SpartanNerd…Dual Deck Anthology Vacation matchups.

July 7, 2015 by SpartanNerd

The only Magic cards I took with me on my recent vacation was pre-constructed decks. I took the entire Duel Deck Anthology box, and stuffed it with loads of Commander, other duel decks, and the solitaire decks. The box was great for transporting my cards! (I removed the tray for the first time, and discovered a Serial Number!

I held two memorable Duel Deck matches with the SpartanKid, before our interest shifted to testing the French Dark Ascension deck I purchased.

Following is a record of what happened during those two matches!

Elves Vs. Liliana

The match was generally unfair at first. I was piloting Liliana, of course, and knew what I was up against. I kept a hand full of removal! I knew it would be important to keep as many elves from sticking to the board as possible. At around turn six, the SpartanKid wasn’t having any fun. He began saying,”This isn’t fair!” Deathgreeter ensured that I kept gaining life as creatures died. Lucky for him, I was out of removal. But I had Enslave ready because I knew eventually the SpartanKid would try for Allosaurus Rider, one of the Elf deck’s most insane cards, controlled by one of Liliana’s most broken cards!

True to form, he played that Allosaurus Rider, and then I hit it with Enslave. .

It was Lys Alana, Huntmaster that landed next, and I had no response. The game became very grindy, eventually getting lots of traction for the elf deck. That Allosaurus Rider went down to the Voice of the Woods token.

Down but not out, I cast Rise from the Grave, getting the Allosaurus Rider back, and even better than ever late in the game, with ten lands on the field!

But all of this effort was not removal. Imperious Perfect and Ambush Commander hit the battlefield, and the game was pretty much over. In fact, Liliana Vess was the final thing I cast. Too little, too late. It was GG. Elves took the victory! I was two turns away from Mutilate, which would have totally shifted the game back in Liliana’s favor.

Later, we would play Divine vs. Liliana.

It all seemed grim. The Angels were truly beating down Liliana’s deck. (Recently, when I read the fiction put on the Mothership Site, Liliana would remark that Angels were “goody two-shoes.”)

Then I drew Liliana, and used her to tutor up Mutilate in the face of Twilight Shepherd and Akroma. But Twilight Shepherd has that pesky persist ability, and also brings things back to the battlefield from the graveyard that died on the same turn.

And that was pretty much it. The Divine Deck truly is a casual masterpiece of destruction! Really, almost none of the decks can stand against them except for Jace and Chandra…Jace who controls and cancels and bounces angels, and chandra who burns everything except Akroma, (but it doesn’t matter, because it takes so long to cast Akroma. However, the life gain of the Divine deck can be frustrating against burn.)

(I posted a review of matches between Liliana and the Angels once before, and had different things to say…)

The Duel Deck Anthology has proven to be one of the greatest gifts for a Magic player. It was reasonably priced. Resaonably rare. Reasonably cool. And nicely archival. I hope the Wizards release more of these Anthologys in the future. I am a dedicated purchaser at this point!

SpartanNerd Vintage Unboxing and Review…”Obscure Ascension” Magic the Gathering Event Deck (Dark Ascension, French)

July 4, 2015 by SpartanNerd

The SpartanNerd has been on vacation! In case any readers haven’t figured that out! I have been shopping at places not local to Spartanburg. I was looking for things I have never seen, or can’t get here. No luck in some cases. For instance, I would like a Star Wars Black Darth Maul.

At White Widow Games in Myrtle Beach, SC, I came across this gem. It is the Dark Ascension Event Deck, only entirely in FRENCH! A truly unique find. And only $20! Maybe the only one in South Carolina. SEALED! I have reviewed many Magic the Gathering Event Decks… Keep on reading to see how this one measures up! This is the oldest event deck I have ever reviewed.

“Obscure Ascension” means “Dark Ascension.” I have limited, and generally negative, experience with the French language. Just some singing in college that kicked my butt! Interesting that the word “Obscure” equals “Dark.” But that kind of makes sense, right? The French would probably only use “dark” for absence of light, rather than meaning “mysteriously evil.” One thing I picked up from the study of foreign language, is that English is just about the only language to have tons of different meanings for the same word.

The back has all of this French wording. I have no idea what it says. Probably similar to what is on the back of the other event decks I have reviewed. “The right deck for now. Jump right in…this deck is competitive.” They generally aren’t, however. This deck is actually titled “Flammes Espiegel.” “Flames of Joy,” or “Flames of Glee.” Something like that.

So it is a burn deck.

You get the exact same crummy box that the other event decks come in. As much as I am down on them, I use them! Here you can see what it looks like on the inside when you first open it.

Here are the contents. A deck with a sideboard, two pieces of paper…one a guide to playing Magic, and the other a guide to playing this deck. Both in French, so I can’t read them. Then there is the handy divider and the life counter, which has the Dark Ascension expansion symbol on the number 20.

I just threw away the guide to playing. It probably says “You are a planeswalker!” in French. I don’t have to be told that anymore!

This deck is a mono-red deck. A little odd..most of the Event decks I have reviewed are two color decks. There are 21 mountains in this deck, each with the word “Montagne” across the top, and the text “Terrain de base: montagne”. The lands are the same lands from the Innistraad block.

You get five utility lands, including…WHAT’s THAT?!!! “Nexus des enormities”…Where have I seen this…? KABAAM!

“Ink moth Nexus.” TWO COPIES! Basically one of the greatest “man-lands” ever printed. You can pay one colorless to transform it into a 1/1 flyer with infect.

These two cards make the deck TRIPLE THE VALUE of what I paid for it! So, the SpartanNerd is a happy boy!

The other three lands are “Haunted Fengraf.” You can pay three, sac the land, and return a creature to your hand.

The creatures in this deck…I will just tell you who they are and what they do.

Forge Devil, top left. When he enters the battlefield, you take a damage, as well as target creature.

Goblin Arsonist, top middle, When he dies, target player loses one life.

Top right, Flameslinger Goblin. tap him to send one damage to target player.

Goblin Gaveleer, bottom left, he gets an extra +2/+0 for each equipment attached to him. He also has trample.

Torch Fiend, bottom middle, pay a red mana, sacrifice him, and destroy target artifact.

Hellrider, bottom right. the largest creature and about the highest mana cost in the deck. He sends one damage to target player for each attacking creature. He also has haste! Not currently a valuable card. However, back close to the time Innistraad block was about to rotate out, he was fairly valuable. About a twelve dollar card.

So studying the creatures reveals to us that this deck is not only a burn deck, but almost a a Goblin Tribal deck as well. And the creatures here exist for the sole purpose of smash, destroy, and damage.

The other main-deck spells are…

Infiltration Lens, top left, whenever equipped creature becomes blocked by a creature, draw two cards. An artifact equipment.

Faithless Looting, top middle, draw two cards, then discard two cards. This one’s french name almost threw me…”Pillage sans foi.” My thought was “Pillar of Flame.” But that didn’t seem right…as the art didn’t seem to indicate it. So I looked it up. This is the card that really helped me figure out how to translate the others!

Goblin Grenade. Top right. A sorcery, and one of your main game plans. Sac a goblin, send five damage to your opponent. The beautiful thing to do is attack first with Goblin Arsonist, who they generally avoid blocking, then in second main phase sacrifice him to Goblin Grenade. BAM. Seven damage.

Curse of the Stalked Prey. Bottom left. Aura Curse. You enchant your opponent, and then any creatures that hit them get a +1/+1 counter.

Brimstone Volley, bottom center. Your other “main plan.” An instant with a “morbid” trigger. Three damage to target creature or player. But if something had already died this turn, then the spell does five damage instead!

Artillerize, bottom right Sacrifice an artifact or creature as an additional cost, and then Artilleries deals five damage to target creature or player!

Playing the Deck

Playing this deck means using the goblins, and maximizing value with them by sacrificing them in many cases.

I like how solidly focused on that goal the deck is! You have four copies of most creatures! And four copies of other things you need, like Artillerize and Brimstone Volley!

This deck could be a little stronger if it used “Lightning Bolt.” But I’m thinking that wasn’t allowed in Standard at the time. Maybe a way to appease burn players who had recently lost their Lightning Bolts.

In its day, it probably was a great Standard deck!

There is a sideboard…

Gut Shot, top left, a card with pharexian mana as the cost. At instant speed, you get one damage to target creature or player.

Torpor orb, top center, this prevents “enters the battlefield” triggers from happening. Important!

Act of Treason, top right, gain control of the opponents creature, untap it, and give it haste. Then use it as your attacker for this turn! Or even sacrifice it!

Arc Trail, bottom left, deals two damage to target creature or player, and one damage to another target creature or player. Another card with four copies!

Dismember, bottom middle, the only black card in this deck, uses pherexian mana, and is handy to get an indestructible creature. (Target creature gets -5/-5 until the end of turn.) This card is currently a popular choice; it was re-printed in Modern Masters 2015!

Into the Core, exile two target artifacts.

Thinking back to what I know, this sideboard addresses affinity decks, cards with indisctructible, and land destruction., giving you something to do using Pharexian mana. At the time of Innistrad/Scars of Mirrodin, this would have been really sound. Scars was really before my time of playing Magic. But I am somewhat aware of “Caw Blade.”

SpartanNerd Thoughts on “Dark Ascension Event Deck.”

I don’t play burn. And I don’t play infect. (Infect isn’t the main plan of this deck. The Inkmoth Nexus is here so you can be assured to have a creature to sac..)

The SpartanTeen used to play burn, and Goblins when he used to play MTG. If he ever comes back, he can use this deck!

I’ll admit, though, it is a fun deck to play. I was tempted to take it to the Modern Tournament, just for its fun, and to test it some more for this review. But I really wanted to win Path to Exile, (and I did! With Esper Reanimator Control.)

This deck stands up against most of the pre-constructed decks I own.

It has beaten Elves (From the Duel Deck Anthology) as well as the Angel deck. It has beaten the Monsters deck from Heroes vs. Monsters. Not that it hasn’t lost some to these decks as well. But it is competitive against them. Oh yes. It beat Chandra from Jace vs. Chandra as well! That’s burn vs. burn!

Changing the deck

How could we update or change it for Modern? First of all, I believe switching the strategy from Artillerize to Lightning bolt will be important. Then maybe switching out Infiltration lens to faithless looting for card draw. Then updating the creature bombs some.I would avoid any Planeswalkers. I can’t think of any that would help with the goal of send as much damage as possible. Maybe add some scry via Magma Jet or something.

SpartanNerd’s rating of “Obscure Ascension” Magic the Gathering Event Deck (Dark Ascension, French)

I can’t take off any points. For any reason. And the fact that it is worth three times what I paid for it, and in French, makes this a SOLID 5/5! It is by far the best event deck I have ever purchased, with four copies of each important card. None of the other event decks I have purchased or reviewed even approach this deck. Most of them have three copies or two copies of two cards. Most of them feel like souped up starter decks. This one, definitely competitive.

The SpartanNerd rates the French printing of the Dark Ascension Event Deck a 5/5. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd and SpartanKid Unboxing and Review…Sengoku Astray Gundam (SD)

June 28, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Once again…a SD model of a Gundam the SpartanNerd has no investment in. The title clearly says it is from “Build Fighters.” I watched about one half of an episode of “Gundam Build Fighters Try” on Netflix. The Japanese (no offense intended,) plus the presentation of the characters, and just the show in general didn’t agree with me. I get it. It’s just not my thing. The SpartanChildren, however, eat it up.

SpartanTeen tells me that the correct pronunciation for this model is “Astree”. Don’t know if that is true. When I see the word “astray,” I think, “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

Here are the parts before assembly. It took SpartanKid about two hours to make this. He is nine years old, so…

I helped a little. You have to really clear the “nubs” off of the pieces after you break them from this blister. Also, the pieces are meant to fit together tightly.

The instructions were easy to read, but in Japanese.

You also get an apparent advertisement for the Gundam markers and pens, and a Manga comic, just like the others in this line I have reviewed.

The assembled model looks like this. The two swords are very nice. But it is the headpiece that gets your attention!

He is really busy, and so doesn’t seem as posable as some of the others in this line. He also tends to want to fall apart.

The SpartanKid assembled both of these…so here are some statements from him.

“Astray looks really awesome and is pretty solid, except for the arm, which keeps giving me problems…it wants to come off and come apart.”

“I like the coloration, and the parts are unpainted, so you can choose how you want to paint it. I am going to paint it in a few weeks. I don’t know what colors yet.”

“I forgot to put the stickers on it for the most part.” (Plans to use the stickers later.)

The SpartanNerd rates Sengoku Astray Gundam 3/5. The markdown comes from the limited articulation and the fact that the pieces want to come loose, especially the arm.

Otherwise, the Astray is pretty cool with the huge headress and the two swords.

“

The Grieving SpartanNerd

June 23, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Today, (June 22) I just learned that Earl Norem passed away. (He died on June 19, 2015, at the age of 91.)

Earl Norem was the incredible artist who did posters and covers for the Masters of the Universe magazine back in the 1980’s. My mother subscribed to this for me, and I never knew why I stopped getting it. (Later as an adult I would learn that it was discontinued.)

Norem leaves a legacy of Masters of the Universe work, not only including magazines, but all kinds of books. Think “Little Golden Books” type. Also the paperback kind you could get at Book Fairs in elementary school.

I reconnected with Norem’s work back in the late 1990’s, when I was just learning to explore the internet. I was a part of Adam Tyner’s page, which eventually evolved into He-Man.org. (I am only a member of the forums there now. Oh. And one of my songs was published on the Roast Gooble Dinner soundtrack.) Back then, I scoured the internet for images of He-Man, and kept a folder on my computer so I could look at them anytime and reminisce. This folder would follow me to today, where I have it on my mac to circulate desktop pictures. Norem’s work is the most classically spectacular of all of Masters of the Universe paintings.

Eventually, I would listen to Roast Gooble Dinner, and Val Staples, Emiliano Santalucia, Eamon O’Donahue, and Pixel Dan Eardly would interview Norem. I listened to this interview at least three times! Just to hear him talk about his work…and the guy was almost completely clueless that he was revered as a great artist!

To hear his story, he was a painter for advertisements. It was cheaper for magazines to print artistic work than photographs. Eventually he landed the gig to do some Marvel comics, and then pick up with Conan the Barbarian, eventually leading to He-Man.

He worked in paints. I recently visited Bob Jones’ University’s Classical Art Gallery, and I dare say Earl Norem’s painting is on par with the great classical masters. A person might argue that his subject matter didn’t lend to the best examples of classical art, with exaggerated muscles or femininity. But he always made He-Man, Skeletor, Teela, Gwildor, or whoever look tasteful. His work emphasised action…his painting always give a sense of energy.

I came up with the idea to try and emulate some of Earl Norem’s paintings with the incredibly posable Masters of the Universe Classics figures. I will be featuring some of my results here on SpartanNerd.com in the future.

Until then, please go by Earl Norem’s fan page. (You can see some of his art. I believe Eamon O’Donahue runs this site.) Also swing by He-Man.org.

SpartanNerd and SpartanTeen Review…Knight Gundam (SD)

June 23, 2015 by SpartanNerd

The second SD Gundam model review ever. The Knight Gundam. Does the SpartanNerd think this is worth picking up? Keep reading!

The Knight Gundam is another of those Gundams that I have zero association with. I never heard of it. SpartanTeen saw it on “Gundam Build Fighters”, at least I gather. The price was $13.99.

The instructions were in Japanese. But the Knight Gunam came with a Manga. No idea what is going on here. It is a cute little comic strip, though.

Here is the model assembled. Highly detailed! I like the color scheme…mostly gray with blue and red details. A splash of yellow for the cross on the shield and the headpiece. It has that oversized head of course. Tis time there is a barrel inside that allows you to give him two different looks for the eyes.

This Gundam has an AMAZING amount of accessories. I removed them all so you can see just how incredible it really is.

Without the accessories, he feels like a knight without armor should feel. I applaud the detail that went into this.

But this isn’t all!

It can TRANSFORM!

That’s right…Knight Gundam transforms into a Centaur!

I can’t say enough good things about this toy! Wow!

The SpartanTeen had a few things to say about it:

“The mask part is shiny. The rest of it is not, and it should be.”

“The sword is hidden in the shield.”

“Knight Gundam and Unicorn Knight Gundam combine, to for a unicorn. Alone, he is a Centaur”

“This Gundam has relatively few problems compared to other models in this series.”

“It was nothing hard…it took me about ten minutes to build.”

Here is a comparison shot with the Build Burning Gundam SD.

So what does the SpartanNerd rate Knight Gundam (SD)?

I can’t say anything negative about it. The SpartanTeen is a little bothered that the mask is vac-metal while the rest of the armor isn’t. I think it makes the mask pop, though. Then he informed me that it isn’t just a transformer, but a Combiner as well.

This thing gets a 5/5. Only $13.99 for basically hours of entertainment. The amount of things to do here reminds me of playing with “Modulok” from Masters of the Universe Classics. It is fairly sturdy, and has no stupid problems.

The SpartanNerd rates Knight Gundam (SD) a solid 5/5. Do you agree or disagree, oh Hub City Geeks? Let me know in the comments!

SpartanNerd…Why I play this game?

June 21, 2015 by SpartanNerd

Why do I play “Magic: The Gathering?”

I began playing this game around four years ago. I had been playing Pokemon cards with my children, as well as Shadow Era. I got into Shadow Era because I wanted a card game that was more in-depth and on an adult level. (I was playing Poker online as well, but not gambling.) Around this time, I began frequenting comics stores, and noticing how popular Magic was. I thought it a little crazy that some cards costed over thirty dollars, and said as much. (Not to mention Jace, Mind Sculptor…who at the time was $100.)

I made the jump one day when I found some cards on sale at Target…a “Deck Builders Toolkit.” And It was during “Innistraad” block at the time. But I didn’t know that.

Since then, I have moved my children into the game, and one has left. The other teeters on losing interest, as children do and should do have shifting interests as they grow and develop. But I don’t see myself quitting any time soon.

Today I went to “The Mighty Moo” festival in Cowpens, South Carolina. Then ate lunch with my family at Taco Dog, in Spartanburg. Then proceeded with the SpartanKid to a Modern MTG tournament at the Tangled Web in Spartanburg. This tournament turned out to be really small…we left at 4:00…but I needed to play some more. So I drove up to Grover, NC, and played at Stormcrow’s Clubhouse Modern event.

Today was the first time I ever played two Magic tournaments, at two different locations. I am not counting a midnight pre-release and then a “next day” event. No. This was a double-header. And an incredibly full Saturday. Am I a man obsessed?

I have recently built a re-animator deck, using cards from “Graveborn,” which was my Father’s Day present. I grew bored with losing using Amulet-Primeval Titan…a fun deck but SUPER HARD to play. Only recently did I realize, sure some of it is me, the pilot of the deck. But that deck has losing built in if conditions aren’t just right.

To be fair, I know it is going to be awhile before I enter another tournament. And I am probably going to miss the Origin’s Pre-Release. 😦

I didn’t come out on top at either tournament. But still, I had great fun. And the reasons I had fun are the reasons I play magic:

Sitting across from someone for thirty minutes to an hour creates a social relationship that I don’t take lightly. I learn some things about my opponent. And they inevitably learn that I am a Christian, a father, a teacher, and a minister as well. I have time to talk to them and show them that they really are important to me.
Magic is a creative outlet. Side boarding in cards is an act of reacting creatively to situations that aren’t always that clear. There are a lot of “what-if?” questions to ask.
The act of playing in a tournament, at least for me, is an expression of deck-building, which is the biggest creative outlet in MTG. I don’t “net-deck” much. In this case, I knew I had encountered a lot of Splinter-Twin at the Tangled Web, so I sided in a card NO-ONE saw coming. There was a moment in the tournament at Stormcrow’s Clubhouse that summarizes one of the reasons I play Magic. My opponent, “Turbo”, was playing Tarmo-Twin . I lost to two Tarmogoyf’s early game in match one. I sided in “Batwing Brume,” knowing this must be his strategy. He proceeded to flash in his Deceiver Exarch, put the twin on him, and then begin manuafactoring tokens. I was surprised that he didn’t just say… “This is a million times. They all have haste. They attack.” I’ve heard that line many times. Instead, he made twenty-one copies, and declared attack. I played Batwing Brume, using white and black mana…he attempted to Dispel that. But I was ready with a Pact of Negation. BAM. It was an intense moment, when we both had tons of land on the field, and were vying for the greatest card advantage. This moment alone was just about worth the whole day of Magic for me. After this match, Turbo would go on to beat me in another intense standoff. In that match I bested three Tarmogoyfs! It could have gone the other way and I could have won if I had had another Pact…(but the way card games work is, there is randomness that beats you sometimes. I am OK with that!)
It is fairly cheap entertainment…I don’t pay for cable or satellite. In their place I play cards. I acquire cards. I collect and organize cards. I read their flavor text and background stories. I read about card development from “the mothership” site. I make casual decks. I play online occasionally. And as cheap entertainment goes…it is me using my brain in an analytical and creative way. I was thinking, as much as I enjoy playing guitar, it is much easier to lug around a red bag with magic decks in it than it is to lug around a guitar, chords, effects, and an amplifier. At least it is easier to carry. And while both activities help me get my groove on in a creative way, Magic is a quiet and reflective activity. A great way to cool down after a long day of work.

I play magic for these reasons. But as a parent, I have reaped other benefits from teaching and playing the game. Playing cards is a good way to talk about odds. Building decks is a way of talking about strategy. Keeping a curated collection is a way to model taking care of cards.

And playing is quality time spent with the children.

Why do you play Magic, the Gathering readers? Please let me know. I know you are out there. My reviews of sealed products are what gets me the greatest internet traffic to this site. Please comment in!

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