"Welcoming the Envoy: Teysa , Envoy of Ghosts"

"Welcoming the Envoy: Teysa , Envoy of Ghosts"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

I must admit that after seeing the new Teysa Art preview I looked forward to what the new  card might bring in terms of game play. I was mighty excited with the art so when the card came out I must say that I was happy with the way the mechanic was done.

At 5 Generic , 1 Black and 1 White mana , Teysa , Envoy of Ghosts seems like a clunker to play in standard which is why I am happy as well because her price would just be right to add her to my current Teysa EDH deck. A deck that was brought about by the acquisition of awesome Black/White pieces from the recent Sorin Vs. Tibalt Duel decks. Teysa , Envoy of Ghosts seems more like an aggressive commander rather than someone who would stand back and merely eliminate annoying creatures or create more tokens like the Old Teysa before swarming in with a Ghost army or Big Creatures like the Obzedat. 

The new Teysa does a really mean Ghost trick by passing through creatures and still be ready to defend against them when they attack the next turn. A very painful turn of events because she can deal commander damage or even lethal normal damage when needed to end the game. Creatures like Avatar of Woe , Royal Assassin , Interpid Hero , Big game Hunter , Tsabo Tavoc and Visara the Dreadful can't touch her at all.   She can be a handful both offensively and defensively because of this Vigilance and Pro-Creature ability. 

She could also allow a lot of low powered creatures to damage you and then have them all destroyed! And you then get a 1/1 Flying Black/White Spirit Token in play for each creature that was destroyed. You have your defenders and attackers all right there with just her in play. And since you are playing Orzhov ,  life gain is not exactly a problem since you are able to access spells like Consume Spirit or Exsanguinate or Death Grasp. You even have the Extort mechanic on your side that allows you to gain life while sapping more life points from your opponent. It doesnt seem much when your opponent has 40 life but every little bit of damage counts in the long run , especially if you would also use cards like Killing Wave in the future. Little Hurts amount to Big Hurts with the Orzhov especially since they are more Mid to Late game when it comes to damage.

Teysa on her own could potentially win an EDH game all by herself with Whispersilk Cloak in play. Expect opponents to keep a wary eye on your Envoy of Ghosts as it only takes 6 attacks for her to put on the finishing touches on their lives if left unchecked. She could do all this without losing that cool composure. Laid back and relaxed in that Utvaran Ebony chair of hers.  Yes , Teysa  , Envoy of Ghosts I welcome you! 

"Renouncing the Guilds"

"Renouncing the Guilds"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

There seems to be a lot of riots on the hands of the Boros lately and it seems that these problems are getting bigger and bigger each passing day. Specific problems require specific solutions...In the case of the current standard which has an abundance of multicolored permanents Renounce the Guilds is indeed a very specific solution. A painful one when timed right to both players on both sides of the playing field as it does require the sacrifice of a multicolored permanent for each player. 

Of course there is a drawback to this particular card which makes me believe that it will be pushed back to the sideboards of most standard players. It has no effect on mono-colored creatures!!!. It can be quite lethal to Boros Reckoner  , Geist of St. Traft or any Rakdos creature who want to damage early but it has no effect on Thragtusk or Restoration Angel or any mono-red creature that threatens to damage you during the early turns. There are still a whole slew of creatures that are in the mono colored category that can whittle your life points to nothing in very short order.

Still there is a reason why it is in the Rare Tier of cards and not in the Uncommon slot. Imagine dealing with four of these against Guilds that normally have great removal historically. Guilds like the Orzhov , Azorius and Boros which have access to white mana and awesome spot and mass removal. Just another option that could frustrate other opponents who depend on certain multicolored cards for their win. 

So all in all we expect that Renounce the Guilds will make quite a killing on the battlefield even if its not the intended target most of the time because players can still sacrifice a permanent that is of less strategic value in the long run rather than their main pieces. 

Hunyos Movie Ravings - Stand Up Guys

Stand Up Guys: Really stand up...

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

Starring: Al Pacino , Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin

Plot: Valentine (Al Pacino) has just gotten out of jail after 28 years. Reuniting with his friend Doc( Christopher Walken) and Richard Hirsch (Alan Arkin)  for one last night before supposedly being executed by the hands of his friend Doc who is under pressure from a crime boss. Doc struggles with himself as he has to do the deed at 10am the following morning.

The Good:

Doc and Val looting a pharmacy for designer drugs like Viagra and Anti-Hypertensive drugs.

Doc and Val springing their getaway driver Hirsh who turns out to be a real maniac on the road. 

Springing Hirsch from the Retirement Home...just no way for a man of his talents to waste away like that...

Val having a problem with lift off after 28 years...

Val Shooting Anti-hypertensive like it was Coke...hilarious...

All the Ladies in this picture...

Vanessa Ferlito in the trunk...naked...still a better sight than Mr. Chow springing on you...

Oxana...check her out...

Justice served "Nutcracker" Style...

Val Holding up his end for 28 years

Doc Struggling to off his friend...

Old guys calmly shooting people...

Going out...with guns blazing...

The Bad:

Richard Hirsch's Death...

Clap hands holding a 28 year grudge...

The ugly:

Claphands is about the only ugly mug you will see in this picture.

Verdict:

I really had a blast with this movie , mainly to see how these old gangster type react to the developing times around them. Through time they still show that they have the same ruthlessness and sense of style and that is something that is admirable. Like I said I don't want to give much away but I would rather go out guns blazing with a friend than off that person...

"Maze's End EDH"

"Maze's End EDH"

by:

Virgilio F. De Leon Jr.

A couple of weeks back a lot of people were talking about rumors of a win condition involving all ten guild gates...well here is that win condition.

Maze's end.A land that comes into play tapped , something that you could use in the early turns (it does give you one colorless mana) to churn out Gatecreeper vines ,  get guild gates and play them.

This land by itself also gives you the ability to fetch other guild gates and allows you to win the game when you have completed laying all ten of them on the battlefield. Its not the easiest win condition but it is a rather exciting diversion to the normal path that we usually use to achieve victory. Think of it as a rather expensive thawing glaciers for guild gates.

Some suggestions when trying to win with this card...

In Modern and EDH always play Green! Since green will always allow you to mana ramp your way into these lands. It is better to ramp than not to ramp , if that is your question. 

Sylvan scrying  - can fetch you any land especially the land that you may already be lacking.

Crop Rotation - allows you to exchange one of your lands in play to one that is in your library.Seems like a fair trade if you ask me.

Reap and Sow - destroying one of your opponents lands while getting you another guildgate? fantastic.

Of course with all the tectonic edges , strip mines and ghost quarters lurking in all the EDH decks in circulation  some of your lands are destined to go to the grave. We need a course of action for that as well.

Life from the Loam - Another green card that lets you recoup 3 lands from your graveyard and with the dredge mechanic allows you to do it way faster than your opponents could destroy your lands.

Noxious revival - allows you to put one card from your graveyard on top of your library at instant speed. Especially helpful if you have an Oracle of Mul daya already in play and if you haven't already put in your extra Land Drop for the turn.

Thespians Stage - To be on the safe side as well you might consider having this land as well  , it can copy a Guild gate that is being destroyed at the moment . I am speaking from an EDH point of view and it is rather hard to have your lone copy of a card exiled or obliterated beyond reach.

Crucible of worlds - In the odd case that you encounter a Land Destruction EDH deck this card will simply save everything. You can allow the lands to fall to the graveyard and play it from there as if they were from your hand.

Creatures you might want to include for the accelaration are:

Gatecreeper Vines - One of the best commons to come out of this set. It not only allows you to mana fix but get any particular guild gate from your 100 card library.

Oracle of Muldaya - She allows you to play land directly from your library and gives you an additional land play as well. 2 Guildgates per turn when you have them in your hand or on top of your library? Not bad at all.

Azusa , Lost but Seeking - At the mana cost of 3 , you could easily cast her faster than the Oracle and start putting in 2 lands per turn.

With all this being said  , it would be nice to see a Land Assault EDH deck that works , this might be an alternate condition only but it really is worth a shot. This is what makes magic such a wonderful game , it is never stagnant and continues to find ways to make even the older players come back.

This Land EDH deck still needs some work so it is now back to the lab....

"Outbreak Day 7: Adam and Eve Part 1"

"Outbreak Day 7: Adam and Eve Part 1"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     A lighthouse in this town was an oddity. It was miles and miles from the nearest shoreline. No one needed it as far anyone was concerned but it did serve as a landmark for the town that people could see for miles a round. A beacon that guided you home. It was built by one of those rich eccentric out of towners who thought the town needed some improvement. He frowned a little bit as he remembered where he got all these facts from. He remembered Mara and her unending chatter. He also remembered her as a half rotten corpse when they left the house they once shared. He had gotten that last bit of information the night before she turned into one of the undead who are now roaming freely across this town. 

     It has already been 3 days since his wife and him were able to reach the safety of this Lighthouse. It was an easily defensible spot since there was only one way in or out and the spiral staircase would provide protection when the door downstairs eventually broke down. They have barricaded the door with whatever they could find and hoped for the best. There was still no sign of the support team and it was now Day 7 of the outbreak. Day 7 was the worst part of all the Day Zero Protocol programs and He was getting a bit more concerned as he saw more and more of the zombie throng arrive at the foot of the lighthouse. The walls were currently being clawed from the outside but they were thick and they would hold for now. There was a mix of classes from Day Zero to Day 5.The Day 5 mutations stood out among the rest as being taller , faster and Uglier. He understood that the causative agent (regardless if it were Viral or Nanite) activated a part of the potential cells in a subject. This in turn altered DNA so that Day 5 mutations were always known to sport an extra pair of arms and legs or even an extra head or 2. The resulting mutation were either unbalanced brutes or monsters that could rip you apart twice as fast , bite into you twice in one go or chase you twice as fast. He had his share of Day 5 mutations in countless scenarios and he was still here. Proving the that they weren't all that tough. you just had to find a way to get around their unnatural advantages. He was good at that. His wife was twice the brute force any Day 5 mutation could muster. 

      He was aware of these day 5 mutations within the zombie mass that was trying to climb but fail miserably at the foot of the light tower. They were also pounding at the reinforced door now. It was still holding. He knew that his wife wished that they would not. She was bored just staring at all those monsters at the bottom. If it weren't for his mild warnings then she would have opened the doors herself and let the massacre begin. It has been 3 days since she last killed something and all her pacing on the Lighthouse Balcony gave the impression of a caged animal that was ready to pounce at any moment.

     "Aren't we at least going to assume that the support team will not make it this time around? The latest that they actually arrived was on Day 3 and that was in that densely populated village in South America a couple of weeks back." His wife started with unguarded irritation in her voice. "We could just fight our way out of this you know. Just you say the word and I could clear a path for you downstairs."

     Part of him knew how insane she sounded  , there must have been hundreds if not thousands of undead surrounding them now. Yet given her capabilities he knew that it might just work. He was silently counting the grenades that they had and was formulating his plan when he realized something. It was already Day 7 but the Day 7 mutations have not shown up yet. Their absence was as glaring as the noon day sun at its zenith. He knew that the frightening thing about Day 7 mutations was that they looked like your run of the mill zombie until it was too late to realize that they weren't. They were the strongest class in the Day Zero program and there were at least one or two in any given test population. There was an ongoing study in the lab to map the genome of Day 7 mutations that have been caught alive. The hope is to recreate them as weapons. 

     Then He saw something that made him worried. Normally Zombies tend to cluster near each other and move as a mass. However there was one Class of mutation that seemed to repel all the others and Zombies gave them a wide berth to move when in a cluster. These were the Day 7 mutants and this wide radius was called D7 spots. A wide radius with a lone zombie in it marked the appearance of the strongest ones. He was seeing these spots appear one by one as his wife continued on with her frustrations. At first there was one , then two and three more. When he stopped counting there was a total of 10 D7 spots on the horizon , all of them walking toward the Lighthouse. He pointed at them one by one so his wife could see. He heard her whistle in admiration. 

     "Ten D7 spots Adam" she gushed in exhilaration. He saw her white skin flush. She was gripping the edge of the railings now and she slowly licked her tongue on her lips. He knew that the potential for violence aroused her and the appearance of these strong opponents must be enough to induce orgasms in her. He was not wrong as she shuddered upon looking at them. Her eyes stayed close and her face stayed flushed. She was her most beautiful before committing acts of violence. He wanted to look at her for a while longer but he knew that there was no more time.

"I want you to prepare now Eve. These Monsters will be pounding down the doors soon."

Eve merely smiled at him and said  "You know I'm always ready"

Adam continued to tinker with the device he was holding. It was going to come in very handy soon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

     The night sky was being filled with a brilliant blue light. There were hundreds of marauding zombies around the lighthouse and on the outer edges of this mass were the 10 D7 spots. The D7 spot in the middle of the mass suddenly erupted and the zombie that was once the center of it sprouted what seemed like a hundred legs that began to elongate and grow in size. It stepped on the surrounding undead and began to move forward toward the Lighthouse. It looked like a giant spider that was made up of appendages. Adam was not impressed with the size of the monstrosity. They have seen it countless times before and knew how to defeat it. Out of all the appendages was a brain stalk. A massive cluster of nerves that had one eye that allowed the behemoth to see. The Lab guys said that it was an adaptation to the causative agent. It was a giant optic nerve which also housed the brain of the zombie. Adam gave credit to the Hollywood movies  , at least they got one thing right. It was always the brain that carried the weakness of the undead. 3 more of the D7 spots erupted. The giant appendages were feeding on the other zombies and were devouring them by the dozens. Eve already held out the .50 Caliber gun that would ensure that those 4 D7 mutations would stop. He didn't want her to fire at anything just yet. He wanted to be sure that every shot would count and besides those things were actually doing them a favor by eating their own kind. Less work. Less Clean up.

     Eve set up the massive Gun near the edge of the Lighthouse Balcony. She was lining up the sight and was looking at the beasts tear through both pavement and undead alike. There were limbs and body parts flying everywhere that looked somewhat comical in nature except for all the blood that was being splattered. She saw an Eye stalk stand out of the mass and she had to take her chance. Eve took aim at the nearest mutation and let her fingers squeeze the trigger firmly. The bullet went through the giant eye , there was a mouthless groan as the mass of arms and legs collapsed with a thunderous boom to the ground. The other D7 mutations flocked to their fallen kin and for a moment seemed contemplating on helping but the others grabbed for what was left of the dying one and decided that they would rather have large helpings of food rather than the smaller ones that they were snacking on now.

     Adam glared at his wife. "Are you crazy? Now those other 6 would adapt!!!" She knew better than to prematurely kill the first ones , there was always a bright one who would not allow the change to go through and wait for the last moment now. The spots were disappearing due to the carnage that was going on and Adam finally gave his order to shoot the others. There were 3 successive shots and 3 giant masses of arms and legs began to fall one by one. 

"Now will be the hard task of finding the others in this mess."

_____________________________________________

If you want to back track or move forward in the series please click on the links below.Thank you.

http://flightofideasver2.blogspot.com/2013/02/outbreak-day-zero.html
http://flightofideasver2.blogspot.com/2013/02/outbreak-day-3-risen.html
For Part 2
http://flightofideasver2.blogspot.com/2013/06/outbreak-day-7-adam-and-eve-part-2.html
For Part 3
http://flightofideasver2.blogspot.com/2013/06/outbreak-day-7-adam-and-eve-part-3.html

Hunyos Movie Ravings - GI Joe:Retaliation

 

GI Joe:Retaliation - Ensuring a 3rd one...

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

 

The Plot: 

With Cobra firmly holding the White House and a Rail Gun Weapon system in the form of Zeus. The only force able to stop them which are the GI Joe is forced into hiding and seemingly recruit some hardcore Seniors out of retirement.Expect action and lots of scenes that people would talk about for days...

 

The Good:

 

The Fight Scenes on the Mountain Side with Snake Eyes and Jinx

Snake Eyes and Stormshadows Fight in the monastery scene

Roadblocks Tank Battle

The Destruction of London

A certain characters Death in the movie...

Cobra Commanders full appearance...

Lady Jaye..Nuff said

The line: "My Cholesterol is a bit high..."

Not a single half-hearted/ scripted "Yo Joe"

No Robotech Rip offs

No Macross battle scene cut/paste panaromas

Fireflies Appearance and eventual liberation of Cobra Commander

The Cobra tanks

Roadblocks Speed Tank

 

The Bad:

Firefly able to ride a motorcycle after being hit by an SUV...come on! He got hit square on the hip...there must have been some internal bleeding! 

Zartans Death...He didn't even put up a decent fight....the guy could kill a ninja master but was easily defeated by the students?

Stormshadow once again bested by Snake eyes...

Stormshadow having just having 2nd burns after a massive explosion behind him...tibay!

Uzi's Vs. Shurikens...

Sai Fighting when there are no swords involved...why fight with them? 

Why does every GI Joe movie require countless Soldiers to die needlessly?

 

The Ugly:

 Rza as a master...There are some allusions to Afro Samurai and I like that but an asian Master seems more plausible especially since these ninja orders have no known history of accepting foreigners...He must have been very secret indeed.

 

The Endgame that Cobra wanted to do...Still didn't make sense...The US has more Nuclear Missiles than any of the other countries combined to begin with...Why Build Zeus when you could deploy a 2nd Nuclear Missile wave that could go unanswered?

Verdict:

All in all it was still a great movie and worth the time indoors as the sun was scorching outside. There were great laughs and great scenes. Just remember not to look for a plot because that was only put in as a sort of pin to hold all the great scenes together...

 

 

 

"Planeswalker Awakenings: Kurosaki Ichigo Awakens"

"Planeswalker Awakenings: Kurosaki Ichigo Awakens"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

     In a different plane , a different time  ,a spark awakens and  a new planeswalker is born.....

     Kurosaki Ichigo was used to passing through different portals to go to different parts of both the Spiritual and Physical world. From the Massive Gargantuas to the Reikyu Gates that the Shinigami's use Ichigo has seen them all so it was to his surprise when this new portal opened before him and he saw  a world that he had not seen before. He stepped through and found a world who's energy was far from his own understanding with beings who were made up of something else other than the reiatsu that he was used to. Even the air felt different. This was a place where Flesh and Machine merged into one and the spirits that he was used to were gone. There are no mere spirits here. They are all an amalgamation of the organic and non-organic. He coated himself with the energies that he knew from his world. He didn't like the looks of this place but there was something here that was beckoning him to explore.

     Kurosaki Ichigo is a true hybrid of all the known powers from Bleach. He is part Shingami from his father. Part Quincy from his mother. He has mastered both Vaizard( Masked soldiers , a hybrid of Hollow and Shinigami) and Hollow (massive energy monster) forms. Now if we would look at it the most refined of these are the Shinigami and Quincy powers. The Shinigami powers could be counted as Red, White and Green . There is control , it comes from nature , and well even in a spiritual world there is order to how this energy flows. The Quincy powers are more blue , white and green. There is even more finesse with how the Quincies control their energies and this finesse comes at the cost of lesser fire power (at first). The Vaizard and Hollow Energies are different in a sense because while both have Black , Vaizards are more Blue , Black and Red while the Hollow Energies are more Jund  , they are Black , Red and Green.

     Since Ichigo has all of these energies and even most of the traits , Ichigo will be a 5 colored planeswalker. He will be all encompassing when it comes to mana though he might be more inclined to the Black and Red zones when he is in full form he will nonetheless exhibit unknowingly the other powers that he already has. It happened when he was fighting the head Quincy in the current story arc so it is normal to assume that his body will only react with the correct energies once he goes into battle.

     Kurosaki Ichigo has met the Biomechanical defenders of this plane. He found them laughable but they have tried to splash him with a black slick oil or inject him with it. One was able to stab him with it but he knew that with his body he would just be able to reject it. For an instant he suddenly though of what Mayuri of the 10th Division would think of this place. He should get Kyouraku to assign him here soon , he seems to be a sure fit with these biomechanical monstrosities. Ichigo laughed at the thought , Mayuri could get lost here for years merely studying these unusual monsters. Nonetheless this plane intrigued him and he was still unsure of the voices he was hearing in his mind. He has to find the answer in the deeper levels of this plane.

_________________________________________________________

Writers Note:

Planeswalker Awakenings is like a "what if" series...where we try to put a character from a Book , TV series or movie into the context of a planeswalker from Magic:The Gathering.