan of single spells in the main board. I would probably move that one Dispel to the side board and maybe replace it with the single Stratus Dancer. This makes the deck a little bit more aggressive. If you run into a strong control deck, you can always bring in the Dispels if needed. And if you don’t like the additional Dispel in the side board, then you can always add another Mastery of the Unseen.
Well that’s it for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween! Hope to see you all next week for the Extra Life event on November 7th!
Tags: Magic the Gathering, MTG, tcg player states
Posted in Blog, Card Games, Featured Author, Featured Post, Magic: The Gathering, Popular Posts | No Comments »
‘Ghostbusters: The Board Game’ Is Coming From Cryptozoic Entertainment
Friday, October 30th, 2015
Growing up as a kid, The Real Ghostbusters was my favorite show. I even dressed up as Egon for Halloween one year. I had all the toys – the firehouse, Ecto-1, a proton pack, and a ghost trap that glowed in the dark. Of course I had the games for the NES, both 1 & 2, and I never beat both because they were hard to beat. The one thing I never had was a Ghostbusters board game because there really has never been one…until now. From Cryptozoic Entertainment (DC Deckbuilding Game) comes Ghostbusters: The Board Game.
According to the Cryptozoic website,
“Ghostbusters: The Board Game is an episodic adventure game for 1-4 players where they take on the roles of the four main characters from the original movie. It is the first officially licensed board game for the popular comedy in almost thirty years, and features artwork from Dan Schoening, artist of IDW’s Ghostbusters comic books.”
The game was actually originally a Kickstarter project from February. The goal for the campaign was set at $250K and destroyed it by raising $1.5 million with 8,396 people backing the game. In fact, that amount made the game one of the most funded board games as of February 2015. Backers should have already received their copies, but the retail version should be hitting shelves soon.
The game will also contain “47 custom (32-50mm) plastic minis, 10 double-sided game board tiles, 6 dice (5 D6 & 1 D8), 43 Tokens (Streams, Slimes, Gates, XP Trackers), a PKE Meter, 4 player cards, 6 ghost cards, and a Ghostbusters Operations & Field Manual.”
It does look very similar to Zombicide and, from the sound of things, plays a lot like the game. The biggest thing the game has going for it is that it’s the first officially licensed game based on the show. So if you don’t own Zombicide and are a fan of Ghostbusters, then this might be worth getting. If you do get, the rest will be up to you. Do you open it? Or do you put display it with the rest of your collection? You could always get two copies to do both!
Well, whatever you decide to do, you’re bound to have lots of fun proudly displaying it or playing it with your friends.
Ghostbusters: The Board Game is scheduled for release on November 11, 2015.
Source: ICv2
Tags: Cryptozoic Entertainment, Ghostbusters: The Board Game
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Kickstarter Spotlight: ‘Blackout: Journey Into Darkness’
Wednesday, October 28th, 2015
If you want to get something done, you have to go out and do it yourself. And thanks to crowdfunding, almost anything is possible. Check out this wonderful game that we’re featuring today. It’s called Blackout: Journey Into Darkness. Imagine taking the elements of Betrayal At House On The Hill and combining it with Zombicide and an epic RPG campaign. That, in a gist, is what Blackout: Journey Into Darkness is all about.
Here is a more detailed desciption of the game:
“Blackout has players take control of one or more characters (Tracker, Engineer, Recon, Slayer) as they venture into the Northern Wastes in search of riches and glory. The game has a mission-based system which rewards exploration and combat, allowing players to level up as they progress. The base game includes enough adventures for 15-20 hours of play”
The game currently has 16 days to go in it’s Kickstarter campaign, but has blown away its goal of $39K by raising a little over $95K from over 1,000 backers. Needless to say, this game is going to be popular, and rightfully so. Blackout was designed by Richard T. Broadwater, a former action figure designer and Bethesda vet who worked on games such as Oblivion and Fallout 3. Talk about the perfect combination.
Interestingly enough, the game had been on Kickstarter two previous times. Each time, the campaign was cancelled. The first time was due to distribution issues for the European market, and the second time was due to an overwhelming response which prompted Broadwater to want to include more content into the game. Now on it’s third run, the game looks like it will finally finish a campaign with delivery expected sometime in December of 2016. However, the wait should be totally worth it. Just take a look at the game.
According to the report, the box will contain:
“…32 high quality plastic miniatures, a 48-page rule book, a 20-page campaign book, double-sided room and hall sections (representing alleyways/abandoned buildings and underground tunnel/maintenance chambers), debris markers, objectives, status counters, player cards, enemy cards, item cards, event cards, and six ten-sided dice.”
The game is for 1 – 4 players. MSRP has not been determined. FYI, the campaign has currently raised $94,828 from 1,028 backers ($92.25 /backer average). So don’t be surprised if this game ranges in the $90-$100 market.
For a more detailed look at the game as well as pledge to it’s campaign, check out the Kickstarter page here.
Source: ICv2
Tags: Blackout: Journey Into Darkness, Kickstarter
Posted in Blog, Board Games, Featured Author, Featured Post, Popular Posts | No Comments »
Mayfair Games to release ‘Grand Austria Hotel’ and ‘Hengist’
Tuesday, October 27th, 2015
From the same company that brought you Star Trek Catan and Agricola comes two brand new games – Grand Austria Hotel and Hengist. Grand Austria Hotel is a game designed by Simone Luciani (Tzolk’in, The Voyages of Marco Polo) and Virginio Gigli (Leonardo da Vinci) and art by Klemens Franz (Agricola, Le Havre, Caverna). According to report,
“Grand Austria Hotel is an area control /set collection game set at the beginning of the 20th Century in Vienna. Players are aspiring hoteliers, who attempt to expand their hotels while also serving the current guests. Guests require food and drink. As the hotel expands, players will need to hire additional staff. Players must also pay homage to the emperor, or risk falling into disgrace.”
Grand Austria Hotel will be for 2 – 4 players, ages 10 and up, and plays in 45 – 60 minutes. The MSRP is set at $60.00.
“…players take the role of two Saxon brothers, Hengist and Horsa, who had been tasked by their chieftain to defend Britain. However, the chieftain doesn’t pay enough, so the brothers decide to pillage the towns, villages, monasteries, and estates along the coast to see who can gain the most fame and fortune. A modular board helps make each game unique as players vie for treasure in this area movement and hand management game.”
The recommended age for Hengist is ages 7 and up, and plays in 20 minutes. The MSRP is set at $28.00.
Both games are set for a December 1st release this year.
Source: ICv2
Tags: grand austria hotel, hengist, Mayfair Games
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‘Pathfinder’ to release two new books in April 2016
Monday, October 26th, 2015
With the release of the new Dungeons and Dragons rule set, a lot of other RPGs probably found themselves taking a back seat. However, many of those systems are still alive and kicking. One such system is Pathfinder. And today, it was announced that Pathfinder has plans to release two new source books in April. These two new books will be called Ultimate Intrigue and Heaven Unleashed.
According to the report, Ultimate Intrigue was created from tons of input from the Pathfinder fan base. Pathfinder even had an “open playtesting cycle” to help make the book.
“The 256-page full-color hardcover book delves into the types of challenges that cannot be resolved through brute force or magic, but relies instead on social skills and clever plotting.”
In addition clearing things up, the book will also introduce a new core character class known as the Vigilante.
“[The Vigilatne] spends days as a respected member of society and nights avenging the downtrodden.”
Those who purchase the book will also find it to contain “new social-based character options for the game’s many skill-based character classes, rules for influencing community organizations, social combat and verbal dueling…”
The other new book, Heaven Unleashed, will be a new campaign setting that surrounds itself in politics and agendas of the celestial races. So, for you hardcore role players, this sounds like the best chance for you to show of your acting skills.
“Thirteen holy champions are featured in this 64-page, full-color softcover book, each with complete stat blocks, encounter notes and maps, and guidelines for encounters involving both good- and evil-aligned characters.”
Ultimate Intrigue will carry an MSRP of $44.99 and Heaven Unleashed will carry an MSRP of $22.99.
Both books are due out in April of 2016.
Source: ICv2
Tags: heaven unleashed, pathfinder, ultimate intrigue
Posted in Blog, Featured Author, Featured Post, Pathfinder, Popular Posts, Role-Playing Games | No Comments »
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