I played a Magic draft at Gen Con this weekend (am I surprised we didn't hear anything about Gen Con from the AVC?). I hadn't ever done it before and I think I'd do a lot better the second time around… Mill the shit out of them with more copies of Sphinx's Tutelage.

I am not a huge fan of Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy 1 was fun) but it is a shame that Mountains of Madness project collapsed. Can't think of a better way to get horror-ambivalent nerds like me back into the genre.

Kevin Matchstick, too.

Fans of Coup and Love Letter should really try Bruno Faidutti's Mascarade. It's reminiscent of Coup, where anyone claim a role whether or not they have it (and thanks to swapping with other players, you might not know whether you have it or not, unless you spend your whole turn checking). But in Mascarade, the penalty…

So true. They're built for the gamers who feel "extra complexity = better", but (after the rush of that first 80 point game of Leaders) they don't really add fun.

XCOM isn't a war game. (But, as much of the excitement comes from lucky dice rolls, "Ameritrash" is a fitting descriptor.)

I'm pretty sure it's called The Resistance: Avalon.

In "The Ring and the Hobbit", Frodo didn't actually lose the ring to Gollum all those years ago; instead, he mastered it, used it to kill Sauron, then retired in the Shire. His old war buddy, Sam, has been butting heads with the encroaching elf population, especially this Legolas guy, and Frodo ponders using the ring…

I really like the Ultimates Pym. I mean, I don't like him, he's a piece of shit, but he knows it, and he still tries to be good, which is something. He wishes he could be awesome like Cap and he just sucks, and he hits his wife. Everyone hates him and the easy way out would be to heel turn, but instead he just keeps…

Adam Scott and Anna Kendrick.

Yeah, I just said this over on Books, but the first half of that book is my pick for best thing this year.

Anyone else play Marvel Puzzle Quest? Luke Cage has this power called Unbreakable; it's a passive so it pops up a lot. Gets in my head every time.

You're in Carcosa now.

John Allison is awesome, but I like the Bobbins characters so much more. Maybe it's because I'm older now, but I just couldn't get into the whole, Spunky pre-teens (apparently they're in college now) speaking in witticisms beyond their maturity, Juno-style.

So think of it as two books and you're good. The first one is amazing.

So guys, go read Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Even just the first half. It has some of Stephenson's quirks but holy hell, it feels important, and what a story.

But were the casting calls super-specific?

#itsthehashtags

Great headline.

I'm skeptical of the Red Hulk angle. Isn't it more likely that a "much different Ross" means a guy with more character than a toilet paper tube? Someone with actual motivation beyond "stop the Hulk from giving free medical care to small town patients"?