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This week's update is up for the Player of the Year standings.  At this point, I have all the major events from Worlds until now with the exception of a couple of the European Realms which weren't listed correctly in the tourney locator.  There are still quite a few Regionals/Realms results to get entered so if your total is off by a little, give me one more week.  All results should be in and the list 100% up to date for the update next week.

With most of the European Realms entered, there has been surprisingly no change in the top 20 as most of the Europeans who had done well at Worlds or Stuttgart had disappointing finishes in their Realms.  I don't have the French Realms results yet, so that could bring about some change, but barring that it looks like the top 10 is relatively established heading into the Nationals season.  The only major events between now and then are DMF Lyon and DMF Seattle with Regionals allowing players to make small gains.  Don't underestime the power of Regionals to affect this race however as Brad Watson has accumulated at least 12 points from the Tier 4 level events.

Also, I have gotten a few emails/PM's about a few spelling errors.  Those will also be corrected next week.  I wanted to have them done for this update, but I was more concerned with trying to get all the events entered.  They will all be fixed by next week though.

Tags: World Of Warcraft Player Of The Year

Realm Championships are getting closer.  May 10 is now a mere 4 weekends away.  As so many things in this game have done, Realm Championships pose a unique challenge.  Starting this weekend and running right up until the championship events next month, all the qualifiers are limited events.  The qualifying season ends May 9th at the LCQ's with the main events the next day.  But at the end of the limited qualifying season, the format shifts back to Constructed.  Most of the time, either a season ends a couple months in front of an event which gives the qualified players plenty of time to prepare for the event.  If the season goes all the way up to an event, it usually shares the format with the event it's leading up to.  However, with Realms we're looking at a qualifier season leading directly into an event with a different format.  That means it's important to qualify early to get it out of the way to focus on Constructed without the distractions of having to go play sealed pack.

With all that said, I found myself not qualified yet for my Realm.  I checked out the schedule to see what opportunities left to get into this.  A quick look at the schedule didn't really give me what I was looking for.  There was April 12th in Waco (a 3.5 hour drive).  If I didn't make it there, I could drive another hour or so to Killeen the next day (which would then leave me the almost 5 hour drive home Sunday night).  After that, I could head up to Tulsa on the 26th (another 4 hour drive).  If that wasn't enough, I was down to the LCQ which is going to be back in Waco despite the Championship being in Ft. Worth meaning I would have to make the 3-hour drive down to Waco then come back up to Ft. Worth for the Championship the next day.  Ugh. 

Well fortunately for me, I managed to get my spot wrapped up in Waco on Saturday.  I didn't go down to Killeen afterwards because that was just too much driving solo for me in two days.  But more importantly, I can now shift my focus to the Championship and SotB Constructed.

A good place to start is the top 8 from the Nether Rocket tournament in Columbus.  Not shocking, there's a lot of beatdown.  The deck here that I like the most and I think will be the most important one to think about when testing is the Serpent Form deck.  This is one of the decks I wish had stayed under wraps until after the event, but it's out now.  Form of the Serpent is the only form that allows you to hit with a weapon and also spam Moonfire.  I think this may be one of the most popular beatdown decks at Realms because it's really good and also new.

Warriors added another incredible card in Smash.  This seems like it will slip right into both Halavar and Gorebelly decks.  Given the 5 Warrior decks in the top 8 of Orlando a month ago, I think Warrior will continue to be popular as well.

Then there's Survival Hunter.  This is the deck that EVERYBODY is going to build.  I'm not really sure how good the deck is going to be.  In fact, I'm going to work on the deck but only because I think it will be so popular.  I'm going to have to  find an absolutely incredible version of this deck to play it.  It may turn out to be really good, but the fact that everyone is going to be ready for it makes me really not want to play it. 

So it looks like to get started, I will work with Serpent Druid, Gorebelly, Halavar, and Survival Hunter.  From there, I'll add any decks that seem like they will be popular, but that's the starters. 

Tags: World Of Warcraft

The set review rolls on with the Hunter class.  I think Hunters may have come away the best in Servants of the Betrayer.  Let's just jump right in.

Bogspike

Bogspike probably isn't going to see much play.  There are better 1-drops in both factions for Constructed.

In Limited, Bogspike is certainly playable and is one of few cards in the game that is better on the draw.  If your opponent comes out swinging with a 1-drop, you can drop Bogspike and get an early tempo swing back in your favor.  Not too much to say about this card, it's playable but not spectacular.

Death Trap

Have you ever heard the phrase, good in a vaccuum?  This card is a perfect explanation.  Based on its power alone, this might be the best card in the set for Hunters (Survival Instincts is still up there too).  However, when you look at the card's application, I find it very difficult to think that Traitor Hunters are going to be better than Survival Hunters.  An incredibly powerful card, that won't be able to find a home.

In Limited, this card isn't quite as good as you think it is, but it's still really good.  Much of Limited play revolves around ally vs. ally combat, so you won't be able to play for free as often as you would like.  Still, any time you have the possibility to get a free kill and an AoE effect as well, that's an incredibly powerful card.  Definitely a reason to strongly consider a Traitor Hunter in this format. 

Feeding Frenzy

I think this card has very limited possibilities.  The only real place I see for it is as a finisher in a rush deck.  Even in that sense I don't like it because it's reliant on your opponent leaving himself defenseless, you having a Pet, and you having enough allies to destroy to make it worthwhile.  If all that is happening you're going to win anyway.

In Limited, I still don't really like this card that much.  Again, it's very important that your opponent makes it clear he has no way to mess with your plans.  It's slightly better in Limited because you may end up with some small allies who are having no other real effect, but even then they are often best used in combat.  If you have allies that are better as fodder than anything else, you either drafted really poorly or opened 6 lousy packs.

Feign Death

This card has been the topic of much discussion.  The card is good, possibly very good, but it's not as good as a lot of people seem to think.  It has a lot of applications and will definitely allow you many blowouts vs. people who forget about it.  However, it's probably only the fourth or fifth best Hunter card in the set (which is also a testament to Hunter's power in this set). 

I like the card more in Limited because your opponent isn't as likely to play around it.  It can be particularly devastating late in a game as a wary opponent will realize something is up when you leave three resources open early in a game.  It doesn't have as many applications because your hero won't be targeted as much and again much of the important combat will be ally vs. ally.  Still, it's probably playable but not a game changer against good opponents. 

King Khan

I like this guy quite a bit.  He can be a nail in the coffin to rush decks following a turn 3 Survival Instincts.  He poses an immediate threat against any kind of ally based deck.  Once he starts getting to attack every turn, it's going to be tough sledding for opposing allies.  I like him along with Hootie as the pets of choice in Survival Hunter right now.

In Limited, this guy is a bomb.  Having an ability to remove a 4-health 4-drop is going to be very tough, and if they also don't have a 4-ATK ally or 5-Health, it's going to be very difficult for them to ever remove him.  Definitely a reason to go Hunter.

Rain of Arrows

I will like this card one day when Hunters have a better way to ready their own resources.  Until then, it's a combo piece waiting for some partners. 

In limited, it's a 2-damage for 2 ability which is definitely playable.  It's not a reason to go Hunter but worth playing if you're already in Hunter.

Ranged Weapon Specialization

I think this card would see more play if it weren't Marksman spec'd.  I would really like to see it paired with Blastershot Launcher in a Survival deck, but that's not going to happen.  The most likely use for this card is in an Elendril Rapid Fire combo deck.  I don't think that deck is particularly strong, but there are some people out there who think it's going to be the next big thing.  If it is, this card will be one of the reasons. 

This card is very limited in umm limited.  Without a Ranged weapon it's absolutely worthless.  Even with one, your chances of drawing both in the same game are slim.  You would probably need two ranged weapons, but in that case you'll probably still win without the Spec. 

Run to Ground

This card is decent if Hunter rush makes a comeback.  Giving all your guys +3 attacking their hero is pretty good.  It's simple but effective.  Not much more to say about it. 

In Limited, this card has a lot of potential.  Aside from the beatdown it can allow you to administer to an opposing hero, it can also let you generate very favorable trade when the big allies start coming out on your opponent's side.  I think it's a good card in Limited.

Snake Trap

This may be the most misunderstood card in the new set.  I'm sure everyone has done it at some point, whether it's this card or some other one.  You start reading the card, assume one word there is something it's not and say "Holy crap! That's good!"  A lot of people seem to think that this card says the ATK of the attacker and not the cost of the attacker.  That's a pretty big difference.  It also targets.  All that combined makes it worthless against solo and untargetables.  It's only good against control decks running big allies.  Even then, Hunter has better options in those matchups like Thrill of the Hunt and Trophy Kill to handle the fatties. 

This card is better in Limited since your opponent will always be attacking with allies.  In fact, it's really good in Limited.  Getting free dudes is never a bad thing, especially in the mid-game when they can really swing the tempo of a game. 

Survival Instincts

I think this is the best Hunter card in the set and the reason many people are predicting big things from Survival Hunter.  The card is very good and combined with cards like Lightning Reflexes and Hootie really gives Survival Hunters the ability to just blow out aggressive decks.  The card can also pose somewhat of a problem to control decks as well.  They don't always deal a lot of damage in one turn.  Some of the more popular allies can have a significant chunk of their damage taken away when the first 4 is prevented.  I'm still not sure how good Survival Hunter is going to be, but be ready to face a lot of these at the Realm Champs next month.

In Limited, this card is really good.  It forces your opponent into the control role as they will have no chance of racing you.  They will have to wipe out all of your allies and then get what damage through that they can.  Over the course of a Limited game, this could easily prevent 30+ damage or even more. 

That wraps up the Hunter cards.  The Mage installment should be along soon.

Tags: World Of Warcraft

The blog returns.  After several months with no new cards and no high level events for me to play in or really even talk about, Servants of the Betrayer comes along and livens things up again.  Let's start our class breakdown of the set with Druids.

The Druids have quietly become one of the best classes in the game.  There are at least three and arguably four viable Druid decks.  This is assuming you use the very broad Gift of the Wild, Boomkin, Cat Form tags of course.  There's so much variance even within those archetypes that you could say there are as many as 10 solid Druid decks.  Overall, I don't think that Druid got anything over the top spectacular, but the class did get several cards that will find their way into decks.

I will be talking about each card from both a Limited and Constructed point of view since both are now important from a tournament perspective.

Chew Toy

Constructed-This card seems like a guaranteed 4-of between main and side decks for any Feral Druid deck.  That includes the possibility of a Bear Form deck finally being viable.  Destroying any ally for 2 at instant speed is incredibly powerful.  The only reason I'm not going to say this is an auto 4-of main is the nasty tendency to be dead against Halavar and Rogue (which conveniently got a very good answer to its biggest problem cards).

Limited-This card is obviously worthless without a Form.  If you're playing Druid and have at least 2 Forms then this becomes incredible.  I would be tempted to run it even with only one Form and just drop it in the row if I have to because you know it's never going to be a dead card in Limited because everyone's deck is at least half allies, most of which cost more than 2.

Earth Mother's Blessing

Constructed-I'm not really sure about this card from a Constructed point of view.  It would most likely only find its way into Gift of the Wild based decks and I'm not 100% sure there's enough room for a card like this in a deck like that.  The card does get around Mark of the Wild's biggest drawback, the card disadvantage of losing an ally and an ability in one shot, since it let's you draw a card when it dies.  I like the card quite a bit, but I'm not sold on it for Constructed yet.

Limited-I like the card more in Limited.  Especially late in the game when you're more likely to leave three resources open, you can catch unsuspecting opponents with it and either force bad trades or even save an important ally with it when they think they are going to be able to trade.  It's not as effective early in the game because your ploy will be transparent leaving three resources ready, but there are times later when it's harder to use all your resources where this will become more effective as a trick.  You can also use it more straightforwardly by dropping it on a medium sized guy to take out a bigger ally and not lose any card advantage since the Blessing replaces itself.  It can also be a nice trick after someone chooses not to protect.  If you send in a small guy to a big guy, or even a big guy after the hero, you can drop the Blessing after the protect point and catch them off guard.   I really like this card in Limited.  It's powerful and gives its controller more options to outplay his opponent.

Form of the Serpent

Constructed-The card is powerful in a vaccuum.  Unfortunately, we don't play tournaments in a vaccuum.  I think this card sums up the problem with Traitor Heroes.  The cards are really good, but it's generally not worth sacrificing the Talents to go that route.  In this case, it's hard for me to envision a Serpent deck being better than a Cat deck.

Limited-In Limited, you don't always have the luxury of choosing which form you want to play.  Form of the Serpent is more powerful on its own than Cat Form,and being able to do any damage with your hero is a huge boon in Limited play.  Factor in that this card will often allow you to take out 2 allies with your hero in one turn (one on the attack, another when you remove the counters) and it is a reason to play Druid.

Gift of Nature

Constructed-This card is pretty janky.  It will take some setup to really get it going.  As a rule, great tournament decks play cards that are either very good on their own or produce a game-changing effect in combination with another card.  This card is going to require several other cards helping out and is probably too vulnerable right now.  I don't doubt someone will come up with a combo with it though.

Limited-Janky cards are cute in Constructed and can sometimes make really good combos occasionally.  In Limited, they just go straight to the unplayables pile. 


King of the Jungle

Constructed-There are already enough good Cat Form cards, so if any new ones are going to crack a Cat Form deck, they have to be really good.  My initial thought on this card is that it's simply a win more card.  If you're already in good shape with a Form and enough pumps to make this worth paying 6 for, you should already be winning.  I think Cat Form decks are going to be better served more often by playing Vengeance of the Illidari and Prowl around turn 6, but there is the possibility of a game being close and this being the finisher.  More often than not though, I just don't see this card doing enough.

Limited-When you pay 6 for something in Limited, it needs to do something significant.  This card is semi-playable.  It does get you in Cat Form and if you control only one or two other abilities, it can turn your hero into a significant threat.  I don't think I would play it for the form alone, but if you have 2 or 3 other ongoings, it's probably at least worth considering.

Lacerate

Constructed-A lot of people thought that Bear Form decks were starting to become viable after the release of March of the Legion.  I thought they were still a little bit short, but this card definitely brings them one step closer to contention.  Check out my article later this week for some of the reasons I think cards like Lacerate are going to be control's best friends over the next few months, but until then, I think this card is definitely a solid addition to a Bear deck.

Limited-This card is really good in Limited.  The 2 damage per turn is not insignificant as it can really set the tempo in a game because it gives the game a definite endpoint. Bear Form is an amazing ability in Limited because giving your hero protector is almost as good as getting to attack with him.  This card should be in any Druid deck you play.

The Natural Order

Constructed-This card will have an immediate home in Boomkin.  Cheap and a Balance ability to boot, it allows that deck to drop the sometimes clunky Silea/Shadala combo in favor of more precise and easier to use removal for cards like Twig.  More importantly, it opens Boomkin up to Alliance because they now have easier answers to weapons and abilities.  I would expect to see at least 3 of these in most Boomkin builds because it's unlikely to ever be dead.

Limited-Easy addition to any Limited deck.  Cheap weapon removal is one of the most sought after powers in the world of WoW limited.  With game breaking cards like Runesong Dagger running around, it's always good to have a cheap answer.  Throw in the added versatility to also take out abilities and this card is a star.

Savage Fury

Constructed-One of the downfalls of Cat Form decks has always been the complete lack of defense.  The deck often just trades hits with the opponent hoping to simply outrace them.  This isn't always the best plan vs. ally rush builds like Omedus or Halavar.  Savage Fury gives them a whole new way to play against these builds.  Once this is in play, you get a nice 2 damage bonus against opposing allies just for playing the cards you were going to play anyway.  Combo this with Prowl and it's good night allies.

Limited-You would need several Feral abilities to make this card worthwhile in one of your 30 slots.  I'm not going to say it's absolutely unplayable, but it would take the perfect cardpool to run it.

Tainted Earth

Constructed-I think the obvious combo is with Cobrascale Hood.  Use this to damage them when they complete their quests.  If they choose not to complete their quests, the Cobrascale takes them out.  This lends itself to a GotW strategy, which won't be as effective without Force of Nature.  There's also the chance that the opponent can just play their quests face down (assuming you have the hood, otherwise they can just leave them face up until they remove the Tainted Earth) which isn't terrible either.  My problem here is that it gives your opponent the choice of playing the way that hurts him the least.

Limited-As more people realize that it's better not to play mediocre quests, this card will lose some value.  It also suffers from that opponent's choice problem.  If you've got them on the ropes, they are probably more concerned with stabilizing the board than completing their quests.  If they're out in front, they can probably afford the 3 health to complete the quest.  I'm just not really a fan of this card.

Tranquility

Constructed-I don't expect this card to find a home in Constructed simply because it doesn't fit into any of the Druid archetypes.

Limited-I think the card's versatility makes it playable.  It can heal a decent amount which can be a big swing in Limited, but the fact that you can use any amount of resources on it.  If you've only got a couple of resources open, go ahead and use them up to heal a little.  Got an open turn where you can dump all your resources into it, heal it all up.  It's not a reason to go Druid, but it's a solid addition to any Druid deck.

Well that wraps up all the Druid cards.  Check back tomorrow for the Hunter review.

Tags: World Of Warcraft

A brand new online MMORTS will be launching tomorrow.  The game officially ended its Beta testing phase this morning and the servers are being wiped and rebooted for official launch tomorrow.  I was in the early Alpha testing and then took a little time off before I got back into it during the Beta.  It's an MMO that uses the the TCG booster pack model instead of a normal MMO model of the monthly subscription fee.  For anyone who likes MMO's or RTS games, I suggest you check it out.  The official web site is www.playsaga.com.

Saga is a persistent world.  This means that even while you are not logged in, your nation keeps on running.  The most important thing that happens while you are not online is your peasants continue working, gathering resources, building buildings, and doing their other peasantly duties. 

Some of you might be thinking, what happens if I get attacked while I'm offline?  Well the good news is that you can't be all out attacked while you're not online.  You can however, be the target of espionage.  Other nations can spy on your army, steal your resources, even murder your peasants and burn your buildings.  You can defend yourself from these types of attacks by setting peasants to police your lands.  But we're not talking about espionage today, so let's get back to the topic of the day, the economy.

Just like the real world, a strong economy is the backbone of a great nation.  As anyone who has ever played an RTS knows, your city building skills will have a direct impact on your military might. 

One of the downsides to most RTS games is the frantic pace that must be maintained to build a city and manage resources while also running a military campaign.  Luckily, Saga removes this franticness as the city building and military "phases" are essentially split up in this game.  The city building aspect is much more controlled than most RTS games.  The resources accumulate much more slowly and the buildings take longer.  The military aspect is split away through the MMO constant, questing which gives you plenty of time for both economic and military growth.

There are six resources to manage in Saga. 

1. Gold-Gold will probably be your most used resource and is obtained through gold mines.  You will want to get to producing gold quickly.  You can tax your peasants just about any amount of you want which will help boost gold production, but be careful taxing your peasants too much.  They will become unhappy with your oppressive ways.  Unhappy peasants don't work as hard as happy ones which will affect your bottom line.  If you don't improve their happiness they will start to move away and possibly even riot.

2. Food-Food is obtained through farms.  You will need to assign several peasants to farming early as the peasants each consume five units of food per day, and you have to keep up the production.  Food production is one of the main things that affects peasant happiness.

3. Wood-Wood is obtained through your lumber mill.  Wood along with stone will be required for your building projects.  Most of your early projects will require more wood than stone so keep that in mind when assigning your peasants to work.

4. Stone-Stone is obtained through your Stone Quarry.  Like wood, stone is primarily used for buildings, and later to improve your town's defenses.

5. God favor-This is one of what I consider the two special resources.  God Favor is used to resurrect dead troops that have fallen in battle and to cast spells during battles.  You can obtain God Favor by assigning your peasants to worship and through winning battles. 

6. Mana Shards-Mana Shards are obtained through Mana Shard Mines.  You don't have to assign peasants to mine for them, they are produced automatically for you when you have mines.  Mana Shard mines are not able to be built in your main city.  As you level up, you will have the opportunity to win new territories.  After you build a Keep on your new territories, you will have the option to move them to the wilderness. Once you do that, you can build Mana Shard Mines.

Getting started as an economic power is rough because you don't start with anything.  It takes money to make money after all.  You don't start with very many peasants and you don't start with many resources.  You will need to lean on your military to get things started. 

Your main source of resources through the first few levels will be plunder and rewards from quests.  Remember, especially while you're just getting started, it's important to plunder all the buildings you can when you do a quest.  Plundering a building will give you a plunder bonus for whatever resource that building produces.  Gold mines will give you gold, lumber mills give you lumber, etc.  One of your biggest plunders will be houses because they give you more peasants.  More peasants = more workers gathering resources. 

Your first four buildings will need to be a gold mine, a lumber mill, a stone quarry, and a farm.  Getting them done in that order will be a help as the food doesn't help you that much as far as furthering your economy.  You may need to build a farm sooner depending on how quickly your peasant population rises because you need food to support them and keep them happy.

Peasant happiness is also a big key to your economic success.  When your peasants are happy, they will work harder and you will see a happiness bonus to their production.  In addition to working harder, a happy peasant population will entice more peasants to move into your city and start working.  The more peasants you have working, the more resources you gather.  So it pays to keep your peasants happy.

There are several key factors that go into peasant happiness.  The first is housing.  Do you have enough houses for all your peasants?  The more peasants you have without homes, the more disgruntled they will grow.  Do you have enough food to keep their bellies full?  Hungry peasants are unhappy peasants.  How is your military faring in their battles?  Your military results will directly affect the morale of your peasants so make sure you're winning those battles.

It's important to make sure that you get at least one of each of the resource gathering buildings built because you won't be able to assign any peasants to that resource until the proper building is put up.  Once that building is up, your first 5 peasanst assigned to that resource will work at maximum efficiency.  Every peasant past that will be considered overstaffed and work at less than max efficiency until you get more buildings up to support the higher staffing.  But it's better to have all 4 up and be slightly overstaffed than to make extra buildings before you're gathering all four resources. 

Once you're producing all 4 resources, there are a few other buildings you want to get quickly to help with your economy.  It's a good idea to keep your eye on your house/population ratio.  If it gets too out of whack, your peasants will become unhappy.  Building a few more houses is a way to get a quick boost to peasant happiness.  Like I've already covered, happy peasants work harder and bring in more peasants.

Storehouses give you production bonuses as well.  Each storehouse is worth a 2% boost in production, and you can build 4 storehouses per territory. 

The final building that will really help you out is a University.  It's a bigger investment than any of the other buildings, but its bonuses are greater.  Once you build your University, you will have access to many upgrades to your peasant efficiency and how they work each type of resource.  This can be a big boost, so go for it as soon as you get the chance.

There's one other source of economic boost which can yield vast and immediate results, joining a guild.  Each member of a guild receives a bonus from each other member of the guild.  This is particularly beneficial early on when resources are in short supply.  If you're just getting started out and interested in joining a guild, shoot me an email at blyonsmagic@yahoo.com.

Well, that should help you get started on the path to economic superpower.  Remember, a solid economy is the backbone of a great empire.

Tags: SAGA

I'm sure some of you have noticed that I haven't been updating my blog very regularly.  I kinda feel like you deserve an explanation as to why you haven't seen anything new on these pages lately, so here it is.

To be perfectly honest, I'm a little disenchanted with the WoW TCG right now.  I missed Worlds because I was sick.  The last Regional I played in before that was in November.  There have only been 2 Realm Qualifiers anywhere near me since then and they were both on the same day.  I have absolutely no idea when the next one will be or if there even will be a next one in my area. 

There hasn't been a major tournament of note on a larger than Regionals scale since Worlds and nothing with March of the Legion.  The set is now very old as far as TCG sets go and there has been nothing to showcase it.  Darkmoon Faire Orlando is next week, but I've grown tired of March of the Legion by now and am ready for the next set.  This is another reason I think there should always be a major event for a new set when it comes out.  Dark Portal has DF Austin last year.  Fires had Nationals all over the world.  In my opinion, UDE really dropped the ball by not making MotL legal for Worlds and then leaving a gigantic gap before the first event with it.  The early word is that they're going to go ahead and drop the ball again with DF Columbus. 

For those of you who haven't already heard, DF Columbus will be sealed deck with Servants of the Betrayer.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for limited only major events.  But I think they really botched the scheduling of these things going all the way back to Worlds.  Like I've already said, MotL should have been legal for Worlds.  This would have created even more buzz about the set.  If they were going to limited DF's, Orlando should have been the one, right at the end of the MotL shelf life before Servants comes out.  Then Columbus should have been the first week Servants was legal. 

There are several reasons to have a major Constructed event right after release.  From a competition standpoint, it gives the best players an advantage because they will be the ones who are able to quickly adapt to the new environment and recognize the best cards and decks.  From a marketing standpoint (aka The Bottom Line), people will tend to buy up more of a set if they know they will be able to play it immediately and after the pros show which decks are going to be popular, people will be out looking for the cards to make those decks.  A sealed deck event will be nice, and it will still be right after the release, but it doesn't really give people a reason to want to go buy cards like a Constructed event does.

The complete and utter lack of communication on the part of UDE has been frustrating to say the least.  Ben Drago made big announcements regarding the future of Organized Play at Worlds, but there has been almost nothing since then. First, Realm Qualifiers were supposed to start in January.  Then February.  Feb 2 rolled around with no announcement and people went to Regionals that weekend with no idea whether they were playing in Regionals or Realms.  Many TO's weren't even sure.  The next weekend was upon us before a late Friday afternoon announcement that we would be starting Realm Qualifiers that weekend and the previous weekend was Regionals.

The next day was the one Realms I have had in my area and the turnout was great.  More than half the field had no idea it was a Realm Qualifier though.  There is very little info about the Realm Championships themselves.  There is almost no info about Nats.  The U.S. and Canada have been merged and they're supposed to be at GenCon again, but that's it.  My PTO has said Worlds is going to be in Paris, but UDE can neither confirm nor deny that.  There are only 2 Darkmoon Faires on the schedule and both in the U.S. The Honor Rankings are supposed to be split into yearly and lifetime which still isn't done.  The rankings haven't displayed properly in almost a year.  There are just so many things that don't seem to get done. 

In all the downtime, I've picked up Legends of Norrath and gotten into the SAGA beta and those have been taking up a lot of my WoW time.  Legends of Norrath is a great game that's designed by people who are really about pleasing their customers.  There are a lot of things that they do that I don't necessarily agree with, but at least they're doing things and telling us what and why they're doing it.  There is a $5K tournament this weekend that is a qualifier for a $100k Championship at GenCon in August.  Next week, the newest set drops with release tournaments all next weekend.

Also dropping next week is the official SAGA release.  I've been in the beta for a while now and the game is very fun.  Expect to see some blog coverage here as the game goes live on March 4th. 

Also happening next week of course is Darkmoon Faire Orlando.  It almost saddens me to say that I find myself wanting to play SAGA and LoN more than I do WoW next weekend.  My trip to Orlando is already paid for from a time when I was still excited about WoW.  For now, I'm checking to see what the damage is going to be if I cancel and stay home to level my SAGA nation and check out Inquisitor. 

Servants of the Betrayer is just around the corner along with hopefully more tournaments from Realms all the way up.  Hopefully a new set and renewed tournament scene will reignite my love for the game, but for now, I just don't find myself wanting to play WoW these days.  I will continue to write and play, but at least until something changes, my heart just isn't in it right now.

Tags: World Of Warcraft

The results are in for this week.  There were 6 Regionals held across the country this weekend, and once again we were fortunate enough to get the results from all 6 events.  It was an interesting week.  Some of the popular decks seem to be losing some steam, to seemingly forgotten heroes post solid weeks, and we now have a clear deck to beat.  Enough talk, let's look at the numbers.

First is total top 8's.

Omedus-19
Ozzati-14
Mazar-12
Gorebelly-12
Telrander-10
Rotun-9
Nathadan-9
Taheo-8
Pagatha-8
Ona-6
Bloody Mary-5
Zenith-5
Ta'Zo-5
Halavar-4
Graccus-4
Phadalus-4
Blaize-4
Grennan-4

These heroes are all tied at 3

Litori
Warrax
Morganis
Morova
Daspien
Mojo Mender Janah
Victoria Jaton

2

Kassandra
Kalinna
Kana Nassis
Raesa Morningstar

1

Ruby
Exaura
Indalamar
Hekto
Dizdemona
Aleyah
Yanna
Thatia
Dralor
Harrigan
Urrth
Elendril
Bulkas
Fillet
Velora
Moonshadow

The first thing to notice is that Omedus has taken a somewhat commanding lead in the race for the top deck.  As more people realize the power of Shadow Weaving as a finisher for this deck, it continues to gain in popularity.  Of course, a little TCG knowledge tells us that getting a big lead isn't always good for a deck's success as it is easier now to take a deck that beats Omedus first and has game against everything else second.  For those of you trying to stay one step ahead, know what decks people are likely to bring to combat the Shadow Priests, then bring a deck that's good against Omedus but also against the decks that will show up as a foil to Omedus. 

Now let's take a look at the weekly results for a clearer picture of what happened this week.  This is only the decks that posted at least three top 8's this week.

Omedus-9
Nathadan-5
Gorebelly-4
Ozzati-3
Mazar-3
Grennan-3

As you can see, Omedus ran away with it this week, but if you look at the deck right after Omedus you can see the first part of the metagame shifting against him.  Nathadan generally has a very good matchup vs. Omedus.  Early protectors keep the damage to a minimum, and Doshura Risestrider poses an even bigger threat to Omedus.  Going into the late game, the Omedus decks are particularly vulnerable to Blessing of Freedom since many have dropped Faesha in favor of cards like Kiani Denara.  The difference is that since Faesha can go one at a time, Blessing of Freedom isn't quite the blowout it is in response to Kiani since you'll be out four resources in that case while not getting any damage through with Morlug. 

The next three decks aren't super surprises as they have posted solid numbers all season, but there at the bottom we have one of the game's forgotten greats, Grennan Stormspeaker.  So far, when you look at the heroes that have been Tier 1 at one point and fallen out of favor, none of them have returned to success.  Grennan, Elendril, and Dizdemona have seen little play since Dark Portal came out.  Phadalus took over the summer, but hasn't seen much success since U.S. Nationals hated him out.  Rotun is now feeling the pinch with March of the Legion bringing in the back-breaking Bringer of Death + making Omedus more deadly.  Grennan is trying to be the first hero to return to glory.  We'll keep an eye on him and see what happens.

Almost as surprising as who is here is who isn't.  Last week, Gift of the Wild based Taheo decks stormed through their respective Regionals.  This week, the Druid slowed significantly.  Taheo still managed to pick up two top 8's, but I think a lot of people realized that Omedus and Gorebelly are just better options for Horde rush.  It looks like it may have had its day in the sun.

So here are some things to consider heading into events this weekend.  Omedus is clearly atop the decks to beat.  Ozzati, Gorebelly, and Mazar are still holding on as the solid second group.  Nathadan has had at least a one week resurgence as one of the top control decks.  Telrander and Rotun are still there as well.

Ok, let's move on to the class breakdown.

Mage-32
Warrior-31
Warlock-28
Priest-27
Druid-23
Paladin-16
Rogue-13
Hunter-12
Shaman-10

Mage hangs on to the top spot this week, based on the amount of ways you can play the class right now.  Ozzati is still carrying the Mage banner, but only has 14 of the class's 32 top 8's. The fact that Omedus is the top deck by a now considerable margin but Priest only ranks 4th in class shows the importance of versatility among the class.  It also shows that while Omedus is the DECK to beat, there are still plenty of other things out there to be concerned with.

Hunter and Shaman are still bringing up the rear, but they are closing the gap on Rogues for last place. 

Let's look at how the classes did this week, which will help paint a clearer picture of what to expect.

Priest-12
Warrior-9
Warlock-8
Mage-7
Paladin-6
Druid-5
Shaman-5
Rogue-2
Hunter-2

The Priests win the week thanks to the dominance of Omedus.  Warriors and Warlocks also outperformed the current top class Mage who checked in at fourth this week with Nathadan and the Paladins right on their heels.  So if you look at the weekly numbers combined with the overall numbers, Omedus is public enemy No. 1.

Here are my choices for the top 5 decks to be prepared for this week.

1. Omedus
2. Nathadan
3. Mazar (although this could be just Warlock control in general)
4. Ozzati
5. Warrior control-This is one of those one step ahead predictions.  Warrior control has a lot of potential vs. not only Omedus but the Warlocks and Ozzati as well.  Withering Shout completely shuts down Morlug (along with a lot of the other allies in the deck) and Wreck gives it a solid answer to the biggest threat posed by the Warlock decks, namely Bringer of Death.  If you still play Wraith Scythe, the healing factor can win a lot of games vs. aggressive decks as well. 

Tags: World Of Warcraft

I tried to have this done by last weekend, but time was something I ran a little short of this week.  Over the weekend, I played in another Legends of Norrath Championship Qualifier.  This time I did much better, taking home 15th place and $75, but I was so close to doing so much better.  I started the tourney 6-0 before dropping my last 2 matches on Saturday.  Sunday the top 16 came back for four more rounds of Swiss where I managed to lose my first three there too.  Sigh.

Anyway, back to WoW.  Before I get to breaking down these matchups, let me say that I haven't played very much with Omedus other than to test other decks against it, so some of these matchups I haven't played at all and will be just going off of how I think they should play out.  I don't have the time to test every matchup for every deck, so some of the ones that I am unlikely to play don't get much time.  Now on to the matchups.

Ozzati

This matchup has to potential to be pretty rough.  Omedus tends to be faster than Ozzati, but Ozzati has the power to play just enough control to slow Omedus down to the point that Ozzati can finish the job.

The most important thing for Omedus in this matchup is to not get blown out by Dragon's Breath.  Given the option you should generally play fewer allies with bigger butts instead of more allies with smaller butts.  You should probably also mulligan for Bloodsoul.  This is one of the matchups where having Kagella in your deck really helps, so that's something to consider in deckbuilding. 

Early on, your goal is just to do as much damage as possible.  If they want to race that's just fine with you because you will win more times than not, even if they went first.  What will probably happen is they will try to start a slow but steady stream of pressure while using their burn and protectors to maintain at least partial control of the board.  Don't try to get fancy and make good trades here, just get as much damage through now as possible.

In the mid-game, their early control combined with the card-drawing power of Draenei decks will start to wear you down.  You are much more likely to run out of cards than they are.  At this point, you're really just looking to finish them off with a big blow from Shadow Weaving.  Try to save Morlug until you get it because he's particularly vulnerable in this matchup.  If you play Kiani De'Nara, be sure that playing him is the first thing you do after Morlug gets into play.  He's a better play here than Faesha because they can respond to Faesha by killing Morlug, but since destroying your resources is part of the cost to play Kiani, there is no chance to respond before they take the Morlug damage.

This matchup is highly dependant on the skill of the Ozzati player as it requires a very good ability to control the tempo.  While this next statement is true of all matchups, it is especially true in this one.  The better the Ozzati player, the worse the matchup for Omedus.

Mazar

Warlocks have historically been very good at beating rush decks.  Add Steal Essence, Shadow Bolt, and Sarmoth to everything else already available to them, and you should be able to see why.  This matchup depends quite a bit on the build of Omedus.  I think the decks with a splash of discard will fare much better against Warlocks than the all-out blitz versions will. 

If you're one of the people still playing Soul Rend in your Omedus, it's going to help a ton in this matchup.  Shadow Word: Deaths will also come in handy.  Like almost all of your matchups, you're just going to want to deal as much as possible early while falling back on the Shadow Weaving plan late.  This deck generally has solid answers to both allies and abilities though, so it can be difficult to really get things set up.

If you're playing Omedus, you would like to avoid Warlock control decks at all costs.

Gorebelly

Have you ever traded punches with someone?  That's pretty much how this matchup is going to go.  Neither deck really plays much defense and neither will really do anything to try to stop the other with one exception, Nyn'jah.  Nyn'jah is the only card in these decks that can have a major effect on the other player's board.  If you can Nyn'jah their Twig, that is huge. 

Even if they manage to kill Nyn'jah next turn the tempo swing is huge. You get an extra 4 damage in by swinging with their Twig, they get the Twig back exhausted meaning they miss an attack with it, and they are forced to use three damage that could have been sent to your face to kill Nyn'jah instead.  Even if they puncture him, that's three resources that could have been sent elsewhere.  Two Nyn'jahs?  GG.

This matchup is close, but Omedus is generally more consistent and has the trump card for the matchup giving it the edge.

Telrander

Another deck that is generally just going to trade hits and be a turn or 2 slower.  There's not a whole lot to worry about here, but me mindful of Shred.  Some wily players may pass up the opporunity to attack on turn 2 to try to take out a Shadowfiend.  Other than that, just go after them hard and fast.  You want to try to kill them by turn 6 when the Vengeance of the Illidari/Prowl combo can go off.

This matchup can be close, but against Omedus is usually faster and more consistent.

Rotun

This matchup is becoming less relevent as Rotun slowly fades away to join the likes of Phadalus and Elendril.  Rotun generally doesn't have quite enough creature control to handle to rush and then has very little as an answer for Shadow Weaving.  It is then forced to try to play the same game Ozzati does, applying steady pressure while trying to maintain the board.  Unfortunately for Rotun, it can't play that game as well as Ozzati can.  Before March of the Legion this matchup may have slightly favored Rotun, but with Bloodsoul and Shadow Weaving, the pendulum has swung back in favor of Omedus.

Taheo

This is a matchup of two fast decks, that have different endgames.  Omedus usually trumps GotW for one of two reasons: Cannibalize or Absorb Magic.  Absorb Magic can be particularly devastating.  They invest 6 resources in their Gift of the Wild thinking it's going to end the game only to see it destroyed for 2 resources and you healed 6 damage to boot.  Cannibalize is also really good, not only in this matchup, but also Telrander and Gorebelly as well.  Healing anywhere from 8 to 20 or more damage is backbreaking in a race to 28.


That wraps things up for Omedus.  I'm also giving everyone a chance to vote on what deck they would like to see featured later this week in my article and then have the matchups here on my blog. 

Ozzati
Mazar
Gorebelly Twig
Telrander
Rotun
Taheo

I will also consider talking about Boomkin or what is turning out to be this week's surprise winner Nathadan if enough people want to see these decks.  You're in control. Let me know what you want to see.  Please reply by tomorrow evening, so I have time to get everything submitted in time.

Tags: World Of Warcraft

It's actually a good thing I waited until the end of this week to do Metagame Madness as I got the St. Peters results last night.  In a shocking development the top 2 places were swept by the juggernaut that is Watsonbury.  For those of you keeping score at home, they have now finished 1-2 in five Regionals since Worlds.  The five victories by Watson have eliminated the early gap of World Champion Guilliame Matignon in the Player of the Year race.  But that's not why we're here is it.  Let's take a look at the results from this week's Regionals.

First, it's worth noting that out of 7 Regionals across the country, I only managed to get results for 4.  If anyone knows the results from Alpharetta, Edmonton, or Birmingham, please pass those along.  Now on to the results.

Let's look at the numbers for individual heroes first this week.

Ozzati-11
Omedus-10
Mazar-9
Gorebelly-8
Telrander-8
Rotun-7
Taheo-6
Pagatha-6
Ona-5
Halavar-4
Nathadan-4
Bloody Mary-4

All tied at 3

Graccus
Phadalus
Zenith
Litori
Warrax
Morganis
Morova
Daspien
Ta'Zo

All tied at 2

Kassandra
Kalinna
Blaize
Mojo Mender Ja'nah

All tied at 1

Ruby Gemsparkle
Exaura
Indalamar
Hekto
Dizdemona
Aleyah
Yanna
Grennan
Thatia
Kana Nassis
Victoria
Dralor
Harrigan
Raesa
Urrth
Elendril

The first thing of note is that Ozzati has taken a 1 point lead in the race to be the top deck, but it remains very close.  To further ilustrate the balance in the game right now, there are nearly 130 decks represented and the current top performer only has 11.  It's really hard to break a metagame like this into tiers.  You could say that Ozzati and Pagatha are clearly in different tiers right now, but what about Ozzati and Rotun?  Rotun is clearly closer to Pagatha than it is to Ozzati, but it might be close enough to say it's the bottom of Tier 1 while Pagatha is the top of Tier 2.  I think instead of trying to attach specific labels such as Tier 1 or Tier 2 to decks, it's better to just say nothing is head and shoulders better than the rest.  No deck or decks has separated itself as THE deck to beat.  At this point, it wouldn't be shocking to play a tournament without even seeing an Ozzati deck.  So, in that vein, I'm not going to label things.  I'm just going to say you have plenty of options available right now.

This week I've decided to add a new feature here and look at this week's top performers.  This in conjunction with the overall numbers will give us a better idea as to what direction the metagame is moving in.  So here are all the heroes that placed at least 2 people into a top 8 this weekend.

Taheo-5
Ozzati-3
Gorebelly-3
Omedus-2
Mazar-2
Bloody Mary-2
Ta'Zo-2

As you can see, Taheo was the big winner this week, and I think that can be attributed to Jeremy Blair's article earlier this week about the deck that won a Spectral Tiger in Germany.  With no Darkmoon Faire or higher level events to help define the metagame, many players have followed Jeremy's advice and taken to the Gift of the Wild based Druid deck.  Since there are no decklists to look at from major events, this is really the only deck "backed" by a recognized player, so a lot of people are running with it.  When you look at this week and think back to DF: Philly and the Ozzati experiment, it shows you the power of the internet in terms of influencing the metagame.  Keep an eye on which decks certain writers talk about because you could see a major rise in the popularity of a deck after a popular writer writes about it. 

The amount of rush in this week's top performers is somewhat surprising.  Last week, it looked like the control decks were starting to make some headway, but this week, it's almost all rush at the top and Horde rush to be more specific.  Taheo, Gorebelly, Omedus, and Ta'Zo are all different takes on Horde rush.  Ozzati is the Alliance rush offering at the moment.  The only control decks seem to be Mazar and at least one of the Bloody Mary decks.  I didn't get actual decklists for both BM decks, but I know one of them was a control deck.  Other than that, it looks like rush is public enemy No. 1 right now.

Let's move on and take a look at the class breakdown. 

First are overall totals.

Mage-25
Warrior-22
Warlock-20
Druid-18
Priest-15
Rogue-11
Paladin-10
Hunter-10
Shaman-5

Mage has moved into the top spot thanks in large part to Dragon's Breath.  The card is really good in aggro matchups because of the potential to just blow the opponent out with it.  Gorebelly has helped push the Warrior forward thanks to its explosive capabilities while the Warlock has slipped from the top spot all the way back to third.  Druids made a strong push with the Gift of the Wild decks while Priests are still going with just Shadowfiend-based rush decks.  Rogues are suffering in large part due to Bringer of Death, and the bottom three classes just don't have what it takes right now.

Let's take a quick look at this week's class results.

Mage-8
Druid-7
Warrior-5
Priest-3
Warlock-2
Rogue-2
Hunter-0
Paladin-0
Shaman-0

This is the first statistic since probably U.S. Nationals and the end of Phadalus's reign that has shown any hint of imbalance.  The first thing to notice is that three classes got shut out this week.  If I would have told you a year ago that there would be a week without a Hunter or Shaman in a top 8, you would have laughed.  There was a pretty large disparity this week between the top 3 classes and everyone else.  The top 2 classes this week landed more top 8's than all 7 other classes combined.  Keep in mind, this is only one week, so we'll have to keep an eye on future results to see if this is a fad or a trend. 

There is only one Regional scheduled for this weekend, so Metagame Madness will probably be taking a break next week, but I'll continue to compile what numbers are available as we start the stretch run to Darkmoon Faire: Orlando.

Tags: World Of Warcraft

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