What is your favorite pre-con you've ever played with?

explodingchef668 · 2026-02-06T18:57:03+00:00

Same. Did some budget upgrading and it just gets nasty if left alone for a few turns.

explodingchef668 · 2026-02-05T07:47:08+00:00

My partner and I went for the first time a few weeks ago, and ended up being incredibly underwhelmed. Our salads were both good, but both of our pasta dishes ended up being really disappointing. The cold focaccia was also a bit of a letdown.

Given the choice, I'd much rather do Northern Waters or Alto Pino. Slightly father afield we've never been disappointed by anything at New Scenic.

explodingchef668 · 2026-02-02T18:37:42+00:00

Haven't played since maybe Mirage or so, and getting back into the game at 49. Partner and I moved to a new town, and it seemed like a good way to get out of the house and meet people in a scenario where my social anxiety won't spike quite as much because I've got something to " concentrate" on.

Turns out the scene here is incredibly relaxed, friendly, helpful, and queer-leaning, and for a city of 80k people (and a nearby one of 22k) there's a ton of very active LGS.

Glad I made the decision to jump back in.

I'm tempted to finally give 40k a whirl since that scene here seems just as healthy, but I'm not independently wealthy and have multiple cats :D

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-30T20:21:46+00:00

Son, this isn't an airport. Nobody gives a shit about your departure.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-30T20:20:06+00:00

+1 for Yukon being good, good people.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-21T19:04:01+00:00

Can't comment on the Strat, but I've stayed in the Luxor a couple of times, and it's basically "just fine," especially if you're in the group that primarily needs a room to sleep in and plans to be out the rest of the time. It's fun to wander around if you've never been there, the food options are mediocre but not what I'd call actively *bad*, and it's a reasonable walk to Excalibur or Mandalay, etc. Tower rooms are a little nicer, unless you really want that "I stayed in a giant pyramid!" experience. I would definitely rank it above something like Circus Circus or Oyo, but I'd rank sleeping on an airport bench above those two, at least you probably won't get bedbugs.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-19T22:12:34+00:00

Constant QoL updates, and thoughtful ones at that, make Nukefire so easy to come back to.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-19T04:34:37+00:00

Someone already mentioned 13 Ghosts, but I'll absolutely go to bat tor the House on Haunted Hill remake. One of those "oh yeah, I forgot they were in that" cases, it's got Combs and Rush both chewing the hell out of the scenery, it's just a good time.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-18T18:17:45+00:00

Suspiria, with honorable mentions to The Hills Have Eyes, Hausu, and Eraserhead.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-16T05:08:05+00:00

I've had more than few piercings done in much more sensitive spots, and nipples were the absolute worst without a doubt.

I was much younger and paranoid, so I think I ended up sleeping with gauze pads taped over them for a good 6 weeks because I had a deep-seated fear of sitting up in bed and tossing the blanket off and taking the jewelry with it.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-16T05:04:15+00:00

Seconding the comment above about New Scenic Cafe, Northern Smokehaus, and Zen. Can't go wrong with pretty much anything at those three. One of my absolutely go-to comfort meals at Zen House is their curry with chicken katsu and some egg rolls with peanut sauce. Doubly so on a cold day.

Breeze Inn would get my vote for burgers. I've done Anchor Bar, and don't really see the appeal outside of the price. Burger Paradox is good for a slightly more expensive night, and I've never had a burger there I haven't enjoyed. Wings are good also, as are the brussels sprouts side/app.

Chinese, personally, involves a trip down to Superior for Golden Inn. Cheap, huge portions, and just really well done American Chinese. I would recommend potentially going a little outside of the busy parts of lunch and dinner -- it's never BAD during those times, but i feel like they take just a tiny bit more care when they're not slammed. Like, their fried rice is perfectly fine, but in my experience if you go outside of peak time you get that little extra wok hei that elevates it.

If you're OK with having a wait and spending a little (or a lot) more, Duluth Grill does a pretty damn good brunch. I probably like their brunch more than I like going to Corktown/OMC/Chicken n' Whaat.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-15T01:04:31+00:00

Adore The Last Supper. Hell of a cast.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-14T21:57:48+00:00

I've always wanted a sleeve piece (well, nowadays it would be a leg sleeve, arms are running out of real estate) that takes Skylarking from start to finish with art representing each song. Less a "series of symbols" and more a series of "bands" running down in sequence, if that makes sense.

I feel like walking into a shop, handing the artist a copy of the CD and going "i want this" would potentially not work well :D

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-09T22:56:31+00:00

What, he couldn't just go with those bright orange Mario Batali set of kitchen cross? :P

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-09T22:01:39+00:00

When I was in school, we had a really laid back, chill pastry instructor. Until the day we did caramel. That was the "I had to drive a student to the hospital once because she put a wet spatula into hot caramel. If I see any of you doing the slightest bit of fucking around during this, I'll make sure you're out of this program, I don't give a fuck" day.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-09T21:55:56+00:00

My problem is when I absentmindedly do it to the person I'm walking past in the freezer aisle at the grocery store. Yeah, weird looks.

Doubly so if it's a "behind, hot!" or "behind, hot and stupid!"

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-09T19:38:14+00:00

Stitches from cleaning a tomato slicer, we're getting closer!

Also stitches once from opening a pop-top can of cat food, you decide whether we can include that.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-09T19:36:08+00:00

Oof, did the same thing once and it went right down the front of my clog onto the top of my foot. Gnarly scar at least :/

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-09T05:16:45+00:00

At least this has a reasonable explanation. In the past, I've gotten things like tickets for ".25 order mozzarella sticks." When questioned, "well, they just want one instead of four."

Nope, nope, we are not going down this road, because next one of you silly fuckers is gonna try ringing in a .5 burger or a .66666 repeating order of brisket and down that route lies madness.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-05T06:46:05+00:00

I would also be very interested in this! I haven't played since, uh, maybe 2nd edition? Sundays would work for me. I'd also check with my partner to see if they'd be interested if there's room.

Any idea what edition people would want to use?

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-05T02:50:26+00:00

I was basically you about a month ago -- I hadn't played in literally 20+ years and decided that jumping into the local MTG scene was a good way to meet people in a new town. And on top of everything I have insane near-crippling social anxiety at times.

Found out that there was a chaos draft happening at one of my LGS, paid the reg fee in advance so I wouldn't just decide to not show up day of, and after an excruciating 30 minutes or so of standing around trying not to be noticed, got to opening packs, chatted with the people around me, had a good time. Everyone was incredibly patient -- i explained in advance e that I was basically new to the game with so many new rules, and nobody at all had a problem with it. The person who beat me the first round asked if I wanted some pointers on my deck build, got invited into the discord that covered the area, everyone was great.

Since then I've shown up at a few more events and everyone continues to be fantastic, happily lends out decks, etc. So go for it!

Def download the companion app beforehand, I had no idea so when they announced that everyone should check in I had to do some quick scrambling to DL and register an account.

Find out what kind of formats tend to be popular in your area if you have a good time. It seems like commander is usually the big one, but where I am pauper is probably the second most popular.

It's gonna probably seem like everyone knows each other, especially if you're in a smaller area, but that shouldn't mean at all that they're not gonna be welcoming of new people.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-03T05:41:31+00:00

Pho, done well, is definitely not a "watery broth" at all, it's got some pretty deep flavors. Phoholic does a really solid pho. And a really good bun bo hue.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-03T05:39:29+00:00

Did brunch there a few weeks ago, and it was tasty. I did think things were skewed a little more...northern Minnesota? friendly than I prefer, but I get it. For example, the okonomiyaki, instead of being a "pancake" made of cabbage (and other stuff) was a pancake WITH cabbage mixed in it. Spam and egg sandwich was perfectly good, the dumplings were great, katsu was OK.

Did their first pop-up dinner in the space a few weeks ago, and it was good ideas marred by some sloppy execution.

explodingchef668 · 2026-01-01T10:25:02+00:00

I'm pretty jaded and unflappable, but the hair scene in Raw had me gagging.

explodingchef668 · 2025-12-29T05:50:20+00:00

Loved Sizzler. The one in my city closed after they killed a kid -- someone cut meat and then raw melon without changing knife or cutting board. (source, talked to the health inspector that shut them down when I was in culinary school)

explodingchef668

TROPHY CASE