[queue drum roll] and this will surprise everyone (not)…

Yep Magic the Gathering. Despite recent posts and the hypnotic train wreck that is going on, my first game played in 2018 was this game that everyone seems to be fighting for the heart and soul of!

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise really. Although I like the idea of solo games, and have a few that are either solo games or can be played solo, I’m too lazy to actually play them solo. That’s not to say I haven’t played a solo game, it’s just not something I do on a regular basis. Which explains why on New Year’s Day I wasn’t playing something different to Magic the Gathering as my first game of 2018. My first gaming chance was going to be at work with the students. They were back Wednesday, as were the enrichment sessions I run. Returning students had received Magic products over Christmas of one form or another, and had built new decks as a result. Naturally they wanted to play with those new decks. So the enrichment session was a try our new decks session. While my “Death and Taxes” deck did well against most of the decks, it got destroyed by a black zombie deck that played two different Liliana planeswalkers and a Vraska (Sp?) planeswalker, that if allowed to do their ultimates destroyed me. Sadly I had no answer for them, or the deadly destroy all lands card he’d play just before firing off those ultimates.

I did throw together an initial blue/black control deck to play against Justin and some decks he had built last night. The deck is in development. It’s built to show the infinite loop to the students. However it can also be a mill deck if needed as a alternative win condition. So now I have two decks in development.

Tonight will be my first opportunity to play a non-magic related game, plus there are two events planned for the weekend that are non-magic related. So by Monday the gaming stats will be taking off and showing more than just Magic played.

And welcoming our new overlord 2018.

It’s a big year ahead of us. I hit 50 this year. How? I have no idea. One day at a time I suppose. But you can look forward to the melancholy, and navel gazing etc nearer the time. Two big board game expos this year in the UK, I have hotels booked, just need tickets now. I might even write something interesting on here too. So you might want to stick around just on the off chance that I do.

Remember for the majority of us it’s back to work tomorrow, so enjoy this last day of freedom from the daily grind.

With all the pieces sitting on my table I put together an initial version of the “Death and Taxes” deck this morning. Which was followed by punching cardboard for Civilization: New Dawn. But there was a reason for this flurry of holiday activity. I was going to be testing the Magic deck, and playing Civilization in the afternoon with Justin.

At Justin’s I had him play my R/G Dino deck. If this new deck did well against that then I would know I’m onto something. But sadly it got its butt handed to it. I just wasn’t hitting the cards I needed. So back to the drawing board, and looking into how I can be more consistent and draw the cards I need.

After being given some food for thought about the new deck. We set up a two player game of Civilization: New Dawn using the suggested tiles and layout for a first game.

I thought this worked out pretty well as a two player experience. Naturally there are elements that would work better in three or four games, such as the diplomacy cards. But combat was not an issue for me as it has been for some of those that have reviewed it. Like many similar style games, the combat isn’t the main act. It’s sharing the main headline with other mechanics. And like those other games the combat is a simple, it’s a streamlined affair. Yes in this version there is a little bit of randomness with the use of dice. Is that much different to the tides of war/battle cards that are optional in the A Game of a Thrones board game? But there is also a little bit of predetermination before you even get to the dice rolling.

I loved the focus track, and the way that works, which is the main driving mechanic of the game. The decisions you have to make, or are forced to do just so an action you want to do is more powerful, or you even have to do at that moment despite it being a lot weaker than you want.

Yeah this is a nice Civ like game or even Civ like lite to be more accurate, that gives a taste of that experience in a much shorter time span. A gateway Civ game? Possibly. Plenty of replay ability with the variable map tiles, 7 races/leaders, 5 different goal tiles (that you randomly select 3), different routes to upgrade your technology.

Despite winning I liked it as a 2 player game, and looking forward to playing it again with more players.

5 player Twilight Imperium 4 tomorrow ^_^

Well apart from the fact that the postman was delivering at 7am this morning. We don’t get that any other time of the year. But the early copy of Mint Deliveries arrived!

Also my main order from CardKingdom also turned up. So now I have to put together the main spine of my Death and Taxes deck.

Spent the afternoon playing Magic with the newest member of Fenland Gamers at the local Wetherspoons. It originally was meant to be The White Lion, but there was a slight flaw in the plan. It was shut! But we played our own decks, then put a couple of battle decks against each other. After a few games, I was asked for some deck advice. So I passed on what little advice I was capable of. I’m not nowhere near close to being an expert. So I’m not sure how good my advice was. But as far as I could see, the mana curve needed fixing in all three decks I looked at. There needed to be play sets for some of the cards so that there was some consistency to the card draws. Also one or two of the decks needed a win condition, or to focus on achieving the win condition. I did apologise that they would have to go away and do some research into cards and possibly buy some. I did point out one tip of if a card was too expensive that there should be a cheaper more costly to play/weaker version that could be affordable.

I particularly like the decks that Strictly Better MtG comes up with. I want to build some of his pauper decks to play with, they look good fun.

I know I’m very late to the party but I have been trying Hearthstone on my iPad. I was going to wait until the new MtG app was launched. But WotC scared me off ever investing in their digital products when they correctly banned a Youtuber for harassment. What I didn’t like was the confiscation of the digital stuff he’d purchased without refunding his money for the cards/tickets he’d bought. I don’t like the fact they can take away something you have paid for, and from what I have seen by a tech lawyer covering this aspect on his YouTube channel something they are on very dodgy ground legally, because even by their own terms of service, contracts the cards and tickets are owned by the player when they purchase them. So I’m very scared by this action of theirs. How can I invest time and money into their digital products, knowing that they can seize them whenever they like, especially if they don’t like something I write online?

There are a lot of other issues associated with this “magicgate” as it has become known. I’m also very concerned that at the moment I’m only seeing WotC banning people who seem to have a differing political view to theirs. I’m not seeing them ban those that share a similar outlook on life to them politically. Despite them using the same tactics, language as those that they have banned for harassment. And that’s worrying. There is not a single way I can be considered right leaning. I am very much a left leaning person on the political spectrum. However I expect to see WotC be blind to political views of people and apply their terms of service blindly. Harassment is harassment no matter who is doing it, and to whom. It should not be tolerated whatsoever. And I expect WotC to be even handed and ban anyone who commits any harassment no matter who they are. So I’m waiting to see WotC prove that they are indeed against harassment, and not just using this as a smoke screen to even scores with people that have voiced opinions they disagree with.