"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal letter to patients: Inumin ko lang daw ulit"

"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal letter to patients: Inumin ko lang daw ulit"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Dear Ate Patient,

Nung nagconsult ka sa akin at sinabi mo na may sore throat ka. Tiningnan ka naming mabuti at wala ni pamamaga o pamumula man lang sa lalamunan mo. At mas malinaw pa ang boses mo sa akin.Normal din ang temperature mo at iba pang vital sign pero gusto mong magpauwi.

Kadalasan hahayaan ko na lang yan at pababalikin ka sa trabaho na parang ayaw mong pasukan. Pero nung sinabi mo na ang payo sa iyo ng doctor mo eh kapag naulit yung sorethroat mo eh iinuman mo lang ulit ng antibiotic ng walang konsulta dun talaga tayo nagkaproblema. Lalo na nung sinabi mo na naka 2 araw ka nang umiinom ng gamot na wala ka namang sakit.

Di ko natiis. Nasabi ko talaga na sinong doctor ang magpapayo niyan. Hiningi ko ang reseta mo at dun nakalagay na Cefuroxime 500mg three times a day for one week. Sabi ko wala naman payo na ganyan paginom mo. Ikaw ang sumagot na sinabi na lang ng doctor mo na ganun gawin mo.

Iha , walang doctor na nasa tamang katinuan ang magsasabi niyan kasi pinaghirapan naming makuha ang mga lisensya namin. Di ka papainumin ng antibiotic kung di kailangan. Di din naman ako naniniwala na ininom mo kasi dapat ang problema mo eh sobrang pagtatae at di gusto ko nang umuwi.

Ate magbago ka na. Matatapos na ang 2018 sinungaling ka pa din.

Di masyadong nagmamahal ,

Doc June

"Midweek Magic 2018 #37: Overkill Angel"

"Midweek Magic 2018 #37: Overkill Angel"

by:

Virgilio F.De leon Jr.MD

There are certain things that you expect from the EDH decks I make. One is that I love making a million tokens. And in my latest project I took to liking making a million Thopter tokens. So of course when you see Sai , Master Thopterist you expect to die via a million thopters striking you right?

Well certain situations does force you to be creative. In this case I was being met with fewer Elementals but way bigger and could easily kill my creatures. I was facing down Omnath and Paolo Carandang , my friend was having a great time just making the tokens and trying to kill me with it. So I had to make drastic measures.

If my Thopters would not be able to do the trick I had to think of something else. I had to survive first though. Pao had already taken care of Janry who was other opponent that night via a masssive attack. And so sacrificing 3 artifacts to Kuldotha Forgemaster I was able to put a Darksteel Forge unto the battlefield and I was able to cast my Platinum Angel.

Pao attacked me and reduced my life to zero! My life was actually 32 and he attacked for 35! I was alive thanks to the Angel and on the next turn I got a Lightning Greaves so not only is my Angel Indestructible , it can no longer be the target of my opponents spells. 

I was attacking for 4 just points of damage but Pao realized that since he would not be able to take care of this lone creature it was better to scoop and shuffle for the next game.

It was great to win with the Platinum Angel. It has been awhile.

"Thousand Year Storm : Storm of Death Sequence."

"Thousand Year Storm : Storm of Death Sequence."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

The moment I saw this Nicol Bolas seemed to whisper something in my ear and I wondered if I had the right spells to pull off a death sequence and as it turns out if I put this in an existing Grixis EDH deck of mine I could probably pull off a Storm of Death sequence.

The whole point is to already have the Thousand-Year Storm out some time in the midgame. This 6 mana enchantment gives any Instant or Sorcery spell you cast to have Storm. You copy the spell for each instant or sorcery that you have already cast this turn.

My plan revolves around Fraying Omnipotence and then I was forced to do some math(ugh). Since each players life will be halved and assuming that they start with 40 then it would go something like this.

40 to 20 to 10 to 5 to 3 to 2 to 1.

You need 6 other spells before you cast Fraying Omnipotence to reduce everyones life to zero. To negate having to cast anything for mana you also need to have an Omniscience in play. Maybe sneak in a Shock or Gut shot in here to finish off opponents.

Or You could actually go ahead and just draw a bunch of cards with blue spells like Opt or Ponder and even fill up your hand with tutor spells like Diabolic tutor(budget lang) and just mill an opponent with a Brain Freeze and maybe Twin Cast or Reverberate it so no one is actually left out.

Whatever evil plan you might be hatching you can't go wrong with this Izzet colored enchantment.

"3 things I have seen his week: Aven's Ranking Edition"

"3 things I have seen his week: Aven's Ranking Edition"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

The other day my wife told me that my daughter Aven ranked #7 overall from her class of 42. There was a list of the top 20 and my wife told me that this was a very serious rank since they no longer ranked all the students together. I was very proud of this fact and as I was curious I scanned the list of names on the list. Here are the 3 things that I have noticed.

1) Girl Power

From #7 to #1 everyone on the list were girls. With only 2 males breaking it into the top 10. Aven told me that part of the reason was that there were a lot of previous Star Section Students that were part of her class as well as Monster transferees who were just as good. Happy that you are on the top too anak.

2) Unlucky 13

There is a girl from Aven's class who usually taunts her. While Aven has learned to deal with this person she does tell us one story about her from time to time. So both my wife and I knew the girls name. It must be galling for this person to see that Aven is way above her in the rankings.

3) Surpassing those from the past

When Aven transferred we knew we had a lot of catching up to do but we did not expect to be lagging so far behind. Aven with all her diligence and hardwork was able to bridge the gap from her previous school and Notre Dame. It did not come easy and there were a lot of frustations along the way. Math is Aven's weak point(Same as mine) and there were times that her classmates would help her out. One guy in particular stood out for me because he was very nice to her. I scanned for his name in the 20 names and there he was. The 20th person.

I asked my wife , is this the same Math guy who used to tutor Aven? I wonder how he feels that Aven has surpassed him?

Leave it to someone like me to see all these thins from a list of 20 names. All in All I am just proud of how Aven has carried herself through out this school year. We expect a lot more from her but our promise is that we will always be there for her every step of the way.

"My MMDA experience 2018"

"My MMDA experience 2018"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

It was another busy morning as I was passing by P.Noval in Manila I got caught in the middle of the road when the traffic light turned red.Like Clockwork, an MMDA Enforcer flagged me down , I immediately complied and I parked on the side of the road.

I rolled down my window , greeted him a Good Morning, gave him my license when he asked for it. I introduced myself as a Doctor and explained why I was caught in middle of the road. Enforcer Luzano then asked me where I worked and I told him as well. He advised me why he had stopped me. Gave me back my license without asking for anything, I thanked him and he sent me on my way.

The MMDA Enforcers have been getting a bad rep as of late but they are just doing their jobs and they are also people who you can talk to without resorting to shouting or swearing. Thank you MMDA Enforcer Luzano kasi maayos mong ginagawa ang trabaho mo..

Wala pang 5 minutes yun. No fuss.

"Crossing the Sea"

"Crossing the Sea"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

V had always loved the rain. It always made him feel energized especially during those times that he had way too much on his mind. The rain was steadily pouring now over Seoul and V wondered what YuuA was doing. Was she in this downpour? Was she cuddled up in a blanket somewhere? Alone or with someone? 

V shuddered at the last thought but then thought better of it. He would be much sadder if she was alone during a cold night like this.

He did not really mind being outside like this. Most humans would not even want to be in this conditions. The dragon in him sought out the mighty typhoons on the Japanese sea and longed to play in the storm clouds once more. The human side of him wanted to just lie down , take this all in and not worry about tomorrow.

Looking at the clock on his bed and realizing that it was already 2am made V want to sleep even if he did not really need to. What he wanted was to see her again. He could muster enough energy to teleport beside her but then again he was afraid who he would find sleeping with her.

He had his own mistakes and surely he can forgive YuuA for anything that she wanted to do but there was a part of him that felt like it was dying every time he thought about it. YuuA is an adult capable of making her own decisions and if those decisions include being with someone else then he would just need to live with it.

Yes he thought sadly to himself. He would have to live with that. Putting YuuA through his mistakes was bad enough and he cannot tolerate her being a part of his machinations. He remembered the sadness in her eyes when he finally said goodbye. It did not mean that he was not keeping an eye on her. Red and Blue were always near her but in her private places they asked her to respect YuuA. The talons did as they were told despite some complaints from Blue regarding her safety and the ever present threat of her former clan.

V always worried but he could not face her now after all that he had done. All of the pain that he had given her. He can't even ask for forgiveness as he knew that he didn't deserver it. Not from her. 

I want to see her. I have to be strong. I have to...

In a crackle of blue energy V was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

YuuA stretched on the bed like an uncoiling cat. Her plump lips were pale after she had washed off the last of her lipstick and make up. The idol that people worshipped was for all intents and purposes naked and human. She had wrapped the white fur robes of the hotel around as she stood. In the distance she saw the ligthning and thought about him. Was it raining where was now? Was he thinking about her? Was he eating something? And if so would he eat that with me?

YuuA laughed at her thoughts. She was thinking of V and food all at the same time. It was hard not to because in the past couple of months V seemed to always know when she was hungry and just seemed to appear out of nowhere with chicken or hot dogs or burgers. All the unhealthy things that her company forbade. V would bring them all and she would smile at him and they would talk for hours until the sun came up. 

The main dancer looked out at the ocean , she knew she was facing Seoul and in her heart she hoped that he could hear. I want you here. I feel alone.

YuuA laughed at that thought too. It was the same reason why V was keeping his distance from her in the first place. She had told him that she wanted to be alone. It was interesting to her how easily she could think about him now after that painful event. He never even said sorry or was it because he felt that he should not apologize for something that she pushed him into? Ahhhhh. This is so frustrating , YuuA screamed in her head. 

Annoyed and hungry YuuA picked up the phone for room service when she smelled something familiar coming from the balcony. Those spices , that oil. The smell was wafting in uninvited and YuuA involuntary shuddered. It was Ramyeon appearing out of nowhere which only meant one thing. It was him.

"Are you ok?" V asked as he parted the thick curtains."I am sorry. I can't stay away any longer. I felt like I was dying without you."

YuuA smiled in the dark room. "Give me the Ramyeon first and we'll talk."

V sat across YuuA as she noisily ate the Ramyeon , his long legs crossed and his face impassive. The noodles did not stand a chance against the main dancers appetite and he was handing her two more bowls when she finished. Probably 2 more after this and she might be craving for desert which also thought of. It was that 72% Dark Cocoa that she loved. It might keep her awake but it didnt stop her from eating it.

"I'm happy you came." 

"Not as happy as I am to be here." V almost told  YuuA of his earlier doubts but thought better of it. There was no need, She was alone and waiting for him.

"Were you watching our Japanese debut? It was hard work without you here. Jinyo kept trying to help me but I still can't talk to her." 

"At least she is trying to talk to you and you do need her help. She is the best Japanese speaker in the group after all."

"You don't expect me to just forget what you and her did right?"

"I don't deserve forgiveness."

YuuA pursed her lips in the dark. "You do actually."

"You and Jinyo was as much as my fault as your own. I just can'y stop picturing her with you and I was trying to answer my own question and still not understanding."

"It is a lot of process. Should I leave you? I feel a certain level of anger rising."

YuuA moved so fast that he did not detect her movement. She placed her hand on his face and kissed him. "Stay. Please."

"Ok." And V held her for awhile in the only couch of the room. YuuA said nothing but he felt the warm tears flowing from her. She sobbed a little but held on to him as well. It seemed like a short while when he heard her soft snoring. She was finally able to sleep. V had carried her to the queen sized bed that seemed to engulf her petite form. He covered her with the comforter and took a seat back at the couch. He would not leave her until she said so. 

"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal Letter to Patients: Salamat"

"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal Letter to Patients: Salamat"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Dear Patients,

I rarely get sick but when I do I am absolutely miserable. So when I went to work earlier today and 3 of you greeted me on the corridor on the way to the clinic to basically say the same thing , "Doc Salamat. Ok na ako." I just could not help but smile and be a little less miserable. It feels good to know that I made a difference in your lives. 

Thank you for letting me know. And now if you don't mind I will be putting on this mask so I don't spread my germs around.

Grateful and less miserable,

Doc June

"Divine Visitation: Play Small , Get Big."

"Divine Visitation: Play Small , Get Big."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Nothing says play with tokens as much this particular permanent. For 2 White Mana and 3 colorless you get an enchantment that states "If one or more creature tokens would be created under your control , that many 4/4 White Angel Creature token with flying and Vigilance are created instead."

All your lowly 0/1 or 1/1 tokens become 4/4 Angels! Having recently played with Avenger of Zendikar and created 10 0/1 plant tokens because of the number of lands I had I could only imagine how create Divine Visitation would be in my Trostani EDH deck.

Selesnya , Boros , Azorius and Orzhov decks will all have access to this enchantment. Saprolings , Goblins , Soldiers , Vampire and Spirits all turning into the meatier 4/4 Angels!

On a Mono White Tokenator deck you have can have Elspeth , Sun's Champion create 3 4/4 angels instead of 3 1/1 soldiers per turn! 

In my head I pictured Trostani ganining me a ton of life as all the tokens I have coming in become 4/4. Imagine Trostani , Darien and Divine Visitation in play. Opponents would think twice before they attack you since you are going to gain more life than you lost.

Let us say they attack you still. Something lethal like 40 points of damage.Make sure to prevent at least one of those damage. So let us say you get clobbered down to 1 point of your life. Darien triggers. Creating 39 1/1 Soldier tokens but since Divine Visitation is here you instead create 4/4 Angels! And with Trostani watching you get a net total of...156 life points! Not bad right?

The Midnight Guard + Presence of Gond combo becomes even stronger with this enchantment in play. You can overkill all of your opponents in your EDH multiplayer game and then expect the hate in the next round.

There is a downside to this card though. To take advantage of it you need to be playing with smaller tokens such as those produced by Secure the Wastes. If you play with bigger tokens like those created by Advent of the Wurm or Rhona's last stand , those big crits become smaller. 

So I guess it is time to play small to get bigger.   

"Midweek Magic 2018 #36 Yuriko:Praying for Lands"

"Midweek Magic 2018 #36 Yuriko:Praying for Lands"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I have already faced two versions of Magic EDH's AV Idol of the year: Yuriko. One from my Team Virulence Mate Mark Abude and another version from my Eton Midweek Magic playgroup Janry Dimaano. 

With both version I had only one wish once I was able to block a creature and I knew Yuriko would be ninjutsued into play. I pray that what my opponent reveals on top of his library would be land.

I had won over mark this way. When it was with Janry I had won a game as well because I had seemed to elevate lands to the top of libraries at will. Pero sa totoo di ko sure kung magiging lupa nga. 

Of course it was a different matter when things like Scroll Rack or Sensei's Divining top begin showing up. Yuriko decks take advantage of cards like Brainstorm and Sage Owl into full effect. Sage of Epityr would work well here as well. Turn 1 set up and then ninjutsu Yuriko on turn two with your biggest spell on top of the library.

Yesterdays game with Janry also featured Thopters produced by Whirler Rogue turning into Ninjas courtesy of Arcane Adaptation. The Whirler Rogue went well with the Ninjutsu mechanic as it would be returned to your hand and you could recast it to produce another 2 1/1 Flying Thopters! 

During 1 turn 4 1/1 Flying Ninja Thopters rammed into me and the painful part was the Ninja trigger from Yuriko. Needless to say there was nothing on top of Janry's library that would not be able to kill me.

It was an awesome win. 

"Firemind's Research:More Research Needed."

"Firemind's Research:More Research Needed."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I must admit that I was intrigued at what the Firemind's research could do. For a mere Price of Izzet colored mana you an enchantment that has whenever you cast an Instant or Sorcery card you get to put a charge counter in Firemind's Research.

Pay 1 blue and colorless and remove 2 charge counters you get to draw a card. Hopefull a Sorcery or Instant that can replenish the counters you just used.

Also Pay 1 Red and colorless and remove 5 charge counters. Firemind's Research then deals 5 damage to any target. Creature , Planeswalker or Player! 

So the point of the deck is to fill Firemind's Research with enough counters to kill everyone.And how in the hell do I do that? Time to put my Niv Mizzet thinking cap on. Let us see what we can come up:

1) I thought of Omniscience and casting spells and drawing spells and filling up this enchantment with counters that I could just go ahead and remove 5 counters at a time , pay 1 colorless and 1 red mana and kill my opponents this way.

2) I thought of cards that could proliferate and there was Inexorable Tide that basically puts 2 counters on Firemind's Research each time to you cast a sorcery or Instant since there is one counter for that time you cast the spell and then the proliferate counter that follows from Inexorable tide.

3) And then you have cards like Deepglow Skate , Gilder Bairn and Doubling Season that gives your permanent a lot of counters. The first two basically doubles it. While the last one nets you 2 counters on your permanent. Of course this means that you would have to go Temur in your EDH colors to be able to pull this off but hey it is time for some experimental deck tech! And if I can pull it off even once then I might be happy.

These 3 methods or plans might do the trick but a lot of research is still needed here. And I will be doing my own research in the matter. What do you think?  Any other ideas on how to abuse Firemind's Research?

"Doc In , Doc Out 2018: Ano po ang nawala?"

"Doc In , Doc Out 2018: Ano po ang nawala?"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

After getting a BMI of 35 I had a serious talk with a patient

Me: Sir , babalik po tayo after 2 weeks ha. Start na natin ang ating diet and exercise and after that time reassess natin ang BMI niyo.

Patient: Opo Doc.

After 2 weeks:

After weighing the patient.

Me: Sir Parang 2 weeks lang po ang nawala sa inyo ah.

"Book Devourer:Something Unexpected"

"Book Devourer:Something Unexpected"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I always love spoiler seasons and one of the things that I am on the look out for is some weird addition to an existing deck that I already made.

I look for things that does not neccesarily make my EDH decks abusive but something that makes it a bit unexpected. Something that my opponents would look at and find weird but know the reason why I put it in this particular deck.

And the one particular EDH deck that I have is lead by The Locust God. Opponents usually expect a lot of drawing followed by a lot of Swarming and then a lot of dying.

Book Reader is slow enough and that I don't really need to attack right away buy this 6 Mana Trampling Beast at 4/5 is something that I am always on the look out for.

It would give my opponents enough something to focus their hate on and maybe buy me a little time when The Locust God himself is not rollling. Even without the Izzet God in play I see the value of drawing a lot of cards and filtering my deck to get more value cards. And there are a lot of value cards in an EDH deck.

Book Devourer. Let's Go!

"Our Story"

"Our Story"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

I'd confess that I met you 

but you did not meet me.

It's kind of hard when you are singing and dancing

and I am on the other side of the screen.

II

In time I grew to love you

knew the sound of your voice

knew your body language

and even your future choice

III

I craved to see you

Even if you did anything

I wanted to hear you

even if you said nothing

IV

And when I am lonely I would pretend

that you would ask me how my day was

Knowing that you were somewhere else

wrapped inside someone elses arms

V

Yes this went on and I could not stop

addicted to you ,wanting you

I kept on the sad man that I am

Until one day it really came

VI

The story that I said was Ours

was the story that I created for me

You were never in it

even if I so badly want you to be.

UHG Bldg N , Quezon City. 09/11/2018 7:31am

"GWSN - Puzzle Moon MV Reaction: Figuring the Seals."

"GWSN - Puzzle Moon MV Reaction: Figuring the Seals."

by:

The Vole

"We may seem trivial and insignificant but one of possesses a unique."

I honestly did not almost watch this MV because of this silly quote at the beginning.

A unique what? Or maybe they were asking but forgot the question mark at the end?

I am thankful that I got past the quote though and I got to the first beats of the song that instantly hooked me. The MV starts with the girls dancing in front of a wide screen that has a tree in the middle and symbols flashing at regular intervals.

The choreography of this features the much touted tutting. Finger movements that heighten the steps and they are really great to look at. The beat sounds like something F(x) would put in their songs and the similarity does not end there since this group also features an Amber type.

While girl groups like Twice and Momoland feature short haired girls they remain dressed in women's clothing. Miya however is dressed like a boy. Sadly I was not able to hear if she was as good as Amber(A personal favorite of mine) but at least she makes a great showing in the visual and dance department. The world needs another F(x) and GWSN just might be that group.

Back to the MV , my theory is that the girls are all trapped in this complex , sealed away by the big screen that serves as their background as they dance. They were probably put in there as a magical experiment and were promised that if they learn the power of the seals and weaken them that they can be sent free. This is why you will see that in every waking hour they keep on experimenting with hand gestures and researching these symbols even when they should be eating , taking a bath or even sleeping.

In the end they did figure out the correct patterns as they are able to move out of their "prison".

GWSN showcases a tall maknae , a strong rapper and really great vocalists. The choreography is a treat to watch in itself so check the practice video. This group reminds me of Oh My girl when they were debuting. Not because of the star symbols but because of their beautiful coordinated movements.

I am expecting greater things from them in the future. I wonder what they will come up next.

"Vraska , Golgari Queen: Back and still killing it."

"Vraska , Golgari Queen: Back and still killing it."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I have always told my friends that i wanted a Vraska and I got me one in a fair trade as well as in the Jace Vs. Vraska Duel planeswalker deck that I bought later on. I have always tried to include the Gorgon in many of my builds and one particular ability I enjoyed is her ultimate ability of creating 3 tokens that could defeat a player with one damage.

I have tried various ways in making this happen but I am never able to pull it off.Mostly because I use Vraska as a tool to destroy something and my opponents make sure that I never get to use her another time.

but enough of the past and on to the future. Vraska used to be an assassin but now thanks to a deal with Nicol Bolas she is the new Golgari Queen! And as queen she brings something else to the table.

For 2 colorless mana and golgari colors you get a planeswalker who enters 4 loyalty counters on it. 

For her first ability(+2) she commands one of her subjects or something that she owns to be sacrificed. Any permanents will do from lands to planeswalkers but mostly like this will be Saprolings or a creature that wants to be in the graveyard and the Golgari are full or creatures who enjoy the grave. So what do you get for this sacrifice? You gain 1 life and draw a card! One life is nothing to sneeze at and drawing a card as well. A better and worse version of Costly Plunder on a stick.

Better because any permanent can be sacrificed , worse since you only get to draw 1 card.

For her 2nd ability (-3) You can destroy a non-land permanent that cost 3 mana or loss. Abrupt Decay on a stick!There are a lot of targets in the EDH setting that fits this. I must say that this is a lot weaker than her original Vraska form but this will do the trick in a pinch.

And the ability that I am most excited is her ultimate skill(-9). You get an emblem with Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player that player loses the game!"

As Queen she just made all of your creatures to be assassins that can do her bidding! And all they need to do is connect! And I had that image in my head of a lowly saproling just minding it's own business and then Vraska commands her to attack and instantly kills an opponent. That Slimefoot deck is looking more and more appealing now.

And with creatures like this one you increase your changes of killing at least one opponent. I like my new queen. Time for me to get one. 

"Midweek Magic 2018 #35: Tooth and Nailing to Victory!"

"Midweek Magic 2018 #35: Tooth and Nailing to Victory!"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I rarely get sick but when I do I am absolutely miserable. It was a rainy Thursday night and it was our EDH magic time. It was Jus , Janry and me. It was Ydris vs. Horobi vs. Omnath , Locus of Rage who I have summoned back after a couple of weeks of hibernation. 

I was feeling the effects of my medications and despite having 2 cups of coffee and more amounts of sleep than I usually have in a weeks time my eyes were still closing and the game was going nowhere in my favor. Janry had established a board presence and was taking care of anything that Jus would land on the floor. They were cancelling each other out as I was not able to do anything at all but ramp. 

I was able to get Omnath Out and protect him with a Lightning Greaves. I was able to produce 2 5/5 Elementals and that was it. Janry was down to 16 and Jus was down to 26. Jus was able to plop down the dreaded Omniscience and was going off with Ydris but oddly was unable to finish us off. 

When he dropped a lot of creatures and passed the turn to me I was thinking of how to finish the game. I had Zealous Conscripts in my hand so my Kiki-Jiki combo was impossible. I did have enough mana to to cast my Tooth and Nail with Entwine though. So looking at the 4 cards that Jus has , I took the chance. I knew he had limited counters in that Ydris deck so I took a chance. Still not knowing what I was doing. Mostly sick , mostly drowsy but still wanting to play with my friends.

Then the answer came to me when I realized that my Avenger of Zendikar was in this deck along with the Craterhoof Behemoth that I considered a gift from a fellow Doctor ( Salamat Dr. Rey Ame!). I was able to play them , triggering the Avenger of Zendikar with the 10 lands I had in play , creating 10 tokens and then the Craterhoof Behemoth who looked at all the creatures in play and added them all up.

There was now a total number of 15 creatures in play and Omnath,Locus of Rage +2 5/5 Elemental tokens + Craterhoof Behemoth all became 20/20 creatures that attacked and finished the game! 

It was a much needed victory. I never thought I would be able to win since Jus and Janry already had better set ups than me. It was a pleasant surprise.

"Lost in Duality"

"Lost in Duality"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

I am lost in this duality

The one were you are innocent and soft

then in a blink

turn into something chic and hardcore

II

You dance with grace

then with such power

I know you dont mean it

To overwhelm us with wonder

III

Physically you push us back

and all with just a smile

You are in a screen

and we still feel the full effect

IV

I end up watching you all day

I don't think it is healthy

I just cant help it

Being lost in this duality.

Sykes Centrum , Shaw Blvd. 09/07/18 11:05

"LoonA YYxY : Love4eva MV Reaction: Sad Sad Olivia Hye"

"LoonA YYxY : Love4eva MV Reaction: Sad Sad Olivia Hye"

by:

The Vole

I must admit that after Yves Debuted I kind of lost interest with the last 3 members of LoonA. I was undergoing a personal tragedy and stuck to my favorites like all the members of Odd Eye Circle.

Now that LoonA has debuted as a whole group I have been doing some back tracking and have found Gowon and Olivia Hye to be really good. Chuu and her debut was cool but still not enough for me. I think they underused her vocals there but enough of the other members. I want to focus on Love4eva for a bit as this particular MV also relates to things that I noticed in Egoist and Hi High.

So the MV for Love4eva is set in a European boarding school. It starts and ends with scenes of Olivia Hye in a forest looking for the other 3 girls of her sub unit.

This is actually a love song and a quite funny one since there is a mention of "Even my kidneys are pounding." You probably heard of chests pounding so hard but Kidneys? yeah. That surely is a strong feeling.

The MV features all 4 girls being tutored and disciplined by a lone teacher. Scenes where Yves is scolded and them lining up for inspection for example. At first it seems like the 3 other girls (Yves , Chuu and Gowon) are ostracizing Olivia Hye.They do not invite her to join or stop talking when she is around.

There are scenes where they dance in front of their tutor and in the end you realize how sad Olivia Hye really is here as it is revealed she created the other girls in her own mind to be her companions in this lonely place. A coping mechanism. So when you see the 3 others running away from the place and not even calling her to join them the reason is simple. She is them and they are her. She wishes to escape but cannot and so she lets her own thoughts run.

This ties in to Egoist. Where there is a part where Olivia Hye hugs herself to sleep with a mirror image of herself! She got better at creating other girls in her mind and made 3 others in this MV. 

This also ties into Hi High and explains the presence of Jinsoul in the Egoist MV. You see Jinsoul and the other members of the Odd Eye Circle transport the sad Olivia Hye to the other girls. This completes her and you can see that utter joy when she smiles at Yves for the first time in the Hi High MV.

I hope my fellow Orbits See's this particular theory of mine.I really like how all of these videos fit.

On my last notes here I would like to point out that there is only one scene where you see apples. Around 2:40 of the MV. And Olivia is all alone , not even eating one. This is in sharp contrast to the abundance of apples in the last 4 MVs of this sub unit.

Also. I do find the delicate biting of Roses in this MV quite sexy. I have an idea of what it is trying to imply but since I heard that I have some very young audiences I am going to make this reaction PG13. 

So I guess this is it for now. There are still a lot of things to see and a lot of things talk about with regards to LoonA in the future. Let's root for their first win.

"Conclave Tribunal:The Conclave has spoken."

"Conclave Tribunal:The Conclave has spoken."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

white has traditionally been the color of detainment spells and well it still pretty much retains all of those detain spells in this return to return to Ravnica as well.

Conclave Tribunal is a 3 colorless 1 White mana enchantment that allows you to exile a target non-land permanent an opponent controls until it leaves the battlefield. This card will be used in a lot of speedy creature decks 4 guilds  , The Orzhov , Azorius , Boros and Selesnya will be sure to abuse this deck especially the latter two who just have more creatures at their disposal to use the Convoke ability on this card.

While the art of Conclave Tribunal shows a goblin that is bowed and receiving sentencing , I am guessing that this might be a Legion Warboss , creatures are not the only non-land permanents you can exile with this. Pesky planeswalkers , controlling enchantments and combo pieces for artifact decks are also a great target.

I see Conclave Tribunal as a great removal spell in decks that run lots of creatures. This would be another weapon in my latest Estrid the Masked deck where enchantments matter. This would be included in many sideboard running white for it's sheer versatility.

I am sure I will be stocking up on this one.

"Legion Warboss: The New Rabblemaster"

"Legion Warboss: The New Rabblemaster"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Well hello there Rabble Master! Oh wait that isn't the Rabble Master , he is the newly appointed Legion Wasboss. So this is basically a goblin with the same mana cost(3) and same triggered ability of creating a 1/1 token with haste and attacks each turn when able at the beginning of combat.

But wait of course they won't just reprint the guy , what exactly does the Legion Warboss have to offer? He carries the new Boros Mechanic of Mentor. Mentoring means you give a creature a +1/+1 counter when this creature attacks. The catch is that it has to be a creature of lower power.

So if the Legion Warboss attacks with the Goblin token he created , it is that token that receives the mentoring. On the next attack you just need  to choose.

There is a Krenko deck waiting for a card like Legion Warboss. Joining the ranks of Rabble Master and Goblin Assault that also produces goblins on the beginning of your combat step. 3 Goblin producers that Krenko can surely exploit. 

I got me another goblin for my wish list.What do you think of the Mentor mechanic? What version of Rabble Master will we get next time? This is it for today. Thanks for reading. Keep on brewing.

"Oh My Girl - Remember Me MV reaction:Yes I remember."

"Oh My Girl - Remember Me MV reaction:Yes I remember."

by:

The Vole

Oh My Girl is finally back this September with their brand new single Remember Me and they are bringing a more powerful image with them aside from their usual girlish charms.

I have often speculated that this will be Binnie's turn to be pushed to the public after the success of Banana Allergy Monkey. Right from the opening lines you can see the Binnie centric MV and it is about time that she took this spotlight.

This MV also features the maximum utilization of Mimi as a rapper. There have been a lot of Miracles requesting lines for her in the past comeback, Well WM listened and if you look at the distribution of lines you can see that Mimi has about the same lines as rapper Le in EXID songs. A great improvement and her involvement in writing the rap parts of their songs shows her off maturity as well.

The song Remember Me has a different structure than previous OMG songs because of Mimi's utilization and it shows another side of OMG as well as their secondary voices in YooA , Binnie and Jiho all leap to the front. It is not saying that Hyojung and Seunghee don't have killing parts here. What is an OMG song without these two right? Seunghee and her killing parts are still there  and form such a wonderful melodic back bone.

The MV starts with a Satellite beaming a stream to a spot on earth.Like an Oh My Girl activation.  I wonder if the OMG Satellite is actually triggering Miracles to remember them? Well Miracles should come out droves to stream and vote now. Also the beam might be several things that point to past OMG MV's.   Here are the scenes that follow after that 

1) Binnie as a game show contestant , Jiho as host and some of the girls as other contestants? And if there was any doubt that this was not a Binnie Era type of comeback just look at the amount of scenes involving her and the game show set. Her and her fiery hair dominate. Binnie represent!

2) Mimi Driving a car , the same car that was in Closer , only cleaned up and going into hyper speeds.Some of the members also join for the drive. A wish that Arin made before. Miracles have not seen them go altogether on some sort of driving trip but maybe a reality show down the line can spotlight that.  Watch the Sliding Choreo when OMG responds with Oh! during Mimi's rap parts!

3) YooA running a refreshment hut in a small sand speck in the middle of nowhere. Where she waits for a ride on a cloud and  gets a ride on a balloon instead. The stop looks like a scene in Secret Garden and the balloon ride where she is riding a swing looks like it came from  Coloring Book. YooA and her brain her look so elegant in that Balloon ride which might make a record for prettiest rider in most unsafe Swing Balloon ride ever. Who cares about reality? This is YooA looking elegant among pink clouds!

4) An astronaut claiming what looks like the moon and is later to be revealed Seunghee. A funny scene with Arin and Jiho. It seems that even if Seunghee is conquering other areas the girls are there as well. More like a statement that the more Seunghee conquers so too does OMG conquer with her. 

5) Hyojung celebrating something alone until Arin serves her a lot of Fireworks and the other members surprise her with her appearance. Arin is trying a no bangs look in this comeback and some are commenting that she looks a little bit like AOA's Seoulhyun.

If you notice the 7 Million cash price in the game show. I guess it represents each of the 7 members.

Also there are scenes where they are looking up , I wonder if they are looking at YooA in her dangerous Swing Balloon ride or Mimi in her Hyper drive Closer Car?

I was watching the Choreo version of Remember and there were a lot of fresh dance steps here as well as a well balanced formation. I was afraid that with all the sexiness that was abounding in Kpop OMG will take already take this route and I am glad to have my fears allayed.  OMG stays true to their fresh and girlish charms even if they are going for a more girl crush concept in this comeback.

The ending of the choreo points back to Closer. In Reverse. Both formations have YooA in the middle linking the two differing songs. The opening of Closer points to a flower blossoming with it's petals delicately unfolding. While the closing of Remember Me offers a Flower now in bloom with all it's petal spread out and beautiful to see.

Hooboy. I just really enjoyed delving into this MV so much. I might have missed a few things but just the fact that I was able to see all of these makes me happy. 

I wish that Oh My Girl remains healthy this comeback and none of them get injured like Jiho has these past few months. I look forward to their wins and in the future where they take their rightful place in the Kpop Pantheon of Goddess level girl groups.

"I will be."

"I will be."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

I am tired of being sorry

for things that I should not be.

I thought about your judgements

but guess what? I am free.

II

I don't give a damn about what you think

and I can't wait for you to grow up.

You can't go wallowing like a child

In the times that you need to man up.

III

I will not be sorry

for the things that I needed to do.

Times were impossible and destiny ,

well she wasn't calling you.

IV

So I took all the hits

lost sleep , lost money , lost time

You said I had a choice

but that was never ever mine.

V

And I am still here

Unbowed by that idiotic gaze

Angry , Doubt and Fear

That was never ever my place.

VI

So I will not be tired

and I will be who I have always been.

The Champion chosen

long before you were even here.

Notre Dame , Malate Manila, 09/07/18 2:37pm

"Midweek Magic 2018# 34 - Sai , Gangnam Thopter Style"

"Midweek Magic 2018# 34 - Sai , Gangnam Thopter Style"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

There are many things that make me like artifacts but one of things that make me like them the most is that they are easy to cast and most of the time even easier to abuse.

Sai . Master Thopterist was spoiled in M19 to have a standard brawl deck combo. While I have the necessary pieces for that I wanted to showcase Sai as a full fledged EDH deck mostly because no one in my playgroups have made a deck surrounding him , that and I might have already filtered all the artifacts that I have when I improved and built 2 Daretti decks. It was time for me to go mono blue and boy did I have a lot of blue pieces that were mostly left alone.

It was time to showcase my Mirrodin side. The one that loves metal and not just my infectious side.

In a recent game I was able to enchant a Seat of the Synod with Mechanized production and the result was that I had 5 copies out of the required 8 so that I could win before my opponents were able to deal with the enchanted land. The difficulty was partly to Padeem giving my artifacts hexproof. I was two turns away from a Mechanized Production win but hey maybe next time right?

I was able to win this exciting game though as Pao and his Prossh deck were eliminated and it was up to the Artificers to duke it out till the end. It was Yo and Sydri , Sai and Me.

In the end I had the saga Antiquities War reaching it's last verse making all of my artifacts into 5/5 creatures and then being given +1/+1 counters each by my Steel Overseer.The now rampaging 6/6 creatures reduced Yo's life to 1 but I still had to finish him this turn since he most likely would have something to sweep all of my creatures. 

I had 6 mana open and I had not fully understood the interactions of my deck and I was discovering them one by one and loving them. I cast Fabricate and figured out that what to use to deal that last point of damage. It was a Walking Ballista which I cast for 2 mana and it having 1 counter that I promptly removed to end Yo!

It was an amazing game especially since we had to survive a well time Vandalblast from Cheskas now very abusive Nekusar deck. 

I am looking forward to discovering all of the interaction in my Sai  , Master Thopterist deck.

"3 things I have seen this week:The 3 Team Virulence deck deaths"

"3 things I have seen this week:The 3 Team Virulence deck deaths"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

It was one of those things that I knew would happen eventually but I never thought that it would happen so soon. It was a mini Team Virulence reunion where most of my old team mates would pay me a visit in Eton Centris and we would play several rounds of multiplayer EDH in Starbucks.

Though Mau left quite early we were able to witness his Black/Red Goblins tear a new one in Nolan's rear with a little assist from Mark. After that we had 4 rounds of EDH no holds barred matches and here are the end results.

1) Infecting the Infector

With Mark Abude playing his Jodah(Sta. Maria) deck he was able to cast Blightsteel Colossus with for a mere 5 mana and waited for us to respond. I had several blockers but I was not sure if I can respond. Nolan took that option away by activating his Nev's disc.

"Gagahasain na tayo nung Blightsteel!" I said.

And well we both died to the inky robot.

"Happy na ako na-infect ko si Doc." Mark would later say. 

2) Jhoira returns!

My fault in this is that I lost count and with Jhoira suspending things left and right that was surely very important. And if Nolan already had suspended a handful of things and the mana producers he has can squeeze out 10 mana I should have assumed what was coming.

An Obliterate that you cannot counter. Leaving us to wait for our inevitable deaths as things like Artisan of Kozilek and Pathrazer of Ulamog wanted to give Hi-fives to us and annihilate whatever it is that have left on the battlefield.

Damn. Even without most of its colored lands Jhoira still tough.

3) 1 million for you and another million for you.

What is better than 1 million thopter tokens? Well 2 million thopter tokens of course. I was finally able to use my Sai , Master Thopterist after opening him in a random pack. And with Traxos and a retraction helix I was able to bounce and re-play an Ornithopter again and again with Sai in play. There was a tense moment hence none of my creatures had haste and there was still a turn for Mark and Nolan to react to the 2 million tokens I have created. Mark searched came up with nothing. Nolan did the same and came up empty as well. And so 2 million tokens flew to their sides of the battlefield and killed them.

Sweet!

I am looking forward to more of these moments with my Team Virulence members. Maybe next time there will be more. I would not mind seeing everyone again. Time is surely short and there are more EDH games to be played.

  

"Know"

"Know"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

I will not be angry

When I tower over you like this

You try to throw me punches

I guess they have to hit me first.

II

You spit out your words

You tell me your hate

You think you reached me

But know that nothing else has changed

III

You think you hurt me

Yeah , just think of who you hurt?

You think you treat me like dirt

Well know that that turns on you instead.

IV

The problems in your head

are floating all in there.

You want me to reach out

but know that I never will.

V

You are not my problem

but I am probably yours.

I will not be angry

Know that your issues are all your own.

Notre Dame , Malate Manila, 09/07/18 2:17pm

"Underrealm Lich:Filter power!"

"Underrealm Lich:Filter power!"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Just when you think that the Golgari would not have more ways of putting cards into their graveyard in comes Underrealm Lich to shatter your expectations and give you great news about card drawing.

Underrealm Lich is a 5 mana 4/3 creature that says if you would draw a card , instead look at the top three cards of your library , then put one into your hand and the rest into your graveyard. Filter power at work! So instead of ending up with a sucky card on your first draw you now have the option of having a Sensei's Divining top effect by looking at three cards and being able to make choices that would be more beneficial to you. The only difference is that you would be keeping a card and throwing things out.

Do you need this spell in your hand? Do you need this spell in your graveyard? Would you be able to reanimate the creature you just dumped casually into your graveyard with the reanimation spell that you also casually kept in your hand?

Did you just get a Victimize with a creature in play and you just threw Triskelion and Mikeaus the Unhallowed in your graveyard? Now try to control yourself from grinning.

Of course opponents will instantly recognize that a golgari deck filtering lands to keep and dump in the graveyard is surely a bad thing. They will then plan the demise of this loved creature.

Unfortunately for them Underrealm Lich also has this ability that will let it stay on the battlefield much longer. All you need is to do is to pay 4 life and make him Indestructible!. He becomes tapped and unavailable to block or tap for anything once you activate this but heck you just protected your card advantage didn't you? So short of bouncing , sacrificing or putting -1/-1 counters on him your opponents just had their list of options shortened.

Underrealm Lich will be a welcome addition to already strong EDH decks and who knows what this will probably do in the hands of more creative people.