Lurker > SydnieStarlight

Well, this is certainly a list! For me...

-Chaos Ruler ban means my beloved PUNKash Witch, which I slaved over and barely actually used, is just dead. It genuinely can't do its core play without the mill 9. I don't like it!

-Fenrir and Birth deals a pretty rough blow to Kash splash in general, which makes me feel kinda dumb for going after it so late. I don't like it!

-The extra blows to generic draw power doesn't make me feel too good, but I also usually don't play anything that can take advantage of it anyway, so I guess it's not the worst. I'm neutral!

-On the other hand, hits to Boarder and floodgates will always make me happy. I like it!

-Also not too upset about the Purrely and Wyverbuster hits, although I'm not sure how much the former will be affected. Still, I like it!

-And finally, as if Swordsoul needed an easier time getting to free Baronne. I dislike Swordsoul for pretty much the same reason I dislike floodgates: if you're gonna build an unbreakable board, you should at least have to work for it. Swordsoul is too simple and quick for how much power it outputs, and a big part of that is Longyuan being a free Baronne. I don't like it!

-As for everything else, I'm not experienced enough with any of it to comment. I have a friend who lives and dies by Speedroid, so he's gonna love this. And the Dragon Rulers...if nothing else, I guess I'm curious to see the hype.

Overall, I guess I don't actually like this list very much, which is a weird thing to say about a list that guts floodgates. My biggest gripe is definitely the death of my first genuinely original deck idea (even if the PUNKash element is borrowed). I think this is the first time a deck I've used has become legitimately unplayable due to a ban in MD. I'll have to spend as much time as I can with it before the list hits. Well, the good news is, I'm gonna get a bunch of extra UR points from two Chaos Rulers and a Fenrir~

Calwings posted...

I've heard that was a pretty good Spright variant for a while, though it's not one I ever tried. I'd guess that Bystials coming into the game really hurt that variant in particular though, and I could see a lot of people playing Bystials in this format to deal with Mathmech.

The funny thing is, I don't think I've ever run into Bystials with it. I did briefly try out Ghost Belle specifically for protection against Bystials and Called By, but it came up so rarely that I kinda just stopped bothering. Of course, all things considered, I'm pretty casual, so maybe I'm just not ranked high enough to run into the really nasty stuff~

I'm leaning on my trusty Live Twin Spright, which has been my mainstay since Sprights were introduced. Well, it's not really fair to phrase it like that, because it's more accurate to say that Live Twins have been my mainstay since I started playing and Sprights gave them a new competitive edge~

I don't go very hard in the cup, though. Sweating too much about it gets really stressful. My policy now is to just do enough duels to clear the missions and wherever I land, that's what I live with. Of course, I only first adopted this policy in the last cup and ended at DLV 19, so still pretty sweaty anyway~

Tennousu posted...

From Osiris bundle

Shit pulls as usual.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2e535d2a.jpg

Whoa. Seeing Chimeratech Overdragon, Injection Fairy Lily, and Dark Armed Dragon all in a row like that really is a blast from the past. I remember eras where each of those were counted among the best cards in the game!

...on the subject of the bundle, mine notably got me glossy Cartesia, which is pretty crazy because I was just thinking last night that I should try to get a set of her. Good thing I didn't pull the trigger on crafting~

Tyranthraxus posted...

I assume Kevin's team is the one that goes into the final battle?

No, it's whatever team you put Anelace on.

...yes, you assume correctly!

EDIT: Although, if we're being totally honest about the final battle...well. Let's just say you wanna make sure all four teams are competent in their own right~

Oh, you're at *that* part!

This is a slight spoiler but an important word of warning: you aren't gonna get another chance to adjust your party. Whatever arrangement you pick now, that's what you're stuck with for the rest of the game. So, y'know, make sure you're really satisfied with your parties. You don't wanna end up the same way I did, accidentally taking frickin' Zin and Josette into the final battle~

Whenever I encounter opponents who surrender as soon as they see a Drytron card or Benten, I wish I could tell them: No, it's okay, I'm not running the cancerous Herald version, I can't afford that.

...so instead, I'm running the cancerous Amorphactor turn skip version! :)

Hey, this is exactly the kind of topic I should be posting in!

We have a stray that we're kinda trying to make ours, because we got tired of getting attached to neighborhood strays only for them to suddenly die or disappear. This one in particular is pretty spooky, though. We're thinking he's probably always been feral. Our big roadblock right now is trying to get him to come inside without forcing him. He seems curious, but we can't usually get him more than a couple feet in the door before he turns and runs back out. Got any tips for helping him warm up to being inside?

Yeah, that's one thing I found interesting about 3rd, a huge amount of the game is locked behind the optional doors, but it's all stuff that tells you more about the world and characters rather than advancing the plot. It's all absolutely worth it, though, you get some powerful stuff. I think the best ones are the one for aforementioned late game spoiler and the one starring a certain romantic~

Spoilery comment ahead, maybe avoid until you finish it: Actually, I went into the game worrying it was just gonna kinda be a Trails in the Sky fanservice game. And I think that assessment was partially accurate, it was definitely great fanservice if you love TitS. But it did it in a really compelling and natural way that gave a ton of bonus insight into the world and the lives of the characters living in it.

I think I've just about distilled my own personal recipe, which I've dubbed "PUNKash Witch", to its most theoretically competitive form. As the name implies, it's a P.U.N.K./Kashtira/Witchcrafter hybrid that intends to use the P.U.N.K. mill 9 combo to facilitate Witchcrafter plays, with a splash of Kash as one does in the current meta. Is it good? I don't think so. Is it cheap? Haha, no. But is it frickin' rad? Hell yeah, motherfucker. I can share the deck if anyone wants to see it~

Tyranthraxus posted...

Kevin just gacha summoned Tita lmfao

Wow, lucky, getting the best pull in the game literally on his first summon!

No, as much as I'd love to, I can't afford that.

...what do you mean, the money is for me? That wouldn't make any sense, there would be no reason for any sane person to turn that down!

On the one hand, I would call it wrong to discourage voting as a matter of principle.

On the other hand, the republican party stands on a foundation of literally destroying all life in order to briefly enrich the already richest and make bigots of all stripes feel good, so any effort to undermine it is morally and logically sound.

So I guess, like, it's evil, but it's a necessary - or, rather, vitally important - evil.

"Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai", or "The World God Only Knows"

Premise: Dating sim supreme master and adamant reality rejecter Keima Katsuragi accidentally forms a demonic contract to woo ~real girls~ in order to save them from possession by evil spirits. Hilarity ensues~

This is my very favorite anime, and spurred a years-long binge through literally hundreds of new series. Actually, if you erased my memories of this series and made me watch it for the first time again, I probably wouldn't care for it. But it's got lots of cute girls, and Keima's determination to reject reality and live in the gaming world leads to amusing antics~

I think this is the first time I've seen one of these topics and didn't get a "deer in the headlights" moment where I couldn't think of any. Sonic, of course~

The only proper way to play is to use Tita in every instance she's available~

Very detailed, thanks! Actually, yeah, one of the things that almost sold me on P.U.N.K. previously was that it was the most viable deck I could find that could use Instant Contact for free material. That's a neat little trick I've been itching to take advantage of~

Okay, so now that I gave PUNKash Witch a fair try (spoilers: it sucked, in exactly the way I expected it to suck), time to take things seriously!

So I currently have every Kashtira card except Wraitsoth, but I plan (hope) to get that while I keep pulling for Thrusts, so I'm not gonna bother crafting it. In the meantime, I guess I'll try something that uses Kash but doesn't really need or want the field spell.

I saw some discussion in the previous topic about P.U.N.K. with Kashtira, but I didn't really follow the conversation or anything. What's a good approach to PUNKash (without the Witch)? Same basic game plan as pure P.U.N.K. but also run max Fenrir, Unicorn, and 2-3 Birth? I mostly ask because I've been really interested in P.U.N.K. since it released, but never put any serious effort into actually trying it out.

Disregarding the ones I'm not familiar with due to not having played past Ultra Moon, my top five would probably be Haunter, Decidueye, Chandelure, Lunala, and Alolawak, in no particular order~

Huh...y'know, I feel like I remember thinking once before that S/M really introduced a lot of cool Ghost-types~

I create a product intended to cause its user to hallucinate vividly, which, when done properly, strongly compels them to specifically seek my product again in the future.

I'd teach her wrong on purpose so she humiliates herself at events~

legendarylemur posted...

As long as Chaos Ruler is still in the game, PUNKs will always be a viable mill solution for graveyard decks. I don't think anybody thought to use it on Witchcrafters but I don't see why it wouldn't work

The main thing making me feel like this is just a meme is that I need some very specific draws/mills to use both the P.U.N.K. stuff and the Witchcrafter stuff in the same turn. If I don't open with E-Teleport or Unveiling and Schmietta, I have to choose which set to use my normal summon on. I could hope to mill Madame Verre or Schmietta with Holiday in hand, but that's kind of a long shot. And of course, whatever the case, it hinges on opening with at least two specific cards out of my deck. And none of this is even getting into what I may or may not be able to do with Kash plays.

I'm gonna try it out today anyway, see if it actually does anything, but I'm not getting my hopes up. It just made me giggle that I could call it "PUNKash Witch"~

I'm posting in this topic for the first time because I deserve some recognition for this stroke of genius.

I built a deck that uses the Chaos Ruler -> Zombie Vampire P.U.N.K. combo for mills to facilitate a small amount of Witchcrafter stuff. Then I rounded it out with some Kashtira, as one does in the current format.

I call it PUNKash Witch~

(No, I don't think it works, but I haven't even used it yet. I built the deck just so I could make that joke~)

((You better not tell me someone in this topic beat me to it. If you do, I'm gonna cry.))

Those chewy peanut butter things that come in the orange and black wrappers. I think I've seen them on "top 10 worst Halloween candy" lists, but I'd take 'em over literally any other candy!

idontknowwhatiexpected.gif

Preface: I'm posting this here because this is the largest and most eclectic community I'm even remotely part of (it's okay to laugh) and I don't think I need to worry about accidentally spoiling the wrong people~

So, I'm planning to write a fanfic (you...you don't need to laugh that much) with a protagonist who's an aspiring singer but discovers the hard way that she can't carry a tune to save her life. However, she realizes she has a decent sense of rhythm, and that her true calling is rap.

Now, of course, I take my Pokemon fan fiction written on a dying video game website to an audience of maybe half a dozen very seriously. So I want to make this as authentic as I can, which will entail eventually writing some actual rap. But I don't have very much personal experience with the genre, so I'm worried I won't be able to write convincing lyrics.

Which brings us to this topic! Any tips for someone who wants to write passable rap lyrics with no rap background? I'm not asking for extensive research or in-depth essays or anything, just some general rules and conventions to keep in mind. I just wanna make sure it'll be at least somewhat believable when the protagonist earns a reputation as a good rapper.

Thanks in advance for any advice~

Kircheis posted...

Haven't played it myself yet and it's still in early access, but I've heard that Your Turn To Die is worth checking out.

I second this one. The tone and style feels much more like Zero Escape, but the "main game" segments are basically class trials. It was worth the time I put into it, and I'm looking forward to the rest of it~

Did I ever! I definitely have some clear memories of this game! I was dead certain that Heck roadblocked me as a kid, there was always just one part that I could never figure out where to go from there. But when I watched a playthrough of it on Youtube recently, I definitely recognized the levels after it, so I have no idea what's going on anymore.

One other thing I was dead certain of as a kid was that it was pronounced "pissy crow", which is still pretty apt~

16: Junko
15: Hifumi
14: Leon
13: Celestia
12: Byakuya
11: Sayaka
10: Taka
9: Mondo
8: Kyoko
7: Mukuro
6: Makoto
5: Toko
4: Hiro
3: Sakura
2: Hina
1: Chihiro

Full disclosure, Toko and Mukuro in particular got huge boosts from UDG and If respectively. I probably wouldn't rate either of them in even the top half going on DR1 alone~

Oh, are we sharing our DR cast rankings?! I've always wanted to participate in this! Ahem...

16: Teruteru
15: Nagito
14: Hiyoko
13: Peko
12: Akane
11: Hajime
10: Gundham
9: Mahiru
8: Nekomaru
7: Fuyuhiko
6: "Byakuya"
5: Kazuichi
4: Sonia
3: Chiaki
2: Ibuki
1: Mikan

The Suikoden V protagonist~

Yeah, the anime gets a lot of flak, and I won't say it's undeserved, but if you wanna see the DR story through to the end, you do kinda need it. There's the DR1 anime, which is literally just the first game but in anime form (so you can skip it if you want), and then DR3, which is the conclusion.

Just a note, DR3 is split into two separate arcs, Despair and Future, and it seems like the intended way to watch it is to alternate episodes. (So one episode from Future, one from Despair, etc.) I initially watched them separately (all of Despair, then all of Future), and then alternated on rewatches. Alternating lets you see some interesting parallels between the two arcs, but their respective stories are probably easier to follow if you binge Despair, then Future. Just...keep your expectations low.

...but before you do all that, I highly recommend Ultra Despair Girls. I do think the flak it receives is undeserved. It's totally different gameplay, but still interesting in its own right, and a look at another side of the DR universe. It's not strictly necessary, but it does answer some questions left behind by the first two games, and it gets a whole episode in the anime that you appreciate better after playing it~

UnfairRepresent posted...

Then make a new topic.

Otherwise you're just hot air

Oh! You're just messing around, okay! Yeah, the irony of starting with "I'm not gonna give the reasons you're wrong, but you totally are, just trust me", then following up with calling anyone else "just hot air", okay, that's pretty funny! Good bit~

UnfairRepresent posted...

That's why I stopped.

There's no way to point out how wrong you are without spoiling the games for TC

But man you couldn't be more wrong

Hey, now, you know how this works. You can't just say something like that and then not back it up. You'll tank your credibility!

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I did! Post #25 was the last post when I started working on my response! Guess I should've quoted after all~

Eh, I disagree. And since I think taking that discussion any further will turn into a spoiler fest for both games, I'm gonna spoiler tag my post for TC's sake~

From what we've seen of Deltarune so far, any connection to Undertale is just a fun reference for those who've played Undertale. It's mostly the same characters, but with different backgrounds and roles. If you've played Undertale, then, for example, the estrangement between Toriel and Asgore is a cute nod. But even if you haven't, it's still its own perfectly coherent backstory for those two.

And when it comes to more substantial stuff, the two universes seem to be, so far, completely separate. Deltarune is its own universe with its own lore and rules, separate from Undertale's. For the moment, any connection between the two is basically speculation. I mean, I don't think it's impossible that they'll end up being more deeply entwined than they currently appear. It's just, well, that's the thing. They don't currently appear to be deeply entwined.

All that to say, I don't agree with the notion that it's necessary to have played Undertale in order to grasp Deltarune. You'll miss some references, notably the differences in the lives of the characters, but nothing fundamental to understanding the game. If anything, I feel like playing Deltarune first could be a good way to sell Undertale, by getting the player interested in seeing how things are different in the first game.

It's pretty decent! Kinda cute and goofy, nice music, novel gameplay that ties into the plot. It was worth the few bucks + hours I spent on it~

But if you're unsure, you could try Deltarune instead. The first couple chapters are free, and it's basically the same kind of thing Undertale is but more. It's kind of a...sidequel? A lot of the same characters, but a different universe and - so far - the two plots are unrelated. It's full of references if you have played Undertale, but it has its own story, and doesn't spoil anything I know of about Undertale's~

cjsdowg posted...

Good for you please show us.

Ah, well, if you're gonna twist my arm about it~

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/4/5/AAfHWBAAE9E5.jpg

EDIT: I have no idea why it's that big!

This might be a little spoilery, and I might even be too late, buuut...

After the fifth trial, I highly recommend going around checking out everyone's cabins (as in, interacting with the doors). There's a little detail that really left an impression on me when I saw it~

I finished an update on my VR avatar last week. I can share a pic if anyone wants to see it! But I don't think anyone will. I know it's a pretty small and meaningless thing. I don't even use it for anything except my profile pic on Discord. But it's the best way I have to express myself right now, so I like to fiddle with it now and again, and I sometimes get results I'm really proud of~

I see a lot of people call 2-3 the worst trial not just in the game but in the entire series, and I just don't get it. For me, it's probably the most memorable one of all, in a good way. I do think the despair disease was kind of weak as a motive, and the lack of focus on Hiyoko as a victim definitely hurt as well.

But I think it does a really good job at raising the stakes and instilling that ever-important feeling of despair. The group separation really makes it feel like the hospital group is truly isolated, the apparent suicide video is super chilling, the choice of victims and murderer is heart-wrenching, and the reveal of what exactly happened leaves some major questions you don't feel like you want the answers to.

My opinion is probably colored a bit by the fact that Mikan and Hiyoko were my most and least favorite character respectively. So it really threw me off to see the latter get killed off right when she was starting to improve while the former did it without even having a real reason. Like, you wouldn't be surprised if Mikan finally snapped and killed Hiyoko as a result of all the bullying...so it was a surprise that, not only was the bullying not a factor at all, Hiyoko wasn't even intended to be a victim.

...uh, whoops, I'm rambling a bit! The point is, I feel like it's a lot better than people give it credit for because it does a better job than any other case at what these murders are "supposed" to do: make you feel despair.

I dunno if I ever played it at its peak, but TERA remains my number one MMO. I played it off and on for most of its existence, even when all I had was a janky laptop that shouldn't have been able to run it. It's also where you could say I found myself~

I was really sad to hear it was getting shut down, and I kinda regret not going back to spend its last few months with it. I'm gonna miss that game...

I also have a lot of really fond memories of Ragnarok and Aura Kingdom. RO was my first MMO experience, and in AK, I was part of probably the best guild I've ever been in. Unfortunately, my laptop decided to stop being able to play it all of a sudden one day, and by the time I was able to get back in, the guild seemed to have totally died...

...uh, wow, my MMO experiences are sadder than I thought!

Step aside, rat king, the rat emperor has arrived!

Well, it isn't what I was afraid it was gonna be, so I'd say it deserves 10/10 on that alone~

Against my better judgment, I'll take the topic seriously and say "theoretically infinite". Gender is more or less basically just a way to conceptualize individual identity and give it a clear label, so there can be as many genders as humanity collectively wants there to be. The number of genders that are acknowledged and accepted, however, is largely dependent on society. For example, in conservative fantasy world, sex and gender are the same thing, so there must only be two and also they're decided at birth. Of course, they're having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that more people are realizing this isn't actually how it works~

Don't think you're being slick with that "ethnicity" comparison, by the way. Skin color is exactly as much of a determinant of someone's identity as genitalia: only insofar as society forces it to be~

Other - Someone being super into a fictional world wouldn't be a dealbreaker for me. I mean, it's not like I could judge on that anyway. But someone who's that into Harry Potter specifically runs a high chance of holding its author - and her views - in high regard as well, which means they would probably be a genuine threat to my well-being. At the very least, it's enough of a concern that I couldn't take that risk.

But other works of fiction are still fine. I knew a girl in college who was like this with Sonic the Hedgehog. Almost every time I ever talked to her, the topic turned to Sonic. Still had a heck of a crush on her anyway~

This seems like a fun topic! I'm interested to see what you come up with for someone you definitely don't know~

I thought about posting this in the last topic, but couldn't bring myself to do it because I knew how it would come across. I don't think there's any good way to phrase what I want to say. But when you posted that picture, my first thought was, "That doesn't look like someone who's ready to die".

I think that really speaks to the grace and strength she had. Even though she was suffering that badly, even though she was knowingly that close to her final moments, she was still able to smile and laugh. Or maybe you have the right of it here, she could smile like that because all her pain was almost over. You'd know better than me, anyway.

Your story has been, admittedly, a source of morbid curiosity and sympathy for me. I've gotten emotional just reading bits and pieces here and there, and I'm a complete stranger. I couldn't begin to understand the depth of emotion you're going through. I definitely think you've done an absolutely incredible job carrying on. You've been way more functional than I ever would've been, were I in your position. There's no question she'd be proud of you.

I'll keep following this topic, because I'm eager to hear what kind of happiness awaits you beyond this. A different happiness, a new chapter in your life, not a replacement to fill some kind of void. Because what she left wasn't a void, not really. As cheesy as it is to say, even if she isn't around anymore, she'll always exist in your heart. But, then, I guess you don't need someone else to tell you that, do you?