Hotline Miami

Date played: April 26th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

I finished Hotline Miami!

There isn't much to say about this game honestly. The levels got tougher and tougher and the story got weirder and weirder. I have to say, I didn't really understand what was going on, but the gameplay was excellent. The responsiveness of the controls really puts the game at a higher level than others like it. The music was still incredible too, which helps a lot. I had that thing blasting through my Big Jambox the whole time.

The last boss was incredibly cool. I had to fight two purple panthers with a trumpet (!), then throw the instrument at a teenaged ninja chick, smash her head against the floor until there was a vulgar amount of bloor splatter, then use her knives to throw them at the dual machine gun wielding boss before he shot a bullet through his own head.

Oof.

The biker

There was also a cool epilogue featuring another character, the biker. He has knives only and cannot pick up weapons, so it made for a nice change of pace. He has three throwing knives only, so I had to make them count in the few chapters I played with him. I liked Hotline Miami, it has an amazing vibe and it just fucking weird.

Metroid Fusion

Date played: April 25th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

I finished Metroid Fusion!

I really was at the end of the game, though I had to fight SA-X in a final showdown. I died a few times while figuring out it's pattern, but the third time, I got through without taking much damage at all. The trick was simply to charge to wave beam, hit SA-X, then jump over her and hit her again. Rinse and repeat. Eventually, she mutated into an awful monster that jumped around the area, but it was easy to avoid it's attacks and take it down. Finally, I beat it's X virus form and reached the control room. I set the station on a course to crash into the nearby planet and started running towards my ship.

Omega metroid

It all went well, until I reached the very end. My ship was gone and in it's place was a fucked up biped metroid with huge claws. I got hit, lost all my energy, only to fuse with another SA-X that came to fight it. I took out the Omega metroid and found my ship in nearby space. It turns out that the computer managed to communicate with some creatures I had saved earlier, which activated my ship. I got out in time to watch the fireworks...

I was a bit shocked to find out I had collected only 54% of items in almost 6 hours of play time. I really thought I had found a lot more than that, but I guess I wasn't very thorough. Regardless, Fusion was almost as good as Super Metroid and I'm surprised it doesn't get more praise. I kind of want to play Other M now... or maybe Zero Mission. The only one that I'm not really interested in is Metroid 2, because, well, it's on the original Game Boy and frankly, that thing doesn't hold up in most cases.

Metroid Fusion

Date played: April 24th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I fought Nightmare... The half mechanical, half organic supersized creature was the toughest boss fight so far for me. It required precise space jumping, fast reflexes and lots of acrobatics. I actually died about 5 times before I made it through without dying... I scored the gravity suit from the battle, which lets Samus move freely in water.

Samus, surrounded by X

I made my way through secret tunnels to the water sector (AQA) where I used my new suit to open up the last of the big locks in the game and found a new data room where I was rewarded with a missile upgrade. The diffusion missiles can be charged up to release a large freezing cloud that has a wide radius. It useful in rooms with many enemies. I was then notified that the robot from one of the previous boss battles was back in action, now infected with X.

This battle was relatively easy, though I couldn't figure it out on the first attempt. Once I understood it's pattern, it was a breeze. The battle rewarded me with the wave beam, a super powerful version of the beam weapon that shoots through walls and hits hard. I needed it, because the next battle, after lots of exploration and secret passages, was with Neo Ridley.

The bounty hunter's arch nemesis was a fun battle. The Ridley sprite was amazing, the music was incredible and the beast's death cry was incredibly satisfying! All I had to do was hit it with the charged beam a bunch of times while avoiding it's weird attack pattern. I got hit a lot, but survived and was rewarded with the screw attack, the signature spin jump that renders Samus into a spinning death machine.

I continued exploring the area, and discovered something incredible. The Federation has been breeding metroids on the space station. SA-X made an appearance to destroy the breeding tanks, as the X are the mortal enemy of the metroids. I ran away as that portion of the station crumbled, when I discovered that there are multiple SA-X on board, at least 10, according to the ship computer and that the Federation is sending scientists to capture the X and use it as a weapon! Samus being a smart lady and all, figures out, with the help of the computer, that the only possible way to stop this is to make the station self destruct and take out the nearby planet with it. I'm pretty sure this is the end of the game, but I still have to make my way to the station's command post. 

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Date played: April 20th, 21st and 22nd
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 8/10

I made some real progress, finally clearing the mission that gave me trouble the last time. I did so by building a bit of EXP in the random battles and made my team a bit more balanced. I also bought some new equipment, which helps a lot. I then made my way through a few more story missions. The story is getting really interesting, with different factions at war with each other. Of course, as with any war, there's a lot of misunderstanding, resentment, discrimination and ignorance. The characters are well developed and interesting.

Ramza and Delita have a heartfelt conversation

The best part of this game, as with almost any tactics game, is building my team and characters. Right now, I have a solid team I think. I now have one knight, one thief, one white mage and one black mage. The knight is there for the front lines, with strong physical attacks and high defenses, she can take a lot of hits. She also started learning some really good skills in rend speed and rend power, which makes enemies a lot weaker.

My main character is a thief now and while it's weak, I kind of want to get some of the stealing skills so that I can use them as a secondary class later. He had a short stint as an archer, but I didn't really it. It seemed too weak overall. The orator is one of the coolest jobs so far, but it seems to have a low success rate. It's basically a smooth talker class, buffing friends and de-buffing enemies without mana cost. I switched that guy back to white mage after a bit. My black mage has some time magic skills, useful for haste and slow. I have a monk too, but so far, I found her quite useless. I must be using her wrong... 

Metroid Fusion

Date played: April 19th and 20th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I started playing Metroid Fusion, one of the free 3DS Ambassador games. After recently playing Super Metroid, I was pumped for another 2D Metroid game and Fusion does not disappoint. The story is pretty cool, as Samus was infected with a virus named X. She was cured by being injected with metroid cells, which fused her power suit to her body. Samus is tasked with a mission inside a weird space station harboring many types of small ecosystems. She has a commanding officer this time, similar to Metroid Other M, but it's a computer. It assigns the missions to Samus and helps restore her lost abilities with download stations.

The Fusion suit is pretty cool

I made my way through most of the game over the weekend and feel like I'm in the last 25% of the game. It really plays a lot like Super Metroid, but it's easier to get around and has a more defined structure. Many areas are closed off by the computer, limiting full exploration. It works well. I explored the different ecosystems; an arctic sector, a tropical sector, a simulated ship interior sector, a water sector, an ice sector and a fire sector.

Of course, I recovered many abilities throughout. The morph ball, ball jump, bomb and power bomb combine for a deadly ball form. The charge, wide and plasma beams made Samus's basic weapon a formidable force. Missiles, super missiles, freeze missiles and many missile expansions provide much needed firepower for bosses. Finally, the varia suit, hyperspeed, hi-jump and space jump make the bounty hunter's navigation easier.

I fought many bosses too, most of them really cool, fun and challenging. The first was Arachnus, a giant armored insect. Zazabi is a weird looking motherfucker that I defeated with bombs. Serris, a sort of worm/dragon was an amazing fast paced battle. I fought a firebomb spitting four legged robot. Then there was a weird plant statue thing surrounded by venomous plants. Finally, I fought a deadly and fucking annoying spider that shoots fire from it's ass. There were also a variety of X virus to fight, most of them taking the form of a floating ball of goo.

That's not the worst part though. The worst part is that throughout the game, there is a clone of Samus hunting her down, and she is fully equipped, which means she is impossible to beat right now. SA-X, as she is called, must be avoided, which means I've had to run from her a few times. I have a feeling I'm about to fight her directly soon...

Thomas Was Alone

Date played: April 16th and 17th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 8/10

I started and finished Thomas Was Alone on Vita.

It's a simple puzzle platformer with very basic visuals. In fact, the main characters are simple quadrilaterals of different shapes and sizes. The really cool thing about this game is the constant narration. The narrator gives the characters great personalities and really makes the game come alive. Thomas is the red rectangle that is average at everything. He was alone, but was met Chris, a grumpy asshole brown square with no abilities who eventually falls in love with Laura, a bouncing pink rectangle. John is a tall yellow line who jumps high and wants to impress others. Claire is a very large blue square that floats in water and believes she was born to be as super hero. James is a green rectangle that has a reverse gravity, so he walks on ceilings. Finally, Sarah is a tiny purple rectangle that can double jump.

He really wasn't

All of these characters combine to make for some really cool puzzles and fun to navigate levels. Eventually, the cast is replaced by some new grey quadrilaterals that can change properties by walking through or jumping through colored spaces, making the game much more complex. While it never really got difficult, I was scratching my head a few times. The best part in the whole game was the amazing music though. It really is wonderful, featuring a relaxing mix of piano and chip tunes.

Thomas Was Alone is a cool little game and I'm glad I played it. 

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Date played: April 13th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating:  10/10

I finished A Link Between Worlds and it was fucking incredible.

It all started with the sand based Desert Palace. I had to use the sand rod extensively to build bridges, walls and unearth treasures from the sand filled terrain of the dungeon. It had a fun layout to explore and granted me access to the Titan's Mitt. Finally, Link was fully equipped to traverse and explore all kinds of terrain and rid himself of all obstacles, including the large rocks scattered about. The boss was a cool one. I had to build sand bridges with the sand rod to reach him and attack him with my sword. It took the form of a weird plant that spewed dangerous projectiles and moved quickly.

With the new found lifting power of the Titan's Mitt, I was free to fully explore the world, and in the process, I ended up hunting down every single Maiamai. It was an interesting, rewarding task. I only had to look up one of them on the internet, who was hidden in a cave I had overlooked. The useful map proved invaluable. I upgraded all items and received the incredible new spin attack which has great reach.

Fully equipped and mostly all upgraded (I was missing a few sword and armor upgrades still), I headed to the treacherous tower for the 50 room battle challenge. I made it through victorious, though I used a couple of fairies along the way. There were a few enemies I had never encountered in there, as well as some dark rooms and icy rooms that proved a lot more difficult. I was rewarded with a new torch that now deals heavy damage, but is quite useless. I was then offered to do it again for another reward, so I did, which granted me a new, damaging net. Again, cool, but utterly useless.

I then headed off to complete the remaining dungeons. Skull Woods wasn't that great. It featured the return of the awful disembodied hands from Ocarina of Time as well as some pretty clever puzzles that involved baiting them in to swipe at objects above Link, like buttons and items. There was also a really fun part where I had to use a raft on lava and pull myself towards the walls with the hookshot. The boss was a giant, armored hand. I think this was the toughest boss fight in the game, because some of the floors collapse and the hand attacks quickly. I had to merge into walls as it swiped at me to stun it, then hit it hard. I also found some ore that allowed me to upgrade my sword at the blacksmith.

I then completed the Dark Palace. It had a weird stealth section that kind of sucked, where I had to avoid guards by hiding in walls and using smart paths. The dungeon itself was really fun because it played a lot with lighting. In many areas, eliminating sources of light revealed hidden paths. This was pretty challenging sometimes and more ingenious than it sounds. Throughout the dungeon, I had to use bombs to navigate the different paths. I scored a new piece of ore that allowed me to fully upgrade my sword. The boss was an awesome four legged creature, armored to the bone. I had to use bombs to reveal it's body and deal real damage.

Zelda and Hilda

Finally, I headed to Lorule castle for the last dungeon. It quickly became one of my favorites. In particular, the music really helped set the mood and was wonderful to listen to. It had four segments, each requiring different items to complete. One of them was based on the torch, one on the hookshot and I forget the others. Either way, it was tons of fun to play through. Eventually, I reached the boss. While I don't want to spoil the end, there were definitely some surprises in the story that made the ending meaningful. Of course, I had to fight Yuga, the evil motherfucker from the beginning of the game. He's a giant pig creature now, and had some cool attacks. The battle marked the return of the famous game of catch that was seen in a few of the Zelda games. I had to bounce the attacks between Link and the boss. Eventually, after long minutes of rigorous fighting, I was granted a special bow that can be shot while merged in walls. I had to use it to attack the merged Yuga.

In an epic conclusion, much is revealed about the world of Hyrule, Hilda, Zelda, Link and Ravio, the bunny suit wearing dude. It all ends well of course, but is quite emotional. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the ending, the reveals, the surprises and the character interactions. Honestly, without spoiling anything, it's one of the better endings I've seen for a game like this. In fact, I soon realized that A Link Between Worlds had surpassed Wind Waker and A Link to the Past as my favorite Zelda game ever made. It is truly a masterpiece of modern gaming and should be played by any fan of the series, but also anyone that enjoys a good dungeon crawling adventure.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Date played: April 11th and 12th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 10/10

Wow, A Link Between Worlds is really good...

I completed the Swamp Palace by beating the boss, a dangerous electrified giant jelly fish. He wasn't hard to beat at all, I simply spammed the hook shot and when it wasn't electrified, the sword. After completing the dungeon, I explored a bit more and found some interesting stuff. The coolest was the discovery of an animal in a cave that lost it's children.

The squid-like creature requests Link's assistance in finding all of her missing children... all 100 of them! They are scattered throughout both Hirule and Lorule and hidden in many ingenious areas. Some of them are sticking to walls, some hide in trees, under rocks, in bushes, underwater and many other tricky spots. They are hard to find because in many cases, they are not visible. They emit a faint sound though, so I plugged in my trusty Jawbone Big Jambox and scoured the world to find them. As it stands, I have found 75 of the little buggers, but still have 25 to go. I am missing the item that allows Link to lift large rocks, so I won't really search for them again until I get that. The rewards for finding them are really good too. Every group of 10 I find grants me a weapon upgrade. I've upgraded all but the bomb and bow so far. The fire rod has become one of my main weapons as it hits very hard and has good range now. I also like the fast hookshot, super powerful hammer and quick boomerang.

The Maiamai babies are tons of fun to hunt

During my search for the missing children, I stumbled upon the Treacherous Tower, a sort of battle arena challenge. I beat the beginner and intermediate levels and was rewarded with a piece of heart. The expert level has 50 sections, so I figured I might want to wait so that I would be better equipped.

I also completed two more dungeons, Turtle Rock and Ice Ruins. Turtle Rock is a lava filled dungeon where I had to use the ice rod to freeze things to get around. It was tons of fun to go through and had some clever puzzles involving teleportation pads and lava pillars. Along the way, I found a new shield that can block magic attacks. The boss is a giant turtle that lives in the lava. I had to use the ice rod to flush him out, then attacked fought it with the sword. He was really cool looking too...

Ice Ruins were the opposite of Turtle Rock of course, as it's filled with ice. Aside from the icy floors and enemies, it also had an interesting layout with a multi-floor elevator and dozens of bottomless pits to fall into. It also had many narrow pathways and tricky puzzles to solve to progress. I found an upgrade to my ability bar, which allows further travel by merging into walls and more item usage. The boss was a weird bouncing creature protected by a sheet of ice that shot ice beams and such, The fire rod was invaluable in this dungeon and the boss battle. 

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Black Mages are powerful, but easy to take down

Date played: April 11th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

I leveled up my team via some of the semi-random battles that are available. I made most of them go back to squire so that they could learn the crucial ability that boosts the number of job points earned. These points are used to buy job specific abilities, and the ability seems to double the gain. Most of my units are about level 3 or 4 now and have the best available equipment, but it wasn't enough for me to take on the next story mission without losing a unit. I tried it twice, the first time losing my black mage, the second losing a squire.

Since the game has permanent death, I did not save and will try again with a different strategy. The problem is that the enemy team has a few archers some black mages, making for some deadly long range damage. Once I get in close, I can take them out easily, but they have managed to kill some of my units every time. I will try things a bit differently next time, perhaps with a first turn dedicated to shell or protect. It also doesn't help that the two AI controlled units are fucking idiots who throw stones when they should be attacking head on or healing. 

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Water slides!

Date played: April 8th
Platform: 3DS
Session fun rating: 9/10

I started a new dungeon, the Swamp Palace. The place is filled with water, streams, and water-related devices. It requires a lot of grappling with the hook shot to get around the pools and streams of water. There were even little rafts that I could move around with careful hook shooting. So far, the coolest part of the dungeon was the device that raises and lowers the water levels of the area, making different sections of the dungeon available. I even had to hook shot into walls, then merge before falling down to the floor. It's inventive and fun to play. I'm almost at the boss, but haven't quite reached him yet. 

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions

Date played: April 6th and 7th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 7/10

I felt the itch for some turn based strategy RPG'ing, so I booted up War of the Lions, the PSP version of the classic PS1 game. I have played it a little bit in the past on PS1, but never got very deep in it. I played the first few chapters, building my little team of warriors slowly, but surely.

The game looks quite dated, and it's really unfortunate that there is quite a bit of slow down when spells are used. The mechanics are still pristine however. The game plays well and is very deep. My team now has a powerful squire in Ramza, the hero. I have an AI controlled chemist that heals my team for free and intelligently in Delita. I have two powerful and well armored Knights. I have a white mage that heals my team and casts protect and shell. I have a very powerful black mage that dies to the slightest attack. I have another squire that I'm building up a bit and a weak and useless archer.

I like this game, but it's VERY slow to play, which is a bit discouraging. I might stick with it this time, time will tell.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

Date played: April 4th and 5th
Platform: Vita
Session fun rating: 9/10

I started, then finished Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate.

Seeing as I'm travelling for a bit more than a month, I figured this would be a good time to play portable games. While I intend to play Zelda on 3DS and possibly Metroid Fusion, I also bought the newest Batman game on Vita. Blackgate is a very cool, 2.5D Metroidvania game. It starts with Batman sparring with Catwoman when they first met, which acts as a tutorial. Batman can do most of what he does in the 3D Arkham games, but limited to 2D movement. It works really well and has kept my attention for hours.

After catching Catwoman and sending her to Blackgate, Gotham City's biggest prison, news arrives that the city has lost control of the jail to the likes of the Joker, the Penguin and Blackmask. Batman must take them down in their respective areas, industrial, cell block and administrative. It's cool because the game is setup to let the player choose the order that the villains are destroyed. Catwoman acts as a guide and accomplice to Batman, often putting him on the right track with markers on the map.

I started with Blackmask in the industrial area. I had to solve all sorts of environmental puzzles and beat tons of thugs to get through and take out the villain. At one point, I was forced to reach the prison cells area, controlled by Penguin, to get an item so that I could progress. Batman has a few items at his disposal. The batarang is useful to activate switches and certain items from a long distance. The explosive gel can blow up weak walls, freeze enemies and stick to machinery to clog it up. The grapple lets Batman swing around at his leisure. Another version of it allows him to pull down vents and other items. The line launcher allows him to zip through horizontal pits. Finally, the cryptography device allows hacking of terminals. I beat Solomon Grundy, the idiotic giant, and Blackmask, the gun-toting masked man.

I then made my way to the prison cells area, controlled by Penguin. Again, I had to fight tons of enemies and solve puzzles, until I got into a cage match against Bronze Tiger. When I won the fight, he helped me hold off the thugs sent after Batman. He also managed to shoot Penguin in the shoulder. I had to follow his blood stains to find him, when I hit a wall that required the line shooter to progress. I didn't have it yet, so I followed Catwoman's instructions and made my way to the administration section, controlled by Joker.

The Joker's area is more colorful and fun to explore, but also riddled with dangerous gas and strong thugs. I explored almost all of it, saving the warden from an explosive trap and fighting Deadshot along the way. The battle against Deadshot was pretty cool, as it took place from the villain's point of view through his sniper scope. Batman had to hide to avoid the shots, before taking him down with a swift kick using the line launcher.

Catwoman and Batman, working together? Sort of.

I went back to the Penguin's lair and fought him in a cool battle. I had to pull ammo packs from the backs of his thugs in a large prison cell area. Then, I was able to swoop down and capture the Penguin. I then spent a lot of time exploring the secrets I had missed. While a lot of it was fun to find, the horrendous map made it more difficult than it should be. Batman can only move from horizontally, but many sections have him changing direction and levels, and the map just doesn't do a good job of representing that. It would have been best to have a map similar to what was seen in Metroid Prime to navigate.

I finally took on the Joker, where I had to avoid his gun shots, electrical stun gun swings and bombs to take him out. It was set in a circular room and when he was vulnerable, I had to use the line shooter to catch him off guard with a kick in the nose.

After the main villains had been taken out, it was revealed that Catwoman was using Batman for her own means all along. She was hired to release Bane from his cell, which Batman opened up. She then managed to escape by sending the dark knight on a fucking awful fetch quest to find 5 bombs hidden throughout the game. It sucked.

Then I met up with her before she was able to leave the prison, fought her in a final and dramatic battle and saved the day. The whole time, there's a sub plot about someone hiring thugs along the way, like Bronze Tiger and Deadshot, and it was revealed that those guys hired Catwoman. Either way, this is a really well made game that would have been amazing with a better map. I'm glad I played it!

Top Gear Rally

Date played: April 3rd
Platform: GBA
Session fun rating: 7/10

I spent a lot of time in a plane, and spent a bit of it playing Top Gear Rally on Game Boy Advance. I played through a few tracks in the main mode. I started with an urban leg of the championship, riddled with lamp posts, signs and construction. I set up my car to have a bit more acceleration, as it was full of tight corners. I then played a snow section which was really fun to plow through. This game holds up pretty well, aside from the blocky graphics. The handling is solid and makes driving the cars a lot more fun than many modern racing games. 

Hearthstone

Date played: April 2nd
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 9/10

Complete domination

I finally worked out how to play Shaman decently, though I'm not great with him. I did manage to win a few games in casual mode, as you can see in the screenshot. I like the Shaman, but he's not easy to play due to the overload problem. Totems are pretty powerful though, and the right totem at the right time can win or lose a game, too bad they are randomized.

Mercenary Kings

Date played: April 1st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 10/10

I fell in love. I fell in love head over heels for Mercenary Kings.

The guys who made it previously made the Scott Pilgrim game, which I enjoyed, and the animator is Paul Robertson, who is an animation wizard. Needless to say, the graphics have real punch and incredible animation. The music is also fucking excellent.

The game plays like a weird mix of Metal Slug, Borderlands and Monster Hunter. The combat and navigation is very much like Metal Slug, the loot is a lot like Borderlands and the mission structure is a lot like Monster Hunter. It works amazingly well.

Die mechanical slug of death!

I only had time to play a small amount, but I completed three missions. I reached the camp, I rescued a lady and I hunted 8 snipers in a level. There's a complex weapon crafting mechanic based on gathering materials through loot drops. The levels are sometimes repeated, but with different objectives. It's also very bloody and VERY graphic. Either way, I love this game and am sad that I won't get to play it for a while since I'm going on a long trip without my PS4.

Zen Pinball 2

Date played: April 1st
Platform: PS4
Session fun rating: 9/10

I played the free table some more and started learning some of it's tricks, and managed a nice 36 million score. Sorcerer's Lair is a haunted castle of sorts, where gargoyles, wizards, ghosts and other spooky devices work their magic. There really isn't much to say about a pinball game honestly, but I really liked playing this table. It's deep, has nice visuals, lots of fun ramps, secret areas and tons of multi-ball action.

Hearthstone

Date played: March 31st
Platform: PC
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I lost more than usual, but I was playing the priest. I like him, but I don't think I've really built a deck to really maximize his abilities. When I won, it was generally through attrition and card advantage. One of the priest's best cards is a simple minion that draws a card every time a minion is healed, on either side of the battlefield. This can turn the tides of the game quickly if used properly. I also used Enrage minions so that they could be hurt, hit hard, then be healed. One of my favorite cards is Holy Nova, which hurts every enemy for 2 damage and heals every friendly for 2 damage. It has a high cost, but can be incredibly effective. Mind Blast is also very powerful. It deals 5 damage to the enemy hero for only 2 mana. I'll usually hold these cards until I can use them in a death blow to the enemy. It works very well.

Opening packs is really cool

After I unlocked all the priest cards, I tried out the Shaman. While I didn't really get a chance to play him much, he's pretty versatile. One of the unique parts of this class, aside from summoning totems, are the low cost cards that have overload. Overload specifies an amount of mana that will not be available during your next turn, allowing for powerful, low cost cards, at the expense of power on the next turn. I'll have to retool his deck though, I think spell damage would work pretty well here.