I will likely have the usual pinger cards because why not, but I don't want to go walk-in on burn (even though I love burn). Throw in a little land destruction, some theft, tokens, and plenty of artifacts to sacrifice.

The way I want to build him is more of a goodstuff deck. I want a solid curve and some higher MV spells. The higher cost spells generally aren't worth using, but if I can get TWO spells for the price of one, suddenly playing Cinder Storm seems like a fun option.

And there is one new deck I want to build. Mica finally allows Red to copy spells in PDH. Also, a 4/4 for 4 AND with Ward? And the Ward requires losing life? PUSHED.

I have seen a handful of people build around it. Land destruction, burn...

Anyway, I was going through the list and found a handful of cards I will pick up for some of my PDH decks. Quintorius has some new cards to use, which makes sense, but my Oji deck has some new options as well.

Prepared is a funny mechanic with blink.

Adding instants and sorceries to creatures is an odd thing since, as someone who loves playing spellslinger, it allows me to add more creatures without compromising on spells, but it also annoys me. Because it also makes creature-focused decks more potent.

Paying more attention to the Secrets of Strixhaven spoilers, I see there are plenty of strong cards. Maybe too strong.

Admittedly, I am quite disappointed that Lessons didn't return, and we didn't get any common colorless instant or sorcery cards.

But, to help give it a more unique identity, I'd like if the melee combat was expanded on. Like, I'd be fine if Chris would ditch the machete and go fisticuffs.

Updating the controls to work similar to RE4R would be a huge benefit. But I also would like to see them expand on certain areas. Maybe integrate the DLC into the main story. But also would give them the opportunity to try making the game function better without needing a second player.

The story is RE5 is rather light but it is also pretty important since it deals with established characters.

Which is why I think RE5 would benefit greatly from a remake.

The more egregious thing was fighting the boss at the end of 6-1(?) that requires fire to expose weak points. I played the PS4 version on my PS5, which is a bugged fight. The flamethrower doesn't function as it should due to the game being at 60fps. So...had to find a work around.

Finished RE5 last weekend. There are things to enjoy about it, but the controls were fun for me. It basically was a diet version of RE4, injected with more co-op. I didn't play co-op, and that experience was not particularly great.

Then, I want to legitimately try Onimusha: Warlords and Devil May Cry. I had DMC1 as a kid, but I spent all my time playing MGS2 and GTA3. 2001 was a crazy year for games.

RE but Samurai sounds cool, and DMC stemmed from RE4 development so may as well try it out as well.

Resident Evil 5 will likely be the last mainline game I play during this excursion. People keep recommending 7 and 8 to me, but I am uninterested. Instead, I want to try some RE adjacent games.
First one: Resident Evil Gaiden for the Game Boy Color.

Started my first ever playthrough of Resident Evil 5. Initial impressions:
- The yellow and bloom visuals take me back to 2009.
- Who the fuck thought this was a good control scheme?
- I have to manage two people's inventories?

The deck isn't invincible, mind you. I have to do a lot of digging to get the right cards. If my opponents politic to gang up on me, I am likely screwed. But if they keep playing cautiously or continue to let me do my thing, then yeah: I am better equipped to win.

This usually means people don't want to attack me because lowering my life total is hard to do and leaves them open to their other opponents. This allows me to sculpt my hand and keep myself alive while my opponents hit each other. Once it is a 1v1 situation, I am able to lean more into control.

I also was able to get a Thought Vessel into my Oji deck, which it sorely needed.

Oji is one of my favorite decks. It challenges me to play a little slower, and it is generally unsuspecting. It IS a control deck, but it is more of a value deck. I just want to draw cards and gain life.

With the changes, I was able to add some more card draw and take out some low impact cards. I also had some large creatures that didn't do anything. Now I'm hoping the deck is able to maintain a threat presence.

Depending on the next playtest, I may swap out some dorks for group hug cards.

To do so required me to dismantle Ich-Tekik and Rebbec, and change up Raphael, Most Attitude.

Ich-Tekik + Rebbec was a fun deck but it never really popped off the way I wanted to. It was also too low power for the EDH pods I'm in.

Raph is likely another one I will dismantle, but not yet.

I made some tweaks to my PDH decks last night.

Walker of the Wastes is one of my favorite decks, but it needed some more sauce to it. I had already planned to buy some cards but I decided to pivot and only use cards I already owned.

So much for adding Wedding Invitation and Candy Trail.

Like, if I didn't have these notes from two months ago I wouldn't have thought of these new ideas.

There is always a possibility that none of this stuff happens so I can't even use it, but that is only temporary. Ideas unused now can always be used later.

I haven't worked on D&D stuff in a couple of months. The next session has been postponed, hence the gap. But I opened up my doc today and now I have a flood of ideas.

I know it is usually frowned upon for prepping ahead for things, but it helps provide a framework for me.

I will probably play RE2 and RE4 a little more, but RE5 is next on my list of games. After RE5, I am playing the GBC game.

I think my biggest complaint is related to the Regenerado enemies. I didn't have weaponry that could really deal with them, so they were harder than they needed to be. I am fine with enemies requiring different strategies, but not at the expense of the player not having the tools for them.

...this game is more like a videogame version of a schlocky action movie. And this isn't meant to be a criticism. I like schlocky action movies.

RE4 is a game that definitely didn't want to be like the previous RE games. This game has the greatest emphasis on action so far. It ends up being a great game, but as previously mentioned: it isn't a great RE game. It gets a little closer to the standard RE vibes later, but...

So, want a weapon with infinite ammo? It is possible after completing a normal playthrough. Then I was specifically going for more challenges and getting more unlocks. It was fun. I even tried going for the Platinum trophy, but Inferno difficulty ain't a joke.

But what made me enjoy the game more was how unlocks were acquired. Normally, RE games want you to speedrun and/or get a high rank on the hardest difficulty to get some fun unlocks. This game uses a shop, so completing in-game challenges earns credits.

RE3 is a game I was really disappointed in after finishing my first playthrough. The game is short, the story seems inconsequential, and Nemesis is barely in it. The game has a smidgen of a decent idea: exploring Raccoon City while the zombie outbreak occurs, but it barely uses the setting.

The major drawback is how scenario B isn't really different from scenario A, unlike the original. But it still does have some differences such as weapons and some puzzle solutions. So at least there is something different.