"Bend the knee , your Lord Returns…"

"Bend the knee , your Lord Returns…"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

Sorin Markov is back. Back to his home plane of Innistrad and he isn’t too happy about what has been going in his absence. The humans are being overrun by monsters on all sides and the sentinel which he has put in place as the protector of his realm has gone missing. I’m excited to speculate what Avacyn would be like when she finally gets her own card in Avacyn restored, the last angel that was also created by a magic character was Akroma, Angel of Wrath and she turned out pretty good. I wonder what she would be like but Avacyn aside Sorin Markov will be coming in to the second expansion as a leaner, easier to cast planeswalker, if you are playing dual colors of black and white. There will be a lot of control decks that will be bringing in the Lord of Innistrad himself into play , vampire decks might get a boon from him , his first planeswalker ability is to create a 1/1 vampire with lifelink. It could be a blocker early if you don’t have a creature in play to make sure good ol Markov will survive the next few turns. Or if you already have several creatures on the battle field you can already use his second ability. It gives you an unremovable emblem that says all your creatures get +1/0. A very great offensive boost if you are out to finish your opponent early or if the opportunity has presented itself for a beat down. Sorin Markov is versatile in this regard if you have a pretty offensive mindset when you play him otherwise his advantage is lost. Another thing is that his final ability, the flavorful “create more minions” skill, allows you to destroy up to 3 target creatures or planeswalkers and put them on your side of the battle field. Imagine having Liliana and Karn on your side as the game progresses or even wiping out 3 of the biggest creatures on the table and having them for yourself to finish off your opponent in the next turn. The control part of Sorins ability is good for the end game and before he actually gets to it, it would mean that you have at least 3 vampires already on the field. Yup, I never did like vampires before but I would sure as hell won’t pass up to play Sorin when I can.

The Miami Heat: Tempering my Enthusiasm

The Miami Heat: Tempering my Enthusiasm

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

As I write this the Miami Heat has just fallen to 8-2 in the NBA standings after a defeat in the hands of the Golden State Warriors in over time. Overall this spoils the return of Dwayne Wade after he missed 3 games with a sore foot. He had a monster game with 34 points but it seems his return will have some meshing problems with a unit that has won 3 straight games without him. Does this mean that they shouldn’t be playing Wade just yet and should have just stuck with the current starting lineup? Some people might argue that this might not bode well for the team because of chemistry issues but you just can’t sideline one the best players in the game when he can contribute right? It will spell better offense down the line for the Miami Heat with Wade in the lineup and then the naysayers can just keep on grumbling about something else. I am excited about this season especially with the early showing of Lebron James who seems to have found that dominant player inside of him and just let him play. Though the heat still sits atop the standings with their good record I am tempering my enthusiasm because Lebron has been the Choke King for all the finals that he has been in regardless of the supporting cast around him. I find it highly suspicious that he turns to this unstoppable beast on the court every game and then becomes meek as a lamb during the last lap of the season. The play offs is still the place where I want to see Lebron dunking over guys and dishing out assists to a cutting Wade or Bosh for one of those steady perimeter jumpers that he has. I will cheer them on as they clobber guys left and right with their league leading scoring and consistency but I am holding my breath until I see the last second dwindling on the shot clock on the last game of the NBA finals and see the confetti come down from the rafters and only if the Heat Manage to win it all this season.

"Gathering the townsfolk for a weenie beatdown..."

"Gathering the townsfolk for a weenie beatdown..."

By:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     Here is a white card for the price of one mana and one colorless which gives you 2 human tokens or with the new Dark Ascension Mechanic Fateful hour it gives you a total of 5 human tokens , all you have to do is be at 5 life or less and in magic nowadays that’s not so hard to achieve. Aside from the great creatures that can beat you down to 5 or less in standard, you also have the phyrexian mana mechanic that can help dwindle your life total. It is an exciting card that is worth watching.

     Now life gain decks seems to have weakened lately after the rotation of staple pieces like essence and soul warden but incomes Suture priest who at 2 mana maybe a bit slower but has the added effect of life gain per creature that enters the battle field and the loss of life when your opponent has a creature enter their side. Now imagine if you have 2 of these in play and you play this sorcery. Gather the Townsfolk would net you 10 life points! And that’s half of your life total right there. Add at least one intangible virtue in the mix that gives +1/+1 to all your creature tokens and you have 10 points of damage ready to attack next turn or can stop the beat down that has reduced your life to 5. It might seem like a slower version of raise the alarm but this card at 2 mana has the potential to be a great finisher in limited and should be an early favorite in the sealed tournaments of the pre-release. Thraben Doomsayer that gives a bonus of +2/+2 to all other creatures you control when its fateful hour mechanic steps in is sure to be one combo that will be exploited once it hits standard in February. I am looking forward to a little white weenie beat down party soon.

"Mercurial shot!"

Mercurial Shot

by: 

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

Just the other day somebody shot a syringe filled with Mercury though his arm. Some people reading this might be doing the double face smack. People with half the common sense already know that putting anything foreign in your body is already bad news but this guy just had to shoot himself with mercury. The troubling part is not in the act itself but with the way he defended it. He said that his father told him that it would make him “Maliksi” or quick. Come on now. Nobody became Quick Silver (the marvel counterpart of flash) or the Silver Surfer for that matter by ingesting or in this case shooting a syringe full or mercury through their arm. I tell you what would happen though; it’s something quick, a quick death if not treated quickly. The liver won’t be able to filter that much liquid metal in the system and would begin to breakdown as well.

It is sad that people in this day and age are still uninformed about the hazards that mercury can cause. Surely someone must have at least seen or read the news about how mercury is poisoning our streams from the mines. At least they must have heard it from someone and should have taken the advice to heart. So if it isn't the lack of education then it is just that some people will do anything. Even it means shooting down a syringe full of Mercury for gain. Whatever he wanted to gain may it be sexual prowess by being quick or the ability to rob a bank what he got is the short end of the stick. Something that he chose for himself.

"Creepy Crawling in the Dark with Zombies…"

"I am back...."

Creepy Crawling in the Dark with Zombies…

By:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     So it has begun…The Dark Ascension Spoilers are among us. There are now officially 13 spoiled cards. Wizards of the coast have been really tight on how they have managed to control any leaks of the products this time. I believe they don’t want this to be a New Phyrexia. Fans of the game can only drool in anticipation and talk to each other about rumors over the holiday. Now we see some of the cards that we would be playing in the pre-release and it is a very exciting time again.

     There are several cards that are great out there but 2 of the exciting cards are Grave Crawler and Zombie Apocalypse with that being said people now know what monster tribe I have chosen to foster. Yup no team Edward (vampire) or team Jacob (werewolves) or team Ghostbusters (geists) for me. Let me deal with dead guts and things that love me for my brain. (Even if they just want to eat it.)

"Zooooombie Apocalypse!!!!"

   

   While Black has always had a slew of creature removal and mass removal effects this black sorcery has the addition of a win condition. In some ways Zombie Apocalypse is a weaker version of Living Death. It has certain weaknesses, it cost one more mana to cast, the creatures it summons from the graveyard aren’t tapped and it should be zombies. It is also limited to when you are fighting humans in the standard format. Human decks like the Gavony tokenators are pretty strong right now and will gain more momentum with additional key cards from this set.

      I guess Zombie Apocalypse is an answer to that particular type of deck and even if faced with the other creature tribes there are still strong zombies that can instantly help you once it gets back into play like the Skin Render who always wants to share a few -1/-1 counters around, with 4 of these popping on the table at the same time it’s a massacre or the Unbreathing Hordes that are virtually unburnable and can finish off the opponent on the next turn. I will give this card a try as soon as it is available just to say its name as I summon it. Zooooombie Apocalypse! Then I’m going to turn on my plants vs. Zombie ring tone for effect.

    Another card that catches my fancy is something that Liliana Vess hints at creating herself. It’s the Grave Crawler and hooboy is it an ugly one and it literally crawls too, it’s tough being a zombie with no legs. The resiliency of this thing reminds me of Bloodghast and you can be sure that it’s going to be used in a lot of Morbid shenanigans in limited. Haven’t seen much of the morbid mechanic yet but there are a couple that are interesting. Imagine the flexibility of a creature from the grave yard, an instant offensive threat when you have other zombies crawling along with it. You could imagine that this would be a great combo piece with Zombie Apocalypse. The swing is just going to be too much.

Well that’s enough of Zombies for now. Back to the real world.

"Listening to Bolas..."

"Power! Power shall be yours!!!

"Listening to Bolas..."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

The other day a dragon talked to me. His name was Nicol Bolas. His name sounded girly to me and it reminded me of Tom Cruises ex-wife but this dragon was nothing like that sexy beast, he was a different beast altogether and he was speaking to me. He told me to build a deck , he told me this as a voice inside my head , now normally I would ignore voices in my head because they always claim to be someone else like being a prophet or something but this dragon ( who was a voice in my head at that time ) had a lot of pretty solid ideas.

He said build me a tri-colored deck and we will vanquish your enemies and conquer the multiverse together. Now I usually can't conquer anything much less the multiverse but I have been getting pretty good at playing Magic cards and Nicol Bolas happened to be one of my latest acquisitions and as it turns out he was acquiring me , much like he did with Sarkhan and Tezzeret. I remember it now, how easily my friend gave me this Planeswalker, he of the colors of Grixis, red and blue and black. Many people are daunted to play the scheming dragon but if they listened like I did the dragon would find a way for you.


Nicol Bolas Whispers Deck

4 X Dragonskull Summit
4 X Crumbling Necropolis
4 X Drowned Catacomb
3 X Tainted Isle
6 X Swamps
_________
21 Lands

1 X Nicol Bolas
3 X Jace Beleren
3 X Liliana Vess
1 X Chandra Nalaar
____________
8 Planeswalkers

4 X Rotting Rots
4 X Liliana's Specter
4 X Mind Shrieker
1 X Sheoldred , The Whispering One
1 X Szadek
1 X Nemesis of Reason
1 X Krederekt Leviathan
_____________
16 Creatures

2 X Traumatize
2 X Haunting Echoes
2 X Breakthrough
3 X Diabolic Tutor
4 X Counter Spell
2 X Zombify
____________
15 Spells


So like a mad scientist I went to my room, there the tomes where great magic was bound (read as 4 pocket binders with 4 copies of a magic card neatly tucked in). My tomes were high as I believe myself a man who can afford what he wants ( especially if they were selling it at a much lower price than the ones in starcitygames.com)…So there I was listening and on my way to building a tri-colored deck…I have always been a necromancer by 2^nd nature , my first nature was that of a Fire Mage that burns everything that can be seen , so the dragon played on that , it would be a mill deck that can destroy an opponent by unmercifully picking at his mind ( his library) , whittling it away until there was none left or it can be stand up beat down with an assortment of creatures from different planes.

"It sucks to mill a land..."

Another Planeswalker was added to the mix in the form of Jace Beleren , he would be another muscle in this tri-colored piece and since this would be an experiment in utility , there would be singleton copies of various cards , Sheoldred the Phyrexian praetor that allowed you to summon directly from the graveyard , Szadek , a merciless vampire who milled you , Nemesis of Reason , that did the same only 10 cards at a time per attack, then a copy of Mindshrieker , the bird spirit that allowed you to fill your graveyard and make it bigger in the process almost for a lethal attack each time you paid for its ability as the deck was made to hold several large mana requiring behemoths like the aforementioned creatures . Imagine revealing four 8 mana costing creatures and spells in a row and its goodbye to your opponent.!!!

"Huh?What am I doing here?"

The dragon made sure that there was plenty of control, hand disruption like Rotting Rats and Liliana's Specters were in attendance, card drawers in Breakthrough and Tutoring effects in Diabolic tutor. It was not the perfect fit but Nicol Bolas was happy and with this deck I set off to duel and vanquish my enemies, who are not really my enemies because they are my friends and afterwards we would actually rave about the great ideas that were incorporated into making the deck. Nicol Bolas just won’t listen. He calls it vanquishing foes. I call it having a great time.

     After playing with it though, it was just really good that it can win and win convincingly after a beat down or a mill especially when Nicol Bolas and Jace would play together. It was straight up mill and disruption until no viable threats can be ascertained either by an empty hand or a dwindling library. Nicol Bolas is still flexing his muscles after his victories. Me, I’m just tired from having so much fun.

"Chance"

Chance --------------------03/06/2011

Close your eyes , hear me whisper

these words that I have always told you

that this reality is meaningless

and I dont want to live in a dream

Hear my faint reminder in your jaded heart

that all is well , as it should be

that there is no rhyme or rhythm

only that there is

Open your eyes and know

this is not where I live

that I am only a shadow

a whisper of what could have been...