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Must-Try Cards from Lorwyn Eclipsed
Lorwyn Eclipsed is almost here, but the whole set is now spoiled. I thought it be fun to look at some of the cards I’m most excited to brew around. It is worth noting I rarely play Standard, so most of my picks are for other formats. I like Pauper, Tiny Leader, and Pauper EDH more right now. My picks will reflect my current interest (not so much power level or general buzz.). Let’s get on to the list. Leave a comment below on the cards you are most excited about.
#5 The Evoke Elementals
I’m lumping all these guys into one spot. I think they are versatile and fun. I don’t know if any will see standard or modern play or anything like that, but they certainly could. I am more interested in them from a cube perspective. Cube is one of those formats where you can tailor make the power level and synergies. It’s very easy to create environments where these guys are all stars. Not to mention, I like when Wizards does these big, fun cycles like the Gearhulks, Gods, and Titans of previous sets.
There’s five Incarnations and I really like four of them. Deceit reminds me of Dinrova’s Horror and apparently has already found a combo with Superior Spider-Man. Wistful seems like a more flexible Mulldrifter, which is never a bad thing. Emptiness seems solid. I never scoff at flexible reanitomater spells and this is one that can double as a removal spell. Vibrance has to be my favorite though. It gives me strong Kroxa meets Uro vibes. Both of those cards are in the running for two of my favorite creatures ever. This can bolt anything and/or ensure you find your next land and gain some life. I really like this one. Catharsis is my least favorite as I am just not interested in anything it is doing.
#4 Glister Bairn
Honestly, this is a set of honorable mentions. Where there’s interesting stuff for pauper and interesting cards that can be commanders. However, most of the set doesn’t exactly sing to me. I’m putting this on the list not because I’m rushing out to get it, but because I think it is interesting. There’s plenty of interesting ways to make off color tokens in Blue and Green to generate tokens that are white or red or black. Amssing Zombies makes black creature tokens. Resculpt makes blue and red elemental tokens. Glimmerburst can draw you two cards and make a white enchantment creature token. Like I said, I’m not rushing out to build it. I just love these creatures that provide deck building limitations and puzzle. These are fun thought exercises.
#3 Iron-Shield Elf
There’s plenty of elves I could have picked. Formidable Speaker, Champions of the Perfect, Virdent Emissary, are all great elves that could probably slot right into Lathril when they come out. I’m putting Iron-Shield Elf on here because A. He’s probably going to fly under the radar so I figured I’d give him his 15 seconds of fame here. B. He slots into one of my decks that isn’t just elves. I built Hashaton in tiny leader. Admittedly, the existing discard outlets we have are pretty good. Therefor, I am not sure if he will make the cut, but I think anytime we get instant speed “free” discard outlets we should at least take notes. All in all, elves got a lot of support this set and that is always cool.
#2 Maralen, Fae Ascendant
Speaking of Elves getting support, here’s something crazy. She combines two of my favorite creature types: Elves and Faeries. She rewards you building elf ball so you have a high creature count as well as rewards you for playing flash faeries. I like both of these strategies. My thing is I’m not 100% sure how I want to build her. I’ve had Lathril Elves for a while and always wanted to splash blue for Sultai elves. However, I have been waiting for a good UB Faery commander that speaks to me (obviously, there’s a bunch of good ones. I just haven’t really pulled the trigger on them yet.). Is it finally time to pull the trigger and just smash them together? I’m not sure. I also already own Mothman as my Sultai commander. So I am conflicted, but this is atleast very cool and on my radar.
#1 Abigale
Abigale checks a lot of boxes for me. I don’t own a lot, if any ,Orzhov commander decks at any level (Pauper EDH, Tiny Leader, or regular commander.). Despite loving WB as a color combination, I’ve yet to see a strategy that speaks to me. But Abigale in Tiny Leader is currently speaking to me. Her ability to blank the bad text of big creatures like Rotting Regisaur and Death’s Shadow is so tempting. Not to mention, players have already found a whole host of other creatures that are big and dumb with drawbacks that Abigale can just remove. Then you play blink spells like Ephemerate so you can keep triggering her etb. I think the design idea was to use her ability to blank your opponent’s creatures like Badgermole Cub, because I’m not sure she got any other support in Lorwyn which makes me think Wizard did not envision her being an archetype, but more so a hate piece. Maybe I am wrong or missed something, but that’s how I see it. Anyway, I think she is the card I am most looking forward to building and that is in Tiny Leader.
So there you have it. The Elementals and Elves are eating good. Merfolks got some cool cards but nothing that made we want to build them. There’s plenty of other cards that look cool or I’m keeping an eye out to see what they do, but these are the cards that jumped out to me for brewing purposes. Let me know what you are building when Lorwyn Esclipsed officially releases.
Thank you guys for reading. Have a great day!
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!
My AP Top 10 as of October 22nd, 2022
What an interesting week. Georgia Michigan and USC were all byes. TCU and Alabama faced off against fellow ranked teams and UCLA and Ogregon battled each other.
#1 Georgia- My top two teams from last week were on bye. As a result there isn’t much to write this week.
#2 Michigan- See #1 above.
#3 Ohio State– Before it was Ohio State vs Alabama for the two spot. Now it’s Ohio State vs Tennessee for the 3 spot. I’m not upset either way. Tennessee has had some horrible defensive moments, while Ohio State’s best win is Notre Dame. Again, these things will sort themselves out in the end.
#4 Tennessee- With LSU most likely joining the ranks soon, Tennessee continues to have the best overall resume. The argument for who has the best win comes down to Tennessee over Alabama or Georgia over Oregon. Tennessee’s win holds value because of its historical significance and name recognition of who they beat, despite it being a walk off field win at home. While Georgia’s gets a lot of credit for how utterly dominant they were and how good Oregon has looked since.
#5 Clemson- Let’s get the negative comments out of the way now. Clemson continues to start slow. Clemson continues to look beatable. Clemson continues to make it hard to defend a team that has now beaten three ranked opponents. Three teams that Clemson was their first loss. NC State, Wake Forest and Syracuse all watched perfect seasons die to the Tigers. Even FSU was a solid team. Still, it is the best 4 game stint the ACC has thrown at Clemson in a long time. I wish Clemson would have delivered knock out blows earlier in each match. But they’re undefeated. That counts for something. I consider Alabama the cut off for tier S. If Clemson keeps struggling early, Alabama will jump them.
#6 Alabama- Even if I think this is the worst Saban team in a long time, it’s still hard to bash too hard on this team. Alabama didn’t give Mississippi State the thrashing most teams get from Alabama. Yet, this was still one of, if not their best win of the season. With close calls against Texas, Texas A and M and Tennessee, and they allowed Arkansas to climb back in for a quarter, it must have been nice to not have to sweat a power 5 matchup. Truthfully, I’m not sure what to do with Alabama. As TCU has the better win and is undefeated. They’ve earned a higher spot than Alabama. Oregon has the worse loss, but a better resume as a whole. I feel like they’ve earned a higher spot as well. Though, I’m not sure either of those teams could win at Alabama. Yet, Alabama has been horrible on the road and would probably lose at either of their home fields.
#7 TCU- TCU has now beaten Oklahoma, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Kansas State in consecutive weeks. They are now just a win over Texas away from most likely being undefeated heading into the B12 Championship Game. I think a dominating performance against Texas could elevate them over Alabama since Alabama struggled to the Longhorns.
#8 Oregon- Oregon is probably wishing they played anyone but Georgia in week 1 as they have been rolling people. UCLA and Oregon were two of the hottest teams in the country and Oregon extinguished UCLA seemingly before the opening kickoff. It was truly a game that was never in any real doubt. Its hard to hold week 1 against them, you just wish they had shown a pulse at some point in that game. Otherwise, this team would be battling for the 5 spot.
#9 Oklahoma State– With Ole Miss and UCLA thumped, it vacated two new spots. Oklahoma State is the most deserving team to take that 9 spot. Their only loss is to unbeaten TCU. They responded to that loss by handling a red hot Texas team. They find themselves in a decent spot to make a run for the title game.
#10 Wake Forest– Wake Forest is benefitting from two things. A. Both USC and Utah are on byes (as though would be two teams gunning for this ten spot.). B. They have a QB that can play with anyone. This is supported by the fact their only loss was in overtime to Clemson. They might not quite be a juggernaut or household name, but I like them a lot up to this point in the season.
So that’s my top ten. I had a Halloween party yesterday so I don’t have a lot of other predictions. I will say the B12 probably takes a big hit as I think K State and Texas could drop out of the rankings. While the SEC will get a nice bump as LSU and South Carolina look to jump into the top 25.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day.
Manga Monday! August 22nd, 2022!
Today, we have a themed Manga Monday. Each manga is a volume from one franchise. That franchise is The Legend of Zelda!
If you follow the blog or the Youtube channel, you know I love the Legend of Zelda. So when I stumbled across a store that doesn’t really sell mangas, I could not pass them up! Check out this sweet haul!
This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn commission through these links at no additional cost to you.
So to recap, we scored:
Ocarina of Time Volume #1.
Ocarina of Time Volume #2.
Four Swords Volume #1
Four Swords Volume #2
Oracle of Seasons
Oracle of Ages
Phantom Hourglass
Majora’s Mask
And Minish Cap
Want any of these mangas in your collection? Pick them up on Amazon here!
These are some of my favorite video games from the franchise, so they were welcomed additions to my manga collection.
So what Mangas have yall read or bought here recently?
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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving. Be safe tomorrow if you’re going holiday shopping. Remember you can get a lot of awesome deals online. Anyway have a great day and a wonderful weekend everyone!
Thanksgiving’s Holiday Traditions.
Here in the States Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. Id love to hear your guys traditions. I’m sure for the most part it’s gathering around the table and eating food with loved ones. But I’m also sure you guys have some crazy habits. One of our customers invited us to his Magic the Gathering themed Thanksgiving called Brommander Night. A night where him and his friends get together to cookout and play Commander (the Magic the Gathering format). They do this once a month and since it is November, him and his friends are making a Thanksgiving tradition out of it. Pretty cool, honestly.
Since I have to see both my mom and dad, I don’t really do a lot at either house. I just try to enjoy them and see them as everyone has off that day.
So feel free to comment down below between special dishes or family games what your family does. I’d love to hear them all.
My AP Top 10 as of November 14th, 2021
Oklahoma finally took a loss as Georgia wrapped up a perfect SEC run. Let’s look at how the top 10 shapes up this week.
#1 Georgia– Georgia remains one of a few unbeaten teams left in the country and have continued to dominate everyone they face. 3 games still await them as they locked up the East weeks ago. Still the question remains, is Georgia a lock or could an untimely loss cost them that playoff spot?
#2 Cincinnati- Admittedly, Cincinnati hasn’t looked as impressive as they did earlier in the season but they are still undefeated. Their win over Notre Dame continues to grow more impressive with each week. In fact at this point it is the third most impressive win of the season. With only Oregons win over Ohio State and Michigan States win over Michigan as more impressive. They play SMU next which is the last tough team on their schedule. Handling business could go a long way to securing their playoff spot.
#3 Ohio State- I have gone back and forth and back and forth over spots 3-5. But Ohio States thumping of giant slayer Purdue confirms to me OSU is playing as the 3rd best team in the country. For Oregon there is a mountain to climb, but we will get to that. Ohio State still has to play Michigan and Michigan State. If they are 11-1 by the end of it, they will probably be #2 in my book.
#4 Oregon– Big games count for something. But for how much I’m unsure. As long as Oregon goes 12-1 they are in my top 4 somewhere. The lost to Stanford is terrible. Their lack of conference strength will hurt them. However, the win over Ohio State will keep them afloat even if they aren’t looking that great.
#5 Alabama- I live in the South. I know Alabama gets the benefit of the doubt everytime. But Alabama only has one thing going for them, that’s Saban. I do think Young is great and they have playmakers everywhere. But this Alabama team isn’t as great as ones in years past. They have Saban and five star recruits everywhere, which means they could still win it all. They have 3 games left assuming they handle business. It starts with Arkansas then Auburn and finally Georgia. Obviously sitting at 12-1 would get them in. Let’s just sit back and see where this goes.
#6 Michigan State- There was definitely two weeks of cause of concern. They were on the verge of being blown out by Michigan before ultimately losing to Purdue by double digits. They got back on track and will now try to finish strong.
#7 Michigan- My pick to win that tough Big 10 division almost came out flat. It was a dog fight against a Penn State team that doesn’t get enough credit, honestly. Michigan needs a big game against Ohio State and then it needs some help from outside forces to jump into the top 4.
#8 Notre Dame- Notre Dame continues to just beat people. However they picked the wrong year to lose to Cincinnati. No one on their schedule has panned out to be a top 25 team outside of Cincinnati. And if the committee caps Cincinnati’s ceiling than how could ND ever hope to get in without a championship game?
#9 Oklahoma- Oklahoma finally gave the polls something to cheer about with their 24-14 loss in which neither Oklahoma QB got it going. There’s plenty of cause for cornern in Norman. OUs best case scenario is to go 11-1 and avenge their loss to Baylor in the Big 12 Championship.
10 Wake Forest- A few teams are vying for this spot. Oklahoma State, Baylor and Ole Miss all made strong statements that they deserve to be in the top 10 with impressive wins. However, Wake Forest only has a 1 in the loss column. I’m aware the playoff committee will probably leave Oklahoma and Wake Forest out of the top 10 due to lacking quality wins. But I’ll park these two teams at 9 and 10 and see if they can keep their winning ways going.
So that’s my list. The last few weeks promise to be real telling on how our top 10 fills out. Thank you guys for reading and have a great day!
My Five Favorite Cards From Pokemon TCG: Fusion Strike
Hey guys, let’s take a look at my five favorite Pokemon cards from the latest Pokemon TCG set, Fusion Strike. Remember, I don’t really play the TCG. I mostly collect the cards. So my list is going to be based off of art style and the Pokemons themselves. Not so much based on abilities or power levels.
#5 Espeon VMAX
Starting the list off is one of the highest presale priced cards in the set, Espeon VMAX. Admittedly, I love the art and use of color on this card. I’m just putting it this low because I know it is Jessica’s #1 pick from the set.
#4 Genesect V
Based off of art alone, this might be the best card in the set. Sadly, this one of the few old Pokemon’s I’ve never caught or owned. So I have no attachment to the Pokemon itself. V alt arts are really killer in this set though!
#3 Flaffy
Honestly, the secret rares don’t do a lot for me. Their backgrounds are boring compared to the alt art. But they still pop. And I love Flaffy a lot. The fact a middle form got a secret rare and it was Flaffy of all Pokemons is just too awesome.
#2 Mew V (Alternate Full Art)
Here again is another V alternative art card killing it! This one does a lot right in my opinion. You’ve got Mew as the Pokemon in question, which I love. The color is awesome here! And there’s several Pokemon all in the shot, a plus in my book. This card scores a near perfect score in my scorecard!
#1 Celebi V (Alternative Full Art)
A lot of what I said in the previous entry holds true here. I like Celebi more than Mew which is why Celebi edges Mew out for the #1 spot. I like the color better on Mew but the use of landscape, atmosphere and color all work incredible well. This card gives off Christmas and hope vibes which I think we can all appreciate heading into the Winter months!
So there’s my top 5. Let me know what cards you guys are looking forward too most! Fusion Strike is on sale tomorrow so be sure to grab a box or some packs!
Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan Random Thursday #1 (Anime Review)
Hey there, today is not a new segment so to speak. It is more of a reworking. As the series was formerly know as Random Wednesday but I want to do more comic book pick ups on Wednesday. The premise of this series is simple. I watch the first episode of a random anime and then talk about it. Today’s Anime is Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan.
Here’s a run down of the plot so we are all on the same page. Uramichi Oniisan went to university and became a talented gymnastic. However, at the young age of 31 his life is going nowhere and he is the lead character of the children’s show “Together with Maman.”. Think of this show as Barney or Blue’s Clues in this universe. The rest of the show serves to highlight the struggles of not knowing who you are or what you want to do with yourself. His co-workers are scared of his mental unhingeness and his producers, oddly enough, just put up with his outrages. This show tackles a pretty serious issue, mid-life crisis, in a lighthearted manner. One episode in and I can’t tell if the show is trying to bring light to the subject or turn it into a comedy or both. Either way, the show manages to be hilarious because of the dark subject material juxtaposed to such an innocent setting. Uramichi is trying to figure out how to get his life out of the gutter while simultaneously inspire, educate and lead small children.
Interestingly enough, I’m not sure the wide appeal for an anime like this. However, it definitely hit close to home to me. At the age of 21, I was living in my dad’s pool house. My job, babysitting my 6 little siblings. They ran the gambit in ages from 8 to new born. I hung out with them every day because they were home schooled. I helped out in their education, entertained them and always tried to be there for them. All the while having no clue what I was doing with my life. I had bounced around colleges and majors. By this time I had attended three different colleges and had 5 different majors. I started out as a Mass Communications Major with a concentration in Film and Television. After I transferred to my next school I switched to Education. I was in a committed relationship and no longer dreamed of working on movies. I liked the idea of empowering kids and teens to be their best self. After a year as an Education major, my professor told me to just major in Biology since that is what I wanted to teach. However, a lot of my math courses didn’t translate with me so I was having to take extra courses. And because my college had 2 major campuses, I could never get signed up for Chemistry. Frustrated from spinning my wheels, I switched my major once again to general business. While, taking the business core, I planned to pick one area to major in. In hindsight I almost wished I would have picked Marketing, but I chose Accounting. I then transferred to my third college with my 5 major.
Well, I only have about a year of Accounting courses left not counting my minors, but I have fallen out of love with the subject and I am taking a break from school. It sucks, but it needs to happen. So I am sitting here, watching anime about a guy who had his life all figured out now spiraling out of control while I am unsure of my own future. I can relate to trying to be positive for the next generation while your world is in constant upheaval. So that’s why I did this specific life story tangent. I feel like this anime was created for me. Obviously I have only seen the first episode, but it seems right up my alley. I love the off-beat humor, the colorful supporting cast, the non-sense slice of life scenario it is set in. Honestly, the first episode was near perfect and quite enthralling. Though I totally get it if the all-over-the-place, chaotic nature is not your thing.
Recap:
Action: This is not a violent or action packed anime. There may have been some slapstick humor but I don’t remember.
Romance: I don’t recall much in the way of romance either.
Plot: The plot is nothing really special here. It is more so the characters’ interactions and the way they handle the world around them.
Characters: We are introduced to about 5 or 6 characters that could play bigger roles. Tobikichi Usahara and Mitsuo Kumatani play his lovable mascot sidekicks. While Utano Tadano and Iketery Daga show up occasionally for musical numbers. Of course there’s also Uramichi Oniisan and the children who I cannot wait to see what weird hijinks they get into.
The World: It is a slice a life anime. The world is nothing special. It is exactly our world.
Humor: Humor is of course one of the strong suits of this anime. Again it is situational humor playing on the absurdities of these character’s lives and situations.
All in all I think this is a great anime if you like the following:
Slice of Life. There’s no great evil or end of the world stakes. It is just PvE. Real life people working through problems.
Relatable cast. A lot of us work jobs that are unfulfilling or have co-workers we have to deal with. Sure some of the characters are extremes or caricatures, but a lot of it is grounded in reality.
Nonsense or Off beat humor. The funniest aspects of the show often revolves around humor that seems out of place or all the wall.
So, there you go. We’re going to try to keep this a weekly thing but there’s going to be a big life update post soon, so get ready.
Thank you guys for watching. Have a great day.
Da_Hubbz 