tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87277847676113914642024-02-20T18:11:50.984-08:00Tales from the Cardboard Jungletchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-60016980651155899572008-07-09T02:52:00.000-07:002008-07-09T03:50:50.865-07:00DCU Preview: Sinestro's Might!<a href="http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn200/dcuproject/SinestrosMight.jpg">http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn200/dcuproject/SinestrosMight.jpg</a><br /><br />That's the link to get a peek at this interesting card.<br /><br />Finished reading that? Read it again for good measure.<br /><br />Pay Willpower.<br /><br />What a clever use of the "Pay X" option introduced with Marvel Team up. Cards like this could make Willpower MUCH more interesting, and honestly, I always hoped we'd see that option explored. Now, through the dedication of a handful of serious Vs playing fans, we will get our first crack at new content featuring cards like this for our favorite Ring-slingers.<br /><br />Pay Willpower. Man, I love the sound of that.<br /><br />K.o. All stunned characters with cost X or less.<br /><br />If you take a moment to look at the printed Willpower on the various Sinestro cards released through the UDE printed sets, Sinestro's Might offers up some mighty meaty power on the whole. K.O.ing all characters cost 1, 3, 5 and 6 seems pretty good. And all you have to do is pay a little Willpower.<br /><br />Factor in some of the cards that bolster Willpower even temprarily, and Sinestro has the ability to off characters that cost more than himself.<br /><br />The art selection for this card is pretty spiffy, featuring a great view of Ol' Big Dome himself, with his holier-than-thou forehead leading the charge.<br /><br />Pay Willpower.<br /><br />What will they think of next?<br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-83312105771010963422008-07-08T03:20:00.001-07:002008-07-08T03:31:58.104-07:00Heat exhaustion is not your friendDue to overheating earlier in the day I had to miss the tournament. Friends I hadn't seen in nearly a year were there and I missed out. Quite the suck, I must say.<br /><br />So far, none of the posted winners have responded with contact information for me to send them their original artwork pieces.<br /><br />I've been playing Vs on my DS a lot more lately, since it doesn't require an opponent, though I DO lose out on a lot of sets. But I love making decks and trying them out against the scenario matches where the computer starts with something special in play already. My favorite matches are the one where you start with the 7 drop Wolverine and the computer starts with Mr. Sinister. I loved the deck i built where I try to give Wolvie a Forcefield Belt and put counters on him each turn. eventually you'll play a small character to finishing move or use War Wagon on mr. Sinister, but watching the computer struggle for turns to break through Wolvie's wall of counters is worth trying that out at least once.<br /><br />Another fun one is fighting against Master Mold. I was told once that you were supposed to get to start with 6 drop MAV Captain America in play, but that it was a glitch or mistake that left him out. X-men are my favorite team for busting that up.<br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-40063749898634813592008-07-07T03:34:00.000-07:002008-07-07T03:42:02.965-07:00Golden Age Bring Your Own Team event results and moreThe Golden Age BYoT event had a 6 person turn out. The top three spots were taken by Brotherhood TNB Reservists, Warbound and TNB Reservists.<br /><br />We got a little variety going and the event seemed to have been enjoyed by everybody in attendance.<br /><br />We are trying to schedule another for this coming weekend.<br /><br />The Winner of last weeks original art, Madam Hydra, is G'daybloke, who needs to contact me with his contact information.<br /><br />This weeks original artwork is my WarMachine image:<br /><a href="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/?action=view&current=WarMachine01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/WarMachine01.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br /><br />As usual, to enter the drawing you must simply respond to the thread featuring the image, in this case this thread. If your name is selected as the random drawing winner, you need to contact me asap with your mailing address and I'll get your spiffy new original art mailed out to you. Simple as that.<br /><br />Tonight I'm attending my last tournament in California, at Games of Berkeley, and I think it is a Modern Age constructed event. I'll be running my Avengers again, though my Sniper Shot deck (not the same thing that Eugenius was running, mine really is Punisher centric with dirty tricks up my sleeves :) ) is tempting me.<br /><br />Well, I'll post back how the tournament goes and what I ran and I'll remember to post a deck list this time :)<br /><br />Later, taters<br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-38373981231456458272008-07-04T05:48:00.000-07:002008-07-04T05:52:16.175-07:00Bring your own Team tournament!I posted the event to Vsrealms last week, and learned 24 hours ago or so that the next marquee event is the same format! Sure, the official format is a little cleaner than my initial idea for the set up, but the concept looks like a lot of fun!<br /><br />Vs continues to chug along like the little engine that could. The climb up the hill might be a little daunting, but that ride down is gonna be smooth sailing!<br /><br />The decks to beat in my eyes are going to be Titans Doom and Avengers, though JLA shouldn't be written off too easily. Battle Training ruins Roy Harpers day pretty good I think, and Pathetic Attempt makes Titans have to run a little extra tech to get around it.<br /><br />Reign of Terror will annoy many players, some for the first time in their Vs playing careers.<br /><br />But the heavy hits from the Avengers will scare more than a few teams in to hiding. What will be the big winner this weekend? Check back Sunday for that update as well!<br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-56110933038478441512008-07-01T03:41:00.000-07:002008-07-01T04:03:35.312-07:00My trip to Vs. Worlds or How to go 3-4 at VS worldsThe trip to worlds was exciting and I cannot wait until next year. New friends and internet friends mixed with old friends and a great summer time trip meant a good time was bound to be had. Even after all of the hoop jumping through that went on. Due to an error in scheduling somewhere onlg the way, I thought Worlds was the previous weekend than it actually was on. But after a little effort and the good word from a great friend, that crisis was averted better than anything DC Comics has had coming down the line lately. heh<br /><br />So, with Worlds gettign under way, I brought my nearly undefeated Avengers deck that was only losing to Silver Age and Golden Age decks consistently. Well, a little paranoia goes a long way towards figuring out where the worst play mistake to make is hidden. I underestimated my opponent in round 1 and afterg ettign him to -10 he knocked me down to -19. yuck. That set the pace for my first 3 games. game 4 was against a member of the best Vs website on the internet, Vsrealms, where I faced one of the moderators himself, WalterKovacs. Well, Walt had a rough trip to get to worlds and in our game, his luck hadn't yet caught back up to him. This was a macth up I actually practiced and went over many times, and ended our game on turn 5 with me having taken no END loss the entire game.<br /><br />I went on to lose my 2nd game after that one securing my place outside of day 2. Strangely, my opponent for round 7 never showed, and since he apparently had 3 wins, had he won our game he would have advanced.<br /><br />While I did go on to win a draft with a solid Hulk draft, the rest of the weekend wasn't so great for me for tournament play. But even as bad as the weekend was for me personally, it was worse for many of us around the world with the loss of Michael Turner, one of the hottest artists n the comics industry today. Mike's work had finally graced the faces of a handful of Vs cards and my pal Neil over at Darkseid's Revenge had planned to contact him about some more signatures, but as fate was having it, Michael was actually in the hospital at the time we were having that very conversation. Michael Turner will be missed.<br /><br />While we are on the topic of art, though, I'd like to announce the first winner of a piece of original art from my 10 piece submission series. Opticon, congratulations for being the random winner of this first image! Contact me and get me your mailing address so this puppy can make it's way to your door!<br /><br />And as promised, the next piece on the chopping block is:<a href="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/?action=view&current=viper02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/viper02.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a><br />A random winner will be selected for this piece on Sunday night, July 6th!<br /><br />See ya'll soon!<br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-60806410723212132602008-06-25T02:57:00.000-07:002008-06-25T03:07:06.756-07:00Long overdue: First Original Art Giveaway!With Worlds closing in quickly and my move becoming a little more stressful, I've been scrambling around trying to handle other business and failed to get this under way. For that, I apologize.<br /><br />The first piece being given away is the Sinestro Corps image <a href="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/?action=view&current=samplevsart01-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/samplevsart01-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>.Admittedly, I'm a little disappointed in the Superman's face, but it is what it is at this point :)<br /><br />To recap, I am giving away the 10 original art submissions I am using to submit my art to Upperdeck Entertainment in hopes of nabbing some art jobs with them for future Vs needs.<br /><br />10 original images means 10 weeks of giveaways. Nobody can win 2 weeks in a row. On Monday night, after I return from Worlds, i'll list the next image as well as the winner of the Sinestro Corps art.<br /><br />To enter, just post a comment to this blog entry! A random winner will be selected and notified of their winning, at which time you should send me your mailing address for me to send you the original art.<br /><br />Monday night I'll be showing off my custom counters for Vs and other CCGs/TCGs so be sure to check them out if you miss worlds and don't get to see them there for their world debut!<br /><br />Ah Sa Llama Lake Um<br /><br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-12364088374914292852008-06-12T03:51:00.000-07:002008-06-12T03:56:49.704-07:00Breaking the Bad Habit that is Stall Decks<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br />Ok, this has been irritating me more and more for a while, the crappy decks that remove your opponent from the game, and many of which aren't even cleverly excuted. Spiderman is great to see getting some game time. Too bad it's just to abuse his broken effects and not to actually play the game.<br />So my answer for that BS?<br />Starfire. Yes, Starfire. Sure, she can't do it alone, but that's the beauty of this stunt. Your opponent can't respond to any of it very well at all. So follow along with me and let's see how hard this is to do:<br />We want to play Starfire on turn 7. Period. She is our recruit. We also want/need Amazon to give you an extra resource on 7, so against a stall deck, you'll get to keep her around most of the time I think. We finish this trick off by using Netherworld Gift to bring back a Magneto on turn 7, chained to the start of the recovery phase triggers. So, you put the resource k.o. on first, then Starfire's stun effect. Starfire resolves, stunning the opposing field. Then, chained to the resource k.o. you Netherworld Gift Magneto in to play then recover him. This effectively locks the game out for your opponent who planned to irritate you with stall BS.<br />What do you have to do to make all of this happen?<br />We need Underworld teamed up with Brotherhood. We need Titans Teamed up with Underworld in case Starfire stuns and we need to recover her. Or X-men. Blink for instance would help out a little bit perhaps.<br />We need Amazon for her resource grabbing effect, which includes Thunderbolts into the mix.<br />Is this too involved? How can this all be done?<br /><br />As an incentive, the best designed way yo do this gets 10 free unused UDE points cards. 1000 UDE point store points. I'll make my decision for best answer by Monday next week. I'll post in Monday's blog and if you are that winning deck designer just send me your address and I'll mail out your point cards.tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-52013518883073377512008-06-10T04:44:00.000-07:002008-06-10T04:51:49.630-07:00Cracked some packs today...<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br />..well cracked open a lot of packs today. 3.5 boxes worth. First pack was a Black Panther 5 drop, followed by one of my best friends handing me the black Panther he opened in HIS first pack, too. 1 pack in and I already had 2 Black Panthers! I initially bought 2 boxes and 7 packs. The first 7 packs contained Captain America 6 drop, Cap's Shield, Avengers Reassembled and some more neat stuff. After the first 2 boxes had whet my whistle, I went back for another box and 5 more packs. then a pack of sleeves and 3 more packs settled my craving since I can't go broke buying cards any more. My overall haul was impressive and left me able to trade pretty well and pretty quickly with my buds to be able to build an inferior version of the Avengers deck that I'll be running a form of at worlds.<br /><br />This is officially my favorite set of VS ever released to date! Asgard is GROSS in this deck! Losing the Argument and Avengers Reassembled make Rallying a piece of cake most of the time.<br /><br />I won't buy more boxes before worlds, though I will play in some drafts and such when possible. Saturday in Stockton ought to be fun, I just can't go over board with my spending.<br /><br />As for Monday Night's tournament, I went a disappointing 2 wins and 2 loses, losing to a bad decision on turn 5 that led to a worse position on turn 6. Yeah, nothing good at all. Oh well, Saturday ought to be better :)tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-13664043837545182862008-06-09T02:59:00.000-07:002008-06-09T03:08:29.931-07:00Sunday night truthsI'll start off by talking about how excited I am about tonight's event. It is a tournament using no rare frequency cards in any player's deck. Rares are frequently higher powered, or at least very specifically powered cards. Usually. On occassions, however, they are open and fair game instead of finely tuned. Tonight there won't be any in any player's deck, so it'll be interesting to see what others come up with.<br /><br />I am playing a Batman cetric deck using the Gotham Knights team. The event is what they call Silver Age, which means that the cards to choose from are restricted even more than just by rarity, but also by how old the set is that the cards were released in. My deck is focused around removing my opponent's characters from play every turn. No easy task, but I've devised a few neat tricks to help that strategy along. Check back tomorrow to find out how I do tonight.<br /><br />Tonight I don't have quite so many truths to share.<br /><br />Making the right decision is nowhere near as entertaining as making the wrong one. But at least the right decision makes you feel good at the end of the day.<br /><br />Marvel Universe is heartbeats away from being my favorite set of VS ever released in the 4 years it's been around. A 5 drop Black Panther makes my gaming year!<br /><br />Moving cross country will likely be good for me, as I'll get to open a new store or buy out an existing store. Either way, I'll be self sufficient once again and my son will reap the rewards some day.<br /><br />My girlfriend doesn't "feel" loved enough, so I'm saying it here, in my blog that yes, I do love her very much!<br /><br />That's all for now. I'm salivating over my first 2 boxes of MUN to come in!<br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-41355648720767292752008-06-07T06:32:00.001-07:002008-06-07T06:39:54.736-07:00And the news in in: Black Panther in MUN!!So here's my take on what a few people have called lackluster: Just like the first Panther, his printed stats are either just below average to right at average. But played to his strengths, he is sufficiently above average to make him quite playable indeed.<br /><br />As a 5 cost, dual affiliated to Avengers and Fantastic Four, Black Panther is only an 8/8 concealed character. He does allow you to replace 2 reservists when he enters play and distribute two +1/+1 counters amongst any characters you control as you see fit. Well that that's even better than the old Avengers 3 drop, since this can make your 4 drop as big as a 5 drop and leave Panther like a larger 4 drop. Not that you'd WANT to do that, but it IS an option.<br /><br />I'm a much bigger fan of things like New and Improved, and if I k.o. my Marvel Knights concealed 1 drop Panther, I can recruit the 5 drop and give him the counters making him a 12/12 for 5. THAT is pretty awesome in my book.<br /><br />And with his Storm to back him up at alternating drops, this takes me back to the Ultimate Alliance inspired Double Date team. LEap-frogging your drops and continuing to make the next drop +2+2 bigger than it's supposed to be seems REALLY good to me.<br /><br />As a Reservist himself, Panther can protect himself from a multitude of effects by essentially hiding safely in your resource row until you need him.<br /><br />While I'd love him to be Visible instead, I'd still rate him as a 9 out of 10. The only thing missing from him for my personal wants is to see him with an equipment theme sooner or later in a higher cost character.<br /><br /><br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-55717259003001372772008-06-07T05:27:00.001-07:002008-06-07T05:31:52.177-07:00Drawings for random winners of Original Art work!By the end of next week, the weekend of the 13th, I will have finished the last of the images I'm submitting to UDE for artwork. To thank those that follow my blog even semi-regularly, I will be giving away each of the original pieces of artwork for each of my 10 submissions. One piece per week. The same member cannot win two weeks in a row.<br />How do you enter?<br /><br />Sunday the 15th I'll list the first image. Simply reply to the blog post featuring the art you wish to win. The following Saturday I will post the previous weeks random winner along with the next piece of original art! After that, you can contact me with your mailing address and I'll ship the artwork to you! It really is that simple.<br /><br />Have fun opening those MUN packs!<br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-67353737451231432342008-06-01T03:58:00.000-07:002008-06-01T04:19:13.849-07:00Mastering the BasicsThis is the Random Punks deck I'll be playing most likely on June 9th in one of my last VS tournaments on the West Coast.<br /><br />It is a very basic deck, but strong willed and solid through much testing.<br /><br />2x Elongated man stretchable sleuth<br />1x Dinah Laurel Lance <> Black Canary new wings<br />1x Aztek champion of Quetzalcoatl<br />2x Kendra Saunders <> Hawkgirl thanagarian heroine<br />1x Red Tornado elemental android<br />2x Plastic Man plastic fantastic<br />1x Zatanna sucoh sucop!<br />4x Katar Hol <> Hawkman death from above<br />1x Firestorm Ronnie Raymond<br />4x Aquaman founding member<br />3x Batman justice's shadow<br />1x Wally West <> The Flash keystone cop<br />3x Martian Manhunter founding member<br />1x Aquaman Lord of Atlantis<br />2x Wonder Woman founding member<br /><br />2x Hall of Justice<br />2x Birthing Chamber<br />3x Finishing move<br />4x Combat Reflexes<br />4x Magnificent Seven<br />2x Battle Training<br />2x Defend Yourself<br />4x Nasty Surprise<br />4x Death Trap<br />4x Home Surgery<br /><br />Originally the deck was going to use Shape Change and Batcomputer to manipulate the Shape Change outcome, but that was too complicated and too contingent on hitting Batman on 5 and hitting the computer and enough Shape Changes to make it all worth it Instead now, I'm using Batman and Martian Manhunter on 5 and 6 and Home Surgery to hold off the opposing army until Wonder Woman can come out to play.<br /><br />Thoughts and ideas are always welcome!<br /><br /><br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-47898465289719615952008-05-27T01:16:00.000-07:002008-05-27T01:41:35.799-07:00Mondaynight MadnessKill'em with kindness.<br /><br />That isn't a death threat. It is a concept that teaches that if you would normally wish to do harm, then instead, take the high road and attack the other person with kindness with vigor to match their own.<br /><br />Not everbody is up to that task. Getting mad doesn't do much for you. It does release bad chemicals in to your body that make it almost impossible to focus and think clearly.<br /><br />So instead of getting mad, get happy. Find the place that allows you to compliment your foe instead of insulting them. Hug them instead of hitting them. Find that warm place that will allow you to love instead of hate. From LOVE all things are possible.<br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-55346306624441363322008-05-25T23:25:00.001-07:002008-05-25T23:52:30.440-07:00Sunday Night TruthsThis is my first installment of the Sunday Night Truths series. This will be an ongoing series of posts relating to assorted Truths learned throughout the week.<br /><br />1) American Idol on the Wii is a LOT of fun. I bought it for my family and I and my step-daughter-to-be and her friends that were over fell in love with it in moments after it was started. Great family fun if people can stay good natured with each other.<br /><br />2) Few CCGs are capable of staying around for long because the people that excel at gaming can't help but look for and find "broken" (that is to say game effects that go so far outside of the rules that the game-state is left "broken") combinations and cause other players not to have fun, so they leave the game and seek something else to play. You can count the successful games on both hands, but would need a room full of friends to count the failures.<br /><br />3) It is far greater to quit a game than to lose a friend. The game won't stay with you for the rest of your life, but if you are lucky, that friend will.<br /><br />4) Build memories whenever and wherever you can. "The road less travelled" is worth the trip, even if only for the stories you'll get to tell for years to come. Besides, your kids'll appreciate you more for it later.<br /><br />5) Don't proport to know who a person is just because you THINK you know WHAT they are. Some of the best things are found in the strangest places.<br /><br />6) The next time you want to yell at somebody stop yourself and imagine hugging them instead of raising your voice. You'll smile and that will almost always break the tension in the mood. If that doesn't work, then imagine the most horrible thing you can summon in your imagination happening to a person. Then substitute that person out and a Smurf IN. If THAT doesn't make you smile, you need the time out, not the other person.<br /><br />7) Otis Spunkmeyer cookies are FAR too delicious NOT to treat yourself to a couple every month.<br /><br />8) Love everything you do. The practice of making something your own and loving it for whatever it is will make you a better person and you will grow for it.<br /><br />9) Live beneath your means. That's from a list I saw in Reader's Digest years ago. The concept is so simple it escapes many people. It is best exemplified in another of those gems, "Only use a credit card for convenience, never for credit." By staying beneath what you can afford, you will find that you are actually saving money over time. Your grandkids will thank you for that.<br /><br />10) Last on tonight's list we have this gem: Hold on to your family, not your things. People are far more important than things.tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-39831987092447709012008-05-20T01:52:00.001-07:002008-05-20T01:54:13.039-07:00It'd be a better day with Black Panther news...<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br />... But so far, as of today, I have none.<br /><br />However, I did find out that I AM going to be splitting a case with a pal, so while I don't get a whole case to myself, I DO get to build all of my fantasy decks in to reality.<br /><br />Yeah boy!!<br /><br />SHIELD, here I come!tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-73390248104319328432008-05-13T02:27:00.000-07:002008-05-13T02:37:26.830-07:00Losing to Superman... on turn 9!!?I played Underworld /Defenders for our Modern Age bring your own set tournament Monday night.<br /><br />I defeated a Spider-friends/ Syndicate team-up in the first round, but my opponent had never played in a tournament before and was reluctant to discard to his Spider-man's effect, since he had a handful of good cards. My hot play of this game was chaining to Shuma Gorath's trigger by using Red Guardian, then stunning her with Hawkeye so she would recover and ready and could be used again.<br /><br />Game 2 I defeated a solid Arkham build, but only just barely. END gaining team-ups saved the day this time. Hulk with help from Valkyrie and Quasar spelled almost certain doom, even with me randomly selecting my opponent's only 7 drop in his hand for his Killer Croc!<br /><br /><br />Game 3 I played against something that I don't remember right this minute. :( I won the game, but don't recall the match at all.<br /><br />Game 4 I lost to Superman on turn 9. That's right, gang! Superman laid the smack down on my Defenders/Underworld concoction. After a series of bak anc forths for the entire game, I made a HORRIBLE play on turn 7 and played Hulk and my opponent had his 7 drop Superman in hand already, locking my double Backed-up Hulk from even stepping across the table. Bummer. This was followed by his locking down Noble Kale on turn 8 and attacking me, and then locking Kale and playing a 9 drop Superman on 9. Had I attacked his protected 3 drop on 8 with Hellstorm, and then his exposed 5 drop With my Gigantic Hulk, I'd have faired a little better, but in the ned, it didn't matter, since he had 2 of the Superman END gaining plot twists, gaining himself 16 END between them. OUCH.<br /><br />Game 5 I lost to an Insanity deck that I would later confirm was misusing Beside Myself a little bit. Sure, I'd still have missed my drops that sealed my fate, but perhaps he wouldn't have drawn an extra 12 cards that game, either :)<br /><br />I'll post the deck list later if any body wants to see it :)<br /><script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-30581326038391477832008-05-11T22:09:00.000-07:002008-05-11T22:13:29.285-07:00The first 2 sample images for my submissions to UDE<script type="text/javascript">[IMG]http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/samplevsart02.jpg[/IMG]<!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3510325775152618"; /* adsense01 */ google_ad_slot = "7029439011"; google_ad_width = 125; google_ad_height = 125; google_cpa_choice = ""; // on file //--><br /></script><a href="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/?action=view&current=samplevsart01.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/samplevsart01.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/?action=view&current=samplevsart02.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/curtisleebrownjr/samplevsart02.jpg" alt="Photobucket" border="0" /></a><br />Well, as per the initial couple of art suggestions, there they are. There is a little more inking to be done, and a little photoshop magic to be done, but this is basically what to expect to see.<br /><br />Let me know what you guys and gals think. Harsh criticism is expected, though keep it clean enough for kids to read ;)<br /><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-87126710870260750252008-05-08T19:35:00.000-07:002008-05-08T19:40:51.556-07:00Late to the party, but better late than never...<script type="text/javascript">It is no secret amongst my circle of f<!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3510325775152618"; /* adsense01 */ google_ad_slot = "7029439011"; google_ad_width = 125; google_ad_height = 125; google_cpa_choice = ""; // on file //--><br /></script>It is no secret amongst my circle of friends that I have a fixation with the Marvel Team-Up ongoing plot twist We Had a Team Up.<br /><br />But while studying it again tonight it occurred to me that I had possibly been reading it wrong for months. Like most people, most likely.<br /><br />Tonight I realized that, based on the wording, you don't need to already control the character whose name you choose.<br /><br />"But what are the implications and uses for such?" Glad you asked. The benefits of being able to give a character and character cards you don't yet control team affiliations means the ability to get around loyalty as well as DUAL LOYALTY! That's right folks, We Had a Team-up allows it's player to offer the chosen character the ability to meet it's loyalty requirements with out actually controlling any of the chosen characters printed affiliations! This simple factor allows many of the dual loyalty characters released in Marvel Team-up to be "splashed" in to decks they might not normally be able to fit in to!<br /><br />Hellstorm just got a whole lot better!<br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-78868929922826356512008-05-07T20:31:00.000-07:002008-05-07T20:41:44.918-07:00Incompatible Hardware...?<script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-3510325775152618"; /* adsense01 */ google_ad_slot = "7029439011"; google_ad_width = 125; google_ad_height = 125; google_cpa_choice = ""; // on file //--><br /></script>While attempting to scan and load the images I started working on for submissions to UDE for VS (thread that takes suggestions for submissions to be found <a href="http://vsrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58224">here)</a> I learned that my new computer isn't compatible with the old scanner. So now I have to either take a photograph and post that in order to offer a snake peek at what's in the works, or I have to figure out how to get the scanner to work with the laptop instead.<br /><br />I've debuted the imagery to a couple of members of Vsrealms.com and they were both enthusiastic about the pics.<br /><br />Hopefully the finished products will delight most viewers :)<br /><br />Updates to follow!<br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"><br /></script>tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-2735343260873880242008-04-29T00:39:00.000-07:002008-04-29T00:57:13.166-07:00What to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. while waiting to see a Black Panther previewA couple of days ago apal and I were discussing how effective the 7 drop Thor is going to be. He thinks he's pretty much trash.<br /><br />This would be a VERY boring post if I didn't disagree.<br /><br />His number one point was "how could you possibly keep the kind of cards needed in hand long enough for him to REALLY be effective. And that made me think harder on the matter.<br /><br />Consider this:<br /><br />Avengers/ SHIELD team up deck.<br /><br />Turn 1, Squirrel Girl and a Shield army/agent<br />Turn 2, Captain America, chaining the Avengers new search card and chaining to that a 2 cost team up, bot from resource row. The team up resolves, then the search, searching for Nick Fury 3 drop, then Captain America rallies for a character, revealing Nick Fury, giving Cap, SG and the Army agent each a +1/+1 counter giving you a 2/3, a 1/2 and a 4/3 concealed. With Cap's Shield running around, you've got a very annoying character to hang on to here!<br />Turn 3 you get Nick, and if you are lucky, 2 more agents, or maybe an army 2 drop that hasn't been revealed yet? You can now flip the Helicarrier, returning the 3 one drops to your hand. This leaves you with a 6/3, a 4/5 and a 6/4.<br />Turn 4, you play Iron Man, and give him the Extremis Upgrade. Nick brings back 2 of the Agents, both 2/1s. Your opponent needs at least 2 attacks to stun Iron Man now, since you aren't likely to reinforce with Iron Man no matter how much damage you are going to take (moderately, any way) and if they go for IM first, you kust prevent the stun. Withi his 9/7 stats, he stuns back most every 4 drop. This also protects you from Punisher decks.<br />Turn 5, we hit our first mystery play.I haven't seen a 5 drop that we would toss in too this slot yet, but I'm sure there is a good one.<br />Turn 6 we want Captain America replacing the old one. Maybe New and Improved would be good for the deck as well, but we'll have to see about that one, right? Either way, Cap has the stats, the affiliation and the most impressive Shield to hold your opponent off with.<br />Turn 7 we get to Thor. Once more, SG shouldn't have had to die yet, thanks to IM. And she ought to have a little bit of UMPH behind her with those blessed counters IM has been giving her since turn 4 if we're lucky. Either way, SG should have been able to bounce your "In Danger" army guys back to your hand for 6 turns. That means that your opponent is likely in for a burn of at least 4 or more. That also means a chance to draw a few more cards, which could be more army guys or could be more combat pumps, the possiblities are entertaining.<br /><br />This is the backbone of the deck I will be building once I decide on how many boxes I'll be getting of this set.<br /><br />Well, I hope some of it was new to you and I hope all of it was fun to think about.<br /><br />See you in a few.tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-17681021091148572132008-04-25T02:20:00.000-07:002008-04-25T02:31:07.390-07:00VS from the front desk<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br />For the last couple of nights my closest friends have come down to my job to get to hang out with me and play some cards for a little while. Our games are usually pretty balanced and back and forth volleys of attacks and counter-attacks determine the final winner.<br /><br />Last night, I played my Furious deck after I sold off some of my "extras" like Black Widow and such. The deck did HORRIBLE. I didn't get my field lock in place even once! I gave my Marvel Defenders/ Underworld deck a dusting off and it did it's job laying smacks down for a few games. I played my other friend who is an aspiring jank-meister, and I have to say, while his deck is up to some evil combo stunts, when it goes off it is a force to be reckoned with. Fortunately for me, out of our 6 games, even with my mediocre draws I still won most of the games. He did get me once with a perfect draw for him and the worst draw for me (I only had Defenders on the table as of turn 6 and had never drew a team up all game).<br /><br />My surprising deck of the night was my League of Assassins Silver Age. It is Silver Age because I REALLY wanted to play with Ra's other daughter in the deck. Out of another 5 or so games, I discarded her twice and never got her in play once. I DID lose one of those games, but the rest, against Spider Doom Stall, I did VERY well, losing no games to that match up at all.<br /><br />Tonight, my pal played his combo deck again, and I played my Jean Grey Legend deck. Jean trampled him pretty seriously. He didn't fair so well against my Punisher deck either, and I had a HORRIBLE draw there, too. I never got a 4 drop Punisher in play, though I DID get to power up a Clayface 5 drop and then was able to play another Clayface on turn 6, since I missed anything else of value I could have played. My pal even flipped an Omnipotence against me and called Taking Aim (he meant Sniper Shot, but since I didn't have it I didn't bother to correct him about it either.)<br /><br />This weekend we are building Mini-decks and will try out a few games like that and see what we think over all and I'll post our findings back here for your entertainment.<br /><br />Let's go see what today's preview card is and see ya'll later :)<br /><br />OH! And keep praying to the Panther God that I get to preview a Black Panther card!tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-46177451408503968182008-04-22T04:39:00.000-07:002008-04-22T04:44:21.258-07:00MUN Previews abound!<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br />Well, so far we've really seen a 3 way split for the MUN previews. We've seen Cap and some of his support, we've seen Hulk and some of his support, and we've seen a lot of the Registration Support, including an extremely impressive Iron Man. But what about the rest of the 2 dimensional men and women that strive to keep the world safe, but want to wear masks to keep their own loved ones safe while they do it? Where are they hiding out?<br /><br />With another 5 weeks of previews roughly, we can rest assured we'll see some more of them soon.<br /><br />I dreamt last night that I had opened my first 2 boxes and had gotten no Black Panthers at all, then my friend opened his first pack and pulled a rare 5 drop Black Panther that was concealed optional and couldn't be stunned while attacking and hidden and had reinforcement while defending and visible. And the dirty bastard wouldn't trade it to me :)<br /><br />Here's hoping we get some good Panther-y news soon... hint hint...tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-72794720017850803632008-04-17T04:22:00.000-07:002008-04-17T04:27:19.712-07:00Sidetracked for a bit<script type="text/javascript"><!--<br />google_ad_client = "pub-3510325775152618";<br />/* adsense01 */<br />google_ad_slot = "7029439011";<br />google_ad_width = 125;<br />google_ad_height = 125;<br />google_cpa_choice = ""; // on file<br />//--><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript"<br />src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"><br /></script>http://www.spylounge.net/<br /><br />I just found out about a new grassroots action figure line that looks like a lot of cool stuff. check'em out if you get the time. Hit spylounge.com and take a peek if action figure collecting is your forte.<br /><br />I'm still waiting on word of the Black Panther cards from the set, and as this is Hulk week, I don't expect to see him this week. Here's hoping next week will bring the King to these very pages :)<br /><br />The Hulk cards are looking great, and should help bolster VS Marvel Universe sales greatly. I'm looking to see if one of my pals wants to split a case, since I'll be moving in a few months and don't know that i can afford to throw so much money in to buying a case for myself.<br /><br />Either way, I'll trade for any and all Black Panther Vs cards anybody has that they want to trade. Donations are also accepted. <br /><br />Thanks, and see you at the Roundtable Review later this week!tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-54191575338598293462008-04-15T05:30:00.000-07:002008-04-15T05:38:52.546-07:00So long and thanks for all the fish<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br />The new ability called Rally is creating quite the buzz in many VS playing circles. The opportunities to use this ability are wide ranging. The effects it can generate are, as of this moment, unlimited in scope and that has imaginations running wild!<br /><br />Back for the DC Legends events, I designed an Aquaman Legend deck that did only one thing and it did it well: Stalemate opposing attacks. Poseidonis and the 4 drop Aquaman were so hated for a few weeks that opponents seeing me hit Aquaman would groan knowing that it would be turn 8 before another attack phase could even possibly go in their favor.<br /><br />Now though, we have an ability that triggers based on the top card of the deck, and Poseidonis can not only get me back a card from my K.O. pile, but it can also help me to secure the correct card type for my next Rally effect in a given turn.<br /><br />JLAvengers is off to a good start.<br /><br />Mix in a little more Avengers flavor in the form of Captain America's newest 6 drop and his shield and your opponent's attack step might as well read "Do Nothing, maybe exhaust some of your own guys and then pass".<br /><br />While I'm anxiously awaiting some more Avengers related previews, I know other people wanna see their fan favorites get some love too.<br /><br />I'm undecided if I want to know what Black Panther does before I open that first pack, or if I want to have a deck ready to just drop him in to when he arrives. As I'm assuming he'll be Avengers affiliated, I'm wondering if he'll continue his Reservist them from before or if he will use something more representative of his abilities showcased in Civil War..?<br /><br />Will his abilities further this "Wall of Water" deck? Or will I need to build something else totally new to fit him in to?tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8727784767611391464.post-44401235371751487592008-04-08T02:15:00.000-07:002008-04-08T02:26:10.238-07:00How to start a fire with just a little Torch<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br />Take a peek at this Silver Age design:<br /><br />4x Shadowcat<br />2x Wild Child<br />4x Silver Surfer 2 drop<br />2x Captain America 2 drop<br />4x Black Panther 3 drop MK<br />2x Captain America 3 drop mhg<br />4x Human Torch secret avenger<br />3x Daredevil MEX<br />1x Captain America MLV<br />1x Captain America 6 drop MUN<br />3x Silver Surfer 6 drop MTU<br />1x Captain America 7 drop mtu<br />1x Silver Surfer 7 drop MEX<br />1x Silver Surfer 8 drop MLV<br />1x Galactus 9 drop<br />1x Silver Surfer 11 drop<br /><br />4x We had a team up<br />4x Kindred Spirits<br />4x Mobilize<br />4x To me my xmen<br />4x Neighborhood Watch<br /><br />2x Surfer's Board<br />1x Ultimate Nullifier mex<br />1x Captain America's shield<br />1x Ego Gem<br /><br />3x elemental converters<br />2x new baxter building<br /><br />There's bound to be a bunch of points along the way that can be finely tuned, but this is what I'm thinking after just seeing Human Torch's premiere.tchallahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00775751377708744147noreply@blogger.com0