Grand Dreams

It's been a real whirlwind of a week, so I thought I'd give my brain and stomach a break and pick the Golems back up with a few tweaks from  last time . In my personal notes from that event I had written that the deck tends to have some really clunky draws, so I attempted to smooth that out by lowering the curve just a tiny bit. I removed a 7pp Follower and a 4pp Follower for some 1-2pp removal, and added a third Merlin. Merlin Evolve (2): Evolve this follower.  Fanfare: Search your deck for a spell and add it to your hand. Merlin (Evolved) Evolve: Choose a spell that costs 3 play points or less from your graveyard. Play it for 0 play points. Merlin provides good value on a body for a reasonable cost, but maybe more importantly is a source of card selection in a game that is largely devoid of tutors and deck manipulation. It's such a solid card that we're playing it in the golem/earth material deck even though it has absolutely no explicit synergy with what the rest of ...

In advance of this week's ToUrNaMeNt RePoRt, a couple of cards caught my eye from upcoming releases and I thought I'd take the opportunity to pass swift judgment on them ahead of spoiler season where I will give my hot takes on all the new cards and see how right (or wrong) I turn out to be. I think for the time being I'm only going to bother trying to evaluate Rune and Elf cards because they're in my "wheelhouse" if I can even say that. Review System ★★★★★ Format defining. Grown men will pay a fortune for these. ★★★★ Solid. Can be built around/is always relevant. ★★★ Decent filler for an established strategy. ★★ You're desperate if you're trying this. ★ Wouldn't feed this to my dog. Wizardess of Oz Fanfare: Summon an "Earth Sigil". Add 1 to your [Stack], Draw a card. Quick/Activate: [Earth Rite]: The next time you would play a spell, this turn reduce 4 from its cost. This effect can only be activated once per turn First up is the somehow...

Welcome to the first, and maybe last, of a sub-series of posts that aren't about my vague recollections of a Shadowverse tournament, but are instead my vague recollections of something else entirely. If you're only here for nerdy card games, then just skip the posts that have "Pot of Normality" in the title, and it will be business as usual for you. This past week I had no classes due to it being the Autumn break, so I took work off as well to do some good old fashioned ToUrIsm before this country becomes flooded with bloody tourists after the borders open for realsies this time in October. Today we're talking about... Universal Studios Japan! WHY IS NO ONE WEARING MASKS? (it's a stock image) USJ is an absolutely sprawling theme park divided into themed sections dedicated to different popular franchises and their exhibits. Each section has its own rides, attractions, themed foods and merch, but also is styled in such a way that you feel like you're really ...

On a pleasant pre-typhoon Friday afternoon, Nico and I found ourselves in Hakata both waiting for our girlfriends to travel down to Fukuoka for the long weekend from their respective cities (huge flex, must be nice). His partner was scheduled to arrive much later, so he was going to kill time at Dragoon Hakata by playing in their weekly Friday afternoon event. By the way, Nico has started an Instagram page to share some of these experiences in full colour and HD, so give him a follow here:  https://www.instagram.com/gaijin_cardcaster/ I went along with my deck to help him warm up and with the intention of watching a round or two before skipping out. A few minutes before registration closed, I get this message:  Well well well... Don't worry unnamed-person-for-privacy-reasons, I'll find a way to kill another few hours... CUE THE ANIME OPENING THEME MUSIC!! Nico's Bishop Tinkerings 16th Sep - Locals - Dragon Hakata 6人 ~ Elf Control Not a large turnout, but some familiar faces...