Deathmarked

Jund Redux in Zendikar Standard

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:51:00 +0000

Here's our update for Jund that has been doing great in our local tournament. For those who can't afford to buy Verdant Catacombs, this list is for you.

Deck Name: Jund Vengeant
Deck Designer: Oliver
Rank: 1st (Oct. 3 tournament)
Record: 6-0

// Lands
4 [ALA] Jungle Shrine
4 [ZEN] Swamp
4 [ALA] Savage Lands
4 [M10] Terramorphic Expanse
3 [M10] Dragonskull Summit
1 [ZEN] Plains
4 [ZEN] Forest
2 [ZEN] Mountain

// Creatures
4 [ALA] Sprouting Thrinax
3 [ALA] Broodmate Dragon
1 [ARB] Enlisted Wurm
4 [ARB] Bloodbraid Elf
4 [ARB] Putrid Leech

// Spells
3 [ALA] Ajani Vengeant
3 [ARB] Bituminous Blast
4 [ARB] Maelstrom Pulse
4 [M10] Lightning Bolt
4 [ALA] Blightning

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [M10] Duress
SB: 3 [ARB] Terminate
SB: 2 [ARB] Thought Hemorrhage
SB: 3 [ALA] Jund Charm
SB: 4 [M10] Great Sable Stag

5 Color Control Domination in Iloilo

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:47:00 +0000

Hi guys, this is just an update of Iloilo Mtg community tournaments. The remaining two weeks of Lorwyn Standard here in Iloilo was dominated by Mark Anthony Co's 5-color control. Tonton, known to master the deck and has been using it for a months now, got back to back first place in the two previous weekly tournaments. His previous achievement was when he placed second in the Standard segment of MTG Philippine Open 2009 in Glorietta last July.

Here are the top four players of the recent two weekly tournaments here in Iloilo.

Standard (September 12, 2009)
First Place: Tonton (5 Color Control)
Second Place: Gian (Kithkins)
Third Place: Oliver (Jund Blood)
Fourth Place: Mark Ian (Kithkins) (me! ^^)

Standard (September 19, 2009)
First Place: Tonton (5 Color Control)
Second Place: Mao (Kithkins)
Third Place: John Paul (UW Lark)
Fourth Place: Jegjeg (Naya Aggro)

I'm sorry I didn't get to copy Tonton's 5CC list but I'll be posting it soon. Anyway, Zendikar Prerelease will be this weekend so I hope you, or we rather, will enjoy. You might want to check out my Zendikar posts in my other blog. Until next time y'all. :)

Updated Kithkins Build

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:29:00 +0000

Hello. I've updated my build on my Mono white Kithkins by bringing back Goldmeadow Stalwarts maindeck and putting the Burrenton Forge Tenders in the sideboard. This is because the local metagame switched back to non-red aggro decks which made the pro-red kithkin irrelevant.

Here's the latest list. The cavaliers are in the main deck. I still lack the fourth Honor of the Pure so I substituted a 3rd Ajani Goldmane.

Maindeck
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
3 Figure of Destiny
3 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
3 Stillmoon Cavalier
4 Wizened Cenn

3 Honor of the Pure
3 Ajani Goldmane
4 Spectral Procession
4 Path to Exile

3 Rustic Clachan
4 Windbrisk Heights
18 Plains

Sideboard
3 Burrenton Forge-tender
3 Hallowed Burial
3 Lapse of Uncertainty
2 Harm's Way
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Unmake

This list got me on fourth place last Saturday. I'm pretty happy with the result despite of still having a lot of wrong decisions. Oh well.

You might be interested on my analysis of post Zendikar Standard decks. Visit my other blog.

Looking for the Best Web Hosting Providers?

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:05:00 +0000

One of the backbones of a successful website is its site uptime and one in charge of that is the web host. Several web hosting companies today has a good reliability when it has a good performance of its uptime services on its costumers. Choosing the right one would be the question though. Questions you would need to ask like can the hosting space handle the files that you will have in your site? Is the bandwidth enough to handle the site traffic? Does the hosting have user friendly applications in the admin? These and several other important questions that the right web hosting company must comply with.

There is a site though that can help you deal with this hassle. The site called Web Hosting Geeks rates the best web site hosting providers based on your needs. You can find the best budget hosting, best blog hosting, best forum hosting and even platforms like Unix hosting and Windows hosting. They also have reviews on the top ten hosting providers so it will be easy for you to know the background of that hosting company before subscribing to them.

Check out Web Hosting Geeks today and select the best web hosting provider for your website.

Deathmarked Wallpapers is now Out

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:40:00 +0000

No kidding guys, Deathmarked wallpapers are here! No, I was really kidding on the site wallpapers. Not the site but the card Deathmark from Magic 2010. Yeah, I was hoping I could have mine too. lol. Check out the wallpaper sizes to choose with on Friday's Magic Arcana.

The new art is cool but I'd still prefer the snow flake original card art version of Deathmark. Nothing beats the original you know hehe..

Top 4 again with Blightning Burn

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:44:00 +0000

Here's the list I piloted last Saturday which gained me a top 4 slot in our local tournament.

Maindeck
4 Boggart Ram-gang
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goblin Outlander

4 Blightning
4 Flame Javelin
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Terminate
4 Volcanic Fallout

4 Auntie's Hovel
4 Graven Cairns
1 Dragonskull Summit
3 Reflecting Pool
12 Mountain

Sideboard
4 Anathemancer
3 Chaotic Backlash
3 Doomblade
3 Infest
2 Pithing Needle

This is actually a last minute deck made by my card pool buddy Oliver. I got a final record of 4 wins, no losses and 2 draws. A detailed tournament report will posted soon on my other blog, Deathmarked V.2.

Drafting Mono Black in M10

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:13:00 +0000

Here's what I've created from our draft yesterday at CCGDecks.com. Since I've been passed a lot of good black cards, and opened few bombs to support it, I decided to build this deck:

Main Deck
1 x Black Knight
2 x Drudge Skeletons
2 x Kelinore Bat
2 x Looming Shade
1 x Ornithopter
1 x Platinum Angel
2 x Relentless Rats
1 x Royal Assassin
1 x Vampire Aristocrat

2 x Assassinate
1 x Deathmark
1 x Duress
1 x Mind Rot
1 x Tendrils of Corruption
1 x Underworld Dreams
3 x Unholy Strength

17 x Swamp

The sideboard are the rest of my picks. Pretty cool option in drafting do you think? :)

Also checkout my other blog Deathmarked.info for the report on my tournament last Phil. Open.

Polymorph and Progenitus

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:17:00 +0000

Since Polymorph is back again in M10, I was thinking of control deck that has only one particular creature which would probably be the big hydra Progenitus with a four copies of that sorcery spell and a lot of token producers (i.e. Bitterblossom, Spectral Procession, etc). The mana base would be Esper (Blue black core with White) and a few assembler and card drawing spells. The spot removals would be in-charged by black like Doom Blade and Shriekmaw and counterspells by blue (Cryptic Command, the new Remove Soul and Negate). For White, I’m still looking for cards other than Spectral Procession that could fill in the spot. The core cards so far are:

4 Polymorph
1 Progenitus
4 Cryptic Command
Bitterblossom probably (since I’m avoiding creature cards)
Liliana Vess (to tutor Polymorph)
Diabolic Tutor

I’m still browsing through the core set for other possible components and maybe come up with a complete decklist by Sunday. Feel free to leave your suggestions through the comment box below. :)

Web Hosting Guide

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:26:00 +0000

Today’s blogging trend depends not just on the blog’s content and look. Although it is one of the main key of a successful blog, it is also an advantage to own a personal domain or web address. The next thing that comes in mind now is choosing the web hosting provider. Selecting the right web hosting service for your blog is not a walk in the park since there are things and features that you need to make sure of.

Is the disk space capacity enough to handle the files in your site? Is the bandwidth sufficient enough to handle the site’s traffic? Is there an easy access like cPanel and FTP for the site? Does the server have the right security for your online business site? These are just some of the many questions that you need to ask of your preferred web hosting provider. That’s pretty a lot you may say. The good thing is that there is a site that rates and reviews web hosting providers.

This site named Web Hosting Geeks can provide you with enough data on the reviews of the top ten web hosting providers of 2009. You can check not only the review but also the web hosts’ features and bonus features. They have also been giving awards for the best web hosts and categorized them like best budget hosting, best blog hosting, etc. You can check the complete list of awards here and the site's web hosting blog.

I suggest you visit Web Hosting Geeks now and get the best web host for your site.

Latest Electro House Craze

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:42:00 +0000

I've been wanting to mix this one but I can't find a source to download online. Grrrr...

Chuckie Vs LMFAO- Let the Bass Kick In Miami Bitch (DJ Inphinity mashup remix)

Accor Hotels City Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:23:00 +0000

With the current work schedule that I have and the tasks I’m working on, I think I needed some time to relax and get away for a while. If given the time, I would really plan for a long and enjoyable vacation even just here around South East Asia. Or maybe just in our capital city Manila. I actually planned to go there this July to participate in a big tournament of my favorite trading card game, and also enjoy the favorite travel destinations of the city.

While looking online for a place to stay in Manila, I came upon this list of sale on hotel rates of Accor Hotels. The Accor Hotels City Super Sale offers the lowest hotel rates in 27 cities across the ten countries in Asia Pacific. These cities include Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hanoi, Manila, Mumbai, Sydney and Auckland.

Another good thing with this offer is that travelers can take advantage of up to 60% savings when they book online on the dates between June 23 to 29 and for stays between July 10 and September 30, 2009. Over 250,000 room nights will be on sale, with rates starting as low as US$25 per night. A very wonderful and cost wise offer indeed.

This sale is for a limited time only so I might get one now and I suggest you will too.

You can check out the full hotel rates here.

Budget Naya Deck for Alara Block

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:29:00 +0000

An online buddy of mine (or should we say my apprentice haha) has created this budgeted list of Naya Aggro for Block constructed format. He posted this on our local Magic community forums. Check out the list below.

Main deck
4 WILD NACATL
4 CERODON YEARLING
4 STEWARD OF VALERON
4 WOOLY THOCTAR
4 GLORYSCALE VIASHINO
4 BLOODBRAID ELF

4 NAYA CHARM
4 COLOSSAL MIGHT
4 OBLIVION RING

Lands
4 NAYA PANORAMA
6 PLAIN
7 FOREST
7 MOUNTAIN

Sideboard
4 CELESTIAL PURGE
3 QASALI PRIDEMAGE
1 BEHEMOTH SLEDGE
4 VALERON OUTLANDER
3 SIGIL BLESSING

The deck costs around P1,358.00 or just about 28 dollars. Pretty small price but can compete in the format. You can see his card by card discussions here.

The Modern Lasik

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:26:00 +0000

Did you know that spending over your contact lenses and eyeglasses can be very costly? As a matter of fact, an average 25 year old wearing extended wear contacts will spend upwards of $20,000. That would be very unwise especially with the current economic crisis.

There’s still hope though, with the new iLasik procedure. If you aren’t familiar, LASIK (which is an acronym of laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) is the renowned vision correction procedure today. It is a refractive surgery that corrects most of the common eyesight defects. This combines Wavefront mapping technology with two lasers for a safe and completely tailor-made procedure. Cost wise, it will pay for itself in seven years and will eliminate the on-going cost of glasses, contact lenses and solutions. This can even get your vision back to 20/20 overnight which is very cost wise as compared to the years of wearing contact lenses and eyeglasses. The good thing with this is that it is covered by most of the health savings account, which lets you pay less with the tax deduction. More and more people are getting this done so why not be a part of it.

Take the take iLASIK procedure today and end the cost of those lenses and glasses.

New Blog is Up!

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 18:03:00 +0000

Finally, its here! After a few days of working and a few tweaks on the new site, I've finally done it. Whew! Its somewhat enjoyable though because I get to explore a new Revolution template and test some Wordpress plugins. Here are the features I've considered adding to the site:

Three main categories – I've decided to just stick with the three categories instead of four or five. These categories are Magic the Gathering, which covers all the Magic topics, HQ and Office Affairs, which discusses about my life and happenings at work, and Random Stuff, just about any topic I can find or think about. The sub categories will just be located via tags of the posts.

About me page – Yep, I finally got one. Its hard to recall your Magic history if you can't get to the right mood to write you know.

Featured content – This is what I really like about the Revolution themes, its cool fading and rotating images. I also get to write a short excerpt about the post and present it in the plugin.

Featured Video – Every week I'll be posting videos related to Magic or any other video I find funny and interesting.

Online contest – This one is coming soon so just stay tuned for it. :D

Regarding the old site at Blogger, I'd still left it online. I have transferred a few post I think worth reposting on the new site, then hopefully I can get back to the daily blog updates. Oh, and the new site is located here:

CLICK ME!

This will hopefully be my last post for this blog so see ya there guys!

Try Acobay

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:41:00 +0000

Ever wanting to try a new and unique way of a social networking site? Just check out Acobay dot com. It is more than just your average social site because of its one of kind stuff sharing features. You can share what movies you watch, games you play, places you have visited and much more, even your blog!

The good thing is that people can really interact with you because you are sharing interests with them. Also, the site features a Stuff Map wherein you get to look at other people's stuff and connections, much like a consumer network. This will let you know about the other users that has a common interest with you.

Another thing I like about Acobay is the Stuff Idea, a personalized recommendation engine in which you can get tips and reviews about a certain place, movie or gadget posted. So visit Acobay.com and register now. Also see a review page here.

Fun Weekend and New Blog To Watch Out

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Hey guys, how’s your weekend? I hope you had a great time at the Conflux prerelease, opening those Nicol Bolas, Progenitus, Thornling and other cool Conflux cards. As for me, I had fun too although I’m sick at the moment. We had no prerelease so I had time to do other non-Magic related stuff. We actually had a pauper magic tournament last Saturday but I didn’t join because I had to go to a friend’s place, who’s celebrating their barangay fiesta. It was worth it coz we were pigging out there. Lol. We went home at around 1 in the morning and I had to rest after that. It actually took a whole day yesterday to get rid of the headache (hangover) and get my mind back on track. Well, it still isn’t 100% back at the moment. A cup of coffee may do the trick.

Anyways, I would like to announce that I’m currently building the new home for my blog Deathmarked. I’m still finalizing the needed stuff on the site so I won’t reveal the link yet. This time, I’m planning to have topics not related to Magic and discuss stuff about my life and my work, somewhat to make my blog more interesting. Hehehe…

By the way, I’m in need of your suggestions on what other categories I will put on the site. Currently I have Magic the Gathering, HQ Affairs, and Random Rants. Just hit the comments on what you can suggest. Thank you very much.

I’ll just post some updates here on the status of my new blog soon. Until next time y’all.

Things Magic Players will do this Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:20:00 +0000

Yes, its Friday once again! Time seems to fly so fast for me. Maybe its because of my work at night or maybe I'm just too busy thinking of what interesting topics to post each day. Lol. Well anyway, since its weekend once again and I know a lot of you have plans or gimmicks tomorrow or on Sunday, I decided to post a few things I assume you Magic players will do this weekend.

Join the Conflux prerelease events.

Participate in the weekly Mtg tournament. Non-prerelease related.

Register in Conflux Open Dueling events.

Horde the Scattershot Archers so that no one will use it against your Faeries deck. (This just popped up in my mind. Lol)

Spend time with their girlfriends this Saturday so that they'll let them play Magic on Sunday.

Create a limited deck out of Progenitus.

Sell their Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker cards at a somewhat “reasonable” price. I've heard he goes around $20.

Start selling their RDW components as the new spot removals from White are bothering them.

Enjoy Saturday night with Beer and Pizza as there is no Prerelease in their area.

Enjoy boozing to make up for their 0-4 record at the Prerelease (which I wish won't happen to anyone).

These are just some of the things I can think of. Whether you'll end up a winner or a loser, just always remember to enjoy every “Magic moments” you'll have and learn from it. If you would ask me, I think I'll be doing number nine of the list. Lol...

Till next post. Happy weekend guys!

My Conflux Top Five

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:33:00 +0000

Since we are still into the Conflux fever which I'm not sure if all of you are feeling it, I've decided to share with you my top 5 cards of the new set.

Why only five? Its because I see Conflux as more on the Limited with all the five colors on most of the cards. Well, only Five Color Control can have a great benefit in Standard as they'll have enough options on what Mythic bomb in Conflux they want to use.

Okay now for my top five Conflux cards, I'd start off with my fifth choice which is Path to Exile. Honestly, I hate this card the first time I saw it. It just means goodbye to my Demigods and White just got another removal with a lot already existing in Standard. Oh well. Looking at the bright side, this card will definitely see a lot of play in other formats and it won't be a waste against control with its pseudo rampant growth effect at a cost of a creature.

For my fourth choice, I would go with Martial Coup. This sorcery is awesome. I really like its two benefits for one card. You won't see a lot of one sided Wrath in Standard. Its applications maybe are in 5CC, Boat Brew, some random Ramp decks and even Kithkins. I'd have a copy of this maindeck which can be very useful especially against the mirror.

Now for the third card of my list, I'll choose Volcanic Fallout. I am obviously a fan of Red you would say but what I'm happy about this card is that it is an uncounterable mass removal. Its an instant too and can also deal damage to your opponent. This card I think will make the Faes switch into an Esper build to have access to the pro-red Kithkin.

Now the lucky card to get the second spot of the list is the Vedalken from Esper named Ethersworn Adjudicator. A walking or rather flying 4/4 body with a built-in Mortify? What more can you ask for? He can untap too. Control will love this card and he could be one of the win conditions of Esper decks in Shards block.

Okay, my top choice and what I think will be the best card of Conflux is (insert drum rolls here) Banefire. As what I've said in my previous post regarding the Red decks after Conflux, this card is surely a good choice for anyone who is running red mana in their decks. I'm also glad that he's just an ordinary rare and not mythic, which means the price will be not that high. I'm planning to pre-order next week and it is the first on my list.

As for the other cards in Conflux, there's also some that I like but I'm still waiting if these cards can have their place in Standard. There are some I predict will have an impact but I won't mention it now. Just to lessen the hype. Hehe... Anyways if you won't agree with my top five and you think there's a lot better Conflux cards that deserve the top spot, hit the comments. I'd really appreciate them.

Foodtrip Gathering at the HQ

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 23:11:00 +0000

A late post (blame it to the photographer guy) but I just want to share to you the latest events of our COP or Circle Of Peeps. Lol! We had agreed to have dinner at my place last Friday just as the Dinagyang Fever 2009 had started. The gatherers were Eaves, April, Cecille, Mao, Oliver, Jimmy, Rei, John Ross, Elena, RJ, John Ryan, Arni and yours truly. Here are some of the pics courtesy of Jimmy’s digicam:

Preparing dinner. Cilay really loves to pose.

The food, waiting to be devoured.

Eaves, Cecille and April: the team's Vendillion Clique

Let us attack

Group pics while eating

I call this the 'Magic' discussion part

The standard 'class pic' before we call it a night

Thanks for dropping by guys! Enjoyed it alot. Till next trip hehe...

Red Decks Post Conflux

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Hey guys, here we are now with my review of the effects of Conflux to the current builds of RDW and the like. As you may have noticed on my previous post regarding the effects of Shards in the current Standard build of red decks, there was a slight change on the list.

The addition of Magma Spray and Hell's Thunder were noticed on some builds and also the late addition of Vithian Stinger, which was specifically sideboarded for Boat Brew and B/W Tokens.

As for Conflux, you all know the talk of the town about two specific Red cards that they say will end the reign of the Faeries in Standard. Yep, that's Banefire and Volcanic Fallout. Here's my review of the two.

Banefire XR
Sorcery (Rare)
Banefire deals X damage to target creature or player.
If X is 5 or more, Banefire can’t be countered by spells or abilities and the damage can’t be prevented.

First off, Banefire is a really really powerful card if you get to pay 5 or more for X. It is a descendant of Demonfire and even outlasted it. This uncounterable and unpreventable spell makes me think that any deck with just a red mana source in it can use this. 5 Color Control, mana ramp decks and even boat brew. I just hope though that the card's popularity won't affect its price.

Volcanic Fallout 1RR
Instant (Uncommon)
Volcanic Fallout can’t be countered.
Volcanic Fallout deals 2 damage to each creature and each player.

Volcanic Fallout is one of my favorites. I like mass removal spells that are uncounterable and a bonus is that it also deals damage to your opponent. I see it as a 3 mana cost, 2 damage spell which won't be a waste on control decks with a few creatures.

The other Conflux red cards I think will have an effect are:

Hellspark Elemental 1R
Creature – Elemental (Uncommon)
Trample, haste
At end of turn, sacrifice Hellspark Elemental.
Unearth 1R (1R: Return this card from your graveyard to play. It gains haste. Remove it from the game at end of turn or if it would leave play. Unearth only as a sorcery.)
3/1

This older brother (I say older because of the mana cost) of Spark Elemental is a good choice for RDW builds that don't care about the late game and just focused on early damage. Its unearth ability makes him better. I'm predicting his appearance in Lightning Bolt.dec in Extended.

Voracious Dragon 3RR
Creature – Dragon (Rare)
Flying
Devour 1 (As this comes into play, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature comes into play with that many +1/+1 counters on it.)
When Voracious Dragon comes into play, it deals damage to target creature or player equal to twice the number of Goblins it devoured.
4/4

He's pretty worth playing with his mana cost, although the additional damage effect when devouring Goblins is just okay. I think he'll be awesome when used it Goblin decks.

If you are running B/R Demigod like what I'm currently playing, here are some good additions.

Shambling Remains 1BR
Creature – Zombie Horror (Uncommon)
Shambling Remains can’t block.
Unearth BR (BR: Return this card from your graveyard to play. It gains haste. Remove it from the game at end of turn or if it would leave play. Unearth only as a sorcery.)
4/3

A cousin of Ashenmoor Gouger, this is definitely in for Blightning Beatdown decks and could also replace the spot of Boggart Ram Gangs. The 3 toughness though makes him vulnerable to most of the removals (Agony Warp, Incinerate, Nameless Inversion, etc).

Goblin Outlander BR
Creature – Goblin Scout (Common)
Protection from white
2/2

He's a good protection bear (2/2 for two mana) that can stop the early assault of Kithkins. I think he can take the spot the Blood Knights have left when they rotated out of Standard.

So that's about it for now. We'll see if the deck evolves into Black Red or Red Green or will just maintain its mono color status. As for me, I think I'll go for Black Red so that I can have access to Infest and other Black creature removals when dealing with the pro-red guys, not to mention the new pro-red human scout.

I hope this post helps you a bit on what red cards to look for in Conflux. Till next post guys, enjoy the Prerelease...

Edit: Check out part two of my article here.

Create Your Own Planeswalker!

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:19:00 +0000

I am avid visitor of the Neutral Grounds forums, specifically at the MTG General Discussions thread and the Off Topics thread. Whenever I get bored working and our tech guy has turned off the web filtering software, I would go there, read and participate to the interesting and funny posts made there by my fellow Pinoy Magic players. One particular post that they have which got my attention was the Planeswalker Design Contest, wherein you'll post your own planeswalker design with matching card art. Here's a few I would like to share with you guys.

The first two made by Kira (click to enlarge)

Next are works of mabalasik_produktionz

This is my personal favorite. Lol!

You can check the actual post in the NG forums here. You just have to register first though.

Complete Conflux Spoiler

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:33:00 +0000

Hey guys, the Conflux spoiler is now complete, just a week before its prerelease. You can check out the complete list of the cards at Mtg Salvation website here.

I got a few favorites but based on the overall list of cards, the playables or rather the cards that can compete in Standard can be counted with your fingers. Oh well, at least I'll be spending less in the new set.

Deck of the Week: The Extended Perfect Storm

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:13:00 +0000

The deck I'm going to feature for this week is the first place deck of the recent Grand Prix Los Angeles and was piloted by Luis Scott-Vargas. The deck functions by using mana boosting spells such as Rite of Flame and Desperate Ritual, and card drawers like Ponder to setup a Mind's Desire with a high storm count and finish off with a Tendrils of Agony on the opponent. The deck list below.

Maindeck
4 Seething Song
4 Rite of Flame
4 Remand
4 Ponder
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Mind's Desire
4 Manamorphose
4 Lotus Bloom
2 Electrolyze
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Tendrils of Agony
2 Sleight of Hand

3 Steam Vents
3 Polluted Delta
2 Island
3 Flooded Strand
4 Dreadship Reef
3 Cascade Bluffs

Sideboard
2 Ad Nauseam
3 Brain Freeze
3 Echoing Truth
2 Gigadrowse
3 Pact of Negation
2 Shattering Spree

For the other decks featured on the previous weeks, see it here.

History of the Magic Term "Sligh"

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:45:00 +0000

Every Magic the Gathering player is familiar with “Sligh” as the term pertaining to Red decks with two main purpose, fast aggro with cheap to cast creatures and quick burn. Ever wonder where the term came from? Here are some quick facts.

The term “Sligh” was named after Paul Sligh. However, he wasn't the one who made the deck. It was actually built by Jay Schneider way back in the summer of 1994 because he needed a deck that can beat the mono blue deck created by Paul. It was when Paul piloted the deck to a Pro Tour Qualifier in Atlanta and finished second that it became famous. Here's the list of the deck.

Maindeck
2 Dragon Whelp
2 Brothers of Fire
2 Orcish Artillery
2 Orcish Cannoneers
4 Ironclaw Orcs
3 Dwarven Lieutenant
2 Orcish Librarian
4 Brass Man
2 Dwarven Trader
2 Goblin of the Flarg

1 Black Vise
1 Shatter
1 Detonate
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Incinerate
1 Fireball
1 Immolation

4 Strip Mine
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Dwarven Ruins
13 Mountain

Sideboard
1 Shatter
1 Detonate
1 Fireball
1 Meekstone
1 Zuran Orb
3 Active Volcano
2 Serrated Arrows
1 An-Zerrin Ruins
4 Manabarbs

You maybe wondering why there are sub-optimal cards in the list such as Dwarven Trader. Its because the ruling that time was "five cards from each expansion" which means you had to have a minimum of five cards from each Standard-legal expansion in play at that time (which includes Fallen Empires, Chronicles and Homelands).

The mana curve breakdown of the original Sligh deck were as follows:
1 mana slot: 9-13
2 mana slot: 6-8
3 mana slot: 3-5
4 mana slot: 1-3
X spell: 2-3
Removal/Burn: 8-10

If you aren't following the breakdown above when creating a red decklist, then you won't call the deck Sligh. Based on the breakdown and comparing that with the current Demigod Deck Wins list, I have to say that the deck is a Sligh archetype. I think the mana curve breakdown is a good basis if you want the deck to be fast and efficient.

So there goes some history lessons on Magic: The Gathering for you. Till next post....

Five Things Newbies Should Remember When Joining a Magic Tournament

noreply@blogger.com (Death Mark) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:14:00 +0000

Hey peeps. This topic came up in my mind and decided to write about it because I've noticed in our area that there's a lot of new Magic players who are afraid of joining our weekly tournaments. Yeah, I know they are still new to the game. I've been there too. That's is why maybe they're afraid of losing or committing mistakes or something like that.

Here are the five things or reminders I came up with that I think can clarify to the newbies, or what we call in gaming term as noob, why they shouldn't be afraid.

Experience is the best teacher – I think everybody will agree on this one. You won't grow in Magic if you can't experience the actual tournament, on how the matchup goes, etc. Just learn every new thing or play scenarios you encounter in every game. You will commit mistakes of course. Everybody does. But the experience will tell you that you'll be prepared for it the next time.

Its okay to commit mistakes – As what I've said earlier, its natural for newbies to commit mistakes. The reasons could be wrong decisions, intimidation with the pro opponent, wrong understanding of the rules, and much more. But you just have to embrace it. Embrace your mistakes because its a part of the learning process.

If you don't know it, call a judge – This one should be remembered always when you encounter complicated game states or card effects. Another thing is that don't ask your opponent. Remember that he is not a judge and he might explain things that will be in his favor. It's better to ask stupid questions than to commit stupid mistakes.

Don't get intimidated – Intimidation is one big factor or reason why they don't join. So what if he's the Champ of last week's tournament? Can he dodge a bullet? I think not. (Sorry I couldn't think of any other examples. Lol) Just think that he's just another player in the room and you will be able to beat him. Positive thinking helps I tell you.

Have fun and enjoy – This is the thing I think most players forgot when they are in big tournaments. You would say you are playing to win. Of course, I agree with that but don't forget the fun side. Magic is a game of tactics and strategies on building effective decks but the creativity and fun part is another factor. Don't frown if you lost because he outraced you before your Dominus Clouted Stream Hopper beat him to zero. At least you had fun.

To sum it up, actual Magic tournament games give much more and far better learning than casual ones. I hope these five reminders help or rather convince you now to join the Magic tournaments in your area. If you have any reactions (I hope it won't be violent), feel free to leave me a message below.

Until next time...