Magic: The Gathering Gatecrash Review Part 3: Boros and Gruul

And here it is folks! Part 3 of 3 of my Gatecrash review! Here I talk about Boros and Gruul. Lets get started!

BOROS

The Boros Legion is the military guild on Ravinca. Representing red and white mana, there are two ways to play a Boros deck: either straight tokens or using the mechanic Battalion. The way battalion works is when a creature with battalion attacks with 2 other creatures, their battalion effect will trigger. The effect differs from card to card. One creature may get flying, another might bulk up other creatures or itself and one might deal 3 damage to target opponent or creature. The biggest Boros creature would be their guildleader, Aurelia, seen here:

The fact that she has flying, vigilance and haste is one thing, but her ability is amazing. She gives you 2 combat phases and untaps all your creatures that were previously tapped from the first one. Being that Boros is a fast deck, you can get out a lot of creatures before you get Aurelia out. Then once you have her and a bunch of creatures out, start giving yourself 2 combat phases. Your opponent will not stand a chance. If your a big fan of red spells as well, another Boros card is Aurelia's Fury:

Essentially, you can deal X damage to anything you want and prevent anyone from casting creature spells that turn. Being that it's an instant, you can cast it the the beginning of your opponents' turn and destroy them. If you like fast decks with damage causing potential, Boros is for you.

GRUUL

The Gruul Clans are clans of barbarians that live in the sections of Ravnica that have been destroyed.  Representing green and red, the Gruul use the mechanic Bloodrush. Bloodrush works by paying a small mana cost and discarding a creature with bloodrush in your hand. That creature's bloodrush ability will bulk up another creature somehow. Gruul plays off the creature part of red and green, meaning Gruul decks have a lot of creatures. Bloodrush can be used with one of the 2 Gruul deck types: big creatures and the faster smaller creature deck. The Gruul planeswalker, Domri Rade, who I covered in my last review, works with either strategy. However, the guildleader Borborygmos works better in the big creature deck:

The most expensive mana cost wise of the Gatecrash Leaders, Borborygmos allows you to find land in your deck so you have enough mana to use bloodrush. Gruuls decks tend to be large anyway, so having Borborygmos won't hurt. However, don't count on playing him every game because he is very costly. Another great Gruul card is Rubblehulk:

While it does have a high mana cost, Rubblehulk works in either type of Gruul deck. Bloodrush it to bulk up a creature a lot or play it and have a pretty large creature that keeps getting stronger. He can be a great win condition if you can give him trample using bloodrush or an enchantment. If you like the creatures of red and green, and maybe just looking for some damage to deal, Gruul is right for you.

And there ends my Gatecrash reviews! I'll be reviewing a couple cards from Dragon's Maze when that comes out. Any other cards, deck types or anything magic related you want to to review, just let me know! Until next time, keep walking those planes and conquer Ravinca!

Iron Man 3 Preview

 

Iron Man 3 is coming out in May, and so far there is a lot of buzz surrounding it. Ben Kingsley is playing The Mandarin, one of Tony Stark's biggest rivals in the comic books. If done correctly, I believe that Kingsley could be one of the top Marvel villains in the movie-verse. From what the trailers show, Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr, is in for the fight of his life. Don Cheadle returns as Rhodey, this time in the Iron Patriot suit. There looks like there are a couple of different suits in the movie. During the Avengers, Stark was on suit Mark VII, so I can assume this suit is going to be Mark VIII and the different forms. I'm hoping for at least the appearance of the Hulk-Buster suit, but I doubt that's going to happen. Maybe in Avengers 2. We'll see. Iron Man 3 looks appealing and I have high hopes. I'll do a review in May when the movie comes out. Stay tuned for more Marvel movie news!

 

Magic: The Gathering Gatecrash Review Part 2: Planeswalkers and Dimir

Hello fellow planeswalkers! Here is the continuation of my review of the Gatecrash set! Check out part on here.

DOMRI RADE

Domri Rade is the newest planeswalker introduced. Like Varasksa the Unseen was with Golgari in RtR, Domri Rade is the Gruul planeswalker. While he is a low drop card suited for faster Gruul decks, Domri can really pack a punch when needed. His +1 ability allows you to add a creature card into your hand if it is on the top of your library.  This represents the green tendanacy for having a lot of creatures, big and small.
Domri's -2 ability is the equipment of "Pit Fight". This ability works if you have a big creature to use to pick off your opponent's smaller creatures.  The -7 ability is a total game changer. It reads, "-7: You get an emblem with "Creatures you control have double strike, trample, hexproof, and haste." The emblem allows you to totally dominate the game. If you can protect Domri long enough to use this ability, your creatures will be your win-condition. The emblem works really well with a Gruul deck with a lot creatures. Domri Rade is currently worth $24.99 according to StarCity Games. If you are making a Gruul deck or play red/green, I recommend getting Domri Rade. 

GIDEON, CHAMPION OF JUSTICE

Gideon is the reprinted planeswalker for Gatecrash. Based on the lore, Gideon is more associated with the Boros guild.  Unlike the Jace reprint in Return to Ravinca, Champion of Justice is more or less the same Gideon we know and love. His +1 ability should basically be +X, as you can put a loyal counter on him for each creature a target opponent controls. This basically only helps speed up the progress toward Gideon's -15 exile all other permanents. I assume this means lands and your creatures too, so this is a pretty pointless ability. As always, Gideon has his "0: Until end of turn, Gideon, Champion of Justice becomes an indestructible Human Soldier creature with power and toughness each equal to the number of loyalty counters on him. He's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn" ability. This only really works after you pop his -15 as he would be the only permanents on the field. He's currently only $11.99 on StarCity, and I expect him to stay there. If your a fan of the original Gideon, you could get Champion of Justice, otherwise I'd stay away from him unless you have a use for him.

DIMIR

The House Dimir is a secret underground society of assassins and spys that try to run Ravinca from the shadows. Representing the blue and black mana, the Dimir mechanic Cipher can be very useful. If a spell has cipher, you can attach it to a creature. Whenever a creature deals combat damage, that spell can be cast again for free. This works well as Dimir does have unblockable creatures. The guild leader is Lazav:

Lavav's ability allows him to become a copy of a creature and get their abilities. This works fantastically if you copy the right creatures. Cipher a spell onto him, and Lazav can be unstoppable. A big reason people like Dimir because it is an excellent way to mill people. Some spells cause players to mill untill they hit a certain number of lands, like Mind Grind: 

Other spells have a similar function to Mind Grind and have Cipher. Attach milling spells to Dimir's unblockable rouges, and you have a solid win condition right there.

Keep your eyes here for the finale of the Gatecrash reviews, with Boros and Gruul!

Top 20 Things Not To Do On Facebook

After being on Facebook since 2007, I have seen the social network giant grow and change.  With that change came along more people. And as we all know, more people means more chances for them to do things that annoy the daylights out of me. So with the help of the other editors here at the Lantern, I composed this list of things not to do on Facebook.

1. Taking excessive pictures with your animals: Yes you have a pet. Yes it is adorable. But we don’t need to see a new picture of it every day.

2. Posting statuses about the weather: I’m pretty sure everyone has a window, but thanks for the weather update Al Roker.

3. Posting those e-card pictures: It was funny the first time. Now it’s getting annoying and somehow more rude.

4. Changing your profile picture more than twice in day: Why you do this is beyond me. You looked fine the first time you changed it.

5. Inviting your entire friends list to an event:  I can’t even get to your event in New York because I don’t live there. Plus even if I did, I wouldn’t go anyway. Nothing personal.

6. Posting passive-aggressive statuses about someone: Thank you for airing your dirty laundry on the internet. My day has been made better by knowing you hate something someone does.

7. Posting “new year, new me” statuses: Congratulations, you have goals. Come back to me in a month about how much you actually achieved.

8. Over-promoting whatever you’re involved in: Yes I can see you’re in a club/band/social group. You don’t need to post about it every minute of every day.

9. Making statuses about your significant other: Oh, it’s your 2 week anniversary AND you’re totally in love with them? It hasn’t even been a month yet, calm down.

10. Posting Instagram photos: If I wanted to see a photo of your meal with a crappy filter applied, I’d follow you on Instagram.

11. Hash-Tags: This isn’t Twitter. Get your social networks right.

12. Over-liking one person’s statuses: Thank you for letting me know your stalking me. I’ll get a restraining order ready.

13. Posting your outfit of the day: Oh look you’re wearing your new boots! My day is complete now that I know your boots totally go with your yoga pants.

14. Posting those “like this if you have a soul, ignore it and you’re evil” photos: Thank you for letting me know I’m going to hell for not liking a picture of a puppy.

15. Re-adding me if we went to high school together: There’s a reason I haven’t added you as friend. I’ll let you figure out why.

16. Making your relationship status “it’s complicated”: How is it complicated? I’d work on fixing it instead telling the world you have a problem.

17. Getting into stupid arguments and losing: Now the whole world knows you lost a stupid argument. Look for the screen-shot on Reddit later.

18. Making your middle name your last name on your profile: There’s a chance I don’t know who you are and now I never will.

19. Making a big deal about your break-up: I’m sorry you broke-up with Johnny, but please stop posting about it. Nobody cares 5 months later.

20. Bragging about whatever: While it might be impressive, no one needs to know you benched 200 pounds today.

A little humor to start the day

The 10 guilds of Ravnica and Gatecrash explained by cows. Funny stuff.

 

When I get bored on Rock Band 2

 

Quicktake: Blink-182 tour without Travis Barker

Starting last week, Blink 182 began a tour of Australia. However, they were missing a key thing. Drummer Travis Barker declined to join the band, bassit/singer Mark Hoppus and guitarist/vocalist Tom Delonge, on the tour. Barker was in a 2008 plane crash that killed 4 of the 6 passengers (DJ AM, the other survivor died in 2009). The crash caused him to have a fear of flying. Barker previously stated that he would try to get over his fear of flying for his kids and so he could join Hoppus and Delonge in Australia. However, he decided that the flight would be too much for him, and he gave the band blessing to do the shows without him. Brooks Wackerman, drummer of Bad Religion, is replacing Barker on the tour. While some fans are giving Barker a hard time for not going, others understand what he is going through and don't blame him. In the somewhat distant future, Barker could get over his fear and join Blink in Australia for another tour. Until that time, the fans down under will enjoy a killer show from Hoppus and Delonge.

Magic: The Gathering Gatecrash Review Part 1: Simic and Orzhov

On February 1, Wizards of The Coast's most popular card game, Magic: The Gathering, release the second set in their Return to Ravinca Block. Titled Gatecrash, this set focused on the last 5 guilds in the city plane of Ravinca: Gruul, Dimir, Simic, Orzhov and Boros. In the first of 3 reviews will focus on Simic and Orzhov, two of my favorite guilds this block.

SIMIC

The Simic Combine are a group of biological scientists looking to evolve the creatures and people of Ravinca. Using the colors Blue and Green, the Simic mechanic Evolve can be deadly to opponents if used correctly. The mechanic works like this: when a creature comes into play with a higher power or toughness than a creature with evolve, the creature with the lower power/toughness gets a +1/+1 counter. Of course there are ways to move counters around to keep the evolution going too. This is the guild I personally play. My favorite combo is Elusive Krasis with Forced Adaptation. While not specifically a Simic card, the green mana Forced Adaptation enchantments works wonders with the guild. It gives a creature a +1/+1 counter at the beginning of the creature's controller's upkeep. Paired with Elusive Krasis, normally a 0/4 unblockable with evolve, it can mean a nightmare for opponents. I won a game using that combo alone. With the spells and enchantments of blue and massive creatures of green, Simic works wonders.

ORZHOV

The Orzhov Syndicate are the group of bankers and priests on Ravinca, look to extort the citizens of their money. Using the colors Black and White, the Orzhov mechanic Extort is one of the best ways to drive your opponents crazy.  The way Extort works is if you have a creature or enchantment, you can pay 1 black or white mana to cause your opponents to lose one life and you gain that much life. Paired with lifelink from other sets, an Orzhov deck can be an easy win if you have defenders to protect yourself.  The biggest win condition is the Orzhov guild leader, Obzedat, seen here:

As you can see, Obzedat is pretty much unstoppable if you can protect him. The constant life loss means a loss for all those you play against.  If you figure out the many different ways to extort life from your opponents, the black/white guild of Orzhov means you''l never go low on health again.

Check back later for part 2 featuring Dimir and the planeswalkers of Gatecrash!

Welcome!

Hello everybody and welcome to The Talk Box! We (really me but the voices insist on being mentioned) are a podcast for the nerds! Things we discuss include:

• Video Games
• Card Games
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• Comic Books
• Television 
• Movies
• Music
• And Food!

Anyway, I'll (we'll) be posting podcast updates, reviews and musings starting today! Enjoy!
Later Nerds!