International Talk Like a Pirate Day 9/19/11

Arrrr mateys! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day today! To be celebrating such a fine day, I have some of thee worst pirate jokes yea have ever heard. So if yea be a land-lobber then read on and be prepared to shiver yea timbers.

Q: Where does a pirate go on vacation?
A: Arrrr-kansas

Q: How much did the pirate pay for corn?
A: a buck an ear (buccaneer)

Q: Why couldn't the pirate go to the movie?
A: It was rated Arrr

Q: Why was it rated R?
A: It showed to much booty.

A guy walks into a bar and sees a pirate sitting at the bar with a peg leg, hook, and an eye patch.  The guy thinks, this pirate would be cool to talk to.  So he walks up and sits at the bar.
Guy: So are you a real pirate?
Pirate: Arrr, I be.
Guy: How did you get a peg leg?
Pirate: I was working the mast in a heavy storm and the rigging wrapped around me leg and ripped it off.
Guy: WOW! So how did you get the hook?
Pirate: I was swimming through the wreckage of me ship and a shark bite me hand clean off.
Guy: AMAZING! So how did you end up with the eye patch?
Pirate: A bird flew over head and crapped in me eye.
Guy: Really... after the other stories...
Pirate: Well it was the first day with me new hook!

Q: Why didn't the pirate take a shower before walking the plank?
A: He knew he'd wash-up on shore later.

Q: What does a pirate say when he is playing Santa?
A: Ho, Ho, Ho, and a bottle of Rum!

Q: Why did it take the pirate so long to learn the alphabet?
A: He spent years at C!

Q: Where did the one legged pirate go for breakfast?
A: IHop

Q: Why are pirates called pirates?
A: They just Arrrr

So if thar be any of yea scurvy dogs out there liken a good or bad joke, have at thee!

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Summoner Wars Master Set Review

This past Gen Con had a plethora of awesome games, both for purchase and demos! One game that our store actually had the opportunity to purchase early was the Summoner Wars Master Set by Plaid Hat Games.  Not only were the demo runners helpful and pleasant, but the owner allowed us to buy 4 new copies for our store 2 weeks before release.  Kudos to all of them for helping out hobby stores!  The Master Set received an incredible amount of attention by both new and experienced Summoner Wars players, so I thought it might be time to write a review. 

First, let me tell you a little about the previous editions of Summoner Wars. Prior to the Master Set being  released, there were 2 Starter Sets available, which were great for 2-player battles.  They also had Faction Decks and Reinforcement Packs, some of which are pictured below.

All of these decks and packs are fully compatible with the Master Set, and there are even extra slots in its packaging to fit them!  Conversely, any player would be able to set aside the more special, customizable cards for easy use, or another pre-made deck if that was preferred.

OPENING THE BOX

When we first open the box, we see the 21-page rulebook, the 2 sides of the board, a bag of 5 dice, punchable tokens, and 6 separate decks.  All of these are individually shrink-wrapped, sorted according to Faction, and are ready to play right out of the box. Notice the extra empty slots for more decks, both of your creation and future expansions of Plaid Hat Games.  Now that's what I call planning for your company!

PLAYING THE GAME

First, each player must choose a deck, whether pre-made or customized.  The two sides of the board should be lined up like so...

...and the decks should be placed in the proper spaces.  As you can see, there are 3 card sections for each player; Draw Pile, Magic Pile and Discard. Each player picks their Deck, find their Reference Card, and begins the Starting Setup show on the Reference Card.  The remaining cards are shuffled and placed on the Draw Pile.  Roll a die to determine who goes first, and you're ready to go!

TURN SEQUENCE

As board and card games go, Summoner Wars has a few more steps than average.  They are;

1. Draw
2. Summon
3. Play Event Cards
4. Movement
5. Attack
6. Build Magic

After all steps are completed, it's your opponents turn.  Can't remember all of it?  Don't worry, everything you need to know is in the easy-to-understand rulebook, including game terminology, victory conditions, lists of expansions, how to set-up the game for 3-4 players, and helpful tips on creating a more customized deck. 

All in all, the Summoner Wars Master Set is the perfect starting place for gaming newcomers or enthusiasts.  It has many decks already available, a very clearly written rulebook, easy to use cards and simple rules.  On a gamer learning scale (1=extremely new to gaming, 10=gaming professional), I would mark Summoner Wars as a 3.

 But that's just my opinion...why not pick it up and play for yourself? We have a copy ready to go in our Dragon's Den Library, so if you're in the area stop by for a quick game or demo!

Stasi "Dengirl" King

Innistrad Magic Events at the Dragon's Den

Innistrad

As we are getting closer to the release of Innistrad for Magic the Gathering, we wanted to post some quick information about the events we will be running over the next few weeks.  We have events at the Dragon's Den for the pre-release, the launch, and a games day all set and ready to go.  So read on and learn about all the different Innistrad events that are coming up!

Pre-release:

We have 4 different Sealed events that are coming up for Innistrad.  All the sealed events are $30.00 and include 6 packs, plus the promo card (while supplies last).  Prizes will be determined by the number of players that sign up for the events.

Sealed #1
Midnight 9/24/2011
Special at the midnight only: FREE pizza and soda!

Sealed #2
Noon 9/24/2011

Sealed #3
Noon 9/25/2011

Sealed #4
5:00pm 9/25/2011

Launch Party:

The official Launch Party for the release of Innistrad will be held Friday night on 9/30/2011.  We will be running a draft at 6:00pm as the official event!  The cost of the event is $15.00 and will include 3 packs and a promo card (while supplies last). Prizes will be determined by the number of players that sign up for the events.

Game Day:

Game day is a constructed event so it is open for players to try and build the best deck.  The event will be run on Saturday 10/29/2011 starting at noon. Everyone who players will get a promo card and the top 8 will get a special promo card. The cost of this event will be $5.00 and prizes will be determined by the number of players who sign up.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks