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94: Reimmerse Yourself
171 Plays10 days ago
⛰️🛶 Karen Page = Laufey?? Tune in for this and other equally important news 🗞️ on this week’s Snap on This!! episode 📺👀 (👉 same Snap time, same Snap channel, ofc 👋)
For our esteemed listeners’ consideration:
- 🫰 Weeks in Snap!! 🫰
- Secret Homework 🤫: Snap Your Own Adventure!!
Rie's Game
- Rue Mer Trailer (give it all the love!)
- Rue Mer on Google Play
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:
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 Our Week in Snap
- 0:30:53 Kickoff Tactics
- 0:38:45 Secret Homework: Snap Your Own Adventure!
- 0:49:52 Next Week's Secret Homework
- 0:50:49 Housekeeping / Closing Remarks
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction: Weekend Snap Experiences
00:00:01
Speaker
Are you ready to go first in Weekend Snap? Am I? Oh, cheesy Pete. I have been playing a lot of Snap this week. Really? So you'd think you'd think I should be ready for it. I struggle so much to come up with my Weekend Snap. I know something I did, but
Tournament Deck Registration
00:00:19
Speaker
Yeah. Conversely, I played very little Snap, but I have a lot I could talk about. I just like, I don't know what, I don't know what I was doing four days ago. That's the past. It's, it's irrelevant.
00:00:30
Speaker
For real. I've only been doing this for 94 episodes. um should definitely be paying more attention. I've got, I've got, some decks that I've been playing. i'm i think I'm playing in the tournament tomorrow, but like I don't know. Maybe there's a family thing I'm going to do in instead. that's not That's not great podcast being like, oh, well, I might be playing in a tournament tomorrow. I'm not sure. Did you already register a deck?
00:00:58
Speaker
I haven't registered a deck yet. the The deadline for that is Friday. Okay.
Game Strategies & Deck Choices
00:01:04
Speaker
My understanding is that they hit the player cap, so... There will be, I think it's a lottery for who gets in and then everybody else's standby.
00:01:14
Speaker
it looks like I got in already because I think... I bet a lot of standbys will get in. Yeah. I feel like... I would think so. I think so too.
00:01:26
Speaker
It's cool though. Most attended... Well, I guess you have to wait for the actual day to know the attendance. Most sign signups for a single Golden Gauntlet. Well, that's pretty cool.
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah. So I've got two decks for that that I might play. I really can't decide. They're both here about them. Yeah, I guess that that's content right now. Let's hear about them.
00:01:50
Speaker
We are. Oh, this is already already. All right. Well, one of them is the deck that I played in the previous Golden Gauntlet. ah It's a super giant surfer. I've spoken of it several times on the podcast. It's America Chavez, Surge, Merlin, Brood, Captain Carter, Silver Surfer, Jack Flag, Hope Summers, Mercury, Absurbing Man, Supergiant, and Cannonball.
00:02:15
Speaker
ah So that's a really cool deck. Also, nobody like knows
Supergiant Deck Strategy
00:02:20
Speaker
what to do with it. it's ah There are a lot of things you can do with Supergiant there that are like a little more proactive than some other things. Like, you know...
00:02:31
Speaker
You play Supergiant and then you put down an Absorbing Man because you know that the last thing you play on turn six will be Silver Surfer or maybe Cannonball if you're feeling spicy.
00:02:42
Speaker
Also, Cannonball, great thing to put down on your Supergiant turn because ah yeah they don't even know. You haven't even played the Mercury yet. They don't even know. Or maybe you have played the Mercury yet. Who knows what you did on turn three. It's fine.
00:02:55
Speaker
um That's a really cool deck and it's got Jack Flag in it. Jack Flag is... ah Pretty cool card, and people still don't like ever see it coming. they don't They don't know to think about Jack Flag. they don't they're They're not ready for the the particular maths that Jack Flag will we'll put out. like Jack Flag is responsible for like a lot of points, especially in conjunction with a Captain Carter. you know that's ah It's a whole thing.
00:03:24
Speaker
um Also, Jack Flag, pretty cool to put down after Supergiant, because even... even if you have to play your silver surfer on six and Jack flag, isn't there to personally soak up the silver surfer buff. It's still like amplifies it in a surprising way that, uh, your opponent won't know about. And that's, uh, you know, it's, it's not like peak efficiency to do it that way, but it is, uh, still worth doing a lot of the time. So that's cool. Um, anywho, that's
Comparing Decks: Pros & Cons
00:03:55
Speaker
one deck that I might play. Cause super giant does, uh, throw some wrenches into some works.
00:04:00
Speaker
Um, As it did last time, we had one of these golden gauntlets. so Also, I have an advantage of knowing how to play that deck. That's ah that's a decision that I made pretty pretty early on in the deck selection process. I decided I'm not going to play Horseman Storm because I can't count on myself to not play America Chavez on turn one.
00:04:25
Speaker
If see her and like, you know, if I don't see Horseman Storm in my hand, I'll think I'm just playing some other surfer deck where I'm supposed to play her on one. You know, because like a lot of the same cards. Yeah. So so just playing Americon too, right? Yeah. Yep. I just can't be trusted to do that correctly.
00:04:41
Speaker
Honestly, sometimes the same thing happens with Supergiant where like, I'll play Supergiant. I'll look away. i mean, like, I won't be multitasking so hard. Forget your own. Yeah. like I'll forget that I did a Supergiant thing and I'll just play a normal turn five. I have certainly, yeah, I've certainly screwed myself over by playing my own Supergiant before.
Alternative Decks & Performance
00:05:01
Speaker
so the other deck I'm considering right now, like this deck is not quite as set in stone as the other deck. I don't think I'm going to tweak the other deck at all if I play that one. But this one is, um I don't even know what I'm going to call this one. ah It's just another surfer deck. It might be the same as ah as ah as a surfer deck I've already described like last week or something. Cause like it's the same cards going in and out and in and out and all that. And I'm ah i'm not sure.
00:05:29
Speaker
where things were when we froze time, uh, forever for last episode. But,
Analyzing Venus Card's Impact
00:05:35
Speaker
um, America Chavez, Surge, Merlin, Brood, Captain Carter, Maverick, Silver Surfer, Cosmo, Hope Summers, Superior, Spider-Man, Mother Ascani, and Juggernaut. That's right. Not a single stick between these two decks and only one Maverick.
00:05:51
Speaker
Um, But yeah, this one, you know, Juggernaut, Cosmo, these are really good cards. They're always good cards. Mother Iskani is pretty cool. You know, I used to like get frustrated when Mother Iskani, when I, when I would be like, I don't know.
00:06:10
Speaker
You want the greedy things off of Mother Iskani, you know, like you want like extra surfers or like extra carters or or all that. But like, hey, sometimes that second Cosmo is what's up. Sometimes it's about two cosmos. That's pretty cool.
00:06:24
Speaker
um I just wish I could get absorbing man back in here. And I might still get absorbing man back in here because absorbing man kind of does. take out jug Well, juggernaut is pretty good. That's great.
00:06:41
Speaker
That's, that's, you know, and, and here's the other thing. Juggernaut is especially good with absorbing man, like in much the same way that Cannonball is. Honestly, sometimes you whiff the first Juggernaut and then opponent thinks they are super duper in the clear.
00:06:56
Speaker
And then they're just not. There's there's another one where that came from. um ah So I don't know. Those those are the two decks.
Countering Surfer Decks
00:07:05
Speaker
Supergiant Surfer and i don't did.
00:07:10
Speaker
to be titled surfer. not I called it Superior Ascani in my notes. Okay, that's great. um Also, it's a good placeholder. Here's a fun little nickname for the Superior Spider-Man.
00:07:22
Speaker
I just like to call him Soupy Spidey now. Okay. Yeah, Soupy Ascani. um I'm curious. I want to hear you talk about how you think these are going to match into all the other surfers that are going to be there. Surfer is meta as hell right now.
00:07:39
Speaker
And as you highlighted, you don't have sticks. So how are you beating the giant ass broods that people are pumping out? Oh, Cosmo. Cosmo all day long. Yeah, that'll do it. Get priority, Cosmo them. They do not... They don't hold up. They can't handle that. They just can't.
00:07:58
Speaker
Ash, even Jug. Send the Brood over into like a lane that has three cards. That's that's a matchup I'm not very worried about. okay yeah there's gonna be a lot of that There's also going to be people who are teched for that. so Hopefully there's not for sure too much conflict with
In-Game Purchases: Cost & Decisions
00:08:11
Speaker
your deck. What is the ultimate anti-surfer tech deck in your opinions?
00:08:18
Speaker
Hmm. Cosmo's up there as being part of it. Shadow King. have to be able to throw a prayer i
00:08:31
Speaker
Those are cards, but what decks you put in them? if Oh, i'm you know, anything. I don't know. I'm not. don't know. Can you one card attack against a surfer right now? I don't think so. I don't think so. In the beach party season.
00:08:48
Speaker
I have not been beating surfers by countering them. I've been beating them by going taller than them. Venus end of turn has been going quite tall. Yeah. that That seems like a good way to do Venus. I actually got Venus. I, uh,
00:09:04
Speaker
I had so many damn tokens. I was like, I ought to get some cards, right? I ought to get some new so i um I bought seasonal series five packs until Venus showed up. It only took three of them.
00:09:16
Speaker
I got Wilson Fisk and Monstro and no bonus goodies of any
World of Warcraft: Nostalgia & Strategies
00:09:22
Speaker
kind. But like I was I had almost 100,000 tokens and I was like, this is just too many tokens for me. Right.
00:09:31
Speaker
I ought to spend some. You need to start just keeping up. i mean then Then you can get everything. It's more comfortable to like stay a bit behind, but like I probably yeah stayed like too far behind, but you know, I, I didn't didn't enjoy the the feeling of being like close to, you know, it's good to have wiggle room and surplus. I just like accumulated more wiggle room than I could possibly ever use.
00:09:57
Speaker
I think you've like really proved something though that for players who are a certain amount of depth into the game it it is totally doable to skip cards and only get the ones that are most important A of them are like not great. Rhea is a different situation because plays so much variety. Rhea wants everything. Yeah. Doing everything.
00:10:23
Speaker
And so you end up gambling. of all of them Except Cerebro. I won't say I've never touched it you know, but like I'm afraid to be seen with it now.
00:10:33
Speaker
Okay. But I dabble in everything pretty much, yeah. yeah. The other thing I didn't mention about why I like the Supergiant Surfer is it's got Mercury in it.
00:10:44
Speaker
And I like having Mercury. Mercury is a real cool card. It's a good tech card. You can stop Grandmasters with that. Grandmasters with that. You often do. a lot of Grandmasters going around.
00:10:57
Speaker
If you're ever like wondering like in a vacuum where to play Mercury when there's like no indication of where you need to play mercury don't play mercury
PvP Servers: Stories & Reflections
00:11:06
Speaker
in the middle just uh play around one of the sides um anywho yeah i i feel good about that also in tournaments you're more likely to see like sure you'll see i'm sure a lot of people will be playing surfer but like i'm not really worried about a lot of people i'm worried about like good people that i'll see in like round five or whatever and like they'll be playing weird stuff like
00:11:29
Speaker
move and things and I mean not that move is even like that weird or anything but like you gotta be ready for some decks that are not like just the most popular decks on the ladder I don't I like I've been playing a lot of conquest I thought about trying to hit infinite before the the podcast but mostly I've been well I played a bit on day one of the season but then hot location rolled around and I was like okay conquest time let's let's do more testing for the the golden gauntlet. Anywho, that's ah that's been about my weekend snap.
00:12:04
Speaker
If I think of anything else, I will surely blurt it out later. Sweet. Rhi, how was your weekend snap? And keep it snappy. I'm sorry I didn't say that to you, Ben.
00:12:16
Speaker
um My weekend Snap starts outside Snap, but we'll get there. And I feel like this is honestly appropriate because in what i've little I've seen from like scrolling by Snap stuff is that people are more excited to about other games. in connection to snap like i guess um uh like deborah ann wool right is her name maybe i'm mispronouncing it from actor who plays karen yes oh yeah karen page i feel like i wrote
00:12:56
Speaker
here and smart okay um Karen Page is playing Laufey in the new God of War game. The deceased mother, you know, the fridge, you know, gotta have the dead mother trope. But now they're like, way, we're gonna, you know, she's gonna have an afterlife adventure. Very Viking, very appropriate. So people are excited about that. I also, I think there's like, is there a soccer game out or something people are excited about? Like, card
Gaming Culture & Personal Growth
00:13:23
Speaker
game?
00:13:23
Speaker
and I don't know. I'm happy for I'm happy for you. don't know. the marvel snap alike one oh there is a marvel snap uh clone that's a foot that's a soccer game it was not a real game okay i mean all depends what where the line is on real accounts okay it is i could talk about that in my weekend snap i played quite a bit of that uh well i've like two hours enough um just I'm just like envious of your little corner of the internet and being so positive about it. Like I saw some positivity definitely, but I've also seen so much hate.
00:14:00
Speaker
um granted it's mostly people being critical of the hate is what I'm seeing but oh the god i'm just thing really they hate female protagonists they like I'm just not going to play this game and it's none of that so it's so irritating I'm i'm on on the other hand I'm like I haven't ever played a God of War game but this looks awesome like I get to be like Deborah Ann Wol and like casting magic and using a sword and and have a little cube companion that talks to me come on it's awesome Okay, yeah. No, I've only seen people excited about that. um
00:14:35
Speaker
and I mean, it's the one
New Game Season: Themes & Excitement
00:14:38
Speaker
thing I will say, I mean, that it's not that there aren't plenty of bad actors in the Snap community, but most of them do love ah hot lady warrior.
00:14:49
Speaker
Right? So, like, you know, it's one thing they can all come together on for the most part. Okay, so ah that's what I've seen outside, so I feel like it's reasonable that I start there. So I have to start um to make sense of my snap story in the in the distant game land of World of Warcraft, which I played an embarrassingly amount of slash played ah time when I was quite a bit younger.
00:15:21
Speaker
And helped contribute, like, okay, for me, like, the competing force, if I didn't have, like, the written word, i would have no positive impacts on my young life because it was, like, the competing forces of a cult-like religion teaching me. and then ah the early the early internet, particularly the toxic masculinity Gamergate, like, grew into that kind of side of it.
00:15:50
Speaker
ah so like wait So the thing about World of Warcraft, I know it's still ongoing. I'm sure it's probably more or less the same. But like when I was growing up, anyway, there's like you there is you know pv servers, player versus environment, and PvP player versus player servers and you know because of the way i was raised it was like well are you playing are you are you raising a character from level one to 60 are you growing up in this game on a pvp server are you a pussy
00:16:25
Speaker
I mean, right? And it's just like, it's Baron's chat, like, Young World of Warcraft, if you played it early days, you know you know what I'm talking about. You know what the ending is. Okay, so like, so I leveled my my undead mage that I continued to fight was sexy despite everyone
Acquiring New Cards: Monstro & Venus
00:16:49
Speaker
disagreeing. um Because in my heart, I really wanted to be a pretty blood elf, which didn't come into the game till later. But I was an undead mage. And um I raised this in in the PvP environment. In the PvP environment... means you could be like your little low level, know, newbie running around, killing 15 boards for quest kind of thing. And then some level like 60 from the opposite side, some evil human ah might ride along and see you during your little quest and like hop off and be like, yoink.
00:17:25
Speaker
You know, and like kill you and then go on their merry way. Why? Because it was easy for them and they thought it was funny. And ah what a lot of people thought was really funny, which is like, why? why a Part of me growing up was just realizing, why am I subjecting myself to these miserable experiences? don't know.
00:17:44
Speaker
two Okay, but like, I remember there's this one time I'm trying to do this quest. Why didn't I just log out? I don't know. But like the nine elves at the time, they their racial ability was that they could go and viz as long as they were standing still.
00:18:02
Speaker
And, like, I remember trying to level, and there's this high-level night elf that would just, like, it was, they were stalking me, and then they would go and visit, and then they would do their little, like, night elf laugh, you know, just let me know and they were going to, like, gank me. Is gank still a thing that players, ah gamers use these
Player Dynamics & Card Power
00:18:20
Speaker
days? In the old days, gank meant ah shank an inferior opponent, right?
00:18:27
Speaker
uh you know maliciously okay but like and that's what they were doing to me because they were high level and i was low level and so like when this happened to you over and over as you were level when people would form groups to go and then people would form reverse groups where they go like protect the newbies and some high levels would come and they'd camp and they'd go and they'd come in you know and be like and then there'd be fat and then sometimes you'd bait like okay this is where it got fun sometimes because then Sometimes they'd get a low-level person out for bait to bait the opposing team, and then a whole bunch of, like, high-levels come out, we're reverse gank.
00:19:02
Speaker
Okay. Anyway. So, it was a miserable experience. You died a lot for no reason. People, like, camp-spawned you because you'd have to run back to your body so they could just wait over your dead It was just, like...
00:19:15
Speaker
Like, I don't, we were all miserable. Like, the game developers were miserable. Look at the experiences we were all, like, both creating and participating in. So we had we had all the time and, you know, the internet um that is now going to be eaten up by data centers and AI. Okay, All right.
00:19:34
Speaker
um all right divy to go it suck So getting to the point, I remember I was just like, one day i will be, you know, big. I will be level 60. You know, and then that it's like the it's the hazing thing. It's the harassment thing. It's like you have to go through it as a freshman in sport. Hopefully not. Hopefully we've excised that from...
00:19:55
Speaker
for most of our schools. But like, I'll get hazed a freshman, but then when I'm a senior, i will do the hazing, right? And that's just, like, without thinking about it, that's just the attitude that gets passed down. And I remember I get, I got to level 60, and I'm riding, like, my undead horse, um you know, and and And then it's my turn through Stranglethorn Vale. Notorious. It's one of the first places where like the both teams are mixing like to do quests. And it's like a real it's it's real tough time to be like a level 30. I tried to level and I'm writing through, you know, and there there it is.
00:20:36
Speaker
There's like the little, the little, I don't even, you know, could have been a gnome. They're particularly obnoxious. Like, you know, we, ah we in the horde probably to go out of our way to squash them. And like, you know, and and I looked at at him and he looked at me I'm like, this is your time. This is when you gank. This is the revenge you get for all the harms that I'm put upon you.
Enjoyment in Gaming: Strategy vs. Power
00:20:58
Speaker
And I'm like, I don't want to. Like, that doesn't feel good.
00:21:04
Speaker
and i just like, you know, just like rode off into the sunset. Like, you know, like John Wayne in my head. Okay. So like, so fade out into like a thoughtful. Okay. Anyway, so I learned I wasn't going, i was not, i was not going to do that. And I don't know why I leveled through.
00:21:24
Speaker
It's probably those experiences that made me not want to perpetuate them. Okay. But this relates to SNAP because we get into the new season and I'm really ready for this new season. I'm tired of the old, we're all tired of of of death and plague and apocalypse. Like this is no, remember when that felt like an escapism from like a normie life if you were of a certain privileged position?
00:21:51
Speaker
Okay. And, um, Then, okay so then it's like, yay, beach summer party. And here's what I did. I went like I usually do stupidly. I'm like, I'm to roll for Venus. Because, like, I excited. I was excited for, and, like, out of, like, six cards, boom, I get Monstro. And I'm like, okay, new card. I'm going to Monstro. It's not Venus. That's cool. I'll roll again. I got tokens. Whatever. It's me. I'll just blow them all, I guess. What do I care? And then right after Montreux, boom, Venus, two. And what, the two new cards were out of like six I didn't have in seasonal. And I was like, yeah, let's fucking
00:22:33
Speaker
So like I just, you know, i i rolled an auto because I was like, you know, like I just I need to play some. Before the podcast or whatever. And um and the deck it rolled was also with with the dolphin baby dolphin Jeff.
00:22:48
Speaker
Jeff the baby dolphin? question mike Okay. So I'm like, perf. Get all the new cards. Go in. And I'm playing. And it's like, oh, so this is strange.
00:23:03
Speaker
This is real strong. And you know me, I'm not always playing a super
Gaming Fairness & Card Availability
00:23:08
Speaker
meta deck. So like, it's just like, oh, the power at my fingertips. Like, i have to try. like I'm just...
00:23:16
Speaker
And I realized, one, that's not fun for me. What's what's fun for me in a card game is not beating someone. What's fun for me in a card game is being clever. It's like doing the clever thing. It's using the location, using cards, this stuff. Just playing powerful cards and a powerful deck and just beating someone just, like, isn't – loses joy quickly for me. So this is happening. And I'm like – so I'm like, yay!
00:23:45
Speaker
Okay, and then, and then I come across this one player. i have no memory of their name. If I, I probably run into the same people a lot. I just, nobody's name's. Okay, and, um, you know,
00:23:59
Speaker
ah they are also playing a surfer, right? And they, and they snap me. because Because they hit their sauce. And i and i I pulled up and I looked at their ah and looked at their collection level. um And it's like, what was it? Like 12, 15 something. I think I'm like 20, 30. don't know. I like i don't I like to follow my own numbers. Okay.
00:24:25
Speaker
But like, but it's just like, oh, oh, I'm like twice you see your snap age. You're gonna snap me. Oh, oh baby. Okay. So like, right.
00:24:36
Speaker
And that's the thing. They hit their sauce. They were playing. like a Wong surfer, right? This used to be like you wouldn't beat it. Cause I'm not playing like any counters. Like, you know, they have unrestrained Wong. Like, and it's just like, and they, and they snapped me and I beat them on all three lanes, all three by a lot, by a lot.
00:25:00
Speaker
Because don't even know that it was my sauce. I think it was just like average for this deck. But we were both doing Surfer, and here was the difference.
00:25:12
Speaker
I had newer cards than they had. You know what I mean? I had... oh sorry. I'm trying to stop. Oh, another week of trying to get over my verbal tics. Okay. Um...
Impact of New Cards on Gameplay
00:25:23
Speaker
It's one of those things. Do you have Frigga? I have Mother of Skun. I didn't actually in this deck, but like an example. you have won like You have Wong. I have Venus. I have like all of these cards. They had like cards that were good.
00:25:38
Speaker
Look, even like I was thinking that when Ben was talking about Supergiant too, remember when Supergiant was in Vizwoman? That's when you were pulling your like, it's going to trigger the effect after effects. It's like we do just have new cards that replaced old cards. And that's why I beat this person. um right because because they we both hit our sauce and I had newer cards and I knew that.
00:26:04
Speaker
like I knew that and I knew that was why I was gonna crush them hard. And um and the only it was only out of the lake pity in my heart that I didn't snap them back you know and they just had to be crushed under the weight of their own four cubes. ah it was And this just like, honestly, after that,
00:26:26
Speaker
ah you I turned off the game and I haven't gotten back in since. I was like, that that felt bad to me. That did not feel fun in any way. And i was what a bad experience for that player. How exciting!
00:26:41
Speaker
How exciting to get him to pull off your wall! They had a bunch of stuff on one. They were doing all this stuff last turn. How exciting for them! you know what I had? I had the premium season pass card. pass card. I had a bunch of new seasonal cards they didn't have because I have twice the collection level, even though I don't have a full collection. And they had no chance. They just, like, they never, don't know. They never had a chance. So ah do i feel good about ganking players lower level than myself? No, I do not. And I don't like that the game just set me up, that it wasn't about either of our cleverness. None of us did anything clever. We were just playing out the decks. You know, i didn't i have count. was just a and ah
00:27:32
Speaker
And that's why I won. And didn't enjoy that one bit. So I hope you have a more fun week in SNAP, Lauren. but I can relate. like to i yes I beat a deck that got the full Wong-White Tiger-Odin combo. they've They put tigers freaking everywhere, and it didn't matter. i could just go taller. And yeah, I'm with you. like I don't think Snap is super pay-to-win. There are certainly games that are much more egregious in that area, but it's kind of pay-to-win, and it doesn't feel good to to win when it's... Yeah, when it wasn't because of anything you did, um except for being more senior in the game.
00:28:14
Speaker
ah I talk about... Well, hmm. Let's talk about Snap first. I used an end of turn deck with Venus in it. It's actually a deck from Scott, but I swapped out Havoc really quickly for Bruce Banner. Havoc's probably better with Venus because, you know, actually has an interaction with her ability.
00:28:32
Speaker
And also, well, they I guess they both interact with Invisible Woman. Invisible Woman gives Bruce a better chance of of evolving, of hulking out. um But I found that there were a lot of turns turns two and five where I wasn't playing Havoc and he was just taking up space in my hand. So Bruce came out, I think because Venus is viable on the last turn.
00:28:53
Speaker
And so like a lot of end of turn decks, I'm playing Havoc on the last turn. um Although you don't have to, certainly. And so I just think like, oh, I have this Venus is replacing Havoc.
00:29:04
Speaker
So ah Bruce felt better. um Venus on the last turn, like, I don't know if there's any other deck that can do that. But end of turn puts out enough buffs that you can justify putting Venus out on the last turn and she can still be like a 320, which is awesome.
00:29:19
Speaker
which is awesome um And certainly you can play her earlier than the last turn, but saving her for the last turn means your opponent is going to underestimate you even more than they already do underestimate end of turn. Yeah.
00:29:33
Speaker
it was fun i really liked the end of turn deck and it has felt a lot weaker since they'd uh halved the intensity of every invisible wound first steps proc that you do after the first one um fantastic car felt awesome here normally i think of fantastic car as like the last plan like this is like but i was finding myself favoring fantastic car over invisible woman first steps um part partially probably because of Invisible Woman's nerf, but then also Venus was making every Fantasticar hit bigger. And so, like, you know, you have Jocasta Prodigy Fantasticar. That's like five Fantasticar hits.
00:30:10
Speaker
Do you want 10 power or 15 power on all your end-of-turn cards? So, it was fun. i I cruised. I was playing very sloppy. um i don't want to say that's going to be everybody's experience. It might be because...
00:30:25
Speaker
I spend the rest of my time in Snap ah chasing silly clips, and so my matchmaking ah rating is artificially deflated from my actual skill level. um But yeah, people were underestimating the power of this deck. I was snapping aggressively and retreating sloppily, and I had like an 80% win rate. Maybe closer to 70 by the time it you know made it all the way to infinite. But it's a fun deck if you like End of Turn.
00:30:52
Speaker
Check it out. I will also talk about Kickoff Tactics. That's a great idea. It's actually been out for a while, I think, in the UK, but it just finally hit wider, more app stores. It's finally in the American app store. So I grabbed it and it has some good ideas that are fun and different.
00:31:12
Speaker
um For context, i I know nothing about professional soccer. Like, um i've I've watched a game in my life. um You know, I played soccer as a child, but like all these all these people's names mean absolutely nothing to me. um You know, they're all actual players.
00:31:29
Speaker
And... and
00:31:33
Speaker
uh okay so some of the cards are just straight up snap cards right like there's a uh there's an iron man there's a there's a quick silver like they they just straight up have the same abilities um but some of them are wild like messy who i guess i actually do know that character i got hit by a messy once it's an eight cost card but it's an eight turn game so that's not as scary as it is instead eight cost card that steals one power from every enemy card it hits so hard it like swung all three lanes by itself i was like oh that's dumb um i guess that's maybe maybe back to the pay to win conversation so as long as he wasn't injured there's there's three locations and there are eight turns after turn four you score goals for every location you're winning
00:32:25
Speaker
And then again, after turn eight, you score goals for every location you're winning. And then whoever has the most goals most goals wins. So most games only have six points available. um There's a location that counts double. So that one is ah is different.
00:32:45
Speaker
ah And then between turn four and five, you get drawn three random tactics... that do a variety of things. They might make like all your defense cards stronger, or they might ah draw a card from your deck and make it a zero cost, or they might like discard one of your opponent's cards, or like, there's just all these different random effects and you and your opponent don't get the same ones and you just pick one of three and there are some wild ones.
00:33:11
Speaker
So is this their answer to locations being different? Or do they have their locations are different like Snap? still have three locations that do stuff. That do different stuff? Okay. But it's another location-like mechanic. Interesting. All the stuff is like... All the core stuff is the same as Snap. They're still...
00:33:33
Speaker
There is there's snapping, but what does it do? Oh, um it just you get like cubes, the trophies um at the end of a match based on who won. So that so you still have the stakes doubling thing. You still have retreating. You still gain one energy every turn. There's still three locations that reveal on turn one, two and three. You can still put four locations per side. There's still priority like it is very much snap. And then there's a few extra things.
00:33:59
Speaker
um These tactics are so wild, though. like And sometimes you draw dumb tactics, and you can reroll, and if you do reroll, then you have one less energy on turn five, which I actually think that's kind of an interesting mechanic.
00:34:11
Speaker
That kind risk-reward. um But man, just like draw the top card of your deck and set it to zero. one player, that might be a two-cost, and for one player, might be an eight-cost. You just skip for free. You just like draw your eight-cost. It's wild. um What else is there? ah The decks are 11 cards plus 4 cards. This is kind of interesting. And you choose your formation between... Gosh, I wish I knew all the terms. They have a bench?
00:34:40
Speaker
Forwards, defense, and midfielders, and then you have one goalkeeper. um Forward might not be the right word. Strikers? I don't know. um Anyway.
00:34:51
Speaker
You choose your layout, and every card in the game is assigned one of the roles, and you can only... Like, you have to play... if you Like, I'm using a 5-2-3 layout, and that means, like, I have to have five defense, two midfielders, three forwards, and, like...
00:35:07
Speaker
But there's different there's different layouts you're allowed to use, but you can't break those ones. You can't ever have two goalkeepers. So it's like that's one way that they're like restricting deck building. And then the four cards on the side also have assigned ah type slots. I don't know if it varies yet. It varies based on your formation. I haven't dug into it that much.
00:35:26
Speaker
But these cards are kind of interesting. You randomly add one to your deck on turn 3, 4, 5, 6.
00:35:34
Speaker
So they're, they are not in your deck early on. So they might be worth putting like high cost cards there. You're like, I don't even have a risk of drawing it in the first couple turns. And then it has a chance of being added to my deck.
00:35:46
Speaker
Each of turns three, four, five, six, I may never draw it. It just gets added to the deck. um That feels like there's some interesting depth there. um It's not a full sideboard because you don't really control it, but like you can choose. like These are cards that are delayed when they enter my deck.
00:36:01
Speaker
Yeah. i After playing it on my first night, I described it as, i think ties are way too easy, and it was fun for 90 minutes last night. And... Like I said before, I don't know anything about soccer, but I was soon told that I basically described soccer itself when I said so ah that. that tickled me immensely.
00:36:23
Speaker
um Yeah. I think it's it's like fun to check out Snap Clones. This is, I think, the second like heavily inspired by Snap game I've played. It's fun to check them out, but they just like they just don't compare. This one has way, way, way, way too swingy.
00:36:39
Speaker
i Too much for me.
00:36:46
Speaker
Cool. But, you know, check it out if you want to have fun for 90 minutes.
00:36:53
Speaker
The aesthetic, I don't usually like realistic aesthetics. Like if it was fantasy sports, I'd be more into it, you know? like Yeah. mean, not fantasy in the and the like- Orcs and elves playing soccer? You mean like Blood Bowl? Like Blood Bowl, yeah. You know, yeah like something like that. For sure. Absolutely. So it's like, i yeah, I won't, but I enjoyed hearing about it and the mechanics and stuff. Yeah. I mean, the the collection level track, those splitting your cards, like upgrading them, like it's all the same.
00:37:22
Speaker
Wow. Very, very aggressively inspired by Snap. Yeah. Scoring system is is interesting. It's just like it's so easy to to have...
00:37:34
Speaker
to have this the game end in three three is like and that's just like i think they need to figure out a tiebreaker or something even if that's not how real football that is how real that you would go to you gotta have or anything that's why yeah so many opportunities to follow the sport you know to to Create the the sport analogy. Yeah, find some way to make it a thematic tiebreaker.
00:38:00
Speaker
um i don't i don't know. ah But yeah, I had a lot of ties in playing in an hour and a half. and And I think it was too many. It wasn't like majority ties, but you know, ties are pretty rare in Snap.
00:38:13
Speaker
They are. They're also kind of fun when you get like a wild tie. Yeah, they're so cool. I feel like I tie a lot. really like because stay in games I should have retreated. I think that's where a lot of it's coming from. I love when you get a wild tie that's just like three super different numbers. You're playing completely different decks. One of the numbers has to be the same.
00:38:39
Speaker
Yeah. Right. I meant middle, left, and right are all yeah completely different from each other. to secret homework. It's been a couple weeks, but this week's is Ben's.
00:38:53
Speaker
All right. um So some of you may remember back in episode 69, ill-conceived entirely, that was the title. um We had a secret homework that we had to do an entertainment at each other.
00:39:14
Speaker
So what I did was a very important project called Zombie Richard Reads Presents Snap Your Own Adventure. Um, and it occurs to me that this was, uh, like back in January or something. And maybe people don't remember what happened in the original snap your own adventure.
00:39:37
Speaker
So I'm going to do a recap. And by that, I mean, I'm going to only go through the choices that were actually made in that one. Um, cause last time we we got to explore all the, all the branches, um,
00:39:53
Speaker
Anywho, I'm a little, I'm feeling a little bad because I don't think the quality is as high this time. So that's, that's also part of why I want to play the hits. Anywho, but yeah, let's, let's see how we got here. You may not remember the character you're inhabiting and all that. So you need to re-immerse yourself.
00:40:12
Speaker
Zombie Richard Reads presents Snap Your Own Adventure. Victory! You don't know when you're gonna hear that voice line again. It was supposed to be the soundtrack of your summer vacation. That is, until your parents got the bright idea to send you to this prehistoric sleepaway camp one last time to look after your stupid siblings. It's such bullshit.
00:40:30
Speaker
No phones, no laptops, just arts and crafts and stupid ghost stories. You're getting too old for this shit. At least there's usually a day for archery. Gotta scratch that competitive itch somehow, because your snap ranking this season is completely fucked. That's right. You're one of those super smart 12-year-olds in the upper echelons of Infinite month after month, even though you're still missing half of Series 3.
00:40:52
Speaker
You don't know what to say. Some people just have the fucking juice. Stone Age camp rules aside, it's not like you'd have a ton of time to grind ladder anyway. Your kid brother Jeff is a total dweeb, and you're gonna have your hands full keeping the other children from beating his ass. Not that you would blame them.
00:41:07
Speaker
Your brother is straight up begging for it, constantly burying his stupid nose in one of those choose-your-own-adventure books that zombie Richard Reeds got him on. That cartoon-ass ghoul is for babies and everybody knows it. You wish you could say Beth was any better, but your sister has all the social skills of a lighthouse keeper and not one of the cool ones that ends up that ends up befriending a misunderstood cryptid. She's always lost in one of those games that look like Stardew Valley but aren't.
00:41:31
Speaker
She's played the best and now she's playing the rest. You've tried to get her into Marvel Snap or even Marvel Rivals, which seemed like a better idea since she's dog shit at math, but she insists on digging around in the digital dirt like a goddamn peasant.
00:41:43
Speaker
probably wants Tom Nook to tell her a good job or some shit because she definitely isn't about to hear it from Big Sis. Maybe you should take it easy on her as she is going through a gaming withdrawal of her own. But maybe she shouldn't have been such a fucking tattletale when you borrowed mom's debit card to buy the season pass. So maybe everybody could be acting a little more sisterly.
00:42:02
Speaker
Sadly, the time has come to give your parents a begrudging hug. They implore you to be a good sister, remember you're the role model, all that garbage. You roll your eyes and assure them that the twins will emerge unscathed, relatively speaking.
00:42:13
Speaker
Some mild trauma seems unavoidable, but it's nothing compared to your own frozen SP total. And just like that, your parents drive away. i Whoops, I scrolled. i lost I lost my place. And just like that, your parents drive away to do whatever temporarily childless adults do. You cannot be bothered to speculate.
00:42:33
Speaker
You heard them. I'm the boss. Keep it moving and don't embarrass me. You consider putting some distance between yourself and your siblings as they follow you up the hill to the cabins. Is it worth it? Flip to page 37 if you're all right with being seen together. Turn to page 20 if you want to ditch these losers.
00:42:46
Speaker
ah We learned last time that you all didn't even have the impulse to ditch these losers. You you were fine with being seen together. And that's good because you would have had a game over if you ditched the losers. um Anywho, there we are on page 37. You realize that the other campers will learn that you're related. You realize that the other campers will learn that you're related eventually. So there's no real point in delaying the inevitable. Besides, you remember your first time at camp before you were so good at making friends and stacking cubes to the goddamn ceiling?
00:43:14
Speaker
Things haven't been so easy for you always. By the time everybody is unpacked, the inaugural bonfire is getting underway. As you wait in line to secure your Samoa's components, you scan the campground for the twins.
00:43:27
Speaker
A counselor is telling ghost stories, and Jeff is hanging on her every word. Your little concern that he's wearing is waiting for a turn to talk face, which can lead nowhere good. It may be worthwhile to intervene before he embarrasses your entire family.
00:43:39
Speaker
It takes a little longer to locate Beth. Much to your surprise, some older campers are teaching her one of those violent card games where everybody smacks the shit out of each other's hands every 30 seconds or so. Slappy card games are the lowest form of card games, but you're actually kind of impressed.
00:43:53
Speaker
Still, you can imagine several ways that this could go wrong. Who needs you most? Turn to page 15 if you think Jeff needs your help. Go to page 33 if you're more worried about Beth. And we learned that you all were more worried about Jeff.
00:44:06
Speaker
So, on page 15... And it turned out that his puppy had been a Dracula all along! You arrived just in time to hear the counselor finish the worst ghost story probably ever.
00:44:21
Speaker
She makes zombie Richard Reeds look like Wes Craven, but these babies seem legitimately enthralled. Is the bar really that low? You put your hand on Jeff's shoulder. You hear words, but you have no idea where they're coming from.
00:44:32
Speaker
I think my brother knows a good one. Oh, shit! That is your voice! What have you done?! Turn to page 40 when you're ready to hear Jeff's terrifying tale.
00:44:44
Speaker
And that was where we left off. yeah So. On page 40. forty In a new document. Okay.
00:44:58
Speaker
It was a dark and stormy night, and the vibe was actually real bad, but the grown-ups didn't know it. All of the adults thought everything was totally chill, but the kids knew what was up.
00:45:10
Speaker
Evil was afoot. Jeff's storytelling is unorthodox, but not entirely ineffective. His tale does seem to be generating some chills and or thrills among your fellow campers.
00:45:22
Speaker
Maybe your reputation can survive this after all. Content to let him cook for the moment, your gaze wanders to the night sky. You really can't see more stars out here than back home. But you notice something weird to the west. A flickering green glow.
00:45:36
Speaker
You wonder briefly what it could be, but Jeff's story pulls you back in. Aunt Gladys just bewitched the Big Daddy into drilling a hole in the xenomorph, but she doesn't even know about the acid blood yet! As Jeff's tail draws to a close, a piercing howl can be heard to the east, almost on cue.
00:45:53
Speaker
And that's why you always leave a note. Some of the campers giggle nervously, and others are too spooked to make a sound. Jeff actually kind of killed it.
00:46:04
Speaker
You wonder if Beth found similar success in the slappy card game. Turn to page 20 to check on your sister. This is one of those times when you don't even get a fucking choice. Page 20. You drag Jeff away from his new fans with some effort.
00:46:18
Speaker
Maybe it's residual spookiness from his story, but you have a bad feeling. You're not sure what Jeff can do to help, but you decide not to split the party any more than you already have. Sure enough, Beth is nowhere to be seen.
00:46:29
Speaker
Where could she have wandered off to? You interrogate the card gamers, but they have no idea where she went. The ringleader, Frank, is an old camp nemesis, long since vanquished, and he is justifiably terrified of you.
00:46:42
Speaker
He would give you answers if he had any. The best he can do is point you toward the nearest camp counselor, some guy named Brad. You don't recognize Brad from previous years, so he must be new.
00:46:52
Speaker
He looks about 19 years old and useless. Turn to page 41 to report Beth's disappearance to the appropriate authorities. Flip to page 17 if you're ready to take matters into your own hands.
00:47:06
Speaker
I mean, can we do both? Yeah, you can do both. I encourage you to do both. Wait, what? Well, which which one do you do? which well it's What's your first instinct?
00:47:18
Speaker
Probably we should report eighty or to the authorities. Oh, I didn't want to be responsible, but I accept. Okay. we've got We've got a split decision. Let's see what happens if you report it to the authorities. On page 41, Brad listens politely and makes a face of concern, but tells you that some of the counselors went into town to get supplies for tomorrow's activities, and they are currently short-staffed. He would love to help you look for your sister, but he has to stay and keep an eye on the other campers. He promises that he will convene an Entmoot once the other counselors get back, whenever the fuck that may be.
00:47:53
Speaker
You don't know it yet, but your sister has already been murdered by a shapeshifter or something. Maybe take a little more initiative next time. Game over! Alright, so that that's the plan right there.
00:48:05
Speaker
um But let's see what happens on page 17, if you're ready to take matters into your own hands. So ready. Oh, yeah. Trust your instincts. Brad looks like probably the most incompetent counselor this camp has ever seen. And they've employed some real dipshits over the years you've attended. You explained to Jeff that the two of you will be going rogue for a daring rescue mission. And he is surprisingly game.
00:48:27
Speaker
The only problem is that you have no idea where to start. You think back to the weird shit you noticed during Jeff's ghost story. The green glow is still visible, but seems to have faded slightly.
00:48:37
Speaker
You haven't heard any more howling, but you notice a huge flock of birds suddenly taking flight from the east. No, not a flock, a cloud? You're no ornithologist, but you're pretty sure it's not technically a flock when every single species of bird in a forest freaks out and dips all at once.
00:48:54
Speaker
head west toward the flickering green glow turn to page 44 to start your search in the east go to page 18 I'm more interested in the glow let's do it alright well unfortunately don't i don't have that page yet no I'm more interested in the cloud of birds I have neither page yet that's the clicking
00:49:24
Speaker
I wasn't... I'm sorry. I had real life... It's okay. I know. I wish I'd done more pages for you. I meant to do more pages. there There will be a chapter three of Zombie Richard Reads Presents Snap Your Own Adventure. Hopefully not as many months in the future to where I have to recap the whole thing.
00:49:44
Speaker
Okay. Learn the fate of Beth. That's right. ah Thank you. That was fun. Yeah. I'm assigning next week's homework.
00:49:55
Speaker
It is um fairly open-ended. I want you to, just we've we've talked about slop a lot when ah reviewing new sets of cards.
00:50:09
Speaker
Snap slop. And I want, you know, put our money where where our mouth is. i want you to design a card that is not slop. So hopefully a card that does something new, you know, or at least is interesting in some way. That's it. There's no other restriction than that. Just don't don't don't make it sloppy. Ooh, okay.
00:50:31
Speaker
Sorry, I already thought of it.
00:50:35
Speaker
So fast. Okay. Sick. I've ever read down a little bit. Yeah, you should. because That was the last time. I forgot.
00:50:47
Speaker
That's happened to you several times. um If you like what you heard, like, comment, subscribe, et cetera. Feed the algorithm. Feed our souls. Come hang out with us in the speakeasy. It's our little corner of Discord.
00:51:01
Speaker
The instructions to get there are in the show notes or video description. We're proudly part of the Snap Judgments Network, where you can listen to other great shows like Snap Decisions from Joe on Mondays.
00:51:14
Speaker
ah Tune in next week. Maybe there will be a weekly installment of Zombie Richard Reads. I don't want to sign you up for that. We'll see what happens, but i i I won't promise not to. I'll tell you that much.
00:51:30
Speaker
Find out next time. Same Snap time. Same Snap channel.
00:51:41
Speaker
Dancing to music we can't hear. So, yeah. Yeah. I do it. But, you know, your reality is what you believe it to be. It's not madness.
00:51:52
Speaker
It's true. Okay, sorry. I was writing down my ideas so I wouldn't forget about it. That's good that you did. We haven't done a code design one in a little bit.
00:52:08
Speaker
I have absolutely no idea. But was like, well, how do you... I gotta of prove what what we mean when we're when we're being critical of the slop. I mean, we're It's gonna be the shortest one in... ever?
00:52:21
Speaker
Gosh. It's still over an hour. No, it's not.
00:52:33
Speaker
Oh, how's that? We did it. Yeah. i guess you're gonna try Remember when we were starting the podcast? Like, how long do we want it to be? And you're like, 30 minutes to an hour something like that? Maybe we aim for 45? Yeah.
00:52:48
Speaker
you know And we have some that are two and a half hours. We haven't said a single goddamn word about the season pass card. How how are we all feeling about Jeff, huh?
00:53:00
Speaker
I haven't played him, but I've played against him. And he seems... seen him around a little bit. He's good. yeah He seems all right. I thought he was going to be better. I thought I was going to see more of him everywhere.
00:53:11
Speaker
Venus we were low on. venus is Venus is too good in my opinion. You think so? I gave Venus a 4, I think. Oh, really? wanted to give basically every card a 3 this season, but like yeah people people like and people are playing Venus. I don't love her in Surfer, but I i like her for end and stuff. Oh, really?
00:53:33
Speaker
Yeah, ah a lot of my favorite cards to play in Surfer are applying buffs to the top of your deck or cards in your hand. And Venus does not count those. And his hipster surfer.
00:53:47
Speaker
I don't, I don't know. i did, I did test her out. So I'm, I played her a bit and she's, you know, she does her thing. And when she does the thing, wow, she does the thing sometimes, but yeah, I don't know. I'm not that impressed by, by new Jeff.
00:54:02
Speaker
We'll see i see. I've only seen one or two people play Nova with Venus, and I want to see more of that. I feel like that might have legs. That's the thing that I did do. Yeah. Did you feel like it had legs? i wasn't blown away by it.
00:54:17
Speaker
It still didn't feel great. the The shape of like Nova Killmonger stuff, like it just didn't feel like the best thing to do. But... I didn't play a million games with that deck because I was like trying to focus on what I would be playing for the Golden Gauntlet or what I might be playing for the Golden Gauntlet. and and I could tell it wasn't that, so I sort of like set it aside, but I've still got it built.
00:54:41
Speaker
I might might do some more Venus testing.
00:54:46
Speaker
She's got Promise. I like her. And yeah, she seems really good with end of turn stuff in particular. I've seen some people calling for nerfs already, and I'm like, I don't... Oh, get out of town. It's too early. yeah pretty too early.
00:54:58
Speaker
I feel like in anything where you're buffing stuff, she's just – she feels – what's interesting about – me, though, is that she brings back buffing on the board as opposed to buffing in your hand. Like Ironheart, right? There's some cards that we've not seen play in a long time because we've talked before, I think, even on the podcast, about how it's better to buff in your hand, it feels like, and have those options. And now because of Venus, we're seeing a lot more – buffing on the board cards return you know to the game.
00:55:32
Speaker
I think it's good to incentivize that because in the hand already has other advantages. Right. Yep. You know who I want to play with Venus? like if If I do go back to do more Surfer Venus testing stuff, I want to get Herbaceous Crumb back in there. you know I've played him in some Surfer decks, but like you know the one where he hands out two plus ones oh that could to two other locations. But suddenly, four plus twos that he hands out. That's bigger than a single ah double that he does.
00:56:05
Speaker
Yeah. Actually, is that all is that always better than the double? I always think I'm aiming for the double, but that is actually better to spread four power than go plus two. Isn't the energy what you usually call for? Well, the thing is, they're all good.
00:56:20
Speaker
i I like that's what I like about Herbie is that like sometimes they're all the right answer all four options are sometimes like the one you really want he's a cool card for sure I've definitely underplayed him I'm gonna play Nico again gonna play Nico in so long love Nico suffering destroy right that's a cool card yeah I don't get to play her much outside of bad guys with swords as