Thank you
A bit of history in between
I started playing Magic: The Gathering back in the sixth grade together with a couple of friends. It was actually pretty cool, because it spread like a wildfire: About eight weeks into the semester possibly half of all the guys in my year was playing magic during breaks.
And then it died. Come December people deserted magic in favour for this other new, cool card game called Pokémon. This was the fall when they released Marcadians Masques – so I was part of the Stop-Playing-Magic-At-The-Time-Of-Marcadian-Masques movement. Bet you didn’t know that about me!
On went the years and older grew I. In my first year at secondary school Wizards changed design on their cards with the release of Mirrodin. I was thrilled – it sounded awesome with a plane completely made of metal! I convinced/tricked/coerced a classmate of mine into buying a deck of cards so that we could play together. We had a lot of fun and it all worked fine until… until… until the day when it just wasn’t so fun anymore. We tried to revitalize it by doing the test “Which kind of Magic player are you? Timmy, Johnny or Spike?” I was a Johnny and he was a Spike. That was, sort of, the nail in the coffin for us.
Next year saw the release of Kamigawa. I was a lot into collecting cards at this time, and I also spent a lot of time on the Swedish mtg-forum svenskamagic.com. I didn’t play much, however. I listened to a lot of Rock music, though.
The year after that saw the release of Ravnica. This was the year I started going to pre-releases, and right from the start my sealed deck finishes were quite okey; I 4-2’d most of them (but as any of you know that result doesn’t reward you with a top8 spot, even though it’s good). Ravnica block was followed by Coldsnap and Grand Prix Malmö which I attended (I 5-3’d, I think). I then moved to Västerås at the release of Time Spiral (and even won the local Time Spiral pre-release, my only win so far!). This was when it started, for real.
One could say that Ravnica block was my ascendance and transcendence as a Magic-player. I went from being a complete newbie into being someone that had opinions on pretty much any card in any deck. I wasn’t that good, mind you, but at least people respected me and my opinions.
Coldsnap and Time Spiral was the height of my career. I played a lot and I discussed lot with friends both in Västerås and online. It all culminated with Grand Prix Stockholm in which I finished 6-3. 8-2 would have me qualified for day two, and I was so incredibly disappointed in myself.
(Sidenote: My biggest claim to fame during this era was probably not my 6-3 finish in GP Stockholm, but rather my total misevaluation of Tarmogoyf at the release of Future Sight: I claimed that it was totally unplayable, especially in limited. Worst rare in the set. Second worst rare was Bridge from Below. Boy, was I wrong…)
I practically stopped playing Msgic shortly after that, and stayed low for quite some time. I tried some Lorwyn, I tried some Shadowmoor. I gave Shards of Alara one chance (a pre-release) but I didn’t like it at all… I never gave Zendikar a chance, neither Rise of the Eldrazt.
When Wizards announced that they were returning to Mirrodin, however, I was thrilled. I mean: I really like the block last time, didn’t I? (note: no, I didn’t, but during Scars spoilers I actually believed that I liked Mirrodin and loved everything about it) The day before the Scars of Mirrodin pre-release I was sitting at home, practically ripping my hair while looking at the spoiler – did I look forward to playing with these cards, or were they just a big bunch of boring cards and mechanics?
I decided to not play. I then skipped the Mirrodin Besieged pre-release too, feeling no attachment to the plane, whatsoever. But then it came: New Phyrexia with phyrexian mana symbol. I felt that I could give it a try – the mechanic was quite interesting, after all. Said and done: I played the pre-release and went 4-2 (ever heard that one before?). I was content and Magic was a fun game again (even though Scars of Mirrodin block wasn’t).
M2012 was nothing for me – core sets rarely has. But then rumours of Innistrad started floating around the net. The setting was perfect: dark and horror-tuned with vampires, werewolves and zombies. I just played so perfectly in with the fact that I picked up Vampire: The Eternal Struggle just the year before.
First real step was last week when I went to Örebro, and now this. Please stay tuned if you’re curious for what’s up next.
The Fall of Tournaments, part 2
The Fall of Tournaments, part 1
This is written as of a two-week delay, because I never really got the chance to write it back when it took place.
I attended the Innistrad pre-release and Dragons Lair in Stockholm. Most of my close magic-friends were there and overall we had a really good time. On top of this Sandra was away visiting her parents in Sandviken so I had no problem preparing and playing as much magic as I wanted (not that I do otherwise either, but this was one of those once-in-a-lifetime chances of saying this, so I took the bait).
The pool I got was quite horrible. No bomb-rare, and not much variety on my colours: neither blue, green nor black had more than 2-3 playables so I was left with a bunch of red aggressive cards and bunch of white controlling cards including quite a lot of removal. Aggro it was then. 15 land and 2 land-fetching artifacts was my mana base including an island for a splash for a flashback-effect. It wasn’t really something I liked that much.
First round I played against an blue-white Italian guy. I won the first game after a lot of struggle and a couple of good plays on my part. I lost the second due to 2 lands drawn my first 12 cards (starthand + 5 draws). Third I lost due to 12 lands drawn in my first 16 cards. Life wasn’t fair.
Second round I played against a white-black deck with a lot of token making creatures. A plethora of cheap blockers wasn’t really good for my deck. I won the first however but lost the second to mana fizzling (something like 2 lands in 11 cards) and I lost the third to mana flooding (something like 9 lands in 12 cards). Life wasn’t fair. At all.
Also, at this point all my friends were 2-0.
I felt quite miserable. But then I had them all look at my pile of cards and everybody agreed that I had (basically) built the best deck out of the available cards (giver or take 1 or 2 cards), so we all agreed that I just had to pull better draws. Basic as that.
Round three I sat down against a green-white deck. My opponent proudly announced that he’d been playing for little more than a month and we had a jolly good time even though my deck kept 2-for-1-ing his deck and even though I lured him into one combat trick after another. As I said; he was a nice guy though. I won 2-0.
Fourth round I played against a red-black deck. Apart from making a couple of stupid plays and walking into a reeeally stupid combat trick (‘oh, you have your 4/3 vampire standing on defense and two mana open, guess I won’t play my ‘you can’t block’ creature and attack with my 7/6 trampler – whaaat, did you play +2/+0 to and first strike to all your vampires?! Bummer.’-kind of thing) I don’t think my deck was better than his, but I believe it was more consistent and streamlined (less cards that were only situationally good, mostly). I 2-0’d. It felt good, considering my misplays.
Round five I played against a green-white (red splash) deck. I won 2-0, and the games were quite brutal: One game it was turn two Elite Inquisitor and turn three Furor of the Bitten. He played werewolves. As I said: It was brutal. That I finished off both games with a top-decked Brimstone Volley didn’t make him less discontent.
I was not 3-2. Round six I squared of against a red-black-splash-white deck with a total of 7 first strikers. One game I held a hand of only removal spells and no aggro. Took me quite some time to draw into my good creatures, and all the while I could only put on the show of drawing the right removal at the right time, over and over again. Our decks were much the same, yet different in some crucial ways. I drew better than he did, twice. 2-0.
At 4-2 I knew I had a chance on top8. To be fair, this chance was something like ‘well, yeah, if all other people on 4-2 lose, or draw, and the guy you met in round 1 wins (he was 6-0 at the time, hooray for my tie-breakers!), and two other people decide to randomly drop out of the tournament…’ and it went on for another two minutes, sorta’. Still, it was worth playing for! (and don’t forget the Planeswalker Points that were on the line, as well!)
Last round commenced and it was against a green-black-red deck (first triple coloured opponent of the day, yay!) packing (most notably) Olivia Voldaren and Cellar Door (which didn’t net him close to as many zombies as he deserved). First game I won by aggroing him down (I think), but it’s the second that’s of interest: It was (by far) my longest game of the day in which we both got the chance to play the majority of our business spells. It was a really fun game (Killing ms. Voldaren is fun. Attacking into an untapped cellar door is… scary =/ ). I did, however, in the end, draw the longest straw and finished 2-0.
5-2 finish and 18th place out of 105 participants. Not bad for my official comeback, and it even binned me 3 Innistrad boosters, to boot!
So there you have it: A 5-2 comeback in Sealed, and soon, soon I’ll try do redo the feat (even improve it!) at Grand Prix Milano. Wish me luck!
First step of something possibly big - just gotta' pull the trigger...
Album In Progress. Greatness In Progress.
Travelin' wide and broad (huntin' high an low)
It's all about time(ing)
There were supposed to be more chapters after that interlude... Oh, well.
Back in March I got a job. A full time job.
A full time job inclines you to be at the same spot, working, roughly 40 hours every week, often more.
This binding of time will eventually have you priorotising.
And me who wasn't paying much attention to this blog even before that... sheesh.
Anyhow. I'll see what I can do about that this time around.
Since March I've stepped up my modelling and am now expanding on my Imperial Guard army, this time adding tanks to support my fragile infantery. I've also started building a Tyranids army, but it's not any Tyranids: I'm custom-modelling a necromancer cult raising zombies and summoning other-dimensional beasts. There will probably be pics once I've started project of painting all the models - for the last couple of months I've just been building.
Most of my other time I've spent with Sandra and with friends. I'm playing boardgames, watching a couple of tv-shows (including Doctor Who, Death Note and Battlestar Galactica), meet with my Vtes pals most wednesdays, and no video games.
Also, I've picked up a couple of core sets for LotR LCG by FFG. And I've started a small project on that - we'll see if it turns into something, or if it's just one other of those 'oh, figure we'd do...'-ideas,
If this takes root and actually turns into something, I'll definitely keep you posted. (which I really hope, this plan being both grandiose and manageable in the same time, for instance!)
And sooo... Off to work :)
Interlude: What to do on a Saturday?
I started at roughly ten in the morning, right after breakfast, and consequently kept building new decks until half past twelve in the night. That's fourteen hours of building and managing my archive. This resultet in five new decks and about ten new ideas for decks.
My mind was, frankly, bland when I went to bed. It's funny how fast time goes when you're sitting there...
Chapter 4: In which we hear about the source of all quotes
It gives you common ground on which to quote from, thus helping people get closer to each other (now, that's a corny one, even for me...).
One such video I found quite a while back is Creature Combat IV: Slaughterhouse. It impersonates, in a funny way, the frustration one might feel when you're being beaten to pulp in a beat em' up.
Sub-ma-riiin!
The next one is even more odd, really: For all I know us swedes have at least a decent reputation for cooking out there in the world. These guys, on the other hand, seems to be doing everything within their power destroy that reputation; or at least contesting it, to a certain degree.
Either way, it's incredibly funny, IMO:
I've quoted these two videos countless times by now. And once they go out of fashion Youtube will provide me new videos to quote. Thank you Youtube!
Chapter 3: In which we hear about all the nerdy stuff
Anyone recognize the logo? Nostaaalgia...
Anyway. The box contained this.
Basically the foundation of my soon-to-be Warhammer 40.000 Imperial Guard army. (that's such a long and nerdy phrase, and you just can't pussyfoot around it...)
Pic of the progress:
And I guess that will be the closing statement of that... I'll report next then the army approaches completion.
---
While I'm at it: I've finally been able to pick up storage boxes for my vampire cards! Turns out I've acquired quite the bunch over the last nine months... (surprise, anyone?)
It's interesting to note how Vampire and Magic, both created by the same genius, have evolved in such different manners. In Magic a deck is expensive, a collection more so, so I always found it logical (and economically viable) to keep my collection small-and-up-to-date, rather than big-and-all-inclusive. This stance, however, goes toes to toes with my nature of collecting things. I want a collection!
so...
Well, yeah, so that was one of many reasons I quit Magic...
I think I'm reaching the critical point where I've invested more into Vampire than I did in Magic back in the days - the big difference is that this time I've actually got a collection possible of all obvious (and non-obvious) combinations necessary to keep me occupied for years to come (or at least weeks red anm).
And this is where the storage boxes enters the picture and plays their part: Managing a card collection is bothersome work unless you have
1) a good filing system for it
2) a good way to store the cards
3) a good place to store the cards
That's logic.
I'm working on the third one at the moment - looking for the perfect shelf spot, hehehe...
Buttom line: Fun is fun, is fun, is fun.
Chapter 2: In which we hear about the big change
You see the fit?
...
Not that subtle, I know =/
Anyway, here's the beauty:
Thanks to this one replacing our old bed we got the inspiration we needed to redecorate our apartment severely. The old workroom is now our bedroom, the living room is... still a living room, yet a bit more work room-ish. And our old bedroom is now a media room. Everything's changed. Everything's for the better.
You see; at the time we were discussing that maybe we should try finding an apartment in the more central parts of town. We didn't know why, really, but we were both restless for change, and we couldn't really think of anything but moving. Enter bed and it all fchanged. Yokatta!
Buttom line: The devil is in the details, as they say. We knew there was something missing - and we found it! Sometimes (mostly?) the stories have good endings.
Chapter 1: In which we hear about all the "part-heys!"
No. Probably shoudln't try to impersonate Adams...
The content was true though:
After the ceremony her family and my family dropped by our place for dinner and cake. This was the first time our parents met each other, and I was actually a bit nervous (don't tell Sandra, though!). It all worked out really well and I'm looking forward to the next time we'll get the chance to invite them all.
Also; the cake was real (i.e. not a lie), and incredibly tasty. Probably the tastiest cake I've had in... a very, very long time.
As if graduating as a nurse ain't enough, she's also picked up on an offer to teach at Karolinska. She's teaching about leadership styles, group dynamics, and learning processes - so guess if my pedagogics are getting the cold hand at home. My one-year experience obviously matters none anymore as rumour has it she'll be teaching at masters level come fall. And I'm not jealous.
oh, shit, sorry. Forgot that irony doesn't work that well online...
Buttom line: I'm incredibly proud of her accomplishments :)
Moving on: My mother turned 50 late January. To celebrate this my father (with help from others) organized a party of epic proportions (now, that's a word I don't use very often).
Don't believe me? Who builds his own 11m long bar and scene for a (I think) 9 man big band?
The only picture I have from the party itself:
But there's more! (without actual live pictures) I got to play a song together with the band ("an easy song, a party song, you'll manage") , and me, Sandra, Oskar and Freja (his gf) actually acted warmups by performing Per Gessles song Här kommer alla känslorna (with a slightly modified text to fit the occasion - read it down below if you're interested). Also, Seth the sorcerer was there! That guy's just awesome.
A big load of hours were put into this project by many, and I don't think a single one regret a moment of it in retrospect. I can't wait until I turn 50, haha.
Buttom line: Gratz ma! I hope you had the party of your life!
(Här kommer alla känslorna)
Det är så kul att se dig här i fest och glamour
Jag har slutat bli förvånad när jag ser nya skor
Med glitter här som tema så kan inget gå wrong
Slå nu klackarna i taket när vi stämmer upp i sång
Slå nu klackarna i taket när vi stämmer upp i sång
2.
Du påtar runt i trädgårn, Valle ger dig assistans
Gåsen smyger upp från sjön och då tar Valle sin cha-ans
Buster sover med sin bebbe någon-annan-stans
Men ikväll så är det party, får vi bjuda upp till dans?
Men ikväll så är det party, får vi bjuda upp till dans?
Ref.
Nu drar partyt igång, det kommer bli så bra
Inger har fest, det-e-härsom alla vill va
Nästa steg, livet börjar, du blir femti år
Nu kan ni se hur under-bart-hon-mår
3.
Med hundar, gubbe, grabbar, firma, alltid på språng
Ja, livet ditt e hektiskt, kanske prova qi-go-ong?
Du är en partypingla, du är alltid på gång
Nu är vi här tillsammans, parta hela natten lång
Nu är vi här tillsammans, parta hela natten lång
4.
I din lilla röda kan du cruisa med stil
Hur var det nu med köpet, vad fick farsan för dea-eal?
Putsa, vaxa, städa, ja, han fixar till din bil
Henrik åker med dig genom alla långa mil
Ja, Henrik åker med dig genom alla långa mil
Ref.
Nu drar partyt igång, det kommer bli så bra
Inger har fest, det-e-här-som alla vill va
Nästa steg, livet börjar, du blir femti år
Nu kan ni se hur under-bart-hon-mår
5.
flöjt solo (Sandra)
flöjt solo (Sandra)
flöjt solo (Sandra)
Henrik åker med dig genom alla långa mil
Ja, Henrik åker med dig genom alla långa mi-i-i-il
Preludes and reflections
* Finish up Dragon Age 2
* Go through Lair of the Shadowbroker and Arrival in Mass Effect 2
* Finish my heavy weapons teams for my Imperial Guard army
* Build a couple of different Vampire decks; Uriel, Ankla Hotep, Lady Constancia, Troglodytia...
* Start reading my Sherlock Holmes: Collected edition
There's so many things I should do...
* Read in on Import/Extraction in Excel
* Read in on SiteCatalyst
* Read in on Google Analytics
* Read in on Matlab
* Catch up on this blog...
I guess I'll start buttoms' up.
---
Last time you heard from me it was christmas, a christmas I'd spent dead as a dodo (or at least it felt that way). Back then, all I thought about it was 'unfair'. It was 'unfair' that I'd have to spend my christmas in that sorry state.
Throughout this first quarter I've come to realize that it wasn't unfair. Rather, it was the opposite: Noone deserved that break(down) more than I did.
Back in June when I went on vacation (i.e. only working 2-3 days/week @ GameStop) I was in a great need of relaxion. I'd spent a year writing two thesises, I'd started teaching at university, I'd hosted four flatmates (not including Sandra) within the spectrum of eight months. I was drained - and I had no idea whatsoever.
Anyway. Two months almost free of work, of school, of anything. I needed that. I could probably have done with a month more. Probably.
Come August I spent a month at SCB, and then I went directly back to school, studying 1,5 times full time and teaching 2/3 times full time. That was stupid. Upon finishing all my exams and wrapping up all the teaching I went on to work at Gamex, and then I went for a three-day programming course at SAS, and then it was back to school studying 1,5 times full time again.
That week; Exam --> Gamex --> SAS --> back to school was probably the most stupid thing I've done in my life, ever. I'm still paying for it today. And that's why I have worked on the blog since christmas; I've been to tired to do so. Way to tired.
But! Now I'm back - at least for a recap. We'll do a chapter thing just like last time, so buckle up!
