tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-346997642011-12-14T21:08:07.918-06:00B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.comBlogger1311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-80166009131837037982007-09-21T08:45:00.000-05:002007-09-21T09:12:08.877-05:00

One of my very astute readers out there left a comment regarding this week's metagame madness that I would like to clarify. Anonymous left this comment:"I don't know what you have against Gorebelly, but you've really had to stretch the boundaries of logic and reason not to include it as tier 1. First, instead of your usual classifying tiers by Hero/Class (which in this case Gorebelly/Warrior

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-54641852246821562692007-09-20T10:37:00.000-05:002007-09-20T11:16:31.696-05:00

In our second week of Regionals the metagame starts to show its true colors. This week, we will see a little clearer definition between the decks that should be considered Tier 1 and Tier 2, and sadly, Mages get shut out again.The first breakdown as usual, will be the ratio of Horde to Alliance. Last week we saw a tie between the factions, but this week was a different story.Horde-50/+

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-25402115640522491872007-09-13T08:55:00.000-05:002007-09-13T09:31:50.473-05:00

Today marks the much anticipated return of Metagame Madness. I hope for my sake that this big comeback works out better than Britney's at the VMA's this week.The theme of this week's breakdown is balance. For this weekend at least, the game is far more balanced than it has ever been. There isn't one deck or one class that has separated itself from the rest. Gorebelly solo is getting a lot of

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-89185133584625849812007-09-12T17:50:00.000-05:002007-09-12T18:42:29.218-05:00

For any of you who frequent message boards for UDE's games, you probably know that I'm not one to hold back the criticism when I think they're doing something wrong. My biggest complaint with UDE has always been the lack of information combined with the lack of punctuality of information when they do actually release it. To balance things out, I'm going to give UDE props when they do something

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-84408815376602195072007-09-05T16:10:00.000-05:002007-09-05T17:04:01.902-05:00

Well, after reading a lot of players' input, I have decided to continue posting both here and at TCGplayer. Here, things will be about the same as the always have been. I will be posting strategy and metagame type content mostly. If you want to check out my TCGplayer blog, I will be chronicling my attempt to try to grind into Worlds through Honor ranking/rating. That will be the majority of

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-53770942490782752942007-08-27T09:51:00.000-05:002007-08-27T09:56:19.540-05:00

I've received a few e-mails and comments here asking me to continue posting at this blog in addition to the blog I've started at TCGplayer. I realized that this blog is where it all started for me. I really developed my initial readership with the first Regionals preparation. This blog is what landed me the gig at TCGplayer. So my question is, how many of you would like to see me continue

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-70637954901308104962007-08-23T13:45:00.001-05:002007-08-23T13:46:13.733-05:00

My Shaman review is up over at MyTCGplayer. You can find it here.

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-80229251606600794022007-08-22T10:38:00.000-05:002007-08-22T10:42:05.196-05:00

Hey everyone. For those of you that have RSS, I'm going to post here when I update at MyTCGplayer until they get the RSS set up. Chedy is working on some more things to help make the blog better. I should be able to easily link to the card and deck databases soon. There are some other things they're working on too that should make it a better place to be. If anyone has any suggestions feel

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-75985484672505927702007-08-20T15:53:00.000-05:002007-08-20T15:55:58.689-05:00

Hey everyone,I'm moving my blog over to the new my.tcgplayer.com. You can find it at my.tcgplayer.com/BLyons. There should be a link from the main page to it as well within the next week or two. Thanks for reading and all the support and be sure to check things out over there.

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-60146513466768430042007-08-16T13:45:00.000-05:002007-08-16T14:43:01.863-05:00

Today, I'll keep the FoO-mania rolling as we move along to one of the less used but for some reason most despised of classes, the Paladin.Avenger's ShieldThis card would be a lot better as an instant making it an uber-Hammer of Justice. As is, it's solid, but I'm not quite sure it makes the cut in a Paladin deck. I've already talked about it though, so I won't spend more time talking about it

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-84845794721292633322007-08-15T15:31:00.000-05:002007-08-15T16:10:27.937-05:00

Today, I'll look at the next class in line in Fires of Outland. Mages have had a habit of being all hype and no substance. Well, the hype is back with both Talents expecting to see a lot of play and other cards also promising to finally bring Mages to the top tables. Or will we see them flame out like they have so often thus far.Amplify MagicThis card's just not very good. It does nothing by

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-76065536486171679972007-08-14T14:03:00.000-05:002007-08-14T15:58:46.667-05:00

Edit: I am of course an idiot. Wraith Scythe is an axe (I've never bothered with checking types before, just seemed like it should be a sword to me, don't know why) which means it is of course not free when dual wielding Latro's Shifting Sword. Thanks to ghost for pointing that out.The FoO Review rolls on today with the Hunter class. In addition to their abilities, Hunters also got 2 new pets

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-55486100840085925252007-08-13T14:46:00.000-05:002007-08-13T16:44:31.424-05:00

The Sneak Previews are over and the cards are spoiled. As the rest of the country looks to Nationals and GenCon next weekend, I'm looking forward to the new FoO metagame. Before I start addressing that though, I'll do a card by card review here over the next two weeks to get everyone acclimated to the new set. Today, I'm going to start with the Druid abilities.Call of the WildIt's tough to say

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-64206860689473654842007-08-10T14:18:00.000-05:002007-08-10T16:30:04.819-05:00

The Fires of Outland FAQ came out Wednesday night, and we've got a couple more preview cards to talk about, so here's my last card review before the set comes out and I can talk about the set as a whole and see some of these preview cards in the bigger picture. First up are the last previews.One Draenei's JunkAside from the reference to Draenei genitalia, this card is pretty good. The only

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-57739442980707732582007-08-08T13:25:00.000-05:002007-08-08T15:23:39.702-05:00

I'm going to be really honest today. I've been very disappointed with most of the preview cards so far. I know not everyone out there play VS. System, but previews are also running right now for that game. The Previews for Marvel Legends (the next set) have been really good and for the most part the WoW previews have been meh with a few exceptions. They claim the previews are there to build

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-84364167127135826972007-08-06T12:26:00.000-05:002007-08-06T13:16:01.157-05:00

Well there have been more cards previews since my last update, and some of them are very good. Let's take a look at what we've got.ShadowfiendCost: 2ATK/Health: 3/1Priest OnlyFerocity. When Shadowfiend deals combat damage to a hero. Ready one of your resources. At the end of your turn, put Shadowfiend into its owner's hand.This card is really good. It gives Priests what amount to a recurring

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-37498398206541253742007-08-03T15:10:00.001-05:002007-08-03T15:22:02.437-05:00

Just wanted to get a small update in today.First, a big thank you to Sheila Weissman and the judging staff from Event Horizons. Event Horizons is the Premiere TO for South Texas and Louisiana. As most of you probably know, there is no central location to go to for Regionals results so to compile all the decks for metagame madness I need help from people who have actually attended the events.

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-13236057307851903642007-08-02T15:13:00.000-05:002007-08-02T15:51:50.478-05:00

Counting the new previews on UDE's site with a couple more leaks from some other sites, we've got 5 new cards to look at today. Well, maybe 4 1/2. First, let's take a look at the official previews from UDE.MegamorphMage AbilityCost: 8Target any number of allies in one party. Ongoing: Those allies can't attack or protect, lose all powers, and are Sheep.Now, I'm sure everyone knows I've ripped

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-66728820237994750642007-07-31T12:01:00.000-05:002007-07-31T12:50:36.020-05:00

Today, I've actually got 4 cards to talk about, 2 days worth of previews on the main site and 2 more cards that have been spoiled through other means. First, let's take a look at the official previews.MoonfireDruid-Instant AbilityCost: 2Attach to target hero , and your hero deals 1 arcane damage to it. Ongoing: At the start of your turn, if Moonfire is in play, your hero deals 1 arcane damage to

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-83190581385667500322007-07-27T13:25:00.000-05:002007-07-27T14:05:55.669-05:00

There are 5 new cards I haven't covered yet. I'm sure you have seen the four from the Sneak Previews and the one on UDE's site today. Now I'll tell you what I think about them.Dragon's BreathMage Instant AbilityCost: 3Fire Hero Required.Your hero deals 3 fire damage divided as you choose to any number of target heroes and/or allies. A character dealt damage this way loses all powers this

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-50581037097619837642007-07-25T15:13:00.000-05:002007-07-25T15:19:35.090-05:00

I've been wanting to play 2-headed ogre a lot lately, but there seem to be precious few rules. So I'm turning to you all to tell me what you think on some of the finer rules that would be different from a standard game.First, the deck limit. Should each deck only be legal by itself, or should the restriction of 4 apply to both decks?Duplicate heroes. Allowed or no?Uniqueness. Does uniqueness

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-30157585717946443042007-07-24T12:00:00.000-05:002007-07-24T16:15:57.563-05:00

It's been a few weeks since I last did Metagame Madness, and I've collected a lot of results and since we're now so close to Nationals, I'm just going to give the specific hero breakdowns. First I'm going to do total since the release of Dark Portal and then totals since the last Metagame Madness.Phadalus-81Pagatha-30Dizdemona-24Grennan-24Telrander-23Sen'Zir-22Gorebelly-19Azarak-19Bulkas-

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-24088850657017673282007-07-20T15:22:00.000-05:002007-07-20T16:44:12.346-05:00

Today was Friday which means another of our weekly previews leading up to the release of Fires of Outland. Today we got a look at the loot cards in the new set. Since I don't play the MMO, I'm obviously not going to talk about the in-game awesomeness that these new cards bring. I will tell you what I think about these cards in the TCG though.Goblin GumboInstant AbilityAttach to target ally.

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-33194787876942976592007-07-19T15:51:00.000-05:002007-07-19T20:46:09.187-05:00

When you draft World of Warcraft, the most important decision by far that you will make is whether you are Horde or Alliance. After that, which class you choose to play is the next important decision regarding the direction of your deck. Today, I'm going to talk about the classes and which ones are good to draft, and which others are not so hot.HunterI think Hunter is by far the top class. Hunter

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-43287017631264110302007-07-18T14:00:00.000-05:002007-07-18T15:45:06.152-05:00

Getting back to Constructed today, we're going to start taking a look at some of what I consider to be the Tier 2 decks. For any people who really like these decks, keep in mind when I say a deck is Tier 2, I don't mean it is worse than the Tier 1 decks. It's just not as popular. Today we're going to take a look at a deck that has spent the majority of its time flying way below the radar

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-66863158600346270182007-07-13T13:49:00.000-05:002007-07-13T14:25:36.977-05:00

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the first round of Through the Dark Portal previews and here we are now getting our first taste of Fires of Outland. I, personally am hoping for some good control stuff to balance out the game a little bit, but I'm sure most of you already knew that. We actually got 4 previews today, so I'll just get right to it letting you know what I think of

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-32152945279844771972007-07-12T14:12:00.000-05:002007-07-12T16:00:43.703-05:00

Today, I wanted to get back to drafting a little bit. Don't fear, I'm not done with the individual deck reviews yet, but since Nationals is a multi-format event, we have to be prepared for more than just the top decks in Constructed. Today, I want to move on the Horde's common ally selection. One thing that I want to address before I get to the actual review is why I don't rank all the cards

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-55228607002197179372007-07-10T08:51:00.000-05:002007-07-10T10:15:42.715-05:00

My Nationals metagame breakdown continues today with a breakdown of one of, if not the most explosive decks in the format, Telrander Cat Form. For reference, we'll use Matt Loomis' Top 8 deck from Darkmoon Faire:Chicago since it is the most recent version.4 Apprentice Teep4 Apprentice Merry3 Latro Abiectus3 Jeleane Nightbreeze2 Chipper Ironbane4 Parvink2 Moira Darkheart4 Cat Form4 Claw4 Rake4

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-33482479348454833682007-07-05T09:19:00.000-05:002007-07-05T13:09:35.247-05:00

I didn't get very many Regionals results for this week, and there was nothing particularly interesting about the ones I did get. Phadalus took another 6 slots out of 16 reported. Due to the relatively low relevence of a metagame breakdown this week, I will save these results and due Metagame Madness next week. Today, I will continue the deck breakdowns with Chris McMurry's pet, Pagatha

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-19614628643283457152007-07-02T11:04:00.000-05:002007-07-03T11:45:51.057-05:00

We're just about six weeks away from Nationals, so I wanted to do a quick breakdown of each of the top decks. What are their strengths and weakness? What improvements could me made to them? How do they match up vs. the other top decks? Today, I'm going to start with the King of the Hill, Phadalus Rush.For reference: Brad Watson's Dream Machine Winning Decklist1 King Magni Bronzebeard1 Leeroy

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-677899459205716672007-06-28T10:09:00.000-05:002007-06-28T10:59:28.691-05:00

It's time to take our weekly look at Regionals results from across the country to see how the metagame is shaping up. With no big events and less than two months until U.S. Nationals, the next few weeks will really shape the metagame heading into that event.Without further ado, this week's results.First up as usual, the factions:Alliance-132/+23Horde-120/+17These numbers lie just a little bit.

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-41416772286979977682007-06-26T09:03:00.000-05:002007-06-26T10:29:08.056-05:00

I know a lot of you out there don't care about draft. But whether you like it or not, it is going to be a major factor in crowning the National champion and most likely the World champion as well later in the year. I want to talk some more about drafting here leading up to Nationals. Before I get started, I want to also recommend reading all of Alex Brown's articles on draft over at StarCityWoW.

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-79973264982368653632007-06-22T09:43:00.000-05:002007-06-22T11:31:55.612-05:00

I know I said I would come back and tell everyone what I thought about the Worlds information that was made public this week, and I'm still planning on doing that. But it's already Friday and I haven't covered the metagame yet this week, so I'm going to do that today.First up are the faction numbers:Alliance- 109/+18Horde- 103/+21Another close week and Horde is closing the overall gap. I think

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-87449118108118458492007-06-21T10:30:00.000-05:002007-06-21T10:34:15.523-05:00

Hey everyone,Just wanted to pass this info along to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. I will update later today with my thoughts on this info, but I wanted to get it out to everyone now.http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/wow/en/organizedplay/tournament/worlds/Some highlights. Date: Nov. 30-Dec. 2Location: San DiegoPlayers may qualify through Constructed and Sealed ratings, Honor Rankings, and

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-34463313905611641382007-06-19T15:44:00.000-05:002007-06-19T17:03:50.839-05:00

Yesterday, I looked at some of the non metagame related information coming out of Chicago this past weekend. Today, I'll move on to the decks and what to expect in the coming weeks.Before we get to the top 8, let's take a look at the overall field.I'm going to list the numbers from the Darkmoon Faire first and then the numbers that we've got from last week's Metagame Madness to see how they

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-66948488968697715562007-06-18T11:44:00.000-05:002007-06-18T12:28:36.135-05:00

The final major event before U.S. Nationals is out of the way and we are now in the home stretch with the biggest event yet fast approaching. But before we begin preparing in earnest and looking ahead to GenCon, we have to look back at this past weekend's results.Individual performances.The first thing I want to do is take a moment to look at some of the top individual performances we've seen in

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-76698246855390786142007-06-14T10:10:00.000-05:002007-06-14T11:29:07.115-05:00

Well, I'm back from Vegas and now a married man. While you may say congratulations, etc., I know you really come here to read about Warcraft, so I'll spare you all the details and just get back to business. There were only 2 Regionals this weekend, and I've got results from neither. I did manage to pick up some slightly older results, but not enough to warrant a full metagame breakdown for the

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-78123022410664590092007-06-06T10:32:00.000-05:002007-06-06T11:10:23.692-05:00

We've got a lot of results to digest this week so let's get right into it.Alliance-91/+28Horde-82/+32The two factions were relatively even this week, with the Horde holding a slight advantage. In addition to Phadalus's steady numbers, the Alliance got a big contribution from Dizdemona. The Horde continues to get its numbers through verstatility and while nobody can challenge Phadalus again this

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-34152268306811666372007-05-31T09:00:00.000-05:002007-05-31T10:05:56.766-05:00

It's everybody's favorite time of the week. Time for your weekly dose of metagame breakdown and analysis. First let's look at the factions and see if the blue team was able to extend their lead or if the red team closed the gap.Alliance-63 +19Horde-50 +16So the Alliance continues to lead and pulled away a little further, but the disparity for the new additions is close enough to say that

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-18969521319509363062007-05-29T08:32:00.001-05:002007-05-29T11:57:19.479-05:00

Today I'm going to catch up on the previews I missed last week and finish up this week's.I'm sure you've already seen these cards, so I'm going to save myself the time of copying them here and just get straight to it.Azuresong Mageblade.This card seems really good to me in terms of pure ability. After the first draw, you will get at least one card every other turn, which seems like a bargain at 1

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-24489157645848748912007-05-24T09:33:00.000-05:002007-05-24T10:08:13.741-05:00

Sadly, I was only able to get results from 3 of the regionals held this past weekend. If you have results for Lafayette, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Saint John, Pompano, Valley Park, or Tulsa from last weekend please send them in so I can get them added for next week. If you are attending Regionals this weekend in Kansas City, Portland, Rockville, Brighton, Marietta, Rochester, Houston, or

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-26468033306904956732007-05-23T14:01:00.001-05:002007-05-23T14:43:34.924-05:00

We've got two more Molten Core cards in the last two days, Blastershot Launcher and Obsidian Edged Blade. The first is a very good card for one class and the second is probably not as good as other options currently available.The Blastershot Launcher seems like it will probably find its way into the Hunter mid-range and control decks. It's probably a little too expensive to get into Hunter rush

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-44998045625624181802007-05-21T15:27:00.000-05:002007-05-21T15:47:44.871-05:00

The Molten Core Previews started on Friday, so I'll chip in what I think of the two new cards that we've seen so far. First up is Friday's preview:Eskandar's Right ClawInstant Weapon-Rogue, Hunter, Warrior, ShamanCost:3ATK:0Strike Cost:1You may remove an equipment in your hand from the game rather than pay Eskhandar's Right Claw's cost.This card may seem relatively innocuous at first glance, but

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-45627242135148366402007-05-15T09:22:00.000-05:002007-05-15T10:31:12.444-05:00

I've got enough results from Regionals around the world to start doing some metagame breakdowns again. I've got results from 7 Regionals so far. A couple of quick notes.....I didn't include Dream Machine Championships in this list.....I'm going to have separate breakdowns for hero, faction, and class.......I don't have actual lists for most of these decks, but I will try to give you an idea of

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-9643138620294796822007-05-11T14:20:00.000-05:002007-05-11T14:36:52.756-05:00

Hey everyone,It's been a little over a week since I last updated here. It's been a really hectic week for me. I'm getting married in Vegas next month and this has been the week that I had to nail down all the details of the trip from booking a flight and hotel to paying for everything that needs to be paid. Things are settling down a little bit and I will start with regular updates again next

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-87878775595412333492007-05-01T08:19:00.000-05:002007-05-01T08:49:43.336-05:00

I'm back today to talk about the Darkmoon Faire and the deck I played in it. I'll give you the decklist, what changes should me made, and how I fared with the deck.Here's the list:4 Apprentice Teep4 Apprentice Merry3 Scaramanga4 Latro Abiectus4 Jeleane Nightbreeze4 Chipper Ironbane3 Moira Darkheart3 Ka'lai the Uplifting3 Searing Totem4 Frost Shock4 Lightning Bolt4 Annihilator4 The Defias

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-79446546362737036742007-04-30T12:14:00.000-05:002007-04-30T12:46:59.659-05:00

Before I get into the meat of today's post, I'd like to let everyone know that I will be reviewing decklists from Regionals across the country starting again this week, so if you have results from any of the Regionals held this past weekend, please let me know so we can start to get a handle on the new metagame. Today, I'm just going to talk about the Faire itself. I will go into more details

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-84099519317440503652007-04-25T16:17:00.000-05:002007-04-25T16:23:15.792-05:00

As most of you know, Darkmoon Faire Austin is coming up this weekend. Due to real life, I will probably only be playing in the main event. I have been slow to post this week because of the DF coming up and other things keeping me busy. Next week, will be a big week here though. I will have a full tournament report from the DF Main Event. I will also go into some of the thoughts and decks

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-32159557493903359462007-04-19T14:01:00.000-05:002007-04-19T14:57:04.444-05:00

First, and a little off-topic, let me say that my metagame breakdowns will be returning after Regionals start using Through the Dark Portal. I just think that the current metagame has been analyzed enough and more people are already focusing on what will happen after the new set becomes legal. In that vein is today's post about another deck that has gotten some goods and has a good chance to

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-85585608168241279722007-04-17T10:43:00.000-05:002007-04-17T11:22:38.210-05:00

Today I'm going to start a series of posts talking about some of the top new decks to emerge from Through the Dark Portal. First up is the Paladin.Paladins very quietly got a lot of good stuff in this set. I know Lay on Hands is getting a lot of the hype, but I can tell you at least one card that is significantly better for Paladins, Argent Defender. This nifty little shield will help to

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-24264754108105834042007-04-12T13:38:00.000-05:002007-04-12T14:08:50.514-05:00

With the new heroes we have access to in the new set, selecting which hero is right for your deck is becoming a more important decision during deckbuilding. With only Heroes of Azeroth, "choosing" your hero was simply a matter of double checking which ally matched your abilities and allies. If you were playing Alliance Hunter rush, you were playing Elendril. Horde solo Warrior, Gorebelly's

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-14186438254202135582007-04-09T13:47:00.000-05:002007-04-09T14:21:54.802-05:00

Through the Dark Portal officially comes out Wednesday, but everyone is already proxying up their new decks trying to find The Next Big Thing. Of all the potential metagame developments resulting from Through the Dark Portal, one of the most significant is the viability of solo decks. 6 of the available classes will seemingly be able to go it alone (or at the very least nearly alone). Warriors

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-34697979214955870512007-04-06T14:01:00.000-05:002007-04-06T14:51:23.971-05:00

The buzz for Through the Dark Portal is getting bigger as the spoiler madness settles down, but people get to work building new decks. There are a lot of cards that have gotten a lot of hype already and some that are flying under the radar despite, IMO, being very good cards. Therefore, I give you the top 5 overrated/underrated cards in TtDP.Overrated:Number 5: IlluminationEver since this card

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-9251690388416091862007-04-04T13:25:00.000-05:002007-04-04T13:59:25.298-05:00

Right now, in World of Warcraft, we are experiencing a very rare phenomenon and one we are unlikely to experience again in this game. We have a card pool that has been effectively doubled. One big set, added to another big set comprising the entire cardpool for a format. The closest Magic comes to what we are currently experiencing is when a new big set comes out each fall. However, in

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-64144347058529015182007-04-02T16:25:00.000-05:002007-04-02T18:12:03.253-05:00

Well, the spoilers are up and all the cards have been opened. I must say that this is a very good set. Heroes of Azeroth really looks more like the foundation set now, because the power level of this set is much higher. I'll have more reviews in my TCGPlayer article this week, but here is how I think the classes rank based solely off of their Dark Portal cards.1. Warlock. I think the Warlocks got

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-13630347499010064632007-03-30T13:54:00.000-05:002007-03-30T14:07:16.164-05:00

Today, our preview journey together comes to an end. We've gotten our last previews (now I'm just winning some Aussies get on the ball and get a spoiler up since they're almost a full day ahead of us over there). Our final previews are gigantic monsters who will end the game within a couple turns of entering it. Ivus, The Forest LordCost: 14Alliance Ally-Unique10/10You pay (1) less to play Ivus

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-28676405856409902522007-03-30T08:46:00.000-05:002007-03-30T08:56:42.768-05:00

Yesterday, I mentioned two cards in my preview War Stomp and A New Plague. These cards were actually in Scrye and not in the FAQ. For anyone who doesn't know what they do, here they are.War StompInstant AbilityCost:3Tauren Hero RequiredExhaust all opposing heroes and allies.This card will be good for mid-range and control decks to punch the last bit of damage through annoying protectors (I'm

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-53997371948035386842007-03-29T15:54:00.000-05:002007-03-29T16:47:33.766-05:00

Today's preview card is Dual Wield which is a pretty exciting card. It allows Rogues, Warriors, and Hunters to carry 2 Melee weapons. An interesting note from the FAQ regarding Dual Wield. When Dual Wielding weapons that trigger off of an amount of damage being dealt such as Wraith Scythe or Sword of Zeal, they count all damage dealt in the combat. So if you swing with the two previously

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-82468870141005216192007-03-28T09:51:00.002-05:002007-03-28T10:28:30.697-05:00

Today's preview card is going to be Thunder Clap, which makes me sad because we've already seen it. I'll skip my review of the preview and just start breaking down the metagame from this weekend. First up are this week's results. The first number after each hero is the amount of top 4's and the second number is top 8's. This week:Grennan 14-20Sen'Zir 10-11Gorebelly 6-9Elendril 4-7Dizdemona

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-23653173471117839822007-03-27T12:40:00.000-05:002007-03-27T13:03:46.770-05:00

When I saw today's card, my first reaction was just wow. This may be as close to Wrath of God as this game ever gets. For anyone who hasn't seen it:HellfireWarlock abilityCost:6Your hero deals 5 damage to all heroes and allies. First of all, there are very few allies that are going to survive the Hellfire. In that sense it can certainly be good for a Warlock control deck looking for ways to

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-50500228152903242182007-03-26T12:01:00.000-05:002007-03-26T13:47:44.221-05:00

For anyone who didn't already know, I was in Ft. Worth on Saturday for Regionals. I didn't get a chance to talk about the preview cards from the weekend, so I'll talk about those today along with today's preview, a Shaman Totem.LightwellPriest AbilityCost-3Holy Hero RequiredOngoing: Friendly heroes and allies have exhaust-> this character heals 2 damage from itself. Our buddy Boris Brightbeard

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-64022499329285631592007-03-25T09:23:00.000-05:002007-03-26T09:15:11.429-05:00

EDIT:I POSTED THAT THERE IS AN UNTARGETABLE 6/4 ALLY THAT COSTS 4. THE COST ON THIS ALLY IS ACTUALLY 6. SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION THIS CAUSED OR ANY PREMATURE EXCITEMENT ABOUT HOW RIDICULOUS THAT CARD WOULD HAVE BEEN. I finally got to play in a Regionals yesterday. For anyone who doesn't know the story, in January I couldn't get to Regionals because of a brutal ice storm. This weekend was the

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-51959820415063710982007-03-23T12:42:00.000-05:002007-03-23T13:02:08.857-05:00

I'm starting to feel like a real preview party pooper. I haven't had a lot of nice things to say about most of the preview cards. So today I'm going to make it a point to say something nice about the preview card, whatever it is. Blessing of SacrificeCost:5Instant AbilityAttach to target ally in your party.Ongoing: If attached ally would be dealt damage, that much damage is dealt to your hero

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-30597609087821657452007-03-22T11:22:00.000-05:002007-03-22T11:47:29.175-05:00

Today's preview card is up. It's a new Mage abilityStealspellCost:3Gain control of target ability. If it's attached to a hero or ally, you may attach it to a different hero or ally.This card doesn't excite in the way some of the other previewed cards have. There just don't seem to be that many abilities where stealing them could be considered game breaking. Stealing a Searing Totem is nice

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-64404127063388685422007-03-21T11:12:00.000-05:002007-03-21T12:37:33.935-05:00

I was planning on combining two posts today since I don't like to make multiple posts in a day so that no one loses the first post in the update. UDE went ahead and made it a little easier on me by previewing an incredibly boring card about which I have very little to say for now. Today's preview is Cat Form. I'm not going to post all the text because I'm sure everyone has already seen it. Let

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-15090997124511246022007-03-20T13:35:00.000-05:002007-03-20T14:21:33.477-05:00

Thankfully, UDE gave us a good card today. I take that back, UDE gave us a great card today. I said when I saw Chops, that I thought a Hunter control deck that uses pets exclusively (or almost exclusively) could be a viable strategy when Dark Portal releases. Today's card makes it seem even more likely. Frost TrapCost:4Hunter abilityTrap (you may exhaust your defending hero rather than pay

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-73566734735760876072007-03-19T14:01:00.000-05:002007-03-19T14:17:32.838-05:00

Today marked the first daily preview leading up to the Through the Dark Portal expansion. When I saw the art for the preview Friday, I thought, cool, we're getting an awesome new weapon. Well, we got a new weapon.For anyone who hasn't seen it:Zin'rkh, Destroyer of WorldsCost: 7Atk:5Strike:8Usable by:Hunter, Paladin, WarriorWhen your hero deals damage with Zin'rokh, destroy all other abilities,

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-33616825500692337622007-03-16T14:40:00.000-05:002007-03-16T15:27:14.575-05:00

Well, today is Friday and that means an official preview at the main Upper Deck site. Next week will start daily previews as the sneak peek draws closer. Today we get the bonus of several previews from the latest Inquest. First up is the official preview:High Overlord SaurfangCost: 8ATK/Health: 9/4ProtectorWhen an ally enters combat with High Overlord Saurfang, destroy that ally.I can think of

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-29065876136128245262007-03-15T13:10:00.000-05:002007-03-15T13:18:41.114-05:00

The schedule is up for Darkmoon Faire-Austin. Friday afternoon will have Onyxia raids. I've decided I want to do some raiding with anyone who reads my blog that wants to raid with me. I'll do as many raids as time and UDE allow, but I'll try to raid with anyone who wants to. My only rule is no Cruel Hands of Timmy. I know that's the easiest way to beat the dragon, but we're only playing for

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-33441682684179235452007-03-14T08:47:00.000-05:002007-03-14T09:49:31.611-05:00

First, I want to say thanks to anyone who helped get results in to me. There were 7 Regionals this past weekend which means 28 top 4 decks, and we got 26 of them. Unfortunately, I didn't get any results from Europe so I won't be able to include those here. Ok, now let's get right into the good stuff, results. First, the numbers from this week.Sen'Zir-5Grennan-5Gorebelly-4Elendril-4Dizdemona-

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-42949689073355130982007-03-12T16:05:00.000-05:002007-03-12T16:55:02.939-05:00

The Dark Portal Sneak Preview page went live today and we got to see the EA participation card, Legand of Mount Hyjal. Many players looked at this card and said, "Wow! Wrath of God!" This card is not Wrath of God. Wrath of God is far more powerful. As I've talked about with some of the other preview cards, LoMH has a very powerful effect but a very high cost. For comparison, WoG costs 4 (as

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-32064681847805585942007-03-09T13:55:00.000-06:002007-03-09T14:23:48.443-06:00

Well, it's Friday again and that means more Dark Portal Previews. Today we get a couple of allies that may be indicative of a few more allies in the set. Here are the cards for anyone who hasn't seen them.Bubula del KisselCost: 2ATK/Health: 2/2StealthActivate->Target hero or ally has stealth this turn. First up are his stats. He's a 2/2 for 2 which is about in line with the cost. There are

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-71379567289489282972007-03-08T14:37:00.000-06:002007-03-08T15:00:44.055-06:00

For me personally, one of the funnest things about card games is deck design. I love trying to stay one step ahead of the metagame and designing decks meant as a foil to those sitting on top. I love having the option to play something that might not be lighting the world on fire results-wise but gives me the element of surprise while still being a powerful deck choice. I think we're

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-70496888068681039102007-03-06T13:58:00.000-06:002007-03-06T14:30:36.964-06:00

Before I get going, thanks to savagedpuck and Ome for sending in the results for their Regionals. For anyone who doesn't check very often, you can use the UDE tournament locator to find Regionals tournaments near you. I checked it this morning and found there are already events scheduled all the way into August. This weekend, we had 4 events not counting Sydney. There were Regionals in

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-27772712692088771242007-03-02T16:14:00.000-06:002007-03-02T16:33:39.824-06:00

Before we get to the preview cards, in a shocking turn of events in Sydney, 2 Grennan decks, a Dizdemona control, and an Elendril rush deck made top 4 in the first Regionals at the premiere event weekend. Am I the only one who can't wait for Dark Portal to inject some new life into the metagame?Today we get two racial leaders in the vein of Magni and Thrall. The first is High Princess Tyrande

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-21268877008440154852007-03-01T13:43:00.000-06:002007-03-01T14:33:20.816-06:00

Lately it seems like there is a myth circulating around the web that Dizdemona control has an amazing matchup vs. Grennan decks. That is simply not the case, and I don't want anyone here assuming it is. I'm not saying that Grennan has a great matchup either, it's actually a pretty close one. There are a lot of factors that determine who wins when these two decks play, and I'll try to shed a

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-16643603110137856212007-02-27T09:26:00.000-06:002007-02-27T10:01:55.099-06:00

Before I get into the meat of today's post, I would like to again ask anyone who is playing in Regionals this weekend to pass along results if they can. I still only have the winners from last weekend in Collinsville and there are more events this weekend in San Diego, CA, Birmingham, AL, Brooklyn, NY, and Thornton, CO. If you attend one of these events or just know the results please pass them

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-26146800324184752222007-02-26T16:35:00.000-06:002007-02-26T16:37:38.522-06:00

For anyone who attended the Regionals this weekend at the Mega-PCQ weekend in St. Louis, if you have the top 4 results for the 2 World of Warcraft events, would you please pass them along to me. You can e-mail at blyonsmagic@yahoo.com or leave a comment here. I've been able to find the winning decks from each day so far, but the entire top 4 would be nice to have. For anyone who is interested,

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-19219733781455048732007-02-23T11:24:00.000-06:002007-02-23T11:46:47.136-06:00

Well it's Friday and you know what that means, Dark Portal previews. Today's previews are the new heroes everyone wanted to see, the Alliance Shaman and the Horde Paladin. I'm not going to spend a lot of time covering the cards themselves as they are rather unexciting being heroes. But I do want to talk about the new options available to each faction before we know what else is available in

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-45017942873638503332007-02-22T14:23:00.000-06:002007-02-22T15:51:07.797-06:00

Coming up in just over a week, we are going to see our first event since GenCon that can be classified as bigger than Regionals. At VS. System's Pro Circuit Sydney there will be a huge selection of World of Warcraft side events. On a side note, this may be a way to get some of the players who will no doubt be dropping VS. given the recent developments in that game to switch over to WoW. While

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-76926904501671134572007-02-19T14:40:00.000-06:002007-02-19T16:14:54.920-06:00

The next two months look to be a pretty busy time in the World of Warcraft TCG. The next wave of Regionals kicks off this weekend with two events being held in Collinsville, Ill. The week after that we will see four Regionals and the season will really get rolling on March 10. Toward the end of the season the next expansion, Through the Dark Portal will be released and April 7th will see this

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-53230335128461652012007-02-16T14:34:00.000-06:002007-02-16T15:49:53.785-06:00

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means, preview cards. It's nice to get to talk about something new, which we don't get to do a lot of right now in World of Warcraft, being between Regionals and between sets, so it's nice to get to spice things up a bit. Today's preview cards are both pretty good. Before I get into the specifics, I'd like to say that if the preview cards so far give us

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-50902267942587424172007-02-13T14:26:00.000-06:002007-02-13T12:55:52.787-06:00

It's a bit of a slow time for World of Warcraft right now. We're in the lull between Regionals and between sets, so there isn't very much new to talk about. Today, I want to show you a shell of a deck that we had originally been working on for the first round of Regionals but decided to scrap it once we realized it wasn't very good against Hunters. I've made a few changes to the original list

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-40835201043820427782007-02-13T11:53:00.000-06:002007-02-12T09:51:29.374-06:00

Loyal readers,I just wanted to let everyone know that just in case you can't get enough of me here, I will have a weekly article on TCGPlayer starting in the next week or so. I have been holding off on updating here, while that was taken care of. I do not plan on abandoning my blog here just because I'm writing over there as well. I will not post any of my content from TCGPlayer here or vice

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-76499349906559764482007-02-09T18:21:00.000-06:002007-02-08T11:15:08.437-06:00

Today's preview cards were more dealing with defining the races in the World of Warcraft TCG. They are both quests, so there's not a whole lot exciting going on with them. I'l talk quickly about the cards themselves, but today I also want to talk about how I'm hoping the next set affects deckbuilding. To see the preview cards go here.These two quests are pretty similar. Rescue the Survivors is

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-13815476539097462292007-02-05T13:41:00.000-06:002007-02-05T15:08:34.299-06:00

For anyone who checks the main World of Warcraft TCG page, you have surely seen the 2 preview cards from the upcoming expansion Through the Dark Portal-Doomguard and Arcane Torrent. For anyone who hasn't seen these cards yet:DoomguardWarlock PetCost 7ATK:8 Health:8When Doomguard enters play, choose at random a friendly hero or ally other than Doomguard, then destroy that character. At the end

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-58779341187387123392007-02-02T08:18:00.000-06:002007-02-02T09:52:27.744-06:00

There has been a lot of discussion recently around the Internet about tiebreakers and the Swiss pairings system used at Regionals last month. Today, I want try to help everyone understand how Swiss pairings work (and more importantly where the number of rounds comes from) and what the tiebreakers really are. First let's address Swiss-style pairings. In any World of Warcraft TCG tournament you

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-76242050079232987492007-01-30T08:46:00.000-06:002007-01-30T10:08:28.170-06:00

We still haven't heard anything about the next round of Regionals, but with most expecting them to be before Through the Dark Portal comes out, I wouldn't be surprised to see them be Sealed Deck since we've already played one round of Regionals with the same card pool that will be available to us I don't foresee us playing Constructed again. I could be very wrong. There's a first time for

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-39028110867339839002007-01-26T14:04:00.000-06:002007-01-26T14:57:59.035-06:00

Today I want to discuss a topic that is changing from minor annoyance to major pain. Where is the information on Organized Play from Upper Deck. This doesn't apply only to World of Warcraft, but WoW players are certainly in the dark as well. First, let's look at what we do know. There is going to be a Darkmoon Faire which was supposedly go to be a monthly event. There will be Regionals.

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-80651370741481747832007-01-23T08:40:00.000-06:002007-01-23T09:14:29.462-06:00

One of the big debates recently around the Internet has been which weapon is better in Hunter rush, Annihilator or Krol Blade. Today I'm going to look at each one and tell you which one I think is better and why.Each weapon strikes for 3, but each weapon has one inherent advantage over the other. The Krol Blade costs one less to strike with leaving you one extra resource per turn over the

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-69148180278841961562007-01-19T08:30:00.000-06:002007-01-19T11:19:15.727-06:00

As most of you should be able to see, the majority of my posts here, especially recently, have been about decks and the metagame. With Regionals behind us (and not knowing when the next one will be), I would like to move more to the strategy side of the game today. I want to cover something today, that most people do without thinking about it, but don't know why. Understanding this concept can

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-82465805818564145762007-01-16T08:43:00.000-06:002007-01-16T10:07:41.188-06:00

Here's what the deck breakdown that we will be using today looks like. It's about 2/3 of the Regionals so this should give us a pretty good idea of the metagame we will be looking out.Horde Shaman-36Alliance Warlock-24Alliance Hunter-21Horde Hunter-12Horde Warlock-8Horde Mage-5Alliance Paladin-4Horde Warrior-3Horde Priest-3Alliance Mage-2Horde Druid-1One thing to remember when looking over this

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-57274317673442127332007-01-15T11:11:00.000-06:002007-01-15T11:23:59.637-06:00

Well, after a little bit more searching, I have found a lot of the missing top 4 numbers. After finding a lot more info, we have a better idea of how the metagame is forming. Here are the new numbers.Horde Shaman- 32Alliance Warlock-23Alliance Hunter-21Horde Hunter-10Horde Warlock-8Horde Mage-5Horde Warrior-3Alliance Paladin-3Horde Priest-3Alliance Mage-2I think the most shocking thing is the

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-77618709953791942532007-01-15T09:36:00.000-06:002007-01-15T10:06:36.188-06:00

I was planning on writing my triumphant Regionals report today and saving metagame discussion for later in the week. There's a slight problem with that though. To write my triumphant Regionals report, I would first have to be triumphant at Regionals. That, of course, would require my attending Regionals, which was sadly not possible due to a terrible ice storm that slammed Texas and much of

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-63708789681631290042007-01-11T08:35:00.000-06:002007-01-11T09:15:42.312-06:00

Well, we're just about at the end of the line here. Regionals is now just 2 days away, and our preparations are coming to a close. There's just one matter of business left, Paladin matchups. One thing to note, before I discuss the individual matchups is that the Paladin may have the most room for variation within the same general decklist, so a lot of the matchup will be affected by which

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-2414292059174072602007-01-10T08:30:00.000-06:002007-01-10T09:28:17.068-06:00

Regionals is only a few days away, and we're almost done with our Regionals Primer. Today, I'm moving on to a deck that I think is a good deck, but its success may be dependent on the field around it. The Warrior combo deck.Hunter-This matchup is a tough one. It's not unwinnable, but it's not easy either. The earlier you can bring a weapon online the better as it will allow you to start

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-36645443840929389482007-01-09T08:47:00.000-06:002007-01-09T10:01:27.216-06:00

Because the mage control deck plays well from both the Horde and Alliance sides, I will cover each matchup with some tips for both factions. Hunter-The Hunter is one of this deck's best matchups. From the Alliance side, you will basically be looking to make 1-for-1 trades in the early game, until you can start bringing Frost Novas online. If you can survive the initial onslaught, it will be

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-9164720603610884792007-01-08T08:40:00.000-06:002007-01-08T09:19:26.544-06:00

Regionals is quickly approaching and I still have 4 more decks to cover matchups for. I am going to get them all done this week, so you can expect daily updates here. Let's get started today talking about the Warlock.Hunter-The Hunter is probably this deck's best matchup. The Warlock pets are good against the rush player starting with Grimdron. Grimdron is really there more for the threat of

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-43156828619053282112007-01-04T08:35:00.000-06:002007-01-04T09:39:24.290-06:00

Today, I'm continuing my matchup analysis for the main decktypes at Regionals with the Shaman. This deck was good enough to take the top spot at the Darkmoon Faire Championship at GenCon SoCal, so it's a pretty solid deck. Let's see how it matches up vs. the field.Hunter-This is your best matchup. When you go first this matchup is very much in your favor but on the draw it usually will be a

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34699764.post-90497626490888543282007-01-02T08:38:00.000-06:002007-01-02T10:54:28.931-06:00

Today I'm going to start talking about the matchups of the main decks that project to make up the bulk of the metagame. I'm going to start with what figures to be the most popular deck at Regionals....hunter rush.The good news: The good news is that even your worst matchups aren't usually terrible. With this deck, who goes first is really important, and I would say that when you win the die

B Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06686177185263640015noreply@blogger.com3