Mark Herberholz’ Blightning Beatdown at Pro Tour-Kyoto

Here is Mark’s take on the Blightning Beatdown deck at the currently on-going Pro Tour Kyoto. The video from MTG Tournament Center.

 

I assume this is the decklist although I’m not sure with the lands, whether he’s running 4 of each non-basic or only 3 Ghitu Encampment or something. The list below. Read more

Divine vs. Demonic Packaging Revealed

An update regarding the upcoming Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic which was announced last December, Magic Arcana revealed today its packaging. Check it out below.

The display box

A closer look at the box.

We can see that the two cards are the legendary angel Akroma, Angel of Wrath and the demon Lord of the Pit. I am assuming the cards for the Divine deck are something on creatures like Angel of Mercy, and Venerable Monk and holy spells like Angelic Blessing, Angelsong, Congregate, etc.

The black cards I assume would be Terror and the related “evil” stuff. I just hope the list will include strong and Standard playable cards.

Duel Decks: Divine vs. Demonic will be released on April 10.

My Ideal Partner Profile

I got this some kind of a personality test from an officemate. She said that this test can really predict your personality with a high accuracy rate. I don’t believe that at first because I was just clicking on picture choices given the situation asked to me by this Blind Man Bob. After I was done with the questions, I was surprised to see that the results were actually true. I’m not sure though with the predictions regarding my ideal love partner. Check out Blind Man Bob’s prediction on it below. Read more

Two Deck Ideas

Okay, I might confuse you with the title. I will not be posting any new deck ideas I came up with (as if I have formulated any) but rather I’ll just share to you the two decks I’m choosing to pilot for this Saturday’s Standard Tournament.

The primary cause of this very late decision is the lack of time we had to meet up and do some deck construction. We were only able to do so just hours before my shift last night. I just can’t blame my card pool buddy because of the busy schedule. Oh well, moving on the decks…

Deck Option No. 1 – Boat Brew

I always wanted to recreate a Boros (Red White Guild in Ravnica) type aggro deck but wasn’t able to come up with a good list until this deck rose in popularity (and fulfilled my dream. lol). This deck is no doubt the number one choice of most players in the current Standard. Thus, as any economic principle would apply, popularity means more demand and that lessens the supply (availability) of the cards, which of course would lead to scarcity and higher prices.

To make it short, I couldn’t find anyone in our area who is selling their non-foil Ajani Vengeant. I would only resort into borrowing cards, which makes it unsure if the deck will be completed. I tried doing some substitutes, like using “Ajani in his Lorwyn days” (Ajani Goldmane) to fill up the two slot of his vengeant self, but that would really alter the deck’s performance.

For example, I will be siting a board position in our test play with my friend’s Bant Aggro deck. He was on the play, summoned a Rhox War Monk on turn three and had Rafiq on turn four. He bashed for 8 lifelinking double striking damage. I wasn’t holding any spot removal that time and got instead an Ajani Goldmane in hand. My fourth turn would have been a good play if that was Ajani Vengeant instead. The sequence would be playing Ajani and helixing Rafiq so that my 4/4 Figure will deal with the War Monk, until I swarm the board with Siege Gang Commanders. Okay enough with this rant. I know you get the idea.

Wanting to complete the deck, I messaged a few friends if they will be able to lend me their Ajani Vengeants. They said maybe they can and that made me doubt if I can complete the deck just in time, which makes me lead to my second option (plan B)…

Deck Option No. 2 – Blightning Aggro

This is the deck that I’m definitely a fan (obviously with the months of pilot) except for the card in the deck name itself, Blightning. I’m not sure what’s real deal but my reason is that discarding your opponent will only do little effect on his/her board. I’d rather replace it with Puncture Blast or other burn spells.

The deck though has surprisingly became one of the top decks after Conflux. Maybe its because of the Fae hate cards Banefire and Volcanic Fallout. I’m not sure. Also, I have read that the deck can defeat 5 Color Control, in which my Blightningless build became a pawn. That led me to curiosity to try the deck in the tournament.

I looked for several list and it was good to know that Conflux has given the deck quite a lot of card options, some worth mentioning are Shambling Remains, Hellspark Elemental and the pro-white Goblin Outlander. With these options at hand, I can go with fast aggro like what Matt Nass piloted at Superstars Standard or go with the usual build of early beats and late game finishers like Demigod or Siege-Gang Commander. I think I’ll go with the latter and created an initial list.

BR Blightning
by Mark Ian Alloso
Main (36)
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Shambling Remains
4 Siege-Gang Commander

4 Blightning
4 Flame Javelin
4 Incinerate

4 ??? (I’m choosing between Stigma Lasher, Goblin Outlander and Magma Spray)

Lands (24)
4 Auntie’s Hovel
4 Ghitu Encampment
4 Graven Cairns
6 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool
4 Sulfurous Springs

I haven’t came up with the sideboard yet but the cards I’m looking forward to add is Infest, Thoughtseize, and Volcanic Fallout. No Banefires because I have none at the moment and no plan of buying with its current overpriced value.

So there, the two deck options I needed to finalize and decide which to choose. If you would be asked, which of these two would you prefer?

November 2008 Nursing Board Exam Results Released

Finally, its here! The Professional Regulatory Commission has announced that at least 39,455 or 44.51% out of 88,649 examinees that took the November 2008 Nursing Board have passed. You can download the results here.

• Text format
• PDF Format

Congratulations to the passers, especially to my sister Marie Jean Alloso.

An iGoogle Gadget To Help You Relax

Need some relaxation while on an 8-hour shift in front of your workstation? Here is a cool gadget for iGoogle that may do trick, especially if you’re a fish lover and is missing your sea friends at home. I found it while browsing a blog on Google gadgets. Just add or embed it to your iGoogle homepage, blog or social network page. Check out mine below. (Don’t mind the colors. It was a rush edit.) Read more

This is Why You’re Fat

This site has really intrigued me since the first time I saw it. The delicious food pics they post gives me a bad feeling to really lose weight. I decided to have my own version, look for pics and post some delicious but not that gross Filipino food here. Read more

An Electro Feeling

Since I’ve mentioned in the About Me page that I’m an aspiring DJ, I’ve decided to share something related to that in this post. My favorite genre when mixing House music (using the Virtual DJ software) is Electro House. Its loud, heart pounding beats makes you really want to dance it hard.

Here’s a playlist of Electro House music I found at Radio Blog Club to give you a sample and some idea of what music I love. Enjoy dancing. Read more

Turbo Fog for Standard

Hey guys, I hope you had a fun weekend and did well in your respective weekly tournaments. As for me, I didn’t perform well at the tournament. I hate to go into detail of it so just don’t mind. Anyways, I’m sharing to you a decklist made and suggested by my card pool partner Oliver. It’s a standard version take of one of the earliest strategies and alternate win condition of Magic. The clue card is Millstone. Get the idea? Presenting (insert drum roll here) Turbo Fog! Read more

A Mosaic of My Twitter Buddies

Nuff said. Looks cool ey? Create yours now.

Get your twitter mosaic here.

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