Planeswalkers are broken

I mean, seriously. There were 5 in Lorwyn (already broken in and of itself), but each of the Planeswalkers are really good. And the most recent set? Well, I can say that even though I did horribly yesterday, I still won a game and stood a chance in others all because of Elspeth, Knight-Errant, one of the three Mythic rares I got yesterday. I tried to do too much (because of the Mythics), and that is why I didn't do as well, but still. Shards of Alara is crazy. If you had no idea what I was talking about, I'll try to spell it out a little bit. In MTG, you are a Planeswalker. You can bring all these different beings together and command them. You can burn people, kill people, stop stuff from happening, etc. In the set Lorwyn, they introduced the Planeswalker as a card. Basically, you can pay a cost, and they come into play to help you. They have a loyalty to you that can grow and shrink. Every turn, you can add loyalty for an effect or remove loyatly for an effect. If they have no loyalty, then they go away. The Planewalkers in Lorwyn all started with some amount, had one ability that gave them counters, one ability that took just a small amount of counters away, and then one major ability that took a lot of counters. So, you normally would be stuck with the one ability to add, waiting for the massive ability. Elspeth (a Plaeswalker), in the most recent set, has two +1 abilities that are amazing, and a -8 ability that is ridiculous. I also like that Saprolings actually look better as opposed to looking like animals, they look more like plants.

MEV List

Here is my list for MEV. If you can't see it, click on the "MEV List" above to go to it.

MEV:

002: Archangel, Death
00?: Beast, Devolved/Devolving Brute
007: Cyclops, Man of Action
008: Cyclops, Astonishing X-Man
009: Cyclops, Mutant Messiah
012: Havok, Proud Son
014: Iceman, Jack Frost
016: Jamie Madrox<>Multiple Man, Jamie Prime
018: Jean Grey, Jean Grey-Summers
020: M, Monet St. Croix
021: Multiple Man, Army<>HYDRA
022: Polaris, Pestilence
023: Polaris, Back in the Fold
028: Strong Guy, Guido Carosella
032: Fall's Edge
034: Concussive Force
035: Cracking the Case
036: Fearless Leader
037: First Class
039: Multiplicity
040: Mutant Town Messiah
041: One Man Army
042: Optic Blast
043: Re-Absorption
046: Anarchist, Acid Blast
047: Cable, Soldier X
048: Cable, Dayspring
049: Cable, Temporal Traveler
050: Cable, Mutant Messiah
051: Caliban, Death
052: Cannonball, Samuel Guthrie
053: Domino, Probability Manipulator
054: Doop, Extra-Dimensional Void
055: Feral, Feline Fatale
056: Hepzibah, Mephitizoid
057: James Proudstar<>Warpath, Apache Warrior
058: Lila Cheney, Pop Star
059: Moonstar, Danielle Moonstar
060: Orphan, Russian Roulette
061: Pete Wisdom, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom
062: Phat, Junk in the Trunk
063: Rictor, Julio Rictor
064: Roberto da Costa<>Sunspot, Solar Flare
065: Shatterstar, Benjamin Russell
066: Siryn, Theresa Cassidy
067: Tabitha Smith, Boom Boom
068: Tabitha Smith, Meltdown
069: U-Go-Girl, Tele-Girl
070: Vivisector, Beast Within
071: X-23, Laura Howlett
072: X-23, Genetic Miracle
073: Psimitar
074: RL-9000
075: Doopworld, Team-Up
076: Providence
077: Black Box
079: Born to Run
080: Bosom Buddies
081: Deathmatch
082: In the Crossfire
083: Rapid Strike
084: Techno-Organic Virus
085: The Best at What They Do
086: X-Force Reborn
087: X-Men Don't Kill
089: Exodus, Crusader
090: Gambit, Le Diable Blanc
092: Gambit, Traitor
098: Mr. Sinister, Robert Windsor
100: Mr. Sinister, Molecular Manipulator
102: Mystique, Raven
104: Mystique, Foxx
107: Random, Alex
109: Sabretooth, Wounded Animal
113: Sunfire, Famine
118: Exodus, Crusader
121: Cajun Charm
123: Identity Theft
124: Lion Among the Lambs
125: Malleable DNA
126: Master Thief
127: Sewer Rats
128: Sinister Disciples
129: Three-Card Monte
130: X-Gene Decoded
131: Albert, Earth-50211
134: Blink, Earth-295<>Clarice Ferguson
135: Blink, Earth-295<>Dimension Jumper
136: Blink, Earth-295<>Team Leader
138: Heather Hudson<>Sasquatch, Earth 3470
140: Illyana Rasputin<>Magik, Earth-4210
141: John Proudstar<>Thunderbird, Earth-1100<>War
142: Longshot, Earth-Mojoverse
143: Magnus, Earth-27
145: Miguel O'Hara<>Spider-Man, Earth-6375
146: Mimic, Earth-12
147: Mimic, Earth-12<>Team Leader
148: Mimic, Earth-12<>Infected
153: Power Princess, Earth-712
154: Proteus, Earth-58163
158: Shadowcat<>Cat, Earth-Unknown
163: Panoptichron
165: Blink!
168: A Finer World
169: Five in One
170: Frozen in Time
171: Unhinged from Time
172: Warp Shards
173: Wolverine Squad
174: Aurora, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier
176: Captain America, Weapon 1
177: Chamber, Jonothon Starsmore
179: Deadpool, Party Pooper
180: Deadpool, Earth-5021
182: Garrison Kane, Reprogrammed Cyborg
184: Hyperion, Earth-4023
185: Iron Man, Earth-2020
190: Mesmero, Vincent
193: Sabretooth, Earth-295<>War
194: Sabretooth, Earth-295<>Team Leader
197: Spider-Man<>The Spider, Earth-15
199: Sublime, The Beast Almighty
200: Sublime, Director of Weapon Plus
201: Ultimaton, Weapon 15
204: Wolverine, Unleashed
205: Department K
206: Weapon Plus Satellite
207: The World
212: Merc with a Mouth
213: The Phoenix Egg
215: Trouble with Clones
218: Alex Wilder, Child Prodigy
220: Gertrude Yorkes, Arsenic
221: Karolina Dean, Lucy in the Sky
222: Molly Hayes, Bruiser
224: Old Lace, Genetically Engineered Deinonychus
225: Victor Mancha, Son of Ultron
226: Xavin, Super Skrull
227: The Leapfrog
229: Bastion, Prime Sentinel
232: Nimrod, Killing Machine
233: The Purifiers, Army
234: William Stryker, Fundamentalist
235: Purified
236: Apocalypse, Mutant Messiah
237: The Black Rider
238: The Coming
239: The Pale Rider
240: The Red Rider
241: The White Rider
242: Ch'od, First Mate
243: Corsair, Christopher Summers
245: Nightcrawler, Brimstone Cowboy
246: Professor X, Mutant Messiah
249: The Starjammer, Unique
251: In ze Munich Circus...
252: Super Skrull, World Champion
253: Vulcan, Gabriel Summers
254: Danger, The Singularity
255: Jean Grey, The White Hot Room
256: Kid Omega, Quentin Quire
257: Kick
258: M'Kraan Crystal, Unique
262: War Room
263: Back from the Dead
264: Breakworld Prophecy
268: Decimation
270: Endangered Species
271: Erased

A formal apology to Daniel Way

Dear Daniel Way,

I truly believed that you were messing up Deadpool. When you were writing Wolverine: Origins, and Deadpool was in it, I honestly can say that I hated the way Deadpool was in it. It seemed to me at the time that you were making him just crazy without any of the competency that he usually has. I suppose that I was too used to Fabian Nicieza and his style of writing Deadpool. Still, the way that he was seeing things differently was making him incompetent, and there is no denying that in the comics. While you still have that in the most recent series, you have toned it down a lot and I appreciate that. I would like to apologize for saying how horribly you write Deadpool. To be perfectly honest, this is one of my favorite series, and it has only been two issues so far. Oh, and mocking Rob Liefeld in the second issue? I appreciate that. Sure, to me he isn't as bad as everybody else believes, but he still put way too many pouches on people. Thank you for addressing that. Anyway, I would like to once again apologize for not believing in you, as you have made Deadpool a really fun series.

Pi

9/24 Comics

You know the deal at this point:

Going to be updated in chunks as I do other things as well.

Ultimates 3 #5


Basic Plot: Ultron finally gets to the point.

Okay, Loeb, I think I understand you. You love mysteries, and try to create your own by throwing people into the middle of everything and expecting them to hang on until the end of the ride. Your style is interesting, and really good...some of the time. Hulk pissed me off too much and this was no Ultimates or Ultimates 2. Still, I have to admit that this wasn't as bad as I originally thought. Basically, after Ultimates 2, still my favorite series ever, I was expecitng more of the same and not your brand of storytelling. Well, now that the series is over, I can say that it really wasn't all that good. It was okay, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was at the beginning. The explanations that were given were sufficient, and I appreciate that the story is over and I understand most of it. Sure, they didn't explain everything, but they explained enough.

Captain America 42


Basic Plot: Bucky fights Sin to save the candidates, while everything goes to hell.

Seriously, this was crazy. Totally crazy. I loved how it ended. Not enough to continue reading, but I did enjoy it for the time I did read it. Man, Bucky is really stepping into the role of Captain America. Dare I say that, hmmm, okay: He can be Captain America. Not just take the role until Steve comes back (which he'll probably do eventually), but he can be the new Captain America. He just feels right as Cap. Oh well. Oh, and that last page? WTF? So crazy!

Ultimate Fantastic Four/X-Men Annual 1


Basic Plot: Geez, okay, here we go. The future FF fight the current FF and current X-Men, while the remaining future X-Men continue fighting.

This two parter was just bizarre. All I can say is that Ultimatum is a horrible idea and concept. Stop trying to fuck everything up! Still, this was enjoyable, but mostly made me just ask WTF a whole lot.

Fantastic Four 560


Basic Plot: The future revealed! Why the New Defenders need Doom, Human Torch and Galactus revealed! Everything is crazy!

Oh, Millar. Somehow, you make this good. This is confusing, and somewhat convoluted, but it is still something I enjoy a lot. Maybe there is something wrong with me, but I love reading comics you do. Anyway, this was, as I said, confusing and convoluted, but awesome. I enjoyed when they went over how they took down Galactus. "How could the six of you take down Galactus? He's, like, the biggest bad-ass ever." "Let's just say there used to be a hundred and forty-seven of us before that fight, Johnny Storm." They used 147 freaking superheroes to take out Galactus, who ended up taking 141 of them down with him. Oh, and Susan? Well, telekinesis is one of the most powerful abilities ever, if used in the proper way and with enough power, so the nanny/Susan from the time of the New Defenders is ridiculously powerful and takes out the FF without breaking a sweat.

Ultimate Spider-Man 126


Basic Plot: Symbiote Spidey faces the Ultimates.

Well, this wasn't a great storyline. Also, when does this take place, because Fury is there and I know Fury is in the Squadron universe, and is there for years. This is weird. Seeing him face the Ultimates was pretty cool, although he put up more of a fight then I think he should have. Still, pretty cool, although everything else is mostly confusing. Hopefully, they'll explain when this actually takes place.

Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man 2


Basic Plot: Jackpot faces the Super Skrull as everybody else runs away.

Meh. Not that great. I really hope they reveal Harry to be Menace soon. Pretty much everybody runs away and that is it. Yay.

Blue Beetle 31


Basic Plot: Blue Beetle and Dr. Mid-Nite fight Dr. Polaris' men.

Dr. Polaris is behind everything. A new Dr. Polaris apparently. All in all, it wasn't anything special though. Some fun parts, and I do like Dr. Mid-Nite, but nothing spectacular that I liked about Blue Beetle.

She-Hulk 33


Basic Plot: Kl'rt fights She-Hulk over Jazinda.

I like this issue, but barely. You see, in Annihilation: Super-Skrull, Kl'rt fought his own people in order to find a way to save his son Sarnogg from destruction on the planet Zaragz'na. But he is joining with Skrulls in order to kill his daughter. What, he doesn't care about his daughter? He only cares about his male offspring or something? Oh well. Still, in the end, he realizes that he prefers his daughter being alive to his daughter being killed, and ends up leaving and throwing Nogor away. Guess who's back as an enemy of the Skrull empire? He changes his allegiances so much, it is crazy.

Runaways 2


Basic Plot: Majesdanians attack in retribution for their homeworld.

Poor Xavin. She just got Karolina back and they are ready to start anew when it is revealed that Skrulls killed her homeworld. Awww... That means Karolina is not quite ready for Skrull-Majesdanian relations. Sigh. I still really like this series, including the art, which fits really well for this series. Ramos is an artist I like, but he doesn't fit with everything, such as when he drew Wolverine. It was slightly more serious, so seeing the slightly distorted version didn't quite fit for me.

Nova 17


Basic Plot: Nova and Darkhawk fight off Skrulls.

I have always liked Darkhawk ever since I first found his comics in the 3 for $1 box at a store in San Francisco. Sure, he represents the "mysterious robotic-like guy with weird powers" 90's-esque stereotype, but I still don't care. He was in some issues of Spidey (I do like the Round Robin arc of ASM with Moon Knight, Darkhawk, Punisher, and a whole bunch of guys) and Spidey was in a few of his issues. He just seems to me like one of those Spidey-like guys that is new to his powers, a teen, and unsure of himself, trying to fight crime, all while learning about the world. Blue Beetle and Invincible are part of this too. Of course, by this point, he is more sure of himself, as is Nova, and they were teammates in the New Warriors, so they somewhat get along, aside from that Nova isn't fully trusted since they are being invaded by shapeshifters. Still, very cool. Oh, the issue. Um, pretty good. I enjoyed it. Um, the ending was just confusing, and where the hell is Worldmind? And what the hell is Wendell doing there?

Avengers: The Initiative 17


Basic Plot: The Shadow Initiative go after Spider-Woman/Veranke at Camp Hammond.

Oh, I love this series. And what I have believed for a long time (ever since I realized it was a known character) seems to be true. They have very much hinted that Jean Grey is Mutant Zero in this issue, from her red hair to telekinesis. Oh, and her greatest fear is the darkness in her htat has a name? I mean, I always felt that it fit well that Mutant Zero was Jean (mostly because it had to be a dead character that was female, a mutant and was well-known), but this is just screaming that it is Jean. Well, ninja-Jean, but whatever. The artist is one that I don't necessarily like, with the ridiculous muscles coming out of people, but it is fairly toned down in this issue, with not much of that going on. I love the writing, and I loved when Spider-Woman turned them all on Trauma, who shapeshifted into a Skrull because they feared he was a Skrull.

Black Panther 41


Basic Plot: Black Panther and Storm enact their plan.

Why is this so awesome? Why is Black Panther so bad-ass? I mean, seriously people! He is ridiculous. He was able to detect all of the Skrulls in Wakanda because of the Panther God, giving him the plan of making the Skrulls shapeshift into...I'll let you see. Man, though. I've learned my lesson. Leave Wakanda the fuck alone. Seriously, they took on the Skrulls and kicked their asses. That was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. The two page spread at the end? Holy shit! This is what happens when you invade Wakanda.

New Avengers 45


Basic Plot: What happened with Veranke and Criti Noll during House of M?

Well, I loved House of M (although do think that if they removed the second, fourth and fifth issues, it would have been nearly the same thing) which was written by Bendis and love that this is drawn by Cheung, who has a similar style to Olivier Coipel, which makes it look a lot like House of M. This was a little bit of nostalgia for me, as House of M was when I started picking up issues weekly. Not very much new, just kind of learned that they knew what was going on during House of M, one of Scarlet Witch's kids killed Veranke and they learned soon after that the Annihilation Wave struck the Skrull worlds.

Thunderbolts 124


Basic Plot: The Thunderbolts defend DC.

Look at that image. Go ahead, I'll be right here. Awesome. Remember way back when (last week), when I said how much I love Norman. Aw man, he is a great leader. Now, the Thunderbolts are still a horrible idea, but they at least function cohesively which makes them really hard to beat. Man, this is an awesome series. I love the Thunderbolts. Go Osborn! Any issue that starts with Norman Osborn opening fire on a room full of Spider-Man Skrulls while laughing maniacally has to be good. And man, Venom, Penance, Bullseye, Radioactive Man and Swordsman all prove how powerful they are. Seriously. Moonstone is still proving somewhat incompetent, which is cool, and Songbird is barely in it. Everybody else is pulling their weight though, and posing for the cameras in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Norman gives a speech. "My friends! These creatures think Earth belongs to them! That they can come here--to our
home--and make us kneel! But this is our world! This is our country! While a single breath remains in our bodies, we will fight and die to keep it! Stand with me! Show them! Let us shout it with one voice! This...is my country." Norman is awesome.

Wolverine: First Class 7


Missed it. I'll get it soon, though.

Deadpool 2


Basic Plot: Deadpool trains Skrulls.

Awesome! I mean, seriously. This is a great jumping on point for Deadpool fans. It gives his origin and shows you that just because he is crazy doesn't mean he isn't awesome and really badass. I mean, he took out the Skrulls, wanted to join them, they take his blood, realize they can make immortal Super Skrulls and make a whole batch of Deadpool Skrulls, complete with swords and costumes. This was a dream come true for me, believe you me. Anyway, he goes to show how badass Deadpool can be by having his team take out a whole squadron of Super Skrulls. Not just weak powers either. Powers include: Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Cyclops, Mr. Fanastic, Nightcrawler, Thing and many others. Still, outnumbered 5-1, they conme out on top. His method is madness! Oh, and he mocks Rob Liefeld and his pouches, which was awesome. Man, this is a ridiculous series. Oh, and the end? Nick Fury knows to call on Deadpool. How cool is that? With a Skrull invasion, Fury knows to contact Deadpool to get him to take out a whole bunch of Skrulls. Crazy. Remeber, madness is his method.

West Coast v East Coast

Okay, I know schools on the West Coast start later than here on the East Coast, but I mean, come on! Maybe it is just my professors, but I am going to have had 4 tests in 5 of my classes before my friend even has one single class. 80% of my classes will have had a test in them before one single lecture for my friend. Yes, I know that it is the same amount of school all in all, and that I will be out of school long before her, but it just doesn't feel right, you know?

Sealed v Draft v Constructed

Constructed is the most basic way, where you have the rules ahead of time, and spend time constructing a deck that fits the format. Now, there are many different constructed formats, including Golden Age, Silver Age, Modern Age, Random Punks, Silver Random Punks, Modern Random Punks, BYOS, BYOT, Build a Legend, mini-deck, Highlander, etc. I mostly enjoy Silver Age, but having to think of different ways to build decks (mini-deck/BYOS, etc) are also enjoyable to a point. I can bring whatever I want to a tournament, as long as it fits thouse bounds, which is fun, but the thing I dislike? There are many people better than me, who have more rares, or better ideas, and better ways to run their decks, and include cards I would never think about that make their deck ridiculous. I still enjoyed the 10K I went to where I won 0 games, and only got 3-7 because 3 people didn't show up, but I would have enjoyed it more, had I been a better deckbuilder. As a player, I'm not the best, but I'm pretty good. As a deckbuilder, I could use a lore more improvement.

Sealed is a lot of fun, because you have the same chance as everybody else at the very beginning. Now, there is still emphasis on deckbuilding, but somebody can't have playtested their deck for a long time beforehand and worked out all the kinks, making sure they have the best rares and the best tech. Sure, if you aren't a great deckbuilder, you still could have problems. Still, I enjoy that my losses are pretty much mostly my fault. I could have built a better deck, most likely, out of the cards I was given. I didn't, and now I have to make do with what I have. Sure, some people get ridiculously lucky (Come on, two Blinding Rage at a Sealed event?), but mostly, it is on you to do better.

Draft is my favorite, because you can make more consistent and better decks than in Sealed, and without all of the ridiculous deckbuilding and testing of Constructed. Plus, it is cheaper and more interactive. As opposed to buying 5 packs, you only have to buy 3, but you do need the people. I can see how good cards are in a new set by building sealed decks out of my boxes, but I can't draft, unfortunately, as I don't have the people available. Still, I do enjoy drafting more than anything else.

What about any people that might actually read this? Do you prefer 1 of them to the others?

Are You Embracing Change?