Magic Puzzle Quest (& Marvel Puzzle Quest)

Ooooh, a new Puzzle Quest!  And it's a blend of Magic: The Gathering (ie MTG) and Puzzle Quest! Made by D3 (makers of Marvel Puzzle Quest) & Wizards of the Coast!  What could go wrong?

This was my thought as I dloaded Magic PQ, somewhat concerned that it might affect my addictive daily playing of Marvel PQ.  Well, I now doubt that, despite the fact that I think Magic PQ is a 3-4* game on track to be a 5* game.  But Marvel PQ already is a 4* game, IMO.

The Good:
Lots of Plainswalkers, lots of cards.  Deck building mechanic.  CCG.  Strategic play.  Looks very nice.

The Bad:
10 card decks?!?  Really?  Meh!  Plainswalkers get first weak power at Lvl 2, next at Lvl 14?!?  Tiles in match-3 game look very similar (esp Blue & Black), esp when a 'support tile' is in play.  While art looks great, not much animation here.  Lots of cards, but can be hard to know what's going on, and I haven't found a 'recap' / log button to see what opponent's action was.  And lastly -- this is an F2P game w/2 currencies, and despite getting both just by playing, clearly the emph is on spending real money for premium currency to buy boosters.  (And I won't be spending anything, most likely.)

My Tips/Tricks:
I'm a newb, but I'm a veteran MTG & Marvel PQ player.  I will likely update these as I play more.

1 - Spend your currency well.  I dropped 50 crystals (premium) to add all Planeswalkers (PW's).  Rationale: the game is new, and I can see their costs soon jumping.  Also, when new PW's arrive, I'm sure they will also cost.  And for deck building, you can't play cards that don't share a color w/your PW.  I like Green, but also like 'em all.

2 - Get an early booster or two, but then start saving for the rates.  I didn't want all my cards to be 'standard', but my first 2 boosters didn't offere much of anything interesting.  Oh well.

3 - UI Tips:
3a - Deck design is on the Planeswalkers menu.  And, if you are new to Magic, there's a Quick Update option which has the AI do it all for you.  You can also empty  your deck and it will autobuild for you. Not bad!
3b - Support Tiles - to distinguish between your Support Tiles & opponent's in play, the counter will be on that player's side.  The color is the color of the glow (this took me forever to figure out).

4 - During play, check your hand frequently (ie every round!) & strategically rearrange cards.  Also don't forget to use your PW's powers, even if they suck.  And don't mana-charge up Support Cards that need creatures w/o 1-2 creatures in play.

I wish I had more tips, but if you post yours I will happily include them here (on my Apps review blog, AppsWrap --  http://appswrap.blogspot.com/2015/12/magic-puzzle-quest-marvel-puzzle-quest.html (and in my gameplay!!).
Thanks!  Happy Holidays!

New Years HOPE, 2 poems by R.E

Something happened and the world is shifting. The pendulum is swinging again, this time back to the core values of hope, peace, community, and love. I used to feel that I'd missed my era, and that the 60's were the chance for humans to wake up, shake off, and manifest one beautiful potential of humanity: to be kind, caring, whole, holistic, and aware of humanity's purpose -- to guide the Earth to conscious awareness.

(click pic for hi-quality image)
But today my hope is sparked again. Not by Obama, per se, but by humanity. We have the power to see (in our lifetimes) faith outgrow fear, love victorious over hatred and violence, the illusion of separation fall apart into a united humanity, and the Earth 'wake up' to self-realization.

So with those wishes, I wish you all a wonderful New Year!

The words to these 2 hand-drawn poems are below:

HELP - 10/7/08 - by Ari Krawitz, aka REkzkaRZ
Can't do it myself
can do it with others
A lesson in saying "yes"
Yes and ... everything!
How can I change to ...
POSITIVE
Unwrap the cocoon
of protective cynicism
Move into a New World
Seen thru re-newed faith
Glasses of faith in now
Eyes re-opened to love
Embracing human potential
Empowering divine possibility.
(re-polarizing, I unknowingly became a magnet.)

Circular Prayer - 10/7/08 - by Ari Krawitz, aka R.E.
The message of all the ages
Is to embrace human potential
And to outgrow fear with love.
Please help me expand the love energy today.
Thank you, abundant universe,
For opening me beyond my anticipations.