In honor of YouTube’s Geek Week, the amazing people at Geek & Sundry play Star Wars X-Wing by Fantasy Flight Games with Seth Green, Clare Grant (Seth’s wife), and Mike Lamond (HuskyStarcraft).
If you like this game, visit your nearest, favorite local hobby shop and buy it already!
Enjoy!
Thragtusk a 5/3 beast from Magic 2013.
So, a few weeks back Thragtusk was spoiled and he made ripples. A week or so after that, he made waves as people began comparing him to Thrun and announcing the ascendancy of Thragtusk to Thruns old throne. (Not as the last troll but as a cornerstone of the current green stragety.) While one can certainly make the comparison, there’s just something about Thragtusk that makes him more… or a lot less depending on how you are using your green.
Right now I feel like the relic, piloting Wolf Run without Huntmaster of the Fells in favor of more titans, but personal choice aside, like many others I cut Thrun from my list a while back. His primary ability (disregarding hexproof) is now more of a frill if I don’t hit one of my Cavern of Souls and his regeneration is a minor benefit which I’ve chosen to overlook and still don’t regret. He can’t block a flipped Delver of Secrets and with 6 board wipes in the main, his regeneration isn’t necessary as a defensive ability like it used to. He’s not creating the stalemates or board presence he once used to in the list. In this case, audibling to Thragtusk becomes a non-necessity in the deck and represents no additional gain over the troll. I lose him to my Slagstorm, like my Huntmaster of the Fells, and he leaves me with a 3/3 and 5 life which hardly seems worth the mana investment, considering the deck goes from 0 to 6 and can drop larger and more threatening creatures that fetch land that gain me more life. (Which is subsequently why I dropped Huntmaster of the Fells.) I could easily go back to running Garruk, Primal Hunter for a theoretical endless stream of 3/3s. Thragtusk also sits in the 5 drop slot which is home to, in my opinion, one of the best green utility creatures, Acidic Slime and you shouldn’t cut his numbers. So in the case of Wolf Run Ramp, Thragtusk seems best left on the side lines.
Another likely place to house Thragtusk would be in a Birthing Pod list and like Solemn Simulacrum, in the past, and Huntmaster of the Fells now in the 4 drop slot, Thragtusk provides you double value in the 5 drop slot, so he looks good on the surface. Though we have to split the Birthing Pod lists in two which are essentially Naya and non-Naya and while their goal is similar, their methods are different and thus have to be treated as such, however the conclusion on Thragtusk is similar.
Naya Pods current 5 drop slot houses Geist-Honored Monk which initially seems like a poor choice when matched up to Thragtusk, but once paired with Mikaeus, the Lunarch the value of her tokens shine over the value of Thragtusk. Evasion is a wonderful thing. The draw back to this strategy is that you need to cast the Mikaeus, the Lunarch for value, you can never “pod” into him making this more “cute” than efficient. If you cut the Geist-Honored Monk you can almost cut the Mikaeus, the Lunarch as well and run the next suite of cards we’ll be looking at.
Non-Naya Pod usually stuffs their 5 drop slots with Zealous Conscripts and Wolfir Silverheart (or just one or the other) and here you have the coexistence of two amazing creatures. In no case have I seen Zealous Conscripts be bad as a pod choice in the 5 drop slot, allowing you to swing games just by podding into them be it to steal an important creature for the swing back or even to just Twiddle your Birthing Pod. The story of Alex Binek Conscripting Sam Blacks Karn Liberated to restart the game is the stuff of legends. Wolfir Silverheart can win you games just by soulbonding after a Birthing Pod activation, so where or even why would you make the change? The answer seems to be, “Only when already maxed on Zealous Conscripts and Wolfir Silverhearts would Thragtusk make an appearance.” He may however be a nice sideboard slot if mono-Red or R/x begin to make a run at things, but that seems like a worse choice than just siding in Tree of Redemption which has the bonus of being able to chain into Zealous Conscripts or Wolfir Silverheart.
The last major list we have to look at placement for Thragtusk is in G/R aggro, which would seem to be his most fitting home. As it stands G/R aggro is still an evolving archetype. No one knows how many swords to play, which ones are best, the exact numbers on the Wolfir Silverheart/Zealous Conscripts split, etc. It’s still a metagame call. There’s also no way you can cram the necessary amount of Cavern of Souls into the deck and expect value from them as most of the creatures are of various types, though a large percent are human, and you’d find yourself stumbling more often than not. This opens the door for Thrun to take a solid slot as a guaranteed board presence against decks that pack counters and also makes him a large threat when bonded to Wolfir Silverheart or holding a sword. What Thragtusk does provide this deck though, is assurance that it will still have threats at the top of the curve come the rotation in October. If a replacement can be found for the equipment, Thragtusk can replace Thrun and you’re pretty much set.
With this being said, there is hope for Thragtusk in the immediate metagame but not in an established archetype, we’re dusting off an idea from late 2011: Mono Green aggro. Personally I’d splash a bit of red to take advantage of Kessig Wolf Run to give the deck some more inevitability but this isn’t a terrible home for him. No, he’s not a key player right now, but he is in your 75 and with 8 mana dorks and 23 land you can probably find room to squeeze at least 2 into your main. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him crop up in Modern next season as he seems like something worth testing in a Jund list at the top of your curve maybe as a 2 of, max but I wouldn’t expect to run into him in Standard for a long time.
The German publisher of the global hit Die Siedler von Catan released a Star Trek themed version of the game this spring. Today, Mayfair Games—publisher of the English-language version of Catan—announced the completion of negotiations to release the English-language Star Trek: Catan.
Mayfair intends to preview Star Trek: Catan at next month’s Gen Con game fair in Indianapolis. The game will initially be sold exclusively through U.S. Target stores, starting this autumn. Hobby exclusive Star Trek: Catan products are also planned.
Designed by Klaus Teuber, this version of The Settlers of Catan replaces the familiar ingredients with Star Trek-themed resources such as dilithium; settlements are replaced with space ports, and the robber becomes a Klingon Bird-of-Prey.
This is a bit more than a mere re-skinning of the now seventeen-year-old Settlers of Catan. Popular Star Trek characters are introduced to the game through the new “support cards.” Ten characters are featured, including Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel, Rand, and Sarek. Each character card has two special abilities that the card holder can use on his turn.
The Alderac Entertainment Group has announced that its Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game has reached an extraordinary milestone with the release of the CCG’s 10,000th distinct card. To celebrate the event AEG will host a special event at Gen Con, a release of the 10,000th card celebration party with a special celebration pack for all those attending the event.
AEG is planning 8 different versions of the card with alternate art elements, each of which captures a deciding moment in the history of the Legend of the Five Rings. The first version of the card, which features “The Ascension of Empress Iweko 1,” will be available at the Gen Con celebration event.
Other versions of the card will be available at other events including the L5R World Championships in Barcelona (Oct. 12-14), the South American Championships in Sao Paulo (Nov. 3), and the Pacific Rim Championships in Melbourne, Australia (Nov. 24).
While the production of Kick-Ass 2 hasn’t officially begun, a few minor details regarding the cast and plot have a emerged online.
According to MovieHole.net, one big thing that can be confirmed is the return of Chloe Mortez. Who’ll be reprising her role as Hit-Girl, the little bitch assassin.
Of course they would recast her. She fucking nailed it as the pint-sized, foul-mouthed, puberty challenged vigilante. A sequel just wouldn’t be the same with out her. One slight hiccup, however. It’s been 2+ years since the first Kick-Ass. Chloe has grown-up a whole lot since then. Literally. She’s got tits and stuff! Can a fully developed teenager be accepted as an 11-year old? I dunno, that’s a tough one. Though, come to think of it, age defining roles didn’t stop the cast of Harry Potter, now did it?
As far as the other core cast members are concerned, Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse will be back as well. Universal Pictures is also trying to convince Garrett M. Brown to reprieve his role as Dave’s (aka Kick Ass) father. Apparently, his role is much bigger this time around. Auditions are also about to get underway for Uncle Ralph, the crook guardian of Chris/Red Mist.
OK, so the main cast is back. No fucking surprise there. Now, what of the story?
The story will be similar to Superman 2 where someone finds out about the heroes’ identities — mostly Dave and Mindy. Dave’s identity as “Kick-Ass” is only revealed to one important person and it is said to have repercussions. Hit-Girl’s identity will be known by the general public and it gets her in to the awkward stage of society as it will cause a lot of people to make fun of her behind her back. Her problems cause her to be nicknamed “Captain Muffin-Muncher”. However — the worst of her problems will come from the highest of the anarchy of stuck-up girls — Brooke who is said the be the usual prissy stuck-up bitch who has a gang of followers that she can control (think Mean Girls?) who also manages to gain control of Lois (who will ultimately form a bond with Mindy). Eventually, Hit-Girl will get revenge against the band of girls in a spectacular fashion that will involve gadgetry, projectile vomiting and a lot of begging.
So…same cast, new issues, more vomit. Sounds promising. We’ll keep you posted as news rolls out in the coming weeks and months.
Source: MovieHole
via ‘Kick-Ass 2′ Details: Same Cast, New Issues, More Vomit! | nerdbastards.com.
Two of the guilds of the Magic: The Gathering game setting face off below the fantasy city of Ravnica in this Duel Deck. Izzet vs. Golgari pits the Izzet League and its dragon leader Niv-Mizzet against the secretive Golgari and their lich lord Jarad.
Izzet vs. Golgari will have a suggested retail price of $19.95, and will be released on September 7, 2012. The set will include two pre-built 60-card Magic: The Gathering decks.
The Bitterblossom 
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