The Raven and the Stormcrow

I was watching some guys at the office open packs of the Warcraft TCG the other day.

Until you see the cards for yourself, they could be anything at all.

What quantum physics teaches, gamblers already know: reality is a shifty bitch.

Labels: cards, Zen

Have been busy last week... studying ABAP out of the office. My internet presence has been weak recently as a result. This will continue for another week, so don't be surprised if I appear to be hard to contact for a while.

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Magic, anyone? Maybe not next weekend though..

Stormcrow

Labels: cards, work

I have discovered that I can get cheap WoW singles, from the same place that sells cheap magic commons. So, right now I'm really interested in building a deck, even if just a couple of cheap ones for fun.

How are the rules? You can find a good flash tutorial at the official site. Alternately, I could just tell you that it's so similar to Magic that I'm surprised they don't get sued. Untap, upkeep, draw and all that. Instead, I'll look at what's different:

• You (the player) are represented by a Hero card, revealed at the start of the game. It sets your starting life, gives you abilities, and defines your race, class and traits (ie, decktype, like a L5R stronghold).
  
  
• You can only play cards that share a trait with your Hero (ie, only Horde cards or Rouge cards if your Hero is a Horde-aligned Rouge)
  
• All costs are colorless (like L5R). You can play ANY card as a land by playing it face down (like VS). Quests are lands, but with extra abilites.
  
• Damage to creatures is cummulative; it doesn't fade at the end of the turn. Damage tokens are suggested (like pokemon).
  
• Weapons and Armor are just like artifacts with "1, T: Your Hero has +3/+0" or "T: Prevent the next 2 damage to your Hero". (numbers vary)

List of card correspondences:
Creature -> Ally
Land -> Quests (or any card)
Artifact -> Weapon, Armor, Item
Sorcery -> Ability
Instant -> Instant Ability
Enchantment -> Ability with Ongoing trait

So... anyone else want to try this?


Stormcrow

Labels: cards, games

I've decided to stop tinkering with my "Fighting Card Game: Bleach" system and make a full public release. Just think of it as an open beta with an indefinite duration. The main reason being that I don't have as much free time now, and I'd rather focus on other things.

So, here are the links to the printable, "half 3R", jpgs with bonus rulebook:

EDIT: leave a comment if you're interested in playing! ;D

The secondary reason I decided to halt tinkering with this game is that I heard that someone else will be releasing an honest to goodness licenced Bleach card game. Well Damn! This made me think that maybe I shouldn't release the printable files at all, but what the hell. Have fun with them anyway.

In the future, if I find time to further refine my card game, (and assuming I don't design an entirely new game from scratch), I'd probably go through a different anime and use screencaps from that. Like, say Visionaries?


Or, on the other hand, if you know any artists who'd want to let their art and characters be used for a card game, link 'em over here. Although, it would be for free, or at best for a percentage.

Stormcrow

Labels: Bleach, cards, games

Starlit Angel, by Rebecca Guay

Labels: cards, love

Last Saturday, I went to the Planar Chaos prerelease. It works like this: You get a 75-card Time Spiral starter deck and three 15-card Planar Chaos boosters. You then use these cards to play in a sealed deck tournament where each win gets you yet another Planar Chaos booster.




So anyway, I arrived at Galleria at around 10:15 AM. I got in line for registration at Neutral grounds. Met Jem, who had preregistered. Got in line again, because apparently I was in the wrong line. Finally got to pay my 1k, received a ticket for flight "J", which I was informed would start at 4:30 PM. ... What!?!

I spent the next few hours drifting in and out of the tournament area, killing time by watching other people play. Unexpectedy, I found Ruben in a Starbucks, sketching on his laptop. We watched an episode of Dethklok, an animated band which is reminiscent of Gorillaz. Or perhaps Beavis and Butthead. After a while, Hiyas came and I decided to get back to the tournament area.



Wandering the tournament zone, I also managed to find Manchester Sy, a friend who I haven't seen since high school. I chatted with him a little, found out that he had just returned to the Philippines less than a week ago (apparently for good). I got his number; it's always good to have another friend, particularly one that plays magic.

Eventually, the call for flight J players got sent out. While the organization of the registration was kind of poor, things went smoothly once we actually sat down and got our cards. I was pleasantly surprised that there were enough copies of the special prerelease card to go around.



Looking at my sealed pool, there were a couple of great bomb rares in red and white, but the colors were otherwise shallow. Blue and Black, on the other hand, had a surplus of solid commons. There was also a Red-White-Blue dragon. I could have gone for such a three color build, but I chose to make a rareless Blue-Black deck instead, valuing consistency and removal over splashy bombs.

This isn't a tourney report, so I'll cut to the chase. At around 10:15 PM, it was the middle of the fourth round. My record was two wins and a loss. Right before the deciding game, the janitors start turning off the lights, and my opponent offers to just split the last pack by color instead of playing for it. We agree that I would get Green, Black and Artifact/Land. So we go over to the judges and I claim my two prize packs of Planar Chaos, plus a third one to split. We open it, and my share is... three green commons. What!?!

Jem watches as I open my two remaining packs... to reveal the chase card of the set.




Stormcrow

Labels: cards, games, gimmik

A few months ago I talked about this card game I was making. For some reason I forget, I never actually posted the full rules. I recently handed my playtest cards to Celedor, so I figured I'd finish off what I started here.


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PART II: COMBAT CARDS (continued).

There are two types of Combat cards: Events and Wounds. These differ in the length of time they stay in play. After an Event is played, it produces its effect and immediately goes to the discard pile. After a Wound is played, it must attach to a target Hunter.

You can quickly distinguish Events and Wounds by looking at the top left corner of the card. Wounds have a damage box but Events do not. In addition, the type will be declared in the first line of the text box.


There are three traits which are associated with Wounds: Shallow, Light, and Heavy. A Shallow Wound automatically goes to the discard pile at the end of any player's turn . Light Wounds and Heavy Wounds will both stay attached indefinitely. However, Light Wounds can be healed naturally over time, during the end of the turn (see below).

A Combat card that has the trait "Action" in the first line of its text box will require and consume your current Action. On the other hand, "Reaction" cards do not consume Actions; they can be played only in response to certain conditions, as stated on the card.

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PART III: Starting the Game

You need:
1. A Group of HUNTERS
2. A COMBAT deck
3. An opponent who also has #1 and #2

You start the game by choosing your Hunters. Your Hunters must have a total Renown less than or equal to 40 points. You will not be able to recruit new Hunters for the rest of the game.

Your Combat deck must have at least 40 Combat cards. Shuffle it up and draw 4 cards.



Once everyone is ready, players take their turns one at a time. The player with the most number of Hunters goes first. Play proceeds by each player taking turns alternately.

The game begins on the first player's first turn.

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PART IV: The Turn Structure

Let us look at the structure of your turn. After this turn is completed, your opponent will then take a turn. After that, you take another turn and so on.

Pre Combat

At the start of your turn, assign one of your Hunters to attack, and another Hunter (not yours) to defend. You can only assign one of each, though you could choose not to attack at all. These Hunters enter combat opposing each other. Combat now starts.

Combat

The defending player and attacking player may take Actions alternately. The defending player gets the first Action. These Actions can be spent to play Combat cards with the "Action" trait. Combat cards must be performed by a Hunter in combat, and can only target a Hunter who is in combat. A Hunter can only perform Combat cards with a Skill requirement less than or equal to their own Skill level.

You can also spend your Actions on abilities on cards in play in combat. If you have a Hunter (or Item) with an ability that reads "Action: [effect]" then you may spend an Action to perform the effect. Activated abilities on cards not in combat have no effect unless otherwise specified.

Each attacking Hunter has the ability "Action: Withdraw from combat." This ability may be used any time it is his turn to play an Action. If a player withdraws (using this method or a card effect) then combat ends, ALL Hunters go home and neither player can play additional Actions.

If a Hunter has no Health left, she is KO'd and immediately leaves play. KO'd Hunters are placed in their opponent's Victory Pile.

Post Combat

You may heal one "Light Wound" from each of your Hunters (only if it is your turn). All "Shallow Wounds" are healed, including those on your opponent's Hunters. BOTH players draw cards up to the maximum hand size of four (or discard down to four). Your turn now ends.

Winning and Losing

A player is eliminated when he has no more Hunters in play. At the end of your turn, you win if all other players have been eliminated, or if you have 40 or more Renown in your Victory Pile.

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PART V: ITEMS

Items are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.

An Item card is designed to attach to a Hunter. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar. Sometimes they will have Health or Skill bonuses, found at the top of the title bar.

At the start of the game, after revealing your Hunters, you may attach one Item to each of your Hunters. The total Renown of your Hunters and Items cannot exceed 40.

When a Hunter is KO'd, Items on that Hunter will also be KO'd. KO'd Items go to their opponent's Victory Pile.

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PART VI: PREY

Prey are an optional card type that you can also choose to play.

Prey cards are similar to Hunters. They have a Renown value found at the lower end of the title bar, and a Health value at the top of the title bar. They do not have a Skill value; Prey do not use Combat cards.

At the start of the game, you may put into play up to 60 Renown worth of Prey. (The Renown of Prey is counted separately from Hunters and Items.)

At the start of your turn, instead of choosing another player to be the defender, you may choose to attack Prey instead. If you do, choose one Prey to enter combat as the defender. Other players do not receive Actions, and their Hunters cannot be targeted or enter combat. You may attack Prey owned by any player.

In combat, Prey have the ability "Action: Attach a -2H Wound Token on the opposing Hunter with least health." Prey automatically use this ability when they receive an Action.

When a Prey is KO'd during your turn, put it into your Victory Pile. Prey also have a Victory Pile where you put Hunters that they KO, but they cannot win the game.

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Now I remember why I stopped posting these... they're too long!

Stormcrow

Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games

It's been an eventful week. Last wednesday, after many a sleepless night, I finally defended my MS thesis. Yay! Now I can start looking for a job again. ^_^ I'm not sure exactly how one goes about graduating in the middle of the schoolyear but I'd better push paperwork so I don't miss it.

This weekend marked the release of Magic's newest expansion, Time Spiral. I got a FatPack on sunday; that's a pair of (really nice) card boxes w/dividers, a guide-booklet, some land, some boosters, a d20 and a novel. The novel did not disappoint: I expected a rambling, barely coherent story with cardboard characters and a forgettable plot, and I got what I expected.

I was able to meet Ozzy (my constructed friend) to split two booster boxes. As usual, I got all the commons and uncommons. I haven't actually been able to play much limited recently, between my thesis and Raven's work, but Time Spiral looks like a fun set, even if just to collect.


Stormcrow

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In closing, who knew that Quinton Hoover did furry porn? Not I.

Labels: books, cards, review

Anyone else want in on this?



Upper Deck will be releasing it later this year.

Stormcrow

Labels: cards, games

Since Stormcrow has Limited playsets of Ninth, Ravnica, Guildpact, and Dissension, we decided to hold a "League" tournament between the two of us. League play goes like this: each player makes a 30-card deck out of an initial set/number of Ninth booster packs, and faces them off against each other. The winner gets 1 point, the loser gets 2. (negative feedback -S.) At predetermined intervals, in this case 5 points, players earn an additional booster pack. Our pack cycle goes R-G-D-R. The players can update their decks with these new packs, then proceed to battle again.

Me being the inferior player, I get an initial set of six Ninth booster packs while he gets only four. I got a good amount of removal from black and burn from red, dictating the form of my first deck. I faced Stormcrow's initial black-green deck, and the play went on from there.


League play is very immersing, spanning nearly two months and around thirty matches of constantly evolving decks. Inevitably it turned into meta-gaming, where I found myself changing my deck to counter specific elements of his then current deck. After a notable match when he fielded both COP:Black and COP:Red, I changed into white-green (which was weak for me) and eventually went back to my stronger black, but with anti-enchantments.

His deck evolved into a huge monster deck, mostly blue-black with Shielding Plaxes, so I countered with an all-color deck filled with removals (Putrefy, Mortify, Brainspoil, DarkBan) and anti-enchantments with finishers such as Lava Axe, Blaze, and swampwalkers. At the end, though, it became rather boring. I prefer seeing creature interactions, which apparently is mainly absent in Constructed, which our decks were starting to resemble.


Hence we decided to end the League in what is basically a tie game, with me finishing with 46 points and Stormcrow with 44. We are now reshuffling the playsets to begin another League play with some variations, adding more Ninth at first and later giving a free choice of what Expansion pack to earn.


Raven

Labels: cards, games

Last week I mentioned something about ways to get cards for playing recursive Limited. Cracking open boxes and trading away rares is a good method, and it ranks second for me; those with the luxury of time and effort may rank it as first. You can make a profit out of opening boxes. However, spending my weekends on trading and selling cards isn't a realistic option for me, so my optimal method would be splitting a box with a tournament player.

Now, the thing about tournament players is that they value commons and uncommons very little, so generally they're happy to sell them away. In contrast, as a Limited enthusiast, I have no need of rares. Thus, it's profitable for both of us to have an asymmetric split. They get 36 rares, while I get 108 uncommons and 396 commons. Also, they're quite happy to pay for the larger part of the cost.

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Either way, when you decide to open a booster box you put yourself at the mercy of random processess. You just have to draw and hope that you get good cards.


Stormcrow

Labels: cards, games

Last month, I introduced my pet project: a Fighting Card Game. Today I'll try to go over the rules very quickly. As I said before, the system is setup similar to Rage, with combat timing that works like L5R. Let's start by looking over the cards:



Hunters have 3 stats. Let's look at Hinamori. The name of the card is the large font on the side, "Hinamori Momo". Hunter cards will also have a subtitle; in this case, Hinamori's subtitle is "Death God in Training". We can also see in her text box, that she has the "Ranged" trait, which is followed by some explainatory text.

She also has some numbers on the left side. Descending, we find that she has 10 Health, 4 Skill Level, and 6 Renown.

Health is the amount of damage she can take before she is KO'd. The higher the health, the longer she can fight.

Skill Level indicates what Combat cards she is allowed to play. In this indirect manner, this determines how much damage she can do. The higher her Skill Level, the greater her options in combat.

Renown is the cost of putting her into play. You start the game with only a fixed amount of hunters. Large Renown costs means you can have only a few Hunters.

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Now let's look at a Combat card. The name of the combat card is at the top of the card; in this case, the card's name is "Basic Strike". The card's text box has a few traits: "Light Wound Action".



Combat cards have 2 stats. Damage and Skill Cost. The Damage box on the top left corresponds to the Health Slot on Hunter cards. In this case, Basic Strike deals three damage when attached.

The Skill Cost is on the top right and is a restriction on which Hunters are allowed to use the card. For Basic Strike, only Hunters with a Skill Level of 4 or higher can use this card.

"Wound" means that after this card is played, it attaches immediately to a target Hunter. "Action" means that it costs an Action to perform. "Light" means it can (sometimes) be healed at the end of your turn.

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Game structure next week!

Stormcrow

Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games

I've been playing more Magic: The Gathering recently. What's nice about Magic is that you can play it on so many levels. You could play in competitive tournaments where the average cost of a sixty card deck is around Php 5000. You could also play casual peasant where all your cards are 2 peso commons. What really captures my interest though, are Limited formats.

One type of Limited is Sealed Deck, where you are restricted to using cards from only a few packs. For example, at the Dissension prerelease, you're given a Tournament Pack from the Ravnica expansion (equivalent to three Ravnica boosters), three boosters of Dissension, and basic lands. Out of this pool of 90 random cards, scattered across all colors, you try to build a 40 card deck, and play opponents who have done the same.

What I like about Limited is the way it levels the pre-game playing field. The biggest problem for tournament-level Constructed formats is the way the most expensive cards dominate the less luxurious decks. On the other hand, for casual "fun" play, it is unusual to find a situation where two players bring decks on the same level of seriousness. In Limited, having similar card pools puts players on the same starting point, which is great; most fun is had out of even matches.

"But", you ask, "wouldn't buying six boosters, per player, every time you play, be really really expensive?" Yeah, so you don't really do that. Instead, you buy a large pile of commons and uncommons when an expansion comes out, shuffle them up, and repack them. Whenever you run out of packs, you just shuffle and repack again. You can play an indefinite amount of Sealed with only the initial investment.

The best pile, of course, has a uniform distribution of each common and each uncommon. I suggest two of each common in a set and one of each uncommon (even the expensive ones). There's no need to use rares; they're either totally dominating or perfectly useless in Limited, so I suspect you're better off without any rares at all.

The second best way to get all those commons and uncommons is to buy a booster box and put the rares in your trade binder. The best way? I'll tell you next week.



Stormcrow

Labels: cards, games

It's been a while.

In a way, not a lot has really happened. I'm still living with the Castros, still doing the teaching and MS thing. Still waiting for the baby to appear. Still supposed to be writing my thesis. It's damn hard to concentrate!

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For some reason I put all my creative energies in things other than doing what I'm supposed to do. Sometime before Xmas I looked at all the card games I had and decided to see if I could do better. For some reason my effort at a ruleset looked like it was made of 80% Rage and 20% L5R. Actually, it also reminds me strongly of Pokemon but that might be because Pokemon (looking back on it) is 50% Rage and 50% Magic. Or Ani-mayhem, which is 60% Rage and 40% Middle Earth.

So, being a resourceful guy, I cooked up a cardset on my beat-up old laptop and printed out the cards at a local photo-shop (I mean, a shop that does photographs). After a couple of runs, I realized that I had a game that ran pretty smoothly and could possibly be considered fun.

However, I also realized, somewhat belatedly, that my choice of Art Direction wouldn't be ideal for public consumption. I also thought up several ways to improve the layout and card designs. So I went back to the drawing board for a month and redid everything. In the end, Alekos' Xmas gift inspired me and I decided to theme the game after Bleach.



(to be continued...)
(no, really)

Labels: anime, Bleach, cards, games

F) Oil requires a huge crew to drain it out of the earth, and then ship it thousands of miles.


I was going to try to make some sense of that, but with the dollar conversion and standard of living adjustments, I got lost. Also, damn the americans and their non-metric system!

* * * * *

I've really gotten back into Magic over the past month.

First, Raven was able to find me a copy of the old Magic: Shandalar game, the one by microprose. Apparently it's so old, it's already free. Now, despite the sucky graphics and akward interface, there's something very addictive about seeing the old art of Hypnotic Specter and Dark Ritual. Let's not beat around the bush. Magic is insanely addictive. Particularly when you don't have to pay any money to build a mox-fast deck that does third turn kills. Too bad that only took me a week.



















(to be continued...)

* * * * *

Dried mangoes are pretty damn addictive too. It's just my sweet tooth, I'm sure, but all that fiber must be good for something.


Stormcrow

Labels: cards, games, work