Deck-Builders and TableTop

For nerds like me, you all know that the latest episode of TableTop came out this week, and features the heroic Marvel-themed deck-building game: Legendary.

Now, I'm not a deck-builder kind of guy these days. Yeah, back in the early 90's I was bit by the Magic: The Gathering bug as hard as any dorky teen, but soon became annoyed with the power-creep in the card releases, and realized I was just being milked for my paper route money by Wizards o' the Coast. The "most-expensive-card-wins" rule effect of Magic left me with a sour taste in my mouth for deck-builders, so I never really give them a chance after that.

In the first segment of the above episode of TableTop, Wil Wheaton acknowledges that he experienced that very same Magic:The Gathering (of your money) realization and subsequent recoil from deck-building games. But he then goes on to clarify how deck-building games have come so far since then. Such that they aren't about buying individual cards anymore, and everyone playing is at an even level. Plus many of them are now co-operative games, which we all know is the best kind of game because friendship and reasons.

I am relieved to see that there is a DC-themed version. Gotta stay loyal, after all.

I think maybe I should give deck-building games a try, and to actually open that copy of Shadowrun:Crossfire I bought at GenCon last year during the annual purchasing frenzy one goes through in that most glorious of dealer halls. (I grabbed and bought it before I realized it was a deck-building game, as my uncontrollable lust for anything Cyberpunk-related blinded me to the actual description of the game mechanics on the back of the box at the time).

The GenCon Dealer Hall. Such a glorious place where rational purchasing decisions fly right out the window.

So I guess its about time I get my deck-building Game On!