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!