Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Magic the Gathering fat pack

Here's an attempt at chronicling the only Magic product that I've bought religiously.

I started buying fat packs during Champions of Kamigawa. I had recently returned to playing Magic (actually, returned during Fifth Dawn) and I was aching to get my hands on several cards in one sitting. One of the attractions was the novel and the Kamigawa block had a beautiful story going with it. Even the previews provided intriguing stories.

The local store had not even heard of a fat pack before. The contents were as follows: 6 booster packs, a novel, 20-sided die, 40 basic lands, a random foil card, and the player's guide (printed on letter-sized glossy magazine-like paper).

The Kamigawa block fat pack was packaged elaborately: wrapped in cheap plastic and with a prominent display-like appearance to attract buyers.

The fat pack stayed this way for the whole block.

Aside from the interest in the novel, I enjoyed the player's guide tremendously as it helped in deckbuilding. It was only one block but it helped a lot.

Things changed with the release of 9th Edition Core Set. Wizards maintained the 6 booster packs, 20-sided die, and the 40 basic lands. They improved the player's guide by printing it on a smaller sized but thicker paper. Since Core Set releases are not connected to any story, there was no novel. Changes included the 2 card boxes that featured new artwork and the card dividers. All these were wrapped around a packaging that featured artwork from the set.

The card boxes are uber-necessary. With no proper container for my cards, I was able to finally stock the cards that I needed and not place them in 4-sleeved albums.

The new expansion block Ravnica: City of Guilds continued to apply the changes from the Core Set. The novel continued. The 20-sided die got replaced with a different life counter (card-like with rotating numbers to keep track of the life). Well, there's not much to say about the novels because they've always been poorly written. The huge miss was the life counter. To this date, I've never used the Ravnica block life counters and they're just somewhere with the cards in the card boxes.

Right in the middle of Ravnica and the next expansion, Wizards released Coldsnap - said to be the long lost 3rd set of the Ice Age block. Thankfully, the 20-sided die returned. The novel that was included was just the story from Ice Age and I must say that I have never opened the book.

Time Spiral block ushered in the old school feel of Magic and the fat pack continued without any change. The 10th Edition Core Set lost the novel once more (as expected) but maintained everything else.

The fat packs of Lorwyn and Morningtide continued to have the same contents but a huge change came with Shadowmoor. To offset the loss of 1 card box, the fat pack now got "fatter" with 2 more booster packs. The fat pack also lost the card dividers. I might have to say that 1 card box has the same price as 2 booster packs then. The loss of the card box doesn't hurt much because there's still one left. Which now leads us to the most recent change of them all.

Shards of Alara fat pack loses the novel and replaces it with a preview "booklet" of the Planeswalker's Guide to Alara. Coupled with the 1 basic land per booster pack arrangement, it seems that Wizards is doing quite a lot to stay profitable and I'm not amused at all over their cost-cutting measures.

The fat pack has now become unworthy for its money. And oh yeah, suggested retail price even increased! The pain!

Just to add more pain: How about getting Ooze Garden in one of your packs? Or not getting a mythic rare at all. Sheesh.

Sorry I have to be grouchy.

Friday, October 3, 2008

NBA 08-09 season in just less than a month?

Wow!

Didn't the Boston Celtics just won the 2008 NBA season like a month ago?

It seems like I never got to miss the NBA season. What would NBA players playing in that other season and winning it all. I'm talking about the 2008 Beijing Olympics were the NBA players were at win-or-go-home mode.

So, it's October and it's officially less than a month to go before the 82-game season kicks off. There has been a lot of offseason activity that's going to change the real season.

In the tradition of sports sites where they preview and rank the 30 NBA teams, here's my own version of ranking the teams. For ease of view, I'm ranking them by division.

The Boston Celtics division:
(note: I don't know each division's real name. Funnier to name it the way I'm naming it)
1. Boston Celtics - the defending champions showed that having 3 great players and 2 other mediocre players can win a championship. I doubt that everybody else is going to get surprised by this team. But they're still strong. They'll miss James Posey come playoff time and that's a story for another post.

2. Philadelphia 76ers - the Sixers get Elton Brand. They're getting back the rest of their core players. Brand has never been a selfish player that wants all the attention. He'll relinquish the scoring role to Andre Iguodala.

3. Toronto Raptors - the Raptors also beefed up in the offseason in getting Jermaine O'Neal. O'Neal has a lot going against him so it should help fuel his drive (and hopefully his body). The Raptors got rid of PG TJ Ford to get O'Neal. The trade is not disadvantageous for the Raptors because they have an excellent PG in Jose Calderon.

4. New Jersey Nets - the Nets are prime candidates to finish last in this division but who are we kidding from giving the last place to the Knicks. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if they'd suddenly win this division because Lawrence Frank has that notion to get his team going even if it's only just a season. They have the right blend of players to be surprising.

5. New York Knicks - eeyuck! There's no way that the Knicks will have a winning season this year. Not yet. They have to learn to play together.

Detroit division:
(I call this the Detroit division after how many seasons the Pistons have led this division)
1. Cleveland Cavaliers - will this be the season when the Cavs rule the division? Will this be the season that LeBron James wins it all? Won't he be too tired after the Olympics? Will he share the scoring responsibilities with Mo Williams? All these answers will lead to the Cavs winning the division finally. And maybe because the Pistons are in a turmoil.

2. Detroit Pistons - they just won't go away that easily. Maybe what will hinder them is the lack of experience of their new coach. Otherwise, everything else should be the same because everyone else is back for another season. And yeah, nobody got traded. Nice bluff, Joe Dumars!

3. Milwaukee Bucks - because no other team will come out of the cellar, I'll give the default 3rd place to the Bucks. Here's to Skiles and teaching this team to play defense. He's got the core group to get them over that defensive hump.

4. Indiana Pacers - they're not that organized yet. Larry Bird wants to get rid of the players he currently has in his team and that doesn't sound good to any coach.

5. Chicago Bulls - new coach. Let me restate that, new inexperienced coach. Good luck Vinny del Negro. You got to win over Ben Gordon, who is agreeing to only a one year contract. You got to win over Luol Deng who definitely wants to be recognized as the true team leader. You got to win over Joakim Noah who as a rookie already started getting in teammates' faces. Isn't that saying something about his future?

The other East division:
1. Orlando Magic - Dwight Howard rules this division! The man-child is primed for MVP consideration, finally. And with not much competition, it's a walk over.

2. Washington Wizards - after giving a huge contract extension to Gilbert Arenas, they find out that he'll miss the start of the season. They don't actually need him in the regular season. And they'll survive with what they currently have in Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Rest easy, Gilbert. The team needs you during the playoffs.

3. Miami Heat - I'd want to see the Miami Heat come back to win this division. But then again, if they do, I'd expect Pat Riley to suddenly take over just like the last time he took over for Stan van Gundy. Huh? Van Gundy didn't want to coach anymore? Nobody pushing him around to resign? So why the heck is he coaching exactly right now? Sheesh. 3rd place for Miami to temper down Pat Riley. Stay retired please.

4. Atlanta Hawks - just because we saw them make the playoffs this year doesn't mean they come back. They got in because this is the Eastern Conference where 8th place teams are one-hit wonders.

5. Charlotte Bobcats - what can Larry Brown do? Michael Jordan has to scout players properly otherwise Brown will end up with bad players. There's just so much a coach can do without getting the proper personnel in place. The Bobcats will compete. I'm sure Brown will make sure of that.

Texas division:
(ah, one of the most, if not the most, intriguing divisions in the NBA)
1. New Orleans Saints - they still have it. And James Posey will try to prove that he's got the championship touch a la Robert Horry.

2. Dallas Mavericks - I like Rick Carlisle. He did wonders for the Pistons. He might be a little bit controll-ish but he gets the job done. Dirk Nowitzki should be happy playing for him. And Jason Kidd will enjoy setting up all those plays.

3. San Antonio Spurs - Tim Duncan is still a dominant player. And there's no way that they will be ranked lower in the Texas Division. They'll miss Manu Ginobili but I can see them racking up the wins when he comes back. In the meantime, they'll bore you to death with their methodical game strategies.

4. Houston Rockets - where else would they be? It's a tough division. But considering how Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming have never finished the season together doesn't bode well for the Rockets. Hopefully Ron Artest can negate the possible loss from the two star players.

5. Memphis Grizzlies - I hope one day they'll do a Tampa Bay Rays impersonation and surprise everybod in the Texas division. They're young and inexperienced but hopefully they can run.

California division:
1. Los Angeles Lakers - the team with not much change in the offseason is sure to come back to lead this division once more. They will not surprise rivals anymore but they can still dominate. Now, if they can really get a decent point guard other than Derek Fisher...

2. Phoenix Suns - they're the lucky team to be 2nd place in the division. And that's because no other team is that good to keep up with the Lakers. The Suns have a new coach in Terry Porter and the same old bodies in Steve Nash and Shaquille O'Neal. Shaq isn't retiring yet and who knows what he went through in the offseason to be energized for the new season.

3. Los Angeles Clippers - I'll trust on Baron Davis to lead this team. Big men are the premium in this league and thankfully he still has Chris Kaman left. Losing Elton Brand isn't going to go well but Davis did just fine without a legit big man in Golden State.

4. Golden State Warriors - they lose Baron Davis but get Corey Maggette. And they still won't play defense this season. They didn't acquire a legit big man so they'll continue to run this season.

5. Sacramento Kings - the last place team by default. I'd expect them to be a competitive team just like the Charlotte Bobcats in their division. And I wouldn't be surprised if they'll pull of some sort of miracle a la Memphis Grizzlies wishing. Kevin Martin needs help. That's all.

The other Western division:
1. Utah Jazz - the Jazz win this division by default again. But they better be careful because the Portland Trail Blazers are up and coming. The Jazz still has to deal with AK47 Andrei Kirelenko. They can trade him now for serviceable parts.

2. Portland Trail Blazers - Greg Oden is still a rookie. The Blazers can surprise the Western Conference this year. They ran out of gas last year. They've added numerous weapons. Nate McMillan will be challenged to utilize everyone. Make them all happy coach!

3. Denver Nuggets - they lost Marcus Camby in a cost-cutting move. Camby was the only defender in the team. So, the Nuggets are back to becoming an offense-oriented team. Joy! My advice to the Denver organization, get rid of Allen Iverson now and buckle up for this season.

4. Minnesota Wolves - they get the benefit of the doubt here. They didn't lose a major player and instead added a serviceable Kevin Love. His impact is still questionable and hopefully Love doesn't spell out to BUST.

5. Oklahoma City Thunder - last place name gets last place position. Ugh. Why couldn't they find a different name. Sooners already taken? Kevin Durant is going to have a franchise-like season. He'll be considered as MVP if the Thunder end up out of last place.