All posts by Darren

King of the Hill

magic, MtG


Sometimes you just have to put cards in your deck for the lol’s. Sometimes like Custodi Lich to spice up the game.

I’ve written in the past about spicing up games of Commander. This card from Conspiracy: Take the Crown once in my Scarab God Deck will introduce the monarch mechanic to any game it’s played it.

When I become the monarch I get the above token. As you can see being the monarch has it’s advantages, extra card draw (at your end step). But there is a draw back. It puts a big fat target on your back. An attacking player gets rewarded for hitting you with a creature. They become the monarch, and get a target on their back. And so the monarch will move around the table from player to player.

Now I’ve not played with the monarch mechanic yet. But I’m pretty sure I’ll like it. I do know if there is a card which introduces the monarch mechanic to the game in the colours I’m playing and it fits any theme I’m going with. Then it will be in the deck.

The Rise of Fenris Arrives

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So this arrived yesterday. The power of pre-ordering.


All I have to do now is find a suitable free location that can be used on a regular basis to play this. Oh and then suitable dates and times that those interested can play. Which is the more herculean task.

But I am so excited to start playing this. I’ll keep saying this, I absolutely love Scythe, it’s my all time favourite game (I’ve proven this scientifically using paired comparisons). I don’t play it nearly as often as I should, this campaign expansion is an excuse to play it a lot more times.

So until I’ve solved the above problems of location and dates I’m keeping it in the bubble wrap to avoid the temptation to peak inside.

All Hail Emperor Jeff

Game day

Certain things have a repetition for being taking a long time, such as a John Bonham drum solo (younger sufferers go google this guy, listen to his stuff, sit back and be amazed at the greatest drummer ever, and group of all time). Another such thing is Twilight Imperium 3.

Yesterday 6 wanna be rulers of the known universe gathered to scheme, plot, betray, bargain, manipulate, and outright attack their way to victory. How were they going to do this? By playing Jeff’s Twilight Imperium 3 with a few of the expansions thrown in.

Sufferer’s will remember I’ve only played the fourth edition, which I got last Winter, and miraculously have got to the table 3 times since buying it (which is really good going).

I’m not going to bore you with turn by turn plays. I’m not that cruel.

Jeff had everything setup by the time everyone had arrived. Jeff had selected expansions we’d be using, tailored the races available to balance out the game to cater for experienced and novice players, and the expansions being used. The action cards were also tailored to fit in with the expansions etc. All that was left to do was chose race, colour and seating position.

The map set up of 3 small galaxies for the known universe was pretty cool. The smaller middle galaxy had Mecatol Rex in the middle, while the other 2 galaxies had 3 players and their home worlds each. Movement between galaxies was with warp gates.

I think it was round 3 of the game, over in the other galaxy red was looking like getting out of control. And for us over in the other galaxy very scary, and likely targets for their aggressive expansionist ways sooner rather than later.

So when the politics action came up, I had the perfect card to vote on. It basically gutted reds fleet and didn’t affect the rest of us. Mainly because our fleets at that point were mainly carriers, with the odd cruiser/destroyer. Sadly red was mainly the latter ships. Luckily I was selected for my politics cards, after some bargaining (which saw me outbid red with Jeff for his votes, and allowing Jeff needing one less victory point to win), the vote was won, and the red fleet was gutted. I then played a card that got me an extra destroyer to rub salt into reds wounds. In retaliation red attack me (a carrier ship) in the middle galaxy with a single cruiser. They took each other out. Which was funny I didn’t mind losing the carrier, but losing another cruiser was more salt in reds wounds. He was not a happy bunny. This round had not been a good round for them. At that moment of the game I was happy, I didn’t care if I lost, I’d done something pretty cool/big in the game. Anything else from now on was gravy.

There is a picture above where red is looking a bit salty over their recent losses.

At the end of round 4, play stopped for burgers and hot dogs. The perfect fuel for wanna be rulers of the known galaxy.

Hostilities resumed on full stomachs. Apparently red was still hurting from their wing clipping before lunch, but was also adding to their list of payback. Luckily the others on the list were more local to them (same galaxy) and therefore higher on the list than me.

Apart from the skirmish above, and some skirmishes during the last round there was no battles between the 2 galaxies. Most of the exchanges took place in their respective galaxies between the empires there.

Towards the end it transpired that Jeff only needed 12 victory points thanks to taking bribes for his votes earlier in the game. I’d achieved my other game objective, get my flagship out by then.

The final round was spent trying to stop Jeff claiming that last victory point. Despite some valiant attempts our efforts were in vain, and Jeff was able to claim his final victory point and declare himself Emperor of the Known Universe.

Thanks to Jeff and an implied permission by his sharing the photo on Facebook, there is a photo of me looking wild and all dwarf like.


This was a really fun, long day. Great game, great opponents, great food, it was a blast.

Some final brief thoughts on TI:3 especially in comparison to TI:4. I enjoyed TI:3. I think I lean towards favouring TI:4. I prefer the streamlining, the way politics are integrated into the game once Mecatol Rex has been occupied. There is more reason to take Mecatol Rex in the newer edition. For starters it is worth a victory point. In our game of TI:3 no one took Mecatol Rex, it was left alone. I did like the artifacts from one of the expansions in TI:3, along with one or two of the others we got to use. Such as the tokens on the board that were turned over when you entered the system, which could be good or bad. Maybe we will see them as an expansion for TI:4 at some point. The leaders I didn’t use. Although Jeff and a couple of others did. Not sure about this one.

Our game from arrival to clear up with the food break, was around 9 hours! Ok that was 6 of us, with a few expansions mixed in. But the TI:4 plays (4 and 5 player counts) have at most been around the 6 hour mark. So the streamlining done by FFG between editions has made a big difference in play time.

A great day, great gaming memories.

Bringing Out The Inner Mad Max

Fenland Gamers, game night

Last night it was that time once again for a Friday night gaming session. For the second time we were once more graciously hosted for this session by the wonderful The Luxe Cinema.
Our evenings gaming started off with a new game that Jonathan bought at this years UKGE but hadn’t got to the table yet, called Road Hog: Rule the Road.

On the whole production wise the components are pretty high quality really. The only slight negative would be the flimsy cards. The game tiles for the track are really pimped out. They have a rubber backing! No need for a play mat here. There was one issue with the cards with what turned out to be two cards stuck together. When separating them there was a little damage that left the back of one marked. Not cool. Solved by sleeving. But replacements needed really from the manufacturer.

Luck plays a large part in the game from the roll of the two dice, to the cards that you get. For some this luck element may be a turn off. In our game it worked in my favour.

There is also a big take that element. Which also for some is a major switch off. Once again something I’m ok with. In our game it was more a one against many. Me against the rest. Mainly because I was the one in the lead for the majority of the game. For example I was getting boxed in my the traffic in an effort to slow me down, and even stop me. But luckily I had the cards and dice rolls that mitigated this and allowed me to escape the traps.

There is a lot of variability potentially between games with the unique placement of cars and trucks during setup that players will then need to negotiate during the game, plus which tiles that you use.

We could have used a longer track. But for the type of game that this is, it felt about right with the 6 or 7 tiles that we used. Anything that was longer I think would have been too long play wise and warn out its welcome. It is a light game. But still a fun experience. And I’m not just saying that because I won it comfortably.

As you can see I’ve tried experimenting with my camera angles for photos during gaming sessions. I quite like the results.

Our second game of the evening was a return to the table for King of Tokyo. I think the last time I played this was with some students a couple years back. I think, apart from a couple of promo characters I have everything for this. I just need to merge back in to the second edition the 2 characters that were left out from the first edition. We played just the vanilla version of the game, no power ups. Well we were playing with 2 new players to the game. Although to be fair, we could probably have played with them. They aren’t that much of an overhead to learn. Jess narrowly won by being the last monster standing.

Our final game of the evening was the classic Perudo/Liars Dice. Yeah a club favourite, and a great way to end a great evening of gaming. Somehow Jonathan won without losing a single die.

We had a great evening, great selection of beverages and great hosts with The Luxe.

Digging up the undead

Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

I started to writing a short message to the MtG group of some friends and realised by the end of it I was writing the start of a blog post. So here goes…

After watching the latest episode of The Command Zone with the dreaded return of SJW Jimmy Wong with the deck tech of his for a Zombie Tribal deck around the new legendary creature from M19 (that’s Core Set 2019 for regular folks) Varina, Lich Queen. Which allows for the first time the ability to build a zombie deck that uses the white zombies from the Amonkhet block, and more importantly Anointed Procession, along side the good ol’ black zombies. However I won’t be building a zombie tribal deck around this commander because I prefer my Scarab God as it’s Commander. Although Jimmy demotes Scarab God to just one of the 99. Another reason to dislike him.

So in the cards they talk about there are some cards I could squeeze into my current version of the deck, and also make use in an up coming deck in the planning. And it’s these cards I will start off with in this post.

As sufferers will remember I plan to build a Muldrotha deck where the graveyard is basically an extension of my hand. I actually want cards in my graveyard. So these two cards that Jimmy uses in his zombie deck actually looked pretty good in helping to protect my graveyard in the Muldrotha deck from being exiled. Leave a couple of mana open, and crack the abilities off in response to any exiling nastiness.


These next 2 cards I like rather a lot, casting my zombies for free or cheaper is nice. Even better the Warchief buffs them up as well, it means the 2/2 zombie tokens would come in as 4/3 tokens. Which is cool. Any buff to the tokens particularly (because my deck can generate a lot of them) to keep them on the battlefield longer is good. Plus if the Scarab God tactic isn’t working, it means I can at least start swinging in with these buffed up undead.

What’s better than having the Scarab God on the battle field with a load of zombies? Having him on the battlefield with these next 2 creatures.

Wow, cards that replicate the upkeep ability of the Scarab God in some way. These out with the Scarab God and a few zombies is a scary thought. Potentially game winning combo. Although opponents would have a turn to try and disrupt it and take me out.

I’m not sure about the following card. Probably wouldn’t play the first ability. But the card draw might be useful. It’s not as if I do anything with all the zombie tokens.


So despite Jimmy being annoying, and not as likeable as the temporary host that covered for him (who I thought had a better rapport with Josh), I have to begrudgingly admit there were some nice cards in his zombie tribal deck that I could use in mine, despite our battle plans being different.

Epic Digital Battles

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This post is dangerous for WotC, it should be a warning to them.

Today I wanted a MtG experience on my iPad Pro. I knew there was no-one around to play a physical game with. So I had to think what were my options digitally? Hearthstone? Or fire up the hardly played early access beta for Epic (I backed the digital version on Kickstarter, so had that early access to the iOS version)? I suppose I could reinstall Magic: Duels. But that’s a dead product and I’m not sinking any cash into that. I decided I wanted the MtG like experience that didn’t involve spending lots of money on digital product, or grinding my way to getting stuff.
Epic it was.

I don’t normally play against the AI in Star Realms, all my games are against my friends. So I thought I would get used to playing Epic and the cards by playing against the AI.

My first game was a beginner game, and I chose the green Wild deck. Yes the beginner decks do seem to be just the mono decks from the physical game.

I think to make me feel good, and get me hooked the AI let me win.

I decided to then dive right in the deep end and play one of the two limited formats on offer. I have to admit the Dark Draft format is really great fun.

The great thing about it is that you are never really sure what the other player has drafted. That not knowing exactly how they might have built their deck adds to the suspense. You know what cards they had a choice from, but what did they take and what did they discard?

Oh a Dark Draft if you were wondering is when “Each player is dealt 5 cards. They take 1 card out of their hand of five cards and drafts it, then passes the other 4 to the other (at the same time).
Each player takes 2 cards out of their new hand of four cards and drafts them, then discards the remaining two cards into a shared face-down discard pile.
Both players now have drafted three cards. Repeat nine times to get to a 30-card deck.”

Once you finish you play a game of Epic with the deck you just drafted.

I didn’t keep track of the win loss ratio, but I think the AI edged it.

So why is this post dangerous to WotC? Well with I’m pretty sure less resources available to them, White Wizard Games are developing the digital version of Epic on all platforms at once. The interface isn’t Hearthstone/MtG Arena like, but it is still very nice.

From what I have seen in this current beta build at the moment White Wizard Games can’t be that far off from actually releasing the game to the world. This won’t have the same business model as Hearthstone or WotC. If the Arena mode of Star Realms is anything to go by, then you will pay to enter events/tournaments. But the majority of the game will be pay once and play away, until a new expansion is released then you get that for a relatively cheap price. The nice thing is that this is buy once, have available everywhere. So if you move from your iOS device to your PC/Mac then you pick your games up where you left them, along with all the expansions etc that you have paid for. I really do like this model.

So while WotC are concentrating on one platform (Windows for their closed Beta) they will be at a disadvantage when they move to being open to everyone because they will not have Arena available on all platforms. which their competition will have. If from day one you are not on iOS and Android then you might as well pack up and go home. I know my playing habits from my brief time playing Hearthstone, and my constant playing of Star Realms, it’s portable, playing anywhere. Take my turns and move on to something else. I rarely fire up my Mac, and I don’t have a PC at home. My main computing device is my iPad. My students play Hearthstone on their phones (if they play it).

Hearthstone is well established now, they are the one to knock off the top. Epic won’t be that one, it will have a hard core audience that will play it (will it be as popular as Star Realms? I don’t think so). And I don’t think Arena will either. They are far,far behind Hearthstone. WotC are too busy trying to be the MtG version of Hearthstone, and working out from it’s closed beta just how much they can milk players for.

In the meantime I can get a MtG like experience where I can draft, build decks, play real time games against opponents online or 48 hour ones (this mode means each player has up-to 48 hours to take a turn) without being gauged for cash to play.

So with the lack of support for the platform I prefer to use (mobile and desk top) I’m looking at the alternatives to Arena and to be frank, I like the alternatives a lot.

A New Painting Project Starts

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Just put a base coat on a zombie horde for classic Zombicide and might, well will be used in Last Days the zombie survival skirmish game.

I was going to do the genestealers and space marines from Space Hulk. However I currently don’t have all the colours I need, and the correct glue. There is a little shopping list for pay day, so that may well be the project after I’ve worked through the numerous zombies that make up Zombicide. But then I have the survivors to do as well.

If I’m lucky, come Halloween I’ll be playing Zombicide with fully painted stuff for the first time ever. I just need those 3D doors. But they are ridiculously hard to get hold of.

Oh well the horde is drying, I’ll see you in the next post.

Ultra rare QOTD

magic, MtG, qot

A very rare question of the day for here that I’m nicking from long time stalker, full time big brother and thought police WotC and their twitter feed.

I have an answer, which one or two also responded with on the WotC timeline. It has to be the really awesome Cat Dragon that I first saw in last years 2017 Dragon precon Commander Deck.


I like cats. And I have shared a space with some in the past. But I have to admit I fall more into the dog camp.

However this cat dragon token was super cute, and who wouldn’t want one of these for a pet? The art is very reminiscent of Toothless from How to train your dragon. Cute but super deadly.

But if this card hadn’t been printed, I’d have a hard time choosing between these two from Ixalan.


Both of these are “loved” and by that I mean hated by my ex-students. Ferocidon was so “loved” that I named him the “people’s champion”. Which it still gets referred by, by myself and ex-students. Raptor Hatchling also built up a bit of a fan club. His appearance would stop opponents attacking, because they knew I’d chump block with him and get that 3/3 dino upgrade.

So I have a fondness for these 2 dinos. And who wouldn’t want a pet dino? Every kid has at some time or or other wanted a pet dino.

Which creature would you choose?

Kess – Wizards 2017 Precon Upgrade v2

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

Thought I might share my new and improved (that’s going to be a subjective thing I know) Kess Commander deck, which sufferers will remember is based on last years 2017 Wizards Tribal precon Deck and the $20 MtgGoldfish upgrade (original deck list HERE). I also did an post highlighting cards that were begging to put into the deck. So did any of those cards make it into the deck? Too bloody right or we wouldn’t be here with this new deck list, and my poorly written ramblings.

Still not overly sure of the win condition, I’ve added the additional turns to the deck. There are more counter spells, and cards that give me card draw. Naturally I’ve tweaked the creatures, Guttersnipe had to be added to give me a bit more offensive capability from just doing my thing. The deck is still all about recurring spells from the graveyard.

When I remember I like to include the stats that the deck builder app gives me for the deck. The mana curve has dropped a tad, well hardly at all. So I’m relatively happy that it’s not got worse.


I also like to for a laugh have the app tell me how much the deck would cost me to replace if some mishap would occur to it. The app wasn’t able to give me a price for the Nexus of Fate. Which after the recent pro tour where it was part of the Turbo Fog deck that swept all before it, is going for between $25 – $40 at the moment.


As you can see the deck has got a bit more expensive to buy.

Ok here is the updated deck list that you have been patiently waiting for.

Creatures:15

1 Timestream Navigator
1 Young Pyromancer
1 Guttersnipe
1 Izzet Chemister
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Archaeomancer
1 Kess, Dissident Mage
1 Talrand, Sky Summoner
1 Bloodline Necromancer
1 Body Double
1 Izzet Chronarch
1 Mercurial Chemister
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Arcanis the Omnipotent
1 Torrential Gearhulk

Spells:47

1 Brainstorm
1 By Force
1 Dark Ritual
1 Faithless Looting
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Sol Ring
1 Cabal Ritual
1 Comet Storm
1 Counterspell
1 Dimir Signet
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Go for the Throat
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Into the Roil
1 Izzet Signet
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Terminate
1 Commander’s Sphere
1 Crosis’s Charm
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Disallow
1 Cyclonic Rift (1 Frantic Search, if you can’t get or don’t have CR)
1 Rhystic Study
1 To the Slaughter
1 Unstable Obelisk
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Cryptic Command
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Jace’s Sanctum
1 Memory Plunder
1 Primal Amulet
1 Dark Petition
1 Increasing Ambition
1 Mana Geyser
1 Silumgar’s Command
1 The Mirari Conjecture
1 Time Warp
1 Game Plan
1 Spelltwine
1 The Immortal Sun
1 Kindred Dominance
1 Necromantic Selection
1 Nexus of Fate
1 Decree of Pain

Lands:38

1 Arcane Lighthouse
1 Command Tower
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Dimir Aqueduct
1 Dismal Backwater
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Grixis Panorama
10 Island
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Jwar Isle Refuge
4 Mountain
1 Mystifying Maze
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Scavenger Grounds
6 Swamp
1 Swiftwater Cliffs
1 Temple of the False God
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Marsh

I promise you this

Game day, magic, MtG

that when my horrors from the deep Commander deck is complete and it hits the table in anger, I will be meming the heck out of it. Especially with stuff like the following…


Yesterday I ended up in Huntingdon library playing 1v1 Commander. Not my favourite way to play Commander, it’s missing the political element. But still it was fun and gave me a chance to try a couple of the new 2018 Commander decks, and also give my Wizards and mono red decks a spin.

The two 2018 decks I sleeved up to play with were the Lord Windgrace – lands matter “Nature’s Vengence” and Estrid, the Masked – “Adaptive Enchantments” decks.


I played these decks against Bob’s unsleeved Saheeli, the Gifted – artifacts “Exquisite Invention” deck that I had picked up for him the same time I picked up my decks.

Our first game saw Windgrace square up against Saheeli, and stomp his way to victory. Estrid was up next and did ok, but got her butt handed to her and lost.

We then took our own decks for a spin. I look at my Wizards deck and think “what’s the win condition?” One of the games Bob had me milling the top 3 cards of my deck at the start of his upkeep. He needed lands. But I didn’t mind the milling, with Kess’s ability, and other cards I had, milling was not an issue for me. I could still play the spells.

I stole creatures from Bob, frustrated him with counter spells, took extra turns, basically abused the blue side of the deck, and won both games with it.

Mono red (now with a foil Etali) did its thing in it’s first game, and fought its way to victory with multiple combat rounds and doubling up its damage at the right moment. The second game saw it going up against a black aggro deck.

That game was swinging in Bob’s favour especially after his Chainer’s Torment hit the third age and created a 21/21 Nightmare Horror token. I had one creature on the battlefield, it wasn’t looking good. A matter of a couple of turns at most before I was toast.


But then on my turn after that monster token was created I top decked a Captivating Crew. I checked my mana, double checked, and then triple checked it. I had enough to not only cast the card but to also pay for its activated ability. So that’s what I did. I took control of the 21/21 and swung in for the win. Phew what a blooming top deck. I think I had 2 other cards that allowed me to steal a creature(s) for a turn. I have to admit before I drew the card, I had no clue how I was going to get out of the situation, and was hoping to delay things long enough to think of a solution.

Our final game was back to the 2018 decks. Lord Windgrace once more squared up against Saheeli. The Saheeli deck failed to get any real creature presence on the battlefield, so my deck was able to get swinging without taking any repercussions. I don’t think I took any damage in this game before getting the win.

I think the 1v1 format did favour my Wizards deck in those 2 games. But this 1v1 format in no way means that the decks are really good, I just had better draw than Bob. It’s fun, you still get to play those cards you couldn’t in formats like modern or standard. But part of the fun for me in Commander is the social/political side.

Ok what did I think of the two new 2018 decks I played? They were fun. Lord Windgrace is really easy to pilot. Estrid less so in comparison. So if I was a noob to Commander and MtG I’d probably get Lord Windgrace. I have to admit I’m not overly sold on the Planeswalkers themselves. They seem a little underwhelming. Especially the ultimates. Take Lord Windgrace I could see him fitting in with the Muldrotha deck with his +2 and -3 abilities. Don’t think I’d ever ultimate him.

The decks do seem missing some good reprints that would enhance them. Lord Windgrace is screaming for Crucible of Worlds and Scapeshift. Why Sensei’s Divining Top isn’t in the top of the deck matters deck I don’t know.

And those are reprints that could have, no should have been in these decks that I can think of off the top of my head (with my limited knowledge of cards). Especially considering the increased cost of the decks.

I don’t think there is one deck in particular so far that I would like to upgrade and play, like I did with the 2017 Wizards and Dragons decks. There are some cards I’d like to use in other decks, some existing ones, some in the planning stage.

The themes I like a lot. And the deck builder side of me would like to take the themes and build decks around them. Not sure more than a handful of cards from these decks would make it in to any new deck built round the themes.

As I said these are fun to play. I don’t think as the decks stand warrant the price increase. They stink a little of WotC price gauging a popular product. Compared to the other Commander precons I’ve played/own (2017, and both Anthologies) if I had to buy a Commander deck tomorrow I’d be going with one of the 2017 decks first if I could get it for rrp.

I’m really proud that my ex-students have continued to play MtG since I left, and now have this regular Saturday event at Huntingdon Library going on.