“Budget” Werewolves

I wanted a werewolf deck. I read the Daily MTG article about it (Building on a Budget) and my first thought about it was:

“This deck is just full of awesome! I usually don’t build decks from scratch, preferring to modify intro decks, but I’ll make an exception this time around. I want to drop pop culture references like ‘It’s morphin’ time!’ and ‘Transform and roll out!’ while playing a match.

I want to have as much fun as I did, back in the day, when I played Scorching Missile and I shouted the card’s name like a typical animé character in the middle a heated battle. I didn’t care if I was winning or losing at that point, I was having a blast and that’s what mattered!”

So there I was, thinking, this couldn’t be any easier. After all:

1. I had a guide, a list of cards to obtain;
2. I had some of the cards to begin with, courtesy of my stockpile and my recent Innistrad purchases; and
3. I knew of a couple of stores within an hour’s ride from my apartment to get the rest of the deck.

I set out to acquire the missing lycanthropes and support cards, thinking I won’t be spending more than what I did purchasing the Carnival of Blood into deck, which was PhP 1,000, tax included. (That’s roughly $22.75 given the exchange rate of US dollars to Philippine pesos at the time of purchase.) I could afford a thousand bucks local, and I won’t splurge like this until the next expansion comes out, so I figured I’d go for it!

What awaited me at the card shop was a cold bucketful of reality, or at least, reality of deck building in the Philippine scene.

Behold this table:

Card Name	Quantity	Cost per card	Total Cost
Daybreak Ranger	4	120	480
Gatstaf Shepherd	4	10	40
Instigator Gang	4	75	300
Kruin Outlaw	3	75	225
Mayor of Avabruck	4	200	800
Reckless Waif	4	50	200
Brimstone Volley	2	20	40
Full Moon's Rise	4	10	40
Incinerate	4	20*	80*
Moonmist	4	1	4
*denotes approximate cost		Grand Total	PhP 2,209

The Daybreak Rangers cost close to half the budget I had in my head. The Mayors of Avabruck will eat up 80% of the budget if I take the full set. This is not including non-basic lands that the deck list online prescribed. Is this the end of my werewolf plans, destined to remain a lunatic dream?

Logic dictated that there were two ways to get a werewolf deck, despite this unexpected development. Option one: increase the budget to accommodate the increased cost. Option two: purchase from collectors and players who hopefully won’t sell them at such exorbitant rates. The problem is, I’m willing to consider increasing my budget to PhP 1,500 (the cost of a Commander boxed set), but the cards still clocked in bigger than that, so I nixed that option. Option two was a no-go either, since I don’t have any reliable card-collecting contacts.

Fortunately, a third option presented itself – deviate from the recipe. The werewolves in the recipe weren’t the only werewolves in the set, and looking at a checklist card I saw that other werewolves existed at the same converted mana cost as the prescribed ones. This was it! I’d get one or two of the pricier werewolves, and substitute cheaper (money-wise) equivalents (mana-wise) for the open slots. I was fired up at this point – I’m going to try and buy cards for my werewolf deck that cost less than PhP 1,000!

Here’s what I actually ended up with:

Card Name	Quantity	Cost per card	What it cost me
Daybreak Ranger	1	120	120
Gatstaf Shepherd	3	10	10
Hanweir Watchkeep	2	7	14
Instigator Gang	1	75	75
Kruin Outlaw	1	75	75
Mayor of Avabruck	2	200	400
Reckless Waif	4	50	200
Tormented Pariah	3	1	3
Village Ironsmith	3	1	3
Villagers of Estwald	3	1	3
Brimstone Volley	2	20	40
Full Moon's Rise	4	10	40
Incinerate	4	20	0
Moonmist	4	1	3
		TOTAL	PhP 986

A few explanations are in order: 

• I already had 2 Gatstaf Shepherds. I bought 2 more to complete the set, but when I worked out the numbers with the help of the other decks I had on hand I decided I only needed 3 in the deck. I can side in the fourth one in place of a Village Ironsmith if I’m not fighting green.

• Speaking of Village Ironsmiths, they’re really placeholders until I can get my other 2 Mayors of Avabruck. Similarly, the Hanweir Watchkeeps, Tormented Pariahs, and Villagers of Estwald are holding spots for more Kruin Outlaws, Instigator Gangs, and Daybreak Rangers.

• Incinerates were free because I had a playset (Magic jargon for a set of 4 cards) courtesy of M12 and 10^th Edition. I feel no shame in admitting I still had my Incinerates from 2007. It pays not to throw old things away sometimes.

• I already had a single Moonmist, courtesy of an Innistrad booster that I purchased. Thus I only needed to purchase 3 more copies.

I did it!

Never mind that the mana base consisted of 9 Forests, a Jungle Shrine, 9 Mountains, and 4 Terramorphic Expanses. Who cares if it’s not Standard legal? I made a werewolf deck within the budget I set for myself, using my hard-earned cash, and I’m having a great time with it!

I had fun finding substitutes for the raw materials, putting the deck together, and playing games with it, whether I won or lost. It’s not over yet, though – I still plan to get more of the rare and uncommon werewolves, and if I can find them, add mana-producing non-basic lands to round out my mana base.

This deck, I feel, will be a keeper. I would so love to play with an initiate to the game and watch his reaction as I pick up my Reckless Waif, pull her out of her sleeve and flip the card to reveal the monster on the other side. “You were wondering where the werewolf is in the card, eh? Well, here it is!”

“Wait, creature cards can do that?”

“Mine can, kid, and yours don’t, unless they’re werewolves too. I tell you, I love this deck, because there’s more than meets the eye.”

Come to think of it, that’s why I love this game.

Howl at the moon!

In Love With Inferno Titan

I apologize for lack of images - I'm posting this from an 'Net rental shop because my new home doesn't have Internet or a phone line yet.

I participated in the Magic 2012 Pre-Release tournament held at Eton Cyberpod last Saturday, July 10, 2011, and got a 3-1 record! Would you believe it, with these cards?

Deck List  (24 spells, 16 lands)
14 Commons, 8 Uncommons, 1 Rare, 1 Mythic Rare

Mythic Rare-

Inferno Titan - To answer the above question, yes, 3-1 with this monster is believable. In all 3 matches I won, it was because of this guy. From killing Royal Assassins and Grim Lavamancers, assisting in taking down a literal 6/6 flying demonic tutor, to doing a suicide run in order to bring my opponent within Lava Axe range, this Titan was the MVP. Too bad he didn't show up the first game, though.

Rare-

Sorin's Vengeance - This 7-mana sorcery saved my hide from losing when my opponent was at 28 life and I was at 10. My opponent was just being practical and hitting me with his Sorin Markov for 2 and gaining 2 every turn, and I was trying my best to kill the planeswalker with my attacks when I drew my third swamp, which also happened to be my seventh land. Rather than wait for my opponent to hit me with a "Mindslaver ver. Black" I hit Sorin with his own draining spell. Irony!

Uncommon:

Circle of Flame - While normally this spell would be passed over in Standard constructed and relegated to the sideboard, this little red enchantment saved me countless of times in the mirror match, keeping various X/1 attackers at bay, buying me time to set up my big hitters.

Crimson Mage - Turn 1 Goblin Fireslinger, Turn 2 shoot/swing with Goblin, triggering Stormblood Berserker's bloodthirst 2, Turn 3 Crimson Mage, give itself haste, swing for 6. Or, Turn 1 Goblin Fireslinger, Turn 2 Crimson Mage, ping for 1, Turn 3 Child of Night + haste = 7-point life swing! In reality though, Crimson Mage was relegated to the role of 2-mana beater, which it does well.

Crown of Empires - The other reason I was able to hold out against enemy creatures. Volcanic Dragon heading your way and no Doom Blade in hand? No problem, just stare it down with the crown - and three mana, of course. Black flying 6/6 demon? Piece of cake. Have 3, will live.

Onyx Mage - You have got to love a 2-mana beater who essentially makes blocking even your smallest attackers a losing proposition if regeneration isn't available. Its ability to grant deathtouch is also a powerful defensive tool. You're not going to attack with your 5/7 giant spider legend into certain death, are you?

Sengir Vampire - Classic black threat from the sky. 'Nuff said. For those new to Magic, in a sealed deck constructed environment, paying 5 mana for a 4/4 flyer is fine already, and extra abilities are icing on the cake. The ability to get a +1/+1 counter for each kill certainly is a great bonus.

Stormblood Berserker x2 - I didn't know how to use these guys in the first match, and I feel that I must apologize to these dudes. They're excellent harassers even as 1/1 creatures, can force weird blocks or be let through just to avoid having a fragile support creature die, and late in the game a 3/3 that requires 2 creatures to block it can be a cause for consideration.

Volcanic Dragon - Here's a bit of history: Volcanic Dragon was originally a rare when it came out in the Mirage set, and people would feel bad if they drew one from a pack. It's not much of a bomb, especially for a rare. Now, a 4/4 uncommon flyer with haste for 6 mana is just about right, in a color not known for flying, efficient or big creatures.

Common:

Bloodrage Vampire - In the right conditions or deck, this guy is actually a 4/2 for three mana. Most of the time though, he'll be a magnet for blockers, or a threat against X/4 would-be attackers.

Bonebreaker Giant - 100% better than Blood Ridge Berserkers, which has the same 4/4 body and converted mana cost of 5, because it can actually block for more than 1 turn. You can actually tell it to stay put and not suicidally charge into the enemy ranks.

Chandra's Outrage - My favorite 4-mana burn spell, because when you need to kill an opposing Serra Angel, Sengir Vampire, Volcanic Dragon, or Djinn of Wishes, three damage will not do. 4 damage to any targetable creature is nice, and 2 damage on your opponent (or a planeswalker he controls) is a nice side effect.

Child of Night x2 - Yet another vampire foot soldier. No flying here, just 2 damage for 2 mana, and a life bonus with each hit thanks to its lifelink ability. It also plays nice with multi-color decks thanks to requiring just one black mana plus one of any color.

Doom Blade - This spell destroys any creature that isn't black, whatever size it is. During my matches Doom Blade took down enemy Volcanic Dragons, 6/6 wurms with trample and bloodthirst, 5/7 giant spiders, and other creatures that would have spoiled my plans.

Goblin Fireslinger - It's not in the size of the body or the size of the burning pebble it hits you in the face with from long range. It's the ability to trigger bloodthirst in his buddies that convinced me to let this little guy stay in my deck, and I have no regrets.

Gorehorn Minotaurs - If Inferno Titan was my MVP, this guy was my waterboy and bench-warmer rolled into one. He didn't show up in the battlefield in any of the matches at all. I only drew him in test draws or non-scoring games, which shows just how weird my luck is, I guess.

Gravedigger - Crucial. Absolutely crucial, especially when you have plans of a suicidal charge to take down one or some of your opponent's creatures, or if a surprise spell kills your current attacker. You get a free 2/2 zombie as a bonus, and who doesn't like free zombies?

Incinerate - They should rename this spell "Trollbuster". Whenever I fought a green deck in my matches, they would always bring out a Cudgel Troll or enchant their creatures with Trollhide, and this burn spell would always answer the call. I even remember ending one game with Goblin Fireslinger and Incinerate for the last few points of damage.

Lava Axe - 5 damage to the face for five mana. It doesn't get simpler than this. See the Inferno Titan comment above for a memorable instance of sternum-crushing axe to the face action. For those confused with the anatomical references, go and take a look at, or better yet, get a copy of the M12 version of this card.

Manalith - Q: You're playing a two-color deck, should you still run mana-fixing? A: If it's anything that will help you summon your Giant, Vampire, Dragon, or Titan earlier, then by all means do so. I remember casting an Inferno Titan on Turn 5 after getting nothing but Swamps, a Sengir Vampire and a Child of Night for the first 4 turns. A Mountain on Turn 5 followed with a Titan - that won the game then and there.

Manic Vandal - Q: Manic Vandal main in the main deck, when you're running 2 artifacts of your own? A: When push comes to shove, and you need an extra body, you do what you need to do. I put him in because I saw there were 3/4 golems running around, which would really mess up my attack plans, but I didn't encounter any. He got to blow up a Manalith or 2 though.

Warpath Ghoul - It's a vanilla 3/2 zombie for three mana. There's not much to say about this guy, except that he got narrowly beat out of the bench-warmer/waterboy position by the Gorehorn Minotaurs.

Last but not the least, the mana base:
9 Mountains
7 Swamps

A Little Tip for Fighting an Angel

I'm referring to the monstrosities from Neon Genesis Evangelion, specifically to the one you face on SRW L for the DS, Stage 23.

If your weapons aren't powerful enough to pierce the monster's AT-Field on your own, you have to resort to making efficient squads built around the Fury / Choukugeki / Pierce spirit command. I'll list that who should have the spell by now - at least, by my team's levels.

Capt. Mitsuko Yagyuu - Build Angel (Koutetsushin Jeeg repair jet) - Lv 30
Ken - Blade Gainer (Shinkon Gattai Godannar secret unit) - Lv 33
Dick - Kill Jaguar (Gaiking's gold cat robot pal) - Lv 32
Jack Smith - HIMSELF (I think Black Samurai from Linebarrels is cool, eh fights mechs on foot and doesn't afraid of anything) - Lv 29 (then again he is a cyborg)
Mira Ackerman - Neo Okusar (The light pink girly mech from Godannar, AKA Dannar's other "wife") - Lv 32
Zechs Mequise / Preventer Wind / Milliardo Peacecraft / Gundam Wing's Char clone - Tallgeese III - Lv 33
Heine Westinfluss (sp?) - Gouf Ignited - Lv 32; Seriously, I thought this guy was a joke, until I saw how useful he was.
Lt. Ozma Lee AKA Kamina in a Macross Frontier Valkyrie - VF-25S Messiah F - Lv 32
Rey Za Burrel - Legend Gundam - Lv 31 (If you let him score the kill on the Angel make sure you save him at Stage 33 - or not, if you prefer)
Shinn Asuka - Destiny Gundam - Lv 32 (Of course he has the skill to punch through barriers, his Japanese voice actor also did Shiki FREAKING Tohno from the Tsukihime anime! Yes it exists, so live with it, denial fools! I mean I lived through the Omamori Himari and Asu no Yoichi adaptations and their gecko endings for crying out loud...)


AHEM.

Pardon the outburst, now to bring the list to an end.

Kurara - Dancougar Nova's blue-haired girl pilot - Lv 33
Megumi - Voltes V's ninja girl - Lv 32

This is just for reference, of course. I mean if you feel like taking the brute force route and deploying all your Super Robots and some repair and resupply units, go ahead, just don't overextend and be aware of the following events in the stage.

- Angel's HP drops to less than 50%: Regenerates to full, Asuka deploys in unit 02, Duo and Hilde not far behind
- Enemy Turn after Player Reinforcements arrive - enemy reinforcements, Iczer series' robo-grunts and an annoying Super Small-sized (we're talking human-sized here) boss to lead them. Iczer-3 moves to confront all of them, so try to force the event before moving Iczer-3 so you can move her to safety. Iczer-3 is mission critical in this stage - she dies, you restart the mission.

Rise of The Eldrazi Frontline Report AKA Punching Out Cthulu's Cousins

"Sortie Hand of Emrakul!"
"Hand of Emrakul is away! It's engaged by the enemy Architect of Kozilek! Our monster is down, sir!"
"FLAME SLASH! Target: Architect of Kozilek!" WHOOSH! CRASH-THUD!
"Enemy AOK destroyed! Only the Ulamog's Crusher is left!"
"Enchant Ogre Sentry with Boar Aura! We will block the Crusher on its next attack, and mark my words it will attack! End turn!"
"Enemy Crusher is on the attack, sir!"
"Sacrifice the Eldrazi Spawn and a forest! Send the Ogre in!"
"No good sir! We have a 6/6, the enemy is an 8/8! Our Ogre is down, but alive, thanks to the Totem Armor!"
"Now, Staggershock, targeting the damaged Crusher!"
ZAP!
"Enemy Crusher is destroyed! Enemy wizard is ending his turn, sir!"
"Alright, time for a counter-attack!"

No, the above wasn't a weird, alternate world episode of Evangelion, Godannar, or some other Mecha show. Actually I'm not so sure about the alternate Evangelion bit, now that I think of it... Heh. It's actually how the Rise of the Eldrazi pre-release tournament felt like. For five or so hours I faced down eldritch abomination after eldritch abomination, and I walked away from it all with a 3-1 record and 3 extra Rise of the Eldrazi boosters.

I'll post my decklist later, when the mood hits me.

Allies in Standard

It's rare that I post a full breakdown of my Magic: The Gathering decks, much less those that are Standard legal. I'm doing this one now on a whim, with my girlfriend on hand to, in her own words, "make the post awesome." I'd be an idiot to refuse.

I've read somewhere on a M:TG related webpage that Allies in Standard, as of the Zendikar block, wasn't feasible. With the new additions to the Ally lineup, I sought to refute that statement.

The deck I will be presenting is in its second, 4-color form, which evolved from a 3-color modification of The Adventurers Intro Pack from Zendikar. Check the link out to see what it was like in its 41-card pristine glory.

HISTORY

In a nutshell, The Adventurers wasn't all Allies to begin with. You had oddities like mana-producing elves and druids that turned your Forests into monsters. It also had support spells like Giant Growth, Overrun, Lightning Bolt and Fireball. It wasn't tightly-themed in my opinion - your creatures should all be allies, backed up with spells. And it only had 41 cards! Something clearly needed to be done.

I went to a card shop and bought some Allies piecemeal. When you have a goal in mind, it allows for more efficient purchases. The shop I went to only had a limited selection of allies, and I hadn't gotten my paycheck yet so I couldn't splurge on specialist allies - I focused my purchases on getting aggressive allies.

The first prototype I whipped up was Red-Green-black-blue. Red for the Berserkers, Lightning Bolts and Fireball, Green for the Oran-Rief Survivalists and the shiny Turntimber Ranger (which I heard were an automatic four of) Giant Growth and Overrun, and black mainly for Grim Discovery and Bojuka Brigand and a lone Agadeem Occultist and blue for a single Halimar Excavator and Seascape Aerialist each. Given the 4 colors, I added 4 Terramorphic Expanse, 3 Savage Lands and Crumbling Necropolis from Alara, and a lone Halimar Depths. I was pleased with its turnout against a "poor man's" Extended Red Deck Wins, and so I brought it to the office.

It fought against an Elf deck (as I might have mentioned in an earlier post, it was the Elves half of the Elves Versus Goblins box with some added friends from the Lorwyn block), a Goblin deck (same owner as the Elves deck, the other half of the Versus box), and a Kithkin deck.

It performed remarkably against the Elf deck by killing the 2 Wellwishers, recruiting them with the Agadeem Occultist (getting to an amazing 161 life through the course of the game), and staving off possible counter attacks by judicious use of my meager direct damage, the Occultist stealing choice elves from the graveyard with the help of Halimar Excavator (the moment a Wren's Run Vanquisher hit the graveyard, no elves could attack safely), and won ultimately by decking.

The Goblins matchup was pretty tough, as for a while my offense was stalled by Mudbutton Torchrunners on the defense. Fortunately, the guy had a "damage to the face first, worry about the cleanup later" mentality, and I was down to eight life before my allies solidified a defense, and then the Murasa Pyromancer decided to drop in. My opponent had then tapped out for a Siege-Gang Commander, and the red Ally made sure the enemy Commander never got a shot off. Next came a Seascape Aerialist, and that was the clincher. Thanks to the pair of Akoum Battlesingers in play, my souped up Brigands and Survivalists - heck the entire team had +1/+1 counters on them thanks to the Kazuul Warlord in play some turns prior - I was able to deal something like 20 damage from the sky to beat the Goblin horde.

After the match I chatted with him a bit and asked why he wasn't attacking with his pair of Torchrunners early on - if blocked, the ensuing explosion would kill my frail, tech-based allies. He admitted that he was betting on launching the explosive boggarts to my face with the Siege-Gang Commander, and honestly didn't think of the boggarts as "damned if you do, damned if you don't" attackers until I pointed it out to him.

I played against his kithkin next, and while I can't remember all the details, I recall he was stuck on a four lands, his Thoughtweft Trio just stared haplessly at my then 7/7 Survivalist and 5/5 Brigand attacking after a Highland Berserker entered the battlefield, after which I finished him off with a Fireball. I thanked him for the games and proceeded to badger another office buddy for a game.

This long-time player friend of mine was sporting an Esper "Super Robots" deck. Master of Etherium, Tower Gargoyle, Scourglass, Oblivion Ring, Tidehollow Sculler - needless to say, this was the toughest deck in the office, with the Scourglass pretty much earning a concession from me every time it came out unless he was low in life already. My deck had no answer to that, and I hated it. So what did I do? Simple.

I went out and bought more Allies using part of my paycheck that just came in.

Two sweet words: Tuktuk Scrapper.

One crazy idea: No spells, all creatures.

DECKLIST (and bonus commentary!)

2 Mana: Frontline Squad

Akoum Battlesinger x 4 - She sings for massive damage. 6 allies with +1/+0 equals an instant 6 damage if unblocked. Combine with Seascape Aerialist later in the game and watch your opponent's reaction.

Bojuka Brigand x 2 - Every army has some bad eggs. Given a choice between casting this guy and one of the Oran-Rief dudes, go Oran-Rief. They're essentially another easy trigger for the other non-growing allies, but can in some games be your early beat stick.

Halimar Excavator x 3 - She provides defense early on, and can really mess things up as the game progresses. Has a very good working relationship with Agadeem Occultist.

Highland Berserker x 3 - Essentially a Goblin Piker with a special ability. 2 mana, 2 damage, chance to first strike. What's not to like?

Oran-Rief Survivalist x 4 - Accept no substitutes. Well, if it's other 2-drop Allies I might make some exceptions. This guy is the main workhorse of the deck.

3 Mana: Frontline Support

Agadeem Occultist x 1 - Halimar Excavators put cards in an opponent's graveyards. This guy makes them work for you, if you have enough allies in play. Very useful for chump blocking early if you manage to kill a vanilla 1/1 or 2/2 early on. Needless to say this guy is a fire magnet, perhaps even moreso than the other Allies in the deck. Against another creature-heavy deck, this guy is golden as his rarity symbol.

Stonework Puma x 1 - Sometimes, you don't draw the correct land to cast your allies. Other times, you need to block an annoying 2/2 with something you don't mind losing. This stone cat-robot fits the bill nicely. I'll replace it with another Tajuru Archer, probably.

Tajuru Archer x 1 - I hate Tower Gargoyles and Windwright Mages, doubly so if they have Steel of the Godhead on them, which the Esper "Super Robot" deck was packing. This gives me a fighting chance.

Umara Raptor x 4 - A flying Oran-Rief Survivalist. These birds will spell doom for ground-bound opponents, and will likely be targeted for elimination / control spells, leaving less flak for your more important allies.

4 Mana: The Six-Pack

Joraga Bard x 2 - Sometimes you need a guy who can face down Canyon Minotaurs without blinking. That's what he's mainly there for. With Umara Raptors and other combat specialists, however, he provides a solid defense while still allowing you to strike. One of them might be replaced, perhaps, with a Graypelt Hunter. For now, they're a pair.

Nimana Sell-Sword x 2 - It's a Bojuka Brigand that actually understands the concept of fighting off attackers. It's an Oran-Rief Survivalist that starts out bigger and doesn't die to Punishing Fire upon entering the field. It's another combat-specialist ally that's not too expensive. 2 in the deck, no more.

Tuktuk Scrapper x 2 - Even the mightiest of Esper Super Robots will fall in the face this goblin. The explosion is just a bonus. I might side in a full set, but the Super Robot deck's pilot is one of my friends, and to his credit is only packing 2 Scourglasses. He's mostly useless against the other decks in the office though.

5 Mana: The Cavalry

Hagra Diabolist x 1 - Making an opponent lose life is always good. 'Nuff said.

Kazuul Warlord x 1 - So your weak-kneed specialists and technicians need to go up there in the front lines and take names? Then send for big old Horns here to pump them up. If another ally with a self-pump ability follows on this minotaur's heels (or should it be hooves?), they get 2 +1/+1 counters from the get go!

Seascape Aerialist x 1 - Take the fight to the (hopefully) open sky and watch your opponent die. At the very least, he allows your attackers to get through the opponent's ground defense. I hope you've got your own defenses set up though.

Tuktuk Grunts x 2 - 5 mana for a hasted 3/3 might be too much. I'll likely drop one of them if I need to make room for new recruits.

Turntimber Ranger x 1 - Get him out early and prepare to swarm the opposition. Late game, he's still better than Tuktuk Grunts. Anything that doubles your creature production is very good, moreso in this deck's earlier versions which then had Overrun.

6 Mana: The Nuke

Murasa Pyromancer x 1 - When you need something killed with fire, this shaman is your man. Make no mistake, he will draw enemy fire and attention, if you have a lot of other allies on the battlefield already, he'll likely take someone down before dying himself. He's the most expensive ally currently in Standard, and that makes him just a one of.

Non-Basic Land

Ancient Ziggurat x 2 - in an all-creature deck, this is pretty much mandatory. Why don't I have 4 in the deck? I've yet to buy some more, that's why!

Crumbling Necropolis x 3

Halimar Depths x 1 - this card is really good. It allows you to see your next 3 cards and fix your draws, at worst it allows you to see how badly screwed you are. I should add another, perhaps.

Savage Lands x 3

Terramorphic Expanse x 4 - If you play a deck with more than 1 color, you'll definitely find these handy.

Basic Land

Forest x 4

Island x 2

Mountain x 5

Swamp x 1

Total Land: 25

Total Creatures: 36

BATTLE RESULTS

Vs. Elves

A bit more difficult now that I'm no longer able to take out key elements of the opposing army, but the elves die to birds of prey the size of elephants that did not tap to attack. Jagged-Scar Archers came in too late to stop the bleeding, and Hagra Diabolist sealed the deal.

Vs. Kithkin

Even though he was stuck at 3 lands, he was able to hold me off by turning a Kinsbaile Skirmisher into a 6/6 monster over the course of three turns thanks to his Cenn's Tactician. He was royally mana-screwed as I was able to cast Murasa Pyromancer and killed his Tactician, then followed it up the next turn with a Seascape Aerialist which allowed me to outrace him in damage per turn.

Vs. Esper

First Game: Tuktuk Scrapper enters the battlefield, and backed up by assorted 2-mana allies forces a concession from the robot army, who didn't have Agony Warp or Oblivion Ring then, and was taking upwards of 3 damage per destroyed artifact.

Second Game: Tuktuk Scrapper decides to join the fray early, resulting in him tripping an Oblivion Ring. Not too much of a loss, as the robots couldn't find Swamps to save their hides and they got beaten down by a pair of battle singers and their horde of admirers.

CONCLUSION

Allies are fun.

Future projects:

• Go back to a 2-color build. This allows for more support spells, however my ally count will go down significantly. This means Stonework Pumas become suddenly important.
• Move down to 3 colors. Not so many allies lost, and I can add some spells which cover ally weaknesses. This will most likely involve green, because at the moment allies cannot destroy enchantments, something like 2 Naturalize, 3 Giant Growth, and 1 Overrun plus more Forests might be added in place of the lost color.
• Try white allies out. I've already got 4 Ondu Clerics, but the white combat specialists are darned expensive and get snapped up as quickly as possible. White also opens up Solemn Offering, which kills both enchantments and artifacts. Hmm.

Hobby Post Number... ah nvm (-_-")

It looks like the update rate for this blog is once a year. That's really bad on my part, but it just really shows how there's nothing deep and serious that I need to share happening in my life at the moment.

In other words, things could be better, but I'd rather not change anything now. I'm more or less healthy (not fit - fit means not overweight, good skin / complexion, etc., and I have neither) I think my position at work is stable, and I have loved ones around me. I'm ok with no changes and keeping the status quo, as opposed to risking any of these things.

"Contentment is a virtue."

If I were to select a family motto, I'd choose that.

Recent updates: I've gotten a co-worker back into cardboard crack, AKA Magic: The Gathering. The office decks are pretty much not following Standard / T2 for the most part, which is why I can get away with 75-card Slivers and 61-card All Allies No Spells. Metagame is dominated by an Esper aggro-control deck centered around Scourglass, Master of Etherium, and big flying robots, which pretty much folds in on itself when I play a Tuktuk Scrapper. I maindeck 2 in my AANS, and jokingly threaten to side in all 4 if the owner of the Esper deck doesn't come up with an alternative deck. In turn, my AANS loses badly against Elves (the half part of an Elves VS Goblins box) and Kithkin, only eking out a win against the re-addicted guy's Goblins because of his inexperience / rustiness.

He says he hadn't been able to play in a while, and when he found that me and the Esper guy played actively, he had his brother FedEx his cards to the capital (he lived in a Visayan city before moving to my office). Now That's addiction, er, dedication.

On occasion I throw the guys a bone and bring out Hive 75 (essentially a tweaked version of the Slivers Premium Deck), and I love seeing their decks react to the mutating swarm. The jig is still up when Scourglass hits the board, though, so if anyone has a spare Harmonic Sliver or 2, let me know how much you want for it, or if you're willing to trade 4 Lightning Bolts for 1 of them.

Hive 75 may get a diet to slim down to 60, or the Allies might decide to lose one of its 4 colors and gain some spells in return - direct damage, combat tricks, or recovery. We'll see if we have time - Super Robot Taisen Original Generation Saga Mugen No Frontier EXCEED is keeping me busy. Note the title - it's not Endless Frontier, but Mugen no Frontier - that's right, I'm playing the Japanese version, as the English one won't be out until 6-12 months from now.

Magic 2010: Rejoice Red Mages, Your First Love Has Returned

Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!

Oh yes, you read it right, the Bolt is back, along with its old partners in crime Fireball and Earthquake. I say, red is looking better than ever.

Obviously, I'm a red fanboy. We red mages relish in the fast attack early on, the shaky mid-game hold provided by our less than stellar creatures, and exult in taking the last points of life by aiming a flurry of spells, or one really big one, to the dome. We curl up and die against enchantments and much more efficient creatures if these are brought to bear against us - and we like it that way. We play fast, live fast, and die fast if we cannot bring the opponent down quickly.

With that little bit or ranting out of the way, time to talk about my attendance at the Pre-Release held July 11 at Robinson's Galleria. It's the first tournament I've been to in 24 months.

Deck building followed deck registration - no swapping and the like. I gazed in envy as the kid opposite me opened a Platinum Angel and an Overrun - it was pretty obvious what his deck was going to be. I prayed I didn't have to face him in any of my matches - my card quality was sub-par, with nothing that would take the game the moment it hit the table. See for yourself:

Creatures (16):
Elite Vanguard x1
Griffin Sentinel x1
Rhox Pikemaster x1
Serra Angel x1
Soul Warden x1
Veteran Armorsmith x1
Veteran Swordsmith x1
Wall of Faith x1
Fiery Hellhound x1
Inferno Elemental x1
Jackal Familiar x1
Lightning Elemental x1
Magma Phoenix x1
Raging Goblin x2
Sparkmage Apprentice x1

Spells (8):
Divine Verdict x1
Glorious Charge x1
Pacifism x2
Kindled Fury x1
Lightning Bolt x1
Seismic Strike x1
Magebane Armor x1

Lands (16):
Plains x7
Mountain x8
Terramorphic Expanse x1

It didn't help that I was mana-screwed every f***ing other game. Seriously, 40% of your deck is made of land, and I get stuck with opening hands that have only 2 land? The Random Number Gods really have it in for me. I got a 2-2 record because of it, unable to summon key creatures like Inferno Elemental and Serra Angel. Never in all my games was I able to pull off a Seismic Strike that could kill anything bigger than a bear before getting killed. And this is a deck that has more mountains than plains...

Highlight of the game - beating down an opponent in Match 3 using 3 one-drops, then finishing the opponent with a Lightning Bolt. It brings back memories of a much simpler time, of when I didn't have a budget that allowed me to attend tournaments.

The flavor text on the new Lightning Bolt summed my feelings up pretty nicely.

"The sparkmage shrieked, calling on the rage of the storms of his youth. To his surprise, the sky responded with a fierce energy he'd never thought to see again."

It's been thirteen years for us, LB. Welcome back, love.

ERR, NOW WHAT?

I must be trying to break or set a personal record. Three eroge finished in four weeks. Of course this means I haven't been able to write the closing chapter to my ambitious, doomed to failure multi-series crossover, and so I'm feeling a little bit guilty.

*******

I'm taking this rare opportunity to update - the house DSL connection is spotty and shaky at times. Sigh. And I'm paying 1200 bucks out of my salary for this? There is something broken with this situation, and I'm pretty sure it's not my network devices.

Nothing special going on, really. A couple of my coworkers have leveled up, so to speak, which puts pressure on the rest of the team. The lower-level peeps are reminded to take the same challenges, while we "older" next-level guys have to push up and reach for the next tier so we can prove our seniority. We're afraid that the shiny, sparkly newly promoted guys would make it seem so easy to reach the next level, and we're afraid of losing face and credibility to the guys and gals on the lowest rung. I think. I speak for myself. I guess.

*******

Aside from the eroge, I've also finished all 4 acts of the doujin game Battle Moon Wars. It's a mouse-driven turn based simulation rpg in the same vein as Super Robot Taisen, except that the characters and plot devices are drawn from Type-Moon's novels and games instead of various mecha series past and present. One advantage that BMW enjoys over SRT/Super Robot Wars is that there is a wonderful soul who has made it his labor of love to translate all of the game into English, allowing those of us who could not make sense of kanji and hiragana to enjoy the story and game play. Granted, Atlus has translated SRW OG and OG 2 for the GBA into English, which I enjoyed, but there's still something about BMW that grabs my heart and keeps it.

Maybe it's the level of detail / animation for the map sprites. The sprites march, saunter, wave their arms about when jumping, fall down on their knees when reaching critical HP, and in one case explode in a crying mushroom cloud. I kid you not.

Or maybe it's the fact that the game allows you to order about in heated fights characters from visual novels and eroge. Guh, why'd I end up talking about eroge again?

*******

The readout on my taskbar says that it's almost 12 noon. I yawn, and really should consider going to bed instead of thinking up lines to write.

Forgive me, my fanfic. I will attend to you soon - as soon as I get my teeth fixed up.

REBERU APU!
Or
You have earned a skill point!

As I write this, it's - what the heck, you can read the time stamp, right?

It's raining now. Half an hour ago, I came home via cab and was greeted by my older brother, who informed me of some interesting new sleeping and bed arrangements. I shrugged, and murmured my assent my family was sleeping soundly, and I had no wish to wake them up.

That was my intent.

Turns out that my Mom, and surprisingly Dad, was also awake at this unholy hour. Dad had a request for me - immediately my weird sensors started tingling. A favor, at just a few minutes around midnight?

I have always tried to be an obedient son. I know that my education levels leave a lot to be desired and I know that it's a constant source of angst - can sexagenarians still angst about anything? - and so I resolved that whatever his request may be, it can't be as hard as getting a thesis paper approved and published, so I'm going to do it.

My old man needed help catching hen that was roosting on one of the trees in front of the house.

I daresay that it was the most unexpected thing that my old man would need my help on, and it sure beats writing a thesis hands down. I did tell him one thing though: "I've never tried to catch livestock at night before, can't we do it at daybreak instead, or when there's light enough for me to see the bird?"

My dad looked at me like I had grown a second head on my shoulders. I belatedly realized that if I could see the bird on the tree's branches, it sure as heaven could see me. D'oh! I blame the hour for it.

Essentially, I was able to act out my Metal Gear / Snake-wannabe fantasies. After changing into my "Stealth Suit" AKA my usual sleepwear of sleeveless shirt and comfy trousers I hunted for a pair of rubber slippers - I am not about to go sneaking around in the darkness of our front yard without footwear - and tried to open the gate as quietly as I could. The gate, not having been oiled recently, groaned and shuddered like a haunted mansion prop.

For this operation Dad was acting as the spotter. He had a powerful flashlight with which he pointed out, well, maybe illuminated would be the better word, my objective. The hen was roosting on one of the branches of the bilimbi (Averrhoa bilimbi) - that's kamias for all the Tagalog-speakers and Filipinos out there - a bit more than six feet above the ground. Get some elevation, stay silent, and grab the sleeping bird. I'm a healthy, gout-free young man, so it should be a piece of cake, right?

The hen of course had to awaken at the sound of the gate and got distressed at the sound of impending capture. It didn't help that my Dad, with unerring accuracy, managed to get the bird right in the eye every single time with his flashlight beams - a holdover no doubt from his more active days, when he and his Forest Management Bureau colleagues teamed up with the then Presidential Anti-Crime Commission to raid illegal logging operations and sawmills.

The bird did the smart thing and moved to a higher branch.

I was having none of it, however. I wanted to rest, I was starting to get hunger pangs - seriously, I have this weird fast metabolism - and so I asked Dad to keep illuminating the target, and not to flash beams at it - while I circled the base of the tree and looked for a way up. Thank goodness the bird wasn't looking down, so I was able to get underneath it and nab one of its legs. A few seconds of avian struggle and it was over.

"Target acquired," I joked to my dad, trying to sound as mechanical as possible. "Mission Accomplished."

During the Intermission, I handed the bird over to Mom while Dad fished around for a length of string to tie hen with. I asked, "Why didn't you tie it up in the first place?"

"We did tie it up. Unfortunately, your cousin's son untied it..."

"The kid was under no supervision? Then they should have tethered him," I wanted to say, in hindsight.

My folks are asleep again, and I'm still hungry time for another pancake. Excuse me.

I decided to go against pancakes and horked the bottle of sweetened pili nuts instead. Sweet!!

Now for some RPG-related claptrap:

You learn a new feat: Improved Nocturnal Grapple (Animal)
Prerequisites
Dex 13, Improved Unarmed Strike.

Benefit
You do not provoke an attack of opportunity (or an escape attempt) when you make a touch attack to start a grapple against an animal smaller than you in low-lighting conditions. You also gain a +4 bonus on all grapple checks vs. animals smaller than you in low-lighting conditions, regardless of whether you started the grapple.

Normal
Without this feat, you provoke an attack of opportunity (or an escape attempt) from the animal when you make a touch attack to start a grapple. Going over to pet it, heck even thinking of touching the little critter will make your intentions known and want it to be not where you could see it.

Special
This feat does not allow you to grapple animals in total darkness unless you have the Blind Fighting feat.

Note that humans are animals, and even an centimeter over your target will allow you to use this feat against him/her.

It's been a while since I've written anything here. I almost thought it would reject me. I find myself asking at times why I bothered creating a blog in the first place, when I feel that I don't have stuff that are worth making an update to my online journal every so often.

Now what?

I might as well stay true to form and stick to my tried and tested time-walk through the past week, talking about games and the world as it revolves around me.

I pause as a certain conversation with someone runs through my head as I write, a conversation about what you type out on your blog for the world to see.

My blog is not meant to be a tour guide through my thought processes. By reading this blog, you are looking at the inner workings of a geek who's proud of it, one who will tell you to look it up on Wikipedia or Google if you ask for a detailed explanation of things he doesn't feel like explaining himself. If it seems abrasive to you, I apologize, but given the alignment of stars and planets on my hour of birth, this is me straight from the can.

This blog will not be a pretty show and tell site, with illustrations accompanying the text paragraphs. I find it too much of upkeep and effort to do so, and I'm not running for hits anyway. Just because I'm a geek doesn't mean I can't be lazy in some aspects.

Wanna know a secret? I just made a blog so that (assuming the Internet does not get destroyed in the near future) my descendants can take a look at it, read it perhaps, and say to themselves, "The old man was whacked, but at least he left behind a bit of himself."

If you're scared of a sea of words which may contain unfathomable, incomprehensible ideas and big, high-falutin' words, turn back now. There are other pages out there. This is your last warning.

THE WEEK THAT WAS...

• Eventide Pre-Release

Right after my graveyard shift, with no sleep at all, I headed for a certain mall to fall in line and get my spot confirmed. I was in the second pod of players, and I was so sleepy that the guys on the table I was sitting at had to point out to me that my ticket was for pod Bravo, not Alpha. Whoa. This is a bad portent.

As always, I end up with a pile of cards with very few playable rares. I tell myself it's ok, I'm only in it for the Pre-Release foil card, a hybrid blue-green monster called the Overbeing of Myth, which in my opinion should have been called Overbeing of Hype. It's a */* creature where * is the number of cards in your hand, and to make sure it can swing big it has you draw an extra card per turn. It doesn't fly, so with the draw ability it's technically an upgrade of the old and lovable Maro from the Mirage block. Essentially a dud when it's the only card in your hand, unless you've got a permanent that boosts the toughness of your blue and/or green creatures, it's awesome when you have a full hand or close to it.

If you're wondering about my deck, I unfortunately disassembled it before I could document it. It was a red-white concoction, focusing on playing my usable rares, Windbrisk Raptor from Shadowmoor and Nobilis of War from Eventide. I also had a mini-combo in the form of Power of Fire and a couple of Kithkin that could untap themselves. The deck, which in my opinion was the best my card pool could produce, did have some great moments.

There was one game where a Powered Patrol Signaler was able to clear my opponent's board, including a Kulrath Knight, and kept it clear, while generating a Kithkin token army. My opponent thought he still had a long clock (Magic jargon for the number of turns you might still have to be able to pull of a win) - until the Nobilis of War came down, turning each token into 3/1 creatures when attacking. My war-crazed tokens were willing to tussle with the enemy defenders, knowing that there would be more to follow once the flame-throwing Patrol Signaler finishes off the blocking creature.

If you still didn't get it, Power of Fire allows you to tap your creature to and have it deal 1 damage to any target. Patrol Signaler can untap himself for 2 mana and net you a 1/1 Kithkin token as well. Combined, my board can actually deal 4 points of damage to any target - at the point I was able to complete the combo I had 5 lands, three of which were Plains, and was able to draw a fourth.

Then there was the game where I was able to play Windbrisk Raptor (a whopping 7 mana investment) and was able to enchant it with Scourge of the Nobilis. The Scourge is part of a set of 2-color enchantments that provide a certain bonus to a creature if it's one of two colors. If a creature is both the colors, these enchantments provide 2 power-ups to the creature - a strong incentive to play 2 colors. Anyway, the Scourge gives +1/+1 to red and white creatures, grants the ability to increase damage output with mana to red creatures and lifelink (AKA damage = life gain) to white creatures. Putting it on the Raptor turned it into a 6/8 flying beast that grants attackers lifelink - including itself. Now, according to the rules, each instance of lifelink triggers separately. Which meant whatever the Raptor hits (for 6) I gain 12 life, a blessing considering that I was on the ropes then. After confirming with a judge that this was the way double lifelink works the game quickly grew out of hand and my opponent conceded.

Another cute cycle in the Eventide block were the hatchlings. These were 6/6 creatures for 4 mana, which came into play with 4 -1/-1 counters each. Each hatchling had a special ability, and each would shake off a -1/-1 counter whenever its controller plays a spell that belongs to one of its two colors. If the spell was both colors, (say a Scourge of the Nobilis) the hatchling shakes off 2 counters. It happened in my next game, where my opponent was stuck with 2 lands and I had a lot of lands and no creatures until turn 4, the red-white Belligerent Hatchling. So I tapped 4, played it, and when my opponent discarded another card to end his turn, I tried to contain my glee as I dropped a fifth land and played my other creature I was holding since Turn 1: Nobilis of War. Suddenly my Hatchling was taking a 6-point chunk of my opponent's 20 life. Still my opponent's deck refused to cooperate and it was over on my turn when I drew Scourge of the Nobilis and enchanted the Hatchling with it, turning it into an 8/8 first strike creature with lifelink and the capacity to do more damage. My opponent was staring down at a maximum of 17 damage in one attack - he extended his hand and shook mine, commenting that "Suddenly, my three color fast attack deck seems SO SLOW right now."

"Mana screw, dude. It could happen to anybody," I replied.

Of course, I lost the next two games after that, I mean I was utterly defeated, 0-2 for the next duels. It sucked, really. I lost, and I lost quickly each game, and I can only curse the Fates - the blonde Testarosa one not included, of course.

I modded the deck as soon as I got home with the prize packs, which yielded another Scourge of the Nobilis and 2 perfect candidates to bestow it to: a pair of first-striking hobgoblin knights mounted on cicadas that could bear their weight. The 1/2 fliers suddenly turn into flying, life-sucking bringers of DOOM that can engage any opponent and kill it if there was enough red or white mana available - yes, you read that right.

That's the dream, at least. Only in 40-card constructed.

• Finished Hellgate:London At Last

Possible Spoiler Warning

I step into St. Paul's Hellgate after realizing that the enemy just continuously re-spawns like mad. While it was probably good for racking up experience points, dinner was about to be served, and I wanted to see with my girlfriend what the final battle would be like.

The witch lady I've been traveling with seems to be a heavenly avatar of some sort and instructs me to finish off 5 demon generals while she keeps the big guy distracted. It appears to me that her method of distracting the final boss is to play telepathic mind games with him while hovering after me for protection, or perhaps a lack of sense of direction.

So, onto hunting the mini-bosses. I had to constantly re-build my conjurer's army of elementals and make sure that the tanking Carnagor didn't fall. The mini-bosses were essentially re-colors and re-sizes of some enemies I've faced before, with the exception of the Reaper mini-boss - I don't think I've ever encountered a Reaper enemy before, if memory serves me right. What made the Reaper mini-boss slightly annoying was that it was in close proximity to a flying ethereal type mini-boss. The combination almost spelled death for my Carnagor, but timely use of my blood (read:HP) in exchange for my pet's and ordering it to execute its Meat Shield special ability both kept it alive and drew the stupid flying boss down closer to the ground. At this point I was thankful that I took some points in and Storm Elemental, Toxin Elemental, and Elemental Nova. I was able to strip its shields quickly, prevent it from healing by afflicting it with poison, and land Fire Damage Over Time and Defense Down de-buffs on it while stunning it every so often - that's what an entire family of elementals that just went Nova could do. The Elemental Nova doubles the chance of my little glowing pets adding special effects to their attacks, and boy, what a demonstration.

Truth be told, Sydonai, the final Boss, was a let down. Compared to fighting the titular enemy in Diablo 2 or any of his brothers, Sydonai bombed. He never got to me, always going after my elementals, and finally was unable to break away from my loyal Carnagor, at which point we buried him under a ton of fireballs, lighting bolts, poison spit (eww), warp blasts, brute force, and electric eels. I kid you not, that's what the rifle was called, an Electric Eel Launcher, and aside from not missing once the target is in 20 meters, I added power-ups to it that made it deal fire damage, cause the Ignite status effect, and increase the chance of the Shock status effect to prevent skill and spell use.

After all that work, what do you get? Nothing. Absolutely, positively nothing. A little cinematic is shown where it's revealed that Murmur who was thought to have been eaten by Sydonai is still alive despite all the massive damage on his human body, and thanks you for knocking this particular obstacle out of his way. He pays you back by sending you through a rift, then brings out a book which might have been important to his plans. The joke's on him though, as the pages turn into cinders, leaving him with a look of disbelief on his face. Cue crappy ending credit sequence here.

Perhaps there would be more on the second time you finish the game, you might say? Perhaps. I'm in no mood to challenge it again anytime soon though. I want to get back into writing, and I have a little loose end I want to tie up.

Until next time, may your saving of the world, your prevention of the apocalypse, and heroic efforts be met with the fanfare you deserve. Remember, tempt not the Fates, especially the blonde Testarosa one - she has some kick-ass friends, notably one Demon Cannon Girl.

So Much For Regularity

A backward account of recent events follows.

I finished watching Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and the A's season this morning. Sweet. You watch it expecting Card Captor Sakura, you end up feeling like you've sat through Super Robot Wars Original Generation or some other mecha series. It's a magical girl show that boys shouldn't feel ashamed to watch.

I changed my phone bling from Bleach's Grimmjow to Konata of Lucky Star Fame. I felt like a poseur, toting a character on my phone who I didn't no squat about, so I felt no remorse replacing the Arrancar with the blue haired 17-year old otaku.

I joined the Shadowmoor pre-release. I went 2-2, which was better than my Lorwyn and Morningtide finishes. Highlights if the day were my first Automatic Game Loss for suspected cheating and taking a foreign player to Philippine pre-release rule school. Remember kids, when using sleeves and sideboarding cards, don't make the same mistake I did of being lazy and placing the sideboard cards over the replaced ones. That will net you an AGL (see above), even if it's a casual environment like a pre-release. Also note that in a Philippine pre-release, the remaining cards you did not register as your main deck is your sideboard, and if you're lucky enough to be able to assemble a functional deck with the remnants, you are allowed to use that second deck during Games 2 and 3.

A few weeks back, I finished Rozen Maiden and its second season Traumend. For those not in the know, the show is about 7 living dolls who are actually Weapons of Mass Destruction fighting each other in a brawl called the Alice Game, with the last doll standing becoming Alice, dollmaker Rozen's ideal of the perfect girl. Somebody should point out to all the characters concerned that perfection is an illusion, or perhaps a delusion. The first season could be descrined as Hikikomori Rescue 101. The next season makes grown men cry when dolls are killed.

My gashapon collection really needs shelf space of their own. To date, I've got 8 SD Mobile Suits, an SD Eternal; 4 Capcom fighting females: Lilith and Morrigan (from Darkstalkers), Ingrid (from a Capcom title I'm sure I didn't play), and Claire (from Plasma Sword 2); and 6 more figures from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (2 Nagato Yuki in red and black bunny girl garb, Mikuru Asahina in Gothic Loli wear, Haruhi Suzumiya in beach wear, taking her top off, and 2 versions of Itsuki Koizumi, one holding a fireball in his hand, and the other one not).

Gaming Update: I'm pretty sure I'm at the last act of Hellgate London. The wonder of Dawn of War: Soulstorm has worn off for me, and it's now become a grind to acquire all the wargear for all 9 commanders. That's a lot of grinding. What I've recently picked up is the first three acts of Battle Moon Wars, and it was worth my time investment acquiring them. I can't read the Japanese conversations to get all the plot, but what I can decipher has be busting my gut laughing. A game that makes you fight a ninja cosplaying as a Gundam ZZ, who is actually the fusion of two psychotic killers with super powers? I didn't see this coming when I signed up for this, but it sure as hell was enjoyable.

That's all for now. I'd love to get back to work on my fanfiction - there's so much material to work with now.

Update! Update!

It's amazing that I'm posting again after almost a month since my last post. A sign of regularity, of things to come perhaps? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

So what have I been up to?

I'm trying to finish a bunch of games I've recently installed on my spanking new hard disk. It started with Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, trying to see all the endings. I've seen the Space Marines' ending, as well as those of the Orks, the Tau, the Imperial Guard, and the Necrons. The Tau ending was courtesy of my brother's perseverance. So far, I've yet to make sizable progress with Chaos and the Eldar campaigns, and then the other games struck.

Next up was an oldie but goodie - Age of Mythology. I've played the game before, but was disappointed when the campaign module of my brother's copy was corrupted - it wouldn't even let us finish the Greek campaign. Oddly enough, the multiplayer and skirmish modes were intact. Thanks to my girlfriend, I'm now able to enjoy it in all its glory - the impetus to finishing it is the fact that my girlfriend also has a copy of the AoM: Titans expansion.

The DoW: Soulstorm expansion is ready to spring upon avid War Hammer 40,000 gamers/players, which bodes well for financially strapped fans like myself. I've downloaded the demo, which allows you to play the Dark Eldar vs the Blood Ravens Space Marine chapter. It looks good - my only gripe is that small vehicle limit and caps don't make for exciting dogfights with the brand-new air units. From what I've seen, the game will be built on the Dark Crusade meta-engine, which is in turn a nod to old Westwood classics where you get to choose which enemy territory to attack. I'm excited to play with the Sisters of Battle, AKA Nuns With Guns. Yes, take that comment as you will.

Next up is Hellgate London, a contemporary dungeon crawl. You know it's good times when you're shooting demons up with your elemental rocket launchers, slicing them up close with power weapons, and they respond in kind. Hellgate offers dual-wielding of weapons even at the earliest levels of the game for some character classes, and with all the black armor going around, you can pretend you're playing a hellish version of The Matrix or Gunz: The Duel. No wall walk though, and melee combat is restricted to just two fighter classes, both of which can wield a pistol in their off hand. Come on people, is it so hard to kick or curb stomp a weakened enemy?

Then there's World in Conflict. It dubs itself as a real-time tactics game, or RTT. As far as I can tell, the only difference it has from RTS titles is that you don't build units in a RTT, you just click whatever troops you want deployed and they parachute or get airdropped to a designated point within 20 seconds. WiC also features the ability to recover the points you spent on destroyed units, which means eventually you'll be able to re-field that tank which died early on in your game to save your hide from being bum-rushed. I don't know if this is going to be a standard feature of RTTs, though.

The most recent addition is Company of Heroes. I call it Dawn of World War II. It's also a Relic release, and unsurprisingly features concepts familiar to DoW players: capturing strategic points, reinforcing squads that have lost a few good men, and most of the units come with special abilities. There are bits of realism though, and these are what make the game stand out from just playing DoW with the Imperial Guard: You can only reinforce infantry near an APC or HQ buildings/Barracks, captured points require that you have uncontested control over map sections leading from the point to other territory you control, and infantry making use of cover like walls and fortifiable buildings. Heck, even tank facing comes into play - you don't want your tank to take a hit to your rear or flanks, even by infantry.

Finally, an otaku update. My gashapon figure collection is growing again, after gifting some of them to people I know. I'm left with 3 SD super robots (The Big O, Godmars, and Shin Getter-1), Misato's apartment (which means Shinji, Asuka, and Pen-Pen) with a Rei add-on, and Kyon's harem of un-ordinary girls (Haruhi, Yuki, and Mikuru). Don't ask me when I'm going to buy another 1/144 or 1/100 mecha sprue kit - my Alteisen traumatized me with its loose joints. Besides, with all the games I have, as well as Shakugan no Shana Second and Rental Magica, do you think I'd have time?

Ja ne!

So What Else Is New?

This is my first post for the year 2008, which coincides with Magic: The Gathering's Morningtide pre-release event. This is just a few days after the weekend of said event.

I had pre-registered, and with the help of a good friend, I got into Pod A of the tournament, which meant I was among the first few people in the Philippines to open, see, touch, and play with Morningtide cards in a Wizards Of The Coast-sanctioned event. Yay!

While we were seated and waiting for the cards to be passed out, a lady came up on the stage and made an important announcement: we would not be receiving 1 Lorwyn tournament pack and 3 Morningtide boosters as we expected. Instead, we were to create our 40-card minimum decks with 6 Morningtide boosters! As one can imagine, this proclamation was greeted with mixed reactions. There were scattered cheers because it meant more cards from the newest set to be had, but when realization settled in, dismayed groans could be heard. I was one of those groaning when I realized that there wouldn't be a chance to get planeswalkers from the random card pool. Sigh.

Being part of the first pod meant that there was no deck swap. This meant that if you opened your packs and got a lot of mediocre, unexciting, or downright crappy cards you were stuck with them. If you had some nifty ones, you were golden. Unfortunately, not only did I draw no powerhouses, my selection of usable spells and creatures per color was disheartening to say the least. Worse still, I drafted a colors that, shall we say got beaten black and blue literally all throughout the day. I used a Red/Green/ Warrior deck, splashing white for some creature control.

Here is the decklist. I'm not going to break things down piece by piece like I did with my previous, M:TG-themed post, because every time I see the list I cringe. Look the cards up using Gatherer, an online card database, and if you don't know where Gatherer is, Google it.

Main Deck:

3 Brighthearth Banneret
1 Bramble Paragon
1 Fertilid
2 Lys Alana Bowmaster
2 Seething Pathblazer
3 Winnower Patrol
1 Changeling Sentinel
2 Game-Trail Changeling
1 Lunk Errant
1 Shard Volley
1 Obsidian Battle-Axe
3 Weight of Conscience
1 Roar of the Crowd
1 Hunting Triad
1 Reins of the Vinesteed

12 Forests, 5 Mountains, 3 Plains

Sideboard: 1 Pyroclast Consul

The funny thing is, the day after the event I went to my girlfriend's house to show her the new cards. While there, I asked if I could borrow some basic lands from her, Islands and Swamps, and tried to make a working deck out of the black and blue cards I didn't use, after which I gave her the deck and told her to play with it. Now, neither of us is a cardshark, world-level player in terms of skill, and she has just gotten around to being sneaky with instants (she can now play combat tricks and take me by surprise), but the newly-constructed Prowl deck I gave her, made up of Morningtide-only cards was monstrous against my temperamental Warrior deck. I never won a single game with her using my poor Warriors.

Do you realize what this means? It means that during the next pre-release I attend, after I make an initial deck, I take the cards left on the bench and force a deck out of that. Life is funny that way.