Lucky 1st place finish with Gothitelle at Surrey's Battle Roads Tournament - Part 3

Top Four vs. Trevore Read (Bearplume)
Game 1
Trevore was essentially running a Ross structure with four Beartics as the headline attacker. I knew going into the match that it was a good match up for me, just because I believed that Gothitelle had the advantage in being able to play trainers and hit over the wall.

The first game actually turned out to be quite the chore as we both failed to set up for the first 15 minutes or so. I dropped Tropical Beach early in the game and we both made ample use of it, although I think Trevore probably came out ahead, being able to play most of his cards to set up Vileplume early and Beaching for precisely one card almost every turn.

Lucky 1st place finish with Gothitelle at Surrey's Battle Roads Tournament - Part 2

Round 4 vs. Sam Park (Magneboar)
There were only five 3-0s left in the tournament, which meant that I was essentially sitting at the head table with people who might be top cutting. Sure enough, I get paired with another familiar face. Above me in the table were Christian and Trevore. Christian was a super keen Pokemon player who only started recently. He accompanied me to Tukwila and was inspired to build his own Zekrom deck. He had already played a BR just the day before in Redmond, WA and was doing very well this tournament. Trevore arrived on the mainland with a large group from Vancouver Island and, well, you’ll see what he’s playing below.

Lucky 1st place finish with Gothitelle at Surrey's Battle Roads Tournament - Part 1

After the BR at Tukwila, I took my Gothitelle deck and tweaked it slightly. The big change to the deck was the addition of a single Switch. I tried out a few other changes but most of them didn’t stick. Mostly, I swapped around the draw supports a bit and called it a day (in fact, when I was writing up the list, I was actually surprised that I was no longer running four Sage’s, but I shrugged and trusted that I must have had a good reason to do so at some point).

Saviour?

Kindle vs. Books: Which side are you on?

So, I've been asked to comment on this article by Sara Barbour. It is basically an op ed on why the author prefers books over electronic/digital representations of books. If you are unfamiliar with the Kindle, watch the video review below and prepare to become uncomfortably familiar with it:

In her article, Barbour admits that she avoids the Kindle because she is afraid that she would be tempted (to use it and, possibly, replace her collection of books). She prefers books because of intangible things, such as sentimental value and "the experience of reading." So where do I stand?

How to Play Like a Pro

New article by yours truly up on Pokegym.net: http://pokegym.net/forums/showthread.php?t=155087

Here are the key points:

The Set Up
Typically, you should be seated at your table and ready to start well before the judges declare the start of the round. However, even if you're not ready, you still get two minutes to shuffle and set up at the start of the game.

Help Build Heroblock City!

Well, if you didn't know, I am one of the creators of Escapecraft 3 and the Escapecraft Dual. The Escapecraft series was one of the forerunning adventure/escape maps in Minecraft and has gained acknowledgement and praise from Notch himself.

Shortly after releasing Escapecraft 3, merlinus12 and I began the prep work required for our next big project, Heroblock City, which was to serve as a spiritual successor to the Escapecraft series. Our aspirations were big, as we sat down to plan a map that was easily ten times larger than Escapecraft 3 (which, by itself, was already imposingly large). Here is an early tour of the city:

 

Unfortunately (well, fortunately for him), merlinus12 found a new job and had to move, leaving him super busy and without a gaming PC for several months. However, since the beginning, we had intended Heroblock City to be a community project and I have decided to proceed with this project on my own while merlinus12 is effectively AWOL. So here we go.

Let's Tour Heroblock City! Monster mob texture pack

New video is up! Check it out:

Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection: Playstation 3 Game Review

Review up on a remake of a classic on Kidzworld: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/26086-ico-and-shadow-of-the-colossus-collection-playstation-3-game-review

Originally made for the Playstation 2, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were the forerunners in the "games as art" movement. Both games featured beautiful graphics and a story that provided the player with an amazing experience. Now the games have been remade for the Playstation 3, complete with updated graphics. While one two games has aged gracefully, the other has problems that have only gotten worse over time.

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers: PC Game Review

Old game, but I just reviewed it for Kidzworld: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/26066-magic-the-gathering-duels-of-the-planeswalkers-2012-pc-game-review

Are you ready for the ultimate collectible card game? Duels of the Planeswalkers has arrived! Read Kidzworld's review for more details.

Magic the Gathering is one of the first collectible card games and people who liked collectible card games while growing up often will try Magic and enjoy the hobby. Magic is a worldwide phenomenon, with its own pro tour and even a weekly event called Friday Night Magic. However, with so many cards and complicated combinations, getting into Magic can be quite a challenge. Luckily, Duels of the Planeswalkers is here to help you get started!

Courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Canadians Invade Tukwila, Washington! 4-2 Battle Roads Report - Part 2

Lunch Break - Jasmine's BR Report
It seems that every time we doing a Pokemon tournament, we wind up eating Subway. This was no difference as we ended up sharing a footlong meatball sub (Happy Gilmore's favourite!) and sharing the details of our matches so far. Jasmine was running a troll deck that she called Bomberman. It was an all or nothing deck that was relatively stress free. After World's, Jasmine decided that she didn't want to play competitively anymore and had started helping out by judging the local tournaments. But since we were outside our area, I had built a "it's no big deal if I lose" deck for her.

Canadians Invade Tukwila, Washington! 4-2 Battle Roads Report - Part 1

Last week we had our first battle roads in Vancouver and I went a terrible 2-3 with my ZPST. For whatever reason, the deck (which set up T1 or T2 90% of the time during testing) decided that it only wanted T3 and T4 set ups, which ended with me racking up a wonderful losing streak against two Reshiphlosion decks to start the day. To make the matter worse, a Kingdra/Yanmega (no Magnezone) deck, which was an autowin for me, took first place.

Deciding that the deck had failed me for the last time, I rebuilt my fragile Gothitelle deck. I was planning to run it during the next local BR in October, but then Christian mentioned that there was going to be a couple of BR events in Washington this weekend, just three hours south. Since Christian was already planning to make the trip, my wife Jasmine and I decided to tag along for the fun.

We left the house at 6am in the morning to make the trip and arrived at Tukwila with plenty of time. We ate a quick breakfast at Jollibee's, which I was familiar with from a business trip to the Philippines last winter, and bumped into a local family of Pokemon players: Joey and his father Jonathan. Joey was a top ranked Canadian player as a Junior and still did consistently well as a Senior, having earned an invite to Worlds last season and having won BR in Vancouver last week. His father Jonathan was more of a casual player, but he's no slouch, having won at least one BR and top cutted in other premier tournaments.

Kirby Mass Attack: Nintendo DS Game Review

Got a review up on Kidzworld:http://www.kidzworld.com/article/26053-kirby-mass-attack-nintendo-ds-game-review

If you like Kirby, you'll like 10 Kirbys! Kirby returns to the DS in Kirby Mass Attack. Read Kidzworld's game review for more details.

The traditional Kirby game is a side-scrolling platformer where you can use Kirby's ability to inhale and copy enemy powers to help you get through the level. Kirby Mass Attack, however, changes up the formula by presenting a new game play mechanic — one that will have you playing with only your stylus and the touch screen!

Summer Break

Podcast: July 25th, 2011

Welp, I'm going to be taking a break from the podcast since I'll be busy and taking trips in August. See you all in September! Use this opportunity to catch up on some older episodes :)

Summer Break

Podcast:

Welp, I'm going to be taking a break from the podcast since I'll be busy and taking trips in August. See you all in September! Use this opportunity to catch up on some older episodes :)

Capcom @ Comic-con

Podcast: July 21st, 2011

Some thoughts on Capcom and the cancellations of Mega Man, Harry Potter, trilogies, and multiplayer vs. single player games.

Club Nintendo and Ultimate Marvel

Podcast: July 20th, 2011

Relatively small update today, it is a slow news day after all :p Leave some comments/questions below!

Not so slow news day Tuesday, but still rushed!

Podcast: July 19th, 2011

Another short one today, but not because there was a lack of news, but because of my incredible speaking wpm.

Rusty Hearts Beta Codes (win paid trip to PAX!): http://destructoid.com/elephant/redeem_code.phtml
TF2 Retro Arcade game: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/07/team-fortress-2-looks-great-as-a-retro-arcade-game/

Comic-con Week!

Podcast: July 18th, 2011

Some stuff to look out for during this year's Comic Con in San Diego. Also, news from EA and Minecraft!

MrUnproductiveMuffin

Podcast: July 14th, 2011

No show tomorrow! But in this podcast, I talk about Thursdays, EA in Japan, Katamari Damacy, Zynga, Angry Birds and Popcap Games. Probably some more stuff too (Glitch, DSGL, Magic Cube draft and Zelda)

B.O. etiquette and logical Superman

Podcast: July 13th, 2011

Not much news today, so I talked about Superman! Also, PAX, netflix, and EA Flexion