Even though Secret Wars is still in full swing (issue #6 has just been released after all) Marvel has proceeded forward with it's 'All-New, All-Different' title launches, with the first releases. Titles such as Amazing Spider-Man and Invincible Iron Man have led the way, but I'm looking a little further ahead this month. Venom: Spaceknight is due to hit shelves later this month, and it will mark the return of my personal favorite character to his own solo ongoing.

Agent Venom was a hard pill to swallow for a lot of Venom fans, myself included. Eddie Brock was an amazing villain, one of the greatest in Spidey's rogues gallery and stands among the greatest villains created outside of the Silver Age. He was everything Spider-Man wasn't, he was Peter Parker if he had never learned the 'power and responsibility' lesson...and he was a terrible hero. Yes, he was. Lethal Protector, Separation Anxiety, The Madness...all are classic arcs from the early days of Eddie Brock's attempted heroism. But really, he was a villain and it showed. He often felt forced and awkward as a hero. His best heroics came as the reluctant partner of Spider-Man when they teamed to fight a greater threat like Carnage. A villain with a warped sense of reality, convinced he was the hero makes for great storytelling (for another example of such greatness, look at DC's Sinestro). But he was never a hero, not a good one at least. Then Marvel realized a folly: Venom was so overly popular they flooded the market with him and, well, people got sick of it. So they tried to keep him fresh by having the symbiote change hosts.

Well, a few hosts and many disappointments later, we learn Venom will take root in a new host: Spider-Man's best friend Flash Thompson. That alone stirs up a bit of intrigue. Peter's best friend in the guise of one of his deadliest enemies. But the story was never about that. It was about a war hero seeking redemption and a new lease on life. A soldier who wasn't done serving.

This is something that needs to be built upon once again. You see, Rick Remender and Cullen Bunn after him humanized Thompson by drawing upon his experiences as a soldier. His regrets, his fears, and his drive...all things that shaped who Thompson was as a hero. In his solo series we saw Thompson grow from super-soldier to super-hero, and go from a man battling his own inner demons embodied by the symbiote to a man who made peace with those regrets and used them to fuel himself into becoming someone better and stronger. Even in the recent Secret Wars Spider-Island title writer Christos Gage perfectly captures and builds upon that spirit.

We need to go back to what has been ignored about Flash Thompson in his tenure with the Guardians of the Galaxy: he is a man who can make the tough decisions in the heat of battle, but keenly feels their sting later. A man who isn't afraid to pull the trigger when he must, but it's never the first choice. He's not super-human, he is simply human with super-powers. And yes, there is a difference.

Venom: Spaceknight will be written by one Robbie Thompson. Now I've never read anything of Mr. Thompson's work. And really, I don't think I need to. A writer's relationship with each character is unique, and just because they can or can't write one doesn't mean they can or can't write another. But, from the Agent Venom fan's point of view, if Mr. Thompson is to truly succeed in doing this character justice he must pull from what already exists and build upon it. Spaceknight isn't just a title on the cover, Thompson must use that warrior ethos he learned and lived as a soldier as a protector among the stars. It doesn't matter where in the universe he is, he is still Eugene Thompson and should behave as such.

I am interested to see Flash evolve from where Cullen Bunn left off. I am not looking for the same stories retold, I am not looking for the exact same Flash. I am looking for a natural progression of the man who started out as just a superhero fanboy, to Medal of Honor recipient, to super soldier, to super hero. But even as people mature, they still stay true to themselves. I want to see a Flash Thompson who's eyes have been opened and whose horizons broadened with the vastness of the cosmos open to him, but who inside is still the man struggling to redeem himself for hardships he places on himself because he believes it's his responsibility to do so.

Here's hoping it's a good story. Robbie Thompson, due Flash Thompson justice.

So we are at the eve of the release of Battle for Zendikar, and many/most cards ahve been spoiled and evaluated through spoilers or last week's pre-release event. As someone who tends to stay in the wheelhouse of Red with a dabbling of a support color (usually Black or White), I am going to take a look at the future of Red in the new Standard.

First and foremost, burn is basically dead. Lightning Strike, Stoke the Flames, Magma Jet...all among staple Burn spells that are rotating out. What are they being replaced with? Well, to be fair Red is getting a few decent creature removal spells like Outnumber but these spells lack the ability to 'go to the dome' like true Burn spells. Now I have never been a straight up Burn player, but many Red Aggro or other Red creature based decks have relied on fast, weak creatures to overwhelm and do a lot of damage in the early game, then when the mid game comes and your opponent's creatures are simply bigger and of better quality you go over the top and burn them down. Even my Kolaghan Dash Deck relies on a similar strategy.

Magic Origins didn't provide us much with anything to keep it going either, as cards like Fiery Impulse still provide solid creature removal, but lack that to the face finishing ability. The only one out of Origins was Exquisite Firecraft, which is awesome, but one reaching Burn isn't a whole lot. The only other legal Burn comes from the soon-to-be-rotating (in April I believe) Tarkir Block in the form of Wild Slash, or the multicolored Kolaghan's Command and Atarka's Command. So in total, that gives you four Burn spells, but seeing as you aren't likely to play Red-Black-Green, it is effectively three. However, I will say that it seems Wizards of the Coast is pushing three+ colored decks, with the ability 'Converge' that adds abilities or damage for every color of mana spent to cast the spell. So we might see a RBG combination.

Now as I said, Red still has a lot of premium removal that can't go to the face, such as Roast, Stonefury, Radiant Flames, and even the aforementioned Outnumber. We saw a surge of Red Aggro decks during the release of Magic Origins and it's Pro Tour season, and I am thinking we will see similar here. Probably with many of the (still Standard legal) cards like Monastery Swiftspear, Abbot of Keral Keep, and Zurgo Bellstriker and supported with the newer Dragonmaster Outcast (more for the mid-to-late game), Chasm Guide (even if it is only triggering off other Chasm Guides), Barrage Tyrant, Akoum Hellkite, and the very awesome Akoum Firebird (in my opinion the best Red card in the new set). This gives Red a bit better midgame, which is good since it seems to the face Burn is fewer and further between, but I personally think it would still be best supported by another color.

I think it is important that I note that Battle for Zendikar is, overall, much weaker than the previous two blocks of Theros and Tarkir. This is not to say weaker in terms of worse, but in terms of card strength. Personally, I am okay with that. It requires a bit more thought on the part of players to actually build something strong and the potential for wider variance in played archetypes becomes much greater. For the immediate future, Abzan decks featuring the mighty Siege Rhino with all the White, Black, and Green power, control, and removal support are likely to still be prominent. Until the next set release, and the subsequent rotation out of the Khans of Tarkir and Fate Reforged sets from Tarkir, I expect the Tarkir block and Origins to dominate Standard while BFZ is mostly niche filler and support. Unless Allies can become a very real deck or Eldrazi ends up being as powerful as everyone seems to think it will be (I'm with holding judgment until the set is released and I can drive it myself) I still see the Tarkir block and Magic Origins doing a bulk of the heavy lifting in standard.

Once Fate and Khans rotate out, I think BFZ will obviously take over, as only Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins will remain from the Tarkir block. I personally hope the second BFZ set also keeps the 'powered down' trend, and allows for more variance and deck options. When you have a handful of super-powerful cards, it only makes sense to build around them. When everyone does that around the same few cards, a format becomes boring (in my opinion).

I am very excited for the applications of Dragonmaster Outcast and Akoum Firebird. Both have the potential to be very powerful and be defining, in my opinion, for decks back boned by Red in the new format. Some Red-White or Red-Blue dabbling will likely need to take place for the very squishy and very vulnerable Dragonmaster Outcast, but the power of potentially pumping out a 5/5 Dragon every turn for free is just such high profit. Akoum Hellkite has the potential for good removal or pinging an opponent, but it's expensive and the odds of consistent land drops at that stage of the game in a solidly Red deck is low, which would be needed to get the most value out of Red.

While Red is far from the most powerful color in the format, I have given that title to White from what I've seen so far, it isn't exactly the weakest either, which I personally find Blue to be right now. That is strictly looking at it's Battle for Zendikar cards, and not the color as a whole in the current Standard as of tomorrow. Red has a future in the new Standard but being Burn-heavy, a Red staple, won't be in that future. Not the immediate future at least. I would anticipate some solid Red/White aggressive decks with the available Burn and other removal in the new Standard.

Yep, another Magic post. It kills a lot of time for me these days, sue me. Anyway, I wanted to address a huge issue in the Tarkir card block, focusing on one specific creature and it's (d)evolution. I speak of my personal favorite dragon of the recent blocks: Kolaghan.

In Fate Reforged she was a powerful, speedy, evasive and relatively cheap for what she actually brought to bear. Certainly a debate could be had for her being the most versatile, and in a way the most powerful (although I could argue for Ojutai and Silumgar as well...perhaps Atarka too). Then Dragons of Tarkir released, with all of the dragon-clan headmasters aging over a millennium and becoming more than mere dragons: they would be Dragonlords. Elder Dragonlords. Just saying it by itself is badass. And while every Dragonlord was an upgrade to their previous, younger selves...Kolaghan seems to have taken a step back.

So, what exactly happened? Atarka went from big and mean to bigger and Trampley. Dromoka went from the efficient but relatively lackluster Bolster ability to an uncounterable flier that has Lifelink...and prevents opponents from casting spells on your turn in addition to getting bigger. Ojutai gained a free Anticipate ability just for dealing damage. Silumgar gained Deathtouch and the ability to outright STEAL an opponent's creature of your choice!

So, I need to ask, what happened to Kolaghan?

Well, let's look at the flavor of her representing her clan. The Kolaghan Clan are supposed to be fast, relentless, and unpredictable. Their signature ability, Dash, represents this well. Haste as well, and in that Big Kolaghan (Dragonlord) gives all other creatures you have Haste, she gets a pass there. The relentless part? Little Kolaghan pumps EVERYONE for EVERY attacking dragon you have. If you run even a few dragons, that can get wildly out of hand and painful. Now, Big Kolaghan's final ability, the lose 10 ability, I think is supposed to represent this. The problem is...it's soooo easy to play around in Standard. The abundance of Delve cards such as Tasigur and Muderous Cut make it plenty easy to play around, especially since Abzan is still such a predominantly popular choice among Standard players.

For Modern, it's simply too slow. Modern is dominated by fast combos with cards over multiple formats. Kolaghan is nice as a 6/5 Haster, but at 6 mana it's too slow and potentially too little too late.

Which brings up two other issues: the conditions of it's third ability and her mana cost. The fact she is meant to represent speed, and essentially be it's pinnacle representative, but is more expensive than a handful of the other Dragonlords. If you really pushed her as an "Elder Dragonlord", she could easily be made a 5/5 for 4 or 5, with Flying and Haste. Change her third ability from 10 damage for creatures and Planeswalkers to 3 damage for any given spell, and now we are talking. The haste to all others is honestly pretty meh, because at that stage you've played a lot of your creatures as Red and many in the block have either Haste or Dash. It's nice, but I don't think it changes much. It's MORE impactful at 4 or 5 mana as opposed to 6 (you never really want to be going that long as Red/Black anyway) but still nothing huge.

But changing up the design of the auto-burn effect on her would be great, and would tandem very well with her minions the Thunderbreak Regents. There's that unpredictability creeping into the Kolaghan again.

Last but not least, I'd like to address her in Commander/Elder Dragon Highlord (EDH). The haste becomes pretty relevant there, since you play with 100 card decks, but one problem: it is a singleton format. Meaning you can only have ONE copy of any given card in your deck. So, how exactly is her ability even usable there, let alone relevant?

The inclusion of Elder Dragonlords was an awesome addition to Dragons of Tarkir and really pushes home the dragon-centric story the block tells. However, in terms of card power, Kolaghan just got the short end of the stick compared to her rivals. At the competitive level, Kolaghan is the ONLY Dragonlord to see zero play at the top, pro end. That tells you something, when all the other Dragonlords have found a home and a role in leading top Magic players to success. Her smaller version saw play, but Big Kolaghan was simply an unfortunate swing and a miss by Wizards of the Coast RnD.

It's ok girl, I'm sure you'll see plenty of fun, casual, kitchen-table-play.

And you're still my favorite Dragon.

So in an update to my FNM charades before getting into the article proper, I played my R/B Minotaur Tribal again and went 2-2 for the night at a new shop. The previous shop my wife and I played at wasn't exactly...warm...to having female gamers in their midst, and she was very turned off to playing there as a result. So we found another shop. Now my Minotaur Tribal is a Standard format deck, and the new shop plays Modern format. Standard decks are Modern legal, but we were at a disadvantage since Modern pulls from a much larger, non-rotating card base. But I'll get to that in another piece.

So, here I want to talk about the card types in Magic and the impacts they all have and roles they play. The main card types are Creatures, Sorceries, Instants, Enchantments and Auras, Artifacts, and Planeswalkers. I'll also briefly discuss the important card subtype of Legendaries.

I'll start with the most basic card: Lands. Lands are the gas that makes a deck go, and fall into a category of spells called 'permanents'. The other cards types that fall into this category are Creatures, Enchantments/Auras, Artifacts, and Planeswalkers. This means that once played, they stay on the battlefield unless destroyed or sacrificed. The basic lands are Mountains, Plains, Swamps, Forests, and Islands. Lands can be 'tapped' (game terminology for turning a card sideways or 'activating' it for a desired effect) to generate 'mana'. Think of mana as a currency, and it is used to pay for a spell. Taking a look at Monastery Swiftspear we can see in the upper-right hand corner that we have a single Red mana symbol (or abbreviated as 1R for one red). So you need to tap, or pay, 1R in order to play that creature. Bigger creatures carry a bigger cost. Looking at one of my wife's favorite cards, Ojutai, Soul of Winter, we see he is much bigger and costs one Blue, one White, and five Colorless (1U1W3C, Blue is abbreviated as U since Black mana is abbreviated B). Colorless can be paid with any mana color. There are also dual lands, such as Temple of Malice, that can be used to pay one color or another. There are even three-color lands like Nomad Outpost that can generate one of three different colors. Multi-color lands help smooth out mana costs for multicolor decks. You can have as many basic lands, like Mountains, as you want of any color combination in a deck. However nonbasic lands, such as the previously mentioned Nomad Outpost or Temple of Malice, fall under the card restriction rules and max out at four copies per deck.

Now let's look at the bulk of what lands will be 'paying' for: Creatures. The backbone of most decks are creatures. They are a recurring source of damage to your opponent, can prevent damage to you, and many have special abilities that help you win the game. Nearly every creature is effected by 'summoning sickness' the turn it is played, preventing it from attacking or tapping for one of it's own activated abilities on the same turn it is summoned. There are creatures immune to this, however. I'll elaborate more on that in a moment. Every creature has a Power (how much damage it does) and Toughness (how much damage it can take in a turn before dying). Looking back at the Monastery Swiftspear, she has 1 power and 2 toughness, abbreviated 1/2. She also has two special abilities: Haste and Prowess. These are passive abilities that do not require any extra effort on the player's part to take advantage of. There are several such passive abilities:

• Haste - Allows a creature to attack or tap for an activated ability the turn it is played. This ability effectively negates summoning sickness.
• Trample - Excess damage dealt to a creature is passed on to the player. Under normal circumstances, a creature absorbs all damage done by another creature in combat. For example, if I attack with a 5 power creature and it is blocked by a 2 toughness creature, the defender is killed. However, if my 5 power creature has Trample, it deals the 2 damage to the defender and the remaining 3 power (when the 2 toughness is subtracted) is dealt to the defending creature's controller.
• First Strike - Allows a creature to deal it's damage first in a combat exchange. Normally, damage is exchanged at the same time. First Strike allows a creature to deal it's damage first, potentially killing the other creature without taking damage.
• Double Strike - A creature deals both first strike and normal combat damage. This effectively means a creature deals damage equal to DOUBLE it's power every time it attacks or defends.
• Lifelink - Every time a creature with this ability deals damage, you gain that much life.
• Prowess - Every non-creature spell you cast this turn gives the creature +1/+1 until the end of turn.
• Defender - A creature with this cannot attack, only block.
• Vigilance - Attacking does not cause this creature to tap. It effectively can both attack on your turn and block on your opponent's.
• Flying - This creature can only be blocked by another creature with flying. It can block creatures without flying.
• Menace - This creature can only be blocked by two or more creatures.
• Flash - Creature's with this ability may be played any time you can play an Instant spell...which is pretty much at any time.
• Deathtouch - Any amount of damage this creature deals to another creature is enough to kill it.

I know, that's a lot of abilities. These are just passive ones. This doesn't get into the more advanced creature abilities such as Dash, Morph/Megamorph, Delve, Regenerate, Raid, Battalion, activated creature abilities... Suffice it to say, creatures bring a lot to the table besides simple beatdown damage. Be sure to look at a combination of a creature's mana cost, abilities, and power/toughness when deciding what creatures you want in a deck.

Keeping going with permanents, let's look at Enchantments and Auras, which are a subtype or Enchantment. Enchantments are permanent spells that effect the board state in some form or fashion. For example, Impact Tremors deals 1 damage to an opponent whenever a creature you control enters the battlefield. Sphinx's Tutelage forces your opponent to discard two cards for every one card you draw. Waste Not has a wide variety of benefits to you based on making your opponent discard cards. Auras are Enchantments that are attached directly to another permanent, usually a creature, such as Call of the Full Moon. However they can be attached to other permanents depending on their description. For example Market Festival enchants a land. If a permanent that an Aura is attached to is destroyed, the Aura is destroyed as well. Enchantments are powerful, but situational. Not every deck wants or needs them, and there are many decks that don't use any (I don't).

Artifacts are another permanent that are usually a lot like Enchantments in their use. However, Artifacts come in MANY versions. Some Artifacts are creatures, some are used to generate mana like Lands, some are attached to creatures like Auras...you see where I'm going with this. Artifacts are also colorless 99% of the time, allowing them to be played in any deck type or color combination. They are very versatile, but are situational. Like Enchantments, be sure you actually want/need them in your deck.

Planeswalkers are the last, and most complex, type of permanent. Planeswalkers are effectively another player on the board, and have their own life total referred to as 'loyalty'. All Planeswalkers have 3 abilities: one 'plus' ability that adds to their loyalty in addition to generating an effect, a second ability which can 'plus' or 'minus' or not effect their loyalty at all, and an 'ultimate' ability which greatly reduces their loyalty and generates a very powerful effect. These abilities can ONLY be used on your turn, unless you have a spell or ability in play that says otherwise. You can also only use ONE ability per Planeswalker per turn. For a better understanding of Planeswalkers let's look at Xenagos, the Reveler. He starts out at 3 loyalty. Now unlike Creatures, Planeswalkers are unaffected by summoning sickness, so the turn I play Xenagos I can use either his first or second abilities. What I use is largely situational dependent, and since I can only use one of his abilities per turn I should choose carefully. If I have another Planeswalker in play, say Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, I can use one of his abilities on my turn as well.

You CANNOT use a minus ability if you do not have at least the minimum number of loyalty for the ability. This prevents players from summoning and ultimating a Planeswalker on the same turn to gain a very powerful advantage. You also CANNOT have two Planeswalkers of the same name in play in play at the same time (for example, Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Elspeth, Knight-Errant are both 'Elspeth' and you cannot have both on the field at once). If you violate this, the Planeswalker already on board is destroyed and put in the graveyard when the new one comes into play.

Due to the ticking clock of a Planeswalker approaching an ultimate ability (which can often swing the tempo of a match) they often demand your opponent's attention, taking the pressure off your life total and onto their loyalty.

Sorceries are like permanents without Flash: they can only be played on your turn and only during your main phases either before or after combat. Sorceries are often powerful, but vulnerable, one time spells. A perfect example is the very well known spell Fireball. It is very powerful, perhaps even game winning, but is limited as to when it can be cast. This separates Sorceries from Instants.

Instants are the other non-permanent spells in Magic. Like Sorceries, they are one-time use unless the spell has some sort of special condition. Unlike Sorceries, they can be played at any time. Your turn, during combat, on your opponent's turn...it doesn't matter. The only thing that prevents this is not having enough mana for the spell cost or to be effected by some spell or ability that restricts when you may cast instants. They can be straight damage dealers like Lightning Strike, counterspells like Negate, pumps like Titan's Strength, or removal like Ultimate Price. They are considered 'faster' than Sorceries since they can be played at any time, and are honestly often preferred over Sorceries for this reason. Sorceries often have to be very powerful to override a slot for an Instant in a deck, such as the aforementioned Fireball or an Exquisite Firecraft.

Now lastly I'll talk about the Legendary rule. "Legendary" is a subtype added to any permanent, be it Land, Creature, or whatever. You can only have ONE of any given legendary in play, but you can have up to four of a legendary in your deck as per the normal card restrictions. So let's use a Legendary Land to explore this like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx. You can have four Nykthos in your deck, but only one in play under your control at once. If you play another, the original is put in the graveyard. This rule can be useful, if a spell or ability prevents you from using the current copy, or if the current copy is tapped you can play another, destroying the original, and generating a ton of mana in one turn. There are plenty of advanced, creative ways to take advantage of this rule. At the beginner level, however, the main concern is simply not putting two of the same Legendary in play at once.

Thanks for reading, and happy gaming. More to come.

Deck List:

• Creatures:
• Zurgo Bellstriker x2
• Lightning Berserker x3
• Monastery Swiftspear x4
• Reckless Imp x4
• Ambuscade Shaman x4
• Goblin Heelcutter x3
• Warbringer x2
• Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury x2
• Spells:
• Wild Slash x4
• Lightning Strike x3
• Exquisite Firecraft x4
• Ultimate Price x3
• Read the Bones x2
• Lands:
• Mountain x10
• Swamp x8
• Temple of Malice x3
• Sideboard:
• Roast x4
• Warbringer x1
• Flamerush Rider x2
• Fiery Impulse x4
• Alesha, Who Smiles at Death x2
• Bile Blight x2

Standard-legal Red/Black deck structured around the Kolaghan/Mardu Clan mechanic Dash, which allows me to play a creature for an alternate mana cost, give it haste, and it returns to my hand at the end of the turn. This deck is in a bit of flux, as I am trying to keep it live (it's my favorite deck to play at the moment and want to keep it going) with the upcoming Theros-block rotation out of the Standard format. Main deck cards like Stoke the Flames have already been replaced by Exquisite Firecraft and Hero's Downfall with Ultimate Price. Lightning Strike I've been struggling to find a replacement for, and been experimenting with the four sideboarded Fiery Impulse, and I've yet to find a suitable replacement for Bile Blight, which is excellent against token-generator decks. My hope is when Battle for Zendikar goes live this October, some new red burn spells or black removal are introduced to keep my spell suite strong.

Anyway, onto the deck.

Let's start with the engine card, the card that makes the deck go and a viable approach. Ambuscade Shaman is probably the most important card in the deck and is my second favorite card in the deck next to Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury (because who doesn't love big, fast dragons?). His ability of giving +2/+2 to any creature (including himself) the turn they enter the field benefits Dashing creatures, as they return to my hand at the end of my turn. So hard cast one of these bad boys turn 3, then everyone from there out that gets Dashed is essentially permanently +2/+2. Multiple Shamans? Multiple triggers. Have one Shaman hard cast, Dash another (making the Dashed Shaman a 6/6) and play something like a Reckless Imp and give it +4/+4. He demands an answer and if not, the opponent is potentially taking huge damage.

If Ambuscade Shaman is the engine, Warbringer is like a nitro boost. He's a 3/3 body for four mana, which by itself is fairly unimpressive. But his battlefield ability reduces all Dash costs by 2 colorless mana, effectively making most of the other creatures Dash costs only 1 colored mana, be it 1Red or 1Black respectively. Only the biggest Dashers like Kolaghan (which reduces to 3 from 5) and the Ambuscade Shaman (drops to 2 from 4) maintain a higher Dash cost. This allows for big damage swings by dumping many, many creatures onto the board. However having multiples really doesn't help me much, and considering all he does is Dash reduction (which has diminishing returns after the first since most go down to just costing 1 colored mana anyway, as opposed to the Shaman's +2/+2 which keeps stacking) he doesn't warrant more than 2 slots in the deck.

My 1-drop slot is packed, but that's not unusual for a Red core deck. Monastery Swiftspear (a 1/2 Haste creature with Prowess) and Zurgo Bellstriker (a 2/2 for 1 that can also be Dashed) are the preferred openers, with my personal preference being a turn 1 Zurgo into a turn 2 Swiftspear plus a Wild Slash, being 6 effective damage on turn 2. Zurgo being one of the most efficient early drops I've ever seen is also effective later in the game thanks to Dash, and the +2/+2 from the Shaman. The Swiftspear is always a good choice at any point due to the amount of noncreature spells in the deck, so on any giving turn she can go from a 1/2 to something bigger. Lightning Berserker is an interesting case. It's fine if hardcast, but my preference is to cast it like a Fireball, then have it return to my hand. That is to say, make it really big and then do it again next turn. The Berserker becomes an effective 3/3 base if Dashed with the Ambuscade Shaman in play, and it's firebreathing ability allows it to trade up against larger creatures or threaten big damage against an opponent's life total. She's a good mana sink, but not effective in multiples I find, which is why I only run three.

Then there's the evasive creatures, the Reckless Imp and Goblin Heelcutter. I love both of these little guys. The Imp is great Dashed on turn 2 for two damage in the air, and is great in later turns Dashed once a Shaman is present for even more aerial damage. The Heelcutter is fun because it helps other creatures get through defenders to my opponent's health by blanking a defender (making it unable to block) and being quite the threat himself with his 3/2 body (effective 5/4 with a Shaman in play). The entire point is to go wide around defenses instead of through them, and start getting ahead in damage. Then your foe needs to try and race you in damage, which this deck usually wins, unless it is against fast Aggro decks (which I'll talk about later).

Kolaghan, she's just awesome. Her main purpose is the finisher, to slam her down on the table and watch my opponent get an 'oh sh*t' face. A converted mana cost of 5 for hardcast or Dash, a 4/5 base flying body, and giving herself and everyone else +1/+0 when she attacks makes her a threat in multiple ways. She can be Dashed as early as turn 4 if Warbringer is in play, can can eat bigger fliers like the Dragons of Tarkir Dragonlords if Ambuscade Shaman is in play. Even if she is alone, she represents a dangerous clock that my opponent needs to race against.

The spell suite is pretty basic. Removal is the name of the game. Whether is is straight up destruction like Ultimate Price, or damage like Exquisite Firecraft, the biggest goal is to remove the opponent's creatures so mine get through or to at least lower their numbers enough so Goblin Heelcutter can blanket them. I focus more on burn so I have flexibility throughout the game. If I don't have creatures to remove, I go deep and hit my opponent in the face. If there's a stalled board, or I'm bogged down by being outnumbered by an army of tiny creatures, I finish my opponent off with some burn. Read the Bones is a recent addition at the recommendation of a friend of mine (who is a lot better at this game than I am) because he noticed I tended to have an 'empty effective hand' by ending up with nothing but repeat Dashers in my hand. Read the Bones replenishes my hand with some cards and like me smooth out some draws, as does the three Temple of Malice scry lands.

The Sideboard still needs some tweaking, for example I'm considering the addition of Planeswalker Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, but Roast is a staple. Roast gets rid of plenty of big ground pounders, notably Siege Rhino which has been everywhere since Khans of Tarkir released. The extra Warbringer is self explanatory. Flamerush Rider is the curveball addition. The Rider's ability allows me to make a token copy another attacking creature when the Rider attacks, and the token can be pumped by Ambuscade Shaman. This makes the Rider effectively two creatures for one mana cost, and if Warbringer is present can really overrun an opponent's defenses by allowing me to dump a lot of creatures then make a few tokens, and if the Shaman is around they all get bigger too.

This deck is fairly fast and fairly resilient. It's great for avoiding control spells like Banishing Light, Sorcery-speed removal, and board sweepers like Languish. Because of this, it performs really well against Control decks and I've noticed it play very well against Ramp decks, as those matches tend to be damage races in my favor. However if I have even only as few as two lame-duck turns, Ramp decks can easily take control of the match with their large creatures. Against Burn decks it's pretty 50/50, basically who goes first wins. It performs poorly against Aggro decks of all kinds, but specifically Mono-Red Aggro and Blue Devotion Aggro that run multiple Master of Waves. Aggro decks are all about flooding the board as quickly as possible with an army of small creatures, which even clogs up my evasive creatures like Goblin Heelcutter. Any deck running Elspeth, Sun's Champion can be a problem if I don't answer Elspeth immediately (but that's why Bile Blight is in the sideboard), and Red/Green Atarka decks that play heavy with Dragons and Draconic Roar are always close. Against Atarka as long as I stay aggressive and don't have any stalled out turns I tend to win the damage race.

If you like fast and aggressive, I recommend giving this a go. I haven't played it in a few weeks as I've been playing my Red/Black Minotaur Tribal deck before that rotates out of Standard format with Theros, but the last time I used it (about two weeks ago) I went 4-2 for the day and came in third at a Friday Night Magic Standard format tournament. It's fun and is criminally underplayed (I'm the only one I know of who plays the archetype at my local shop) and is often not something metagamed against. That means it often catches opponents by surprise and they don't have any real answers for it. The guys at my shop have sideboards that specifically deal with this deck, and even then it is such an offbeat strategy that the only real option in many cases is to race it (Ramp or Aggro decks).

Here's hoping Battle for Zendikar rotates some solid burn spells into the format and keeps the deck strong. Without solid burn, the deck can stall out in a developed board state. The burn let's you go straight to the face and deal direct damage, often finishing your opponent.

Deck List:

• Creatures:
• Frenzied Goblin x4
• Deathbellow Raider x4
• Ragemonger x4
• Rageblood Shaman x4
• Fanatic of Mogis x4
• Kragma Warcaller x4
• Spells:
• Read the Bones x2
• Titan's Strength x2
• Lightning Strike x4
• Stoke the Flames x4
• Lands:
• Temple of Malice x4
• Mountain x12
• Swamp x8
• Sideboard:
• Hero's Downfall x4
• Kolaghan's Command x2
• Mogis, God of Slaughter x2
• Roast x4

So this is a Standard-legal (for a little less than a month) Minotaur aggro deck with light devotion elements. Sideboard is obviously incomplete, with only 12 cards instead of the allowable 15.

Anyway with all the Theros-block sets (Theros, Born of the Gods, Journey into Nyx, Magic 2015) rotating out of standard with the release of Battle for Zendikar on October 2nd, this is a deck I wanted to complete and get some Friday night magic reps in over the course of September before converting it to a Modern-format deck.

The main strategy here is your basic beatdown strategy. Throw as many Minotaurs down as possible, as they all buff each other in most cases, and use removal spells/combat tricks to keep them going. There's some light scrying/card drawing to keep gas in the tank and to smooth out my draws so I can get what I need more often. Typically I'll be smashing in with Minotaurs early on and into the midgame, then usually finishing off with some burn or devotion damage from Fanatic of Mogis.

Now the odd-man out is Frenzied Goblin. He is not a Minotaur, so why is he here? Well, a few reasons. First, Minotaurs lack a 1-drop slot creature. Sure, there's Gnarled Scarhide, but he costs 1Black, which brings me to my second reason: red devotion. Frenzied Goblin adds 1Red towards Fanatic of Mogis' enter-the-battlefield devotion burn, which only counts red devotion. Since I'm running four Fanatics, I want to maximize that damage consistently. All of my creatures carry at least one Red marker in their mana costs, some more. The final reason is the Goblin's activated ability. When Frenzied Goblin attacks, I tap 1Red and target creature my opponent controls can't block this turn. This allows the heavy-hitting Minotaurs to get through, going straight to my opponents life total.

Now the fun part is that this deck really runs three different Minotaur 'lords', that buff the other Minotaurs. Namely, Ragemonger, Rageblood Shaman, and Kragma Warcaller. Ragemonger makes all the other Minotaurs cost less, making future copies of himself cost a mere 1 of any color and the big 5-mana Warcaller gets reduced to a mere 3 mana. The Warcaller gives all Minotaurs (himself included) Haste, and an additional +2/+0 to each attacking Minotaur. And if there's multiple Warcallers? That attacking bonus goes up. The Rageblood gives all other Minotaurs a flat +1/+1 and Trample. Multiple Ragebloods? Multiple +1/+1 bonuses. Stack those with the Trample, Haste, and the +2/+0 attacking trigger from the Warcaller, and even the paltry Deathbellow Raider becomes a force to be reckoned with.

The Sideboard is something that just includes some 'just in case' cards. Hero's Downfall is there for pesky Planeswalkers. Roast for the ever-present Siege Rhino in Standard. Kolaghan's Command is a nice 2-for-1 card, especially with the prevalence of Artifact cards post-Magic Origins. If nothing else, it's a burn plus graverobber/mind rot combo. Mogis just aids in clearing the way. If Frenzied Goblin can't clear enough of the way, adding in Mogis helps by forcing a player to sacrifice a creature or take damage to the face.

Playing with this deck the other night at my local store's Friday Night Magic game night, I went 2-3 overall. Sounds bad? Well, the guy I was playing is a friend who is a former Magic Pro Tour player. So, considering even in loss I had him down to 1-4 life each round, I'll take it. This is not a deck that will win any Pro Tours, but it is a lot of fun. Tribal builds like Minotaurs or Goblins or Merfolk or Zombies always have the potential to get radically out of hand, requiring a board sweeping effect or for your opponent to just kill them before they can start pumping each other up.

I'll include more like this later, including my wife's (very different) deck approaches.

There's certain things Hollywood just shouldn't do. One is creating a sequel to a film that is over twenty years old, who's last sequel was over ten years ago. Jurassic World is an exception to this rule.

There's no way around it: this will be my favorite film of the summer. I've seen Age of Ultron (and it was great), I'm looking forward to Terminator, Minions, hell I will even be seeing Inside Out. I am not expecting any of them to live up to Jurassic World.

I was hyped for this film prior to its release, but I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting childhood nostalgia to carry me joyfully through a bad-to-mediocre film. After all, with the last 30-40 minutes of Lost World and the entirety of Jurassic Park 3 9which from here forward we will all pretend never happened) being the lasting legacy of the Jurassic Park franchise, what possible glimmer of hope could I really have when the original is now over 20 years old? But boy, was I wrong.

This is a film that sticks true to the message the first portrayed so well. There is talk of nature, mankind, control, science, ethics...many of the themes present in the Spielberg classic from 1993. Much like it's classic prequel and the recent Gareth Edward's film 'Godzilla', Jurassic World lets the viewer's know we are part of nature and animals, not above it all. There is even one well-placed line about animals and monsters. "I told you to create a new attraction, not a monster," one character states to another. "A monster is a relative term. To a canary, a cat is a monster. We're just used to always being the cat," comes the response. How very true that is.

There are also jabs at the consumerist lifestyle we lead and the disillusionment of the awe-inspiring captivation seeing dinosaurs on screen once gave us. "No one is impressed by JUST a dinosaur anymore. People want them bigger, scarier, more teeth." We constantly criticize CGI and what it cannot do that we have lost the wonder of what it actually can do. Remember when Godzilla was a clunky rubber suit? Remember a live-action mecha like Pacific Rim was a fantasy at best? What about good superhero films being an oxymoron?

The first Jurassic Park treated the idea of a living dinosaur with reverence. John Hammond, Alan Grant, even Robert Muldoon all held these animals with awe and respect. The Lost World showed a corporate view of them ("We patented it, we own it" one character stated) which would sadly be true.

Jurassic World showed us the impression we humans would get of these wonderful beasts after having them become Zoo attractions for us for so long: just 'something else'. We would forget that these are wild animals, with free will, who would act very differently given the chance and more importantly: that we don't control. Ever see the panic erupt when a big cat like a tiger gets out of its pen at a Zoo? Case in point.

There are four distinct voices in Jurassic World: Owen (Chris Pratt), Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), Hoskins (Vincent D'Onofrio), Simon Misrani (Irrfan Khan), and Dr. Wu (B.D. Wong). Hoskins is your near-stereotype of what most people probably think the military-industrial complex is like. "How can we turn it into a weapon", so to speak. He views the dinosaurs as killing machines, soulless creatures that would kill just because they can. Claire is what I call the 'Wall-Street' voice. They only things that matter are revenue, statistics, and how they apply to further improving the park. She never refers to the dinosaurs as animals, just as 'assets'. They are simply a means to success, the way most businesses would look at any profit-piece. Misrani, opposite of Claire, is the altruistic businessman. He's the John Hammond of the film. He wants people to be happy and enjoy these animals and for the animals to enjoy life. Sounds good, but he also wants them bigger, badder, better to attract more customers. But he also doesn't want them to be meaner or more predatory. He's the ignorant altruist in many ways. Dr. Wu is the pure scientific mind, but as science often does (and was touched upon in the first film) they can and sometimes do fly too close to the sun. He's more concerned with what science can do, rather than what it should do. Owen is the the most rational. He respects these animals, and their capabilities. He knows they are dangerous, and doesn't pretend they are anything but predators. He wants to work with them, explore their capabilities and challenge them (he does train them and the Raptors tentatively view him as the 'alpha' after all) but he treats them with a reverence and respect befitting such beautiful and dangerous animals.

Now I'm sure some people will bash it for a few things, so let me address them. I know characterization will probably be bashed. That the characters are 'one dimensional'. Let's look back at the heralded Jurassic Park, where any of those characters really that fleshed out? In the book, certainly, but the movie? Other than Alan Grant's change of heart on children, what character growth was there?

Some may say (and I mention this because I know it is coming) that it portrays the career driven business woman negatively. Now Claire, the lead female, starts out as a pure business woman. All that matters are stats, numbers, revenue, and success. She doesn't have to prove herself, she's the operator of the Park. She is the owner's right hand. If anything it plays well what many say a woman 'must be' to be successful in the business world. Her relationship with Owen is pre-established, so it isn't like she blindly falls for him for no reason. She even ignores his offer of a hand to help her when running from the Indominus Rex. And she even takes on the caring 'more lady-like' aspects of looking to protect her nephews when things really kick off. AND she volunteered to lure the T-Rex (who I have lovingly nicknamed Beulah, because why not?) putting herself at risk to save Owen and the boys. A weak female character she certainly is not.

Lastly, let's talk about the best part: the dinosaurs. I will admit, growing up and even as an adult dinosaurs fascinate me. I was, and always will be, a Tyrannosaur fanboy. So the climactic scene of the film had me damn near jumping out of my seat cheering. My wife, an animal trainer and Zoologist, absolutely loved how they showed Owen's training with the Raptors. Don't be fooled by the trailers, it is far from corny and he is far from in complete control of them. But the methods he uses to train and work them have roots in the real world. It certainly adds legitimacy to the film, and when you consider how intelligent Raptors have been portrayed in the Jurassic films (especially the first) it is not at all far-fetched.

This movie gets 5/5 Rex skulls from me. There's just no way around it. It's fun, exciting, appropriately violent (dinosaurs were violent creatures after all) and truly captures the heart and message of the first Jurassic Park film. This is the sequel that the first film always deserved. Plus there's plenty of little Easter Eggs in the film for those die-hard Jurassic fans (I'll list them below if anyone is curious). Thanks for reading.

As many probably know, and have seen, by now: Bethesda has put out the first trailer today for Fallout 4. So, as a huge fan of the Fallout franchise, what are my immediate reactions? Well, if the graphics in the trailer are any indication it is going to look very smooth and well textured, something that has been a bit lacking in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. The graphics looked good in those, don't get me wrong, but there is an undeniable boxiness to the world and what exists in it. If the trailer is any real sign, Fallout 4 has made huge improvements on that.

Also, it seems like you will have a companion who actually matters. Most of the trailer focuses on a German Shepherd walking through an old pre-war home. Now the initial reaction is that this dog is searching and scavenging for food, however in the trailer we see him walk by what looks like a brand new dog food and water bowl set. I know, someone may be thinking this is left over from the nuclear apocalypse but the color brightness is a stark contrast to the dingy, destroyed house it exists in. This tells me he's taken care of. Not to mention we learn by the end of the trailer he is looking for his (apparent) owner, who recognizes and pets his obviously excited pooch. Does this mean this Vault Dweller lives in this home?

Oh, yes, we have another Vault Dweller. The trailer is mixed between the current, destroyed world and the world as it was seemingly moments before the bombs fell. We see people lining up to get in the vault, vault 111 in this game, and we see the Vault Dweller in the clothing of someone who lives in the vault as it is the blue jumpsuit any fan knows and '111' is clearly emblazoned on the back. Also worth noting the clothing looks quite clean.

We also see various urban and what appears to be a beach landscape in brief appearances. There was speculation that this game will take place in Boston, but as far as I could tell there was no confirmation of where it was.

What I can't get a grasp on is there seems to be an apparent implication that the Vault Dweller is actually the baby we see at one point in the trailer, as there is an awful lot of focus on a crib with a destroyed rocket ship mobile hanging over it. If they are implying the main character was this baby, it's a major time warp backwards for the series, which on average takes place about 200 years after the bombs fell. Not to mention in his garage (we assume it's his garage) is a partially reconstructed set of Power Armor. Is this a long distant relative of the family who once lived there? Did the family join the Brotherhood of Steel? Or is he simply a scavenger looking to better protect himself and the home was a good shelter? Only time will tell, as all we have right now is a 4 minute trailer.

Oh, and of course the most glaringly obvious thing of note: the Vault Dweller speaks. We've never had a speaking protagonist in the series, even in the trailers. So hearing the Vault Dweller say to his loyal dog 'Let's go boy' is kind of a big thing to fans of the series. Now we don't know if it's just for the trailer, or if he may speak in cutscenes, or if he may even speak in the game proper, but it is still kind of a big deal.

Now, what would I like to see in Fallout 4? Well, let's build off the many things Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas did right, and improve on what they didn't do so well:

• Moral Ambiguity: First and foremost, this needs to be a big aspect of the game. New Vegas hit this note very well, where the side and actions you took left people liking or hating you, and effected one of many outcomes of the game. Fallout 3 followed a very linear path, and was clearly a 'good or evil' set of decisions. New Vegas had an obviously evil choice (the Legion) but the NCR, independent New Vegas, and to an extent the Mr. House choices all had their pros and cons as you tried to decide what would be best for the people of the region trying to survive. Yes I say best because I often find playing the bad guy quite boring, unless you play the exploiter bad guy who twists things for their own gain. Something else New Vegas lets you do. Point being: there needs to be plenty of 'no right answer' choices throughout the game, very akin to the Pitt DLC for Fallout 3.
• Factions: This was a great addition to New Vegas. If history shows us anything it is that in times of struggle people band together, not fall apart. But if you have people that banded together forming different groups representing what they think would be best moving forward, then it becomes interesting. You could have your obviously evil faction, but to make things interesting you need several factions with both redeeming and damning qualities, where the player's own morality would dictate who they side with. You can have those seeking to rebuild Old America, looking to unite settlements under their banner and way of thinking. Those who think the individual settlements should have the right to govern themselves. Those seeking to instill a unified, more dictator-like government (because after all, look where democracy got them in the world of Fallout right?). And so on and so on. Those are off the top of my head, and with real thought I'm sure anyone could come up with a few good faction ideas.
• Urbanization: New Vegas and Fallout 3 both had urban areas, yes, but as someone who grew up in the north east if this game will in fact take place in Boston there is little to no reason for the open wasteland that we saw in Fallout 3. I've been to DC and the surrounding area...it isn't that open. One of the coolest things in Fallout 3 and New Vegas was seeing the destroyed landscape of urban sprawls we all recognize. Personally I found it overwhelmingly haunting seeing the capital of the US reduced to rubble, and it gave the game a powerful feeling of reality. We need a majority urban landscape if the game is to take place in Boston and it's surrounding area, with recognizable landmarks like Fenway Field. Yes, I understand the is an alternate universe that shares very little with our own. I get that. But it should bring that feeling of familiarity and pull the rug from under us with it's obliterated city-scape.
• Companions that matter: New Vegas improved on this by making us see our companions backstories and getting involved with them, and in some cases even feeling for them. They felt like more than hired guns, which is essentially what they were in Fallout 3. But they need to feel like they matter, like their travels with the Vault Dweller impacted the character. If this German Shepherd really is a known companion to the player character at the start of the game (and I certainly hope so) what happens to that dog (should you need to make decisions concerning him or your actions effect your companion) should matter to the character.
• Expansions that make sense: Just follow New Vegas' format. Seriously. They planted seeds in the base game long before any DLC expansion was announced about their final expansion: Lonesome Road. Every expansion alluded to and prepped the story as well, as various characters slowly and ambiguously introduced the Courier to Ulysses. It was very, very well done.
• Better control: I get that Fallout 3 and New Vegas are sandbox RPGs first, and not first person shooters. However it should be hard to incorporate decent shooter aspect and better control into the game. It's rare, but sometimes the player is required to make a precise jump or you try to execute a narrow shot and the game's stiff controls do you in. I've shot targets and seen bullets pass through them with no apparent effect. The RPG elements are awesome, and well constructed, but the first person control and shooting should, and easily could, be improved.

Consider me boarded on the hype train. The Fallout franchise is probably my favorite in videogames the last few years, and there should be nothing but greatness in the franchises future.

Two college friends who accepted a business internship are cursed by an, unknown to them and the world, angelic demon who happens to be the company's owner and CEO. One cursed with the rage and vanity of a dragon, the other with the hunger and savagery of a werewolf. Eventually freed by a fellow supernatural, the pair retain their powers and use them to help mankind where they can and aid their guardian angel in his war against the encroaching demon threat.

• Transformed Name: Flame
• Real Name: Donald Havok
• College Major: Engineering
• Powers: Super Strength in the area of 20 to 25 tons, Super Durability due to his near-impervious dragonscale, Slow-regenerative healing factor, Enhanced Speed, Flame Projection from the mouth and the ability to light himself on fire, Flight provided by wings, Wisdom of the Draconic Elders, Razor Claws and Fangs, Flame Immunity, Cold Vulnerability

• Transformed Name: Fury
• Real Name: Maximilian Miles
• College Major: Psychology
• Powers: Super Speed at several times the speed of sound, Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Senses, Healing Factor, Great Stealth, Sonic Howl, Razor Claws and Fangs, Full Moon Strengthening (boosts all powers), Hunter's Instinct (danger sense), Silver Vulnerability (damage from this source negates healing)

To anyone reading, I threw this together quickly off the top of my head in the midst of the whirlwind of movie announcements Marvel has made today. So if there's anything that seems like a big miss, that's why.

So here are what I think will be the keys to success for Captain Marvel:

1: Showcase Carol's personality. Carol is one of the most intriguing females in the Marvel Universe. Unlike many, she was never the cardboard female simply there for group dynamics. She's been a strong and independent keystone for much of her comic career. The secret here is to not simply make her a 'female superhero'. Draw upon her uniqueness; have her headstrong, type-A personality at the forefront, but show us her compassionate and humorous side as well. It might sound like a lot to balance, but if we can see all the dynamics of Tony Stark's character in Iron Man, why not Carol's? Plus, seeing as how she is going to be the first Marvel female with her own solo film, she needs to prove out of the gate that she can run with the big boys like Cap and Thor. But she needs to appear human as well, with faults. Have her seeking counsel for PTSD from the recent brushfire wars in the Middle East (Carol was a USAF pilot after all) from a psychologist, namely one Dr. Karla Sofen, and it shows us the flaws and strengths of this top female of Marvel.

2: Link MCU Earth to MCU Cosmic. Carol is the perfect connector to the heroes of Earth and the cosmic heroes like the Guardians of the Galaxy. By having Carol's origin still tie into the Kree Empire, and hopefully eventually having her become an Avenger, Carol becomes the strong bridge between Earth and the cosmos. Sure, we've seen a bit with Thor and a mild link between Thanos' cameos in Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, but Carol serves as the Earthling connection to the greater universe. Plus, this connection easily segues into the next necessary element...

3: Compelling villain. Carol's rogues gallery is, well, let's say lacking...to put it mildly. She is without a well-known big baddie like Green Goblin or Joker, but Marvel has done a really good job at taking lesser known villains and fleshing them out into big screen baddies. Iron Man's Obediah Stane anyone? And outside of comic fans, how much of the general public knew who Abomination, Winter Soldier, Loki, or Ronan the Accuser were? Carol has some solid rogues, but to start her off it has to be the Kree. The Kree, specifically Ronan, were a large part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Not to mention their seeming implications in Marvel's weekly TV show: Agents of SHIELD. They are known to the moviegoers now, and could use a bit more fleshing themselves. Carol's first villains could easily be a Kree force looking to take over Earth so the Skrulls cannot. This ties the solidly into Carol's origin, since she is 'half-kree' since absorbing Mar-Vell's powers, and even sets up a later Skrull invasion Carol can spearhead. Either way, the first movie's bad guys definitely should be Kree. After that, the Skrull or even Brood would be cool, especially if another alien race reaches out to Carol to help fend them off another planet (GotG tie-in for Captain Marvel 2, perhaps?). Now keeping in mind what I said in part one, Carol's increasing revelations to Dr. Sofen could eventually lead to Dr. Sofen seeking out an alien power source and becoming Moonstone, one of Carol's greatest enemies in the comics. So it should go: Kree, Skrull or Brood, and finally Moonstone.

4: She needs to become an Avenger. This may seem strange, but there needs to be a point, even if an after-credit scene, where Carol is officially approached and inducted into the Avengers. Carol is one of the longest standing Avengers and she needs to be approached for the team for the MCU. The timing works perfectly considering Captain Marvel will be debuting well after Age of Ultron and before the newly-announced Infinity War, and if Thanos is the big bad in Infinity War the Avengers need all the help they can get.

So there you have it, a few basic ideas for how to make Carol Danver's first solo venture a success. The big question then becomes: who will play the First Lady of Marvel?