Battle for Zendikar is such a terrible set. Even the casual guy in me can’t get into it. Sure, there’s Newlamog, Ob Nixilis, Gideon, and a handful of decent green ramp spells, but after that it’s just a set full of failed mechanics. Don’t hate the game, hate the set.
Speaking of Zendikar, have you seen the “Wastes” basic land card floating around online that’s a potential Oath of the Gatewatch leak? What do you think? Real or not? What about the Kozilek and Mirrorpool? Is Wizards really gonna throw in a colorless 6th basic land for one set? If they’re fakes, they’re damn good ones…
Rumor has it that we are going back to Innistrad after the Zendikar block wraps up. Should be interesting to see where they go with it as the first visit to that plane brought us some Modern staples. Will lightning strike twice?
Donald Trump, please go away. You’re a joke. The next time I see you I’m sure it’ll be on an episode of celebrity boxing..where hopefully you’ll get ktfo.
Who else is excited for Marvel Comics’ sequel to the Civil War storyline? I’m really curious as to what direction they are going to go in after the ending of the original (which is one of the greatest comic stories of all time).
Speaking of comics..Batman and TMNT is apparently a thing. I’m sure it’s going to be a fun read but a tad too gimmicky for me.
Getting the itch to get back into collecting comics..miss my old silver and bronze age horror collection. To this day Bernie Wrightson is my favorite comic artist.
Got a couple of deck lists coming your way in the near future. Both of which are RG aggro, one is Modern and one is Tiny Leaders.
Testing out my new Jeskai Ascendancy Storm deck this weekend. If all goes well, you’ll be seeing that deck list too. See? I don’t just post any ol’ deck..I playtest them first. Because I care.
Super Bowl Prediction #1: Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals (being a Pats fan, this prediction pains me).
Super Bowl Prediction #2: New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks part deux. For some reason every season this time of year, Seattle gets hot. Meanwhile, NE’s current injury issues should clear up just in time for the Playoffs.
Finally, I want to wish you and yours a fantastic Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or whatever the hell else you celebrate this time of year.
As you know, here at 2 Guys we go through gaming highs and lows..lately this gaming rollercoaster has been centered around one game, MTG, the godfather of gaming. “How can anybody lose interest in playing MTG?”, you might be asking. Well, It’s actually surprisingly easy when you don’t have the opportunity to play that often and start to question why you have 8 decks of cards sitting around when you only play once every couple of months. Add that to a fairly lackluster BFZ expansion set, toxic forums, and a general unwillingness to spend hundreds of dollars to stay competitive and it’s hard not to sour on the game. Two months ago I reached a new level of sourness, to the point of actually selling my entire collection (except for 3 decks in case the rare opportunity to play arose). Turns out those 3 decks were the game’s lifeline
In a past article, I’ve mentioned how Shawn and I met up with a group of fellow players and competed in a friendly Origins sealed tournament. The guy who arranged it, and whose house we met at, Joe (I’m calling him “Joe” because some people get weirded out about having their name in print), is an avid player who plays at area tournaments every weekend and has some of the most powerful Modern decks at his disposal. In the article I originally wrote about that night, I voiced my (and Shawn’s) frustration at how the casual games didn’t feel all too casual. This only added to our mutual feeling of “MEH.” regarding the game. Fast forward to a month and a half ago. Joe asked me if I would be interested in playing a few hands of MTG and watching some Football. Well, the MTG part didn’t really float my boat but I’m a sucker for beer and Football, so I packed up my 3 decks and decided to take him up on his offer. Even though I did somewhat better than I did the first time I played against him, I felt like I was starting to understand more of what it takes to be a decent player and also how to build better decks without breaking the bank. I went home that night and immediately logged onto eBay and bought a few singles that I knew would be key against some of his decks. Just like that, I was back in..but only to a certain extent, I still wasn’t as enamored with the game as I had been even a few months earlier. I had no intentions of building multiple decks as I knew that I still would not be playing the game that often. I just wanted to tune the decks that I currently had in order to put up more of a fight.
Since then, I’ve gone over and played against him a few more times, and the last time his neighbor (another avid Modern player) showed up to play a few hands as well. The atmosphere has changed from that first night we went over and competed in the sealed tourney. They point out misplays, allow me to take them back, give me deck building tips. It’s almost become a learning experience every time I go over. It’s still a different feel from the casual games that Shawn and I have but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’ve realized that to keep the game fresh and interesting that you have to be competitive to a certain extent. Instead of being frustrated at the Splinter Twin/Exarch combo, I now gameplan against it. Instead of being blown out by an insane RG aggro deck and being disheartened, I built my own to keep up, and in about half the games, out-aggro it. I used to hate mill decks, in fact, Shawn and I essentially banned them from our nerd nights, but Joe has a nasty one that he likes using and I’ve rolled with the punches. I’ve been able to adjust a couple of decks and put up a good fight. You see my point yet? What makes MTG interesting is adapting to your opponent, not just adapting to their deck, but taking advantage of any misplays and finding ways to incorporate cards into your deck that negates their win conditions. The constant game of one-upping each other has become fun for me. Even more fun is the fact that all of my decks are budget..it adds an interesting challenge for me to be able to at least be competitive with decks that have Snapcasters, Splinter Twins, Ugins, Karns, multiple fetches, etc..using decks that probably cost less than 60 bucks.
Update: Last Friday night Shawn stopped over for a gaming night. He requested that we play Tiny Leaders as he hadn’t tuned any of his Modern decks and wanted to try something new. I was happy to oblige and the night before I built a couple of TL decks. Turns out Tiny Leaders is really, really fun. We had two memorable games and we each won one. The best part was that in each game, if the game had gone to the next turn, the other person would have won. These TL games really helped cement my status as a MTG player for the forseeable future and it’s probably going to be the format that I’m most interested in playing for awhile. If you haven’t tried it, do yourself a favor and give it a shot.
(Editor’s Note: Wait a minute. Gotta catch ’em all. Gotta collect ’em all. I sense a theme here. I think that this slogan might just be a clever way to sell product. Has anyone else caught on to this?)
I don’t remember how the card game got introduced into the family. It’s been such a constant over the last few years that it feels like it’s always been there. Every trip to Wal*Mart now ends in the card aisle after a detour to look at toys and video games. We visit all gaming shops that we see so that the boys can look for any new or different sets and decks. After a couple of months, I pull out the box of cards in a futile attempt to organize them. Well, that’s not entirely true. I successfully organize them. The futility comes in keeping them in order. All of this has been going on for as long as I can remember. Then again, my memory might be fuzzy and confusing my time with Magic cards and even comics, as the experience with both is much the same.
Well, leave it to the younger generation to set us old folks straight with their fancy new brains and untarnished memories. After a conversation with Liam during the podcast, we cleared up the mystery. During one of our Cape Cod camping trips, I brought an introductory Pokemon set to see if Liam would play and enjoy the card game. I had just started to get back into Magic, but I knew that game would be too complicated for him. However, he loved Pokemon, so I thought that the 30 cards would serve as a perfect introduction into these types of games. Boy, was I right.
One of the decks had Machop as the main Pokemon and I remember Liam walking around saying, “Ma-chop-chop-chop.” He was so enthusiastic about it that he had me saying it.
He loved the game and immediately wanted more cards and how to learn to play the “real” game. So, first I took him to Wal*Mart because they were the only local store that carried the cards. Ever since the comic book store went out of business here, Wal*Mart is the only bastion of nerdness in town. However, as soon as we were able, I too him to Greenfield Games, which was the closest actual gaming store. I’ve mentioned them a couple of times because we do most of our gaming there. Admittedly, there was also an ulterior motive to the trip. I had just started to get back into Magic, as I mentioned, and I wanted to see what was happening with the game. It obviously didn’t hurt that there were other games to put on the wish list, too.
Those games stay on the wish list, too, until the boys are older or Chris and I are able to have more game time together to branch out.
Aiden and Quinn have both followed in the footsteps of their older brother. Aiden, especially, has gotten into collectibles in a big way. He most recently started collecting Minecraft miniatures and shopkins. Pokemon cards remain his favorite, though, I think. Similar to me, he pulled out the cards and started putting together a deck. We didn’t finish, but at least we are playing with the cards again. Hopefully we can finish our decks over the weekend (after I finish organizing the cards for the bazillionth time) and play some games.
I need to get back into the card game because I’m actually interested in the new expansion Breakthrough. Admittedly, I don’t know much about the current state of the Pokemon card game and I know next to nothing about the expansion, but they hooked me with this one. I’m sure that it is all a marketing gimmick. Still, the idea of two worlds, technology and nature, is interesting and the mind boggles with what they can do with that. That answer is probably nothing. I am an eternal optimist, though, and this optimism has yet to be extinguished.
Hopefully Santa brings some intro decks for the set and we can see if the hype is real. Naturally, I hope that it is. I haven’t played any magic except for some of the new BFZ expansion in Duels. I’ve been filling the void with Hearthstone, as I often do, but I usually hate (and I mean HATE) playing that game. Therefore, I need a card game that doesn’t make me want to kick kittens when I play it.
Don’t worry little guy. No actual kittens are harmed when I play Hearthstone. Only my dignity.
So, let’s explore Pokemon Breakthrough a bit more to see if it can occupy me or if I have to go make nice with Magic again. The set is an off shoot of the X/Y series, meaning that it takes place in the Kalos region. I haven’t had a chance to play the video games yet for X/Y because Liam and Aiden both have a save game on their cartridge and, well, there’s still only one per. I think I can find both games for $40 total, so I will try them soon.
Back to the cards. We haven’t ever been in Kalos in the card game other than the most recent expansions. This is the 2nd or 3rd card game in the X/Y series because no new video games have been released since that one. That, alone, might mean that they push the envelope a little bit more with this set. Again, there’s no guarantees. Magic seems to have backed off a bit on the power level with the new Zendikar, which sounds weird when you’re talking about Eldrazi. Nevertheless, this set is much lower level than even Origins and that was a huge step back. Not knowing enough about the card game, I don’t know if they need to make a similar adjustment in Pokemon. I guess we will find out soon enough.
I recently played against a mono green Standard version of this deck and I was so impressed by it that I decided to brew a Modern version. This deck is all about searching your library for multiple lands and playing them every turn until you can drop something big and scary like Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Gaea’s Revenge or something else that’ll ruin your opponent’s day. I did stray away from mono green and splashed a bit of red for DragonMaster Outcast, which will let you start producing Dragon tokens ridiculously early on. The deck can be weak against aggro, but is more than a handful in the mid-game. Warning: You will take a beating in the first few turns, but don’t worry, Jaddi Offshoot and Grazing Gladehart will keep you in the game and once you drop Ulamog or another Eldrazi on the 4th or 5th turn, the tables turn rather quickly.
If you remember, waaaaay back in September of last year, I posted our very first deck list, Mono Red Dragons. It was a pretty fun deck, great for casual games against non-aggro, and tough to handle in the late game. Well, consider this deck it’s faster little brother. It really shines in the mid game as opposed to the late, with enough removal to make sure the game gets there. The basic strategy is to use the aforementioned removal spells to keep the other side of the board clear, play Dragonspeaker Shaman and/ or Dragonlord’s Servant to get Stormbreath Dragon or Thunderbreak Regent out on Turn 3 and 4..and then keep dropping multiple copies of each every turn after. Don’t be afraid to take damage, the key is to keep your Shaman and Servants alive in order to play dragons faster. I’ve tested this deck list out against a modern Splinter Twin, a modern Slivers, and a mono green ramp and have seen success.
Howdy gang! I don’t have a clever intro this month so let’s just get right to it..
-It’s funny how playing MTG with competitive players changes how you play the game yourself. I recently joined a group consisting of two other guys who are regulars at essentially every tournament in the area. After a few game nights consisting of MTG, beer and football, we’ve moved past the awkward “trying to kill me as fast as possible” phase and into the MTG mentoring phase. This is a much friendlier phase where they stop me from making misplays and give me advice. For the most part I can hold my own against them at this point and it’s actually slightly renewed my interest in the game. Not in standard though. I’m modern all the way.
-Guess who has two sore thumbs and finally beat Soda Popinski? This guy! Who’s laughing now, punk?…He…he laughs..when he beats you..remember?…No?..Whatever, that joke totally made sense in my head.
-I recently bought a box of Dicemasters Age of Ultron from a well-known gaming company. Found it odd that it looked like the gravity feed had been previously opened. Even more odd was the fact that the box didn’t contain any super rares or chases. Hmmm…that wasn’t very “cool” of them.
-Finally got around to watching Avengers 2: Age of Ultron and I’ll say this; I thoroughly enjoyed it. Although I will say if the Avengers present at the end of the film is the line-up they are planning on using for the 3rd movie…meeeeh. Also I hope they do something about the make-up job on Thanos. Homeboy is Easter egg purple.
-I stand behind Shawn’s opinion that the Wii-U is pretty neat. I for one am hoping for a good Cyber Monday deal on one. My girlfriend loves anything Mario and I love anything Zelda. Win win. I’m also looking to pick up a PS3 on the cheap as well. Yup. If you need me I’ll be firmly planted in the last gen of consoles.
-I was pretty bothered by the fact that the next day after the horrific attacks in Paris, CNN actually had a story on The Big Bang Theory on their main page two stories down from the terrorist attacks. What was so important that it needed to share main page space with 130 people losing their lives you ask? Well, Sheldon and Amy will be having “relations” in the new season! Gasp! Whaaaaaat!! How was this NOT the headline story?! In other news Jim Parsons’ jugular vein finally explodes out of the side of his neck next season. Seriously, watch him talk, it’s disturbing.
-I should have a couple of MTG deck lists posted this week for you guys..one is a really cool mono green ramp (well it does splash for red, but only for a couple of cards), that I’m really excited about. Also I reworked the dragon deck that I posted last year into something much faster.
That’s all folks! Thanks for reading and as always we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave comments below!
(Editor’s Note: There was supposed to be aweekly series this month in honor of Thanksgiving and to fight, just a bit, against what has been called Christmas creep. As with most things around here, that plan has been completely ignored in favor of no plan. Hey, it’s part of our charm.)
A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article about the things that made me thankful. The list was incomplete and not only because I refrained from most mention of the usual reasons to be thankful. If I truly listed everything for which I’m thankful, it would come in much longer than the usual 1000-1500 word articles that I usually write. With more and more pages pushing video content, and the slow death of the written word as most recently evidenced by ESPN killing Grantland, I should probably refrain from such marathon articles. Don’t worry, I won’t. Because YOLO. Are the kids still saying YOLO? I really need to research popular culture more.
Apparently, Sam Jackson doesn’t think that the kids should be saying that anymore.
Nevertheless, I did want to take a stand against “Christmas creep” this month and it has proven difficult to come up with topics for this particular holiday. Unlike Halloween or Christmas, there aren’t a ton of Thanksgiving movies. You decorate mostly in a generic Harvest theme like you would if you don’t want to go overboard for Halloween like we did this year. I’m not desperate enough yet to do a Food Channel style “Top 15 sides or deserts”…yet. Stay tuned. It might be coming over the next few days. There’s just not a lot that defines this holiday other than the “thankful” bit.
One of the things that I mentioned in the previous article that I’ve been thinking about is the bit about this being a good time to be a gamer. The article didn’t specifically talk about games, but I’m narrowing the focus for this article. My nerd cred isn’t as deep as it used to be. I don’t read comics monthly. I’ve all but given up on zombies. All I have left is games. In keeping with the spirit, I present some of the reasons that I’m thankful to be a gamer.
I will start with the obvious. There are so many different types of games available and so many different games available of each of those types. Just this year, I’ve discovered Dicemasters and Heroclix on the tabletop, too many free to play games to mention via Steam and mbile (some that I haven’t even played yet), and Fallout 3 on the XBox 360.
I know that some of you will disagree with this bullet point. Two of my closest gaming friendsdo, but it is finally time. Given my near allergic reaction to the thought of facing Black Friday crowds, I’m not sure how to do it, but I really want one of the Wii U bundles. I know. Wii U sucks. It barely even gets mentioned in the fanboy console wars. Just another terrible Nintendo gimmick with no real games. Blah, blah, blah. Liam and I are unapologetic Nintenerds, though, and the Wii U is one gimmick that has us both excited.
I’ve often said that Nintendo just has to make a new Mario, Zelda, and Metroid game and they’ve sold me a console. Whoever made this picture, please adopt me.
Times are especially great for cheap gamers. I already mentioned the F2P and Freemium movement. Again, you may have different attitudes about those games, but I love the idea. Putting our differences aside, I think that we can all agree that finally getting a PS3 because they are so cheap is a great idea.
Fallout 4 and Star Wars Battlefront. I haven’t played either but I’m completely obsessed with both. The announcement of Fallout 4 had me more excited than any other game except for Portal 3 if it ever happens. Star Wars wasn’t even on my radar until I started hearing reports from people that it felt like playing the movies. Now, both of the games have me thinking that I need to find a way to get a PS4 instead of a 3.
Nevermind. Whoever made this needs to adopt me. Wait, you can both adopt me. It doesn’t matter if you’re both dudes, I live in Massachusetts and we’re totally cool with it. We could be like that old TV show. Full House.
Gaming led me to create this web page and other accounts as a result. It hasn’t had the reach that I hoped it would, but I’m having fun. Similar to my other writing, hopefully people discover and enjoy it.
Many of the games that I play have given me something else to share with my kids. Likewise, they discover and share games with me on a regular basis.
Still other games have rekindled old friendships, opened up aspects of friendships never considered, and have the potential to open up entirely new friendships.
Overall, as I mentioned, this is a great time to be a gamer. There are just so many games of all types that bring together family and friends.
This is the time of year when many stores, and more recently even normally right minded people, want to skip right from Halloween to Christmas. I’m not sure what is driving this Thanksgiving boycott other than blind greed in the case of the stores. If you are people, Thanksgiving represents the best in alliteration; family, food, and falling asleep in front of the TV watching football. I’m pretty sure that all of you can find at least 2 out of those three things enjoyable on some level. We here at 2 Guys Gaming love the entire idea of Thanksgiving. While we won’t judge you if you are an early Christmas riser, we will not skip over this month in favor of some premature “Ho, ho, ho”s. In that spirit, I celebrate the first Friday (2 days late, of course) of November by listing some of the things that I’m thankful for, aside from the obvious ones of family, friends, and pizza.
Pizza is the love that keeps on giving and asks nothing from you in return.
Twitch ran a marathon of Bob Ross for at least a week. I don’t think I watched anything else during that time. Watching has even inspired Quinn and Aiden to take up painting.
Painting happy little trees.
I love my job and I’m not just saying that because there are only five weeks left in the semester. Okay, I’m only partly saying that because there are only 5 weeks left in the semester. I get to teach all levels of math, meet new and interesting people, and still have plenty of time for my family. Plus, I’m close to the Holyoke mall and a great place to get gyros.
It’s a great feeling to be a nerd, geek, dork, freak, dweeb, or however else you define your particular lifestyle choice and have lived long enough to realize that we did, in fact, win the culture war. Games, comics, fantasy novels, miniatures, and cosplay have all infiltrated mainstream popular culture to some extent. Hell, even sports have been taken over by our stat crunching brethren. We are the meta.
I’m going to sound like a basic white girl here, but I love so much about Autumn. I’ve always been more about the changing of the seasons and so much is changing during this time. College football starts and finishes. The leaves in New England paint the scenery all sorts of colors. Pumpkin lattes lead to peppermint, eggnog, and gingerbread lattes. Fire up the wood or pellet stove and snuggle in to your favorite sweatshirt. It’s a great time to be alive.
I know that I said that I would skip the usual thankful stuff, but I think that I need to acknowledge this one. I’m thankful to be healthy and alive. I caused a bad accident on the way to work at the beginning of last week. Nobody was hurt, but I totaled the van and am still experiencing some of the fallout with insurance and maybe a concussion. But, I’m alive and for that I’m thankful.
I did a damn good job on this one.
See you next Fridayfor some more Thanksgiving fun.
(Editor’s Note: Against my better judgement, we are going to run yet another “Magic just hasn’t got the same appeal anymore”, but this one feels different. It just might be the last for a while as I explore other games.)
At this point, I’m not even sure that I can call it a lull anymore. I am simply not interested in Magic: the Gathering right now. i have bought over 200 dollars worth of product over the past three sets and haven’t opened any of it. Furthermore, I don’t have any plans to do so any time, soon. I think that is the most telling indicator that something is different this time.
It’s no secret that Chris and I go through phases. We are often excited about a set and what it can offer us during our monthly game nights. That excitement can last two months and has carried us into the next set. Theros got us back into the game on a regular basis. Khans had us playing Magic in some for or another right through until the end. There was the brief lull around the time of Fate Reforged. More on that later as is might be helpful in explaining the current malaise regarding Magic.
It started in a big way during the Origins spoiler. Neither of us found much promise in the explanation from Wizards that it “wasn’t an ordinary core set.” Hell, as card released, it was the coriest (is that a word?) of core sets. Sure, you got the flipwalkers, but other than that, what about Origins wasn’t a normal core set? Another Wizards promo screamed form the (basic) mountaintops, “This will usher in a new era for Magic: the Gathering!” How exactly has it done that?
I mean, who’s not excited for this reprint, amirite?
All of the underwhelming reprints? No, that’s absolutely par for the core set course. Scry is a permanent fixture? Cool idea, but who cares that it happened during this set. Scry was already a big part of the game thanks to Theros. Renown? Oh, please, don’t even get me started. I will sound too much like a jilted lover left at the alter on my wedding day. Before I knew you, I loved you so, renown. Let’s just leave it at that. Every single one of these represents a common complaint about core sets. Heck, even the aforementioned flipwalkers represent unrealized potential. God, do I sound like a teacher or what? Maybe I just sound like my old teachers. Either way, all they really gave us was another overpriced Jace to add to my list of cards I’ll most likely never get to play.
I should say that I haven’t played them in reality. Then again, I’m a blue mage, so reality is a bit of an illusion and overrated.
What about the story? You are probably asking at this point. Wizards made a big deal about that, too. Is that just a huge disappointment, too? Is there nothing to redeem this dumpster fire of a set? Also, weren’t you one of the ones that actually liked Origins? Let me answer those questions in the opposite order in which they were asked. First, I don’t think I ever said that I liked Origins. I had fun drafting a bunch (at absolutely no cost) and doing one sealed match with a play group that never materialized into anything more. But, I never bought anything more than those six packs and one fat pack. I freely admit to being one of the only players that enjoys BFZ, but I was never impressed by Origins.
In regards to the first question, you have a point. Out of all of the promise attached to Origins, the story is actually good and lives up to that promise. Story has never been central to the enjoyment of Magic and it still lags way behind as a reason to play the game, but I’m glad that they have made an effort to make it more central and consistent. Even so, I do have one complaint about the story.
Heck, it might not even be a complaint. It might just be an observation. I suppose it all depends on your point of view. You may consider it a complaint. Whatever it is, I find it odd that the only way to fully experience this renewed commitment to story is by playing the Magic Duels Origins game. Otherwise, you only get bits and pieces through the usual method of reading flavor text on select cards. As a gamer who prefers games with a good story, I’m glad that they expanded the story’s role, no matter how platform specific they made that story.
Honestly, I don’t know how else they would incorporate the story into the cards. Maybe if I figure it out, Wizards will offer me a job. Hey, a guy can dream!
I suspect that the decision was not a mistake. Even though they tried to make Duels more noob friendly and they mostly succeeded, the game was plagued by release bugs that broke the game to an unplayable state. By offering the carrot of a story in addition to the simplified game play, they hoped to pull in gamers like me who play games for those secondary reasons. Hopefully, if they find new players, they will be able to sell the other Magic: the Gathering properties to these players and increase their fan base even more. By all accounts, it seems to be working.
Now, finally, the explanation as to why things seem to be different this time around and why I may not come crawling back so readily unless it is to play the offshoot games like duels once BFZ releases or Magic Puzzle Quest when it comes out. I said earlier that our lull during Fate Reforged, which is the longest time we went between playing Magic before now, might have something to contribute when attempting to explain what might end up being our swan song from the game.
Neither Chris nor I found Fate Reforged overly exciting when it came to spoilers. We even had a conversation during one of the episodes of the podcast about how we crapped all over the set and it actually ended up being one of the best sets for competitive play in quite a while. Therein lies the problem for me and Chris. Neither of us has any illusion of playing Magic competitively and even actively despise the competitive Standard scene especially during the recent run of Abzan dominating everything. Competitive cards usually mean a high price tag and therefore I won’t be able to collect them.
I was a good idea, along with Siege Rhino and fetch lands. A game of Magic should go to time and feature endless durdling behind big, dumb idiots and multiple rounds of reshuffling decks. That is the non-stop action and strategy we’ve come to expect from the game.
While pros almost universally hate the new set, it still feels like Wizards is catering more to the competitive crowd with the new set. The inclusion of chase rare lands drove the price of boxes and fat packs to 125% to 200% of their MSRP. Thankfully, Wizards seems to have issued a reprint and I was able to get a fat pack over at the local Wal*Mart for regular price, but I did slightly overpay for my initial box and fat pack to start my collection set. Look, don’t get me wrong. I understand the economics of scarcity (barely), but paying so much for a piece of cardboard seems like the ultimate exercise in futility.
Hmm, draw 7 cards or two tanks of gas? I could also feed my family for a week. Tough choice, but I’m not signing on that dotted line in blood any time soon, Griseldaddy.
I guess the logical conclusion is that Wizards has whiffed, big time, on the last two sets. Pros have been not impressed with the quality of cards and only a few of them have been able to crack into competitive decks. Filthy casuals like me and Chris just don’t see enough here to keep playing or watching for the foreseeable future. As I end all of these articles, maybe I’ll find something about the game that will keep me connected and spending money, but right now I’m content with Duels every now and then and I’m sure Magic Puzzle Quest once it gets released. For now, there are many other games to spend time and money.
(Note: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a father and his two sons pretended that they were heroes in the Star Wars universe. They became friends, defeated Storm Troopers, saved the day, and lived happily ever after. Well, not entirely…)
I mentioned in my last article that being a gamer dad requires delicate balance sometimes. That article dealt mostly with the struggle to keep them away from games that are inappropriate for their age. This introduction represents the same struggle, though from a different point of view.
Several years ago, I found myself in one of the local gaming stores. I don’t remember the exact reason for this particular visit. At the time, I was just getting back into the swing of tabletop gaming and often went into the store simply to browse all of the golden oldies I remembered and the newbies I wanted to try. During this trip, a particular newbie stood out from the rest. I reached onto the shelf and pulled off Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG.
Look at all that cool stuff!
A couple of factors went into my decision to check out that particular game. First, I have fond memories of playing the Star Wars RPG with friends. If that had been the only reason, I’d have grabbed any of the D&D books because we played that much more often than Star Wars. Aside from childhood memories, though closely related, the kids had discovered Star Wars through Lego games and the movies. Inspired by their interest and my own nostalgia, I decided right then to buy the game.
I didn’t actually buy the game, of course. I’m the jerk who does my research at the local store only to purchase everything through an online retailer, most notably Amazon. Free shipping and a complete lack of human contact are appealing to a cheap and antisocial gamer like me. So, I ended up buying the game on Amazon.
More corporate shillery in a desperate and blatant attempt at picking up a sponsorship.
Unfortunately, neither of the boys showed any interest as they were both very young at the time. Still, the game looked fun and I put it away in the hopes that they might grow into the role, so to speak. It took them a couple of years, but they did me proud. Liam found the game one day and said, “This game looks fun, Dad. We should play it.” Well, you don’t have to ask me twice. The chance to play RPGs with a group of friends and/or family comes so rarely that I jump at the chance. (See the now defunct Roll 20 group that never even got started.) Not only did the three of us sit down to start and learn the game, we made it about halfway through the starter adventure.
The box set worked perfectly as an introduction int these types of games. There were premade characters in familiar Star Wars archetypes (Droid, Wookie, Smuggler) so we did not have to spend any time doing that and could get right into the adventure. The action started right away. Too often these intro adventures put you in a tavern and you have to spend more time getting to know your adventuring partners on top of spending time creating those characters. True, this one was in a cantina, the Star Wars version of a tavern, but immediately Gamorrean guards busted in and the action began.
When the pig men show up, you know it is about to become a party.
That action took the form of rolling dice as is usually the case in these types of games. However, instead of numbered dice, the game uses symbols for success and failure. There are also other symbols that can lead to overwhelming success or catastrophic failure and the game does a good job of introducing these and giving ideas of how to incorporate them into the storytelling aspect.
Being a writer of books and articles that are ready by virtually nobody, the evolving stories of these games are what hook me and keep me playing. Thankfully, both of the boys inherited some of that creativity and they helped to keep things moving. They were also silly at times as only kids can be and they had me cracking up with their own and their character’s antics. I look forward to finishing the adventure.
We had to press pause on saving the galaxy–well, really, we were saving ourselves so that maybe some day we can help save the galaxy–for some mundane reason or another. I might have had to cook dinner. Maybe we just reached our limits as adventurers and needed to rest after all that excitement. Whatever the reason, the session left me wanting more.
We still have to escape this fat guy so that we don’t end up in one of those metal Princess Leia bikinis. Trust me, it wouldn’t be pretty.
Not only do we have the final showdown to get transport off the planet, but there are other adventures to discover. In fact, one is mentioned to be available on the web page for the game but I haven’t been able to find it. (Update: Google saves the day again! I found it.) In addition, I suggested the idea of getting together with Dereck (one of the failed Roll20 companions) and his kids since they are friends with our kids, too, for a big friends and family group that can expand into other games as the boys get older. Liam has already inquired about D&D, which makes me happy. I enjoy other RPGs, but always come back to that one as my favorite. Heck, my ongoing (and currently in remission) addiction to World of Warcraft is no doubt fueled by its similarities to D&D.
I feel her subtle whisper in my ear once again as winter approaches.
I haven’t looked at the D&D beginner box set because I already own so much product that I can’t justify another purchase. Therefore, I can’t comment on the quality. However, if you have a curious new role player looking to learn about the genre, the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire set is an excellent place to start. I remember talking to Chris and he said that he went into Barnes and Noble to look for a starter book for D&D and was overwhelmed by it all. This cuts through all of that to provide everything needed to pretend to live in your favorite galaxy far, far away.
