Hey look, another aimless blog.

SCP Foundation writer | Yu-Gi-Oh player | TF2 player

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Absence x2

Mind you, it's only been two months this time around.

I've been keeping busy since the last post (The repost of SunnyClockwork's Basilisk-Category Anomaly art), but only some of it is SCP-oriented. Regardless:

1. My newest article, UNDEFINED (SCP-3942), has done shockingly well - as of today, twenty days after posting it, it is solidly sitting at +130. There's been a couple of impressive interpretations of it, many of which I view as superior to my original intent for the article: to write an indescribable, living and sapient anomaly.

2. I've started work on my own SCP-[0]001 proposal: 'CODENAME: Jack Ike's Proposal - The Truth'

3. I've also gotten back to work on a fantasy book series that I have been world building for at least three and a half years now. I've mostly been collating all my notes into a single document to refer to (as previously I'd had notes scattered everywhere; there were notes about constructing a language sandwiched between chemistry and physics notes in one of my high-school work books).

As I said before, I'll do my best to get active on here again.

[hisclockworkservants]

SCP Foundation fanart, “Basilisk category anomaly” from SCP-3249 - Me, Us, Them, Them by Jack Ike.

[astelin]

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

That moment when you realise how hungry you are.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

New SCP Tales!

I have uploaded two new tales to the SCP Foundation forum. Both are a part of the ongoing 173fest, the celebration of the 10th year of the SCP Foundation.

Himinbjörg is set in the Rat’s Nest Canon, right as the Information Age transitions to the Last Era; On the 2nd of February, 2087, the legendary Site 19 suffers a catastrophic containment breach. Because of the Lifthrasir Protocol, a ragtag team - Amalgamate Task Force 4, (“Götterdämmerung”) - is sent in.

Rebar Nightmares is a humourous short story (and I definitely mean short - less than 1000 words) about what is most likely SCP-173′s ultimate nightmare.

[jammyplays]

Metroid Samus returns is the 2.5D Samus adventure we’ve been waiting for

The title will be a stylized remake of Metroid 2: Return of Samus chocked full of new gameplay elements like melee attacks. 

Best of all, it’s only months away. Help Samus end the Metroid scourge on 3DS on September 15. Check out the glorious reveal trailer here.

Buy: Metroid Games, Metroid Toys+Swag

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Yes please.

[jammyplays]

Metroid Prime 4 exists and is in development for Switch

To call the reveal a peak at the upcoming game would be an overstatement. A Zebes emblem, a number four and a confirmation that the game we are all craving is being worked on. 

Still, I’m happy to see that Samus will be back in action soon. Check out the reveal trailer here.

Buy: Metroid Games, Metroid Toys+Swag

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Another week, another tournament. This time I ran with vanilla(ish) Artifacts.

For those who don’t know: The Artifact archetype consists of Level 5 LIGHT Fairy monsters. The main point of interest, however, is that all the Artifact monsters can be set from your hand into the Spell/Trap Zones. (The only other cards having this ability being Silver Sentinel and Toy Magician. Inversion to the Crystal Beasts, which go to the zone face-up after being destroyed as a monster)

Additionally, the Artifacts benefit from being destroyed as Spell cards; If they are destroyed during your opponents turn, they will special summon themselves back from the Graveyard. If they’re special summoned during your opponent’s turn, they get to use one of a myriad of effects - the most notable being Artifact Moraltach, which destroys one face-up card your opponent controls, Artifact Scythe, which completely prevents your opponent from summoning anything from the Extra Deck for the rest of the turn, and the newly-released Artifact Vajra which destroys all spells and traps you control. (It also has an additional effect, enabling it to automatically summon itself from your hand when your opponent attacks you directly.)

Of course, as per usual my deck isn’t complete due to budgeting; I have no copies of Artifact Scythe (but I have plenty of copies of every other main deck Artifact, as well as an ultimate rare Artifact Durendal), and excluding a single copy of Artifacts Unleashed, none of the (actual) Spell and Trap cards. So, do Artifacts work?

Hot damn they do. Coming 17th out of 31 proves they do.

Admittedly, there are prominent flaws with them - Once your opponent knows you’re running Artifacts, they’ll stop attacking your S/T row and just aim for taking out the monsters. But if you can forcibly destroy your own spells and traps - Malevolent Catastrophe, Double Cyclone and the aforementioned Artifact Vajra - then it can become quite easy to surprise your opponent with a wave of monsters and a myriad of effects. 

Artifact Chakram is particularly handy when you’ve got non-Artifact S/T set; If it’d be destroyed, return it to the hand and pull out Chakram (from the hand) instead. Pulling out Achilleshield and Aegis at the same time is always a good idea too, as combined the two prevent your opponent from targeting or destroying your Artifacts by battle or card effects for that turn.

So yes, vanilla Artifacts can do quite well. They function well on a budget, and no doubt once I finally get my hands on some of those sweet (actual) Spells and Traps, it’ll become a kickass non-meta deck to use.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

This one is GP (Yes, very original name for a guinea pig, isn’t it?) She was our first one, and over time has become the origin for a rather large family tree - She has children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren! That’s a long way from the little girl we got five years ago, who was around a month old at the time.

She used to be quite adventurous and would manage the squeeze through surprisingly small gaps, but in her old age has decided to settle down. While she used to be happy with her partner Mop, she has since changed her mind - every time we try to get her to share with another, she loudly asks to be taken away and left on her own.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

GP passed away this morning. We ensured she was warm and as comfortable as possible while she passed. We will never forget her - she will always be our first, and she will always be unique.

[nintendo]

Get caught up with all the Pokémon announcements from the Pokémon Direct!

Pokkén Tournament DX: This deluxe edition comes to Nintendo Switch on September 22 with 5 Pokémon not found in the original version and 3 vs. 3 team battle!

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon: Including Pokémon not found in the original versions, and an alternate story in the world of Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon will launch globally for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems on November 17.

Pokémon Gold Version and Pokémon Silver Version: Relive the classics with revised graphics on Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. Coming out September 22.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Was expecting “Pokemon Stars/Twilight” for the Nintendo Switch.

The Ultra versions had better be significantly better/different to the original versions; if it’s just a renaming of the originals with little to no difference, thats going to be a poor show.

at least they cant be worse than Black and White 2

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

So.

In theory, MetalKnights should work quite well. Two decks focused around destruction and swarming, working together to pull out mad-as beatsticks.

In practice, it struggles a bit. There’s no trouble with getting stuff onto the field usually - the swarming is there, the fusion recycling works. But it just doesn’t seem to be able to put up much of a fight; most of the time I’ve used it, it either knuckles down the opponent quickly, or gets steamrolled after a couple of turns.

Mind you, I’m running a low-budget deck; only have one Mithrillium and no Alkahest, so that might be a factor. But it still seems to be shockingly easy to shut down. As much as I hate to say it, I think it’s my weakest deck; I’ve ranked significantly lower in tournaments where I’ve used it, compared to tournaments where I use my other decks.

It’s a real shame - I would’ve loved to have gotten Igknights some status again.

I’m tweaking up a vanilla Artifact deck, which I’m hoping will do better now that Artifact Vajra is out. You’ll probably be hearing more about it in future.

Another deck I’ll probably be talking extensively about soon: Post-Link Mecha Phantom Beasts! (Maybe with Speedroids. Maybe.) Mecha Phantom’s have always been known to be able to hold their own without extra deck support, so it seemed like a good choice to adapt once the new format is enforced. I also heard that you can Link Summon using tokens - I know for a fact my current Mecha Phantom Speedroid deck spits out plenty of those (3x Scapegoat, 1x Scapeghost, all monsters have token summon effects...), so that’s a bonus too.

Anyone have any suggestions for another low-budget deck I could look into? 

[gghdos9917jkclapfd]

lol he got butthurt about losing and surrendered

~Fantem

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Reminds me of the time a guy was about to beat me, then said he’d give me another turn if I called myself a bitch. There’s some real assholes on YGOpro.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

So, Yu-Gi-Oh time again.

After prompting from a fellow friend of mine, I’ve pulled out my old Igknights deck and am trying to give it new life. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is ther evolution(?) archetype - the Metalfoes. I mean, they’re both Normal Monster/Pendulum archetypes that thrive off self-destruction and field swarming. They seemed like a perfect fit for eachother.

And they are. They really, really are.

The MetalKnights deck is surprisingly effective in use - with the Igknight’s focus on self-destructing to set up for a pendulum summon swarm, Metalfoes Adamantite and Crimsonite are shockingly easy to obtain. Their effects also work quite well with Metalfoes Counter - use their pendulum effects to destroy both Igknight scales, add an Igknight to your hand AND summon a free Metalfoes to the field. 

The fact they’re all normal monsters also makes Heart of the Underdog a very useful card. Got it active while you drew an Igknight or Metalfoe (other than Igknight Champion, Lancer, and/or Raremetalfoes Bismusgear)? Draw again. Pulled another one? Draw yet again.

Throwing in Luster Pendulum is quite useful, too. If you get it and Igknight Paladin, Igknight Templar or Metalfoes Goldriver on the field, you’ve got yourself an Ignister Prominence on the field. If you don’t have the right levels, go for Dinoster Power - 50 short of 3000 Defence, protects your pendulum scales (but doesn’t hinder your own destruction effects!), and doesn’t even need any Polymerisation to pull out.

And finally, Royal Magical Library is a good card to use in it. For those who aren’t familiar: Whenever a Spell Card is activated, RML gains a spell counter (to a maximum of three). You can remove three spell counters from it to draw 1 card from your deck. What does this mean? Each time you put a new card in the pendulum scales, RML gains a counter. Which is precisely what the Igknights focus on doing - setting the scales, then blowing up to allow for new scales. The Metalfoes help with this too, since the Metalfoes poly cards are all spells, too. If you get RML on the field at the start, you’ll usually end up starting a long chain of continuous re-drawing, setting you up exactly how you need to be early on.

Oh, and of course, the results of my Saturday ranking, wherein I used MetalKnights: 15th of 38 - Three wins, two losses.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Absence

Jeez, it’s... really been a long time since I last posted here. Eesh. So, time for an update.

The sequel to Charon (Part 1: Nekyia), The Keysmith’s Bootstrap, is up. The theme? Time travel, keys, and getting home.

Charon (Part 2: Katabasis) is also up. A couple of weeks have passed, and Yanma’s driving himself into the ground. Some thinking ‘music’ helps him out.

My most successful article to date, which tied for first-place in Dcon 2016 (alongside Kalinin’s SCP-2669), is also up; SCP-2439, [SLOT UNALLOCATED].

Meanwhile, my other entry for Dcon 2016, D-2000, didn’t do so well.

With great help from site-user Sirens, the rewrite for SCP-739 was developed and posted.

Returning to my usual solitude, an old article has finally found its way onto the site: SCP-2943, In Case Of Emergency, Break Glass.

Then came Holding On, a metafictional cross-over between the SCP Foundation and it’s long-time rivals, the Holders Series.

I also posted my first GOI document: Number 27, Oneiroi Station. Treasure hunts, mysterious connotations, all surrounding a new radio tower in the Oneiroi collective.

And of course, Christmas Propaganda was my contribution to the obligatory christmas celebrations.

Then comes Histcon 2017, and with it, my entry: Win Condition. How does the Foundation always manage to survive? Like this.

Posted on the one-year anniversary of SCP-2493 (One Man’s Garbage), Secure Facility Dossier: Lunar Area 32 is now up.

Then came Adam’s Worthless - Choose Yokim, a depressing look into the overlooked world of literature-based anart.

SCP-3000 was up for grabs, so I staked my spot in the contest with SCP-3249, Me, Us, Them, Them.

Then was April Fools. Such was borne The Conceptual Theology of Physical Existence.

And now, just this week, a triad of SCP’s:

SCP-3294, A Severe Case of Soulnesia. A memetic antimeme, no less.

SCP-3429, Just The Way It Is Now. An Australian anartist uses art to rant.

SCP-3492, A Totleigh unBÄRable existence. becuase TotleighSoft let you GREATER game!

Hot damn i’ve done a lot recently. I even hit 1000 net upvotes on Wednesday.

I’ll try posting more often on here again, but no promises. I’ve got university to deal with.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Note to self: Put timers on stuff to generate hype and attention. (The hype for SCP-2798 is huge and idk why.)

Also: Post on tumblr more.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Another Saturday, another Yu-Gi-Oh session. Played D/D/D’s; Two wins, Two losses, One tie, landing me in 22nd of 41. (I don’t fully understand why D/D/D’s have exploded into popularity now that Gust King Alexander and Flame King Ghengis have been released - D/D/D’s were good before they came out, and they don’t exactly add much to the deck yet.)

Play of the Day: An opening hand of two D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok, a D/D Swirl Slime, one Dark Contract with the Gate and a Dark Contract with the Swamp King. Drew a D/D Necro Slime at the start of my turn.

Played Dark Contract with the Gate to add D/D/D Rebel King Leonidas to my hand. Fused Swirl and Necro Slime to make Oracle King D’arc. Next, activated Dark Contract with the Swamp King to fuse Leonidas and an Abyss Ragnarok to make D/D/D Wave Oblivion King Caesar Ragnarok.

Next, activated the effect of Swirl Slime to special summon the second Abyss ragnarok, which uses its own effect to resurrect the first. Overlay into Duo Dawn King Kali Yuga.

Net result: Basically set up for the rest of the game. Kali Yuga can clean up any problematic back rows as they form, and can dish out 3.5K damage on attack. Caesar Ragnarok can dish out at least 3.2K damage, if he doesn’t use his effect (return a Dark Contract to the hand to equip an opponent’s monster to him, exclude whatever he’s attacking. Gain attack equal to the equipped monster/s). Finally, D’arc makes sure any damage you would take is a gain instead.

My opponent was unlucky and hadn’t set any monsters during their turn - I cleaned up their back row, then dealt 9500 damage.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

This one is GP (Yes, very original name for a guinea pig, isn't it?) She was our first one, and over time has become the origin for a rather large family tree - She has children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren! That's a long way from the little girl we got five years ago, who was around a month old at the time. She used to be quite adventurous and would manage the squeeze through surprisingly small gaps, but in her old age has decided to settle down. While she used to be happy with her partner Mop, she has since changed her mind - every time we try to get her to share with another, she loudly asks to be taken away and left on her own.

[anotherblogwithnotheme]

Won another mat - Sydney YCS, 2014. Came 19th out of 35 (5 rounds - 1 tie, 2 win? 3 win? cant remember) No good plays today, other than one of my opponents sneakily avoiding my D/D/D Duo Dawn King Kali Yuga's effect using Graydles (which activate in the graveyard, which he doesn't touch) and thus stealing my boss. So instead, i'll do my own (poor) review of the new numbers I got ahold of today. First up: 

Number 51: Finisher the Strong Arm

Or as i prefer, it's OCG name of "Finish Hold the Amazing". While it is admittedly vulnerable to overabundant Negate-And-Destroy card effects, 51 is amazingly good in terms of battle. Three level three's gives you a 2600 ATK beatstick that cant be destroyed by battle, and which gains a counter after each battle by detaching a material. Once it has three counters, it destroys all of your opponents monsters at the end of any battle phase it fights in. If you can deal with the back row, he can deal with the front easily.

Number 59: Crooked Cook

 This guy is definitely on par with 51, if not better. If he stands alone, he is immune to all other card effects (This would probably mean your opponent's cards, by the way.) Too hard to get him alone? No worries, he's got no problem with scorching your field himself. Detach a material and bam, he destroys all your other cards and gains 300 ATK from his usual 2300 for every monster he destroyed - ideally this means you now have a 3500 ATK beatstick that your opponent cant stop. 

Number 78: Number Archive

The Instant Fusion of Numbers, for only two level one's you can have access to one of the Numbers in your extra deck (from Number 1 to Number 99) for one turn before it's banished, with a single overlay unit to boot. The effect is simple but sweet - Numbers like Number 93: Utopia Kaiser would only need one turn to detach and summon four other Numbers in its stead. The main downside is that you dont get to choose the targeted card, your opponent does so at random. Still a worthwhile number though.

Number 98: Antitopian

Because "Number 77: The Seven Sins" is fine, but "Number 98: Dystopia" isn't. It's pretty obvious that this number is supposed to be an anti-Utopia, however the two would go hand in hand quite well. Use Dystopia (I am NOT calling it Antitopian.) as a 2500 DEF shield with a detach effect to swap attacking monsters to defense mode twice, then let it go to grave. Pull out Utopia, block twice and - surprise! Rather than have Utopia drop dead at the sight of it's missing overlay units, Dystopia has come back and uses Utopia as a material to block the attack. Rinse repeat recycle as long as you can revive Utopia.

Number 100: Numeron Dragon

Big cost, moderate payoff. With summoning requirements similar to other 'king numbers' (F0, S0, 93), this monster completely ignores level requirements and asks for you to overlay two of the same Number monsters. The payoff? A 0 ATK and DEF monster with the ability to gain 1000 ATK x the combined Ranks of every monster on the field. If your opponent plays high-rank Xyz monsters, this can be quite helpful as an opposing Rank 10 opponent will give you a 10,000 ATK beatstick. If your opponent doesnt, however, you may struggle to get above 1000 ATK. If Number 100 is destroyed by card effect, it wipes both front rows and allows both players to set one spell or trap of their choosing from their graveyard. And, finally, the anime-esque effect that I am surprised remained: If your opponent attacks while you have no cards on your hand or field, and 100 is in your graveyard, you can summon it. Of note is that this isnt a once-per-turn effect; as long as you have no cards in your hand or on your field, it will keep coming back to block attacks. May be handy in a burnt-out Infernity deck, perhaps?