Lord of The Tachyon Galaxy: Who the heck is he?

Alright Gentlemen

I've removed the Mum's Day Post: Recap: My Google Account was hacked, including the associated blogger account. They were obviously doing this to annoy me, but failed more epically then me sending my Hazy Flames to swimming lessons. TIP: If you are trying to destroy the blog: it's far more effective to have some Cialis ads that you copypasta from your inbox. I have tried for several days to track the providence of it, and have pulled it until I can find the authour.

Back to what we are all here for: Card House! The pre-release for Lord of The Tachyon Galaxy has come and gone.

Troy's rejoicing that The Harpies are back! We also saw a few new archtypes come out: Dragon Rulers, Mecha Phantom Beasts and Battling Boxers!

My thoughts on the Archetypes:

Dragon-Rulers are glass cannons: "Mind Drain" can stop the card effects that SS the lvl 7 Dragons from the hand. "Soul Drain" can do the same for all effects that SS them from the Graveyard. Their lower-level dragons are weaker then most equivalent leveled monsters in the game, so all the offensive will require the Level 7 Dragons. This means that if you prevent them from Special Summoning using a monster effect (Archlord Kristya, Evilswarm Ophion, Crimson Blader," and "Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo" for example) you can slow them down, and mop-up the lower level dragons before they can be Tributed for their bigger cousins. You can also slow them down using "Imperial Iron Wall" and "Masoleum of the Emperor" or "Summon Limit": Don't forget "Dragon Capture Jar" that can make things nasty.

"Battlin' Boxers" are nasty in the Battle Phase. Most of their effects deal with preventing their destruction by battle which is nasty. "Battlin' Boxer Glassjaw" + "Battlin' Boxer Headgeared" combo allows you to get your "Battlin' Boxer" monsters from your deck to your Graveyard, then from there to your hand. You then give your opponent a challenging sparring partner.

Overall, the biggest weakness of this archetype is the same as The Mecha-Phantom Beasts: The non-Xyz monsters are weak in comparison to Xyz Monsters of this archetype. Without these, you are dead in the water. "Battlin' Boxer Switchitter" can help you do this by bring back other "Battlin' Boxers" at the cost of only being able to only Summon "Battlin' Boxers" that turn, and "Battlin' Boxer Sparrer" can help you xyz summon at the cost of the turn's Battle Phase. I'd also Chuck in "Solidarity" to help your non-xyz's stand a chance, until you Xyz.

In general, this Deck has a good amount of strength and flexibility to allow it to counter most strategies. Keeping the Graveyard and hand full of "Battlin' Boxer" monsters gives advantage to Summon "Battlin' Boxer Lead Yoke" which is itself a helpful shield and a great offense. Combine with "Magnum Shield" for great effect. "Star Cestus" and its chaos form, "Number C105: Battlin' Boxer Comet Cestus" are both helpful for this Deck as "Star Cestus" provides an offensive defense in the beginning and "Comet Cestus" provides very aggressive offense which can damage your opponent greatly over a short period of time.

Plasma Counterattack

 This morning on Facebook, Pokemon announced the imminent arrival of the latest booster set to be released in the Pokemon Trading Card Game - Plasma Blast. This marks the arrival of another 101+ cards, and for the first time since they were introduced cards designed to counter the onslaught of Team Plasma. The Plasma Storm set introduced Team Plasma into the TCG, followed by Plasma Freeze which greatly improved their arsenal. Plasma Blast further empowers Team Plasma, but also sees the Unova region's champion Iris and member of the Elite 4 Caitlin stand up to their nefarious schemes.

From the official Pokemon website:
"Challenges ring out, Pokémon duel, and the battle for Unova enters the next chapter in the Pokémon TCG: Black & White—Plasma Blast expansion! With Virizion-EX by your side, you must lead the counterattack against the failing forces of Team Plasma as they mount their last stand behind the twinned might of Team Plasma Dialga-EX and Palkia-EX! Victory is within your grasp, when suddenly you face your greatest test...the mighty and mysterious Genesect-EX takes the battlefield, supported by devastating ACE SPEC cards that give it additional attacks! Trainers, it’s time to break the ice!

Pokémon TCG: Black & White—Plasma Blast is the latest expansion to the Pokémon Trading Card Game franchise and will be available in stores on August 14, 2013, bringing over 100 new cards to collect and play."

With that out of the way, let's have a look at some of the new cards that will feature in the upcoming expansion.

Starting with the aforementioned Virizion-EX, this card completes the legendary trio from Unova to join Terrakion-EX and Cobalion-EX. While Virizion-EX lacks the hitting power of its brothers, it comes with two very useful abilities. First of all, Verdant Wind prevents any pokemon you have in play with an attached grass energy from being affected by special conditions. Due to the popularity of Hypnotoxic Laser this ability with certainly come in handy for a grass type deck or any other deck that can make use of grass energy.

Emerald Slash might only hit for a modest 50 damage, but the ability to attach more grass energy from your deck straight onto your benched pokemon is invaluable. For a mere two energy cost, it can quickly pump up your waiting bench before retreating Virizion-EX to bring a heavy hitter out to fight.

The mysterious Genesect-EX has joined the battle under the control of Team Plasma, and it brings some powerful abilities to bear on those who would oppose them. Its Red Signal will allow you to drag out an opponents pokemon when attaching a Plasma Energy to it and let you attack where your opponent may want to be gathering their strength. Megalo Cannon hits for twice as much as Virizion-EX's attack, as well as making one of your opponent's benched pokemon take 20 damage in preparation for Genesect-EX's next strike.

This isn't the end of Genesect-EX's power, as two Ace Spec trainer cards are available for it - G Booster and G Scope. G Booster will hit for a massive 200 damage at the cost of discarding two energy, and G Scope allows Genesect-EX to hit any pokemon your opponent controls for 100 damage. It's also worth noting that those attacks only need the same amount of energy as you would already need to use Megalo Cannon, so you can start boosting up your other benched pokemon while Genesect-EX brings the fight to the foe.

Genesect-EX may be intimidating, but Champion Iris is well prepared with her dragon types. Her Haxorus is set to lead the charge against Team Plasma, and while its Dragonaxe may not seem too great at first but even a single extra energy will hit for 80 damage and put a dent in any pokemon.

Haxorus's true strength lies in it's Strike of the Champion attack. Are an opponent's Team Plasma aligned pokemon causing you some grief? This is for you. If the defending pokemon is a Team Plasma pokemon, Strike of the Champion will allow Haxorus to knock it out directly. From the smallest Durant up to the fearsome Lugia-EX or the previously mentioned Genesect-EX, rest assured that Haxorus can deal with your foe.

Alongside the Ace Spec cards G Booster and G Scope, there is now the option to include a single Master Ball in your deck. I couldn't find an English translated image, but then again I didn't look too hard either. According to Bulbapedia, Master Ball will let you search your deck for any pokemon and add it to your hand. While this may not seem too great at first, consider this:

• Poke Ball will fetch any pokemon, but you must flip a heads.
• Great Ball will fetch any pokemon from the top seven cards of your deck.
• Ultra Ball will fetch any pokemon, at the cost of discarding two cards.
• Heavy Ball will fetch any pokemon, but it must have a retreat cost of three or more.
• Level Ball will fetch any pokemon, but it must have 90HP or less.

Having said that, Master Ball will give you any pokemon in your deck for free. If I can get one, I would most likely swap out the Gold Potion in my Plasma Steel deck to include one.

The last card I'll talk about for now is Jirachi-EX, since Jirachi is one of my favourite pokemon. Now Jirachi-EX isn't a particularly good Pokemon-EX, given that it has only 90HP and its attack will put both itself and the defending pokemon to sleep. What makes it useful is its ability.

When played from your hand onto your bench, Jirachi-EX allows you to take a supporter card from your deck and add it to your hand. At first glance this means you would only be able to do it once, but if you combine it with Super Scoop Up or another Ace Spec card from Plasma Blast known as Scoop Up Cyclone (same effect but no coin flip, much like Master Ball) and you can search multiple supporter cards. With a little luck, Jirachi-EX can increase your search power by quite a bit.



What card am I looking forward to the most? I'd say it's the full art version of Iris. If you were to look on Serebii, you would find that my only weakness is full art trainer cards. Seriously, it's on there. Check it out if you don't believe me! While Iris's effect isn't quite as good as Caitlin's, she has a full art version. That makes it worth wanting, although I would love a full art Jirachi-EX too. Did you see that card just above here? Awesome, innit?

Before I end this session's ramblings, a quick reminder that Tuesday 25th (yes, that's the Tuesday next week) is the first Pokemon TCG tourney for the holidays and the last tournament at the Card House's current location. What better way to spend a final hurrah than by coming in to play some games of Pokemon? The next two scheduled Pokemon events will be at the new location on the 2nd and 7th of July, and I'd love to see you all there! If you don't come though, it would mean that I win by default. Come on down and try to make me work for the prize!

Signing off, Professor Troy (I might fill the new store with traps and change my title to Gym Leader)

The Heart of the Game

I'd say I learned a pretty good lesson yesterday at the Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament, and for once it had nothing to do with Lady Luck's mental unbalance. No, yesterday I learned that there is more than one way to enjoy a game, and just because someone enjoys one particular way it doesn't mean that it's the only way.

You see, yesterday marked the first outing for my Harpies in quite some time and I've been anticipating it for a while. The decks I tend to play aren't considered top tier when compared with archetypes like Dragon Rulers and Prophecy, but I like to think I can play decently well even if I don't expect to win all the time. For me, that is how I enjoy the game. That doesn't mean that someone who plays a top tier deck doesn't enjoy the game any less than I do, just that they do so in their own way.

However the icing on the cake for me at yesterday's tournament was that I got to play against several decks that I normally wouldn't play against. Given that there are thousands of cards in the game, variety in what I play against definitely makes the game even more fun. It means that each opponent plays differently, and that I have to think about my moves even more to suit each situation, which in turn helps to make me a better player.

Because I'm terrible with names, I'm just gonna list off the deck types I played against and say that I enjoyed playing against my opponents regardless of the result because each of them were truly great to play against. The first game of the day was against Elemental HEROes, an archetype I'm all too familiar with as I have a friend in England that plays against me on Dueling Network and the E-HEROes are his favourites. That may have been detrimental to me as I kept fretting about hearing the words "Super Polymerization" - words that have been the bane of anything I can play from Harpie Lady 1 all the way up to Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Even though I lost, I always enjoy playing against this opponent for his sterling attitude towards the game.

Game 2 saw my Harpies tackling the inedible Gadgets, which I found to be quite an interesting challenge to face. Another loss, but once again another very great opponent to play against. Then, for the first time I can remember I had a bye! De fault! De fault! Game 4 had the lovely ladies stand up to the ancient might of Exodia, and I had to really think about my moves to try and get around the various stalling tactics of the deck. In the end it didn't pay off, Exodia was whole again and I got OBLITERATE-d. Given that this was the first time I can remember facing off against Exodia, it was an interesting game with another great opponent.

The final game carried the threat of fried chicken, with my Harpies taking on the brightly burning Hazy Flames. This opponent was also one I've played against before, and I enjoy each game against him. This round went to me, though I have a feeling next time won't be the same. All in all it was probably one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments I've attended and I'm glad I got to go this time. By the same token this could be called the spirit of the Card House, and while I haven't played in too many other places the Card House crowd by far demonstrates this attitude the best.

So thanks to everyone who attends these events as well as those who just come in to play from time to time, for making the best of a bad situation The Card House such a great place to go. I hope to have many more games against you all, and also that I start to remember names instead of sounding like an idiot on the blog.

There is one other thing to mention, and that's the upcoming school holidays. Being that I'm not in school I don't remember the exact dates, but given that there are a few upcoming Pokemon tournaments I'm gonna mention it here and say that I hope to see some good attendance for them! While the Plasma Steel deck serves me well, I may opt to play Dragons or even a whole new deck if I can get the cards I need (a psychic deck has my interest, as well as starting up a Team Plasma deck). It would be great to play against more people, and there's also the possibility of more regular tournaments on Sundays if attendance is up. So come on, get out your poke balls and have a go!

Signing off, Professor Troy (I can see you, and you shouldn't be riding your bike there).

Galaxy Expedition

So I noticed that The Chad never got around to writing a post about the Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy pre release event and the Pokemon TCG tournament back on the 11th. I didn't write anything since he said he was gonna, but I might as well now.

First off, Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy was a blast to attend. Referred to as "the great equaliser" for a good reason, I'm sure that while we tend to see the same cards over and over throughout the event it's a test of just how bipolar Lady Luck can be character to be able to use the cards we're dealt in more ways than one. The card of the day was Magnum Shield, which allowed a Warrior-type monster to add its defence points to its attack points if it was in attack mode and vice versa if it was in defence. Alongside the equip spell strode the Battlin' Boxers, and anyone who could combine Magnum Shield with Battlin' Boxer Lead Yoke could essentially claim the duel. It was quite similar to the combination of Heroic Challenger - Warhammer and the Heroic Chance spell way back when Return of the Duelist had its pre release.

From where I was sitting, it seemed like Mecha Phantom Beasts and Dragon Rulers were the most wanted of the day. Remember how a few months back at Card House tourneys when the top eight would call out a steady stream of "Wind-Ups, Wind-Ups, Wind-Ups..."? I have the feeling that one of those two will be taking that place. I'd say it depends on how many people want to/can afford to shell out for multiple copies of Dracossack.

I personally was looking for the new Harpie cards along with Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon, but given that Lady Luck might one day be cooking you your favourite meal with the promise of much more interesting night activities later and the next day trying to remove all hair on your body with a lawn mower, I can say that I only managed to snag one copy of Hysteric Sign (thanks again Chad). Fortunately I got to keep all of my hair as well, but I suppose I did get Pyrorex at the Cosmo Blazer pre release. Maybe it's a "one good, one bad" kind of deal. Look out Judgment of the Light, I'm gonna get ALL the best cards!

Anywho, onto Pokemon TCG. Not a bad turnout for that tournament, with about 15 players having a go including Chad and Fallon (did I spell that right?) who bought a new starter deck each to have a go. I know I had a great time with it, and I'm pretty sure that most others who attended did as well. I managed 5th place, one better than during the pre release, while picking up a few tips along the way.

First of all, I've realised that while I could be considered pretty knowledgeable about Pokemon TCG there are a great many cards that I don't really know about. Now I'm still reasonably proud that I didn't messily devour anybody over the course of the day in my pursuit of Harpies, but I think it's safe to say that we all have that one card which, when played by an opponent, triggers an almost overwhelming reaction to pick up the gaming surface and use it as an improvised club. To put it into perspective, for those of you who play Magic, try to imagine your opponent fielding a copy of Typhoid Rats that has first strike. For even more lulz, imagine that it's the same card I just described, but it would fall under the category of Modern. When you build a deck with what would be the current meta in mind and what's in rotation, it's enough to make you want to devour your opponent's deck.

One other point I'd like to make, and this applies to all games: if you're not sure on what a card your opponent has played does, don't be afraid to ask. You may need to alter your tactics to counter it, and while I'm sure your opponent doesn't mind you playing right into their hands it makes for a much more challenging and fun game if you start playing to compensate rather than find out the problem too late. We're all good sports, and no one's going to get mad at you for asking a question. We want to be able to walk away from the game knowing we played a worthy opponent, regardless of the outcome.

Once again, I'd just like to say that Pokemon TCG is a great game to play, and definitely worth a go if you're thinking about it. The more people who are interested, the more often we get to play in tourneys and the more likely it is that Kev will start using the rotation rule for tournaments and I won't ever have to see that Machamp again. Please guys, you don't want to make Cobalion cry, do you?

Don't forget that I have a couple of trial decks for those of you who are interested. Feel free to ask me for a intro game if I'm in, and in this cold weather I should be easily recognisable by my pokemon hoodie.

The Pokemon Professor, Troy

Unova know what you get in Pre-Release Boosters.

The Chad is checking in:

One and a half days until the "Plasma Freeze" release for Pokemon TCG (Note to self, need a Pokemon Deck FTW!), and the pre-release for "Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy" for Yu-Gi-Oh... You know what that means?

SHIT

...

JUST

...

GOT

...

REAL

...

!!!

Just giving you all the head's up; the Pokemon TCG Trainers may be able to still reserve your spot for the coming Battle Royale, but Yu-Gi-Oh is more packed then a Centre-Link queue at Mid-Day. If you haven't gotten a booking, be ready to go in and either wait for someone to drop out/no-show, or duel another player for their spot. Those who have a spot, I hope you don't duel the fools who are clamoring for a slot.

No, I will not duel you for a spot; I warned you 7 days ago about the comming Duels, and you did nothing. I'm happy to wait to be beaten after I sit at the table with my brand new "Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy" packs. I'm an absolute tease, aren't I?

(EDIT: I admit it, Professor Crossingham, with his fancy PHD in Pokemonology and his lab-coat and his dashing good looks has beaten me to the post. He has everything covered so well, that there is nothing more for me to add. Who'd have thought, I'd ever be at a loss for words?  I heartily endorse you checking out his latest post here: Click here!)

Winter Descends on Unova

As Chad mentioned in his previous post, the latest booster set for Yu-Gi-Oh! is having it's pre release event this Saturday. I personally am very much looking forward to the Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy set and I'm gonna be down there for the event. I'm excited to not only be able to get my hands on the latest Harpie cards, but also Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon to go with my Photon deck. So anyone who's gonna be there and who pulls any of the following cards, come talk to me because I want to get them off you I want to be your friend.

• Harpie Channeler
• Hysteric Sign
• Harpie's Pet Phantasmal Dragon
• Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon

However, Lord of the Tachyon Galaxy isn't all that's happening on Saturday, as we've also got a Pokemon TCG tourney happening at 1pm. Not only that, but this month the latest Pokemon TCG booster set is also being released... Plasma Freeze. It would seem that winter is a touch earlier this year, and with the addition of a host of new Team Plasma affiliated pokemon and trainers a deck built to serve their own hidden agenda is much more possible. Having said that, I'm going to have a look over some of the new cards in the set and give my thoughts on them.

Tornadus-EX is perhaps one of my favourite new cards of the set. While it's Jet Blast attack may not seem powerful at first, if you can manage to attach the full amount of Plasma Energy onto it Tornadus-EX can deal out a whopping 180 damage, enough to knock out almost any opponent! However, my favourite ability is the Windfall attack. For just a single energy, Tornadus-EX will completely refresh your hand and give you even more options for your next turn. Since it only needs colourless energy, Tornadus-EX can fit into any deck!

Those of you who play already will know about the Rocky Helmet card, which deals out 20 damage to any pokemon that attacks the equipped pokemon. If you're a fan of Rocky Helmet, you may want to consider using up the Ace Spec slot in your deck for Rock Guard. It's used in the same manner as Rocky Helmet, but deals out a huge 60 damage instead of just 20. Your opponent will be hesitant to attack a pokemon with Rock Guard, especially if you equip it to a pokemon that already does retaliatory damage such as Lucario (Next Destinies 64/99) or Druddigon (Noble Victories 89/101).

Not only are new cards added, but some old favourites are also returning. Professor Juniper, a favourite for her ability to discard your hand to draw seven new cards is being re-released in both normal and full art versions, and the original terror of Pokemon-EX, Sigilyph, looks to be making a comeback as well! From what I can gather, it would seem that this Sigilyph will be released in its shiny form much like the Plasma Storm versions of the Boundaries Crossed Charizard and Blastoise. Personally I'm excited by this news, as I'm planning a psychic deck for the near future and having more copies of Sigilyph will be a great help. Plus everyone loves to have pretty cards in their deck so that they can show off to their opponents.

For those of you who love Eevee and its evolutions, you have some good news too. Not only are there two brand new Eevees to choose from, but each of the seven Eeveelutions make an appearance under the banner of Team Plasma. Each have their own unique charms, from Vaporeon's ability to heal all of your pokemon to Umbreon boosting the maximum HP of it's allies in Team Plasma by 20, and even Glaceon providing an escape route for Team Plasma pokemon by reducing their retreat cost by two! Each has their own unique charms, and I'm sure you could find one that suits your own deck.

Well, that's all I've got to say about Plasma Freeze for the moment. So whether you side with Team Plasma or plan to oppose them, Plasma Freeze will certainly give you a host of new cards to choose from. Feel free to give me the ones you don't want though, especially if it's a full art Professor Juniper!

Your resident Pokemon Professor* (as The Chad seems to want to dub me), Troy.

*You may want to reconsider playing that Bicycle card when I'm nearby, unless its an outdoors game.

Free Land, and D-Day looms.

*Puts on his robe and wizard's hat, and keeps his wand in it's Frog.*

Yes ladies, gentlemen, and weirds that pass as the former, the Dragon's Maze pre-release has come and gone.

The skill level was from the grandest Archmage, to Planeswalking Neophytes like myself and Blake.

Okay Maybe "Planeswalking isn't the best word for my case, but that's close enough to how I roll.

Back to the overview, Neophyte Blake and I took a Proverbial Leap of Faith, and joined the fray with little to no experience.

To the other players from that day: Thanks for bearing with me while I "got to my Feet".

Needless to say, my experiments blew up in my face, leaving singed eyebrows and a good time all around. Yes I said it anyway, so suck it up and Deal with it.

Now, I just need to finish my deck, and convince everyone to call me "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", and I'll be halfway to conqering the known world!

*Takes off his robe and wizard's hat, putting them in his invisible bag of holding he stole from Dungeons and Dragons*

Anyway, onto The Yu-Gi-Oh front.

ATTENTION DUELISTS!

There are only 9 days until D-Day: The Yu-Gi-Oh Lord of The Tachyion Galaxy sneak-peak! Spots are limited so if you aren't signed up, do it NOW!

I signed up without getting off my bludging backside, so the only excuse is; "I tried to book, but there is no spots left..." :-)

Anyway, word from Konami is that the Atlantean, Constellar, Duston, Elemental Lord, Evilswarm, Fairy, Fire Fist, Fire King, Gagaga, Geargia/Geargiano, Harpie, Noble Knight, Madolche, Mermail, Prophecy, Shark and Spellbook Archetypes are getting a boost, as well as the first of the Battlin' Boxer, Elemental Dragon and Mecha Phantom Beast Archetypes are being unleashed for the 1st time with this set...

Don't know about you guys, but I'm going to side a Dragon Capture Jar or 2 to counter Elemental Dragons if they take off.

Again, it is only 9 days until the Yu-Gi-Oh Lord of Tachyion Release event! Be there or Miss out of the Duelin' fun.

The Chad Is Out...