"Midweek Magic Jan 2018 #3:1st Pack Wars of the year"

"Midweek Magic Jan 2018 #3:1st Pack Wars of the year"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

St and I initially wanted to play pack wars last week but as fate would have it we instead talked about our writing goals for the year and the never ending desire to be published.

As we met for the 2nd time in KFC in Eton Centris those talks were still in our heads but my friend also knew that I was still hurting and distracted by the things that I wanted to accomplish for my family.

So we ended up playing a few friendly games of Pack Wars. Our first for the year and we played it with the 2 packs of Kaladesh that he gave me as a gift. One pack had Inspiring Vantage and one pack had some awesome advantages. Sadly both were in the hands of ST.

My 2 best 3 pieces in my pack was: 

#1 Renegade Freighter , Cog workers Puzzle knot and Welding Sparks - This is a beast as a 5/4 Renegade Freighter could run through most creatures or a Welding spark could just deal 3 damage it to get it out of the way.

#2 Consul's Shield Guard , Rush of Vitality and Fumigate

I cast the Shield guard and wait for ST to committing creatures on the board. I then cast Fumigate and make the Shield Guard Indestructible with Rush of Vitality and then go in for the kill. Of course this was foiled by a well timed Fair Grounds Warden.

All the rest consisted of cards that I would not be able to use or even support in the pack wars setting. So in the games that ST would be able to best these 3 pieces I ended up losing. I think I only won one round. But it was exciting games where even the best combinations of cards were bested by a little tweaking and timing.

Pack wars is versatile and it still one of the best things you can do with a pack before disassembling it for it's various contents. Looking forward to the next one ST! 

"Oh My Girl - Secret Garden MV reaction: The Flowers in bloom."

"Oh My Girl - Secret Garden MV reaction: The Flowers in bloom."

by:

The Vole

It has been a good 9 months before Oh my girl returned  , opening 2018 with Secret Garden. To say that I am excited with this song is an understatement. I wanted them to come back and to win. I am anxious about the song but like Jiho said this is not a song about love , this is a song about Hope and it is with hope that I write about this MV.

It took me a full 3 days to go and write something about the song and I wanted my initial excitement to die down a bit but I cannot help but be hopeful that this will be the one that will break down that wall toward their first win. 

Secret Garden opens with the now adult aged Arin looking mighty fine and taking the place of YooA as the center in this song. She is trying to show how grown up she is but the fact that she is still a baby still shows and I think most miracles will still see her that way. She opens up a tin circular box that shines on her face. This later translate as the place where OMG does all their dance parts! Yeah wouldn't we all want a circular tin box with 7 dancing girls in it.

The MV focuses on the 6 other girls as they try to do different aspirations and show some of those hopes. There are several nods to previous MV's of OMG and this is a fact that all Miracles will enjoy and for those who are becoming fans will have to unravel themselves.

Jiho opens the song while being shown on a train going to somewhere. Somewhere high as she actually she's clouds where this train is passing through which makes you think that she is on an actual plane instead of a train. I don't know if it is a foreshadowing of what happened to her ankle but she remains seated in the rest of the MV as in all the appearances of OMG this promotion season. Pangul (The Deer in Closer) makes appearance in the clouds and the pink confetti streaming into the windows is a nod to Cupid.

Binnie in this this MV is seen as a student  , alone in a classroom with an empty bird cage. Yup , the same bird cage she had in Windy day where she released a bird. And that bird like a once released love returned to her  , beautiful and strong. I like her parts in the song as she seems to show off her vocals like never before and her acting , she really is ripe for a drama somewhere. Among all the girls she has the great ability to convey charm so simply but powerfully.

YooA actually enters the Secret garden. Well at least her version of it and with her pleasant voice she enchants you. She invites you to come in for today. she invites you to see the secret garden. Imagine  , you and me she sings. And many Miracles don't even need to imagine all that hard with YooA offering a hand a pulling them deeper into that world. Her dancing is on point and clean as ever. The flower like , snapping "Whaacking" dance break that OMG shows her centers on her and it is something that the cast of Knowing Brothers were greatly impressed by. That dance move on 4:02 is impressive and as they did vocally they finish with a strong dance move while still being held by Arins soft vocals. The town where YooA floats around in her crystal enclosed Secret Garden can be a reference to that town in Coloring book where the girls are floating around in.

Seunghee is the ace vocalist showing off her talents once again and the parts at 3:41 of the song shows her singing playing off the voices of Jiho , Hyojung and YooA , making her voice stand out more and closing the song powerfully , I just wish that her voice was louder as it deserves to be heard.

Seunghee is shown as an artist here who makes dreams come true and with her vocals guiding OMG I believe that their dream of a first will come true soon. The scene with her sees the Stag hanging on the wall and the whale jumping from a page which is a reference to both Jine and A-ing.

Hyojung  , the candy leader is shown in a living room where she is seen a 3D fold out of the deer again in reference to Closer and some parts of A-ing as with all the fishes in the room. 

Mimi is in a diner working hard. She sings "Come with me Bae" closely with YooA's parts of the song. She does not rap in the main single yet again which might anger some miracles but I believe her part in this song is good and enticing as well. References include the big Lemon on the scene where Mimi was still sporting blonde hair in A-ing and the scene on  the plate where the Deer and the boat from Closer was seen.

Arin also has another reference to A-ing. Remember that scene at the opening of A-ing where she eats a banana and the banana seems to have regrown? She does some magic like that with her blue green umbrella in the opening of the song. She sits down with it on her left, it disappears  , the tin box appears in her hand and voila the umbrella is now on her right side! When did that happen? Magic! 

About YooA and Arin , as centers they both represent the Secret Garden. YooA even has the dress that has the flowers. She is the flower in that garden but Arin is also another blossoming flower that in the end OMG wants to support as well as seen in the ending of the MV. Since the closer era Arin and YooA have always been the center of the themes of their songs and Secret Garden has only added to this sense of story telling.

I hope Oh my girl will finally get the win that they deserve. I wait with excitement. I want to see their Secret Garden grow.

"Momoland - Bboom Bboom MV reaction:Serving up treats."

"Momoland - Bboom Bboom MV reaction:Serving up treats."

by:

The Vole

This year started good for Momoland and Bboom Bboom.As of this writing they have won their first music show award for this particular song and this is something that I applaud them for.

Bboom Bboom is a dance song that features all the members in a colorful MV and what is akin to a home shopping channel add. The cool thing is that you can see their names highlighted on the right as they are being shown on the screen which gives the much better recall or you can instantly know their name should a particular face catches your eye. And in a highly saturated kpop market full of pretty faces you really need that recall.

While there are some of the girls in Momoland that do not appeal to me there are some that have gained recall in this new MV at least. Nancy is still the center of this group and she has come back much prettier than before but you also need good support for your center and this has come in the energetic Joo E who has improved both in the visual(after her surgery) and dance departments. JooE stood out in the very good Rap break of Bboom Bboom and this part proves as a crafty hook if you are getting bored by just looking at the pretty faces.

Another pleasant surprise is the Yeonwoo who features prominently in what I would call as the sexy bridge of this MV. Dublekick must have really seen her potential and given her this particular break. She is both enticing in this part and the push for sexiness has given Momoland another dimension which they can build on. Hyebin on the other hand is still as sexy as can be and forms part of this visual and dance group.

All in all I applaud Bboom Bboom as Momolands break out song and hopefully they build on this particular success.

"Etali , The Primal storm:Feeding off your mind."

"Etali , The Primal Storm:Feeding off your mind."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Magic players want a lot of things and most of the time they want those things for free like casting impossibly expensive mana cost cards or gigantic creatures for example. And there is one Elder Dinosaur that would let you do just that. Etalli.

So for 4 generic mana and 2 Red ones you can cast this 6/6 Legendary creature. Now those stats doesn't seem all that impressive when compared to the biggest dinosaur of this set which is Ghalta but Etali makes up more with a very fun triggered ability that could either illicit howls of laughter or howls of frustration from your playgroupmates. I am actually predicting the former.

So what is this triggered ability? When Etali attacks , not when it damages. Just by attacking you get to exile the top card of each your opponents Library.In 1 v 1 this would be nice but when you put this in an EDH multiplayer setting then you can see a lot of bonker things that Etali could do. The great part about those exiled cards is that you MAY play then without paying their mana costs! 

Notice that I emphasized MAY. This actually gives you a choice on which cards to stack and cast , if you happen to exile a mass removal spell you are not forced to cast it and destroy your advantage.(in case you are ahead but with Etali out it seems that you are ahead).

I was wondering what a Sailodon would be able to do and it seems that mana and magic seem to come of it so that you could easily sling spells. And except for lands you could actually cast all of the spells that are available to you. Basically if your opponent has ramp then you have ramp and if they put planeswalkers in their decks then there is a chance that you would be able to cast that as well for free.

So basically you just need to be aware of what spells to cast and the need to protect Etali from unwanted removal. PR kit give me this dino! Please!

"Nezahal , Primal Tide: Look what came in with the Ixalan tides? "

"Nezahal , Primal Tide: Look what came in with the Ixalan tides? "

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

My friend Mark and I were speculating the other night what the Blue Elder Dinosaur would be like. I even doubted that there was one at first but since they spoiled Tetzumoc we were fairly certain that one was about to emerge from what ever primordial sea that it was in at the moment.

And we were not wrong as the powerhouse Nezahal emerged from the Icy blue waters of Ixalan and bring so much awesomeness in our lives. 

Nezahal is fairly costed at 7 mana. Not as fast as Ghalta but 7 mana is a piece of cake with ramp in EDH. And when you do cast Nezahal the blue dino cant be countered! Let me sink that in for a moment. You just cast a monster and no one can say no to it from ever existing on the battlefield! Whoa! I can just imagine the mirror match up of mirror decks.

It also expands your mind a bit by being a mobile storage of knowledge by being the creature version spellbook or a reliquary tower. I know that a lot of control players are salivating at the thought that they would be able to abuse this creature. I mean blue lets you draw and have a full hand to threaten with that hand that might be full of lands that you cannot play or counters that actually help you.

The goodness doesn't end there though as this is also the first and probably the last dinosaur to have a built in Rhystic study as what Wilbert and I were talking about earlier in the office. It is a bit better than Rhystic study in the sense that opponents no longer have the option to pay one colorless mana to prevent you from drawing your card. It they cast a non-creature spell then that is it , you just draw.

And the last thing that makes Control players happy is the resiliency of this creature. We had creatures like Pearl Lake Ancient who require to bounce lands or Batterskull that drains you of 5 mana to evade spot or mass removal. The great thing about Nezahal is that you already have the resources to aid him in his evasion , a full hand , what with having no hand size and the card advantage of drawing when opponents cast non-creature spells. 

And at times when an opponent tries to doomblade Nezahal for example you get to draw your card first and discard just two more to save it from dying. And at the end of your turn you have a tapped 7/7 that still has all the perks of it's abilities and raring to smash face on your next turn.

This card has so much value and I can see how a lot of decks would try and make space for it. Maybe even as a commander. 

"Zetalpa , Primal Dawn: Death from the above"

"Zetalpa , Primal Dawn: Death from the above"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

And the parade of Elder dinosaurs that could be your potential end continues. Now what we have is a frightening bird that some players laughingly refer to as Zetalpakroma as it is reminiscent of that mighty angel. 

At 8 mana players face a daunting task of casting it but there are cards like dowsing dagger and Azor's Gateway that can help you cast this Dinobird much easier. Some players don't even see that 8 mana colorless cost anymore. Some GPG players can easily get this as a 4/4 token with all the trimmings and not mind that does not have 8 toughness. 

Zetalpa is a 4/8 , Flying , Double strike , Vigilance , Trample , Indestructible creature. Whatever angle you look at it  , this creature was built to kill you. That is its one job. And it looks like it can hungrily kill you if you let it.

Given it could have used Haste or hexproof or some sort of Protection like Akroma from the good old days but heck players would still have one heck of a time dealing with this with regular means like Vraska's contempt or walk the plank. Good luck trying to fatal push this fattie too. You can't even burn it.Unless you use Burn from Within.You can use -1/-1 counters or exile it but Zetalpa can go head to head with bigger beasties like Ghalta and survive!

If you open Zetalpa in your PR Kit this weekend...you best pray that you have enough ramp to play this bomb.

"Zacama , Primal Calamity: Primal Utility"

"Zacama , Primal Calamity: Primal Utility"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

My friend ST was joking that Zacama was good. Zacama magaling. And I can't argue with that since given the chance Zacama will Fxxk you up really good. He is a 9/9 Vigilance , Reach , Trample dinosaur that seems to make a Batman utility belt impression with all the things that he could do. I mean with 3 heads and all that.

First I'd like to get this off my chest. I was right that it was Gold Colored , that it would be huge and that it would be legendary.

I got the triple strike thing wrong. Too soon said Wizards of the Coast. So I guess those 3 heads are a filter of sorts for magic then. Oh and in a pinch a 9 damage bite our of your life points isn't bad too.

I didn't predict that it would be in Naya colors. I was expecting a whole 5 color Dino that can bind them all. Sorry Zacama , there is a place for you in my Naya Dino Deck but only as an alternative or Support. Gishath will still be calling the shots so to speak.

However Zacama , Primal Calamity is not all bad. I mean aside from costing 9 mana , 6 colorless and a committed Naya based mana colors. Zacama has an ETB effect that allows you to untap all of the lands you controlled. With a Vorinclex out that would be a considerable amount of mana at your disposal.

So what would you now do with all that mana? Well time to party at all your opponents expense. Pump in 2 mana and Red an you to get to deal 3 damage to a target creature. Enrage something like PolyRaptor multiple times. He is a big boy , he can take it. Or you could kill those pesky blockers on the other side of the board.

Pump in 2 and green and you get to naturalize stuff! I have a playgroup mate who relies heavily on artifacts and enchantments. Zacama can be their freaking nightmare. Well if it survives removal that is.

Oh and speaking of Survival , you might have been taking heavy hits early in the round while waiting for the right combination of mana. Don't worry. You can pump in 2 and White mana and you gain 3 life per pump! Zacama will make it up to you since you stuck it out with him.

Zacama , Primal Calamity. Let us wait and see how you will change the Dino game months down the line.