Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Marvel Zombies - The Survivors = Broken!

So I've been putting off continuing this because I haven't had a chance to do any work on FIXING the Survivors team, but I figure, who cares? I'd prefer to be a daily blog, I tried really hard to keep up the pace, but if I can only do 1-3 posts a week I might as well go with it. So click below and you'll see the raw text for the Survivors as they stand. They need fixing.

The idea was a strategy of Reverse King, kind of. Force them to attack the hidden area and the Distraction who stands alone weathers the storm. But the fact is, it's easy to go too far with control. I think Sue is the worst of the bunch. She'll be getting a definite overhaul. Especially since she can no Force Field Project to boot.

AU = Alternate Universe. The idea was that this would be a mechanic to allow you to play Ultimate Mr. Fantastic with regular Mr. Fantastic without something like Clash of Worlds to enable it. Basically, you have Alternate Universe: Ultimates and you're only unique to characters from THAT universe. Considering UDE doesn't seem to want to play that way, I'll probably remove the keyword and design something else for the Survivors. I all ready have an idea, actually.

You can see where I made some changes in play testing, it wasn't enough however. They still were way too strong.

Here, you go, enjoy.

Asteroid M: Zombie Earth
2 Cost
Location
Whenever a character comes into play under your control, if they're the only character in the area they come into play in, put a +1 ATK/+1 DEF counter on them.
Activate -> Move target +1 ATK/+1 DEF counter to a character you control.

Interdimensional Teleporter: Zombie Earth
1 Cost
Location
Activate -> Move a character you control with the printed affiliation Survivors to your hidden or visible area.
"What happened? This is _horrible_,"

ORIGINAL
Narrow Sewers
3 Cost
Location
Activate -> Target character with the printed Survivors team affiliation cannot be team attacked this turn unless they have all ready been attacked at least once this turn.
NEW
Narrow Sewers
3 Cost
Location
Activate -> Target character with the printed Survivors team affiliation cannot be team attacked this turn unless they have all ready been a defender this turn.

Railway Tunnel
4 Cost
Location
When you flip up Railway Tunnel, you may discard a character card. If you do search your deck for a Survivors character card.
Replace Railway Tunnel -> Stun target character with cost 3 or less with more than double it's printed attack value. Use this power only if all characters you control share a printed team affiliation.

Distraction
3 Cost
ONGOING: While you control one hidden character, your opponent's characters may attack hidden characters and must attack hidden characters before visible characters.

Can't Eat Us All At Once
3 Cost
Target defender you control gets +2 DEF for each other character you control in the same area and -2 DEF for each other character you control in another area this attack.

Reed To The Rescue
2 Cost
Move a character you control to the hidden area. Move any number of characters you control to the visible area.
"I can't believe we never thought of this. Did you hear what Mindy _said_?"

Mindy Glidewell: Diabetic Genius
0 Drop
Survivors
0/0
Loyalty - Hardfast.
Mindy has reinforcement.
Whenever Mindy defends move her to your Hidden Area.

Human Torch: Ultimate Johnny Storm
1 Drop
Survivors/Fantastic Four
1/2 Flight/Range
Concealed. AU - Ultimate
Activate -> Search your deck for a character card that shares a printed affiliation with Human Torch. Use this power only once per turn and only if Human Torch is visible.
"Yo, Sue. You seen Reed?"

Black Panther: Light Snack
2 Drop
Survivors/Avengers
2/3
Concealed. AU - Zombie Earth. Reservist.
Reveal Black Panther -> Target character you control who is the only character you control in your hidden or your visible area may attack hidden characters this turn. Use this power only while Black Panther is in your hand or resource row.

Mr. Fantastic: Ultimate Reed Richards
2 Drop
Survivors/Fantastic Four
3/3 Range
Concealed - Optional. AU - Ultimate.
Whenever you are attacked directly you may exhaust Mr. Fantastic. If you do gain endurence equal to Mr. Fantastic's defense.

ORIGINAL
Invisible Woman: Ultimate Sue Storm
3 Drop
Survivors/Fantastic Four
4/5
Concealed - Optional. AU - Ultimate.
Activate -> Target character you control gets plus X defense this turn where X is equal to Invisble Woman's defense. Invisible Woman gets minus X defense for the turn.
"I don't know how long I can _hold_ them."
NEW
Invisible Woman: Ultimate Sue Storm
3 Drop
Survivors/Fantastic Four
4/3
Concealed - Optional. AU - Ultimate.
Activate -> Target character you control gets plus X defense this turn during your opponent's attack step where X is equal to Invisble Woman's defense. Invisible Woman gets minus X defense for the turn.
"I don't know how long I can _hold_ them."

Silver Surfer: Zombie Killing Space Surfer
3 Drop
Survivors/Heralds of Galactus
5/5 Flight/Range
Concealed - Optional. AU - Zombie Earth.
Silver Surfer gets -1 ATK/-1 DEF for each character you control in the same area.
Silver Surfer gets +1 ATK/+1 DEF for each character you control in a different area.

Thing: Ultimate Benjamin Grimm
4 Drop
Survivors/Fantastic Four
6/9
Concealed. AU - Ultimate.
At the start of your attack step, you may exhaust Thing. If you do exhaust target character with attack less than or equal to Thing's defense.
"Always _wondered_ if I could take this freak!"

Fabian Cortez: Leader in Exile
5 Drop
Survivors/Acolytes
9/9 Range
Concealed. Reservist. AU - Zombie Earth.
Reveal Fabian Cortez -> KO Fabian Cortez, search your deck for a location, reveal it and put it face down in your resource row. Use this power only if all characters you control share a printed affiliation with Fabian Cortez.

Magneto: Appetizer
5 Drop
Survivors/Acolytes
9/10 Flight/Range
Concealed - Optional. AU - Zombie Earth.
Free -> If you control an attacker, Magneto becomes an attacker. If you control a defender, Magneto becomes a defender and remove all other defenders from this attack. Use this power only while Magneto is the only hidden or only visible character you control and only once per turn.

Silver Surfer: Entree
6 Drop
Survivors/Heralds of Galactus
12/13 Flight/Range
Concealed - Optional. AU - Zombie Earth.
If Silver Surfer is the only character in your hidden area or the only character in your visible area he has Invulnerability.

Galactus: Main Course
7 Drop
Survivors/Heralds of Galactus
16/16 Flight/Range
AU - Zombie Earth.
When Galactus enters your hidden area move all other characters you control to your visible area. When Galactus enters your Visible Area move all other characters you control to your hidden area.
"YOU hunger!?"
Continue reading...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

"You wanna know how I got these scars...?"

No Spoilers, short review of the Dark Knight, various thoughts, updates.

AHHAHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHA
AHhaHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHABWAHAHAHAHAHAHABWAHHHHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEBWWWAAAHHAHAH
HAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHhhhhAAAAaaahahaahahahahahahahaahhhAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHHAHA
AHhaHHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHABWAHAHAHAHAHAHABWAHHHHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA
AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHEHEBWWWAAAHHAHAH
HAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHhhhhAAAAaaahahaahahahahahahahaahhhAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
AAHHHAAAAAHAHAHAHehehehehhHEHEHHEHEHEHEHHEEEHHHEHEHEHEBWWWAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

/takes a deep breath.

I needed that. The Dark Knight was exactly what I needed, exactly what I wanted, everything I expected and more. Heath Ledger's performance was haunting, transcendent and I'd just like to say that the idea of a posthumous Oscar has true merit. If there is justice he will at least get the nomination. Will it be because he died? Probably. But never once did I stop to think, "Wow, it's creepy watching this knowing that he's dead." or "What a legacy." or anything of the sort in fact. I was so enraptured by The Joker that I forgot about actors and real life for two and half hours. And if Daniel Day-Lewis can get an Oscar for "just acting" regardless of the movie as some people claim (I haven't seen it yet, I want to, but I have a billion movies, comics, books and the like to catch up on) then why not Ledger? Whom Mr. Day-Lewis dedicated his Screen Actor's Guild award too, calling him "unique, perfect."

But it WASN'T "just acting" because the meat of this film is The Joker. They gave him so much to work with. He revels in it. He takes it and runs. It's... It's Oscar worthy, genre picture stigma be damned.

Look at the rest of the cast! Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart... Wow, look at that cast folks. That's serious weighty actor folk there. They all deliver intense, amazing performances.

And if they hadn't set up the continuation of the franchise so well I'd wonder how the hell they move on from here. I think this is the 21rst century answer to James Bond. Batman can be forever. Just don't remind us of Batman Forever, okay guys?

Speaking of Bond, I'm really looking forward to the next one. I always like the idea of Bond more than the actual movies, but the new Bond series is exactly what he should be. No nonsense, tough as nails, witty super spy who bangs molten hot tail and then leaves without saying goodbye and never calls again, but cares.

Since there isn't any Bond VS I'll leave that there and move on.

UDE recently updated the points store and I was one of the lucky people to slip in early and grab my playset of Clash of Worlds. I told you all I was getting ready! I wasn't kidding, I popped my codes ASAP from my two MUN boxes and I grabbed 4x Clash as soon as they updated. I'm on Realms everyday and I was checking UDE.com/points every other day. Realms to the rescue as they were put up on my off day. Special thanks to KardKrazy who put the thread up. You can still grab Roshambo, Origin Story, Royal Flush Gang, Agility, 52, I think Superman/Batman Robot and some other nice cards though. I think I wanna play around with a Joker-Clash deck in honor of TDK. We'll see.

ALSO! Big news, Marvel Universe is getting a reprint! UDE listens and apparently enough of you played re-orders with stores. MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THROUGH! It's decidedly important that MUN does not end up festering on shelves, because seriously folks this is a HUGE step. UDE is taking a massive risk to the bottom line and this is sink or swim. We NEED a reprint, but at the same time we need to BUY that reprint, you know? I'm honestly not sure what to do. I have about a hundred bucks left from selling my guitar right now. I may pick up another box of MUN instead of saving it towards Evolutions. I just don't know what to do though.

Any thoughts?

Who's buying more MUN?

Anyway, that's it, sorry for updating so sparsely. I've taken up WoW. Not the card game, the MMO. I'm not sure which is worse. Hehe.

-Mike
Continue reading...

Friday, July 11, 2008

DCU Preview! Tattooed Man, Mark Richards

So, you're here for a DCU Preview eh? I hope you've been keeping up because this stuff is EXCITING! Direct stun? Check. Reign of Terror effect? Check. Just for SINESTRO!? Check! There was some Hal Jordan and Green Lantern goodies last week, but this week is about the Emerald Enemies.

I've been dying to show off this card, it's amazing. Absolutely, positively, amazing and follows in Sinestro: Deposed Dictator's footsteps of recalling previous effects that rocked the game. What effect is on the comeback? Well continue reading to see...

I'm not going to make you wait through a bunch more text, check out the card.



Whaaaaaaaaaat!? Yeah! No kidding! Dr. Light is back and he's bigger than before! Yes, not only does he gain the power affiliation of Secret Society, but he's also got an extra attack! He loses flight and now he's team stamped, but the only additional cost is that he has to pay the 2 willpower he has for the turn.

Oh no! How terrible- Wait. How insane is that!?

Even more insane is that you don't have to put a printed Emerald Enemy into play, you can put any 2 drop or less that you team up with them into play! You can put something like, oh, say...

Deadshot: Floyd Lawton into play! Did you miss him on 2? Did they play another 3 drop and you want to play your 4-drop? Kill it anyway! Wanna burn a LOT with Wylde: Charlie Wylde in your Outsiders team attack deck? Just start spamming characters old school GLEE style. 6 resource points on 4 could translate into 5 extra burn. Crime Doctor: Bradford Thorne turns Tattooed Man into a Puppet Master like character. You get two exhausts every other turn instead of one a turn, but on the off turn you can drop something like... Puppet Master. Thank you Underground Movement/Superhero Registration Act!

Team up with the X-Men and you can keep dropping Bishop: Age of Apocalypse to search for cards, much like Dr. Light's old buddy Kyle Rayner: Last Green Lantern. Want 3 or 4 copies of X-Men Assemble! online? Tattooed Man will help you!

Writing this preview is so easy. It was like a gift. To be fair, most of the hard work previewing this guy was done by all the people who made such innovative and sometimes obvious decks abusing our "favorite" card board rapist. So to feel like I'm putting a little more work into it, here's a little preview deck list! It's not complete, but it gives you the idea.

4x Emerald Enemy 1-drop
4x Domino, Neena Thurman
2x Shadowcat, Phase Shifter
4x Professor X, Idealistic Dreamer
4x Bishop, Age of Apocalypse
4x Captain America, The Patriot - Secret Avenger
4x Tattooed Man, Mark Richards
4x Wolverine, Age of Apocalypse
1x Blink, Age of Apocalypse
1x Holocaust, Age of Apocalypse

4x Birthing Chamber
4x Muir Island

4x Home Surgery
4x Savage Beatdown
4x Something That Grants Willpower
4x The Spectrum
4x X-Men Assemble

As we see more Emerald Enemies and more plot twists from the DC Universe set, this card just gets more and more powerful. Without even seeing a card in the set that can be put into play with Tattooed Man or enables him to team up more easily, he can all ready be a powerful lynch pin to many controlling or rush strategies.

-Mike
Continue reading...

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I'm Stupid. Yay!

So, I need to learn to read the f'n card. I mean, I THOUGHT I could read. I thought for sure I could read, but man... I cannot read. Take a look at this card...





And see how totally NOT broken, but still totally cool it is? ::Sigh:: I thought I was so awesome. But man, I shoulda known somebody woulda been playing a super-tuned version of this at Worlds if it DID work. Damn, damn, damn. One of those days.

-Mike
Continue reading...

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A Modern Age Deck - The Accelerometer

So I was working on this idea to abuse Satan Claw with The Captain and Death Warrant. I wasn't going to worlds, but I figured I'd try and build various decks to throw at Paul Sung in case something worked. I don't know if I ever played this one against him, because I made it pretty late in the game, but after that I hadn't gone back to look at it. However, with my boxes of MUN arriving and a thread on

VSRealmstalking about abusing Satan Claw I decided to tweak it some more. It was then I realized what I really had sitting under my nose...

8x A.I.M. Agents, Army - A.I.M.
6x Cape-Killer Units, Army - Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
5x MODOC Squad, Army - A.I.M.
4x The Captain, Can't Remember His Real Name
4x Red Skull, Johann Schmidt - HYDRA
4x Baron Strucker, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucks - HYDRA

2x Cosmic Cube
3x Death Warrant
4x Satan Claw

4x Cut Off One Head...
4x Double Agent
2x Finishing Move
3x Underground Laboratory
4x Mobilize
4x Losing The Argument

The idea was simple, Cape-Killer was just there because they helped you pull A.I.M. Agents to hand, grabbed your three or let you throw down two 2-drops on 3. Turn 4 was The Captain and if you had Death Warrant he equipped a Claw and became Baron Strucker. If you had a Cosmic Cube you named him Red Skull to grab whatever you wanted. Red Skull on Five let you burn them when The Captain hit their 4 drop if it was still around, or when Baron Strucker 6 KO'd their 6.

It was fun and all, but I realized something today during a test draw. Do you know what Cut Off One Head... _does_? What it does is gives you 2 resource points. Don't believe me? Read it again! You KO a Crime Lords army character and put two 2-drop or less Army characters into play. When you put Cape-Killers into play they rally for an army character and if they're successful you gain a resource point!

So, when I realized this, I realized that the deck wasn't about breaking the parity of Satan Claw, it was about getting out a 7 drop on turn 5! With that in mind here is the first draft of what I call the Accelerometer.

6x A.I.M. Agents, Army - A.I.M.
8x Cape-Killer Units, Army - Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
5x MODOC Squad, Army - A.I.M.
4x The Captain, Can't Remember His Real Name
3x Red Skull, Johann Schmidt - HYDRA
4x Baron Strucker, Baron Wolfgang Von Strucks - HYDRA
1x Red Skull, Master of Creation
1x Magneto, Master of Magnetism

4x Cosmic Cube
3x Death Warrant
2x Satan Claw

4x Cut Off One Head...
3x Superhuman Registration Act
4x HAIL HYDRA!
4x Mobilize
4x Losing The Argument

Thinking about what 7-drops I'd want to play on turn 7, a few came to mind such as Sabretooth: Genocidal Savage, Hulk: Joe Fixit and Galactus: The Maker. However I realized the best choice was probably the most obvious. Magneto: Master of Magnetism is an old stand by and the fact is that he's always been a strong splash for one simple reason. His power is freaking amazing.

I stun you? You're dead. Bad enough I have a 7-drop on turn 5, but I also have one that doesn't even let you keep your biggest character. Any character at that! If I've been KO'ing your characters before now anyway, you're likely going to have a hard time reinforcing against or stunning Magneto.

The first question of course is, how consistent is it? Well, I got a draw good enough to play Magneto on turn 5 in 5 out of 8 test draws so far. He hit the board on 6 in another test draw. And in one of the 5 where he hit on 5 I all most could have forced him out on 4. I just would have needed another Losing The Argument.

The strategy is pretty simple, you wanna hit HAIL HYDRA!, Cape-Killers Unit, Losing The Arguemnt and Cut Off One Head... while ditching copies of the 2 drop into the pile. Turn 5, search out Magneto, stack the deck with Losing and Cut Off One Head... to put two Cape-Killers into play. Hit your rallies, play Magneto. Win. Odd initiatives, obviously, allow you to use Satan Claw on The Captain against their 4 and if you have a Death Warrant, you stun your 4 to KO their 4-drop.

Don't get the combo? Only hit one rally? You can still play Red Skull or Baron Strucker and pull it out next turn. I'm thinking there may be some more ways to make it more consistent, or maybe I should run one copy of The Sleeper: Doomsday Device * RAID.

Is it possible to go off more? Like can you pull off 2 Cut Off The Head... and gain 4 resource points? When? Turn 5? Can you do that on turn 4? Fin Fang Foom eat your heart out!

-Mike
Continue reading...

Final Analysis - Iron Man vs. Captain America Packs!

So who busts better packs? Captain America or Iron Man?

Pack by pack, Iron Man slightly edged out the All-American hero, but the fact is I think overall pulls count a lot more. So I delved into the cards and while sorting them noted a few particulars that mattered to me. Things like how many 8 drops they pulled or members of Nextwabve. Bad things, good things. Hopefully interesting. And after that I decided to rank the rares from 1 - 10 with 10 being the best and total a score for each of our pack art models. Who wins? Well, read on to find out.

Iron Man Breakdown

# of Foils = 6
# of Uncommons out of 110 = 69
# of Search Cards = 2
# of Uncommon/Rare IM Legend Support = 4
# of Uncommon/Rare CA Legend Support = 3
# of Nextwave Characters = 4 (including The Captain!)
# of Foil Rares = 2
# of Rare 8 Drops = 5
# of Potential Money Rares = 6-8
# of Rares I Didn't Want To Pull = 6 (and not all the 8 drops were in here. LOL)

Rares
1x Vision, Young Avenger
1x Wolverine, Secret Avenger
1x Captain America's Shield
1x Helmut Zemo <> Baron Zemo, Master of the Moonstones
1x Radioactive Man, Containment Suit
1x Thunderbolts Mountain
1x The Sentry, Might Avenger
1x Spider-Man, Unmasked
1x Hulkbuster Armor
1x Stark Armory
2x I'm A Futurist
1x Headcase, Sean Madigan - A.I.M.
1x HYDRA Armageddon Carrier
1x Underground Laboratory
1x Annihilus, The Living Death That Walks
1x Thanos, Mad Titan
1x Negative Zone, Non-Unique - Gateway
1x Alpha Flight Reborn
1x Silent War
1x Loki, Loki Laufeyson
1x Adam Warlock, Savior of the Universe
1x The Beyonder, Inhuman
1x Death, The Second Force of the Universe
1x Fin Fang Foom, He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains
1x Carrying The Torch

Foils
1x Swordsman, Andrew Von Strucker
1x Iron Man, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
1x I'm A Futurist
1x Headcase, Sean Madigan - A.I.M.
1x Red Skull, Johann Schmidt - HYDRA
1x Sub-Mariner, Protector of the Time Gem

Captain America Breakdown

# of Foils = 6
# of Uncommons out of 110 = 67
# of Search Cards = 2
# of Uncommon/Rare IM Legend Support = 4 (counting Secret Government)
# of Uncommon/Rare CA Legend Support = 4 (countin Punisher: Captain America and James Barnes <> Captain America)
# of Nextwave Characters = 3 (no copies of The Captain)
# of Foil Rares = 2
# of Rare 8 Drops = 4
# of Potential Money Rares = 7-9
# of Rares I Didn't Want To Pull = 5 (and yeah, not all the 8 drops were included here, either)

Rares
1x Cable, Secret Avenger
1x Punisher, Secret Avenger
1x Wolverine, Secret Avenger
1x Captain America's Shield
1x Helmut Zemo <> Baron Zemo, Master of the Moonstones
1x Thunderbolts Mountain
1x Life Model Decoy, More Human Than Human
1x Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
1x The Sentry, Mighty Avenger
1x You're Under Arrest!
1x The Gorgon, Tomi Shishido - HYDRA
1x Underground Laboratory
1x Cut Off One Head...
1x Ninjas! Ninjas! Ninjas!
1x Hulk Smash!
1x Righteous Anger
1x Annihilus, The Living Death That Walks
1x Negative Zone, Non-Unique - Gateway
1x Gift For Death
1x Beta Ray Bill, Simon Walters - Omega Flight
1x The Infinity Gauntlet
1x Thor, Donald Blake
1x Kang <> Iron Lad, Non-Unique - Young Avenger
1x Punisher, Captain America
1x Carrying The Torch
1x I Got'em All!

Foils
1x Human Torch, Secret Avenger
1x Liberating Number 42
1x Speedball Is Dead
1x Ninjas! Ninjas! Ninjas!
1x Punisher, Captain America
1x Richard Rider <> Nova Centurion, Keeper of the Worldmind

So based on that information I think Captain America edge out Iron Man. With the pack by packs going to Iron Man it looks like a tie until we factor in the rare ratings which will ultimately decide who provides better packs. Now mind you these are my own opinions on the cards, not necessarily a strict playability rating. 5 means, I don't love or hate it, but it could also be good for trades. Below that is something I don't really care for and probably won't trade well. Above is stuff I want, is playable and would definitely trade well.

I also took out any rares that they both had as it would just wash anyway.

Iron Man Rares
1x Vision, Young Avenger = 3
1x Radioactive Man, Containment Suit = 10
1x Spider-Man, Unmasked = 5
1x Hulkbuster Armor = 5
1x Stark Armory = 8
2x I'm A Futurist = 7
1x Headcase, Sean Madigan - A.I.M. = 5
1x HYDRA Armageddon Carrier = 6
1x Thanos, Mad Titan = 5
1x Alpha Flight Reborn = 5
1x Silent War = 5
1x Loki, Loki Laufeyson = 1
1x Adam Warlock, Savior of the Universe = 5
1x The Beyonder, Inhuman = 7
1x Death, The Second Force of the Universe = 7
1x Fin Fang Foom, He Whose Limbs Shatter Mountains = 6

Iron Man scores 97!

Captain America Rares
1x Cable, Secret Avenger = 5
1x Punisher, Secret Avenger = 7
1x Life Model Decoy, More Human Than Human = 7
1x Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. = 6
1x The Sentry, Mighty Avenger = 5
1x You're Under Arrest! = 5
1x The Gorgon, Tomi Shishido - HYDRA = 5
1x Cut Off One Head... = 7
1x Ninjas! Ninjas! Ninjas! =7
1x Hulk Smash! = 10
1x Righteous Anger = 10
1x Gift For Death = 3
1x Beta Ray Bill, Simon Walters - Omega Flight = 5
1x The Infinity Gauntlet = 6
1x Thor, Donald Blake = 5
1x Kang <> Iron Lad, Non-Unique - Young Avenger = 1
1x Punisher, Captain America = 7
1x I Got'em All! = 8

Captain America scores 109!

So, despite losing pack for pack, in the end Captain America's draws were just better overall.
Continue reading...

Captain America vs. Iron Man; MUN Pulls Challenge Box 2

This time I'm gonna give Iron Man first open on the top 3 packs and Cap first open on the bottom three. Let's get this party started!

Pack 1

Oooh, another double rare pack for Tony! Foil I'm A Futurist! And we have a Radioactive Man: Containment Suit one of my big wants for this set! But Captain America swings back with his Shield! If it wasn't for the foil, this would probably be a draw, but I'm giving it to the power suited facist.

Pack 2

Iron Man has a Stark's Armory, another high priority for me, looking like Iron Man may jump to an early lead. Spider-Girl, Speedball Is Dead, looking good- Ouch, Annihilus. Again. Yuck.

Pack 3

Tony stumbles a bit, this time only a Spider-Man: Unmasked. I like the card, but it's middle of the road, especially after two awesome packs! Ack, the Sentry strikes again! I guess in a pack for pack analysis I give the win to Cap, though it's hard to not evaluate it knowing I all ready have him.

Captain America 1 - Iron Man 2, time to flip flop. Cap packs first!

Pack 4

Wow, S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, Elsa Bloodstone, Death of the Dream and Joystick! Great pack for Captain America and Underground Laboratory rounds it out. Mmmm, Thanos: The Mad Titan. I really dig Radically Altered, so... Tough choice. On the strength of the Uncommons I think Cap has this one.

Pack 5

Captain America rocking the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents once again, plus a Squirrel Girl and Wolverine: Secret Avenger! Iron Man busts a foil Red Skull: Johann Schmidt, first Blizzard: Frosty Friend with the rare being... Alpha Flight Reborn. Hmm, I'd give this to the Canadian X-Man again, sorry guys, but Bizzard and shinyness is enough to put AFR over Wolvie. Probably both will be better trade bait than anything for me though!

Pack 6

We have an Echo for Cap, foil Richard Rider and Thunderbolts Mountain! Iron Man has Blade, Tabitha Smith and... I'm A Futurist. That's a close one, but I'm gonna have to say Captain America wins cause the Mountain can Bomb on 6, I'm A Futurist would just put it in your hand. Hehe.

Captain America 3 - Iron Man 3, we're tied after 6 packs again and back to Iron Man first.

Pack 7

Iron Man's got Power Dampners and The Beyonder, very nice I have my 1x each of the 10 drops. Here's to not seeing any more! Aaron Stack, Extremis Upgrade and another Negative Zone: Gateway. Oh well, I'm giving this to Iron Man.

Pack 8

Pack 8 brings a foil 7-drop Iron Man for Iron Man! And now we have giant dragon in pants! Fin Fang Foom! Gotta love a giant dragon that wears pants. Foil! I think that's the first foil v foil match up so far. Liberating Number 42 for Captain America. His rare is... HULK SMASH! I just wish THAT had been the foil. The alt-art is soooo much cooler. Captain America easily!

Pack 9

I got a Final Justice! And Vision isn't terrible, but not what I want to see as my packs are winding down, that's for sure. Foil Ninjas! Ninjas! Ninjas! Mr. Rogers walks away a winner no matter what the regular rare is now. Stars and Stripes... Carrying The Torch! BIG winner right before he takes over first packs again!

Captain America 5 - Iron Man 4

Pack 10

Captain America opens with a Cape-Killers Unit and Cable: Secret Avenger. Not bad. Iron Man responds with Fight Or Die and HYDRA Armageddon Carrier! I'll give the slight edge to Iron Man on this one.

Pack 11

Well, Cap brings a Secret Government and sadly a Helmut Zemo 8-drop. Looks like Iron Man closes the gap and takes the lead... Silent War confirms it! Best the good Captain can do now is tie it up!

Pack 12

My first Korg and... I Got'em All! which is sadly not true, but such an awesome card I'm very happy to have it. Iron Man has Adam Warlock: Savior of the Universe, who does not save Iron Man! Captain America wins this one.

Captain America 6 - Iron Man 6. I declare this box officially a draw!

Now the next question is overall quality! But not tonight. Gotta finish entering my points cards for when Clash of Worlds shows up in the points store!

-Mike
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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

I Hate How UPS Doesn't Knock.

I got the boxes about an hour ago! By chance I was going to get some ice water and figured I'd open the front door... "Just in case." And there were two packages! One was for me! When did UDE stop inserting the box toppers? I always liked those... Anyway, let's get on with the competition!

Pack 1

Captain America wins easily, foil Human Torch: Secret Avenger and Thor: Donald Blake vs. Loki:: Loki Laufeyson. Power Dampners, Nick Fury and Arnim Zola don't hurt. Alias Investigations is a great uncommon, but not a fan of Realm of the Mind or 2-Drop Iron Fist <> Daredevil.

Pack 2

Captain America has Beta Ray Bill while Iron Man brings me my first S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and Wolverine: Secret Avenger! Sorry Lost Hemisphere, I know this would be a win for Cap in your book, but in mine it's Iron Man's victory.

Pack 3

Cap coming through with another foil! This time it's the awesome Speedball Is Dead! Nick Fury: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is pretty nice too! Hulkbuster Armor and Sub-Mariner: Avenging Son just don't cut it. And Dr. Doom: Future Perfect just taunts me with his name and his not being awesome.

Captain America 2 - Iron Man 1, switching it up.

Pack 4

Iron Man draws his first foil, but it's a Swordsman. :( Secret War is right next to it, why couldn't THAT be the foil? The Sentry: Mighty Avenger, not bad! Heh, The Patriot - Secret Avenger is the first card in this Cap pack. And a foil! Punisher: Captain America! And with Cut Off One Head, we have another Captain America win.

Pack 5

Echo! Free stuff rocks. Wow! Another foil! Sub-Mariner: Protector of the Time Gem. Direct attack Wolverine and Death, this will be a hard pack for Cap to beat. I'm talking Underground Movement/Superhero Registration Act or something like that. Kang <> Iron Lad is not gonna do it.

Pack 6

Iron Man loves equipment, even if it's Captain America's Shield! S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, James Barnes <> Captain America: Legacy Reborn and Gift For Death don't quite measure up, though Bucky certainly would like to USE the Shield.

Captain America 3 - Iron Man 3, and flipping back again.

Pack 7

Another 2-drop Cap for Cap, Blade is nice, but You're Under Arrest doesn't do it for me. The Captain alone wins this one for Iron Man! Though I don't care much for Helmut Zemo <> Baron Zemo: Master of the Moonstones either.

Pack 8

Captain America gives me my first Deadpool! Satan Claw and Punisher: Secret Avenger are pretty nice. For Iron Man though we have Echo, Green King and our first double rare pack! Foil Head Case and... Thunderbolts Mountain! Very nice. Iron Man pulling away.

Pack 9

Extremis Upgrade and The Gorgon. I really like Gorgon, I think there's a very good control deck with the Crime Lords, involving him, just not sure what it looks like. Strongest One There Is, Code White, good start. Carrying the Torch! Iron Man by a mile!

Captain America 3 - Iron Man 6, one final switch for this box.

Pack 10

While Iron Man has, Hawkeye <> Ronin and Underground Laboratory... Cap brings me my first The Big Three and a Life Model Decoy. Hmm, that's a hard choice. I think I'm gonna give this... A draw. That's right, neither is better or worse. They're just equally "okay."

Pack 11

Squirrel Girl! Yay! And Righteous Anger! Very nice! Cap may yet make this a respectable showing. Negative Zone: Gateway. While nice, I don't really want the Negative Zone stuff, so Captain America wins this one!

Pack 12

Another Deadpool, another Big Three and Speed Demon! Finally! As for Cap's rare we have The Infinity Gauntlet! Nice trade bait I think. And the final Iron Man pack of Box 1 brings us... Annhilus. Yuck. Now I see why the 8 drops are so annoying. Ah well.

Final score: Captain America 5 - Iron Man 6, not bad! Box 2 coming later. I wanna enter my points cards now!

-Mike
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Out For Delivery; Sweetest Words Ever!

07/08/2008 04:41:00 OUT FOR DELIVERY[I] SUNNYVALE, CA, US

That's my two boxes of Marvel Universe! I can't wait to get them. I think I'll follow in the footsteps of great bloggers before me and see which packs give better pulls. Captain America... Or Iron Man. I'm putting my bet on good old reliable Captain America.

-Mike Continue reading...

Sorry For The Lack Of Updates... Look A Gif!


Okay, so the gif doesn't work if I just put it in here... Ah-hah, that got it... And of course as punishment for being a lazy blogger, I had to do more work to get that done than I probably would have needed to for a real post!

-Mike
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