Time to end the Hiatus

Due to various time/internet access/living issues, I haven't posted to this blog in over 4 years. I aim to change that in 2016 with regular updates. Things I'm going to be involved in that should generate content:-

Antics
Over the coming year I will be running events in Antics. This brings TO posts on
Competitive Heroclix
Scenario-based Heroclix
X-Wing Minitures game (including a store championships)
Magic FNM
Warhammer 40k Conquest
VS 2PCG
Star Wars LCG
Dicemasters
I aim to post on these events with an eye to talking about the running/organizing of them

Dark Star Gaming
A new gaming club that's opened locally. I run the X-Wing league there so will be posting about league considerations as I learn things. I can also use it to play other games, as well as play more 40k

Magic
With a couple of friends travelling to local tournaments, I hope to be joining them for more events and trying to get back into playing competetively

Settlers of Qa'Tan
An old friend is running a map based 40k campaign and has asked me to join. It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of playing 40k with him so this should be fun.

So..This should lead to more frequent posts. And then, hopefully, people actually reading this stuff :p

Kodama of the South West – MTG Resources by Sean Samuels

Kodama of the South West – MTG Resources by Sean Samuels

Article on mtgUK, where I list some good sites for information and improving your skill at Magic the Gathering

The First Week of HATE

Due to other commitments, only 2 people turned up for the first practice week of the Highly Antagonistic Tournament Event. Disappointing, but at least if that continues, working out the maths on the prize winners should be easy ;)

They played three games, using three different teams each. The first game;

Thor 150 fast forces

Loki 150 fast forces

300 points Asgardian theme team.

I'm not a fan of this team. It might be ok taking down a tentpole, but if the tentpole is able to take down Loki while a tie-up piece holds off Thor, then that's probably all she wrote. Equally, a balanced team probably tears Thor apart before Loki can do any good. Also, if Thor gets hit to his mid-dial, his stats are a little poor til he takes more damage. So a couple of well timed hits can mess up his day.

Nightcrawler 86 web of spider-man

Atrocitus 202 dc75th

288 points.

Again, this team is not so hot. I'm a fan of Atrocitus, but he can be beat down if swarmed. Also, Nightcrawler seems to not have much of a role in this team. Bringing people to the already mobile Atrocitus? Nightcrawler is good, but needs to be taking targets back to something that can kill the target in one turn.

The Asgardians won this game. I believe this being due to Nightcrawler not pulling his weight. Still, an interesting pair of teams.

Next game;

Benjamin J Grimm 100 secret invasion

Reed Richards 100 secret invasion

Sue Storm 100 secret invasion

300 points Fantastic Four

The LE Fantastic Four. I don't like either version of the Human Torch, so I'm not surprised to see him absent here. Sue is better than the Invisible Woman as a secondary attacker, and her trait is gravy when it works. Reed and Mr. Fantastic are comparable, the choice comes down to wanting Outwit or the +2 Perplex. Ben, however, is the weak link. Giving the team Toughness is nice, but The Thing is a much better primary attacker, which is what the team needs. Get the balance right, and the team is Primary Attacker, Secondary Attacker and Support Piece. But for that to work, all three need to be the optimum choices.

Jason Blood 44 brave and bold

Sinestro 249 dc75th

293 points

This is the epitome of tent-polling. A piece whose sole role is to tear the enemy apart,  and a figure who is there simply to provide re-rolls. A mid and final click of a power that stops damage and gives access to Regeneration makes Sinestro hard to take down. Jason Blood has the option of turning into The Demon, giving you a Secondary Attacker as well. This looks like the team to beat.

And it was, Sinestro took no damage (did I mention he has Quintessence) while demolishing the Fantastic Four. Even Jason was pretty much unscathed.

The final game;

Hogun 100 fast forces

Fandral 100 fast forces

Volstagg 100 fast forces

300 points Warriors Three

Like with the LE Fantastic Four, the problem I have with these guys is the original versions. While it's nice that this Volstagg gains Charge, and the special power on their final clicks is nice, the loss of Fandral's Outwit hurts them. I've played these guys against the originals plenty of times and the originals always win. I guess that doesn't make these guys bad, just not what I'd field.

The Atom 50 dc75th

Steve Rogers 99 captain america

Kilowog 145 green lantern

294 points Soldier

Steve is pretty good, but I think he's better at the core of a team built to benefit fully from his trait. Kilowog, on the other hand, is a beast. I'm yet to be disappointed in him. The Atom seems like filler, a slot that others can try for in the limited points left. With practice and tweaking, this team might be ok.

The Warriors Three won, though a lot of that was inability to hit when they were on thier final clicks. How much of that was luck and how much of that was stats remains to be seen.

So, a couple of potential teams have been eliminated. Hopefully, next week more players will show up and the metagame will open up. Equally, if the late-comers have read this post, they know what to expect and what the teams to beat are. Let's see what happens next week.

HATE

Due to being highly sort after by our many local fans of Nextwave, I've been inspired to come up with a great tournament series for the leader of the Highest Anti Terrorism Effort

Highly Antagonistic Tournament Event

As he is locally highly sought, Dirk Anger as convinced me to run a competitive series of tournaments for the "Succesful" Dirk Anger LE. So here is how it will run:-

All tournaments in the series are 300 points Modern Age

Week 1:-
The first practice week, bring any number of teams, 3 rounds practicing competetive play.
Week 2:-
The second practice week, same formula as the first, as you try and adapt to the percieved metagame.
Week 3:-
The final practice week, same formula as the previous two, but at the end of this one you must register your final team.
Week 4:-
The 1st week of competition, 3 rounds played.
Week 5:-
The 2nd and final week of competition, 3 rounds played.

Whoever gets the most wins over the 6 rounds of the final two weeks wins not only the LE, but a Scorpio Key special object. If there is a tie for wins, then most points within the tie gets the prize.
After the winner of the series is determined, whoever amongst the remaining players has scored the most points wins the LE.

That's two chances to win, so scoring points is as important as winning games. Go forth, in the name of HATE!!!


Each week I'll post details of what's been going on and critique on the teams used.  Checking these posts will be a good way of getting a jump on the metagame, or ideas for improving your team before the final registration. Wonder if the players will catch on to that...

Nationals Disaster - the true story

So, back from Nationals, with the sour taste of multiple defeats still fresh in my mouth. I've submitted a report to mtgUK, but thought I owed my regular readers (do I actually have any?) the real story. This is my blog and I reserve the right to rant and be emo :P

This year, the GB Nationals were held in Sheffield. Four days of gaming, trading and meeting people in the Ponds Forge sports hall. This marks my third visit to the Nationals tournament, and I sucked balls this year. Here are my tournament reports.

Thursday

The afternoon was our attempt at qualifying. Enough people entered that the top 18 would make it into the Nationals. Most of our group did well, with one of us (Dan Eggle) coming in 19^th. My personal performance was poor...

STANDARD LCQ

Played mono-White Quest. http://www.essentialmagic.com//decks/View.asp?ID=884574

Round 1

I've lost my paper notes,so I have no idea who the opponent was. He was playing U/B control. Crushing loss for me.

0-2 (0-1)

Round 2

Ben Flounder. He played Green/White/Black Pod. Crushing loss again.

0-2 (0-2)

I wasn't playing well at all. I was keeping hands I shouldn't have and throwing away games. I haven't been feeling happy with the deck since the Regionals. I'd been considering switching to Vampires but upon testing both decks, suddenly Quest was working. Despite a good performance the previous weekend at FNM and the M12 Game Day, I sat down with next to no confidence in the deck. 0-2 drop. Not the correct attitude for an LCQ. A result of the massive slump I've let myself get into and something I need to rectify.

Friday

I spoke to friends and visited the traders, then entered an Generic Grand Prix Trial, with the format being Extended.

GENERIC GPT – EXTENDED

Played original Jund. http://www.essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=888886

Round 1

Richard Bryce playing mono-Black. Game one, Sprouting Thrinax and Raging Ravine got there, with help from Garruk Wildspeaker's Overrun. Phyrexian Obliterator got played to stop me, but like all good Jund players, i had Maelstrom Pulse in hand.

Game 2 he mulled to 5, and didn't recover from his early mana screw. Blightning probably didn't help

2-0 (1-0)

Round 2

Rob Wagner playing Caw-Blade. Recognized his name when I saw it on the pairings. He writes for mtgUK, as was confirmed by both his t-shirt and asking him. Game one he crushed me with a Batterskull. Game two, we hard a hard, long fight. I eventually won that one. Ten minutes left for game three, he took it down.

1-2 (1-1)

Round 3

Dan Griffiths playing Dark-Blade. Game one is a cake walk. His life total goes 20-16-13-5-dead. I end the game on 14. Game two I'm hit by a flurry of discard spells and go down fighting. Game three, i crush him again. I think the standard blue-white is better against me.

2-1 (2-1)

Round 4

Craig Barnes playing Caw-Blade. Pretty similar to the match against Rob Wagner, but didn't take as long. Seems this deck is a weakness.

1-2 (2-2)

Round 5

Mark Pinder, playing Jund feat Demigod. I pull out game one with the standard beatdown plan. Game two and three i get him to 10 with him beating me, game 2 off the back off chameleon colossus.

1-2 (2-3)

Probably should have done better. Need more practice/tweaking with the deck but no-one locally cares about the format. Could be a lot happier with the result, but feel OK for a GPT at a high level venue. My biggest mistake, over the lack of testing, was calling an audible. I had a Green/White list built, that had won the Extended LCQ for the Italian Nationals. However, my experience in Standard had me craving a deck that was familiar and comfortable rather than one that had potential. While I love Jund with an unnatural passion, it's probable that the new deck was better positioned for a Caw-Blade metagame. I didn't even try and tweak Jund to take Caw-Blade into account.

For reference, here is the other list:-

http://www.essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=883839

Sunday

After a relaxed Saturday, it was time for one final day of Nationals. A group of us had decided to enter the Legacy Championships.

LEGACY CHAMPIONSHIPS

played Eva green http://www.essentialmagic.com/Decks/View.asp?ID=882866

Round 1

Ben Coleman wearing a judge badge and playing Hive Mind. My first turn Dark Ritual into Hymn to Tourach discarded a basic land and a Pact of the Titan. Big clue there to what he is playing. Used Sinkhole, Beast Within and Wastelands to keep him mana screwed. He discarded an Emrakul to shuffle his lands back in, but couldn't recover before i beat him to death. Game two i was getting in the beats and land disruption, got him to 4 life before he cast Hive Mind and Pact of the Titan for the win. Leyline of Sanctity left me a hand full of Thoughtseizes and Inquisition of Kozileks. Interesting chat during sideboarding about using Manamorphose as sideboard tech to pay for the pact costs. Game three he again has opening Leyline of Sanctity and combos off really early. The turn he wins i cast Beast Within, which would have killed the leyline. If he'd been a turn slower I'd have been in with a chance.

1-2 (0-1)

Round 2

Alistair Kennady playing NO-RUG. Game 1 we had a creature battle as i kept him off Natural Order. Dark Confidant gave me card advantage and a well timed Dismember allowed me to get in for lethal. Game two we got deck checked. My deck was fine, while he got a warning for writing Scalding instead of Scalding Tarn on his sheet. He won the creature battle that game. Game three he cast Natural Order and i couldn't stop him. Progenitus killed me.

1-2 (0-2)

Round 3

Andrew Jagger playing Zoo. Met Andrew last year at London Nats. He stomped me to death both games. As in standard, Vampire Nighthawk carries a Lightning Bolt magnet on his back. My answers were too slow.

0-2 (0-3)

Round 4

Had the bye. Spent the round playing against Dan Eggle who had built Battle of Wits but was unable to make it to the tournament on time. Went 1-1 against him. Game one he beat me to death with the Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek combo. Game two i hit enough disruption and large guys. We still need to have a game three at some point. Luckily he is one of the players that came up with us from Plymouth.

1-1 technically (1-3)

Round 5

Dan Perkins playing Boros Slivers. Shame to meet one of our locals on such a bad record. Game one he beats me to death with fast Slivers and removal spells. Game two i have enough removal and get some Vampire Nighthawks online while he is mana screwed allowing me to run away with the game. Game three is close, but he is flooding and i take control of the game. Dark Confidant is starting to kill me. I pop Pernicious Deed for two to stop Dark Confidant killing me and remove his lone blocker so Tarmogoyf can get in for lethal. Then remember Tarmogoyf costs 2 as well. Savage misplay. Luckily I'm able to recover with a double Beast Within on my own lands while he can never get more than one Sliver in play.

2-1 (2-3)

Round 6

Amar Dattini paying NO-RUG. I'd seem him playing in the Legacy GPT the day before, where i had seen him beat two of my friends with Progenitus. Game one i fought hard to keep the hydra from appearing and died to a swathe of Tarmogoyfs. Game two he found a window to cast Natural Order and i lost to the hydra again.

0-2 (2-4)

My record could have been a lot better, but i enjoyed this legacy tournament a lot more than the other i played in 2 years ago (10-Land Green). Want to tweak the deck a little, especially in the sideboard. Definitely a deck to work on and improve with, while i trade for cards to splash out into a more Rock/Junk build. This was my best tournament of the weekend, despite the bad result. Need more practice against the popular decks of Legacy and also want to change some of the cards in my sideboard. Choke doesn't seem to do much against the field. 

Basic solution to my suckitude: take a break from playing. There are no major constructed events between now and the release of Innistrad. Next month's FNM promo is Teetering Peaks, which I don't need due to the Premium Deck - Fire & Lightning. This will give me some time off without worrying about what I'm going to play each week, or if my deck is still good enough. Then I can re-focus as rotation hits. The overall goal is to do much better at next years Nationals. 

So, that's the challenge. Do better at next years Nationals. Through research, playtesting and hopefully regular writing for mtgUk as well as maintaining this blog more frequently. I want to either qualify next year, or at least walk away from the LCQ feeling like I had a shot. Then, Top 8 a decent side event if there is the chance to play in one.

I will do better....

Dynamic Duo

After two months off, and in the crucial fortnight leading up to MTG Nationals, I'm back.

Recently Heroclix has seen the release of the Captain America set. We've started the tournament series, and this week was 300 points Modern Age. So I built a team I've been hesitant about playing for a while.

See, after my review of Sinestro from DC75, I really liked the figure. Shortly thereafter, however, I had the opportunity to trade him for the Iron Man/War Machine duo figure. This was a character pairing I really wanted to obtain, but they came with a problem. At 300 points, the are a one-figure-army. Not really my preferred style of figure. But I do really like War Machine as a character and we didn't recieve him as a Free Comic Book Day figure. So, as much as I've wanted to try them, I held off.

This week showed how perfectly awesome they are.

Round One

Played against:-
Nick Fury (cap)
Maria Hill (cap)
Kitty Pride (cap)

Somehow, I won map choice, and since we are limiting ourselves to the Cap maps, I chose one end of the Helicarrier. This was a worrying game, as his team had range, Psychic Blast, Outwit and plenty of damage. However, no move and attack meant I was largely able to outmaneuver the team and take them out. Took 4 damage from one soak ignoring hit though(!)

Round Two

Played against:-
The Parademon (B&B)
Parademon Drill Sergeant (B&B)
and enough Parademon Grunts (B&B) to fill the points (4 i think).

This time, fighting on the other end of the Helicarrier, I took to the high ground, one-shotting a Parademon Grunt on the way. This was a push, meaning I was open for 2 full turns. By the time I had cleared, due to a combination of their combat values and my Impervious, the Duo had taken 1 damage. One activation of their All-Out Assault trait, and all but The Parademon were dead. Finishing him off was easy.

Round Three

Hulk (GSX)
Wolverine (GSX)

The Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This was over far too quickly. An Outwit and a Running Shot onto Elevated Terrain did 4 damage to Hulk. Wolverine bases the Duo. An Outwit and a Duo Attack KO him. Hulk bases the Duo. An Outwit and a Duo Attack KO him. Nuff said.

Still not a fan of teams where all the eggs are in one basket, but this pair nearly have me convinced.

Deathwatch Session 4

Welcome to the forth session of Deathwatch...

For easy reference I'm going to start using character names.

Brother Griswald, the Black Templars Sergeant
Brother Yoric, the Space Wolves Assault Marine
Brother Rathan, the Blood Angels Assault Marine
Brother Drake, the Dark Angels Devastator Marine
Brother Loker, the Dark Angels Apothecary.

The Planetary Govenor takes us to the Astropath's tower. Letting us in to see her, we set up a message to be relayed to the nearest Imperial Fleet and to our masters in the Deathwatch.

No sooner is the message being sent when we are attacked by hordes of cultists coming through the walls. Yoric uses his Flamer to attack one, backed up by Drake's Heavy Bolter. Their return fire dealt him some damage, but only just clipped Yoric in the arm.

Our fight goes well, but I trigger Psychic Phenomena, nearly knocking myself unconcious. Luckily, I manage to make my Willpower roll. We soon reduce the 3 hordes to their leaders, which prove to be just as little trouble.

The Astropath gets the message out, and we discover where the Broodlord's nest is. We plan our method of getting there and rest to remove our fatigue. The nest is under a Promethium Factory in the heart of enemy territory.

En route, we pick up a distress call from some nearby PDF in a pub. We reconnoitre the area and discover a cultist stronghold with several hordes and some Heavy Stubber teams. After missing 3 times, Loker finally fells one of the gunners, and the Assault Marines charge over to the other two nests. Drake opens up one one of the hordes, damn near killing half of them. The combat goes pretty succesfully, but due to time considerations, we take on the other areas of the stronghold next session.....