November 2010 FNM Card - Gatekeeper of Malakir

Gatekeeper of Malakir is a really solid card. A 2/2 body for a cruel edict is really not bad for 3 mana cost. While people debate on the effectiveness of the card because of it's mana cost (3 black mana), I really think this is a good card for any black deck.

Gatekeeper of Malakir is a removal and a creature in one package. It gives you the answer for shroud creatures like Sphinx of Jwar Isle and Calcite Snapper and creatures with protection from black. Mono black control and U/B control are slowly entering the scenes so this will be a good fnm card. plus, it is used in legacy in some decks.

So here it is, November FNM card is Gatekeeper of Malakir. Nice art!

Applying for Unionbank EON Card

The unionbank EON card would definitely make your blogging life great. Earnings from your blog usually go to your paypal account and the EON cyber account provides an avenue to withdraw your funds from paypal.

Most people don't really know how this works and are basically afraid of the concept. Honestly, I was one of them before but I recently got my EON card and linked it to my paypal account. How it works? To put it simply. Think of your EON card as an ATM card. Once you transfer your funds from Paypal to your EON account, you can withdraw your money like how you withdraw from your ordinary ATM. ^_^ Yep! it's that easy!

Now, to get your Unionbank EON card, simply follow the following steps:

1. Go to the nearest Unionbank branch from your home, office or school.

2. Go to the New Accounts Section and tell them you want to open an EON account.

3. They will ask for photocopies of 2 valid IDs (and bring the original IDs for them to validate and check)

4. Fill up the open accounts form (only 1 page and very convenient and easy).

5. Pay the annual fee of around 350 Php (I'm not sure, I cannot remember already but the fee is around that amount).

That's it! you are done! You just wait at around 7 days before your EON card will be released. Of course some branches may take more than 7 days according to their own policies.

Then after getting the card and before you link your eon card to paypal, perform step #6.

6. Deposit around 200 Php at the minimum. you will need this upon linking/verifying your EON card to your paypal account. Upon linking, Paypal will charge an amount of 100 Php to verify if you own the card but this amount will be refunded to you after verification.

Now you are ready to withdraw your paypal funds and treat your self, family and friends and make things great in your blog life. ^_^

FNM Evaluation - Fast Red Koth - RDW

Yep! Again, it's RDW time! hehe I played FNM yesterday and used my Red deck as usual and surprisingly, it had a great run to the top in the first 2 rounds but unfortunately lost the final 2 rounds. As a result, I had a 2-2 standings for the night. I wasn't so happy with it but I feel like modifying the deck and give it a try for at least 2 FNMs more. If the performance improves in the next 2 FNMs, I will stay with red, if not, I will be using my Black-Blue Control deck already.

I used the Red Deck Wins, Fast Red to be exact (but it wasn't as fast as I missed cards like ball lightning, hellspark elemental and hell's thunder, but life has to move on you know ^_^) and using Koth of the Hammer. I should say that Koth of the Hammer is a really solid card, it is basically a nuisance for control and can also race against aggro decks. So i would say, definitely solid and definitely in if you are using Red. Here's the decklist:

Creatures:

4x Goblin Guide

4x Kiln Fiend

4x Plated Geopede

3x Kargan Dragonlord

Spells:

4x Lightning bolt

4x Burst Lightning

4x Searing Blaze

4x Staggershock

4x Flame slash

Planeswalkers:

2x Koth of the Hammer

Lands:

4x Scalding tarn

4x Arid Mesa

2x Teetering Peaks

2x smoldering Spires

11x Mountains

Sideboard:

3x Mark of Mutiny

4x Ricochet Trap

3x Pyroclasm

2x Manic Vandal

3x Unstable Footing

Round 1 vs U/R Myr: 2-0 (W) -- (1-0)

Round 2 vs U/G Shaman: 2-0 (W) -- (2-0)

Round 3 vs U/R Titan Control: 0-2 (L) -- (2-1)

Round 4 vs Mono Black Control: 1-2 (L) -- (2-2)

Notes: This build of red is very weak against control deck so I need to check the meta first before going into the games. ^_^. Eat dinner before FNM. I need to add more creatures, this build was designed to maximize Kiln Fiend, without a blocker or if you burn your opponents creatures away or use Smoldering Spires on opponent's creatures, Kiln Fiend deals lethal damage, but for decks with many removals, it's not your best friend. Assault Strobe works best with Kiln Fiend for Double strike damage, but still it doesn't help the deck's chances against control.

I am currently rebuilding the deck list. I will post it before friday so that we can evaluate it for the the next FNM.

October 2010 FNM Card - Rift Bolt

Pretty nothing much to say in this. Awesome card. Awesome FNM promo. I'd say, if you missed the time spiral block and you play RED, you have to get a play set of rift bolt. ^_^

GP foil card 2011 is Maelstrom Pulse

Grand prix cards have always been cards that are very useful in the older formats and for this year, the GP cards maintained their promise. This year's GP premium card is Maelstrom Pulse from the Alara Reborn Set.


Wow! Just wow! When it was in standard, Jund became so strong because of this card. This was basically Jund's answer to everything. A nonland permanent destroyer that costs only 3 mana. It was good already. But it also destroys other permanents with the name?! man, awesome! I remembered pulling out a pulse in the Alara Reborn set and instantly I wanted to build a Jund deck. That's how powerful this card is. Pulse is also a card comparable to Vindicate so I don't need to explain it's power and use in Extended, Vintage and Legacy right? ^_^

Building Black Blue Control

It's been a while since black blue had a decent run in the championship decks. But I really liked black-blue control since it is very fun to handle. I spent some spare time trying building a fun Black-blue deck. The decklist is as follows. Feel free to discuss and comment. ^_^

Lands:
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Creeping Tarpit
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Tectonic Edge
6 Island
5 Swamp

Dudes:
4 Calcite Snapper -- very underrated creature
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Wurmcoil Engine

Spells and Others:
4 Mana Leak
3 Stoic Rebuttal
3 Jace Beleren
1 Sorin Markov
1 Liliana Vess
2 Into the Roil
4 Spreading Seas
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Disfigure
4 Grasp of Darkness
2 Consume the Meek

____

You can build this and Enjoy