#now that I’m older and understand things like ‘money’ and ‘first editions’ and ‘nerdy collectibles’ I’m fucking appalled at little me

[chocolatecatcupcakecheese]

Maybe it’s just me but I read a LOT of the Forgotten Realms AD&D sourcebooks in my youth, because my father had a pristine collection of first and second editions which I wasn’t allowed to touch on 🔪 pain of death. When he left the house, I would climb up atop his desk and pull them down from the high shelf, read them, and then replace them in perfect order… forbidden knowledge 😈

I was basically raised on AD&D lore lol so yeah there’s a lot bobbing around in my brain getting fished out for fanfic purposes. The sheer amount of Easter eggs and rare lore shoved into BG3 is giving me such life 🥰

[bethesdaglitch]

1-70 do em all! 😁💙

I’m seriously so sorry this took so long, but it was so much fun!! thank you!!! Also it’s super long so I’m gonna put it under a readmore!

1. First game you played obsessively?

Jak & Daxter! 2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.Lmao I’m not exactly a creative person, but when I was little I tried coming up with and drawing my own pokemon. They were… bad3. Who did you play with as a kid?My brother! At first I stole his Gameboy Color whenever he wasn’t using it, but then he saved up and bought a PS2 so we could play games together4. Who do you play with now?No one really lol. I kinda prefer to play single-player games now? But I’ll play with various friends when we hang out.5. Ever use cheat codes?When I was little, yeah! Especially in the Sly Raccoon games 6. Ever buy strategy guides?Before the age of unlimited free online strategy guides I did, now I just use said online ones7. Any games you have multiple copies of?Yep, I’ve “lost” games only to find them again after replacing them like… four times? It happened with Oblivion, Fable 3, DA: Origins, and, weirdly enough, that one obscure (but fun imo!) wii game, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?This one was hard! After a teeny bit of research, I narrowed it down to either Rule of Rose, LoZ Collector’s Edition on Gamecube, and pokemon red and yellow9. Most regrettable purchase?Hhhhhhhh I bought the video game for the 2006 Dreamworks movie Over the Hedge. I was only 12, but I still should’ve known better :(10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours?I’ve gone to a few midnight releases, but none that have lasted for hours, luckily. I only started going to them in the last few years, so the only ones I’ve been to so far are Fallout 4, DA:I and uh… ME:A (I KNOW)11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?Nah not really, I don’t play online games, so. I have friends who play video games, but I’ve never met someone BECAUSE of video games12. Ever get picked on for liking games?Lol no?13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has?Overwatch14. Favorite game music?NIER, hands down. 15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick?Probably something cute and harmless like the leaf from Animal Crossing lol16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL?Lately we’ve been really into Towerfall: Ascension and Screencheat17. Ever lose a friend over a game?Wh—no????18. Would you date someone that hates gaming?So long as they didn’t try to “forbid” me from playing and so long as we had other interests to bond over, then sure. It’d be kind of a bummer though lol19. Favorite handheld console?Idk that I have one! Maybe the Switch, since that’s the most recent and popular?20. Game that you know like the back of your hand?Silent Hill 3 and DA:I21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now?The Civilization games22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?Sometimes, yeah. Nothing too embarrassing, though. 23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into?What, like… ever?? Geez, I dunno… probably Oblivion?24. First Pokemon game?Yellow!25. Were you ever an arcade game player?I actually wasn’t really :/26. Ever form any gaming rivalries?Oh yeah, with my brother. He’s 6 years older than me, which pretty much guaranteed I got my ass kicked in every game we played when I was younger27. Game that makes you rage?Bloodborne and Dark Souls!!!!!! I swear I try to go back and play them at least once a year, and I can never get past the first hour :(28. Ever play in a tournament?Not like an official one, but ones with friends, yep29. What is your gaming set up?Imma be real with you chief I don’t know nearly enough about computers to answer this question with anything other than “a computer”30. How many consoles do you own?Ohohoho far too many31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches?I’ve never had the 3D slider up long enough to tell, but that probably means yes lol32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic?BOY when I was in first grade I played Spongebob: Supersponge on Gameboy advance so much I STILL remember the password that lets you skip to the final stage (it’s WMBT) 33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games?nah 34. Do either of your parents play video games?PFFF GOD NO. Although my mom does love Animal Crossing. Not playing it, but just like it’s whole deal. 35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop?No and no, tbh36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?I… don’t think so? Maybe I’ve cried over a game, but blood?? Put the controller down, y’all37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination?NO NO NO OVER THE HEDGE (2006) FOR THE PS2 IS THE SINGLE WORST GAME EVER MADE FIGHT ME ON THIS38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?Oh lord… idk if anyone’s ever played any of Ambition’s dating sims (Dream Girlfriend, Dream Boyfriend, Animal Boyfriend, and Moe Can Change) but I’ve literally been playing them for about… 5-ish years now? They’re seriously the worst, I fucking love them 39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?Hmm… Maybe a new Kingdoms of Amalur game would be cool? 40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?I love VR but the last time I tried it at a friend’s place I fucking faceplanted after leaning on a counter I forgot was also virtual and the first thing my friend asked was whether the headset was ok, so that stung. As for motion controls, they’re fun but they can be a real pain41. A genre that you just can’t get into?Sports games 42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness?The path to what43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else?Oh yeah, who hasn’t?44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters?Idk if this counts but I am a MASTER at the claw machine and that stacker game. My closet is full of useless shit I’ve won from those things45. How are you at Mario Kart?OH SO FUCKING GOOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon?yesssss I love them47. Do you like competitive games?I mean like I said, I mostly prefer single-player games, but I do enjoy the occasional co-op game48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?about an hour49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character?I actually don’t! If it’s a game I’m not confident I’ll be good at, I pick whichever class is recommended for beginners, and that changes from game to game. Alternatively, I just go through phases where I prefer a specific class above others 50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?Christ I have no idea. Maybe a first-person escape game? idk51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep?NO?? DAMN ARE Y’ALL OK????52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid?Literally any M game; my parents were strictly “No M games until you’re old enough!” I just got my brother to buy them most of the time though lol53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days?Most DLC is fine, it’s microtransactions in “pay-to-win” games that I fucking hate. 54. Do you give in to Steam sales?HAHAHAHAHA yeah absolutely 55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them?N-No??? 56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests?Ok yeah I did do that 57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements?Ew no58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?Ooooh… ok, Oblivion, My Time in Portia, and Divinity 259. Do you play any cell phone games?I do! I play a lot of escape games, and uh… the Ambition games mentioned previously60. Do you know the Konami Code?Is that the up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-B-A? Huh, I never knew it had a name!61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever?I used to trade them in occasionally, but mostly I keep them 62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?Yeah the Switch for BotW. Not proud of it, but it was worth it63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? nah64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming?Yep! 65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file?OHHHH MY GOD YEAH, I’M STILL FUCKING PISSED ABOUT IT. I had GameShark for Gameboy and PS2, but that one was fine, it didn’t cause any problems. It was ACTION FUCKING REPLAY that fucked me over. I used it for KH2 and it worked the whole time until literally THE VERY LAST XEMNAS FIGHT, when my HP bar suddenly dropped to 1??? Not my HP, mind you, the HP BAR. Meaning 1 HP was the most I could have. Literally fuck action replay >:( 66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it?nope67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share?I do! The very first thing I ever saved up money for to buy myself was Pokemon Crystal version. Until then I’d just been borrowing (re:stealing) my brother’s, but when I was 5 and Crystal was about to come out, my parents made me a deal that if I saved up $15, they’d pay the other $15 and I could get it! It was the first time I was working towards a fun goal, so it was all pretty exciting for 5-year-old me lol. It’s dumb, I know, but it’s something I look back on fondly68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool?Lol nah, I think the best thing I ever got with tickets was a cheap snowglobe 69. In your opinion, best game ever made? UHHHH GOD. That’s… super tough. I’m genuinely not sure I have an answer tbh. I’m really into Divinity 2 right now but best game ever made?? Idk! that’s a hard one!!!! 70. Very first game you ever beat? I won’t lie, it was Spongebob: Supersponge on GBA

[whirofinvention-blog]

Hard Times

Pairings have been posted and the timer has started. It is time to get started, so how do I begin?

Well, I'm Joseph. This first post is going to be a little long compared to most of what I am hoping to have be regular content. Today, I am going to go over who I am, what this blog is largely going to be about, and a tournament report for my first outing with Hardened Scales. If you want to skip the background information and go right into the tournament report feel free. My feelings won't be hurt.

First and foremost, who am I? I am a 25 year old male from Northern California who has been living in Portland, OR since 2011. Besides doing the day-to-day tasks you'd expect of a 25 year old (working, cooking, cleaning, watching Netflix, etc.) most of my free time is spent either bouldering, making art, or playing/thinking about Magic. Being completely honest, Magic is really the only thing that follows me around constantly. I have friends who climb who I play Magic with. When I make art or cook dinner I usually have a stream playing in the background. Even when I am relaxing, Magic is probably on my mind.

My relationship with this game started way back in 2001 when I was 7 years old. As an only child, my interests mostly came from my friends and what they were exposed to through their siblings. So, when two of my friends' older brothers were playing Magic one day, it piqued my interests and I wanted to learn. I had already been collecting Pokemon and Digimon cards, but Magic was the first game I actually wanted to learn to play. So, for my 8th birthday, my friend Cory gave me the 7th Edition starter. To this day, I still don't know if I should be thankful for him giving me my first real introduction to the game or whether I'm secretly mad at him for introducing me to this money vacuum but either way, here we are.

Now, where I am from is a small town of about 15,000 people, so it was not like Portland or any other larger city where there are ample game stores and a reasonably sized community of players. Instead, we had one shop and that was where I spent hundreds of hours of my childhood, but this shop was a traditional card shop first and a game store second. They still sold sports cards and that was the focus of the shop. Every Saturday they held a Magic tournament but looking back they didn't know what they were doing. No one had a DCI number. There was no banlist. We weren't playing Type 2 or Type 1. We were just there to play. In a way, I feel lucky to have had this store because I got to play Magic like I was in the wild west. I might not have been able to play during Alpha and Beta when the rules were still pretty loose, but I got the best approximation I could have in the year 2001.

I won my first tournament at the shop when I was about 12 playing a Goblin deck running Sharpshooters, Matrons, Lackeys, and even Recruiters, since no one really knew what they were doing. The spice I brought to the table with the deck was running a full set of Fireblasts as well as 3 Goblin Piledrivers and 4 Flings (notice the fitting flavor text) to push through the last points of damage. To this day, I still have a soft spot for Fling but it has been a long time since I have flung a Piledriver at someone for 17 points of damage.

Shortly after winning the tournament (at least in my mind it was shortly after), I started to lose interest in the game. Ravnica had just come out, and I bought a few packs but stopped playing soon after. To this day I have no idea why I stopped. Maybe it was as simple as my friends stopped playing so I lost interest. Or maybe it was because the shop had to move to a smaller storefront and was clearly not doing well financially (they went out of business within 6 months of me walking away from the game). It could have even been that as I was approaching high school, I felt embarrassed about this nerdy hobby. Whatever it was, I stopped playing.

Like a lot of other Magic players I found the game again in college almost purely by coincidence. It just happened to be the case that my dorm was full of nerds who had started playing the game together towards the beginning of freshman year in the common room. One day, I saw them playing and a week later I had bought the B/R Innistrad vampire precon and was playing again. Later that year, I discovered EDH in pretty much exactly the same way and that took over pretty much the next 7 years of my life to now.

Someday I will write about my EDH decks, which are pretty much my children, but for now all I will say is that EDH is the reason I am  even remotely good at Magic. A lot of people look down on EDH because it is for people who aren't competitive and don't know as much about the game. What I will say is that if it weren't for EDH I probably wouldn't have all of the rules knowledge and mechanics information that I do now. Hell, when I started playing EDH I didn't even understand what the stack was or how it worked.

About a year ago, I decided I wanted to play something other than EDH. I wanted to start playing a constructed format that was actually challenging. I had built a couple standard decks in the past but had never really made the effort to play them in tournaments. A friend of mine had asked me to go to modern with him once and let me borrow his Lantern control deck and I fell in love. A few months later I decided to build the deck (as an aside, I would like to say, I was already building the deck prior to Luis Salvatto's PT win with it). It took awhile, but I built the deck at the beginning of this year and have played it in two or three small tournaments since then.

So, this is where I am going to segue into the two larger topics that this blog is about.

First, it is about modern, the decks I play in modern, and my experiences in modern. This will probably mostly result in tournament reports for small to mid-sized local tournaments. Hopefully a PTQ related post here or there, and maybe a GP once or twice a year (there should definitely be something for GP Portland in December whether I play in the main event or not). There’s a chance I might even try and get involved in the local Open Series, but I have not really thought about that.

Beyond being about modern, this will also touch on some of the challenges that I think players regularly encounter when attending events in person. Not to promote stereotypes, but as someone who played the game 17 years ago and today, Magic players have always been awkward, shy and sometimes weird. It is a hobby that draws in the intelligent who may be picked on in school by kids who are jealous of them. It attracts people who like fantasy or sci-fi, interests that have for the most part always been categorized as nerdy. This is just a facet of the game right now. Maybe that will change. I think I am a pretty well adjusted adult who can socialize well, but I still have a ton of anxiety whenever I go to an event of any size. Whether it is a small FNM or a GP where I am not even in the main event. So, part of this blog is going to focus on my facing my insecurities head on. It probably won't be a huge part of every post, but just going to a tournament can be hard for me, and I hope this blog encourages me to go to tournaments and have fun. All that being said, I really do lover modern and think with decks this fun, I would probably be forcing myself to head out to some events anyways. This will hopefully just make it more regular.

Right now I have pretty much three decks built: Lantern Control, Hardened Scales, and Affinity. As you may have noticed all of these decks are artifact based. The reason for that is pretty simple: Mox Opal. Shortly after building Lantern, the printing of Teferi coupled with the unbanning of Jace and Bloodbraid Elf, created a lot of problems for the deck. Jund was becoming more prevalent meaning Kolaghan's Command and Abrupt Decay were everywhere. Blue White had even more card draw that needed to be interacted with, plus they already had Serum Visions, Opt, Cryptic Command and Search for Azcanta which are all nightmares on their own. So, I decided to build something else. I looked at results and at the cards I already had and figured I could either build KCI or Hardened Scales. Though I probably will build KCI eventually, I decided Hardened Scales has a more proactive game plan that can be harder to disrupt than KCI. Plus, I wanted to play a deck that turned creatures sideways.

Once I put in the orders for the Ravagers, Inkmoths, Overseers, and Hangarbacks, I realized that I was now in possession of all the expensive cards for Affinity and had pretty much built that deck. I still need the Springleaf Drums and a couple of Signal Pests, but  other than that I have the deck, except I am running four Bomat Courier over Memnite in my current list. I will admit, I have literally never played the deck, but with the current state of modern, I like the late game impact Courier can have .

My long term goals are to have a large enough selection of cards to build a few more decks. I would love to be able to play Grixis Control or Jund, but I don't own most of the expensive cards for those decks. For now I am just going to be jamming the decks I have and will go from there.

So, onto the tournament report. This tournament was around 20 people and seemed to have the expected spread of tiered modern decks mixed with brews and decks that are missing a few pieces so running budget options alternatives. As is the case in every modern event I have ever played, there was a disproportionate number of burn decks.

Round 1 versus Eli

My opponent this round was a super nice guy who was playing his deck in paper for the first time which was great for me since I was playing my deck in paper for the first time. Apparently, he typically plays Burn but was sick of losing to Dredge on MTGO now that they have Creeping Chill for that free six point life swing. Game one starts with him casting a Faithless Looting turn 1 on the play so I instantly have a red flag that he is trying to do something degenerate. He discards a second Looting as well as a Flamewake Phoenix so at lest I knew what he was doing at that point. The game goes pretty fast with him being able to deploy a turn two Angler and recur the Phoenix. A few turns later he has three Phoenix, the Angler, and two Bloodghast. I scoop them up and we got to game two. Game two is an extremely closed game where we are both able to deploy our threats but I am eventually able to go wider with the help of an Animation Module and Throne of Geth. Game three was one of  the better games I have ever played. He kept an extremely reactive hand without discard or early threats. I was able to get a Hardened Scales out as well as two Arcbound Ravagers and fight through the removal with a lucky draw of Hangarback Walker. After some aggressive attacks on my end plus heavy removal draws from my opponent, I was facing a Tasigur on 6 life with an empty board and an opponent on two. I draw an Ancient Stirrings off the top and find a Ballista to seal up the win. Walking away from this round, there was one moment that I was really unhappy about my play pattern during. I had a hand of all two drops, a Mox Opal, Darksteel Citadel, and a few more lands. Turn 1 I draw a Welding Jar and go land, pass. Turn 2 I draw an Ancient Stirrings, play Jar, Opal, Citadel and Steel Overseer and pass. For some reason, I just got it in my head that I was playing a two drop on two and that was it. I completely neglected to cast the Stirrings even though I had the mana available and had the ability to play multiple two mana threats on three. It ultimately didn't matter, and I definitely lost equity by making the mistake.

1-0

Round 2 versus Scott

Once again, I got paired against a really nice opponent. Game one wasn't really exciting with him on Bant Company and a turn one Hierarch allowing him to answer my Steel Overseer with a Knight of Autumn before I could activate it. From there, he pretty much used the advantage granted by Hierarch to stabilize with a larger board. Between him getting to Spell Queller a few threats and my not hitting a Hardened Scales until it didn't  matter, I just wasn't able to keep up. Game two was a slog, I started off with Hardened Scales which is always great, but over the game he managed to get a tempo advantage through Spell Quellers and Collected Companies that was pretty intimidating. Plus he drew three copies of Path to Exile which was rough since I had no sacrifice outlet for my modular threats. Beyond that he CoCo-ed into Kataki at one point. Fortunately for me, I managed to draw enough threats, without him drawing his Knight of Autumn or Qasali Pridemage at the right time. In the end, it was his pretty sizable board against my board of two Steel Overseer and one Hangarback on ten counters. I was able to sacrifice the Hangarback to the Kataki effect and gain 10 thopters. Because I had been ramped a few times that game, I was more than able to pay for the Kataki next turn and pump with the Overseers for lethal in the air. By this point we had two minutes left in the round. We shuffled and presented. Time was called on turn two. We talked for a moment and just agreed to draw. I made some mistakes this round too that I would like to address. Nothing catastrophic, but there was a moment where I neglected to Proliferate an infect counter onto my opponent with a Throne of Geth activation. I don't believe it made a difference in him winning that game, but maybe the threat of being one counter closer to losing to infect could have made him play differently. We may never know.

1-0-1

Round 3 versus Bodhi

This opponent seemed nice once again (3 for 3, not bad) albeit slightly more awkward, but we are Magic players, so that is not uncommon. He was on a weird brew. It wasn't Bridgevine I don't think, but it was running Vengevine alongside of Monastery Swiftspear, Goblin Guide, and Hollow One. It was like a weird culmination of three different modern decks. It may be closer to what the very first Hollow Vine decks were like, but it didn't seem to be running Goblin Lore or Burning Inquiry, so I am not really sure what was going on. Anyway, game 1 he started out aggressively with a Goblin Guide and Swiftspear. He eventually hardcasts a Vengevine, but by that point my threats were outsizing his and Arcbound Ravager proved itself to be a messed up Magic card. Eventually I was grinding value out with an Animation Module and presenting a wide enough board of threats and modular potential that he could not block in such a way as to avoid dying. Game two started out similarly with him having a Goblin Guide. This game was close and not too much of note happened until the end of the game. He was attacking with a Swiftspear, Vengevine and Goblin Guide. I declared no blocks since I was at 16 life and he proceeds to play Become Immense and take me to 2. I look at what I have in hand and pack it in. I probably should have kept playing since two is not zero, but it seemed pretty unwinnable. Game 3 proceeds in much the same way as game two but I have an opener with two Inkmoth. From the start, I know the most likely way for me to win is via infect, so I chip in with the Nexi whenever I can while tryinging to deploy threats. I eventually have him at 3 infect with 3 Inkmoth and 1 Blinkmoth on board plus one Throne of Geth. I really felt like I had this game in  bag, so when he goes to attack with a Insolent Neonate and a Monastery Swiftspear, I block the Swiftspear with a Thopter and leave back the Arcbound Worker in case I draw a Ravager. He proceeds to cast Become Immense on the Neonate followed by cycling Street Wraith into Temur Battle Rage for the win. I was definitely bummed to lose this round because I felt like I should have been able to win that game, but I had only the two blockers with all of my lands tapped. The real thing that was disappointing was losing to a topdeck that seemed like a poor play. The cycling after casting Become Immense just to hit the Temur Battle Rage off the top felt like poor sequencing. The results would have been the same regardless of his sequencing, but the way he did it meant he didn’t know if he had the win when casting the pump spell and he just drew into it. The loss was inevitable after I passed turn, but the sequencing was the rub-in more than anything. I played well though and I think I correctly evaluated that I need to try and maximize damage with the Inkmoths to stand a chance due to his potential for explosive draws. You can try and play around every card in modern but in the end that will just create a paralysis where you never attack, block or even tap out. Sometimes you play around the Become Immense correctly, but get blind sided by the Battle Rage

1-1-1 - DROP

It was getting late and a Wednesday. I start work at 7:30 the next morning, hadn't eaten dinner, and live on the other side of town from the shop. I decided it would be better for me to go home than try and get a win in the last round to earn back my entry since I never go to this shop anyways.

If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read through the post. I know it was a slog, and in the future they will be shorter. Let me know if you have any thoughts relating to this. Also, here is the Hardened Scales list I ran last night:

Creatures 4x Arcbound Worker 4x Arcbound Ravager 4x Steel Overseer 4x Hangarback Walker 4x Walking Ballista

Sorcery 4x Ancient Stirrings

Enchantments 4x Hardened Scales 1x Evolutionary Leap

Artifacts 4x Mox Opal 3x Welding Jar 2x Animation Module 2x Throne of Geth Lands 1x Academy Ruins 1x Blinkmoth Nexus 4x Darksteel Citadel 1x Horizon Canopy 4x Inkmoth Nexus 1x Pendelhaven

Sideboard 2x Tormod’s Crypt 1x Animation Module 1x Grafdigger’s Cage 4x Nature’s Claim 1x Pithing Needle 3x Damping Sphere 1x Evolutionary Leap 1x Dismember 1x Karn, Scion of Urza