Ursula's Return is Disney Lorcana's newest expansion, a story-driven set that reveals Ursula's evil plan to take control of the Inklands with the power of the Hexwell Crown. Heroes and villains take center stage in this expansion, but Ursula's story, which weaves through many of the new cards, isn't the only exciting thing about Ursula's Return. Encanto's Madrigal family is making their first appearance in Disney Lorcana - and they're featured front and center in the newest starter deck

As its name implies, Madrigal Magic is a typal deck that has built-in synergies for the members of the Madrigal Family. It also has a big emphasis on healing characters through actions and abilities, lots of support characters, a few singers, and a little bit of bounce synergy too. This deck is more unfocused than its Hero-centric, Sapphire/Steel counterpart, but with a little work, it won't be difficult to get it into fighting shape.

This guide features three upgrade paths for this starter deck.

The goal of this guide is to improve the consistency and performance of the deck without losing the core themes.

There are likely better Amber/Amethyst lists out there, but these decks are designed to focus on and elevate the things that already work in the original starter deck.

These are the best Madrigal decks, not the best Amber/Amethyst decks.

Disney Lorcana's Ursula's Return Amber/Amethyst Budget Deck Upgrade

Agustin Madrigal, Clumsy Dad (x4)

Mirabel Madrigal, Prophecy Finder (x4)

Ursula, Vanessa (x4)

Felix Maddrival, Fun Loving Family Man (x4)

Julieta Madrival, Excellent Cook (x4)

Maleficent, Sorceress (x4)

Mickey Mouse, Leader of the Band (x2)

Camilo Madrigal, Prankster (x4)

Dolores Madrigal, Easy Listener (x4)

Luisa Madrigal, Magicaly Strong One (x4)

Mirabel Madrigal, Gift of the Family (x1)

Bruno Madrigal, Out of the Shadows (x1)

Isabela Madrigal, Golden Child (x1)

Swing Into Action (x2)

Poor Unfortunate Souls (x2)

Heal What Has Been Hurt (x2)

Friends on the Other Side (x4)

Lost in the Woods (x4)

Look At This Family (x1)

Casa Madrigal, Casita (x4)

A lot of the core Madrigal cards that make this typal deck 'turn on' are rare or super rare, but there's still a lot we can do to tighten up the budget version of this deck. We've increased the number of all our common and uncommon Madrigal cards to four, but limited them to just the most impactful: Agustin, Felix, Julieta, Camilo, Dolores, Luisa, Isabela, and both Mirabels.

Our apologies to Atonio and Pepa who did not quite make the cut.

Since this is an Amethyst deck, there are a lot options for card draw. This list sticks with the most basic: Maleficent, Sorceress, and Friends on the Other Side. Julieta and Dolores also have the potential to replace themselves, while Bruno lets you return a character to your hand after they are banished.

Plus, Look At This Family is one of the most powerful card draw tools in the game now, so you should have a lot of options to keep cards in your hand.

This list replaces Sebastian with Ursula, Vanessa as its two-cost, Singer 4. Her higher willpower makes her more likely to live after singing, and including her sets this deck up for a Floodborn Ursula in the other versions. This deck has a total of 13 songs, up from seven in the original starter deck, so there are plenty of opportunities to put Ursula to work.

Other than Friends on the Other Side, she'll most commonly be singing Lost in the Woods to reduce the strength of all opposing characters by two. This can either be used to protect your characters while they quest or to take some favorable trades against your opponent's characters without having to banish your own characters in the process.

An efficient Lost in the Woods turn might start with Ursula singing the song, followed by Luisa rushing in to challenge an opposing character for free. This deck has two copies of Swing Into Action, which is both thematic for an Encanto deck, and a great way to give any of your characters Rush.

When Bruno Madrigal, Out of the Shadows is played, he makes a chosen character return to your hand when it's banished in a challenge. If you have Bruno choose himself, you could combine this play with Swing Into Action, have Bruno rush into a big target like Maui, Hero to All, then immediately return Bruno to your hand.

Healing is still a core strategy of this deck. Julieta works like a miniature Rapunzel, Gifted with Healing, by healing your damaged characters and providing a card draw. Heal what has been hurt does practically the same thing in song form too. By combining these tools with Lost in The Woods, you can safely challenge your opponent's characters and heal the damage they've taken - or avoid it altogether.

The game plan for this deck involves creative use of its Support characters, healing abilities, and card draw to efficiently trade with your opponent's characters. Mickey Mouse, Leader of the Band in Both Mirabels can quest and give support to weak characters like Agustin, Felix, and Ursula, who can challenge more dangerous targets, and then Julieta can heal the damage they take.

Poor Unfortunate Souls offers a little extra board control by removing threats before they can act, and once you have the board, Casa Madrigal will generate passive lore each turn while you continue to remove your opponent's characters through efficient trades.

Disney Lorcana's Ursula's Return Amber/Amethyst Mid-Cost Deck Upgrade

Agustin Madrigal, Clumsy Dad (x4)

Alma Madrigal, Family Matriarch (x4)

Bruno Madirgal, Undetected Uncle (x4)

Camilo Madrigal, Prankster (x4)

Isabela Madrigal, Golden Child (x2)

Julieta Madrigal, Excellent Cook (x4)

Luisa Madrigal, Magically Strong One (x4)

Maleficent, Sorceress (x4)

Mirabel Madrigal, Gift of the Family (x4)

Mirabel Madrigal, Prophecy Finder (x4)

Olaf, Friendly Snowman (x4)

Ursula, Eric's Bride (x4)

Ursula, Vanessa (x4)

Friends On The Other Side (x4)

Look At This Family (x4)

Lost in the Woods (x2)

The Boss Is On A Roll (x4)

Now we can start to access the core synergies in the Madrigal typal deck. Alma Madrigal gives us Lorcana's first tudor ability, which is a type of ability that lets you search your deck for a specific card. When Alma is played, you can look for any Madrigal and put it on top of your deck.

This is a great way to manage your curve. By playing Alma on turn three, you can ensure you'll draw a four-cost card you can play at the start of your next turn. Later in the game, Alma can help ensure you find a Madrigal with a specific ability you're looking for.

Alma also synergies perfectly with Bruno Madrigal, Undetected Uncle. After playing Alma to move a card to the top of your deck, you can exert Bruno, name that card, and put it in your hand. This is a great way to get a Luisa right away when you need a Rush character or set up a big play on the following turn. As a bonus, you'll also gain three lore each time you do it.

You won't always have an Alma to pair with Bruno though, so this deck also utilizes The Boss Is On A Roll, which allows you to organize the top five cards of your deck in any order you choose. This can set up Bruno for multiple turns, allowing you to draw at least three extra cards and gain nine lore as long as Bruno survives. Thanks to his Evasive keyword, he isn't easily removed, even when he's exerted.

Outside of the Madrigal Synergy, Luisa is a much worse version of Madam Mim, Fox. If you're not finding that her synergy with Alma and Mirabel is coming into play often, consider exchanging Luisa for Fox. You'll lower your curve and your uninkable count while gaining a potent bounce tool.

The other big addition to this version of the deck is Ursula, Eric's Bride. Ursula allows you to discard a non-character card of your choice from your opponent's hand every time she quests, which is an incredibly powerful effect that, unlike similar abilities, can be repeated multiple turns.

Ursula features the new discard version of Shift introduced in this expansion. You have to discard a song to Shift this Ursula on top of Ursula, Vanessa, but luckily, this deck has 12 songs, so it shouldn't be hard to do.

Disney Lorcana's Ursula's Return Amber/Amethyst Mid-Cost Deck Upgrade

Agustin Madrigal, Clumsy Dad (x4)

Alma Madrigal, Family Matriarch (x2)

Bruno Madirgal, Undetected Uncle (x4)

Isabela Madrigal, Golden Child (x2)

Julieta Madrigal, Excellent Cook (x4)

Luisa Madrigal, Magically Strong One (x4)

Mirabel Madrigal, Gift of the Family (x4)

Mirabel Madrigal, Prophecy Finder (x4)

Olaf, Friendly Snowman (x4)

Rapunzel, Gifted With Healing (x4)

Ursula, Eric's Bride (x4)

Ursula, Sea Witch Queen (x4)

Ursula, Vanessa (x4)

Friends On The Other Side (x4)

Look At This Family (x4)

The Boss Is On A Roll (x4)

The best version of this starter deck - and frankly, any Amber deck - has four copies of Rapunzel, Gifted With Healing. This is the card Julieta Madrigal aspires to be, and the two create a nice play line that can consistently provide early card draw.

Consider playing Olaf on turn one followed by Mirabel Madrigal on turn two. If the opponent quests, Mirabel can give Olaf her Support and Olaf can challenge the opposing character, allowing you to play Julieta and heal the Olaf, drawing one card. Julieta herself is a great target for Rapunzel's ability thanks to her four Willpower, so if you can challenge something with Julieta on turn four (using Mirabel's support again) you can immediately heal her with Rapunzel and draw even more cards.

This deck also completes the Ursula Shift line with Ursula, Sea Witch Queen. This powerful new legendary forces the opponent to exert one of their characters when Ursula quests, which opens them up to be challenged - and for one of your characters to take damage for a future healing effect.

Ursula also prevents other characters from exerting to sing, which is a massive disruption for a lot of decks , especially those that utilize the new Sing Together mechanic.

Speaking of which, Ursula's secondary function in this deck is to sing Look At This Family. Remember, Ursula only stops other characters from exerting to sing songs, not herself. Because Ursula is a seven-cost character, she's able to sing Look At This Family all by herself, allowing you to pull two characters out of the top five cards in your deck and put them in your hand.

Whether Ursula is challenging, singing, or questing for three, she offers a tremendous amount of late-game value to this deck, and given that there are eight other Ursula cards, it's likely you'll always be able to shift her in when you want to.

The Madrigal typal synergy is one of the most flavorful in the Ursula's Return expansion, and with Alma Madrigal, it introduces a brand new mechanic that's sure to make a big splash. The combination of Amber and Amethyst creates a lot of potential for interesting deck designs, but if you want to prioritize the Madrigal typal, it's best to hone in on the most important, useful Madrigals, and then fill the deck out with stronger strategies.

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Disney Lorcana: How To Upgrade The Amber/Amethyst Starter Deck From Ursula's Return - TheGamer

Traditional payment gateways have often hindered banks in their efforts to modernize their payment systems. Transitioning to real-time payment capabilities demands dismantling outdated procedures, a task many banks are unprepared to take on.

A recent PaymentsJournal webinar featuring Miriam Sheril, Head of US Product at Form3, Peter Gordon, Founder and Managing Partner at Atlantic Fintech Advisors, and James Wester, Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research, took a closer look at how a platform-based approach is helping banks commercialize their value-added services and develop a more client-centric service model when it comes to payments.

For banks venturing into real-time payments, grappling with legacy back-office technology can be frustrating. Real-time payments hinge on delivering seamless end-user experiences, a demand that traditional technologies have long struggled to meet, especially considering customers 24/7 expectations. Implementing FedNow and the RTP network effectively necessitates embracing modern technologies.

In the U.S., were going to see more banks needing to modernize their technology at the back end to make this happen, Gordon said. The legacy infrastructure that banks havebatch-oriented, mainframe-based systemscant handle the 24/7/365 scaling. It also means that were moving from silo-based systems to enterprise-based systems and platforms.

Managing individual transactions for FedNow and RTP differs significantly from the batch-oriented processing typical of ACH transactions. The infrastructure needs to become modern and cloud-based. Regulatory concerns, such as anti-money-laundering laws, further impel banks toward modernizing their architecture. By providing more seamless solutions through better technology, fintechs like Stripe and PayPal have been pushing banks to turn toward cloud solutions and APIs that allow banks to scale and work more directly with fintechs.

We focus on trying to insulate banks and financial institutions from having to deal with some of the nitty-gritty annoying stuff, so that they can focus on their customers, their end users, and where they want to make money, Sheril said. A truly seamless API will cover all the rails, instead of the bank having to worry about ISO spec version this for RTP, and version that for FedNow, and a third version for Fedwire.

Financial institutions are often stymied by the technological complexity of payments. The systems in place worked well for a long time, but banks are beginning to realize theyre being forced along the path to modernization. And its not going to get simpler, primarily because of the silos within their operations.

A large financial institution operates numerous disparate channels, each with its own dedicated system tailored for functions like treasury and wealth management. Yet theres growing desire within banks for payments to present a unified front, emanating seamlessly from a singular source. This entails breaking down the silos so theres a consistent experience across the middle and back office, as well as throughout the infrastructure and among technologists.

With this push for new technology, many banks accustomed to constructing their own infrastructure are opting against replacing outdated system internally. Instead, theyre forging partnerships with companies specializing in modern technologies.

Instead of it being one of the 75,000 things I do, streamline the piece that matters to me, Sheril said. Now that we have the ability to have better architecture thats easier to implement, that is going to be helpful in terms of where banks are going across lines of business and tearing down silos.

Ultimately, customers simply want convenience. However, theres growing awareness among customers regarding the various payment methods available to them. They can opt for installments plans, direct transfers, or transactions that accrue points. Financial institutions want to present customers with all of these options.

Thats where that technology kicks in and says to the financial institution, you have more power now, Wester said. Financial institutions have always just looked at a payment as a payment. But now that were seeing consumers care, there are ways that you can use that to reinforce the relationship.

In many instances, customers fully appreciate the advantages of real-time payments only once theyve had the opportunity to use them. Real estate firms, for instance, are showing interest in real-time payments not because theyre concerned about where their settlements occur but because they want to close deals on Saturdays, a day when most realtors are active.

Consider another scenario where instant payments afford retailers the ability to reconcile transactions at the end of the day and receive funds instantly. For example, on a Friday night, a restaurant reconciling its accounts can simply press a button, and the funds are deposited into its account, enabling them to promptly pay the wait staff.

However, many banks have been unable to facilitate such transactions on Saturdays due to wire closures. As a result, these options emerge as new products and services for consumers and represent novel competitive avenues for financial institutions.

Conducting operations in the cloud allows banks to integrate many of their services, yet there has been a reluctance to use such services.

Ten years ago I was at a conference about the cloud, and the CIO of a relatively large bank said from the stage, We will never put any mission-critical stuff in the cloud. Its just too risky, Wester said. And the bankers in the audience all nodded sagely. No, that will never happen.

Yet more banks are discovering that using a platform-as-a-service provider can reduce costs significantly if its done right. They can end up paying a fraction of the cost of building and maintaining a data center.

Another advantage of the cloud is translation. It can take an ACH file and convert it to an ISO 20022 format, maybe even enrich the payment instructions with information, then pass it through a payment system. Those who understand how rich this data is will be the real winners.

Implementing new processes in todays payments landscape means dismantling old ones. Its important for organizations not to underestimate the challenges associated with decommissioning legacy systems and instead focus on this task with purpose.

Organizations should embark on a journey toward modernization, starting by insulating themselves from risks and addressing their least risky areas first. Its imperative to start with smaller aspects that can coexist alongside the legacy system. This incremental approach ensures that each step is modernized. Not everything needs to be moved at once.

This is about getting something better out there and not waiting till your customers leave you for someone else, Gordon said. There are ways to do this that help you de-risk the whole migration. Some banks have only taken specific accounts and moved them over. Or only real-time payments. You can start real-time there, then move the other aspects over.

Said Sheril: The more complex these requirements get, the more modern the technology has to be. You cant do it on old platforms. You have to do it on things that are quick. We can only do it because we are on a modern 24/7 platform. Banks need to get this modernization done, but they dont want it to distract from the focus on whats important to them, which is their customers and their revenue.

Continued here:
Clearing the Decks for Real-Time Payments - PaymentsJournal

The men of acclaimed production duo Louis the Child both got their starts early in life.

"I got into DJing after my parents bought me some DJ software for Christmas when I was in 6th or 7th grade," says Robby Hauldren. " I wasnt super into electronic music yet but I was starting to get curious about DJing. I gotthehang of it and started recording myself making mashups intheDJ software and uploading them to SoundCloud. A year or two later I met Freddy through some friends at school and heard he was producing his own electronic music. We had a very similar taste in electronic music and decided to meet up one day and make some music. I had played in bands before and recorded myself but I didnt know much about producing electronic music. Freddy taught me a ton of what I know now. We started to release some music on SoundCloud and just kept at it. I think things started to get pretty serious once we got a manager and he showed us how to really get our music out ontheinternet and heard."

"I started producing in 5th grade, I was already a fan of daft punk, and had heard a song ontheradio called 'Dooms Night' (Timo Maas Radio Edit) that kind of blew my mind at a young age, and some of my camp counselors showed metheCaspa Remix of 'Cockney Thug' by Rusko, and I was pretty hooked on dubstep and dance music," says Freddy Kennett."I was producing nearly every day from then on. I was taking drum lessons and playing saxophone intheconcert and jazz band, and was taking music theory classes and playing in a jazz band at Midwest Young Artists in Chicago. In 8th grade, when I heard of Robby making mashups and live edits of songs, I reached out to him to get together and make some tunes!Theday we got together, we startedLouistheChild."

Haulden likes to associate LTC more with a feeling than a sound.

"Theres certain 'sounds' or drum pockets people might associate us with, but intheend I know its aLouisTheChildsong when I get that feeling," he says.

"We usually make bubbly, vibrant dance music with a songwriting and melodic focus," adds Kennett. "We jump between any tempo that inspires us. We see genres as guidelines to utilize or break free from. We dont like being put in a box, and we like to experiment."

Louis the Child's latest release is "Believe It."

"We made 'Believe It' with Madeon, who is one ofthefirst artists we bonded over when we formedLouisTheChild," says Hauldren. "Overtheyears hes become a close friend and we decided to get together a few months ago to make music. When weve worked with him inthepast we always started from scratch, but this time he wanted to write over something we had already started. We played him a few ideas and this one beat really struck a chord with him, and we spent most oftheday just writingthevocal parts. We knew we wanted something simple, and we worked really hard at refining every line we wrote to getthemost out of them."

"This is our new song featuring Madeon, who was one of our idols forthelongest time, and still is," says Kennett. "Robby and I first were introduced to each other at a Madeon show atthebottom lounge in Chicago.Thesong itself is quite a happy and fun house tune that Hugo and I are singing on. It has a light and transcendent, dance energy, were super excited to play it live attheupcoming shows!"

As for gear:

"Weve used Ableton live for a long time," says Hauldren. "All you need is a great sample library, some software synths like [serum, kontakt, analog labs, or synplant], and most ofthetime a midi keyboard.A lot ofthetime ontheroad we just usetheMacBook keypad as a piano, which somehow is completely usable! I usedtheMacBook keypad to playthemelody from our songs Fire and Weekend, and multiple others. Sometimes its fun to make songs in various places that arent a professional studio with nice speakers. Thats an amazing part ofthedigital age, you have a lot of freedom to create anywhere youd like. You can even take your laptop tothebeach. Havent tried that yet, haha."

Looking ahead, the guys have plenty planned for 2024.

"We have a tour planned fortheFall that were really excited for," says Hauldren. "Going to try and keep putting out music afterthealbum too."

"We have an album ontheway," adds Kennett. "Very excited! Were done withthecreation process so we feel relievedget ready!"

Photo by Joey Vitalari

See the original post here:
Hit the Decks! It's Louis the Child Music Connection Magazine - Music Connection Magazine

Sneaking in from Galar, the Stealth Pokemon, Dragapult, is ready to make its mark in the Pokemon TCG. Debuting in the Twilight Masquerade expansion, Dragapult ex brings overwhelming attacks that are sure to spook your opponents. If you're looking for a deck that will dominate your local Pokemon League but don't want to play the Charizard ex archetype, Dragapult ex may be the answer.

Dragapult ex takes a little time to set up, and it can snowball through the competition once it's running. So if you've got the patience to set up your big play, we've got your guide!

Pokemon (20)

Dreepy, TWM 79 (4)

Drakloak, TWM 80 (4)

Dragapult ex, TWM 81 (3)

Natu, PAR 71 (2)

Xatu, PAR 71 (2)

Manaphy, BRS 41 (1)

Tatsugiri, TWM 82 (1)

Rotom V, CRZ 45 (1)

Lumineon V, BRS 40 (1)

Radiant Alakazam, SIT 59 (1)

Trainers (33)

Arven (4)

Iono (3)

Boss's Orders (2)

Buddy-Buddy Poffin (4)

Ultra Ball (3)

Nest Ball (3)

Earthen Vessel (2)

Rare Candy (2)

Temple of Sinnoh (2)

Super Rod (1)

Scoop Up Cyclone (1)

Forest Seal Stone (1)

Technical Machine: Devolution (1)

Technical Machine: Evolution (1)

Rescue Board (1)

Counter Catcher (1)

Handy Fan (1)

Energy (7)

Fire Energy (3)

Psychic Energy (4)

Dragapult ex can be built several different ways , and does well sharing the spotlight with other strong ex Pokemon. This deck list focuses on Dragapult ex.

Dragapult ex is flexible enough to be mixed with very different cards. It's seen play with Pidgeot, Comfey draw engines, and even Charizard ex.

Dragapult ex is the backbone of your deck: with 320 HP it can withstand almost any attack, and then respond with its Phantom Dive attack for outstanding damage.

Fire & Psychic

Phantom Dive

200

Put 6 damage counters on your opponent's Benched Pokmon in any way you like.

Phantom Dive is Dragapult ex's primary attack. It hits the Active Pokemon for 200 damage, plus 60 more on your opponent's Bench. You can use this to weaken the next big threat, or to knock out a weakened or Basic Pokemon on the Bench.

In two turns, Dragapult ex can deal 400 damage to your opponent's Active Pokemon, which is more than enough to two-hit KO any Pokemon. Overkill can be an issue, so several other cards can be included to mitigate it by moving damage counters between Pokemon.

This build doesn't have much spare energy or ways to bring them back from the discard pile, so Radiant Greninja is out and Radiant Alakazam is in. Radiant Alakazam's ability, Painful Spoons, allows you to move two damage counters off of any one of your opponent's Pokemon onto another.

If your opponent's Charizard ex has 20 damage counters on it and only needs 33 to be knocked out, Painful Spoons allows you to move two damage counters onto a Benched Pokemon. Or, if your opponent's active Pokemon only has 20 HP left, move two damage counters onto it to knock it out before attacking the next one.

Tatsugiri is a wonderful early-game support Pokemon. When you play it in your active spot you'll be able to search your top six cards for a Supporter every turn, giving you plenty of time and resources to setup your Dragapult ex on the Bench.

Your best Supporter card to find will usually be Arven, which can find the Rare Candy you need to get Dragapult ex into play more quickly, along with a variety of useful Pokemon Tools. Use this to grab a Rescue Board to make it easier to retreat your Active Pokemon, or a Forest Seal Stone to search for any card you need.

Scoop Up Cyclone is an excellent choice for your Dragapult ex's ACE SPEC card. It allows you to scoop your Dragapult ex when it has enough damage counters that the next attack will KO it, denying your opponent two Prize cards.

If you have a Drakloak on your bench with some Energy already attached, you can then progress it to the Active slot, evolve into the same Dragapult you just scooped, and continue attacking.

Dragapult ex takes a little time to set up, so you'll need to protect your Dreepy while you finish preparations. Tatsugiri is an excellent first Active Pokemon, because it allows you to search the top six cards of your deck for a Supporter card to get the deck rolling, and at one Prize you can afford to trade it after a couple of turns.

Using Buddy-Buddy Poffins and Nest Balls, search for your Dreepy, Xatu, and Radiant Alakazam. You'll want to evolve all of your Dreepy and at least one Xatu early, because Drakloak will be your main draw engine and Xatu will let you play a second (or third!) Basic Psychic Energy each turn.

If your Benched Pokemon are reasonably safe, you can hold off on evolving Drakloak in order to keep using its ability. Manaphy can help protect them on the Bench, keeping your Drakloak engines going until you're ready to evolve one and attack.

Dragapult ex does not deal damage to Benched Pokemon, it places damage counters. This is a fine distinction, but it means Manaphy will not protect Benched Pokemon from the effects of Dragapult ex's Phantom Dive attack.

Once your Dragapult ex has a Psychic and a Fire energy attached you can start swinging strategically. Be aware of your opponent's Pokemon and their total HP, using Radiant Alakazam to move damage counters away from the Active Pokemon if your next attack can still KO it, or onto it to score a KO before attacking.

Technical Machine: Devolution can heavily disrupt decks that rely on Rare Candy. Plus, if you put enough damage counters on your opponent's Benched Pokemon to KO the Basic Pokemon they evolved from, you can use Devolution to secure multiple KOs in one turn.

Dragapult ex has 320 HP, which requires more damage than most Pokemon can deal in a single turn. If it takes enough damage to be knocked out on your opponent's next turn, you can use Scoop Up Cyclone to put it back into your hand, move a Drakloak to the Active position, and evolve it to start attacking again fresh.

This deck really doesn't have a backup plan, relying on Dragapult ex and the occasional Devolution to secure KOs. Once you're set up for that you'll mostly be playing to disrupt your opponent, using Boss's Orders to secure strategic knock outs.

Manaphy is a popular Pokemon to protect Benched Pokemon from taking damage, but its ability does not stop Dragapult ex's damage counters. However, Mist Energy prevents you from placing those damage counters and protects the attached Pokemon from Devolution. The more popular Dragapult ex is in your area, the more likely your opponents are to include a couple of Mist Energies as a counterplay.

Painful Spoons is not an attack, so Radiant Alakazam can still place damage counters on Pokemon with Mist Energy attached.

Decks that threaten Dragapult ex the most are ones capable of outpacing it by taking one-hit knock outs, such as Arceus/Giratina VSTAR. Once these decks get running you'll struggle to keep up with them, but only Giratina VSTAR's Star Requiem VSTAR Power will be able to secure an OHKO on your Dragapult ex.

Your best bet may be to take down a Giratina VSTAR as early as possible and then keep putting on pressure.

Link:
How To Play A Dragapult Ex Deck In Pokemon TCG - TheGamer

The developer of NonSteamLaunchers got in touch to mention that a Steam Deck (Decky Loader) plugin is now available for testing, plus the latest release pulling in a handy tool for being able to Remote Play Together anything.

For thev3.8.8 release that went out a few days ago they've hooked upRemotePlayWhatever, a tool I hadn't heard of until now. It's a "Tiny application that lets you force remote play together any game you have in your steam library including non-steam ones" which sounds really useful for playing games from other stores on Steam Deck and for emulation too.

On top of that the developer mentioned they have a Decky Loader plugin in development, which is now available for testing. This means you won't have to go into Desktop Mode to install or remove the extra stores like Epic Games, GOG and so on, as long as you have Decky Loader set up and ready. Nice!

They sent along this video demo of it in action:

See original here:
NonSteamLaunchers Steam Deck plugin in testing, plus a way to Remote Play Together anything - GamingOnLinux

A few days ago we reported on news that Nvidia and MediaTek are set to release a new Arm-based chip for laptop PCs designed to cash in on the AI boom and compete with everything from traditional Intel and AMD APUs right through to the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. Well, now there's a rumour that Nvidia and MediaTek are also cooking up a chip specifically designed for handheld gaming PCs.

Potentially, this is epic news. There's absolutely no doubting the Arm instruction set makes for more efficient chips. Some recent leaked data from Dell indicates that its new laptops with the Arm-based Qualcomm X Plus chip will offer nearly double the battery life of their traditional x86 equivalents.

Without a doubt, one of the weakest aspects of current gaming handhelds is poor battery life. At the same time, Nvidia graphics currently can't be had in a handheld beyond the OG Nintendo Switch. So, the prospect of Arm-based efficiency and Nvidia graphics in a handheld is pretty compelling.

You could imagine something much faster than the AMD Phoenix APU used by all the current handhelds du jour, including the Asus RoG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, and with much better battery life. Add in DLSS upscaling, much better ray tracing, and the result would surely be a big, fat yes please.

For now, this is nothing more than a rumour from an X user self-styled as a "GPU veteran". But MediaTek and Nvidia have form and are currently producing chips for cars with Arm cores and Nvidia graphics and AI blocks.

Of course, the Nintendo Switch uses an Nvidia Tegra X1 which has four Arm-design cores combined with Nvidia Maxwell-era graphics. And Nvidia's own Shield handheld (shown above) and Shield TV devices combined off-the-shelf Arm cores with Nvidia graphics.

The immediate questions that follow are why Nvidia would work with MediaTek on such a chip and exactly what kind of Arm cores might it have? It's hard to be sure on either count.

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MediaTek certainly has a strong track record of selling chips for mobile devices, so there may be established relationships there that Nvidia wants to lean on and maybe even an attempt to get its GPU tech into phones. It might simply be cheaper and easier to let Mediatek do the donkey work of fitting out the chip with generic Arm cores and then selling it to device makers.

After all, Nvidia is pretty busy with its booming AI business and awash with cash. So you can understand why the company might prefer to pay MediaTek to a cook up a handheld gaming SoC with Nvidia IP, and then handle all the supply chain, firmware, and platform issues.

On the other hand, an Nvidia chip for handhelds that didn't just have Nvidia graphics but also some fancy, bespoke Arm CPU cores rather than the generic core designs Arm itself licences could be a lot more interesting. MediaTek doesn't have much of a track record for developing its own Arm cores. So, that task would presumably fall to Nvidia, at which point you're back to wondering why Nvidia needs MediaTek.

So, the simple fact of MediaTek-Nvidia alliance would imply off-the-shelf Arm cores. If that sounds disappointing, rumour has it Arm's next-gen Cortex X5 CPU cores are a big step forward and could be very competitive with everything from the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite's cores to anything Intel and AMD can offer.

Moreover, if MediaTek and Nvidia are working together on an AI PC chip for laptops using those Arm X5 cores plus an Nvidia AI NPU and graphics, well, it might not take a great deal of effort and investment to turn that into a compelling SoC for handheld gaming devices.

To tie this together, Nvidia and MediaTek have publicly announced a joint-venture SoC with Arm cores and Nvidia GPU and AI blocks. It's not a huge jump from there to a similar chip optimised for laptops. And once you've got that it's relatively small beer to make something for gaming handhelds.

Of course, that all covers the hardware. Getting the software and especially games running well is a whole different can of worms. But if any company has the resources, technical know-how, and industry relationships to get PC games running nicely on Arm chips, it's got to be Nvidia, right? Watch this space, things are looking seriously exciting for PC hardware over the next year or two.

Read more:
Nvidia could be teaming up with MediaTek to create a Steam Deck-busting handheld gaming chip - PC Gamer

Well, here's a bit of a nuisance. Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT is launching on May 16th and the developers have explained how it will work on Steam Deck but it's a mixture of good and bad news.

Sadly on Steam Deck and presumably desktop Linux too, since they both use Proton, you'll only be able to play single-player. At least, for now, until Valve can sort out whatever the issues are preventing the online mode from working.

Here's what the developer said:

Steam Deck support

We know many of you are eager to play Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut on handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck. We're happy to share that the single player experience, including the Iki Island expansion, can be enjoyed on Steam Deck and similar handheld gaming PCs as weve worked extensively to optimize performance and deliver the best possible experience on these devices.

You may notice that Steam marks the game as 'Unsupported' for Steam Deck. This is due to the Legends co-op multiplayer mode requiring Windows to access PlayStation Network integrated features.

For those confused, the game will have a brand new never-seen before PlayStation Overlay shipping in this game first, which hooks into the PlayStation Network for things like Friends, Trophies and more.

It may very well be the case that for now, Proton (the Windows compatibility layer), is just missing some features that need to be hooked up in a future Proton release. We've seen this sort of thing happen in the past and eventually Proton updates catch up with what's needed. So, all hope may not be lost, we just have to wait and see what Valve have to say about it. Concerning to see though, because no doubt a lot of future Sony PlayStation titles coming to PC will have this new PlayStation Network overlay. I've emailed Valve for info on this.

Worth pointing out at this point too, just like with Helldivers 2, the game has been restricted on Steam with various places unable to buy it due to the PSN requirement for the online mode.

See the rest here:
Ghost of Tsushima single-player only on Steam Deck due to PlayStation Network features - GamingOnLinux

Summary

Below Deck Mediterranean Bosun Luka Brunton was an exceptional crew member during season 8, and hes been busy since the season wrapped. He was known for juggling work successfully while pursuing boatmances with the rest of the crew. Luka was promoted during Below Deck Med season 8, episode 2 to lead Bosun by Captain Sandy Yawn. As the season went on, he formed close relationships with his fellow crew members, including stews Natalya Scudder and Jessika Asai. The Kiwi was also known for his flirtatious personality on his first stint with the franchise in Below Deck Down Under.

Though he got caught up in some drama during Below Deck Med season 8, he was still a beloved Bosun. Below Deck Med season 8 was a let down, but Luka still managed to bring a level of entertainment to the show. Luka should return for Below Deck Med season 9, but hes seemingly not a part of the cast. Its unclear where his future with the Below Deck franchise stands, but in the meantime, Luka has been occupied advancing his career and life off-screen.

Below Deck Mediterranean season 9 is introducing a brand-new cast with just a few familiar faces joining the crew of Mustique for this charter season.

Since Below Deck Med season 8 wrapped, Luka has been sporting a new look. On his Instagram, Luka posted a Reel of himself testing out a VR headset and drone. In the video, Lukas hair was visibly lighter. He seemingly buzzed and bleached his hair and has been embracing a new look since the show wrapped. On Below Deck Med, he had a full head of light brown hair. Luka has changed his look since Below Deck Med season 8, and the bleached hair is a great fit for him.

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While he had several on-screen boatmances, Luka is in a relationship with a non-Below Deck alum. Below Deck fans were eager to see if Luka sparked a relationship with Natalya or Katie after the show, but he didnt. He told Us Weekly that he rekindled a romance with his ex-girlfriend whom he had seen before Below Deck Med season 8.

We split up [before] the show, and were back together now , he said.

Luka also added that he didnt think she was watching Below Deck Med, which was probably good since he was involved in so many flirtatious relationships.

He shares glimpses of his relationship on his Instagram. Luka posted pictures with his partner in the oceans of Bali in September 2023, right before he confirmed his relationship at BravoCon. He continues to post content with his girlfriend across his Instagram as they embark on adventurous activities together. Its great that Luka has reignited his flame with his former partner. He was involved in a lot of boatmances throughout his time in the Below Deck franchise. Nowadays, Luka is happy being committed to his partner.

Before joining Below Deck Med, Luka was the lead deckhand on Below Deck Down Under season 2. During his stint on the Australian-based spin-off, Luka was briefly involved in a love triangle with his fellow crew members, Culver Bradbury and Jaimee Neale. He wasnt able to form any strong romantic relationships on Below Deck Down Under, but he did impress Captain Jason Chambers with his skills on deck. Captain Jason referred him to Captain Sandy for Below Deck Med season 8, and he joined Morotyacht Mustiques crew.

Luka was promoted to Bosun at the beginning of the charter season on Below Deck Med season 8 after Captain Sandy fired Ruan Irving in episode 1. He wasnt expecting the promotion, but Luka gladly took it. He admitted to the cameras that the f***ing pressure [was] on when Captain Sandy promoted him, but he was eager to work hard in the new role. The Mustique crew took the news well, and many of the crew members were ecstatic that Luka was the new Bosun. But it wouldnt take long for him to get caught up in some drama.

Luka formed a flirtatious relationship with stew Natalya, who feuded with Tumi Mhlongo throughout the season. However, Luka and Natalya quickly took a step back from their potential boatmance. Natalya was navigating her relationship with her boyfriend back home, so Luka began hooking up with stew Jessika. He admitted that his boatmance with Jessika had no strings, and that he was still texting Natalya as they continued to hook up. Shockingly, Luka also revealed he was texting with Below Deck Med alum Katie Flood, but that they were strictly just friends.

Obviously, I like Jess a little bit more than a friend. We are not in a relationship. Im not f***ing dating Katie Flood. Were just friends. Just friends. Even if I was texting her as more than a friend.

Luka would love to return to the Below Deck franchise. In an interview with Now To Love, he said he has no idea if hell be coming back to Below Deck anytime soon, but hes not ruling the opportunity out. Im just working on a normal boat at the moment and currently just on standby. Id love to get back on the show, but well see what happens, he said. Luka would have made a great addition to Below Deck Med season 9 working with Captain Sandys new Chief Stew, Aesha Scott, whom hes friends with.

Luka and Aesha worked together on Below Deck Down Under season 2 and knew each other from the yachting circuit before he joined the franchise.

With almost a decade of yachting experience under his belt, Luka met Aesha and her sister when they were early in their careers. They met roughly eight years ago in France, and Luka hooked up with Aeshas sister one night after a night out. Luka and Aesha consider each other family, and it would be incredibly entertaining to see them work together on a future season in the Below Deck franchise.

Luka was quite the character in Below Deck Med season 8. While he got involved with a few of the crew members during the season, he proved himself as Captain Sandys capable Bosun and as a successful crew member. He should have been asked back for Below Deck Med season 9, one of the best reality TV shows right now. Luka is open to returning to the Below Deck franchise, and its lilely only a matter of time until hes asked back.

Below Deck Mediterranean season 9 premieres Monday, June 3 at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo.

Sources: Luka Brunton/Instagram, Us Weekly, Luka Brunton/Instagram, Now To Love

Below Deck Mediterranean is a Bravo reality television series that follows a crew that works aboard a gigantic superyacht during the busy season. The show highlights the challenges of the crew as they serve their high-end clientele. Each season tackles new locations, such as Greece, Croatia, Italy, and France, with some repeating.

See original here:
What Happened To Luka Brunton From Below Deck Mediterranean Season 8? - Screen Rant

Valve has released a new Steam Deck update, which doesnt just bring a new performance-boosting graphics driver to the latest OS download, but also the ability to overclock the standard LCD version of the gaming handheld.

ThisSteam DeckOS release may not quite bring us Steam Deck 2 levels of new performance, but owners of the original Steam Deck LCD will now be able to squeeze every last drop of speed from their machine. Also included in theSteam OS 3.6.0 preview update, which is being called Remote-Controlled, is improved Bluetooth compatibility, display improvements, andenhanced VRR support.

The overclocking feature brings new options into the Steam Deck LCD BIOS, which enable users to crank up the consoles settings for peak performance. While there wont be a huge amount of clock speed headroom in most standard units, modified models with enhanced cooling, for instance, should be able to get just a touch more performance.

This feature was already added to the newer Steam Deck OLED, but owners of the older device havent been able to join in the fun, until now.

Meanwhile, the newMesa graphics driver has been updated to version 24.1, andValve says that it bringsmany performance and correctness improvements, along with a boost to the Steam UIs responsiveness.

Full patch notes for the SteamOS 3.6.0 Preview: Remote-Controlled release can be found below:

All you need to do to get hold of all these enhancements is opt into the Preview channel in the Update settings of your Steam Deck. Once done, the update will be available for download. Once this update build is out of preview, it will also be available for all users as a standard update.

As for what else you can download right now,every entry on our best Steam Deck games list is yours to play right away.

View original post here:
Steam Deck users need to download this free performance boost update - PCGamesN

An Nvidia handheld PC gaming chip is reportedly in the works right now, which would give some serious competition to the AMD chip used in the Steam Deck. According to this latest rumor, Nvidia is working with Taiwanese semiconductor firm Mediatek on the new handheld gaming chip, which is likely to be much more powerful than the Nvidia chip in the Nintendo Switch 2.

Only one of the best handheld gaming PC devices on our guide currently uses Nvidia silicon, and thats the Razer Edge, which is fundamentally a cloud gaming device. The problem for Nvidia here is that, unlike AMD, it doesnt have an x86 license, and all the big PC games for Windows are designed to run on the x86 instruction set. Unless Nvidia plans to buy up a firm with an x86 license, this alleged new chips CPU cores will be based on the Arm architecture.

This latest rumor comes from tech leaker XpeaGPU in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Mediatek is also working on [a] gaming handled [sic] SoC with [an] Nvidia GPU, the post says. The reason, according to XpeaGPU, is that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is frustrated by Nintendo and he sees a good market potential.

Although the Nvidia Nintendo Switch 2GPU is officially still under wraps, the silicon-on-chip (SoC) in the new handheld is widely rumored to be based on a customized version of Nvidias T234 Tegra chip from 2021, which has eight Arm CPU cores and a GPU based on Nvidias last-gen Ampere architecture.

That will be fine for Nintendos needs, bringing ray tracing and DLSS Super Resolution to the Switch platformfor the first time, but Nvidia clearly has the potential to make a much more powerful SoC for handheld PC gaming devices with its latest GPU and CPU tech, using its latest Ada architecture. According to a recent report by Economic Daily in China, Nvidia is also already working with Mediatek on an AI CPU for PCs, which it says will be produced by TSMC on its 3nm process and could even be released in the first half of 2025.

Arm would be a good fit for a handheld device in terms of heat and power efficiency, and is arguably a more appropriate CPU architecture for use on a portable games console. The barrier for Nvidia will be getting enough of the PCs huge x86 games back catalog ported over to Arm machine code. That wont be easy, but its not impossible for a company with Nvidias wealth and technical resources.

This isnt the first time weve heard whispers about an Nvidia Steam Deck rival, and its an obvious area where Nvidia could have an advantage over AMD and Intel if it can build the momentum behind an Arm-based PC gaming platform.

In fact, theres no reason why a future Steam Deck couldnt be based on Nvidia silicon. In the meantime, if you cant wait to get hold of a PC gaming handheld, check out our Steam Deck OLED review, as this is the current king of the crop.

Read more:
Your next Steam Deck rival could have an Nvidia GPU, according to leak - PCGamesN