The blog has moved (Again)

In case anyone missed it. This blog has moved to oddmodlin.wordpress.com 

If you're not automatically redirected, please check it out there.

Thanks,
-Odd

Geeks Games and Greatness - S02E01 - We back, Bitches!

Season 2.

Hey, did you hear, those two geeks who used to do that podcast the we liked listening to have finally got their asses into gear and done another one.

Well, there are actually a few casts that they never finished editing and uploading from the last season, but those will have to become sought after rare recordings.

But still, it's been three bloody years. Finally, my life can have meaning again. The Geeks Games and Greatness podcast, with Odd and Ian, is back, hopefully with a vengeance.

Check out @gggcast on the twitter, we're all about feedback, cos we've mixed things up a bit and need to know if we're still getting it right.

Hiatus over.

This podcast may contain traces or large quantities of adult language, viewpoints, greatness and the game.

Enjoy!

Intro music provided (found and used, it's not like we know the guy/gal) by :
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Fatal_Injection/Vol_III_Instrumentals/
(ps, it's track 5)

3 changes I would like to see in Pokemon Go

Like most of the rest of the world, I have been playing Pokemon Go. With work and home life, I haven't had much time to properly grind out the 'mons and I am nowhere near a Pokemon Master. I still have a lot content left to do… that being said, I find myself wishing there was more "game" in the game. So here are 3 changes I would like to see Niantic make to Pokemon Go:

Implement the Game Freak combat system

The major strength of the Pokemon franchise is, in my opinion, the combat system developed by Game Freak for the GameBoy games. It is superficially simple, but has a ton of strategic depth and would certainly keep me interested in the game far past the point where the click mashing / ball flicking mechanics become tiresome.

Encourage social gaming

Pokemon Go has become a massive social phenomenon. You can see people wandering around all over the place, or camped out around pokestops, chatting and having fun. Niantic should capitalise on this by adding in some social features to the game. The ability to trade pokemon seems like a no-brainer and being able to challenge other trainers (even if it's just at stops or gyms) would be a lot of fun if they implement the Game Freak combat system first.

Make me care about my pokemon

One issue I have with Pokemon Go is that all the pokemon you catch (even your starter) are completely disposable. You are almost guaranteed to catch a higher level pokemon as soon as you level up, so spending any resources (or emotional investment) in any specific one feels terrible when it becomes obsolete. Adding some Tamagotchi type mini-game would provide more emotional attachment and could provide a "training" mode to improve or replace a Pokemon's move, increase hit-points or attack power.

Pokemon Go has got off to an incredible start. I don't think anyone involved in it's development anticipated the overwhelming attention it's release got, but it's important that they don't rest of their laurels. If they just sit back and leave the game as it is, I don't think it will be long before players get bored of the bare-bones game play and move onto one of the new Augmented Reality games that are sure to pop-up in the wake of Pokemon Go. 

-Odd
"Oh, I know what I'll do! I'll use my trusty frying pan as a drying pan!" - Brock

MTG FNM Report - URdrazi

It's a new Standard environment and luckily the URdrazi deck I've been playing recently didn't lose a lot to rotation. Here's what I played:

Mainboard	Sideboard
4x Kozilek's Sentinel 4x Dimentional Infiltrator 4x Herald of Kozilek 4x Vile Aggregate 4x Eldrazi Skyspawner 4x Eldrazi Obligator 2x Thought-Knot Seer 4x Reality Smasher 4x Spatial Contortion 2x Brutal Expulsion 1x Mirrorpool 2x Ruins of Oran-Rief 2x Sea Gate Wreckage 4x Corrupted Crossroads 4x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 5x Island 5x Mountain	3x Spell Shrivel 1x Void Shatter 2x Dispel 2x Negate 2x Roast 3x Seismic Rupture 2x Brutal Expulsion

I've been quite enjoying playing this deck, and even with the loss of Ghost-Fire Blade, I think it's got a lot of angles. It can play aggressive, with two ways to play a turn four Reality Smasher in Eldrazi Skyspawner and Herald of Kozilek, and can close out the game with a well-timed Eldtazi Obligator. It can also play the defensive roll as Kozilek's Sentinel and Herald of Kozilek block very effectively while Dimentional Infiltrator and Eldrazi Skyspawner can fly in for damage.

Round 1: 2-0 vs Counter Burn

I was excited to see this deck in the tournament. It looks like the idea was to flash in a Rattlechains while pushing tempo in the early game and use Pyromancer's Goggles with cards like magmatic insight to grind out value in the mid to late game. Unfortunately my opponent mulliganed to 5 in the first game and I swarmed over him. In the second game, I managed to get a Eldrazi Skyspwaner down early and it went the distance while my opponent was forced to deal with everything else.

Round 2: 2-0 vs RG Eldrazi Ramp

This is another deck that didn't lose a lot of cards to rotation. Thankfully I was able to keep up the pressure and close out the game before my opponent could start playing his big spells. Brutal Expulsion was absolutely fantastic in this match-up, remanding an Explosive Vegetation and exiling a Hangerback Walker was…. Brutal.

Round 3: 2-1 vs UG Eldrazi Agro

This was basically the mon-blue Eldrazi list splashing green for Sylvan Advocate and Lumbering Falls. I won the die roll, and while I think that made a huge the difference, I do think the UR version has advantage in the matchup. Vile Aggregate blocks Thought-Knot Seer and Sylvan Advocate fantastically, the Herald of Kozilek gives me an extra way to ramp out a Reality Smasher and Eldrazi Obligator can setup a massive alpha strike.

So I went 3-0 on a quiet night at FNM. I had a lot of fun and feel that the URdrazi deck is a solid choice in the early meta. 

-Odd

As easy to stop as it is to comprehend. - Flavour text, Reality Smasher