I mentioned last week that I might need to soften my X-Wing play a little, as I really didn’t want to develop a reputation as a store bully.

So when I hit up my local shop on Wednesday night for a game or two, I purposely chose a list of ships that was meant to be fun, and would hopefully make for an entertaining game.

R2 approves of this concept.

I did find an opponent (which is not a given these days), and he began laying out what looked like a relatively competitive list, a swarm of Tie Fighters escorting an Imperial Shuttle.

So we unroll the starfield playmat, strategically place the asteroids…

“Beep boooo?”  [Translation: “You want that asteroid there?”

And prepare to push some tiny plastic spaceships around like we’re little boys.

“Beep boo beep bebeep!”  [Translation: “Where’s Luke?”]

And it was at this point that I promptly and unceremoniously wrecked the hell out of yet another opponent.

I think I’d blown up 4 of his ships before he’d even nicked the shields off of my giant, lumbering, YV-666.

My Scum & Villainy Party Bus.

I really was trying to tone it down!  I was just flying the stuff that I liked.  I guess that means I need to soften things even further.  I’ll work on a new Nerfed list sometime this weekend…

In other gaming news, the Overwatch beta returned on Monday night.

I <3 Winston.

So we’ve been playing quite a bit of that this week, with more to come this weekend.

I will say that, now that the open beta is here, and anyone can play, the troll quotient has raised significantly.  In fact, we had one on Tuesday night that was particularly foul, and required muting/reporting by everyone involved.  I believe he was discussing horrible things that he was going to do his dog, but I’d muted him long before so I only got second-hand reports of what he was actually saying.

Sadly, he will not be the last that requires muting.

And finally, my brother-in-law is hitting up his very first Magic Grand Prix tomorrow in NYC.

Technically it’s in Jersey…but hey, close enough. 

I believe he’s playing some variant on a blue/black control deck, but I’m not sure.  If he does well, or if he happens to get matched up against a pro, you might be able to watch him play live via Twitch, RIGHT HERE.

Good luck tomorrow, Tom.  Here’s to flawless opening 7s, perfect mana curves, and timely topdecks.

See you guys on Monday.

j.s.