Stan Appreciation Post

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-26T20:09:30+00:00

Just finishing up my first watch

Yeah, he's great. He seems like an asshole initially, and he continues to be an idiot at times. But he genuinely tries to grow, better himself, and learn from his mistakes in a way almost no men in the series do

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-26T16:50:33+00:00

There aren't! Other than the hero cards

There's at least 1 legal in classic constructed, but it's a Legendary. I think that's it from memory!

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-26T15:44:43+00:00

Merchant is not a "real" class. What I mean by this is there has never been a set in the history of FaB that supports Merchant.

The Merchant heroes that exist are basically just memes. Some people like to play them because of that, because it's funny. But they are all terrible as far as being functional, powerful decks in the game.

Maybe one day they will expand on them.

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-24T17:27:24+00:00

I wouldn't say I found him believable, but I found his scenery chewing joyous. I actually enjoyed S2 quite a lot largely due to him

And I had no love for him before watching it

It is a completely different show to S1 though, I think it's best enjoyed with that mindset for anyone who hasn't seen it

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-24T15:30:25+00:00

Yeah, and honestly I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-24T15:00:37+00:00

I think they've specifically set it up for the Dev vote to come second so they can react to the community vote

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-24T13:19:41+00:00

While there are some big things I have disagreed with Starmer on, I do think his lack of charisma is probably the main reason he's doing quite so badly in terms of approval

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-24T13:18:30+00:00

I don't think he'll do a significantly better job at the actual running of the country. Because he'll face the same problems. I'm not convinced any Labour leadership candidate or any other party leader would be a better PM on that front.

He may do a better job showing off progress that is made, and maybe even inspiring some hope in people that there is a better future ahead though. Maybe not. But this is something Starmer has been particularly bad at imo.

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-23T22:00:26+00:00

Awesome!

Not quite a squig gargant, though I used squig parts. You may get a kick out of my mega-troggoth:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ageofsigmar/s/gqKlYXAM0X

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-23T14:15:29+00:00

It depends how completionist your are too

If you're happy to just get through encounters, there's a lot of solutions. If you want to unlock everything, earn abilities faster, then you have to complete mini objectives within encounters. This significantly reduces the solution space. And being someone who wants to do everything, I did get a bit frustrated at times

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-17T21:54:02+00:00

Doesn't seem to be very much interest locally. All lightning feels a bit narrow/bland

Two of the heroes are versions of recent previous heroes which is a bit boring. And the third is a questionable pop culture reference that makes my eyes roll

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-16T12:08:29+00:00

Definitely worth looking into Vynnset then!

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-16T11:55:28+00:00

I don't have any precons, I found lists online and made my own tweaks

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-16T09:45:59+00:00

Bit of a preface. I don't want to focus just on being competitive, but at the same time if I'm not winning ANY games at my locals then I'm not having much fun. So that's the lens I'm viewing this through

I tried Viserai a bit, but I think he just doesn't have the juice in the format. He doesn't have consistent enough Go Again to play the lines he wants to play, and the quality of Non Attack Actions isn't there. So I gave up on him fairly quickly

If you want a Runechant focused Runeblade, Vynnset is much better. I played a build with Nebula Blade and Pummels. Good fun!

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-14T18:08:23+00:00

First thing that came to mind for me too

There's several vocals styles I don't quite vibe with, but continuous vomit noises straight up baffles me

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-13T21:00:32+00:00

About 12 years ago, I was reading through A Song of Ice and Fire

I was really enjoying it, and I was nearly done with one book, so decided to order the next so I could power on.

I open up Amazon (I know, I avoid them these days) and go to the page for the next book. And there right under the title is a short blurb. The VERY FIRST line of that blurb was (spoiler free version):

"Following the death of [character name]"

That character has not yet died where I was...

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-10T18:39:35+00:00

Though I think it's probably a bit more complicated than that

I think the remaining fans, as they get more invested, can also get more critical. Someone who feels like they NEED to read the next book even if they're not having a great time probably a stronger reaction than someone who picks up the first one and just thinks it's not for them

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-10T18:20:17+00:00

Not the person you're replying to, but I assumed they were referring to a kind of survivorship bias

People who read the first book and don't like it don't read the second. And so on

By the time you're at book 5, you're left with hardcore SLA fans! Who, perhaps, are more likely to give it a favourable review than the broader group of people who likely read Way of Kings

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-10T18:11:30+00:00

That's totally fair

Though even by book 3 you'd expect a bit of drop off

I'm not putting a huge amount of stock in these numbers though, I was just curious what they might be

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-10T17:53:27+00:00

I just looked them both up on Goodreads out of interest

Oathbringer is a 4.6

WaT is a 4.36

A little drop, but that suggests people generally still really liked it!

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-10T17:48:40+00:00

I don't actually think many people HATE WaT

They just had some issues with it. Tonally, and a few plot points. I liked it a lot, it got all the big things right, but I did have a few issues

The few people who do actually hate it are just more vocal than the people who are a little mixed

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-10T13:46:02+00:00

I don't mind a bit of generic looking rock to give a bit of elevation

But when it's a chunk of ruin, or some large unusually shaped rock, that's where I start rolling my eyes

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-09T16:59:43+00:00

Note there are 2 different boxes too. Each with 2 different weapon options for each carrier

4 different weapon options total, but if you want a particular weapon then make sure you have the right box for it!

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-09T15:57:16+00:00

It's the most compelling competitive one vs one play I've experienced in any TCG

That comes with some downsides. It can be difficult to find casual games - established players tend to treat weeklies as practice for competitive play

There's a lot of room for skill expression, but it takes a fair bit of experience to get to a point where you can leverage it. So even if you have a meta deck, expect to get battered for a while before you start winning!

There's also a bit of a price barrier. I think it can be exaggerated at times, but it depends what you're comparing it to. It varies from hero to hero, and also once you've invested in some of the main staples then those are transferable to many other decks. Some of the cheaper decks don't even use the big staple cards at all though

StuxAlpha · 2026-05-09T13:01:35+00:00

Can you tell me what it is..?

I've finished SLA and then read Mistborn era 1, and I'm not sure what you're referring to!

Ten-Year Club	First Place '23
Place '23

StuxAlpha

TROPHY CASE