A Look at Aesthetics in Magic: The Gathering

Full-art lands were confirmed to be in fatpacks for the next Magic: The Gathering set, Battle for Zendikar, and I am completely pumped! Now for those unfamiliar with the MTG card game, lands are tapped for resources, or "mana," and used to cast spells. A deck needs a collection of land to function. While there have always been special and unique lands printed throughout Magic's history, basic lands are one of the game's constants. So, what's the difference between full-art lands and basic lands? Besides the art, absolutely nothing. Both types of lands function equally, however, full-art lands do satisfy one thing, aesthetics.

Full-art Zendikar lands...Oh, yeah!

Magic: The Gathering is a complex beast. From deck archetypes to numerous formats to reading the meta, there are many facets to the game. Some aspects of Magic, leaning towards its aesthetics, even extend beyond the game; trading is a fun and social way of obtaining new cards, gathering every single item in a set is a real goal for collector's and customized playmats and sleeves allow players to express themselves. In a competitive card game such as Magic: The Gathering, superficial aesthetics, such as full-art lands or fancy sleeves, do not affect a card's quality nor does it impact play. In fact, special eye-pleasing cards may only elicit reactions that stretch between "Oh, that's pretty sweet," to "Holy Eff! You have a foil version of that card?! Aesthetics exists in different forms, but are definitely part of the game.

Planeswalkers! I need them! 

I haven't been playing Magic for long. However, the realisation of how capitulated I was to pimp out my my collection came quick. And funny enough, this affected how I built my decks. Exactly like having a full set of badass lands or using only specific tribal cards, I sought, and still seek, to unify my decks under a central theme or "flavor." The first deck I ever spent a ton of energy on and compiled together was a Red-White Heroic Soldiers deck. It was the Magic equivalent of the Homeric Achaeans bursting forth from the womb of the wooden horse and slaughtering the soldiers of Troy in their sleep. Did my deck accomplish anything that epic? Absolutely not. I lost more matches than I care to remember, but completely loved playing this flavorful composition of cards.

Two Foil Abzan Falconers: The Pearl in the Storm.

Since those days when I basically ran The Iliad equivalent of a deck, I've improved as a Magic player. Uh, well maybe. I at least found that winning came easier when a player explored beyond themselves ... or bought better cards. Now I know building a competitive deck without some investment is unlikely, but I found little joy in the ultra-competitive aspect of Magic. I forged a deck that was part competitive, part aesthetically pleasing and all parts badass. I didn't win every game, but the formula worked. The all too often "Why are you playing that?" only met a sly smile and one answer, "for flavor."

On the Fate reforged Gameday (Gameday is a free Magic tourney held to celebrate every new set release), I went in hoping I would at least make top eight to score a very shiny promotional card. I lose my very first round to a Blue-White Heroic deck, let the irony pass over me completely and immediately throw away any thoughts of scoring first place. However, the rest of the tournament went extremely well. By the end of the fourth round or so, I end up in the top 4. I got my promo and was ready to book it. But, the night wasn't finished. The particular store had its top players continue battling. and by some cruel jest from the gods, I found myself playing against the same Blue-White Heroic deck that kicked my butt previously. This time I won. Then I won again and took the championship playmat! I joked immediately, "Abzan Falconer IS the new meta!"

The Binder! 

Taking home the prize that day wasn't just work, but pure, absolute fun. I somehow managed to beat tough decks using cards that weren't necessarily great, but rather cards I enjoyed using. The competitive heaviness of Magic dissipated and the wonder of using flavorful and thematic cards hit me all over again. There was suddenly a place for cards like Abzan Falconer, Hardened Scales, and Abzan Ascendancy in standard.


Magic: The Gathering's aesthetics easily lured me in and continues to keep me intrigued. Top-decking a shiny creature card in a game is as enjoyable as scouring through all the promos I've managed to collect in my binder (there isn't a lot, but it's still nice to look through). Of course, competition in all forms still and will continue to exist in Magic, but so will fun and personal enjoyment. And I'm glad I discovered this. Now if you'll please excuse me, I need to start saving up to get those full-art lands in the next set.

We did it, Abzan Falconer...

Are you foil collector or a a hyper-competitive Magic player? Either one, both or neither, let us know how you enjoy your games of Magic: The Gathering! 

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Book Review: You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)

There's one thing to say about The Guild star and creator, Felicia Day: Felicia is a real person. Her  memoir, You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), brings this point home in the most honest way possible. Released August 11th, the book composes a fascinating reflection of her celebrity identity versus her real life vulnerabilities.

Her humor shows up often and hits many levels--sometimes very quick and spastic or sometimes referencing a single person who's done her wrong. Felicia Day is hilarious, and the memoir shines when wit is juxtaposed to some of her many anxiety-driven recollections.

Dayum, Felcia...

Felicia, even in the introduction, displays her vulnerabilities, proudly almost, for all to see. She addresses fans and, funnily enough, also addresses an audience who may have stumbled on the book accidentally. She sets up her wit immediately and gracefully paces it throughout her memoir.

You're Never Weird contains many pictures of our red-headed-memoir heroine. While a few images gave the impression of just filling space, many pictures offer a good laugh or a "yikes, she wore that?" It's fascinating seeing the self-made internet star as something else besides the celebrity we gush over.

Felicia discusses many pivotal moments of her life, including her hippie, home-schooled childhood, the insurmountable 4.0 GPA of college, and of course, the creation of The Guild. You're Never Weird has twelve chapters. Most are fun and informative, but a few chapters allow readers a glimpse into the sad and unseen struggle between Felicia, her career, and her love of video games.


In past interviews, she mentions how much time was dedicated to the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, the grounding experience for her show The Guild. However, in her memoir, Felicia passionately describes her love of the game and how it affected her life. She writes, "I stopped going to acting classes. I stopped performing improv. Or doing plays, or socializing with real-life human beings. Several times I skipped auditions because I didn't have enough time to prepare after staying up too late gaming the night before. I ate, slept, and lived World of Warcraft."

Keeblerette, Felcia's WOW Avatar

While actors may be the only group who may share audition war stories with Felicia, gamers can completely relate to losing themselves in a video game. It's easy to say how much time a person spent conquering Skyrim or killing 1,500 marauders to unlock a specific skin for Zero in Borderlands 2, but it's something else to print how those hours affected a person's life. Felicia is brutally honest, and we can only love her more for it.

Felicia Day as...Keeblerette?

For an actress only in her mid-thirties, it's surprising how much of a story Felicia has to tell and how effectively her memoir elicits a reaction. It's as easy to laugh alongside the Felicia who wrote the memoir as it is to sympathize and relate to the Felicia crying after having to perform in front of her musical, collegiate peers. Felicia battles her confidence and doubts throughout her memoir, but every step forward she makes radiates to the reader. "Empowering" may be too small of a word to describe how her memoir can make a reader feel.

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) is a good read, like Felicia asserts, for fans. But, as fans, let's be honest, it's still a good read for anyone. Felicia tells how her anxiety, self-confidence, and inner thoughts constantly warred with one another. But despite these inner-battles, Felicia pushed on and fought. Her book has a way of bolstering the confidence of its readers and makes one feel invincible, ready to take on the world. Her nerd humor and dry wit paint a unique, fun picture of a weird little girl who loved video games and grew up and conquered a piece of the internet.

Her memoir can be purchased at Feliciadaybook.com and is definitely recommended.

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Life is Strange - Episode 4

Here's the fourth episode of our Subculture Times webisode series. Watch Life is Strange! 

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Way Of The Samurai 4 Review

Swords, Guns, Women and Samurais! Oh my!

Acquire Corporation's affinity for developing samurai and ninja-themed games led to the creation of their masterpiece, the Tenchu series, a dark and beautiful ninja simulator. The spotlight today, however, brings us to their other series, which focuses on samurais rather than stealthy ninjas. Enter Way of the Samurai 4, a Playstation 3 port now on PC. The backstory of the game revolves around the fictional town Amihama, where the main character is caught between the Pranjas, rebels who intend to keep foreigners away from Japan, and the local government, who sides with British forces for the first half of the story. The Pranjas fear Japan losing its identity and culture through English colonization. The British forces, however, feel their technological and medicinal advances can further improve Japan, gaining support from the government.

My Kenshin-like character

The game's charm is its branching story and how it affects the outcome of the game. Your actions and decisions determine your character's story and, yes, this game has multiple endings. If you decide to become a mass murderer, you will reap what you sow.  But if you build your character up to be somewhat of a hero, you will gain the utmost respect from the people.

What surprised me is the replayability and how previous choices will affect the outcome of the next playthrough. Once the game is finished, items collected, swords created and money earned are carried over so the player doesn't have to pull hairs out of their head from losing everything they've accomplished. The player is also awarded with endgame points to unlock extra content. These unlockables range from extra character hair styles, weapons and even harder difficulties, giving Way of the Samurai 4 much more diversity as players continue their adventure.

Superb Dialogue keeps you immersed throughout the game 

This is in fact an open-world game filled with quirky characters and hilarious dialogues. The town is filled with shops, restaurants, item/food stalls and a casino all painted against a beautiful Japanese backdrop. There are loading screens when moving from one area to another, but they are quick and do not encumber the adventure. Way of the Samurai 4 also has a fast-travel system. Although, sometimes it's better to avoid fast travel since it takes a toll on the character's energy, and you may miss some opportunities for side missions 

Customize your own weapon

The combat system is pretty complex in terms of timing and fighting stances. Way of the Samurai 4 shouldn't be treated like a button-masher. A single opening in your defense can be synonymous with death, especially on the hardest difficulty.

Players have three different fighting styles available at their disposal: swords, spears and hand-to-hand martial combat. Each one requires a moveset that can be learned or picked up from other fighters. Mastering a style requires players to use the chosen stance for a certain amount of time or, if you're lucky, finding a move scroll can unlock some moves immediately.

I generalized swords earlier because there are not only katanas in-game, but knives, odachis, long swords and much much more. Weapons can be upgraded to meet their full potential and are one of the best parts of the game because players can creatively name their swords whatever he or she wants.

Gathering items the honorable way

Forging swords in Way of the Samurai 4 is extremely accessible as players can easily craft new swords by dissembling weapons they find. Weapons also realistically get dull with use and may eventually break if not taken care of.

Your health in the game coincides with an energy bar. Without energy, your samurai avatar cannot regain health amidst combat. The more energy you have, the faster you gain life. Energy drains through combat and strenuous activities, not including running around town, but could be easily restored by eating or drinking. In the middle of the health and energy meter is the Spring Harvest gauge, which enables your character to perform faster and stronger combos to quickly finish off enemies Rurouni-Kenshin-style.Though the Spring Harvest gauge steadily increases through normal combat, players can raise the gauge by consuming certain food or drinks.

Assert your dominance

Way of the Samurai 4 is a port of the PS3 version, so the graphics are only just slightly enhanced from the console version. There's nothing to be excited for in that regards. The game is constantly updated and worked on as there are a few sound glitches and graphical issues. Luckily, those issues do not hinder the game at all. For $24.99, you get exactly what you pay for, but as of right now, Way of the Samurai 4 is only $19.99 on Steam until Aug. 6. Fans of samurai, sword fighting and even Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai Champloo should definitely pick this game up to satisfy their sword-slashing needs.

Visit the Way of the Samurai 4 steam page to get your copy today and...

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