Hello Dice Masters! Welcome back to our next TOTM instalment for 2018. The TOTM Format switch continued this past month, with players getting together for a casual online get together. Read on to see how things went for September.
For the September 2018 TOTM, we challenged you to build any Team you wanted with only one rule: Your Team could not have the letter A in the Title of the Card. This was a fun team building challenge as it took away many of the “staple” cards just because of this restriction. It forced you out of your comfort zone and maybe pick up some cards you wouldn’t normally look at.
Unfortunately, there was no streaming or recording of the games from this one. Reg, from Dice Masters in the Great North, has agreed to put together a little write-up from the night. I am working on some recording options for the future.
Here were the builds from the people who participated:
- Reg S (Reg gets Bonus Points for excluding A’s in the Subtitle as well… where possible)
- Steven J (I believe the dice counts are off on this, but I don’t have the up to date list)
- Eric C (This was my personal favourite with the use of this Stirge)
- Matt J (I basically updated my original “No A’s” Team from the first time I played this)
I think this Format will be the new normal going forward. The feedback has been positive and it is always fun meeting and playing with new players. Thanks to everyone who participated and watched on Hangouts. Let’s look onward to October.
For those that are unfamiliar with the TOTM, here is what you need to know:
- You will be given specific parameters for a Team Build for the given month.
- A “fun play night” will be set when people will be welcome to gather and play their Teams themselves for the competition.
- Prizing will be based on Community input from that night. Those who participate will be asked to vote for the most interesting build of the night. Not necessarily the most successful one. Kind of a “Best in Show” award. We do want to reward originality here.
This competition will be open worldwide, and anyone is welcome to join. The submission deadline for this round will be 10:00 PM Mountain Time on September 21, 2018. Submissions should be filled out on the TOTM Team Submission Form. You must be present to be eligible for any prizing. Rewards will be sent via regular letter mail to the recipient. If you require tracking information, you will be responsible for any additional costs.
Here is the challenge for October 2018:
With October coming, the easy choice would be to do a Halloween theme… but that felt a little too easy. I was digging through the archives of older Teams and Formats that I have played in the past and came across this little gem. This month is dedicated to the bad guys. Welcome to Masterminds & Minions. Read on for the details.
Masterminds & Minions
This one is a little different, so make sure you read the details. Since we are celebrating the bad guys, only Villains are eligible to be on your Team (they must have the Villain Affiliation). No super-rare cards will be allowed for this build. Flip cards are fine, but must start the game on their Villain side. If this is not possible, the card cannot be used. Otherwise, the card pool is open to all Golden cards.
Your Team will be build around one character who will be your “Mastermind”. This can be any Villain you want, but must have a minimum of 3 dice on it.
The rest of your Team will be considered the “minions” of your chosen Mastermind. The rules for the minions are simple. They must cost a minimum of 2 less than your Mastermind.
You will be allowed up to two non-BAC actions on your Team. One must represent a “hideout” (cards that name a location would be eligible here), and the other must represent “equipment” (something usable for your villains). You cannot have 2 locations or 2 pieces of equipment. Only one of each. The cost rules are the same as they are for Minions. Non-BAC actions are optional in your build, but must follow these rules.
You cannot win the game until you have at least purchased one of your Mastermind dice. If you would be able to swing for lethal, but have not purchased your Mastermind, you will not be allowed to swing.
For reference, this is what I decided to run back in January 2017 when we originally ran this Format. I learned one valuable lesson from this build…
Now, some of you are immediately thinking of some of the big Villain cards and some of the actions that play off of Villains. While the SR restriction removes some of the more problematic cards, there will be a Ban List in place for this event. We want to try and keep things fun here, and want to avoid the obvious oppressive Villain Cards.
The Ban List:
- Lantern Power Ring: Energy Projection
- Black Manta: Deep Sea Deviant
- Deathstroke: Weapons Master
- Avalanche: Quake in Your Boots
- Onslaught: Shattered Psyche
- Ronan the Accuser: You Stand Accused!
- Magneto: Holocaust Survivor
- Magneto: Sonderkommando
- Batman™: Always Prepared
- Cosmic Cube: Energy of the Beyonders
- Blob: Appetite for Destruction
- Relentless: Basic Action Card
- Swords of Revealing Light: Basic Action Card
- Lex Luthor: Billionaire Industrialist
The plan is to play your Teams on October 20, 2018, starting at around 7:00 PM Mountain Time. We will be starting things off in our very own Hangouts Room. You can find the link to that here.
Matches will be 30 minutes long to avoid slogs. If the game is tied when time is called, the game will go to 5 turns with the active player being Turn 0 (or Turn Andy if you want). The player with the most life at the end of Turns will be the winner.
Looking forward to seeing you there. Thanks for reading and feel free to reach out to me with any questions.
Best of luck!
– Dice Masters North
