PAX West 2018: Valve’s Upcoming ‘Artifact’ Made Me Feel Like A Kid Again

by Derek KraneveldtSeptember 8, 2018

I entered PAX West 2018 incredibly excited to demo an upcoming Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield-designed card game.

Keyforge: Call of the Archons is an upcoming physical card game from Fantasy Flight Games that does away with booster packs and deckbuilding, instead relying on the principle that every single pre-built deck for the game is unique (they actually note more than 104,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible decks). This mechanic still feels impossible to me, but as the last time I played Magic: The Gathering a few years back it largely felt like a game of “I spent more money than you, so I win,” I’m incredibly excited to experience the no secondary market necessary, unwrap and figure things out world of Keyforge.

The other Richard Garfield designed game at PAX (how can this guy have two totally different unreleased card games on display at the same show?), Valve’s Artifact was not even on my radar.

After spending nearly 90 minutes with the game this past Monday, you can bet that it’s on my radar now.

Artifact had possibly the largest booth of the entire convention. Huge, high resolution displays floated above the crowd (and the never-ending line for the booth), showcasing some of the exciting action happening across the dozens and dozens (and dozens) of desktops set up in the Artifact area. As I walked the show floor looking for new games to play, the flashing giganticism of Valve’s booth continued to catch my eye – sometimes I’d find myself stopping for minutes at a time, staring at cards and at plays and at mechanics that I simply did not understand.

By day two of PAX I’d decided that I needed to experience Artifact for myself. This proved tougher than anticipated, as based on the threads in the r/PAX subreddit, people had been lining up for the game as early as 6AM, and would spend hours and hours in line without making much progress at all. The line was apparently being capped for the entire day early in the afternoon. These lines were understandable based on the massive following for Valve’s own DOTA, which the cards and characters of Artifact are based on, and because PAX West was set to be the very first place where Artifact would be playable to the public. I wouldn’t find out until much later, but I imagine part of that line was also because of the insane swag that Valve was giving away to those that waited in line for play the title.

Eventually, after watching and watching and not quite understanding, I approached an Artifact staff member and asked for them to explain some of the basic mechanics. I’ve played a lot of trading or collectible card games in my years – I was in elementary school and obsessed with the Pokémon Trading card games for several years after it came out (though I had a NeoGeo Pocket Color instead of Game Boy, so I wouldn’t play a Pokémon video game until much later); I also retired in my (albeit small) town undefeated in Yu-Gi-Oh, my final exhibition coming down to an eleventh hour win that had my opponent throwing his discard pile across the room in frustration; I played Magic: The Gathering casually for years; and have also dabbled in the likes of Hearthstone and The Elder Scrolls: Legends among others. The super-friendly Artifact employee explained just some of the ways that Artifact is different, in some ways simpler than typical card games, and in some ways much, much more complicated.

Artifact is in many ways simpler in that you’re not typically managing as many things as a typical card game. There’s no land or energy cards here – your mana simply refreshes in full and grows by one each round. You can have as many cards in your hand as you want, and never need to worry about discarding down to a certain hand size. There’s also no limit to how many cards you can have in play at one time (the board often gets pretty full) or how many cards you can play in a single turn – play will pass between you and your opponent until you both pass without playing a card, and you can continue to play cards as long as you have the mana to do so. This stuff is pretty easy to follow, and not needing to manage or worry about things like a hand getting too large means that you can take your time and slowly build up to some pretty insane combos – during my time with the game I found that I would often hold cards for some time as Artifact lets you play cards when the timing is right, rather than forcing you to play things just because.

Artifact is also very different in that at all times it’s kind of like you’re in three games at once. Each game of Artifact is played across three ‘lanes’, each of which basically being its own match (though certain cards and effects can trigger actions or damage in other lanes or across the entire board, for instance). Your goal in each lane is to destroy your opponent’s ‘Tower’, which can take 40 points of damage. Destroy two towers across any lane (or the same tower twice, though after a tower is destroyed it regenerates with twice as much health) and you win the game.

Each Artifact deck has 40 cards, and will contain five heroes of four different card colors (red, green, black, or blue) – most of the cards that you’ll play are associated with a color too, but you can only play a card in a lane if you have a hero of a corresponding color in that lane as well. This means that destroying your opponent’s heroes becomes a major factor of the game as well, as destroying the last hero in a lane will (at least temporarily) significantly limit what your opponent can do there. Heroes also have equipment slots, allowing you to equip a weapon, some armor, and an accessory, all of which can add effects to the hero, or increase its health or attack power. Heroes die, of course, but after a time will respawn randomly in another lane, complete with any equipment that they had when they were previously destroyed.

As I mentioned above, you and your opponent will take turns playing cards in a lane until you both choose not to (or can’t because mana). Your heroes and creatures will then attack each other (typically straight ahead, but there’s also a 25% chance that an opponent’s card will ‘pull aggro’ and draw attacks towards it as well, which can really screw things up. If a card isn’t blocked by an opposing creature, that card’s attack power will be deducted from the opposing tower’s hit points. Some cards also have abilities that can pass remaining damage to a tower after being blocked by a creature (think Trample in Magic: The Gathering), or a myriad of other effects that can cause damage, help you ramp your mana faster, and the like.

Destroying enemy creatures earns you gold which you’ll spend between rounds on equipment like weapons, consumables like potions, or even a ‘secret shop’ which often has very expensive, but very powerful, random equipment up for grabs. The ‘Shopping Phase’ is actually a huge factor in the game that I didn’t see as overly important at first, but became a game-changer once I’d actually begun to embrace it.

I think that describing Artifact makes the game sound markedly more complicated and harder to understand than it actually is – it truly feels like one of those “minutes to learn, forever to master” type of titles, and this was made clear when I finally sat down to play the game (the Artifact employee that I’d initially spoken to noticed my badge, and passed me to another employee who set me up with a specific time to demo the game, and I’m so freaking thankful for this). The setup here was pretty cool – the decks you’d play with were pre-built, and you’d have an employee with you to guide you through your first match against an AI opponent. Once you beat the AI, the game went into a matchmaking mode that would pair you with another player at PAX. If you lost, you were done, but if you won, you’d move on to the next round. Once you beat five opponents you’d go to another on-stage area where you’d compete more competitively to win some cool prizes.

My employee, who reminded me of a younger Clark Duke spent my first match over my shoulder telling me which moves to make and sharing some of the game’s basic controls. Certain things were explained more thoroughly than others, and while we made fairly short order of the AI opponent, going into my human vs. human match I felt as though I had absolutely 0 clue what I was doing. My employee left me (though he’d check on my periodically for the remainder of my Artifact playtime) and I legitimately wondered just how quickly I’d fail my first real match.

My opponent absolutely murdered me… for awhile. At this point, mechanics didn’t feel super clear to me, I didn’t take advantage of the shop phase, and I simply made many poor decisions in terms of card usage and placement. Each time my tower was hit or my creature was lost, however, I learned something. Eventually things began to click, I began to defend more efficiently, and then I began a goosebump-inducing comeback that elicited feelings that I haven’t felt towards a card game since my very first Friday Night Magic. I won my first match by one turn, and following the appalling way that I began the game, I wish that I could have seen my opponents face the moment that the ‘Loss’ screen popped up on their display.

I moved on to another match, surprisingly with a new deck built of colors that I’d not played yet. Rather than the mana-ramping that I’d experienced with my predominantly green deck previously, this deck felt predominantly red, and was filled with cards that would buff up my heroes (sometimes just temporarily), and cards that would do instant damage to my opponents creatures. This second match was neck and neck for its entirety, with my opponent taking out my second tower just a single turn before I’d be able to do the same to them. I lost, but I had a smile on my face the entire freaking time that I was doing it.

I stood up just as the employee that’d set me up came back over (I’d seen him just a few minutes before when the match was moving in my favour, and he’d seemed pretty excited that I was doing so well). He asked me what I thought of my time with the game and gave me a handshake before pointing me towards the swag / exit area. To this point I’d seen plenty of people walking around PAX with cool looking Artifact-branded reusable bags, but holy crap were there some amazing goodies inside. Anyone who’d waited in line for the game, after first getting a chance to play the game at its first public appearance, would receive two autographed, high quality art prints of the game’s characters (I’m still not even sure who these characters are but I can’t wait to frame them), and a branded bag that included a wonderfully soft t-shirt, an exclusive set of pins, a lanyard, and two copies of the game itself (the game won’t fully launch until November, but the provided codes also include beta access). This seems like an incredibly valuable package to give away to fans, and for those that waited hours upon hours in line, it must feel like a neat “thank you,” from the Artifact team.

I still have a number of questions about the game – like just how the game’s store, trading, and deck sharing systems will work – the $20 base game includes 10 booster packs and two pre-made decks with additional booster packs being a fair $2 a pop; players will also have the ability to sell or trade unneeded or unwanted cards; and Valve has also mentioned that they’re exploring the ability to ‘share’ decks with friends, just like players often do when casually playing physical card games. The game’s mechanics feel super solid, but I think that it’s systems like these that will make or break a digital card game without any free-to-play component for many players. Valve has also noted that they’re developing systems to see the game from becoming pay-to-win, and from Gabe Newell’s Artifact press conference from a few months back (see the full shaky video below) there are already big plans for Artifact from an eSports perspective.

Artifact simply made me feel like a kid again. It’s been a long, long time since a card game (physically or digitally) has had my heart racing, but drawing and playing just the right card at just the right time in Artifact did just that multiple times. I played a lot of phenomenal games at PAX this year, but in my many, many gaming conversations since the expo ended, Artifact is the game that keeps coming up again and again. Artifact was my #1 game of PAX West.

I freaking loved my time with Artifact, and I simply cannot wait to jump back into this world. Artifact launches on Windows, MacOS, and Linux on November 28th (with iOS and Android versions coming next year) for $20.

SDCC 2017: We Tried The ‘Final Fantasy’ Trading Card Game! Did Square-Enix Summon A Hit?

by Josh JacksonJuly 28, 2017

With as many properties that have developed card games over the years, it was only a matter of time before Final Fantasy got in on the action. With decades worth of characters, creatures and lore to pull from, it seems natural that players would want to gather their favorite heroes and do battle with fancy, glossy decks. At the Square-Enix booth at San Diego Comic Con, the company offered demos to new players who wanted to see how well the game translated to the TCG format. Not being one to shy away from a new card game, I took the time to see what kind of spells I could conjure the heroes from Final Fantasy IX.

Each player starts with a deck of exactly 50 cards made up primarily of Forward and Backup characters. Forward characters are your main line of defense, taking the front of the field as they use their abilities and strength to fight off the opposing deck. Except for the first turn, players can summon as many characters as they want as long as they have the CP for it. This number, which is at the top-left of every card, shows you how much you need to pay, as well as which element it needs to belong to. The exception to this rule are Light and Dark cards, which can use any element. CP is gained by either dulling, (the FF equivalent to tapping), or discarding cards from your hand to gain 1 or 2 CP respectively. From there, your line of defense is set.

Fortunately, unless the character has the Haste ability, each new summon suffers from summoning sickness, which is TCG speak for not being able to act on the turn they’re summoned. When they can act, you have the option to either defend, which subtracts from their HP for that turn only, or take the damage, which results in you taking one damage point. The first player to deal seven points of damage wins, but each time a player takes damage, they get to draw one of seven damage cards that they set aside at the beginning of the match. If that card has an EX Burst ability however, they can trigger that move immediately without cost, potentially turning the tide of a game. Even when you see an opening, you might want to be careful about attacking with your whole party. Each Forward that attacks becomes dulled, meaning they can’t act until their next turn. So if you attack with everyone you have, that means you won’t have any way to defend yourself if the opponent mounts a comeback.

Aside from the main characters, Summons are one time use characters that disappear after being brought on the field to use their powerful abilities. Most Backup characters feature the DS remake versions of the Onion Knights from Final Fantasy III filling the roles of generic jobs like Monks, Thieves and Mages, with their own abilities to trigger if not being tapped for CP. This helped make every card feel special, even the ones that might serve as fodder for your Forwards. Speaking of special, although the cards that I’ve seen break away from conventional TCG thinking by having no holographic versions, each one uses thick, glossy paper with some of the most iconic art from the series taken from the games.

In my brief time with the game, the only major concern I have is the flexibility allowed to customize your decks. In the game that I played, many of the Final Fantasy IX characters relied on each other to get stronger. For example, Stiener’s strength increased depending on how many IX characters fought alongside him, while Zidane had a similar skill. In other words, they would be far less effective if paired with a mixed deck. I hope that the booster packs allow for more flexibility than I’m seeing here, but either way, the game was a blast to play.

I’m looking forward to seeing the game’s growth in North America and seeing what the cards can do once we have all of the expansions. For now, I’ll just wait patiently for a Final Fantasy VI deck and dream of the day I can clean house with Celes. Do you have room in your binder for the Square Enix’s card game? Share your thoughts with us below!

The Yu-Gi-Oh Legendary Decks 2 Collection Breathes Life Into Old Favorites!

by Josh JacksonFebruary 8, 2017

It’s become an annual tradition for Yu-Gi-Oh players to expect some kind of grand collection when the end of the year starts to creep up on us. 2016 is no exception, following last year’s trend of releasing a series of theme decks all in one box. Sharing the spotlight with Joey and Kaiba this time around, Yugi and his two Battle City rivals return with decks blending new and old cards, many of which have become much harder to find through other means.

Starting with Joey, who had his own Joey’s World collection a few years ago, his deck naturally focuses on his Red Eyes Black Dragon. His featured cards include The Black Stone of Legend, a card that can be tributed to special summon a powerful Red Eyes monster from the deck. When in the Graveyard, it allows a Red-Eyes in the Graveyard to be shuffled back into the deck while the Stone itself goes back into your hand. Creating an easy way to continuously cycle Red-Eyes monsters in and out of your deck, it’s handy to have both in and out of the grave! Thesecond card, Return of the Red Eyes, is a continuous Trap Card that allows you to Special Summon a Normal Monster in your Graveyard while on the field. When destroyed, you can Special Summon a Red-Eyes monster from your Graveyard to the Field, providing a second way to filter in powerful monsters constantly. Lastly, Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon is an Xyz Monster from the Clash of Rebellions set that can’t be destroyed by card effects AND inflicts 500 damage every time your opponent activates a card or effect after it resolves as long as it has Xyz material attached. When material is removed, you can Special Summon one Normal Red-Eyes monster from the grave, making sure it always has backup in a fight.

The rest of Joey’s deck features many of the classic cards he used throughout the original series, including common variant favorites of Jinzo, Scapegoats, Baby Dragon and Kunai with Chain. Top that off with some powerful staple support cards such as Torrential Tribute and Mystical Space Typhoon, and you have a ready made Red-Eyes deck that can become even more powerful once cards from other booster sets are mixed in.

Next up is Kaiba, who’s trademark Blue-Eyes cards had a resurgence this year thanks to a plethora of new support cards, many of which are represented here. Maiden with Eyes of Blue kicks things off, with the popular card from the Saga of Blue-Eyes White Dragon structure deck bringing its tricks into this package. Don’t let its 0 attack and 0 defense fool you, because it’s used to bait players into attacking it in order to easily summon the powerful Blue-Eyes instantly. When attacked, the move is negated, leading to one of the dragons being Special Summoned from the Hand, Deck or Graveyard. When targeted by a card effect, the same effect comes into play, minus the negation. This can take place once per turn during either player’s turn, so one cycle can have the maximum of three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards on the field at once! If your opponent isn’t taking your bait, you can always target your own Maiden too! The Melody of Awakening Dragons provides a second option to get your dragons out of your deck, allowing you to add up to two Dragon-Type monsters with 3000 or more attack and 2500 or less defense. This is a perfect set up for Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the classic fusion monster that’s become a staple of Kaiba’s offense focused strategy. At 4500 attack and 3800 defense, good luck taking it down without a spell handy.

Like Joey, Kaiba’s deck is rounded out by new and old favorites, including the Synchro Monster, Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon, Protector with Eyes of Blue, Master with Eyes of Blue, Beacon of White, La-Jinn- Mystical Genie of the Lamp, Battle Ox, Burst Stream of Destruction and Enemy Controller to name a few. Naturally, it’s also packed with three Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards, each of which are common variants of the first three art styles used for the iconic monster.

But as always, Yugi is the star of the show, which is why he gets six featured cards, three of which are exclusive to this set! The first three are a trio most should be familiar with by now, with the classic designs for Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor and The Winged Dragon of Ra sitting on top of the deck with their Ultra Rare variants. His exclusive cards revolve around Exodia, the all powerful god / meme that Yugi famously defeated Kaiba with in the first episode of the Duel Monsters anime. The Legendary Exodia Incarnate allows you to summon the monster as its own creature rather than the instant win device it has become known for when all of its body parts have been assembled. With 0 defense and fluctuating attack strength, it gains 1000 attack points for every “Forbidden One” card in your Graveyard. At the end of its user’s turn, it asks them to add one “Forbidden One” card from the grave to their hand, making Exodia weaker in the process. While it can’t be affected by card effects, destroying it in battle lets its user draw a card for every “Forbidden One” card in their hand, allowing them to cycle through their deck faster for that precious instant win, all while bringing cards back from the grave that might have been lost otherwise. Ties of the Brethren is a Spell Card that Special Summons two cards of the same attribute and type with different names to the field at the cost of 2000 Life Points, obviously meant to set up two Exodia pieces. Finally, the Obliterate!!! Continuous Trap Card allows you to discard a “Forbidden One” card from your hand or deck to send a monster on the field back to its user’s hand. When destroyed, you can add one “Forbidden One” card from the gave to your hand, but only one of the two effects can be used per turn.

To be honest, I’m struggling with finding the usefulness of these exclusive cards, mainly because their effects don’t seem worth the cost of losing your Exodia pieces, especially when they seem counter productive to other cards in the deck like Exodia Necross, which is destroyed if all pieces aren’t in the Graveyard. It seems like many of the stall and draw decks that currently exist would work much better to accomplish what these cards seem to set up. Outside of Exodia: The Forbidden One and its four limbs, Yugi’s deck also comes with cards used by both his normal form and Atem, including the Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, the Silent Magician series, Swords of Revealing Light, Magic Cylinder and Mirror Force. These should give players plenty to work with when building custom decks, especially to compliment the new magician cards that came out earlier in the year.

The decks aren’t all that come packed with these legendary decks, since three promos and three tokens are included in each set exclusively. Consisting of two Spell Cards and one Trap Card that are meant to power up the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl, Dark Burning Attack destroys all face up monsters your opponent controls if you control the female variant. If you control both, Dark Burning Magic can act as a quick play spell, letting you destroy all cards on your opponent’s field during either of your turns. Mimicking the magician’s eternal loyalty for the Pharoh in the anime and manga, the Eternal Soul continuous trap card makes sure you always have a Dark Magician at your side. While on the field, Dark Magician can’t be affected by card effects from your opponent, while allowing you to either Special Summon a Dark Magician from your hand or Graveyard, or add Thousand Knives or Dark Magic Attack spells from your deck to your hand. The only drawback is if the trap is destroyed, all monsters on your side of the field go with it. Outside of these cards, tokens featuring the three heroes this set is built on round out this jam packed set, which I’m sure comes in handy for someone like Joey, who would want to line up four Kaiba tokens to have them get taken down during one of his notorious Scapegoat plays.

Overall, this is an excellent set for people who are mostly familiar with the old cards, but want some new ones mixed in to help them get re-acquainted with the game. While the Yugi set is confusing in the way its set up, the other two have excellent synergy, and the three promo cards that support the magicians more than make up for any shortcomings the Yugi deck has. While it pains me to say this as a Blue-Eyes fan, the Red-Eyes deck is the all star this time around, with some fantastic cards that not only play well, but are much harder to get outside of this set

My biggest concern however, is that we might be going to the nostalgia well a bit too often with these sets. Last year’s Legendary Decks had three Yugi decks, and many of the cards here were already released back then. When you add in the previously mentioned Joey’s World, the many Battle City re-releases, the movie cards that offered some reprints of classic monsters, the Duelist Packs featuring Yugi and Kaiba, and the theme decks featuring these characters, it’s starting to feel like we’re buying the same cards over and over again rather than being introduced to new ones. Now I might be biased since I love Kaiba, but this year felt like the perfect time to give him his own set with all of the brand new Blue-Eyes support that has released. Maybe next year?

Nonetheless, you can’t got wrong with over 150 cards of Yu-Gi-Oh goodness. At the retail price of $29.99, you’re getting more than what you paid for considering some of the rare cards that are in this set. What are your favorite cards from the box, and what do you want to see in the future? Let us know in the comments!

BlizzCon 2016: ‘Hearthstone’ Is Getting A New Expansion & Card Types!

by Courtney DossettNovember 4, 2016

Three months after the release of Nights of Karazhan, Blizzard announced the newest expansion for Hearthstone today at BlizzCon 2016. The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, has a fun, 1930’s gangster feel, and plenty of shady characters to help your hero mete out some damage.

Meant to give you a gritty, big city feel, Gadgetzan is run by 3 different crime factions, each supported by 3 hero classes. The Grimy Goons: arms dealers with their classic mobster pinstripes supported by the hunter, paladin, and warrior. The Kabal, fringe casters who have been corrupted with dark mana, more reminiscent of classic villainous casters, are in the potion trade, and are backed by mage, priest and warlock heroes. Last, but not least, we have the Jade Lotus faction, heavily inspired by Pandaria, filled with assassins hungry for gold and jade, with the rogue, shaman, and druid heroes filling their ranks.

The developers also revealed some exciting new card features. If you want to wait until the expansion is released at the beginning of December, stop here! But do keep an eye out for teasers leading up to the release in the next couple weeks.

SPOILERS

There are two big changes in card types coming with this expansion.

The first are tri-class cards. Each faction is associated with 3 different hero classes, and with that come a tri-class card that allows you to choose a card from one of the 3 classes associated with your faction. For instance, if you are playing a mage, you would be able to choose a mage, priest, or warlock card to put into your hand. Every faction’s card has a different mana cost and minion associated with it, but seem balanced across the board.

The second exciting reveal comes with the Kabal Leader card, Kazukus, which allows you to create your own spell. First you discover the cost of the new spell, either 1, 5, or 10 mana, then choose two powers, like deal 6 damage to all minions, and summon 3 minions that died this game. This card promises to be a lot of fun and offer a lot of choices for players within the game!

Even though I haven’t spent any money on Hearthstone, preferring to acquire expansions with in-game gold, The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan has me rearranging my budget for a pre-order.

How many of you are going to pre-order? What new cards are you excited for? Let us know in the comments below!

Here’s What’s To Look Out For In The Pokemon Trading Card Game ‘Steam Siege’ Expansion

by Josh JacksonSeptember 7, 2016

Steam Siege, the latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, marks the TCG debut of Volcanion, the last Mythical Pokemon from the latest generation of games. While it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Steam Pokemon would be the face of the new set, Volcanion isn’t the only monster to take center stage this time around. With the debut of the first Sun and Moon Pokemon in card form, new Break and EX monsters to supercharge our decks, and a larger emphasis on the dual type mechanic that debuted many sets ago, here’s what to look out for when you’re tearing open those booster packs.

Serving as the star of the set, Volcanion looks to power up its fire type teammates courtesy of its Steam Up ability. By discarding a Fire Energy, all fire type attacks will do an extra 30 damage. That boosts its own Volcanic Heat attack from an already massive 130 HP of damage to 160. Its dual typing gives it the ability to do double damage to most other fire types thanks to its water typing, meaning it can make using a different fire deck against it a nightmare. Its biggest drawback is that it can’t attack during the turn after it attacks, which leaves it wide open to take more damage. Being that it’s an EX Pokemon, getting it KO’d means the opponent gets two prize cards compared to one, bringing them that much closer to victory. As a high risk, high reward monster, play Volcanion EX with caution.

Perhaps even more important than Volcanion is Magearna, the first Sun and Moon Pokemon to make its TCG debut. As a pure Steel type, Magearna EX needs a special type of Energy Card to be able to attack. Thankfully, two of the three it needs are colorless, meaning any other energy type will work. Perfect for a steel focused deck, Soul Blaster does 120 damage, with the following turn leading to a 60 HP reduction in power. While its regaining its strength, its Mystic Heart ability prevents all status ailments to any Pokemon on your team with a Steel Energy attached. Made with defense in mind, Magearna finds itself being able to constantly attack, which is a step up from Volcanion.

The EX cards are great, but the new Break Cards might outshine them, especially when it comes to the new Yveltal Break. Evolving from the standard Yveltal, the Break form deals 120 damage with three Dark Energy cards. If that wasn’t strong enough, this Baleful Night attack does 30 damage to every Pokemon on your opponents bench. Depending on which version of the base card you used for the evolution, it can also gain additional abilities that it doesn’t normally have. This goes for cards like Talonflame Break too, which can deal 150 damage with only two Fire Energy cards. Even if you have to discard the energies attached to it, it’s a great way to pull out a clutch win.

The above monsters are complimented by a host of great cards, including Gardevoir EX, Professor Sycamore, (which lets you draw 7 cards after discarding your hand), Ninja Boy, (a highlight from the recently released Theme Decks, allowing you to replace one basic Pokemon on your field with another in your deck), and Pokemon Ranger, (which removes all attack effects).

If you want more information on the newest theme decks, check out our review here! Do you have any other cards from Steam Siege that you’re particularly fond of? Let us know in the comments, and keep checking back for more Pokemon news and impressions as they become available!

Gears of Fire vs. Ring of Lightning; Which Is The Better Pokemon Trading Card Game Deck?

by Josh JacksonSeptember 5, 2016

Steam Siege, the latest Pokemon Trading Card Game expansion, has unleashed some never before seen Pokemon into the game. If you wanted to see what Volcanion, the Steam Pokemon that serves as the last Mythical Pokemon of the X and Y generation, can bring to the battlefield, we have the chance with the new Gears of Fire Theme Deck. Not to be outdone, Hoopa won’t let its spotlight be taken that easily as the previous Mythical release. Its Unbound form takes center stage with the Ring of Lightning deck to oppose the newcomer, with some impressive power of its own. When these two decks square off, which one wins out?

Gears of Fire and Ring of Lightning both have some incredible cards that would be an asset to any deck. Namely, Tierno lets you draw five cards, while Ninja Boy lets you swap out any basic Pokemon in your deck with one on your bench. Considering both Volcanion and Hoopa are Basic, moving them on your bench and building up their energy cards for potential team sweeps makes it very easy to earn a dominating win. Combined with Energy Retrieval and Professor’s Letter, you’ll rarely have trouble finding the Energy you need since both cards let you search your deck for what you need.

But when it comes to energy, that’s where Gears of Fire has an edge. Volcanion’s weaker attack, Power Heater, only needs one Fire Energy for 20 damage, but its secondary effect is what makes it shine. Every time this attack connects, it can pull two Fire Energy cards from the discard pile and add them to two Pokemon on the bench, ensuring that a powerful follow-up can come through if Volcanion retreats or gets taken down. Two more Fire Energy cards unleashes its Steam Artillery attack, doing 100 base damage. Nearly enough to take out any opposing Pokemon in one hit, you’ll be able to clean up the competition real quick.

On the other hand, Hoopa can do even more damage, but with a big drawback. Portal Strike, its strongest attack, can dish out 130 HP of damage with only three Psychic Energy cards! Essentially allowing 1 hit KO’s for nearly everything in the Gears of Fire deck. The only problem is that once using this attack, it has to wait two turns to use it again. Leaving it vulnerable against strong opposition will make Hoopa an easier target than its fire powered counterpart. Its weaker attack, Hyperspace Punch, almost makes up for this weakness, allowing you to do 20 damage to any two Pokemon on the opposing field, even if they’re on the bench. If you’re having bad luck with drawing Psychic energy cards, this attack only needs one colorless energy, meaning you can use any type to activate the attack.

Aside from the featured monsters, there are some useful cards to lead you to victory, with a few that don’t serve much purpose. Gears of Fire has the weaker roster, with Monferno and Rapidash not serving much purpose. Kingklang’s ability to deal 140 damage in one turn is massive, but needing Steel Energy cards both makes it harder to use, and clutters the deck a bit with energies that the Psychic and Fire types in the deck can’t use. Thankfully, Pyroar makes up for it by having a similar ability to Volcanion. Its first attack deals damage while allowing you to add an extra Fire Energy to it, making sure it can use its stronger move in the following turn.

Even more than Hoopa Ring of Lightning‘s real star is Ampharos. Yes, you need to get through evolving Mareep and Flaffy, and it doesn’t have any low tier attacks, requiring three Energy cards to attack, but the payoff is worth it. Though it doesn’t apply in this case, its special ability allows it to move three damage counters to an opposing EX Pokemon, while its main attack, Gigavolt, will either deal 120 damage, or 80 damage and inflict paralysis, making the damaged Pokemon immobile for the following turn. Throw in Hawlucha, who can switch the opponent’s active Pokemon with one on their bench when its added to your bench, or Ambipom and its potential to inflict 60 damage with one energy while thinning out the opponent’s deck. Ring of Lightning has a lot going for it.

But in the end, I have to give the nod to Gears of Fire. When playing both decks, I often pulled Energy that I couldn’t use with Ring of Lightning, making it so my team would get devastated after a bad KO. With the Flame deck, Volcanion’s ability makes it much harder to run out of Fire Energy cards, while the deck exclusive Pokemon Center Lady card will completely heal the powerhouse when needed. Even then, Ring of Lightning has so much going for it, that adding cards from either one will make your custom decks work much better. In fact, moving Litwick from Lightning to Fire would be a big help, since its only attack lets you discard cards. Sacrificing the haunted candle might be worth thinning your deck while getting rid of some Fire cards to set Volcanion up for some bench powering.

But what do you think? Which deck do you think works best, and what cards would you use to improve them? Make sure to take a look at our review of the Steam Siege set, and keep checking back for all your Pokemon news!

May Is Darkrai Month As #Pokemon20 Continues!

by Josh JacksonMay 8, 2016

We’re already in the middle of the fourth month of the #Pokemon20 campaign to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the monster collecting RPG. With that, comes the first Mythical Pokemon giveaway from the fourth generation of games with Darkrai!

The Nightmare Pokemon debuted in Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl as a hard to obtain character that could only be found by diving into the dreams of a child who was stuck in an endless slumber. As a parallel to the Crescent Moon Pokemon, Cresselia, the Dark Type Pokemon was actually the second Mythical Pokemon to be made available in its games, following Manaphy. The item needed to get into the room could only be downloaded via a special event, making it very rare to come across. Its rarity wasn’t the only reason it was so sought after, since its signature attack, Dark Void, would put both opponents to sleep in a double battle with 80% accuracy. The powerful Bad Dream ability combined with the Nightmare attack will continuously drain its foe’s health as long as they’re sleeping, making them easy pickings considering Darkrai has high special attack even without these strengths. If you ever needed proof as to why Mythical Pokemon are usually banned from tournaments, look no further.

This month, Darkrai can be downloaded as a Mystery Gift by obtaining a download code from participating GameStop stores while supplies last. On the trading card front, Darkrai will follow the previous Mythical releases with its own card set. Packaged with a pin and promo card featuring the Pokemon in addition to two Origin packs, both of which contain both classic reprints and new versions of some of our favorite Pokemon. Lastly, the digitally remastered version of Pokemon: The Rise of Darkrai, has been released on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play, as well as the Pokemon TV app for two weeks.

In addition to the rest of the download events this month and the release of the Fates Collide card game expansion that features the BREAK Evolution mechanic, this is the biggest month for #Pokemon20 so far! What are you doing to celebrate? Share your thoughts below!

Target Offers Golden Opportunity At A Magikarp That Does NOT Cost $500!

by Matt RodriguezMarch 9, 2016

Do you like Magikarps and the Pokémon Trading Card Game? Well you’re in luck!

Target will be celebrating Pokemon’s 20th anniversary its own way on March 19, by offering all shoppers in the toy department a free promo Shiny Magikarp TCG card and Pikachu visor! This variant of Magikarp is brand new so many people will probably by trying to get their hands on it (hint: show up early)!

There will also be a photo booth available, along with a Pokémon product sale that details a buy two get one free on all Pokémon TCG and 3DS Pokémon games.

New Charizard EX and other TCG tins will also be available for purchase.

I’m always looking for more opportunities to celebrate Pokémon, so this will be no exception! Will you all be getting your free card as well?

Source: Pokebeach and Jason Inquires (twitter), via Nintendo Inquirer

Celebi’s Time Has Come! Celebrate Pokemon 20th Anniversary In March With Celebi!

by Matt RodriguezMarch 1, 2016

As promised, The Pokémon Company is celebrating 20 years of Pokémon with a new legendary pokemon every month! This month’s “theme” is Celebi, and they have detailed all of the available events and merch! Celebi, #251, is a time travelling Pokémon that was originally introduced Pokémon Gold and Silver, and is only obtainable through special events.

Celebi is now available to Pokémon X/Y/OR/AS as a gift distribution through Mystery Gift. In order to retrieve Celebi, you need to boot up your game, go to “Mystery Gift”, and select obtain through internet. The Celebi distributed is at level 100, with the moves Confusion, Recover, Heal Bell, and Safeguard. The Nature and other stats are not set, so you may need to soft reset to get the Celebi you want (PROTIP: A recommended nature for Celebi is Bold or Impish).

Also available is The Celebi collection for the Pokémon TCG. Similar to last month’s Mew collection, this box set includes a full-art promo card and collector’s pin, as well as two booster packs from the Pokémon TCG: Generations expansion. It will be available wherever Pokémon TCG products are sold, but don’t delay! My experience is that these boxes usually sell out within the first few days, so if you really want it, you need to go out there and get it right now! Like, why are you waiting?

New Celebi figures will now be available at participating Toys ‘R Us stores as well. One will be a special 2″ Celebi figure that comes with a Great Ball, as well as an 8″ crushed-velvet Celebi plush.

Also, for a limited time, the movie Pokémon 4Ever will also make a return on Pokémon TV (available via smartphone or pokemon.com). It will also be available for purchase on the iTunes Store, Google Play, and Amazon Video. This adventure follows Ash and his team as they try to crack down on a mystery surrounding Celebi.

That’s a lot of time-travel for one month! Will you be picking up any of these promotional products? Please let us know in the comments!

Source: pokemon.com

Yu-Gi-Oh Aims For Our Nostalgia Glands With ‘Yugi’s Legendary Decks’

by Josh JacksonNovember 11, 2015

This year’s Yu-Gi-Oh Legendary Collection is targeting our inner child.

Rather than include sets of cards surrounding a particular theme like in previous years, Yugi’s Legendary Decks supplies duelists with three different 41 card decks, each of which covering a different story arc from the original Yu-Gi-Oh animated series.

Following the evolution of Yugi’s decks, from his Exodia and Dark Magician focused deck in the Duelist Kingdom arc, to his Knight and Magnet Warrior set in Battle City, and all the way to his final battle against The Pharaoh, Atem, focusing on the progressively stronger Silent Magician cards, this set is perfect for those with fond memories of the series from years past, or collectors who want to wield the power of these cards in their new forms.

The prize card of (Steve) Akana

Speaking of which, many of these reprinted cards will now come with different rarities or art styles, like every piece of Exodia being printed as an Ultra Rare, or the long sought after red Dark Magician used by Arkana. Adding to an already huge set of 123 cards are extra cards throughout Yugi’s history, such as the three God Cards and the Duelist Kingdom prize cards. Sadly, Glory Of The King’s Hand can’t be traded in for one million dollars, so you’re going to have to find another way to pay for your sister’s eye operation.

Not redeemable for actual money.

If legacy cards aren’t your thing, the set will also debut three new cards that offer more support, like Black Illusion, which protects Dark Spellcasters with 2000 or more attack points from being destroyed by battle or card effects. All this for an MSRP of $29.99. Heart of the cards not included.

For all the details, check out the press release below, then let us know what you think of this set in the comments section!

Just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI) delivers a must-have product for fans on November 13 with Yugi’s Legendary Decks. This latest Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) release is a magnificent collector’s set which contains three different Decks used by the “King of Games” himself, plus several unique, collectible foil cards, all in one gold foil-stamped box. With Yugi’s Legendary Decks, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans can re-live the memorable Duelist Kingdom and Battle City storylines with the Decks that Yugi used to defeat his rivals, rescue his Grandpa from Pegasus, protect the Pharaoh’s legacy, and save the entire world from the maniacal menace of Marik!

This remarkable box set is overflowing with dozens upon dozens of fan-favorite and collectible cards, easily pleasing both the veteran or budding Duelist. Filled with iconic cards such as Black Luster Solider, all five pieces of Exodia, the Forbidden One all in the Ultra Rare rarity, Valkyrion the Magna Warrior, and the special, long-awaited Arkana-style Dark Magician, each box set includes three different 41-card Decks. The first Deck is one used by Yugi in the debut season of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series, including his initial Duel with Seto Kaiba and his adventures in Duelist Kingdom. The second Deck is inspired by Yugi’s Duels in the Battle City story arc from the second and third seasons of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series. Not to be outdone, the third 41-card Deck was used by Yugi as he battled The Pharaoh in the final Duel of the original series, focused on “Gadget” monsters and the “Silent” series of “LV” monsters.

As if three 41-card Decks weren’t enough, Yugi’s Legendary Decks also includes three brand-new Secret Rare cards: Electromagnetic Turtle, Dark Renewal, and Black Illusion; three Ultra Rare collectible (non-playable) historical cards celebrating the Duelist Kingdom storyline, including Glory of the King’s Hand, Set Sail for The Kingdom, and the Duelist Kingdom itself; and three Ultra Rare collectible (non-playable) Egyptian God Cards: Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and The Winged Dragon of Ra. Plus, KONAMI has added one Ultra Rare “Yugi” Token Card to top it off. Yugi’s Legendary Decks will be available nationwide for $29.99 MSRP.

Geekscape Mobile: Mojang’s ‘Scrolls’ Is Headed to iPad!

by Derek KraneveldtApril 7, 2014

Briefly: Mojang’s lesser know, but still awesome Scrolls (which launched for PC/Mac/Linux back in May 2013), is headed to iPad.

In a Mojang blog post focussed on “what’s next for Scrolls”, the developer stated the following:

It’s been a while since the last update on Scrolls development, so here’s a handy post on that very subject. Read and learn, honourable Scrolldier.

A new ranking system

We’re working on a new system that will express ranks in a more palatable format. Check above some some visual spoilers from Henrik.

Also, Jeb (yes – the friendly Minecraft guy, who just happens to be one of the most ardent Scrolls players in the office) has been helping develop ways to reward both hyper-competitive and lower ranked scrolldiers for their dedication. The plan is to integrate some kind of weekly reward system.

A new tutorial

We’re aware that Scrolls can be intimidating for beginners. To combat this, we’re replacing our existing tutorial with two snappier ones that’ll teach basic mechanics within a few minutes play.

Audio and visual tweaks

Mattis returned from his Japanese vacation inspired and livelier than ever: “I want to juice up Scrolls, yo!” But what does this actually mean? It means that Mattis is looking into ways to make the core gameplay of Scrolls more rewarding. Powerful attacks should have more oomph, and enchantments should be more visually striking.

Similarly, Aron has been working on improving Scrolls’ sound systems. This means we can add new audio effects to units, spells and enchantments.

The demo version

The team are also working on a demo version of Scrolls. It won’t affect how existing Scrolldiers play, but will provide a slice of Scrolls gameplay for the curious. It’ll also make things a lot simpler for… you guessed it…

The tablet version

An iPad/tablet version of Scrolls is in the works! We’ve enlisted the aid of Ludosity to port Scrolls into flatter, more touchy devices. We’ll have more news on this soon.

The game is addicting, a ton of fun, and with a port coming from the developer of Card City Nights, the world of Scrolls will soon expand in a good way.

Are you already playing? Will you be checking out the tablet version? Sound out below!

‘Magic: The Gathering’ Film In The Works At 20th Century Fox!

by Derek KraneveldtJanuary 13, 2014

Briefly: Magic: The Gathering is getting a film adaption.

Yep, you read that right.

20th Century Fox has acquired the rights to the property, with which they plan to launch a “massive franchise on the scale of Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.” Simon Kinberg is set to produce, develop, and oversee the series alongside Magic: The Gathering owner Hasbro.

As a big Magic: The Gathering fan and collector (and sometimes, but not lately, player), here’s how I see things going: MtG has a cool (and huge) overarching story that will all but be ignored in the film (aside from Planeswalkers, and well, the magic part). Current MtG fans end up disliking it, but they will love the influx of new players that the insanely popular film turns onto the game.

Or maybe (hopefully) I’m wrong, and it’ll be awesome.

No other information has been revealed at this time, but we’ll be sure to share any further developments. Are you a Magic: The Gathering player? What do you think of the announcement? Sound out below!

Source: THR

Watch The Launch Trailer For Mojang’s ‘Scrolls’

by Derek KraneveldtMay 27, 2013

I’ve dabbled in Minecraft for years, and I’ve certainly heard of Scrolls, but had no idea what the incredible folks over at Mojang had in store for us until watching the game’s launch trailer.

Scrolls combines elements of board games, trading card games, and of course, video games, into a solo or online experience that I’ve been dreaming of for years, but which has never actually existed.

Just as they did with Minecraft, Scrolls will first launch as a beta on June 3rd, and anyone who has pre-purchased the game will get access to the beta, and every subsequent version until the final release. It’s a great sales strategy, and one that has obviously worked for Mojang in the past, so it’s no surprise that they’ve taken the same route with Scrolls.

Watch the launch trailer below, and get your wallet ready. You can pre-purchase the game here!