The Mr. Shipley Experience

Maybe you've heard of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of Dungeons and Dragons. Maybe you've heard of an author or two that has written novels and game materials. MAYBE you'd think it's fun to watch these authors and their real life friends transported into the Forgotten Realms and encountering some of the very characters and situations they wrote about. Now needing to worry: will I work to make my stories stay on cannon or do what I feel is right - the thin fine edge? Enter: Isekai Realms at the Dungeon Scrawlers. This particular gameplay has a special place in my heart. I've been playing the DM's home game since he relaunched in July 2010. We've been going strong about twice a month for nigh on 13 years now, with some "mega sessions" peppered in there.  He tends to run everything within his own verse, so even when he does one shots or adventures outside the home group, they are related and do threaten to, at times, overlap. Back ...

So I'm heading to my first Magic Con Philly 2023 - I've played Magic the Gathering at cons (like 2022 GenCon) but this will be my first Magic-focused con.  And oh boy, did I decide to just dive down the rabbit hole.  The first thing that struck me about the available events were...  the staight out number of formats available to compete in and play at this con.  What even is Grand Melee?  Did you say Pioneer Sealed - I can get one booster from each legal set to make a 60 card deck?!  Wow, some formats I never knew I'd ever see, or even thought existed. I don't think I have enough money to try absolutely every format they have competitions for.  So I'm saving the cash I have on hand to go for attempting to qualify for the pro tour!  There are 2 opportunities with Sealed format Phyrexia, All Will Be One.  I think I have a shot at prizing, just not so sure I have a shot at the top 4 to get the invitation.  But I'm going to give it a couple ...

 One of the biggest issues I have with drafting online is the experience.  In MTGO, it's just the entire client.  There are a lot of cool features I'm just never going to get into because I'm just never going to use that software in it's current state. In MTG Arena, there are no features to just draft with a pod you put together and then play in that pod for prizes.  The matching algorithms are horrible for a player like me.  There's also no interaction across the table, I like chatter.  Frankly, the Gathering part of the game us just as fun for me.  Also, you can't just simulate a Sealed Draft by opening 6 packs in the client and sharing those results, they aren't equivalent. So there are a lot of ways you can draft cards outside of Wizard's of the Coast-provided games.  You can draft in websites and then bring those draft results into MTG Arena - provided you have the cards in your collection already.  Some of htese require you to install s...

Before I go into the Return to Dark Tower  (by @RestorationGames), I'd like to return to my childhood, when I played the original game with my sister and cousins ...  back to the early 1980's Yeah, there's the box I remember!  So this was my favorite game in the early 80s, from when I was 7 through 8 years old.  I showed so much affinity for the game that my grandmother, who bought the game for all her grandchildren to play at her house, let me take it home (I'm sure I likely asked/begged multiple times - and tried not to fidget in church so I could cash that goodwill in).  Some kids in the neighborhood also had it, so I played a LOT. Well, my sister also enjoyed it and I was the luckiest brother at 8 years old when she and I scrounged up enough money to get some new batteries to play the game.  All we had to do was pick up the batteries - can DO.  We lived less than a mile from a CVS pharmacy and I had a bicycle.  EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZY, KID! s...

 I played a little Pioneer today for a Degen Supporter Event.  I had a good time, got completely lost with renting a deck from cardhoarder.  But I got that completed, sadly they didn't have 4 cards I needed for the list I chose, so I made a last minute replacement and it didn't go so well: 0-3 so I dropped out after match 3.   I ended the night, after getting frustrated with a Bant Angels deck (not a lot of interaction with), I thought what the heck, I might be able to make an Explorer deck... I'm going to WAR! The deck kind of came to me as I recall reading some article about how Opt was a good mechanic in Explorer/Pioneer so I started there.  Then thought, What kind of cheaper CMC planeswalkers could I try?  Enter: Wizard's Aren't Reasonable (or WAR). This should have in no way grant me any sort of wins - so I'm not gonna be upset if I just lose 3, but I did really well in Standard Unranked matches.  So I thought, what the heck, I'll take it i...

(tldr; forgot my wallet at home, asked Lowe's staff if I could use mobile app for curbside pickup, used app to ring myself out and paypal to pay - web had unit listed for $80 cheaper than the store did) So I'm in this one bedroom loft situation, but like a real loft with an open bedroom above the living room/kitchen.  Not the "lofts" they offer in cities, which are basically closets-turned-apartments at 500 and less sq feet.  I'm very luck to have it!  It was constructed in the late 90s and at that time, someone had made a decision to install an air conditioner through the wall, so there's a cut-out in the wall for a unit.  Back in the late 90s, Sears and Kenmore were a good bet.  They'd installed a unit that could be purchased with a wall-mount cabinet or a window-mount kit.  It died sometime in 2019. So this year, I finally got around to removing the old unit so I could replace it. Well, it's not the current standard size as the cutout is 24" W ...

So last night I decided I'd give a try to win a token to enter into the Arena Qualifier this weekend!  WOOO, let's get it!  The Qualifier Play-In was Best of 3 Streets of New Capenna Sealed Format.  OK, not bad - I don't normally practice sealed because it's very difficult to get rewarded, you have to win all your matchups to get your entry fee back.  Anyhow, I figured this time was worth it, and the rewards are a lot better on the Qualifier than they are in the regular sealed format. So yeah, I only lost 1 of all of my games, and won every match.  With this deck here: I was pretty stoked!  Nice draft, decent action in the games, many were very close.  I thought I might even get into Day 2 of the Arena Open!  I woke up early, fairly excited.  All up until I opened my packs.  I ended up with some pretty mediocre decks to be able to play, and the whole Arena Open play today was a total bust at 0-2!  It was demoralizing hahaha, a nice ...