Drew Swanson-Editor

Editorial Team

Editor

November, 2022
BA in Digital Technology and Culture with a Certificate in Game Design, 2 years as a writing tutor, 3 years of professional writing, life-long gamer
Pokemon, RPG, Diablo 4
  • 876
    articles
  • 34
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  • 817
    Features
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  • 24
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About Drew Swanson

Drew Swanson is a Features Article Editor from the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Being a gamer all his life and enjoying everything from ARPGs like Diablo to JRPGs like Pokemon and Persona, his love of digging into game lore and history naturally led to a passion for sharing these ideas with others through writing. He has been writing about games professionally for over 4 years, with bylines as a Contributing Writer at High Ground Gaming for 2 years before joining TheBestWarGames. He also has a background in video game studies with a degree from Washington State University, where he also won the Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Award in 2021 for his writing and design work on the game Quest for Arete. 

Proudest Gaming Achievement

Drew is a huge Pokemon fan, so completing a living National Dex through Pokemon Gen 9 is a huge achievement for him. He tries to complete the Pokedex in each new generation, but it wasn't until Gen 7 that he started building and maintaining a living National Dex that contains one of every critter in the franchise.

Favorite Games

Pokemon Black and White, Persona 5 Royal, Final Fantasy 7, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Xenoblade Chronicles, Elden Ring, Animal Crossing, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Metroid Prime are some of his favorites, but it's hard to pick just one. He tends to love JRPGs, and his "holy trinity" of JRPGs are Persona 5 Royal, Final Fantasy 7, and Xenoblade Chronicles.

Industry Focus

Drew focuses on Diablo 4 content, following trends in the community and highlighting popular builds for new seasons since the game's release nearly 3 years ago. He also leverages his almost 30-year fandom of Pokemon to write about the series' past, present, and future, including its lore and real-world connections. Otherwise, he tends to stay on top of the latest gaming trends, exercising his love of new gaming experiences to dive deep into new RPG, Survival, and Extraction Shooter releases.

Latest

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Pokemon GO is Still Missing One Hisuian Form After Lilligant’s Debut

Pokemon GO has been dishing out the new Hisuian Forms lately, but only one remains to be added after Hisuian Lilligant's recent debut.

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Diablo 4 Update 2.3.1 Buffs Hit the Wrong Target

With update 2.3.1, Diablo 4 is addressing some major Season 9 concerns, but leaves one area in need of improvement untouched.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 Misses the Best Possible Opportunity to Bring Back a Fan-Favorite Feature

Diablo 4 Season 9's focus on the Horadrim made it the perfect chance to include a popular feature from Diablo 2, but the opportunity has slipped by.

diablo-4-season-9-druid-dark-citadel
Diablo 4 Season 9 Players Shouldn’t Sleep on One Off-Meta Build

While it may not be the meta powerhouse that something like Hydra Sorcerer is, one Diablo 4 Season 9 build can be a quiet threat in the endgame.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 is a Blessing For One Damage Type and a Curse For Another

Diablo 4 makes changes to two of its damage types in Season 9, with one becoming a cornerstone of the meta while the other falls by the wayside.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 Sorcerers Can Deal an Absurd Amount of Damage, But There’s a Huge Asterisk Attached

Diablo 4 Sorcerers can take advantage of an unintended interaction between some Season 9 mechanics to deal huge damage, but likely not for long.

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Diablo 4 Seasons Tier List

Diablo 4 is now in its ninth season since release, but looking back at every season since launch reveals that not all of them were created equal

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Diablo 4 Season 9 Players Will Want One Piece of Mythic Gear Handy, Regardless of Build

While mythics are hard to come by in Diablo 4, it might be worth players' time to farm for one piece of gear with near-universal utility in Season 9.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 Rewrites One Longstanding Unwritten Rule

Diablo 4 Season 9 may not be the massive overhaul some players had wanted, but it does end up flipping the script on a tradition of past seasons.

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diablo-4-season-9-hardcore-mode-butcher
Diablo 4: Why You Should Play a Hardcore Character in Season 9

Hardcore mode ups the challenge in Diablo 4 by making death permanent, and Season 9 might be the best time for players to try out this mode.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 May Be the Last of Its Kind

Diablo 4 Season 9 stands out for one unexpected reason, but this could also be the last time the community sees a season like this.

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diablo-4-season-9-scosglen-lilith-build-nerfs
One Diablo 4 Class Gets the Short End of the Stick in Season 9

Diablo 4 Season 9's nerfs to one class make it an outsider in the seasonal meta, but there is still a bright spot for players wanting to try it out.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 Makes One Thing Abundantly Clear Ahead of the Next Expansion

Diablo 4 Season 9 starts to paint a surprisingly clear picture of what players can expect from the next expansion, with one trend likely to continue.

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One Diablo 4 Feature is the Undersung Hero of Season 9

While Diablo 4 Season 9's Horadric Spells and Escalating Nightmares are exciting, players may have missed one of the season's best new features.

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Diablo 4 Season 9’s Best Rogue Build is Not Exactly What It Says on the Box

With some Rogue builds in Diablo 4 sliding down in the Season 9 meta due to Overpower nerfs, one falsely advertised build remains top tier.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 May Have Snuck In a Tease for the Next Expansion, and It’s a Doozy

Hidden within Diablo 4 Season 9 is an NPC that may be teasing the next major expansion, and it could be a great sign for longtime Diablo fans.

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Diablo 4 Season 9 Players Can Get a Taste of Vessel of Hatred Even Without the DLC, But There’s an Asterisk Attached

Diablo 4 Season 9 comes with the bonus of letting players try out one Vessel of Hatred mechanic for a limited time, even if it's not exactly the same.

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Diablo 4 Season 9’s S-Tier Sorcerer Build is Surprisingly Easy to Accomplish

Diablo 4 Season 9 is putting one Sorcerer build in the spotlight, but it's much easier to complete than some of the other top-tier builds this season.

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One New Diablo 4 Unique is the Clear Winner of Season 9

Diablo 4 Season 9 introduces new uniques for each class, but one stands out a the best of these additions for its role in defining the season's meta.

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Diablo 4 Season 9’s Best DPS Build Comes at a High Price

Diablo 4 Season 9 has some standout builds due to its Horadric Spells and skill buffs, but one of the best may require some heavy player investment.

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