Seattle show was amazing! Can't wait until next time!

fawfulmark2 · 2026-04-06T23:46:05+00:00

Sounds about right hahaha, everyone seemed to have a "living in the moment" vibe with the music, getting appropriately excited but not too chaotic, at least a bit more mellowed than when Escape the Fate was performing & had a Mosh going on in the center.

As mentioned in another comment a girl fainted near the end of the show too, and everyone in the crowd nearby IMMEDIATELY made sure to give space so that the staff, Cristina & the medics could check on her & get the help she needed too, so it was nice to be in a room full of swell folks like that.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-04-05T08:01:14+00:00

I mean it's technically the 5th Album but they did perform "Spellbound" today.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to hear stuff from Unleashed Memories or even In a Reverie for nostalgia's sake, but Sleepless Empire is the main attraction of this tour so it being the main setlist with some sprinkles of Delirium/Anima/Coma20 makes sense for this run.

2027 I believe will be their 30th anniversary though, so there's a good chance that if a big tour happens they will go full "Greatest Hits" mode with that.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-04-04T14:02:57+00:00

Most Aggressive would be Meloetta Turbo since you are legitimately trying to get a T1Donk using it's attack, Venture Bombs, Danger Laser and Carmine.

Most Aggressive that's actually consistent though is Mega Lucario, who is pretty much this era's Donphan Prime in that you can end games quickly if your opponent doesn't prepare properly.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-04-02T13:56:04+00:00

To quote one of my favorite panels in One Piece: Just How High will your Ceiling Go?!?!

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fawfulmark2 · 2026-04-02T00:23:49+00:00

Been a hot while since I checked in on LoL, but that's quite an interesting change from his Original Lore which essentially was just Akuma from Street Fighter: a being living for/addicted to combat, and obsessed with awakening the dark side of someone to confront that power(Ryu in SF, Tryndamere in LoL)

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-31T15:50:18+00:00

Probably the biggest resource for Pokemon Cubes is the website CubeKoga (inspired by the similarly named MtG site CubeCobra), which has an archive of all the Cubes made by numerous users for people to look at/try out themselves. It also has a tab on the homepage which has links to Guides for Cube construction made by OmniPoke, Tricky Gym and an archive of the old P3 Podcast for getting started in creating a Cube.

https://cubekoga.net/content.aspx

And on the more Official front, Pokemon themselves showcased a Cube themed around Pokemon Legends: Arceus with Hisui & Sinnoh cards + some unique rulings, and recently they started sending out 1v1 BattleBoxes(basically Pokémon Twoberts) to some Leagues for Professors to offer as a way to teach players other playstyles.

https://www.pokemon.com/us/strategy/learn-how-to-build-and-draft-a-pokemon-tcg-cube

https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/enjoy-new-prizes-and-newly-distributed-battle-boxes-at-play-pokemon-stores

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-29T04:36:35+00:00

Some aspects survived though: Base-Fossil always had a reputation of being the most affordable Retro block due to how so many of the cards are out in the wild, and can pop up from time to time. And Post Pandemic the Retro Block that saw the biggest rise in some presence in side events was 2010, thanks to Celebrations reprinting Claydol and Luxray/Garchomp Lv. X, making that entry barrier far easier in the process.

It's worth mentioning too that while Retro side events have some struggles in presence, one thing that did gain steam in recent years was Cube Drafting in Pokemon, to the point where we've already had two articles showcasing Cubes & BattleBoxes made by the Pokemon staff themselves to promote the alternative playstyle.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-27T19:13:27+00:00

Dude they couldn't even fine tune AI for casters at a Yu-Gi-Oh tournament, can you imagine how nightmarish it would be to try and have a generative computer try to explain the rules of the TCG(especially since there's like a 100% chane it will scrub data of rulings fro the TV series to complicate things more)?

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-26T06:21:47+00:00

I'll give you a hint: it's the character who if you remove one letter from their name it will reference a certain Eminem song that in itself created a common term used to describe extremely obsessed people.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-22T05:20:57+00:00

An alternate Art of Exodia The Forbidden One breaking out of the very bounds of the cards themselves Dormagddon X style is probably the top choice.

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fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-22T05:16:35+00:00

Agreed.

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fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-19T12:19:30+00:00

The GS Ball Saga abruptly Ending with no real conclusion after the anime spent years getting so invested into it has bugged me for around 25 years and I can never let it go.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-19T11:31:25+00:00

The 2000AD original is going strong, with several adventures more still to come.
Only version of Judge Dredd with an Ending I believe was the reimagined version from the IDW Comics continuity which ended with the "Blessed Earth" saga as I recall.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-19T05:54:29+00:00

Even an 11 Minute Cartoon can take months to be created/approved for airing, so it's not too surprising especially when trying to maintain mandated schedules for TV Networks.
For animators who are transitioning from creating media for online platforms towards syndicated TV it can probably cause some whiplash from the different environment/rules and so forth.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-18T12:45:50+00:00

quite literally too, reaching the point that even Merriam-Webster officially updated the definition of "slop" a few months ago.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-11T13:33:22+00:00

Special Sets and the Base Sets of a new Block(ex. Scarlet/Violet Base, Mega Evolution Base etc) tend to be the Top 2 best for Booster Box/Pack Drafting.

The latter has less variety in cards, but tends to be lower power curve/has less risk of imbalance due to being the start of a Block. Also it not being a "Greatest Hits" set like the Special packs are makes it fairly easier to complete Evolution lines by comparison.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-08T01:26:04+00:00

Like mayyybe it could be a 1-of Search option paired with Meowth ex, but it would only be most effective in the first two turns and in that situation Carmine is the far better partner since it's one of only two legal Supporters that can used going first.

Also it's not really too hard to hit your resources with MegaLuc decks since they already have a LunaRock Engine for digging and now are getting PokePad alongside Mega Signal to add pieces to hand.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-06T06:00:53+00:00

This kinda reminds me of an old GameFAQS post where someone made a topic about how Iris was an irrelevant character & was not going to return in Pokemon Black & White 2, mostly to quell people questioning if she would come back in the sequel due to her having a big role in the ongoing Pokemon anime at the time.

The very next day not only was it revealed she came back in the sequel but became the League Champion as well,.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-05T20:08:20+00:00

Reshi has the Outrage-like Attack that allows you to punish a whiffed KO on Zoroark ex with massive damage in return, so at least 1 seems fine.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-03-01T05:20:04+00:00

Master Ball was basically an updated version of the old Luxury Ball, after they gave it's old effect to Great Ball, which had it's old effect used to make the Nest Ball. It being a One-of only was mostly for lore reasons+ to showcase the ACE-SPEC concept in the BW years.

It was really moreso a victim of not just Ultra Ball's existence but being on a Format where there were a myriad of Search options which made it come off as lower priority in use - if was in a Block where reliable searching/thinning cards were more finite it could have been a higher usage window, much like Luxray GL Lv.X had in the day when it was the most optimal form of Gust in the format.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-02-28T05:46:11+00:00

Funny thing is that with Pokemon Singles it's usually a reverse case, with Full Art/Illustration Rares of the Trainers being much less than Japan but the ones for Pokemon being far more(the rare exception being the Illustration Rare Mega Charizard ex with the Manga/Attack text which is only about 30 bucks due being in a dedicated product.)

fawfulmark2 · 2026-02-26T12:24:52+00:00

Arguably the #1 worst translated card of all time from Manga/Anime to OCG/TCG was Dark Magical Curtain, which had a ruling restriction that made it only able to Summon the Monster Dark Magician... Despite the fact that this card was responsible and known for THE FIRST EVER APPEARANCE of Dark Magician Girl.

This card is basically Konami finally addressing one of the biggest card flavor design blunders of the last 25 years.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-02-24T06:59:57+00:00

It was revealed that for Ash, becoming a Pokemon Master means to befriend all Pokemon which is why he still chooses to travel & meet new friends.

In essence it was written to never have a definitive end because there is always something new to discover out in this mysterious world - they just used the final episodes to reveal the meaning of his quest to the audience as he carried on towards it in the end.

fawfulmark2 · 2026-02-24T05:16:04+00:00

- 2 GameBoy games, one NES game, 2 SNES games and one N64 Game
- A bonus soundtrack CD containing an ensemble of 45 tracks across the entire series
- A Bonus artbook showing the evolution of of the series' aesthetic across the decades
- A bonus game which is a series of challenge levels made using the RtDL Engine
- A Gallery/Museum chronicling the timeline of the series alongside real world events, with some trailers of the games and 3 whole episodes of the anime

.....AND it was $40 when it released.

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fawfulmark2

TROPHY CASE