Last Notification- North Korean Nuclear Intentions

This is probably the last of posts I will make on the North Korean issue because I don't want to turn my blog into a political one. It is suspected that North Korea will fire a missile at the US as bellicose waves of anti-American rallies are going on in Pyongyang with hundreds of thousands of people. They have even threatened war at the United States and threatened to shoot a missile at the territory.


All war rhetoric, if, among the fools in Pyongyang there is one slightly intelligent one has realized that against a UN force they cannot win. Instead of killing themselves and millions of people with them, the North is probably going underground to proliferate (to spread) nuclear material to those who hate the United States; namely worldwide terrorist organizations and unstable regimes in Africa and other places worldwide. It doesn't make sense to launch a missile at the US, but I was lead to believe Kim will do it because he is just that stupid.


I would imagine, other than the media reporting US destroyers are following North Korean transport ships that intelligence, sattelites and the works are all eyes on North Korea. If the president declared North Korea as a potential threat, to defeat an enemy this is the generation "the war of information". As perverse as it sounds, I am kind of wishing a test dummy would be fired at us- I love it when pompous people are proven wrong.

WoW TCG- Death Knight Starter Hits Store Shelves

So I was in the Reading, PA area today and I got a chance to stop by a card shop and a local Target. You see, I live an hour away in the Lehigh Valley and I can never find what I need here in terms of WoW trading cards- different market I suppose. I picked up, for about $50USD:


1) Arena Grand Melee- Horde Deck
2) Arena Grand Melee- Alliance Deck
3) WoW TCG Volume 1 Artbook
4) Death Knight Deluxe Starter


Ideally I need two death knight starters to get a playset (4) of each card. I picked up Arena Grand Melee and constructed that deck. It is a mini game you can play within a normal card game that makes certain, sometimes odd things happen. For example, there is a card that makes all damage "noob" damage. I mixed and matched the cards I wanted to throw into the deck, and I limited the ongoing abilities to every 3rd draw. I figure since average games last around 9-12 turns, I made an arena deck of about 60 cards (assuming 4 players).


The art book was a great buy- it retails for 50 dollars but was on sale for 8! I picked it up and the art inside is beautiful. It is all the art they put into the cards but inside the book, some fantastic art work. My favorite is Magmadar from Molten Core- who worked on that art?


Death Knights are a brand new class to the card game and a relative newcomer to the online game. I can say one thing about death knights- once the next booster set Fields of Honor is released, Death Knights are indeed going to be a force to be reckoned with. To answer the question of if Death Knights can tank (take the brunt of boss damage), the answer is yes, they have death grip. DKs for short, they can tank, have access to weapons that return from the graveyard, and have ways to summon ghouls. Another bonus- some abilities and presences offer debuffs as well. Total pain. I wonder how Paladin will stack up?


For those of you reading this, perhaps a facebook friend or someone new to my blog, the WoW TCG is a trading card game based off the popular game The World of Warcraft. Recently they have released a new starter deck and game supplement and I went to go pick them up. To date, the following sets are out:


Boosters

Block 1
Heroes of Azeroth
Through the Dark Portal
Fires of Outland


Block 2
March of the Legion
Servants of the Betrayer
Hunt for Illidan


Block 3
Drums of War
Blood of Gladiators
Fields of Honor (releases June 30th, 2009)


Raid Decks
Onyxia, The Black Dragonflight
Ragnaros, Molten Core
Magtheridon, Magtheridon's Lair
Illidan, The Black Temple
Kel'Thezud (spelling?) Naxxramas (releases September 2009)


Collector's Sets
Fiest of Winter Veil
Darkmoon Faire
Arena Grand Melee

Saber Rattling Taken Too Far?

"Our response would be to consider sanctions against us as a declaration of war and answer it with extreme hardline measures".

This was stated by North Korea less than 24 hours ago. If the United States puts them on the black list of state sponsors of terrorism, then they will declare war. More sailing and flight restrictions have gone in place- I think we are going back into Korea... and please for the love of God tell me I am wrong.

A direct attack, successful or attempted against the American people with nuclear weapons designed to incur massive carnage will land North Korea the honor of becoming the first atomic wasteland on Earth.

Article Response: Who Isn't Getting the Benefit of Honor?

Upper Deck Entertainment recently released an article about the new cards in Fields of Honor and the concept of honor looks interesting.


Playing a card means adding it to the chain. Most locations in this set reward you as you gain honor counters by "playing a card". A primary response to this and the arena cards in Blood of Gladiators is "these cards are really cool, but they have no room in my deck and are somewhat pointless". I think this is a big mistake players, including myself, are making about this set. Honor will definitely be important, but what happens to the deck that isn't gaining honor? The tempo may fall behind. With the introduction of Death Knights in a few days, a lack of a general card pool means Death Knights will fully embrace the arena and honor system, potentially making them deadly decks.

Adam is a very interesting card. If you need to move honor from one card to another, this is the way to go. I wonder where the horde equivalent is? Not only does moving honor store it for when you need it, doing the process of moving your honor points generates honor points (by paying a cost, you add Adam to the chain). He is unique, so I worry about Adam being a potential target for ally removal. We have yet to see Adam in play.

A good, all around quest that can stop some aggression, gain you a card, and add honor. For a cost of three this seems worth it, however play testing will verify my claim or dismiss it.

This will be THE location card to disrupt the tempo. As you play cards you can gain honor quickly and continue to draw cards. The average one on one PVP games at our campus pull about 15-25 cards from the deck- drawing more means more choice and more card advantage. Arathi Basin will probably see a lot of play, probably not just from myself.

I'm not sure where this one will see much use- it works for Restoration Druid (Buff) decks, or Ally rush, but the cost seems a bit high in terms of honor. Perhaps the future can reveal to us if this location will be worth the trouble...

Drek'Thar, very interesting card. He is a protector, and like Ivus the Forest Lord if you meet certain requirements (you pay one less for each honor counter) you can pay less to bring him forth. The HOLY CRAP factor of this card is that Drek'Thar can spawn wolves with ferocity that can finish the game. This seems like a good card to build a deck around and a great finisher for the Horde. I wonder if the alliance has an equivalent?

Deck Building 101: Holy/Protection Paladin‏

Here is a series I am starting- deck building is essential in any card game, and in the world of warcraft tcg, building decks is as easy as knowing what different types exist and what each class can do. Druids are versatile, but don't do the best in everything they do, hunters are also versatile in DPS amd slowing down the opponent. Mages are a powerhouse which interrupt, DPS and buff themselves or friends. Paladins are versatile (healing, DPS or tanking) with a tough twist. Priests can heal, discard or DPS (or buff). Rogues are DPS monsters that can play with the opponent (discard, poison). Shamans are also versatile with weapons striking, elemental DPS or mass healing. Warriors are the end all, be all of tankng (and some DPS) and Warlocks afflict, wipe out and summon powerful demons.


Three types of basic decks exist: Rush, Control and Discard. Rush uses a strategy that puts out multiple allies or damage that will overwhelm the opponent. Control forces the opponent to complete certain moves so that they can be anticipated- and discard either removes cards from the board, discards from the hand or mills the deck. Historically, control has been the best deck to play- but rush has seen a revitalization. Its like rock paper scissors- one beats the other but loses to another. Building a deck depends on what you want to do with it. I made a class quiz that I have now updated into version 3. It explores your interests and recommends a class to try out. The general rush decks are hunter, shaman, paladin and warrior. the general control decks are druid, mage, rogue and warlock. The general discard decks are Priests, Rogues and Warlocks. From here, you must decide an archtype. Damage, Healing, Tanking, Buffing, Discard and AOE are a few examples (Aoe stands for Area of Effect).


Some classes are mutli functional while others specialize in a specific archtype. Today's deck is a Holy Paladin. Holy is one of the three specs available to Paladin, specifically holy is for healing damage. Holy has a lot of damage prevention as well- and that can also be seen as a tanking card. So? we can combine Protection and Holy cards to create a Paladin tank that will prevent damage, lower some costs and tank, with late game weapons to finish the job.


Holy Paladin is a top 8 tournament winner and is known to become very expensive. The most expensive card in this deck is probably Holy Shock. Because this deck is built for raiding and tanking, not a lot of weapons are needed like in Retribution (Paladin) decks. Paladins tank differently than warriors- Protection Warriors are able to force every opponent to attack who he chooses. Paladins prevent that damage and rely on ally protectors to tank. Warriors are tough, but Paladins are extra tough because they can prevent damage to their friends and themselves. A warrior will require a healer to keep it going.Let's get to the deck, shall we?


Hero
Thoros the Savior (Horde)


Ability (25)
4 Aura of Accuracy
3 Blessing of the Martyr
4 Glimmer of Hope
4 Holy Shock
3 Judgement of Light
3 Lay on Hands
4 Sacred Moment


Ally (12)
4 Aknot Whetstone
4 Blood Knight Kyria
4 Horkin Figluster


Equipment (7)
3 Gorehowl
4 King's Defender


Quest (16)
4 A question of Gluttony
4 Forces of Jaedenar
4 The Sigil of Krasus
4 Tabards of the Illidari


Aura of Accuracy is a great card from the Drums of War set that you can drop in the early game. If you are targeting something with an ability, you pay one less to play it. For paladins, this is crucial when tanking. Blessing of the Martyr allows an ally to be buffed and revived- another tank or a very important ally such as Weldon Barov or Water Elemental. Glimmer of Hope is a new staple Paladin card that should be included in every paladin deck- if an ability card targets something you control in play, you can interrupt it with glimmer of hope. Holy Shock is also a Holy Paladin staple.


On a last shred of hope, if a boss is low on health and is about to kill a player, you can pop holy shock to not only prevent 4 damage, but deal 4 unpreventable damage as well. It is a very expensive card because it is seeing tournament play.Judgement of Light allows for a little bit of healing. Whenever a friendly hero or ally attacks the attached target, they heal two damage from themself. Against Illidan or Magtheridon (or Onyxia) this is great. In pvp, it creates a horrible situation for the opposition. Tank allies have wounds? attack with them and they may heal 2.


Lay on Hands is an amazing, last resort card to save a player from death. The Paladin heals the target player for all damage, but must end the turn after and skip his next turn. Play your cards right and this could be deadly.Sacred Moment stops a power happy boss or opponent from hitting with too much damage (Baron Geddon, anyone?). The Paladin and everyone else can't ready their cards again until the end of the next Paladin's turn. This can stop some bad, bad mojo from going down. Protection a lot? Blood Knight Kyria is a Paladin staple offering some healing, but the other two choices are good for a little tanking.


If necessary, you can drop King's Defender for Tatulla the Reclaimer for more control.Paladins have a track record for being nasty and difficult to take down. This is a must class for any 3v3 and is difficult to kill in a PVP match or 2v2 fight. Paladin does have its weaknesses, but the classes that can take down a paladin are far and few between.Any recommendations from you guys? The only thing I can think of is more tanking power.