Phillies Win the World Series!!!

What a game. What a series. What a team.

Philly was bedlam last night! Can’t wait for the parade!

Comic Review ~ Secret Invasion #7

Secret Invasion #7 ( of 8 )
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Leinil Yu with Mark Morales and Laura Martin
Marvel Comics

Secret Invasion has been an interesting ride thus far. The obligatory 2008 Marvel summer crossover has amassed dozens of tie-in issues and spin-off miniseries, and has brought in respectable sales. Critical response, however, has been mixed.

Brian Bendis has been steering the Avengers ship ever since 2004’s Avengers: Disassembled, and the seeds for this event have been sown as far back as Secret War. It wasn’t until Elektra, the leader of The Hand, was outed as a Skrull agent (way back in the now-famous New Avengers #31) that fans got wind of the far-reaching implications of this conspiracy story.

Therein lies both Secret Invasion’s greatest achievement, and its greatest flaw.

10/17: Weekend MEV Preview Wrapup

Wow.

For better or worse, this week’s previews really got the community talking. Some even feel that the new Shift mechanic (as displayed by this week’s team, the Exiles) is TOO powerful.

I’m sure most of you have already read about Shift, but for posterity’s sake, here’s the official text:

* “Shift” means:
Pay 1 or more resource points >> Remove this card from the game shifted with that many shift counters. Use only if this card is in your hand.

* Cards have two additional powers while shifted:
Pay 1 resource point >> Put a shift counter on this card.
Remove X shift counters >> Put this card into play if you control X or more resources, where X is its cost. Use only during your recruit step (this checks uniqueness).

Yeah, it’s a little wordy, but it’s very intuitive. The idea works from both a top-down and bottom-up design approach. With Shift, not only do we have an elegant solution for the problem of what to do with those pesky unused resource points — we also have a mechanic that links thematically to the Exiles (dimension jumping).

As for the cards themselves…realize that I’m not usually one to cry foul when I see powerful previews. Most of the time, seeing a single card outside the context of the team it represents doesn’t tell you enough. There’s a good chance that Shift will be a powerful mechanic, a la Press, but not “broken” in and of itself.

But these cards are REALLY pushing the envelope.

Week 2: Exiles
Notable: Shift / Blink Legend / Mimic Legend

10/10: Weekend MEV Preview Wrapup

We’ve reached the end of our first official week of Marvel Evolution previews, and let me say, it’s been refreshing. Both VsRealms and the blogging community are reinvigorated, and MEV seems as powerful as any previous set.

I’m going to do a roundup of each week’s previews here in The Red Room, so that you can find them all in one place. Of course, if you haven’t already, be sure to check out my blogroll on the sidebar. There you can find links to all the great blogs that gave you first looks at these new cards.

Week 1: X-Factor
Notable: Energize / Cyclops Legend support / Multiple Man Legend support

Comic Review ~ X-Men: Original Sin #1

X-Men: Original Sin #1 (of 1)
Writers: Daniel Way and Mike Carey
Art: Mike Deodato with Rain Beredo and Scot Eaton with Andrew Hennessy and Jason Keith
“Original Sin: Part 1 of 5″
Marvel Comics

X-Men: Original Sin #1 is a one-shot that kicks off a 5 issue crossover between X-Men: Legacy and Wolverine Origins entitled (you guessed it) Original Sin. The plot of the story was a collaborative effort between writers Daniel Way and Mike Carey, although it seems to me there’s a lot more editorially-driven business here than Marvel would like to admit.

“What’s that you say? X-Men Legacy isn’t selling as well as “Adjective-less” X-Men was? And you say Wolverine Origins has been consistently losing numbers because it’s so decompressed? Well, hell, let’s stick the two together, slap a cool name onto it and see where it goes!” Now, I follow both of the involved titles anyway, so I’m certainly entering this crossover with an open mind….but the whole thing screams of a desperate attempt to regain readers to me.

In the pages of Wolverine Origins, Wolverine discovers that he has a son. Yes, it turns out that when Sabretooth murdered his pregnant wife Itsu way back when, he was actually under orders from the mysterious figure named Romulus to take control of Logan’s soon-to-be-born son by any means necessary — even if that meant tearing the child from his dying mother’s womb.

The boy was taken to Japan and left on the doorstep of a young couple that was unable to conceive. Romulus watched from the shadows as the ugly, awkward, obstinate child grew older. His peers teased him over his stature, granting him the nickname “Daken” (which is Japanese for “mongrel”). Daken’s rage grew over the years, and he eventually lashed out by murdering a village boy who was bullying him.

Daken’s mother held suspicions that he was responsible for the murder, and became increasingly frightened and withdrawn. As his mutation started to develop (enhanced senses….what else), he became more and more aware of his mother’s loathing. It is heavily implied that Romulus sowed these seeds of hatred in Daken somehow.

Years later, his parents were able to conceive a child. Daken resented his brother for making him feel unworthy. His inferiority complex is a central focus of his character.

Daken confronts his mother, calling her weak and foolish for cherishing a helpless child over a “warrior” like himself. That night, his mother is horrified to discover that her child is missing. As she runs outside to the clearing in the pouring rain, she realizes she is too late — Daken has killed her baby.

She lunges at him in a fury, and in this instant, Daken’s second mutation manifests itself: bone claws. He inadvertantly impales his mother. Unable to go on after witnessing this tragedy, Daken’s father renounces Daken as his son and kills himself. Daken, now dejected and alone, has nowhere else to turn but the dark embrace of Romulus…

Inconvenience

VsRealms has been down all day. Hopefully that gets rectified soon….otherwise how will my blog get any hits?

In all seriousness, if you haven’t already…

• Check out OrangeSodaMan’s blog, Vs. Unleashed! for a chilling Iceman preview. With control cards like him cropping up, I may need to reassess my position on RocketGurl’s argument.
• Then be sure to hit up the blog with the uninspired name for good ol’ Guido Carosella. The big guy has been M.I.A. in the Vs. System until now, but he’ll definitely be making his presence known as the apparent finisher in “MultipleMan.dek.”
• Finally, ask yourself the question: why did you visit my blog before VsRealms? Come on, now.

Til next time.

It’s Been Awhile….PLUS: Control vs. Combat

I haven’t updated my blog in awhile, and I want to apologize to you (all 3 of you).

Maybe updating 4 times a week was too lofty of a goal. I burned myself out fairly quickly; I had visions of grandeur — the Red Room filling the void that metagame.com and vssystem.com left in our hearts — but with a job and college classes, that just isn’t going to happen.

But….I owe it to the Vs. System to keep blogging about it. It’s that good. Let’s go over the changes at the new Red Room:

• My knowledge of the metagame isn’t up to snuff, so weekly deck fix articles are out.
• Articles about limited play wouldn’t be very helpful to anyone right now, so they’re out.
• There won’t be a predetermined schedule for updates (a la Lost Hemisphere, etc.)

Instead, I’m planning on updating my blog in a way that ebbs and flows with the goings-on around VsRealms. I check in on the site every day or so….so why not write for my blog at the same time?

For example:

• Marvel Evolution previews are just starting to heat up, and I’ll be here with commentary.
• We’re at an apparent crossroads with regard to the future of Vs. System. Announcements on future sets (if any) and DC’s inclusion in our beloved game are forthcoming, and I’ll be here with my thoughts.
• Any time any thread on VsRealms piques my interest, I may check in here with my take.

Before you say it: NO, I’m not updating my blog in the hopes of landing a MEV preview article. I mean, hey, I’d love one, but there are far more deserving bloggers than me out there. Really, it was Kamiza’s call to arms concerning new bloggers that made me feel inclined to get back in the swing of things.

Changing gears…