Featured – The Daily SPUF

On Already Hitting the Dynamax Endgame

June 7, 2026June 6, 2026 Medic 1 Comment dynamax, pokemon go

I like Dynamax battles. The tier 1 battles are super fast and free, and, when it comes to solo or low player content, tier 3, 4 and 5 battles are a great challenge. Gigantamax content on the other hand is intentionally tedious, in a bid to draw large crowds. While they can be beaten with low accounts, they require luck and maxed out Pokemon. And premium-only Max Mushrooms. But after a year or so of Dynamax content, the well is basically dry. But why? There are still unreleased Gigantamax Pokemon and a whole host of Pokemon who could be good… [Continue Reading]

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Deadlock’s McGinnis

June 5, 2026 aabicus 0 Comments alpha, analysis, class, deadlock, early access, first thoughts, hero, mcginnis, moba, recommendation, sentry, tank

I’ve covered an agile healer and a middling-speed DPS, now let’s complete the roster with a slow tank! Between these three characters, I think there’s something for everyone who is interested in trying Deadlock but struggling to choose a starter class. The final hero in our triumvirate will appeal to players who want a massive healthpool, an easy way to heal and deal damage, and limited mobility so being bad at Deadlock’s movement systems doesn’t kneecap one’s gameplay quite as much as on other heroes. Meet McGinnis! I played McGinnis in my first-ever Deadlock match for all the reasons mentioned… [Continue Reading]

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My Voruna

June 1, 2026May 31, 2026 Medicinal Warlock 0 Comments voruna, warframe

I technically started playing Warframe in 2013, at least according to my account creation date. Back then, the game didn’t quite click for me, so I dropped it. Despite getting tempted to pick it up again while reading Medic’s FashionFrame articles (I do love character customizations), I had always just been content to read about the game instead. That is, until some time in the middle of February where a bunch of my online friends were talking about Warframe. I asked if there was a melee Frame and they mentioned Voruna. I downloaded the game right after. Voruna’s crafting materials… [Continue Reading]

Featured The Competitive Corner

First Major Controversy Hits Competitive Deadlock

May 29, 2026May 29, 2026 aabicus 2 Comments competitive, deadlock, esports

Every esport has matches that have gone down in infamy, that will be talked about for decades after the fact. Some of the most iconic involve a team busting out an unconventional strat that leaves everyone debating whether it should even be legal. CS:GO/CS2 has the infamous “Olofbooster” match, League of Legends has Azubu Frost reaching the World 2 Finals by screen-peeking, Overwatch had the “Brigitte in Spawn” gambit from the 2018 Playoffs. And now Deadlock, despite not having even left alpha yet, has had its own, courtesy of a bizarre interaction between a specific item and a recently-adjusted map element. But before we… [Continue Reading]

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The Warframes I Enjoy Playing the Most (So Far)

May 26, 2026May 25, 2026 Medicinal Warlock 2 Comments ember, ivara, khora, lavos, rhino, valkyr, warframe

I haven’t written here for years. Things had happened which kept me from properly gaming and writing. That’s over, and I am at a pretty comfortable place in life now. But most importantly for this article and the site in general, I started playing Warframe. I am currently trying to get to MR17 so that I can buy Coda Hirudo and Coda Bubonico, weapons I’ve been eyeing for some time. To that end, I’ve played quite a few different Warframes in an effort to raise my MR. Some I’m indifferent to (Dagath, Mag), some just refused to click for me… [Continue Reading]

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Deadlock’s Seven

May 24, 2026May 30, 2026 aabicus 0 Comments alpha, analysis, class, deadlock, early access, first thoughts, hero, moba, mobility, recommendation, seven

The first time you boot up Deadlock, you’re going to be prompted to play a tutorial to learn the bare minimum of how things work in the Cursed Apple. And this game is absolutely complicated enough that everyone, myself included, will highly recommend you indulge that offer. You will find yourself playing a cackling electricity-ridden scarecrow with a satellite dish for a head, and the first thing I remember thinking was, “aabicus, under no circumstances are you allowed to main the tutorial guy. Any other character, sure, but there’s nothing lamer than playing the easy class clearly designed for noobs.” I… [Continue Reading]

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ODJ’s Hydro Rant

May 20, 2026May 20, 2026 ODJ 0 Comments hydro, map design, tc_hydro, Team Fortress 2

I’m ODJ and I’m studying the maps. Learning the maps. Becoming one with the maps. Been really diving in deep onto maps. There’s very little talking about maps. Of course I mean multiplayer maps. I’ve been taking a critical eye to the design of TF2’s maps. The map making process is ‘okay’, I’m starting out but making the map with a friend. The two of us have made maps for some other community stuff I do not want to delve into, and he’s worked with hammer++ before for gmod, we’re both talented mappers but this will be an undertaking for… [Continue Reading]

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[FFXIV] The One Potion Useful From Level 1-100

May 19, 2026May 19, 2026 aabicus 0 Comments advice, Final Fantasy XIV, healing, item, items, mmo

Final Fantasy XIV progression, like most MMORPGs, is driven by gear, consumables, and socket enhancements. And all these inventory items are repeatedly and categorically replaced by new ones as players level up, to the point that most of them are all but obsolete every ten levels or so. Consumables are probably hit the worst of all, often outstripped by newer better options every major patch, and there are few reasons to keep ‘last season’s best’ around given how much cheaper, better, and more prevalent the new flavor of the week always is. Except one. There’s a single potion, included in… [Continue Reading]

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In Which Medic Writes Stories

April 1, 2026 aabicus 0 Comments fiction, phoviverse, story, writing

Retvik (known as Medic on this blog) needs no introduction, as she’s far and away the most prolific writer and editor the site has ever seen. She’s written 2,924 articles, more than double everybody else combined, and she also edits, illustrates, and graphically designs most of the rest of what’s on the Daily SPUF. Truly, she’s more dedicated to the craft of writing than anyone I know. But gaming journalism is only one of her ongoing creative projects, she also writes a massive sprawling universe of countless characters, worlds, and narratives called the Phoviverse, and I’ve been reading it since roughly 2015.… [Continue Reading]

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Deadlock’s Ivy

March 14, 2026April 11, 2026 aabicus 3 Comments #GargoyleGaming, alpha, analysis, class, deadlock, early access, first thoughts, hero, ivy, moba, mobility, recommendation

When I was invited to join the Deadlock closed playtest in August 2024, I installed it and logged into the main menu with pretty much no idea what I was getting into. After starting up the sandbox to poke around, I was faced with a massive list of random heroes I knew nothing about, and chose the winged gargoyle because I figured flight would be useful for exploring the map. A year and a half later, Ivy is still my favorite hero in the game. She really has a little bit of everything, and I’m mostly just writing this to gush about… [Continue Reading]

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