The Reserve Pool: November 2014

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Integrating UXM Characters To An Existing AvX Constructed Team, Part 2

Yes, I've used this picture before. But it illustrates my point nicely.

After a week of anticipation, here’s the follow-up to last week’s post. Interestingly enough, Nick over at Dice Anon has also thrown his hat into the ring of writing about incorporating Proxessor X, Trianer or Recruiting Young Mutants into a Hulk, Green Goliath and Nick Fury, Patch team (which some people refer to as the “Patch Avengers”). It’s interesting what he values as important and what I value, and how we come to our final rosters. I really like his Imprisoned idea, especially using Black Widow Killer, Instinct instead of Tsarina. But call me old-fashioned. I’m keeping my former team’s concept (Hulk Smash!) and just trying to streamline it, make it more effective with new cards, and maybe prepare for a few new threats.

Enjoy Your Thanksgiving!

Due to this week's holiday in the US, we are going to take time with our respective families and take the week off from the podcast. If I get ambitious, I may put up a mini-episode over the weekend but we shall see!

The next full episode deals with Archvillains!

We've had a few requests for a good Dice Masters tutorial and while I think that Rodney Smith is the best, we're willing to give it a shot now that we're giving video the old college try.

We're thankful for YOU, readers and listeners. Thanks for the time, attention, and support.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Integrating UXM Characters To An Existing AvX Constructed Team

So, an article I planned on writing eventually just got bumped up due to reader request. (Just so you know, if there are any specific combos or strategy you would like me to look at in-depth, leave a comment below. While I’m no dice master myself, I will do what I can to look at practical ways to put ideas in to practice.) I am a man of the people, and give the people what they want. So, this week, I will take my AvX constructed team, and integrate new UXM characters and actions into it, to make it as competitive as possible.

Podcast 27: Villians, Then & Now

In this episode, Dave and Evan announce the contest winners for the recent drawing. Who will win? Find out! Then, we look at the progression of villains from Avengers vs. X-Men through Uncanny X-Men. What themes are prevalent? What's changed? Give it a listen.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

I like the new tourney rules.

if you didn't know, WizKids announced that instead of tournaments matches being a best-of-three, they will be a single game.

I'm not saying that everyone will or should love it but I think its good. Why? A couple of reasons come immediately to mind.

One game in 30 minutes versus three in fifteen is a big plus. I see the drawbacks - perhaps the dice just don't go your way in a single game. Still, a problem with tournament formats with any of these types of games is that the shortened timeframe forces players to play the game differently. It makes certain strategies clearly better than others, because they can fit into the timeframe. That complaint should be just about gone with Dice Masters.

It also prevents the metagaming of someone dragging something out to time. While this is something that is technically not against the rules, it's poor sportsmanship. Plenty of people do it and get away with it, but no more will that be possible.

What do you think?

Monday, November 17, 2014

Mistakes! - AvX Month 5 Event Review

Well, months 1-4 were all constructed format. Which is great… but we got a little bored all playing the same teams every time with very little change. But there was never enough stock of AvX boosters to allow for a draft format. So, for the Month 5 OP, our event organizer got a little creative. We would have a draft, but not from unopened booster packs. To level the playing field, we would only use commons. Each person brought a full set of AvX commons (without starters). Each player shuffled their commons and drew 10 cards. Then each player made sure to sleeve their cards in sleeves unique to the group. (I used my awesome Scarecrow sleeves I had leftover from my MTG Scarecrow deck). Suddenly, each player had 10 common cards to draft with. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Before I review the event itself, let me talk about how I planned and strategized for a draft, not knowing what characters I would have.

Podcast 26: Action!

In this episode, we have a little back-and-forth about the starter sets and our very first impressions of them. Then, we have a deeper discussion around the basic actions this time around - what we like, what we don't, and if we think they're overall more usable in this set.

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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Video: UXM Booster Tower

Monday, November 10, 2014

More Rampant Speculation: Team Affiliations

While we are all playing with our new Uncanny X-Men characters, fine tuning our strategies before we post about them, enjoy some more rampant speculation. Piggybacking off of the latest podcast, (despite this was written prior to me listening to the latest podcast) this week I’d like to explore the possibilities of a few new team affiliations. I know that we are 2 sets in, and have only had 3 major affiliations, while the Fantastic Four has a measly 3 members. I think there are a few ideas, based on current Marvel storylines, t.v. shows, and movies that this game could take advantage of.

Starter Set Overview!

Podcast 25: Rampant Speculation!

In this episode, recorded before the pre-orders shipped for Uncanny X-Men, we speculate about the characters and factions that are a possibility in Age of Ultron. More spoilers are out there, and they indicate that we could see some cool new stuff. Plus, we look at some news - one item still relevant and the other about how we should lay off of board game companies because customs issues impact EVERYONE, not just WizKids.

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