"Making Her Smile."

"Making Her Smile."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

"I always wonder kung ano yang ginagawa mong yan. Pag alis ko nakayuko ka , pagdating ko nakayuko ka pa din." July swiped his glasses which did make him look up from the laptop he was working on.

"Alam mo di naman dapat alam mo about me. Girlfriend lang dapat nakakaalam lahat." V tried to get his glasses back.

"Ah ganun?Ayaw mo pala akong girlfriend ha." The girl with the braces tried to bite the arm that was trying to reach for the glasses."

"Seryoso. Wala akong makita. Ang ganda mo na naman."

"Itatapon ko talaga ito." The girl was quick but the boy surprised her with a speed that she did not expect from him. He always looked tired even at the best of times.

"Maingat ka nga. Muntik ka nang tumama sa salamin oh." July looked at him standing between the glass and her. He got his glasses. A little more and with the force she was backing away she could have hurt herself."

"Thanks ha. Gusto mong kumain ng late dinner? Treat ko."

V looked at the clock at the far end of the cafe. It was 3am.

"Late na late na dinner...Sobrang agang agahan." And they both laughed. "Pero gusto mo na lang bang magrest? Kasi call in na naman mamayang 7am di ba?"

July sighed after being reminded but she did love her job. Being on stage , being adored by fans but there was something that she simply could not do without.

"Ganito na lang. Bilhan kita ng tinapay. Painit ko na para may kakainin ka sa kotse." V turned around to lock his laptop and go to the counter when he felt her hug him from behind.

"Alam mong di ako makakalakad kapag ganyan ka." He could feel her smile spread on his back even though he could not see it. It seemed so easy to make her smile. 

"Bakit laging ang bait mo sa akin?"

"Sexual predator kasi ako. Gusto ko kasi ipakilala mo ako sa mga kasama mo sa dance group niyo." V used his most deadpan voice but July laughed at the joke.

"Baliw. Bilhan mo na ako ng Corned beef pandesal. Gutom na ako."

"Ito na nga eh."

"3 cards that I regret selling: Cards ko Para Kay Meralco."

"3 cards that I regret selling: Cards ko Para Kay Meralco."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

There is nothing more painful than a magic player parting with cards that mean a lot to them. There have been times that bills or other emergencies take more importance than the aforementioned cards. In my case , it was our Electricity bill and while I can wait for my salary at that time we were facing disconnection and so there I went to Caloocan and our friend Alvin was generous enough to take the cards from my hands so that I can pay our electricity bill.

And the cards are these 3:

1) Foil Dismember - During my run to be the Plaguelord of the North (Where you count the number of Infect wins against per standard tournament as a side quest and accumulate it for a price at the end of the season.) I opened a pack while having dinner with my teammates who never failed to cheer me on. It was sweet to have this card in my Infect decks until I eventually needed to sell it.

2) Foil Inkmoth Nexus - While we were still dating my then girlfriend who eventually became my wife bought me this card and I have been proud running it in my decks as it symbolized a deeper bond between us. She understood my love for the game and was supportive of it till to this day. 

3) Set of Verdant Catacombs - Originally owned by Rod Tolentino of the band Subscapular , I had treasured these fetch lands and they provided the much needed filtering to accelerate my Mono Green Infect Assault deck. I got it at a great price during the time and though I can still afford it now selling this set of lands still pains me to this day.Not only has it increased in value , this lands were owned by someone I admired in the local music scene.

My friends and I often tell stories of how we had to sell certain cards. I console myself with this question that my wife often asks me , "Nagbebenta ka pa ba ng cards ngayon?" which I often answer with "Never again."

"Ashiok, Nightmare Muse: Inspiring Terror."

"Ashiok, Nightmare Muse: Inspiring Terror."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

So what exactly does a Nightmare Muse inspire? I can tell you want thing it doesn't , they don't give you dreams about cooing babies and cute puppies. Check out the Theros trailer for more Ghoulish children action where Ashiok shows Elspeth a truly terrifying thing.

At 5 mana , 3 colorless and Dimir colors Ashiok, Nightmare Muse enters the battlefield with 5 loyalty counters. And I do feel that this planeswalker is really on the sadistic side.

Check out Ashiok, Nightmare Muse's first ability that creates a 2/3 blue and black Nightmare creature token with "Whenever this creature attacks or blocks, each opponent exiles the top two cards of their library."...Ashiok makes mini Nemesis of Reason's!!! All it needs is to step forward and an opponent is "Inspired" to madness by losing 2 cards from their library! This is actually worse than the Nemesis of Reason as the card is exiled, unlike the Milling where an opponent can still use cards from their graveyard for Delve and reanimation. 

And want to see another cruel thing?Ashiok, Nightmare Muse's 2nd ability. -3: Return target nonland permanent to its owner's hand, then that player exiles a card from their hand.

That's just returning a permanent to their hand how cruel is that? The bounce helps you of course but some players prefer to be able to recast their own permanents for their ETB effects. And this is where the potential danger of this ability comes in. If they only have a 2 or 3 cards in hand , they will be forced to exile something that they were holding on to for future plans like a combo piece , mass removal or counter. If they only have no hand and non-land gets bounced by this ability of Ashiok when it might as well read as "Exile target non-land permanent."

And believe me there are already plenty of existing Milling/Discarding/Exiling decks with Ashiok as the main star. What is one more version to add in this mix right?

And in the long run this ultimate ability will be the end of an opponent.-7: You may cast up to three face-up cards your opponents own from exile without paying their mana costs.

Ashiok, Nightmare Muse merely needs to survive 3 turns for this ability to be activated and assuming that there are very good permanents or spells in that Exile zone. Like a Blightsteel Colossus ,  Omniscience and Rivers of Tears for example.While EDH opponents are forced to reestablish their boards you can take your time and pick them off one by one. Well you do get the idea. Ashiok truly inspires one's nightmares.

"Doc In , Doc Out Presents:Ah wala po? "

"Doc In , Doc Out Presents:Ah wala po? "

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Agent: Doc gusto ko pong makuha yung APE result ko.
Me: Sure. Ano pong apelyido?
Agent: Repolyo po (Di tunay na apelyido)
Me: (Looks at files and saw that results were only from Rizal to Roxas , brought out all files and showed it to Agent.) Sir ito lang po yung mga R na andito.
Agent: So wala pong Repolyo?
Me: Simula RI lang po.
Agent: R E?
Me: Paki follow up na lang po kung naiforward na nila kasi wala pa.
Agent: Ah wala pa.
Me: Yun nga po.

Parang yung "Sarado" meme lang eh...

"Midweek Magic 2019 #31: Alela Slips Through"

"Midweek Magic 2019 #31: Alela Slips Through"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Games have been too far in between for the last couple of the weeks these past two months but it was a good Wednesday when I met up with Ram and Chez in KFC Eton Centris. 

I was glad for the games.It was Alela and Muldrotha in the end when Ram decided to eliminate Chez early in the game. I managed to survive all the damage I took because I was able to pull off my favorite land combo from Muldrotha but I found that it was total shame that I was not able to put in the Field of the Dead that I have brought recently for all those zombies. Ahuhuhu

So any way I was able to sacrifice all my lands to my Zuran Orb and getting them all back by sacrificing my Worldshaper to my Viscera Seer to get all those lands back. I have done this for 2 turns and was so caught up with all the things going on that I forgot to check on Alela. 

After casting spells and I was done to my last 5 lands Ram nervously(was not apparent during that time) at all the cards that had been in my graveyard. I did not do the same but I should have.

So I played something again and I cannot recall what , from sleepiness or just giddiness from pulling off this favorite move in two successive turns. More than 80 life seems like a huge enough cushion after all. So I passed the turn to Ram who drew a card and attacked with Alela who at this time was adorned by all sorts of enchantments and equipments that made her a 16/16 monstrosity. A 16/16 FLYING monstrosity that I forgot to check as I thought that my ground forces would be able to block her. But she just went through and I already sustained enough damage from her to succumb to Commander damage costing me the game.

We were laughing our asses off. Ram also showed me the card he looked at in my graveyard that I could have cast the previous turn if only I paid a little bit more attention. It was a Corrupted Conscious that I specifically put in for situations such as this. I could have gotten Alela , attacked Ram with it for 16 infect damage and won. Instead I let her slip past and she killed me instead. Mahirap talaga kapag kinakalawang sa paglalaro. Hahahahah

"You"

"You"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

Do I make a difference?

Does it matter what I do?

Did I save your life?

Did I make it better for you?

II

Alone in my bed

I think on these things

And sadly I have no answers

Which makes it all the worse.

III

The problems never end

They pile on one another

You clear it this day

and turn for another

IV

Maybe I was a difference

Maybe I saved someone

Maybe in the future I might see

Maybe that might even be me

V

So Alone I think

I will do what I do

I will get up

I will do it for you.

Optum. Bldg N. Quezon City. October 23, 2019 5:05am

"Forth"

"Forth"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

I wanted to ask you

how much you distorted time

how much it took

to place your hand on mine

II

I wanted to look at that day

and see the look on my face

As I saw those dazzling lights around you

And I cannot let go of my gaze

III

That time I started to feel something

other than the cold in my heart

I knew then that I would pursue you

and I would never let you part.

IV

Sitting here thinking of you

with this imperfect poem I wrote

I am thankful for that day

and all the rest that came forth.

Optum. Bldg N. Quezon City. October 23, 2019 4:53am