Category Archives: 2025
![My Top 5 Commander Pre Cons of 2025! [That I Wish I Had Bought]](https://dahubbz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/tdc-8-teval-the-balanced-scale-1.jpg?w=90&h=70&crop=1 "My Top 5 Commander Pre Cons of 2025! [That I Wish I Had Bought]")
My Top 5 Commander Pre Cons of 2025! [That I Wish I Had Bought]
I play casual commander with my wife. So the need to buy new pre cons is a feeling we get very seldomly. It normally takes a big set or something we are fond of to get us to buy one. For example, my extended family loves Lord of the Rings. They said they would learn to play magic if I got the decks. We had several game nights playing those. Fallout is one of my favorite IPs, so naturally I grabbed all of them. So as you can see, I rarely buy pre-cons, but when I do, I tend to get them all. My wife and I also got the Eldrazi and Sliver pre-cons from Commander Masters. Outside of that, I’m normally a buy singles, build my own decks kinda guy. With that said, 2025 presented several commander pre-cons that hit my radar, but I didn’t pick up. These are the decks I wished I had grabbed.
#5 Counter Intelligence (Edge of Eternities)
Here’s something funny. I almost asked for this Pre-Con for Christmas. At the end of the of the day, I just wasn’t very interested in the way that it played. That may sound weird for the #5 deck I wished I had bought, but the truth is, I liked parts of it more than the whole of it.
Kilo really interest me as a proliferate Tiny Leader commander. My thought process was to create a Uwr infect deck with Blighted Agent, and Prologue to Phyresis, then back that up with proliferate triggers from Ripples of Potential, Experimental Augury, and Thrummingbird. One problem I had is I’d rather Kilos be Grixis [BUR] so I could have Voidwing Hybrid and Anoint with Affliction. So honestly, I did not pull the trigger on this one, even though parts of it are cool. The mana base also has cards I like, too, which is a plus.
#4 World Shaper [Edge of Eternities]
Another Edge of Eternities Pre-Con. Admittedly, this set had a cool aesthetic and backed it up with some sweet cards. I have yet to play with the station/spacecraft cards. I’m kind of an old man at this point, so new things scare me. However, the the backing theme of saccing seems very coherent, which is not always present in a pre-con. This would be the deck I would buy for my wife. Despite Mardu being her favorite color scheme, she loves sacrificing for burn damage. I think the land subtheme looks interesting as well. So overall, I like the look of how this one plays.
Korvold as a back-up commander is kind of insane, and truthfully would probably be my wife’s commander. Scouring Swarm is one of my favorite cards from the new set. Exploration Broodship is a great call back to the OG Exploration. I’m limiting it to three pictures per deck, however there’s so many good, playable reprints in here its crazy. Harrow, Mayhem Devil, Satyr Wayfinder, Tear Asunder, The Gitrog Monster, Tireless Tracker, Moraug, Fury of Akoum, and Oracle of Mul Daya are all good inclusion and we could probably go on and on.
#3 Y’shtola, Night’s Blessed [Final Fantasy]
This could have been #1 as it was certainly the one I was most tempted to buy. It also is probably the closest to my actual playstyle. So why didn’t buy it? 2 big reasons. 1. I actually built my Esper commander from this very same set, Noctis. So I was conflicted building two commanders from the same set that were the same color. Their playstyle are very different, so I am not ruling her out forever, but I am not in a rush. Secondly, I play mostly 1v1 commander with my wife. So that really lowers her triggering potential. Since she triggers on each end step, playing 1v1 instead of multiplayer free for all cuts from four triggers to two. That was honestly the biggest reason I didn’t get this one. Now, don’t get me wrong, she would still let me draw two additional cards a turn loop. The second effect would still be in play and is what draws me to her in the first place. It just gets harder because her second ability is meant to trigger her first.
Admittedly, I found the reprint value here a little weak. It introduced Tataru Taru which seems to be approaching all star status. It does include one of my favorite combos: Torrential Gearhulk and Sublime Epiphany, allowing to you make multiple Gearhulks and cast multiple spells. Dig Through Time and Into the Story are sweet. Frantic Search and Unwind seem like omissions here.
#2 Temur Roar (Tarkir Dragonstorm)
Tarkir is my favorite plane along with Theros, so I was really tempted to grab each of the pre-cons. Ultimately I passed because April is so hectic [my anniversary, my wife’s birthday, and my daughter’s birthday] so I had very little in the way of spare time or money for pre-con decks. Temur is my favorite 3 color scheme, but it is also one of the hardest for me to build. I like the idea of Temur monsters [as Surrak Dragonclaw was the closest I’ve come to building a Temur commander]. Not sure if I want to lock myself into dragons. My wife has a Kaalia deck and has all our good red dragons. Ultiamtely, upon revisiting this deck, Eshki Dragonclaw has caught my attention as a Temur Adventure deck. I want a Temur commander deck. I’m just not sure who I want as my commander.
These are some really cool cards. I like the look of Sarkhan here. I think its a neat card.
#1 Sultai Arisen [Tarkir Dragonstorm]
My number one is Teval. My top 3 all interested in one way or another, but ultimately I did not pull the trigger on any of them. Teval is in one of my favorite color schemes and I love the play pattern. Unfortunately, my favorite commander deck is Mothman, the Sultai commander from Fallout. Still, this deck seems awesome. The reason its number 1 on my list is because it created a strategy I really want to play. I’m thinking about taking this idea down to Tiny Leader or Pauper EDH. When a card leaves your graveyard.
I actually didn’t realize Kheru Goldkeeper wasn’t in the pre-con. That’s actually crazy. Either way, I was thinking baout taking Kishla Skimmer to Tiny Leader and Goldkeeper to Pauper EDH. Thats getting beside the point. Point is, I like the strategy of this pre-con more than any of the other ones we’ve looked at. Delve and Renew, both sultai mechanics, play nice here. Flashback cards like Think Twice also seem okay. All in all, this strategy is the one I’m watching closely!
So there you have it. I think 2025 will be a year a lot of people look back on with a stink eye because most of the sets don’t feel like Magic. 3 Universe Beyond sets, a set in space, and a set about cars make it a weird year. Of course we returned to a fan favorite plane in Tarkir, so I cannot complain. Also, Spiderman and Avatar not getting commander decks I think are to their detriment.
So I will probably not be picking up any commander pre-cons, but next year Lorwyn might give us an elf pre-con and I am all about that! Anyway, thanks for reading. I will see you guys in the next one.
Nintendo just released the best shadow drop of the year!
Hey guys. If you haven’t seen it yet, Nintendo just announced and released Wario World. You will need the Switch Online subscription to access it and a variety of other games.
Wario World was released in 2003 for the Nintendo Gamecube. It was developed by Treasure. It remains one of my favorite 3D Platformers even to this date.
This adds to the Gamecube’s excellent line up present on the Switch 2. Some of the other stellar offerings include: The Legend of Zelda- Wind Waker, Luigi’s Mansion and F-Zero GX.
This also helps solidifies a great run the Gamecube is having. Kirby Air Ride got a sequel in Kirby Air Riders. Paper Mario Thousand Year Door got a remaster. If we go a little further back, Super Mario Sunshine was included in the Super Mario 3D All-Star collection.
Are you going to be checking out Wario World? Let me know. Thanks for reading and have a great day!
What Is the Best Year of the Nintendo Switch?
This post was originally written for one of my YouTube video during the blog hiatus. Some of the comments and dates are now outdated. Either way, enjoy!
The Nintendo Switch has had an excellent, almost unprecedented run through its mainstream retail relevancy. And while I can’t say there’s no end in sight, 2024 is shaping up to be one of, if not the best year for the Switch yet. Now, even though we’re getting a couple of Mario games in Paper Mario, Mario and Luigi, and Mario Party, the lack of Mario Odyssey 2 stops me from saying this year is 10 out of 10. It also looks to be devoid of Pokemon and Kirby. Two of my other favorite Nintendo Franchises. Still, that hardly stops me from putting this year in the upper half. And who knows, with the possibility of some stealth drops later in the year, maybe we haven’t even seen all Nintendo has to offer us this year. So, I’ll wait til January to cast a verdict on this year as a whole. With that in mind, which of the nearly 8 years of Nintendo Switch would I say is the best? Well, today we’re going to take a look.
Each year of the Nintendo Switch has surely offered some highlights. I don’t think anyone is saying 2018 is the best year of the Switch, but Super Smash Brothers still dropped and was a goliath right from the jump. 2020 was much maligned due to the onslaught of rereleases (and you can watch our video “In Defense of Nintendo Switch Ports” to get a better idea of what the attitude was back then), but it had Animal Crossing which released at the perfect time. 2021 was probably a low year for me. I grabbed Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D World, both ports. But others would say Dread alone makes 2021 one of the better years.
So what I’m saying is even in down years, the Switch still has something killer to play, something worthy of making you proud to be own a Switch. And all this brings into question what was the best year the Switch had. Personally, I’d like to focus on 3 different years and deep dive into them. Let’s get started!
Before we start the list, don’t forget to follow and like the blog. It means a lot of guys. Now, onto the list.
2017:
I don’t care what anybody says, 2017 was a landmark year for video games. Nintendo made gaming fun again when they launched the dual-purpose Nintendo Switch. Now you could play on the go and on your TV. I’m not going to recap the launch and development of the Switch, we’re just here to talk about the games, so let’s do that.
Breath of the Wild drops alongside the Switch. For the first time in arguably a decade, you felt like you were missing out if you didn’t own Nintendo’s latest offering. I should know, I didn’t get a Switch til 2018. Breath of the Wild was dead set on reinventing Zelda. It did just that. Gone was the formula. It was open world now. It was the talk of the gaming world. There were BOTW clones. That’s right, Zelda was now a genre. If you thought getting a new triple A mainline Zelda title was enough for a single year, 2017 doubled down giving us a new Mario game as well.
And with this declaration, Nintendo had won the next generation of console wars before the PS5 and Xbox Series X even entered the fold. Nintendo had released two 10 out of 10 games just like that. The Switch had only been on the block for about 6 months or so and could already say our heavy hitters rival literally any other console. Straight up, no joke, Nintendo threw the gauntlets down early. And believe me that would have been enough to be in the top 3 years already. But they didn’t stop there. No, no. They brought Mario Kart 8 Deluxe over. Yes, it is a port. But it added in new characters, modes and courses as well as putting all the existing DLC on to the cart. Not to mention it’s still receiving updates even now. So 2017 speaks for itself even if all we mention today are just those 3 games.
So in 2017 the Switch was the latest, greatest thing in gaming. But surely after a half decade or so, the lifespan would be winding down and the banger titles would barely trickle out, right?
2023:
I want to talk about 2023 for a bit here. Obviously, we had the big one. Tears of the Kingdom. Honestly, this has got to be one of the best sequels to a game ever. I’m really enjoying taking my time with this one. Scaling my way to the Wind Temple is probably the most epic thing I’ve ever done in a Zelda game. Seriously, that part is so cool. That came out pretty early in the year in May. The rest of the games this year didn’t do much for me. You have Pikmin 4, Fire Emblem Enrage, Metroid Prime Remastered and Super Mario Wonder. Last year was a great year for Switch owners even if I just picked up 1 game personally. That game was good enough on its own.
2022:
So, the last year I want to discuss is 2022. There’s 3 great games for me personally. The first one is Pokemon Legends Arceus. This was a great Pokemon game. I liked Sword and Shield, I know that’s a polarizing thing to say online, but I did. However, I loved Legends Arceus. The Hisuian Forms were cool. I feel like it handled open world exploration better than Sword and Shield. The sneaking around and catching Pokemon was neat. I think all in all, this was a step forward for Pokemon. So that brings us to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. This is probably my favorite Pokemon Game since X and Y. I think it’s the best one on the Switch. The writing is cheesy, but the school sitting is cool. The game definitely deserves some criticism for the horribly slow cutscenes, but this is one step closer to my dream Pokemon game. I always wanted a Pokemon Game where gaming and battling didn’t have to be the focus. You could be a breeder, or enter contest, and this game doesn’t quite get to my lofty outlandish dreams for the series, it offers the player options in how they want to progress the story. Ultimately, this game made me excited to see what they will do on the Switch successor when that time comes. The last game will talk about today is Kirby and the Forgotten Lands. It’s tough to say this my favorite Switch game but it’s up their with Mario Odyssey. I’m a platformer fan through and through and Kirby is one of my favorite IPs in all the gaming industry. When they finally gave him a 3D adventure, they just nailed it. I’ll say it. This a perfect game. Combine this with getting two really solid Pokemon games, 2022 was a phenomenal year to be a Switch owner.
Okay, so in closing, which year do I give it to? I’m going 2017. The combination of Mario and Zelda is too tough to pass up. I think if Tears of the Kingdom had come out in 2022, then that year might have got the nod over 2017, but alas, that’s not how it went down. 2024 might end up passing 2023, but I could also just be living in the moment. Who knows we will see. So let me know which year. You thought was the best.
Remembering Kirby Air Ride (Two Decades Later)
The two decade wait is over. Kirby Air Riders dropped last weekend. My wife got it for me for my birthday. I am enjoying it so far. Though I am hoping my wife and I can sneak in some multiplayer rounds soon. This post, however, is not about Air Riders. It is about the original, airing on the Gamecube way back in 2003, this n64 fever dream project found life on the lunch box and, in my opinion, was so ahead of its time for the genre. My brother and I used to do, not exactly tutorials or LPs but videos of us playing this game back in like 2008 or something, long before that style of video was popular. So of course, I have an innate bias towards Kirby saddling the warp star and going to battle in various modes. Let’s take a look at Kirby Air Ride two decades later.
I am not a huge fan racing games. I am not playing the genre too often outside of Mario Kart and Kirby Air Ride. On one hand, maybe that makes me unqualified to talk about subjects like this. On the other hand, maybe I am uniquely qualified to talk about off beat racers. I think it’s easy to forget all the racing modes given how prevalent City Trial is. I don’t know about you guys, but it was the main thing I was playing back in the day. That’s kinda what I wanted to mention first. I love racers with alternative modes. Mario Kart has had the Balloon battle feature in their games for decades now, so I’m not acting like Kirby Air Ride invented that. I’m sure there’s more racing games than just that too. Twisted Metal and a bunch of other car combat games exist too.
But City Trial was just different. My brother and I played this mode to death. We probably knew all the secrets, all the events, the bonus special rides, how to get to anywhere on the map. Really, even though it was more sandbox than say an open world game like Grand Theft Auto, the city felt like a character itself. It had distinct areas like the underground, the shorelines, the forest, the volcano, the interior city zone. It’s crazy how many unique regions they fit into a relatively small map. That’s the thing, the map was kinda small, but it was fleshed out. It was really alive. I will say, I love how theyve added Kirby enemies in the city. I think it would have been cool to have random waddle dees in the underground going to work or getting lunch or something, but that’s beside the point.
And then there’s the matter of events, power ups, and stadiums. There were so many different stadiums like target practice, Destruction Derby, and fighting King Dedede for example. Each required you to have different power ups or air rides to fare better than your rivals. And the new game has added even more stadiums. Events kept things fresh playing over the same map time and time again. The events kept you on your toes and offered a wide arrange of randomness to each playthrough. Some were detrimental like getting a fog over the city or the rails catching fire. Some made things challenging like fake items or bouncy items. Some were scary like Dyna Blade attacking or meteors showering down. It doesn’t sound like much but it was plenty back in the day. Really, with all the random power ups, the multitude of unique riders, skin and character unlockables, different events and stadiums, we never got bored.
Speaking of boards, this game featured the check list. This thing was legendary back in the day. Considering this came out on the Gamecube and achievements didn’t appear on Xbox for a few more years, this really did feel ahead of its time. Again, not saying it was the first game with unlockables, alternative skins, and other forms of achievements, this was just the first time it had been presented to me in such a fun way. Just looking at Super Smash Bros Melee, another Sakurai game, it had plenty of unlockables and was plenty of fun to play. It came out two years before Air Ride. I feel like Sakurai took all the things great about unlocking stuff in Melee and just made the presentation really nice. I know that may sound superficial or maybe even like a weird compliment, but I just thought it was so fun to replay old levels or city trials and try out new combinations of things or different playstyles and get rewarded for it. You were already going to test out getting more charge power ups than glide power ups this round or you were going to test out the Wing Air Ride over the Jet Star. Or you were going to explore every inch of the volcano or the forest and you unlocked achievements for getting creative or playing differently than you already did. Again, I’m not saying Sakurai invented any of these concepts, but it certainly felt like he was perfecting them. This really made Kirby Air Ride feel rogue like in a time just before the rogue like resurgence of the 2010s, despite sharing next to no other elements of the genre.
I know I’ve spent most of this video talking about City Trial because to me it was the most fun and what made it stand out against the other kart racers, racing simulators and car combat games. Air Ride was a lot of fun and I’m glad it was in the game. I mean, heck it’s the namesake of the game but I think that’s only because Kirby City Trial doesn’t have the same ring as Kirby Air Ride. Still, it’s a great mode with awesome tracks and gorgeous and creative visuals. The power ups come from Kirby’s copy ability allowing him to suck up enemies and gain their powers. Admittedly, if memory serves, I didn’t play a lot of Air Ride because I liked getting the races as stadiums in City Trial. My memory is a little fuzzy but if I remember right you would play through City Trial and get your rider and all your power ups and then race through a single lap. I could be misremembering that, but that’s how I recall it.
I’ll be honest, we played Top Ride back in the day, but very sparingly. I’m not sure if we liked it compared to City Trial. It was just different, even from traditional racing. Oddly enough, I avoided this mode as a kid. The more I’ve played over the years, the more I’ve gone back to it. I wouldn’t say I have fully embraced it yet. It’s still hard to get excited for it when I have the two other modes, but I think it’s a mode I’ll continue to explore on the Gamecube and Switch 2 versions as time goes on.
Working on this post highlighted to me just how much more I played City Trial than the other modes. Most of my memories come from the City Trial mode. Again, I still respect and appreciate the other modes because even though I’ve been playing these games for almost two decades, there is still a lot to explore. The next time I fire up the original, I may go explore Top Ride and see what all I’ve missed out on. Its also great to have the race modes for my solo gamers. City Trial is still fun even when playing solo, but its better with friends. You can attack each other, compete for power ups, or even do random challenges like see who can glide the highest or furthest.
Hopefully all that yapping made sense. Its not so much that Sakurai and company were reinventing any wheels. It was all in its presentation. It was a joy to play, explore and experiment. 3 game modes, plenty of tracks, achievements, unlockable skins and characters. There was so much content and so many things to do. I often say the 6th generation of gaming was gaming perfection. Perfection is obviously a strong word because every generation has its strengths and weaknesses, but there’s just something about the games of this era. I think Kirby Air Ride was one of those games that captured the magic of this era.
So let me know how you guys are liking the new Kirby Air Riders and tell me your fondest memories of the original Kirby Air Ride. Thank you guys for reading this. I know I was kinda blabbering, but I’m really nostalgic for this game.
Exploring the Best Nintendo Games: IGN’s Top 100 Analysis
IGN, partnered with Nintendo Life, recently dropped their Top 100 Nintendo Games. Admittedly, I don’t have my top 100 ready to go toe to toe with IGN, but honestly, I don’t have many hot takes here. There were definitely some weird choices and questionable omissions, which we get into later.
Before we get into my post, here’s the article if you haven’t read it yet.
https://www.ign.com/articles/the-100-best-nintendo-games-of-all-time
Their selection criteria felt a little soft or just all over the place. The prime example they used was Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars on DS at #99. Its a game developed and produced by Rockstar games and even ended up on PSP, but was a DS exclusive for 9 months. That makes it qualified for this list. With that in mind, I wouldn’t take any of their comments too seriously and just enjoy the conversation and debate it breeds over getting lost in the weeds.
Some people flamed it for having recency bias and including too many games from a single series. This is exemplified by Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild taking spots 1 and 2. Odyssey scores in the top 5 as well. The top 20 saw 5 Zelda games and 4 Super Mario games (Five if you count Mario Kart Deluxe).
I think if you are going to do Nintendo’s top 100 games, you kinda have to include multiple games from the same franchise. Simply put Mario Odyssey, Ocarina of Time, Mario Galaxy, the Switch Zelda games, a Link to the Past are all classics. I mean these are just some of the best games Nintendo has ever made. They just so happen to spawn from two franchises.
Now, two major franchises I would have found room for in the top 20 would have been Kirby and Donkey Kong. DK64 and Donkey Kong Bananza are two of my favorite platformers of all time. Kirby 64, Kirby Air Ride and Kirby and the Forgotten Lands are three 10/10 games for me. Bananza was the highest scored DK game at #22 and Kirby and the Forgotten Lands scored the highest of the Kirby games at #39.
Most titles here come from two generations: The Super Nintendo and The Switch. These are often considered the greatest consoles Nintendo has put out, so I’m not surprised at all. Nintendo really was on a heater with their first party and third party support. The Super Nintendo gave us Super Mario World which was #3, A Link to the Past at #9 , Final Fantasy 6, Earthbound, Super Metroid at #8, Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger at #6. Again, surprised to see Donkey Kong Country 2 all the way down at #78. The Switch owned the day leading to people to questioning the recency bias. The Switch took spots 1, 2, 4 and 10. It was a strong showing for these two consoles racking up 8 of the top 10 spots.
The only non Switch non Super Nintendo games to crack the top 10 were Ocarina of Time at #6 and Tetris at #5.
I think if you remove nostalgia and revolutionary aspects of some games like Mario 64 and Pokémon Red and Blue, then I get their top 10 omissions. Those games still scored highly, Mario 64 clocked in at 25 and Red and Blue came in at 27. Respectable. I understand if you want them in top 10 because of how important they were to the industry. Though, I don’t think either are the best games in their respective franchises.
So what are some games that I would have moved up or down?
Resident Evil #4 came in at #20 and I certainly feel like that game is closer to a top 10 game. You may not immediately think of Nintendo when you see Resident Evil 4, but the Resident Evil series was a big deal to Nintendo on the Gamecube. It was massive on the Cube and Resident Evil 4 was at the forefront of that conversation. One of the best games of all time.
Pokémon Soul Silver and Heart Gold is the highest ranked Pokémon game at #15. Again. I probably would have found a way to get this closer to top 10 as well. Pokémon, despite what the modern games would have you think, is a very important franchise to Nintendo and should be represented in the top 10 somewhere. Pokémon Silver and Gold are perfect sequels, advancing and bettering the Pokémon franchise in every way and Soul Silver and Heart Gold helped modernize near perfect RPGs.
For some games with some really low rankings, I would have loved to have seen Kirby Planet Robobot and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker moved up higher instead of barely making the list. Kirby Planet Robobot is considered one of the best 3DS games of all time. While Captain Toad Treasure Tracker is one of the best Wii U hidden gems that got a little more attention thanks to its switch port.
Now for games that didn’t make the list at all.
I love Megaman 64. It is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. The music, the city, the atmosphere are all so pleasant. I wish we had got Megaman Legends 2 on N64, still kinda salty to this day.
There’s no reason Yoshi’s Woolly World didn’t make this list. Of course the Wii U is underrepresented. If you give it credit for the Switch ports (which I’m sure you don’t), it would have had Xenoblade Chronicles X, Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, Mario 3D World and Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. All of which I think are the Switch versions, but still not bad for Nintendo’s most recent flop of a console. All that to say, Woolly World is probably the best game stuck on the Wii U and should have absolutely made the list.
I would have liked to have seen another GameCube platformer on this list because they are some of the most fun I have had on a Nintendo console. Sunshine made the list at #77. Wario World, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Vexx, Billy Hatcher and SpongeBob Battle For Bikini Bottom are all fantastic and enjoyable experiences.
And I dont know if this is biased, but Kirby Air Ride should have totally made the list. That game is a gem.
So do you guys have any complaints with IGNs list? I know its IGN and a lot of people don’t take their opinions too seriously. And neither do I really. But its always a fun a discussion with you guys if nothing else. So what’s your top 10 Nintendo games and how do you feel about the list?
Upcoming Posts
Hi guys. I’m keeping this simple. I’m not going to say hey were back, or expect a lot of posts. I wish I was. However, momentum is a hard thing to pin down. I’m still working on my own personal writing. Novels are tricky because of that momentum part I was just talking about. But I’ve written a couple of short stories. I’m still working on developing as a story teller and finishing these stories. I’m also trying to become a better editor.
With that said, I have a few blog ideas. I appreciate and respect anyone who reads these and comments or likes them even though I am super inconsistent. If you like my posts, I have hundreds of post over nearly a decade or so of writing. So there’s plenty to enjoy on here.
So, I have a couple of blog ideas kicking around. My plan is to get up my “Reaction of IGN’s Top 100 Nintendo Games” tomorrow. The video is already live on my Youtube Channel here. Then some others I’m working on “Looking Back at Kirby Air Ride”, “What Was the Best Year of the Nintendo Switch” and “3D Games That Returned to Their 2D Roots”. Those blogs are being worked on or are already done and just need to be edited and push through. So I feel somewhat confident in those. Keep your eyes peeled to see if I squeeze out a few more.
Thank you guys for reading!
My 5 Favorite Games from the Nintendo Switch Showcase!
Nintendo ran its Partner Showcase this morning. In my opinion the Switch 2 has a strong future ahead of itself with the Kirby DLC, Metroid Prime 4, Pokemon Legends ZA, The new Hyrule Warriors, and the mysterious Mario 3D game still on the horizon. But as you can see, this is a Partner Showcase. So none of those games were mentioned today (except a look at the next Hyrule Warriors). Let’s break down the 5 games I’m most excited for.
#5 Pac-Man World 2 Repac: I will always spotlight a 3D Platformer when Nintendo wants to show them off. This is a remake of the Gamecube game and one I’ve always wanted to get into. Even though platformers are my favorite genre, I got stuck on the Gamecube version. Still I’d be interested in picking this one up later.
#4 Borderlands 4: Of all the games on today’s list, this is probably my most anticipated. It made my most anticipated games of 2025 after all. However, it’s only number 4 because Nintendo barely acted like this game existed in the direct.
#3 The Adventures of Elliot. The game looks like it had the aesthetics and mechanics of Paper Mario Thousand Year Door, combat of Zelda, and art style of Octopath Traveler. I don’t usually go for RPGs, but this is an action RPG that looks pretty solid.
#2 Hela: I actually really liked the vibe of this game. It has that Grounded vibe of playing a small character in a large world. I wouldn’t mind seeing more details about this one. For example are we going to have RPG elements and leveling up or is this going to be a sandbox platforming kinda game. Nonetheless, the mechanics and gameplay look fun. This one is on my radar.
#1 Chronos New Dawn: This was the show stopper for me, pretty easily too. I don’t normally like survival horrors, but I do tend to like them when there’s an action element to them, namely Resident Evil 4. However, this game feels like RE 4 and Dead Space met with a fun time travel mechanic. This game just looked very solid.
So that’s my list. I left off some remakes which I’m sure will crack a lot people’s list like Persona 3 and Final Fantasy Tactics.
Let me know what your favorite game from the showcase was. Thank you so much for reading. Have a great day!
I’m Creating a New Magic Format!
Hey guys. Today I’ll be going over the cards I want to try for a new Magic the Gathering format. This is a casual, shared deck (and graveyard) format that takes inspiration from the Dandan (Forgetful Fish) format. It’ll mostly be my wife and I playing. I wanted a fun format where we could share a deck and graveyard. This is how we play Lorcana in our format we call The Battle Tower. Maybe I’ll do a post over it next (let me know if you like Lorcana and want casual Lorcana content). The point of this post is to get my early thoughts down.
Okay. There’s plenty of great resources over the format of Dandan, so I won’t be going over it here. However, I will touch on the basics real quick.
Dandan is your beatstick in this format. While Crystal Spray acts as removal playing on Dandan’s Landhome mechanic. Memory Lapse covers the other game inside the game. You and your opponent share a deck. So Memory Lapsing their spell puts it on top of the share deck for you to draw.
So if this is a new format, what creature are we picking, and what gimmicks are we using?
Aegis Turtle is our beat stick. It’s worth noting he wasn’t my first choice. I searched tirelessly for a 0/4 for 1U with no other text (aka a vanilla creature). Im not saying it doesn’t exist. Just that I couldn’t find a perfect one. Weight Advantage also wasn’t my first choice for an ability to deal damage based on power, but it was the cleanest, most simple option. Both players begin with Weight Advantage in play (or just have a picture of it handy as a reference).
These replace Dandan’s removal package. The idea is you target your opponent’s turtle, making them a 5/0, killing it. One thing I love about Dandan is how it takes cards that aren’t good in the grand scheme of magic and gives them a home. Inside Out was already on my radar as it was a pauper all star back when I was getting into pauper. Twisted Image had a place in modern at one point being able to kill Spellskite. It’s cool to give these old cards a new home.
Memory Lapse returns to this format as the main counter spell of choice. Brainstorm is a legacy All-Star and I expect it to do the same here. No, we don’t play fetch lands, but we’re all about messing with the opponent’s draw.
Here’s a list of other cards we will be trying in this format.
Notable omissions
As far as Diminishing Returns is concerned, its mostly because I don’t own it. But I also don’t like the idea of winning by deck out. Right now I think we will just shuffle up if we run out of cards. Commit//Memory is another option if I want another piece of interaction that fixes the graveyard without giving into decking as a strategy. We will have to play test more.
Ive read Acknowledge Knowledge is a bit of a notorious card. I like the card, but I’ve heard this card can snowball and feel unfair. I’ve seen people playing Chart a Course as an alternative. I feel like, for right now, Flame of Anor simply replaces AK and is more versatile.
Predict and Portent are on my TCG buy list. I like both in theory, but I don’t own either. These could certainly work their way into future versions.
Interesting cards I might try.
Freeze in Place seems pretty solid in this format. It slows down a pretty aggressive turtle and the scry 2 is always nice. Giant’s Amulet is either perfectly tailored to this format or an absolute trap. So it creates a 4/4 and then makes it a 4/5 perfectly staying within our divisible by 20 rule. It also makes a wizard allowing you to trigger the bonus effects on Flame of Anor. I like the idea of it, I’ll be testing it out. Devour in Flames is another card that could be perfect for this format. Yes. islands aren’t as impactful as they are in Dandan, but we have some utility lands that we could reset.
Counter Spells.
Arcane Denial is meant to be the feel-good counter spell. Im not sure if it’s worth it letting your opponent draw so many cards. Though it could mess up opponent’s scry. Dissolve is weaker than the other options, but it casts a wider net and gives a scry. Stern Scolding is extremely narrow. It has some merit because it can counter your opponent’s T1 Turtle if you are on the play. Deprive is probably less impactful in this format where islands don’t matter as much. Again, there are 2 lands where it matters. Of course Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast is arguably the best counterspell in this format as it counters almost everything, but red mana is at a premium in this format.
Lands
Temple of Epiphany and Izzet Boilerworks are probably our two best options for Red Blue. Temple allows for scrying, while Boilerworks resets some valuable lands. Halimar Depths is great in a shared deck format. Lonely Sandbar can be bounced back for cycling purposes. Mystic Sanctuary is one of the best lands for blue decks to get back those important spells.
Other land options.
Right now, these are two lands I’m debating on adding. Castle Vantress is super interesting because it adds more value to islands (making cards like Deprive and Devour in Flames more interesting bouncing back basic islands.). Desolate Lighthouse worries me a little that it would become like AK, a snowball for the player who has it.
So these cards are the current pool of cards I’m looking at. The list will be around 80-100 cards. Feel free to try your own build. I’ll post a deck list when my wife and I have finalized a list. I could playtest cards like Serum Visions, Treasure Cruise/Dig Through Time, or Preordain, too. So the next update could have completely different cards, but this is where I’m starting.
Keep in mind, all cards are two of except Aegis Turtle (8x), Memory Lapse (currently 8x but could fluctuate), Inside Out (4x), Twisted Image (4x), Invert//Invent (4x), Brainstorm (4x). Those are the core cards for now. Everything else should be 2 of.
Follow this page for more updates!
Thanks for reading! Have a great day.
The Switch 2 is Here! (And some other things!
Hey guys, the Switch 2 is out! I pre ordered mine, but didnt get my hands on it until Sunday. Yesterday, my wife and I took Mario Kart World out for a spin, and I played some Mario Odyssey again. So far, I’ve enjoyed it. The added size has been nice. I’ve liked the screen and the new joy cons. At some point this week, I’ll be picking up the Tears of the Kingdom update and give that a try.
Yesterday, I also found my Hunter X Hunter manga, so maybe I can finally finish volume 1.
I’ve also watched some movies lately
We watched The Secret World of Arrietty, a great Studio Ghibli film. I might try to write a review for this one as I really liked it. I would just have to put my thoughts into words. It might be my second favorite Studio Ghibli film just behind Kiki’s Delivery Service.
My dad picked Mission Impossible as the film he wants to see for Father’s Day. So I’ve been binging these (4 down 3 to go before Saturday). Again, I could see myself reviewing this series as a whole somewhere down the line.
On top of that, I’m about 6000 words into the novel I’m writing, and that has been consuming my free writing time this last week- which I did warn could happen.
Let me know what you guys think about any game, movie, or Manga mentioned today.
Thank you to anybody who is reading! Have a great day!
This Week’s Preview!
Hey guys. I wanted to take this time to mention some posts I’m working on.
Manga Monday: As of right now, I’m still reading Hunter x Hunter Vol #1. I’ve read the first 4 or 5 chapters. Not sure if the review will be ready or not tomorrow. We will see. Either way, I want to do something Manga Monday related.
A movie review for If (2024). This blog is written and will probably come out Tuesday. *It will contain minor spoilers*
Random Thursday: I actually just realized I changed this from Random Wednesdays to Random Thursdays because of new comics. Either way, I will watch a random anime on Crunchyroll and review the first episode.
Top Five Fridays will be returning Friday. Whoo! That’s exciting.
I’ve got more ideas in the tank, but anytime I come back wanting to do a daily blog, the quality of ideas and writing drops off. So, for now, if I get 4 blogs out this week, I will be thrilled.
As always, thanks for reading. Have a great day!
Da_Hubbz 