"The Kobayashi Maru: Captain Kirk Would Play This Card. Then Cheat."

"The Kobayashi Maru: Captain Kirk Would Play This Card. Then Cheat."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

The Kobayashi Maru scenario has long been one of Starfleet's most infamous tests. Designed as a no-win situation, it challenges aspiring officers to face an impossible choice and reveals their true character when everything goes wrong.

Naturally, the captain who famously beat this test was none other than James T. Kirk.

How did he do it?

He cheated.

Well, according to the story, Kirk reprogrammed the simulation because he refused to accept that a no-win scenario had to remain unwinnable. He found a way to beat the system, and as his later adventures would demonstrate, the Klingons eventually had good reason to think twice before engaging him in battle.

I feel like an old man telling this story while introducing this card, but bear with me. There is a point to all this nostalgia.

The Kobayashi Maru Scenario is essentially Demonic Contract, only blue and considerably cheaper in mana.

The premise is delightfully cruel. You are presented with choices, but regardless of what you pick, things eventually end badly for you. It is the sort of enchantment that makes you question whether the card designer has a personal grudge against your enjoyment of the game.

Of course, there are ways to get around the problem. If you can hand Demonic Contract to an opponent before you've exhausted its options, you can turn a dangerous bargain into someone else's headache. The same general principle applies here: find a way to pass the consequences to another player before the situation becomes irreversible.

And that is where the fun begins.

If you're playing Dimir in Commander, you could run both cards as redundancy for this particular brand of mischief. After all, why settle for one questionable contract when you can have two?

Just remember that these strategies require the right setup. You need a way to transfer the enchantment and a plan for dealing with its consequences before they catch up with you.

But isn't that what Commander is all about? Finding creative ways to turn terrible situations into someone else's problem?

Captain Kirk would approve.

He would probably reprogram the card, too.

And if your opponents complain that you've broken the spirit of the game, simply remind them that Starfleet's greatest captain taught us an important lesson:

Sometimes, the only way to win a no-win scenario is to refuse to play by its rules.

“Daddy, I Miss You Riding Beside Me”: A Father, a Daughter, and the Madness of Philippine Roads."

“Daddy, I Miss You Riding Beside Me”: A Father, a Daughter, and the Madness of Philippine Roads."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

During one of our dinners, my daughter Aven told me something with a sincerity that caught me off guard.

“Daddy, I miss you riding beside me.”

Then she asked me for a hug, which I promptly gave her.

Truth be told, she didn't really need to ask. I would have hugged her anyway. I miss her every day, even when we see each other regularly. There is something about being a father that makes you miss your child even as you watch her grow into the person she is becoming.

But Aven wasn't saying she missed having me beside her because she no longer wanted to drive alone. She was talking about something else entirely: the increasingly chaotic state of our roads, especially now that the Ber months have arrived.

I had already warned her that things would only get worse as December approached. The closer we get to Christmas, the more crowded the streets become, and the more some drivers seem willing to abandon whatever common sense they might have possessed.

Aven then told me about an incident that had genuinely shaken her.

“Muntik na akong maging balita, Daddy.”

I almost became news, Daddy.

Apparently, an idiot had decided to drive against the flow of traffic on a narrow, two-lane road. With traffic already congested, this driver had the audacity to head straight toward my daughter, who was simply trying to drive safely and get to her destination.

I explained to Aven that some drivers probably use these narrow streets to reach side roads or avoid traffic. But I also reminded her that knowing what other drivers might do is part of staying safe. You cannot assume everyone on the road will follow the rules, or even possess enough sense to recognize when they are putting other people's lives at risk.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only story she had to tell.

Another incident involved a mini truck that slowly backed into her car despite several vehicles honking to warn the driver. It took motorcycle riders banging on the sides of the truck to get the driver's attention.

The man had apparently dozed off in the middle of a stopped intersection along Katipunan.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Somewhere in Metro Manila, a driver had managed to turn a traffic intersection into his personal bedroom, apparently oblivious to the commotion around him.

If you have driven in the Philippines long enough, you know that this sort of thing is not entirely surprising. Still, there is a difference between hearing about reckless drivers and realizing that your own child is now encountering them without you sitting beside her.

Aven has begun to understand why I swear so much whenever I encounter people who break traffic rules. Name almost any violation, and chances are someone will be committing it somewhere nearby. Be it counterflowing, ignoring traffic signals, blocking intersections, or driving as though road markings are merely decorative suggestions, there is always someone willing to test your patience.

And now, my daughter is experiencing all of it herself.

As a father, I know I cannot protect her from every reckless driver, every distracted motorist, or every person who believes that the rules apply to everyone except them.

What I can do is teach her to remain alert, anticipate danger, keep her composure, and never assume that another driver will do the right thing.

And sometimes, if she needs me there beside her, I will gladly take the passenger seat.

I know she is growing up. I know she needs to learn to navigate the world on her own, and I want her to have the confidence to do exactly that.

But being a father means accepting that even when your child becomes independent, a part of you will always want to keep her safe.

So, Aven, if you ever feel that you need your dad riding beside you again, just say the word.

I'll be there.

Because the Philippine roads are already crazy enough. You shouldn't have to face all that madness without knowing that your dad is just one passenger seat away.

"Spock, Always Your Friend: The Logical Choice for Spell-Slinging Commander Decks."

"Spock, Always Your Friend: The Logical Choice for Spell-Slinging Commander Decks."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

“Logic is the beginning of wisdom,” Spock might say. And in Magic: The Gathering Commander, logic apparently means digging through your library until you find another spell to make your opponents regret sitting at your table.

Spock, Always Your Friend is a Legendary Creature — Vulcan Human Scientist who offers a wonderfully practical ability: when he enters the battlefield, you look at the top four cards of your library and may reveal a noncreature, nonland card to put into your hand. The rest go to the bottom in any order.

For spell-slinging decks, this is basically a tiny research grant from Starfleet.

Need an instant to disrupt an opponent? A sorcery to refill your hand? An enchantment to make your entire strategy work? Spock gives you four chances to find something useful without requiring a committee meeting on the bridge.

The beauty of this ability is its flexibility. Spellslinger decks typically want a healthy supply of instants and sorceries to trigger prowess, generate tokens, or reward repeated spellcasting. Spock helps find those important pieces while filtering away cards you don't need right now.

Naturally, he isn't drawing you a whole new hand, and he won't guarantee the perfect answer. Even Vulcan logic has limits.

Still, in Commander, where one well-timed spell can change everything, having Spock calmly search for the solution is incredibly useful.

Fascinating. The probability of your opponents enjoying this is extremely low.

"Prepare for Assimilation! The Borg Queen Is Here to Steal Your Best Creatures."

"Prepare for Assimilation! The Borg Queen Is Here to Steal Your Best Creatures."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Resistance is futile. Your creatures are no longer yours. Your carefully assembled Commander deck is now a recruitment pool for the Borg Collective, and The Borg Queen has arrived to make sure everyone gets a promotion they never applied for.

At seven mana, this legendary artifact creature demands a respectable investment. Fortunately, she rewards your commitment by giving all your artifact creatures +2/+2. Suddenly, those humble Thopters, Treasures-turned-constructs, and other mechanical monstrosities are looking less like spare parts and more like a serious threat.

But the real fun begins whenever The Borg Queen enters the battlefield or attacks.

Target an opponent, exile cards from the top of their library until a creature appears, and congratulations! That creature now works for you. It becomes a Borg artifact creature, gains a +1/+1 counter, and loses all its other creature types.

Your opponent spent six turns protecting their precious commander, carefully selecting synergistic creatures, and building an elaborate strategy. You simply hired their best employee without paying a salary.

And because this ability triggers on attacks, the Borg Queen can keep expanding the Collective. Every combat becomes a corporate acquisition meeting, except the negotiations involve absolutely no consent.

In Commander, this is particularly hilarious. Why build your own army when three opponents have already done the expensive deck-building work for you? Just remember that your stolen creatures lose their original types, so don't expect every tribal synergy to survive assimilation.

The +2/+2 bonus also turns your growing collection of mechanical employees into an increasingly terrifying workforce.

Of course, there is one small problem: six mana, three colors, and a legendary creature that practically screams, "Remove me immediately!"

Expect your opponents to cooperate against you. Ironically, the one time the table agrees on something is when everyone decides that you must be eliminated.

Still, The Borg Queen offers a wonderfully villainous Commander experience: steal creatures, build an army, and turn your opponents' strategies against them.

Resistance is futile. Your creatures will be assimilated. Your opponents will complain.

And somewhere across the table, someone is already checking whether Swords to Plowshares can save the galaxy.

"I Was Raised to Be a Good Person. Why Doesn't That Feel Like Enough?"

 "I Was Raised to Be a Good Person. Why Doesn't That Feel Like Enough?"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

I was brought up to be a good person.

My parents, despite having only a middle-class income, gave generously to others because they believed in helping people. They taught us that if we had something to share, we should share it.

As siblings, we were never deprived of the essentials. We had a decent home, a good education, and opportunities that many ordinary Filipinos could only hope to have. Our parents provided for us as best they could, and I grew up knowing that I was fortunate.

Perhaps that was where I began to misunderstand what it meant to live a good life.

I measured myself against what I considered the bare minimum. As long as I did nothing illegal, treated my wife and daughter well, respected them, and provided for their needs, I thought I was doing what a good man was supposed to do.

Apparently, that was not enough.

I was told that I lacked the drive to achieve more, that I was aiming too low, assuming I was aiming at anything at all. One of the most painful things my mother ever told me, while she was still alive, was that I had never faced any real challenges.

I did not know what to make of that statement.

Perhaps she meant that I had been given a relatively comfortable start in life, that I had never been forced to fight for the things I wanted. Maybe she thought I had been spared the kind of hardship that would have pushed me to become more ambitious.

But I never thought that meant life would be easy.

Passing the Physician Licensure Examination was not easy. Building a life with my wife and navigating the responsibilities of raising a family were not easy. Learning to stand on my own, making decisions, and trying to become the person I thought I should be were not easy.

None of it was easy, and I doubt any of it ever will be.

Yet here I am, in my fifth decade of life, wondering whether I should have done more.

Somehow, my shortcomings have begun to feel like a verdict on the person I am. I find myself thinking that perhaps I should have dreamed bigger, taken more chances, or worked harder toward something beyond the life I managed to build.

Maybe I should have wanted more.

Maybe I should have done more.

And now, as I grow older, I am becoming painfully aware of all the things I lack without knowing how to fill those gaps. I look at the life I have and struggle to reconcile the person I was raised to become with the person I fear I have turned out to be.

The hardest part is feeling that I can no longer provide my family with everything I believe they deserve. I find myself wondering how much longer I can carry these disappointments without allowing them to become a burden on the people I love.

I was raised to believe that being good mattered. That helping others mattered. That treating people with kindness and doing right by your family were things worth striving for.

I still believe those things.

But somewhere along the way, I began to wonder whether goodness without ambition was enough, whether a decent man who tried his best could still be considered a failure because he had not achieved more.

I don't have an answer.

I only know that it is a difficult thing to reach this stage of life and begin questioning the very standards by which you have tried to live.

I wish I knew how to make peace with the things I did not accomplish. I wish I knew how to stop measuring myself against the person I might have become.

For now, I am left with the questions, the regrets, and the uneasy feeling that time is running out to become someone better.

I was raised to be a good person.

I only wish I knew why, after all these years, that no longer feels like enough.

"Hexhaven Invigorator: The Landfall Deck’s New Favorite Punching Bag."

"Hexhaven Invigorator: The Landfall Deck’s New Favorite Punching Bag."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

There are plenty of ways to ramp in Commander, but Hexhaven Invigorator offers a particularly entertaining proposition: hit me, and I might give you lands!

For four green mana, you get a 6/6 Chimera Horror with vigilance. That is already a respectable body, but the real attraction is its ability: whenever Hexhaven Invigorator is dealt damage, you may search your library for that many land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped.

Yes, you read that correctly. Your opponents can accidentally help you ramp by trying to kill your creature!

Of course, the trick is to make sure Hexhaven survives long enough to enjoy the experience. A damage-based fight spell, a carefully planned block, or even an opponent's unfortunate decision to attack into it could turn into a land-fetching festival.

And Landfall decks? They are practically salivating.

Every land entering the battlefield can trigger cards like Scute Swarm, Tireless Provisioner, or Rampaging Baloths. Suddenly, what started as a little damage becomes an army of Insects, piles of Treasure, or enough Beasts to make your opponents reconsider their life choices.

The truly evil part is that Hexhaven doesn't even need to deal combat damage. It simply needs to be dealt damage itself.

Naturally, the ability has limits: the number of lands you find depends on the damage dealt, and the lands enter tapped. But with the right setup, that is a small price to pay.

In Commander, sometimes the best ramp spell is a monster that practically begs people to hit it.

Just remember to invite your opponents to swing first. It's called symbiosis, after all

"Omnath, Locus of the Void: Congratulations, Nobody Gets to Play Magic Anymore."

"Omnath, Locus of the Void: Congratulations, Nobody Gets to Play Magic Anymore."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

There are plenty of ways to lose a game of Commander. Someone assembles an infinite combo, another player resolves an absurdly powerful enchantment, or your friend spends twenty minutes explaining why his seven-card hand is actually a perfectly reasonable keep.

And then there is Omnath, Locus of the Void.

This seven-mana Elemental is a walking disaster for anyone who enjoys the concept of having a turn.

First, Omnath gets bigger for every unspent mana you have. So that player who carefully manages their resources and ends their turn with mana floating around? Congratulations! Their land management skills have just become a bodybuilding program for an eldritch horror.

Second, if you would lose unspent mana, it becomes colorless instead. Apparently, even mana refuses to leave this battlefield.

But the real problem is Landfall. Whenever a land enters under your control, you add two colorless mana.

Read that again.

Play a land. Get two mana. Play another land through some ridiculous ramp spell. Get two more mana. Then use that mana to cast more spells, find more lands, and turn your innocent little turn into an accounting nightmare.

And remember, Omnath grows with your unspent mana.

At some point, your opponents will stop asking how your deck works and start asking whether they can go home.

Omnath doesn't just threaten to end the game. He threatens to end everyone's participation in it.

By the time you finally pass the turn, your friends will have learned an important lesson: sometimes, the most dangerous thing in Commander isn't an infinite combo.

It's a land drop.