Hexakill

If you have been playing league recently, then you know that there is a new format called Hexakill. Instead of there being five champions on each team, there is now an extra person making it six vs six. I admit, when I heard about it, I was excited to try it out due to hey something other than Classic Summoners' Rift or ARAM, even though Hexakill is played on Summoners Rift. However, just because something is shiney and new does not mean that is all fun and games: Hexakill is sometimes annoying to play.


With there being an extra champion, that means there is a couple of options to dividing up the champions between lanes. You could do two at top lane, two at bottom lane, and two at middle lane, or you could go two top, two bottom, one middle and a jungle. During champion select during normal matches, especially with queuing in with random people, it is sometimes a mess calling positions, but everything can work itself out by the time champion select is over.In Hexakill however, the mess continues up until the game actually starts because half of the team favors the two in every lane and the other half goes with there being a jungler. While I have found in my experience that sending two in every lane is usually efficient, there is also great power in there being a jungle.

Another problem I have had with Hexakill is what type of champion to send where. In normal game mode, you send your tanks or bruisers top lane, like Nassus, Riven and Tryndmere;you send your Assassins middle lane, like Ahri,Fizz, and Katarina; and you send your Attack Damage Carry,or ADC, such as Sivir, Ashe and Caitlyn and your Support bottom lane, such as Soraka, Thresh or Leona. In that mix you could have a jungler, like Vi or Fiddlesticks, but it almost optional. However, in Hexakill, I have seen them send a tank and an Assassin top lane to disrupt the top lane and them to send tanks bot lane to give the ADC some support. I admit, the main problem is people keep trying to play it like they play Classic Rift during Hexakill due to the fact Hexakill is not classic Rift; Hexakill does not have a clear defined meta, which is also a good quality because it allows people to experiment. I admit, the combo of Nassus and Ahri top would have never happened in classic, but it an awesome combination due to Ahri charming and Nassus farming for the kill.

One of the fun things bout it though is experiment with different champion combos, like the Nassus-Ahri combo. For example if you do pick to have two middle lane champions, you can see how different champions interact with each other. It is kind of funny how mid just starts spamming combos and eventually gets there.

Speaking of experimenting, I feel a greater ease experimenting with different champions. I admit to experimenting with Syndra and Orianna the whole time while I do Hexakill. While you can experiment on Rift, people will flame you if you do bad, but in Hexakill, while there is flaming, the thing that makes it better is the fact that it's not a "real" format, meaning while you do get IP and EXP, its a fun format.It not competitive like it is on rift;it just exists,sorta like ARAM.

Overall, while I have had some bad experience trying to figure out Hexakill, I hope in the coming days, I will continue having fun playing League. I hope Riot can keep giving us these fun formats, such as Hexakill, All for One, Showdown, etc, and maybe keep them a bit longer.

A Few Words on the Banning of Sylvan Primordial

If you are an avid Elder Dragon Highlander, or EDH, player like me, then you know that there is anew card to the banned list: Sylvan Primordial from Gatecrash. Ironically, the card was actually designed for EDH to replace Primeval Titan, a six drop that said whenever Primeval Titan enter the battle fiend or attacks, search your library for two forest cards and put them into play. Now while Sylvan Primordial only triggered when it entered the battlefield, it could have still been a problem.

Although I have never used Sylvan Primemordial in EDH, I can see where some problems might arise such as reanimation or flickering, but there are other cards with much worse effects to animate to,such as Kokusho, the Evening Star. When i read Sylvan Primordial, it was intresting to see green get some destruction, even some land destruction;it doesn't destroy creatures.  Along with that is mana ramp, which green does very very well, although since Sylvan Primordial is a seven drop, i was doubting its usefulness. 

Overall, I am very very surprised it got banned in EDH, and Honestly , i don't think it deserved it, because it doesn't destroy creatures. 

Jigoku Shoujo

A few months ago, I kind of got desperate for a new anime to watch. I felt like I had watched every anime that had caught my eye and even a few anime that hadn't. But instead of giving into peer pressure to watch Attack on Titan, someone recommended an anime called Hell Girl, or Jigoku Shoujo. Now while I was skepticalon watching this,I decided to take a look at this anime.

The premise for the anime is simple:at midnight a website opens up called Hell Link. On this website, you can enter the name of the person you want to take revenge against, and Enma Ai,otherwise known as Jigoku Shoujo, will send them down to hell at the price that when you die, you will go to hell your self. Before Jigoku Shoujo sends the people to hell, she tortures them in the most bizarre ways possible, such as showing them their worst nightmares.

At the beginning of the anime, the anime comes of as very episodic, as in one problem, one episode and almost zero continuity. However, as the series goes on, you get introduced to a couple of characters named Shibata Hajime, a reporter who wants to investigate the mystery of these mysterious deaths, and his daughter, Shibata Tsugumi, a seven year old girl who has a mysterious connection with Enma Ai and can see who she comes to that wants revenge. These characters to me add a bit continuity to the series, because, because honestly, if had kept up its episodic pace, I think I would not have enjoyed the anime as much as I did. Also along the way, Enma Ai has her own companions: Wanyuudou, a mysterious old man that becomes the doll that has the red string, Hone Onna, the mysterious woman who accompanies Enma Ai and Ichimoku Ren,a young man who has one eye covered. 

Overall, I got a kick out of this anime,mostly because I feel the pain of wanting to take revenge on a person. However, it is interesting to note while Jogoku Shoujo hands them a doll with a red string, she does not untie the string her self; she allows the person wanting revenge to untie it to enter into the contract that will send both of them to hell. I like this idea because it allows the person to rethink the decision to enact revenge.

The art stylefor this anime is dark like the theme,but it is still well drawn. The characters' expressions are sometimes a bit over done,but other than that, I was fine with the animation. Also, I do like the fact that you could tell the main cast apart, but otherwise,it felt like the characters from the episodic episodes started looking the same after a bit.

Overall, I liked this anime due to its dark air and mystery. However, it had a nice solid end, but also left some strings untied, which should be tied up in season two I hope. 

Welcome to the Howling Abyss

So it has been a while,yes? All that aside, on my time off I have picked up a game you guys might familiar with called League of Legends, but more importantly the game mode known as ARAM.

Now, incase you're not familiar with ARAM,it stands for All Random All Mid. Your champion is selected at random from the champions you own and the ones that are free for that week. If you get a champion you really don't like, ypu can switch with a team mate provided you both have the champion or you can reroll and you earn rerolls by storing up points from playing ARAM. 

The all mid part refers to the fact that the Howling Abyss, unlike Summoners Rift, only has one lane. In this lane, you have two friendly turrets and two enemy turrets along with both teams have an inhibitor near the base and two turrets defending each nexus. Also wandering the map are creatures called Poros. These creatures neither help nor harm you; they just simply exist. 

The thing I love about ARAM is the fact there is a chance you will get a champion you know very well or the chance you'll get a champion you never played before. If it a new champion, you can get the feel for their skills and possibly learn to play said champion on Rift. Also, it means because you're team is chosen at random, that means you can get out of the meta because you can have a team filled with all Attack Damage Carry(ADC) or a team of all tanks or a team of all supports.

Another reason I like ARAM is the fact that the people who usually play are relaxed. I say this usually because the champions are selected at random. Most people don't yell at you for being bad a champion because it was not your decision to play that specific champion. Very few people will get mad at you if you try to at least to make some assists.

Overall, ARAM is a very fun format. It a break from Classic and it helps with me learning a new champion. If you havent checked it out, I high recommend it.

Hataraku Maou-Sama

In the recent anime season, there was an anime circling around my social circles for it's opening, plot, and overall goodness. Although I saw it on the airing list at the beginning of the season,I thought it was going ot be some dumb slice of life show,but how I was wrong. When me and my friend started watching this show,we had a ball watching it.

The story follows the Dark Lord Satan and his subordinate Alsiel going to the human world fleeing from the Hero Emilia. The Hero Emilia, follows them to the human world they try and make a living as normal people. The Dark Lord Satan, who goes by the name Maou Sadou works at McDonalds equivalent and his partner,Alsiel, who goes by Ashiya Shirou is a stay home person. Emilia, who goes by Yusa Emi works at a call center. Although they try and lead normal lives, Emilia tries and eliminate the Dark Lord Satan. However, things are not as black and white such as evil vs good or hero vs villain.

I will admit when I first read the synopsis I wasn't that impressed. The set up was just Satan gets a part time job while trying to get back home. What finally got me on board was people talking about this anime and I realized that it was a clever comedy. Yes, the story centers around him mainly trying to get back home,but what made it worth while was the comedy wrapped up in it.

The characters them selves were stereotypes, but they were well done. Sadao is your typical main character and Ashiya is your typical side kick(sometimes wife-y as my friend calls him). Emi falls into the the tsundere roll.  And last,and probably my least favorite, Chiho is the typical flat character but big boobed to try and crush on Sadao. The characters were lovable but sometimes they seemed kinda flat.

The art for the series is good, but not stellar. It is fluid, the characters well drawn except I did not like the design of Chiho. I know that she supposed to be the big boobed character but her design could have been better. The fight scenes were animated decently as well as the slice of life scenes.

Overall, I love this series. Only thing that makes me sad is that I actually can't make a drinking game of it. It's a great slice of life with a hand medling in super natural as well. I would recommend this to anyone that looking for a good anime to watch or to kill time.

Kotoura-san: First Impressions

For some reason, I can never get enough of the supernatural anime. No, I do not mean supernatural in the way of Death Note, or Code Geass, but more in the way of cutesy, not overly over thought, dragged out series. When I saw the synopsis for Kotoura-san, this seemed to be right up my ally, with cutesy animation, good light hearted story, and perhaps a character I could some-what relate to.

Watching the first episode, it was dark in tone, but it gave nice back story to our main character, Kotoura: a psychic girl who can read peoples minds. It started with small things, such as knowing what was for breakfast or beating someone in a match of rock paper scissors. However, as she got older, she started reading into peoples feelings, such as knowing who the girls in her class liked. Her psychic abilities drove a crack through her family as well. Her mother who used to be very nice, now was drinking a lot and got angry more often. Her dad also started cheating on his wife and he never came home that much. Eventually this leads to her getting abandoned to her grandpa, and her mom wishing she had never given birth to her. And due to all the teasing, she decided to transfer schools.

Pretty dark right? Luckily for me, that was only half of the first episode. The second half comes when she meets Manabe, a daydreaming boy in her new class. Although he has no interest in her at first, he learns she is psychic and accepts it, except for the part where he has to keep his perverted thoughts under control. After meeting Manabe, she eventually joins the ESP Research Society, where she has friends and is accepted by everyone.

The story for this is actually pretty good due to the fact it is dark in tone at first, but yet light hearted later on. I can't wait to see how Kotoura develops further because in anime there's a magical little thing called friendship and it has been known to do magical things.

The art and music for this anime are also very cute. In the first part, it was dark and dreary, but when she met Manabe, the tone lightened up instantly. Despite being the character that sticks out the most, Kotoura is well drawn with blonde hair and loli-like. Manabe looks, unfortunately, like any harem male lead, despite this not being a harem. The open theme is admittedly very catchy and light hearted, and the end theme is also very good.

For some reason, I find Kotoura very relateable character. Maybe it is because I was always on the getting teased end at school and can understand some of her pain, but either way, she is well developed. Manabe is your average perverted guy lead, but he is a guy lead focused on making friends with the main character, not getting in bed with her, though it might seem like that at times.

Over all, I hope that this anime can deliver what I was hoping. So far, even though it has only only two episodes released, I am very pleased. If you haven't seen this anime yet, please do. I am almost possitive you will not regret it.

Halo 4

Novemeber brings us a lot of good things such as Thanksgiving, hot new movies such as Skyfall, or in the case of this November, the next game in the well known series called Halo. Halo 4 was released Tuesday, and video game lovers from all over were anticipating the release of this game, many with high hopes. So, did it live up to anticipation?

In some ways yes, in some ways no.

The story still centers around our silent hero, Master Chief and his A.I companion, Cortana, and their quest to save the galaxy once again. However, his companion is having issues with an A.I degenerative condition called Rampancy, a condtion known to sging A.I where they think themselves to death. While Master Chief is trying to save Cortana, the Forrunners are making their presence through the galaxy and Master Chief must save the galaxy as well.

Story wise, if you have not read the books (which I have not yet) the story on the Forerunners will be a complete mystery. They could have easily done more with the story of the Forerunners or at least expanded on the story or had them tie in with Cortana's story. Cortana's story was great due to the fact that they help expand on the A.I and their workings and Master Chief's relationship. However, I am not satisfied by the end of the story. I will not spoil anything, but they should have made a better ending and intertwined the stories and made them more fleshed out. I hate super long games due to a short atttention span, I would have gladly accepted a few more hours to the campaign rather than have the end.

For me, the graphics were the best selling part of this game. Requiem, the planet where most of the game takes place, is amazingly beautiful. The trees were well detailed and the other places the game takes place is bizarrely beautiful. The new enemies, the Prometheans, have unique designs. The Crawlers looked like insect dogs and the Knights, although hard to kill, had something interesting going for them. Cortana's design was also updated, giving her more of a bobbed haircut and you could see the circuitry in her design where her clothes were supposed to be. Chief's armor has also been updated again, making it a bit more detailed. Along with  hat, they have made the gameplay seem like it more through the point of chief, giving the helmet interface and when Cortana starts to go a bit rampant, they show the red in the visor, which to  me scored points in my book. (In case you're wondering, Chief looks sexy in 1080p.)

 Sound wise, the OST is amazing. I will admit to buying the OST before playing the game, but the real test was could the match the OST with the mood of the game. Honestly, they mixed it very well and the music matched the mood of the moment very well. I will give them credit, I was very surprised when they brought back some of the first Halo music. It was nostalgic and made me happy from the bottom of my heart.

Overall, I am a little dissapointed by the game, but it makes me want to play Halo 5 and Halo 6 ironically. Maybe it's the quest to know what happens next, or maybe it's the wanting to know more about Master Chief, who knows.   I will admit, the game had its good points, but also its bad, but for good or bad, I enjoyed the game.

Special thanks to Mike who did campaign with me and for lending me the book Cryptum!!