I also got Mikaeus, the Unhallowed from the same pack where I got Huntmaster of the Fells. Pretty lucky with double mythic but that was the end of it.

As for my doubts and sentiments, you can view it here – My Dark Ascension Prerelease Experience

And I just feel like posting the new rares in our card pool (mine + bf’s):

Since MTG Helper plugin is not yet updated with Dark Ascension cards as of this writing, here’s the list:

Huntmaster of the Fells
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
Woodland Cemetery
Falkenrath Aristocrat
Alpha Brawl
Mentor of the Meek
Flayer of the Hatebound
Heretic’s Punishment
Increasing Ambition
Increasing Savagery
Lost in the Woods
Kessig Cagebreakers
Laboratory Maniac
Skirsdag High Priest
Havengul, Runebinder

PS:
I’m looking for Akroma, Angel of Wrath for my EDH deck!

For January, I’ve used UW Humans five times in the following events:
1/04/12 Wednesday Standard @ Ongkeco’s Hobby Shop: 2-2
1/07/12 GPT Kuala Lumpur @ Eton Cyberpod: 5-2
1/08/12 Sunday Standard @ SM North: 2-4
1/14/12 GPT Kuala Lumpur @ Eton Cyberpod: 5-2
1/21/12 GPT Kuala Lumpur @ Eton Cyberpod: 4-3

Weekly Changes (Progressive) and Results:
1/07/12 GPT Kuala Lumpur @ Eton Cyberpod: 5-2

Main:
-1 Gideons Lawkeeper
-1 Sword of War and Peace
+1 Day of Judgement
+1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

SB:
-1 Dismember
-1 Angelic Destiny
+1 Sword of War and Peace
+1 Day of Judgement

UW Illusions 2 – 1
RDW 2 – 0
Kessig Ramp 0 – 2
UW Illusions 2 – 0
RDW 2 – 1
UW Humans 0 – 2
UW Illusions 2 – 1

1/08/12 Sunday Standard @ SM North: 2-4

SB:
+1 Gideon Jura
-1 Grand Abolisher

UW Humans 2 – 1
RDW 2 – 0
MBI 0 – 2
RDW 1 – 2
Wolves 1 – 2
UW Delver 0 – 2

1/14/12 GPT Kuala Lumpur @ Eton Cyberpod: 5-2

Main:
+4 Champion of the Parish
+1 Angelic Destiny
-3 Mana Leak
-1 Sword of War and Peace
-1 Mikaeus, the Lunarch

SB:
-1 Geist of Saint Traft
-1 Gideon Jura
+2 Mana Leak

UB Control 2 – 0
RDW 0 – 2
UB Control 2 – 0
UW Delver 0 – 2
RDW 2 – 0
Kessig Ramp 2 – 1
GW Tokens 2 – 0

1/21/12 GPT Kuala Lumpur @ Eton Cyberpod: 4-3

Main:
-1 Champion of the Parish
-1 Leonin Relic-Warder
+1 Grand Abolisher
+1 Divine Offering

SB:
-1 Grand Abolisher
+1 Nihil Spellbomb

Kessig Ramp 2 – 0
Solar Flare 2 – 1
UW Humans 0 – 2
Tempered Steel 1 – 2
Puresteel 2 – 0
Jund Kessig 2 – 0
UB Control 1 – 2

And this is my current deck pre-Dark Ascension:
SB:
-1 Nihil Spellbomb
+1 Revoke Existence

Deck List:

UW Humans

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Lands (24) 4 Glacial Fortress 1 Island 3 Moorland Haunt 12 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast Creatures (26) 3 Champion of the Parish 4 Doomed Traveler 2 Fiend Hunter 3 Geist of Saint Traft 2 Gideons Lawkeeper 3 Grand Abolisher 4 Hero of Bladehold 1 Leonin Relic-Warder 4 Mirran Crusader Spells (11) 2 Angelic Destiny 1 Day of Judgement 4 Honor of the Pure 2 Oblivion Ring 1 Sword of War and Peace 1 Divine Offering Sideboards (15) 2 Celestial Purge 1 Day of Judgement 2 Dismember 1 Divine Offering 2 Mana Leak 1 Negate 1 Oblivion Ring 1 Revoke Existence 1 Sword of War and Peace 3 Timely Reinforcements

PS: Here’s my tally sheet…

Notes:
1. Most of my losses are against more aggro decks while most wins come from control matches.
2. My wins from RDW are mostly sideboarded games.
3. Most UW Illusions deck have evolved into UW Delver.

Neutral Grounds Philippines also shows active participation by running a related contest on their Facebook fan page:

Just to ride on the current trending meme. We’d like to challenge our photoshop talented fans to show us through a picture why “Magic, It’s more fun in the Philippines!”

Winner gets a free Dark Ascension pre release pass. Upload the pictures here on our FB page and tag yourself and five other gamers you know. We’ll determine the winner by January 21, 2012.

So here’s my entry:

MTG draft with Sesame Street Conspirators. Lol.

@ Ongkeco’s Hobby Shop / 2012-01-04

9 PW points for a start.

Deck List:

Humans

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Lands (24) 4 Glacial Fortress 1 Island 3 Moorland Haunt 12 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast Creatures (24) 4 Doomed Traveler 2 Fiend Hunter 3 Geist of Saint Traft 3 Gideons Lawkeeper 2 Grand Abolisher 4 Hero of Bladehold 2 Leonin Relic-Warder 4 Mirran Crusader Spells (13) 1 Angelic Destiny 4 Honor of the Pure 3 Mana Leak 2 Oblivion Ring 3 Sword of War and Peace Sideboards (15) 1 Angelic Destiny 2 Celestial Purge 3 Dismember 1 Divine Offering 1 Geist of Saint Traft 2 Grand Abolisher 1 Negate 1 Oblivion Ring 3 Timely Reinforcements

Round 1: LOSS
vs RDW: 1 – 2
God Hand mode on game 1 with this tempo: Doom Traveler, Honor of the Pure, Geist of Saint Traft, Angelic Destiny!
I lost on Game 2 because of Stromkirk Noble.
Same scene on game 3… errr, 3 Stromkirk to be exact. My SOWAP came late to rescue me.

Round 2: WIN
vs Illusions: 2 – 1
Lost on game 1 from 5 spirit tokens and Vapor Snag.
Game 2 and 3 was mine. Thanks to this article… I’ve used Gitaxian Probe to my advantage.

Round 3: WIN
vs GW Tokens: 2 – 1
Game 1 win, Geist of Saint Traft + Sword of War and Peace for the win!
Game 2, 4 spirit tokens from Midnight with enchantment killed me.
Game 3, just my luck! Play first but mull to 4: Seachrome Coast, Moorland, Island, Honor of the Pure
Me: Seachrome, pass.
Op: Plains, pass.
Me: Island, Honor of the Pure
Op: Pass, Discard
Yeah right, he’s stuck with one Plains and it’s obvious he was waiting for one Forest or any green mana to cast his mana-producing creatures. Probably multiple Avacyn’s Pilgrim or Birds of Paradise on his hand.
I finally drew one creature on my turn – Geist of Saint Traft
Me: Moorland, GST.
Op: Pass, Discard.
Me: Attacked, opponent took 8 damage.
Op: Concede.

Round 4: LOSS
vs Tempered Steel: 0 – 2
Game 1: On the draw, mull to 5. So yeah, those artifacts kept on coming and I conceded quickly.
Game 2: I still couldn’t make up with my opponent’s tempo even with my Timely Reinforcements. And even if I’ve Negated one of his Tempered Steel, another one came in. Not my day.

Whew! I’m getting revved up! Gotta play more!

Since my Angelic Bant didn’t do well against Kessig Ramp, we converted it into UW Humans. And with 8-3 standing during playtests, I can say that it’s a bit more consistent and super aggro. So I’m back to the old days… playing white creature-based deck. I had the same old powerful feeling while I was playing Kithkins. Hehe.

But the deck I have right now requires more discipline. I’m not used to Blue and kinda uncomfortable with Mana Leak. I wish they were all creatures. But hey, I have to protect my board, right? So that’s it, Mana Leak saved me from Day of Judgement countless times.

UW Humans

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Lands (23) 4 Glacial Fortress 1 Island 2 Moorland Haunt 12 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast Creatures (25) 4 Champion of the Parish 2 Doomed Traveler 2 Elite Vanguard 2 Fiend Hunter 4 Grand Abolisher 3 Geist of Saint Traft 4 Hero of Bladehold 4 Mirran Crusader Spells (13) 3 Angelic Destiny 4 Honor of the Pure 3 Mana Leak 3 Oblivion Ring Sideboards (15) 3 Dismember 4 Leonin Arbiter 3 Shrine of Loyal Legions 2 Sword of War and Peace 3 Timely Reinforcements

My boyfriend build this deck for me, inspired by GP Hiroshima top decks. I finished with 2-1-1 standing last night.

Round 1: WIN
vs Solar Flare: 2 – 1

It was my first time to have an actual play against Solar Flare. The most that I know about this deck is that it has answer to almost everything. Though I’ve seen some deck lists online, I’m not good with mental notes so I won’t really understand how it works until I get to play against it. And gaaaahhhh… I had so many misplays! Big thanks to Pat Bausa for the after games coaching. Great tips!

I’m so happy with my one-drop creatures. They’re so consistent. As for lands, I am not sure if I got the right number. I keep screwing during those 3 games. Just got lucky!

Round 2: WIN
vs Kessig Wolf Ramp: 2 – 0

Oh wow, the deck I’ve been playtesting with! Remember my bf’s Kessig Green Proxy?

My ultimate misplay during the game is missing one +1/+1 counter for Champion of the Parish when Hero of Bladehold enters the battlefield. Tsk. Thank goodness, I had another Hero of Bladehold on my turn, Champion of the Parish got 4 counter, equipped with Angelic Destiny, attacked with Hero of Bladehold and several other creatures. He got lots of people on board too, but no one’s flying! Finally, I hit him with 10 damage. Just the right number to zero out his life. Whew. His Wurmcoil Engine with Sword of Feast and Famine almost got me.

Then it was Leonin Arbiter for the win in game 2! He played first, land drop. I played one Plains and Champion of the Parish. His turn, played Forest then Rampant Growth. Uh-oh. That would be the last time he’ll search his library, I swear. My turn came, I played Leonin Arbiter and I see the disappointed look in his face. Lol. That gave him headache. No to Solemn Simulacrum after his 4th land. He just played Birds of Paradise. By then he’s down to 13, I have 2 Champion of the Parish, 1 Leonin Arbiter and 1 Honor of the Pure. When I attacked, he’s confused whether to block one of them with his Birds of Paradise. He did not, and took 8 lethal damage. Down to 5. Hmmm. I wonder if he’ll be able to cast Wurmcoil or Primeval on his turn. Or at the worst, Blasphemous Act to sweep my board. True enough, he got the answer. And even if I have open mana, I have no Mana Leak to counter his 5cc Blasphemous Act. On my turn, I topdecked Geist of Saint Traft! Lucky! He then played Thrun, the Last Troll on his turn. And just before I attack, I was hoping he has no Beast from Within for my Angel token. I attacked, he tapped 3 lands then stretched his arms for a handshake. Waaahhh. What a bluff! I won!

Round 3: DRAW
vs Solar Flare: 1 – 1 – 1

Gideon Jura stalled me big time, thrice! So we ended with a draw…

Round 4: LOSS
vs Solar Flare: 0 – 2

Paired against, Richard Badlon. I remember him beating my Kithkin deck once. He was using Faeries by then. And now, here’s a rematch against a national player. Lol.

Game 1 was uber long because my creatures rarely survive from his removal. And just when the spirit tokens from my Moorland Haunt were having fun, his Ghost Quarter spoiled it. He was down to 3 and he’s able to gain 6 more life from Timely Reinforcements. That was the end of me. Snapcaster Mage + Mimic Vat for the win!

In game 2, I’ve witnessed Liliana of The Veil’s true power. My opponent was really good in playing around Liliana’s loyalty counter. I was color screw since there was not even one blue-producing mana and I ended up discarding GST until I have no more cards in my hand. We finished the game just in time, and I lost to him again…

I still got one prize pack for finishing the 10th. Not bad. But I’m not that happy with Inferno Titan as my mythic rare.

I had a great time being back to the grinding arena. I want to be more active in playing MTG again! It was really fun!

I don’t care simply because, I thought I wasn’t and won’t affected… take this quote for example:

First they took away our 5th pro tour and I did not speak out because I was not in the pro tour.
Then they took away our pro player cards and I did not speak out because I was not on the cards.
Then they took away the invitational and I did not speak out because I was not invited.
Then they came for my tournament support and there was no one left to speak out for me.

And so I thought PROS are the only ones to be concerned about this issue…

But hey, I have to support the MTG players fighting for it and trying to save competitive magic.

I play, therefore, I have to sign…

PETITION

More resources:
Facebook Fan Page: Begging WotC to Reconsider Destroying Worlds.
Patrick Chapin’s SCG Article: The Time to Act

Angelic Bant

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Lands (23) 5 Forest 4 Hinterland Harbor 2 Moorland Haunt 4 Plains 4 Razorverge Thicket 4 Seachrome Coast Creatures (26) 2 Acidic Slime 3 Avacyns Pilgrim 4 Birds of Paradise 3 Blade Splicer 4 Geist of Saint Traft 4 Hero of Bladehold 4 Mirran Crusader 2 Thrun, The Last Troll Spells (12) 4 Angelic Destiny 3 Oblivion Ring 3 Sword of Feast of Famine 2 Sword of War and Peace

Final standing: 6 – 4 in favor of Kessig Wolf Run Green

So it was really hard for me to accept the fact that I lost against a proxy deck. Lol. But hey, I love how the playtest went since I was able to closely observe how the Kessig Wolf Run Green deck works.

First 3 consecutive games was mine, followed by his five consecutive wins. I won the next game then he got the last. 6 – 4.

FB status: playtesting… and I just lost to a deck with Garruk, Primal Proxy and Primeval Proxy. >.<

Here’s what I figured out:
1. It’s always Primeval Titan for the win. The 6/6 trample is just a bonus. It doesn’t matter if he gets killed. He has done his job the moment he fetched Kessig Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus.
2. Garruk, Primal Hunter’s second ability can outdraw you and it’s so annoying because there’s nothing you can do about it. Cast and draw is like a hit and run road accident. You can foresee the damage.
3. Dungrove Elder is not a threat yet unless it has trample.
4. Oblivion Ring is not the best solution for Primeval Titan. Viridian Corrupter and Acidic Slime can give him extra Kessig Wolf Run and Inkmoth Nexus.
5. Sometimes, Acidic Slime can’t cope up with Kessig’s fast mana acceleration. By the time you cast Acidic Slime, you’re already dying and there’ll be an overwhelming number of creatures. That’s big thanks to Green Sun’s Zenith.

Stupid tutor!

Indeed, Kessig Wolf Run Green is the new Valakut I used to hate.

Image originally appears @ No To Month-Ender MTG Tournament

Fabulous!

The new theme is making me more inspired.

Gotta start shooting photos now!

Magic Trivia Game #3: Show me the 6 members of The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen in the cards of Innistrad!

I’m just guessing… (with the help of my boyfriend…)

Alan Quatermain – Elite Inquisitor
Mina Murray – Olivia Voldaren
Invisible Man – Invisible Stalker
Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde and – Civilized Scholar/Homicidal Brute
Dorian Gray – Elder of Laurels
Captain Nemo – Grizzled Outcast

I want to know the answer! Lol.