Thursday, May 8th, 2014
Last weekend, Battleground Games & Hobbies hosted another Fat Pack challenge for “Journey Into Nyx.” This is always a fun event. In regards to a sealed event, this one is different because players get nine packs of “Journey Into Nyx.” At a regular Sealed event, players would have normally gotten two “Theros” packs, two “Born of the Gods” packs, and two “Journey Into Nyx” packs.
In the end, Carl Godon defeated Josh Warren for the special “Journey Into Nyx” plaque that Battleground Games had made just for the event. Here’s a picture of it. Pretty sweet, huh?
How did I do? First, thanks for asking. Secondly, I did very poorly. I ended up with only one win and three losses for the night. It was six rounds that night, so I ended up dropping early to save me the trouble of going one and five.
Unfortunately, I took my decks apart, so I can’t tell you exactly what I played. Yes, you heard me. I said, “decks.” That’s plural for more than one. After initially suffering two losses in the first two rounds, I had decided to change it up. I won the third match I played once I changed my deck. It felt good, but then I lost the following match and was gutted once again. It’s alright though. I took away many things from this Fat Pack challenge that should have me ready for the next one.
I wasn’t very impressed with my pool when I first looked at it. I had given up before I had even played one game. This is probably the biggest reason why I did so poorly. Could I have done anything to better my chances? Yes. By looking at things much differently.
I had built a “fun” deck. I basically took the fattest creatures I had and did my best to quickly get them out. I thought this would be fun. I was wrong. You know what’s fun, though? Winning is fun! I guess I’ve been playing this game too long. I’m at the point where I don’t enjoy losing as much. It’s understandable though, I think. I did pay to enter a tournament. If you and I are playing casually though, and I lose, the chances of me flipping the table a really low.
I paid to play, I shouldn’t have gone in with that attitude. I’m the only one to blame. So, what’s the lesson here: There is a time and place to have fun; this isn’t one of them.
One of the cards I was really impressed with was “Sigiled Starfish.” This little guy is a blue common from “Journey Into Nyx.” He only cost one and a blue, and has a power and toughness of 0/3. At this point, he’s just a cheap wall. Why is he so special? The reason being is that he can scry for you every turn (as long as you tap him)! Being able to cast him on turn two stopped a lot of early aggro. By turn three, you were fixing the top of your deck and digging for whatever answer you may need at the time.
The Starfish was so impressive I even thought about playing it in Standard. Would it be possible? Maybe. If “Augur of Bolas” was played, so why not the Starfish?
To clarify, “King Macar” is the worst card to ever go against. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Here’s a Tweet from another Magic player and host of his own FNM stream on Twitch.tv.
@simeoncortezano One of our guys had that in his prerelease pool. I have no idea how you win a game where you cant immediately kill that guy
— ZachSellsMagic (@ZachSellsMagic) May 7, 2014
If you can’t remove the King, then hope you can play something bigger than him to stop him from attacking or tapping.
If any of you follow my Facebook page or are friends with me on Facebook, then you should know that I’ve been advertising my Extra-Life fundraiser campaign. If you’re not part of any of the above, then you’re in luck. Here’s what’s going on.
For the month of May I have set a mini-goal of hitting $300 out of the total $1000 I have set for Extra-Life. If I hit this goal, I’m going to give away a copy of “Takenoko” to someone who donated in the month of May. If you play at Battleground Games & Hobbies then you can pick up the game there. Otherwise, I’ll gladly ship you the game.
I have additional plans to give away more games, but I want to be able to hit this mini-goal first. Technically I shouldn’t say it, but I’m terrible at keeping secrets. If I break this goal I plan on setting another mini-goal. If I hit that other mini-goal, I’ll give away a copy of the “Rampage” board game. Also, I’m still talking to Logitech G about some logistical issues, but I might also be giving away a pair of Logitech G230 Stereo Gaming Headsets.
So, if you want to help me reach that goal then please click on the banner below and donate today.
That’s it for now. Tune in next time for gaming news, previews, and reviews. This weekend is the TCG 5K in Boxborough. Hopefully, I’ll be in attendance. If I make it, I plan on writing a full tournament report as well as my overall experience. It should be a great read especially if you’re wanting to attend your first major tournament.
I still don’t know what I should play, but if you have any suggestions, then let me know in the comment section.
Simeon is an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!
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Tags: extra life, Fat Pack Challenge, Magic the Gathering, MTG, Rampage, Takenoko, Wizards of the Coast
Posted in Blog, Board Games, Card Games, Events, Featured Author, Featured Post, Magic: The Gathering, Popular Posts | 2 Comments »
Thursday, May 1st, 2014
The “Journey Into Nyx” prerelease has come and gone. With that we learned about the God Packs that Wizards of the Coast snuck in and, once again, caused a stir all over social media. I even wrote about it. You can check it out here! (Shameless plug)
If you loved playing in the prerelease, then you should come try the Fat Pack Challenge that’s going on this Friday, May 2, at both Battleground Games & Hobbies locations. What’s a Fat Pack Challenge you ask? Well get ready, because that’s what I’ll be covering this week.
The Fat Pack Challenge will be taking the place of other formats at this Friday’s FNM. For an entrance fee of $40.00, players will receive one sealed “Journey Into Nyx” Fat Pack. If you’ve never purchased a Fat Pack before, here is a list of what you’ll get:
That’s right, you’re getting nine “Journey Into Nyx” boosters! That’s where this fun format separates itself from Sealed Deck events. For some people, this is a lot of fun. The reason being is that in an official Sealed Deck event, you would normally get 2 “Theros” packs, 2 “Born of the Gods” packs, and 2 “Journey Into Nyx” packs. This is also where things can be difficult for some people. Without access to cards from the other two sets, some strategies become disrupted.
So, back to the Fat Pack challenge. The rules state that you’re only allowed to build with the contents of the Fat Pack. With the added God packs and the fact that they are only found in “Journey Into Nyx” packs, the question, now is, how many God packs may be opened at the challenge? Also, would this help you or be detrimental to your deck building? It all depends on what your other packs contain. Remember, “Journey Into Nyx” is a much smaller set than “Theros.” This means that there will be a lot fewer options for cards, but it also means there is a higher chance you’ll see a lot of the same cards.
As the headline states, let’s talk some strategy. I know when it came to Theros Sealed, I loved to go Green and just build big. I loved to try to ramp up and toss out the biggest and fattest creatures I could. I’m talking about creatures like “Nemesis of Mortals” and “Nessian Asp.” Unfortunately, I won’t have access to those creatures.
I still really like the color green in this set. Creatures like “Hydra Broodmaster,” “”Heroe’s Bane,” and “Humbler of Mortals” are sure to give some grief to your opponent. Green also gives you access to “Ajani, Mentor of Heroes.” While he doesn’t spell the end of the game for your opponent, it will definitely help push things along.
My second favorite color would have to be black. There is a lot of removal in black. Even the creatures have abilities that remove creatures from the game such as “King Macar, the Gold-Cursed.” He may only be a 2/3 for 4 mana, but his inspired ability may make him worth the effort. However, cards like “Brain Maggot,” “Dictate of Erebos,” and “Feat of Dreams” will really help to control the game and allow you to go all the way.
If you can manage to find the right balance between the two colors, you may have a winning combination at your grasp. Don’t forget you’ll have access to the new temple as well as the newest playable God, “Phrika, God of Affliction.”
The weakest color out of the bunch, in my opinion would have to be blue. I’ve always found it really difficult to build a true control deck in a Limited format like Sealed. Add the fact that we’ll be playing with the third set of the “Theros” block, and it gets even harder. Remember, we’re dealing with fewer cards in this set. If this was the “Theros” Fat Pack challenge, it might have been a different story because we’d have more options, more cards to deal with, but we don’t.
This doesn’t mean you should avoid blue all together. If you get the right combination, blue is still a worthy color. Cards like “Sigiled Starfish” and “Dakra Mystic” help to manipulate the game in your favor. Creatures like “Hypnotic Siren” and “Scourge of Fleets” are ones, as an opponent, people will need to watch out for as they can turn the tide of a game in a moment’s notice.
Blue will also give player access to “Keranos, God of Storms” and “Fleetfeather Cockatrice” which will definitely give opposing players a headache.
If you’re one of the lucky ones to be blessed by the Gods of Theros, there are a few things you can do. One thing you could do is pick up your things and go home. You’ve already one without playing a single game. I don’t like to talk about prices here because this is a game that should be played because it’s fun and not because you could make money, but some of those Gods carry a hefty price. I don’t think anyone would fault you if you did.
Another piece of advice I have would be to find a way to play all 15 Gods in your sealed deck. I’m not guaranteeing that you’ll win, but I’m fairly certain you’ll have a really good time, if you don’t mind losing some. I mean, can you imagine the face on your opponent if they see you start to play God after God after God!? It might things worth it in the end.
Well that’s it for now. As of right now, I will be at the Fat Pack challenge in Abington. If any of you out there attend AND I’ve never met you, then come say hello. Otherwise, I’ll expect some kind of hug; I’m looking at you Nick Lowe!
Simeon is an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!
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Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!
Tags: Card Games, Fat Pack Challenge, Magic the Gathering, MTG, Simeon Cortezano, Wizards of the Coast
Posted in Blog, Card Games, Events, Featured Author, Featured Post, Magic: The Gathering, Popular Posts, Store Related | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, April 30th, 2014
We all have dreamed about the possibility of opening a so-called “God Pack,” the contents of which contain extra rare or mythic Magic the Gathering cards. Well, it appears as if now you can! As discovered at Journey into Nyx pre-release events around the world, there is a chance to open all fifteen Theros Block mythic “God” cards in one booster pack!
Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast announced “A Divine Gift” on DailyMTG.com, that these packs are indeed real and not limited to pre-release events; there are more “God packs” out there! In addition, they also mention that should you open these packs in a Limited event, you should consult the Head Judge immediately, as he or she has the discretion – in the interest of fairness – to issue to you a new booster pack of Journey into Nyx.
That means that, while the pre-release may have come and gone, there are more of these packs out there!
Have you or anyone you know opened any of these so-called “God Packs”? Let us know in the comments below! Plus, don’t forget to join us this Friday at Battleground Games & Hobbies for the Fat Pack Challenge! A lot of Journey into Nyx packs will be opened this Friday; who will open a “God Pack,” will it be you?
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Tags: God Pack, Journey into Nyx, Magic the Gathering, Prerelease, Wizards of the Coast
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Friday, April 25th, 2014
Wizards of the Coast has announced that the set will feature fourteen cards from some of the world’s most renowned game developers! The Magic 2015 – Core Set releases July 18, 2014.
The announcement was made last week at PAX East with George Fan, designer of Plants vs Zombies, revealing the card he designed, Genesis Hydra:
The developers who contributed their card ideas for Magic 2015 include:
In addition to the cards designed by the 14 game developers, Magic 2015 will feature a card designed by the Magic community. The card, Waste Not, was a result of “You Make the Card,” a six-month long event during which the Magic community worked together to design a brand-new Magic card.
Press release courtesy of Alfred Cloutier.
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Tags: Genesis Hydra, Magic 2015, pax east, Press Release, Wizards of the Coast
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Tuesday, April 22nd, 2014
Wizards of the Coast has announced that the launch weekend for Dead in Thay, the next season of D&D Encounters, is May 10-11, with the season to run on Wednesdays from May 14th to August 6th. The adventure by Scott Fitzgerald Gray, part 2 of the Dreams of the Red Wizards Sundering storyline, is directly tied to the previous adventure, Scourge of the Sword Coast. It’s also loosely connected to Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle.
In this adventure, the Bloodgate must be destroyed in order to stop Szass Tam, the lich lord of Thay and his Red Wizards. Reporting results of the game will continue to impact the future of the Forgotten Realms.
Dead in Thay will lead into The Tyranny of Dragons, a multi-platform event tied to the launch of the next edition of Dungeons and Dragons.
Wizards of the Coast encourages D&D Encounters players to use the D&D Next rule set, while producing the adventures so they can be played with any D&D rules.
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Tags: Campaign, D&D Next, Dead in Thay, Dungeons & Dragons, Encounters, Organized Play, Wizards of the Coast
Posted in Blog, Board Games, Dungeons & Dragons, Events, Featured Post, Role-Playing Games, Store Related | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 21st, 2014
Wizards of the Coast announced they will release an updated version of the classic fantasy board game Dungeon! with new box art to appeal to a new generation of family gamers on June 17th.
The new box is designed to appeal to long time Dungeons & Dragons players, as well as reach a new audience of younger players. The game has gone through several incarnations since it was first released in 1975, and most recently updated in 2012, but the basic game play remains the same. Players take the role of Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, or Wizard, and explore a multi-level dungeon to find treasure. The treasure is guarded by progressively harder monsters the deeper players venture. The goal is to collect enough treasure and be the first to escape the dungeon.
The box contains 8 Hero standees (2 each of Rogues, Clerics, Fighters and Wizards), 165 cards (monster, treasure and spell), 139 tokens (number, lose a turn, defeated, and magic sword), 2 6-sided dice, a game board, and a rule sheet. The game is for 1- 8 players, ages 8 and up.
Interested in this classic board game? Contact us and let us know; buy it in June at your local Battleground Games & Hobbies!
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Tags: Board Games, Dungeons & Dragons, TableTop, Wizards of the Coast
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