"Fading Paths"

 "Fading Paths"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

There are many paths that I have tread

Some leading to nowhere , Some to death

Some to understanding , Some to sin

Some to others but nowhere within

II

It diverges into places I have never seen

One of fire and then to the Obscene

One of peace and then to chaos

One of stillness and the stillness of Horror

III

Of All the paths and I could not choose

None of them leads to you

And so I accept the fate I have been given

Never returning , fading in these hues.

Optum 10/28/20 9:38am

"Phyrexian Triniform: It's Tripling time!"

 "Phyrexian Triniform: It's Tripling time!"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I used to look at the Wurmcoil Engine and have a headache. It was a menace to deal with as it takes a good removal spell and still leaves 2 3/3 Wurm tokens on the battlefield that can still ruin my day. Those days are good and gone and it has been awhile since I was on the receiving end of a Wurmcoil Engine attack.

So imagine the headache that I had when I read the words Phyrexian followed by Triniform. A golem from New Phyrexia. I was excited to read on.

It was a 9 mana costed 9/9 artifact creature that is impressive as a better on it's own but reminds me so much of those Wurmcoil Engine headahces as when it dies it leaves three 3/3 Golems on the battlefield. 

But wait there is more to this headache. It also features the Encore Mechanic.

So for the measly cost of 12 mana(dedicated Artifact EDH decks seems to know how to cough up all this mana fast. Especially with Krark Clan Ironworks or Ashnod's altar in play.) for each opponent that you have you can make a token of this card and attacks these opponents when able. They gain Haste. Exile them at the end of the next end step.

So for simplicitys sake let us say that you have 3 opponents. You activate the Phyrexian Triniform's Encore and have 3 9/9 golems attacking (assuming that you made the good decision of using Encore before your attack phase). So if the 9/9 Golems land via a lack of blockers on your opponents parts you dealt almost 1/4 of their life. 

These 9/9 Golems are sacrificed at the end of your turn which would leave you with Nine 3/3 Golems on the battlefield. Which can potentially deal 27 points of damage on your next turn! Whichever way you look at it your opponents would have to respond or one of them will be facing elimination or even sustained damage on the next few turns.

We better get all those Golem tokens in storage. We would be needing this time around.

   

"Sigawan2020"

 "Sigawan2020"

ni:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

Nagsasawa sa sigawan nating dalawa

Di ka naman nakikinig di ba?

Alam mo ba kung saan galing ang tinig

Na di naman galit pero ramdam ang sakit?

II

Na pilit na iniinitindi

Ang mga maliliit mong hinanankit

Ang mga patong patong na kasalanan

Na ikaw at ikaw lang ang pumipilit

III

Minsan  , kadalasan , Madalas

Nawawala na tayo sa landas

At ang mga ngiti mo ay di ko na makita

Habang humahakbang ako ng paatras

IV

Sasabihing di na kaya

Sasabihing wag na muna

Pero di naman talaga kaya

Uupo. Makikipagsigawan na lang muna.

Optum 10/28/20 10:39am

"Mnemonic Deluge: The Tripling Continues."

 "Mnemonic Deluge: The Tripling Continues."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

It started with the enchantment Fiery Emancipation where Red Mage's get to deal Triple Damage.Triple Damage when double damage is not enough. It seems that magic is on a race to make triple the new thing since it is obviously so done with Twice things and had played it out in the recent Double Masters set.

Enter Mnemonic Deluge. A 9 mana massive spell that is made for the Blue mage at heart that reads:

"Exile target instant or sorcery card from a graveyard. Copy that card three times. You may cast the copies without paying their mana costs. Exile Mnemonic Deluge."

3 freaking times! So let us say you cast a Time warp this turn and since you had all the mana in the world to spend on things this turn via high tide or that Peregrin Drake + Archeomancer + Ghostly flicker combo. You can cast this spell and voila an extra 4 turns! One from the first Time warp and from the other 3 that you acquired via this card! Just Wow.

Now if WoTC is done giving all the colors triple of something we can move on to the Quadruple of things. 

"Remembering Nothing"

 "Remembering Nothing"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

Time and time I wish I could shout

your name which I have forgotten

To feel those arms around me

And start what I thought did not begin

II

This sadness is supposed to be good

but why am I the only one seeing it

And you are there in my mind

saying that it is good but I argue it isn't

III

So wont you tell me your name?

Rid me of this awful misery

Say it , say it

So we can begin again

The Gatehouse Loft , Valenzuela City. October 02 , 2020 3:03am

"Three Visits:A strictly better Rampant Growth."

 "Three Visits:A strictly better Rampant Growth."    

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

It is officially day 2 of Commander Legends spoilers season as I write this and hoooboy have there been really great cards that are set to draw in the old regulars of EDH tables everywhere.

One of them is a card that my friend Jerome and I have been talking about but had not been confirmed yet and when I refreshed the page there it was in all it's extended art glory.

Three Visits.

A Sorcery for 1 green and 1 colorless mana that allows you to fetch a forest card from your library and put it into the battlefield.

While the Reprint of a card worth a 100 bucks is always exciting.( I doubt it would stay at that price range afterwards) I am more hyped about the implications of this card in EDH. 

Since a lot of EDH decks are running dual or multicolored lands it is always helpful to fetch a Shock land like Temple Garden or the recent Triome cycle from Ikoria or Arbor Dryad that is both a Forest and a creature. 

Maybe even just a good old Forest and the best part it does not come into play tapped. Commander players are sure to be happy opening this in a pack. I know I would be since a lot of my EDH decks would need the upgrade. 

A lot of Green mages and those who splash green in their decks would be ecstatic. Probably except for Azorius players. Control is the only that makes those guys happy. Hahahaha

"3 things that make me procrastinate"

 "3 things that make me procrastinate"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Funny thing is that when I was writing this...well I planned writing this at the beginning of October 2020 and it is now October 28 , 2020 so my procrastination techniques as a writer are actually effective. (Chef's kiss)

So as I writer I have writing goals for the day , the week , the month. I have a strict schedule to speak. A schedule that I do not adhere to at all. And as I sat there looking at the clock and at the time that it was time to go home or pack up my things I found that I have not written anything. So what do I do? How does time fly so fast?

1) Summoner's War.

Mobile games have been the bane of my writing and reading. There is always some goal to achieve there that just need a little extra time. Now that they added a new feature of continuous battles I can free my hands just a little bit to squeeze in some writing until I need to press the button to continue the battles.

2) Netflix

What is an hour and a half movie right? Or an anime episode that lasts 29 minutes at most? You can pause the movie at any time right? You can just stop at episode 3 of your series and pick off after writing right? Only it doesn't happen because there is always an interesting movie coming out or releasing on Netflix this month and the anime series? Every episode seems to be in a cliff hanger and you want to know more.

In the meantime your Writing Muse is giving you that disappointed look.

3) Youtube

So you go to youtube for A) Research on your Novel or short story or B) For tips on how to improve your writing. 12 hours later you have not started your research and have not gotten to that video where you get the tips to improve your writing. You have been able to watch a lot of comedy skits , kpop and cat videos though.

The frown on your Writing muse deepens.

Well it is October 28 , 2020. I have writter 8 articles for my blogpost. It seems like I am on track....until I procastinate again.

"The Emptiness"

 "The Emptiness"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

It starts as an ember

in the very pit of my soul

till it howls and howls

declaring it wants more

II

And the more that I have

the emptier it feels

And the lesser I have

the emptier it feels

III

I touch and I smell

I taste and I see

but don't experience it at all

Nothing , nothing is real

IV

So I close my eyes

And hope that I dream

yet even then I remember

Nothing is even here.

Optum 10/17/2020 4:13am

"Krark The Thumbless: Coin Flipping Fun"

 "Krark The Thumbless: Coin Flipping Fun"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Krark is a Goblin Gambler and Heretic who lived on Mirrodin. He had lost both of his thumbs in bet and wanted to win one back so he goes and circles the whole Mirrodin writing the things he had seen. He won one of this thumbs back but was branded as a heretic because of the things he wrote in his journal and was executed. His name lives on in cards like Krark's thumb and Krarkclan Ironworks. The Krark clan of Goblins even took his book as teachings.

This is the first time that we would see Krark in card form and he offers up a good coin flipping fun time. As he said it is Double or Nothing. So when you cast an instant or sorcery you flip a coin. If you lose the spell you cast is returned to your hand. Not bad considering that you can just cast it again if you have enough mana or maybe on your next turn. 

The fun part lies in if you win. And that is a 50/50 chance that this will happen. If you win you get to copy your spell. So if this is Time Warp(which is my favorite example and I am sticking with it) you get to have 2 extra turns! 

If I open Krark in my box I would have to look for my Krark's thumb and Krark's other thumb somewhere. I would make it an EDH goal to have all three in play. And Make Krark Whole Again. #MKWA

"The Absurdity of Negan in MTG"

 "The Absurdity of Negan in MTG"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

A lot of people have been talking about the whole Walking Dead Secret Lair Drop this day and while the concerns for cards that have specific mechanics in them that only comes out in a product that will not be available for everyone is valid and true , I would like to look at something that will turn out to be absurd in Magic EDH tabletop games everywhere.

Think for a moment that your opponent on the other side of the table has managed to power out a Godzilla and Ghidorah. This would normally faze other players but not you because your Commander is none other than Negan Himself. 

So you are able to pay the mana required to summon him from "The Walking Dead" universe. Now both you and your opponent will secretly choose a creature that they control. And this is where it gets a bit wacky. Once both of you reveal your chosen creatures they are then sacrificed.

If you both choose Godzilla or Ghidorah one of them gets sacrificed. If you choose a creature that is different from your opponents choice then both creatures are sacrificed. You also get treasure tokens for each creature sacrificed this way. Absurd right? All the upside goes to you and Negan who has managed to bash Both Godzilla and Ghidorah in the head and kill them. Lucille is one deadly bat.

And since creatures are not targeted and chosen in secret this whole mechanic bypasses any Shroud or Hexproof creatures! 

Imagine the scene of Negan toppling these beasts with a Lucille Swing. Emrakul? Ulamog? Kozilek? Blightsteel Colossus? Negan seems to just swing at them and they die. Probably through some tetanus or poison that surrounds Lucille.

Absurd right? Thought so too.