Marvel Champions LCG Decklist - Justice Captain America

Image taken from the FFG home page

Let's look at Captain America out of the Justice aspect.  Overall, he's fantastic in basically ANY aspect, but frequently no matter the aspect I'm in, I find myself thwarting with Captain America quite frequently.  With a 2 THW and the ability to ready himself once a turn, he's going to be able to get a lot of work done all over the game.  His hero cards give him a lot of ways to influence the game, so really, you can pick and choose what you want to focus on.  He also has multiple cards that stay on the board and generate resources, which is incredibly valuable.  Whew, what a great hero.

Okay, let's look at the deck I've been using with him:
Captain America
Packs: From Core Set to Ms. Marvel

Upgrades
2x Heroic Intuition (Core Set)
1x Captain America's Helmet (Captain America)
1x Captain America's Shield (Captain America)
2x Super-Soldier Serum (Captain America)
1x Followed (Captain America)
1x Endurance (Ms. Marvel)

Events
3x For Justice! (Core Set)
1x Great Responsibility (Core Set)
2x Fearless Determination (Captain America)
3x Heroic Strike (Captain America)
2x Shield Block (Captain America)
2x Shield Toss (Captain America)
3x Concussive Blow (Ms. Marvel)

Supports
1x Interrogation Room (Core Set)
3x Surveillance Team (Core Set)
1x Avengers Mansion (Core Set)
1x Helicarrier (Core Set)
1x Steve's Apartment (Captain America)

Resources
2x The Power of Justice (Core Set)
1x Energy (Core Set)
1x Genius (Core Set)
1x Strength (Core Set)

Allies
1x Daredevil (Core Set)
1x Jessica Jones (Core Set)
1x Mockingbird (Core Set)
1x Agent 13 (Captain America)

It's done quite well, but I admit it still needs some changes.  I find that I don't value drawing many of the cards, including Great Responsibility, Interrogation Room, and Surveillance Team.  Although, admittedly, Great Responsibility has proven to be helpful to me with the Wrecking Crew.

As I expected, he's really had no problem dealing with schemes, and gets plenty of opportunities to put some damage on the table, as well, which is nice.

He's been great into the Wrecking Crew, and the first Goblin scenario, so far.

Anyway, that's where I currently stand with this- anyone tried him out, and if so, how has he fared?

Marvel Champions LCG Decklist - Aggression Spider-Man

(Image taken from MarvelCDB)

Today, I'm going to look at where Aggression Spider-Man stands, and write out a deck for him.  Unfortunately, the Thor pack hasn't released yet, which would contain a bunch of new Aggression cards, but I'll work with what I have, and see how it goes.

Spider-Man seems like a natural fit for aggression.  He has a good ATK value of 2, and already comes with some pretty powerful attack cards in the form of Swinging Web Kick, and has the tools to keep himself alive and safe with Backflip and other cards.  He'll naturally be going in and damaging the villain, so why not add some cards to keep that damage dealing up?

Here's my deck, as it currently stands:
Spider-Man
Packs: From Core Set to Ms. Marvel

Upgrades
2x Spider-Tracer (Core Set)
2x Web-Shooter (Core Set)
2x Webbed Up (Core Set)
2x Combat Training (Core Set)
1x Endurance (Ms. Marvel)

Events
2x Backflip (Core Set)
2x Enhanced Spider-Sense (Core Set)
3x Swinging Web Kick (Core Set)
3x Chase Them Down (Core Set)
2x Relentless Assault (Core Set)
1x Uppercut (Core Set)
3x Melee (Ms. Marvel)

Supports
1x Aunt May (Core Set)
3x Tac Team (Core Set)
1x Avengers Mansion (Core Set)
1x Helicarrier (Core Set)

Resources
2x The Power of Aggression (Core Set)
1x Energy (Core Set)
1x Genius (Core Set)
1x Strength (Core Set)

Allies
1x Black Cat (Core Set)
1x Tigra (Core Set)
1x Mockingbird (Core Set)
1x Nick Fury (Core Set)

So far, I've run this in a few situations- Rhino and Risky Business, at least, and both times, it's worked great.  He keeps the damage up, and can afford to spend a turn in Alter-Ego form to heal or even build up.  Overall, he's a very strong hero, and a great damage dealer.  I'll be sure to update this as I play more, and more cards come out that he can find valuable!

Marvel Champions LCG Decklist - Protection Iron Man

Image taken from MarvelCDB

Oh boy, who doesn't love Iron Man??  I've played him in quite a few aspects, but this is my first time trying him with Protection.  Let's see how he looks for the moment:

Iron Man
Packs: From Core Set to Ms. Marvel

Upgrades
1x Arc Reactor (Core Set)
1x Mark V Armor (Core Set)
1x Mark V Helmet (Core Set)
2x Powered Gauntlets (Core Set)
2x Rocket Boots (Core Set)
2x Armored Vest (Core Set)
3x Indomitable (Core Set)
1x Enhanced Awareness (Captain America)
3x Energy Barrier (Ms. Marvel)
1x Endurance (Ms. Marvel)

Events
3x Repulsor Blast (Core Set)
2x Supersonic Punch (Core Set)
2x Get Behind Me! (Core Set)
2x Expert Defense (Captain America)
2x Preemptive Strike (Ms. Marvel)

Supports
1x Pepper Potts (Core Set)
1x Stark Tower (Core Set)
1x Med Team (Core Set)
1x Avengers Mansion (Core Set)
1x Helicarrier (Core Set)

Resources
2x The Power of Protection (Core Set)
1x Energy (Core Set)
1x Genius (Core Set)
1x Strength (Core Set)

Allies
1x War Machine (Core Set)
1x Luke Cage (Core Set)
1x Nova (Ms. Marvel)

This is at 41 cards, which was surprising, as I thought I had cut it down to 40.  Anyway, there are a few important things to mention.

First, I'm not the first to notice that Energy Barrier has the Tech trait.  Iron Man likes the Tech Trait.  Three of those were the first addition.

Having to balance the need for Energy Resources (for Repulsor Blast), and Science Resources, in order to give Iron Man Aerial, was pretty tough.  I am trying Enhanced Awareness to give me a few reliable turns of it, and Pepper Potts certainly helps.. but yeah, it wasn't available every turn in this deck.  Something I have to play around with. 

Anyway, I've played this once, and it did a lot of work, but of course, Iron Man is amazing as a character.  Have you tried this combo?  What did you think?

Marvel Champions LCG Decklist - Justice Spider-Man

(Image taken from MarvelCDB)

I've been playing at least a game a week, and one of the random combinations my generator told me to play was Spider-Man out of the Justice aspect, and I decided to give it a shot.  It's a bit of an odd combo- Spider-Man only has 1 Thwart, which isn't really a good fit for what Justice's goal is... but his other stats are good, and the Justice cards could be used to offset that weakness.  There certainly could be some potential.

My deck:
Justice Spider-Man

Spider-Man

Upgrades
2x Spider-Tracer (Core Set)
2x Web-Shooter (Core Set)
2x Webbed Up (Core Set)
2x Heroic Intuition (Core Set)
1x Followed (Captain America)
1x Endurance (Ms. Marvel)

Events
2x Backflip (Core Set)
2x Enhanced Spider-Sense (Core Set)
3x Swinging Web Kick (Core Set)
3x For Justice! (Core Set)
2x Great Responsibility (Core Set)
1x Concussive Blow (Ms. Marvel)

Supports
1x Aunt May (Core Set)
2x Interrogation Room (Core Set)
3x Surveillance Team (Core Set)
1x Avengers Mansion (Core Set)
1x Helicarrier (Core Set)

Resources
2x The Power of Justice (Core Set)
1x Energy (Core Set)
1x Genius (Core Set)
1x Strength (Core Set)

Allies
1x Black Cat (Core Set)
1x Daredevil (Core Set)
1x Jessica Jones (Core Set)
1x Mockingbird (Core Set)

Okay, so my main plan with this deck is to use all of the Justice cards to help handle the schemes on the board, and still leave Spider-Man free to bust some heads.

There aren't many Allies available at this point, so I included all who I thought were sensible.  Likely, any that come out, I'll use to thwart, except for Black Cat, who will just attack.

Interrogation Room feels like it's a good fit, as Spider-Man has decent offensive abilities, so there could be ample chances to trigger this.  The Surveillance Teams may end up doing a lot of lifting, and combined with For Justice! may end up being the primary means I handle threat on the board.

Followed hasn't impressed me, so I will likely replace it before I play again.

Anyway, so far, I've taken on Risky Business with the Doomsday Chair, and it wasn't exactly easy, but I did manage, and Spider-Man's ability to take on even strong Minions came in handy quite frequently.

Hopefully the upcoming Justice-focused release gives this sort of deck some new toys to play with!

Marvel Champions LCG Decklist - Aggression Captain America

Image taken from the FFG home page

I have played a few times with the Captain America preconstructed deck (a Leadership deck), but I wanted to try something different, and decided to give Aggression a shot, as my experience with it wasn't super impressive.  Here is what I ended up with:

https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/323/all-fun-and-games-until-you-get-a-shield-in-the-face-1.0

Captain America

Upgrades
2x Combat Training (Core Set)
1x Captain America's Helmet (Captain America)
1x Captain America's Shield (Captain America)
2x Super-Soldier Serum (Captain America)
2x Enraged (Captain America)
1x Endurance (Ms. Marvel)

Events
1x Chase Them Down (Core Set)
2x Relentless Assault (Core Set)
3x Uppercut (Core Set)
2x First Aid (Core Set)
2x Fearless Determination (Captain America)
3x Heroic Strike (Captain America)
2x Shield Block (Captain America)
2x Shield Toss (Captain America)
2x Melee (Ms. Marvel)

Supports
1x Avengers Mansion (Core Set)
1x Helicarrier (Core Set)
1x Steve's Apartment (Captain America)

Resources
2x The Power of Aggression (Core Set)
1x Energy (Core Set)
1x Genius (Core Set)
1x Strength (Core Set)

Allies
1x Hulk (Core Set)
1x Tigra (Core Set)
1x Mockingbird (Core Set)
1x Agent 13 (Captain America)

My primary goal of this deck was to stock it with physical resources to enable Hulk to stick around for a long time once I got him out, and to allow Heroic Strike to have a lot of opportunities to trigger its stun effect.  The Super-Soldier Serum, if I could get that out early, was a huge help to the latter.  In two games, it's actually played pretty well.  Captain America is actually great for handling threat on his own, and he can certainly put damage out as needed.  Overall, he's just a fantastic hero.  He can hunker down and take some blows, too, which is really helpful, keeping your allies on the table longer.

So, I've gotten two games in with this combo so far, both wins, but both against Rhino.  I'll take him on a tougher challenge as soon as I can manage.

Marvel Champions LCG Decklist - Leadership Captain Marvel

Image taken from CardGameDB.

I've been playing a decent amount of the new Marvel Champions card game, and as I've been playing, I wanted to keep track of the various decks I was using, how I've done with them, etc.  I figured, why not put them up in my blog, so I can find them easy?

This deck is for Leadership Captain Marvel.  I enjoy Captain Marvel, but she felt a bit underpowered in the games I had played her prior to using this deck.  I figure with the allies buying her time and breathing space, she should be able to really come into her own.

https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/322/leadership-captain-marvel-let-them-eat-allies-1.0

Captain Marvel

Upgrades
1x Captain Marvel's Helmet (Core Set)
2x Cosmic Flight (Core Set)
2x Energy Channel (Core Set)
1x Honorary Avenger (Captain America)
2x Endurance (Ms. Marvel)
3x Enhanced Reflexes (Ms. Marvel)

Events
3x Crisis Interdiction (Core Set)
3x Photonic Blast (Core Set)
2x Get Ready (Core Set)
3x Lead from the Front (Core Set)
2x Make the Call (Core Set)
1x Avengers Assemble! (Captain America)
3x Morale Boost (Ms. Marvel)

Supports
1x Alpha Flight Station (Core Set)
1x The Triskelion (Core Set)
1x Avengers Mansion (Core Set)
1x Helicarrier (Core Set)
3x Quinjet (Captain America)
1x Avengers Tower (Captain America)

Resources
2x Energy Absorption (Core Set)
2x The Power of Leadership (Core Set)
1x Energy (Core Set)
1x Genius (Core Set)
1x Strength (Core Set)

Allies
1x Spider-Woman (Core Set)
1x Hawkeye (Core Set)
1x Maria Hill (Core Set)
1x Vision (Core Set)
1x Falcon (Captain America)
1x Squirrel Girl (Captain America)

The deck, so far, seems to play okay- I won two games against Rhino so far, but haven't taken it out for a more difficult challenge... yet.  I manage to get allies out pretty reliably, and like I thought, she does have the time to get set up, and enough energy resources that I can power her abilities and cards.  It's sitting at 49 cards, however, which is probably a bit high.  I'm trying to figure out what to drop.

Anyway, that's where I am with her in Leadership, so far. Will follow up as I play more.

Star Wars LCG Progression, Part 3

Alright, I've written up everything where I currently stand with the Dark Side part of things, so I figure it's a good time to write up everything Light Side.  I eventually do need to make a new Light Side deck, but I'll get there eventually.  As a reminder, I'm only working with Core Set, plus the first cycle, and the Edge of Darkness Deluxe Expansion.

So, let's look at a deck that, at one point, I am pretty sure was extremely strong in the meta (as in, during this point during the game's life, it was pretty strong).

RA Sleuth Scouts:
Total Cards: (50)

Affiliation:
Rebel Alliance

Objective: (10)
2x The Defense of Yavin 4 (Core 8-1)
2x Renegade Squadron Mobilization (The Search for Skywalker 44-1)
2x Prepare for Evacuation (A Dark Time 49-1)
2x Raise the Stakes (Edge of Darkness 70-1)
2x Across the Anoat Sector (Edge of Darkness 74-1)

Unit: (28)
2x Red Two (Core 8-2)
2x Y-Wing (Core 8-3)
2x Renegade Squadron (The Search for Skywalker 44-2)
2x Renegade Squadron Operative (The Search for Skywalker 44-3)
2x Munitions Expert (The Search for Skywalker 44-4)
2x Renegade Squadron Escort (A Dark Time 49-2)
2x Renegade Squadron Escort (A Dark Time 49-3)
2x Action-series Bulk Transport (A Dark Time 49-4)
2x Blockade Runner (Edge of Darkness 70-2)
2x Cloud City Operative (Edge of Darkness 70-3)
2x Bothan Spy (Edge of Darkness 70-4)
2x Sleuth Scout (Edge of Darkness 74-2)
2x Sleuth Scout (Edge of Darkness 74-3)
2x Undercover Operative (Edge of Darkness 74-4)

Enhancement: (8)
2x Astromech Droid Upgrade (Core 8-4)
2x Hidden Outpost (Core 8-5)
2x Echo Caverns (The Search for Skywalker 44-5)
2x Smuggling Compartment (Edge of Darkness 70-5)

Event: (10)
2x Rebel Assault (Core 8-6)
2x Ion Cannon Burst (A Dark Time 49-5)
2x Swindled (Edge of Darkness 70-6)
2x Smuggler's Run (Edge of Darkness 74-5)
2x Over My Dead Body (Edge of Darkness 74-6)

Fate: (4)
2x Target of Opportunity (The Search for Skywalker 44-6)
2x Battle of Hoth (A Dark Time 49-6)

The object of this deck is to buff up those Sleuth Scouts with Raise the Stakes and Across the Anoat Sector to really hammer your opponent's objectives, and use a variety of cards, like Echo Caverns, to control what's available to defend them.  It's a deck I know did well, once upon a time, and it's a deck I've personally done well with, playing against Eric, as well as before.

For my second deck, I wanted to use at least a few of the Jedi objectives, and ended up with the following:

Jedi/RA Hoth Speeders
Total Cards: (50)

Affiliation:
Jedi

Objective: (10)
2x Hoth Operations (The Desolation of Hoth 38-1)
1x Echo Base Defense (The Desolation of Hoth 39-1)
1x Preparation for Battle (The Search for Skywalker 45-1)
2x Attack Pattern Delta (The Battle of Hoth 59-1)
2x A Hero's Resolve (Escape from Hoth 64-1)
2x Evacuation Procedure (Escape from Hoth 65-1)

Unit: (31)
2x Wedge Antilles (The Desolation of Hoth 38-2)
2x Rogue Three (The Desolation of Hoth 38-3)
2x Snowspeeder (The Desolation of Hoth 38-4)
1x Wilderness Fighters (The Desolation of Hoth 39-2)
1x Wilderness Fighters (The Desolation of Hoth 39-3)
1x Wilderness Fighters (The Desolation of Hoth 39-4)
1x Hoth Scout (The Search for Skywalker 45-2)
1x AAC-1 Speeder Tank (The Search for Skywalker 45-3)
1x AAC-1 Speeder Tank (The Search for Skywalker 45-4)
1x Tauntaun (The Search for Skywalker 45-5)
2x Rogue Leader (The Battle of Hoth 59-2)
2x Rogue Two (The Battle of Hoth 59-3)
2x Snowspeeder (The Battle of Hoth 59-4)
2x Luke Skywalker (Escape from Hoth 64-2)
2x Snowspeeder (Escape from Hoth 64-3)
2x Tauntaun (Escape from Hoth 64-4)
2x Han Solo (Escape from Hoth 65-2)
2x Toryn Farr (Escape from Hoth 65-3)
2x Bright Hope (Escape from Hoth 65-4)

Enhancement: (8)
2x Hoth Survival Gear (The Desolation of Hoth 38-5)
1x Subzero Defenses (The Desolation of Hoth 39-5)
1x Subzero Defenses (The Desolation of Hoth 39-6)
2x Snowspeeder Launch Bay (The Battle of Hoth 59-5)
2x Buried Outpost (Escape from Hoth 65-5)

Event: (1)
1x Shelter from the Storm (The Search for Skywalker 45-6)

Fate: (10)
2x Target of Opportunity (The Desolation of Hoth 38-6)
2x Battle of Hoth (The Battle of Hoth 59-6)
2x Battle of Hoth (Escape from Hoth 64-5)
2x Heat of Battle (Escape from Hoth 64-6)
2x Battle of Hoth (Escape from Hoth 65-6)


The goal of this deck is to put out a bunch of Hoth objectives, gain advantages from that, and use the speeders and synergies between everything to push through the damage needed to win.  I've only managed one game with these guys, and I did win, after wearing my opponent down enough to get some opportunities, but I'd need to play it a few more times to see how I can improve this.

So that's where I'm currently at.  One deck I want to play a bit more, to tweak, and one deck that seems to be exactly where I want it.  So let's look at where I am with the Light Side objective sets.

Jedi:
A Message From Beyond
Embers of Hope
Knowledge and Defense
Self Preservation

Rebel Alliance:
Alderaan's Promise
Sensors are Placed

Smugglers and Spies:
Asteroid Sanctuary

Escape from Ord Mantell
Last Defense of Hoth
The Defense of Cloud City
Trust Me
Undercover Dealings
Wookiee Life Debt

Light Side Neutral:
Frozen Refuge
Hold the Line!
Opening Moves
To Arms!

So still, quite a few objective sets to use.  I'm going to play a game or two more with my speeder deck before I delve into these and make some new decks, however.  Hopefully I'll play soon, and start getting some new decks built!

Star Wars LCG Progression, Part 2

Well, it's been a bit since my last post on this, but I'm hoping to start playing this again with Eric, so I figured I'd finally sit down and get the next post up, and figure out a deck or two to build.  I focused on what I was playing with the Dark Side in my last post, so for this one, I'll look at the objectives I've not used yet, and build a deck using some.

As I've mentioned, I consider all of the Core Set objective sets 'played', as I played a decent number of games solely with them.  So I'm just considering the first deluxe and first cycle- so Edge of Darkness, and the Hoth Cycle.

Looking at the decks I put up in my last post, these are the objectives I've not used so far:
Imperial Navy:
A Dark Time for the Rebellion
Lord Vader's Command
The General's Imperative
Unstoppable Advance

Scum & Villainy:
Carbonite Transport
Hunt Them Down
Jabba's Orders
The Hunt for Han Solo
The Shadow of Nar Shaddaa

Sith:
Serve the Emperor
The Ghosts of the Dark Side
The Killing Cold
Vader's Fist

DS Neutral:
Across the Jundland Wastes
Asteroid Pursuit
Endless Reserves
Sabotage in the Snow
Shadows on the Ice

So still quite a few.

I am replacing my Imperial Navy/Sith capital ship deck with an Imperial Navy deck, and I see a bunch of walker cards, so I'm going to go with a Walker deck.

In the Core and first cycle, the following objectives seem to have Walkers and cards that work with Walkers:
The Endor Gambit- Two Walkers, and some cards that improve your Vehicles (shielding and focus removal).
Unstoppable Advance- Three big Walkers (with Shielding) and a cost reducer for them... and this one is Imperial Navy only.  Given that I am going to need to play IN to run all these walkers anyway... this is looking like a mono-affiliation deck.
The General's Imperative- A unit that buffs your Walkers (giving them another unit damage), two more Walkers with shielding.

Seems like I'm starting with two copies of each of these, and to make it even sweeter- two of them are objective sets I've not used.  Sweet!

Next, resources are going to be an issue, due to the high cost of some of the vehicles.  I'm already playing Imperial Navy, which has one of the best resource objective sets at this point- Imperial Command.  It's got Motti, after all.  So why not include two of those, as well.

For the last couple of slots, I'm a bit torn.  I want to include The Ultimate Power, as it provides good resources, and some crunch power for killing objectives.  I also want to include Sabotage in the Snow, since the Forward Command Posts provide resources AND buff my Walkers, who should be able to shields easy.  Another Hoth objective is nice, too, as it provides a bit of synergy with other cards.

Since I can't decide between them, I'll include them both for now, and go with 11 objective sets.  I'll trim after a few games.  So, that leave my Walker deck as follows:

Imperial Navy Walkers 
Total Cards: (55)

Affiliation:
Imperial Navy

Objective: (11)
2x Imperial Command (Core 26-1)
2x The Ultimate Power (Core 28-1)
2x The Endor Gambit (Core 31-1)
2x The General's Imperative (Assault on Echo Base 56-1)
1x Sabotage in the Snow (Assault on Echo Base 58-1)
2x Unstoppable Advance (The Battle of Hoth 63-1)

Unit: (34)
2x Admiral Motti (Core 26-2)
2x Duty Officer (Core 26-3)
2x Heavy Stormtrooper Squad (Core 26-4)
2x Heavy Stormtrooper Squad (Core 26-5)
2x Grand Moff Tarkin (Core 28-2)
2x Superlaser Engineer (Core 28-3)
2x Stormtrooper Elite (Core 28-4)
2x AT-ST Commander (Core 31-2)
2x AT-ST (Core 31-3)
2x AT-ST (Core 31-4)
2x General Veers (Assault on Echo Base 56-2)
2x Blizzard Force AT-ST (Assault on Echo Base 56-3)
2x Blizzard Force AT-ST (Assault on Echo Base 56-4)
1x Snowtrooper (Assault on Echo Base 58-2)
1x Snowtrooper Vanguard (Assault on Echo Base 58-3)
2x AT-AT (The Battle of Hoth 63-2)
2x AT-AT (The Battle of Hoth 63-3)
2x AT-AT Assault Formation (The Battle of Hoth 63-4)

Enhancement: (12)
2x Orbital Bombardment (Core 26-6)
2x Control Room (Core 28-5)
2x Aft Armor Plating (Core 31-5)
2x Turbolaser Battery (Assault on Echo Base 56-5)
1x Forward Command Post (Assault on Echo Base 58-4)
1x Forward Command Post (Assault on Echo Base 58-5)
2x Orbital Resupply Station (The Battle of Hoth 63-5)

Event: (4)
2x Superlaser Blast (Core 28-6)
2x Aggressive Assault (The Battle of Hoth 63-6)

Fate: (5)
2x Target of Opportunity (Core 31-6)
2x Battle of Hoth (Assault on Echo Base 56-6)
1x Battle of Hoth (Assault on Echo Base 58-6)

I've got a lot of bodies, including 14 Walkers, but very little that I can do to surprise my opponent... four Events and five Fate cards might make a lot of the game predictable.  We'll see.  Like I said, I'll take it for a go in its current state.

Also, this removes a few unused objectives, leaving me with the following unused:
Imperial Navy:
A Dark Time for the Rebellion
Lord Vader's Command

Scum & Villainy:
Carbonite Transport
Hunt Them Down
Jabba's Orders
The Hunt for Han Solo
The Shadow of Nar Shaddaa

Sith:
Serve the Emperor
The Ghosts of the Dark Side
The Killing Cold
Vader's Fist

DS Neutral:
Across the Jundland Wastes
Asteroid Pursuit
Endless Reserves
Shadows on the Ice

Next time, I'll write about what I'm doing with my Light Side decks.

Star Wars LCG Progression, Part 1

So, I love card games for many reasons, but a big one is that I love the deck-building side of things.  Sitting down with an idea, fleshing it out with a variety of cards from the card pool, and then taking your ideas and throwing them against your opponent's ideas?  Well, it's just fantastic.

Now, as part of this, I really enjoy exploring the whole card pool.  That card that no one ever throws in their decks?  Yeah, those are the cards I like looking at, and seeing if I can't get some mileage out of.  It's a big part of the enjoyment for me.  So LCGs are really a natural fit- I always get a full playset of the cards with my purchases, and with no rarity, the companies should have a disincentive to printing 'bad' cards.  Every card should have a role to fill in the meta and the card pool.  Otherwise, what was the purpose of printing that card?

When the Star Wars LCG came out, I played a decent amount of it, especially when the only product out was the Core Set.  Now that the game is 'complete', however, I look back and realize there were a LOT of gaps in my experience with the game, and I played a bunch at the very beginning, some after about cycle three, and a few games at the very end.  That's great, but wouldn't it be great if I could take my time through the game, really get to enjoy it, and really get to explore the card pool?

Well, looks like I'm getting a good chance to.  My friend Eric picked up the complete set after trying the game, and we've agreed to go through the game, playing it slowly, and deliberately.  Spend a bit of time with each cycle, trying out some new decks, and actually getting to enjoy the game without the rush to 'solve' the meta, and without the need to play only the top tier stuff.  So, I'm going to blog about this, as it'll be good to help me keep track of what I've done, and hey, maybe someone else will find it useful too.

At this point, he and I are playing with the Core Set, first deluxe expansion (Edge of Darkness), and the first cycle (the Hoth cycle).  We've played a few games, re-invigorating my love of it, and hopefully giving Eric a lot of enjoyment, but as we prepare to play some more, I have decided to push myself to actually use EVERY objective set in at least some decks, so that I can explore the card pool.

This post, I'm focusing on the Dark Side decks I'm running.  Also, I'm going to consider the Core Set objectives 'played' already- I played a lot of Core Set only games, and I guarantee I've used them all at some point.  Also, just because I use an objective set doesn't mean I won't use it in the future.  I just really want to force myself to look at all the cards, and give serious consideration to using them.

So, let's look at the decks I've used so far, and how they've done.

All of my decks, by the way, I've built using the CardgameDB Deck Builder.

Sith/Imperial Navy Capital Ships
Total Cards: (50)

Affiliation:
Sith

Objective: (10)
2x The Emperor's Web (Core 23-1)
2x Imperial Command (Core 26-1)
1x Death and Despayre (Core 29-1)
2x Deploy the Fleet (The Search for Skywalker 46-1)
2x The Executor Arrives (Escape from Hoth 66-1)
1x Imperial Blockade (Edge of Darkness 88-1)

Unit: (29)
2x Emperor Palpatine (Core 23-2)
2x Emperor's Royal Guard (Core 23-3)
2x Admiral Motti (Core 26-2)
2x Duty Officer (Core 26-3)
2x Heavy Stormtrooper Squad (Core 26-4)
2x Heavy Stormtrooper Squad (Core 26-5)
1x Devastator (Core 29-2)
1x Imperial Officer (Core 29-3)
2x Death Squadron Star Destroyer (The Search for Skywalker 46-2)
2x Death Squadron Star Destroyer (The Search for Skywalker 46-3)
2x Fleet Navigator (The Search for Skywalker 46-4)
2x Executor (Escape from Hoth 66-2)
2x ISB Liaison (Escape from Hoth 66-3)
2x ISB Liaison (Escape from Hoth 66-4)
1x Captain Needa (Edge of Darkness 88-2)
1x Imperial I-class Star Destroyer (Edge of Darkness 88-3)
1x Imperial I-class Star Destroyer (Edge of Darkness 88-4)

Enhancement: (10)
2x Sith Library (Core 23-4)
2x Orbital Bombardment (Core 26-6)
1x Control Room (Core 29-4)
1x Defense Upgrade (Core 29-5)
2x Death Squadron Command (The Search for Skywalker 46-5)
2x Sith Holocron (Escape from Hoth 66-5)

Event: (10)
2x Force Lightning (Core 23-5)
2x Force Choke (Core 23-6)
2x Admiral's Orders (The Search for Skywalker 46-6)
2x Aggression (Escape from Hoth 66-6)
1x Apology Accepted (Edge of Darkness 88-5)
1x Tractor Beam (Edge of Darkness 88-6)

Fate: (1)
1x Heat of Battle (Core 29-6)

I've played this twice so far, both times against Eric's Rebel Alliance Snowspeeder deck, and both times I won.  I'm able to get at least one capital ship out pretty early, within the first two turns, and although I generally lose an objective, I usually have enough muscle to power through to the end game. 

With 29 units, I usually can keep a good board presence, and with an objective reducer, 12 cards capable of generating resources, a few other cards that reduce the cost of capital ships, and the Sith Holocron to help get the Executor out... well, I seem to have the resource curve covered.

I don't really know what more I could do to improve this one, at the moment, but it does have at least some problems with the force struggle if Palpatine isn't on the board.  I'll use it from time to time to see how it plays as Eric's decks change, but at least for now, I'm happy where it is.

Mono Scum and Villainy... Control?
Total Cards: (50)

Affiliation:
Scum and Villainy


Objective: (10)
2x Lucrative Contract (Assault on Echo Base 57-1)
2x Hive of Scum and Villainy (Edge of Darkness 80-1)
2x Jabba's Reach (Edge of Darkness 81-1)
1x The Tatooine Crash (Edge of Darkness 82-1)
1x Trandoshan Terror (Edge of Darkness 85-1)
2x Feeding the Pit (Edge of Darkness 86-1)

Unit: (30)
2x Outer Rim Space Pirates (Assault on Echo Base 57-2)
2x Corrupt Official (Assault on Echo Base 57-3)
2x Corrupt Official (Assault on Echo Base 57-4)
2x Greedo (Edge of Darkness 80-2)
2x Paid Informant (Edge of Darkness 80-3)
2x Paid Informant (Edge of Darkness 80-4)
2x Jabba the Hutt (Edge of Darkness 81-2)
2x Jabba's Pleasure Barge (Edge of Darkness 81-3)
2x Gamorrean Guard (Edge of Darkness 81-4)
1x Jawa Scavenger (Edge of Darkness 82-2)
1x Jawa Scavenger (Edge of Darkness 82-3)
1x Sandcrawler (Edge of Darkness 82-4)
1x Bossk (Edge of Darkness 85-2)
1x Trandoshan Hunter (Edge of Darkness 85-3)
1x Trandoshan Hunter (Edge of Darkness 85-4)
2x Bib Fortuna (Edge of Darkness 86-2)
2x Krayt Dragon (Edge of Darkness 86-3)
2x Gamorrean Guard (Edge of Darkness 86-4)

Enhancement: (7)
2x Bounty (Edge of Darkness 80-5)
2x Prized Possession (Edge of Darkness 81-5)
1x Bounty (Edge of Darkness 85-5)
2x The Almighty Sarlacc (Edge of Darkness 86-6)

Event: (9)
2x Explosive Charge (Assault on Echo Base 57-5)
2x Captured (Edge of Darkness 80-6)
2x Reversal of Fate (Edge of Darkness 81-6)
1x Utinni! (Edge of Darkness 82-5)
2x Spice Visions (Edge of Darkness 86-5)

Fate: (4)
2x Twist of Fate (Assault on Echo Base 57-6)
1x Twist of Fate (Edge of Darkness 82-6)
1x Heat of Battle (Edge of Darkness 85-6)

One nice thing about this idea of a progression series is that I can spend some time REALLY getting to know some of the stuff I didn't get a chance to before.  One part of that is the whole Scum and Villainy card pool.  I really didn't play a lot of green cards during the game's lifespan, except rarely when I threw things together.  Now, I'm going to force myself to do so.

This deck has only been played once, against Eric's Rebel Alliance Speeder deck.  I ended up winning, primarily on the back of the two Reversal of Fates.  So I really need to get it on the table more before I try to tweak it any, so I can figure out exactly what it is good at.  It does capture cards occasionally... but not super effectively.  It has a lot of tricks, but it feels like it's lacking focus.  That may be what I try to build into it, going forward.

It has plenty of units, and six resource cards.  Eight units with Tactics icons.  I feel like I do struggle with resources, thinking back... but yeah, really just need to play it again.

Okay, that's it for this post.  Next post, I'll look at which Dark Side objectives I still need to play, and build a new deck using a bunch of them (something Imperial Navy or Sith focused, most likely).

Netrunner done! [Android: Netrunner LCG]

Seems that the game hit an End the Run subroutine it couldn't break :(.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/6/8/jacking-out/

I'm pretty saddened by this, as I have been with all of their LCG deaths (Invasion, Call of Cthulhu, Conquest, Star Wars), but honestly, Netrunner is in a pretty interesting place.  With the rotation a few months ago, the meta still has a lot of unexplored space, and there are a lot of new cards that I haven't really had the time to figure out how to best use yet, plus a bunch of new IDs I've not used- with some new stuff coming out in the final deluxe that will definitely need some more play.

So, really- it's the end of new content, but not the end of the world.  There is so much out there to play with, I'll be good for several years.

Based on the evidence, and the somewhat slapdash 'State of the LCG' post they put out immediately following the news, they clearly weren't expecting this, and that sucks, but hey, it happens.  But really, I wonder what's next for them?  They have four current LCGs - Arkham Horror and Lord of the Rings, which are cooperative (and seem to be doing pretty well), and L5R and Game of Thrones, which are competitive (and also seem to be doing just fine).  Four is their lowest amount of active LCGs in some time, and two is a VERY low number of competitive ones, compared to their history.

I feel, and hope, we might see a new one in the near-ish future.  One idea I've heard that I really like is re-theming Warhammer 40K: Conquest in the Twilight Imperium universe.  This was a great, very popular game, and the mechanics are very solid.  They'd have full control over the IP, which allows them to work with it long-term without concern. They've started to work with the Terrinoth IP a lot more of late, with Rune Wars and the newly announced Heroes of Terrinoth.  Maybe they'll come up with an interesting LCG based off of that, too?

Anyway, I'm eager to see what they do.  I LOVE LCGs, and will get behind anything they come out with.  They'll bounce back from this blow, I have no doubt!

Path to Carcosa: The Last King (Potentially spoilers) [Arkham Horror LCG]

My group finally found some time, and sat down and played our second game of the Path to Carcosa campaign- The Last King.  In here, we are interviewing the cast/crew of the play... and strange things start happening.

I again took Yorrick, and talked about my deck and previous results here: http://boisterous-exuberance.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-path-to-carcosa-begins-arkham.html

I made a few changes to my deck with the experience I received.  Looking to add some extra combat punch, I replaced the level 0 Vicious Blow with a level 2 version (for 2 xp), and replaced a Guard Dog with Aquinnah level 3.  That should help my survivability and damage output.

In our scenario, we had to hop between locations, talking to the crew, and generating clues.  With my Fine Clothes, I actually had a really easy time with things overall.  We ended up fully interviewing two, with two of them dying, and getting out.

We ended up getting Resolution 1, then Lunacy Reward 1, as we elected to check back on the house and party.

Our campaign log currently reads:
Doubt - 2
Chasing the Stranger - 2
You have identified the solution (Rob)
You chose not to go to the Police
The Stranger is on to you
You Intruded on a Secret Meeting
Total Experience: 9
VIPs Interviewed: Ishimaru Haruko, Sebastie Moreau
VIPs Slain: Constance Dumaine, Ashleigh Clarke
Bobby now has the Man in the Pallid Mask weakness

We continue playing on Tuesday.

The Path to Carcosa begins... [Arkham Horror LCG]

My game group finally sat down to start going through The Path to Carcosa campaign for Arkham Horror: The Card Game.  We spent a bit of time working to determine who would play what, as we wanted to make sure we had all the bases covered.  In the end, our team is myself, running William Yorick, Rob running Minh Thi Phan, Ben running Lola Hayes, and Bobby running Akachi Onyele.  We should have a good spread of abilities, with Minh, Lola, and Akachi able to investigate decently well, with some combat abilities spread out among us all (although I probably take point on that)  We hope to each be flexible enough to contribute where needed, but still have a useful niche.

To start, I just took a deck from ArkhamDB, as I was a bit crunched for time, and figured that the decks are there would be pretty good.  Specifically, I took this deck

William Yorick

Assets
2x Guard Dog
2x Knife
2x Fine Clothes
2x Lantern
2x Gravedigger's Shovel

Events
1x Dodge
2x "Look what I found!"
2x Lucky!
2x Emergency Cache
1x "If it bleeds..."
1x Bury Them Deep

Skills
2x Vicious Blow
2x Guts
2x Perception
2x Overpower
2x Unexpected Courage
2x Resourceful

Treachery
1x Random Basic Weakness

Enemy
1x Graveyard Ghouls

This seemed pretty great actually- good stats for the things I want to do, and a few ways to get things done even without drawing a token.  Finally, we decided to play on Hard difficulty, which will definitely give us a challenge!

And now, I'll create a bit of a buffer here.  Below here will have a few spoilers:

So, went through the scenario pretty easily, each managing our own role well. A big monster appeared in the Theater, I took care of it in one turn. Clues? As a team, we had no problem with them. Overall, we moved through very effectively. In the end, we managed to get the clues we needed, defeat the Man in the Pallid Mask, and get out in time.

Our campaign log currently reads:
Doubt - 1
Chasing the Stranger - 2
You have identified the solution (Rob)
You chose not to go to the Police
The Stranger is on to you
Total Experience: 6
Bobby now has the Man in the Pallid Mask weakness

New FFG LCG!

You know, in case you haven't seen it yet.

I, naturally, am excited, but I also realize what seems to happen whenever FFG comes out with a new LCG.  Something is likely getting canceled :(.  I hope to be wrong, but we'll see what news GenCon brings...

Brief Netrunner Tournament Report from 5/5/16

On May 5th, I played in a Netrunner tournament at Cardboard Gaming in Odenton. We were playing with the Spring Kit (whichever one had the full-art Leela Patel card as a prize), which I had already won a tournament for a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to go for something different.

For the Runner, I tried to build a Professor deck. I had hoped to take advantage of all the new tools available for Shaper, and tried to build around Brahman and the Cerberus icebreakers, thinking I could use Brahman to reset them at will, and then use a card like John Masanori to redraw them, and maybe Savor-Faire to replay them as needed. Of course, a strategy like this is expensive, but I hoped that running every type of economy possible would help make it doable.

On the Corp side, I attempted to run Palana Foods: Sustainable Growth. The goal here was to build a lot of servers, force the Runner to draw a lot of cards, get a SanSan out, and try to fast advance agendas. Occasionally, I would try to sneak out a Chronos Project and score it after the Runner had filled up his heap.

The tournament ended up having 12 players, I think. Pretty good turnout.

Round one, I played against Joey, who I had beaten in the finals of the last tournament. He swore to get his revenge, and... well, I let him. He was using Harmony Medtech as his Corp, and I really could get nothing going (I did not draw any icebreakers, or any cards to go get icebreakers the entire game), and he was able to win easily (6-0, I think). We switched, and I took my Corp deck against Ken "Express" Tenma. He installed Desperado early, and ran ever server I installed. He quickly found the key cards I needed to leave out there, trashed them, and hit me with three account siphons, ensuring he had money. I believe I managed to get an agenda scored, but he easily took the rest of them. I end round one 0-2.

Round two, I played Rob, who is the person I have played Netrunner against the most (and it's not even close). I started playing as Corp against his Hayley deck (Hayley is his favorite Runner, so I have seen many different styles of Hayley deck from him). I keep him drawing a lot of cards; I set up from time to time, scoring one or two agendas in spurts until he gets in to trash my SanSans. I manage to score a Chronos Project mid-game, hurting his potential use of Levy to maintain any sort of momentum, and end up taking the game from him.

We switch sides, and I play Professor against his Foundry deck. Once again, I do not draw icebreakers I need, and he takes the game easily. Just could not get the Professor going! I am down to 1-3 after two rounds.

As an aside- in all three rounds of this tournament, I was the first player done- so at this point Rob and I played another game using my Professor deck, he could not draw ice he needed, and I scored a bunch of agendas off of R&D. So I did manage a win, but in the least skilled way possible.

Round three, I am matched against Cas, who was flush from winning his FIRST EVER game of Netrunner (go Cas! Whooo!). I start with the Professor, and he ran Argus Security. Here, I actually get things up and running- I get two dogs out along with Brahman, and get through his servers (eventually making decent R&D runs) and take the win.

Switching, I face off against his Gabe deck. He immediately Account Siphons me turn one. Then again on Turn 2. Then manages to score a couple points of agendas from my hand, and then I start getting set up, starting to score a few agendas of my own. I am down 6-4 when time is finally called, so I get a modified loss. I was actually starting to get in good position, but Cas was doing a good job keeping me from getting too much momentum. It could have gone either way, but really, any small misstep would have cost me the game at this point, so taking that loss was not too hard a pill to swallow.

I ended the tournament 2-4, which is perfectly fine, given that I was not bringing my top stuff. Unfortunately, I do not recall who won. I am confident I will never bother playing the Professor again (I tried him quite a bit when he originally came out as well). Just too little consistency to be fun. Other than that, it was a good time, and I look forward to the next tournament.

FFG Regional Locations and Dates announced!

Really, you could just read the article here.

I went to a Store Championship for Warhammer 40K: Conquest earlier this year, and although I only did okay (6th out of 13), I had a really good time.  I'd love to play in some Regionals this year!

Looking at the list, these seem to be the most likely targets for me:

• May 2nd:
• Call of Cthulhu in Monroeville, PA
• May 16th:
• Call of Cthulhu in Morgantown, WV
• May 24th:
•  Game of Thrones in Rockville, MD
• June 13th:
• Imperial Assault in Glen Burnie, MD
• June 20th:
• Netrunner in Philadelphia, PA (not likely, as this is the day before my birthday).
• June 27th:
• Warhammer 40K: Conquest in Rockville, MD
• July 18th:
• Game of Thrones in Morgantown, WV
• Star Wars in Glen Burnie, MD

Of course, the chances I'll make all of these are basically zero.  I'd like to try to make a few though, and once I can figure out which, I'll be sure to mention it and start planning for it on here.

Old Hollywood Announced [Android: Netrunner]

Article here

This is the fifth pack in the SanSan cycle, which we should see the first pack for soon.  Let's see what it has to offer:

 

We get a close-up of that Identity in a sec, but that Shaper card is interesting.  Fan Site is a resource that reads: "Whenever the Corp scores an agenda, add Fan Site to your score area as an agenda worth 0 agenda points." 

Obviously this card seems meant to power things like Frame Job and Data Dealer... neither are which are in Shaper, and are both two influence cards.  Fan Site is only one influence though, so that does create some interesting choices.  Perhaps a Valencia deck could use it to really keep the pressure on the Corp, even when they manage to score something?  Data Dealer is a great card... but generally only gets used in rare cases that you get a Shi.Kyu stuck to you, or if you're playing Iain Stirling, or something.  I guess we should expect some other cards in this cycle that allow us to spend/lose agendas, but as it stands, I'm not sure I could find space for it yet.

Now we're talking.  NBN has almost always been a very fast advance sort of faction, and I guess this would still fit that role.  You won't have to auto-lose to the runner getting a major Medium run on R&D (since NBN decks have slightly higher agenda densities with all one and two point agendas).  You could also install multiple 3/2s on the later turns with the knowledge that at least ONE of them will be scored (unless it somehow gets trashed).  If you're running Fast Advance, it's certainly possible you'll get to five quickly... then drawing an Agenda, Fast Track, installing two agendas could quickly win you the game, probably just as the runner is fully set up.  I quite like it.  I also like that I could run a much poorer agenda density in this sort of deck, because having several agendas in my hand isn't necessarily a disaster.  I'll definitely be giving it a try.

Apparently a 'Sensie' is a movie that will provide a more full sensory experience?  I don't know.  The Agenda itself seems alright.  3/1 isn't so bad, but I imagine this is one you'd try to trick your opponent into stealing, perhaps to attempt to get a 5/3 pushed through.  I feel like that may be tough to bluff though- NBN ICE isn't notoriously good at stopping things.  Perhaps as an early game trick though, I could throw a 5/3 behind a Tollbooth (or Wraparound, if I'm lucky), try to get this stolen, and end up doing pretty well.  Combined with the above, they could give me this bonus basically for no additional pain to me, if there are other agendas they steal beforehand.  Or, install two 3/1s, and they access this, and you score the other one for practically nothing.  Overall, not bad.

I like this one a bit more.  Money is good.  4/2 is fine.  And again, if you manage to get them to steal another agenda first, you're getting 5 credits practically for free!  I can't hate credits in NBN.  Something I'll definitely consider given a shot to in some builds, but probably not a strict fast advance build (NAPD Contracts is better for that role).

Finally, we have:

Meh.  If I'm hoping to trash a lot of R&D, I'm likely playing Noise.  If I manage to get all three copies of Spoilers in play, I'm trashing 3 cards for every agenda they score.  They probably need 3-4 agendas to win, so 2-3 chances to trash things.... feels like a 'meh' to me.  This seems pretty good against NBN Fast Advance, in particular, where they likely can't defend Archives effectively... but such a deck will have Jackson Howard since its in-faction.  I don't know.  I'm sure I'll see this played against me plenty (some of my opponents get very excited about trashing R&D cards- it's part of the reason something like half my games as Corp have been against Noise), but I don't know that I'll bother.


Great spoilers overall though- some new NBN tech to look forward to, and some hints of new deck archetypes coming up.  Pretty excited to see it come to be!

The Great Devourer Announced! [Warhammer 40K: Conquest]

Article here.

As I've been telling people, it made the most sense for the first Deluxe Expansion for Conquest to be solely a Tyranid one- adding Necrons in would dilute the Tyranid card pool too much, and with Tyranids unable to take allies, they needed an earlier start than the Necrons.  As such, I'm pleased to see FFG announce that the first Deluxe will indeed be Tyranids (with a few other cards from the other factions).  So let's have a look at the cards:

Man, lots going on here.  First, the Tyranids are introduced, obviously, and come with a new type of unit- the Synapse unit.  In the 40K game, Synapse units are there as a means to extend the will/control of the Hive Mind, and better direct the individual units on the ground.  Now, having Synapse units die in the tabletop game wasn't a particularly good thing- something I hope has some parallel in the tabletop game.  Here, all we know is that the Synapse unit will work like a second warlord, with different effects, depending on the unit (five Synapse units included in this expansion).

We also know the Tyranids will do something with infesting planets, which will trigger additional effects, like with the Hunter Gargoyles.  These infestation tokens can be removed by winning a combat at such a planet, so the effect is reversible, at least.  We're not told specifically if Tyranids have a different win condition (they aren't interested in Tech, Strongpoints, and the like, the article specifically calls out).  I wonder if the Infestation idea will tie into their victory condition, if they even have a different one.

The Termagant is a new token unit that can get bonuses from cards with the Hive Mind specialization, as seen on the Termagant Spikers.  Having Tokens that gain new abilities is really cool, and I think that's a great place for additional design space for the Tyranids.

We also see a hint of another Specialization on Roghrax Bloodhand: Bloodthirst, which seems to trigger when an opponent's unit has died in a combat at a planet.  Another cool way to do things- this doesn't really add new Keywords to the game, but instead gives a way to add related abilities to a variety of cards that could be interacted with later (say, a card that turns off all Bloodthirst specializations for a turn).

For the Tyranids, it's a bit too early to tell how good their cards will be without both their rules and many more examples of their cards.  The Warlord/Synapse pair previewed is certainly exciting enough, but it's still going to be several months until we see these on the table.  So far, they seem to be a bit light on Command Icons, but we definitely don't have the full picture yet.

Pathfinder Shi Or'es seems like he'll be a good help to Tau. Three Resources for a 3/3 with 1 command icon is a pretty good deal.  His ability will be nice in a Shadowsun deck, where you're able to recur Attachments, but may actually be of some use in an Aun'Shi deck too- even dropping an Ion Rifle off him lets me put out a total of 9 Armorbane damage in one combat, which is terrifying.  I could see him having a place, without a doubt.

Seraphim Superior Allegra is both a joy and a disappointment to me.  First, she's going to be incredible for that support heavy AM build that they seem to be trying to push.  Putting Catachan Outpost on her, having her attack, and having that Catachan Outpost available again is REALLY effective.  And there's no shortage of great Supports that could see play in a deck using her (at 4 cost, using this to power Staging Ground would help offset her cost, as well!).  She's going to see play, without a doubt, I think.

I'm a tad disappointed, however, because she's the first Sisters of Battle army unit out there... and they didn't give her any traits.  No Sisters of Battle (or Adepta Sororitas) trait, no Order of Our Martyred Lady trait (based on her uniform).  Nothing.  Just Ecclesiarchy.  Perhaps I was wishing too much, but as a former Sisters of Battle player, I would definitely have loved to see some love for them.  Her inclusion is a start, but I would have loved more.

Various FFG news updates [Lord of the Rings]

Eesh, I get sick, go to a convention, and get busy, and I immediately slack off on posting.  Well, I'll work to correct that.

So let's see what's come up new from FFG on the Lord of the Rings front since the last time I've posted.

Now May I Make a Right Choice. This covers Boons and Burdens from the upcoming Treason of Saruman Saga Expansion. 

Let's look at these Boons, first:

 

As mentioned in the article, these all key off traits from some of the Boons you receive from the Black Riders quests. Really, there's not a dud amongst these- Intimidation works really well with some Tactics builds I've toyed around with, for sure, resource generation from Leader of Men is always nice, and Forewarned gives an ability that will frequently come in handy, given the nasty Shadow effects we've been seeing.  Hands of a Healer feels a tad weak, partially because it requires you to exhaust the attached hero to use it, and partially because there's plenty of good healing options out of Lore as is.  Also, there are currently no heroes with the printed Healer trait, meaning you'll have to depend on the results of the previous Saga adventures to get a chance to use it (whereas the other required traits are actually printed on some heroes).  Still, having the ability to get healing in a non-Lore deck would be pretty interesting.  

The Burden listed in the article, Poisoned Counsels, is nasty.

And you should read the article to see how you get it, basically at the beginning of one of the quests, you'll be given a choice to immediately go into battle, or to spend a turn preparing (and getting a free Ally into play).  If you take the latter choice, this gets added to your deck, and drawing it would be just about disastrous.  Eesh, that's going to be a tough choice.

I'm excited to get this box in my hands (and Lost Realm as well), and I'm especially glad my group has started showing interest in playing more of this- we're actually planning to play The Hunt for Gollum in the next couple of weeks- an old quest that I've already beat a few times (mostly solo), but one that the newer players in my group are excited about.

Escape from Mount Gram announced!

This is the second pack from the Angmar Awakened Cycle, and there's, naturally, a lot of cool stuff in here!

There will also be a new Lore hero, new Ent-focused cards (for Tactics), but I have to say, this new mechanic of triggering off the victory display (as evidenced by Keen as Lances) is just too cool.  Leave no Trace seems like an okay card- it's not amazing in any sense, but it's going to be nice in multi-player games to trim some of the worst cards from the encounter deck, but knowing that me and everyone I'm at the table with is going to be able to use Keen as Lances for CHEAP after two Leave No Traces is nasty.  NASTY.  This is just another case where talking to your team pre-game will come in handy, especially if these quests are as great and involved as the most recent ones from FFG have been anyway.

Anyway, lots of new cards showing up, and still lots of reasons to be and stay excited about Lord of the Rings!  Now to just play more.

My games played for week ending 2/21/15

This felt like a bit of a slow week for gaming for me, and I certainly am not in the habit of taking great notes when I play, but I wanted to at least have some mention of what I've played this week.

Monday, Ben and I played Warhammer 40K: Conquest on OCTGN.  This was primarily so that I could learn the OCTGN interface, but it was also fun to play a game, of course.  I ran my Ku'gath Plaguefather deck, and Ben ran his current Eldorath deck.  I ended up losing, and probably should have mulliganed my opening hand.  I struggled out of the gate, and then struggled to get anything going, leading to a pretty handy defeat.  Lessons learned!

Tuesday, I played a game of Netrunner with Rob- I ran my Blue Sun deck against his Valencia Keyhole/Eater deck.  Early game went quite happily in his favor, and he got to three agenda points pretty quick (partially due to Notoriety).  I finally managed to get set up, was able to manage the Bad Publicity with Eliza Mills, and start scoring agendas.  However, he finally managed to get a Keyhole out and made some runs on R&D, which did grab a few agendas.  However, he didn't have a convenient way to access Archives.

I finally managed to score my last agenda points, and Rob informed me he had a Hades Shard in his hand, which would have given him a way to access Archives, and a Notoriety he thought he could pull off.  The game ended with a final score of 7-3.

Following that, we played two Lord of the Rings games, with me teaching John, Ben, and Brendon (Rob also played, but he already knew the rules, so wasn't being taught), using the decks posted here.

First, we played the Passage Through Mirkwood in a 4-player game.  Went pretty easily- I was playing Tactics, and grabbed Ungoliant's Spawn when it came up, and was helped by Ben dropping a Forest Snare on it, which let me kill it at my leisure.  So we easily won it.

We then played Journey Down the Anduin in a 3-player game, with Brendon taking the Tactics deck.  Once again, an early Forest Snare kept the Hill Troll from wrecking havoc, and our early game was fine... until the locations started piling up.  Thankfully, a Northern Tracker played by me (now running the Spirit deck) popped up and started clearing them out, and we had a few very favorable Encounter Deck draws.  Things were going well... until we reached the third stage of the quest, and two copies of The Necromancer's Reach came up, and I was basically completely exhausted.  Ugh.  I ended the turn with only Dunhere and Eowyn on the table, both badly damaged, and plenty of new Enemies on the table.  Thankfully, some careful management let us deal with the enemies, and finally beat the quest.  Definitely a close call!






On Thursday, I played two games of Legend of the Five Rings (L5R).  With the new tournament (Kotei) season starting again soon, I figured it was time to start getting my decks a bit more stabilized (prior to the release of Twenty Festivals next month) so that I can prepare.  I brought a Spider swarm deck, running a lot of 3-5 gold cost Personalities, and lots of efficient Strategies to handle particular decks in the meta.  In addition, many of these cheap Spider personalities have Battle actions, which lets me stall a bit in the battle, and hopefully get into a position I can use the Strategies later in battle to win it. 

Anyway, the first game was against Naj's Phoenix deck, which used Fortifications and send home actions to try to delay me from winning the game long enough for him to win by honor.  The early game went pretty well for him, as I launched my first attack on turn 4, but he managed to keep his province safe (at a cost of two cards from his hand).  The second turn, however, I successfully take a province, and at this point I had so many bodies on the table he couldn't draw enough ways to stop me, and soon conceded.

Second game was against Kyle's Unicorn deck.  I start the game getting pretty gold screwed, only getting a Kumite Grounds to bolster my economy, whereas Kyle was up and running by the second turn.  He recruited a personality (an infantry personality, critically), and a Bring Them Forward. I get more gold on turn 2, but Kyle loads up on Followers, and takes one of my provinces Turn 3.

My Turn 3 sees me recruit a Daigotsu Teruo and a Kokujin Dairu, the former of which I immediately use to get my hand overfilled.  He attacks again, seeing only a single 3F personality... and I proceed to use a few fear and bow effects to weaken his personality.  He responds by dropping more followers on the Personality... and I finish by sending him home (twice) using Ideological Differences.

Buying all those followers leaves him no gold to buy Personalities during the Dynasty Phase, and on my turn, I recruit a Ninube Shiho, another small guy, and more gold.  Afraid of Shiho (a non-Cavalry personality can't avoid him!), Kyle doesn't attack next turn... but I do with everything on my next turn.  He defends with a few guys, and immediately Fears out Shiho to prevent me from dumping all his followers.  A long battle later, and with his hand nearly empty, I barely manage to break the province and take out his two non-Follower filled Personalities.  We're now at one province down apiece... and I finish the turn recruiting 4 (!) more Personalities.

Kyle, realizing that the tide is turning against him, decides to attack while Shiho was bowed.  I blow a few Battle actions that are already on the table, in order to 'draw him in' more (for instance, having him recruit his Reserve personality AND use the Fear effects he has on the table).  I then use Sudden Movement to bring in Shiho, use Shiho's Battle action to get the followers off of his personality... and handily win the battle.  With no army, and facing an ever growing horde, Kyle concedes.

Overall, a pretty good week of gaming!  Next week may not see me play as many card games, but the following week is sure to be filled with more!

The Thousand Young Announced [Call of Cthulhu]

Read the article here.

Next Deluxe Expansion is for Shub-Niggurath, which has been pretty well known since Worlds, I think.  Some great looking cards:

Frenzied Ghoul looks super efficient!  2 for 2, 2 icons, and the ability to (likely) get more?  That could definitely find a place in a couple of decks.  Pervasive Toxemia we can only partially read... but it sounds like something in the 'have to wound a character to commit to stories' realm, which would be a headache to play around (and fun to BUILD around!)

Resilient is the same rule as Stalwart in Game of Thrones: When the character would leave play, put it on the top of the deck instead.  I feel like my experience isn't there to judge this card... yes, if you get to the point you can play it, it's a GREAT bargain, but eesh, 8 resources (even with some reduction) is going to take you a bit.  Still, I'll have to try it out, I guess.

Resilient will definitely be helpful with this guy- adding a free Character to a story is really nice... and with Resilient, you'll have Characters around, without a doubt.

Well.. that's going to be annoying.  He's cheaper to play with an Avatar out... and after he wins a story, you can sacrifice him (putting him on top of your deck) to put a character at ANOTHER story?  That's going to be really good, assuming the Avatars are worth using!  Oh wait, ALL the Avatars are Resilient??

Can't hate more support for Night!

There's also a link to an Avatar on the news page, but I get a Forbidden error when attempting to access it.

FFG has also changed up the layout of their website, so that probably explains not only the Forbidden notice, but also the fact that they haven't put up another description page of The Thousand Young.  I'll mention it whenever I see it put up.

Looks like good stuff though!  Also, they are adding at least more Mi-Go support, and who can complain about that?