"Midweek Magic 2018 #29:There was dissatisfaction in my soul"

"Midweek Magic 2018  #29:There was dissatisfaction in my soul"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

It was one of those EDH games where you were not able to do anything. Do anything but die that is.

I was playing Trostani and then Muldrotha. I was not able to interact with any of my opponents tonight. I did not even get to develop my mana base and as consequence was not able to get anything going.

For the first 2 games I died to Jethro and his Xenagos led creatures. My Gruul(R/G) deck of choice was Omnath and Radha Heir of Keld which differed greatly from the Xenagos deck that killed me consistently. 

One of the things that probably hurt me more was that I knew I had the same cards that pummeled me to death , even Xenagos himself and I knew that I could come up with a better version of the deck if I wanted to. Those same pieces were languishing somewhere and maybe I should take them out of those places to see more play.

Time to dive into my piles once more.

"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal Letter to Patients - Fiona 2"

"Doc In , Doc Out Espesyal Letter to Patients - Fiona 2"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Dear Fiona,

Alam ko na medyo di maganda ang ating relasyon. Kailan lang ay nalaman ko na nangholdap ka pala ng taxi at nahuli ka pa at habang nasa presinto ay nagpakitang gilas ka sa mga pulis sa paggamit ng matatas nag ingles.

Di naman ako masyadong takot pero ko sa susunod na visit magpakapkap ka muna tayo magconsult ha. Baka mamaya kasi kapag dineny ko yung request mo for voice rest para sa pulikat sa paa mo eh bigla kang maglabas ng butter knife at maghostage. Tapos sasabihin mo na di mo dala yung butter knife at napulot mo lang bago ka pumunta ng clinic.

Kaya simula ngayon kapag ikaw ang pasyente ko eh magpapastandby ako ng guwardiya.Di naman talaga ako takot. I just want you to feel special. Not really.

Magrerequest ng Metal detector sa Clinic,

Doc June

"To Embrace death is to Embrace life."

"To Embrace death is to Embrace life."

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

I

I sit here alone

and I know that I am dying

I can deny the truth

but you know I would be lying

II

My cells degrade day by day

I have no call or say

I can only delay as I might

Still I grow old , weak and die

III

Yet I know there is a need

To Embrace this frightful truth

For in doing so I can enjoy

My life and Yours to the full.

Seda Hotel 12:45pm 06/21/2018

"3 things I have seen this week:Medical Conference/Seminars"

"3 things I have seen this week:Medical Conference/Seminars"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Doctors need a total of 45 CPD points in order to renew their licences on their birthdays. In order to get these points they need to attend a number of lectures , seminars or conventions. Some are more interesting than others and some are actual snorefests when you have probably heard the same thing for the Nth time from round table discussions and such.

My eyes tend to wonder and observe others so here are 3 things that I have seen this week while in a Medical Conference surrounded by other doctors.

1) Doctors Interest level

Doctors have the unspoken talent of looking always mildly interested. It comes on all the time and can be adjusted from mild to enthusiastic , from pulling back and crossing arms to leaning forward and listening intently. It applies to when the doctor maybe listening to a patient or to a consultant giving a lecture. You can see my interest level. I am writing this while pretending to take notes.

2) Freebilicious!

Freebies and more Freebies. Some doctors seem to lose all of their dignities in fighting for mere trinkets. Some Scour the Pharmaceutical booths for the best booty like pirates in the Caribbean. I understand all the samples that you can gather for a profit or to give away to help others but roaming the entire place for pens? How many pens does one doctor need anyway? For some people I saw today , the answer is that all that you have and more from the booth next to yours.

3) Full Online Registration. Empty Seats.

Sometimes I ask how do you assess an events success? Is it with the number of people who register online? Those who actually came? Or those who actually listened to the speaker and improved their clinical practices later on? (This is harder to prove though).

The first two might be easy to measure but short of decades long follow up the last one might be a little tricky to know.

"3 things I have seen this week - Speakers"

"3 things I have seen this week - Speakers"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Post Graduate courses , Conventions , Seminars , Webinars , Round table discussions , Scientific symposiums.In the world of Medicine these are all parts of the doctors continuing education. And of course if you have lessons to impart then you need to have speakers who could spread this message. Some are more effective than others and some , well they speak. They just speak. Here are 3 that I have seen this week.

1) Mr. "I hate flow charts". 

He begins with his lectures with , "You know guys , I hate flow charts." The proceeds to bore you to death with his lectures that consist of 95% flow charts. He explains these flow charts with the enthusiasm of a mad man who is about to achieve a breakthrough. Only the breakthrough is that he has found more ways to make us go to sleep or force us to act more interested than we really do. At least he has enthusiasm for what he does.

2) Mr. "Ahuh-A lot"

I would be(ahuh) speaking about (ahuh) and how to treat (ahuh) in the setting of (ahuh). Thank you(ahuh) and let us begin(ahuh).

In my rating of him I wrote. "Less Ahuh. More learning."

3) Mr. Sleepy

So it was 3 in the afternoon(as you can see I was writing this then) and all of the attendees were slowly digesting their food(me included and it was much slower than the others). Some were barely holding on to their consciousness and some have already slipped into a slight coma from over feeding.This was the time that the next speaker spoke to the mic in his best Eeyore voice.

"Uh guys. I know this is an unholy hour but I will try to keep my lecture short and sweet."

I was already closing my eyes and then I was mildly surprised that even if he talked like Eeyore his was like that of the Manic Tigger!. That woke me a bit.

And since I still don't have enough CPD points. I am off to the next one and hopefully get to meet some more interesting speakers.

"Defend thyself"

"Defend thyself"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Thanks to the widespread use of CCTV's on a baranggay level people are now treated to pretty horrific things that normally only those in law and enforcement have access to. Such as the case of an off duty police man who just parked and was instantly set upon and stabbed by an unknown man.

Since the Policeman was able to dodge further attacks the assailant decided to run after him. The policemans training took over and we he distanced himself he had drawn his gun and aimed squarely at the man who ran after him. Bystanders were able to carry the man to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his wounds while the policeman voluntarily surrendered to his fellow officers.

As of this writing nothing is known why that man decided to wait for the policeman and stab him. What the CCTV showed was person running for his life and figthing for survival.

The CCTV also revealed something much sadder. An unknown woman who tried to run after the stabber in an attempt to stop him. This turned out to be his very own mother. The same person who would witness the death of his own son later.

I guess the evidence is pretty clear at this point. Defending thyself.

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Here is the original video:

https://www.facebook.com/24OrasWeekend/videos/10156239678251977/

"Tezzeret , Artifice Master: Extracting Knowledge from Metal"

"Tezzeret  , Artifice Master: Extracting Knowledge from Metal" 

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

Drawing cards in Magic is always a great experience. Drawing once with a spell is good but being able to draw multiple cards with a permanent on several turns is even better.So much so that cards like Howling Mine and Jace Beleren are a must include in decks that just love to draw cards.

Tezzeret , Artifice Master is another planeswalker that allows you to draw cards and if you control 3 or more artifacts he automatically has "Metalcraft" and allows you to draw 2 cards instead. And that is his 0 costing second ability.

In an EDH setting where you can play a Seat of the Synod , Sol Ring and Sapphire ring on turn one alone you don't really need to worry if you can achieve "metalcraft. I mean with this god play you can even cast Tezzeret himself and draw those 2 cards to replenish your hand. 

And just in case you are missing a couple or artifacts or so Tezz himself can provide you with a 1/1 colorless thopter artifact token with flying. Just use this first skill ability and give him a +1 loyalty counter.  With the popularity of Thopter tokens from the Kaladesh block and cards like Thopter foundry you might also try and win with a Mechanized Production in play. This Thopter can also protect your Tezzeret from dying unnecessarily before you can abuse his particular talents.

Another thing that caught my eye was his ultimate ability. Sure he comes in with 5 loyalty counters and normally you have to wait for 5 turns to use his ultimate ability. 4 turns to use his first skill and then another turn to get his ultimate ability. Of course it would help a lot if you have a Chain Veil or can Proliferate with cards like Steady Progress or Tezzerets Gambit.

So what does the -9 ultimate do? You get an Emblem that says that at the beginning of your end step , search your library for a permanent card , put in into the battlefield , then shuffle your library.

If you don't like what an opponent is going to do you to next turn you can just go ahead and get a Mindslaver , activate it if you could and control that opponents turn. You could probably search a Moat(if you have one) or Blazing Archon so nothing can attack you. You could get a Stormtide Leviathan to deter land based attackers or even get an Omniscience out and counter at will without paying any mana cost for the rest of the game. Yup all the many permanents that can help win you the game. Lock other players with a possessed Portal or annoy them with a Knowledge pool. Get an Oblivion Stone or Boompile to clear the board or maybe a winning combo piece like Revel in Riches or Mechanized Production. tsk tsk. I already know the kinds of players in my playgroups who would abuse this guy. I am one of them.