All posts by Blond

Digital Playground, On the Tabletop

Lessons from the Kitchen Table Vol.3: Get out of that Gaming Rut

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Most of you have been there before: the dreaded game rut. Everything you own sucks. Why the hell did you spend all of that money on a library of games that you have zero interest in playing? Why did you buy all of those booster boxes of (insert CCG title here)? Hey, hey, calm down, it’ll be alright! I’ve been there myself, quite a few times actually. (Although hopefully game ruts are a thing of the past now that Shawn and I run this website and produce the 2 Guys Gaming podcast. This job forces us to try ALL of the different games out there in order to write articles for you guys and gals. ) Earlier this year I found myself in the mother of all gaming ruts. All of my usual ?go to ? games were now boring and extremely unappealing. It felt like a chore just putting a disc into my 360, and when I did I found myself playing for only a few minutes before I would hit eject, put in another disc, play for ten minutes or so, hit eject again…rinse and repeat…until I finally would just shut off the Xbox. My rut didn ‘t just apply to video games either; even MTG became repetitive and stale. So how did I beat the rut? Well looking back, it actually wasn ‘t that difficult to do. First thing I did was stopped looking at my Magic collection. The more I looked at it, the more depressed and frustrated I became because I wanted to recapture the interest in the game that I had even just a few weeks earlier and that spark just wasn’t there. The only way I can possibly describe that feeling is that it ‘s like quicksand; the more you struggle and fight the faster you sink. By taking a break from even looking at the cards it felt like I had removed a source of frustration. I then started to research current CCG ‘s to get a feel for any game currently on the market that might be down my alley. Unfortunately, nothing really stuck out to me, so I started to look at discontinued CCG ‘s. I ‘m a penny pincher when it comes to games, so this is always a viable option for me since all product associated with a discontinued game is cheap as hell. And as I found out, discontinued doesn ‘t mean the game is crap. I ended up with 3 games bouncing around in my head: Rage, Marvel VS, and finally World of Warcraft TCG. Just like that the rut began to weaken. After talking with Shawn, he mentioned that he had actually purchased a box of Warcraft starter decks awhile ago and just had them sitting in a closet. That ‘s all I needed to hear, I went to dacardworld.com and purchased a booster box of the expansion set, War of the Elements (for only $18!!!!). After playing the game a few times, the ?CCG wall ? of the rut crumbled and I could see daylight. I found myself scouring the internet checking out deck lists and strategies. The game is so well-designed and fun that even in death, that still to this day people actively play it and write articles about it. It was only pulled off of the market because Blizzard decided to go with a bare bones digital version of the game, that we know as Hearthstone.

Ok, so one wall of the rut down, one to go. But you might be saying to yourself, ?Blondie, I don ‘t even play CCG ‘s, ya nerd! ? Ok, ok, point taken, so how did I beat the video game rut? I managed to crawl out of the rut by doing a few different things. First, I unplugged my 360. It was symbolic in a way. I was unplugging the source of my boredom. None of the games were doing it for me so why would I have it connected? In its place I plugged in my Playstation 2 which had been previously collecting dust on a shelf in my game room. Ok, so I replaced the console that was boring me with another console that I hadn ‘t played in a long time. What now? I turned to eBay to find some games that I hadn ‘t played yet. The kicker was that they couldn ‘t be games in the genres that I usually favor. So no shooters and no 2D fighters as that would just be like playing the same games that I already had. So I picked out Dragon Quest 8 and Odin Sphere. Usually I tend to not buy as many RPGs as fighters and shooters because of the time commitment involved, but in this case, I was desperate. Games are essentially my only hobby, so without that satisfaction of sitting down after a rough day of work and just unwinding with an hour of gaming, I was slowly becoming miserable. After playing DQ 8 (Dragon Quest not Dairy Queen), I felt the depression lift..I couldn ‘t get enough of the game, the gameplay was decent as well as the story. Once again, I found myself on eBay hunting down other Dragon Quest games. I ended up purchasing DQ 4, 5, 6 and 9. There was now a huge crack in the last remaining wall of the rut. Then I popped in Odin Sphere. The wall exploded. If you have never played Odin Sphere finish this article and go buy it. Now. You will not regret it. But I digress as this isn ‘t a review for Odin Sphere. (Seriously though, it ‘s an amazing game.)

Ok, so let ‘s review how I beat my video game rut. I removed the source of my frustration (aka my 360), plugged in another system that I hadn ‘t played in a really long time, went and found some games in a genre that IS NOT one that usually I dabble in. Now let’s review how I broke out of the CCG rut. I removed the source of my frustration (aka my MTG collection), researched other games that I have never tried before and picked one out. See the pattern? When you find yourself in a rut, take a step back from your normal gaming habits and think outside of the box. It’s important to get out of your comfort zone and try games that you ordinarily wouldn’t give a second look to. Whether it’s a game in a genre that you usually pass on, or a discontinued card game. Who knows you might find something worthwhile. I know I did.

On the Tabletop

Mardu Aggro Assault

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marduAnother week, another deck list..This is actually the very first Khans deck that I constructed, and I like you guys juuuust enough to share it with you ;). Once I figured out the mana ratio for a tri-color deck, it’s consistently performed well and above all else, is pretty fun. it plays fast and has a couple of ways to bring you victory; either by overwhelming your opponent with creatures with haste or by using the Purphoros, God of Forge/ multiple token creature burn combo. It’s also loaded up with enough burn spells and straight up removal to keep your opponent’s side of the board clean. I hope you have as much fun playing with this deck as I do.

The Deck List (60 cards):

The Creatures The Spells

2x Foundry Street Denizen 2x Mardu Ascendancy

2x Spike Jester 4x Hordeling Outburst

2x Hellrider 2x Mardu Charm

1x Purphoros, God of the Forge 2x Lightning Strike

1x Krenko, Mob Boss 2x Lightning Bolt

1x Zurgo Helmsmasher 2x Go For The Throat

2x Hellspark Elemental 2x Terminate

2x Butcher of the Horde 1x Mortify

2x Rakdos Shred Freak 2x Doom Blade

The Lands 2x Crackling Doom

2x Dragonskull Summit

2x Clifftop Retreat

1x Akoum Refuge

1x Tainted Field

1x Isolated Chapel

2x Nomad Outpost

1x Evolving Wilds

5x Mountains

5x Swamps

4x Plains

On the Tabletop

Top 5 Khans of Tarkir Cards

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Time flies doesn’t it? Seems like just yesterday we were all eagerly awaiting the next round of Khans spoilers. Now Khans of Tarkir has been on the table for a month and even though I initially doubted the quality of the set (I’m so negative), I have to admit that for the most part it has lived up to it’s hype. With that said, I wanted to share with you, our loyal readers, my top 5 favorite cards from Khans. Here we go:

 

srhino1. Siege Rhino: BAM! You see that?! No waiting ’til the end of the article to see what the number one card is! How could this guy not be number one? He ‘s a 4/5 trampler that smacks your opponent in the face for 3 and gives the 3 to you when it enters the battlefield. The kicker? Most burn spells won ‘t take him out and he only costs 4 mana.

 

 

mascendancy2. Mardu Ascendancy: I ‘m a huge fan of this card. Both of its abilities are powerful and can change the complexion of a game quickly. It ‘s designed to absolutely overrun your opponent with goblin weenies and from personal experience it does it ‘s job well. It ‘s 2nd ability of giving all of your creatures +0/+3 if you sacrifice it means that your little army of beasties can survive a well-timed Anger of the Gods.

 

mantisr3. Mantis Rider: It ‘s the cornerstone of most Jeskai decks for a reason. An aggro 3/3 flyer with haste and vigilance for 3 mana. If your opponent doesn ‘t have an answer for it right away then this little guy can cause some big trouble. I’ve won a game with just having 2 of these guys pumped up with the Spear of Heliod on the board. Sure, it crumbles to most burn spells, but more often than not you will do some damage before that happens. It also gets bonus points because I love the artwork.

 

butcher of the horde4. Butcher of the Horde: Out of all of the spoilers, this guy caught my eye first. He ‘s a 5/4 flyer for only 4 mana. As if that ‘s not a good enough deal, he also has the ability to gain lifelink, haste or vigilance until the end of the turn if you sacrifice another creature. Those little goblins your Mardu Ascendancy is cranking out? Sacrifice ?em and let the good times roll.

 

fetches5. Fetchlands: Yes, I know. Not one card. But these lands are the core of the block and deserve to be in everyone’s top 5 somewhere. I didn ‘t realize how important having the right type of mana at the right time was until Khans was released and I started constructing 3 color decks. These lands make sure that you have the mana necessary to ruin your opponent ‘s day.

 

Honorable Mentions: Mardu Charm, Clever Impersonator, Savage Knuckleblade, Mindswipe, Deflecting Palm, Jeskai Ascendancy, Sarkan the Dragonspeaker and Rattleclaw Mystic.

Digital Playground

Currently Playing…Vol.6

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pxzoneProject X Zone (3DS) I ‘ve had my eye on this game ever since it was first announced. A strategy RPG with Capcom characters? Sign me up! Being cheap, I patiently waited until I could get it for under $20. Last weekend my patience paid off and I was finally able to find a used copy for only $15. I have to say, after having played it for a few hours, I was disappointed. It feels a bit slapped together. The storyline makes no sense. At all. In fact after the first 5 levels, I just couldn ‘t take the story anymore and rapidly hit A to fly through the cutscenes to get back to the actual combat. All of these characters from Street Fighter, Tekken, Darkstalkers, Resident Evil, Dead Rising..etc, who exist in ‘?different dimensions ‘? just happen to know each other?! Here ‘s an example: At the beginning of one of the Prologue stages Chun Li (Street Fighter) shows up, then Hsien-Ko (Darkstalkers) shows up, and then Frank West (Dead Rising) appears. Chun Li: ‘?You ‘re Frank West from the Colorado incident right? ‘?. Frank West: ‘?Yes, you ‘re Chun Li, agent of SIN, right? ‘? Now Chris and Claire from Resident Evil show up, ‘?Hey aren ‘t you Frank West from the Colorado incident? And you ‘re Chun Li, an agent of SIN ‘?. Wait,what?! What the ****?! And it ‘s not just this interaction; for the most part all of the dialogue is pretty uninspired and fails to carry the half-assed plot. It really feels like Capcom/Sega just wanted us to ignore the weak story and just focus on the fact that you can form teams of all of these cool iconic characters. If this was a Capcom 2D fighter and not an RPG, that wouldn ‘t have been a problem. But with an RPG, one of the things that separate a great RPG from a not so great one is the quality of the story. Ok, so storyline aside, the game play is actually not bad. Like a traditional strategy RPG, you form a team of characters and you take to the battlefield to beat on your opponents by performing super combos, ‘?X-over ‘? combos ‘etc. It ‘s actually pretty fun BUT the game does get slightly repetitive. I found myself getting bored after the first hour/ hour and a half. Bottom line: Unless you are a huge Capcom fan, I ‘d just rent this from Gamefly.

On the Tabletop

W.O.W TCG Monster Mage Warrior Control

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augh

Wait?! What?! A W.O.W deck?! Here at 2 Guys Gaming we refuse to let the World of Warcraft TCG die. Not only is it superior to Hearthstone (I hear the nerd rage already.), it’s now cheap as hell too! How cheap? Well, I picked up a booster box of the War of the Elements expansion for $20 a couple months ago. I actually made my money back just by selling one loot card that I pulled. Anyways, my point is that if you are not currently playing this game, or haven’t even tried it, do yourself a favor and buy a starter deck ($5) and give it a shot. (Kicks soapbox away) Ok, back to the deck list:

Overall Strategy

Pretty simple strategy really, just use Flash Freeze, Intercept, Behead, Menace and Terrifying Shout to keep your opponent’s side of the board locked down/clear, while your minions hit the opposing hero in the face.

The Deck (60 cards)

The Hero: Augh (Monster Mage/Warrior)

The Minions

2x Neferset Champion

1x Lockmaw

2x Pythisss, Herald of Frost

2x Pygmy Firebreather

2x Neferset Runecaster

2x Dun’zarg

1x Neferset Shieldguard

1x Mok’drul

The Abilities

4x Flash Freeze

3x Polymorph Pig

4x Behead

4x Intercept

4x Menace

1x Spell Ricochet

2x Dauntless Defender

2x Ice Lance

4x Terrifying Shout

1x Burning Rage

1x Monstrous Heal

1x Merciless Strikes

The Quests

3x Traitors!

4x A Bird in Hand

3x Spirits of Auchindoun

2x The Last Barov

4x The Fall of Neferset City

On the Tabletop

Good Ol’ Gruul Bloodrush

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gruul

Today, I present to you, our faithful readers, a Gruul (G/R) Bloodrush deck. I’ve had decent results with it (more wins than losses), but more importantly it’s fun to play. Which therefore means it’s good enough to share with you guys. None of these cards cost all that much either, so it should be relatively cheap for you to construct.

Strengths: It plays fast, and can be pretty aggro since your creatures pump each other up. If your opponent doesn’t have removal, things can get ugly fast. This deck has a solid mana base with some mana dorks (Burning Tree Emissary and Zhur-Taa Druid) sprinkled in to move things along.

Weaknesses: For once I’m going to have to say that it doesn’t have any specific weaknesses. That’s not my way of saying that it’s some world beating deck, it’s just competitive against all deck types.

The Deck (60)

Creatures (26) Spells (10)

4x Burning Tree Emissary 2x Ground Assault

4x Skinbrand Goblin 2x Magma Jet

2x Savageborn Hydra 2x Mugging

4x Zhur-Taa Druid 2x Titan’s Strength

2x RubbleHulk 2x Flame Slash

2x Fanatic of Xenagos Planeswalkers (1)

4x Ghor Clan Rampager 1x Chandra the Pyromaster

2x Zhur-Taa Swine

1x Ogre Battledriver

1x Ruric Thar, the Unbowed

Lands (23)

4x Rootbound Crag

4x Gruul Guildgate

8x Mountains

7x Forests

Digital Playground

5 Wii Games That You Should Be Playing

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“What?! Who cares about the Wii?” you might be asking..well first, nice attitude buddy, and second, well, you should care, because there are actually some really great games that don’t have “Mario”, “Kirby” or “Zelda” in the title and you might be missing out on them. Here are my personal 5 favorite Wii games:

hodscreenHouse of the Dead:Overkill: It’s House of the Dead. It’s shooting zombies in the noggin using Wii light guns. You just can’t go wrong. ‘Nuff said.

 

warioscreenWario Land: Shake It!: I didn’t have high expectations when I bought this game, but for 10 bucks I figured I couldn’t go wrong. Long story short, Wario receives a globe and telescope that allow him to travel to the Shake Dimension. He has to rescue all of the Merfles (little guys who live in the Shake Dimension) who are prisoners of the Shake King, beat the bajeezus out of 5 bosses and finally the Shake King himself, and rescue Queen Merelda. For doing so he will get a reward of a bottomless sack of gold (greedy lil’ bastard). The general goal of each level is to rescue the Merfles, but there are tons of hidden treasures and side missions to keep the game entertaining.

 

tatvs cap screen Tatsunoko vs Capcom: Ultimate All Stars: This is, in my opinion, the best fighter you will find on the Wii. There are over 20 characters between Capcom and Tatsunoko(an anime studio), to choose from. Although the gameplay is slightly less hectic than Marvel vs Capcom, it’s still really fun. The controls are really simple and special moves are a snap to pull off (ultimate combos can be pulled off by simply shaking the wii-mote). There are a good amount of mini-games to play as well, which gives the game a decent amount of replay value. If you are a fan of any of the Capcom Vs titles, definitely pick this one up.

madworldscreenMadworld: This game is something that you would never expect on a family friendly console like the Wii. It’s literally non-stop gore and violence. Definitely not for the little ones you may have running around. The visuals are all black and white (think Sin City) EXCEPT for the blood which is splattering everywhere at all times. The story is as follows: A terrorist group called the Organizers take control of Varrigan City and being the no good sonsab*tches that they are, force the citizens to participate in a really, really ****** up game called Death Watch. You play as Jack, a mysterious contestant whose main goal is to eradicate the Organizers. To do so you have get through all 6 sections of the city by brutally dispatching your opponents. You use any weapons you can find from signposts to chainsaws to mangle and mutilate your opponents. My personal favorite fatalities include throwing a tire over an enemy, impaling him with a sign post then slamming him into a spiked wall and the always fun throwing your enemy into a passing train. You actually get bonus points for doing sick crap like that. Yeah. It’s that kind of game. Oh, and the “game show” announcers are actually pretty funny and for the most part don’t get too repetitious or annoying and add to the overall psychotic feel of the game. The controls take a little bit of getting used to (uses both the wii-mote and the nunchaku), but once you get comfortable it’s not a big deal. If you are okay with intense violence and gore, this game is a must have.

murascreenMuramasa: The Demon Blade: This game is, simply put, beautiful. I can’t say enough about the visuals on it. It’s a 2D hand drawn (to look like a watercolor painting, I might add) side scrolling beat em up action RPG, produced by Vanillaware, the makers of Odin Sphere (PS2). You have your choice of 2 playable characters, a ninja or a princess, and they have different stories, different bosses to fight, and different abilities to unlock. You collect swords, (all told there are over 100 swords to collect and forge together) and can equip up to 3 at a time. There are no motion controls with this game, just good ol’ fashioned button-mashin’. Words don’t do this game justice, just go and buy it.

Digital Playground

Currently Playing…Vol.5

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mvc3

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (360): I was a huge fan of the first two Marvel vs Capcoms’, so I was practically kicking in Gamestop ‘s door to get my hands on MVC 3: Fate of Two Worlds when it first came out. Little did I know that I had just fallen right into the classic Capcom trap. Yup, those clever bastards suckered me with their infamous multiple versions of the same title trick (although this was forgivable)*. 8 months after the release of Fate of Two Worlds the Ultimate Edition was released with 12 new fighters and being the weak, weak, gamer that I am, I couldn ‘t resist the call of all that shiny new-ness. Mainly because I was disappointed with the initial selection of fighters they had chosen. So I gave my copy of Fate of Two Worlds to Shawn and rushed off to buy the newest version of MVC3. With the Ultimate Edition I had nothing left to complain about. It ‘s essentially perfect and rates right up there with MVC 2 (which is my favorite 2D fighter of all time). I really love the updated graphics, the gameplay is actually faster and more frantic than the second game, and the super combos are practically seizure-inducing. On a side note, Deadpool ‘s super combo (BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!), is hilarious. Speaking of combos, this game is really geared towards combo fanatics. With the one button strike that launches your opponent up into the air the game engine makes unleashing massive combos a LOT easier than MVC 2. Last night, I hit my personal best combo: 78 hits using Nova ‘(clears throat) ‘.against an AI opponent that wasn ‘t fighting back. Or moving. Don ‘t judge me. I’m not proud. I learned long ago that there is a big difference between practicing combos on a dummy and fighting a real opponent like Shawn. Even after hours of studying my strategy guide (Q: Who the hell buys a strategy guide for a 2D fighter? A: This guy), practicing air combos and chaining together super combos; I was no match for my buddy ‘s thumbs of button-mashing fury. Needless to say that strategy guide is in a box somewhere and Bradygames made my list.

 

*To be fair, Capcom was planning on releasing the 12 new characters as downloadable content, but because of the earthquake and tsunami Japan suffered in 2011, it significantly delayed the release of the content to the point where Capcom said ?Screw it ?, and just released a revised edition of the game. Although, in my opinion, I think they would have ended up doing it anyways. It is Capcom after all.

On the Tabletop

Calling All Collectors!

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Hey you! We want to see your collection of nerdy stuff, including, but not limited to: MTG cards (or any gaming cards in general), video games, ‘ movies, or comics (or any combination of the above). Each month we will pick the best collection and run a spotlight article on the winner. Please send pictures, a description of what you collect (quantities and/or highlights) and your answers to the questions below to: noobandblond@gmail.com

 

  1. Where are you from? (Just town/ city and state..no street addresses..cana”t be too safe, there are some godamn nutties on the interwebz)
  2. When/Why did you start collecting?
  3. Whata”s your favorite/most unique item in your collection?
  4. Any collectingtips or anything else you would like to say to all of the other collector”s out there?

Good luck!

On the Tabletop

Mono Green Ramp-Eldrazi Edition (Legacy)

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eldrazi

I know, I know, Shawn already posted his brutal mono green ramp deck (and it is brutal, take it from me), but I figured that variety is the spice of life or something like that, so I wanted to share with you, our loyal readers, my own mono green ramp deck.

Strengths: Lots of mana accelerators, lots of big green beasties, and some big ol’ Eldrazi. Once you get past the 5th turn of a game, this deck can really take over.

Weaknesses: This deck is designed to be mid range so aggro decks can be an issue depending on how fast they are.

 

The List (60 cards)

Creatures Artifacts

2x Ulamog’s Crusher 2x Scuttling Doom Engine

2x Hydra Broodmaster Spells

1x Artisan of Kozilek 1x Eldrazi Conscription

1x Pathrazer of Ulamog 2x Titanic Growth

2x Arbor Colossus 2x Phytoburst

3x Deadly Recluse Lands

4x Llanowar Elves 18x Forests

1x Nyleas’s Disciple 2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

2x Arbor Elf Planeswalker(s)

2x Boon Satyr 1x Garruk, Primal Hunter

2x Golden Hind Legendary Enchantment Item

1x Witchstalker 1x Nylea’s Bow

1x ElderScale Wurm

2x Karametra’s Acolyte

1x Primordial Hydra

2x Primeval Titan

2x Sedge Scorpion