sclpls

I think the power-up I like the most is the one that refills your energy meter every time you get a gem. Getting youth early on is also huge. And because I'm bad at the game the 4 health bonus is obviously huge as well.

Awesome!

You can always watch replays too, unless I'm mistaken I believe you'll be able to watch in the client even if you don't have the compendium. I'm sure people will have opinions about what matches are worth watching. They announced all the casters and analysts for the Frankfurt Majors today and... not a single woman on the list! They usually have Sheever on the analyst panel as a token. I know e-sports in general has a problem with women being represented in the scene, but this feels unusually bad.

Congrats!

I liked Andrew's point at the end of the League World Finals segment about the unflashy things veterans bring to the table that the casual fans don't always appreciate. You see the results of these kinds of superficial takes (not that I have a super sophisticated mind for e-sports or anything, just to be clear) on reddit all the time, where the team/player that just won the match is the best in the world, and whoever lost is garbage. But there's a reason certain veterans are so celebrated by other players, and it has to do with that quality where you are bringing out the best qualities in other people you play with. But that sort of stuff isn't at all easy to recognize by just watching a match, and so some of the best aspects of a player often get overlooked.

When do we get to vote on future episode topics? Because there is a new Julian Gollop game out, and I think that deserves coverage!

Hmm that's an interesting point. I guess I should try some of the other styles.

Vivid has been my favorite as well. Kinda feels like an improved version of the original which was my favorite for awhile. I finally made it to world 4 this weekend! It was a nice wtf moment. I am starting to get to world 3 regularly now so I am definitely getting better at this game. Like Spelunky though I have the occasional run where I die at 1-1 or 1-2.

This thread is making me feel better about my max combo only being 25. Clearly the rest of you are just inefficient, show off-y jerks!

You won't regret it, and having this on your iPad during a long flight is glorious.

Although I'm not really a Hearthstone fan (couldn't get into it when I tried to play it) I think I totally get the appeal of watching a competitive card game. In a lot of ways, I think played at the highest level a card game is just as satisfying to watch as a perfectly executed teamfight in DOTA or League. It's the "oh shit!" factor when someone drops the perfect, unanticipated ability or card at the right moment to completely turn the tides of the game. That sort of play is always going to be intrinsically exciting to watch I think. It's what makes a board game like Cosmic Encounter so much fun to play, and although I haven't followed competitive Hearthstone at all I think the game has to have a lot of those moments if it is as popular as it is.

I mean, you're all getting my money so it is all good, but being a musician that has wrangled with some tedious editing using Audacity (don't know if that's what you're using but my point stands regardless) I definitely appreciate the behind the scenes work you're putting in. Obviously the logistical planning from Rob, Troy, and co. is important too... I wasn't trying to snub anyone, honest!

Oh right, because feminism is "cultural Marxism" in the lingo of right-wing cranks that read too many conspiracy theories hahaha.

Oh crazy, when I woke up this morning I was literally thinking about how I should have some way to give money to Michael Hermes thinking about how much work he has to put into different podcasts at this point. Glad we're on the same wave length!

yeah the nobby has been my favorite as well.

The triple attack power-up is my least favorite so far. Feels really underwhelming compared to any of the others.

I need to check to confirm but I think the heart balloon gives you +1 HP if you take damage (though you still die if you only have 1HP).

Okay, I had a weird experience with this game. I picked it up on iOS and PC. Played it on iPhone and PC initially. The furthest I reached was 2-2 on both platforms. But then before going to bed I decided to install the game on my iPad there, and I got to the underwater section of the game. But I was able to do that because the game was running at like half the speed on the iPad. Has anyone else played this on iPad and something else?

Thanks!

Bought this on iOS and Steam. Was relieved to see that its the same price for both. $3 a pop is pretty easy to not think twice about. This game is crazy good.

Any good links to Patrick Klepek playing these nightmare Mario levels, or at the very least the gif Sean was referring to?

Technically my original post was about the two teams facing off in the grand finals, so DAC shouldn't count, although yes it is true that EG beat Secret at DAC. Secret got knocked out at DOTA Pit relatively early on. It was an online tournament which placed Secret at a pretty serious disadvantage being a team with players in North America and Europe. I seem to recall it didn't look like they were trying particularly hard in those games. So I don't think DOTA Pit is a good example, but the other two tournaments are fair points to bring up, and that definitely brings the two teams closer to parity. At which point I think it is fair to say at least that Secret beating EG isn't much of a surprise. Anyway watching these teams play against each other is always a pleasure. I thought the trash talk at the beginning of game 4 was pretty funny.

Ahh okay, guess I missed that one. At any rate, Secret certainly have a solid track record of beating EG handily.

I have a slightly different take on the whole situation of what is up with Team Secret. First, it's worth pointing out that every time Secret and EG have faced off against each other in the grand finals the final score has always been 3-1 in Secret's favor. Perhaps I'm forgetting a tournament, but this was true for the Summit 3, ESL One in Frankfurt, and this MLG Tournament. Puppey is such a legendary player it's entirely possible he's kind of gotten into the head of PPD, and so Secret end up with these vastly favorable drafts. Another interesting thing about these two teams is that Secret has struggled against top tier Chinese teams, while EG seems has similar problems when playing against top tier Western teams. This tournament repeated that pattern with EG getting demolished by (monkey) business and Secret, while Secret couldn't figure out how to deal with the aggression from CDEC (at ESL ONE NY they cheesed CDEC with some Brood picks, but CDEC learned their lesson here and managed to get a draft that allowed them to play their game). It is also worth pointing out that yes, this is a completely different Secret lineup besides Puppey. Most of the team consists of Cloud 9 veterans. That was a team that always underperformed because of team dynamic issues, but the talent of the players was never in question. Then there's w33 who, as stated, is another example of a mid pubstar that seems to have what it takes to excel in the pro scene. His performance against Sumail and Miracle in this tournament should definitely cement his place as one of the greatest mid players in the game at the moment. He has received some criticism for having a limited hero pool, but Sumail received the same criticism when he started playing for EG so I wouldn't take that criticism too seriously for now. Anyway, the point is this new Secret lineup seems just as strong, if not stronger, than the old Secret lineup. Less legendary players for sure, but no less capable of winning tournaments. All that being said, I think of all the Western teams I still probably favor Vega Squadron to win the majors. VG will be playing some matches in Singapore next week so I'm looking forward to seeing what they look like because when the post-TI shuffle happened it felt to me like they were the Chinese team that really came out on top, but as far as I know they haven't played any tournaments yet.