Planeswalkers in Grand Melee part 7, Tezzeret the Seeker

Tezzeret the Seeker costs five mana to cast, two of which must be blue. He enters the battlefield with four loyalty counters, and has three abilities.

Tezzeret is a different kind of blue planeswalker to Jace Beleren. He has a particular affinity with artifacts, as represented in his abilities.

His first ability adds a loyalty counter, and allows you to untap up to two target artifacts. This is a powerful and flexible ability when you deck is built around it. If you are playing with artifact lands, it mimics the first ability of Garruk Wildspeaker. If you are playing with artifacts that have a tap ability, you get a second bite at that. It also allows you to untap your just-cast Nevinyrral’s Disk, which can catch some opponents unprepared for the ensuing destruction. Tezzeret will come through that unscathed, of course.

The second ability is a –X ability. This ability removes x loyalty counters, and allows you to search your library for an artifact with a converted mana cost of X or less, reveal it, and put it into your hand. You can choose zero as the value of X and search for an artifact land, Ornithopter, or some similar card. Targeted card draw is always powerful and Tezzeret the Seeker enables the right deck (ie one full of artifacts) to draw additional cards every turn.

Tezzeret the Seeker’s final ability affects all artifacts you control. This number has hopefully been increased by using his second ability. All your artifacts become 5/5 creatures until the end of turn. Remember that any Equipment cards that become a creature cannot equip an creature and so will become unattached. Using this ability should spell the end of the melee for the player sitting on your left.

Verdict: Strong. A deck built around Tezzeret the Seeker should do well at the Melee
table, and the card can additionally be used to strengthen other decks.

Connections: Like Tezzeret the Seeker? You may also like [Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker] [Sarkhan the Mad] [Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas]
Don’t like Tezzeret? You may prefer: [Ajani Goldmane] [Chandra Nalaar] [Sorin Markov]

See all articles in this series

A League of Extraordinary Gamers Review by Truhlsrohk – Dungeon Run (Pt 2)

A week had passed and Birodin had not returned. The King called the heroes together. “I have drawn a name by secret ballot and that person shall be the next to enter the dungeon.” The heroes looked at each other – ” The  next hero chosen to enter the catacombs will be Emma Goodluck!” announced a somber king. ” About time” replied Emma, “Let’s not waste any more, with your leave your highness?” “Granted” said the king. Emma spun on her heels to leave, then remembering her place , spun again and bowed low before leaving the hall and heading to her allocated entrance.

Emma's Stat Card

 

Emma’s special ability is – Energy Manipulation

 

She can roll a die before any action and increase her brawn rating by the result. Her base brawn rating is 1. The trade off is 2 wound markers…

 

Emma stood looking into the darkness. What had happened to Birodin? His skills were widely known. If he had failed what chance had she? “Too late now” she told herself and moved into the blackness. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could see a room with four exits. She decided to move into the center of the room so that she could see them all easily. As her foot touched the center of the room she heard a sharp click. Instinctively, she dived forward and low, huge scything blades cut through the air where only a fraction of a second ago, she had been standing.

 

TURN 1 Action 1 – Move: Emma rolled a 2 when entering this room. The room had 1 – 4 Treasure and 2 – 6 Encounter. A 2 was rolled. The encounter was a Trap (it’s a trap!) sorry, couldn’t help myself….. This trap requires you to chose either Brawn or Skill. You need to roll 2 4+ results to avoid damage. Emma has a brawn rating of 1 – so can’t use that (she does not want to use her ability and get the 2 wounds just yet), and a skill rating of 2.. She will need to roll both dice higher than 3. She rolls a 4 & 5! and passes the trap unhurt.

 

Emma escapes the trap!

 Emma picked herself up and dusted herself off. “That was a close one”, she thought, “I will definitely have to be a little more careful!” She surveyed the room. Over in the nearest corner, she noticed a pile of what appeared to be junk. Moving carefully over to the pile, she cautiously worked through it. Just as she was about to give up looking, something glinted. Moving the last rags away she grasped the hilt of a sword and raised it to the light. She pulled it part way from its scabard, flames ran up and down it’s length. “A Flaming Sword!” she realised, a small whistle escaped from between her teeth. “Unfortunately, it’s too heavy for me to wield effectively, but should bring a good price” she mumbled to herself. Strapping it to her backpack, she prepared to choose an exit.

TURN 1 Action 2 – Search: Emma searched and so received the card that was generated by the initial roll when she entered the room. The Flaming Sword can be used by those who have War, Magic & Talent. Emma has Magic. The swords text says: Roll 1 extra die when attacking with your Brawn rating, increase to 2 if attacking a beast. As Emma’s Brawn rating is 1, she did not equip it (which will now take up an action to do so if she changes her mind.)

The Flaming Sword

 

Emma pondered her next move. She decided that the door to the right of where she entered would be the next move. Passing throught the doorway, wary of traps, she found herself in a musty old library. She searched a little, but the dust made her sneeze.

 

TURN 2, Action 1 – Move: Emma moved onto a new tile – The Library. This is one of the special tiles in the game. It does not generate a roll for encounter or treasure. It reads: As a special action, you may research the books. If you do, roll a dice. On a roll of 1, an evil tome saps your strength. Place 1 wound marker on your card. On a roll of 5+ you find a volume detailing the dungeons history. You may secretly look at the dungeon boss card.

 

TURN 2, Action 2 – Search: Emma rolled a 2 and found nothing.

 

The Library

 Emma tied her hankerchief around her face and continued searching the shelves. After a while she gave up. Most of the books pages crumbled as she opened them. Putting her hanky back in her pocket, she moved to the next doorway and slipped through…

TURN 3, Action 1 – Search: Emma decided to search again, this time rolling a 4. Still no result.

TURN 3, Action 2 – Move: Moving into the next room, Emma rolled a 3. The room has Treasure 1 – 3, Encounter 4 – 6. A treasure card is placed face down on the tile.

Moving silently into the next room, Emma stayed clear of the center. This was a nondiscript room. Spying another pile of rubbish, Emma moved over to it. Picking up the first rag, she felt a rush of magic. Her training helped her realise that she held a Cloak of Shadows. Putting it on, she thanked her gods, this could be a big help in a tight situation…. Moving through the next door, Emma had a brief  view of the room before the large cupboard on the opposite wall launches itself at her! MIMIC!…Diving to the side, Emma avoids the attack, rolls to her feet and managed to hit the Mimic 3 times before it turns to face her.

TURN 4, Action 1 – Search: Emma turned over the treasure card revealing the Cloak of Shadows. When finding a treasure your character can use, you can immediately equip it if you have a body slot available.

TURN 4, Action 2 – Move: As Emma enters the room she rolls a 2, the room states Treasure 1 – 3, Encounter 1 – 5. The treasure is placed face down and the encounter card turned over is a Mimic. The Mimic has 8 attacks, hits on a 6, has defence 4+, Escape 4+, Lives 4. The Mimic rolled 55554432 all misses. Emma rolled 655321 (using her magic rating of 6) scoring 3 hits on the Mimic ( she needed 4+ the mimics defence to hit).

Emboldened by her inital hits, Emma charged the Mimic, it was way too slow.. Emma’s weapon bit into the creature 3 more times before she danced away. It sank to the floor, sighed and lay still. It was eerie to fight something that made no sound…. She searched it and discovered a Thunder Hammer, again too heavy a weapon for her to wield and she didn’t have the training. She put it into her backpack.

The Cupboard Attacks!

 

TURN 5, Action 1 – Battle: Emma attacks, the monster always attacks first though… It rolls 55533332 all misses again! Emma in return rolls 644331 inflicting 3 more hits killing the Mimic. She only needed one more.

 

TURN 5, Action 2 – Search:The treasure card is a Thunder Hammer (requires War or Prayer) so she cannot use it.

 

 

 

The  next room glows with a green light. This eminantes from a large green stone set high in the wall opposite the entrance she came in from. She feels a little weakened.

 

Turn 6, Action 1 – Advance: Emma discards the Trap and Mimic to gain 1 skill point. A character may increase a rating by 1 point for each 2 encounter cards discarded.

TURN 6, Action 2 – Move: Emma has moved into another special tile – The Cursed Room. Heroes on this and adjacent tiles cannot use hero abilities.

 

“I have got to get away from here” she thought, “This room is sapping me of energy”. Moving through the doorway in front of her and suddenly stops at the sight of a bent old lady staring calmly back at her. “I have something you could use child” cackled the old crone, “A tome that will increase your magical abilities beyond your normal capacities”. “What’s the catch?” asked a skeptical Emma. “Just a little of yourself my dear” cackled the old woman. “You will lose a little skill and strength in other areas tis all…..” Emma thought briefly, magic was her passion… “Ok, what do I do?” she replied. “Take this tome child” replied the crone. No sooner than her hand touched the tome, the crone was gone. Emma felt no different.. Had she been tricked? Shrugging and putting the book in her backpack, Emma moved through the next door. Emma Froze. Standing on a pedestal to left was without doubt, the Summoning Stone. Standing next to it was a Collossus and he did not look happy to see her!

 

TURN 7, Action 1 – Move: Emma moved into a new room Treasure 1 – 3, Encounter 1 – 5 rolled a 5. The encounter was the Mysterious Crone (a stranger). Strangers do not attack but can help or hinder the players.  The crone has the Forbidden Tome which doubles any training markers for magic, but reduces the skill and brawn ratings to 1. Given that Emma’s Skill and Brawn ratings are 2 & 1 respectively, she accepts it. Her magic rating is 6 and any doubling of training points will make her formidable.

 

The Mysterious Crone appears!

 

TURN 7, Action 2 – Move: Emma enters the Boss Lair. This contains the Boss – Colossus of Galnon. It has the following: Mighty Blow – If it causes a wound, discard 1 armour or shield card if possible. Immune to Brawn - You cannot use Brawn when attacking. The Colossus has 5 attacks, Hits on 4,5,6, Need a 6+ to hit it, You can escape on a 4+ and has 4 lives.

 

The monster bellow a challenge and with surprising speed attacks, Emma manages to block the attack and even manages to draw blood from the monsterous beast.

 

The Colossus rolls 43321, Emma (using magic) rolls 643322. She uses her 4 to block the colossus’s successful hit and uses the 6 to hit back.

 

Emma faces the Colossus!

 

Emma and the Colossus circle each other, each tries to find an opening, feinting and thrusting. Time passes.

 

TURN 8, Action 1 – Battle: Colossus rolled 65441, Emma rolled 655422. Each cancel the other out.

 

TURN 8, Action 2 – Battle: Colossus rolled 65221, Emma rolled 653321, again cancelling out.

 

Emma was tiring, she needed to do something quickly. Rolling under the Colossus’s swing, she drove her dagger into its calf muscle. The Colossus yelled in rage. Swinging blindly it opened up its stance. That was all Emma needed as with a flurry of quick strokes she finished the Colossus off.

 

TURN 9, Action 1 – Battle: The Colossus rolled 64221, Emma rolled 665322. Emma scores 1 wound.

 

TURN 9, Action 2 – Battle: The Colossus rolled 62211, Emma rolled 666531 scoring 3 more wounds and the Colossus dies and Emma collects the Summoning Stone.

The Summoning Stone is claimed.

 

Emma stood panting. She had done it! She had succeeded where Birodin had failed! Over the next few hours she carefully retraced her steps, careful not to reactivate the blade trap. She emerged from the dungeon and with an honour guard, was taken before the king.

“Well?” said the king, “why have you returned? Do you have the stone?” Emma bowed low. When she rose, in her hands she held the stone. “At last!” cried the king, “We are saved!”

“Wait!” came a dark voice and the court wizard stepped from the shadows behind the throne. “How do we know this is the stone that we seek? The ancient scripts talk of the false stones.” Emma’s heart sank.

“We must send the other heroes to be sure no other stones exist your majesty.” the wizard murmered. “Give me the stone child”. The king stepped forward and took the stone from Emma. “Your heroism will be rewarded whether this is the stone or not, this I decree.” He handed the stone to the wizard who disappeared back into the shadows.

“Bring forth the ballot bag!”.

 

The game has a points system for playing solo that allows you to try and beat a previous score. Emma scored 1100 pts. Whichever scores the highest points will have found the real stone. That is if any of the others survive……….

 

Truhlsrohk signing off until next time.

Dystopian Wars Forces: Prussians

Dystopian Wars is a popular game of naval conflict in a steampunk alternative nineteenth century. LXG has previous published a Dystopian Wars review. Now to look at some of the forces in the game.

The Prussian forces excel in close quarters fighting and ship to ship boarding actions. Prussians vessels typically come packed to the gunwhales with boarders waiting to leap across to enemy vessels. Given that captured enemy vessels are with double victory points, it’s a strategy worth playing towards.

Prussian guns are typically short range, indeed you will be hard pressed to must any shooting at all at the band 4 range. Because of this you will need to spend your first couple of turns advancing on the enemy as quickly as possible.

The Prussian navy is most vulnerable at long range and most deadly at short range. This means the first couple of turns will generally start badly for you. Particularly when facing enemy with long range rockets, you can expect to lose a ship or two without so much as damaging an enemy vessel in return.

Suck it up and don’t be disheartened as your revenge will not have to wait long. Prussian ships have a reasonable speed to them, enabling you to close quickly.

Tesla coils are a weapons system unique to the Prussians. On your larger ships these weapons have the lethal strike ability, meaning that they kill a crew for each point of hull damage they inflict. This combines well with your large troop complement to make those boarding actions a little easier.

Frigates and Cruisers are very much the main strength of the naval forces. Frigates in particular can deal out huge amount of damage once your squadrons get within short range of the enemy. Experienced players will often target these over your larger ships.

While the Metzger robot is something of a poster model for the Prussian forces, being so impressive, in battle it is serviceable but not outstanding. It is one of the few models with any weapon strength at band 4, so that is a consideration. It’s nice to be able to return fire!

Prussians excel at swarm tactics, so keeping your points free for medium and light vessels is well advised. A single capital class ship is good, but for the most part your strength is to be found in clever use of medium and small vessels.

If Prussians aren’t to your taste, consider also the Empire of the Blazing Sun or Federated States of America.

Games Sales Increase Further

We’ve covered a couple of ICv2 updates in the past, and they have told the story of ever-increasing sales for board games, card games and other hobby game we enjoy at LXG. This trend continues with their latest updates, which shows sales increases of 15-20%. People seem increasingly drawn to the face-to-face interaction that board game, card games and the like can offer. We certainly agree with that!

Board Games
Settlers of Catan remains the top seller, with club favourites Ticket to Ride and http://qlegs.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/game-review-small-world/ also on the list. The Mageknight boardgame is also there. See the top 10 list here.

Miniatures
No change in the miniatures sales list. Warhammer 40,000 is the top dog, though unknown at LXG meetings, followed by War Machine, Warhammer and Hordes, all of which are played. Malifaux rounds out the top 5 list, and this game is being seen at the club after CanCon.

Card Games
This category doesn’t include collectible games such as Magic: The Gathering. Dominion leads the list, which also includes Quarriors and Thunderstone. All three games are played at every meeitng these days. See the full list here.

Magic: The Gathering tops the collectible cards and miniatures category, no surprise given the massive growth this game has seen over the past three years. In role playing Pathfinder is top over Dungeons and Dragons and the Dark Heresy Warhammer 40,000 roleplay series.

All in all these look like good times for hobby gamers everywhere.

Planeswalkers in Grant Melee part 6: Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Elspeth costs four mana, two of them white, and enters the battlefield with four loyalty counters.

Elspeth has three abilities, two of which add a loyalty counter. This gives Elspeth a fearsome level of flexibility. Whichever method you take, you are steadily building towards her third ability.

The first ability puts a 1/1 white soldier token onto the battlefield. This token can be used to block, including attacks against Elspeth, giving her a level of immediate protection.

Alternatively the second ability grants a creature +3/+3 and flying until the end of turn. Used on that same soldier token and you have a quasi Serra Angel. Otherwise it can be used to boost an existing creature you control.

As both these abilities give a loyalty counter they can be used exclusively or in combination to boost your side, either steadily creating an army of soldiers or giving a boost to your existing creatures. Or create a soldier in one turn, and boos that soldier in the next.

Elspeth’s final ability grants you an emblem. Emblems are new to the game of magic and so far are exclusive to Planeswalker abilities. Emblems are effects that last for the rest of the game and cannot (as yet) be taken away from you. Sounds good? It gets better.

Elspeth gives you an emblem that says “for the rest of the game, artifacts, lands, creatures, and enchantments you control are indestructible. Indestructible. For the rest of the game. A very powerful effect. Remember this emblem remains even if Elspeth is removed from play, even if this happens while removing the eight counters required to activate the ability.

Veterans of the melee table will know this is not an automatic win, powerful though it is. Sacrifice effects and effects that reduce toughness, or exile a permanent all get around indestructibility. However the emblem protects most of your permanents from most effects that would harm them.

Managed well, Elspeth, Knight-Errant is a powerful and flexible Planeswalker that provides help to your creatures or creature new ones, while building towards an ultimate ability that will last for the rest of the game.

Verdict: Awesome. A deck built around Elspeth, Knight Errant will do well at the melee table, and in addition this card will boost a number of other decks that can use it.

Connections: Like Elspeth, Knight Errant? You may also like [Gideon Jura] [Venser, the Sojourner] [Garruk, Primal Hunter]
Don’t like Elspeth, Knight Errant? You may prefer [Tezzeret the Seeker] [Ajani Vengeant] [Chandra Ablaze]

See all articles in this series

Grand Melee League, Round 2 Standings

Round 2 of the 2012 Grand Melee League took place on Sunday. A total of 18 players turned up, giving us two tables each of nine players.

On the first table, Jason C came out the eventual winner, his own red/white deck proving superior to Adrian R’s red.white deck, mainly through having creatures with protection from red and white in there. That’s some good forward thinking! It was Adrian R who picked up the bulk of the kills, with four players falling to him. Jason picked up two points, plus another two for the win. Keith D and Jeremy N notched up one point each.

On the second table, newcomer Dalton B dominated the table and the scores, picking up six points, plus another two for the win. Nigel B picked up the only other point before losing due to an empty library.

Thanks also go to Anthony H, who took on the role of recording points on the second table while I played on the first!

Dalton now leads the standings, pushing last month’s winners to equal second place. As we go on, points, achievements, and rounds played should separate the standings further.

Pos.	Name	Pts	Win	Ach	Pld
1	Dalton B	8	1	0	1
2=	Tim H	6	1	0	2
2=	David K	6	1	0	2
4	Adrian R	5	0	0	2
5	Jason C	4	1	0	2
6	Jacob	2	0	0	2
7=	Jeremy N	1	0	0	2
7=	Keith D	1	0	0	2
9=	Courtney J	1	0	0	1
9=	Nigel B	1	0	0	1
11=	Geoff H	0	0	0	2
11=	Alex S	0	0	0	2
11=	Alex D	0	0	0	2
14=	Leanne J	0	0	0	1
14=	Eddie C	0	0	0	1
14=	Megan B	0	0	0	1
14=	Chris V	0	0	0	1
14=	Anthony H	0	0	0	1
14=	Peter G	0	0	0	1
14=	Alex V	0	0	0	1

Achievement Pool: 18 Packs
Prize packs distributed to date: 10

Review: NILE Deluxor – The Game of Ancient Agriculture

 

Reviewer: Truhlsrohk

Publisher: Minion Games

Designer: Daniel Callister

Ages 8 & Up, 2 – 6 Players, 30 Minutes

NILE Deluxor – The Game of Ancient Agriculture

NILE Deluxor courtesy of Minion Games - Thanks Guy's!

When we saw Minion Games offer on Facebook for gaming clubs to play and review their games, we took up the challenge!! This month saw the arrival of Nile Deluxor.

One thing I noticed when first opening the box and reading the rules pamphlet, is that it does not list the contents. If a card or two went missing, it would be hard to tell as there is no guide to tell you what should be in the box.

The artwork is bright, simple to read and colourful.

You get all of this!

You get: 7 different types of Crops – each containing 14 cards. They are Papyrus (Red), Wheat (Yellow), Lettuce (Green), Castor (Brown), Flax (Lavender), Grape (Purple) and Onion (Tan). Speculation Cards – 21 speculation cards, each of these depict two of the crops. Stone Cards – 14 of these which are used to build monuments. Monuments - There are 3 , Obelisk – Draw three cards at end of turn, Sphinx – Harvest twice your resources are flooded, Wall – Outplanted by two or more.  Flood – 1 card. Plague of Locusts – 1 card. Season Cards - 3 double sided numbered 1 to 6, these are round counters.

When setting up, you will only need some of the crops – unless you are playing with 6 players. In that case you use them all. 2-4 players remove 2 crops, 5 players remove one crop.

Stone and monuments are optional and considered an expansion, you may chosse not to play with them.

To set up, shuffle the crops and stone (if using) together and deal each player 5 cards. Then take the Plague of Locusts card and shuffle it into the remaing crop cards and place next to the flood card in the middle of the table. Should look something like this:

3 player game ready to start

 

Each of your turns will comprise of steps – 1 FLOOD, 2 HARVEST, 3 TRADE, 4 PLANT or SPECULATE, 5 DRAW.

 

FLOOD: The first thing you do is turn over the top card from the deck and place it on the flood card. Flooding can have 3 effects. 1. You may harvest from your fields if the card revealed matches one of your crops. You may only harvest 1 card. 2. It shows what crops cannot be played from your hand this turn. 3. Speculation cards are also resolved now.

 

HARVEST: As mentioned above, if you have a planted crop that matches the flood card, you may harvest a card. To do this you take one card from the field and place it face down to form a stockpile of harvested crops. If the flood card is a speculation card, it will show multiple crops. when this happens, harvest the crops shown. If Plague of Locusts is revealed as the flood card it must be resolved immediately and then a new card drawn.

 

TRADE: Trading allows you to discard 2 useless cards for 1 new one drawn from the deck. There are two options for trading – 1. Market – Discard any two cards (crop or speculation) from your hand / storage pile and draw one card to your hand. 2. Offering to Hapi - Discard any two cards (crop or speculation) from your hand / storage pile and replace the current flood card thus causing a new harvest and preventing other cards being played. You can choose not to trade or trade multiple times if you have the cards. Cards traded are discarded. You may not trade with other players or use planted cards.

 

PLANT or SPECULATE: This step is regulated by the flood card and any crop showing cannot be played during this step. PLANT - To plant you must place crops from your hand face up in front of you, forming a field. While a field of a given crop type is in play, no one else may create a field using the same crop ( unless it is larger). When planting you may: 1. Plant at least two cards of the same crop, 2. Plant exactly two cards but different crops (one of which may be planted to an existing field), 3. Plant any number of crops to any number of existing fields you control. Remember, you cannot plant a crop already in another player field unless the new field will contain more cards. If this happens, discard the other players field. SPECULATE - Instead of planting you can play 1 or 2 speculate cards. When the next player turns over the flood card, if the speculate card (or both) share the crop type, draw 3 or 6 cards respectively. The speculate cards are then discarded whether matching or not.

 

DRAW: Draw 2 cards to finish your turn.

 

PLAGUE of LOCUSTS: If the Plague of Locusts is drawn it must be announced immediately. It is placed face up on the table and the palyer with the largest field (or monument if being used) discards the field. In the event of a tie, both (all) tied fields are lost and discarded. Draw another card and play on.

 

END OF GAME: Play through the draw pile once for each player. Once the final card is drawn the game ends. Use the season cards to record how many times you have played through the deck.

 

SCORING: Players now seperate the crops in their Stockpiles. They then line them up from left to right starting with crop type for which they had the least cards (even if zero). So if you only have 4 different crop types, your first column is 0. Players compare their piles from the left, who ever has the biggest pile wins. If it is a draw, move one pile to the left and so on until you have a winner.

 

STONE and MONUMENTS: If using these, the stone cards are shuffled in with the crops. When you play a stone(s) card, you must pick a monument. A monument can be out built if more stone cards are played by another player just like crops in a field. If stone is turned onto the flood card, the players must discard a stone card, if the monument only had 1 stone card it is also discarded. Stone is not scored at the end of the game.

 

EXAMPLE OF PLAY:

 

 

Each player has had their first turn

 

The first player has turned over a Red Papyrus which no one can harvest (being first turn), also he cannot plant it. He played two stone and built the Wall monument. This means the other players need to beat his crops by 2. He has a Flax, Lettuce & Wheat left. He draws 2 cards and gets a Papyrus and a grape.

 

The second Player also turned over a Papyrus for the flood card, again no one harvests. They play 2 wheat cards, preferring not to play the stone cards this turn. They also have another wheat, but you can only play 2 cards to start a field. He draws 2 cards getting a Papyrus and another wheat.

 

The third player turns over a Flax card, no one harvests. He playes 2 lettuce leaving a Papyrus, Stone and speculation card in hand and then draws a grape & papyrus card.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn 2 (without the toes…)

Player 1 turned over a Papyrus  for the flood card. He then played a Flax & Grape. He then drew 2 cards.

 

Player 2 turned over a stone flood card and player 1 discarded 1 stone under his monument. Player two then adds 2 more wheat to his field and draws 2 cards.

 

Player 3 turns over a Flax for flood. Player 1 harvests his Flax and starts his stockpile. Player 3 then plays 2 Papyrus into a new field.

 

And so the game goes….

 

It is a fun game to play and the trick is learning to trade… People like to build big hands in this game, but trading can narrow the choices for you and deny your opponents theirs!

 

Oh, and watch out for the locust! He is friend to no one!!!

 

 

Until next time, have fun and play as many games as you can!! TRUHLSROHK signing off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you enjoyed this review, you may also enjoy our reviews of:

Colossal Arena
Deadwood
Dominion

A Games of Games update, February 2012

The two-day Summer Legends, including double points Saturday, certainly had a big effect on the rankings for A Game of Games. Some people were able to skip whole ranks and speed ahead. Also we have our first three barons.

Eddie C managed this feat thanks to the new organiser points, and running a 19 player Warhammer Fantasy tournament over Summer Legends. David K and Adrian R managed the same by playing lots of games on both days!

Congratulations also to our new Baronets and Baronetesses; Jason C, Leanne J, Jeremy N, and Courtney J. They have all exceeded 100 points to achieve this.

We have eight new Knights; Keith D, Ross vS, Graham M, John M, Terry K, Alex S, Barbara K, and Lance A. Barbara and Lance did not stop at Esquire on their way to knighthood, but jumped straight from Novice!

Speaking of Esquires we have two new ones; Megan L and Liam P.

Well done to everyone! See the full standings at the Game of Games page.

February Meeting Preview

February 18 & 19 is our next club meeting, so we hope to see you there. This is a special two-day meeting, called Summer Legends.

Click for the full Summer Legends schedule.

Even if you aren’t playing in one of the organised events, our huge library of games will be available, and of course all games played on the 18th by club members get the bonus of double points Saturday. You are free to join on the day, as always!

Summer Legends: Melee Draft

On Saturday 18 Feb a Melee Draft will be held. There are 8 places in total available, though a few players have already expressed an interest, leaving 3-4 spots available.

time: 10:30 (or thereabouts)
players: 5-8 (the event will not be held if less than 5 players sign up)

format: triple New Phyrexia

cost: LXG members $12, non-members $15.

Three packs of New Phyrexia will be drafted. Packs will be provided on the day. Basic land will also be provided, though please return them after the draft so they can be used next time. Once the draft and deck building are complete the players will form a melee pod with random seating. The melee will be played as per usual, with players using the decks they have built from the cards they drafted.

Prizes: There will be 0.5 prize packs per player in the event. Prize distribution will be announced before the draft begins. You keep all cards you draft.

Drafting and Building a draft deck:
Some things to keep in mind are:
you will finish the draft with 45 cards
the minimum deck size is 40, usually made up of 24 draft cards and 16 land cards
there is no ‘four of’ limit, so if you draft 6 copies of the same card, you are free to use all 6 in your deck
this is still a melee, so be prepared to attack one way and defend the other!

If you’d like to familiarise yourself with drafting New Phyrexia, try this free website, MtgDraftSim.

Check out the full Summer Legends 2012 Schedule here.

Summer Legends 2012 Schedule

Saturday and Sunday 18&19 February see Summer Legends return once more. We have a busy schedule with different events for you to taste, or simply turn up and play your favourites from our games library. It’s up to you!

Links on the event names will take you to full details of that event.

Saturday Feb 18
Warhammer Fantasy Tournament (day 1 of 2)- all day
A Game of Games – double points Saturday
Magic: The Gathering Melee Draft
Games Library

Sunday Feb 19
Warhammer Fantasy Tournament (day 2 of 2) – all day, including prize giving
Games Library
A Game of Games
Grand Melee League round two

Summer Legends: Double Points Saturday

Summer Legends is on this February 18 and 19.

Saturday 18 is Double Points Saturday! All games you play are worth double points for A Game of Games. Simply fill in your game result sheets as normal, and at the end of the day all your points gained on Saturday will be doubled. This includes any Organiser Points.

Points are earned as normal on Sunday 19.

Planeswalkers in Grand Melee part 5: Garruk Wildspeaker

Garruk Wildspeaker is both straightforward and powerful. As a green planeswalker his abilities revolve around creatures and extra mana. The key to his power is that you can use his third ability the turn after you cast him, which is unusual in a planeswalker.

Garruk Wildspeaker costs four mana to cast, two of which must be green. He has three abilities and enters the battlefield with three loyalty counters.

The first ability adds a loyalty counter and allows you to untap up to two target lands. This is a powerful and surprisingly useful ability. The simplest use is to untap two of the lands you just used to cast Garruk, effectively making him cost two mana. Other uses involving lands which have other tap abilities come after this. Importantly, four loyalty is what Garruk needs for his third ability, covered below.

The second ability costs one loyalty counter and puts a 3/3 green beast token onto the battlefield. This is useful too, since if you are facing down some attackers to your right, Garruk can immediately provide a blocker to protect himself and you from attack. In some decks, you might simply alternate between this and Garruk’s first ability, creating more and more creatures for yourself.

The third ability grants +3/+3 and trample to all of your creatures until the end of turn, at a cost of four loyalty counters. This is the same effect as the five mana green sorcery Overrun, except there is no mana cost here. Combined with Garruk’s first ability, you can use this the turn after you cast Garruk. This ability usually spells doom for the player to your left. You can even combine this ability with Overrun to gain double the effect!

Garruk is one of the strongest planeswalkers, in part because his uses are quite straightforward. He does a few things and he does them very well. At the melee table his third ability is most dangerous to the player on your left, but this ability is most likely to be stopped by the actions of the player to your right. But will it be in that player’s interests to stop Garruk?

Verdict: Strong. A deck built around Garruk Wildspeaker will do well at the melee table, and in addition this card can be used to strengthen other decks that can cast this planeswalker.

Connections: Like Garruk Wildspeaker? You may also like [Sarkhan Vol] [Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas] [Garruk Relentless]
Don’t like Garruk Wildspeaker? You may prefer [Jace Beleren] [Chandra Nalaar] [Nissa Revane]

See all articles in this series

A Game of Games: Organiser Points

We are happy to announce the introduction of Organiser Points for A Game of Games.

Until now, every game you play has awarded your points, which is great. But those who run events that require their full attention have not been rewarded, and this will now change.

Organiser Points are awarded where you organise and run an event that you do not participate in, or participate in any other games while your event in running (as you need to give your full attention to the event).

This can include:
Wargaming Tournament
Trivia Contest
Roleplaying Session
Teaching a boardgame or other game without playing the game yourself

Organiser points are calculated like so:
Game modifier x number of players = organiser points.

So if you introduce a group of 5 people to Small World (game modifier of 2) and oversee their first game, you would receive 10 organiser points. Running a Trivia Contest with a modifier of 3 with 30 participants would give 90 orgnaiser points, and so on.

To claim your points simply write your name on the game record sheet, clearly marked ‘Organiser’.

Organiser Points will be introduced starting at Summer Legends on February 18. Happy organising!

Dark Ascension Multiplayer Set Review

Dark Ascension is the second set in the Innistrad block. You can read our Innistrad Multiplayer review if you haven’t already done so.

As a second set, Dark Ascension continues the themes of Innistrad, while adding a few twists of its own.

Double-faced cards: These return, but in different guises. The werewolves are back, but some now have abilities that trigger when they transform from human to werewolf or back again, adding some extra utility. There are non-werewolf creatures, as well as artifact and even a transforming enchantment. The werewolves retain the same trigger to transform as they had in Innistrad, making them somewhat unreliable at the multiplayer table. The new triggered abilities do make them more dangerous though.

Undying: This is a new creature ability, and gives ythe creatures with it some protection from Wrath of God type spells, seen all too often at the multiplayer table. When a creature with Undying hits the graveyward, it will return with a +1/+1 counter on it, as long as it didn’t ahve a +1/+1 counter on it when it died. So your creatures don’t only come back, they come back stronger.

Increasing: There are five Increasing spells, one for each colour. These spells have an effect that is doubled if you cast them from your graveyard with flashback.

Fateful Hour: A series of spells and creatures with this ability get an extra effect if you are at five life or less. At the multiplayer table, it’s probably not going to help you.

Captains: There were four new creature type ‘captains’ printed in this set; a blue/white spirit, a blue/black zombie, a black/red vampire, and a red/green wolf that also helps werewolves by stopping them from transforming back to their human form.

Ten Useful cards

1. Curse of Exhaustion. A white curse that stops the player from casting more then one spell per turn. Great for slowing down opponents who are moving too fast.

2. Increasing Ambition. A Demonic Tutor effect that is doubled when you cast it with flashback can give you the cards you want when you need them.

3. Tragic Slip. A simple spell that gives -1/-1 unless a creature died this turn, in which case it gives -13/-13!

4. Faithless Looting. Draw two cards for one red mana? Yes, please!

5. Moonveil Dragon. This mythic dragon can booster your whole army, great for a red mage with lots of creatures on the battlefield.

6. Young Wolf. A deceptively aggressive one-mana wolf.

7. Drogskol Captain. Gives a huge boost to any spirit based creature deck.

8. Immerwolf. A ‘captain’ card that gives a bonus to wolves and werewolves, making both decks playable in multiplayer.

9. Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. The only planewalker of the set looks very strong. Look for a more detailed review of this card in our series on planeswalkers in grand melee.

10. Vault of the Archangel. A land that can gives all your creatures lifelink and deathtouch.

Dark Ascension has some good cards for multiplayer decks, over and above those highlighted above. As usual, buying random packs does not pay off for long, but getting hold of some of the key commons and uncommons from this set at least would be worthwhile. Also we may see some Wolf Tribal decks coming out.