Game Review: Avacyn Restored - Bound By Strength

If you like teamwork (and overwhelming your opponent), you'll love the "Bound by Strength" deck. The soulbond ability lets pairs of creatures share their powers—but soulbond creatures get the benefit of their abilities only if they're paired with another creature, so it's important to put plenty of them out!
In some cases, pairing two soulbond creatures together is the best play. Sometimes different choices can pay off. If you pair Tandem Lookout and Latch Seeker, Latch Seeker becomes an unblockable creature that lets you draw a card whenever it deals damage to an opponent! And pairing anything to Flowering Lumberknot is a good idea, since this four-mana 5/5 can attack or block only while paired.
Naturally, the deck also has a few tricks in store. Joint Assault gives +2/+2 to any creature, whether it's paired or not—and if it is, the other creature gets the bonus too! Wolfir Avenger's flash ability lets you create a pair when your opponent's not expecting it. Both Nephalia Smuggler and Deadeye Navigator let you exile a creature and immediately return it to the battlefield, which can let it dodge a removal spell or set up a new soulbond pair. And if all else fails, a timely Overrun can quickly end the game in your favor.
If you'd like to personalize the deck, the first move is probably to add in more Wolfir Silverhearts. Other good options include Soul of the Harvest, a 6/6 creature, which lets you draw a card each time you put a creature onto the battlefield, and Descendants' Path, which could net you a free creature each turn.

Bound By Strength Intro Pack
Release Date: 2012
Cards: 60 Card deck + 15card booster
Part of Series: Avacyn Restored (Magic The Gathering)

REVIEW:
Here it is guys...the deck you have all been waiting to hear from me. A green/blue deck that has werewolves and wolves in it, and is generally teaming up with green and foresty stuff that will rip you to shreds. The idea of this deck is to combine your forces using a new mechanic called soulbond that gives an ability to both creatures as long as the one with the soulbond is paired with another. The idea is to have 2 soulbonds together to make your soldiers super amazing, but other things work too. This deck offers great customization depending on your enemy. You have to think very carefully when and how to soulbond your creatures since you have to make the best of their abilities depending on your enemy.

Now THIS is my type of deck. Wolves, teamwork, creatures to overrun my opponent with? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! This deck is just amazing and relatively easy to learn but hard to master. You will find it that you will have to make VERY careful decisions on your bonds that will be your salvation or doom. Pairing a crucial attacker with a hex-proof soulbond might enable you to mercilessly maim your enemies that are heavy on spells, while on other times you would be best to hexproof a solid defender or an unblockable creature. I had a BLAST playing with this deck and it is by far my favorite among my 5 decks.I mean what is there not to love? bears and wolves combined with cool looking rangerlike dudes and druidesses? Spells that make your soulbonded creatures even more badass? Or maybe the fact that it has the spell Overrun which practically can finish a game at once? It is a well balanced deck that can hold its own against various situations. It has room for improvements but I am looking forward unleashing my wolves to tear down Yiota's dragons, Silvestro's undead, Filios's artifacts etc etc.

Against Yiota's dragons: I will be honest on this one. I was a bit lucky. I was able to throw down good pairs of soulbonds while Yiota was not so lucky with her dragons. It was an interesting match with creatures dying here and there, but in the end my overrun tore down her defenses with swarming creatures over and taught Yiota who is the TRUE overlord and who is the minion

Against Filio's Mirrodin Deck: The university wars have just begun. I went along with Filios to the library near his university because he wanted to try out his new deck. Poor fellow. I have to admit it wasnt my best dueling days since luck was clearly at Filio's side, but after a few losses when lady luck smiled at me and I had at least some mana to get my monsters down there, it was only a matter of time. And indeed it was decided in time. Despite filio's early victories and my life points falling down close to 10 and bellow, my trusted creatures came through. With the forcemage, both wolfir and a few other wolves and scouts down, FIlios started to lose his footing. As my spells came and I started blockig his creatures I started my counterattack finishing the game with an epic use of Overrun (well with a name and abilities as this card all uses of it are epic). The resulting +3/+3 and trample made sure that Filio's forces were nothing more than bodies scattered across the battlefield (trample means that if my damage is greater then the defenders toughness the remaining points are dealt as damage to the opponent,,,yeah...its that awesome)

Game Review: Avacyn Restored - Slaughterhouse

The key to playing the "Slaughterhouse" deck is to kill creatures early and often. The twisted part is that you'll want to kill not only your opponent's creatures but your own, too! Many of the creatures in this deck don't stay dead, so offing them isn't really a disadvantage. The first time they die, creatures with the undying ability return to the battlefield even bigger than before!
You've also got plenty of creatures that give you a bonus when they die: Goblin Arsonist and Gang of Devils deal damage, Maalfeld Twins replaces itself with a couple of Zombies, Driver of the Dead raises a creature from the dead.... As if that weren't enough, cards like Harvester of Souls, Blood Artist, and Havengul Vampire provide bonuses when any creature dies, no matter whose it was.
Ultimately, you'll have such complete mastery over death that sacrificing your own creatures will be a benefit in disguise. Barter in Blood, Bone Splinters, and Fling are all cards that allow you to kill your opponent's creatures at the cost of killing your own. This may seem fair, but while your opponent's creature stays dead, your Butcher Ghoul comes back from the grave and Harvester of Souls nets you multiple cards. Now that's truly evil.
To make this deck even more diabolical, consider bolstering it with Killing Wave, a black sorcery with the potential to kill all creatures or shred your opponent's life total. Hound of Griselbrand is another nasty choice, as it has both undying and double strike. Finally, Vexing Devil gives your opponent the choice of facing down a 4-power creature or taking 4 damage—all for just one mana!

Slaughterhouse Intro Pack
Release Date: 2012
Cards: 60 Card deck + 15card booster
Part of Series: Avacyn Restored (Magic The Gathering)

REVIEW:
This is my first black oriented deck. (Black/red to be precise). Slaughterhouse's mentality is to kill EVERYTHING to make you stronger. It has spells that sacrifice, spells that destroy other creatures while letting you sacrifice others, it has demons, vampires undead and all the good christian stuff. What makes this deck nasty is that your creatures actually benefit from dying, since most of them have the "undying" ability which means that if they die without any counters (counters make creatures stronger) they return with a counter on them (meaning they get +1/+1 on their power and toughness), while others make your opponent lose life (blood artist makes your enemy lose 1 life for every creature dying while you gain 1 life. awesome little vampire dude) Mike the vampire gets +1/+1 whenever a creature does and/or if he deals damage to an opponent and generally this deck is a rather aggressive, MEAN deck.

By now you are most likely like "This sounds so nasty and awesome" or "What about wolves dude? aren't you a wolf guy?" or "This is so anti-christian you should go get baptized to EXPELL THE EVIL DEMONS OF YOUR SOUL". But probably one of the 2 first ones. Well, my honest opinion is that this deck needs work. By both myself and additions to the deck. I just cant seem to know exactly how to work with this deck, who to sacrifice, how to sacrifice and most importantly when to sacrifice and when to attack. It takes time and effort but I think this is a well made deck that with some additions to it can turn quite devastating to your enemy.

Against Angelic Might: Well I was not that lucky with mana and cards as Yiota, but this deck managed to stand its ground extremely effectively. However after the 5th round when I only had small monsters and she had her flying angels with heavy hitting it was only a matter of time. However I did manage to deal to her a significant amount of damage before the end.

Against Filios's artifacts: Here I saw the true ugly face of this deck. Blood artist was down and I was relentlessly throwing my soldiers to him even if I knew they had no chance in surviving. THe outcome? I managed to reach well above 20 in life points while slowly sapping away his own. In the end despite him taking out a very strong artifact and taking out my blood artist (no respect for art), i managed to get enough mana to get a couple of demons down and drag his ass to the grave.

Still on my Mind #1

by YA-Aholic

From the first time YA-Aholic announce this meme at her facebook page, i was like "i want to do this". I don't really take part at memes (we don't even do our own anymore) but this one,is giving me the chance to show some old books that deserve the spotlight. It's a little sad that only new books are featured at 99% of the blogs out there. I hope you enjoy it, and maybe find something you like too :)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
It is summer holidays and soon Harry Potter will be starting his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry is counting the days: there are new spells to be learnt, more Quidditch to be played, and Hogwarts castle to continue exploring. But Harry needs to be careful - there are unexpected dangers lurking ...

J.K. Rowling continues to surprise and delight with the power of her rich, demanding and action-packed storytelling.

Is there a better way to start the meme, that the book made love books? It's not just the story, it's really special for me. And yes, there is a reason i put up the 4th HP and not the 1st. I was like 7 years old when i got this book? I just wanted to start reading (never really read a book before in my life), and a store (not a bookstore) had it there...and i was passing by every day telling my mum how great it looks and how amazing the dragon is (yes i had a thing for dragons from back then). I had no idea what Harry Potter is. So at my birthday my mum bought it for me (some days later the store was completely closed - fate?). I did about 2 days to read it. My first Harry Potter book, my first book, the book that made me love reading.  So that is why, Goblet of Fire will always be on my mind. I've read it dozens of times i tell you that. (In case you are wondering i've read HP like that: 4 - 2 - 3 -1. I had no idea what a series of books are).


Here are some photos of my edition! Yellowish and little destroyed from the times i've read it :p

Have you read Goblet of Fire or not yet? If you did the meme too, feel free to post your link at the comment to check it out :D

Game Review: Avacyn Restored - Angelic Might

The "Angelic Might" deck features, as you'd expect, gigantic flying creatures with awesome abilities. You just need to make sure the game lasts long enough for them to come out! Hold off your opponent's creatures with Angelic Wall and Gideon's Lawkeeper, neuter those creatures with Defang, and take them off the battlefield entirely with Righteous Blow and Oblivion Ring. Don't be afraid to trade your creatures in combat for your opponent's attackers—anything that slows down your enemies is good for you.
Meanwhile, develop your mana base with Rampant Growth and Borderland Ranger, and prolong the game by gaining life. Cathedral Sanctifier can help with that as early as turn 1. Seraph of Dawn's lifelink ability lets you gain life each time it deals damage. Add in the lifegain potential of Scroll of Avacyn, Seraph's Sanctuary, and Goldnight Redeemer, and you can counteract a lot of damage you may have taken.
Once the Angels arrive, the battle plan becomes simple: attack! Serra Angel and Archangel play both offense and defense thanks to the vigilance ability. Voice of the Provinces comes with a friend that can block a counterattack. And Angel of Glory's Rise can resurrect all the Humans that gave their lives for the cause earlier in the game.
Once you've played the deck, you may wish to diversify your collection of Angels. Luckily, the Avacyn Restored set has plenty of amazing choices! Angel of Jubilation; Restoration Angel; and Sigarda, Host of Herons are all stunning. But nothing holds a candle to Avacyn, Angel of Hope, an indestructible 8/8 Angel that makes all your other permanents indestructible too!

Angelic Might Intro Pack
Release Date: 2012
Cards: 60 Card deck + 15card booster
Part of Series: Avacyn Restored (Magic The Gathering)

REVIEW:
I'm not entirely sure why i proposed to review Magic The Gathering. I guess i've become too obsessed lately with Magic in general sooo....Johnny will be reviewing another two Packs from Avacyn Restored.

I am a fan of red/white decks with white/red spells and red creatures. So when Johnny show my the Intro Packs of Avacyn Restored i can't say i found something that i really liked. Even the red/white one didn't impress me. We went to the store anyway, and i was planning to buy a booster only. Needless to say i didn't manage to hold back. I was like "what the hell? let's try something new"...so here i am with Angelic Might.

As the description says Angelic Might has really strong creatures with cost over 4 mana, and 2-3 smaller ones. I have played two games so far with the certain deck one against Slaughterhouse and one against a custom made deck. I've won at both games. I think the best is to manage to put down at least 2 Borderland Rangers, which give you land cards and the Cathedral Santctifier which gives you life. By doing so you will have the 4 mana needed really fast and more life than 20 if you are lucky. After if you combine the angels right, you turn your game to work as you want.

Against Slaughterhouse: I was lucky enough and had 2 Borderland Rangers, 2 Cathedral Santctifiers before my 5th turn plus Goldnight Redeemer. I went over 30 life and with 2-3 more creatures down i won even though i was dealt over 10 damage really fast.

Against the custom deck (with artifacts): I didn't have the luck of the previous game, but at my 4th round i had one strong angel down and in the next one another. The other player, had problem with his mana so it's wasn't that difficult to win even if i could only attack with only 1 of my 3 creatures down.

So far, i'm quite happy that i bought it (thanks Johnny!). And i'm not even planning to change cards in it. I just want to try it, with maybe something stronger like my Dragon themed deck, the Soulbond and Graveyard decks of Johnny, and Silvestro's both white and black themed decks.

P.S: I'm quite the new player. I've been playing the game only 2 months now so i hope i didn't say anything too stupid :P