In Pokemon, they had 1st edition. The Charizard that was 1st ed. was extremely, extremely rare. And expensive to. But they also had the same Charizard in a regular (non-first) edition. Even further, about a year later they released Base 2 that had the exact same cards as 1st edition but with a much larger print run. So I had the privilege as a 10 year old competing at Pokemon to own and use Charizard to my heart’s content thanks to standard ed. and base 2.

Wrong Time, Wrong Place

In Monsterpocalypse we have figures like Metal Mega Cyber Khan. This is nice, because those lucky enough to be a part of Monsterpocapalooza, make top 8 at MonCon, or finish at the top in a few other events get to own this amazingly awesome and rare figure. However, those who weren’t fortunate enough can own the regular Mega Cyber Khan. This means that they aren’t at a competitive disadvantage for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not being able to get the exclusive.

Some made this argument of Quantum King Kondo until he was released as a regular tournament prize. To those of us fortunate enough to own one thanks to buying a ton of Now! cases early, we felt a little disheartened at the eventual ease of getting a Quantum Kondo. Like I argued when this occurred, I am ok with Quantum Kondo being a tournament prize. In fact, I prefer that the entire player base have access to him. However, what is frustrating is to call something exclusive and release it for regular tournaments down the road.

A perfectly acceptable alternative to how Quantum Kondo was handled, was to have the chains on the Kondo that came with the case bundle have gold chains and have the one as a tournament prize have silver chains. This doesn’t change the competitiveness of the figure, but merely adds some collect-ability to the Quantum Kondo figure.

Mega Lo-Tron

When Privateer Press announced Mega Lo-Tron as a ComiCon exclusive, I wondered to myself how exclusive that really made it. After talking with Privateer staff personally, the only way to officially get Mega Lo-Tron EVER is to purchase it at ComiCon 2010. They will not be giving them away or selling them anywhere else, ever. A few days ago they announced the stats of Mega Lo-Tron and wow… This guy is amazing. I even want a copy. And that’s the issue now isn’t it?

If your or I want Mega Lo-tron, we have two options:

1. Travel to San Diego and somehow get a badge. After that, wait in line and attempt to get our very own Mega Lo-Tron
2. Hopefully have a friend or acquaintance already going who can and is willing to pick one up for us (although I more recently discovered a 1 per badge limit)

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the money to just fly out to San Diego, get in to a convention, stay at a hotel, etc. just to get a figure that is selling for $15 at the event. Initially this just made me frustrated. I realized I couldn’t get ahold of one. Then I started wondering… Do I have any friends going? Sure enough… I did. So now I could get a copy.

But could you, the person reading this, get one? Unfortunately, most of you reading can’t feasibly achieve either option above. So… I started thinking. What if I could add a third option? What if you, yes you reading these words, could get a copy of Mega Lo-Tron. How could we make this happen?

A Little Luck, A Lotta Love

I found out that we might be able to get more than 1 towards the end of the show. So what does that mean? Well… Tim happens to be going to California this week to see family. And what does that mean for you? Well… that means that Team Covenant is going to pay for Tim to make a 5 hour detour and hit up San Diego ComiCon for all of the community members who have been dreaming about owning Mega Lo-Tron since a few days ago when Privateer Press announced his stats!

Your mind must be racing. Take a minute (or a second because it’s on a first come first serve basis) and breath. We have Mega Lo-Tron on our store right now for $29.97 as a pre-order item. Please realize that just because you can order the item does not mean we will be able to get a Mega Lo-Tron for you. We will be fulfilling these orders on a first come, first serve basis. That means those that order first stand a better chance of getting the figure.

If we can’t get enough, we are simply going to cancel every order we cannot fulfill. This will issue a complete refund to your account for the total of the order. I sincerely hope that ALL of us who want a Mega Lo-Tron will be able to get our hands on one. The whole point of this is so that the community at large can have access to a wonderful and competitive figure. If you have any questions, let us know,

Zach

]]> http://teamcovenant.com/07/16/2010/on-chase-figures-mega-lo-tron/feed/ 8 http://teamcovenant.com/07/09/2010/evolution-of-a-master-part-5-high-places-familiar-faces-the-finale/ http://teamcovenant.com/07/09/2010/evolution-of-a-master-part-5-high-places-familiar-faces-the-finale/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:49:31 +0000 Josh Gremillion http://teamcovenant.com/?p=6180 Heading into 1 A.M. Sunday morning – and we were at the finale. Round 8.

Seriously, I couldn’t believe I’d made it this far.

I feel like my play style with Mantacon evolved throughout the day. I’d garnered new respect for Cliff Hoppers, Explodomites, and Razor Beetles. I’d also found a new love in Skull Island. I’d barely used my Chompers the entire day, but that was due in part to most of my opponents having had access to some form of H&R, Sprint, or Resilience.

As I faced my final opponent across the table, I had one last surprise in store for me.

Macros.

The monster I came within a heartbeat of playing myself, the monster that lead me to victory the year before, the monster commanded by Mark G. of Team Covenant, and the monster with the awesome Mega form (which Mark, indeed, was using).

Mark had beaten my buddy B.J. in the previous round, barely denying us the honor of having a Louisianian face off in the finals, and make no mistake, going into that final match, I was looking to avenge my fallen battle brothers, with B.J. at the top of my list.

I lost the opening roll again, so it was my choice – should I go for Skull Island, or Ramming Speed? It wasn’t an easy call. I knew what Mega Macros could do, and he loved water. I really didn’t want to give him the option to Sprint over, hyper down, and flash away, but then, if I chose Skull Island, I could easily disrupt his power base…

In the end I chose Ramming Speed. It might prove equally advantageous to morphers for the Speed Zones, but at least when Mark was finally forced to commit himself and hyper up, there would be no escape.

The game started out interestingly. Mark didn’t attempt to build a power base. Instead, he wasted no time to race up three Katana, combining to deal the first point on Mantacon.

On my unit turn, I got the obligatory Power Pod in place and captured a neutral spawn zone with a Chomper while getting a team of Destructomite, Explodomite, and Razor Beetle to take on the Katana team. I thought it wouldn’t be that hard for 2B, 3A to hit a Def of 2… but I was wrong, way wrong. I hit the first Katana, Blitzed onto the Elite – and whiffed.

Oh well, always next time – only, throughout the rest of the game, that same attack team continued to miss that one Elite Katana not once, not twice, not even three times – but four!

Yes, those specimens must have been from an inferior brood.

But on Mark’s turn, he dispersed his morphers around the board, hiding them between the nooks and crannies of a number of buildings. I promptly followed up by brawling a Nuke, healing back the point I’d lost.

From there, it started going back and forth. Mark tried to build a power base, but I thwarted his attempts by spamming Cliff Hoppers from the neutral spawn and sending them into his territory for soft disruption. Mark was forced to slowly build up power by hiding and eliminating units and buildings. While he was occupied with that, I constantly threatened his morphers with back-to-back activations, making sure I left at least 2 A-die on Mantacon every turn. More importantly, I swatted a unit into the Macros Minis to get an early edge in the damage race. That one point was huge, because it ensured Mark would have to come to me if he wanted a win before time was called.

Still, we were both hesitant to engage, and I had to be extra careful where I positioned my monster, considering how Mark could hyper up to break any buildings that might screen me. I went Mega early so that if Mark got in any more unit damage I could Sacrifice and heal it off easy.

From there, I could have sat behind a unit screen and hid indefinitely. After all, part of the Mantis style is biding your time, waiting for the prey to come to you.

But I was starting to grow weary of waiting. Monsterpocalypse isn’t a constant game of hide-and-seek, and this was the finals match. I wanted to see some action, and it was high time for this mantis to show his scythes.

One of the Macros Minis was hiding behind my Statue of Liberty, so Mantacon moved out, brawled it, and H&Red into a position where I would take some damage from a counter-attack, but I wouldn’t lose a form.

Mark saw his opportunity and went for it, hypering up and hurling Mantacon into a building for three.

Alright, game on.

Mega Mantacon snatched up a unit and healed back to 4, then flew over Mega Mac and brawled him for two before ducking back behind a screen. Mega Mac super swatted for two on Mantacon, and at this point, the damage dealt was 3 to 4 in Mark’s favor. The clock was ticking down and the game could have gone either way, but here’s where Mark made his fatal error –

He hypered down to save his Mega form.

That alone wasn’t a major mistake, but then he used Sprint on one of the morphers, probably thinking to expand his footprint to avoid a power attack on my next monster turn.

Problem was – my next turn was a unit turn.

Mark had positioned his morphers deep on my side of the board in a U pattern, and not only did I have both an Elite and Grunt Cliff Hopper nearby, I also had 10 A-die in my unit pool, and an Airborne Ape waiting in my reserves.

I spawned the ape, flew down the morphers throats, got adjacent to all 4, and as the Cliff Hoppers swooped in to combine on the shot, I rolled 4 B die and 5 A die to hit a Def 5.

Bombs away…

And it’s a hit!

Four points to the mini Macs, and combined with the one they’d taken earlier from the swat, that’s a form kill – just as times being called to end out the round at 2A.M.

Final score – 4 to 7, my favor.

Hooh. That was cutting it close. Not my favorite game of the evening, but definitely a nail-biter. Very tense, and all heck broke loose at the end. It got pretty crazy, and I couldn’t believe I’d pulled off another Masters victory, making me the first ever Double Master!

It was time for celebration! Time for exhilaration!

Time for sleep…

So I went to bed – but I was up bright and early the next morning for one final tournament and Team Covenant’s final awards ceremony.

I can’t stress enough how much I got out of Moncon. Team Covenant put on an excellent convention, and the Masters event was really something else. My game evolved, I learned the way of the mantis, and I pulled out a solid victory for bugs and Destroyers alike! Don’t let anyone tell you Destroyers are the weakest agenda, cause Mantacon has proven himself king of monsters.

LONG LIVE THE SWARM!

Now please excuse me – I have a world to devour.

Oh, the pretty lights…

You see, my brother aXl had nearly taken Mega Phobos to the Masters himself, and I’d got quite a bit of practice against that particular Martian walker. He had some powerful abilities – Marker, Multishot, Long Range on the Alpha, coupled with the ability to deal three points in the Mega without power attack reliance – blast, H&R into adjacency, then brawl for Lightning Attack. He had some cool unit synergies too, with Red P-Gorge, Synch Move Blast, and Sprint. Add all that up, and MP could be a truly fearsome opponent for the wrong monster.

Fortunately for me, Mantacon was the right monster. High Def and Cloak made it a lot harder for the Mega to get in the 3 pt turn, and it also made the prospect of unit damage that much tougher.

Kevin picked the map and chose Riverside Rampage, which was interesting for a pedestrian monster, giving him only three real lanes to move between buildings. It was another teleporter map though, and against more Def 2 Martians, my Spy Flies and Cliff Hoppers really came into play again. I didn’t even need to spawn the Elite to reliably hit spotted Def 1 Marauders and Vanguard.

Throughout the game, Kevin tried to trip me up and lure me into bad positions, but my practice against Jeremy really paid off. I knew all Phobos’ tricks and took proper precautions to counter them. He missed one Lightning Attack that would have helped him, but in the end, I had him on the ropes, and won without losing a form.

Roughly 11 P.M. heading into Round 7, and it was master on master, Gencon on California, me against TJ Reyes, and TJ brought Ultra Voltis, ensuring this would be quite the challenging match-up.

I got map pick, and this proved to be huge. After playing on teleporters all day, I decided to continue the trend, taking my newfound favorite, Skull Island. Not only would it give me some much needed mobility while making Sky Scrapers and Hotels nearly useless, it would also allow me to easily disrupt TJ’s SSS power base, always a good thing, considering how legendary SSS p-bases can get.

The game started out slow, without either one of us trying to capture any buildings. I got my P-pod and Saucer on some power zones quickly, but otherwise, we both focused on unit control, TJ with his Katanas, C-types, and Airborne, I with my Cliff Hoppers, Spy Flies, and my own Airborne.

Mantacon’s opening moves were to brawl an EPP and Sun Industries for massive power, and staying wary of Voltis, I bided my time and didn’t commit just yet. Instead, I advanced Mantacon into the central cluster of buildings and screened him with my units, putting me in the perfect spot to threaten Voltis no matter where he ran.

Mantis style. Let the prey come to you.

And I didn’t have to wait long, either.

It all came to a head as Voltis moved in and swatted one of my units at Mantacon for two. I leapt out and hurled him into a Nuke for 3 and he came back for more, hurling me into an EPP for the Alpha kill. I Lightning Attacked him for 2 and backed off.

Voltis was down to 1 in his Alpha, but was ahead by a form kill – I had to work fast.

TJ tried to surround his ninja with units, most notably a Shadow Gate for Cloak, but I didn’t intend on shooting him. I made sure to screen myself, then sent out my strike team of Explodomites and Razor Beetle. They brawled the Shadow Gate and Blitzed onto Alpha Voltis, finishing him off and tilting the game back in my favor.

I was surprised when TJ swatted my Power Pod into my Saucer instead of Mantacon, but he was going after my power base to slow me down. He H&Red away so that I could only throw him into a non-hazardous building for two, but I took the attack without hesitation, following it up by screening my monster again and powering up with P-gorge (gotta love them Hoppers).

Voltis came back and tried to swat a unit at me, but he missed Mantacon, leaving himself open. I moved in and Lightning Attacked once, missing the second strike, but then time was called.

The damage dealt was 5 to 9 in my favor.

A good game, made better because both TJ and I were really hamming it up, competing for punch lines throughout the match. We were being streamed live over the net after all! You know we had to put on a good show.

Everyone was forced outside. As names were called, people went up to be led to their Round 1 tables. As I waited to hear my name, I didn’t know what to expect. Who would be my first opponent, and what would he play? I hoped I didn’t have a bad match-up right off the bat…

And then they called my name and I was led into the tournament room.

My first round opponent introduced himself as Karlton. He was with Simean Thrall and the Tennessee group, and guess what he played? Mega Mantacon.

This was going to be interesting.

I got map pick and chose Ramming Speed. Then we set in for a battle of the Manti.

I tried to play conservatively, brawling buildings for the most part to gain power while Karlton captured a considerable number of buildings himself.

Then Karlton came over to my side of the board – and it was go time. We brawled and threw each other into buildings, forming one Alpha after the other, but I had attacked first, I’d managed to disrupt his p-base with my units, and I had the momentum – until Karlton ran behind the buildings of my power base.

I didn’t want to brawl a building and open myself up to a counter attack, so I tried to get my Chompers to brawl the SoL – which they missed.

The game stalled out, and both of us were at full Megas when time was called. It was a close game and Karlton was a great opponent, but stalling out had not been part of my plan, and I wasn’t excited about tying either – but then, what can you do?

Round 2, and I ran up against Terrence (Chivenger) from Chicago with his Mega Legionnaire.

Chivenger got map pick, and to my surprise, chose Boardwalk Brawl. Now, I’m used to playing morphers myself, and in my opinion, Boardwalk Brawl is a scary map for morpher play, just because there aren’t all that many spots where morphers can hide.

But whether it was the map or the match-up, this game was a rough one for Chivenger. His morphers relied on blasting, while Mantacon had inherent cloak. He was forced to get close to do any damage, and that wasn’t where he wanted to be, especially when I kept retaliating with Lightning Attacks and multi point throws, taking lots of back-to-back monster turns while Chivenger went monster-unit-monster. That gave me more time to deal damage without repercussions, and in the end, I won with a solid victory.

Round 3, and I came up against yet another Guard player – Ben Lang, fielding Laser Knight. Now, I can’t say I was excited to face the Light Knight, given that my Feeding Frenzy was null and void. But I was interested in Ben’s list, especially since it only had 2 buildings.

Yep, that’s right. A low building Laser Knight list.

Well, I got map pick, and not particularly pleased with how my own map had worked in Round 1, I chose Ben’s instead – Waterfront Wreckage. I thought I’d try out some teleporters and see if that fared better for me.

Surprisingly – it did.

Unsurprisingly – my opponent liked it too.

Having had a lot of practice playing my brother aXl, I knew the basics of low building tactics. It was my experience that normally, you trade power dice and power attack opportunities for greater mobility, but with Laser Knight, Ben didn’t have any trouble collecting power dice, thanks in no small part to Blue Amplify. Not only was he powering up effectively, I was having a tough time disrupting LK’s Def 4 units, and as the game progressed, Ben destroyed all the buildings on his side quickly, leaving me with two options:

1. Hide and bide, or

2. Take the fight to him.

Well, I was supposed to let the prey come to me, not the other way around… That had been the plan… but then…

I was ready for some action.

So, I rushed him.

-Fun ensued.

I could literally picture those two brawl masters – Mantacon and Laser Knight, going toe-to-toe, dancing around each other, bobbing and weaving, slicing, parrying, and blocking blows, but things were looking pretty even. I knew I couldn’t let up or Ben would have time to repair, so I sent in unit support and caged LK in a corner with my Mites and Razor Beetle. My Cliff Hoppers and Spy Flies proved invaluable in all this, as I was able to seek and destroy Ben’s G1s while harvesting power dice with Power Gorge.

I started to pull ahead after Ben lost his Alpha form, and though I positioned myself poorly and got thrown for 3 at one point, by the end of the game I was one turn away from finishing Laser Knight, while my Mega was still nearly at full.

Round 4, and I had a nice surprise for me. I was facing none other than Phillip of Team Covenant with his infamous Anglax…

And guess what else?

Another low building list!

Phillip chose the map and picked his favorite – Skull Island, yet another teleporter map which, coincidentally, happened to be the other side of Ramming Speed.

Funny enough, this match played out much like the last, with Anglax hiding on his side of the field…

I had two options.

And… Yeah, you know the one I chose.

Phillip wasn’t coming to me anytime soon, so I charged in swinging. It was another tense game with me pounding Anglax constantly while he punched me for a point on his monster turns and blasted me on his unit turns to heal. I got lucky when he missed a couple decent shots, and once again, my Spy Flies and Cliff Hoppers proved invaluable against a saturation of low Def targets – namely Nautilus Blasters and Vanguard. For the longest time, I was relying solely on them for P-dice generation.

Nearing the end of the game, Phillip started focusing more units on Mantacon, leaving me free to actually capture a power base and start taking more back-to-back activations while hypering up to save my Alpha from annihilation.

It came down to Phillip’s last few turns.

I’d finished off his Alpha while bringing his Ultra down to1 HP. I still had 1 on my Alpha and full HP on my Mega. We both thought I had this game in the bag.

Then Phillip did something I didn’t see coming…

He headbutted me.

Mantacon dropped down to Alpha, and then on his final unit turn, Phillip not only finished off my Alpha form, but hit my Mega for a point. Anglax Leached two, going back up to 3 HP, and miraculously, he tied me for damage dealt!

Curses! Foiled again! Two more turns of Lighting Attack and I would have had that fish on a spit! But still, it was a very close, very good game, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Phillip was very easy-going and a joy to play.

So, just a recap, but going into Round 5, I was 2-0-2. I hadn’t lost a game, but I had no idea what my chances were of getting into the finals. Winning my last match was a must.

Well, my opponent for the next round was Dragon, an all-around great guy and Press Ganger from Chicago, and guess what? He’d also gone 2-0-2 so far (if I’m not mistaken). Not only that, but he was fielding (yet another) Mega Mantacon.

…Didn’t see that coming.

I chose the map again, and although my reflex was to take Ramming Speed, my instinct told me otherwise. In both of my last two games, I’d played teleporter maps, and I’d thoroughly loved both of them. So when it came time to choose a map, this time I went with Skull Island myself– and I suppose it was a good choice too, seeing as Dragon admitted he’d never played on it.

Well, we set up for another battle of the Manti, and this time things started off fast and furious. We both harvested power dice from brawling buildings, then we met in the middle.

Dragon seemed focused on brawling me, and that is Mantacon’s forte, but he also seemed to miss power attack opportunities, opportunities that helped me to get ahead in the damage race.

I continued the seek and destroy strategy with my Spy Flies and Cliff Hoppers, harvesting power dice to fuel my attacks, and by the end I think I delivered the coup de grace on Dragon’s final form, thus securing my third solid victory.

So, ending the preliminaries I had gone 3-0-2. I hadn’t lost a game, but would that be enough to get a top spot?

I headed down the hall and waited with the crowd of eager players, and when they put out the final list of the top 8, I was happy to see B.J., another player from Baton Rouge, had made it, along with Karlton, Phillip, and… me.

Finally, I could breathe a sigh of relief – but not for long.

The greatest challenges were yet to come.

For the tourney:
1. Record a log file for your game.
2. You cannot take back a move unless your opponent allows it. If a log file shows you breaking this rule, you will be given a loss for the round.
3. The game ends when one player has killed both forms of the opponent’s monster.
4. There is no time limit.
5. If one player puts off a game or stalls because he or she is probably going to lose, I will judge the logfile of the incomplete game and determine a winner.

When your game is over, both players send me an e-mail that looks like this.

Subject: Player A v. Player B

<name of the winner> won the game.

Sincerely,
Arnold Palmer

If there is a dispute, attach the logfile and give a description. If there is not a dispute, I’d love to have your logfiles as a resource for other players. Send if you don’t mind being a part of that.

After 4 rounds, there will be 2 players undefeated. They will play in the finals.

Enjoy this tournament! Get to know your opponent. Have lots of fun. And good luck, you’ll need it!

Cheers,
Steven

Josh Gremillion here (XandZero2 on the forums). Some of you may remember me from the articles I wrote for Team Covenant early last year, or from the 2009 Gencon Masters, where I surprised more than a few people by taking first place with a morpher, Ultra Zor Macros. I’m a frothing mad Monpoc player and Press Ganger in the Baton Rouge area at a game store called Little Wars. I’m also a Creative Writing Major at LSU (about to graduate, mind you).

Well, not long ago, I had the pleasure of attending Moncon, Team Covenant’s first ever convention held exclusively to honor Monsterpocalypse, and as I’m sure anyone else at the con would agree, it was a monstrous good time. We played great games and met even greater people – DC and Will Schick, Jonathan and Steven Wooley, TJ Reyes and Daniel Fackelman – to name a few.

Among all this, the Moncon Masters was held on Saturday – a grueling Monpoc Tournament that tested not only tactical skill, but physical endurance. 5 rounds of preliminaries to make it to the top 8, then three more rounds of sudden elimination to put it all on the line.

The tournament started at 10 A.M. Saturday, and ended roughly at 2 A.M. Sunday morning (that would be considered ‘morning,’ right?), and, after it was all said and done, when the last blow was struck and the smoke cleared away…

I was left standing with a second Masters title under my belt.

But how did it happen?

I’d like to share my experiences with you, and I intend to do just that in a small mini-series I’ve dubbed, “Evolution of a Master.” (Hopefully, that doesn’t sound too egotistical on my part, but anyway…) Now then, let me begin at the beginning.

So, picking back up where I left off – winning the Moncon Masters – how’d I do it?

Well, I can assure you the path to double mastery was not a short one. It was long and hard, and what’s even more important, it was not a path I took alone. I had a number of people that supported me, tested me, and pushed my game to the next level. Every player from Louisiana had some part to play, from Luke Mayne (lukema25), to BJ Oncale (bearhino), Will Grant (Karlwinslow), to my very own brother, Jeremy (aXl).

For months, we play-tested our lists, sharpened our skills, and chose our maps.

At first, I wasn’t sure what I would play – I guessed Shadow Sun. But by the time TC interviewed TJ and me on their podcast, I must admit, I’d already fallen in love with Xixorax. The MonsterInsider fluff linking him to the Shadow Sun Syndicate (my favorite faction) was just too sweet, and then I heard about his abilities – Super Rampage, Juggernaut, Sprint, and Beat Back Blitz?! – I was sold. The bugs had infested my soul, and I’d become a living hive to a swarm of angry beetles.

But my choice wasn’t quite that random. I’d always had a soft spot for Mucustos (or Mucous Toast, as we like to call him down in LA), so it wasn’t a big leap to take to ol’ Herc there. It was just an issue of trading one beetle for another – that played completely different from the first… Obviously, some play-testing was required.

So, after a dozen or so games, I found Xixxy (pronounce as “Zizzy”) to be a rompin’, stompin’ power attackin’ beatstick with the innate ability to amass truckloads of power with which to smack the opposition’s face through tons and tons of rad-hazards. He was offense, offense, offense – and I loved him more than ever. He fit my preferred style of play to a T, so all I had to do was perfect my list and choose my favorite map. I was set!

…And then Big In Japan got delayed…

Crud.

I tried to be optimistic for the longest time, but with three weeks left to Moncon and still no word on the rescheduled release date, I finally had to face reality. So I put my dreams of winning the Masters with Xixxy on the shelf, at least for the time being.

Well, back to the drawing board.

What to field, what to field…

I had a lot of experience with Mucous Toast… but I also knew that Mucous had some really bad match-ups, and most of those match-ups involved giant, biotech ninjas – arguably the most competitive faction in Monpoc, a faction I was likely to face quite a bit at a higher-level competition.

There was always the old standby – Zor-Macros. I’d taken Gencon with him last year, and I didn’t need much practice with him to get back into the groove, which was a plus. I’d also play-tested with his Mega form for a while, and it seemed really powerful, really solid. Martial Artist was great and Sprint was insane. Power Attack with -1 to the opponent’s Def, then Sprint onto water and hyper down – fun times. But I’d already proven I could win with Macros…

And I still had those darn beetles buzzing around in my head.

Just couldn’t seem to shake ‘em loose.

So, with only a week remaining before the big event, guess mon?

Mantacon.

He was definitely a competitive mon(ster), one that could go toe-to-toe with any Zor and stand a fighting chance. He had cloak in both forms, coupled with Def 7, decent HP, Nuke immunity, and multiple healing opportunities, he’d prove to be one tough bug to crack, and with Chomper support, he was no Xixorax, but he could still deal some serious damage with Feeding Frenzy. Plus, I’d been kind of considering him all along for another reason – I’d won him at Gencon.

How cool would it be to pull out my Masters Mega Manny at the Moncon Masters? And what’s more, what if I could take the day with the one and only monster I got for placing first at the Gencon Masters?

Aw yeah, I was liking this idea.

But with only one week left to practice, was I really going to put my faith in a monstrous mantis that I hardly ever played?

Hell yeah.

Now… what about those stats? I must say I’m nowhere near as competent with the set as I hope to be at GenCon, however I do have some initial thoughts and feelings about a handful of the figures.

Alpha Tectomoc

With 5 defense and only 3 abilities, is there really anything to be impressed with? Well… yes. There is. First, his sculpt and paint are simply wonderful. He’s got 5 speed, 5 defense, and is ground bound. Could Zach really have any desire to use this monster? Yes.

The first thing I want to note is the burly 7 health. I was playing a game two days ago in which I made a very poor move without realizing it. My opponent, John W., smashed me for 5 damage on the mega form taking me to 1 health. I was able to hyper-down on the next turn and use the 7 health to stabilize.

One thing I really appreciate about Tectomoc is his efficiency. With power gorge triggering on his brawl combined with the natural 3 b-die on his alpha brawl stat, he can accumulate lots of p-die without spending very many a-die. He also is rocking beat back on his alpha, allowing him to harvest P-Die from the inevitable building collisions. This gives him even more efficiency.

The cherry on top for this alpha form is steady. While not being able to be body-slammed isn’t necessarily preferable to say massive, it can definitely help out with allowing you to end your turn in what would usually be a terrible position.

All in all this figure definitely isn’t something spectacular, but he is a solid alpha.

Ultra Tectomoc

Eh. There are some good things to this guy and he looks awesome, but at the end of the day I don’t think I’d bring this piece of rock to a tournament. Moving on.

Mega Tectomoc

While I don’t have this figure just yet, I have been proxy-ing him. I must say I’m impressed. Before I knew the stats of any of his figures I was committed to using the earth elemental. Then I saw the stats to the ultra and mega and thought that the mega was the only ‘usable’ form for competitive play. I say usable here for good reason. I wasn’t thinking that this guy would be extremely competitive, but I think I may have been wrong.

On paper (aka on the wiki), Mega Tectomoc seems good at best, but definitely not great. On the table and in play however, I think he’s bringing some great things to the table that might just make him competitive. I mentioned earlier that the Alpha is efficient. The mega has efficiency in spades!

He’s rolling 3 b-die on his brawl and 4 b-die on his power attack! As Steven outlined in the initial preview of Mega Tectomoc, this guy is a swatting powerhouse. He can roll a 1*4 + 3 swat against a unit with 4 defense at 97.51%. He gets an extra p-die from rage for destroying the unit and then gets to roll against a monster. Even at the minimum of 1*4 + 3 he’s rolling 78.95% against a 6 defense monster. If the monster is 7 defense you can roll 1 extra p-die to keep your odds at 77.89%. Assuming you hit, you get another p-die from rage.

So basically, for 1 a-die you remove a unit and damage the opponent for 2 from up to 5 away. This guy is crazy efficient! If you had a store of p-die built up you can easily take 2-3 monster turns at 97%+ on all of your attacks killing almost any form of any monster.

This all comes on a monster with 6 speed, 6 defense, 6 health, and burrow. Alongside all of this he is massive so he can’t be thrown. You’re looking at an Alpha/Mega monster who has a combined total of 13 health and can’t be body-slammed in one form and thrown in the other. He’s a tough piece of rock to crack into.

Tornadus

What else is there to say?

In my Tectomoc build she is just nasty. I was playing against Xixorax and was in a really tough spot. Xixorax had me down to 2 health on my mega. On the previous turn he had backed into the corner. I used the swat to get him down to 1. On his unit turn he was able to get in one damage taking me to 1. With him in the corner I didn’t really have any options. My units just couldn’t get within range.

After thinking it through on my opponents turn I really thought it was over. I started the timer for my turn and almost instantly saw the only chance I had. I spawned Tornadus and an elite G1. Moved them across the board. Then I used hoist on Tornadus to move a spy fly within 4 of his monster. I combined attack rolling 2*4 against the spy fly. 2 strikes… phew.

So I gained the p-die and then made the fling attack against his six defense monster. I hit a six exactly and pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. All thanks to this super unit. I can’t even imagine what she is going to do for my Sky Sentinel army. DISGUSTING.

Xixorax (Alpha + Ultra)

Wow. Just wow. John W. has always been into the bugs and when he saw this guys stats had no choice but to bust him out. I’ve only played one game against this monster but he is really really good. I won’t be surprised if he ends up doing very well at future competitive events.

Robo-brontox

As promised… he has changed the game. There have been several occasions where I would think about doing something that used to be logical and then realize they have a robo-brontox sitting over there. I remember watching a game where Tim and John were smashing it out and Tim did a move to get John in alignment. Then on John’s turned he beaconed away and you could just see that look on Tim’s face. It’s one of the things we’ll have to get used to.

As I have said in the past, sometimes the greatest strength of a figure is not in actually getting to ever use it’s ability. It’s the simple fact that your opponent knows you can access the ability that changes things. Knowing they can move out of alignment and screen changes things. Knowing they can tow your power base changes things.

Honorable Mentions

Blastik – could be very powerful if used properly. Interested to see if anyone can use him appropriately
Hurricanus – with the mega she is going to be a very big threat
Mechathugrosh – looks amazing, could be a threat
Frontline Ape – Seems great on paper, but still not sold on it’s utility. Further testing required.
Earth Kami – I like him very much, not sure if he makes the top cut. Doesn’t seem to fit the blast theme I seem to end up with in my Protector lists.
Psi-eel – Anglax… need I say more? The triton monsters look great as well.

At the end of my first week with Big in Japan, I think this set is absolutely wonderful. My awe for this game has only increased and I must say that Privateer has once again outdone themselves. The figures in this set are beautiful both aesthetically and from a gameplay standpoint. I hope you are looking forward, as I am, to using and testing these figures in the months to come while looking ahead to GenCon masters.

Best of luck to everyone during this summer of preparation. We will have BIJ singles available within the next day or so. Enjoy your faction packs once they arrive! If you have had a chance to use BIJ, what are your thoughts? Am I dead wrong? Have you used figures that I didn’t mention?

Zach

What does that mean? It means stop worrying about whether the move you are making is the best move. Stop trying to figure out why this move is better than that. Stop discussing these moves as you play. The time for discussion is after the game, on our community site, or on the official Monsterpocalypse forums. When you are playing a game, PLAY THE GAME. Whatever your first instinct is, just do it. But why, you ask.

It’s simple, really. The fastest way to learn is get trashed. Learning is an interesting thing. Apparently research shows that the more emotion involved in a learning experience the more likely you are to truly learn from it. So when you lose hard, you won’t forget it. When that last move you made cost you the game, it’s going to eat you on the inside. When you are at a local tournament and you desperately want that Mega, but your final move cost you the finals you’re going to think about it. A lot.

One day, down the road, you probably want to win a mega at a local tournament or one of those shiny Monsterpocalypse Master banners, right?  If you are in to that whole winning thing, just do it. Get over the fact that you might make a mistake, because you will. Embrace your subconscious and do what comes naturally. Yes, you will lose early on. However, you will start winning more often and making less and less mistakes.

I’m sitting here barking out this advice, but I must admit that I still struggle with letting go. Last night I was playing a game against Tim. On my very first monster turn, I was trying to choose between two options. After a few minutes of debating and getting no where I chose one and just went with it because it’s the first thing I wanted to do. As Tim was taking his first Monster turn I saw what I thought to be a better option after realizing he was ground bound.

However, after Tim played out his turn I realized if I had done it I would have been in a much worse position. Eventually I dominated Tim during that game (not completely related to that turn), however the turn was a really good start for what was about to happen. If I had never just done it and let go, I would have never realized that the move I made would actually work.

The other major benefit to letting go, other than learning from painful mistakes, is the fact that games go from several hours to about an hour to an hour and a half a piece. I can get 2-3 games in during the same time I used to get 1 game in. All of this and I learn so much more each game because I’m not fearing a mistake.

Until next time,
let go…

Zach

P.S. See the retweet and share button over there <-. Yeah. You see them. And yes, you use facebook or twitter. USE THEM on previews, blogs, etc.

* * *

We’re starting to hit high-gear for the summer. We’re packing in earnest for our early July move to Tennessee. We’re going to leave out the Monsterpocalypse stuff as long as possible, hopefully until our faction packs, monsters, and monuments arrive from Team Covenant. If I can make it happen, you’ll get a game report with some of our new pieces. If not, at the least you’ll get photos of Kate unboxing all the goodies (and then promptly reboxing them). But the house is going to be in an interesting combination of array and disarray for a while.

* * *

I made the Manchester, NH slam team. That means I get to compete on a team of 4 (plus an alternate) poets at the National Poetry Slam in St. Paul, MN this August. I believe there are going to be 75 teams this year, so you can imagine how many poets alone, plus audience, show up for this thing. It’s slightly more complicated than that, in that I’m also trying out for the team from Providence, RI. Providence’s finals are this coming Thursday. I’m going all out, putting forth my riskiest work, and we’ll see where the chips fall. If I make both teams, I’m honestly not sure right now which I’ll choose to stick with. Monsterpocalypse actually figures into this, though not in a causal way. If I’m on Manchester, I’ll likely have practice the day of the launch party at Friendly Neighborhood Comics, meaning no party photos for all of you. If I’m on Providence, I don’t yet know what the practice schedule will be like, but it’ll definitely take more of my time to drive there and back. Either way, it’s less time for games before I go.

* * *

Dissertation work is going slowly but surely. For anyone out there who wants to pursue a PhD: if you can avoid working on it in absentia (meaning from a distance, not actually on campus/in person with your committee/advisor), do so. The email-only communication thing gets old and difficult very quickly, and the fire to finish up quickly is hard to maintain. There seem to be a million other more pressing real-life things, and they take over more readily than they do when you’re actually at your university. I communicate regularly with one of my committee members, less so with my advisor, very little with the other two members of the committee. I really want to finish up this Fall. I have no idea right now if that will be possible. It’s nerve-wracking. Writing this column has been a welcome distraction. Mind you, in my defense, it’s a distraction of only about two hours per week – one hour for the game, one hour for the writeup (and sometimes I still manage to have grammatical errors in the final product). It’s really been nice, however, to write something for fun, for the pure enjoyment of making people smile, as opposed to the quite technical analyses of long poems and poetic sequences containing strong visual characteristics.

* * *

It’s been hard to get in game time, but I always try to make time for reading. Besides the reading for my dissertation, I’ve been slowly working my way through David McCullough’s biography of John Adams (titled John Adams). It’s spectacular. I’d previously read into the lives of Washington (through Joseph J. Ellis’s fascinating biography His Excellency) and Jefferson (through a job Texas A&M’s rare books library designing and assembling an exhibit on Lewis & Clark). The diversity of personalities, beliefs, etc. of the first three presidents is stunning. Go read up on any of them in detail – you’ll be amazed the United States ever made it. More importantly, the context they provide for contemporary politics is thought-provoking. You thought the media – Left or Right – was critical and condescending during either of the last two presidencies? Try articles and poems written on the front pages of newspapers suggesting that Washington was a tyrant in the making, or that Adams was literally insane, or that Jefferson was a two-faced dog (OK, to be honest, Jefferson was the original flip-flopper, from fervently small-government to the Louisiana Purchase, from proclaimer of liberty to holder of slaves). Try Alexander Hamilton starting a whispering campaign against his own president, Adams. Try Jefferson, as Secretary of State, doing the same against his own, Washington, just a few years earlier. You think the media – again, Left or Right – is censored by the party in power? Try the Sedition Act, engendered under Adams, that resulted in jail time for anyone criticizing the president (and yes, it was carried out to that effect in numerous places). See also: debates over the nature of federal vs states rights and over Christianity in government (Washington and Adams: one nation under God, specifically the Christian God – though Adams was in favor of religious freedom for Jews; Jefferson: a republic of states that share morals with Jesus but need not worship him, likely lowercase him). Also also: taxation without representation is a good rallying cry up until you actually do have representation, then when Whiskey Rebellion happens, Washington rides out to put it down (the country needing to institute taxes and all).

* * *

So all this has been looking back. Looking forward, it’s going to be catch-as-catch-can. I’ll try to get in a game with Kate, perhaps a session on VASSAL with my dad, but the only Geeking I can guarantee will be that series of unboxing photos when our Big in Japan package arrives from Team Covenant. After we move and unpack, sometime in late July, I’ll try to return to this column. I’ve really enjoyed writing it, and I’m overjoyed that so many people have enjoyed reading it. I’d like to keep that going. You may just hear from me once or twice a month, though, not every week like I managed to do for so long. This is all to say, I’m popping out for a while. I’ll be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, enjoy the cornucopia of material that Team Covenant is providing.

All the best,

JeFF

The setting sun illuminates a city in danger. The shadowy Shadow Sun Syndicate casts a long...shadow over the mean streets of Erewhon, USA.

JeFF, maniacal leader of the SSS, has put Zor-Maxim in charge of the takeover of the city. Support is lent by the equally doublecrossing Ubercorp.

Ubercorp lackeys begin to fill the streets, taking over a skyscraper full of innocent businessmen and businesswomen. In the background, a church bell tolls.

Seeing that the Champions have spread themselves too thin, Zor-Maxim cautiously advances into the field.

Zor-Maxim calls for a parlay, bringing Incinerus out to the middle of the city, but it is a trap! Zor-Maxim hypers up right in front of the stunned fire monk.

The Shadow Sun, lacking honor, will even destroy one of their own skyscrapers if it means controlling the city as a whole.

Incinerus rampages forward but realizes he is about to topple a government building and pulls up short. The champion is trapped.

Incinerus is luckily blocked in by Zor-Maxim's own units, so the ninja leaps forward to strike at the newspaper. This is the last time those critics will give a bad review to a Shadow Sun product.

Incinerus takes his turn hypering up and destroys four Ubercorp units. He lacks foresight, however, as this leaves him open to a powerful attack by Maxim.

When Incinerus is thrown back into the Chrystalline Building, it is hard to tell which is louder - the screams of its former occupants, or his own moans of pain.

Enraged and blind to the damage it will do to his own city, Incinerus charges forward and smashes Zor-Maxim through a skyscraper and into the Statue of Liberty!

Mr. Burton, I hope your crew will have a better work ethic than this.

Pressing forward, the kamis and avatars of the Elemental Champions secure a building and cover three power points in the middle of Erewhon.

Attempting to break the Champions' hold, Zor-Maxim jumps into their midst and stomps. Amazingly, his attack fails, leaving buildings standing and the earth avatars steadily in their spots. Incinerus flies in to take advantage of the miss.

After hearing that the Imperial State Building has at last been evacuated, Incinerus lofts Zor-Maxim into it, permanently damaging the alpha form of the biotechnical terror.

Lacking the energy to reach his own side of the city, Zor-Maxim attempts to put some distance between himself and Incinerus. The swift champion quickly catches up to him, however, positioning himself for a strong followup attack.

With amazing stamina, powered by his earth elementals, Incinerus advances for the third time and once again smashes Zor-Maxim through a building and onto a fire hazard.

An aerial shot captures Zor-Maxim rampaging through the insurance headquarters and right over a number of Elemental forces. He now has enough power built up to once again represent a threat.

Zor-Maxim, while glowing with energy, is still highly damaged. He retreats to a corner of the city and sends forth his Carnitrons to wreak havoc on the Elemental lines.

Rather than go for the kill, which would leave him open to the stronger power attacks of Maxim, Incinerus insinuates himself into a safe zone and fires.

He lays waste to the Ubercorp units, filling his power pool in the process.

Zor-Maxim sees the writing on the wall and retreats as far as he is able. Incinerus pursues, backed up by his fire kamis.

Maxim surrounds himself with his minions, but it only opens up an opportunity for Incinerus to take them out and deal all but the final hit against Maxim.

Incinerus powers down to his alpha form just in time to take a retaliatory throw from Maxim, sending him crashing into a radar array and finishing off that form.

In an earlier drafts, one of the fire kami sprinted forward and lit up the rubble underneath Zor-Maxim. The producers decided that this was too anticlimactic, however, and forced the director to have Incinerus retreat to build up his power for a final assault.