Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Ready, Set, Build!

     So, in my effort get back into magic more lately, I've been working on building a competitive Standard deck. I've always had a tendency to play white more than anything else, and I definitely didn't break that mold with my current construction, I've gone with a mono-white humans build, I'd call it loosely based on the meta deck haunted humans. It's usually a blue white deck, but as I've never really enjoyed either 1) playing blue and B) xeroxing Meta-game decks, but that's a post for another time. I'm going to go ahead and post the deck list, let you form an opinion, then write more about what I'm thinking about it. 

Standard Humans

21 Plains
     21 Lands

4 Champions of the Parish
4 Gideon's Lawkeeper
4 Thraben Doomsayer
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Elite Vanguard
4 Doomed Traveler
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
     23 Creatures

2 Elspeth Tirel
2 Gideon Jura
     4 Planeswalkers

4 Oblivion Ring
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Honor of the Pure
     12 Spells


     There it is, it hasn't been through nearly enough testing to say this is the final build. but after some discussion with a good friend and an amazing player, Barret Haskins (his blog here), I think it's at the very least a very solid start. The win condition is fairly straight-forward, it's pretty much beat-down, I can use Elspeth to keep myself in the game in case it goes long, or to help me mob the board with either cannon fodder in a pinch, or even some solid beaters if I have a copy or two Honor of the Pure on the board. I can also use Gideon Jura (who's a beast!) to 1) smack some sense into people, 2) as creature control to take care of any specific creatures who may be causing me grief, or D) I can (maybe?) sack him off by forcing my opponent to swing at him with all of their creatures, opening the door for me to get as much damage through as possible, even if he dies it's, as barret put it, "no skin off my balls", because I, if played the way it's supposed to, should be able to seal the deal on the next turn when they have no blockers.
     I put Hero of Bladehold in because, well, because she's fan-fucking-tastic a 3/4  for 4 mana that brings in 2 soldier tokens every time she swings. and for every 2 she brings in, or Elspeth brings in, or the Doomsayer brings in, or Gather the Townsfolk brings in, (see a theme here?) my Champions will get beefed up beyond recognition. 

     The deck should have no problems at all opening up quickly, with 10 creatures on the 1-drop, 12 options for the 2-drop, and then my power cards curving out nicely. So, between me opening strong, I also am running a solid amount of control and disruption in the form of the O-Rings, Gideon, Elspeth, the Lawkeepers and Thalia, who will slow their game (and mine, which is why if anything in here is possibly on the chopping block, it's her). 

     I feel like it's going to be pretty strong, I still need to tweak it and build a sideboard to gear it towards playing against the Meta-Decks. I'm hoping there are some solid players out there who may have some tips and or critiques for me. 

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Drafting like it's my job

     So I played in a booster draft friday at my local game shop. it was an innistrad block draft and we ended up having a total of twelve players, 2 pods of six (a bit unorthodox but was better for payouts). the draft started beautifuly for me, pulling enough good black and white to make a run for the top slot, or so I thought, the biggest pulls I made however, I'm sad to say were cards I just couldn't bring myself to pass, namely a Snapcaster Mage in pack 3. but thats not really the point.
   
     Set one was a real kick in the teeth, I was playing against one of the shop owners/DCI Judges. He had managed to pull together a beast RB Vampire deck, and scored 2 Stromkirk Captains. Game one I had to mulligan to 5 and was still hosed for mana, only being able to drop 2 all game and dealing a total of 2 damage.... moving on. Game 2 was much better, I had a beautiful opening hand was was smacking for 3 second turn, my deck curved out beautifully and I was able to get ahold of the minimal control I'd drafted to handle the captain he dropped. I won game 2 still sitting on 13 life. Game three was the best game by far however, even though I ended up losing. Both decks opened and curved well and it ended up being the most fun game of the set. Like I said, fun, but not productive, I was now 0-1 going into round 2.

     When round 2 pairing were posted I was the lucky(?) bastard to get the bye. it set me up as 1-1 automatically which is nice, but it also left me basking in the shame and disappointment of round 1 for an hour or so.  oh well

     Round 3 started with my deck opening well, and my opponents just simply not. he ended up scooping on round 4. it's a win, but I don't like winning that way, it's just not any fun. We kicked off Game 2 both pulling decent opening hands and basically ended up racing to deal enough damage, I ended up losing this game to myself, but thats what happens when you don't think your turn through and shoot yourself in the foot. Game 3 I managed a turn 2 Thalia, Gaurdian of Thraben, which shut down his mana light UB Control... and I wiped the board with his tears...

     All in all I pulled 2nd in my pod, 3rd over all, which pulled me 2 packs in prizes, out of which I managed to pull Archangels Light. making for a fun and profitable day of drafting, I promptly traded off the snapcaster for 2 copies of Gideon Jura and 4 copies of Doomed Traveler, all of which I needed for my standard deck (which I'll outline in a future post)

Heres the Deck I drafted and played:

9 Plains
8 Swamp
  17 Lands


2 Thraben Sentry
2 Typhoid Rats
1 Midnight Guard
1 Village Bellringer
1 Highborn Ghoul
1 Mausoleum Guard
1 Manor Skeleton
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Gavony Ironwright
1 One-Eyed Scarecrow
1 Loyal Cathar
1 Avacinyan Priest
  14 Creatures


2 Night Terrors
1 Lingering Souls
1 Wooden Stake
1 Tragic Slip
1 Deadly Allure
1 Curse of Exhaustion
1 Inquisitors Flail
1 Rebuke
  9 Spells

.....I'm BACK!

Hey folks, it's been a while and until recently I have been out of my gaming phase for a bit but that is at an end, I'm in tampa and have been getting back into Magic pretty heavily. it's been a lot of fun, and I'm really looking forward to getting deeper into it, my next few posts will cover the decks I'm working on, and some of the play and events I'm participating in. for now, however, I'll leave you in anticipation for posts to come.... or... something...

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Skylift


Been doing some work in minecraft lately, We're working on a series of floating islands (which have to be made by hand... ugh) and its starting to look really good, I apologizenfor the video quality, still need to buy fraps.... >.<


Thursday, September 29, 2011

In the meantime and soothing my rage

Okay, I'm attempting to soothe my Rage by 1) Occupying myself with another post, and B) listening to some MC Frontalot. If You haven't heard of him you'd be doing yourself a major Disservice by NOT clicking on the link  HERE Just make sure you come back :)

Now then, the new Post, The first one will be the Primer for the D&D Campaign I'm in currently. The Primer, and the Game in it's entirety is the property of the GM, Andrew Hill. He is one of the best GM's I've ever had the honor to play with.   here's the primer

__________________________________________________________

Welcome to Robinson, a place which is clearly not a heavily adapted version of my hometown in any way at all.  Let’s cover some common knowledge, shall we?


KNOWLEDGE ARCANA

Magic exists.  This was never a question.  Some people work with it every day.  That said, the in-born potential for magic is rare, arcane magic is difficult to comprehend, let alone master, and divine magic comes through a devotion most will never know.  The vast majority of people live their day to day lives without even giving thought to magic.  It’s an important part of the world, but nothing too crucial to day to day life.


KNOWLEDGE ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING

Brick and lumber are the primary building materials.  Buildings older than ten years are made mostly of yellow brick, produced locally, but the family that ran that business made some poor decisions and were forced to shut down their operation.  Lumber is now more dominant, for better or for worse.

Firearms to not exist.  Crossbows are in common usage in local law enforcement, though most area hunters prefer bows of the uncrossed variety.


KNOWLEDGE DUNGEONEERING

At the center of town, there is a monument built by the Clan the Five, famous adventuring heroes who all grew up together in Robinson.  The entrance to this monument is sealed by five magical locks.  It is said that the Clan of Five hid all of their most powerful and valuable items within the monument, leaving them to whoever has enough of an adventuring spirit to find all five keys and unlock the vault.  It is popular opinion that the keys are lost and that the monument will never be opened.


KNOWLEDGE GEOGRAPHY



1. The Square – The Monument is located in the center with local shops surrounding it.  The post office is also here.

2. Common Cane Plantation – This is a large sugarcane plantation that employs a large portion of the population.  Family farm of Jesse Common of the Clan of Five.  Nearby is the Chapel of the Angel.

3. Temple to the Protector – This complex has two parts: a place of worship and a community hospital.  Healers of the Protector take care of the needs of the sick and injured, though they must charge for their services, if only to obtain the materials to continue to help.

4. The Templeton Academy– The Templeton Academy was built by Nancy Templeton of the Clan of Five.  It is where local children are taught.  It is maintained by the worshipers of the Keeper, though it is their policy not to push their religious convictions on students of other faith traditions.

5. The Kail Club – This is a social club for the aristocrats of Robinson.  It was built by Herman Kail, one of the Clan of Five.  His mansion is located just south of the club’s land.  Many locals are suspicious of the Kail Club and its goings on, but since its members control most of the town, these suspicious are mostly expressed in whispered tones behind closed doors.

6. AllMarket – AllMarket is owned and operated by the Chuch of the Devil.  This is a well known fact, but their vast stores are extremely well stocked with a great selection and astonishingly reasonable prices.  Its appearance has done significant damage to the local economy, but it’s just such a deal!

7. The Coal Mines – The other major employer in Robinson, the coal mines are just that: coal mines.  Devotees of the Destroyer like to hang around here after nightfall, carrying on and wrecking things.

8. Public Park – Johnson Public, one of the Clan of Five, created this park after a conversion to the Disrupter late in life.  This park is a great place to have a good time, having fields available for various sports and periodic carnivals.  Followers of the Disrupter worship here.

9. The bricking industry once owned this land.  There is nothing of note out here.

10. City Guard Headquarters – This is the headquarters of the city guard.  The basement is a dungeon used as a prison.

11. Cooper Bank – Cooper Bank was established by Leslie Cooper, one of the Clan of Five.  It’s a bank.


KNOWLEDGE HISTORY

Nobody really cares much about the kingdom outside of Robinson, just like the kingdom doesn’t really care about Robinson.  You learned a bunch of stuff about it in school, but…meh.


KNOWLEDGE LOCAL

Robinson was established about 200 years ago.  About 6000 people live there today.  The only people of note to come out of Robinson were the Clan of Five, who moved back after years of adventuring and gave back to the community.  The last of them died 75 years prior to the events of this campaign.  Here’s a rundown of the Clan:

Jesse Common – Charismatic and bold, Jesse was the leader of the group.  He grew up as on a farm and returned to farming in his retirement.  He considered the most humble and down-to-earth of the group.  He was the last to die.

Nancy Templeton – Nancy was magically gifted at a young age.  She grew up constantly exploring this potential and devouring any information she could get her hands on.  It’s little surprise that she founded the Academy upon her return.

Herman Kail – Kail financed the Clan and was a good ten years older than the other members.  Kail was said to be harsh, even cruel, by some, but others would argue that he simply held people to a high standard and expected them to meet it.  Either way, his loyalty to the group and the community of Robinson was unquestionable.  Much less so than that of his descendants.

Johnson Public – Johnson Public was a dunce.  He was hired by Kail as muscle and he functioned beautifully in that capacity.  He was a kind and honest man, but he was a warrior through and through.  He became senile at a very young age and died trying to kill a pack of coyotes with a sword late into his sixties.

Leslie Cooper – Leslie made barrels and buckets.  She was a simple girl who did simple work.  The adventures are said to have changed her the most.  She returned with a taste for treasure and an itch to protect it.  Some laughed that she loved gold more than a dragon.  Others didn’t laugh when they said that.


KNOWLEDGE NATURE

Temperate plains and forests


KNOWLEDGE NOBILITY

The Clan of Five’s families are still around.

Common’s family still runs the plantation.  They are good to their workers.  The other families look down on certain members of the Common family because fewer Commons belong to the Kail Club than any of the other groups.  Gerry Common, Jesse’s grandson, is a very old man now but still the family’s respected patriarch.

Templeton had no children.  Her legacy is the Academy.

Kail was married twice.  The children of his first wife are still bitter that they didn’t inherit the Kail Mansion.  Regardless, there are a whole mess of Kails and most of them are rich, though some are much more so than others.  All of them, with the exception of those who have fallen from financial grace, are members of the Kail Club.  Shocking, I know.

Public spent most all of his treasure on the park.  His offspring aren’t too happy about this, but what can they do?  They are regular folks, if somewhat prone to boasting about their heritage.

Cooper had one child.  He had one child.  He had one child.  She had one child.  He (Fredrick Applewood) is now the bank president.


KNOWLEDGE PSIONICS

Psychics aren’t real.


KNOWLEDGE RELIGION

There are ten gods.  They are as follows:

God-god – Creator of the Gods.  Nobody worships God-god.  They leave that for the gods to do.  God-god has scarcely been known to interact with the world.  Some doubt God-god even exists.

The Protector – Lawful Good.  Teachings focus on the importance of community, interdependence, strength through unity.  Domains: Law, Good, Healing, Protection.  Favored Weapon: Heavy Shield.  Worshipped at the Temple to the Protector.

The Angel – Neutral Good.  Teachings focus on unconditional love, forgiveness, and not being jerk to other people.  Domains: Good, Charm, Sun, Glory.  Favored Weapon: Longsword.  Worshipped at the Chapel of the Angel.

The Liberator – Chaotic Good.  Teachings focus on self-expression, independence, and freedom.  Domains: Chaos, Good, Liberation, Strength.  Favored Weapon: Spiked Chain.  Worshipped . . . somewhere?  Does anybody worship The Liberator in Robinson?  Uh . . .

The Keeper – Lawful Neutral.  Teachings focus on following discipline, mastering one’s self, and preservation of the order of the world.  Domains: Law, Knowledge, Magic, Mind.  Worshipped at the Templeton Academy.

The Great Meh – True Neutral.  No real teachings.  The Great Meh is the mostly widely worshipped deity in the world and the most powerful after God-god itself.  The Great Meh keeps the balance between all of the other gods.  It does not expect anything from humanity and humanity doesn’t expect anything from it.  Domains: Law, Chaos, Good, Evil.  Favored Weapon: Unarmed Strike.  Worshipped anywhere.

The Disrupter – Chaotic Neutral.  Teachings focus on living life to its fullest and doing whatever you want, consequences be damned (frequently literally).  Domains: Chaos, Luck, Madness, Repose.  Favored Weapon: Dire Flail.  Worshipped in Public Park.

The Tyrant – Lawful Evil.  Teachings focus on the superiority of the worshippers and the importance of subjugating all others.  Domains: Law, Evil, Nobility, War.  Favored Weapon: Whip.  Worshipped . . . nowhere?

The Devil – Neutral Evil.  Teachings focus on getting others to betray their own belief system and evil for its own sake.  Domains: Evil, Trickery, Death, Darkness.  Favored Weapon: Trident.  Worshiped at AllMarket.

The Destroyer – Chaotic Evil.  Teachings focus on tearing the whole world down.  Domains: Chaos, Evil, Dementation, Destruction.  Favored Weapon: Heavy Pick.  Worshipped most often at the Coal Mines, though not by the miners.


KNOWLEDGE THE PLANES

Robinson is located on the Prime Material Plane.  I know, this is a shock.


All characters must be human.  No other races exist.

All characters must be one of the five NPC classes: Commoner, Adept, Expert, Aristocrat, Warrior.

-          Commoners are unskilled laborers and also most people.
-          Adepts possess some minor magical ability.
-          Experts are experts in their field, whatever that field may be.
-          Aristocrats are rich.
-          Warriors are better at fighting than everybody else.

All characters must be from Robinson.

All characters must possess an adventurous spirit.  This can mean many things, be it insatiable curiosity, the inability to back down from a challenge, or just the thought that adventure is more fun than, say, not adventure.  The possibilities are as numerous as are personalities.

All characters must have a positive social relationship with the other prior to the events of the campaign.  It must make sense that this group would adventure together.

__________________________________________________________

A little Nerd Rage

okay, I'm trying to get a decent copy of my Character sheet to put up here, the one I am using is great for USE but being in excel and 3 pages wide it's not great for displaying. I found a Great looking PDF Format Character sheet and went through filling it all out, then when I go to save it it tells me I can't save what I've typed WTF?!?!?!? Really?! I can only print it, that does me ZERO good. I HOPE one of you out there has an idea to help me solve this issue, I'm raging like you wont believe. I was damn near ready to throw the lappy when it gave me this load of BS......


Wednesday, September 28, 2011

A Late Introduction

Hello! and thanks for visiting!
     Welcome to The Biggest Nerd You Know blog, now before I go further let me clarify, "The Biggest Nerd You Know" is not my way of claiming any sort of fame or an attempt at setting myself up as the king of nerds. Those of you who know will also be aware that I stand Six Feet eight inches tall, and have the body mass to back it up, therefore there is a good chance I actually am the biggest nerd you know //unless you make a habit of hanging out with giants//
        Anyway. this is a new blog I'm setting up as a place for me to make record of the goings on in the nerd realm of my life, the biggest player right now being a very interesting, if still new, D&D campaign I'm playing over skype with some friends I knew is High School.
        as you may have seen from the first few Posts I tend to take my characters somewhat seriously, often spending much more time planning, diagramming and outlining the future and well being of my characters than I do actually playing him. we've only played three sessions so far, and have made decent progress, actually gaining a level each session so far. I will Post the Primer to the campaign here (as long as the GM who wrote it doesnt mind) shortly, I'll also be posting my character sheet as it stands now, at third level, and then weekly (or as changes occur). I also plan to outline the story a bit and keep everyone in the loop while also making record of whats going on for me to use in the future as reference.
    I'll cut this post off now and say again, welcome and thanks for visiting, I hope to see you all returning!