Saturday, December 5, 2009

Image United

Image United #1 just got released. A brief overview: it features a story by Robert Kirkman and layout art by Rob Liefeld. The comic book features all founding creators of Image contributing art chores on their created character/s.

As a comic book fan having my (comic book) consciousness awakened during the "hot days" of Image, I'm kind of surprised with Image United #1 and its lack of (or my lack of seeing any) fanfare.

Back then (say, 13 or 14 years ago), a "crossover" in this regard would have been considered a "super" event. The founding creators of Image back once more and in 1 (gigantic) comic book! With an exclamation mark, of course.

How hot was Image Comics back then? The creators (most notably Liefeld, Jim Lee, and Marc Silvestri) continuously churned up new characters and new monthly comic books out of the blue. Each new monthly would be described as hot, hot, hot! Image Comics practically owned the Top 10 comic book sales during those times. It seemed that nothing could go wrong with whatever they released. Fans would continue to gobble up new releases even if they were tardy (I had to admit that I was one of those fans). They were that godly.

Something noticeably obscure that happened back then were the cover wars. It seemed that every milestone event sported a cover that wanted to top the latest cover technology. There were foils, holograms, die-cut, holofoil, chromium, and probably all sorts of combinations that can be thought of. This was way back they introduced the variant craze.

Did anybody ever notice the stories that they turned out with all the new characters? A good chunk of the comic books didn't last long. Liefeld was notorious with coming up with one copycat character or team after another. A typical superhero team had any or all of the following: gun-toting, cigar-chomping leader that had a bad-ass attitude, a wild and feisty clawed character, the sexy female that every male wanted to go to bed with, and the usually dumb heavy muscled bouncer.

An event that I could compare the current Image United to would be the creator crossover that they did. The founding creators swapped assignments (probably drew lots to decide on who got who). Best of all, no fan knew what artist did what before the actual comic book got released. The surprise was part of the enticement to buy all 8 issues of the event. I even thought of buying an issue of Shadowhawk just for the heck of it. Fans were so excited then. The event didn't go too well and a little bit of quarreling happened regarding how a character was treated and the usual tardiness of Image releases also kicked in.

It's been a wild decade ever since. They've quarreled some more and have gone their separate ways. They've become like Kiss - touring around conventions and reuniting for signing sessions. They've continued to produce comics still. I still appreciate Jim Lee's creations with Wildstorm. Todd McFarlane has always stayed true to form. Erik Larsen does not boast great sales figures but he's still there. Jim Valentino did an AIDS story with his character and that was that.

Image has gone a long way from its former status as the next company that could topple or compete with the big 2 of comic books, Marvel and DC. I always thought a decade would change the way they came out with stories.

And so, with Image United, I expected a grand improvement. But still, it's the same old senseless "I'll punch you and you punch back" style dialog. I thought Robert Kirkman would do justice with a DC-like Crisis event bringing in all the characters but nah... It's pretty obvious that getting all the characters together in one mash-up story is difficult to do. I guess, all I wanted to say was that if it was difficult in the first place, it shouldn't have been done. It brings back all the senseless Image stories that I read a decade ago.

But hey, it's just one issue so far. I hope to be impressed in the next.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Planeswalking with Planechase

I had fun playing Planechase. It's not much on the preconstructed decks that Wizards created but more on the Plane cards. The Plane cards are fun to play. It adds a new dimension to the game as well as in playing multiplayer games. There are additional things to do in every turn and anticipation is at a maximum in every planar die roll. It's like having an extra sorcery card in hand though sometimes it's a blank sorcery (blank die roll).

As of this post, there are 42 Plane cards. There are 10 cards in each Planar deck set for an initial total of 40. 2 different Plane cards have been give away so far (and there are rumors of 3 more Plane cards to be given away in future Prerelease events).

This post is a (delayed) evaluation of the original 40 cards. I have created my own categories to outline the best of the 40 Plane cards without any regard of what deck is being used:

This not a ranking. I don't have time to do an evaluation and a ranking:

I. Top planes that you want to planeswalk away from (Mostly because of nagging abilities):

Sea of Sand
Players reveal each card they draw.
Whenever a player draws a land card, that player gains 3 life.
Whenever a player draws a nonland card, that player loses 3 life.
C: Put target permanent on top of it's owner's library.

This plane hurts a lot considering that roughly around 2/3 of a normal deck consists of nonland cards. Since it has to be done every turn (and subsequent card draws), it's a 2/3 percent chance (and more) that a player would lose 3 life. There's no problem if the deck is a life gain deck. Considering also that there is no such life gain among the 4 preconstructed decks, it is imperative to planeswalk away from Sea of Sand simply because of its abilities.

Pools of Becoming
At the beginning of your end step, put the cards in your hand on the bottom of your library in any order, then draw that many cards.
C: Reveal the top three cards of your planar deck. Each of the revealed cards' C abilities trigger. Then you put the revealed cards on the bottom of your planar deck in any order.

Though I love the Chaos ability, there are times that I'd want to get away from this plane because I usually love to keep the current hand that I would have. Rolling a Chaos is just an added bonus in planeswalking away. It's a cool Chaos ability and I include it in the bottom category.

Lethe Lake
At the beginning of your upkeep, put the top ten cards of your library into your graveyard.
C: Target player puts the top ten cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.

I've played Mill decks before and it's fun to win by decking out your opponent. It's no fun if it's the other way around. Lethe Lake turns each player into a Mill player and it's no fun to lose that way. 10 cards is roughly 17% of the total number of cards in the deck. If a player rolls a Chaos, that's an additional 10 cards placed into the graveyard.

The Zombie deck is the only happy preconstructed deck here with its Unearth cards that can hit from the graveyard.

Skybreen
Players play with the top card of their libraries revealed.
Spells that share a card type with the top card of a library can't be cast.
C: Target player loses life equal to the number of cards in his or her hand.

A control plane on a multiplayer game? That's got to be boring and frustrating. With 4 players playing, there's a huge chance that a player won't be able to cast a creature (the most important card to cast), a sorcery or an instant. Pretty huge odds of that happening considering decks are made up of those. All the more that a player would want to roll the planar die.

Naar Isle
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a flame counter on Naar Isle, then Naar Isle deals damage to you equal to the number of flame counters on it.
C: Naar Isle deals 3 damage to target player.

This is a fun plane to be in but also painful. If nobody planeswalks away from this plane, it'll be a good game by the time it makes one cycle. The first few damage doesn't hurt much but by the time the players realize that getting 5 damage during the upkeep is no big deal, it's already too late.

Sanctum of Serra
When you planeswalk away from Sanctum of Serra, destroy all nonland permanents.
C: You may have your life total become 20.

Sanctum of Serra is in the list simply because planeswalking away has one of the better abilities of all the planes in Planechase. It's like having your very own Wrath of God and Nev's Disk and whatever permanent-destroying spell there is in MTG.

The Eon Fog
Players skip their untap steps.
C: Untap all permanents you control.

I've always hated Stasis and this plane just spells Stasis all over. That's enough said.

The Maelstrom
When you planeswalk to The Maelstrom or at the beginning of your upkeep, you may reveal the top card of your library. If it's a permanent card, you may put it onto the battlefield. Otherwise, put that card on the bottom of your library.
C: Return target permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield.

This is a fun plane to be. One game I played in had an opponent revealing Rorix Bladewing and it was during his first turn. Simply said, the player rolled the planar die and luckily planeswalked away. Good game.


I'll create a new post for a different category of evaluation. That way, this can already posted after such a delay.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

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).

Saturday, August 1, 2009

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.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

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.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

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.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

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

Saturday, May 23, 2009

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.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

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.

Monday, May 4, 2009

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!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

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.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

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.

Friday, April 3, 2009

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!

Friday, February 20, 2009

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.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

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.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

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.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

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.

Monday, February 2, 2009

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.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

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.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

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.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

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.