A Rant on LBC

The so-called "Hari ng Padala" (King of Couriers) just became a whole new joke(r) in my book.

A package was sent to Manila via LBC on a Tuesday. At the earliest, the package would have arrived the next day. By Thursday, the recipient began worrying where the package was. That night, the delivery guy supposedly came by the address at 9PM!

9PM! Wow! I remarked that the LBC there works for 24 hours. It wasn't funny. I wonder what they were thinking delivering a package at 9 at night. Yeah, I've seen the advertisements where they deliver at the middle of the night but seriously, is it really true?

By Friday, he called LBC asking about the package and he got another number which couldn't be contacted. Stupid courier just couldn't deliver during daytime. Sheesh.

It took some serious head knocks to get their brains going.

The package finally got delivered on a Saturday. One day delivery my ass!

Whoever gets to read this, please be wary about LBC. You might as well use JRS. At least they'd tell you that it would take two days (and that's the truth).

Musings on losing an icon

Former President Corazon Aquino died today August 1, 2009. Philippines lost an icon while being mired in a political turmoil that has remained unresolved.

Having been born in 1979 and being 7 years old during the ascension of Cory to the presidency, I might have my own stories to tell. They are not much considering that I was just a lowly elementary school student in Mindanao in the 6 years that Cory was the President of the Philippines.

This is a personal view of how I look at Cory. My views are based on my personal observation as well as from books that I've read.

If there's one word to describe Cory, I might say that she is (or was) brave. Here was a woman without any political ambition and she experienced politics only because she was the wife of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. but she was thrust into the spotlight after the assassination of her husband. She became the leader when no one else was brave enough to take it - Fidel Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile were both asked if they would be willing to become leaders but instead they didn't give a straight answer. Cory did what she had to do. She was brave enough to put the whole country on her shoulders. With her effort, she thankfully didn't face the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos on her own. People looked to her for leadership.

One of her most important contributions to the world is being the leader of the peaceful revolution that has since been called as People Power. This has been copied by other countries and has been very much abused by our own country. We've seen People Power 2 and 3 and I'm not sure if there has ever been a 4 or a 5. These so-called other movements has disrespected what Cory achieved with the "original" People Power.

I never really experienced People Power. I was too young then. But I vaguely remember Cory in a parade around the city of Iligan. She wore her traditional yellow amidst bodyguards and supporters. That parade was the only time that I ever saw Cory personally.

After People Power, she set forth in spearheading the changing of the Constitution. The new Constitution made sure that another Marcos would not happen again. 6 years maximum as the President of the country (oh look, someone is sitting as the president for more than 6 years...). I think there were other changes pertaining to Martial Law and stuff but I never listened to my Political Science teacher.

I have to say that it was a presidency filled with turmoil. Cory had to face a coup here and there. The very people who helped put her to power was becoming dissatisfied with her. Well, in the first place, these guys should have taken the power for themselves during People Power and be done with it but they didn't.

It is understandable that Cory had a lot going against her. She was taking over from a dictator. She did well. She wouldn't garner an A+ grade but she did well to get the ball rolling for democracy again.

So, to recall my elementary school days. The best (or worst) memory pertaining to the country would have to be the power crisis. Should I blame her (especially now)? Well, I have to blame someone. Mindanao was trying to save power and we had days of having only 8 hours of electricity. Yes, it was that bad.

Oh, and she made sure that people wouldn't forget Ninoy Aquino by placing his face on the 500 peso bill which, unfortunately, has been joked as the reason for the country's misfortune. That's a feng shui story that I will not divulge here. What has happened since then? Fidel Ramos had a 1,000 peso bill and Gloria Arroyo had 200 pesos. What's next?

Not to put down the late Fernando Poe, Jr. but I think he thought he'd do a Cory by relying on the people to win the presidency. It is a far fetched theory but consider the variables. Here is a person without any prior experience in politics save for a deposed president as a best friend and he's running for the highest position in the country. The people looked to FPJ as the savior from a possible "dictator" but unfortunately it wasn't enough. All this just looks so familiar to how Cory got to the top position of the country. Not exactly the same but...

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In my personal musing after the death of Cory, I can't help but think that her legacy is further tarnished by the (mis)adventures of her youngest daughter, Kris. Ey, it has to be admitted that without Cory as the president, Kris would never have been "successful" in the show business. And I must say that Kris probably appears more on TV than her mother ever did. And I don't care that Cory looked monotonous in her yellow (and later black) attire. She is still better (and sane) looking than her daughter.

The more that people and the younger generation will see Kris, the more that they will fail to realize how important Cory had been. Kris is probably more famous than her mother now. I just wish that somehow the younger generation will not forget how vital Cory was to our country albeit the situation our country is in now.

I look forward to the next leader to immortalize Cory. I wonder what will be done. She is that important to our history. If not as important as Ninoy, maybe more important.

God bless her soul.

Rest in peace.

Batman and Robin

It's just good.

Well, no spoilers here. Not much.

I read Batman: Battle for the Cowl and I did not expect much from it. But I got blown away with Batman and Robin.

Oh yeah. Not the Joel Schumacher movie with the crazy and cartoony dialogue that ruined the franchise.

It's Los Angeles Lakers versus Orlando Magic

First off, there's no Kobe vs. LeBron. The NBA might have been saddened over this but they can't publish anything that resembles any resentment over the failed match up between the two high-flying superstars. So, they will have to settle for Kobe vs. Dwight (yeah, like they'll face off against each other). Dwight Howard (in his Adidas kicks) sure is laughing his way to the bank.

The Orlando Magic enter as underdogs. The Lakers are number 1 in the West though they did have difficulty in dispatching their opponents (Jazz in 7, Rockets in 7, then Nuggets in 6). A lot is going against Kobe in winning without Shaq but then again he has Pau Gasol with him in a supporting role. Gasol is "taking over" the role of Shaq. What? Andrew Bynum as a Shaq wannabe? Not this year. Not yet.

With that, I really, really love that the Orlando Magic win this one. It's been a long time coming after the sweep made by the Houston Rockets in their first Finals appearance. That was a pure meltdown right there. Shaq not being able to dominate against Hakeem Olajuwon? Sheesh. I hate the Houston Rockets back then (I think Rudy T. is one of the worst coaches) but that was just a pure meltdown. Nick Anderson never got rid of the missed free throws in that first game. And it's just wonderful to see a franchise win its first NBA Championship.

My gut says that the Lakers will win this in 6 games. The 2-3-2 format is dangerous to the team with homecourt advantage when they lose it but I don't expect the Magic to win in straight home games like they did against the Cavaliers.

Alara Reborn review

It's been (more than) a month since the release of the all-gold set Alara Reborn. I have to admit that I was one of those who never realized the preview of Ardent Plea as a sign of things to come. The first ever all-multicolored set. Unlike previous "all-x" incarnations (Legions comes to mind with the all-creatures set), Alara Reborn delivers being the third set of the gold-themed Shards of Alara block. The cards were not expected to warp the metagame but it still affected the Regionals that I participated in. Cards like Anathemancer, Zealous Persecution, and Bloodbraid Elf were seen and the reprints (Meddling Mage and Terminate) showed up as well.

I wouldn't expect much out of Alara Reborn until Lorwyn-Shadowmoor rotates out. There are more multicolor goodies from the Shadowmoor block which weakens the impact of Alara Reborn. Shadowmoor-Eventide also promotes two-color goodness only and not the three-color shard division of Shards of Alara block.

In the meantime, here are 10 cards which I think will create a dent on the current Standard format. I've done this top 10 shindigs before but I forgot the mindset that I had. I think I totally missed out on Conflux out of sheer laziness.

10. Anathemancer

5-color Magic is not happy about Anathemancer, which punishes the player with the good (and expensive) nonbasic land. This ability also puts Anathemancer at 10th place because if an opponent is not playing any nonbasic land, this card will just turn out to be a useless 3 mana 2/2. Considering all those nonbasic lands at a player's disposal, this card is still a doozy and rightfully placed at number 10.

9. Lord of Extinction

This is all Tarmogoyf's fault. The 2 mana creature is now a staple even in Vintage decks due to its ability to be big in such a short time. And it's easy to splash into any deck because of the single green requirement. Fast forward to Alara Reborn and here is Lord of Extinction - a pseudo-Tarmogoyf but lacking the speed. It's compensated by its ability to count ALL the cards in all graveyards. Is it fast enough at 5 mana (and black and green)? It can be abused. But at 5 mana, there are just too many options to choose from.

8. Slave of Bolas

I've always considered taking control of opponent's creatures as a personal favorite. Slave of Bolas does just that at a higher casting cost than the most basic "Gain control of enchanted creature" spell in Control Magic (at 4 casting cost). What it provides though is the ability to kill the creature afterward which is somewhat something new.

7. Nemesis of Reason

That weird art notwithstanding, this card is a powerhouse on its own. In Limited, it's a possible game winner in less than four turns when it is played. It's longer in Constructed but considering that it only has to attack is a huge problem. What makes it more desirable than previous "incarnations" is that it possesses a huge value for toughness which makes it difficult to blast with. Thus only a limited number of cards is able to nullify it. I say, library destruction is back in business. To note, Alara Reborn also features Mind Funeral - a card which can not as low as 4 cards or an average of 12.

6. Dauntless Escort

I feel that it's inappropriate to put Dauntless Escort here. It could be lower, it could be higher. It's difficult to tell. By itself, Dauntless Escort is a sturdy 3/3 for 3 mana. There is a question on whether there are a lot of creatures that will benefit from the indestructible ability in the turn. Nevertheless, it is useful in the late game. Being indestructible is still a great ability to have. It can be a backbreaker.

5. Spellbreaker Behemoth

Now that's one big whopping creature. Red and green mages always hate the fact that blue mages can counter those big ones. This is just the answer. Wow! And there's more. 5/5 for 4 mana is not common in these parts.

4. Maelstrom Pulse

It's the return of Putrefy. Putrefy was a great card because it could deal with a creature or an artifact (that's something a black mage couldn't handle supposedly). Maelstrom Pulse takes a better step forward by taking care of all nonland permanents (yup, that's an answer to a planeswalker) while dealing with pesky tokens, which is the norm with the current standard.

3. Sphinx of the Steel Wind

Here's another incarnation of Akroma. It's still flying. It does not have haste. But those protection from "colors" are keywords since artifacts hate these colors. That essentially lessens the cards that can hurt it. Put it all together and that's a game winner. Yowza!

2. Thought Hemorrhage

I was a huge fan of Cranial Extraction and always thought that it was the best card in Champions of Kamigawa (in my standards). Fast forward to Alara Reborn and we get another Cranial Extraction like card. It is in the same converted mana cost but with the added red mana in the mix - which probably explains the dealing of 3 damage. Still worthy of being a top card, in my opinion. It might just end up in the sideboard. My rationale is that if Meddling Mage can be a card stopper, why not this card?

1. Sen Triplets

The wonders of Mindslaver bring special memories whenever I look at Sen Triplets. In itself, it's a beautiful card. Being able to play your opponent's cards every turn is even better than the absurdity of Mindslaver. Sen Triplets gives you more than just the cards that you have in your hand. The inability to play those spells isn't a problem. The lands are available from your opponent's hand. Not only do you cripple him because he can't do anything on your turn, you might just be able to get rid of his lands in his hand. Talk about abusing power.

A few honorable mentions include Bloodbraid Elf (cascade is too random but it is a cool creature in itself), Zealous Persecution (a novelty considering that it's mostly likely used only in BW Tokens), Necromancer's Covenant, and Knotvine Paladin.

Here's the worst of Alara Reborn. I have specific reasons before choosing the said cards. First of all, they have to be really bad at their rarity level. Some common cards are bad but they are common so they don't get mentioned much here (unless it's a really bad card that warrants a question as to its printing).

Without further ado, the list for the worst cards (in no particular order):

1. Soulquake
2. Demonspine Whip
3. Cloven Casting

Regionals 2009

For the MTG Cebu Regionals 2009, I played BR Blightning Aggro:

4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Demigod of Revenge
1 Anathemancer

3 Terminate
4 Flame Javelin
2 Banefire
3 Volcanic Fallout
4 Blightning

4 Graven Cairns
4 Sulfurous Springs
4 Reflecting Pool
1 Swamp
2 Ghitu Encampment
8 Mountain

SB:
2 Pithing Needle
4 Magma Spray
3 Infest
1 Anathemancer
2 Deathmark
1 Unwilling Recruit
3 Dragon's Claw

As what Mike Flores indicated, BW Tokens was the deck to beat. It did win the whole tournament and I faced the eventual winner in the 3rd round. I finished with a 3-3 record. Here is a summarized blow by blow of each round:

Round 1: vs. a blue-black (?) homebrew deck

Round 1 was like a bye. Here was a deck that I was so surprised to be matched up against. I was seeing the 4cc Haste Flying Drake, Architects of Will, Terramorphic Expanse, etc. I made sure I had good hands in both games to win.

1-0

Round 2: vs. Rod Osal (Faeries)

Rod was playing the only Faerie deck in the tournament. As always, Faeries are a scary match up and I wished that I had Guttural Response in the sideboard. The first game had him do a mini combo with a Mistbind Clique championing a Mistbind Clique to keep me in the ropes. Volcanic Fallout was my hero after continuous pounding with my creatures and after he ran out of gas with his Mistbind Clique mini combo.

2nd game was much better. He couldn't find a 3rd blue mana source and had 2 Mutavault in play. I made a 2 for 1 when he activated all his Mutavault and I played a Volcanic Fallout. That left him in trouble as I pounded with my creatures and he couldn't counter any of the threats. By the time I got another Volcanic Fallout, it was enough to win me the round.

2-0

Round 3: vs. Aga Suan (BW tokens)

I knew I would be having lots of trouble with BW tokens. Needless to say, I had no answer to a Glorious Anthem.

Game 2 was frustrating as I kept a 2 Sulfurous Springs hand. It took quite a while to get my 3rd land and the frustration continued as it was another Sulfurous Springs. I killed myself.

2-1

Round 4: vs. Lordan Suan (5-color Cascade)

I didn't know what to do against an aggressive 5-color Cascade deck. It was the first time that I was playing against it and game 1 was spent studying the deck. It seemed that he couldn't get his mojo going as there were no real threats encountered. My deck was too fast. I won both games convincingly.

3-1

Round 5: vs. Duane Villa (BW tokens)

Yet another BW token deck. I still faced the same problems with Glorious Anthem. A 2nd Glorious Anthem silenced me.

2nd game wasn't much as once again I had difficulty in getting my 3rd land out.

3-2

Round 6: vs. Irvin Tan (Naya Beats)

It was this round or never. I had a fast first game.

The next two games weren't that much better. I realized that the longer the game went, the bigger his creatures became. A Bull Cerodon won the 2nd game for him.

It seemed that the deck had numerous options. A Wall of Reverence saved him as it was paired with a Meglonoth. I made numerous mistakes but it was frustrating not getting to draw any of the Terminates or Deathmarks.

3-3

I won two packs for my effort.

Some observations:

For the deck, I could have main boarded the 4 Magma Spray (or on further thought, 4 Puncture Blast). BW Tokens has Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap. Having the Puncture Blast would have also given me insurance against the big creatures that the Magma Spray couldn't finish off.

A 4th Volcanic Fallout wouldn't have hurt. Even a 4th Terminate would have been a huge help. With that, this Blightning deck might turn out to be just a normal BR Aggro deck because the 4 Blightning is the main candidate to be removed. More Anathemancers would have helped also (but then again, I had difficulty in finding more than 2).

With the statement above, I would have space to put in Guttural Response. I was also in the crossroads thinking if Chaotic Backlash would have been great considering the number of tokens that's lurking around.

I had numerous mistakes. I was never able to put in the 2 Pithing Needle. Then it occurred to me that it would have been of great help against Ajani Goldmane.

Oh well. There's always next year. I had fun though.

Here comes Deadpool

Deadpool movie is coming.

And Deadpool gets his own movie.

Absurd.

As a comic book fanboy, this is just so bad. I totally enjoyed Ryan Reynolds portrayal of the Merc with a Mouth in Wolverine Origins because of the 'tude that he showed in the movie. Now he's on tap to be a franchise. Deadpool a mutant? Please. Furthermore, the ability to absorb dead mutants' power? Oh my.

Movie makers better fix this right or else it's going to be a bomb big time.

Deadpool is a crazy hitman who just would not stop talking. He doesn't get his money's worth because that's just the way it has become with him. So many stories can be made out of this. There's no need to ruin the character.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

This is sort of a review on the recently shown X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie. It will take quite a long time for me to get to it.

I've been a Wolverine fan ever since I read my first X-Men comic book. It was Uncanny X-Men and featured the first appearance of Kierok the Damned. In that issue, Wolverine clearly showed his adored attitude - just like a wolverine, so to speak. He was careless yet effective. Come to think of it, there has got to be something about those claws that just makes him stand out from the rest of the mutants. The claws itself has created a whole new group of Wolverine wannabes. Now (or maybe back then), a superhero team wouldn't be complete without the requisite character with the sharp (and sometimes indestructible) claws.

Aside from the (first) comic book, I got to see a Wolverine toy with "clip-on" claws. I told my Mom that she should have bought it. I don't know what came to me that I said such words. Needless to say, I got a nice reprimand from an uncle who overheard.

Anyway, I kept some close tabs on Wolverine and the rest of the X-Men despite the lack of Internet connection in my elementary school days and no regular comic books to read. A story arc that I remember is the X-Men adventure in Japan. Most of the story actually happened in Wolverine's own on-going series and I got to read that years after it was actually released in a trade paperback. As usual, once threatened, always relentless in the pursuit of taking down the enemy. Oh yeah, all those martial arts and black ops training that he's had is never bad.

Collectible cards somehow featured a lot of him. The X-Men card series always had a special portion dedicated to him. Wolverine even had his own set of cards released. Wolverine Comic Images featured spiffy and glossy color to already existing artwork.

There's a whole lot of Wolverine-related comic book products out. If he's not the most overexposed character in Marvel Comics, it would have to be Spider-man. Wizard Magazine even dedicated a special magazine release just for him. The 3 X-Men movies made sure to put a lot of emphasis on Wolverine and his dark past (which incidentally coincides with the new Wolverine movie). And as what Joe Quesada and his Marvel brain thrust claimed, they came out with Wolverine's "true" origin story before the movie came out so they'd be the first to tell it (rather than the movie messing it up).

This is where the review comes in. As one big fan who digested much of the Wolverine Origins, I am somewhat disappointed over how the movie came out. It's understandable that movies don't entirely follow the original stories but the Wolverine movie is a pure sell-out of sorts - trying to connect itself to the whole X-Men franchise when in fact Wolverine goes "older" than that. That Wolverine is supposed to be a killing machine because of his military (and other martial arts) training, it doesn't show in the movie. There is more to Wolverine that makes him the killing machine that he is and that is the whole essential thing. It's just too bad that the movie makers decided to resort to what they just did.

The movie makers probably figured out that they couldn't explain the memory erasing clearly so they opted for the adamantium bullets. To me, it's all crap shoot. How is possible to accurately predict that shooting Wolverine on the head would erase his memory? And then there's the theory of adamantium against adamantium. Even Wolverine's claws can't penetrate Captain America's shield which, as fanboys know, is made up of adamantium also.

Anyway, moviegoer review time. 4 out of 5 stars. The movie makers tried their best. Not good enough. The story was great. Some of the characters were illogically included. But that's Hollywood. Sometimes, it just doesn't have to make sense.

And hey, I like Deadpool also. Ryan Reynolds portrayal was great in my opinion. But Deadpool becoming that killing machine that they showed in the last part is just too much. He is not supposed to be like that!

And there are times of overdoing humor

The focus is on the topmost panel. The previous panel (from the previous page which is not shown here) "shows" crunching sounds illustrating that someone is eating outside the window. The top panel on this page shows that it's Spider-man, eavesdropping on the Jamesons' argument.

Spider-man eating popcorn? How's he doing it while having his mask on? I'd believe he'd get the bottom half of his mask up (just like when he's doing his kisses - dang, of all the references to make). And does Spider-man really have the time to go get some popcorn before unexpectedly seeing the two Jamesons go at their argument?

The purpose of the humor is understandable. It is also unbelievable.

This is comic book world though.

Brownout!!! (or blackout, as it is properly termed)

Last February when I was supposed to conduct a Conflux Launch Party, Dumaguete City got a rude awakening with the city-wide flooding. Almost 3 months after and with another Magic set in mind (and a supposed trip that got canceled because Customs wouldn't let the products through), I'm stuck here where there hasn't been any electricity for 21 hours and counting.

And I thought I've had worse in Iligan City during Aquino's power crisis. Back then, the number of hours that mattered was the hours that we would have electricity and not the number of hours of not having any.

It's dangerous to walk in the streets when there's no light. True, Dumaguete City is supposed to be a safe city but without street lights, I don't think so. Having no street lights is the perfect invitation for motorcycle-riding robbers to poke a gun-like metal object on the back of an unsuspecting streetwalker and ask for their precious wallet and cell phone.

Well, there are at least 2 things to be happy about (and I'm always looking at the bright side of things):

1. It's a further opportunity to save the Earth.
2. It's a preview of what would happen if "The Day After Tomorrow" comes.

The NBA playoffs are finally here!

EASTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 Cleveland vs. No. 8 Detroit

No. 2 Boston vs. No. 7 Chicago

No. 3 Orlando vs. No. 6 Philadelphia

No. 4 Atlanta vs. No. 5 Miami

WESTERN CONFERENCE

No. 1 L.A. Lakers vs. No. 8 Utah

No. 2 Denver vs. No. 7 New Orleans

No. 3 San Antonio vs. No. 6 Dallas

No. 4 Portland vs. No. 5 Houston

Some quick comments:

Detroit at number 8. Wow! My favorite team and consistent playoff bound team ends up at number 8, barely making it to the postseason and holding off the Charlotte Bobcats (of all teams!). As how it's always said, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." Detroit will visit the Cleveland Cavaliers. Back then, it used to be a second round match up, with both Detroit and Cleveland ending in the top 4 in the Eastern Conference standings.

If the Cleveland versus Detroit match up is not going to be as exciting as the previous years, then the East's match up to watch is the Miami at Atlanta game. Who would have thought that the Hawks would grab the 4th spot in the East? Who would have thought that the Heat would be back with a rookie coach handling the reins. Of course, Dwyane Wade has taken the mantle of Superman for Miami.

Utah finishes 8th and Dallas jumps to 6th in the Western Conference. And here I thought that the Dallas Mavericks were doing a Detroit Piston falling mightily. Poor Utah. They draw the mighty LA Lakers in the first round. I'm pretty sure they won't just roll over and lose easily.

New Orleans is the West's version of the Detroit Pistons. The former 2nd seed is at a lowly 7th this year but that doesn't mean that they're a bad team. But they do have the (un)fortunate situation of drawing the Denver Nuggets (also a surprise as the 2nd seed).

Portland is a surprise at number 4. Like the Miami Heat in the East, Portland returns to the postseason after a near appearance in 2008. They have the homecourt advantage against the Houston Rockets, who are looking for their first playoff series win. This should be fun to watch.

It's San Antonio versus Dallas in the first round. Like the Cavaliers versus Pistons, these two teams are old rivals. Now they meet in the first round.

Predictions:

Cleveland over Detroit in 5 (and prompting another change from Joe Dumars!).

Boston over Chicago in 4 (that's quite a bold prediction but it hinges on the health of KG).

Orlando over Philadelphia in 6.

Atlanta over Miami in 7 (this series could be all about Wade).

LA Lakers over Utah in 7 (Jerry Sloan won't back down on this one).

New Orleans over Denver in 6 (upset alert!).

Dallas over San Antonio in 7 (Manu Ginobili will be sorely missed).

Houston over Portland in 6 (Houston finally wins a playoff series).

It's looking clearer and clearer that we'll have a Cleveland versus LA Lakers NBA Finals. LeBron versus Kobe. Nike is going to be wearing a smile the whole series and so will David Stern.

A guess at From the Vault: Exiled

Somehow, with just too much time before I go on a vacation and the persistence of trying to predict the list for Wizards' From the Vault: Exiled, I've come up with:

From the supposed spoiled pack from April 1's Draft Viewer:
Balance - $4
Sol Ring - max at $15 for the most recent version
Land Tax - $5
Mind Twist - $3 or $4
Skullclamp - $2.50

Since the essence of From the Vault: Exiled is that the cards are/have been restricted, Tarmogoyf, Umezawa's Jitte and the rest of the non-restricted cards from the said Draft Viewer have been removed.

Black Lotus and Ancestral Recall have been removed from the list also because they are currently in Wizards' Reserved List.

5 cards remain and they all have mellow prices.

Here's where the wild theory comes into play once more:
Mana Vault - $2.50 - $3
Voltaic Key - $4
Disciple of the Vault - $0.50
Vault of Whispers - $0.75

These are cards that are featured in the prank From the Vault: Vault announcement. Since I considered Disciple of the Vault as a possible inclusion in a post at a forum, why not some of the other "vault" cards being featured. It somehow makes sense. The three other cards have been on the Restricted List.

Further look at the Draft Viewer (where I got the list that had the Tarmogoyf, Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall, etc. list), there's:

Enlightened Tutor - $6

The Enlightened Tutor is a bit of a reach but for prediction's sake, it's in.

That's a total of 10 cards so far.

The breakdown is as follows:
White - 3
Black - 2
Land - 1
Artifacts (without counting the artifact land) - 4

Red, blue, and green has to be represented of course. Wizards probably would not want a product to be favoring (or not favoring) certain colors in the color pie. A quick look at what's possible reveals (note: anything above $5 has been removed):

Brainstorm $1
Channel $0.50
Crop Rotation $0.50
Fact or Fiction $3
Frantic Search $0.50
Gush $1
Hermit Druid $1.50
Kird Ape (varied prices)
Merchant Scroll $2
Mind's Desire $3.50
Orcish Oriflamme $0.25
Ponder $1
Rebirth $0.50
Recall $0.50
Regrowth $1
Rukh Egg $1
Squandered Resources $1.75
Tempest Efreet $0.50
Windfall $0.75
Worldgorger Dragon $4

Out of the blue (pardon the pun), I'd remove Kird Ape and Ponder. Both are recent reprints and would be too boring for fans.

I think Wizards will include Squandered Resources (the only gold card I see so far), Gush (for being such a storied card - in and out of the Restricted List), any of the ante cards (Tempest Efreet or Regrowth) because they are just that - ante cards, Merchant Scroll (one of the last remaining tutor spells left), and Channel (somehow I always hear, "Hey, I used to have that Channel-Fireball deck." The card is "famous" for just that.). If Channell is included, I would expect to see Tempest Efreet get included in the list (or maybe even Burning Wish but it's at $7 right now).

That's my wild guess list!

The new Chris Gatling

For those who are not familiar with who Chris Gatling is, here's a Wiki entry of him. Just to mention the important parts for the reason of this entry:

1991 - 96 Golden State Warriors

1996 Miami Heat

1996 - 97 Dallas Mavericks

1997 - 99 New Jersey Nets

1999 Milwaukee Bucks

1999 - 2000 Orlando Magic

2000 Denver Nuggets

2000 - 01 Cleveland Cavaliers

2001 - 02 Miami Heat

For a player who had quite a reputation (one time field goal percentage leader and All-Star), he's well traveled. In one occasion when he was traded, he publicly announced that he was just renting a place rather than buying. He always knew that he would be traded (again) so renting was the feasible thing to do.

Of course, he's not the most well traveled player in the NBA. I'm sure that someone else has that distinction. Names like Chucky Brown, Tony Massenburg, and Jim Jackson pops up when you Google "most traveled NBA player." And then there's Joe Smith, a player who every team seems to want. That's just weird.

The player that I would christen as the new Chris Gatling is Drew Gooden. He just got traded to the West Coast to the Sacramento Kings. Previous stops include Memphis, Orlando, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Chicago.

Pause for a moment. So, what makes Chris Gatling and Drew Gooden special that they're mentioned not in the same sense as Brown, Massenburg, and Jackson (journeymen). For one, Gatling and Gooden are both highly touted big guys. And instead of being journeyman players who signs just about anywhere, Gatling and Gooden are always in the middle of trade transactions. Gatling always had that contract number that teams covet (aside from the talent). Somehow, Gooden has inherited that honor from Gatling.

I pity Drew Gooden. He will have to study closely the career of Chris Gatling. Don't buy a house. It's bound to be worthless. I'm betting that he'll be traded sooner than later by Sacramento. Maybe he'll finish the next season as a King. Then again, maybe not.

10 Random Things

Inspired by Mark Rosewater's 25 Random Things, I thought about my own Random Things. It's a nice exercise. As I'm writing this, I really don't know how many I can compile. 30 is quite a big number and I'll probably just end up with 5.

These things are under the category of "Things people are least likely to know". Although I'm not a believer of exposing a lot of things (the more you know about me, the less interesting I become), I'll just enjoy the exercise.

I've set myself up to alternate the things I do and things I don't do (or positive things and negative things, however it will be said). Without further ado:

- Given a fair amount of time, I can probably name all 52 states of the USA. As a kid, I used to stay alone in the room. I love to read and one of the books from my mother's collection that I read from cover to cover was an Information Please Almanac (I think it was a 1984 Almanac). I got interested in the facts about all the states. This was also the time that I got interested in basketball. I was determined to understand how the NBA divided their team divisions so knowing where a particular team is located was very important. I eventually know a lot more than normal Filipinos know about the United States. The information I kept in my brain became useful in my senior year in college. My literature professor, who was an American, was quizzing about the United States and I was the only student who was able to point out where Florida, California, and some other states were in the map that he had drawn on the board.

- I don't like to dance. Most especially in a disco house. And I can even fall asleep inside a disco house (maybe if I'm too tired). Working a sweat or having fun while dancing just does not translate as enjoyable to me. The few moments that somebody else got me to dance was because I was forced to perform an intermission number. Anyway, I feel like a total jerk with such an ungraceful body whenever I attempt to dance. I think I have to be given the dance moves to follow. Which means that I'm not creative when it comes to dancing. Still, I feel like a total jerk with choreographed dancing.

- Comic books are a big part of my life. When I learned how to read, I took the opportunity of reading all the bound comic books that my brother had and started to really appreciate the joys of reading. Later, I was able to have my own collection of comic books. A family friend from the US would bring me a pile of cheap comic books. One summer vacation, I probably spent half of my pocket money in just one day for comic books. The best thing that I got from comic books was during my senior year in high school. My brother and I started an order-basis business selling comic books. He would purchase from Manila and I would sell it to my school mates in Iligan. We were able to profit around 9,000 pesos in 5 months of operation. With my share, I got to open my own ATM account. My father gave me specific instructions not to go into the comic book business while I was going to study in college. Right now, I still read but only through downloaded scanned comic books.

- I've banged my head on something hard more times that I can remember. There are 2 serious incidents though. One was when I was very young I banged my head while leaning back on a chair. The wound required several stitches. I still remember the ticklish sensation of getting knitted up. I was also required to swim in the sea to help heal the wound. The 2nd incident involved a ceiling fan. I was in my 3rd year in high school and our class was forced to transfer to a room in the first floor of a two-story building. The room had a ceiling fan that looked like it was going to drop if used continuously. Our teachers kept telling us to not use it but we didn't listen. After a classroom recess which involved the usual sweaty games, my friends turned on the ceiling fan and as I passed by, the ceiling fan dropped on my head. The first thing I did was recover my spectacles and then I took out my comb from my back pocket and combed my hair.

- I don't have a sense of smell. Or I believe that I don't have any. Halfway in my college education, I seem to have lost the use of my nose. I don't usually breathe through my nose. A medical check up found out that I had multiple polyps. Afraid to have a surgical operation, I still have the same nose and situation. It has its advantages and disadvantages. For one, I don't get to smell unbearable bad odors. The disadvantage is I don't get to smell someone who smells good. Purchasing a cologne is always an adventure as I need a companion to help me describe what a particular cologne smells like. Thankfully, there are such sites as perfumeemporium.com to help me figure out the nice colognes.

- My siblings like to describe me as the politician in the family. I seem to have that talent to try and please both sides of a conflict. When my mother died, I was the only person who was able to talk properly to a drunk uncle who blamed my father and my siblings for the death of my mother. I had to "convince" him that it was nobody's fault. I could say that I negotiated my way out of a tough situation. At present, I'm the only child left that is still close to my father and his wife. Both my siblings are now considered in the wrong side of things. I hate being right in the middle but considering that I need to respect them, I will have to do what I need to do for the good of all.

- In high school, I was able to represent my school in chess and swimming competitions. My best anecdote for chess is about a citywide competition involving private schools in the city. Instead of playing a round per week, the organizers asked if we were willing to play all the rounds in just one afternoon. Since most of the participants agreed, we played (I think) 6 rounds of chess in that afternoon. I went home in the evening feeling like a zombie - my brain all drained out. For swimming, I used to wake up early during Sundays just to swim. My swimming days ended when I almost contracted typhoid fever after an afternoon of intense swimming. Unfortunately in college, I never participated in any of these events because I was too shy to try out.

- I don't sing (much). Maybe I do on my own but I've found out that I don't have the best voice so I am rarely heard singing in public. I used to enjoy the old-school singing via Multiplex but I was discouraged early by my siblings. That said, I don't enjoy karaoke sessions. Maybe I'll sing if I get to drink a few bottles but unfortunately I'm on a quest to not drink for a year. I do enjoy music except for techno, disco, and novelty music.

- My favorite manga is One Piece. The first time I was exposed to One Piece was through a Shonen Jump issue which had the 50th chapter of the manga. I was captivated by the diverse characters and I started reading from Chapter 1. Now, I can't imagine that One Piece is on its 531st chapter and still going strong.

- I never watched Braveheart. Of all the movies that I never watched, Braveheart is probably the most "memorable" because it broke apart a friendship. During my high school (and my brother was in college/work), my brother came home and wouldn't stop talking about Braveheart. The whole time that he was home, he kept saying the infamous phrases from the movie. It felt like I had watched the movie also. In my first year in college, I had a discussion with roommate about not being able to watch Braveheart. His reaction (and like most of his reactions to what I did) was "What? If you haven't watched Braveheart, you've missed half of your life!" I reacted by saying that a movie (or any movie) can't be such a huge part of my life (much more to be half). That argument was probably the turning point between me and my roommate as we never talked again casually after that. And even until now, I still haven't watched Braveheart.

And that should be enough for Random Things. It has taken me a day to finish but then I can't just reveal everything in my life. 10 things for now is enough.

Favre retires AGAIN

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/02/11/favre/index.html?eref=T1

I've honestly lost count on how many times he has declared that he's retiring. Peter King says that this time it's for real. People have said the exact same words the very first time Favre retired. The worst was last year when he had the teary eyed press conference. Who knows, Favre might be looking towards getting his biceps injury healed and when it's healed, lo and behold, Favre will declare that he's back (AGAIN!).

So, I reiterate my call for Brett Favre to retire. It's time. If he had retired last year, he could have retired while being on top. So maybe he's just a step down from being on top but that's going to be an expected trend. As his body deteriorates, so will his game. Retire now and savor the moment. Rid yourself of the shame of another lackluster season. With all the records and awards, it should be enough to stay happy for the rest of your life. And surely, Hall of Fame is going to be a cinch.

Express Counter

Express Counter?


It clearly says 10 items only. In the foreground, that's more than 5 items already and there are almost 5 through the bar code reader. A couple more of closer looks:


I should have taken an earlier picture of the basket.

Anyway, it just bugs me that people line up at the Express Lane and bring in more than 10 items. Those ladies at the counter should at least be able to spot them beforehand and tell them to transfer to a different counter. And customers should have the decency to line up in a different lane.

Oh well.

The Raphael Levy Bohol shirt

Raphael Levy at GP Manila Day 2. August 2008. He acknowledges that he just had a 3-day vacation from Bohol.

Raphael Levy wears the same Bohol shirt for Day 2 of GP Paris.

Inspired by Hall of Famer Raphael Levy, Team Bohol dons the famed Raphael Levy Bohol shirt during the Conflux Prerelease in Neutral Grounds JY Mall, Cebu City.

Conflux Prerelease experience

I played Conflux prerelease at Neutral Grounds Cebu JY Mall last February 1, 2009.

Knowing that the cards would be passed, I thought hard looking at an Ajani Vengeant and 2 Inkwell Leviathans (1 of which was a foil). The Inkwell Leviathans were an easy choice to make. My table mates all commented that Ajani Vengeant isn't that worth it considering it's readily available as a Prerelease foil. I passed the card pool knowing that the player using the deck will play red (possibly Naya to accomodate Ajani) because of the removal at that color's disposal.

I was happy to receive a Tezzeret the Seeker in my card pool. It was enough to make me smile. I passed an Ajani for a Tezzeret!

I initially opted to play Jund shard since I had 2 Scarland Thrinax, Sprouting Thrinax, Hissing Iguanar, Dragon Fodder, and all the other appropriate creature removals in that color (3 Bone Splinter, Vithian Stinger, etc.). I didn't remember any bombs in the shard I chose and I totally remember not having a flying creature at all.

While deciding over what shard to play, I had checked the number of artifacts that was available at my disposal. I had an appropriate number of artifacts to play with Tezzeret and at the last moment, changed my deck from Jund to Esper (I had already finished the whole deck). It was a late decision but I figured that it wasn't a lousy one either. I had plenty of flyers at my disposal (Tower Gargoyle, Tidehollow Strix, Parasitic Strix, Sphinx Summoner, Kathari Screecher - of this list, only the Screecher isn't an artifact). 2 Agony Warp and an Executioner's Capsule also helped me to decide to change shards. Other key cards included Tidehollow Sculler (another artifact), Court Homunculus (yet another artifact), Puppet Conjurer (yet another artifact!), Windwright Mage (yet another artifact!) and 2 counter magic: Hindering Light and Traumatic Visions.

Game play observations:

- I finally got to appreciate the power of Tidehollow Sculler. Initially, I would have just set it aside because of the "drawback" that the removed card would return when the Sculler dies. I got to remove an Oblivion Ring and a Volcanic Fallout in separate games. The Sculler helps to save the day.

- Playing control in an environment where guys are wanting to play fast is not for the feint-hearted. The two counter magic mentioned both saved me from apparent losses. I was able to counter a game winning Exploding Borders with Traumatic Visions and a game winning Absorb Vis with my Hindering Light in separate games. The Traumatic Visions helped fix my mana in another different game which helped turn my mono-blue land hand to blue-black.

- Puppet Conjurer is just unfair. I was explaining to an opponent that I didn't have to sacrifice the Conjurer if I didn't have a Homunculus to sacrifice. I even provided the addditional insight that without the sacrifice "drawback", this card would just be too nasty.

- I saw only one Path to Exile. In one game in which I was stuck to having only Islands and Swamps and couldn't play my gold cards that needed white mana, one of my creatures got removed by Path to Exile. It was a no-brainer. I searched for a Plains without hesitation. My Tower Gargoyle came during the next turn. Good game.

- Frontline Sage was a key card in my deck. I had an instance of having an initial draw of 5 Islands and 1 Frontline Sage. I kept the hand and proceeded to filter my deck for more needed cards.

- I was paired against another artifact heavy Esper deck in the third round. I was envious of the Ethersworn Canonist and Etherium Sculptor that he had. He probably felt the same seeing my Tezzeret, Tower Gargoyle and Sphinx Summoner. I also saw a player playing beside us with a Sharding Sphinx. I would definitely would have wanted that in my deck. Well, it just goes to say that you can never have everything in Magic.

- I didn't see much Planeswalkers in play. Aside from the Ajani Vengeant that I opened, I heard one player getting a Nicol Bolas. He did the right thing in dropping. A $20 card is worth it to drop especially if it's just a Prerelease.

- Speaking of Planeswalkers, having one in play is definitely gamebreaking. Tezzeret is probably the least of the Planeswalkers to play in Limited but I was thankful to have quite a number of artifacts available. I might have done a bad thing by not putting all the artifacts at my disposal into the deck. Every bit of extra artifact would have helped. I had 2 Kaleidostones (the card draw would have been a great bonus but I considered everything else of the card as useless), 2 Manaforce Mace (I thought that it was too costly), Obelisk of Naya (wrong colors although I always needed that one white mana all the time), and a Bone Saw! I wasn't able to activate Tezzeret's ultimate ability but I always was able to reach 5 loyalty counters easily. Just untap any of the artifacts in play and that's it.

- Best plays that involved Tezzeret:

a. With not much artifacts in play yet and my Tezzeret already at 6 loyalty counters (activating the ultimate ability would have netted me only two 5/5 artifacts), I opted to search the cheapest artifact in the deck: Executioner's Capsule. I had the option to kill one of my opponent's creatures (we were at a standstill with each having an equal number of creatures in play) and I could still use Tezzeret's ultimate ability the next turn.

b. I had Tezzeret at 5 loyalty counters but instead of activating the ultimate ability, I opted to search for a Sphinx Summoner (again, I didn't have enough artifacts in play). I figured I'd maximize the Tezzeret searching ability by getting the Sphinx Summoner into play. Sphinx Summoner comes into play ability then searched for a Tower Gargoyle and played it (and while holding on to precious two mana to be able to still play Hindering Light).

- My most expensive card in the deck was Kiss of the Amesha. 7 life and two cards is just painful for the opponent late in the game. The kiss helped me escape one situation where a big 5/5 was pounding at my life total. All that hard work and a Kiss of the Amesha to ruin it all.

I would have finished 3-1 but I gave away my third round. I finished 2-2 instead. It was still worth it. One of the packs I won yielded a Noble Hierarch.

But the most important thing of all was I had fun. It was nice to visit Cebu (first time for 2009) and see the Magic guys there once again.

Picking out my All-Star Reserves

With the All-Star Starters already voted in, the debate now shifts to the Reserves. This is where things that the fans messed up are fixed. It is an ironic statement considering that after the All-Star Reserves are announced, even more debate rages out on who was left off the list and who is undeserving to be called an All-Star.

There are two ways that I'll go about on this. First, I'll pick out the players who I think I'd want to make it on MY team. Second, I'll pick out the players who I think are going to make it based on how the NBA and the coaches think.

Before moving on to my lists, I just want to air it out that Allen Iverson is the poorest choice for a starter but the fans can't be blamed. There is no other guard in the East with the same charisma as AI. Hopefully, fans will have heard who Devin Harris or Joe Johnson is after the All-Star game.

My list first:

East:
Paul Pierce
Chris Bosh
Devin Harris
Joe Johnson

The four guys above are the can't-miss players for the East. Four guys who would get in despite whatever the record of their teams. Thankfully, the record is good for both Pierce and Johnson. Harris has been outstanding this season. And Bosh makes it as the only true outstanding big man in the East (aside from Howard and KG, of course).

The East's other 3:
David Lee - this will probably come out as a surprise to whoever gets to read this blog. But I like David Lee. He always plays hard despite how the NY Knicks have become. 2008-09 has been rewarding with the arrival of a better coach and he's continued to work hard. He deserves a break and deserves to be an All-Star.

Danny Granger - another player who works hard. He's playing lights out right now and who would have expected it when the season started? I didn't and Granger has placed the Pacers on his shoulders and has carried them all season long. This should also serve as a reward.

Mo Williams - LeBron's partner gets my vote for the last remaining slot. His arrival has helped transform the Cleveland Cavaliers into a better team. He has always been a good player. Paired with an All-Star, he just becomes great.

West:
Dirk Nowitzki
Shaquille O'Neal
Chauncey Billups
Brandon Roy

The 3 players above jump right out to me. Never realized the moment when Shaq would jump right out as a reserve. Dirk gets in considering how clogged up the forward position is for the West (he'll thank Carmelo and Boozer for their injuries). Chauncey is the key player for Denver (and also thank you to Carmelo for that). Roy is now the required player for the Blazers if they continue to play well in every season.

The West's other 3:
Pau Gasol - he deserves this honor being Kobe's partner with the surging Lakers.

Kevin Martin - Martin continues to play well for a struggling Kings team. I'd say he does it all for Sacramento.

Paul Millsap - the Utah Jazz needs a representative to the All-Star and I say Millsap is the appropriate guy. He's a typical Jerry Sloan-type of a player. Plays hard but doesn't say much. And oh yeah, may I add that Boozer will not be a Jazz next season because of Millsap.

Probably Actual List:

East:
Pierce, Bosh, Harris, Johnson, Granger, Jameer Nelson, Ray Allen

Nelson is playing well as of late. Orlando's success and his major contribution at their most questionable position will highlight his success and All-Star vote. Meanwhile, Allen is sort of an obligatory pick here for the coaches. The big 3 can't be the big 3 without their sharpshooter.

West:
Nowitzki, O'Neal, Billups, Roy, Gasol, Tony Parker, Steve Nash

Parker is another obligatory pick who makes it after past years' success. But he's still a great player, of course. Nash meanwhile is a former MVP. I'm pretty sure he won't make it but then again, the coaches can always screw this up.

Diop gets traded again

Diop is traded to Charlotte

And I quote from the Yahoo News:

"DeSagana is the type of player that has a natural athletic ability to block shots, rebound and defend," Charlotte general manager Rod Higgins said. "This is someone we feel will add size, depth and experience to our power positions."

Diop is one lucky player. He gets traded to the Nets for the Jason Kidd deal to help match salaries. He was a vital piece as he had an expiring contract. His contract expires and lo and behold the Mavericks sign him back. The deal is quite understandable considering Dallas lost a bit of their toughness after losing their leading shot-blocker. Then again, it's supposedly so easy to find a replacement. Who wouldn't want to play in Dallas?

Things have been pretty funny ever since I read the first news about Diop being on the trading block. Lo and behold, a team has actually traded for Diop! And of all the teams, it's the Charlotte Bobcats. Yes, the same Charlotte Bobcats that has Michael Jordan behind some of their mind-boggling transactions.

And why is it that the decision makers always has to sound funny whenever they defend the players that they traded for no matter how stupid it looks? Please.

Week 16 Power Rankings

1. Pittsburgh (4)

2. Carolina (5)

3. Indianapolis (3) - having placed the Colts at number 3 for a couple of weeks now, I can't put them lower as since they've been playing well ever since when.

4. Tennessee (1)

5. NY Giants (2)

6. New England (7) - they've been in the top 10 before and I'd trust them better than the Falcons (which, incidentally, are not in the top 10).

7. Dallas (8)

8. Tampa Bay (6)

9. Philadelphia (10) - several straight wins at just the right moment and I already have them in the top 10. I'd trust McNabb with my team more than I'll trust Ryan.

10. Baltimore (9)

11. Atlanta (13)

12. Minnesota (15)

13. NY Jets (14)

14. Miami (16)

15. Arizona (11)

16. Washington (12)

17. Chicago (20)

18. San Diego (19)

19. Houston (21)

20. Denver (17)

21. New Orleans (18)

22. Jacksonville (26)

23. San Francisco (22)

24. Green Bay (23)

25. Buffalo (24)

26. Cleveland (25)

27. Cincinnati (29)

28. Oakland (27)

29. Kansas City (28)

30. Seattle (30)

31. St. Louis (31)

32. Detroit (32)

Week 15 Power Rankings

1. Tennessee (2)

2. NY Giants (1)

3. Indianapolis (3) - no particular reason to drop the Colts when I already placed them at number 3. They're as competitive as the Steelers and I'd trust their offensive line better than the Steelers.

4. Pittsburgh (4)

5. Carolina (7)

6. Tampa Bay (5)

7. New England (8) - they still have it going on

8. Dallas (6) - not a huge drop yet. If they do lose to the Giants, that would warrant another drop. Things are looking bleak for the Cowboys after missing Barber.

9. Baltimore (11)

10. Philadelphia (14) - the Eagles are once again rising to the occasion with their winning ways.

11. Arizona (13) - this is the advantage of not dropping them too low, I wouldn't have a problem in putting them up. Once again closing in on the top 10.

12. Washington (9) - slowly getting down there

13. Atlanta (10) - with the teams above them going up, they don't have anywhere else to go but down.

14. NY Jets (12)- great pretenders continue to drop

15. Minnesota (15) - same as the Falcons, they have nowhere else to go. So they are where they were last week.

16. Miami (16) - Dolphins in the top 10? That's too much. This is not yet their year. They're in the range of where the Falcons are and deservingly so.

17. Denver (20) - not yet appropriate for the Broncos to jump ahead. Another win will vault them to the top though.

18. New Orleans (18)

19. San Diego (19) - I can't move the Chargers too much. Despite that they have a worse record than the Bears, they seem to be in good momentum right now.

20. Chicago (17)

21. Houston (21)

22. San Francisco (23)

23. Green Bay (22)

24. Buffalo (24)

25. Cleveland (25)

26. Jacksonville (26)

27. Oakland (26)

28. Kansas City (28)

29. Cincinnati (27)

30. Seattle (30)

31. St. Louis (31)

32. Detroit (32)

Reading Scud

Scud: The Whole Shebang

Rob Schrab's Scud the Disposable Assassin is a surprisingly (yet late) read for me. I've heard of it from Wizard magazine but never bothered to look for one (with a publishing outfit like Fireman Press, it's not that easy). I never expected it to be THIS funny. It's probably been a month since I laughed while reading a comic book.

Scud (the protagonist) is unbelievably thinks practically like a human. This is how artificial intelligence will ultimately become: considers survival as an ultimate basic need. So, here's the dilemma with Scud since it dies when its primary objective is met. What will it do to survive?

Week 14 Power Rankings

1. NY Giants (1)

2. Tennessee (2) - since I placed them at number 2 last week (and rightfully so), I don't have a problem with placing them here.

3. Indianapolis (3) - the Colts pull off another gutsy win and it just shows their heart. They're still my number 3 team at the moment and they're riding their streak at the right time.

4. Pittsburgh (5) - the Steelers win a good one against the Patriots. The Patriots drop a good deal but the Steelers might have turned away one of the scariest defenses out there (and they with their offensive line problems).

5. Tampa Bay (4)

6. Dallas (8) - the Cowboys creep closer to the top 5 with another great win. This week should show if they can maintain their hold to their spot.

7. Carolina (10)

8. New England (6)

9. Washington (7) - it's still too early to drop the Redskins. True, they've faced superior foes. If they keep on losing, they'll eventually be lower but not yet now.

10. Atlanta (12)

11. Baltimore (13)

12. NY Jets (9) - so without putting the Jets at such a lofty 2nd place, I don't have any problems of dropping them out of the top 10 after that disastrous loss to a lowly Denver Broncos team.

13. Arizona (11)

14. Philadelphia (17) - that was a great win against the Cardinals. All they need to do is to sustain their performance. The result has the Cardinals dropping and the Eagles rising.

15. Minnesota (19)

16. Miami (20)

17. Chicago (14)

18. New Orleans (15)

19. San Diego (16)

20. Denver (23)

21. Houston (22)

22. Green Bay (21)

23. San Francisco (29)

24. Buffalo (18)

25. Cleveland (24)

26. Jacksonville (26)

27. Oakland (26)

28. Kansas City (28)

29. Cincinnati (27)

30. Seattle (30)

31. St. Louis (31)

32. Detroit (32)

Week 13 Power Rankings

I missed making Week 12 Power Rankings because of a sudden travel commitment. Thus, I'll make a quick rundown for my reference:

1. Ten
2. NYG
3. TB
4. Ind
5. Pit
6. Ari
7. Car
8. NE
9. Was
10. SD
11. Phi
12. Dal
13. NYJ
14. Atl
15. Bal
16. Chi
17. Min
18. NO
19. Mia
20. Den
21. GB
22. Buf
23. Cle
24. Jac
25. Hou
26. Cin
27. STL
28. SF
29. KC
30. Sea
31. Oak
32. Det

And here is how I'll rank them this week:

1. NY Giants (2)

2. Tennessee (1) - Jets at number 2 is not yet a sure thing. I've even ranked the Jets lower (very low indeed). The Titans should not be ranked lower (or the Jets higher) after their winning streak was broken. Somehow, they were just overwhelmed over the greatness of Favre. I wouldn't bet against the Titans if they meet the 2nd time around.

3. Indianapolis (4) - I've ranked the Colts higher after another week of pure guts. This is Peyton Manning playing at his finest.

4. Tampa Bay (3) - allowing the Lions to score as much does not bode well for the Bucs.

5. Pittsburgh (5)

6. New England (8)

7. Washington (9) - I might have missed something on why this team is ranked lower by most people. They're still right up there and they're sure to maintain their status as a good team. But Dallas and NY Jets (after this week maybe) should leapfrog soon enough.

8. Dallas (12) - nobody saw this coming? The Cowboys are good enough with Romo avoiding sacks and delivering better passes than Johnson. Here's hoping that the defense won't lose too much.

9. NY Jets (13) - I'm not riding the Favre bandwagon. At least not yet. Favre has been subdued and everybody is just waiting for the real Brett Favre (the QB who has those costly interceptions) to come out.

10. Carolina (7) - Delhomme playing badly is enough to drop them down in the rankings. It was already foreseen since last week.

11. Arizona (6) - Disastrous loss but how else to play against a great Giants team. With the rest of the teams above in winning mode, the Cardinals have to be dropped.

12. Atlanta (14)

13. Baltimore (15)

14. Chicago (16)

15. New Orleans (18) - the Saints just got back to their winning ways. And what a way to get back.

16. San Diego (10)

17. Philadelphia (11)

18. Buffalo (22)

19. Minnesota (17)

20. Miami (19)

21. Green Bay (21)

22. Houston (25) - they earned the jump. That's a gutsy win.

23. Denver (20) - losing to Oakland? Now that's just absurd. Denver continues to drop.

24. Cleveland (23)

25. Jacksonville (24)

26. Oakland (31) - a win is a win despite that it's against Denver.

27. Cincinnati (26)

28. Kansas City (29)

29. San Francisco (28)

30. Seattle (30)

31. St. Louis (27)

32. Detroit (32)

Kevin Garnett Taunting Jose Calderon II

My office colleague showed me the video and my first (and probably only) reaction was pure disgust. I've gone to read at forums and most people are saying that KG is classless and should have been assessed a technical foul for taunting. I think it's pure sellout. The NBA is too chicken to deal with stars (I assume that they consider KG as one of the faces of the NBA).

Other people are saying that they miss the good old NBA where taunting and physicality was the norm. Taunting is fairly normal but it shouldn't be that obvious to the public. Players can go on to trash talk (though Gary Payton would also be assessed a technical foul for non-stop trash talking before) and not get T'd up. That's okay because that can still be considered as part of the game. Kevin Garnett was not doing a normal trash talking. Chasing a player from one end of the court to the other end? Clapping? Heck, I get a technical foul when I clap my hands while I'm on the court!

Fans who are posting in defense of KG are saying that Calderon might have said something while chasing after KG's shot. That to me is the correct way to trash talk and taunt. How KG reacted to it is pure disgusting.

And if the NBA does not wish to go back to the days of the Palace brawl and Ron Artest, they better think again and review how KG was taunting another player which would have warranted a brawl (if I were Calderon's teammate, I would have words with KG and who knows what would happen next).

In this regard, I am starting a "No to KG in the All-Star" campaign. Kevin Garnett does not deserve to be in the All-Star game. True, it might have been just once that he did such a thing but he should be a better player than that.

Kevin Garnet Taunting Jose Calderon

Week 11 Power Rankings

1. Tennessee Titans (1)

2. NY Giants (2)

3. Carolina Panthers (5) - a win is a win and they're showing that their defense is doing well. The running game is running and now if Delhomme can only be consistent, they can really hold on to this 3rd spot.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (3)

5. Washington Redskins (4) - I don't understand the huge drop when they had a bye week. Sure they lost to the Steelers. If they are not the team that deserves the number 5 spot, then week 11 should help us determine that.

6. Philadelphia Eagles (6)

7. Tampa Bay Bucs (7)

8. Indianapolis Colts (8)

9. NE Patriots (9)

10. Arizona Cardinals (10)

11. SD Chargers (13) - I'm probably the only person who's putting the Chargers higher than the usual.

12. Atlanta Falcons (17) - and not yet for the Falcons, not too high.

13. Baltimore Ravens (18)

14. Chicago Bears (11)

15. NO Saints (12)

16. Dallas Cowboys (14) - the Cowboys are dropped to 16th but not because they lost any ground from their bye week.

17. Minnesota Vikings (21)

18. NY Jets (20) - they beat a bad St. Louis Rams team. What's to be excited about? If Favre does play like he did in Week 10, they'll be a better team. The defense is doing great, by the way.

19. Miami Dolphins (19)

20. Buffalo Bills (15)

21. GB Packers (16)

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (22)

23. Denver Broncos (24)

24. Houston Texans (23)

25. St. Louis Rams (25)

26. Cleveland Browns (26)

27. Cincinnati Bengals (27)

28. KC Chiefs (28)

29. Seattle Seahawks (29)

30. SF 49ers (30)

31. Oakland Raiders (31)

32. Detroit Lions (32)

Week 10 Power Rankings

1. Tennessee Titans (1)

2. NY Giants (2)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (3)

4. Washington Redskins (4) - they faced an impressive Steelers defense. That match-up was merely a fight for 3rd place in the rankings.

5. Carolina Panthers (5) - bye week does nothing

6. Philadelphia Eagles (10) - no place else to go. 6th should be enough of a gain.

7. TB Bucs (9) - same as Eagles

8. Indianapolis Colts (19)

9. NE Patriots (6)

10. Arizona Cardinals (16) - they continue to impress

11. Chicago Bears (11)

12. New Orleans Saints (13)

13. San Diego Chargers (14) - can't have them going down for a bye week

14. Dallas Cowboys (7) - huge drop but a bye week and the return of Tony Romo should catapult them after Week 11.

15. Buffalo Bills (8)

16. GB Packers (12) - I dropped them too low but the two teams above them suffered the same fate which makes them equal

17. Atlanta Falcons (17)

18. Baltimore Ravens (18)

19. Miami Dolphins (20)

20. NY Jets (21) - Not that too convincing a win to catapult them to higher ranking

21. Minnesota Vikings (23)

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (15) - losers' area. The Jaguars stay on top of the rest of the other losers

23. Houston Texans (22) - only a slight drop after losing to the 21st ranked Vikings

24. Denver Broncos (24) - nowhere else lower to go.

25. St. Louis Rams (25)

26. Cleveland Browns (26) - I can't rank the Browns to be better than Rams. The Browns are just having a disastrous season. Let's see if Quinn gets them over that hump.

27. Cincinnati Bengals (31)

28. KC Chiefs (29) - the Chiefs were at least competitive

29. Seattle Seahawks (27)

30. SF 49ers (30)

31. Oakland Raiders (28)

32. Detroit Lions (32)

Week 9 Power rankings

1. Tennessee Titans (1)

2. NY Giants (2)

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (3)

4. Washington Redskins (7) - fearless forecast: Redskins over Steelers. An offensive line like what the Steelers have will not hold up. Roethlisberger is an injury waiting to happen.

5. Carolina Panthers (6)

6. New England Patriots (8) - A win is a win and they are more offensively capable than the Cowboys below.

7. Dallas Cowboys (9)

8. Buffalo Bills (4) - A safe spot to put them. Below a team that won. Above a team that also lost.

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5)

10. Philadelphia Eagles (10)

11. Chicago Bears (15)

12. Green Bay Packers (16)

13. New Orleans Saints (19) - the Bears and Packers didn't do anything to be lower than the Saints. This should be high enough for a jump for the Saints.

14. San Diego Chargers (11)

15. Jacksonville Jaguars (12)

16. Arizona Cardinals (13)

17. Atlanta Falcons (14)

18. Baltimore Ravens (20)

19. Indianapolis Colts (17) - the Colts are higher than how others are ranking them. Despite the loss, they will still be a competitive team.

20. Miami Dolphins (25)

21. NY Jets (21)

22. Houston Texans (24) - why no ranking jump? It would have been 4 wins already.

23. Minnesota Vikings (23) - because I ranked them here last week.

24. Denver Broncos (18) - huge step down. That's what happens if you don't play defense.

25. St. Louis Rams (22) - some weeks, a surprise team goes up, and some weeks, a surprising team goes down. This week it's the Rams going down.

26. Cleveland Browns (27) - they don't deserve a big jump.

27. Seattle Seahawks (29)

28. Oakland Raiders (26)

29. Kansas City Chiefs (30)

30. SF 49ers (28)

31. Cincinnati Bengals (31)

32. Detroit Lions (32)

Week 8 Power Rankings

1. Tennessee Titans (1)

2. NY Giants (2) - Barring the Browns upset, the Giants have it going on. No way that the Steelers would be better than them right now. The Steelers might be a surprise considering that they have survived albeit all the injuries but that offensive line is still a killer. The Giants are sturdy.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers (4) - With the other teams above it from last week having a bad week, the Steelers improve by default.

4. Buffalo Bills (11) - No love for the Bills? They get Trent Edwards back and they beat the Chargers. As long as Edwards is at the helm, the Bills' defense get a chance to rest a lot and be effective.

5. Tampa Bay Bucanneers (5)

6. Carolina Panthers (8)

7. Washington Redskins (6)

8. New England Patriots (10)

9. Dallas Cowboys (3)

10. Philadelphia Eagles (12)

11. San Diego Chargers (9)

12. Jacksonville Jaguars (13)

13. Arizona Cardinals (14)

14. Atlanta Falcons (18) - there's no way the Falcons are worse than the Bears

15. Chicago Bears (19)

16. Green Bay Packers (21)

17. Indianapolis Colts (7)

18. Denver Broncos (15)

19. New Orleans Saints (16)

20. Baltimore Ravens (23) - better defense than the Rams

21 New York Jets (17)

22. St. Louis Rams (28) - 2nd straight win but certainly not better than the Ravens or the Jets YET. Next week will be a good indicator.

23. Minnesota Vikings (20) - they lost in Week 7 and they might not make it to the playoffs. This certainly is a team that's not capable of doing so. In any case, they have Adrian Peterson with them which makes them a better team still.

24. Houston Texans (26) - they're on a roll after their 2nd straight win.

25. Miami Dolphins (22) - safely back to Earth.

26. Oakland Raiders (29)

27. Cleveland Browns (25)

28. San Francisco 49ers (24)

29. Seattle Seahawks (27)

30. Kansas City Chiefs (30) - there is no concrete reason to put them back at last place. They're a bad team but they got one win. Definitely better than the two winless teams below.

31. Cincinnati Bengals (31)

32. Detroit Lions (32)

Week 7 Power Rankings

1. Tennessee Titans (3) - by default. And they've got a bulls-eye on their backs being the only undefeated team left.

2. NY Giants (1) - getting defeated by the Browns? Ugh. I wouldn't drop them too low. They're still a great team. And the Browns were supposedly an offensive juggernaut. Probably played against them at the right peak (or the wrong time) for the Browns.

3. Dallas Cowboys (2) - same as the Giants, the Cowboys got surprised by that blocked punt. But the bad news is, they're going down along with Romo.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (7) - no. 4 by default. Lucky for them that they'll recover. But once again, with a weak offensive line, they're bound to drop.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (14) - they got Garcia back as QB. What a jump.

6. Washington Redskins (4) - what a loss. And I back up my comments that I'm not convinced.

7. Indianapolis Colts (10) - I called it first. And Manning is back with his groove.

8. Carolina Panthers (6) - also a bad loss. I expected better.

9. San Diego Chargers (21) - what a jump. The Patriots are not that good though. But it was one heck of a game to play.

10. New England Patriots (5)

11. Buffalo Bills (11)

12. Philadelphia Eagles (12)

13. Jacksonville Jaguars (18)

14. Arizona Cardinals (17) - beating the Cowboys was great.

15. Denver Broncos (8) - another tough loss to a hard running team. Defense does trump offense.

16. New Orleans Saints (16)

17. New York Jets (13) - I wouldn't have minded if I ranked them at 13 still but the rest of the teams played better.

18. Atlanta Falcons (23)

19. Chicago Bears (9)

20. Minnesota Vikings (15)

21. Green Bay Packers (19)

22. Miami Dolphins (20)

23. Baltimore Ravens (22)

24. San Francisco 49ers (24)

25. Cleveland Browns (28)

26. Houston Texans (29)

27. Seattle Seahawks (25)

28. St. Louis Rams (32)

29. Oakland Raiders (26)

30. Kansas City Chiefs (27)

31. Cincinnati Bengals (30)

32. Detroit Lions (31)

My top 10 Shards of Alara cards

I had a top 10 Shadowmoor cards when the said expansion was released. I wanted to do Eventide but I realized that after I ranked the cards, it didn't make any sense at all. I forgot what was my number 1 card but I know it wasn't worth it.

I'm changing my outlook on these rankings. Instead of just ranking them on how "powerful" they really are, I have to look whether the card would be applicable to have a deck that would make use of it. This different outlook will look towards how useful the card really is in the current metagame, and hopefully I have enough grasp of the metagame.

I'm ranking the cards from 10 going to 1. First, an honorable mention:

Mindlock Orb is bound to be a sideboard card. And it's just too bad that it's rare. I'm going to assume that players will cringe at opening packs that have this as the rare card because it's not that useful at the first glance. Seeing as it can affect quite a lot of powerful and useful cards: the Lorwyn tribal harbingers, Primal Command's search mode, Shards' panorama lands, etc., I've ranked it as an honorable mention. Not good enough to be in the top 10 but it should not be put aside also.

10. Ethersworn Canonist

It's a control player's card. It's not just for an Esper shard deck but placing this on a white-x control deck helps limit the spells that an opponent would play per turn. But there's just a catch. If the opponent is an Esper shard deck though, that's a situation. Overall, the advantages trump the single disadvantage. It's a circumcised Rule of Law on legs and it's a bear to boot!

9. Elvish Visionary

The new Sakura Tribe-Elder? Sure looks like it but it's not as fast. The card draw on legs is a great card for green and green has always been the color that needs card draws. Even late in the game, Elvish Visionary provides the body to block potential game killing creatures while providing that one extra card for a possible solution.

8. Wild Nacatl

The new Kird Ape is more at home in an extended deck with the Ravnica shock lands. I'd gamble in using Wild Nacatl even in a standard deck. 1 to cast for 3/3 is a good enough card.

7. Ranger of Eos

The art doesn't do him any justice but since this is not a top 10 for Magic art, disregard my last thought. First look I see Reveillark written all over it. Granted that there aren't many game changing 1 to cast creatures out there, it makes the card look a little bit tame. The first card to search that comes into mind is no other than Figure of Destiny. Figure of Destiny is one card that one wouldn't mind to get in the late game considering it can be transformed to its bigger incarnations. Another card option is Akrasan Squire. That one extra point (or 2 extra points) of damage from the Exalted ability might just provide the win for that turn.

6. Jund Charm

I placed Jund Charm here because of the instant Pyroclasm effect that it provides. The card instantly makes Pyroclasm useless for a red-x deck. Jund Charm's versatility is with the two other modes. Removing a player's graveyard is good against graveyard manipulation decks. Meanwhile, getting two +1/+1 counters isn't bad either. But the Pyroclasm effect is enough to convince me to put it at where it is.

5. Hell's Thunder

Hell's Thunder is currently looking like it's too high at where it's at. All I see in this card is a 3 to cast 4 damage similar to Flame Javelin. Or in another way putting it, it's an 8 to cast for 8 damage. Clearly it's not that as good as Flame Javelin because it can be killed before it can damage. At least, with its Unearth ability, it can provide a 2nd go-around. And that ability just makes one think twice before wasting a creature-kill on a creature that will just come back later on.

4. Goblin Assault

Following Morningtide's Bitterblossom, here is Shards with their own version but this time it is a red enchantment (quite unusual itself) that's 3 casting cost and produces the same 1/1 creature but with haste (and not flying). The lack of evasion puts this card down a little bit. But I've always associated red to producing creatures (right next to green) and the ability to churn out those pesky 1/1s every turn is good. And for those planning to just be rid of the creatures later on for Shards' Devour ability, go ahead.

3. Empyrial Archangel

It's costly at its casting cost but Empyrial Archangel can turn things around on its own. At 5/8 and shroud, it's got a huge butt and an unaffected butt at that. If it can get through, it's at most 4 turns of attack while the opponent has to figure out to dish out at least 8 points of damage to attempt to get rid of the angel. Altogether, it's a difficult situation to be in and the angel's game turning ability is a reason why I placed it at the 3rd spot.

2. Naya Charm

This is one charm that can turn out to be a game winner. The third mode says it all by tapping all the creatures that target player controls. It totally fits the Naya shard since it's a possible relentlessly attacking shard. The first mode is not bad itself considering that it's a creature removal mode.

1. 3-color tap lands


Ah. Lands. Beautiful lands. The 3-color tap lands will be a dominating presence in Standard constructed. Will they win games on their own? Not exactly. But they are sure to provide the mana that will win the games. And that is all that is required for these lands.