Tuesday, July 31, 2007--
On this day:
In 2003: I get my wisdom teeth pulled. Ow!
Monday, July 30, 2007--
On this day:
In 2006: I return to Disneyland after a good 10 years or so. The Haunted Mansion doesn't scare me anymore.
In 2005: SeanGab makes his first appearance on my bloop.
Saturday, July 28, 2007--I beat Makai Kingdom. My characters were at around level 50, and the clock on my save at the beginning of the second cycle said 30:39:37.
Thursday, July 26, 2007--
On this day:
In 2005: My first software check-in at Microsoft.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007--Today was an X Edition booster draft with the guys in the cafeteria. Apparently, some dood had a friend in Wizards of the Coast PR who was able to give him all the stuff that stores got for the X Edition release, so not only did we have a free draft, but I also finally got my promo Reya Dawnbringer.
Anyway, in the beginning of the draft, I grabbed a kill card and decided to stay in black. Then, after a while, I grabbed a few green cards for the green beefy fatties. In the end, I had a black deck with a splash of green.
11xSwamp
6xForest
Ravenous Rats
Cruel Edict
Terror
Distress
Scath Zombies
Looming Shade
2xPhyrexian Rager
2xAfflict
2xAssassinate
3xRecover
Severed Legion
Mass of Ghouls
Llanowar Elves
Rushwood Dryad
Pincher Beetles
Recollect
Spined Wurm
Verdant Force
Also, I got a foil Shivan Hellkite.
Monday, July 23, 2007--
On this day:
In 2003: I had the ninja school dream in which Lizzie says "Oh great, now I'm stuck with Dwayne."
Sunday, July 22, 2007--
On this day:
In 2004:
- "Later in the dream, I frolicked with Emma and Lizzie." Frolicked with Emma and Lizzie?!? I don't even know what that means.
- "I need to play with more money so that I can lose and still win big when my time comes." "What? Your kind thumbs?"
Saturday, July 21, 2007--The kids last night were waiting in lines for hours in front of Barnes & Noble to get Harry Potter 7. I just randomly walked into Safeway this morning and got a copy in less than 15 minutes. Suckers.
On this day:
In 2004: I beat Golden Sun.
The game, not the restaurant in San Jose that burned down.
Friday, July 20, 2007--After work today, I went to Uncle's Games at Crossroads Mall to play in a Friday Night Magic tournament. The format was Block Constructed, and I brought back the Red-Black-White Sliver deck that I used
last time. However, just before the tournament started, Alan made some changes to my deck, removing a Necrotic Sliver and the two Watcher Slivers for Homing Slivers (which were in my sideboard), and replacing the Sudden Shocks (which were moved to the sideboard) with Dead & Gones.
Anyways, in round 1, I played against Ryan, who was running a white Weenie deck. Despite getting a good start in both games, I was able to make a comeback with an Essence Sliver, which Ryan simply couldn't handle.
Record: 1-0
In round 2, I played against Peter, who sported the infamous Mono-Blue Aggro Deck. In game 1, he brought me down to a single point of life, but then I was able to get the Essence Sliver in play and make a come back. In game 2, bad draws from my deck allowed him to pulmogorize me. Not even the Essence Sliver could save me. In game 3, it turned into a game of who died first, and unfortunately, Peter ran out of gas 4 points of life too soon.
Record: 2-0
In round 3, I played against Colin, who played a Green-White-Red aggro deck. (I presume it's a block version of Zoo or something.) In the first game, Colin wiped me out pretty quickly, finishing the game with a well-placed Stonewood Invocation. Fortunately, in games 2, Colin was mana screwed, and in game 3, Colin had piss-poor draws, allowing me to win. Interestingly, in all three games of this round, I only had two of my three colors to work with. I need better mana fixing.
Record: 3-0
For the third Constructed Tournament in a row, I won first place. I attributed this win once again to luck, because I had my lucky Prinny with me.
But again, my deck needs changing. I think I'll remove a Flagstones of Trokair, a Mountain, and a Swamp for three Terramorphic Expanses to help fix my colors. Because after all, the worst mana troubles I get are the color issues.
On this day:
In 2006: I beat Suikoden. It takes me all of 4 days (and about 27 hours).
Tuesday, July 17, 2007--
On this day:
In 2003: The birth of DeckSim.
Happy 4th Birthday, DeckSim!
Friday, July 13, 2007--Happy Friday the 13th!
On this day:
In 2005: BBQ at Bill Gates'. Dan Marino randomly walks up to Bill Gates and says, "Mr. Gates, can I shake your hand?" And Bill Gates shakes his hand. Hardcore!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007--
On this day:
In 2004:
- I dreamt I was in a mech combat competition... fighting against Joyce L.
- I beat Xenogears.
Wednesday, July 10, 2007--From now on, if it's been so long that I totally forget what happened and I have nothing to say for that day, I'll
skip that day when going back and writing journal entries. Of course, this means that if I ever go back and
retroactively add journal entries, I'll have to change the logic, because right
Unless, of course, they have something interesting in them like
On this day:
In 2004:
- Sitting in order or pervertedness at Ariake Sushi.
- 69 soldier tokens!
- The great battle of the Jeng brothers vs Alan & Justin. ("My partner is useless.")
Monday, July 9, 2007--Work work.
Sunday, July 8, 2007--I decided to call Little Vivian today before she flies off to Taiwan (which she will on Friday, apparently).
Little Vivian: Thanks for inviting me, even though I can't make it.
me: No problem. You're welcome.
Little Vivian: Is Robin invited?
me: I dunno. I mean, she can come if she wants, but she doesn't really talk to me, so how do I invite her? I'd be like, "Hi Robin, would you like to come to my birthday party?" And she'd be like, "..."
Little Vivian: *giggles*
On this day:
In 2004: NOT IN SERVICE
Saturday, July 7, 2007--Today, I played too much Sims 2 again. Man, I should stop playing that so I have more time for Oblivion.
On this day:
In 2003: I come home from Japan
Friday, July 6, 2007--Today, I went to a Standard Constructed FNM at Uncle's Games in Crossroad's Mall. I ran Cruel Gruul, designed and developed by Justin.
Anyways, in round 1, I play against Ian H, who had just built a Rakdos deck from spare cards. In game 1, I had a good start and ran him over. In game 2, I was a little mana flooded and thus succumbed to the kill-guilders. In game 3, I had a few bad draws in the early game, and as a result, we were evenly matched. Fortunately, I had sided in Blood Moons to shut down his Keldon Megaliths. Unfortunately, in that game, I was having trouble drawing green mana. However, after drawing my second forest, I was able to play the Blood Moon and stabilize (which sounds really weird coming from a Gruul player.) In the end, the game turned into a top-deck war, and Ian kept drawing lands, so I won.
Record: 1-0
In round 2, I played against Eric. It turns out he was also playing Gruul, but he was playing a smaller, friendlier version of Gruul. In game 1, after Pyroclasming his Giant Solifuge (and taking out his Llanowar Elf while I was at it), I followed up with a Rumbling Slum, and from then on, it was game over. In game 2...
me: Hmm... this hand is a safe hand, but it isn't very fast.
Eric: You're up a game. Just keep it.
me: Okay, I guess I'll keep it, then.
Eric: Hell yeah! I just made this guy keep a bad hand.
Little did he know that I was sitting on a hand with 4 lands, a Call of the Herd, and two Rumbling Slums. Although he managed to deal, like, 10 damage to me in the early game, I pwned him with Slums in the mid-game.
Record: 2-0
In round 3, I played against Akio, who ran a blue-green deck that was essentially green weenie with counterspell support. (I did, however, see a Groundbreaker and a Spectral Force, neither of them were particularly threatening to me at any point.) Overrunning him with Gruul and Rumbling Slums two games in a row didn't seem very challenging.
Record: 3-0
In round 4, I played against Brian, who was running Sligh featuring Greater Gargadon. In game 1, Brian played a first turn Greater Gargadon. Then, a few turns later, after managing to annihilate my forces with various burns, Brian sacrificed all his lands to the Gargadon to bring it into play, then smashed me with it for the win. In game 2, once again, Brian started off with a turn 1 Greater Gargadon. Then, I saw a turn 3 Jaya Ballard on his side. Fortunately, I was able to burn her out pretty quickly with a Rift Bolt. Brian made a play mistake and forgot to sac her to the Gargadon, but the one counter turned out not to make a difference. I was able to push my forces through for the win pretty quickly after that. In game 3, Brian did not play a turn 1 Gargadon (I dunno if he simply didn't draw one or if he sided it out). However, I did see a Magus of the Scroll. At first, I was worried because of bad memories of being on the receiving end of the Scroll. Fortunately, Brian had a hand full of 6 cards, making using the Magus rather difficult. He decided to chump block with it after I attacked with massive forces. Eventually, I was able to overrun him for the win.
Record: 4-0
Unprecendented 4-0 record, and my first undisputed win. (As opposed to two weeks ago, where I won only because I tied with 2 other people and had good tiebreakers.) As a result, I won 7 booster packs.
Of course, I can't take all the credit. The real reason I won was because I was running a tier 1 deck, and it was designed by Justin (although I can claim credit for the Pyroclasms). I was just an okay driver in a kickass awesome car. That and I managed to avoid both of the control decks in the tournament, and I didn't see any Dragonstorm, because since Cruel Gruul is bigger and meaner than regular Gruul, it's also a bit slower, which makes control matchups slightly harder. Also, neither Darren nor Jeff played today, and these guys are arguably the best players in our group.
Regardless, I think it's time for me to take it up a notch and start practicing with the Pros at Microsoft.
(Also, I think I owe Justin a portion of my winnings.)
Thursday, July 5, 2007--Today, Mishra showed up in Redmond. Hurray?
Wednesday, July 4, 2007--Happy Independence Day! Today, we celebrate when we kicked those alien asses and exploded their mothership.
...wait...
Tuesday, July 3, 2007--I watched Transformers tonight. It was pretty good (although, granted, I went in with pretty low expectations). The best part was that Starscream was in the movie.
Monday, July 2, 2007--After coming back from the gym, the guys and I went to Thai Ginger for some Thai curry. Mmm... Thai curry...
Sunday, July 1, 2007--
Happy Canada Day!
"Hehe, I'm in Canada right now. Happy Canada to you, too!"
--Little Vivian