NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2011

January's X610Z Newsletter

Dear Members,

First of all, the X610Z-Team wishes you all the best for 2011. This year, we have a lot of good stuff in store for you: the start of Organized Play, special events, Act III: “Soulrage”, introduction of Quest Cards, X610Z The Board Game, and much, much more!!!

Golden Game Moment Contest

We are hitting off this year with the Golden Game Moment Contest! Post your most amazing, crazy, funny or extravagant game moment on the forums and you might be the lucky winner of a free Booster Box (36 Booster Packs)! The runner-up gets 18 boosters, and if you end third you get 9 boosters. The winners will be informed by email. There will also be an announcement in February's Newsletter and on the website.

This is where you can post your Golden Game Moment:

http://www.x610z.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=67

There is also an alternative prize for a contestant that will randomly be selected: An “Ancient Amulet”! (V1.2)

So...pick up your pen or keyboard and get your show on the road!

Sneak Peek ACT III: “Soul Rage”

Hi all, my name is Niels, and I am part of the Test Team. In this column I will tell you some more about the upcoming set.

As you might know, we are right in the middle of the test phase of Act III: “Soul Rage”. And I can tell you, Act III is gonna be SO sweet! At the moment, we can't show you any cards, yet. But what I can do, is tell you what kind of new stuff you can expect with the coming of ACT III.

Soul Rage is mainly about spirits: Legendary Vikings and Ancient Chinese Heroes are making their return due to the opening of the portal connected to The Kingdom of the Dead. These fearless warlords will roam the world once again! Some as spirits, some alive...

Like the previous set, ACT III also entails a new energy source called “Halos Crystal”. Halos is ancient Greek for salt, “the crystal of life”

Using this new energy source (and ofcourse the old ones,) you will be able to cast Summon Spirit Cards; a new card type. These Summon Spirits will work almost the same as Summon Effect Cards, but will have their own defense (Shields which absorb both magical and fysical damage). When a Summon has a Summon Spirit attached to it, the damage is first dealt to the Summon Spirit. Further, Summon Spirits can be seperately activated, just like permanent Effect Cards. This means that when you activate a Summon Spirit attached to a Summon, the carrying Summon won’t be activated. (Unless it explicitly states otherwise).

Also a new thing you will see is that some Summons are missing one or more Basic Stats. For example: there will be Summons with only Defense and Speed. These missing stats cannot be gained by cards like Super Scope in the case range is missing. So why would you play Summons like this? One of the reasons is that they have really powerful abilities, like for example “blockrate”. Blockrate is one of the new abilities you can expect in ACT III. To give you a short explanation about this new ability lets have look at a game situation:

Player 1 wants to attack Player 2’s Life Base with his Hunter Dragon. The Hunter Dragon is standing at 5 dots range of it. Normally this means that the Hunter Dragon needs to have Range 5 to be able to declare the attack. But in between them there's a Summon with Blockrate 1. Because of the blockrate, the range needed to declare the attack on Player 2's Life Base is increased by 1. If Player 1 can't increase his range, the attack cannot be decared.

Blockrate doesn't only affect range, it works exactly the same for speed when Summons want to move over it.

Well, that's all I can tell you for now guys. I hope to see you next time when I will be able to show you more about ACT III: Soul Rage. (Hopefully some card previews?)

Niels

=Bassiuz' Crazy Combos!=

Hi guys, I am Bas de Vaan, also known as Bassiuz, and I'm the Head Crash Test Dummy of the development team, and also the very first beta-tester of X610Z. My task is to make sure the combos aren't too insane, and the cards stay balanced and fun. In this column I will discuss some combo's that are very playable.

In this column I will discuss combo's that are very playable in their own way; some extremely effective, some very funny, but all very satisfying if you manage to execute them. When making combos I check if the casting costs fit in 1 deck, and if they aren't too energy heavy. The first combo I want to share with you is a destructive finishing combo.

 

Hardened Battle Gear & Scrap Metal

This is a combo that is very state-dependant, but certainly not impossible. Let's assume you have a Hardened Battle Gear in play and your opponent attacks with his Life Base on whatever summon on the board. If you activate your Hardened Battle Gear to boost the attack power of your opponent's Life Base, it'll deal some extra damage, but it will be destroyed at the end of combat! As you know, if a Life Base is destroyed, it's game over. But not many players will attack with their Life Base, if one of their opponents has a Hardened Battle Gear in play. That's where Scrap Metal comes in.

Make sure you have a Hardened Battle Gear in your discard pile, and in response to the attack of the opponent's Life Base, you play Scrap Metal to return the Hardened Battle Gear to play, and activate it to kill your opponent! Your opponent will probably not see that coming! Unless ofcourse he has also read this article :-P

I also like combos with cards that are very versatile. One of those combos is:

No Mercy + Element Shift

 

No Mercy is a good card on its own, but combined with Element Shift, it kills all your opponent's Non Life Base Summons (Life Bases don't have and can never get an element). It has a total cost of 5, so it's a bit costy, but it's cheaper than a 'boosted' Bullseye and easier to play in a Robiumm deck. The disadvantage of having to use 2 cards to do something 1 card can do, is sometimes a bit lame. But since both No Mercy and Element Shift are also very effective with other cards, they are also very playable when not used as a combo. For example, you can play Element Shift with Tsunami to boost your Marching Army, or you can play it in a Fire Element deck, to save your summons from an opponent's No Mercy.

Well, that were the tricks I had up my sleeve for January's 'Crazy Combo's'! Tally ho!

Bassiuz