Tokositna Defense Systems is a concept deck like Astudillo Defense Systems, with the notable difference that it uses Sentries instead of Code Gates. This is actually the deck that I wanted to build with the concept, but Code Gates seemed like a nice warmup, (with Machicolation, click punishment, and lots of End The Run options.) This deck forgoes a lot of that to accomplish two goals: (a) punish the runner for face checking and (b) use damaging subroutines to make the runner not want to run. Continue reading Tokositna Defense Systems
All posts by The Plaid Mentat
Solving the Circles
Occasionally, people come to me when they spot a problem they want to solve and think it might be possible with the application of mathematics. This is really fun, because it lets me exercise that part of my brain and at least try to do some algebra from time to time. Continue reading Solving the Circles
Astudillo Defense Systems
This is a deck concept I’ve had for a while, but when I first thought of it, there wasn’t really the card volume to pull it off well. The big idea behind this deck is that it’s a glacier deck with all of the ICE being Code Gates. In theory, this makes as much as two thirds of the Runner’s Icebreaker draws dead draws because Killers and Fracters are not going to do him or her any good. Continue reading Astudillo Defense Systems
Crucial Conversations
Every year, I try to read something that’s a little more leadership focused so that I can continue to hone my supervisory skills. This year, I read Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler, which was recommended to me by my friend Cam. Overall, I liked the book, though it does oversell itself in the first chapter (which I find to be an annoying pattern in books from this genre.) Continue reading Crucial Conversations
Hacking Terminal Directive
Once I got the chance to pull out Terminal Directive and start playing it, I noticed that this was less like a campaign game and more like a legacy game. I’m personally not a fan of legacy games because my preservation instincts are very strong; I don’t like destroying things or making permanent marks on things that can’t be replaced. So, after our first game, I started strategizing how I might go about preserving the components of Terminal Directive while still making it fun to play. Don’t worry, there are no story spoilers ahead, though I will be talking about the different kinds of components and how they interact. Continue reading Hacking Terminal Directive
The Impossible
Last week, I attempted something I always believed was impossible: I made Double Divinity by myself. This may not seem like much, but for me, it was quite the herculean feat, if only as a mental block to overcome. Continue reading The Impossible
Skorpios: Facewrecker
My goal with Skorpios: Facewrecker was to merge my previous two decks into a deck that does a little bit of both: trash cards from anywhere I can, followed up with flatlining the runner if possible. Unfortunately, what I ended up with was just another iteration of Kneebreaker, with some extra stack removal thrown in. Here is Skoprios: Facewrecker. Continue reading Skorpios: Facewrecker
Mallworld
I recently finished reading the Ultimate, Ultimate, Ultimate Mallworld by S. P. Somtow, and I’m very happy I picked up this book. I may sum it up by saying it’s like Idiocracy mashed up with a parody of 1980s consumerism then launched into space, but I actually found out it was more than that. Somtow creates here a consistent (if zany) universe that has a lot to say about how we treat history today. Continue reading Mallworld
Skorpios: Kneebreaker 1.2
After playing Skorpios: Kneebreaker a bit, I felt it was time to tune it a little. I was unimpressed with not drawing much in the way of ICE my first game, and the deck still felt a bit slow. For Kneebreaker 1.2, I swapped out only a pair of cards, but I was happier with how it played out. Continue reading Skorpios: Kneebreaker 1.2
.hack//GAMES
After writing about .hack//SIGN and poking around on the fan wiki, I decided I wanted to find out what was going on in the follow-on games (.hack//INFECTION, .hack//MUTATION, .hack//OUTBREAK, and .hack//QUARANTINE.) As I mentioned previously, I don’t have any flavor of Play Station, nor the games themselves, so I sought out condensed playthroughs on Youtube in the hopes that I might at least understand the major plot points and maybe a bit more of the lore of this universe. Continue reading .hack//GAMES