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2013-11-05

Double Strike before School


A big crew came by for Magic this morning before South Lake Middle School late start. We had Alexander, Matt, Jack, Dylan, Evan, Andrew, Derek, and Liam--just about as many as our table can hold




























The boys come by and start games kind of in the order that they show up--we had some great match up this week.



It was Liam's first time at Tuesday Morning with Magic


so he played the Sliver deck which is just a fun way to learn Magic--lots of ramp, different effects, and smashing in the face for 30!



























The boys get fairly intense while playing.





and today they were really into it--four matches going at the same time is loud & awesome.


The boys play for an hour and the time goes by very very quickly.



The boys want to spend time trading cards, but we only have one hour before school starts which is just about time for three matches--generally time runs out during a final Two Headed Giant match.

Matt has a Whip of Erbos that he wants to trade



Andrew is playing a very good GWAR Deck--Greeen, White, Agro Red named after the worlds greatest space band





Which matches up nicely with Jack GW deck


 1. Blocking with Double Strike
Jack attacked with a 5/5, Andrew blocked with a 3/3 doublstriker. Jack argued that it was a block, but that his creature did not die. Andrew asserted that Jack's creature takes 3 first strike damage & then 3 more damage during normal damage and would die having taken 6. Jack's position was that first strike was only when attacking and not when defending.

Rule 510.5 does not seem to make a distinction between Attackers and Blocker and 702.4b seems to include blockers ["If at least one attacking or blocking creature'].

I think that Jack is wrong and that a double striking blocker does assign damage two times

2. .More Blocking with Double Strike
After issue one was resolved with no one very happy, we moved to an issue that actually lead to a lot more player frustration--I need to get better and making quick well informed decisions, a skill for Level 1 Judges, perhaps because my converstaional style generally just leads to both players feeling gibbed.

Here is what happened...Andrew had Gruul War Chant out





And swung with 


who was Monstrous & had been equipped with Battle Mastery




So basically Andrew came over the top with a 20/20 Double Striker that could only be blocked by two creatures.

Jack blocks with Deadly Recluse


that has a Boon Satyr bestowed on it--arguing that it is two creatures

I agreed that the bestowed creature should count as a creature for the Gruul War Chant and he could block. Andrew was also OK with this ruling.

So, Jack takes 16 First Strike Damage from the Cake--the trample goes over the block. Andrew agrees.

Jack then argues that he does not take the additional 20 from the Double Strike. I am not sure exactly what his argument was--he was fairly upset & convinced that he was right--basically, he argued that the second twenty was not applied--I think because the Cake had already killed the blocker? which me be the case--but I am not sure.

The Glossary has:
 Double StrikeA keyword ability that lets a creature deal its combat damage twice. See rule 702.4, “Double Strike.”
so I think Andrew's CAKE would get to assign 20 during first strike & 20 during normal. 

We agreed to disagree so that we could move to the Two Headed Giant & then time was up and the kids had to fly to school after another fun morning of Magic!


2013-11-04

Ender's Game Extra Life Fund Raiser


As part of Extra Life, I tried to run a game of Numenera at the opening of Ender's Game.

Due to life, it did not really go as planned, but we did get in some great Magic. 

Brian bought fifteen packs and we ran a three round draft with six people.


Jack ended up coming in First Place! He beat me in the finals with his Mono Red Deck.



My path to the finals went through Chase, who had not played paper magic in a long time & did not draft that well.

And Scott, who had a strong deck that did not finish well against -- he beat me like 28-4 and I won 5-3 and 6-2. In both of my wins he had me on the brink and just did not close. 



I finally got to use my Game of Thrones kraken sleeves!



2013-10-31

Murder in Baldur’s Gate--D&D Encounters S15 S12

The penultimate week of D&D Encounters Season 15, Murder at Baldur's Gate, at Mercenary Market was a huge success.

Jack, Brian, Scott, & I got there early and had a fun Sushi dinner with our waitress Randy, whose real name may be Brandy, but Brian is insane, so I am not really sure. In any event, there is no way that you will please her phsycially, so it likely does not matter...



Brian spent most of his time listening to Pelor [or maybe Pantera] and ranting like a mad man. Scott finds this stuff very funny, but it may just be a giant waste of valuable adventuring time!


DM Will is running a very fun game.


John is one of the greatest Role Players of all time--he is playing Ivan the Half-Orc Barbarian who is somehow Scottish and generally ranting.


Here he is in action.


It is just fun to watch a kid having this much fun at a D&D Table.



And the table is good--we have a lot of room for everything. Including snacks.


Jack scored the only Crit of the night & we are still not exactly sure how the current critical hit rules work. We went with roll damage dice twice, do not apply Ability Bonus on the second roll. So with a long bow this was 2d8+3. Please leave me a comment if you have ideas on how Crits should be handled.


2013-10-30

MtA Episode 43: Inside Pro Tour Theros


I listened to this while on my jog.

One of the things I really continue to enjoy about this podcast is the "Theater Kids" aspect that the hosts embody. They do a lot of spontaneous improv stuff that is very funny. Actually, sometimes it is not funny and all & is just hard to listen to, but that attitude behind it is completely charming & captiviating for me.

This episode covers Pro Tour Theros in a very random way, a Pro Tour that they went to in Aimes Iowa, and some general thoughts on current cards. Not the best topics for them--the are best when they go to local stores & meet friends for late night matches or discover some weird new part of Magic. Of course, as they become more experienced with Magic those discoveries become more and more rare.

A very fun podcast, even though I do really miss the old theme song.