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Trump administration says decisions paused until government can ensure ‘every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible’
The Trump administration has announced it is halting all asylum decisions in the wake of the National Guard shooting in Washington DC, according to a senior immigration official.
Joseph Edlow, the director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, said in a post on X on Friday that asylum decisions would be paused “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible”.
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© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Do you have someone who loves diving through dungeons, exploring magical worlds, doing random voices, or just wants something you can do with your family and friends this holiday? Luckily for you, there are some great Black Friday deals going on right now on Dungeons & Dragons goodies, and get ready for that special holiday one-shot with your friends or just to give your family something to play and do instead of talking about politics and all those other awkward conversation topics.
'Tis the season for great deals and bundles, and Dungeons & Dragons has some great ones. For brand new DnD players, or a group that has been showing interest in trying out the game, there is no better gift than the brand new Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set that was released earlier this year. With a bunch of dice, an easy-to-understand card-based gear system, and three distinct types of adventures (one focusing on combat, exploration, and roleplaying) this is a wonderful jumping-in point and is on sale now!
For folks that simply want to upgrade to the new 2024 version of 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast is offering a bundle that includes the brand new versions of the Monster Manual, Player’s Handbook, and Dungeon Master's Guide. With enhanced monster stat blocks, reworked classes, and new tools for the DM, these books are great to add to your shelf, and all three still work with all existing 5th Edition books as well.
For experienced players and DMs, there are sales on some truly classic adventure modules, including the Tomb of Annihilation and the Curse of Strahd, both of which every D&D group should experience at least once in their lifetime, as both are such quintessential stories for the game. If a more modern and topical quest is more your and your friends’ style, then the Stranger Things: Welcome to The Hellfire Club Adventure Game is also on sale. This special box, featuring the heroes that the characters from the Stranger Things series play as, will let you finish the campaign that Eddie never got to back in the last season.
Of course, to play those games, you will need some dice too, and thankfully, some dice are also on sale. Grab yourself multiple sets of dice so you and your friends can all start new characters with fresh, untainted new dice, or grab that special player in your life a sweet metal spinning dice. This nifty contraption is all your dice in a single, pocket watch-like package that spins and gives results.
When it comes to my general philosophy and approach to getting a TTRPG gift for a friend, there are three things I consider. First, is the person a Game/Dungeon Master (the person who does the actual running of the game, aka GM or DM) or are they a player (someone who takes part in the story)? Lastly, I try to figure out how they play, asking myself “do they play online with folks,” or “do they get together in person with a regular group to play”?
For the GMs, I would look toward campaign or adventure books, like the Curse of Strahd and Tomb of Annihilation books. These are self-contained stories that provide the person running the game with all they need to run a great multi-session story for their players.
If you know they run a bunch of games in person, then surprise them with a really nice GM Screen (a divider that separates the players from the GM and their notes), such as the Wymwood DM Screen.
Another solid option for your GM friends is a nice dry-erase grid rollable map and markers. These are powerful tools to allow them to quickly draw out the dungeon of the week or dense forest that they are sending their players into that night during the game.
Or if they already have all of that, then giving them some sweet new miniatures to send at the heroes is a great last option, and WizKids has an incredible line of D&D-specific colored miniatures you can get, and currently has a holiday bundle available too!
If you are looking for gifts for the heroes themselves, I have some general suggestions for you, too. For the newer releases like the Heroes of Faerun, Wizards of the Coast is making it easier to tell which books are more geared towards DMs and which ones are for players, and in the player’s cases, you will want to seek out ones with either the “Player's Expansion" label or “Rules Expansion” found on books like the upcoming Eberron: Forge of the Artificer book releasing in December. These books add new classes, spells, feats, and more for players to try out and make characters with.
If you are looking for a more personal touch though, a fun gift idea for that special D&D player in your life may be a gift card to heroforge.com, a site that allows you to build a custom small character miniature and either buy a physical version of it (including a fancy metal version) or the 3D file so they can print it themselves on their own 3D printer at home.
Finally, if none of those ideas are speaking to you, then you can always get the person dice. Us folks who play TTRPGs will never have enough dice (don’t listen to us if we say we don’t). It seems like nowadays, with the hobby's explosion in popularity, you can find whatever sort of dice you want, be it any color, aesthetic, theme, shape, or whatever you could imagine. Want a set of dice with little ice cream cones in them? You can buy them. What about dice cut from Amethyst – yes, the gemstone kind of Amethyst. Those are out there too!
Handcrafted Dice Brands
A whole industry has rolled out from the shadows based completely around luxury and handcrafted dice such as Dispel Dice, Baron of Dice, Artisan Dice, and Die Hard Dice just to name a few, with most of them hosting their own holiday deals right now. Pretty math rocks will always be a great gift for players and game masters alike.
See more Dice we rounded up in our DnD Holiday Gift Guide below:
Hopefully, with these recommendations, you’ll find your inspiration and the perfect gift for that role player in your life. If all else fails, you can always just offer to play in a one-shot with them or run a one-shot for them, too!
Scott White is a freelance contributor to IGN, assisting with tabletop games and guide coverage. Follow him on X/Twitter or Bluesky.
TCGPlayer is joining in on the Black Friday and Cyber Monday fun with their Cyber Weekend event.
Starting on November 28 at 9 am ET, trainers will get 10% back in store credit on their TCGPlayer account from whatever they buy.
This promotion will be running until December 1, 11 pm ET. So if you've been waiting for your favorite chase cards to go down in value to snap them up, this is it.
TCGPlayer does these promotions once or twice a year for a big holiday like Black Friday and Halloween, but this 10% credit offer comes while Pokémon TCG is finding a new floor.
That much is clear just by looking at the most recent Pokémon TCG set, Phantasmal Flames. But more on that later, long story short, this is a great time to pick up chase cards.
But which chase cards should you buy on TCGPlayer's Cyber Weekend? Well, I've handpicked some of the best cards from Mega Evolution, Scarlet and Violet, and the Sword and Shield eras of Pokémon TCG for you to catch.
Scarlet and Violet has been one of the best era's in recent memory for chase cards with multiple banger sets, and yes I know Evolving Skies from Sword and Shield was insane, more on that later. 151, Black Bolt/White Flare, Destined Rivals, Prismatic Evolutions and Twilight Masquerade collectively hold the most expensive chase cards of this era.
That's great and all, but it means more money spent on catching the best cards going. Then the latest era, Mega Evolution is off to a flying start with its base set and Phantasmal Flames expansion bringing back Pokémons most popular gimmick from the main games. There's a lot to focus on, just the carousel above will proove that much, but just focus on what stands out to you and what fits into your budget.
So the top 5 cards here value wise are Umbreon ex SIR, Mega Charizard X ex SIR, Mega Charizard X ex Gold Hyper Rare, Team Rocket's Mewtwo ex SIR and Mega Lucario ex Gold Hyper Rare. Even though Mega Evolution sets have dropped in value significantly since launch, they're still putting out some of the most valuable cards in modern Pokémon TCG.
Umbreon is never going to be knocked off the top spot, not even Charizard can do that, but it's going to be the best time to snap it up on TCGPlayer. Let's do some quick math; 10% of $1,294.99 is $129.49, which is going to be the minimum cashabck you'll recieve after purchasing Sunbreon. That means you could put that credit towards Roaring Moon ex SIR from the same set and grab it for $42.14 instead of $171.63. Oh, then you'd also get another 10% cashback from that purchase which is $17.16. It's the best kind of snowball i've ever seen.
But even with the cashback, Sunbreon will still cost a fortune regardless of how good the deal is, so let's pick out something that you're other half won't kill you (as much) for. Greninja SIR ex from Twilight Masquerade absolutley pops and is easily one of the best artworks in the Scarlet and Violet era. Whilst you might think $325 is steep, this card was touching $380 just a week or two ago. So getting $32.50 back as 10% cashback to effectively get this card for $292.50. Now that's a great investment, which is also the near-mint price.
The Scarlet and Violet era has also been a very strong era for promo cards. This means anything from a STAFF stamped card to a Pokémon Center stamped card found inside Pokémon Center-exclusive Elite Trainer Boxes.
One of my favorites from the Scarlet and Violet era is the Paldea Evolved Pokémon Center exclusive Elite Trainer Box (Takes a deep breath). It features Pikachu alongside the Paldea starter Pokémon in a "Let's go suit shopping" pose that has the power to cause genuine cardiac arrest. A stunning card.
Now considering the exclusive Elite Trainer Box is currently going for $500 sealed right now, the $119 price tag for the card is actually quite cheap. And when you consider the $11.90 cashback you'd get off buying the card, that's not a bad deal at all.
Keeping in with the Pikachu theme, one of my favorite promos from Scarlet and Violet that I actually own is Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat. This costs even more than the ETB at $547.99 right now, which is a big drop from around $647 just days ago. I've written about the full story behind this infamous card previously, but this is a fantastic time to get this card thanks to the extra $54.79 you'll get in cashback this weekend.
Yes, we're about to talk about Evolving Skies, well done for waiting until the end of the article. I remember walking into stores on release and not being able to move for Evolving Skies boosters, premium collections and Elite Trainer Boxes, often below MSRP. It's frankly insane how much this set it worth compared to how available it used to be.
It's the home of the most valuable Sword and Shield era chase cards for the most part, including Moonbreon, Rayquazza VMAX Alt Art, Umbreon V Alt Art, Dragonite V Alt Art, most of the Eeveelution VMAX Alt Arts and the stunning Rayquaza V Alt full art.
Apologies for just going mad listing cards, but this is why it's costing north of $2,000 just for a Booster Box. Of course you'd also get $200 in cashback which is awesome, but just wow. If you're looking to get some big chase cards for a steal in TCGPlayer's Cyber Weekend, start with Evolving Skies.
Sword and Shield isn't just about one set though, Fusion Strike, Lost Origins and Silver Tempest also have some god tier level grails. The Secret Alt Art of Gengar VMax for example is currently $730, which is over double the worth of the next Fusion Strike chase card down the line, Espeon VMAX Secret Alt Art, running at $329.58 right now.
If you're looking for an amazing chase card that isn't going to require a remortgage, Lugia V Alt Full Art from Silver Tempest is a banger. Other than me being really proud of myself getting it for under $150 earlier this year, the mood in this card thanks to Lugia jumping out of the ocean in the middle of a storm over a fisherman is stunning. Hands down the best Lugia Pokémon Card ever printed.
If you're planning on snapping up quite a few Pokémon cards in the sale, this is a great time to become a TCGPLayer subscriber. It costs $8.99 a month and gives users free delivers and 1% cashback regardless of the time of year.
Whilst this climbs to 3% after a years membership, subscriber will get a boosted 13% cashback over cyber weekend on top of their usual cashback. For longtime members, this could equate to 16% cashback, which is frankly insane.
For even more card recommendations in TCGPlayer's Black Friday/Cyber Weekend sale, check out our brand new Riftbound and Magic: The Gathering roundups as well.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of "Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior". Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
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