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77: As Wombat Intended
201 Plays9 days ago
🧑🎤 Star-Lord (ah - ah - ahh!) 🙅 Fighter of efficient turns (ah - ah- ahh!) 🌞 Master of the Sun (ah - ah - ahh!) ↪️ You’ll be Grand Mastered to the middle , with energy for everyone!! 🕺🪩
For our esteemed listeners’ consideration:
- 🫰 Weeks in Snap!!
- Star-Lord, Master of the Sun ☀️
- 🧙 Magus
- Moondragon 🌚🐲
- 🧬 Drax, Avatar of Life
- Secret Homework 🤫: Play someone else’s deck 🫳🃏
Follow us on Twitter/Bluesky:
Check out the other great shows in the Snap Judgments Network:
- Snap Decisions
- Snap Judgments
Join us on Discord! 👾
- Join the server
- Head into the channel "welcome-rules-and-tickets"
- Find the "SJPN Podcast Fans" message, and press the button for Snap On This!!
Featured decks:
- Ika - Moondragon
- Auto Moondragon
- Frank's Favorites
- WombatCombat - This Deck Rocks
- SafetyBlade - Dragon Showdown
Credits:
- Cover art by Lauren
- Snap On This!! Theme by Ben
- YouTube thumbnail by Lauren’s kid, Reggi
- Thumbnail portraits by Adam Star
Timestamps:
- 0:00:00 Intro / Our Week in Snap
- 0:24:07 Shang-Chi, Master of the Rings
- 0:27:01 Starlord, Master of the Sun
- 0:36:42 Magus
- 0:40:41 Moondragon
- 0:51:14 Drax, Avatar of Life
- 0:52:31 High Voltage
- 0:53:13 Secret Homework: Play Someone Else's Deck!
- 1:11:07 Next Week's Secret Homework
- 1:13:55 Housekeeping / Closing Remarks
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Secret Homework
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome back to Snap on This, a Marvel Snap podcast. This week's secret homework, play someone else's deck. I'm Lauren Whatevs, here with my usual amazing, delightful, effervescent co-hosts. First up this week, it is Rhi.
00:00:16
Speaker
How was your week in Snap? And keep it snappy.
Board Game Retreat Reflections
00:00:20
Speaker
Okay. um I did play some Snap. I just came back from board game retreat.
00:00:28
Speaker
wait Did you win? um I did win some. yeah i mean, I'm sure you were all winners. I lost at Broom Service, the Kiki's Delivery Service game. so I lost twice really hard. Oh.
00:00:47
Speaker
the mix of That sense. Dutchman's Niax. Anyway. That all your victory. Yeah. I'm like trying to catch up. It's one of those like things when you go and for a weekend away and you're like um and come back so refreshed.
00:01:03
Speaker
It's a ground running. Do all this stuff. Then you come back and you're like, that didn't happen. Finally. No, but a couple highlights. One, I will say for board games, I think the new game that I played, I didn't play as much. It was kind of like, ah you know, winter pooba in, sorry, that's what we call our board retreat, in spirit as well. um You know, just because...
00:01:32
Speaker
as Gandalf would say, because of the times that we're in. ah But, like, I played one new game ah that was a very little game that, like, even it just uses a regular deck of cards. So, like, it's almost don't have to buy it. I feel like that's why they made these really nice, clunky, like, poker chip tokens to go with it So you you'd buy it, yeah.
00:01:57
Speaker
Yeah, so you'd have a reason to buy it, to be honest. But, like, okay, so this is fun diagram because there's two there's two kinds of games that I'm very particular that I don't like as much as some of my friends. And one is little, like, social hidden role games like Secret Hitler and stuff um because I just don't. It's like you're adversarially arguing about, like, trying convince people who's what, but you have very little to base it on. And it's just like, don't like it.
00:02:26
Speaker
Were you really not taken by the Among Us craze of ah however many years ago that was? I've never played Among Us. like I know of it, obviously.
00:02:37
Speaker
if never actually played it, though. okay I don't think you're missing all that much, personally. Yeah. So... ah That style of game, i'm I'm pretty picky about for those usually like bigger.
Co-op Games & Preferences
00:02:54
Speaker
And also, like, co-op games, I'm pretty picky on Like, I feel like there's some games like Pandemic, where it feels like you don't have a lot of agency in your turn because there's just like the best thing to do on your turn so like what else pandemics also yeah and make easy like easy because like the whole thing is like we're all trying to do the best right thing you know and there's like no hidden info no individualism uh expression of your own gameplay philosophy or whatever
00:03:27
Speaker
There is a Lord of the Rings one, though, that I make an exception for and because the thematicness is really good and I can meme the whole time, you know? so Okay. But that's what I'm saying. I'm picky um about like ah what I like because I do i do i do enjoy winning...
00:03:49
Speaker
and proving that I am better grasping the rules and of course using them turn out advantage. so like ah So that's fun. But there's this new game. It's called The Gang. And I mean, I don't it's new I think it was their last time. so Probably a year old at least.
00:04:07
Speaker
um But the idea is it's co-op and it's over three rounds. and You have to get three successes before you get three failures. It's a card game. And then they also have little like side, like round rule breakers that are detriments or help. So you can add those. You can play without them. Or if you want, like you succeeded this round, you can make it more difficult and then something to make it easier, you know, like balancing mechanics. So there's that part of it, too. But the idea is it's just Texas Hold'em, right? And ah which is, you know, you see three cards –
00:04:45
Speaker
the turn and then the river, five cards total, and you have two cards, you get dealt out initially. And, you know, you the best poker hand you can out of ah those cards. And ah the idea of the gang is that you ah are trying to put Everyone in order. there's There's four, there's tokens for each player and the number of stars. And you're trying to put everyone in the order of who has the best poker hand, who has the best, the worst poker hand.
00:05:21
Speaker
um Vice versa, actually, sorry. But like, ah without being able to talk about your hands at all. You can talk about what you think of other people's hands are, but you can't discuss... Your own cart. So you're each grabbing tokens, and once the last token is grabbed for that round, that round's over, and then you see more. You see, you know, it's like betting blind is first round, the river, the turn.
00:05:45
Speaker
and Flop, whatever. Missing and this all the terms. Okay. But, ah yeah, so you get to see it. And it's like, this sounds simple. I don't even know that sounds fun. But in reality, ah it did lead to, like, very cool situations where I'd turn and I'd be like, okay, now. But see, she didn't reach for the sixth star, the best token, until she saw the three. That's what I think.
00:06:12
Speaker
She has a three or even a pair of threes in her hand. But nevertheless, ah that would make her her best hand, you know, a full house with queens, which means that I should still have the six token. Thank you.
00:06:29
Speaker
Like slide it back over, you know, and it's like, ah that's the kind of detective being revealing, and revealing monologue I can get into. So, yeah. ah Yeah, so it was really fun. And I think what made it different for me, if you're someone who also doesn't like these games, is that even though you have, like, you can't talk about your cards, you have no little to base on. You're not trying to deceive anyone. So the fact that you have nothing to go off of, it doesn't feel like, you know, you have basically reasoned side where people are, or you know, like, lying or not. And...
00:07:08
Speaker
um Yeah, and it's just a fun way to play poker in that I just don't want like, I don't really enjoy playing poker anymore it did when I was younger, but like now it's just like I'd just rather play board gaming part of a different fantasy.
00:07:22
Speaker
You know
Memorable Meals & Cultural Reflections
00:07:23
Speaker
what I mean? Like in video games, like I just, I don't wanna like pretend to emulate real war. I wanna have like swords or space swords or space laser gun swords.
00:07:36
Speaker
I meant to take the swords off the last one. At some point, also, I'm fine with weapons that are not this point. But anyway. So, ah yeah. Okay. Oh, my gosh. Okay. I was going to, I think, tell another story from my board game retreat. I think you've been going for too long. No, kind of think you should. Or you could say that nothing happened in my weekend snap. You can have mine. Tell me.
00:08:02
Speaker
i want i want to ask i want to ask if you've ever played The Crew, which is a co-op trick-taking game, but still card game. i think so. That's another one that I love. I like trick-taking card games anyway. like I think Tichu is phenomenal.
00:08:17
Speaker
Oh, I did play a new one. ah I forget the name of it, but have you played the trick-taking card game that's Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf? I've played that one. have It was fun, and the art was all, like, the old, like, cartoony-style, like, Steamboat Willie, you know? that's cute. So, like, the art was really endearing, and, uh, anyway.
00:08:41
Speaker
I did well at it, so I like games well usually when I do well. Listeners, if you like co-op games or trick-taking games, the crew does a phenomenal job of mixing them together. I wouldn't have thought you could, but anyway.
00:08:54
Speaker
Uh, I don't know if Rhi's telling a second story. they would like to have they I'll try and keep it brief. um or It's not even related to like board games, but it was kind of like a highlight for me um of of this board game retreat is like... ah We have it now where we have like some food we make ahead of time and that just needs to be heated up or frozen. And this time we were trying to avoid even like ordering pizza one night, which we'd been doing. And some people had volunteered to cook.
00:09:27
Speaker
You know, which is a big deal because board game for me, it's like I will prep ahead of time. But once I am there, you know, like it is like board games and chill. Like we're not in responsibility mode.
00:09:42
Speaker
So um perhaps to people, who cook but anyway, so ah someone who is new, this was only their second time ever at the board game retreat and volunteered. ah to make a dish. And I remember we were like, ah they had just arrived that day and they had spent, they were like all day at the stone cooking. And like people were getting like hungry. It was later than they thought like for dinner and the hours are going because it just like wasn't, but it's been going for hours. i didn't even know what was being made. So was just like, you know, we're all like, what's going? And, you know, and
00:10:20
Speaker
We're wrapping up games. Like how long was must we game with like hunger in our bellies? And then finally, he's like, it's ready. it's done. And I was served like, like I would pay so much money for this at a restaurant so much better than restaurant food. It was like, for me, it was the meat eating people had like a lamb, had lamb in it.
00:10:44
Speaker
um But it was this rice and beans dish that he said ah was he's like, well, you know, like it's my it's like an old family dish, but it's kind of weird to say it because it's actually like the Iranian national dish.
00:11:00
Speaker
So, and mine was, like, just beans and, like, rice in this, like, sauce with other, like, other stuff in there. But it was Okay. like if you if you are like, in into the art of cuisine, whether by watching a lot of food tv or because you actually cook, I happen to have done both, um you know that, like, there is rice And there is rice. You know what I mean? Like when I started like my cooking journey, I thought it was about learning to season. It's like, oh I'll taste something. And then when I know whether it needs more salt, than then I will be chef. You know, chef will be me. And I realized like seasoning part is the easy part because that's where you just make it taste to the way like. And it's like, that's not hard. You just start late and you keep going until you like how it tastes. You'll go past that. Yeah. The hard part is actually learning like how to take any piece, any article, like a grain of rice from its pantry, fridge, shelf staple form, right? And helping it realize its full potential as a morsel to be consumed delicately within your mouth. And it's like... And that's difficult, right? Learning to cook rice. that is really It's like when you get it wrong, it's so easy to just, I don't know, write it off. It's just not that good food.
00:12:27
Speaker
Anyway, ah so this food was so good. And it was followed by this like really heartfelt discussion about like you know stuff that was it was going on you know ah with his family at large. And we're just having it over this like...
00:12:44
Speaker
Super good dish. And even though, right, like I usually like for me as a vegetarian, it's like, oh, I'm having the substitute dish, the alternate dish. and I was actually having the OG dish because like, because growing up, they made it with the beans and stuff because it was like, it's much cheaper, right?
00:13:03
Speaker
Like to make stuff with like dry beans. Oh, there's like dry limes. in this dish. like i've never i didn't like know that was a thing, mostly because I'm ignorant, but like it was just like, oh, so good. And it was just one of those, I was like, oh, give us the recipe. And it's one of those things where it's like, there's the recipe And then there's stuff that's just like, he didn't even have a recipe. he He found like something. He's like, oh, this is like, this is pretty much it. This is close because it is one. It is one of those. It is one of those, you know, it's like, oh, this isn't something you can just make. This is something that was like, this is like passed down food that you have to learn how to cook. And like no amount of, you know, a thousand words in a picture or a thousand words in text is going to like teach you how to Anyway, so oh you just reminded I ah got halfway. i'm I'm still working on Snapshooters. I had such a busy week.
00:14:03
Speaker
You came very close to one of my this or that. And I was a little worried. yeah did did i post Did I post it in our chat or something?
Birthday Highlights & Snap Creator Meetup
00:14:11
Speaker
OK, good, good, good. I was like, was I dropping spoilers?
00:14:14
Speaker
No, no. Well, let's not be sure we'll be able to piece together which just thing I was talking about. Well, picked up, I got for like four or five dollars at the Atlas store just as a lark. I was there for like and dog toys. But like um ah it's like this Marvel like Oracle deck, like little tarot deck. Oh, cute. My guidance for the future, i was I was messing with it. It was just like to be more like Loki. And I'm like, I like this.
00:14:42
Speaker
I like this for me. Okay. That's very open-ended.
00:14:47
Speaker
Sorry. um My brain is all scattered today. But ah yeah, thank you for letting me talk about my game retreat. Mostly Snap has been like rage sauce for me. I've been able to go through longer stretches. I've played more Snap. I've quit less. And yet still I quit. I've been i've been thinking. I've been like, what is Is it me?
00:15:07
Speaker
Is it Snap? I don't know. I don't even know what's wrong with the relationship. I don't even know what would fix it. But it's like, I feel like I'm playing for so long before I'm just like, and it's like, I never leave like, yeah.
00:15:20
Speaker
So it's like, yeah so I'm so sorry. like Okay. But you know, like we're throwing like phone. It communicates how meh you are Yeah. Right, and it's not like, but it's like, and that's not how you should feel with a game, like when you're leaving a game, like, you know what I mean? Like, it's like if Hades 2, you're just like, I like that thing, or I got that thing, or I made that culture thing. It's like, next time I have all this stuff to try or something. And then, where if, like, you know, all my other games, it's like usually there's a time you can leave feeling stressed. Oh, I want a front lines. We pulled it back from the back. Oh, it's so amazing. We held these two teams right at the winning to line, and we're so far behind. We like, less than half of the... Sorry, I'm, like, just catapulting onward. But, like, I'm just saying. I wish that... I wish this... I felt better about Snap. I don't i don't feel satisfied anymore.
00:16:20
Speaker
lot times. Might be me. Okay, I've a lot of that going around, and I don't know if it's the game or if it's just, like... we need something fresh or like the core audience is like, I don't know. I don't know what it is, but I've one thinking about it. I've been trying to figure it out. Like, what? Like, i always want to pick apart, like find the bug in the code, you know? Okay. um I will ah introduce our next host.
00:16:52
Speaker
The amazing, the only, the singular Benjamin Roller. Oh gosh. You know my weekend snap was alright. At the beginning of it, there was still Sanctum Showdown, so that has been most of my my snapping this week.
00:17:10
Speaker
Alas, it is gone from us. I did... i I really did enjoy it. I played a lot of the deck that I always play. i did play some of another deck, and, ah you know...
00:17:25
Speaker
It's just such a great mode. um Other things from my week in Snap. ah It was a hashtag pod goals season.
00:17:36
Speaker
i finished at rank 599. I it's i feel like it's a lot easier to get into the top 1,000 than it was last time I did hashtag pod goals in the early days of our podcast. I think i think there's less...
00:17:54
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Uh, it's just easier. Uh, but I'm, I'm still happy about it It was a pod goal and it was met. Um,
00:18:06
Speaker
Other than that, oh my gosh, I can't, I obviously can't disclose any of it, but gosh, if I had been playing a shit ton of the Montabi play tests, I would tell you that I've really been enjoying it. If I could disclose any of that, I would tell you the music's great and I like the little vending machine guy.
00:18:25
Speaker
um But I wouldn't disclose that sort of thing. Right. Right. ah What else happened in my weekend snap?
00:18:36
Speaker
I played a little bit of Conquest, but I just had so many tickets. Dude, it was just like, it it was such a such a cartoon situation. i felt like I was loosely trying to shove chocolates in my mouth, trying to get all this snap stuff done. like Just like, well...
00:18:58
Speaker
you get You get so many tickets. And then, like, ah Scrolls. See, you also get so many tickets. But I was actually talking about Scrolls a moment ago. Oh, my gosh. So many, so like, every eight hours, you got to lose four games of Sanctum. And, man, I tried. i tried. i actually...
00:19:16
Speaker
I deviated from the norm and I did a little bit of snap streaming. I streamed a little bit of snap. And I mean, like that was the quickest I was able to lose tickets was by, ah you know, doing it for an audience. self Yeah.
00:19:30
Speaker
But like, gosh, it's just such a grind to lose four games of Sanctum every eight hours or or so, you know, like. You can, you know, but all the same, I do love the mode. I do love the mode and I do like winning. But like every time I win, I'm like, well, that's one more scroll I haven't lost. yeah You know what I'm like? It's just it's a whole thing. And then like you're leaving.
00:19:53
Speaker
you're leaving charms on the table if you don't if you don't do it that way. And I need to check into the shop. I'm im probably going to do it during Warren's Weekend Snap. Maybe there's a juicy variant in there that I want. um I don't know. ah Point is, i got all I got all my green glyph sporters. I've got enough green glyph sporters that I could like make a whole second Sanctum deck and it would still be all glyphed out on the edges. And that that's
00:20:22
Speaker
I have played a little bit of Ladder. Mostly I was playing a little bit of Ladder last season. oh Not that much. I was playing mostly Conquest because, again, so many dang tickets to burn through. Tickets, scrolls, tickets, scrolls.
00:20:37
Speaker
Gosh, am I one of those people who find who finds Snap a little bit stressful lately? Maybe I am. I had not considered myself in that camp of people who like you know find it a little taxing or or whatever. But like when there are all these...
00:20:51
Speaker
like vanishing like, uh, opportunities that I, I, I've earned that you know, like in theory they're finite and limited and like, I have them. So like smoke them if you got them or whatever. Cause you gotta start letting them burn.
00:21:09
Speaker
Burn those gold tickets. I did burn some... I burned a shit ton of Infinity tickets. I burned... ah i I did not check in on every refresh. I tried to be good about Sanctum, but like I like to sleep sometimes.
00:21:24
Speaker
And I had other things to do and like a life to live and people in my household are sick and need taken care of. And I'm just like, ah! So that's that's been my week in Snap. Mostly it's been my week in Montabi, but I can't can't really tell you about that.
00:21:42
Speaker
Lauren! Hey, I had a great weekend snap. I know I normally don't ah get into it. ah That has more to do with my memory than my privacy. um But I can remember some things. I had my birthday right after we recorded.
00:21:59
Speaker
I had... ah this Don't listen if you're a foodie. But I had some of my favorite foods, which include raspberries and chocolate. Yes, but also Taco Bell breakfast, which I... I love all sorts of foods and I love good food, but I also love trash food and Taco Bell breakfast. I consider to be one of the best foods in the world and I had it served to me in bed. So delightful um alongside Mountain Dew with orange juice in it, which they used to serve and now they don't. So, well, we did it with Sunny D, but.
00:22:27
Speaker
This is the the one time a year I have Sunny de and Mountain dew together. Anyway, um that was great. It was a good day. I mostly I've been working hard on a video that I would love to tell you about if I could. But, you know, it's you'll probably see it soon. It's about major victory, but, you know, for reasons.
00:22:51
Speaker
Yeah, I've just, you know, I've been i've been deep in the the major victory sauce, um which is let me tell you, really great sauce to be lost in. How deep is
00:23:03
Speaker
Looks pretty shallow to me. Yep. Let's just say the video has high quality editing, but is only three minutes long. Yeah.
00:23:15
Speaker
And ah so you can all look forward to that ah whenever whenever that guy comes out. And and Oh, today, just today, I met up with other Snap creators who live in Utah and and somebody from Second Dinner who doesn't live in Utah but was swinging through Utah. So we had lunch together today and it was super fun. um Yeah, Brady and Harry Perry and Roram, I think they're all open about living in the West. So hopefully I didn't just dox anybody. But... um
00:23:50
Speaker
it was It was fun. And we went to a restaurant called D's, which is ripe for low hanging fruit jokes. sure is And yeah, it it was awesome.
00:24:02
Speaker
I'm glad I had that opportunity to do that. let's Let's get into those stuff the stuff, the weekly coverage as it's labeled in our outline, but I don't think we ever call it that. um Y'all, do you do you have new thoughts about Shang?
00:24:22
Speaker
Mostly i think he still stinks. Yep. Good. Yeah, he hasn't really been threatening at all to me. who it's um I will be very interested to see how they balance this card if they do. Because um that game start thing is it's bad.
Card Balance Debate in Marvel Snap
00:24:42
Speaker
I'm still seeing it around, though. I've seen some, too. And I'm like, why are you still playing this? I don't know if they're going to touch it because I think it's popular. I think i think there's a certain kind of gamer who loves the...
00:24:55
Speaker
Loves the the potential, you know? ah Even if it is so rarely realized and so honestly unspectacular when it is. It's just like...
00:25:09
Speaker
it's It's bad enough to to hurt your draws, but then like it hurts itself because of that. Because you have to draw Shang do the thing.
00:25:20
Speaker
a two one on reveal, give something plus one, that's not worth playing. like You need Shang to show up. Right, and you make it even rarer to draw. i just This card is so bad. It's so goofy. One of the worst series fives, just yucky.
00:25:35
Speaker
The way I see it is that like a a three, like all the work and setup for this is a lot to be lost to my one cost deafening cord. You know what i mean Like they do all that. That's what I was playing a like Agamotto like show loud like deck at the beginning of the week.
00:25:55
Speaker
And that's how I was that's when I was seeing a lot of them. I think it was it was it the weekend mission or whatever. i was taking them all out with deafening cord. I want King Torres. So it's like I missed it the first time. Doesn't matter. i get in the second.
00:26:08
Speaker
I've been hit by that this week. That's rough. um Heads up, though, if they transform the rings after you use it deafening cord, they will get their text back. That's good to know. That makes sense. That feels very inappropriate.
00:26:22
Speaker
Also, the rings retain power buffs, power changes, like Bruce Banner does. o Something to be aware of, I guess. I don't know how relevant that's ever going to be.
00:26:34
Speaker
But yeah, like if you hit them with Ironheart, maybe a dumb example, but if you did that and then transformed them, they would keep the plus three. um Okay.
00:26:45
Speaker
I like Ironheart. Let's talk about this week's cards. think was great example. There are three of them. She's not a bad card. um Don't see her very much, but like... Better card than Shang-Chi. She's still playable and better than Shang-Chi. I agree with that analysis.
00:27:00
Speaker
Okay. Our season pass card, Star-Lord, Master of the Sun. i rated it a three, and y'all convinced me to rate a We all held hands at four. And bless you for doing so, because my goodness, we were right.
00:27:14
Speaker
This card is strong. um it was the thing that you said that made it click for me was like, or or something you said made me think about it this way, and I was like, oh, that is good. It's just you're borrowing one energy from each of your previous turns to spend on the last turn. I'm like, yeah, that's a good thing to do.
00:27:34
Speaker
Turn six energy is the best energy. Except when it's turn seven energy. Yeah, well. Yeah, yeah. yeah okay well Have you played with him? Do you like him? Are you having fun playing against...
00:27:51
Speaker
Hela and Modok played on the same turn? That part, not so much. I tried... I shoved Star-Lord into a deck where he didn't like really belong. yeah you know I was like, yeah let's just jam him in Surfer, see to see if that can be made to make sense.
00:28:10
Speaker
And it was fine. I got a sense of the card and like how it pops and what its rhythms are and stuff. And, and you know... It's not so good a deck that I'm going to share it here because I try to only bring our listeners the true bangers. um But, you know, I got a sense of the card. It is strong, does the thing.
00:28:32
Speaker
it does like It's doing such a ah good and desirable thing. Also, now that we've all had it in our hands, does anybody think Kraglin's a real card? it's It's just shitty Star-Lord, and it's so shitty by comparison.
00:28:47
Speaker
oh my gosh, Kraglin is going to not going to do anything. Look at Kraglin and look at this kid. They're just they're comparable and it's unflattering. The exception is when you want to play a six cost on turn four.
00:29:00
Speaker
But you can already do that with Wave. So I guess he's the asymmetrical way to do that. And there'll be like be use cases, but then you have to draw Kraglin by turn three and your six cost by turn four. Yeah, I think that is a fair analysis.
00:29:19
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I did play some Star-Lord to get a feel, but you know I hate the mirror, so I swapped to like, what?
00:29:32
Speaker
like What can I play to like counter this? And what I found to make better use of the energy and ah time, like with magic they were providing me with, is I was playing Invis Woman First Steps Jocasta, that non-sensory thing.
00:29:52
Speaker
Because people do not like so many people have forgotten or underestimate or they're like they think they look because they're getting to play out all their stuff. So they're like, I'm going to win. I'm playing out all my stuff. I'm doing all my things. And it's like, yeah, but I have a Jocast and a Prodigy and an Invis Woman First Steps Out and in Fantastic. are all You know what I mean?
00:30:17
Speaker
Like, it It goes exponential. I'm going to go bigger than you. because And you help. And I didn't put the cost in. I didn't spend a turn playing magic. You did that for me. all your stuff scales after Fin Fang Foom.
00:30:33
Speaker
Right? Yeah. So that was crushing for me. Yeah. so that was like crushing for me like all through like ah the 70s, like after I switched to that, was just eating up everything. People, like when I was hitting, people was just like underestimating how big I was going to go when I hit it.
00:30:55
Speaker
That's the problem. It's that hidden math where it's just like, you know what i mean? Like bullseye, like things versus things. And i I don't know what the math is. i just know when I hit certain things, it's like, ah, it'll be big.
00:31:08
Speaker
be bigger than whatever they've got, you know what i mean? Like, ah I don't like it. i don't like playing the game. I wish it was, like, tighter um a little bit, I guess. But that, and then the other thing, I did go back to my Marvelous deck, because once again, if you can play a smart, right, and with a Shadow King, right?
00:31:33
Speaker
You know what I mean? Like, there's so many people that were doing all this work. I'm like, good, do it. Do it more. Do it harder. Boom, Shadow King. You know what I mean? Like...
00:31:44
Speaker
Right at the end of their man spider non sensory like anyway. So ah those were what I was playing. It's like, you know, with that, if you're not trying to stop them from what they're doing, which it does get harder because a lot of it's about dumping at the end. Right.
00:32:01
Speaker
harder to counter as you go along. Then it's just like, just, just, it's that like, it's like, let them wear themselves out, you know, let them be overconfident in that ring. And then you just like, you just need the one, the one punch. You're just like, yeah, I just, I just went activate, activate, activate.
00:32:21
Speaker
And you didn't know, you didn't know that math was going to get that big. I didn't know. just knew it would be big enough. mean, have known. mean, literally both of you, but, um, But I see what you're saying. Yes.
00:32:36
Speaker
This is how I play the game. All right. Yeah. i Let's see. What else? He can be multi-procked and people have been doing that with like you play him on four and then you run master abs man. like seeing Like some of that stuff gets silly or I've seen him on Wong too.
00:32:51
Speaker
i Yeah. um I've heard. heard a not not as strong at the top, but you know, the top of the game is is a different game, honestly. ah Here in the middle, you can get away with Hela and Modok on the same turn, and it's really stupid how easy that is to do.
00:33:12
Speaker
um and don't... I feel like he's a problem, and I am wary of calling a card a problem when it's three days old. Not even. But...
00:33:24
Speaker
I feel like he is contrary to the core mechanic of snapping and retreating. Because that makes he makes it so much harder to know when your opponent is failing to do the thing, because what if they're just saving all the energy for the end instead of the fact that they had bad draws, maybe?
00:33:43
Speaker
like So that's rough. And there are already some patterns like that, like Black Panther Zola. But that's also like really face up and you either have the way to deal with it or you don't.
00:33:54
Speaker
I don't know. And it's right. And it's to do with energy, which, as we've seen, you know, Zabu so many times in the past, just like more energy, more problems.
00:34:08
Speaker
But I mean, like this being contrary to the the snap thing, like that's sort of like how good cards have always worked. like the The ones that like make it so your opponent doesn't have the information to snap or treat effectively, and you do, like creating that you know asymmetry is like, that's the name of the game.
00:34:30
Speaker
I don't know. But like it is it is kind of like it's sort of an extreme case
Impact of New Cards on Gameplay
00:34:35
Speaker
of that. and And it does like take away... like That is like one of the most basic cues to to snap, is like my opponent has missed their early draws and I have stuff on the board. like that That really is... like a cornerstone of the whole the whole thing so like this this is kind of a special case even among you know powerful cards that create that imbalance right and the more they can the more they can skip the fewer clues you get about what deck they're playing so i don't know um the only information is lack of information is it's just like radio silence is like the only message
00:35:14
Speaker
Right. ah sort of i was also really anti-nasty Elioth, like early Elioth, where we did have other cards at the time. like I think Negasonic was before Elioth, and we had ah Juggernaut cards that did benefit from Pryo. But Elioth really turned the game into like, okay, if you have Pryo, you win with Elioth. If you don't have it, you win with Shang-Chi. And it like...
00:35:39
Speaker
It used to be that throwing prio was almost always the strong thing to do. And Elioth introduced this this element where it was like, it doesn't matter who has priority. If somebody has one of the good cards, they're they're in good shape. It took away that element of the game where like priority was always the right thing to or it was always the right thing to throw a priority.
00:35:59
Speaker
um They've adjusted a lot of sense and i don't know. I just, it's not necessarily nostalgia for the early game. it just like sometimes feels to me like they're moving away from what makes the game good.
00:36:13
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:36:16
Speaker
I guess there's I should also mention Cosmo. Cosmo's been a card that I've always been like, well, I would like to have priorities so that I can get things down before Cosmo ruins my ah my day. Cosmo's a good prior card, yeah.
00:36:34
Speaker
But there are only a handful of cards that like really, you know, they they sort of dictate the terms. I don i don't know.
00:36:43
Speaker
Magus, the super premium season pass card. Evil Adam Warlock. 3-5. Yeah, that's the best description. 3-5. Activate, copy the text of a character in your deck with cost equal to your unspent energy without using its own reveal.
00:37:03
Speaker
Well... I don't think I've seen him at all. I saw him because I got him in a Triskelion, and I looked at it, and I was like, i don't even know. It's like, what, can I copy him? No. Like, the other stuff in my hand is better. I'm like, damn. only experienced with Magistar. I don't think I've seen anyone play actually play a deck that looks like it was built for him.
00:37:25
Speaker
I think I saw someone playing one. I couldn't tell what it was supposed to do, because, you know, Megas, it's...
00:37:34
Speaker
It's not always easy to tell what what they might... know or ah You were planning to win this game? Is that is that correct? like i i i I have to guess at the details because um you're playing what seems to me to be one of the least winning cards ever. I mean, I like that it's 3-5, right?
00:37:58
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know what they were thinking with this card. Um... And it still feels like maybe there's something that somebody hasn't yet discovered, but like... Maybe.
00:38:10
Speaker
I don't know. usually Usually cards get solved within the first week. There are exceptions, but that's almost always the case. Um...
00:38:19
Speaker
I've seen him some. There was one game I had to retreat from him because he was Iron Man and it was on the Nexus and that was a problem. But mostly... But they had to skip five energy. They paid eight energy for it, right? Mostly I see people talking about using him for five costs like Sarah and I'm like, that's so bad. Yeah.
00:38:44
Speaker
An eight energy Sarah. You have to have a really, really good reason to have Sarah to do that. um so also like just to count on the thing still being in your deck at that point it's it's just wild i was trying to think of this because i wanted to do a magus clip and so i was trying to think of like what does magus do uniquely and there's very little almost anything he can do mystique or prodigy or jubilee or iron lad like there's a bunch of cards who can do something similar
00:39:15
Speaker
um What if you really need that Howard that's in your deck so that you can see the Howard on top of your deck? it's always a good time when iron lad hits hits howard um and it's like magus can be a three cost sarah which works with moonstone if you played that on four but that's like you need you need magus on three moonstone on four and not sarah in your hand that's like that's a lot of things that have to go right for you to have invested in this and if you do draw sarah
00:39:49
Speaker
What is Megas going to be instead? And so, yeah, he's bad. um The thing I came up with was to immediately pull Stormbreaker, like to play Beta Ray Bill on turn seven, copy Stormbreaker and use Odin. And it worked. But that's that's a clip thing.
00:40:04
Speaker
But that's a Clip Hunter thing. There's no way that's a realistic thing to do. I, yeah, I don't... it is my what i was trying to get at is it looks like a clip hunter card but there's really just not even stuff to do there like it's not even a shenanigans card and in that case what is this card like if you're gonna be bad at least be fun yeah i say that about shang chi oh i played a fun bad card in uh in a deck for secret homework this week i'm excited to talk about it i'm not even sure it's always gonna be a bad card maybe it'll be a good card someday i'm so excited
00:40:42
Speaker
One more. Moondragon End of turn. Plus two power if you played one card this turn and spent all your energy.
00:40:50
Speaker
Have you seen her around? Have you seen people playing Doom 2099? Not as much 2099. I've seen more Stardust. assume as a preemptive counter to it. Maybe also because there's a lot more. Probably more of the Hella thing. Yeah, maybe more for the Hella. There's some Bree Zola stuff too.
00:41:08
Speaker
That too. i have seen some of that. Yeah, I haven't seen Doom 29, but I have seen Moondragon. I've Shadow Kingdom Moondragon several times, but I honestly think I'm still, I have like 11,000 tokens, and I was like, because I am missing quite a few cards, you know, in regular series 5 and 4, as well as the seasonals. I'm like, should i be smart and use it efficiently? But I think I might just blow it all this week on Moondragon and then oh really are you sure
00:41:42
Speaker
I want to play with though. And it's just like, don't know. I don't know why, but I like her Maybe it's just the way she looks saucy. and No, I think the like it's it's a good base art illustration, right? She, you know, yeah. ah It's called moon dragon. Those are two things I like. It's hard to argue with. me And it's like, I like Wiccan stuff.
00:42:06
Speaker
I don't know. I can't, I can't play with her. But you have to play only one card. Is that, like, conducive to after you get all your Wiccan energy? Are you going to be able to play one card a turn? That kind seems like there's an odd... Well, like, that's an interesting... I'm all the time playing a million cards anymore. We're all, like, disciples of Merlin. We're all just, like, polymorph, omnipresence... Okay, but we're, like... It was novel at first when it's like, oh, we can get arrows from Kate Bishop. Oh, it's so fun. Like, look at all these little cards.
00:42:40
Speaker
And now it's like, we got cards for days. We've got cards that make cards that make cards that make cards. And now it's like, ah matt remember simple times playing one card that used up all your energy?
00:42:54
Speaker
Like, moon dragon. Yeah. Nostalgia. Oh, snap. Anyway, so, like, I just, I kind of like the different kind of challenge. I'm kind of tired by the way I can get a million cards and I'm, like, intrigued. I don't know. Maybe it'll be frustrating in and end in failure immediately. But, like, nevertheless, we resist.
00:43:15
Speaker
Okay. and I've seen, i think I saw one Moondragon the same way I saw one Magus and I couldn't. Couldn't really tell what they were going for.
00:43:26
Speaker
I gotta say, like, she seems to be about a super premium season pass power level. Uh, this is very Dragon of the Moon. ah it's very Magus. Um, yeah.
00:43:44
Speaker
i I don't... I think the one card per turn thing really, really hurts. You know? She's not she's not giving you electro benefits. Like, it's... Like, there's there's just nothing... Why... Yeah, it's such such a big ask. I've been using much electro.
00:44:01
Speaker
Have you? Yeah, but they him away. This is the most you're seeing in a long time. They go back to playing multiple cards a turn. Yeah, it's blink or war machine. and it's like Nobody has like really good splits, but I've seen them like, you guys have never played Electro in your lives.
00:44:22
Speaker
I'm sorry! like a hip person who played an Electro to then destroy it with a destroyer like a cool person. You know, not just blanking it all the time. They need get on your I don't really know why, but I do actually have good splits on an Electro. I think it was just because I was splitting a lot of Spider-Man villains whether or not I was playing them ah at one point, but like i do have I do have Ink unlocked for him, which always tempts me to toss him in a deck because I do like to play all Ink when I can, but like I just, I'm not an electro gamer and I've learned that about myself and I wouldn't, I'm not trying to change it.
00:44:58
Speaker
You know, I know what I like and it's not electro. I do like his costume though. The, the dorky lightning star. I'm not, I, I, that, you know, I love ultimate Spider-Man does a lot of things, right?
00:45:14
Speaker
I don't think we needed boring, bald electro who wore a nondescript bodysuit. Um, Sorry. i i have so many nice things to say about Ultima Spider-Man, but they dropped the ball there.
00:45:26
Speaker
if You can't improve perfection. Moondragon. I played a Star-Lord shit through the 70s. did Hela. I did a bunch of stuff. Goofing off with the card.
00:45:40
Speaker
Hitting the 80s, I saw, I think it was Ika. Somebody posted about a Moondragon Doom 2099 deck, and they called Sandman the secret sauce to deal with. the rest of the meta and i will tell you sandman has been kicking so much ass oh for real okay have really been enjoying sandman doom 2099 which is funny because i did not like when doom 2099 was a good card before um Okay, coming out, you gotta show the deck, because I probably will. I would totally have played that for Secret Homework this week. I was going to play Ika's deck, and so I threw Moonstone into a deck and hit auto-build, and it was like 10 of the same cards. I was like, I'll just play this.
00:46:22
Speaker
So I'm playing an off-brand Ika deck. Ika's deck used Storm, which is cool, and and he said also a good way to disrupt Star-Lord.
Strategies for Deck Building & Countering
00:46:31
Speaker
For the variants. Okay. Yeah, I've got some great I've got some great storms. That's true. I used to play her a lot um back before War Machine ruined all my joy. Yeah.
00:46:44
Speaker
Moon Dragon is is is bad. I never ever want to play her on a later turn than two. yeah I've only seen her played on turn two. I will play her if she is the only thing I can afford to play, but it feels so bad to play her on three or four. um And even when you do get her out on two...
00:47:08
Speaker
You have to draw perfectly to get her big. And I'm playing a deck that's got a pretty nice curve. And I think I've only gotten her to double digits like twice. um Maybe I won't get her.
00:47:20
Speaker
She's fine, but I honestly, I have a lot of games where she stops at four. um Oh, that's not enough anymore. Two's got to do better than that.
00:47:31
Speaker
Even in the Doom 2099 deck, which should be the one deck where she's better than Chamber, she's not better than Chamber. um So she's she's your backup for Chamber. She's like the two you play if you didn't get Chamber. ah Yeah.
00:47:46
Speaker
I think they need to cut off one of her stipulations, you know make her just that you spent all your energy, or just that you played one card at that turn. Or... yeah I saw somebody else's idea. i think it was Roram's idea.
00:48:00
Speaker
To make her plus three. To make the scaling better. And that way it's okay if you miss one or two of them. And also it means that if you do great with her, she can actually compete with Chamber. I think the plus three would not be enough. It has to be the first one.
00:48:13
Speaker
I think that like the the flaw in the mechanism of... like all the energy and one card per turn, I think that's the real problem with her. yeah I think the the version where it's either you you spend it all or you play one card with plus two, I think that's the much more elegant fix. And also, in addition to being more elegant, also more playable. I think the plus three is still, that would still be asking you to do just this terrible thing that the card is currently asking you to do. And they need to get away from that if they want anyone to use it.
00:48:46
Speaker
I don't think she'd be too good if she only asked you to play one card to turn. No, especially if it was still plus two. i I mean, maybe they could combine the two. I don't think they could, though. No, then then then she's just... That would be too good.
00:48:58
Speaker
Yeah. Look at this compare, like all the work this asks compared to what you can get plus two return out of like a set and forget nebula.
00:49:09
Speaker
Great. Nebulas are so annoying to people. And it's just like, oh, you just put it out there and probably, hu It annoys me. a lot I don't like someone telling me where I play. I like telling other people where they play. that's why i guarantee you that That's why I have a habit of kind of like leaving Nebula alone unless I wanted to play on that lane. Really? If you just leave her alone, like i just feel like if I've left her alone, she's easily a Yeah. Like seven or nine.
00:49:40
Speaker
have to leave her alone for so many turns. Are you throwing that lane like entirely? I thought that's what you were saying. oh i mean like i just play cards when i want to play cards there and you know the that's usually enough to keep her down low you know but we play different decks your plan is like usually i know you've been getting more into tech but you're always like just trying to go taller trying to do your moves so it's like the importance of executing your own plan outweighs everything else i build decks and play decks in a more turn to turn style you know what I mean like sure sometimes there's like an overall plan but it's but so it's like more punishing to me and the way I play in the decks I build to leave in Nebula just like to ignore one I just I can't think of like a lot of times when I'm like you know what went wrong in that last match I just let Nebula get away from me I i like that's not a familiar experience to me
00:50:37
Speaker
Well, maybe she's flying under the radar. Maybe, you know, maybe I am losing games and I'm just not attributing it to the, the, the real culprit who has been, I guess it was Nebula all along. I'm saying that a little, I'm saying that a little tongue in cheek, but also I do think it's a phenomenon that people are much more able to attribute game losses to the turn five and six cards than they are to the earlier ones. Even if the early ones were actually the responsible ones.
00:51:07
Speaker
Early cards can be pretty cool. I like playing cards early. Okay. Vibe check on next week's card. Drax 2. Mr. Avatar of Life. 3-4. End of turn. Plus 3 power. If your opponent played a card with greater power this turn, move to that card if you'd be winning its location.
00:51:26
Speaker
He seems fun. It's certainly the meta for him. Yeah. Yes, that is true. It is the meta for him.
00:51:38
Speaker
He fits into the weird, like, move cards I like, like Silk and Batrock. I want to try another Silk Batrock nonsense probably with this one. Maybe I'll skip Moondragon until they, like, inevitably buffer and then just, like, see what I can do with the Drax.
00:51:57
Speaker
I like playing little cards, you know? i love... There was a hole there's a whole Snap era of mine where my constant struggle was playing like ah so much tech or so much Ravonna nonsense that I wasn't getting enough power even when i was completely like shutting them down. So...
00:52:16
Speaker
um Okay. Yeah. Anyway, I'm in into it. I know it's probably weak. I guess i've I've started looking at like what can get me excited to play snap. And that's like the only. nuche touching kit You know, ree i I know something that might make you excited to play snap. Surprise high voltage. how about that?
00:52:39
Speaker
I'm kidding. But you know, I'm happy, as I always say for High Voltage, I'm happy for the people who like it. But this is a cosmetics-only run. I probably will not play it at all, except maybe... I'm not playing a single game.
00:52:51
Speaker
I might knock out some bounties there, but probably not, honestly. My sole goal is to get the Groot variant. It's like, okay, I need to play enough Conquest to get the Groot variant. If I do that, all else. All else may pass.
00:53:06
Speaker
and Okay. Those are very reasonable goals that might even be easier to do than reaching infinite.
00:53:13
Speaker
On to our side quests. Right? Anything else? Speak now or forever hold your peace?
00:53:20
Speaker
First up and only this week, secret homework. The secret homework was from Rhi. Oh, yeah. Okay.
Secret Homework Reflection & Learnings
00:53:28
Speaker
um so the secret homework was to play someone else's deck. And bonus points, ah if it like was like something that was like not in your wheelhouse. Or slightly uncomfy or whatever in some way. And i ah reached for the stars and I very much failed my own secret
00:53:53
Speaker
Honestly, because like, okay, first um I was like, okay, I will um stream and play like people's decks and that'll be cool. And then I'll have a whole thing to tell. And then I just like, ah wasn't, sometimes the plans of past and present re ah fall apart in the face of the battle that is life.
00:54:17
Speaker
and then I, so I was like, okay, I'm going to stretch myself and I'm going to, to, uh, I'm going to ask, um, my friend and game artist, uh,
00:54:35
Speaker
studio partner Frank for his favorite. He has like this like ah Mr. Negative deck has always been like his favorite and he's got like it's the one I love people's decks that they like blinged out like from the old days where they got it all like gold or you all ink before there was more splits and like all crackle and stuff and he's got one those and like all the hellfire gal variants and it's very like classy and elegant like and i i made the deck and i like tuned up my variants the best i could for a bunch of these cards they don't play as much and like
00:55:10
Speaker
like And then i lost like five Proving Grounds in a row in Rage Quartz. I don't know why. Okay, it's like, you know how sometimes like two of your very good friends, because I know Lauren has played a lot of negative in her day as well.
00:55:27
Speaker
Like, they really like this, like, show or something. And you're like, okay. And you've tried to get in the show and you don't like it. But, like, you keep trying because you're like, my friends really like it. And, you know, we are all human beings um of excellent taste. So I don't know why I should not also, like, this show that's me with Mr. Negative. Like, I go in and I'm like, this time will be different. I'll like it because i will try harder to like it. And I just hate it. It's so, like, telegraphed to me. It's so, like, just, like, not the way I like to play.
00:56:02
Speaker
I just, like, when people have countered, I had to be like, i don't know, do they have the counter? Because usually, like, people don't know what I'm doing to counter me a lot of the time. i mean, yes, with the Inviswoman first steps, but that's on them if they, like, underestimated and the power of Jocasta and all that. But, like, yeah.
00:56:21
Speaker
Yeah, it was a lot of times I had something set up and then it's just like, yeah, they snapped and I should have retreated because that meant they had the counter. But like, oh no. Anyway. It's okay to stay when you're learning a deck.
00:56:36
Speaker
It's fine. Yeah, and it was Proving Grounds, but it just, like, it's just... say I've had this real sore energy, sore loser energy towards Snap lately. If I'm not actively cooking a deck where I expect to lose as I'm building and i'm I've got this, like like, cooking brain on it, like, okay, like, we're in and when I'm just, like, I'm just playing to win.
00:56:58
Speaker
What? I didn't win? How could this happen to me?
00:57:04
Speaker
When the best players in the game have like a 60% win, right? Yeah. Yeah. And and like Proving Grounds is always AQ. And I guess it's just like I haven't been playing enough or playing enough Conquest yet. It's just like it's Proving Grounds. Who cares? But for some reason I was like, ugh.
00:57:21
Speaker
so like salty anymore about snap anyway so okay but i did ah you did have a turnaround because was like ah do i have time to play another deck today and i was like playing i was playing counters when i saw and i'm like okay my marvelous deck that i went over will be good against what i'm doing and like the first deck and then i was winning i'm like okay the first deck that beats me i'm gonna play that deck And it was a junk.
00:57:48
Speaker
It was a junk deck. It was like a Goblin's deck, which was great because I've seen it. Have you guys been seeing a lot of Galactus? I have been seeing a lot of Galactus. Yeah, I've been seeing Galactus.
00:57:59
Speaker
Oh, really? I've been seeing a lot of Galactus. So I'm like, yeah, let me let me throw some Gobbas over. That's another way to deal with Star-Lord. but Right? Yeah. Junk's always... It's like if you fill up three lanes like in the right moment, it gets harder because people are much better now. and there's much more options. I think what made junk better before was like if you filled that lane you were filling it um like permanently, and then they could outpower you, right? But now, because we have all the spells from Merlin, we have all these cards that move, it's much easier that once someone detects that that's the deck you're playing, which it's very obvious, right? If you're playing like an Annihilist-style deck usually right away... Once it gets the goblin, like, they can usually tell what lane you're going to go for or even any of lanes and fill up the lane without actually paying the penalty for that, you know?
00:58:57
Speaker
and then you're stuck with... Then even if you were going annihilize after that, you wasted your turn on, like... how very Anyway, so interesting. it's It was interesting because I haven't played that for a while. haven't played, like, Annihilus-style deck for quite a while. And I'm like, oh, it's interesting how how this is used to be so much more punishing. And now it's just so much more easier to play around with the new tools we have. and But it was it was still, like...
00:59:27
Speaker
It was still fun to play. and like a Celine and all of that nonsense. So... um So that was enjoyable. Okay, Ben is assigning our new homework.
00:59:39
Speaker
So, oh my gosh, it looks like it looks like you played you played... Whose deck did you play, Lauren? don't want give it away you. I played a deck from the original Good Egg. But first, you were talking about Proving Grounds, and I want to vent briefly about Proving
Competitiveness in Proving Grounds
00:59:53
Speaker
Grounds. Oh, yeah, do it. Because it is... and And I'm slightly averse to doing so because I know I want unranked in the game bad, and I think that... whatever is wrong with Proving Grounds would a lot of that would translate to an unranked mode but it is so sweaty and it's not just that people are playing good decks like I think that's a little silly but like maybe you're learning the meta deck like I'll forgive that yeah but I don't know why Proving Grounds is so sweaty and then when you lose they beast emote you and you're like yeah you know we were playing Proving Grounds right you saw my deck you saw that I'm doing shenanigans like what is wrong with you child
01:00:32
Speaker
I was playing some Sanctum as as I am wont to do and like I was losing one and when I'm losing one I will still on the final turn when I can tell I'm going to lose I will snap so that the the winning person gets the maximum number of charms this fucker beast emotes me and says sn snapup snn snap snap I'm like I'm trying to be nice to you you understand that right you must need this so badly you little fucking loser oh my god People are so pathetic. usually you get it everyone I haven't seen a bad emote in so long because it's such a habit to me.
01:01:06
Speaker
Usually when I snap in the last turn and and hopefully this is your experience too, Ben. Usually when I do that to donate the the thing. Fistbopped and everything. Usually they fistbounce. They're like, hell yeah, let's go. like That always feels like a good thing, having the extra camaraderie.
01:01:26
Speaker
But
01:01:29
Speaker
yeah This person really needed to let me know that i was in I was a fool for snapping and I should have known that they were going to win and that they're better than I am and they're really smug about it.
01:01:40
Speaker
Oh, you just reminded me. I got one last night where somebody gave me a snap as soon as the game ended. Snap, snap, or as soon as like, and it looked like they were winning. And then their strange Supreme ate something off of the lane and I won by one time. Oh, I see that all the time. All the time. People think they've won. Of course I did. Yeah, you better send me that wounded Deadpool emote. Yeah, that was a little bit of a whoopsie, wasn't it if Oh man.
01:02:06
Speaker
Um, okay. The original good egg wombat combat. He posted this in the speakeasy. And so perhaps others of you have played this also, but he named it this deck rocks. I named it wombat rocks.
01:02:22
Speaker
It's a very cute deck ahead of, uh, Ozymandias who we're getting next month. I think, um, Yeah. ah Okay, let's let's just read it out.
01:02:34
Speaker
We have Herbie, Invisible Woman, Rhino. Pay attention all the cards that can make rocks. That's two already. Patriot, Mole Man, Debris, Blue Marvel, Valkyrie, Onslaught, Mockingbird, and then Fin Fang Foom and Death are both here only to be Mole Man targets, which I don't love, but it is cute conceptually. Yes.
01:02:56
Speaker
Um...
01:02:59
Speaker
This is a meme deck, and i and I did not play a ton of games with it, probably like eight games with it. And when it goes right, it's really fun, but it doesn't go right very often.
01:03:10
Speaker
I've got to be honest. um Maybe I'm playing it wrong. you Maybe I'm not abiding by the the way of the wombat. um ah No, this is a shared dream of me and Wombat. I just want to argue with Wombat about the Fin Fang Foom and death because i feel like probably we can do better there. But yeah, I love that. I love the concept. It's so all in on Mole Man. And let me tell you, when Mole Man hits, having two very but high power rocks in your hand is dope.
01:03:40
Speaker
um but But what if you don't draw Mole Man? Or what if you don't have a good opportunity to play him? Or what if he hits Invisible Woman? There's a lot that can go wrong. um But anyway, it's fun to play Valkyrie in a context I don't usually play her. i have done some Valk Patriot stuff, and it is pretty good. um But...
01:04:02
Speaker
it It was fun to walk in somebody else's shoes. ah I don't think Wombat purports that this is anything but a meme deck. yeah but I don't think either. It's a different kind of memery for you because you're usually going for a very specific clip that you have very like specifically built for and this is just more in general memery. Right, this is more like we're playing it like it's a serious deck but it's not.
01:04:28
Speaker
and So there's a lot more like flexibility, there's alternate play lines. um it is That was refreshing. Although, I disagree with having two cards in the deck that we can't even play. Yeah, feel like it's better though. Well, i mean, you can you can play Fin Fang Foom with Herbie if you if you're willing to not make a rock with Herbie, which does seem against the And you it perfectly. It all works so well. Yeah. So I guess you're right.
01:05:00
Speaker
Well, you know why I've thought about that so hard? Because I also played Wombats. ah This deck rocks. Yay! I should have played it too.
01:05:11
Speaker
and then I played two Proving Grounds' with it and nobody was snapping at the beginning. These were these were real full Conquest matches. I love Conquest. I do. i still have fun playing Conquest. I know a lot of people, it's not everybody's cup of tea, but I think it's like the best...
01:05:30
Speaker
And I love it. Anywho, I would tell you what's in this deck, except Lauren just did. i played it as as Wombat intended and um couldn't find Invisible Woman for the longest time on the collection screen because I forgot she's two four now. But...
01:05:49
Speaker
sure she's 2-4 that's cool ah I found myself having a lot of really awkward turn sixes where I had something that cost two that I wanted to play and something that cost five and I just couldn't play both of them and but it is I believe it is intended as a meme deck and I did win a game in one of my conquests I won four cubes I proceeded to focus all the other games after that, but that's that's fine. and I never got big Mole Man rocks, but I did have fun playing Mole Man, and I was getting closer to winning games than I think anyone could have expected.
01:06:39
Speaker
there There were a lot of times where I was like, oh, if I'd played Blue Marvel in a different lane, these numbers would have broken my way. And yeah it's a lot of fun. Sometimes it's fun to play fun decks. And Wombat Combat's the original good egg. And I was a little worried this might happen because it did look like such a fun little deck to play. i was like, I bet somebody else played this deck, so I should have another deck that about. I couldn't resist. Yeah. And so I will talk about a deck that I don't think anybody else played. and that's Can I finish a thought about about Rocks real quick? i wish you would. Okay, before we go on to a new deck, I did feel like this was close. Like you said, like it's closer than you than you expect this little deck to do. I found it really, really hard to win without Patriot, but that made me think maybe Ozymandias is enough. That might be enough. Make Rocks real.
01:07:31
Speaker
Yep. I really hope so, because I'm just rude for Mole Man. Always have been, always will be. That's my guy. Anywho, this was not my plan a for this secret homework.
01:07:48
Speaker
I did play a safety blade deck this week and I feel like that's, that's basically the only, the only deck builder I ever talk about on this podcast. So that was not my plan a but he did build a hell of a sanctum showdown deck.
01:08:03
Speaker
And ah I really enjoyed playing it. His Sanctum deck was Kitty Pride, Batroc the Leaper, Hydra Bob, Ezekiel Sims, Kraven, Spider-Man, Silk, Hydra Stomper, the Prowler, Shang-Chi, Stegron, and Sholao the Undyne.
01:08:21
Speaker
And it really works. Show low is pretty good in Sanctum. ah It's, you know, it'd be like, ah, that's a full lane. You filled the the lane that turned out to be the Sanctum this turn last turn. That was very sloppy of you. And I'm like, yeah, but I'm about to put 12 more power on it that you didn't know about. So, yeah.
01:08:44
Speaker
give give me the charms. um Yeah. Hell of a deck.
01:08:51
Speaker
Yeah. i I didn't stop playing my own because it wasn't working well enough. I just wanted to try this one because it looked so exciting and Safety Blade was kind enough to the say that I somehow inspired it on Blue Sky, and that's that's very sweet.
01:09:07
Speaker
He didn't realize that I was on Blue Sky and had been following. He noticed just now when I liked this one, I'm liking Safety Blade posts all week long. i'm um'm I'm like, i i i don't go looking for, like, mostly I just i just ah scroll the feed from time to time. But, like, if I am going to search somebody up up in the corner, it's probably, like, Safety Blade because I'm trying to find that Safety Blade deck.
01:09:34
Speaker
Like, i'm not only not only am I on Blue Sky, I'm like... Safety Blade is like one one of my primary points of like interactions. I don't know how it took him this long to notice that I was there. i doesn't watch his notifications, apparently. I guess not. That's very healthy. That's very healthy. um But yeah, that deck is super cool when Sanctum comes back around. ah You should totally try it.
01:09:59
Speaker
That's what I say. Also, the rocks, I really hope Ozymandias pushes them into serious relevance. And yeah, it's fun to play other people's decks. They have cards in them that I would never put in there. Like, I'm i'm i'm never thinking about Invisible Woman. I'm i'm never... ah I mean, she's great, but I'm not not putting Kitty Pride in a whole lot of my decks on purpose because, you know, she's just not one of my cards.
01:10:28
Speaker
but but Sometimes by accident. Well, you know, sometimes I'll i'll be trying... yeah I have sometimes been like, could she be the right thing for this? Because, you know, she's friends with Hope and other cards that I like. But yeah, yeah, I...
01:10:46
Speaker
I never really tried her in Sanctum or anything, and she worked okay there. yeah most Mostly, I think she's there to be a Sholau buddy. I put her in your Sholau surfer deck.
01:10:58
Speaker
I put her in your version of that deck. I bet that's good, too. i I considered that as well. Maybe I should try it. All right. Well, that was fun. Now I suppose I must assign some secret homework.
01:11:11
Speaker
Well, I don't know about y'all, but I had a texting week. I feel a bit weary. i don't want to make us do anything too demanding.
01:11:24
Speaker
like So i will i'll say here we are in Guardians Greatest Hits Volume 2.
New Secret Homework & Guardians of the Galaxy Discussion
01:11:31
Speaker
And I think maybe we should take a take a stroll back in Marvel Cinematic History and watch Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. And see see what that speaks to us of in 2026. However many years later.
01:11:53
Speaker
um What do we think of the the waxy de-aging of Kurt Russell in the the opening scene? What do we think of the first appearance of Mantis on screen? um I don't know. i was just like, what's what's easy? Also,
01:12:16
Speaker
Because this one is intended to be so easy, that's right. I'm specifying that it's absolutely okay to make it a second screen experience. Sorry, cinephiles, but I'm going to be on my fucking phone playing some Marvel Snap, probably. but you have to play. several watchinging it Also, this homework is super easy to fake if you don't want to do it.
01:12:44
Speaker
Cause I bet we've all seen this movie at least once. I have seen it at least once and I don't remember it. Well, I believe the there's there's a lot of baby Groot in it.
01:12:57
Speaker
Some some elo Mr. Blue Sky. um What else do I remember from Guardians 2? Adam Warlock shows up at the end.
01:13:08
Speaker
um i do remember it being the one with Mantis and Ego. I remember i remember that, but I couldn't tell you anything else. Yeah. i All of the jokes, gone.
01:13:22
Speaker
It'll be like it's the first time. There's a monster and Drax cuts his way out of the big monster from the inside. there is also during the aforementioned Mr. Blue Sky scene. All right. I'm doing next week's homework today. no I can't do it. I can't do it. We're not discussing the movie. I get know i i apologize for spoiling it for all the the listeners who are going to watch along with us. I just wanted this one to be easy. Can't can't things be easy sometimes? Sometimes life hard. Sometimes.
01:13:52
Speaker
Yeah, indeed. Well, on that cheery note, if you liked what you heard, do all the things. Interact, feed the algorithm, feed our souls. Come join us in the speakeasy, our little corner of Discord, instructions in the show notes or video description. We are proudly part of the Snap Judgments Network, where you can listen to other great shows like the titular grand pod, Snap Judgments, from Pulse Glazer and Nick DeGreekGeek on Saturdays. i All the way from Vietnam.
01:14:19
Speaker
Well... half of it or a quarter or what it depends on how many guests there are anyway tune in next week take a deep breath same snap time same snap channel wow really putting some stink on that last one oh baby oh oh uh just you know i don't have the patience to do it right i'm sorry
01:14:45
Speaker
All right. If no one had something burning, I have a suggestion for the outro. Shoot. Okay. I'm calling it Re-Let, in which I give you...
01:14:58
Speaker
I love a number of topics and you decide which one. don i good podcast Okay. Topic one would be a comics corner that we didn't have time for a couple of weeks ago. i was going be Harley Quinn comics. quote who do did Today,
01:15:20
Speaker
um I watched No Mauna finally. Yay! My movie challenge. We could talk about that. Four, ah I don't know, could be what I started telling you about before the podcast. that We started podcast instead.
01:15:37
Speaker
And then I feel like there should be five because I just don't like four instead of five. um so five is wild card. I don't know. Oh, okay. um Is it? Yeah. it's It's the modern run of Harley Quinn.
01:15:52
Speaker
Yes. I believe written by Elliot Kaylin. Yes. Okay. I'm interested in that. Well, I adore Elliot Kaylin. He's on my favorite podcast. also adore Elliot Kaylin. Oh, really? Joke farming.
01:16:04
Speaker
I was so impressed. I'm like, oh man, if I talk to Harley, if I talk about Harley, I should know who the writer was. And I'm like so proud that I remember the name. And you know who it is. Yeah. That's incredible. Okay. It's not someone had heard of. know mostly from The Flophouse, which is light woman podcast. also know him from The Flophouse, but also I liked some of the television. The other television, well, I feel like he's most famous for being the former head writer of The Daily Show, but...
01:16:30
Speaker
i've I've seen some other television he's written, and i also enjoyed that. and Big, big Elliot Kalen fan.
Evolution of Harley Quinn's Character
01:16:37
Speaker
He's a good egg. Not the original good egg. That's obviously Wombat Combat, but, you know.
01:16:42
Speaker
Right. i yeah Yeah, so i want to hear about this. Also, i just, I like Harley Quinn. And so, yeah. Okay. Yeah, and I've had, okay, so, you know, Harley Quinn obviously is another interesting character. I'm always interested in kind of like a study of these kind of like reclaimed female characters. I feel like they're characters that, you know, and we've, I don't know, we've probably talked about this in podcast before, but the idea that when young, there are lot of especially female characters that were mostly more sexual objects or less important. They just weren't super great characters. But there was something cool, right? You see Poison or Harley Quinn, and they just look cool. A cool design, cool vibe is really a big superhero.
01:17:36
Speaker
When, ah you know, some of these people who love these characters grew up, you know, they wanted to then give that character, you know, like I like Batgirl being the perfect example, right? Being like, like, broken by Joker and, you know, but then becoming Oracle, like just anyway. So Harley Quinn, um her low point for me and my knowledge of Harley Quinn, right? Having been created from the Batman animated series, right? Was where she is. And then of course, obviously like all great superhero animated things comes back into the comics. and But she was attached to Joker, right? Because she was created a show. And Joker is just like,
01:18:22
Speaker
you know, a messed up good dude is his whole thing. And whose only love kind of and care is Batman, right? He's never really, ah care about anyone else that he's with. And I remember for Harley Quinn, there's this moment and this is like, right. She like, Her design has changed. She's out of the jester costume. She's got the pigtail. She's got a really cool, like, punk, like, aesthetic that's going to appeal to people of all ages, but young girls as well. And I remember they did a contest for, like, for, like, Art of Harley Quinn. And it was, like, suicide, like, like...
01:19:04
Speaker
wristlet in the bathtub kind of thing. And I was just like, I just remember, me and friend, we were just like, this is messed up. Like, what you got you what are you all doing with Harley Quinn? Especially someone that's being idolized by young girls. They were glorifying, like, the toxic, like, the Joker-Harley Quinn relationship, which is just not, it's not a good relationship, right? But then she...
01:19:28
Speaker
Yeah, but people, the thing is, but the thing i thought about that a lot when I was working at Hot Topic many years ago. We sold a lot of merchandise, and I really, like, that, yeah like, bothered me to think about ah that stuff. Anyway, continue. But people love Harley Quinn, right? And so eventually, right, just so many times, till people who really loved the character and saw her um as more, you know, wanted to give her more than just...
01:19:54
Speaker
like, this just object to be possessed, you know, um got a hold of her, and they had to, like, leave Joker and really stand around. And it's hard to, like, separate, you know, in, in like, pant superhero pantheons to, like, break apart, especially, like, Joker and Harley, who were so, um you know, seen as such a unit. But they left. There's so many comics that kind of, like,
01:20:21
Speaker
And, you know, that kind of began to address, like, what happened, like, kind of to Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy as real characters, right? There's so many of the best comics is remembering that they're, like, people, you know, and not just plot devices. And... um There's comes a dress that in the right and then they have Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy and like end up in a relationship together and it's cute and it's sweet and everyone loves it and generates all like the best fan art, of course. and um And now both and it's done so well. Like both characters have their own long running Poison Ivy is in, like, what did I just read of hers? It's, like, 40 maybe something? Is she 40? Is she 20? I don't know, but it's, like, Poison Ivy. I'm usually reading, like, five-issue runs of, like, these characters, right?
01:21:11
Speaker
and And Harley Quinn's also been going on for it. Okay, so the current run, though... The current one, when it started, it's like she's just been on this really like zany ride for a while.
01:21:22
Speaker
And when this character it just kind of seems to to go that direction, I have no attachment to this writer, right? I have an attachment to the character. i've been reading it. I probably noticed writer change, hopefully, when I got it.
01:21:37
Speaker
And he started hard.
01:21:40
Speaker
He started adding in so much nonsense. But it's like, and this this this latest issue I read today was the payoff of a lot of it. These are things that that Harley Quinn has been up to. It's like...
01:21:56
Speaker
It's so good because, right, there's when you're fourth wall breaking in comics, right, like a Deadpool style thing, which they've dipped their toes into with Harley before.
01:22:07
Speaker
It's so hard to not just like mimic Deadpool. And it's just like, oh, you're just you're just doing a Deadpool. You know, yeah, I've seen that before, you know, but like, uh, But this is like her own like weird ass wacky flavor. So I love that he he's clearly someone that understands and knows this character. She has done...
01:22:30
Speaker
save this panel to show to her friend. She had a one night stand in her mind with her own brain, who is now like a separate character in comedy. It's her brain, like with a mask and it's brain, it's brain Harley.
01:22:43
Speaker
She's just like, thanks for that. Mind if I go take over the body for a while? It's like, Yeah, go get it. You know, like, she's like, what is going on? It's so, she's been hanging out with the, they're called the the the gun, the gun buddies. It's like these two women, like, they're kind of like henchmen, but they're their own little team of mercenaries that are like, you know.
01:23:05
Speaker
friendship like in guns and they're so goofy and you never see that with what you write you like to see little like funny duo male characters you know pooban tamo there's so many like groups of that you don't see that as often with women and they've been so much fun it's just like all this stuff slowly i was just like i'm really like into this comic like where i did think i was In this latest ah issue, she has come up against the Deconspirator,
01:23:36
Speaker
ah who is character. He breaks the wall where Harley Quinn and this character address him as the writer. in it Because his goal is he is the idea of this villain is while he was being created by the writer as fodder for Harley Quinn, you know, to like beat up and dismiss because you you forget, right? Like writers are always just inventing new characters to come in and be beaten up by superheroes. And maybe some of them they secretly hope will be cool and stick around and get big and they could could have created a big one. And sometimes it's just that they needed someone in this fit the bill, right? Whatever. So there's always new throwaway characters um being created. But this character, when he was given conspirator powers, he realized he realized that all of their actions were meaningless because it was all predetermined by the writer.
01:24:28
Speaker
And he goes when he faces when he faces Harley Quinn, you know, at the end of this, he's having broken apart the whole world that like she's built up. And you're kind of like, where is he come from? He meets her. She meets him while she's sleeping in and the road in a dream. He's like, oh, yeah're I'm several panels ahead. But like, we're to talk about this now.
01:24:52
Speaker
Just like, okay. And all of it is like clever quips all throughout and stuff. And, um... So there's a point where he's breaking down Harley Quinn, but he's not just talking about her character as she's been in the comics. This is a meta conversation about the discourse around Harley Quinn. And I found this so fascinating because just last week, I'm pretty sure I saw a Reddit post where people were bemoaning. Like there's just a group of Harley Quinn fans that are like, the, oh, it's Paul Dini, right, who made the animated Batman and and was one of the creators, at least, of Harley Quinn. And they're like, that version, the cartoon where she's in the Harley Quinn outfit, that was perfection. In any way, they've tried, look how far she's fallen. Look what they've like done to
Celebrating Queer Relationships & Future Topics
01:25:44
Speaker
her. Because they did she did they she was like kind of just a sex object in the comics for like quite a number of years. They've also, like, as much as, like, I've enjoyed this comic, there's a comic coming out that's just about her farts or something. It's just like, what? Is that? aren Okay. Oh, it's like an April Fool's one-off or something, yeah. All right, you know, but everything doesn't have to be for me. That's fine. If people want to read about farts, have your farts and read about them. You know, like,
01:26:11
Speaker
um but like he's talking, but like exactly like this Reddit discourse, this idea, he's like, aren't you mad? You've never had agency over your character. And I was just discussing this with Captain Marvel about female characters and sometimes male characters, but characters they deem are important or have a different meaning than being like a person that just get yanked around and who they are. And he's like, aren't,
01:26:35
Speaker
Aren't you furious? I'm so mad. Nothing you do is me. Everyone's just decided for you. You know, you've been this and that and everything. And um she just kind of like looks out and she's like, oh, is it that like ball thing guy out there?
01:26:54
Speaker
Like, get on the artist. Fun to it must be fun to draw. It's like, yeah, try the character like looking out at it But like and and Harley Quinn is just like, hey, thanks, everyone. you know, and he's so he's so nonplussed that she's like not at all upset. He's laid it all out for it. And she's like, like, that's awesome. Like, I get to exist.
01:27:15
Speaker
I came from like a hench girl. Look at everything I have now. I get to be with Poison Ivy. Like I've got to have all these journeys. They do this cute little panel that's like the evolution of Harley. You know, the the like monkey to human thing. and It's like Harley like crouching down, but like going through some of her different outfits.
01:27:34
Speaker
And i just... I was like... I'm like, this is such... It is so hard to pull off what this writer is trying to do, which is like a meta discussion that like... both Both works as like an entertaining comic within itself that fits in the larger story that that they've been telling, but it's also such a ah meta commentary on the character outside of it. And just... And the audacity to put yourself in. Like, this isn't a Mary Sue or Gary Stu. This is like like, hey, they're looking at me.
01:28:09
Speaker
They're talking to me. and and it's like, to me, that's one of those things. I'm like, you better pull this off or you're getting knocked for ego. And, you know, and he i really enjoyed um I have really enjoyed his run to the point where it's like, oh yeah, who's, you gotta find out who's been writing. It has come together in such a clever, interesting, funny way. I loved hearing you guys talk about like, you knew who this was.
01:28:35
Speaker
um Again, I will plug his recently released book, Joke Farming.
01:28:42
Speaker
I'll have to check out ah Harley Quinn. I don't, you know, we already talked about a bunch. I don't want to take it too far, but like something I love about the cartoon, the HBO one. I love that show so much.
01:28:54
Speaker
There are a lot of things to love about it, but one thing is is she's totally left the male gaze and her relationship with Poison Ivy is, is it feels real. They both feel like three d characters and they have problems in the relationship, but they stay together.
01:29:11
Speaker
Not in like an unhealthy way. I just mean like, you know, it's a trope for queer people to their relationships never last. So it's nice that like, I think the show creators have said, know they're staying together. So that's nice.
01:29:23
Speaker
And think it's good. I'm glad to hear that, that Mr. Kalen has done such a good job with it, especially because, you know, Without knowing any specific writer, i would want I would want it to be written by a woman, ideally.
01:29:47
Speaker
Oh yeah, I guess we should have had like a stinger. Stingers! Ha ha ha! Somebody says something clever. Also, are we going to get to hear about the other topics at some point in the future?
01:29:58
Speaker
not today. Are they lost to the wreath-er? Oh, dear.