NY Comic Con Overview:
WOW Miniatures Game and Chaotic Updates

By: Vinayak Ahuja

            The New York Comic Con has been running strong since its debut in 2006, and despite all the divine intervention against the Con this year (including the Pope’s historic visit to New York City and taking place on the weekend of Passover), 2008 came through as a success.  With a wide array of exhibitions and panels that ran all morning, afternoon, and evening for three entire days, there was a little something for everyone. 

Unfortunately, there were no new developments that I could get information on that would be of any particular interest to the Pojo.com community: focusing primarily on WOW TCG, Magic: The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, press and R&D were very hush, hush about new sets that were coming out.  I wasn’t even able to get information on the cleverly titled Hunt of the Illidan set expected for release this July.  That’s not to say that fans weren’t swooning to tables to challenge anyone and everyone that they could come across.  Both sealed and unsealed tournaments of Magic: The Gathering saw a lot of attention from fans and spectators on both Saturday and Sunday, and the Upper Deck booth was bustling with interested parties to get a look at their new WOW Miniatures Game.

That’s right, a whole new way to get your fix of that addictive fantasy world that has changed the lives of billions for better and for worse.  Upper Deck was very excited to talk about their new WOW Minies game coming out in Fall of 2008, which interestingly enough is very different from the TCG, including an entirely new monster faction that players can…well, play.  I’ve heard about a lot of wishing and hoping from WOW fanatics about how they’d like to be able to play as a Murlock or Ogre class – looks like your prayers have been answered.  On top of what seems to be a quality game, some fine craftsmanship went into each mini, and I think fans will generally be very happy with the products. 

            But that wasn’t the only new development that took place this past weekend: for those of you who don’t know, Chaotic has been growing in popularity in the United States over the past year, debuting only six months ago to fans (late October of 2007).  Much like the Yu-Gi-Oh! early marketing strategy, the game has received a lot of hype and attention from the television shows that air every Saturday morning, and much like the early Yu-Gi-Oh! series, the way the game is played on the show has nothing to do with how you play the game in real life.

            The game format is something very different in itself – monsters aren’t available to defend you like in Yu-Gi-Oh!, WOWTCG or Magic: The Gathering, it’s your job to defend and manipulate your army, much like heroclix.  Though not the most interesting or creative of back stories, the game play is quite interesting and challenging compared to most other TCGs; strategy is more important on the field than in deck build, ultimately evening playing fields against “spoiled brats”.  A starter deck could easily defeat a well-structured competition deck depending on how you play your cards.  Then again, it is the early stages of the game, and not much development has been made as of yet; I hope R&D can stick to the simplicity they’ve maintained ultimately providing a gaming environment that allows players to come and go as they please.

            The most recent release of the game was Zenith of the Hive, released this past April, giving Danians (the bug faction) a big boost.  The next release is set to be in Fall 2008 as well and, I believe, will be focusing on Mipedians (the lizard faction), a highly under-supported class.  Best thing about this game is that you can check it out online for free and for yourself if you like it.  If you log onto www.Chaoticgame.com and register, you can get a free, on-line structure deck and immediately start playing.  Wednesdays are great days to play since you’re rewarded the same Friday with a free card. 

            For you NY readers, the next show you may want to check out will be in late September, from the 26^th to the 28^th of 2008 – the NY Anime Con.  I’ll be there reporting and will hopefully be able to send Pojo-sama something more juicy than this last report.  I wish I had a catch phrase like “Stay Classy”, but I guess I’ll have to work on it for next article.  If you have any comments or suggestions, you can always reach me at brownmagic2999@yahoo.com.  Thanks.

-Vinayak