According to Wizards of the coast, following the release of the latest Magic expansion, players can choose a faction and then participate in War Leagues at game stores across the country. Any format is acceptable, but it appears that sealed decks will be the preferred game.

If you want to get involved but can’t find a location, you can check out the Wizards of the Coast Store and Event Locator.

This tag team is really quite strong, though it may at least initially appear that a lot of the strength rests on the back of the Leaf Village hero. The Second Hokage had sought peace at whatever costs necessary, and the stats of the card clearly show this. The 3/3, 6/4 water attributed Hokage is pretty strong on numbers alone. Two water Chakra can be discarded and a jutsu may be removed from the game when the Matchless Hero aspect becomes valid.

It may be funny to think that Shikamaru might be leading around one of the greatest Leaf Ninja to ever live, but his card can do just that. Shikamaru is rated much more humbly than the Second Hokage, at 0/1, 1/3. However, he has the ability to organize teams of ninja. Whether by melding him and the Second Hokage together, or by forming a team to back up this ninja, the force on the field can be quite unstoppable by any enemy shinobi.

For instance, get together four Genin and place them in a team with Shikamaru at the head. Then, even with the Second Hokage standing alone, there will be plenty of material with which to defend him. After all, a player wouldn’t want an expensive card like that to be easily removed or simply wasted. While there are, of course, other ways to develop a defensive perimeter around a card that needs to be protected, the N-238 version of Shikamaru Nara is particularly useful for this purpose.

In 2011, hopeful duellists will show off their skills from around the globe in a series of events. The best players will be weeded out and chosen to compete in the World Finals. As you might expect, multi-player modes will be a big part of the gaming experience both on the DS and in the World Championship as well.

The game promises to feature over 4200 cards and includes the new “Storm of Ragnarok” booster pack along with the “Lost Sanctuary” deck. The single player story will mirror the TV show and fans of the trading card game should feel right at home.

The ability of the Keepers has one great strength: Protection against Infect creatures. Considering the number of decks out there that revolve around an infect strategy, this card could prove to be incredibly useful even with the rather high casting cost.

There are a few mechanics that are returning from Scars of Mirrodin: Metalcraft, Infect, Proliferate.

Along with these, there are three new mechanics. First off, there is Battle Cry.

A creature with Battle Cry gives each other attacking creature +1/+0 until end of turn if it attacks. Multiples of these stack, but just remember that they don’t power themselves.

Next, “poisoned”. This isn’t an ability per say, but it is a state that can now be monitored. Basically, it checks whether or not you have a poison counter. For example, Septic Rats get +1/+1 until end of turn when it attacks a player that is poisoned.

Lastly, the Phyrexian ability, Living Weapon. Living Weapon works like this. If it enters the battlefield, it puts a 0/0 Germ creature token on the battlefield. Now, normally, this token would go directly to the graveyard, but in this case, the equipment attaches itself to that token. Wizards say that each Living Weapon equipment will give at least 1 toughness, so your germ tokens won’t go to the graveyard.

It’s hard to say how these new mechanics will work without seeing in what context they will be put. After a few more cards are added to the visual spoiler, we might get a better idea. Hm.

Other Equipment cards with living weapon give different power and toughness increases, but all of them give at least 1 point of toughness.

Not bad, right? It should pair up nicely with infectious creatures liek Ichor Rats or Blackcleave Goblin

If you’re not aware, shiny Pokemon are one of the rarer types in the game, and feature a distinctive color scheme. Here’s the schedule

Shiny Raikou – January 3 through January 9

Shiny Entei – January 17 through January 23

Shiny Suicune – January 31 through February 6

To get your hands on one, you’ll need to bring a copy of Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, and HeartGold and Soulsilver to your local store. You can view the offer here.

Magic: The Gathering Tactics Dev Diary

As more news has poured in, though, I am starting to come around. Tactics really looks like it might be a lot of fun, and you get to enjoy all of your favorite creatures from the card game without spending an arm and a leg on booster packs. It’s also a very different style of gameplay, so why not give it a shot, right?

This is a shift that will require some strategies to be changed, and when reading either older posts here, or strategies anywhere, one should keep rule changes in mind that have taken affect since the articles were written. The second change, which was added on 12/2/2010, influences the way that certain Jutsu work. If an effect negates a Jutsu and moves it, it is only now moved if negated. So, if for example a Jutsu is supposed to be moved back into the player’s hand, only do so if the target negation actually worked out. This was the way the game was supposed to be played; so most people won’t feel too affected by this change. However, some players had accidentally misinterpreted how Jutsu negations worked, and thus this clarification was necessary.

The third recent rule change, which was adopted on 12/17/2010, involves the way different card effects work on the player. For instance, some effects require a player to discard something. On the other hand, there are Ninja that read that they are unaffected by opponent’s effects. There has been some confusion as to whether or not they can be forced to do anything through one of these cards. However, this rule change clearly states that they are not immune to these sorts of commands.

Interestingly poor Henry got caught when another employee noticed that there was a vendor at a Magic tournament in Portland, Oregon, selling a tremendous amount of rare promotional cards. They eventually tracked down the source and the guy was fired after an investigation. It turns out that he had made about 70 trips to the locker where cards are kept. Woops.

It also serves as a reminder why Trading Card Escrow and other services exist. Cards cost money, and where there is money there is theft. Always be sure you’re dealing with reputable individuals when buying or selling cards.

Source: The Escapist