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40: Wobble, Wobble, Wobble, Hulk!
231 Plays29 days ago
🕹️🎮 “They @#$% us up, our favorite video games. They might not mean to, but they do. They fill us with the faults they had and add some extra, each playthrough.”
–(esteemed poet) Lillip Pharkin 📜✍️
For our esteemed listeners’ consideration:
- Weeks in Snap: witness the first and second modern-day invocation of an ancient Snap On This!! Tradition 👩⚖️🤭
- 🧪 Elixir
- Global Bounties 🌐 for lazy space cowboys 🚀🤠
- 🤫 Secret Homework: “This Be The Verse” (GotY edition)
Follow us on Twitter/Bluesky:
Check out the other great shows in the Snap Judgments Network:
- Snap Decisions
- Snap Judgments
- The InfiNOT
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:
Credits:
- Cover art by Lauren
- Snap On This!! Theme by Ben
- YouTube thumbnail by Lauren’s kid, Reggi
Timestamps:
- 0:00:00 Intro / Our Week in Snap
- 0:27:35 Elixir
- 0:48:20 Global Bounty
- 0:52:50 Secret Homework: Games that Changed/Worsened Us
- 1:11:49 Next Week's Secret Homework
- 1:14:39 Housekeeping / Closing Remarks
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Hosts Overview
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to episode 40 of Snap on this a Marvel Snap podcast. I'm your host, Lauren Whatevs, here with the usual amazing co-hosts.
00:00:12
Speaker
First up, Ben, how is your week in Snap and keep it snappy? Well, my week in Snap, I shall endeavor to keep snappy as I so often
Ben's Snap Achievements and Deck Strategies
00:00:21
Speaker
do. um You know, ah did get to infinite. What was I playing to get there? i was playing some pretty standard stuff. Let's see. I got to scroll past my elixir decks here. i was using that silver surfer deck with the, you know, the...
00:00:38
Speaker
The awareness of the Thanos, you know, got Killmonger and stuff. Oh, but I did. i have already reverted it to Esme Cuckoo. I wasn't sure if I remembered to do that. haven't really played it much since I hit Infinite because I've been doing Elixir stuff. But but yeah, mostly been playing Surfer and Heimdall and doing Elixir science stuff.
00:00:59
Speaker
And what else happened?
Game Features and Critiques
00:01:02
Speaker
I've got bad news about the cornballer in the bazaar. It's fucking mid. It's deeply, deeply mid.
00:01:09
Speaker
Oh no, it's disappointing! Unlike advertised? Here's the thing. Here's the thing. i kind of love the mid items because the two good things are not exciting. And like, I love these but because of like the, the, the, the roguelike sort of nature of the the thing and the,
00:01:32
Speaker
it's It's sort of like limited play where just because a thing is like kind of bad doesn't mean it's not the right thing sometimes. So so I have gotten to use the Cornballer a little bit. It's just that Pygmalion has like better burn items and better multicast items, and like the Cornballer is really just like not the best at anything.
00:01:52
Speaker
of the the tools available to that character. So that's a little disappointing. But I have gotten to use it and it has been fun. And when it works, it does do good things. It's like a real two out of four to use our rating system.
00:02:05
Speaker
ah so So that's fine.
Humorous Takes on Marvel and Film
00:02:07
Speaker
Also, I realized that last week I did not do a great job of articulating the the Fantastic Four plot as it exists in my mind, ah after after Galactus would destroy their world, I'm i'm imagining a lot of fish-out-of-water comedy in the in the regular Marvel Universe because the Fantastic Four are so, you know, Technicolor and gee whiz and, you know, all all that stuff. And, like, I guess, like, a lot of the struggle, the the struggle a lot of the the conflict of the film is that...
00:02:38
Speaker
Nobody wants to take them seriously with their chicken little, the sky is falling, Galactus is coming shit because they're just so profoundly corny. And that sort of like makes it hard to take them seriously. And it would also be the source of great comedy, I imagine.
00:02:52
Speaker
in In my imagining of the Fantastic Four film, that that would be the thing. I listened to myself try to like describe what i what I was imagining. I was like, wow, you did not you did not explain yourself very well.
00:03:04
Speaker
Anywho, other than that, I played Elixir stuff, and we're going to talk about that in a minute. Anything
Marvel Snap Tournaments and Creator Program
00:03:11
Speaker
else exciting? I did sign up for the tournament. I attempted to register for the upcoming tournament. We will find out if I got in, because ah this may not be like obvious to the listeners, but I am not a part of the game.
00:03:22
Speaker
the content creator program from a second dinner because I like the dough boys can't be bought. That's right. I'm a voice and that's why you can trust what I'm speaking. Cause it's truth to power all day long, baby. I'm sorry. If I signed up, I could have gotten you in for free guaranteed, but.
00:03:42
Speaker
I'm not. and That's all right. That's all right. Oh, I could be bought. But when I applied, they didn't even answer at all. They didn't. There's not even a rejection. So it's. All right. Well, for me, it's it's all principle all day long.
00:03:59
Speaker
You're not going to take that 2000 free gold a month? No, no. What would you spend it on? Variance? I don't know, but I just want people to know that my voice and and my my words and opinions uncompromised retweets our endorsements. No, no, no. Look, I'm part of the official creator program, but I also alerted the public to the split bug. So I think I've probably cost. Oh, no, Lauren, you are you're absolutely on the side of the players all day long. you're I know that you are you're not muzzled by by these these corporate ingots that show up monthly in your in your account. Yeah.
00:04:43
Speaker
Lauren, you're Prometheus against them. I think dinner is Zeus. Okay. I'm glad this is recognized. is that your Is that the end of your week? Yeah, that's that's my weekend in snap.
00:04:57
Speaker
I signed up for the tournament. Maybe I'll be in there. Who knows? I hope so.
Rhi's Birthday Tradition and Soccer Stories
00:05:01
Speaker
I would love to see you compete. Rhi, how was your weekend snap? And keep it snappy.
00:05:08
Speaker
Okay. um I decided for my weekend snap, i would like to invoke the ancient and fictitious snap on this tradition of birthday, right?
00:05:20
Speaker
Which I see by your confused faces, not knowing the history. We're a long established cult. That's where it was my birthday yesterday. today decided to tell a story my choosing rather than anything related to s Snap. Snap is mostly just Thanos. You know, as Ben said, Thanos awareness.
00:05:38
Speaker
Can I do one? I had one 10 days ago. do it. Invoke the ride of birthdays. All right. But Rik can go first because I didn't know about it until now.
00:05:49
Speaker
And the only thing have was a correction to something I said or a clarification. Yeah. So this your story will be much more interesting and probably birthday-like. Tell me your birthday.
00:06:00
Speaker
It's not that birthday. I debated. I had several stories. Some were more birthday-related. Okay. But this one, I have decided to bring you a tale of American soccer from the going to tell the tale of Hell is Real, which is the Cincinnati versus Columbus match.
00:06:24
Speaker
um yearly. So
00:06:31
Speaker
I think we've read this. OK, let me start with with with Ohio. So we use that's where I live, the state of Ohio. We used to be known as the heartland of it all.
00:06:46
Speaker
um Now we're more known for the lack of quality assurance of the politicians we send. in a federal way, um sadly. But maybe unknown to a of Americans, we also have two of, in recent years, two of the best soccer teams, which is Columbus and Cincinnati.
00:07:06
Speaker
And their match every year is is like hyped up because they' they're supposed to be a major rivalry. And it's called Hell is Will. And I always dread it. And you may be like, why read do you always dread it? And it's like, well, the answer yeah is, let me flip that back on you.
00:07:22
Speaker
And why? Why must we hate our neighbors? ah Because they're a different city. So like, it's like, it's my view. It's like, oh, but they, they, you know, all from Ohio. Can't we all get along and support each other?
00:07:37
Speaker
And the answer is no. Like, because juked this up because this needs to be the big main rivalry. It's as if the, you know, the the hound turned to the fox and said, we must hate each other ah for for sports ratings.
00:07:55
Speaker
Hmm. And the fox says, oh, I understand completely. Praise be capitalism. So it always gets really nasty because, like, you know, obviously it's intrastate. So, like, a lot of away fans can come.
00:08:10
Speaker
For some reason, it's like Ohio and weird and in rural. So, like, things get kind of nasty sometimes when they're hyped up. So it's like, I don't like that kind of attitude.
00:08:24
Speaker
Also, you know, crowds make me nervous anyway. I was attending the match in person. That's hard. ah My hair, of which the magic does not revolve around, but my Columbus crew fandom, is blue, which is one of Cincinnati's colors.
00:08:42
Speaker
And I was like, that'll be fun to go. Yeah. to go into the stadium with. um So um for all of these reasons, you know, i was it was very nervously entering the stadium, dreading the... It wasn't so bad this year because it was chilly, but they always have the roll of these big like flame things for hell is real, you know, and it blasts you even if it's 90 degrees.
00:09:10
Speaker
Stadium, it's horrible. Okay, so I get I'm pretty nervous, and um like, what is, like, okay, we have a special, we have a special presentation for you before the game.
00:09:23
Speaker
And out, this is American soccer.
Gummies and Halftime Show Experience
00:09:27
Speaker
Okay. So out from, you know, the doors into the stadium, the entrance, ah comes a line of black-robed figures.
00:09:36
Speaker
Okay. Black robes, big, like, pointy hats and, like, druid-esque, basically. And they're all walking with their arms behind their backs and their heads down in a long line. They're finally like, what?
00:09:49
Speaker
What? It's like the wizard memes aren't just in my head anymore. What the fuck? It's the point where you're like, is this, is it have I lost it? No, this is soccer.
00:10:01
Speaker
So they walk and they walk the whole perimeter around. And I am so worried at this point because... In high school, we have at one of our spirit rallies, there was the literal, ah like, torture and then burning of a a voodoo doll that was to represent the other team. So, like, sometimes things get dark. Like, Shirley Jackson's The Lottery, if that was a story you've had to read over and over for school, feels real sometimes.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah. Like things get dark in the cornfields. So this is where I was worried. I'm like, what are they doing? Are we burning a statue of Cincinnati? I'm really, you know, we we already had unfurled the banner of all our star players that we've all sold away. And and so they file up. Right. And they line up.
00:10:55
Speaker
And then, okay, these road figures launch into a completely, like, small choral group acapella version of like, some pop song about hell.
00:11:06
Speaker
don't remember. What? Which one? They recognize it! Yes, yes. And they start singing. It's like, you know, the do what? You know, like the actual like real all acapella. And like over the course, it's like, oh, I see in their robes and it's like they're smiling. They're having a good time.
00:11:22
Speaker
And it's like, oh, this isn't so bad. I was so worried about like what weird ritualistic thing we were going to do engender our unnaturalistic and unwarranted hatred of people from another city.
00:11:34
Speaker
And instead, it's like, no, it's this like kind of happy song, even though it's about hell. And by the end, they all take off their hoods and like and like they're smiling at each other and like arms around. And it's like really happy.
00:11:47
Speaker
And I was like, oh, like it's like it's all going to be OK, like over the course of the song. And this may actually be a good time to mention ah that because my aforementioned really nervousness of crowds and et cetera, I thought it was a good idea to take some like special gummies for the start of the batch.
00:12:10
Speaker
And I'm not a person where like numbers stick in my head at all. So like, you know, whatever, mill whatever, you know, like two gummies sounds about right. But what I did learn was that of these gummies, these particular gummies, two gummies was a level of gumminess that we would never choose to be publicly ever at all.
00:12:31
Speaker
And so we are kind of sitting there like, no one can tell. Oh no. Your eyes are red, but it's fine. Everyone's watching. The the wizard people are here. It's okay. Okay.
00:12:42
Speaker
Okay. So that is to preface how we went into halftime where this is insane. Once again, this is American soccer halftime. Like we have another special presentation for you.
00:12:58
Speaker
We have Columbus is renowned speed painter. And ah like, I forget it. I'm so embarrassed. I should have looked up her name before the podcast. You think like I prep harder for these, but I don't, I really don't.
00:13:10
Speaker
I'm just going to go. Okay. Okay. And um i was like, like we have a renowned speed painter. Speed painting is like a thing outside of like YouTube videos that explain things.
00:13:21
Speaker
You know, a lot of new information happening for me at once. And this woman walks up and i I have no idea because, you know, she was kind of alone. And ah so I have no relative, but she looked very tall and she was like extremely like Barbie ass. She had beautiful She was wearing bodysuit.
00:13:42
Speaker
completely glittering, like just covered in like crystals. And she's just sparkling like a disco Barbie. And she is wearing extremely tall heels. Like I, I'm a wedge girl. I'll wear super high platform wedges all day, but not just the heel. No, just the heels.
00:13:58
Speaker
That is what she is wearing. Okay. Walks up to this huge canvas and, And they set the timer. It's like the halftime timer. And she starts painting.
00:14:08
Speaker
And not only does she paint, she occasionally like stops and dances. And it's like this whole thing is a huge performance. And I it is just like, I'm like, what is happening?
00:14:20
Speaker
This is a amazing. And then, okay, so she's painting and it's so impressive. It's like a skull with its head. A skull that's on fire, I was going to say. It's like its hair is fire or something. It's on fire. The skull is on fire. It's wearing a crew jersey. And it's got, like, two guns because I'm sorry we're America.
00:14:40
Speaker
And, like, you know, like pointing off into the distance. And I'm like, wow, this is so good. She did this so fast. And she's, like, in these super heels, which are insanely hard to move. it And she's dancing. And she's, like, apart. And I just hope she knows how much, like, I don't know, like, if I just want to be her or be around her. She's amazing.
00:14:58
Speaker
And then, okay, she she stops and she like saunters out and I'm like, okay, she's done. Oh, good job. It's so good. It looks so good. And then she grabs, she hoists her canvas up and she flips and she's spinning it around like a sign spinner.
00:15:16
Speaker
And I'm like, whoa, are we getting a whole other part like, what is happening? She flips it back down and this blew my fucking mind. ah You know, with the help of drugs, but it was still amazing.
00:15:29
Speaker
The whole time she had been painting upside down. she was really painting was the old, the classic, oldest crew logo of three construction workers.
00:15:42
Speaker
Construction tools being very construction poses, you know, the crew, you know. yeah. And was just like... six-year-old seeing magic for the first time.
00:15:56
Speaker
I was so... I was so amazed. Oh, yes. Okay. And then the the game was like a one-to-one tie. um But you know what they say. Sometimes the most interesting soccer ends in a tie.
00:16:11
Speaker
So I was thinking... how I could not stop thinking about this lady the whole second half. It was hard for me to pay attention because, um, because like one, it's just like, didn't know any of this existed in this world of like AI, know what and Doing all this stuff.
00:16:31
Speaker
And you know, what we, people are relying on more and more. it's like humans are still capable of amazing things really fast and having the imagination to put together like painting and dance and like, I don't know, Barbie beauty into like a whole performance that I didn't know was a thing that could exist before I saw this, you know?
00:16:57
Speaker
and it's like, so for, for like my birthday,
00:17:02
Speaker
You know, I would wish that we can all live half so gloriously as this woman who's like living her dream, speed painting at halftime soccer shows.
00:17:15
Speaker
and She was incredible. So that is the story of Hell is Real. Cletus versus Cincinnati soccer match.
00:17:27
Speaker
Sounds like the perfect amount of gummies, actually. Uh, well, I skipped all the, like, insane paranoia in middle of, like... Yeah, I feel like there were freaking out that did not make it into the story, perhaps. Fair.
00:17:42
Speaker
No, it wasn't vital. To be able to capture that joy, though... So I won't lie. Sometimes when we are telling stories, ah we skip over, you know, skip over the lower points so that the narrative may be lifted and everyone may believe that everything is perfect at all times.
00:18:02
Speaker
I choose to believe it was the correct amount of gummies. Yes. i hope Okay. Thank you for indulging me. I mean, you know, respecting my invocation of birthday, right?
00:18:14
Speaker
Yeah. I'd like to pass the snap on this baton. Wait, I got to squeeze in my birthday thing. To Ben! For Ben's birthday! right.
00:18:26
Speaker
I feel like maybe I didn't make it super clear the reason why it's relevant that I can't be bought and I'm an independent voice and and ah just a gaming journalist for the people ah in ah in all my in all my dealings. um <unk>s Because like there are two ways to get into this Marvel Snap tournament, the the big official one. And like you can either be like in in the creator program Or ah a plus one of a creator program person. So like maybe you could have inferred from Lauren's remark that like that's that's what's up.
00:18:57
Speaker
um But I was just like, I don't think I connected the dots very clearly for people. That's that's why I mentioned that I am not in the creator program. And so i had to I have to raffle my way in like like the rest of the the the common folk, the rabble.
00:19:12
Speaker
Exactly. Right. um That's the perfect beginning to the story. You have to start at the bottom. So I told you about it too late if you haven't signed up yet. So ah ah sorry.
00:19:24
Speaker
We brought it up like, I don't know, a week or two ago. and thing Yeah, I guess. I i guess I warned people, but I still feel bad that I i didn't. raise awareness as, uh, you know, loudly as I could have.
00:19:37
Speaker
Anywho, was, I was just going to clarify that thing. um I don't have a great story of a time. I took too many gummies. Um, mostly I take the right amount of gummies. That's my strategy. Oh man. One gummy is too much for me.
00:19:52
Speaker
Well, I'll leave you all to speculate on what are the right amount of gummies is Um, but yeah, Lauren, I'd love to hear about your weekend snap.
Marvel Snap Week and Play Style Changes
00:20:02
Speaker
My week in Snap. This is going to be, it's just going to weird week in Snap and maybe a weird episode in general.
00:20:08
Speaker
Or maybe that's an egotistical point of view. um This is the lightest week of Snap since I started playing. Wowzers. Yeah, I think I missed like one, in two or three sets of of daily missions. Not full sets, but like, you know, two missions.
00:20:26
Speaker
sc As a set that what you get on a on an eight hour basis. think I burned. I don't I could have made it less complicated by not using sets. I think I burned four to six daily missions by just not playing enough to keep up with them.
00:20:42
Speaker
And it's been kind of a weird experience. Maybe it's like eye opening to the casual or free to play player because. um I used to play so aggressively or so often I was like, how can you not finish the conquest shop?
00:20:56
Speaker
How can you not easily hit, you know, season level 65 or whatever? And, and I don't know, like, like the idea of of burning missions is it's not the first time I've done it, but it's the first time I've burned so many within a single week.
00:21:14
Speaker
ah So, yeah. Yeah. I had a terrible dog walk. The walk itself was great. I probably shouldn't say that word. He's asleep. um
00:21:25
Speaker
I ah played I played clog, which I've talked about the past few times. i I didn't win a single match. It's probably like 15 games like that's a bad run.
00:21:38
Speaker
Like, oh, maybe it's maybe it's time is done. I don't think it is um done. Flamster in our Discord made it to infinite using that deck. So yeah I've had a success with it against Thanos, so I don't know what's going on. I i forgot how to play Snap.
00:21:53
Speaker
um Maybe. Anyway.
00:21:58
Speaker
um You Snap and you never retreat. It's the only way. is I don't, I was actually snapping a lot. I was like, fuck it. I don't care. It's turn one. I haven't seen my hand or what the first location is.
00:22:11
Speaker
Snap. Maybe it sounds fun. Maybe I'll play better if the stakes are increased. No, don't do that. Um,
00:22:20
Speaker
It's like every season when you've been playing silly. Okay, maybe this isn't an experience for everybody. This is an experience for me. I play silly often once I hit infinite or like if I'm not chasing an infinity avatar. And then when the season restarts and all of a sudden I need to be climbing again.
00:22:38
Speaker
I'm still playing silly and I like have to shake myself out of the mode. I'm like, no, we're not doing this anymore. We're trying to play some serious snap here. We have to retreat smart. We have to snap smart. And sometimes that's an adjustment period.
00:22:51
Speaker
I get overconfident. Because mine is like, I always get infinite and I used to get it really quickly. that's yeah whatever. I'll brew crazy, stupid meme decks on ladder and it's like coming back to bite me because it's like I'm not infinite this season yet.
00:23:05
Speaker
oh Let's play time though. And you got, what, a week and a half? Two weeks? Yeah, you time. Oh, is it already? Almost the end. was like, oh, but it's only like the second week of the season. I mean, ah next week is the last week.
00:23:20
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah, guess better have to. Is there going be some sort of limited time? Are we showing down in the Sanctum again? Nope. Nope. We'll talk about it a little more later, but that global bounty is the limited time event.
00:23:35
Speaker
go or is no There is no special game mode this month. There is no extra card. yeah Yeah, i'm I'm super with you on the the missions, Lauren. i ah Just recently, I don't know, like I didn't make a conscious decision, but like my policy has changed and I no longer lift a finger or change anything about my my play habits for weekend missions if I wasn't playing those cards in a deck. Yeah.
00:24:03
Speaker
I mean, like, i guess I guess I go for the tokens. I will play the new card for the tokens because it's just, like, four games. But, like, I'm not playing season pass cards. I'm not in the mood to play. Sorry. Eight games. ah The season pass card has been the tokens the last two weeks.
00:24:16
Speaker
Oh, has it? Mm-hmm. I guess I got i got the season pass card. But, like, if if if it's the new card, I've been, like, leaving gold on the table and stuff or whatever. Yeah, it's weird. They swapped the new card and the token.
00:24:29
Speaker
They swapped the gold and tokens. So now the season pass card is the tokens and the new card is the gold. It's chaos. Oh, I like that. I've been ignoring them so hard I don't think I noticed. i ah yeah i haven't burned i haven't burned weekend missions yet, but I've definitely...
00:24:47
Speaker
the i've I've burned credits on the eight hour refresh to the free credits you get. I've burned a few of those. and Oh, well, the eight hour refresh is ridiculous. And I i refuse to, i mean, like, I'll, I'll pick them up when I log in, but like, I'm not logging in every eight hours to get 25 credits. You absolute like goofballs. What are you, what are you doing? What do you think you're doing? Honestly?
00:25:11
Speaker
i don't know. i don't I don't like that 8 hour nonsense. Why is it only credits? I guess it's the token shop that rotates too.
00:25:20
Speaker
But, I don't know. i like Give me a better reason to log in every 8 hours. Yeah, let me ignore the game for more than 8 hours at a time. ear being ridiculous marble snap. I think both of those. Once a day is plenty.
00:25:32
Speaker
Let me save up my shit so I can just do once a day. But also, if you want me in there every 8 hours, make it worth my while. Yeah, but you shouldn't want me in there every eight hours.
00:25:43
Speaker
don't Don't want me in there every eight hours. that's This is like um the mobile game blood. Yeah. The tactic comes back to bite them when they try to do this. They try and force more and more adherence the game. You've seen that with like World of Warcraft and stuff where they try then it comes back because then people just get sober and then once they start skipping, it just becomes easier to slide right out of the game. It's fucking gross and it's hostiles of the users and like you shouldn't reward that kind of thing.
00:26:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think that may be what I'm going through is like kind of burning out because I'm used to playing so intensely. And now all of a sudden we have this like bad meta with no change in sight. None of the new cards have been very influential.
00:26:26
Speaker
it's just... and't know don't know, but it's never bad to take a chill few months toward a game. It doesn't mean you'll quit. I mean, so many people, I see this, they're they they're in this like binary ones and zeros mode where it's like they're either all in the game or they're out of the game. And it's like, I know moderation is so fucking hard. I'm the worst at it. and the absolute worst at moderation.
00:26:49
Speaker
But it is like, it is an option in game life. Yeah, that's the only way you're going to stick around, really. Right? That's... You didn't... Yeah. Your foot off the gas is how you're going to stay instead of burning yourself all the way out.
00:27:05
Speaker
um So, yeah. I still love Snap. I'm still having some fun with it. We'll talk about that in just a second with ol Elixir. um but <unk>s just it's really light right now. And I've definitely gone in cycles before where I have had lighter times and heavier times in SNAP. And right now it's just the lightest light time I've ever had. And that's fine.
00:27:23
Speaker
There will be something that makes me excited. And if it's not before July, it will be in July when Nightmare drops. um I'll be excited for at least a few days. I'm excited to play that card. Let's talk about this week's new card, Elixir.
New Elixir Card and Deck Strategies
00:27:40
Speaker
A 2-3. On reveal, one of your cards destroyed last turn gets revived here.
00:27:48
Speaker
Did you get him? Oh, yeah. Is that just assumed yes at this point? like I guess for now, at some point it won't be. I know. I have maybe 12k tokens or something. like Do i get a so I need to start? I've just been rolling the 5k pack every week and it's like, do I need to strategize differently?
00:28:09
Speaker
Yeah, you probably need to start saving. oh no. Okay, I need to actually start thinking then. I just assumed it was going to even out. I'm like, I'll get more tokens. come If you're getting Season Pass and Gold Pass, I think it's enough to keep up with all the Series 5 cards. But now that we have Series 4 cards also...
00:28:28
Speaker
It's going to have to be some paying more or strategizing more. It's something that I think is... i don't know if it's a miss with Snap Packs, but it's like it's awkward with Snap Packs. As soon as there's a card you don't want, they get worse.
00:28:42
Speaker
If you skip Elixir or Prodigy, it's like next week if you want Zorn, not that i think Zorn's going to be good either, but I know... I think Zorn's going to be good. Okay, say Zorn's good and you skip Prodigy and Elixir, it's like you only have 1 in 3 chance of hitting Zorn.
00:28:59
Speaker
Before we talk about Elixir, can I side tangent? like i Go ahead, finish it out then. I don't know. like it's like Once you skip one, the next card might cost 10,000 tokens. And then like ah if you've skipped two, the card you might you want, like it might cost 15,000 tokens. i mean like Then maybe maybe you're stupid for not spending 6,000 for the sure thing. or like i i don't know. But like it is going to feel worse once like you have to start...
00:29:30
Speaker
o hedging and gambling and like I just I don't know so I guess I've been getting every card just to just to like yeah free myself from having to worry about it but like I guess I am making trouble for my future self which is not something I like to be in the habit of doing I don't know I should probably start skipping some even though it's unpleasant and complicated I don't know it's just ah yeah snap packs is ah still messy sorry sorry for grabbing it.
00:30:00
Speaker
i'll done No, no, it was good that you did. because mine That's why I encouraged you, because mine is completely off the rails. I want to talk about Prodigy real fast as a follow-up. And also, if you guys have any follow-up thoughts about Prodigy. But I was on ladder doing the thing I shouldn't do, which is just skip from deck to deck to deck.
00:30:17
Speaker
Unsatisfied, unhappy, and not the way to climb to infinite. You know, like, stick with Wendix. Just like, ah, what's auto this? What's auto that? Anyway, and... um And I played someone else who is doing Prodigy Week admissions or something. When they did, here's what they copied.
00:30:36
Speaker
Bruce fucking Banner. And then they skipped it and Bruce Banner is like, wobble, wobble, wobble, Hulk. And then right after that, Prodigy was like, wobble, wobble, wobble, Hulk.
00:30:46
Speaker
And I was like, oh my God, I have to do that. I have to do that. In the same What? Was it in the same Yes. It's a 1 and 9. No, sorry.
00:31:00
Speaker
bruce and and that They They played Bruce earlier, and then they played Prodigy on a different But they hulked out in the same turn. But they hulked out in the same turn. think it was a 3 even after they played Prodigy. This went from 5 power lane to a 24 power lane.
00:31:12
Speaker
Like they played Prodigy on 4. Well, there must have been a second card there that allowed Prodigy to copy Bruce Banner, who I assume was the first card. So I guess there were more than five. i don't I don't know what your situation, what what you were looking at.
00:31:24
Speaker
didn't matter. The fun thing happened. I immediately had to do it. And like a high Evo is a great place for Prodigy. Fuck yeah, you want to copy a Cyclops that's special a Misty Knight, right? Which you're always looking for those lower cost cards with high value.
00:31:40
Speaker
ah So it's just like... Is Misty Knight enough value to copy though? like and Like, is it worth playing a 3-4 Misty Knight? Like, do you get excited about that?
00:31:52
Speaker
It's not the worst if you have to. Right? The more cards you get out there that are benefiting from your skip of energy. That's true. Like, the better, right? Yeah. Because like, I'm already planning on skipping that energy, so Value, value, value. Wait, Lauren, are you are you pitching me prodigy copying evolved wasp?
00:32:12
Speaker
Absolutely not. I'm saying wasp helps you place your prodigy. Okay, okay, all right. I'm so glad asked. I didn't put wasp in the deck. I'm sure that's not a great deal. Yeah, and I was like, Evo gets to run a better wasp, so. Oh, I want, you're right.
00:32:27
Speaker
I want put wasp in. The problem is, like, surge goes in everything, especially if you're trying to skip energy. So it's getting tight. It's getting tight, but, um... Maybe over She-Hulk.
00:32:38
Speaker
Let try some stuff. It's been fun, though. There's just so many cards you want to copy, and it's like, had two of these. Well, you know, sometimes with an ego, but... um and So, yeah. Okay, anyway.
00:32:51
Speaker
Did you find other cool things for Prodigy? but like I'm rooting for him. i I'm still not seeing a lot of... ah I'm not losing to a ton of Prodigies. That might mean that nobody's playing him, though.
00:33:06
Speaker
So maybe Prodigy has untapped potential. i'm I'm still hopeful. The problem is you're too smart. So a lot of the benefit of playing weird off-cards and weird off-combinations is other people are like, what? This isn't the million Thanos deck I've seen. How do I respond and react to this?
00:33:21
Speaker
But you like you do you know too much about all the cards in you. like I don't. I think you're giving me too much credit there. i'm not I'm not that hard to pull one over on. They can't put one over on you. You don't have to wake up that early in the morning to to get the drop on Benny Rolls.
00:33:39
Speaker
You just have to stay up real late to get the drop
00:33:43
Speaker
All right. Elixir. Sorry, that was my prodigy side tangent. Do you have an Elixir not tangent to get us back on track? Yes. So we are filming. i mean, we're not not filming.
00:33:59
Speaker
Yeah, okay. So we're recording this, you know, like fairly soon after the card release. So I got to play it a ton. What I did because was lazy and I knew I wasn't going to play a lot. As I had put together, I'd been playing Soran Surtr because I got Chibi Surtr. Because it looks like, um I believe the joke I made was where the hell things are.
00:34:20
Speaker
It's so cute. And so I was like, I must play Surtr. And I, you know, I have soft bot for Soran as my first ever ah Series 5 cards. So I was just like, and here's the thing, you know, you get shamed a lot.
00:34:32
Speaker
And usually the strategy is like, but you can't shang all the lanes. I mean, with an observing man, you can shang two. But try for three, it's difficult. So, um, So I was like, wouldn't it be so fun? Because usually people shang you early when you're playing big cards like Starbrand early because they're just like, let me just hit that right on a four, right where it goes right in that energy curve. I'm like, wouldn't be so hilarious if it just popped up right again, right behind you?
00:34:59
Speaker
So that's what I put in And, you know, it's fun. People don't expect it. You know, watch out for all the Cosmos out there. Thanos be playing Cosmos.
00:35:10
Speaker
Yeah. That's why I usually just wait to pop my... They're always trying to get me and it's like, haha, I waited for your Cosmo, you fool. Put my Surtr there. Okay.
00:35:20
Speaker
um So that's all I've really done with Elixir. seen a lot I lot. assume these... Are people doing firehair things? What are people doing? What are you doing? I've seen a bunch of firehair stuff.
00:35:32
Speaker
I tried firehair. ah I don't currently have a firehair in any of my Elixir decks.
00:35:40
Speaker
What are you Elixir? yeah Oh, all right. Well, if if we're curious, I don't really want to tell people too much about these Elixir decks because they they're like, yeah, they're they're breaking even for me, but they are not coming out ahead on s SP.
00:35:54
Speaker
i mean, it's an Elixir. still brewing it, right? Yeah, these these are works in progress. Maybe I'll tell you about one. of i don't know. i'm I'm playing a Dark Hawk deck with Elixir, and it's got my favorite Elixir target, and that's Cassandra Nova.
00:36:07
Speaker
Cassandra Nova's good to Elixir. Also, Ever since Misery came out, i just like I've wanted a reason for Misery and Cassandra Nova to be like good and appropriate and right. But like the thing is, all the stats live on Cassandra Nova, and then she dies. So like that's a really disappointing situation.
00:36:25
Speaker
um But you do get to afflict the deck twice. And like I was always like, that that that part, that seems promising. that That's fun. if only there were a way to like get Cassandra Nova back. And Elixir is that. Yeah.
00:36:39
Speaker
you know I've also i started building a Phoenix Force deck with that same idea, but I don't i haven't even gotten the 12 cards ironed out yet.
00:36:51
Speaker
but there are There are three Elixir decks that I have been playing and testing, and and the other the other two are Bounce deck. And a straight-up destroy deck that's like sort of like a stock list just without like Deadpool stuff to make room for Surge and Elixir. Yeah, the bounce deck also had some destroy elements. Wait, can I ask?
00:37:14
Speaker
What are you... I'm curious about your destroy deck because it is, unlike bounce, it is a deck I play sometimes. What are you looking to revive? Because usually the way I play destroy, it is like Deadpool and X-23 and Wolverine and stuff that's not going to come back. So i'm just curious.
00:37:29
Speaker
Oh, like usually a big Venom or Carnage or something. Okay, so just, yeah, getting the double value out of it. Just like something big that you know, in the business of killing things even when they're big, you know, play a Deathlock on a Venom lane, then like next turn, you know.
00:37:46
Speaker
Elixir and whatever else business you're doing, maybe Killmonger or something. I don't know. You know, that it felt all right. I don't play a whole ton of Destroy, so I don't think I was like piloting it with, you know, the most finesse or ah the best judgment because these are decisions I don't have to think about very often because mostly I'm sitting across from the Destroy and ah the bounce deck.
00:38:10
Speaker
I don't know. I'll keep tinkering with... None of these decks seem so bad that I'm sure there's nothing there. You know what I mean? But none of them seem right enough to share the the full lists. But yeah, I will say I don't think Elixir is as bad as some people seem to think. I don't i don't know what Elixir is good for yet.
00:38:31
Speaker
you know like i'm I'm not sure what the the deck is that's going to... you know What's the killer app that's going to make people adopt Elixir? But I wouldn't be surprised if there were one. Elixir is good at Elixir's job. It does the thing it says it does. I mean, would it be better if it were an activate, like the datamined version? Yeah, probably. And I think maybe I fell in love with that version of the card and I was not ready to...
00:38:56
Speaker
fully abandoned my hopes for it. But yeah, I don't know. I think there are reasons to be hopeful about 2-3 on reveal Elixir. it ah like it's like It's a lot of stats. like It's 2-3 that like barfs up a body, presumably of some substance, and probably has a cool on reveal or something.
00:39:15
Speaker
I don't know. like I'm not sure that the best thing to do is Cassandra Nova, but like that really felt like something. if you can If you manage to get a sacrifice spell on Nico onto Anna Cassie...
00:39:27
Speaker
Like, you know, like if misery shows up, that's obviously cool and flashy. And like I had a lot of people retreating when their last card had a full Selene worth of ah affliction on it, you know, yeah after that. Like, I think that it messes with people's judgment and maybe they think they're in a weaker position than they actually are. But I don't know.
00:39:47
Speaker
Maybe maybe if the nicest thing you can say about a card is that. it's contributing to a deck that tricks people into running away from games that they should probably win. I don't know. Maybe maybe that's a bad sign. I don't know.
00:39:59
Speaker
So if if you hate Elixir, that's fine. But I i think you maybe you're being closed-minded and this could be a card with a bright future. I don't know. So I wouldn't regret picking up a Elixir if you've done that.
00:40:13
Speaker
I thought he was super fun, but I am not impressed at all in the matches I've played with him and against him. I'll say I got him in a series five pack ah and then I tapped to see what my goodies were and there just weren't any like. Yeah, I had this closed.
00:40:30
Speaker
and I've heard other people express that issue too. And I'm like, I'm sure I got the goodies, but like it's possible I got 5000 tokens. I don't track my currency that closely to know.
00:40:43
Speaker
um Or maybe I just got some boosters and I have no idea what card I got boosters on. I did go to my collection and sort by new and it's like there weren't any variants in there. So who knows what I got?
00:40:54
Speaker
um That's a bad place have a bug, right? Like, don't you want players to be excited when they get a good goodie and and you're not giving them any like you're not letting them see that in the snap. now Yeah.
00:41:06
Speaker
So there's that. Yeah. i don't it's There are a lot of things it's like. It's it's obviously like not like optically. like You want people to feel like happy about this change, this SnapPax. You don't want them to feel like they're getting less than they're actually getting. like Honestly, I don't know.
00:41:23
Speaker
it's ah It's a goofy thing to be getting wrong. um So... Glenn said in a team answer that activate elixir was too strong. I think he said way too strong.
00:41:34
Speaker
Yeah. Which like that's not super. so I mean, it's a little surprising to me, but not super surprising to me that like reviving a card on the same turn that it destroyed is good. um But I think the last turn thing is really awkward with elixir.
00:41:51
Speaker
And I've seen people talk about some different fixes. I know it's only been a couple days. But the one of them is to is for it to be targeted. So it's like the highest power card destroyed last turn.
00:42:02
Speaker
um Which definitely would have helped me in at least one of the matches I played because ah Elixir revived the hood. Thanks, buddy. There were two other targets and he picked the wrong one. um May i briefly interrupt? I remembered one fun thing that I did with Elixir that I think you would like. Please.
00:42:18
Speaker
Okay, so in the Darkhawk deck that I mentioned, one of the fun things you can do with Elixir there, in addition to the Cassandra Nova thing, is um you can play an early Mystique and then kill it and then resurrect it to be Darkhawk on the last Heck That's cute.
00:42:36
Speaker
so i love using Mystique the real. That's the thing that I've been doing. Just not very often and and not very consistently and not you know to to great ah efficiency and effect.
00:42:47
Speaker
I don't know. Yeah, you're saving one energy, but definitely catching them off guard. but it's like, you know, sometimes you can play Mystique early and you're like, I don't know when that's going to come in.
00:42:59
Speaker
yeah I'm not saying it's like great, you know, Vormir, you know. I'm just saying there will be times when you just have a Mystique and it dies and then you can time it out to... resurrect the next turn and wait can you that's gotta be really close yeah i think i had like extra energy or something there was something weird going on and like dark hawk and elixir like on the same turn that's yeah oh and i've got i've got surge in that well i don't know something weird was happening but i did it once or twice and i was like i should tell lauren about that and now i have so i like using this and the listener knows too
00:43:33
Speaker
ah Speaking of on reveals, i was like, have you tried Grandmaster for Cassandra Nova? Like that seems like. Yeah, I've done that, too. know, I realize he's not as ah powerful as as.
00:43:46
Speaker
What's her name? Misery, but he's also too cheaper. OK, cute things I did with Elixir. One, if you have fire hair on the board and Elixir dies. She can.
00:43:58
Speaker
Somehow she revived Elixir. How did I do that? I don't know how I did that. because Maybe copies? do you Do you think maybe you had multiple copies or something? I do have Phoenix Force in this deck, so maybe Phoenix Force made Elixir and then Elixir brought something.
00:44:15
Speaker
I mean, there are like a million locations that could have like allowed something wonky to. Somehow Fire Herrer or somebody brought back Elixir and then Elixir brought back somebody else. Anyway, I thought Phoenix Force would be a fun place to put Elixir.
00:44:29
Speaker
um And also tomb I think is interesting with Elixir. How how has that worked out? I know i never even finished ah getting Elixir. I've only played five matches. I lost them all, but they were super fun.
00:44:39
Speaker
One of them I only lost by one point because Bullseye's a bastard. I had like a 15 point lead in this lane. How frustrating. um I felt very clever about about how many demons and stuff I stacked up on Atlantis and then I dropped a Venom and still took me by one point.
00:45:00
Speaker
Um... Yeah. Doing fire hair and Phoenix and Phoenix force shenanigans alongside elixir has been very fun. Uh, don't know if it's any good. i I think I ran with fire hair for a minute.
00:45:14
Speaker
I, I don't know. I, I was skeptical, but like, I wanted to believe, but it just wasn't working for me. If data mines are to be believed, then I believe kid Omega is coming next month.
00:45:26
Speaker
Um, yeah. And he's the 2-2, activate, destroy the next card you play this turn to gain its power. That's going to play really nice with Elixir.
00:45:36
Speaker
Do we really think that card is coming out like that?
00:45:41
Speaker
It seems very strong. They don't usually change them on this short of a timeline, but I guess it's possible. It does seem really good, right? To destroy something ahead of time. Yeah.
00:45:52
Speaker
And like just to get all the stats and like just the and it's an activate, right? like Everything, i don't know, seems very, very foolproof and very...
00:46:03
Speaker
easily like you can like and i don't know i can think i can think of multiple ways to get ahead with this card and i'm sure i'm not thinking of all the best ones anyway i think like elixir and kid omega they're thematic they're from the same season thematically and i think we got them data mined at the same time so they were yeah designed together and i'm sure that that interaction was part of how they came why this is a non-reveal part of the reason why elixir was too strong yeah um I still think that's going to be a great combo, though, even even with this on reveal. and
00:46:38
Speaker
I mean, the other one's got to activate for now. yeah I like on reveal better. and I like to sneak up on people. like it when they see it coming. I like on reveal better, too, in general, but this card with the last turn like requirement, it kind of is a...
00:46:56
Speaker
activate. I mean, not exactly, but it's got that like awkward timing. yeah but It's on reveal is very limited and like unwieldy in a way that like ah less restrictive on reveal just isn't less restrictive on reveal is such a such an asset.
00:47:10
Speaker
And anytime snack. Oh, yeah. love those. It's got that. It's got that problem that meant that many twos have and basically everyone where it's like there are some that you could hold to the last turn, but it's usually worse to do so.
00:47:26
Speaker
He's the same way, whereas like it his ability is better um the last turn, but there's this huge opportunity cost for saving a two for the last turn. and I found that the games that I won were generally games when I played Elixir before the last turn.
00:47:40
Speaker
That's, I don't know. I think Elixir is maybe more effective and reliable as a less ambitious piece of your plan, you know?
00:47:54
Speaker
Like the the less you ask of Elixir, the less you'll be disappointed. so it's It's most cards, right? In moderation. If Elixir revives a six power card, you played a 2-9. That's pretty cool, you know?
00:48:11
Speaker
Like it it doesn't all have to be like fireworks and earthquakes. I don't know.
00:48:18
Speaker
All right, so that was Elixir.
Marvel Snap Global Bounty Challenge Discussion
00:48:21
Speaker
We're going to talk really briefly about the global bounty, which is what they're doing instead of the limited time um event. I think our first one was January-ish, where we got the null and the X23.
00:48:34
Speaker
And we just we just got every prize. And so this time they they made a big deal out of having a stretch goal. It's something that we're really going to have to work for. Anyway, there's a list of cards. I don't have it handy.
00:48:45
Speaker
Where if you win a game, you contribute a point to the global score. But you get an extra point for every one of the target cards you're playing with.
00:48:56
Speaker
um And it's like all the new cards plus a handful of old ones. I think... Maybe Wolverine and X-23 are in there. Yeah. Thematically new X-Men characters, you know. Yeah.
00:49:09
Speaker
Thank you. Beast. um You know, I think he's on the list, although in New X-Men, he looked very cat like. And I don't know if there's a variant of of New X-Men Beast. There probably is. I probably just don't have it.
00:49:22
Speaker
But I don't know. I'm just saying, like, the list, ah you don't have it readily available and nobody had it readily available, actually, because they didn't do a great job of telling anyone. Yeah, it took them three Literally everyone's playing Surge anyway.
00:49:37
Speaker
Yeah, right. So some of the points are just coming anyway. um But it was supposed to be May 12th to 26th. um And the the final stretch goal to get everybody a collector Series 5 snap pack is for 40 million wins.
00:49:57
Speaker
And we just... it just They just posted on their Twitter yesterday, this is the 20th, that we had hit 15 million. To be on track for 40 million, we should have been at 32 million. like we're not even like We're not getting the snapback unless there is a huge rally from the community, and I just don't see that happening. I don't see that happening.
00:50:23
Speaker
Well, feel like that's their fault. They said it too high. yeah Yeah, they said it too high and they communicated it poorly. um i mean, they communicated all right once they finally communicated anything. But ah yeah, they communicated late, I guess.
00:50:42
Speaker
I've seen some sentiment that we're going to get the prices anyway, because if not, they have to admit that people aren't playing their game enough to hit the bounty. and Yep. Which is kind of true about a bounty like this. Like, it's an awkward goal to make that you have to admit your game isn't being played enough. But also, like, how did this, how did, like, how did they understand? They know how much Marvel Snap is being played. Like, why would they set themselves up to fail like this? It just, it does not speak to...
00:51:07
Speaker
like they walk out sadly on stage had enough information to not set themselves up to fail in such an obvious and embarrassing way like they had all the pieces this this is entirely on them it's not the community's fault for not playing enough marvel snap that's for damn sure right and there's no there's no individual component either which i think is probably part of it right like like there's no incentive for for ah single player to bust their ass towards 40 million.
00:51:38
Speaker
you know you know like You're not going to receive any recognition. like Nobody's going to be like, and the top points earner was Jeff from California. Thank you, Jeff from California. like That's not happening.
00:51:52
Speaker
like you're You're going to be toiling in obscurity if if you are, in fact, toiling to get us that snap pack or whatever. yeah So it's a bummer. We're probably going to miss it.
00:52:03
Speaker
um Yeah, it's cool. Gambit and and Wolverine variants. I won't use them. They're not my style, but they are cool. They're all right. They're all right.
00:52:15
Speaker
They're fine. And in a shocking twist, I may have misled. I definitely misled you, dear listener, about Beast being on the list of bounty cards for this event.
00:52:26
Speaker
Should be. Should be. Had a very cool cat redesign. whole different character look. But no, Beast is not on the list. There are some series two and three cards, but not Beast, apparently.
00:52:37
Speaker
No. So I apologize for misleading you. um Also, good luck finding that list. ah Yeah, it's hard to find. very ah Thank you for the semi-live fact-checking.
Misconceptions and Learning Moments
00:52:50
Speaker
And now we will go on to the secret homework.
00:52:54
Speaker
Well, our side quests. First up, secret homework. Re-assigned it this week. Take it away. um So mine was somewhat ill-defined, but it was – didn't say this when i said it last week. But, like, I thought of this when I was taking one of my last walks in the lake before it got too hot.
00:53:12
Speaker
And I was looking at the reflection of the sunlight on the water. and I was like, oh, my gosh, is so beautiful. I could not make a shader that looked that It's my immediate thought. I'm like, it's real.
00:53:25
Speaker
It's real beauty. And it reminded me how much of like i was raised very sheltered, which I hate that term because it sounds like protected and really means more like controlled.
00:53:35
Speaker
And I didn't, there are a lot of experiences I didn't have when I was young and a lot of things I encountered for the first time in video games. And um one of my larger shame stories of, of,
00:53:49
Speaker
of ah You know.
00:53:55
Speaker
Okay. I just have to say, I was like trying to delay. Okay. oh The first time I saw the California flag, I was oh, they just signed it after Fallout.
00:54:05
Speaker
They're so amazing. California, they're so cool. That's wild. And the person I was with just was like.
00:54:15
Speaker
You know, if these were refrigerator magnets, you could rearrange them into the truth. Yeah, sorry, I forgot. I was doing faces. I forget. We're mostly, mostly Adio. um And ah like, yeah, they were just like, think about it. I'm like, oh, in Fallout, the base, the flag on the California flag. And it's like not the only time that kind of thing has happened to me.
00:54:42
Speaker
And normally it happens around few enough people that maybe I can make it disappear. And instead, I've decided to tell more people. Let me shame me never die. um And with that said.
00:54:53
Speaker
think it's very brave of you to ah that confront like moments of very understandable, you know, it's like you got some things wrong. Sometimes it happens to humans.
00:55:05
Speaker
I don't know. I struggle with yeah Sometimes I get really excited about things before I learn how wrong I am. Absolutely. Yeah. And you are signing our new homework, Ben. So we will go next to Lauren as his tradition and ritual.
00:55:22
Speaker
and snap but that was your That was the homework for you. I thought that was the example. Okay. um I don't know that you said what the homework was. I segued so, like, amazingly. You didn't even know. like Oh, a transition. It's storybook now.
00:55:35
Speaker
read What was describe the whole word? Describe assignment. Oh, right. Okay, sir It's all good. It was a very good story. It was based on a poem. Good job, Bri.
00:55:48
Speaker
You know, it's just one of those where it's like the the exciting thing happens up front and then they tell you how they got there. So that kind of narrative setup. oh Planned in advance, for sure. Clearly.
00:55:59
Speaker
yeah Clearly. Yeah, there is a poem that always stuck with me. It's by Philip Larkin. And it goes like, they fuck you up, your mom and dad. They don't mean to, but they do. i think it's called This Be the Verse.
00:56:11
Speaker
I always forget the title. That's what you said. I think you were probably right the first time. That's my bet. Okay, yes. Because the time I looked it up so I wouldn't embarrass myself. All right, so, um and your parents do. They love you, but they fuck you up. And so do some of our beloved video games.
00:56:30
Speaker
so The weird stuff they teach us spark. Deep desires to spark within us. So that was the homework. Hopefully it was kind of a weird one, so I feel bad if it was a struggle.
00:56:43
Speaker
um But there we go. the assignment after... turning now to learn uh okay re gave an alternate description last week which was like which video games have left you a little worse or different I really struggled to think of anything that left me worse or fucked up. I also, I'm like, wait, this was the homework?
00:57:08
Speaker
This was the homework? I feel confused and confused and misled, but that's not terribly. I'm like... I'm like, do I, can I, ah yeah, I'm recalibrating my whole, my whole thing. Lauren, are you, are you going through a similar?
00:57:27
Speaker
I'm prepared. His poem should have been more specific. Okay.
00:57:33
Speaker
um I have one very good example of how video games fucked me up. um That's along the lines of Reese. I don't know if we'll get into the rest of it because ah the rest of mine are all how they left me different. I wouldn't necessarily say worse, but but things video games taught me.
00:57:50
Speaker
um and that might get heavy male gaze i'll give a warning if that happens um um i might just avoid all that stuff because rees was pretty short and sweet and i can keep mine too um first up racing games this is this is what fucked me up racing games especially mario kart double dash and mario kart ds because these are the last two i played before actually driving of So in in video games, I'm a controller girly, console girly, couch catch video games.
00:58:17
Speaker
And ah the sticks, you can't put analog sticks, you know, halfway or whatever to turn more gently or aim more gently or walk slow or whatever. But who does that? Not me.
00:58:30
Speaker
um Maybe sometimes when I'm sniping. Otherwise... No. So when I drive in Mario Kart, I'm full tilt, zero, full tilt, zero, full tilt. Like that's how I'm doing a gentle turn is shifting rapidly between 100 and zero on the stick.
00:58:45
Speaker
to control my turn. umable Yeah. And you know, if it's a tight enough turn, I can just go full tilt or whatever. But that's how i that's how I did it as a
Impact of Video Games on Personal Life
00:58:54
Speaker
child. And so when I started driving, I was in the car with the driving instructor.
00:58:58
Speaker
And that's how I tried to turn the wheel, kind of. I'm not full like that, but it was really jerky. And I'm sorry for people who aren't watching right now. You can go back and watch that on YouTube if you want to see what I'm talking about.
00:59:12
Speaker
But basically I was like trying to hit the perfect, like control my path perfectly by doing that. And I'm sure this, this guy had never seen a student do that before. He's like, you don't have to do that. You can just smoothly move the wheel. And all a sudden I was like, wait, I don't know how to do that.
00:59:26
Speaker
And so I had like, so hyper-focused on, on not jerking the wheel back and forth while was turning, even though this is how I've always driven before and video games. so um Yeah, I think I'll avoid that that the heavier stuff, but to get somewhat heavy, um i came up with The Sims and Pokemon as examples of games where I wanted to play women or play girls or play create lesbian characters, and I was not allowed to create lesbian characters in my house growing up. And I shared a computer with my sister who would have told on me if I did create lesbians in The Sims, so I didn't. Stitches Stitches get stitches.
01:00:05
Speaker
Yeah. And then in an all tabletop, imaginary video games, everything, I always wanted to play girls and women whenever I could. um But my sister really razzed me about it. And so I would every now and then play a guy character to get her off my case anyway.
01:00:22
Speaker
Years later, I'm playing Fire Emblem or some game and I'm Googling something and I end up in the subreddit egg IRL. This is how I learned it was possible to be trans without realizing it.
01:00:34
Speaker
And it was like four days later that I was like, nope, that's me. Like it resonated with me. It was, oh shit, oh fuck. So that is a way that video games left me very different. They led directly to my ah gender awakening. It was very, very obvious in retrospect. I just didn't have the words to know what was going on.
01:00:53
Speaker
Oh, that's really awesome. And I know there's so many people, it's like they don't get the opportunity to be themselves because of where they live and other restrictions on them and like online and MMOs and stuff like that, allowing people to create their character, know, as who they're inside. it's it's really It's really meant a lot to people. And people forget sometimes that.
01:01:17
Speaker
I think I see a lot of criticism sometimes that it's like, oh, some people are too online, you know, and they're too into these like shipping fandoms. Again, you know, land person.
01:01:28
Speaker
But like, I'm not that into romance. This is like the one place some people can be themselves where they can't in their daily life. This is one place they're accepted. This is the one place they have other people who are like them. So sometimes when it's like easy to be like, some people are too terminally online. And yeah, I know some people are.
01:01:47
Speaker
like for some people, it's it's like where their tribe is and in their actual real world malicious restrictions and, you know, who they get to be.
01:01:57
Speaker
um Which is not themselves all the time. Anyway, so I think that's awesome because video games so much, right, get like such flack for all the, for Gamergate, for all the like, I mean, it raised me. Like internet forms raised me and I was like the most toxic person as hell.
01:02:15
Speaker
before I got into college. No, I really was. I was like, you know, my gender is bad. That's how the culture... You know, like I was raised by gamers on the fucking internet as a team.
01:02:27
Speaker
You know what I mean? I did not. had to spend my whole 20s like trying to fucking get past. So it's like, yeah, games can do that bad stuff, but there's also some really good stuff that they do that should be celebrated.
01:02:42
Speaker
Okay, sorry to like sew box in your like... No, you're it's fine. I had a Star Wars Galaxies, that was an MMO character, who was beautiful Twilight, who dropped red armor and red robes.
01:02:54
Speaker
She was a creature handler slash bounty hunter. She was a badass. And I realized like... I don't know, to a dozen years later that she had my initials. I'm like, didn't do that on purpose, but there you go. um And I don't want to like, you know, we should all be encouraged to play video games with protagonists of all types, different genders, different races, different species, whatever.
01:03:18
Speaker
Right. Because video games are, it's just a medium. It's a beautiful way for people to tell stories. It's a great way to have empathy. Like, um, So I'm not saying if you play female characters, that that doesn't mean that and you're necessarily you know a a woman. But for me, that's why I wanted to play girls and women, is because those were the characters that I felt represented me the best.
01:03:40
Speaker
um Those are the characters that I connected to. Ben. All right. Well, I really struggled with this assignment because, like, I don't know. I'm mostly with games.
01:03:54
Speaker
I try to be very... um Deliberate with how I engage with them. And mostly, gotta say, i think I'm mostly doing healthy stuff on purpose and all that. What about as a child?
01:04:08
Speaker
But that's the thing. i was like, what as a child? I don't know. Like, here's the thing about games. I don't know if you can tell. I love them.
01:04:19
Speaker
Love them just so much. All kinds. I study them. I take them apart. I want to know what's good about them. I want to know what's good within them. I want to know how things work.
01:04:31
Speaker
um from you know all sides and all alba all the angles and things. And like mostly, i think the way i engage with games is like ah beautiful and good, and I'm proud of it, and it's mostly mostly ah you know um Mostly 10 out of 10 would play again, or or for my part in them. Not not every game is 10 out of 10 and deserves to be played again. But I mean, like, i don't know. the the way The way I game, I mostly like.
01:05:04
Speaker
um But, you know, i do have some, like, for instance, this being, being like, raised by by gaming culture, when when you started talking about that, it it very very nicely dovetailed with one of the games I had thought about mentioning.
01:05:23
Speaker
That was StarCraft. And StarCraft is all fine when you're playing it by yourself against the computer. But then you get on battle.net, and...
01:05:32
Speaker
And like, oh my gosh, if I didn't just like, it was like meeting, like, it was just my first time encountering all these, uh, these attitudes and behaviors that now I just see everywhere.
01:05:51
Speaker
um like to, uh, don't know, sort of horrifying extent, honestly, just like the, It was just like the first time I was encountering just certain kinds of like gleeful callousness that I just like, I mean, yeah I'd seen flashes of it in the real world with like, you know, children and stuff. But like.
01:06:17
Speaker
Gosh, there was there was something ugly there that was just, like, fermenting. And it was... I don't know. Yeah, but but playing playing StarCraft online was just, like, pretty eye-opening and, like, not in a great way. And I think it made me feel like I had to... Like, i was the I was the weird one for, like, not being comfortable with these kinds of speech and these attitudes and stuff. And, you know, those... ah I was right, actually. That stuff does suck. It's bad.
01:06:50
Speaker
um It's not good. um Yeah. So there's that. i also, you know, as with anything that you just like you love a whole ton, there will there will always be like questions of like moderation and stuff.
01:07:09
Speaker
I don't know. i'm I'm sure at times I have gamed immoderately. And I think that especially like when I was a kid, like I I've mentioned that I, I was at first prohibited from playing like any game that was like, just like for fun, everything had to be, you know, educational and like, uh, uh, you know, the, the order of the day was like betterment or whatever.
01:07:35
Speaker
um
01:07:37
Speaker
But, like, you know, like, what once I finally was allowed to, like, play fun games and things, like, I just... Oh, my gosh. I remember, like, the first time i was i was playing those those Pokemon Red and Blues.
01:07:50
Speaker
This would have been, like, at other other kids' houses and stuff. And I was just, like, wild for these things. And, like... My friends would let me like start a new game on on their on their cartridge, and I wouldn't be able to save or anything.
01:08:03
Speaker
Except one time I did accidentally save, and that's how you know there's a true friendship, because I deleted my friend Garrick's whole fucking red version, and it was his birthday, and we are still friends. Oh no.
01:08:16
Speaker
But like, oh, my God, that that that should tell you something about Garak. Fantastic human being. um But yeah, but like once once I finally did have a Game Boy Color of my very own and had a ah Pokemon and stuff like, oh, y'all know I was waking up in the middle of the night to sneak some extra fucking Game Boy time that was you're not allowed.
01:08:40
Speaker
Like, ah but i I was doing that with like all kinds of games. I was doing that with civilization too. I was doing like, I don't know. So like, I, I guess maybe it's always been unhealthy, but like, it's also kind of like, it's what I do. And it's like, it's what I'm passionate about and what I, you know, like I really have like studied pretty hard. Like I, I've accumulated lot, a lot of, ah you know,
01:09:04
Speaker
understanding and expertise and i I can apply the things that I've learned about games and from games to, you know, stuff in other contexts. And I, yeah, mostly, mostly I'm pretty happy with what gaming has done for me, but, but sure. Yeah. I can, I can totally see how like it has changed me and not all of it has always been great, but yeah, mostly, mostly it's pretty good.
01:09:29
Speaker
There, there is one game that I had to like, I sort of walked,
01:09:34
Speaker
I guess as far as games, I've had to put down for reasons of I didn't think they were making me happy or whatever. used to play the computer version of Blood Bowl, the tabletop game to see. I that game.
01:09:49
Speaker
football game. That's old school. Yeah. Well, that's the thing. in my hometown, there's a very active Blood Bowl community. And I i was, it felt it felt like a way that I could like, sort of like be, be close to the people that I was not around anymore and stuff. But like, I found the game a little frustrating and like, yeah,
01:10:12
Speaker
you'll want to like play one more game, but like bad things can happen when you're playing one more game. you can you know Your players can get permanently injured or dead or whatever. and like you know like I just realized that the way that I was playing, it wasn't always making me happy. and so every Every couple of years, i'll like I'll have a little Blood Bowl phase and I'll get back in. and you know like i'll I'll play for a few weeks, but then i ah dip back out. because like it does i've ah I've noticed that that one...
01:10:41
Speaker
As fulfilling as it sometimes is when it's going well, like when it goes like badly, like sometimes you get frustrated with the decisions you've made and like that. So, yeah, I guess that there are some games that i'll I'll just like I'll step away from because I don't think it's like going healthily, I suppose.
01:10:58
Speaker
But yeah, mostly I think I'm pretty successful at navigating these waters. And I i really had to think about it very hard because it was such a such a ah a deep prompt, you know? It's like, whoa.
01:11:09
Speaker
I loved it. I did a bad job describing it last week. I really tried to be, like, thorough and consider all the angles, but, yeah, mostly I'm proud of the way that I have gamed in my life.
01:11:22
Speaker
I loved the prompt. I admit it reduced me to tears, but I loved it. I thought it was great to to go through and think think about. Yeah, think teams
01:11:35
Speaker
Ben, new homework. Ah, yes. Yes. Oh, man. Also, you know, if if we ever want to do more secret homeworks in that, i thought of i thought of more interesting stories that maybe I could share. I don't know.
01:11:48
Speaker
I don't know. But, yo. Let's talk about my secret homework assignment. So I actually, sometimes I think of them right on the fly. sometimes i Sometimes we start recording and I don't have a good one, but I had a good one this time.
01:12:05
Speaker
And I was excited to start listing examples because like once I tell you what the assignment is, you'll like you'll know exactly what's up. And I don't think I need to list examples. And if I did list examples, i would be ah sort of narrowing the, if I started, li i I want to see your designs of some of the examples I would list. So I'll say maybe one of the things that inspired this assignment was I haven't seen any trailers for this new Superman film, but I've seen the still image of Superman and Crypto the Superdog.
01:12:39
Speaker
And, okay, I'll just cut the chase. Like, you mean design for me a pet card. A card of a character that is a pet. like Like Crypto the
Marvel Pet Characters and Card Design Excitement
01:12:48
Speaker
Superdog. Or, like...
01:12:50
Speaker
certain iconic Marvel pet characters that are obvious and low hanging fruit, but that I still want to see you design cards for. So I'm not going to say any of the ones that we're all thinking of. And I can think of at least three absolute icons.
01:13:04
Speaker
Uh, so I think we're going to be okay, but like, yeah, I, we all, we all love pets. I actually didn't, uh, I did not used to be an animal person, but now I am an animal person.
01:13:16
Speaker
Um, that's neither here nor there, but like, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm wild about the, the little creatures now. And I would love to see some card designs for the, the most wonderful little creatures, the, the, the furriest friends of Marvel universe. They don't have to have fur. They can have scales. I I'm, I've already picked out which one I'm going to do. I haven't designed the card yet, but I'm like, I, I picked one that would be recognizable for the listeners, but that I don't think either of you are going to pick.
01:13:46
Speaker
so if there's a really obvious one that you want to pick you can pick it because like i i there a couple of icons that i'm i'm just like go ahead you can't you can have them if you have already pictures you could just tell me and i'll pick something else all right i'll tell you the listener will be in suspense This is very timely, actually, because Marvel has been, like, super pushing pets.
01:14:10
Speaker
Part of it's the success Jeff the Baby Landshark, but they're like, oh, like, cute animal sell, and now it's just like, pets, pets, pets. In the comics.
01:14:22
Speaker
Is there Avengers or something going on right now? There's a new, I think it's just called Marvel Pets, I forget, but they have, and it's Jeff the Baby Landshark week, there it is a title, they've just been putting out a lot of, like, uh,
01:14:36
Speaker
titles based around the pet Got it.
Podcast Promotion and Personal Reflections
01:14:39
Speaker
Well, listener, if you liked what you heard, find us on Twitter, YouTube, wherever you listen to podcasts, like comment, subscribe, leave a review on iTunes or Spotify, cetera.
01:14:50
Speaker
If you want to come, come hang out with us on discord. There are instructions to do show do. Oh my goodness. I said that last week too. Instructions to do so. In the video description or show notes, we're part of the Snap Judgments Network, where you can listen to other great shows like The Infinite by Keir Nimbus.
01:15:09
Speaker
It is short, casual-leaning podcast that is that releases on Saturdays. um I have found it very enjoyable to listen to. And, ah you know, if you if you need your Snap News in a short format, that's a great way to do it.
01:15:23
Speaker
um Anyway... ah To hear about our awesome pet cards next week, tune in. Same snap time, same snap channel.
01:15:37
Speaker
Okay. So while we're talking about pets, can I tell you something I'm very excited about? Please. Okay, so for my birthday, I won't lie, this birthday was kind of about, so, you know, I feel like it's not like I had, I don't like to complain. I mean, I do constantly complain about my childhood, but it's not like, you know, i lived in like, a crack house or something. Like, I was fed and clothed, but I didn't have a really happy childhood.
01:16:01
Speaker
um i wasn't, I was not allowed to, you know, mostly play with things I liked or get things I wanted, and um A lot of it, honestly, was just feeling shame from religion for not being the way it supposed to be. I think I always want to.
01:16:16
Speaker
So this birthday, for some reason, it's like I've been giving my childhood self back my whole adult life with like video games. Right. Because when I was a kid, all ever wanted, I'm like, console. At birthday, Christmas is at the top of every list. I was like, I want...
01:16:32
Speaker
the console and one these games and my parents ran to you. So like my whole adult life, it's just been feasting, you know, for childry in that way. But I never thought myself, don't know, there's a lot of other things.
01:16:44
Speaker
And it's like, I can't, you know, go back and change, you know, the actual big important things about my childhood. But I can give myself some things I never had make myself happy.
01:16:55
Speaker
that's what I did for this birthday is because I care less and less about the judgment of other people. I got myself something I also always super wanted as a kid.
01:17:07
Speaker
I got a sea monkeys kit. And it's set up. I can't show you because it's like, it you know, it's right. guess I can pick it up. But that seems super dangerous. Take a picture for the discord. Yes, I'll take a picture. It's this magic castle. They'll want to see it.
01:17:22
Speaker
It's the Magic Castle Sea Monkeys tank. It's a little dome. And I've like with my adult knowledge as a kid, I definitely wouldn't have kept them alive or nor had the resources to do so. But I've got like all the things like, ah you know, and actually I did the research a little later.
01:17:36
Speaker
And I did it on Sunday and I was like looking. I'm like, no, babies. It's 24 hours. Now it's been 36. But now there's a bunch little babies swing around they're really tiny they're like basically like commas with like yeah little arms but they move the way they move through the water is so jittery it looks like stop motion it's adorable it's like my own claymation magic castle show i love i'm so excited for the together okay anyway that's awesome i love that you're treating childhood
01:18:08
Speaker
Do you have to wear a tie to go to the Magic Castle?
Magic Castle Dress Code and X-Men Storylines
01:18:13
Speaker
Your Magic Castle? Not my Magic Castle? I think that's a requirement. I sometimes we like a nice stylish tie with a fedora, especially if you're cosplaying like Howard the Duck or something, you know?
01:18:25
Speaker
Like, you gotta look snazzy.
01:18:31
Speaker
Somebody is either loving the thing about the Magic Castle or they're angry at me for being wrong about that detail about the Magic Castle, but I do think you need to wear a tie to get in. Oh, like the Disney Magic Castle?
01:18:44
Speaker
No, no. I never put it together. Magicians? Yeah, exactly. Okay, yes. Yeah.
01:18:56
Speaker
I think there's an oddly strict dress code and that's like, that's the detail I know about it.
01:19:27
Speaker
That's what Beast looked like in New X-Men. Look at that. Look at that kitty man. Oh, do i got to pull up my Discord? Yeah, you do. oh he was like a... Yeah, he had like a whole fucking character redesign. it was like... It was a whole thing.
01:19:42
Speaker
Beast has had so many weird storylines. Like, there's the time he pretended to be gay so that, like... What? Gay people could have a hero? Because it's like... Because we don't have other you actual gay memes. What?
01:19:54
Speaker
That's so creepy. That was the storyline for Beast. Yeah, like, done game and he's like, let them say I'm gay so that they can have, like... And it's cool because, like, who cares? Like, you know, like, what people think. But it's just, like, such a weird storyline.
01:20:07
Speaker
And then there's the time where they're, like, Jean Grey's been, like, with everyone else in a love triangle but Beast. So, like, let's have them, like, have a thing now. And then there's the time. And then he went evil. And now he's back from being evil. Like, hmm.
01:20:22
Speaker
There is a new X-Men one, by the way. There needs to be a stinger for, like, the X-Men are fucking weird. Like, the X-Men are fucking weird. Okay. Sorry. Yeah, that that is that is the design.
01:20:35
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Oh, that almost deserves to make it after the credits.