"Rashmi , Eternities Crafter: Creating possibilities."

"Rashmi , Eternities Crafter: Creating possibilities."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

There was something that I liked instantly about Rashmi , Eternities Crafter the moment I saw her. It was the possibilities that she brought to the battlefield. 

The 4 mana elf druid let's you cast a spell for free or draw a card. Plain and simple when she is on the battlefield you get advantage over your opponents so this is how she works.Whenever you cast your first spell each turn , reveal the top card of your library. If it's a non land card with converted mana cost less than the spells cost you may cast it without paying its mana cost. If you don't cast the revealed card , put it into your hand.

The potential for this is just really exciting. Imagine casting something like a Verdurous gearhulk(5 mana) on your turn and you look at the top of your library to reveal a 4 mana cost spell or less like a Kiora or Jace. Then you cast it for free! And even if you can't cast the spell since it cost more than the initial spell you cast you get to keep it so that you could cast it later.

The abundance of 4 or 3 mana cost counters or even other instants with the same costs even allows you to trigger Rashmi , Eternities Crafter on your opponents turn and you get to cast a spell that you might not have. Imagine getting a creature or planeswalker on the battlefield at instant speed by casting a Torrential Gearhulk on your opponents turn.

The interaction gets even better(for you) when you get to cast any of the Expertise spells. So a Baral's expertise in this case allows you to cast a 4 mana spell from your hand and 4 mana or less costing card from the top of your library. Insane!

In a recent game where I was playing with my Sultai superfriends deck and Rashmi , Eternities Crafter was in play ,My Disallow on my opponents turned turned into a Inquisition of Kozilek that allowed me to get rid of an opponents card. Even sorceries gain instant speed! 

I guess I have to brew a Rashmi , Eternities Crafter deck sooner or later. Time to look up the pieces. 

"Ob Nixilis Reignited: And it feels so good."

"Ob Nixilis Reignited: And it feels so good."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Now that I have finally decided to buy a Nissa vs. Ob Nixilis duel deck I wanted to focus on these two planeswalkers and now is the demons turn who costs 5 mana and comes in at 5 loyalty counters.

His first ability is a +1 that let's you draw 1 card and lose 1 life. Very black as it follows the power at any cost principle. What's a little life loss among friends is what Ob Nixilis would say to you. This is what you also get for dealing with a planeswalker demon who has a lot of hate issues.

Ob Nixilis Reignited has a great -2 second ability that you can use right away to take care of a pressing need. Namely a big creature who will drop your life total in the red. Ob Nixilis Reignited is your guy. Let him throttle that creature for you planeswalker style.

And for the ultimate ability which is a -8. Good old Ob gives your opponent an emblem that says whenever a player draws a card , you lose 2 life."

Needless to say Emblems are permanent things in the game that never gets wiped clean like poison counters. Unless you restart the game with Karn Liberated but how often does that happen right? Ob Nixilis Reignited seems to fit a blue black card draw discard deck but this little Underworld Dreams emblem impersonation also serves well in mono black decks. 

So regardless if an opponent or the player that has the emblem draws a card , the emblem holder still loses 2 life. Ouch. Might as well have said deal two damage on every draw step and on every time that you draw with spells like Read the bones or Sign in Blood. Ouch.

In conclusion Ob Nixilis Reignited will be a great fit to my existing Sultai Superfriends deck as he offers card draw , creature removal and a very slow and painful way of winning. Sadistic in little amounts. Just my kind of planeswalker. Welcome to the fold Ob Nixilis Reignited. 

"Nissa , Voice of Zendikar: Land powered!"

"Nissa , Voice of Zendikar: Land powered!"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Now that I have finally decided to buy a Nissa vs. Ob Nixilis duel deck I wanted to focus on these two planeswalkers and so I first talk about the 3 mana costing Nissa , Voice of Zendikar who comes in with 3 loyalty counters.

Her first ability allows you to put a 0/1 creature token that will serve as early protecter against those who would want to prevent you from achieving her ultimate ability.

The second ability is a -2 that allows you to put a +1/+1 counter on all your creatures. This suggests that a deck that could put in a lot of 1/1 tokens would benefit from Nissa , Voice of Zendikar and she should fit nicely into Saproling decks or Tokens of the Selesnya Enclave who just produce too much of those to handle.

Her ultimate ability is a -7 one that lets you gain X life and draw X card where is is the number of lands you control. Since Nissa demands green mana this would be great in a mono green deck or any deck that has green in its combination of colors. Ramping up mana is a green thing to do and with the abundance of land that would be dumped into play expect Nissa to give you tons of land and tons of cards as well.

Easily the most expensive card ins this duel deck I look forward to adding her to a future Selesnya deck I would be doing. I thought that I would be able to add her to my existing Sultai superfriends deck but her abilities are much suited to a deck that produces lots of tokens or generate lots of land. 

In conclusion I might not need her in my Sultai Superfriends deck after all. Hmmmmm 

Pang ilang beses na ba talaga?

Pang ilang beses na ba talaga?

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Doc: Pang ilang beses niyo na po dito magpatingin sa aming clinic?

Patient: Unang First time pa lang po doc.

Doc: Huh?

Ubo

Ubo

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Doc: Sige po. Ubo.
Patient: Ubo Ubo.
Doc: Umubo po kayo. Wag niyo pong sabihin yung word na ubo...
Patient: Ok po.

"Midweek Magic 2017 #5 - Sultai Superfriends:Inspired by plastic."

"Midweek Magic 2017 #5 - Sultai Superfriends:Inspired by plastic."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

As field testings go I just want to say that the Sultai superfriends deck was a success. Not in the planet killing way that first tests go but we all know that the Death star came from scouring planet surfaces into eventually wiping out entire planets with a single shot.

I am not saying that my Sultai superfriends decks is going to do that but it is finally great to have a deck that can properly respond to threats and get a little bit of control going on that may or may not result in a win. Winning is something but I do enjoy getting there. Enjoying the time bantering with my friends and seeing improvement upon improvement over time take into effect.

This tri-colored deck is the result of 3 hours of rummaging through boxes of cards , those in the dresser that miraculously still holds them , in fatpacks that hold EDH decks and pauper decks that have fallen into disuse , up to the deck boxes that have been exposed to heat and cold in my card. 3 hours of reacquiring lands and planeswalkers and spells that have been unused since they were bought.(smacked or unsmacked).

"Resorts world Manila...."

So what brought this deck into reality? was it the need to find a home for Vraska and Garruk , Apex predator? Was it the need to use cards like Bitter Blossom or Rashmi reality crafter? Was it some whisperings from Dragonlord Silumgar who is also in the deck? The straight answer is Yes and No. Yes because they eventually became the reason. The real reason however is the plastic covers that I once bought for 35 pesos for 100pieces. 

These Ultrapro card sleeves started me on the path because now I can maniacally craft decks again without having to worry if I have enough sleeves for all my experiments. So thank you NG for having them in stock again. Now on to more Sultai super friends field testing.

"Saheeli+Felidar Guardian:Death of a Thousand scratches"

"Saheeli+Felidar Guardian:Death of a thousand scratches"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

"Have you ever died to Saheeli's pussies?" is probably one of the most loaded questions in Magic:The Gathering. Not only does it conjure up images of hell maws opening and devouring you  it also sends you into what can only be described as some prepubescent giggling.So get that out of the way and let us talk about the combo that is being heralded as the return of Splinter Twin in Standard. The Saheeli- Felidar Guardian combo or simply put Death of a Thousand Scratches.

I have not seen one die to it yet but I picture that Saheeli would arrive on the battlefield on turn three and if all is well the 4 mana costing Felidar guardian will follow on the succeeding turn. Of course many will be anticipating this combo and there are a number of ways to disrupt it. A player could simply destroy or counter any of the pieces or even Disallow the triggered ability of this Blue-Red planeswalker and that would be the end of it for now.Until the controlling player draws another cat that is and the combo is set in motion once again. 

So I picture that the combo takes a lot of good timing to pull off because most of the time you are playing against people who are aware of this particular scenario where they die to a thousand cat scratches if they are not careful. A fate some do not want to suffer. 

I have not died to this particular combo yet and I wonder what they will call you when you die to it. I have no words , only that it is going to be painful.

"Kasper - Lean on me: A simple enough request."

"Kasper - Lean on me: A simple enough request."

by:

The Vole

Kasper is not your friendly ghost but Lean on me might just  show you  that she is your friendly Korean girl rapper who wants you to accompany her so that she can help you with your troubles.

After having garnering the reputation of the country with the most suicide attempts(overtaking Japan). It is not any wonder why songs like this are popular and kpop artists tend to sing very positive songs that offer a helping hand , a shoulder to cry or simply someone to lean on when the going gets tough.

Kasper both sings and raps in this song that was shot mostly in a cafe booth that shows her waiting for someone as she pours herself a drink or fiddling with her phone that doesn't seem to ring no matter how long she waits for it to. 

You would especially enjoy the breathless transition from rapping and singing and vice versa as Kasper showcases her talents via DSP Media. The distorted bass beat near the end of the song is also particularly interesting.

"Lean on me , call on my cellphone."

"Drinks are free."

"We were meant together , Don't go home."

In a world where the pressure to perform and overtake your rivals is growing you do need people to lean on and I wonder why the idiot who Kasper wants to support is not calling? I mean who turns down free drinks at least right? Or Kasper's company for that matter.

Here is to seeing more of Kasper as the year unfolds. 

"CLC- Hobgoblin: Channeling 4minute"

"CLC- Hobgoblin: Channeling 4minute"

by:

The Vole

CLC has been a girl group that has been around for several years now and despite the fact that they churn out good songs year after year they have yet to leave a mark that would set them apart from the highly competitive world of KPOP.

These girls have the vocal chops , the moves and the looks to compete but despite having several songs under their belt they have yet to come up with a concept that would separate them from the rest of the cutie sexy girls in their industry.

And so when they came out with hobgoblin they took a new concept and niche that was recently vacated by company mates 4 minute. The tough girl group image with addicting back beats and spitting hypnotic rhymes that is good for dancing or just probably expressing yourself when you are angry.

CLC has discarded their cute and bright image into those of lady thugs. While most retain their somewhat bright look the greatest change can be seen in sweet , innocent Sorn who someone decided should look goth and somewhat menacing. A far cry from her usually girly charms. Everyone has to grow up sometime and the sexy outfits that CLC is wearing now reflects that.

If you hear CLC now don't be surprised if they sound like they recruited Hyuna in the fold . Their label mate probably wrote some of the song to help them promote their stuff out there and I maybe late in saying this but the world does need another 4 minute. Everything is going next gen version of some past artist so why not 4 minute right?

I want to see the direction where CLC is going this year with this tougher image that they are presenting.

And please someone get that make up off Sorn. She can look tough without having to look like an Apocalypse groupie.

"Midweek Magic 2017 #4 - Waiting for the End"

"Midweek Magic 2017 #4 - Waiting for the End"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Waiting for the end is never fun but in the game of Magic even the inevitable end is a learning opportunity. It's like looking at that looming black dot coming toward you , you think to yourself , "I have an inkling what that is but I still want to see what is it" and then you realize that it is Emrakul , The Promised End Rushing toward you head on. All you can say is , "Oh , so that's what that was." And then you die.

In my playgroup in HP Eton Centris , We have Ram who is a Combo-Control player. Most of his decks starts out as just land plays but is sure to have some sort of horrible end for everyone. We already know about this pattern and yet even if it takes some time to cook up we still look on , curious as how this deck that seemingly churns out lands and controls in the early turns would turn out. This week I had an idea that he had a mono blue , modern version of the Metalwork Colossus deck that I was running.  

So the kick in the teeth happened when he fetched an Akroma's Memorial with a Treasure Mage. He was eventually able to cast it and with a couple of Prophetic Prisms in play was able to cast 4 Metalwork Colossi? Colossus's? Colossus? So Anyway those 4 10/10 robots now made an awesome Akroma impersonation , complete with Haste that destroyed me and fellow Regular player Janry. Like I said a horrible death but we did wait for it.

Next week I might just make more of a reaction if I wasn't having enough fun just being able to play. 

"Midweek Magic 2017 #3 - Reanimation Mirror"

"Midweek Magic 2017 #3 - Reanimation Mirror"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

In all my years of playing magic I have never fought another reanimator while I was not piloting my own reanimator. The first time I was taught of the concept was with my Uncle , I ran a Goblin deck that was just meant to overwhelm. Often times in my play groups in Accenture when I was still working there I would be running any number of my decks but it often would not be a reanimator and I had to face a guy who was using reanimation like my friend Mark who would dump Phyrexian Praetors left and right and then go for the beat down.

When I played against Ram this week he brought a deck that he often fought against and had a hard time winning. I was running my still incomplete B/R Dragon Reanimator that was just in name since there are a total of just 6 dragons in it at the time.

What I learned when we faced off was that individual pieces matter a lot despite having the same concept. For example I took out my Cabal Theraphy but Ram's deck had one.Using Flashback he sacrificed a Child of Alara to it and instantly wiped the board clean. I was thinking of the same card quietly sitting in a fatpack box somewhere and I was hitting myself in the head inward for not seeing the combo. When Jin Gitaxias was reanimated on the other side of the board I knew that I had to find my own copy of this Blue Praetor like I planned earlier that day. Nasa huli ang pagsisisi. I was not able to use it and it bit me. 

I keep talking about the way I learn from my mistakes as I play probably because winning is just winning. You learn some things from winning but I think that even in life you learn more from your losses and mistakes. And so I write them with a smile on my face knowing that there is still room to grow and improve. That I am no longer stagnating and still growing as a player. Maybe in our next Reanimation Mirror I can have all my pieces and still lose but again I fight with people who never back down as well even if we are all laughing as we play. 

Every week is different. Every is an outlet for weird brews and different interactions and situations. I will keep playing. You should too.

"Pauper Kings: Vehicular Mishap 2017"

"Pauper Kings: Vehicular Mishap 2017"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

A new year. A new set. Some nice additions to the pauper standard pool. I have been itching to make a Vehicle deck for some time now and thanks to Aether Revolt it seems that there are more options to choose from.Irontread Crusher and Mobile Garrison are the new common vehicles from Aether Revolt. Rounding out the vehicles are 2/3 flyer Sky Skiff and my personal favorite since the Kaladesh PR , the train to Busan , I mean Renegade Freighter.

So on to the deck. Since the deck curves out at 3 mana I just chose to put in 20 lands , The Evolving wilds in the deck would turn out to be copies of Mountains here since most of the time you will draw Swamps.

4 x Evolving Wilds

6 x Mountains

10 x Swamps

_______________

20 Lands

4 x Eager Construct

4 x Dhund Operative 

4 x Night Market lookout  

4 x Reckless Fireweaver 

_______________

16 Creatures

4 x Resourceful Return

4 x Shock 

4 x Wrangle

2 x Welding Sparks

_______________

12 Spells

3 x Sky Skiff

3 x Renegade Freighter

2 x Mobile Garrison

2 x Irontread Crusher

_______________

10 Vehicles

One of the creatures in the deck is Eager Construct , another limited favorite of mine. A 2/2 for 2 mana and a Scry 1 to boot.What is not to like? Plus this little doggie can crew 8 of the possible 10 vehicles as well.

After looking at the card pool I just wanted to have creatures that care about artifacts , so in comes the Dhund Operative that becomes 3/2 when you have an artifact in play and it can 

crew the Irontread Crusher with ease or smash face if need be.

Night Market lookout is a really a good attacker on the early turns as it is equivalent to 2 points of damage when it attacks.You also gain 1 life which could make all the difference in close matches. I also liked the fact that when you simply tap it just makes all opponents lose 1 life and you gain 1 life. So imagine if you let it crew your Sky Skiff. 

And it works well with another new Vehicle ,  the Mobile Garrison that lets you untap another creature or vehicle when it attacks. So imagine crewing it with 3 Night Market lookouts. 3 damage and you could untap one of these crew and ping more.  Ping away. 

Reckless Fireweaver is a good defender with a  1/3 frame but he is here because he just loves it when artifacts enter the battlefield. The deck has 14 artifacts in it to trigger him so yeah. The 1 damage when a vehicle comes in is already a plus. The vehicles aren't attacking yet but they are causing your opponents to burn.

Like most of the decks I do this has a Sligh element to it. The shockingly reprinted Shock is here for when you need to take out a creature or just need to zap someone dead. Welding Sparks acts the same way and can take out even big creatures depending on the artifacts you have in play. 

So what is the best way to take out a defender? By asking them to switch sides of course.Wrangle is probably one of the things that got me excited here since it can grab a 4 power creature or less and you could attack your opponent with it. With the amount of power you have with your vehicles you are all set. 

Sometimes though not all things go as planned and that is why I have the Resourceful Return so that you can have a creature to Crew or attack or defend later. You even get an extra card if you have an artifact in play. Fantastic.

So there we go. Make sure that the Vehicular Mishaps happen to your opponent ok? Thanks for reading.Time to test drive this one. 

"Hidden Herbalists:Revolt Chains"

"Hidden Herbalists:Revolt Chains"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

When I saw this card the first thing that came to me was some guy , in some basement rolling something and then smoking it. And then a famous rapper calls to inform him that he will be getting his stash today.

Yup. So much for that. I wonder if they have famous rappers in Kaladesh or if they will join the revolt but these guys. These herbalists are something else. For 1 colorless and 1 green mana you can potentially chain 5 creatures and have at least 5 2/2 creatures into play on one turn!

So on turn two play a fetch land or crack one that is already in play. This would mean that you can play the Hidden Herbalist , satisfy the Revolt requirement and get 2 green mana which you could use to cast another Hidden Herbalist. If you have 4 in your hand and let us say another 2 mana creature like Eldrazi Mimic then you potentially have creatures with a total of 10 damage on turn two. Dealing this damage on the next turn! 

Potentially if you are able to chain this way you could also Crew a Consul Dreadnought on turn 2! How wonderful.

Now imagine that in Modern you could also chain this with the Burning Tree Emissary!And this would be insane amounts of damage on very early turns. 

Yup.Aether revolt sure has some of the best uncommons to come out since the original Mirrodin block. Time to get a set or two of these guys. And soon I would be Revolt Chaining. Thanks for reading!

"Mga sabi ni nila"

"Mga sabi ni nila"

ni:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

"Di naman ako mahuhuli"

"Mas matinik ako sa kanila"

"Subukan lang nila"

"Pakakainin ko sila ng bala"

"Paano kami kakain?"

"Ano naman ang ipapalit?"

"Sino ang may sabi?"

"Sino ba ang galit?"

"Ang tatay , kuya , tiyuhin ko!"

"Ang pinsan , lolo , asawa ko!"

"Ang pangkain namin? Ang pagaaral ko?"

"Ang kinabukasan ng walang kinabukasan,

nadurog sa utos ng Bato."

"Natibag sa dami ng kamao."

"Hinalikan ng tingga sa katawan."

"Nanlaban. Lumaban.Lumalaban."

"Kamatayan!!!"

08/28/2016

"Artikulo ng Pusa"

"Artikulo ng Pusa"

ni:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr,MD

Tumawid ang pusa

Kumaripas ang daga

Pero naglabas ng bawal

Aba manlalaban pa!

Pero sadyang malaki

Sadayang mas mabilis

Ano man ang sabihin

Nakain din naman ng pusa

Kawawang daga

Iniyakan ng pamilya

Dulot din naman

ng sadyang pagkakagulo ng iba

Tumawid ulit ang pusa

naghahanap ng daga

sabi ng isa sa isa

Sana manlaban siya. 

08/28/2016

"Wishing Upon A star or Dragon?"

"Wishing Upon A star or Dragon?"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Jinyo looked at the shooting star that appeared and tried to follow it's path with her finger. It had already faded before she made her wish and she sighed deeply hoping that what she wanted would come true.

V noticed and tried to cheer her up. The view on the Dragon Towers balcony was beautiful but all that seemed to blend in the background as he looked at her  , nibbling her lips while lost in thought.

"You know , you would have a greater chance of your wish getting granted if you wished upon a dragon instead of a star." V said smiling.

"Really? Even if the dragon I know is temperamental , highly unreliable and is not in total control of his blood lust at times?" This was Jinyo's way of goading him but he was not in the mood to bite at her jabs tonight because she looked a bit lost.

"A dragon is a dragon and that particular one that you speak of is in a good mood today thanks to a meal he ate earlier."

Jinyo smiled and knew that she had to tell him now but she hesitated knowing that even if V had considerable power her wish would not be in his province to grant or even if he would grant it.

V assumed a benevolent pose with arms stretched to the sides and  his palms to the sky . V closed his eyes and tilted his head upwards and spoke, " I am the dragon V. Speak mortal and let me grant thy wish."

Jinyo looked at the serious thing V was doing and stopped herself from laughing."How can I make my wish when you are so serious?"

"It's not me. It's the ceremony."

"Can you be less serious?"

"I would say wishes are a very serious matter don't you think?" V said without breaking his pose. "So tell me what it is you wish and I will grant it."

"I wish that you would be with me forever."

V looked at Jinyo. Jinyo bit her lower lip in anticipation of the dragons answer but he merely stood with a blank expression on his face and without even a glance at her walked back into the dragon towers.

"So I missed my chance with the star and now the dragon has left me wanting."

"Multo"

"Multo"

ni:

Virgilio F. De leon  Jr. MD

Multo niya ang multo mo

Lahat tayo minumulto

Alaala lang nga ba?

Nawawala sa likha ng diwa?

Kung itim o puti o anumang kulay

ang pumupuno sa mga araw

Dala ang bigat ng mga nagawa

Dala ang sugat ng di paggawa

Multo na nakakabit sa bawat kilos

Salita , pagpuna , paggunita.

Mga araw kung saan ikaw ,

ang salot na dumulot ng pinsala.

Kung anumang kulay ang sinuot mo

Mga salita at gawa pa din

Ang ihuhusga sa iyo.

Kung ano ka man sa mundong ito

Sa dulo ikaw rin ang kanyang multo.

08/27/2016

"Punto"

"Punto"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Ano ang punto ng paghangos?

Sa pagmamadali mong mauna

Sa pagmamadali mong umabot sa huli

Ano ang napanalunan mo ng ginawa?

Di ba sa pagising ay iyon pa din

Araw- araw na paulit ulit

Mga araw na napuputol ng pagtulog

Mga araw na yun din naman ulit.

Di ba't sa dulo ng lahat

Si Kamatayan lamang ang naghihintay?

Di ang ligaya ng langit

o pighati ng impiyerno

Kamataya. Katapusan.Finito.

Ano ngayon ang punto ng paghangos?

Kung iisa lang ang hantungan

Kung iisa lang ang premyo

Kamatayan.Katapusan.Finito.

08/27/2016

"Greenbelt Rampager:Addressing the elephant in the room"

"Greenbelt Rampager: Addressing the elephant in the room"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Let me address the elephant in the room...Greenbelt Rampager.

The funny thing is that when I saw this card I had an absurd picture in my head of an elephant running wild in the Greenbelt area in Makati. It might have been my lack of sleep lately. 

With that out of the way let me just say that this creature is amazing and is designed to be relevant in a lot of decks.At first glance it is a 1 green mana creature with 3/4 stats with a sickness , it has a requirement of 2 energy counters so that it can stay on the battlefield but it is much more than that.

Greenbelt Rampager can be viewed as the following:

1) "1 energy counter for 1 green mana" - Yup. If you can't pay it's 2 energy counter requirement it bounces back to your hand and gives you 1 energy counter so that you could use the same energy counter later on to make it stick in play. Or you could keep on playing and bouncing it back for more energy counters. 

2) "Recurrent Revolt Trigger" - Don't have the energy counters or simply refusing to pay them bounces it to your hand making it leave play. Triggering Revolt!

3) "Awesome crew!" - I can see people collecting a full set of this card. It is probably the best card to crew the new 1 colorless mana costing 7/11 Consulate Dreadnought on turn two! Turn 1 play the Dreadnought , Turn 2 play 2 Greenbelt Rampager's from your hand. Before they go back to your hand you could tap them to crew the Dreadnought. Attack. 7 damage. 2 more unblocked turns later you have one very dead opponent and you didn't even need 3 mana to do it. 

4) "3/4 fattie on turn 2." - Assuming you have played an Aether hub on turn 1 play a Forest , play the Greenbelt Rampager and allow it to bounce back to your hand to net one energy counter. On turn 2 , play an Aether hub and play the Greenbelt Rampager again. This time it will stay because of the counter you already have and the counter you just received from the fresh Aether hub.

Now that we have addressed how great this card is I hope I can get 4 copies. I can see a lot of brewing in my foreseeable future. Thanks for reading. 

Tezzeret , Master of Metal : Rock On!"

Tezzeret , Master of Metal : Rock On!"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Since the introduction of planeswalker duel decks starting from the Kaladesh block Wizards of the coast has set the expectation that their would be a weaker version of a current standard planeswalker that will be included in almost all of the incoming planeswalker decks.

At least that is what some thought at first. I have seen the two Tezzerets that will be appearing in Aether Revolt and it seems that the one who appears weaker is actually the one that will have more uses than the standard playable(if it will be playable) one.

Tezzeret , Master of Metal holds more promise for me than Tezzeret the Schemer. Yes he is 4 colorless and Dimir colors to cast but this would not matter much in a dedicated artifact deck that can have him as a Commander like in Sparks wars. With the amount of "Rocks" in any given EDH deck 6 mana would not be any problem at all. 

The 5 starting loyalty counters is solid because it means he doesn't die to small creatures or any redirected damage from spells like lightning bolt.

Now on to the abilities. The first one makes you reveal cards until you reveal an artifact card.You put the card in your hand and the other cards are put in the bottom of your library in random order (so as not to set up any Goblin Charbelcher shenanigans I assume). 

Granted that your opponent/s can see what you have in your hand and it just might be another mana producing rock or a big creature that you might not even be able to cast at the moment. Still you have a card that otherwise would not be in your grasp.A specific card advantage and in an artifact this would really matter.

Now remember that artifact you got from the first ability? If you managed to play it this turn Tezzeret , Master of Metals next ability , a -3 will be all that relevant. You need to do a little bit of counting. All of the artifacts that you control and once you have done that your target opponent loses life equal to this amount.20 artifacts in play? Dead in a casual standard game. 40 artifacts in play? One EDH opponent down. 

This second ability might influence your decision in playing Tezzeret , Master of Metal. You might wait until you have the sufficient artifact threshold for a lethal kill or you could play him to look for an artifact to add to this count.

These two abilities work well with each other but the ultimate ability is something else. This time you need to look at all the things your opponents have and you have to decide who's toy you want more. Since the -8 of Tezzeret , Master of Metal involves gaining control of all artifacts and creatures target opponent controls. All of it. 

But wait if Tezzeret is a master of metal how can he control organic things? The answer is Iron. We all have a little bit of metal in us. He will pull off a Magneto effect in the magic  sense. It is hard to resist someone who could just remove all the ferric contents of your blood. Let us call him a bloodbender too. 

So what do you do when you suddenly steal someone Else's army? 1 opponent is now wide open for an attack(since you got all of his guys on your side). You could attack the said defenseless opponent since it is the path of least resistance or you could attack a stronger one to whittle away at their defenses. 

After writing this I find this version of Tezzeret better and hoped that this was the one in Standard even if it a bit slow to cast and might be swallowed by Eldrazi's or swarmed by copters.

Now all he needs is a guitar. Someone give the guy a guitar and some wicked riffs. Let's make him a true master of Metal. 

"MIXX - Love is sudden MV reaction - The Better Mixx"

"MIXX - Love is sudden MV reaction  - The Better Mixx"

by:

The Vole

MIXX or  Motivation. Inspiration and the XX for the female chromesomes are back with their single "Love is Sudden". If like me you have watched the MV and seen too many members don't be alarmed. The group started out with 4 members , 3 Chinese and 1 Korean. The only Korean left for undisclosed reasons so Chiko Entertainment , the group that manages MIXX had to add 2 more Koreans in the MIXX(I knew I just had to use this one.) So in comes new members  Heeyu and Mia who would compliment hold overs HanNa , Arie and LiYah. 

If like me you liked their debut song Oh my Mind because of its addicting beats and the almost chanting rhyming that opens it then you would not be disappointed in Love is sudden since the song also opens with the circular rhytmic chant with Arie's melodic voice carrying on the first assault on your ears and if you are not hooked by the 2nd line you might want to give the song another listen.The girls wanted to show off an urban pop sound and they did not fail in that regard as the back beats carry their voices and cuteness. 

In one of their come back interviews MIXX said that they wanted to be like Apink and they also seem to pattern with the popular group when it comes to visuals with their cute berets in some of the scenes in the MV but their dances are obvious nods to SNSD's Gee.

The MV revolves around a dummy guy. A dummy probably because he does not have a clue that 5 cute girls are fawning over him and he gives no reaction when a reaction is long warranted.

New comer Mia is the new main vocal and I feel that her high note break is what completes MIXX in this comeback. Aside from the obvious upgrades in the visual departments MIXX has maintained the identity of their sound and I hope that fans will show them a lot of love this 2017.

"Bish - Monster MV Reaction: The Real thing."

"Bish - Monster MV Reaction: The Real thing."

by:

The Vole

I enjoyed this song so much that I decided to look at the MV and well I would just really like to say that the creative team behind Bish and its elder sister Group Bis do love putting their idols into really uncomfortable situations. Like the idols were some playthings actually. There was a video where various liquid and semi-liquid looking things were being thrown at them , in one video the main vocalist of the group Cent Chihiro was asked to lick a billiard ball and in this MV for Monster the group was asked to endure explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. 

Once the explosions start they don't stop until the last frame of the MV. So if you see fear in the faces of the girls here those are probably genuine. It was as if the director told them that they should run from Point A to Point B and I imagine the girls nodding politely until the director said that the crew had rigged explosives to go off as you run from Point A to Point B and we didn't bother with safety gear to have the authentic look. The girls probably looked at each other and shrugged. All in the day of a Bish member.

You see the girls falling in that first explosion as it all took them unaware.In some scenes you can see them stopping when they notice that one of the color bombs are dropping in right front of them. Yup it seems like they got someone to Mortar some of these explosives in too.Don't get me wrong. I love their cute expressions of horror in this one but I am a bit concerned of what their creative team puts them through. It is not any wonder why the group has a had a lot of member changes in this year alone(2016). One of the girls in this video is called Hug Me and she has now been replaced with Ayuni D , making the group 6 again in total.

The concept of the MV seems to revolve around a secret training camp that abducts girls and trains them in violent arts. For what purpose? No one is sure. We might as well ask the army type American looking guy who is shouting at them in the video and beating them later in a scene that shows them trying to fight back but is severely lacking in fighting skills. Oh well that is the reason for the ultra secret training camp I suppose.

The wonderful ear worm of a track that combines hard pounding rock and idol vocals is probably going to  be one of your favorites and expect a lot more uncomfortable things from Bish  in 2017. 

"Birthday Packs 2017:Papack na!"

"Birthday Packs 2017:Papack na!" 

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

"Why Yes , I would love a pack on my birthday. Two of them? Even better."

Aether Revolt was still a couple of weeks coming and it was my birthday. 4th day of the month and I was already at work and because I could not wait for the next expansion I decided to buy myself two packs as I bought dinner in HP Eton Centris.

I was filled with anticipation as I ripped through my first pack of the year and as I got to the the rare I slowly lifted to reveal something 3/3 and my first thought was another Depala. I already had two copies of her so why not a 3rd right? But I was pleasantly surprised when I found that it was a 3/3 vehicles . the much sought after Smuggler's copter. Wow! my first ever pull and it ended up copter. Of course I was not able to predict that almost a week later Wizards of the coast would ban the card and send it's price plummeting. I am still thankful though that I was able to pull it in a pack on my first try of the year.

My second pack had an Inspiring Vantage in it which seemed to complete the notion that I should really play some Red/White vehicles and my Depala Tiny Leaders deck would welcome these two new cards if I cannot find a place for them. In the meantime I wait for the cards I would get from my Fat Bundle that my wife would pick for me this Friday. From my experience,  she does know how to pick a winner.

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Editors Note:

And after 5 days Wizards of the coast announced that Smuggler's Copter was banned. Well at least for a couple of days I felt that high.

"Exquisite Archangel:A fresh start."

"Exquisite Archangel:A fresh start."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

While watching a Frontier tournament in NG Eton Centris I looked on as Pong was about to overrun his opponent with what seemed like a Gazillion 4//4 tokens that were pumped up by multiple copies of Jeskai Ascendancy. This caused his opponent to exclaim in frustration: "Di pa ba puwedeng gamitin yung bagong Angel?"

I laughed knowing what particular angel he was talking about and he needed it right about that time as his lone Siege Rhino  stood on and if a card could be horrified , would have been horrified by the massive horde that was about to hit it and his planeswalker controller.

The Exquisite Archangel seems likes a really good option in resetting life totals and if you were about to die from a burn spell to the face I could see that a red mage player would turn red with frustration as you again have 20 life or 40 life in an EDH game. However if the token situation has taught me that you could survive this attack but if you do not draw or have mass removal spell already hand then your fresh start won't seem so fresh as the horde the threatened to kill you last turn is still around to kill you the next turn. So...So much for that.

I miss Platinum Angel with a Lightning Greaves already.

"Midweek Magic 2017 #2:That from the helvault fresh feeling"

"Midweek Magic 2017 #2:That from the helvault fresh feeling"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Probably one of the greatest feelings a magic player can have is to finally get to play cards that you thought you would not be able to play in the next century or so. For anyone who follows me on a regular basis(And I applaud the 10 of you who do.Including my wife , daughter and the digital imprint of my mom's ghost.)  I am trapped in an endless loop of work and more work so that I do not really have time to play. I am thankful that I do have my playgroup in HP Eton Centris and this particular blog posts follow the highs and lows of our games. Mostly highs though. Like this week where we got to play in 2 of the 3 days that we could.

I finally got to bring my Chopsuey Affinity deck and my Rakdos(B/R) Dragon reanimator deck that was looking more like a Chopsuey reanimator too because it had Griselbrand , Stormtide Leviathan , Avacyn , Angel of Hope , Elesh Norn and Sheoldred. And the reason for this was because I was not able to find my dragons who are in a Kirilan of the Claw EDH deck that I was too hesitant to break apart.

When I played the Rakdos Reanimator my playgroup didn't really develop a liking to it since it easily put in the likes of Sheoldred and Elesh Norn on the battlefield rather easily. Being a little rusty I seem to have failed in containing all the hate that was aimed at my deck and I was one of  the early casualties of the 5 man pod we were playing in the pantry.

When one of our regulars , Janry came back after the pantry games I found myself facing a monogreen deck that had great mana acceleration in Birds of Paradise and Llanowar Elves as well formidable creatures in the hexproof Dungroove Elder and graveyard cleaning Scavenging Ooze. I played my Rakdos reanimator and got to Play Griselbrand , who I have not used since I acquired it during the last GP Manila. It was a great Out of the helvault feeling as I thought that it would take a lot more time for me to play this card. And this guy was a powerhouse the moment he came in as I was able to win 2 games with him. Oh and I also got to play out Damnation and Living Death. 2 more cards that were languishing in decks and not having any chances to be played. I guess that all changed tonight and I am looking forward to more midweek games until all of the decks I have in deep storage gets played.

Thank you everyone for letting me play even if sometimes it is a bit overkill.I surely appreciate it.

"Midweek Magic 2017 #1: Eldrazi Hangover"

"Midweek Magic 2017 #1: Eldrazi Hangover"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I spent part of my holiday enjoying MTG: Puzzle quest in part because I did not want to go out and I was kind of drained to spend on any cards. My wife looked at me as I trudged to the various missions of the gem matching game , gems that fueled out your creatures and spells. I was happy getting notifications like "A booster pack is waiting for you." I mean psychologically as a magic player that is enough to put a smile on your face. Free booster? Yeah I am already there.

I am digressing with my intro but if you play enough missions in MTG Puzzle quest you will get to meet the frustrating matches with the Eldrazi where they prove to be utterly powerful and it would take some planning for you to win. It is with this frustration of the Eldrazi that I entered the year 2017.

So in the first week of the year we almost did not have enough games because all of my playgroup members in HP Eton were swamped with work but on my last day of duty for that week Janry was determined that we did not start the year without a game. And lo and behold my frustration with the Eldrazi came back as he played a Urzatron version that had Both New Ulamog's and Kozileks seeing action because the Urzatron lands always came online early. I just had to shake my head at the thought that even in real life the Eldrazi were unshakable and utterly hard to beat. Even if these two were dead in the story they didn't feel dead as Janry smashed me in the face with both of them. So much for being dead.

I did appreciate being able to play again though and maybe next time I can finally beat these Eldrazi once and for all. I could only be as lucky. 

"Universal Solvent:Dissolving all your problems(Almost)"

"Universal Solvent:Dissolving all your problems(Almost)"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

"Now that is some strong acid action right there" is what I thought when I saw this 1 colorless mana costing artifact card. Sure there have been a lot of removals especially in black that allow you to take care of certain problems but this card could literally just take out anything. Sure the 7 mana cost is a bit daunting but it really depends on the kind of deck that you want to play. If you are one a mid to late game player then this will probably make it your deck. 

In standard it can help in Improvise costs in the early turns and when your opponents bring out their heavy hitters or even things that hinder your plans of winning all you need to do is sprinkle a few drops of this and the problem goes away. Planeswalkers ,Gone. Creatures , gone. Lands , Enchantments , artifacts. You name it. As long is it isn't indestructible or hexproof all of it goes away. I would also like to know how you carry this if it dissolves everything? An indestructible flask maybe?

Now the only thing you need to figure out is how not to die before you get the 7 mana needed to activate this. I can see some Urzatron players smiling at the extra removal that they will be acquiring. I might just give it a spin. Now if I can only find my tron lands.

"Soulmates"

"Soulmates"

by:

Alessandria Venice R. De leon

Hello readers! Our teacher gave us free time in class so I thought that I should write another "weekly" blog post for you guys!

This week's topic is: Soulmates! Let me just explain something here, Soulmates aren't necessarily your boyfriend or girlfriend, they can also be your best friend or parent! Soulmates are people who you feel are fragments of you. Soulmates are people you feel destined to be with. Have you met your Soulmate yet? If you have, then great! Stick close to them. If not, then don't worry! Fate will always find a way. 

Fate and Destiny play very important roles in meeting your Soulmate. Each and every person has a Soulmate. Meeting your Soulmate is inevitable. Whatever you do or whatever choices you make, you will still meet them sometime later. Meeting your Soulmate is usually a good thing so I don't know why anyone would be afraid to meet theirs. They are the people who understand you when no one else can. That's all for now! Thank you for reading!

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Editors Note:

Aven has many things lined up for this year. She writes these in between class. Much like I did when I was her age. Only I didn't have a blog and I wasn't confident in publishing any of my thoughts.

I do not own the picture that appears on this blog.