05.31.08
Rise of the Squads?
I joined the Bleach Hobby League (HL) last night with my trusty Byakuya ‘chopsuey’ deck, and ended up with a disappointing 1-2 record for 5th place. This is the 1st time that this particular deck performed below my expectations, since an even 2-2 showing still results in a rise of my ranking points in the unofficial Bleach Ranking System made for the local community. (I may write more about this system later, hehehe.)
Anyway, I lost to a Chad deck with a funky new twist – adding a certain character to facilitate the searching of another character who boosts while letting you draw another card. For those who don’t play Bleach, this simply means he added a cog into the deck’s draw engine, which of course makes it more consistent. It gives a good opening hand a better tempo in the next turns, which is exactly what happened with my game against that deck.
My 2nd loss was to a new deck in the meta, the Squad 7&9 discard&burn machine. The burn is really just extra annoyance, but it’s the discard effects that really fuel the deck’s win condition. It generates effects depending on how few the cards the opponent has, while having little discarding tricks that eventually add up in the later turns. Of course, the key to defeating this deck is to conserve your hand size, particularly by not overflooding your board when it is not necessary. I only figured this out after the match was already over, hehehe.
Anyway, it’s a good sign for Bleach that players are starting to play the new cards from the Bankai set, which is the latest expansion set of the game. Although I don’t like losing in general, this HL at least points to a healthy and balanced meta where new creations can compete with the established decks, particularly the new Squad decks that focus on the Gotei 13 divisions as teams. Hmm, I may have to adjust my Byakuya deck to adapt to the changing meta yet again, or unleash one of my other concoctions that are still “in the tank”, so to speak.
Fortunately, the night ended on a positive note for me. Since I have the no. 1 ranking for the month of May (despite this tiny speed bump of an HL), I won the Toshiro tin can with matching Hi-Tech (HT) Guardian. So, yay me! ^_^
05.29.08
Hoero, Zabimaru!
Welcome to my WordPress weblog! ^_^
The contents of this site will primarily be about the Trading Card Games (TCGs) I currently play, namely Versus (VS) System and Bleach. Playing card games is one of my main hobbies these days, and instead of just coming up and then discarding random thoughts about VS and Bleach, I might as well put them up here. If anyone finds them interesting or helpful even just a little bit, then that’s the cherry on top. But I’m giving this a try mostly for myself (which is the main point of blogging, I guess).
Why TCGs?
Trading Card Games, at least the good ones, are usually mentally stimulating and a good avenue for letting out a mean competitive streak. The thinking part comes in both assembling your decks, and in actually piloting them to victory (or defeat) against other players in the community. But above all, TCGs also give me a chance to interact and have fun with like-minded individuals who enjoy friendly competition without resorting to sports, hehehe.
Why VS and Bleach?
My 1st exposure to TCGs was Magic: The Gathering (same with the majority of players, I think) back during college, but since I couldn’t afford cards at the time, I never really went further than having a starter’s deck. VS came out a few years after I’ve already started working and has the comic book flavor (Superman, Spider-Man, etc.). Since I’m a casual fan of those dorks in spandex costumes, I was readily hooked when the game first came out. It’s easily one of the best card games out there, though sadly it didn’t become popular with the masses, but that’s a different issue and is for another post.
Bleach, on the other hand, was only recently released (last year in the US), and I’ve been a fan of the anime for a few years now, so it was only natural to try out the TCG especially since most of the other VS players I hang out with also gave it a try. Fortunately, the game is fun, flavorful, and challenging enough (not quite on VS level, which may be a good thing), so we’re hooked.
Why write a blog about them?
I’ve been an occasional writer of VS articles for the local community (http://vs.skillze.com), and while it’s cool and fun to be read and appreciated by some readers, I just never found enough time and effort to do it on a regular basis. There’s also the editorial stuff to take into account, since it’s a community website (I couldn’t outright diss certain players that I wanted to, hehehe).
There are also the random thoughts about these games that come into mind in the middle of work or on the commute. Deck ideas, skeletal deck lists, a funky strategy, or whatever. Plus, I have this tiny itch to write, which comes and goes like the itch on my balls. And so that’s where this blog comes in. Sometimes you just gotta give in and scratch your balls.
Why Zabimaru as the site name?
‘Coz I tried graymalkin, and it turned out that it is already being used by a Spanish-speaking dude *shrugs*. So I went for the 2nd name that I am associated with in the local hub. It’s from Bleach. I’ll let you wiki for it.
What happens next?
Who knows? Come back and find out! Sooner or later, or whenever I feel that itch, hehehe. ^_^
