Updated RDW

I've been running the same RDW list since Innistrad rotated in: a low curve with 20-21 lands and lots of cheap 1 drops (Lavamancer, Fireslinger). Phoenix sat at the top of the curve next to Volt Charge. I enjoyed the deck, but it seemed to fall too easily to control if they were allowed to stabilize. Without much pressure outside of god-draws of Noble > Berserker > Phoenix/Volt I was losing games that I traditionally handled well in past iterations of Red Deck.

4x Shrine of Burning Rage

4x Stromkirk Noble
4x Goblin Fireslinger
3x Grim Lavamancer
1x Spikeshot Elder
4x Stormblood Berserker
4x Chandra's Phoenix

3x Galvanic Blast
3x Gut Shot
3x Incinerate
4x Volt Charge

2x Arc Trail

4x Rootbound Crag
17x Mountain

I decided it was time to cut some 1 drops, find another 2 drop, and add some land to bump the curve to 4. Cutting 1 drops was easy: Fireslinger and Lavamancer are fine for the long game, but provide little pressure early on (applying pressure early is kinda Red Deck's thing, right?). Finding another red 2-drop in the current standard wasn't easy, but I was VERY pleased when the answer finally came to me. Finally, adding enough land to get to 24 allowed me to bring back an old friend. This is the list I came up with:

4x Shrine of Burning Rage

4x Stromkirk Noble
2x Spikeshot Elder
4x Stormblood Berserker
4x Porcelain Legionnaire
4x Chandra's Phoenix

4x Koth of the Hammer

4x Galvanic Blast
4x Incinerate

2x Arc Trail
1x Devil's Play

2x Rootbound Crag
2x Copperline Gorge
19x Mountain

Sideboard:
2x Whipflare
3x Slagstorm
3x Ancient Grudge
3x Vulshok Refugee
4x Dismember

Let's review some of my card choices:

Spikeshot Elder:  the only non-vampire 1 drop to survive the cut. In a world where the best deck wants to win with a steady stream of 1/1 spirits, the Elder is king. Nobody wants to waste a removal spell on a 1/1 goblin, and if they do remove it, that means 1 less removal for your bigger threats. Delver decks have to remove it immediately or watch their Moorland Haunts sit useless. I'm this close to cutting the Arc Trails and playing 4 of these fellas.

Porcelain Legionnaire:  I bought a playset back on release day, put them in my stack of cards that 'might see play in RDW', and promptly forgot about them. Fortunately, I remembered him while brainstorming this week. People might say he dies to Gut Shot. I guess that's true enough, but so does Delver and people play the shit out of that card. Creatures die to removal spells. Welcome to Magic. The card is amazing and he synergizes very well with what the deck wants to do. He blocks Geist of St. Traft all day long, helps metalcraft for your Galvanic Blasts, the life loss helps against Timely Reinforcements, AND he lives through Whipflare. What's not to love?

Gut Shot:  There's no doubt GS is a nice card. He just isn't for us. 1 card for 1 damage isn't cutting the mustard. As a red mage, you should demand more out of your burn. Yes, it does enable bloodthirst on your Berserkers, but it's just not worth wasting 2 life on turn 2 and getting blown out by a Mana Leak on your creature. Going up to 4 on Incinerate and Galvanic feels right. Speaking of cards that feel right in Red Deck...

Koth of the Hammer:  The argument can be made that Koth is the most powerful planeswalker printed...as long as you're playing Mountains. Why wouldn't RDW want to reinlist him? Moorland Haunt decks will be annoying, but you're not laying him down when he can be obviously killed anyway, right? You have Arc Trails, Spikeshots, and plenty of burn to keep the way clear of danger for him. A resolved Koth is an auto win against a lot of decks out there as long as you play him smart. For example, if you know your opponent is playing Snapcasters then attack with your mountains, but leave a critter home to protect your prized planeswalker. The list of planeswalkers whose ultimates basically win you the game is short, and Koth sits atop that list proudly.

Playing the list at FNM this week I felt much more in control of the game than I have with Red Deck in a while. Most decks have no plan for Koth since no lists play him, and your pressure is much greater with the upgrade in quality creatures. I finished 3-1 only losing in the finals to a Delver deck that had turn 3 Geists with a 2nd one in hand both games. All in all I'm very pleased with how it performed. Going forward, I might consider dropping the Arc Trails and Devil's Play for some combination of Volt Charge and more Spikeshot Elders.

I'd be interested to hear any feedback. Hope you enjoyed reading!

B/R Control

From the moment I read the textbox for Sorin's Vengeance and the new Chandra I knew it was only a matter of time before I found a way to build a deck with them. I started working on my list and few weeks ago and this is what I sleeved up for last week's FNM:

4x Sphere of the Suns

4x Solemn Simulacrum
2x Olivia Voldaren
2x Inferno Titan

4x Galvanic Blast
3x Doom Blade
3x Volt Charge

1x Devil's Play
2x Black Sun's Zenith
2x Sorin's Vengeance
4x Tezzeret's Gambit

4x Chandra, the Firebrand

1x Stensia Bloodhall
1x Ghost Quarter
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
4x Dragonskull Summit
7x Mountain
8x Swamp

sideboard:
1x Doom Blade
2x Go for the Throat
2x Black Sun's Zenith
2x Sorin's Vengeance
2x Wurmcoil Engine
3x Nihil Spellbomb
3x Ratchet Bomb

It's a B/R Control build focused on dealing with any early threats, then winning in a flurry of forked Vengeance or Titans.

I feel like Chandra has a lot of untapped potential in an environment where Moorland Haunt has become such a prevalent long-game tool of many Tier 1 strategies. Your opponent can Haunt at the end of your turn and get in a swing on Chandra, but she gets to crack right back on the following turn removing the threat. Also, in a format where tokens are so abundant she allows you to keep your removal in your hand instead of 'wasting' it on a Midnight Haunting token or similar.


I finished in 2nd place with this deck. Beating a U/B zombie homebrew and Tempered Steel. My loss was in the finals to a U/W Control build when I flooded games 1 & 3. Despite the mana issues, the deck does need some tweaks to shore up the control matchup which I feel is currently weak.

The deck is a lot of fun to play. I got to live the dream on more than one occasion and fork a Vengeance for an immediate 20 point spike. Even without the combo, the deck is capable of taking over with Titan or Olivia. Olivia was especially backbreaking for Tempered Steel, 'steeling' a game I would have otherwise lost.

That same weekend I also got to test it against Wolfrun. It completely dominated, not dropping the first game all night. The cheap removal makes Inkmoth a non-issue and after sideboarding in the rest of your point removal you very nearly guarantee an answer for every 6 drop that hits the board. I also boarded in the 2 additional Vengeance for the matchup with the plan of killing every threat they present until I had 11 mana to cast Chandra, then use her -2 without passing priority before dropping a copied Vengeance for the win. Getting out an Olivia and pumping her beyond Slagstorm damage is also a good way to go over top for an even faster win.

Possible changes/updates to the list:

I definitely want more Bloodhalls. At least 2, possibly 3 total. The ability to just grind out control decks will shore up the natural weaknesses this deck has to that archetype. With the suite of instant removal already in the deck, Ghost Quarter isn't needed quite so badly as there really isn't a land beyond Inkmoth that you want to kill.

Also concerning the control matchup, I feel like the deck needs a better way to put pressure on the opponent. I'm considering Chandra's Phoenix. It has such great synergy with Chandra already and the deck needs a solid 3 drop.

 I'm not sure how necessary the ramp is. It was nice to have for early Titans and Olivia, but I'm not convinced that having a better midrange game to put more pressure on the opponent wouldn't just be a better gameplan

Would love to hear any ideas anyone has. I'm thinking about playing this in a mox tourney this weekend and any suggestions or advice will be warmly received! 

U/W Control

After playing RDW for the last 8 months I decided I needed a change of pace. I've slowly been putting together cards for a U/W Control build. Here is the list I decided on for last night's double FNM:

Creature
2x Phantasmal Image
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Sun Titan
1x Consecrated Sphinx

Artifact
3x Druidic Satchel

Planeswalker
3x Gideon Jura
1x Jace, Memory Adept
1x Karn Liberated

Instant
1x Dismember
3x Mana Leak
2x Dissipate

Sorcery
4x Ponder
2x Timely Reinforcements
4x Day of Judgement

Enchantment
4x Oblivion Ring

Basic Land
8x Island
8x Plains

Land
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Seachrome Coast
3x Ghost Quarter

Sideboard
2x Frost Titan
2x Wurmcoil Engine
2x Phantasmal Image
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Dissipate
4x Flashfreeze
1x Dismember

My final results in the first FNM were 1-1-1 drawing with Mono B Infect, beating BUG Ooze Combo, and losing the mirror. In the 2nd FNM I finished 2-1 which was good enough for 3rd place. I beat the mirror by milling him 2 games in a row with Jace (same guy who beat me in the first FNM), lost to U/W Tokens due to multiple savage misplays on my part, and finished with a sweep of U/B Tezzerett piloted by my best friend.

This was my first time playing control in over a decade and it showed in my play. I lost a couple of winnable game by punting several times. I learned a lot however, and am looking forward to making a few tweaks before sleeving it up again next friday!

A New Red Deck for a New Standard

Lightning Bolt.

Goblin Guide.

Searing Blaze.

Ember Hauler.

Plated Geopede.

Teetering Peeks.

Arid Mesa/Scalding Tarn.

Forked Bolt.

Staggershock.

Burst Lightning.

Flame Slash.

All of the these cards have been staples in Red Deck Wins for so long it’s painful to imagine a Standard environment without them. There is little doubt that the rotation of Zendikar Block will have a substantial impact on the brute force speed the old list was capable of. Turn 1 Guide into Turn 2 Searing Blaze, attack with Guide is a brutal start that few decks could recover from.

RDW has lost a lot of what made it great, but that’s certainly no reason to count the archetype out. 2 of the deck’s biggest roadblocks: Kor Firewalker and Obstinate Baloth are on the way out too. There are still efficient creatures and burn so let’s see what could potentially be cobbled together:

4 Furnace Scamp

4 Stromkirk Noble

4 Stormblood Berserker

4 Chandra’s Phoenix

4 Hero of Oxid Ridge

4 Arc Trail

4 Incinerate

4 Brimstone Volley

4 Shrine of Burning Rage

24 Mountain

Furnace Scamp: Frequently seen in previous RDW lists, Scamp represents a lot of potential damage. With plenty of burn to keep his path clear, this can be held to the last moment to be pitched for 3.

Stromkirk Noble: As soon as this card was spoiled I knew I wanted a playset. Like scamp above, there are plenty of ways to clear out blockers. Having him unblockable by humans is not a little thing. Humans should feature heavily in a White Weenie archetype (the deck is just too easy to build to not be a player in the early days of new Standard), not to mention the popular Snapcaster Mage can’t flash in and stop our noble vampire either. In a deck with so much point removal, Noble represents inevitability if not dealt with quickly.

Stormblood Berserker: Another creature with evasion, Berserker is a fine 2 drop. On the play you should be able to get him out on turn 2 with bloodthirst enabled. You won’t always be able to achieve this, but even getting him out on turn 3-4 isn’t bad. He’s 3 guaranteed damage every time he swings and that ain’t bad.

Chandra’s Phoenix: Following our evasion theme we have a recurring 2/2 flying haster for 3 mana that gives the deck much needed reach. This one’s a no-brainer folks, let’s move along.

Hero of Oxid Ridge: Sitting at the top of our curve is the hero. This card would be Koth if cards like Timely Reinforcements and Spellskite didn’t exist. Even though he doesn’t have an ultimate that reads “YOU WIN THE GAME”, the good hero is a great card. Fitting in nicely with our theme of evasion (seriously, who would have expected Red to have so much relevant evasion?), Hero makes for an excellent finisher. “Oh, you gained 6 life and have 3 chump blockers? Take 13.”

Arc Trail: 2 for 1 is always good. In a pinch you can also direct it at your opponent’s dome.

Incinerate: Not really sure if I want this over Shock, but running it for now since 3 is more than 2.

Brimstone Volley: This card was Shock until the final spoilers were released. 5 damage for 3 mana at instant speed is just too good to pass up. There should rarely be an occasion where you’ll be tapping 3 for 3 with this card.

Shrine of Burning Rage: Yet another instance where you’ll be tapping 3 for more than 3, Shrine has been a staple in RDW since it was released. Provides another means to clear the way for your attackers and a nifty way to finish off your opponent.

Cards to consider:

Shock: More cheap removal. Just depends on if 3 from Incinerate is relevant to the meta.

Bloodcrazed Neonate: If it had haste it would be an easy inclusion. The +1 counters could be relevant in a slow enough meta though…

Grim Lavamancer: Could provide some reach for the deck. With the exit of fetch lands, could be hard to hit that critical mass of cards in the graveyard needed to make lavamancer cruise.

Kruin Outlaw: If control or draw-go archtypes become the best deck, this could be one to look out for. First strike is excellent, double-striking is what could push this over the top.

Reckless Waif: This could very easily replace scamp in the list. Despite what I said about Kruin Outlaw, I’m still undecided on how much I would want to lean on double-faced cards.

Many said Red was dead with the printing of Timely Reinforcements. Sure, it hurts red mages, but Hero cures those ills very efficiently. The only card you really need fear is a turn 2 Spellskite. He represents a cheap blocker, a threat to your ability to use burn as a finisher, and will likely take 2 pieces of burn to move out of the way. Fortunately, 3 out of our 5 creatures evade Spellskite easily enough and you should have Vandals in the sideboard to deal with him in games 2 or 3.

Tree of Redemption is another card that has the potential to put the brakes on RDW, but the fact that it has zero power is very relevant. It can’t take out any of your creatures and it is easily dodged by many of them anyway. Hero hits for so much so fast that the life swing will likely only mean the difference of a turn in most cases. Also remember that Incinerate, Volley, and Shrine can respond to the tree’s ability at instant speed. Your opponent is going to have to play very carefully with Tree: if they let themselves get too low, you can kill them in response to the Tree’s ability. On paper it looks like a 13 point life swing, but any smart red mage knows it’s going to be quite a bit less.

With the rotation of cards like Kor Firewalker, Leyline of Sanctity, and Obstinate Baloth there are fewer cards that directly hose RDW. You no longer have to race decks like Valakut or Splinter Twin so the deck can afford to be slower than it was before. Without direct color hosers or non-interactive combo decks, the meta should be somewhat friendly to RDW type strategies.

Thanks for reading! I’ll be taking this list out for a test drive at FNM and look forward to updating you on my results. If you have any comments or criticism I would love to hear from you. See you next posting where I discuss my new take on Mono R Control.

U/W Shape Control

The spoiling of Blightsteel Colossus made Shape Anew a much more interesting card. Emrakul was already out there sure, but there's something satisfying about killing someone with one combat phase. I think the combo has the potential to make it into a number of decks that play blue cards, but I chose to start tinkering with a control build:

Spells:
4 Shape Anew
4 Master's Call

4 Mana Leak
4 Cancel
3 Stoic Rebuttal
4 Condemn
4 Preordain

Creatures:
3 Blightsteel Colossus

Planeswalkers:
4 Jace, The Mind Sculptor

Land:
4 Halimar Depths
3 Celestial Colonnade
3 Seachrome Coast
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Inkmoth Nexus
9 Island

I left the sideboard out for now. Really just wanting to tweak the core build before anything else. I've only had a chance to test it once against a G/W Quest deck. Lost the 1st game, but was able to get the combo out in short order in games 2 and 3. With the right draw the deck can have BSC out and ready to rock on turn 4. Really looking forward to testing more against Tier 1 competition.

Condemn fits well in the deck. It's cheap removal and who cares about the lifegain when your plan is to kill with poison? I will say it feels negligible in many aggro matchups. Condemn isn't going to do much to slow down All In Goblins or other hyper aggressive strategies, and to be honest I almost feel like Day of Judgement might be too slow.  Maybe a mix of 3 Condemn and 3 Days in the main with Choking Fumes in the sideboard for our goblin friends. 11 counters almost feels like too much, maybe this is where cuts would be made. Speaking of counters, I feel like Negate might be a better card than Stoic Rebuttal. This is something that only further playtesting will resolve. I felt there were a few times I was lamenting the need to keep 3 mana open.

I'm very happy with the deck in terms of being able to dig through and find the combo pieces. Jace, Preordain, and Halimar depths function very well in this regard. Even if I don't find the combo pieces I'm looking for, I will often find the cards I need to deal with any situation.

I think the deck can definitely be better. There is a lot of tweaking to be done, but I'm pleased with the initial build and looking forward to sleeving up the finished product soon and taking it out for a spin on Friday night.

Coming Full Circle

I can trace nearly everything that has ever been good in my life back to Magic: The Gathering. Maybe that sounds sad to you. For me it's anything but. Perhaps one day I will bore you with the details, but for now suffice to say that everything I have - friends, family, and home - is due in large part to my picking up a starter deck of Ice Age as a teenager.

After this purchase I was totally immersed in Magic. Deck building, trading, and competing was a daily practice for me. At around age 20 other interests began to make their way to the fore of my priorities and Magic began to fade into the background. I was never totally removed from it, but I ended up selling my collection over time and very rarely played the game anymore.

Now - 10 years, 1 marriage, and a 4 year old son later - I have decided to get back into the game for good. I have so much to catch up on! 35 expansions have been released (not counting core sets) since I last played Magic seriously. To put that into perspective; there were only 16 sets released when I previously stopped playing. There is a lot of cardboard out there I have never seen. Mechanics and rules changes I have never heard of. Forget about everything I knew regarding card prices, anything that was good back in my day is valuable. Now we have $90 type 2 cards, a new format called legacy, changes to extended, mythic rares, and somehow highlander is a format supported by WOTC!?!

It's a huge amount of info for this magic veteran to absorb. Fortunately, the game seems to be more popular than ever. There are tons of resources for information out there on a variety of topics: deckbuilding, play, finance, you name it. I'm eager to learn and glad to be back. It's a great time to be a magic player.

Gaming pickups Christmas '10 edition

There is always someone on your Christmas shopping list who is difficult to buy for.  I have never been one of these people.  It's very easy to please me.  I just want one thing:  games!  We did something a little different for my gifts this year.  Instead of giving my wife the name of a few games and having her pick them up at retail price we got all of the shopping on black friday weekend.  This was great for a couple of reasons.  First, we were able to get everything on Amazon and not have to fight the crowd.  Second, I was able to get a LOT more for the money.

Before I dive into what I got though, let's take a look at what we got for my son Reid.

Epic Mickey - He's a big fan of Mickey so this seemed a no-brainer.  Turns out he hasn't quite gotten the hang of pointing the wii remote at the screen just yet.  Also, there is a lot of reading involved.  He'll get there though.

DS Lite - Reid has been rocking the DS Phat for a couple of years now and it's on it's last legs.  The time (and the price) was right to get him an upgraded system.  He's had to charge it multiple times already.  :)

Nyko Wii remote and nunchuck - This will make the family's 4th and final wii remote.  Reid needed his own and this was a good deal in a combo pack with Epic Mickey.

Toy Story 3, Kung Zhu, & The Backyardigans - Picked these up on Amazon's black friday deals.  Backyardigans was a gift from a relative.  Reid has spent a lot of time playing all 3 already.

Donkey Kong Country Returns - I needed a gift for Reid to give to mommy.  They both had a lot of fun playing the first DKC on my super NES so I feel like this was a good pickup.  Also got it on sale from Amazon.

Now for my pickups!

Bioshock 2 - Really dug the first game.  Was just waiting to catch this one for cheap.

Dragon Quest IX & Glory of Heracles - I love RPG games on the DS.

Ratchet & Clank games, God of War Collection - All 3 of these PS3 games were $10/ea and the PS2 Ratchet was $8.  Me and Reid both really enjoy the Ratchet & Clank series so these were great buys.  God of War 1&2 with HD graphics was a steal for $10.

3D Dot Game Heroes and White Knight Chronicles - Picked these up for $15 a piece.  3D Dot looks like a lot of fun, but I took a total stab in the dark on White Knight; I know next to nothing about the game.  Hopefully it will be fun too.  If not I can always put it on Goozex.

Eternal Sonata - This was on my want list of 360 games until I found out it was coming to the PS3 with more content.  Scooped it up for super cheap too.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom - I've heard it compared to Ico.  That was enough for me.  Ico was one of my favorite titles on the PS2.

Also got a few blu rays on the cheap.  I'm treating my blu ray acquisitions as my definitive movie collection.  I'm only getting stuff that I know will be viewed multiple times.  I have way too many dvd movies that will never see play again, not gonna repeat that mistake with blu rays.  The Batman movies and the Firefly series are all upgrades from dvds I already own.  The Book of Eli is my favorite movie of 2010 and Snatch is one of my all-time favorite movies.

All in all it was a great christmas for games.  Not sure how I feel about purchasing my own gifts, but really how much different is it from giving my wife a list of games?  Either way I know what I'm getting.

Anyway, enough about me!  What did Santa bring you?  Let me know in the comments.

Happy New Year!
-Van

Gaming pickups Nov-Dec 2010

Wanted to share some of my recent gaming acquisitions with you from November and December.  At this point I'm just looking to pick up games on sale I haven't paid full price for a game since Dragon Age was released in '09.  There are still some titles/series that will always guarantee a day-one purchase from me (Half-Life, The Elder Scrolls, Lord of the Rings Online, etc...), but for the most part I'm content to wait for a cheaper price.

Amazon pickups
Kingdom Hearts II - $12  Still haven't played the first one, but I eventually will.  Hard to pass on a brand new copy of the sequel for this price.
Little King's Story - $16  Keep hearing good things about this one.  Been waiting for a deal and finally found one.
Final Fantasy The 4 Heroes of Light - $14  Can't believe this got so cheap so fast.  Snapped it up super quick.

 Final Fantasy IV - $14  Picked this up from Newegg just before Black Friday.  I'm currently playing the FFIII DS remake and really enjoying it.

 Shenmue II - 150 Goozex points  Was surprised by this one.  My Goozex point balance has been low for a long time and wasn't expecting to get anything.  Played the first and enjoyed it and I've heard good things about this one.

Xenosaga - $25  Picked this up from a fellow user on CheapAssGamer.  Been looking to complete the trilogy for a while and this was a very fair price.

Finally, I stumbled across a cool local gaming store I had forgotten about and picked up some Zombie Dice.

I'm always on the lookout for cool games to play with my close group of friends and this one has been in the back of my mind to grab if I ever saw it in the wild.  Also randomly picked up a pack of Magic the Gathering cards too.  First pack I have opened in nearly 10 years.  Thinking about getting back into Magic., I've really missed how new cards smell.

A nice surprise

Valve released a new game this week with but a few day's notice:

It's a top down shooter similar to the low-budget Alien/Zombie Shooter titles. There isn't a single player mode (you can try offline practice to become acquainted with the controls, but cannot earn any achievements or experience) as the game is more focused on co-op multiplayer. Up to four players work together to complete objectives and reach the end of each level while fighting off aliens who have infested the environs.  Me and some clan mates put the game through it's paces last night and came away very impressed. 

There are 4 player classes to choose from: Officer, Medic, Tech, and Special Arms. You unlock more weapons and options as you level your character up. Not nearly as deep as MW2's customization, but still satisfying.  Every class also has 2 different character options each with different stat bonuses.  For example the female Special Arms character has a leg up on reload speed, but her male counterpart has more health.

Only one campaign available right now, but it has 7 levels and a good bit of replayability. Fortunately, like everything else Valve does, it's made in the Source engine so modders will be able to make their own levels.  We probably shouldn't forget that Valve has a good habit of post-release support either.

Oh, and did I mention it's FREE?

Enjoying the creative process

July was supposed to be my month for webcomic'ing. After putting some more thought into it I've decided I'm just gonna wing it instead.  I compulsively feel the need to structure things that don't necessarily require the addition of said structure.  From now on I'll try to simply enjoy the creative process and give into my whimsy.  Did a little level design (Team Fortress 2) on Tuesday, and a bit of drawing Wednesday.  Me and my whimsy are so far, so good.

I doodled up an old design idea for a TF2 king of the hill map using the cp_egypt theme.  I have wanted to use this environment for a full-fledged map ever since I submitted my contest entry last year. Koth_nucleus gave me the idea for a precariously placed control point:

Obviously there is not terribly much to see yet as I'm still working on the layout.  I've put together what you see here in the level design program already, trying to get the scale down before positioning the spawns and overhead routes.  Trying to decide now if it will be located outdoors or the interior of a pyramid/temple.  I think I'd prefer an indoors scenario, but it will depend on coming up with a reasonable way to light the play area.

My doodling did not end at level design!  I've also been practicing my drawing, both on paper and digital pages.  It's odd, but I feel more control over my line work on paper versus a tablet even though I can't erase errant lines on paper as easily.  I suspect it's my tiny 6"x4" tablet.  When I zoom in on an the page to put down ink lines I'm losing some natural arm and wrist motion being confined to such a small area.  Maybe one day I'll spring for a larger tablet.  This is a little something I sketched up, wanted to try my hand at doing shadows:

The more I look at this the more areas I see need changes, but that's why we practice right?  I'm really excited about evolving my art and creating a unique style.

Speaking of unique style, I recently became enamored with a game called Puzzle Agent.  I've always had an eye for Telltale Games' offerings.  They make good games, but my yearning for PA was exceptional and immediate.  The hand drawn characters and environments blew me away.  I very nearly bought the game as soon as it was released, deciding to hold off only at the last minute.  After all, there are no lack of games on my backlog waiting to be played.  One week after release though, the game hit Steam with a $1.00 discount.  Turns out it was the only arm-twisting I needed.  I purchased and devoured it in a span of 3 days.

Through reading interviews and consuming as much media as possible concerning the game I learned about Grickle.  I could try to tell you what or who Grickle is, but this animation can do it far better:

Graham Annable is the creator of Grickle.  Not really a place and not so much a person either, Grickle is a state of mind.  Mr. Annable's mind to be precise.  It can get pretty weird in there.  Fortunately, it's very entertaining.  Comics, animations, and now a game; Grickle is everything I want my art to be someday.  I think I've found a new favorite artist.

I'm resisting the urge to buy his latest book right now.

Resistance is NOT futile

So, I spun up the disc for Resistance Fall of Man today in my PS3. The last time I played an FPS on a console system was around the time of Halo 2. After spending 10 minutes with the game I remembered why it's been so damned long: Playing an FPS on a gamepad is such an unorthodox thing for me. It goes against my grain. A more unnatural way to play a game I could not conceive.

I could invest some time into this game and no doubt rejigger whatever portion of my brain rails against this input method. For what reason though? Is there a frigging famine of well-made shooters on the PC? I fear Resistance will not find itself featured in the column to the right.

Last week I wrote about the crossroads I faced. This week I can relate to you the decision I made. Starting July 1 and continuing through the end of September I'll be devoting one full month to each option. At the end of the 3 months I'll make a choice based on which one I enjoyed more. July will be for webcomics, August for level design, and September for writing.

Who knows? Maybe I'll figure out what direction I want to go in before the 3 months is up. Should be fun either way and I look forward to updating you on my progress in the weeks to come.

What I'm playing: 6/18/2010

League of Legends:

I dig on MMOs.  I love RTS games.  Then along comes Riot Games, combining the 2 genres into a multiplayer, PVP-driven game.  I should probably also mention that the game is free.  There is no excuse for me to not play this game, and oh boy do I play it.  In 5 short months LoL has become the #2 most played game on my xfire profile.  I'll talk more at length about LoL in a future blog.

Phoenix Wright Justice for All:

I really enjoyed the first game and finally got around to pick this up on Goozex recently.  Justice for All reuses much of the graphics, characters, and gameplay from the first game.  It's more of the same and that's exactly what I wanted.  It does add one new mechanic that enables you to break through some of the lies being told to you while you are investigating between courtroom battles.  My lone complaint from the first game was the investigations became boring over time, and this change makes them much more interesting (and provides a means for you to refill your health meter).

Lord of the Rings Online:

I finally pulled the trigger on a lifetime subscription a few months ago.  Knowing this, one might think I should be a little upset at Turbine's announcement that LotRO is going free-to-play.  I'm really not though.  Free players are getting a gimped LotRO.  Maybe if I were new to it I wouldn't mind playing a scaled-down version. 

Modern Warfare 2 (multiplayer):

Sometimes I love this game and other times I hate it.  My love/hate is directly proportional to how well IWNet is working/not working at the time.  I'll probably never play this game as much as say a Left 4 Dead or Team Fortress 2.  Though when it plays the way it should (no hackers or poor connection issues), it's one of the more enjoyable multiplayer shooters in my library.

Age of Empires 3:

One of my favorite RTS games.  Trying to polish off the rest of the campaign right now.  I've always adored the physics in this game.  Slamming my enemies colony with cannon fire never gets old.

The most wonderful time of the year

E3 is a magical time of year for many gamers for obvious reasons. Here is a quick list of the top 5 games featured at E3 I'm most looking forward to:

5. Metal Gear Rising
4. Portal 2
3. Donkey Kong Country Returns
2. Star Wars The Old Republic
1. Dead Space 2

Creation Complex

I find myself at a crossroads at the moment. Multiple paths are open to me and deciding which one to embark upon has me paralyzed. These options are simply ways in which to spend my free time at the present, but have the potential to make some changes for the better in my life down the road as potential careers. I'll outline my options:

Create a webcomic

I may or may not have mentioned that I am an out-of-practice artist. It has been years since I've drawn regularly.  Wait, let me be more clear:  I was in middle school the last time I drew anything frequently.  Were I to pursue this course of action, much rust would need to be knocked off of my drawing hand.  Vacuums and brooms would need to be in arms reach at all times.

All rust having been sucked, swept, and otherwise removed; I'd want to shoot for a serialized story rather than a gag-a-day comic. There are a few ideas making the rounds inside the duct-work of my head that I could use to manufacture a comic from.  The writing would need to be really well done which will necessitate a good bit of prep work ahead of time to get it all down.

Depending on how my work flow ends up I would like to have the comic updated 2 or 3 times a week. Therein lies my biggest concern:  maintaining the discipline to keep up with it and make sure the new comics get posted on time.  This means ignoring the inevitable invites to play "one more match" of League of Legends when Drawing Time comes.

This option is appealing because it can be done from home and I already own all the tools necessary to get started.  Though to be fair, my graphics tablet is very small and I would look for a much larger replacement the further along I got.  Big tablets ain't cheap.

Level design 

It's no secret to readers of this blog that I am interested in level design. I've posted at length about various level design projects that were begun and never completed. Among the wreckage you'll find a couple of Counter-Strike maps, half a dozen Team Fortress 2 levels, and 3 or 4 abandoned Left 4 Dead concepts.  Aside from a few small set pieces and small scale contest entries, I have never taken a level design project to completion. 

I enjoy the idea of level design as it compares to other forms of creation: the ability to place the viewer in an environment. No other form of media I create in will achieve the level of immersion inherent in level design. If I were to ever take a level design concept to a finished product the level of personal satisfaction would be pretty damned high.

My biggest concern here is the length of time involved in any level design project.  I always go into a venture gung-ho, but my desire to muster on rapidly diminishes as the clock ticks forward.  Were there a way to maintain the level of excitement present in the opening minutes throughout the entire endeavor I can only imagine the cool shit I could produce.

The biggest obstacle with this option is it's the least likely to ever to become a career.  Level design jobs are hard enough to come by for those of us without university training.  Never mind the fact that eastern Tennessee is hardly a hot spot for game companies.  Realistically I would only be free to move elsewhere over my wife's dead body.

Writing 

I have been interested for a very long time in writing short stories or perchance even a novel. I've made notes here and there for story ideas, but never an attempt to put anything together. The idea of telling a story that can inspire real emotion in the reader is very attractive to me.  The writing process in general is something I really gravitate to (the last few months notwithstanding dear readers).

Any story I tell will likely be set in fantasy or sci-fi. I could see myself writing something in the real world only if it involves zombies, but I fear the undead have already been done too much in all forms of entertainment media.   Horror is definitely a genre that I would like to traipse about in. Zombies or not.

My biggest concern again is the length of time involved and my ability - or inability - to see it through to completion.  The benefits of this choice are obvious:  work can be done at home and no investment other than time would be needed.

So which path do I take? That's what I'm still trying to figure out. 

-Van out

She still got it

I'm coming back soon for real. These video posts aren't cutting it I know, but I couldn't pass on sharing this one.

Neo Geo 4 Life

A cool video I rediscovered this morning. Always wanted to own one of those sweet red cabinets.

Video Games | ScrewAttack | Four Bright Buttons & Two Joy Sticks HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Let's talk turkey

Too many games to play right now. No mapping. No blogging. Must be time for another playlist!

Left 4 Dead 2

My experience with the demo was just the tip of the iceberg. L4D2 takes away all of the 'cheapness' of the first game (corner/closet camping) and forces players to experience L4D the way it was meant to be played. The new infected and crescendo events are game changing. You better get your head right, because what works in L4D will get you killed fast in this game. A whole new approach is required to be successful.

Valve didn't just 'fix' the basic gameplay and call it a day. The new levels set a higher standard in level design. Of course the visuals look stunning, but the atmosphere is like nothing you have experienced before: The constant bombings by the military in The Parish. The interactive games in the Dark Carnival. Opening the elevator doors to discover the whole floor is engulfed in an inferno, an inferno that you must traverse to safety in Dead Center's first level. Coming out of the safe house in Hard Rain to discover the rain has turned into a full-on thunderstorm. Then when you're out in the open the real storm hits.

After decapitating an infected with a fire axe you may never want to pick up a pistol again.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Infinity Ward has mastered the single player FPS experience. Great gameplay, interesting storyline, and stunning visuals abound. Too bad it's over in 5 hrs.

Dragon Age

I really liked this game from the word go. A few hours into it and I'm starting to get antsy. My party wipes nearly every battle, and the frustration is starting to catch up and overwhelm my enjoyment of the game. Only through carefully planning my battles am I able to make it through unscathed. By "carefully planning" I mean hitting the pause button every 2 seconds of play to issue commands. It's getting old fast and I worry that the party members and skills I chose are the reason for my joy being held prisoner. I'm not so far into the game that a restart isn't out of the question, but my fear is that I'll not want to play the game again after doing so.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope to have some mapping updates for you after the holiday!

V out.

Tour de force

Work has progressed at a good pace on my Left 4 Dead campaign project. The first level is fully blocked in now and merely awaits a few fixes - some major and others minor - and should be on deck for some real testing soon.

I started my first WIP (work in progress) thread on a public forum this week. I've exposed my work before, but baring my work to the critical eye of a much larger electorate than what I enjoy at this url is another beast altogether. Fortunately, my skill tree has many points invested in the moderator proficiency at the heretofore linked site and am not against annointing someone's captious brow with a healthy does of ban should the situation require it.

Kidding aside, if you are at all interested in the virtuous hobby of level design as it pertains to L4D, I strongly encourage you to register at the site linked above. Knowledgeable chaps, good feedback, and a strong desire by most to help out new recruits to our venerable field a good mapping website makes.

I've come to realize over the past few days my mind has subconsciously boycotted any further play of Borderlands. The continued lack of PC support after the consoles were patched within a week is annoying at best, infuriating at worst. The announcement of DLC for the console owners (in the form of zombies! no less) with nary a word whispered for the PC is equally egregious. There are other games more worthy of my time investment at this time of the year.

In stark comparison Dragon Age was obviously designed for the PC and is a tour de force of solid story and excellent gameplay. If only for the reason it lets me say things like 'tour de force' - and mean it- does Dragon Age deserve my love and commitment. If you even remotely like RPGs, give it a look.

My playlist

I gave myself this week off from mapping and blogging. Between new game releases, pumpkin carving, and my 5th wedding anniversary creative endeavors weren't something I wanted to make time for. Since I don't have anything to update on the campaign, I'll give you some details on the games I'm playing instead.

Left 4 Dead

As anyone who reads this blog knows I'm a huge fan of anything Valve does. Nearly a year after it's release and I still can't get enough L4D. With a good group of team players, even losing becomes fun. The game still has it's share of griefers, but if you haven't made some decent friends while playing this game you're doing it wrong.

The new Crash Course campaign hit very recently and I'm really digging it. Releasing it with only 2 levels vs. the customary 5 will lead the haters to believe it's something quickly slapped together. No doubt they'll sermonize it's to keep us from crying wolf regarding L4D's supposed lack of support in the face of L4D2's imminent emergence. While playable in co-op, the strength of Crash Course rests in versus mode. One of the biggest gripes about versus previously was the length of time it takes to complete: no less than 2 hours in most cases. CC solves that issue making the game more accessible for folks without enough free time.

I'm 25 hours away from hitting 500 hours of total play time in L4D. Over a year, that averages out to around 45 min/per day spent killing infected. I've spent a little over a dime a day for this particular piece of entertainment. Money well spent.

Borderlands

I pre-ordered this a while back completely on a whim. Already being a fan of Fallout, Diablo 2, and FPS games in general made it easy to say 'yes' to Borderlands. I can honestly say I wouldn't have pre-ordered were it not for Steam. Making impulse buying decisions from my office chair is something I'm going to have to resist in the future, but I'm very pleased with this one. After all, $33.75 (bought in a 4-pack with some clan mates) is a great price for a brand-new release.

I won't talk up this game quite as much as L4D or L4D2. There are some glaring problems the developer should address immediately. Allow me to just hit the highlights:

• In co-op, voice chat is always on. No option to toggle off. Playing with heavy breathers is not recommended.
• The menus are extremely clunky and unintuitive. PageUp and PageDown?!? Are you serious? Good luck equipping the weapon you want on the first try.
• Loot drops are free-for-all. Better play this with friends.
• Steam is not integrated. You don't use your friend list, no invites, no 'join game' options. In it's place? Gamespy.
• No trade system in place. You have to just drop your shit on the ground. Again, play this with friends.
• Items you can't pick up (ammo/health when you are already at max) still glow like you could.

Despite these annoyances, the game is fantastic. If you like any combination of the games I mentioned 2 paragraphs above, you owe it to yourself to give this game a look. It's hard to put a point on any one thing that makes the game so good. The loot-hunting addiction I had with Diablo 2 is here in full force: weapons, grenades, shields can come with unique traits and stats. Finding a new unique item is always a thrill. The environments are great to look at, the art design is executed well. The core FPS gameplay is solid too. I guess if I had to point at one thing, it would be the co-op. Single player is good, but playing with friends is great. On par with L4D's co-op campaign experience which is high praise coming from a Valve boy like myself.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

This is an older game I finally got time to try. I keep putting it down out of frustrations brought on by some very poor design choices: cut-scenes are not skippable, no save anywhere function, vague puzzles. I keep coming back to it because of one superior design choice: incredible atmosphere. The game is very scary and that's enough to make me muddle through. I shouldn't have to download a developer's save file to get past a game-breaking bug. I shouldn't...but I did anyway. Too bad this game didn't have more time spent on it in development. I can't recommend it for everyone.

Left 4 Dead 2 demo

Take everything I love about Left 4 Dead and double it. It doesn't do much to change the tried and true formula: kill zombies on your way to the next safe-room (versus mode is not available in the demo). What it does change is how the game is played. Even on normal it doesn't allow survivors to hole up in a corner and take on the hordes. With the new special infected and new panic events, the game forces you out in the open and makes teamwork even more crucial than before.

I won't say much more about it - the demo is very short - but L4D2 is something you have to experience in order to fully appreciate what Valve has done to build on L4D.

Torchlight demo

Take everything you liked about Diablo 2. Mix in beautiful graphics that can be viewed at a reasonable resoltion. Finally, add a dog companion who can take your extra loot back to town and sell it for you. Instant awesome.

I should mention my wife got me Dragon Age: Origins for an anniversary gift. It releases next week. God willing, I'll be able to put it down long enough to get some level design work accomplished and update this blog.

Making the transition

My apologies for not getting a blog entry up Wednesday. Truth be told, there wasn't much to report on the progress of my level. I spent far more of my free time checking out custom maps to see what other authors have done as opposed to building my own. Gotta scout the competition every now and again, right?

Got back on track Thursday. The decision I mentioned Monday to decrease the campaign into 2 maps necessitated the need for some changes to the level design. First, I needed to make the map a bit lengthier. Second, I didn't want to use the design from our 5 level campaign. I had been using it this entire time, but - truth be told - I had deviated enough from the orginal layout so that this is not as big a deal as it could have been (would not have cared much for rebuilding what I had already done).

Here are a few updated images of my progress:

1.) Updated image of the view from spawn area. Notice the small bus yard building is now visible from here as opposed to the open area previously occupied by a house.


2.) Added a light by the service entrance and changed the door model up. Keep needing to remind myself most areas would have boarded up their homes, businesses, etc...


3.) Closer view of the bus yard (rear-view). Changed the fence texture to chain-link. New route goes over the dumpster instead of through the fence as before. This area may be too open. Need to make sure infected players have decent attack areas. Trying to keep this in mind as I build. Balancing the infected's needs with the survivor's is key to making this level fun.


4.) This is just over the dumpster, still behind the bus yard. This route leads to a backyard and transitions to a residential area.


5.) We transition back to a commerical area here. Look at the fence and you can see this area goes uphill. Ignore the humvees tire clipping the sidewalk. Path leads through covered alleyway. Probably need another light or two in this area.


6.) Wanted to get a good screen of the area behind the spawn. I want to link this map with the end of Crash Course and the start of Death Toll. I have some cool ideas on how to link the finale to Death Toll. Can't wait to share them with you in a future update.


7.) This is as far as I've gotten. The area on the other side of the fence is where the covered alley from pic 5 leads to. Yes, you will be climbing that fire escape. :)

Hope this update was worth the wait. Keep in mind: Borderlands AND the Left 4 Dead 2 demo hits next week. Can't promise I'll have anything to report. :3