What Would JT Do?

We are moving...

2010-04-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

There is so much that we want to do online and a blog can only do so much.

So... we are moving and we are taking all the relevant blog contents with us!

www.titanhobbyshop.com

We have an online store, articles, tournament reports, decklists, etc.

Glicerio Garcia and Richard Badlon splits a huge cardpool

2010-03-31T22:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late result posting here. Everyone was busy commenting on our facebook photos (Titan Hobby Shop) that we forgot all about our blog.

117 players joined the event and it was Glicerio Garcia and Richard Badlon who were facing each other at the finals of JTQ Manila. Before playing the finals, they decided to split the cardpool (people will always find a way to split - DJ), 2 cards each, and draft the mythic rares; winner of the match gets priority.

Glicerio Garcia (aka Surge) was the eventual winner and JTQ Manila champion.

Champion: Glicerio Garcia - Boros

4 Goblin Guide
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Plated Geopede
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Hellspark Elemental
4 Ranger of Eos
2 Goblin Bushwhacker

4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
3 Burst Lightning
3 Earthquake

4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Mountain
5 Plains

SB
2 Day of Judgment
2 Journey to Nowhere
1 Elspeth
4 Hell's Thunder
2 White Knight
3 Celestial Purge
1 Hellspark Elemental

2nd: Richard Badlon - Boros

4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
3 Terramorphic Expanse
5 Plains
4 Mountains

4 Steppe Lynx
1 Elite Vanguard
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Plated Geopede
2 Boros Bushwhacker (sic)

4 Lightning Bolt
3 Burst Lightning
3 Path to Exile
3 Earthquake

SB
2 Elspeth Knight Errant
3 Hell's Thunder
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Celestial Purge
2 DOJ
3 Kor Skyfisher

3rd: Rudi Asinas - Jund

3 Putrid Leech
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Broodmate Dragon
1 Thornling
1 Borderland Ranger
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Blightning
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Bituminous Blast
3 Terminate
1 Bestial Menace

4 Savage Lands
1 Rootbound Crag
3 Raging Ravine
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Dragonskull Summit
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Swamp

SB
3 Shadowfeed
3 Mind Rot
2 Deathmark
2 Doom Blade
1 Burst Lightning
2 Master of the Wild Hunt
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Maelstrom Pulse

4th: Thons Galano - BR

4 Hell's Thunder
4 Goblin Guide
4 Ball Lightning
4 Hellspark Elemental
1 Plated Geopede
2 Earthquake
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Blightning
2 Quenchable Fire
4 Searing Blaze
3 Burst Lightning

4 Arid Mesa
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Dragonskull Summit
8 Mountain

SB
2 Pithing Needle
1 Quenchable Fire
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Doom Blade
4 Deathmark
2 Unstable Footing

5th: Ricky Perez - Mono-white

4 White Knight
4 Kor Firewalker
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Honor of the Pure
1 Basilisk Collar
3 Conqueror's Pledge
1 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Path to Exile
1 Sigil of Distinction
2 Elspeth Knight Errant
4 Kor Skyfisher
1 Brave the Elements

4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
1 Dread Statuary
1 Gargoyle Castle
13 Plains

SB
1 Brave the Elements
2 Wall of Reverce (sic)
2 Day of Judgment
2 Oblivon Ring
3 Devout Lightcaster
3 Celestial Purge
2 Journey to Nowhere

6th: Charles Cunanan - BR

4 Searing Blaze
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
4 Goblin Guide
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Hell's Thunder
4 Ball Lightning
2 Doom Blade
2 Quenchable Fire
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Earthquake

4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Lavaclaw Reaches
14 Mountain

SB:
4 Death Shadow
4 Needle Bite Trap
4 Deathmark
3 Unstable Footing

7th: Ray Rivas - Jund

4 Putrid Leech
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Broodmate Dragon

4 Lightning Blot
1 Doom Blade
2 Terminate
3 Explore
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Blightning
2 Bituminous Blast

3 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
2 Rootbound Crag
3 Raging Ravine
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Verdant Catacomb
4 Savage Lands

SB
2 Deathmark
1 Doom Blade
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Jund Charm
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Master of the Wild Hunt
3 Malakir Bloodwitch

8th: Ralph Santos - Mythic

* Decklists to follow, naiwan kay head judge DJ, waiting for him to send them.

JTQ Manila updates

2010-03-26T07:52:00.000-07:00

The JTQ series is a Magic the Gathering tournament series which aims to bring good Filipino Magic players into a larger stage. Last February 2010, we gave away round trip airfares and hotel accomodations to the winners of our JTQ Kuala Lumpur event; Richard Badlon and Rainier Santiago. The next Southeast Asian GP however, will be held here in Manila this coming June. Giving away airfares would not make any sense and so we came up with this; a huge cardpool to help support the player who will win this event.

JTQ Manila poster

JTQ Manila prize pool, booster packs consolation prize for other top finishers

Local stores run satellite tournaments which gives away byes for our JTQ events. The rationale behind this is similar to our main goal. We would like to bring the good players from all local stores into a bigger stage.

If you would like your local store to run satellites for our future events, please do not hesitate to contact us. There is no charge for running these satellite events, everything is free. We just need to coordinate with your local tournament organizer to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

List of players with byes for JTQ Manila (as of 3/26/2010)

Gamer's Lounge

Buado Rossinni x2
Manliclic, Christian x2
Paul Barlisan

Zuran Gaming Center
Zax Ozaki x2
James Coloma x2
Edward Malasaga x2
Ray Rivas
Dalton Terible

Ongkeco's Hobby Shop
Lei Co
Bong Encinas
JL Guevarra
Ray Rivas
Rainier Santiago
Rudi Asinas
Celsus Kintanar

BCI Greenhills
Mon Quimson
Aldrin Cacho
Lloyd Tan
Dheuz Relacion
Pong Deriquito
Mikko Rodas

Perez, Ricky
Santos, Ralf
Gloton, Bert
Banaag, Alfredo
Legaspi, KRISTIAN
Nicolas, Elmerando jr
Rivas, Raynand

Please contact your local tournament organizer if there are any discrepancies.

Charles Basilio and Kurt Porter wins ZZW drafts

2010-03-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Charles Basilio wins pod 1

Charles and his twin brother both drafted BR in the 1st pod. Charles was playing a more aggresive build compared to his brother though, and he piloted it to a 3-0 finish. Nevertheless, Jo Basilio was still the big winner of the draft having opened a Jace, TMS in his Worldwake pack.

Kurt Porter wins pod 2

No he was not playing Jund. Kurt drafted a tempo-based UB deck which featured the Zendikar MVP; Vampire Nighthawk and powerful tempo cards like Permafrost Trap and Whiplash Trap. He was watching draft veteran Chester Sy during the 1st draft and applied a few techniques that he just learned. So yes, he knew how to play his blue cards with maximum efficiency.

Padawan in Training?

2010-03-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that the Filipino Magic community (if not the global community) is aware of how much noise our very own 8-year old kid; Kurt Porter generated. Kurt piloted his Jund deck to the 2nd day of the Grand Prix and finished 92nd overall. It was not enough to qualify him for a Pro Tour or win him some money, but it is a monumental feat for an 8-year old who started off with zero byes.

So how did he do it? We have been asking ourselves the same question for months now. Yes, months.

Early gaming background:
1. Kurt started playing real-time strategy games on PC when he was 3 years old. Warcraft 3, Command and Conquer: Generals, and Warhammer: Dawn of War were among his favorites. He was later prohibited from playing these games because he was starting to exhibit violent tendencies.
2. Kurt then shifted to handheld consoles. He played emulated Pokemon games on his PSP and plays Monster Hunter up to this day.
3. He was introduced to Monopoly early 2009. He has been beating his aunts, uncles, and Grandparents in the game ever since. He also likes playing banker whenever he plays.

I think his story is all about exposure. Yes, he is an 8 year old but we never allowed him to play or bring his cards to school. We did this so that he would focus on his studies and not just play Magic. He has never played a game against his classmates. In tournaments, we would tell him who the good players are; he would watch them and learn a few moves. Kurt then emulates those players when he plays. He requires very minimal verbal instructions, just a few reminders on some keypoints.

MTG exposure prior to tournament play:

Kurt first played the Jund deck when he was practicing with the 2009 Philippine National Team in Rome. The team had no alternate and he was the only person that was with the team who knows how to play Magic.

2009 Philippine Team

Kurt clearing the challenges in Duels of the Planeswalkers

Watching Antonino De Rosa in gunslinging

Gunslinging against Antonino De Rosa...

... and Mike Turian...

... and Tom Lapille...

... and Olle Rade.

Fun times with Schuyler Garfield...

... and Terry Garfield

Tournament milestones as of today:
1. Dec 20, 2009 - 1st tournament. Played Dredge and finished 13th out of 14 players at a local Vintage tourney
2. Dec 27, 2009 - Played Jund and finished 1st out of over 100 players at a local Standard tourney
3. He has consistently piloted Jund on local Standard tourneys last January, 4W-3L being his worst record.
4. Kurt decided to change his deck for the Feb 13 JTQ Kuala Lumpur. He piloted a Summoning Trap deck to a 4W-3L finish.
5. He again decides to try a different deck for the Feb 21 JTQ Kuala Lumpur. He played Pat Chapin's UW control deck and went 1W-4L-1D-drop in the tourney, winning only the mirror match. Yes he cannot play control yet, just like 90% of the MTG population.
6. With very little time to practice due to school (final exams was March 8-11), Kurt picked up a Jund deck again for Grand Prix Kuala Lumpur and placed 92nd overall out of over 500 players.
7. Mar 20, 2010 - Finished 5-0-2 in the swiss rounds of GPT Manila but lost the top 8 match for 3 byes.
8. Mar 23, 2010 - Played and won his 1st booster draft (ZZW)

Kurt is now enjoying his summer vacation and practicing everyday for the upcoming GP Manila in June. He will also be doing summer sports to give him better resistance against fatigue; which was the main reason he did not do well in day 2 of GP KL. Let us not forget that he is just 8 years old, he gets tired much quicker than the older players.

Celsus gets a little help from 2 golems

2010-03-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

Celsus Kintanar

It has been a while since we wrote draft reports but this one sure deserves reporting.

Celsus started off with a low curve BW deck with a Vampire Nighthawk as his main man during the Zendikar portion of the draft. He opened a Lodestone Golem in his Worldwake pack and got passed a 2nd copy of the card by Franz Costales. (OT: Celsus got a 3rd golem in one of his prize packs). His high quality low cost creatures were all he needed to go 3-0 in this draft.

Nick Ortega finished 2nd playing a "Low EQ" ally deck. He had allies in 4 colors but was too greedy to drop Iona's Judgement and so he played all 5. His deck was nice to him though and it gladly fed him his color requirements in most of his games.

Final standings:
1. Kintanar, Celsus
2. Ortega, Dominic
3. Hron, Mike
4. Ascalon, Jason
5. Tan, Morris,
6. Bunao, Jem
7. Sy, Manchester
8. Costales, Franz

JTQ Manila

2010-03-03T00:56:00.000-08:00

March 2010 at Titan Hobby Shop

2010-02-24T02:54:00.001-08:00

Organized play:
We will be running FNMs again this March. We really want these events to run this time and so, we will be giving away WPN foil cards in addition to the usual FNM cards. But wait! There's more! If we reach at least 24 players, we will be giving away 36 booster packs as prize support.

Weekly Block Constructed - Thursdays. WPN foils and Worldwake booster packs at stake.
Entry fee: Php 200
Round 1 pairings at 7:00pm
36 packs prize support if 24 or more players joins

FNM Standard - Fridays. FNM foils, and Worldwake booster packs at stake.
Entry fee: Php 200
Round 1 pairings at 7:00pm
36 packs prize support if 24 or more players joins

Wizards of the Coast products:
We still have M10 booster packs, Garruk vs Liliana duel decks, and From the Vault: Exiled box sets available at the store.

Rainier Santiago wins JTQ #2

2010-02-23T01:18:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Rainier Santiago for winning JTQ #2!

Congrats to the players from the South for destroying the opposition in both events.

Champion: Ranier Santiago - Jund

4 Savage Land
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Rootbound Crag
3 Mountain
3 Swamp
3 Forest
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Raging Ravine

3 Siege-gang Commander
3 Broodmate Dragon
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf

4 Lightning Bolt
3 Rampant Growth
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Bituminous Blast
4 Blightning
2 Terminate

1 Basilisk Collar
2 Master of the Wild Hunt

SB:
2 Mind Rot
2 Burst Lightning
2 Deathmark
2 Mind Rot
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Goblin Ruinblaster

2nd: Richard Badlon - Boros

4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
3 Teetering Peaks
5 Plains
4 Mountains

4 Steppe Lynx
4 Ranger of Eos
1 Elite Vanguard
4 Goblin Guide
4 Plated Geopede
4 Hellspark Elemental
2 Goblin Bushwhacker

3 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Earthquake
3 Burst Lighting

SB:
3 Hell's Thunder
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
2 Day of Judgement
3 Kor Skyfisher
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Celestial Purge

3rd: Andrew Cantillana - UW Aggro

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Celestial Colonade
2 Sejiri Refuge
13 Plains
1 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Baneslayer Angel
4 Devout Lightcaster
4 White Knight
4 Kor Firewalker
4 Kor Skyfisher
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
2 Brave the Elements
2 Negate
2 Sigil of Distinction
3 Honor of the Pure
3 Path to Exile

SB:
4 Flashfreeze
3 Day of Judgement
2 Brave the Elements
2 Negate
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Path to Exile

4th: Dexter Vierneza - "RamBant"

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Rhox War Monk
4 Baneslayer Angel
3 Thornling
3 Rafiq of the Many
2 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Jenara, Asura of War
1 Jhessian Infiltrator

4 Rampant Growth
2 Elspeth Knight Errant
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Vines of Vastwood
2 Day of Judgement
2 Path to Exile

4 Seaside Citadel
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Celestial Colonade
2 Stirring Wildwood
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
2 Plains
6 Forest

SB:
4 Great Sable Stag
2 Rite of Replication
2 Day of Judgement
2 Negate
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Telemin Performance
1 Tectonic Edge

5th: Charles Basilio - Jund

2 Terminate
3 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Explore
4 Blightning
1 Master of the Wild Hunt
1 Borderland Ranger
3 Siege-gang Commander
4 Great Sable Stag
4 Bloodbraid Elf

3 Mountain
3 Swamp
3 Forest
1 Oran-rief, the Vastwood
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Raging Ravine
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Savage Lands
4 Verdant Catacombs

SB:
2 Jund Charm
2 Terminate
3 Bituminous Blast
3 Duress
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
2 Pithing Needle

6th: Thons Galano - Vampires

4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
15 Swamp
3 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Vampire Hexmage
3 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
4 Kalastria Highborn
2 Mind Sludge
2 Grim Discovery
2 Urge to Feed
3 Tendrils of Corruption
4 Sign in Blood

SB:
1 Bloodghast
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Mind Sludge
1 Grim Discovery
1 Urge to Feed
4 Deathmark
4 Duress

7th: Mike Batac - UW Control

2 Arid Mesa
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Halimar Depths
3 Island
4 Plains
1 Scalding Tarn
4 Tectonic Edge

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

4 Cancel
1 Celestial Purge
3 Day of Judgment
2 Essence Scatter
4 Everflowing Chalice
2 Flashfreeze
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Martial Coup
2 Mind Spring
1 Negate
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Path to Exile
4 Treasure Hunt

SB:
2 Negate
2 Path to Exile
3 Kor Firewalker
3 Baneslayer Angel
1 Perimeter Captain
2 Mind Control
2 Luminarch Ascension

8th: Ralf Santos - Ranger-Crab

4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Hedron Crab
2 Ranger of Eos

3 Day of Judgement
4 Path to Exile

4 Howling Mine
4 Jace Beleren

3 Timewarp
4 Negate
3 Archive Trap

4 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Glacial Fortress
6 Plains
5 Island
3 Arid Mesa
3 Misty Rainforest

SB:
2 Pithing Needle
4 Perimeter Captain
4 Kor Firewalker
1 Rite of Replication
4 Angelsong

The feature match playmat now belongs to the South

More photos on our facebook page (Titan Hobby Shop)

Richard Badlon wins JTQ #1

2010-02-13T21:01:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Richard Badlon for winning JTQ #1!

Champion: Richard Badlon - Boros

4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Marsh Flats
3 Teetering Peaks
5 Plains
4 Mountains

4 Steppe Lynx
4 Ranger of Eos
1 Elite Vanguard
4 Goblin Guide
4 Plated Geopede
4 Hellspark Elemental
2 Goblin Bushwhacker

4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Earthquake
2 Burst Lighting

SB:
3 Hell's Thunder
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
2 Day of Judgement
3 Kor Skyfisher
3 Journey to Nowhere
2 Celestial Purge

2nd: Jay Falag-ey - BW tokens

2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
4 Emeria Angel
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Conqueror's Pledge
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Zealous Persecution
4 Path to Exile
1 Ajani Goldmane
1 Captain of the Watch

2 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Swamp
4 Arid Mesa
7 Plains
4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Marsh Flats

SB:
2 Brave the Elements
2 Day of Judgement
3 Devout Lightcaster
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Identity Crisis
3 Luminarch Ascension

3rd: Ralf Santos - UW Ranger Crab

4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Hedron Crab
2 Ranger of Eos

3 Day of Judgement
4 Path to Exile

4 Howling Mine
4 Jace Beleren

3 Timewarp
4 Negate
3 Archive Trap

4 Fieldmist Borderpost
4 Glacial Fortress
6 Plains
5 Island
3 Arid Mesa
3 Misty Rainforest

SB:
2 Pithing Needle
4 Perimeter Captain
4 Kor Firewalker
1 Rite of Replication
4 Angelsong

4th: Richmond Tan - GWb

4 Noble Hierarch
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Baneslayer Angel
4 Emeria Angel
2 Ob-Nixilis, the Fallen
2 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Master of the Wild Hunt
4 Path to Exile
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Eldrazi Monument
1 Behemoth Sledge
1 Basilisk Collar

4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
5 Forest
4 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Stirring Wildwood

SB:
2 Luminarch Ascension
1 Day of Judgement
1 Martial Coup
1 Liliana Vess
2 Identity Crisis
3 Acidic Slime
3 Celestial Purge
2 Wall of Reverence

5th: Paul Mendoza - Jund

4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Siege-gang Commander

3 Duress
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Terminate
3 Trace of Abundance
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Eldrazi Monument
4 Blightning

2 Lavaclaw Reaches
2 Dragonskull Summit
1 Raging Ravine
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Savage Lands
3 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Mountain

SB:
2 Smother
3 Jund Charm
3 Malakir Bloodwitch
2 Mind Shatter
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Terminate

6th: Rei Tay - Vampires

4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
3 Bloodghast
3 Vampire Hexmage
3 Kalastria Highborn
3 Malakir Bloodwitch

4 Tendrills of Corruption
4 Sign in Blood
3 Urge to Feed
2 Mind Sludge

4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
17 Swamp

SB:
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Mind Sludge
4 Duress
4 Deathmark
3 Marsh Casualties
1 Urge to Feed

7th: Vic Lim - Valakut ramp

4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Naya Panorama
3 Forest
13 Mountains

4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Siege-gang Commander
2 Oracle of Mul Daya

4 Expedition Map
4 Explore
3 Harrow
3 Khalni Heart Expedition
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Burst Lightning
2 Rampant Growth

SB:
2 Demolish
3 Chandra Nalaar
2 Pithing Needle
3 Pyroclasm
2 Lavaball Trap
3 Tectonic Edge

8th: Winfred Candaza - Vampires

4 Pulse Tracker
4 Bloodghast
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
4 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Sign in Blood
4 Tendrills of Corruption
1 Mind Sludge

4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
17 Swamp

SB:
4 Duress
2 Mind Sludge
2 Swamp
3 Deathmark
4 Underworld Dreams

More photos on our facebook page (Titan Hobby Shop)

We would also like to thank everyone who played at the JTQ. Sorry for the late start as we had some difficulties processing the byes. The late tables and chairs did not help too.

Hope to see you again next week!

Limited Edition (episode 1)

2010-02-07T05:33:00.000-08:00

Today, we have an article from long-time limited specialist Chester Sy. C is a regular drafter from Madison Wisconsin playing alongside Pro Tour champion Mike Hron for the most part of his active playing days. Although he still has the skills and ratings to play in high level events; these days, he prefers to just play casually and on very rare occasions.

We are very glad that he chose to play at Titan during the Worldwake prerelease, and we are honored that he chose to write a tourney report for us to publish in this site.

Prerelease Report: Worldwake Midnight Pre-release @ Titan
by C

Humorous thoughts in parenthesis. Heh.

So Wednesday rolls around and I get a message at like 10pm, asking if I’m playing at the prerelease. Magic doesn’t really interest me nowadays, as killing dragons (in the real world, of Warcraft) is just a tad more fun than slinging cards. I blatantly ignore the message and go get me some EPIC LEWTZ!

Thursday night, while drunk from one too many beers in the streets of Alabang, Franz calls me up asking if I wanted to prerelease it up. At the back of my head I’m like, what the f do u want from me! (but of course I didn’t say that). Apparently a lot of my officemates, including the always wacky Celsus and king of awkward nights Jem are coming. In my tipsy state, I commit (f peer pressure~).

We were supposed to meet at 9pm at the office on Friday night, but I’m obviously late (killing dragons take a lot of time) so I arrive at the very fashionably late time of 10:30pm. Passengers in the C-mobile: Celsus, Jem, Franz and me. Excited as they were, all talk on the way to the site was about them cards. I chipped in as much as I can, but I only scanned the spoiler an hour before I left the house (and I saw zero exciting cards).

So we obviously arrive at the site with 45 minutes to spare. The gang was hungry, so we stop by the BEST cheap pizza place ever (that, and I had to park my car somewhere; ulterior motive). Jem starts to talk about some guitar $h!t; some dude from some band was having some guitar lessons sometime the next day (I obviously wasn’t listening). Franz starts $h!tting out poltically incorrect jokes about sex (gender), and Celsus predicts Jem’s loot for the night as consisting of 3 Eye of Ugin and 3 Magosi, the Waterveil (what do those cards do anyway). I think about all the wasted time playing with paper when I can be killing pixels instead~

A few slices of pizza and countless number of mojos later, we arrive at the site and I register the following (might be missing a few cards):

White (14)

Bold Defense
Cliff Treader
Join the Ranks
Kor Outfitter
Makindi Shieldmate
Ondu Cleric
Steppe Lynx
Windborn Charge
Apex Hawks
2 Guardian Zendikon
Iona’s Judgment
Kitesail Apprentice
Marshal’s Anthem

Blue (14)

Caller of Gales
Reckless Scholar
Seascape Aerialist
Spreading Seas
Trapfinder’s Trick
Welkin Tern
Windrider Eel
Aether Tradewinds
Enclave Elite
Halimar Excavator
2 Mysteries of the Deep
Sejiri Merfolk
Thada Adel, Acquisitor

Black (16)

Crypt Ripper
Disfigure
Guul Draz Vampire
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet
Nimana Sell-Sword
Quest for the Gravelord
Ravenous Trap
Vampire’s Bite
Bojuka Brigand
Corrupted Zendikon
Dead Reckoning
Nemesis Trap
Ruthless Cullblade
Scrib Nibblers
Tomb Hex
Urge to Feed

Red (13)

Goblin Ruinblaster
Hellkite Charger
Highland Berserker
Plated Geopede
Seismic Shudder
Shatterskull Giant
Bull Rush
Claws of Valakut
Comet Storm
Goblin Roughrider
Skitter of Lizards
2 Slavering Nulls

Green (14)

Baloth Cage Trap
Beast Hunt
Beastmaster Ascension
Harrow
Oran-rief Survivalist
River Boa
Scythe Tiger
Vines of Vastwood
Arbor Elf
Feral Contest
Grappler Spider
Graypelt Hunter
Vastwood Animist
Vastwood Zendikon

Akoum Refuge
Jwar Isle Refuge
Kabira Crossroads
Seijiri Steppe

Hammer of Ruin
Hedron Rover
Kitesail

First thing I do for normal formats like this is count the number of cards of each color I have. Black had 16, so I started with that color. It seemed deep enough for a main color. Next up was the bombs. You don’t have to dig hard enough to realize red has the most: hellkite charger (RORIX) and comet storm (fireball LEWLZ). Red did seem pretty shallow after that; fortunately there’s the two nulls that would otherwise been relegated to the bench if I didn’t play black.

So here’s the final deck, after a few curve checks (sorted to when I think I’m casting the cards):

1-drop:

Guul Draz Vampire

2-drops:

2 Slavering Nulls
Plated Geopede
Highland Berserker
Ruthless Cullblade
Corrupted Zendikon
Bojuka Brigand

3-drops:

Skitter of Lizards
Goblin Roughrider

4-drops:

Shatterskull Giant
Goblin Ruinblaster
Nimana Sell-Sword

6-drop:

Hellkite Charger

7-drop:

Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet

As per-need basis:

Urge to Feed
Tomb Hex
Nemesis Trap
Dead Reckoning
Quest for the Gravelord
Disfigure
Comet Storm
Kitesail

I was lucky enough to open seven 2-drops: the format seems a hell of a lot faster than most formats. Aggression is key; I’ve seen so many games in this format where one player empties out his hand by turn 5 while the other is stuck with 6 cards in hand.

I don’t actually remember any of my matches in detail, since I didn’t plan on writing a report, so I’ll just give some highlights:

(1) Went 4-0 with the deck, which was totally unexpected. The curve was decent but needed a bit of work. I thought it was good enough for 3-1, but definitely not a perfect record.

(2) All my matches went to 3 games, and all of them had the same pattern: one game where I killed the opponent on turn 6 or less, one game where I didn’t come out fast (lost all of them), and one game with actual interaction (fortunately, I won all of them).

(3) Specific cards:

a. A Sphinx of Jwar Isle may or may not have traded with a skitter of lizards in combat.

b. Nemesis trap was poop. The only time where it was useful was against a fun game against Nick (Ortega), where I killed two of his dudes with two mana. Pretty sure this should be relegated to the side for aggressive decks.

c. Comet storm was obviously the bomb. I finally DID a very skillful card in sealed (have bad luck with that). Remember lava-LOLanche? This one hits your opponent too! And as JT pointed out, IT’S AN INSTANT!

d. Slavering Nulls weren’t as hot as I thought they would be. I would take almost any removal spell over them. Ravenous Rats are almost better…

e. …except when you have KITESAIL! I admit, that’s the only reason why I played this usually garbage card, but it’s A-MAZING for aggro decks. Most of the time I just had to punch through for five or so damage, then all my stuff comes online (Guul Draz and Cullblade).

f. Dead reckoning was TERRIBLE. It’s on the level of Magma Spray I think.

g. Corrupted Zendikon was the BOMB. I was glad to have it at any point in the game. 3 mana 3/3 haster is almost too good!

(4) Combined record of the people riding the C-mobile: 10-6. pretty good, considering all of us play magic pretty casually these days. :)

(5) You get your picture taken when you play at Porter’s (Titan)! Definitely a reason to play there, if you are in search for stalkers (like me).

(6) We didn’t have time to do the Chester Challenge yet for this prerelease; will probably do it this week. (for those who don’t know, the Chester Challenge is when you try to play someone’s deck with cards from their sideboard. So far, I’m 3-1 in Chester’s Challenges :) my pool is a good one to do the challenge too; there’s a decent blue-white deck in there :)

(7) I recognized quite a few of the old-timers playing at the prerelease. To all that said hi, thanks! Nice to see old folks that still play this game :)

Alright, I think that’s it. Oh wait, still need:

Props:

(1) Porter for a well-run tournament. The whole thing was done in less than 5 hours from start to finish, which is a milestone for the Philippine magic community. I didn’t get to play at the Zendikar prerelease, but I heard similar things. Keep up the good work!

(2) Everyone that said hi!

(3) My opponents, for not bitching about my lucksack moments (and I had a few)

(4) Team Rama (the C-mobile crew might disagree, but I think we’re all team Rama wannabee’s)

(5) Shakey’s for the best cheap pizza ever. So good!

(6) Celsus for lending me sleeves

Slops:

(1) Smokers. Gtfo!

(2) Peer pressure. I didn’t get to do my dailies that day, dammit.

Comments, suggestions, rants, and raves, send to xeyloderixed at gmail dot com.

Constructed with Worldwake

2010-02-03T16:43:00.000-08:00

Worldwake becomes Constructed legal this Friday, February 5, 2010. A lot of big Standard events will be running this month and a lot of players have already been doing some testing, and just like the majority of the population, we have also been doing some testing of our own.

Here are some of our findings so far (Mythic Rares):

Abyssal Persecutor - I did not like this card at first. It's a Platinum Devil, something that requires you to have a solution. Imagine needing a solution for your own card? It sucks! That was until I revisited the old Jund deck back when Shards of Alara was the only expansion in Block Constructed. It was perfect with the old Jund synergies; the combination of Sprouting Thrinax, Sarkhan Vol, Bone Splinter, and Fleshbag Marauder.

Admonition Angel - Another 6-mana landfall card. The 1st of this kind was Rampaging Baloth, a card that somehow found its way into a deck. This one is so much better, specially now that Knight of the Reliquary is around to help. We have been trying this card out in Lotus Cobra decks, it is not as spectacular as you may imagine but it is a very decent utility card.

Avenger of Zendikar - A fun card that would seem to fit into the Eldrazi Green deck. It has a very prohibitive cost though, a 1-of at the most.

Comet Storm - This is a bomb in Limited, a much better Fireball as you get more targets. Will it find a home in Constructed? Probably not until the Cascade mechanic leaves the format.

Dragonmaster Outcast - The creature with the coolest ability in this set; there is only 1 problem... 1/1. How do you expect it to survive in time for it to spawn a dragon? It is also a bad early drop because it's just a 1/1 in a world filled with undercosted 1-drops. Our next option was to use it in a control deck like Grixis because it looked really good as a 1 mana must answer threat. Unfortunately, that did not work out too. Your opponent would just have targets for his otherwise dead removal spells.

Eye of Ugin - There are no Eldrazi spells in the Magic universe yet. None. I was even told that Eldrazi Monument is NOT an Eldrazi spell (judges please confirm this). This card is probably a card from the next set that got lost in the print run.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor - Hands down the best card in this set for every format. If you do not agree with me, chances are, you have not played with this card yet (or you are playing it wrong).

Novablast Wurm - I have no idea how to use this card. No idea at all. They should have just printed this as an angel so that we have a chance to sell it for its collector value.

Omnath, Locus of Mana - A guy that grows out of proportion if you have abundance of mana. What are the odds of that happening? Competitive decks are built too tightly and with optimal use of every mana that they can produce every turn. So where would you get the extra floating green? Oh and it is also a creature that is very easy to kill via spot removal so good luck with that. Lets just wait for someone to build a deck that is centered on this card.

Wrexial, the Risen Deep - We've had better 6-drops before, but this card is really cool when stealing a Cruel Ultimatum from an opponent. An EDH general perhaps?

That's it for now, I will try to go over the rares next time and try to post some updates on these once we get more testing time in.

JTQ Kuala Lumpur final details

2010-01-31T23:22:00.001-08:00

Click on image to enlarge

Here are some details that were not included in the poster.

Prize Support and other giveaways:

The winner gets a round trip ticket to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and 3 nights hotel accomodation (Fri, Sat, and Sun). If the winner already has travel arrangements or still does not wish to go, he may take the alternative prize of Php 8,000. Other top finishers will get booster packs as prizes.

Freebies and other items will also be raffled off to random participants. Details of which are not yet final as we have to wait for our potential sponsors.

Trials:

Byes may be acquired by playing in the regular tournaments of our affiliates.
- Bacolod Chicken Inasal, Greenhills
- Gamer's Lounge, Fairview
- M4 Trading, Recto
- Ongkeco's Hobby Shop, Taft Avenue Manila
- Titan Hobby Shop, Kapitolyo Pasig
- Zuran Gaming Center, Binan Laguna

Players are allowed to have a maximum of 3 byes per JTQ (6 total).

Side events:

Legacy Constructed Format
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Registration starts at 1:00pm
Event starts at 2:00pm
Entry fee: Php 200

Vintage Constructed Format
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Registration starts at 1:00pm
Event starts at 2:00pm
Entry fee: Php 200

On-demand ZEN-ZEN-WWE Booster Drafts
February 13 and 21, 2010
Entry fee: Php 600
1 pack per win or 5-3-2-2 prize payouts

Contact info:
Titan Hobby Shop (Tue-Sat 3pm-9pm): (632) 494-4066 (look for Veronica)
Office: (632) 896-7284 (look for JT)
Facebook: Titan Hobby Shop
Email: jt_ebay3@yahoo.com

JTQ flier/poster

2010-01-28T18:07:00.000-08:00

Ayan kumpleto na!

A rising tide will raise all the ships

2010-01-21T21:26:00.000-08:00

Sa tagalog, kapag tumaas ang tubig ay aangat lahat ng barko.

Affordable?

A public service announcement from Titan Hobby Shop

2010-01-20T01:28:00.000-08:00

A few of our raffle items.

Titan Hobby Shop will be giving away playmats, deck boxes, gateway foils, and other cool stuff to the 1st 16 players who will register for the A-Venue Worldwake prerelease. These items will also be raffled off to lucky participants. Hope to see you there.

Players may pre-register at the store or via bank deposit.

Updates from Titan Hobby Shop

2010-01-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

Titan Hobby Shop just reloaded on card singles. Playsets of all Zendikar cards now available. Extended and Vintage staples have also been added.

PRERELEASE SCHEDULE
MIDNIGHT POD - Titan Hobby Shop
Jan 29, 2010. 11:59 pm (midnight pod)

SATURDAY POD - 2nd floor, A-Venue Mall Makati
Jan 30, 2010. 11:00 am

SUNDAY PODS (kung may matira pang products) - Titan Hobby Shop
Jan 31, 2010. 10:00 am
Jan 31, 2010. 3:00 pm

Players will get 3 Zendikar boosters, 3 Worldwake boosters
and a FOIL Pre-release Card

Prize support: 1 pack per win plus a t-shirt for 4-0 finishers
Freebies: Titan playmats, binders, and other freebies will be given away to random participants

REGISTRATION AND PRE-REGISTRATION
Pre-registration is now open at Titan Kapitolyo or by bank deposit. Contact us for bank details.
1st 16 players to pre-register for the A-Venue pod will get a free playmat (to be given at the event).
Registration fee: Php 1,200 per pod

PRERELEASE PASSES
Booster drafts (Worldwake Prerelease pass-2-1-1) - Everyday
Entry fee: Php 650

Weekly Standard - Thursdays. Worldwake Prerelease passes, WPN foils, and Zendikar booster packs at stake at stake
Entry fee: Php 200
Round 1 pairings at 7:00pm

FNM Standard - Fridays. Worldwake Prerelease passes, FNM foils, and Zendikar booster packs at stake
Entry fee: Php 200
Round 1 pairings at 7:00pm

Call 494-4066 for inquiries.

JTQ Kuala Lumpur

2010-01-06T08:05:00.001-08:00

Details will be posted once everything is finalized

Worldwake Prerelease Info

2010-01-06T07:06:00.000-08:00

PRERELEASE SCHEDULE

MIDNIGHT POD - Titan Hobby Shop
Jan 29, 2010. 11:59 pm (midnight pod)

SATURDAY POD - 2nd floor, A-Venue Mall Makati
Jan 30, 2010. 11:00 am

SUNDAY PODS - Titan Hobby Shop
Jan 31, 2010. 10:00 am
Jan 31, 2010. 3:00 pm

Players will get 3 Zendikar boosters, 3 Worldwake boosters
and a FOIL Pre-release Card

Prize support: 1 pack per win plus a t-shirt for 4-0 finishers

Pre-registration is now open at Titan Kapitolyo!
Registration fee: Php 1,200 per pod

Map to Titan Kapitolyo (click to enlarge)

Map to A-Venue mall (click to enlarge)

Titan Hobby Shop Vintage tourney 12/20/09

2009-12-11T16:49:00.000-08:00

WHEN: DECEMBER 20, 2009 SUNDAY
WHERE: TITAN HOBBY SHOP
WHAT: SANCTIONED VINTAGE TOURNAMENT
TIME: 12PM START
REG FEE: 200

Tourney format:
5 Rounds of Swiss
Top 8

Attendance of 8-15 players: 1st place chooses a Zendikar fetchland. Booster packs will be given to the top 4 (TBD on the tourney itself).
16-23 players: 1st and 2nd gets a Zendikar fetchland. Booster packs will be given to the top 8 (TBD on the tourney itself).
24-31 players: 1st to 3rd gets a Zendikar fetchland. Booster packs will be given to the top 12 (TBD on the tourney itself).
32+ players: 1st to 4th gets a Zendikar fetchland. Booster packs will be given to the top 16 (TBD on the tourney itself).
+ random prizes to be given away!
* seating capacity is at 36 players max. We suggest that participants preregister to avail a spot or you can be there early and register on the same day.

Gold Rush Warm-up at Titan

2009-12-06T16:23:00.001-08:00

Thursday Dec 10, 2009.
Php 200 entry
Standard

32 players max.
Round 1 pairings at 7:00pm

FOIL Day of Judgement will be given to the top 2 finishers. Lots of boosters will also be given away.

Gold Rush Trials Results

2009-12-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

Random photos during the swiss:

Total players: 20
Swiss rounds: 5

1st - Ray De Guzman

3 Baneslayer Angel
3 Thornling
4 Borderland Ranger
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Knight Of The Reliquary
3 Master of The Wild Hunt
2 Elspeth Knight Errant
2 Vines of the Vast wood
3 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Souls majesty
2 Path to Exile
1 Behemoth Sledge

4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Sunpetal Grove
3 Plains
4 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Gargoyle Castle
1 Oran Rief, the Vastwood

SB
3 Great Sable Stag
2 Identity Crisis
2 Celestial Purge
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Mind Shatter
3 Zealous Persecution

2nd - Lloyd Tan: The New Moon

4 Verdant Catacombe
4 Akoum Refuge
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Crumbling Necropolis
10 Swamp

4 Vampire Hexmage
3 Child of Night
2 Bloodghast
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Vampire Nocturnus
4 Malakir Bloodwitch
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Terminate
2 Disfigure
2 Sign in Blood

SB :
3 Doom Blade
2 Earthquake
1 Disfigure
3 Duress
4 Blightning
2 Relic of Progenitus

3rd - Rey Abella

1 Arid Mesa
4 Forest
1 Island
1 Kabira Crossroads
2 Marsh Flats
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Plains
3 Seaside Citadel
4 Sunpetal Grove
1 Verdant Catacombs

4 Baneslayer Angel
2 Birds of Paradise
1 Borderland Ranger
1 Captain of the Watch
4 Emeria Angel
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Rhox War Monk
4 Steward of Valeron
2 Ajani Goldmane
3 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile

SB:
4 Acidic Slime
3 Brave the Elements
2 World Queller
2 Great Sable Stag
4 Grizzled Leotau

4th - Rudi Ansinas

3 Putrid Leech
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Broodmate Dragon
1 Master of the Wild Hunt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Blightning
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Bituminous Blast
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Chandra Nalaar
1 Terminate

2 Oran-rief the vastwood
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Savage Lands
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Forest
3 Swamp
3 Mountain

SB
2 Mind Rot
3 Great Sable Stag
3 Thought Hemorrage
2 Pyroclasm
2 Jund Charm
1 Earthquake
1 Rise from the Grave
1 Terminate

5th - Billy Gragasin - Crypt of Agadeem
6th - Cesyl Azarias - Jund
7th - Jao Fronteras - Boros
8th - Ian Cabillos - Boros

Gold Rush Trials at Titan

2009-12-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

What: Gold Rush Trials
Where: Titan Hobby Shop
When: Dec 3, 2009.

More details:
Standard
Round 1 pairings at 7:00pm
Php 200 entry
Zendikar packs and DCI foils at stake
32 players max (para hindi abuting ng umaga), 1st come 1st served. You may also pre-register.

In other news, Celsus Kintanar wins the very 1st draft for the month of December.

Drafting with JT: ZZZ #1

2009-11-30T12:39:00.000-08:00

Triple Zen draft.
Drafted on Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009 at a Magic Online 8-4 queue.

Pack 1 pick 1:

My Pick:

ROFLMAO!

Pack 1 pick 2:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 4:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 5:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 7:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 8:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 9:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 1:

My Pick:

I have had relative success with mono-green and Gx deck lately. Ramp to Iona?

Pack 2 pick 2:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 4:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 5:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 7:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 8:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 9:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 1:

My Pick:

GW it is.

Pack 3 pick 2:

My Pick:

I have no decent pick and I have 2 Harrows and an expedition. This is very splashable.

Pack 3 pick 3:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 4:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 5:

My Pick:

Another splashable burn spell.

Pack 3 pick 6:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 7:

My Pick:

... and another splashable burn.

Pack 3 pick 8:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 9:

My Pick:

I should have taken Magma Rift.

Pack 3 pick 10:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 11:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 12:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 15:

My Pick:

The deck is actually decent except for the fact that Iona is in there. In any case, I never drew Iona in any of my games but I would have loved it if I did because I always managed to reach 9 mana.

Bayani Manansala is a superhero!

2009-11-30T05:14:00.001-08:00

Yani had a mono-red deck after the 1st pack and opened Sphinx of Jwar Isle in pack 2. Hate draft or raredraft? Maybe... but he opened another Sphinx in pack 3, prompting him to finally add a second color to his already amazing mono-red draft deck and putting Electropotence in his sideboard. Yes this was an 8-man booster draft and yes he played all of these cards in one deck.

We are drafting again!

2009-11-25T08:35:00.000-08:00

It has been a while, but now, Zendikar drafts are back!

Nick Ortega won the 1st Zendikar draft since I cannot even remember when. He defeated Morris Tan in the finals with his BG deck which carries the bomb uncommon; Vampire Nighthawk.

Introducing: Quick Standard Pods

2009-10-29T16:18:00.001-07:00

We finally found a much better way to make Standard tournaments fire up; quick pods.

Starting next week (Tuesday), we will be running on-demand 3 round Standard tournaments. These are Standard tournaments that are run like they are booster drafts. Entry fee would be Php 88 and the pods will start as soon as we get 8 players (16 players max). This is a sure way for us to run Standard tournaments that is sure to fit your schedule; whatever it may be.

Our initial run was held yesterday and we were able to succesfully run 2 pods.

Standard pod 1 winner: Cesyl Azarias (RW landfall)

Standard pod 2 winner: Billy Gragasin (4-color control)

For whatever concerns or questions you may have, feel free to contact us:
Landline: 494-4066
Mobile: 0920-9530103
Facebook: Titan Hobby Shop

Highlights from last week

2009-10-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Treasure Found!
As you all may know, we have just recently ran out of Zendikar products for booster drafts. We still have a few packs left for retail though, and one lucky Magic player cracked open a treasure.

Mulong Torres opens a Scrubland

Jason Ascalon wins 8-man Standard tourney.

Since we do not have drafts anymore, our local players started pulling out their 60 card decks and played Standard. Jason Ascalon won last Thursday's Standard tourney playing a UWr control homebrew.

Nick Ortega is on to something.
I was building a homebrew BW vampire deck when Nick sat in front of me. He said with conviction: "Why are you building that deck? Are you gonna bring it to Worlds? Thats not even a deck!". I did finish last Thursday's Standard tourney with a 2-1 record beating Jund and RW. I thought that the deck was ok and so I played it in the Wii tourney at Eastwood last Saturday. I finished with a dismal 2-4 record. If that was not bad enough, 2 other decks that I built; piloted by Jhay Jaro and Macho Jaro also had dismal finishes.

Marcel Zafra is also on to something.
A 17th-place finish by the Pinoy who migrated to Canada made almost everyone in the country very happy. The Titan draft community analyzed his PT drafts and had mixed reactions mainly on his 1st pick Grazing Gladehart. For veteran drafters, it seemed like a really bad pick. If you have had a fair share of Zendikar drafts, this card is actually a viable high pick but not necessarily pick 1. The format is really quick and life gain can be a very good strategy. Vic Lim finished 3-0 beating mono-red in the finals of one of our Saturday practice drafts. The MVP's were 2 copies of the said card.

Magic Online is online again.
Since we do not have enough Zendikar products for drafting, I went back to playing in the Magic Online draft queues. Draft reports will be published again soon.

Leaderboard update as of Oct 20, 2009

2009-10-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

Family Name	First Name	Total Points
Tan	Morris	131
Gragasin	Billy	122
Ortega	Dominic	110
Roxas	Neil	98
Ascalon	Jason	89
Lim	Vic	84
Porter	JT	73
Torres	Romulo	63
Data	Ryan	61
Jaro	Ogie	56
Azarias	Cesyl	55
Prangan	Eduardo	51
Maniego	Butch	48
Sarto	Raffy	48
Bantiles	Joel	48
Go	Paolo	39
Jaro	Macho	37
Jaro	Jhay	32
Dimalanta	Lawrence	31
Paculio	DJonathan	28
Arogo	Irwin	28
Cruz	Neil	25
Famorcan	Caesar	25
Guevarra	JL	22
de Mesa	Aldric	22
Oca	Ramon Allan	21
Perez	Ricky	19
Jamir	Chip	18
Gabriel	Jackie	15
Rama	Philip	15
Esparagoza	Moises	15
Tan	Gerald	15
Beley	Ronnie Paul	13
Rivera	Mark	13
Profeta	Francis	12
Ladera	Wella	12
Abella	Rey	10
Salvatierra	Gikko	10
Jaso-jaso	Edilberto	10
Asehan	JC	9
Que	Elliot	9
Chua	Jeremiah	9
Sulpico	Ben	9
Tang	Roy	9
Estacio	Rey	9
Garcia	Surge	9
Baldoza	JR	7
Cabrera	Mark	6
Cirujales	Earl	6
Ong	Jeff	6
Rivas	Raynand	6
Hernandez	Joseph	6
Manansala	Bayani	6
Jimenez	Nikki	6
Santos	JC	6
Velasquez	Ramon	6
Palima	Aldrin	6
Ronquillo	Ping	6
Jamias	Enrique	6
Balean	Allen	6
Domocmat	Jeremy	6
Kintanar	Celsus	6
Dela Cruz	Guimo	6
Aquino	Sherwin	3
Bausa	Patrick	3
Consunji	David	3
Go	Osmond	3
Mendoza	Paul	3
Sy	Manchester	3
Tan	Jan Vincent	3
Regino	Jaime Lorenzo	3
Cardenas	Charles	3
Cabillos	Ian	3
Lao	Kurt	3
Sabater	Aldin	3
Martinez	Joyal	3
Go	Jay	3
Layson	John Paul	3
Fajardo	James	3
Yee	Wilky	3
Maglaya	Vincent	3
Alvarez	Edsel	1

Zendikar draft winners

2009-10-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Oct 9 Zendikar draft winner: Vic Lim

Oct 10 Zendikar draft winner: Jhay Jaro

Oct 13 Zendikar draft winner: Mulong Torres

The man from Grixis wins the darkest draft ever

2009-10-07T18:06:00.001-07:00

A Meralco transformer reportedly blew up and caught fire last night leaving Rizal and a great part of the Pasig and Mandaluyong areas with no electricity. We were a few minutes into round 2 of the draft when this happened and so we were forced to play the remaining games with candle-light. Congratulations to Nick Ortega and thanks to all who played.

Zendikar Draft Winners

2009-10-06T17:51:00.001-07:00

Oct 1 Zendikar draft winner: Irwin Arogo

Oct 1 Zendikar draft pod 2 winner: Ryan Data

Oct 3 Zendikar draft winners: Ogie and Macho Jaro

Oct 6 Zendikar draft winner: Ryan Data

Oct 1 Zendikar draft pod 2 winners: Raffy Sarto and Billy Gragasin

Exotic Pets available for ordering

2009-10-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

We now know for a fact that a store cannot depend solely on Lotus Cobras to generate sufficient income. We will be selling real reptiles, arachnids, feeder animals, and other small critters and accesories. A few will be displayed on the store and the rest will be strictly on order basis for sanitary reasons.

Please read before ordering:
- Google is your friend. Please do your research before buying.
- Pictures of these animals are all over the internet. Again, Google is your friend.
- Specimens are UNSEXED unless otherwise noted.
- All animals are sold healthy and feeding unless otherwise noted. No other guarantee is implied.
- Aside from those that are displayed on the store; I do not entertain requests to view the specimen.
- Most of the animals cannot be displayed mainly for sanitary reasons. It would also be cruel to keep them in a facility that does not simulate their natural habitat. Lastly, maintenance will be very difficult if they are kept at the store.

We will be taking orders from buyers and the animals will be turned over on the "delivery date". We need ample time to prepare the animals for delivery so please take note of the cutoff date for orders.

Partial or full payment is required for us to process your order. Availability may change without prior notice, those who have paid in full are guaranteed to get their order on the said delivery date.

Updated: October 5, 2009.
Cutoff for orders: October 26, 2009
Next delivery date: October 31, 2009

Tortoise
Hatchling Sulcata Tortoise - P6,800 each
Juvenile Barbados Giant Redfoot - P17,000

Lizards
Juvenile Sandfire/Red/Gold Bearded Dragon - P5,000
Juvenile Frilled Lizard - P6,500

Colubrids
Hatchling Snow Cornsnake - P4,000
Sub-adult Male Snow Cornsnake - P12,000 (will be on display at the store)
Hatchling Normal Cornsnake - P4,000
Hatchling Motley Cornsnake - P4,500
Hatchling Sunglow Cornsnake - P5,000

Boas and Pythons
08 Hatched Albino Ball Python - P36,000
08 Hatched Albino Red Tail Boa - P30,000
Sub-adult Normal Ball Python - P12,000 (male and females available)
Hatchling Nicaraguan Red Tail Boa - P5,000
Hatchling Kenyan Sand Boa - P4,000
Hatchling Black and White Sand Boa - P6,500

Leopard Geckos
Juvenile Super Hypo Tangerine - P4,000
Hatchling Snow Enigma - P10,000
Hatchling Tangerine Albino Enigma - P8,000
Hatchling Tangerine Enigma - P9,000

Female Tarantulas
Theraphosa Blondi - P9,000
Grammostola Concepcion 5inches - P3,000
Grammostola Rosea RCF 5inches - P2,000
Pteronichilus Murinus 5 inches - P2,500
Grammostola Pulchra 6 inches - P5,000

Spiderlings
Brachypelma Emilia 2cm - P850
Brachypelma Smithi 2cm - P750
Brachypelma Ruhnaui 2cm - P1,200
Nhandu Coloratovillosus 2cm - P800
Grammostola Rosea 1.5cm - P300
Brachypelma Vagans 1.5cm - P600
Brachypelma Albopilosum 1.5cm - P400
Acanthoscurria Brockelhursti 2cm - P600
Chilobrachys Huahini 2cm - P300
Heterothele Villosella 1.5cm - P400
Thrigmopoeus Incia 2cm - P600
Aphonopelma Aberrans 2cm - P700
Grammostola Pulchra 3cm - P1200
Ceratogyrus Darlingi 3cm - P800
Aviculara Versicolor 3cm - P1,400
Poecilotheria Ornata 4cm - P1,200
Aviculara Purpurea 3cm - P1,400
Pteronichilus Murinus 3cm - P600

Feeder Animals
Rat Nestlings (Pinkie) - P20each
Rat Pups - P30each
Sub-adult Rats - P50each

Accessories
8" x 8" x 12" Acrylic Top Terrarium (used) - P1,000

Visit us or send us a PM or email at jt_porter3@yahoo.com for your orders. Please do not text your orders.

Regular Store Events for October 2009

2009-10-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Booster drafts (5-4-2-2 or pack per win +1) - Everyday
Entry fee: Php 600 or 3 packs + Php 240

Legacy - Wednesdays, 18:30. WPN foils and Zendikar booster packs at stake
Entry fee: Php 88

Standard - Thursdays, 18:30. WPN foils and Zendikar booster packs at stake
Entry fee: Php 88

FNM Standard - Fridays, 18:30. FNM Browbeat and Zendikar booster packs at stake
Entry fee: Php 120

A public service announcement from Titan

2009-10-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

Titan Hobby Shop will be closed today as a precaution for the coming typhoon. "Peping" has already been forecasted to be as strong as Hurricane Katrina. Ingat kayo mga pare.

Zendikar Prerelease and Booster Drafts

2009-09-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Despite all the chaos that was happening; we still managed to get a total of 126 players in our prerelease events. We were very fortunate to have a good turnout given the situation.

We do plan to share our good fortune to the not so fortunate typhoon victims. Part of the proceeds from this event will be used to purchase goods for donations.

Prerelease winners:
1. Jay Falag-ey - 4-0 finisher; midnight pod
2. Ryan Data - 4-0 finisher; midnight pod
3. Edsel Alvarez - 4-0 finisher; Saturday pod 1
4. Jason Ascalon - 4-0 finisher; Saturday pod 2
5. JL Guevarra - 4-0 finisher; Saturday pod 3
6. Jason Ascalon - 4-0 finisher; Sunday pod 1
7. Morris Tan - 4-0 finisher; Sunday pod 2

Booster draft winners:
1. Roy Tang - 3-0 finisher; draft 1
2. Ryan Data - 3-0 finisher; draft 2
3. JR Baldoza - 3-0 finisher; draft 3
4. Irwin Arogo - 3-0 finisher; draft 4

Other winners:
1. Jason Ascalon - opened a Revised Plateau
2. Billy Gragasin - opened 4 fetchlands in a draft (pack 1 had a foil and non-foil one)

Photos from the event are posted in our Facebook account (Titan Hobby Shop).

Sunday Prerelease Pods

2009-09-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

Due to bad weather conditions, we will be moving our pods to Sunday; September 27, 2009.

Pod 1 - 1:00pm
Pod 2 - 6:00pm

Cobra Ramp for Standard

2009-09-23T17:27:00.000-07:00

Zendikar has been a really hot topic these past few weeks and it keeps getting hotter as the release date draws near and more cards are discovered. A lot of people are already thinking about possible decks for the upcoming Standard format and Extended season. I have also been brainstorming a few deck ideas in preparation for the upcoming World Championships this November.

Here is one of my concept decks.
Warning: this deck is not for the weak budgeted. The deck is also untested and is just pure theory.

4-color cobra ramp for SOA-CON-ARB-M10-ZEN Standard

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Great Sable Stag / Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Bituminous Blast
3 Broodmate Dragon
2 Chandra Ablaze
2 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker / Bogardan Hellkite

4 UR fetchland
4 UG fetchlend
4 BG fetchland
1 Island
5 Forest
5 Mountain
3 Swamp

The deck is designed to run like the Jund control decks from Alara block. It mostly contains midrange spells that generate virtual card advantage. I figured that this strategy would be a lot more viable these days because Faeries, Cryptic Command, and Gaddock Teeg would be rotating out of Standard.

The mid-range spells feature the powerful Garruk Wildspeaker and Bloodbraid Elf; which is a staple in almost every deck that can play it. I am still unsure of which creature to put on the 3-drop slot though. It mostly depends on how good vampires will be.

As for the late-game or accelerated spells, Broodmate Dragon is obviously present and would be joined by 2 planeswalkers. Chandra is a really cool card that would let you draw 3 cards when your hand runs out and Nicol Bolas or Bogardan Hellkite would surely be a game-ender.

As for the mana base, I prefered running all basic lands which would be supported by the new fetchlands. This setup is the best compromise between quick and consistent. It also maximizes the power of Lotus Cobra which will turn every fetchland you have into a potential Black Lotus.

Prerelease Details

2009-09-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

Event start:
Pod 1: Sept 26, 2009. 00:00 (12mn of the 25th)
Pod 2: Sept 26, 2009. 8:00 am
Pod 3: Sept 26, 2009. 1:00 pm
Pod 4: Sept 26, 2009. 6:00 pm
Pod 5: Sept 26, 2009. 11:00 pm
Pod 6: Sept 27, 2009. 1:00 pm

Players will get a Rampaging Baloths pre-release card. Prize structure is 1 pack per win and a shirt for 4-0 finishers. A Titan Hobby Shop playmat will also be raffled off in each pod.

After the last pod, we will be running booster drafts all day on September 27.

Due to space constraints, we have very limited slots, only 30 players per pod. Pre-registration is now open if you want sure seats!

* Match points earned in the prerelease events will be counted in our free draft leaderboard

Butch Maniego still got game

2009-09-22T18:22:00.001-07:00

Butch and his pair of 5-drops

Veteran drafter Butch Maniego destroyed last night's shark-infested M10 draft pod. Butch paired the draft bomb; Ant Queen with a couple of Soul Wardens which gave him an infinite life and creature engine for most of his games. He also had a Serra Angel and splashed a Fireball (which he never needed) in his GW deck to give it some added reach.

The final board position

Final standings:
1. Maniego, Butch
2. Roxas, Neil
3. Azarias, Cesyl
4. Tan, Morris
5. Ascalon, Jason
6. Prangan, Eduds
7. Lim, Vic
8. de Mesa, Aldric

Draft leaderboard:

Family Name	First Name	Total Points
Tan	Morris	101
Roxas	Neil	72
Porter	JT	60
Gragasin	Billy	60
Ascalon	Jason	54
Maniego	Butch	42
Lim	Vic	42
Go	Paolo	39
Jaro	Ogie	37
Prangan	Eduardo	36
Ortega	Dominic	34
Dimalanta	Lawrence	31
Jaro	Macho	30
Azarias	Cesyl	30
Data	Ryan	28
Torres	Romulo	27
Cruz	Neil	25
Paculio	DJonathan	22
Oca	Ramon Allan	21
Jaro	Jhay	19
Jamir	Chip	18
de Mesa	Aldric	18
Beley	Ronnie Paul	13
Bantiles	Joel	13
Sarto	Raffy	13
Profeta	Francis	12
Abella	Rey	10
Famorcan	Caesar	10
Guevarra	JL	10
Salvatierra	Gikko	10
Perez	Ricky	9
Rama	Philip	9
Asehan	JC	9
Que	Elliot	9
Chua	Jeremiah	9
Sulpico	Ben	9
Esparagoza	Moises	9
Gabriel	Jackie	9
Cabrera	Mark	6
Cirujales	Earl	6
Estacio	Rey	6
Ong	Jeff	6
Rivas	Raynand	6
Rivera	Mark	6
Hernandez	Joseph	6
Manansala	Bayani	6
Jimenez	Nikki	6
Santos	JC	6
Aquino	Sherwin	3
Bausa	Patrick	3
Consunji	David	3
Go	Osmond	3
Mendoza	Paul	3
Sy	Manchester	3
Velasquez	Ramon	3
Jamias	Enrique	3
Tan	Jan Vincent	3
Regino	Jaime Lorenzo	3
Cardenas	Charles	3
Jaso-jaso	Edilberto	3
Cabillos	Ian	3

SOA-CON-ARB booster draft promo from 9/22/09 - 9/25/09

2009-09-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

1st place - 1 Zendikar Prerelease pass (transferable)
2nd place - 1 Shards of Alara, 1 Conflux, and 1 Alara Reborn booster pack
3rd place - 1 Alara Reborn booster pack
4th place - 1 Conflux booster pack

Entry fee: Php 550

4 drafts, 4 passes, 1 raredrafter of the month.

2009-09-19T10:21:00.001-07:00

9/18/09 draft pod 1 winner: Jason Ascalon

Final standings:
1. Ascalon, Jason
2. Data, Ryan
3. Go, Paolo
4. Torres, Mulong
5. Gragasin, Billy
6. Sulpico, Ben
7. Azarias, Cesyl
8. Jamir, Chip

9/18/09 draft pod 2 winner: Ryan Data

Final standings:
1. Data, Ryan
2. de Mesa, Aldric
3. Azarias, Cesyl
4. Lim, Vic
5. Torres, Mulong
6. Prangan, Eduds
7. Go, Paolo
8. Ascalon, Jason

9/19/09 UP draft winner: Kyle Mina

Final standings:
1. Mina, Kyle
2. Sison, Gabriel Dominik
3. Fajardo, Lawrence James
4. Liu, Franco
5. Gana, Matthew
6. Cabria, Gama
7. Pimentel, Jose
8. Cueto, Jun

9/19/09 draft winner: Eduds Prangan

Final standings:
1. Prangan, Eduds
2. Lim, Vic
3. Azarias, Cesyl
4. Santos, JC
5. Torres, Mulong
6. Tan, Morris
7. de Mesa, Aldric
8. Brecia, Cris

Raredrafter of the month: Paolo Go

Neil Roxas and Morris Tan... again.

2009-09-18T03:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, they each won a draft again. Side view photo this time.

Final standings, pod 1:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Gragasin, Billy
3. Paculio, DJ
4. Torres, Mulong
5. Lim, Vic
6. Gabriel, Jackie
7. Cabillos, Ian
8. Maniego, Butch

Final standings, pod 2:
1. Roxas, Neil
2. Tan, Morris
3. Gragasin, Billy
4. Paculio, DJ
5. Gabriel, Jackie
6. Torres, Mulong
7. Lim, Vic
8. Azarias, Cesyl

Osmond Go and his Merfolks win the 1st Titan Legacy tourney

2009-09-16T08:29:00.001-07:00

Final standings:
1. Go, Osmond - Merfolk
2. Ang, Arvin - Mono-red burn
3. Sales, Joseph - BG
4. Fach, Bernnar - Zoo
5. Gisbert, Philip - White Stax
6. Reyes, Koko - BG
7. Consunji, David - Threshold
8. Go, Jay - Mono-green Natural Order

Other highlights:

COP: Red actually works on Progenitus

Philip Gisbert playing White Stax, and owner of the COP

Jay Go can't help but smile about how his Progenitus was answered

Neil Roxas and Morris Tan each win a pass

2009-09-15T16:31:00.001-07:00

Neil Roxas (left) and Morris Tan (right)

We know that you are sick of seeing the faces of these 2 and so we took a picture of them, backs turned.

Final standings, pod 1:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Ascalon, Jason
3. Data, Ryan
4. Jimenez, Nikki
5. Torres, Romulo III
6. Cardenas, Charles
7. Paculio, DJ
8. Alvarez, Edsel

Final standings, pod 2:
1. Roxas, Neil
2. Cruz, Neil
3. Sarto, Raffy
4. Esparagoze, Moises
5. Prangan, Eduds
6. Jaso-Jaso, Edilberto
7. Maniego, Butch
8. Azarias, Cesyl

Morris Tan wins 1st prerelease pass

2009-09-12T10:50:00.001-07:00

Morris Tan destroyed the draft pod with a blue-white soldier deck running Veteran Armorsmith, Veteran Swordsmiths, a Rhox Pikemaster, Armored Ascension, and the very pricey; Honor of the Pure. He wins the very 1st prerelease pass so expect to see him in our prerelease tournaments.

Final standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Hernandez, Joseph
3. Manansala, Bayani
4. Prangan, Eduds
5. Chua, Jeremiah
6. de Mesa, Aldric
7. Gabriel, Jackie
8. Azarias, Cesyl

Our "free draft" leaderboard as of Sept. 12:

Family Name	First Name	Total Points
Tan	Morris	86
Porter	JT	60
Roxas	Neil	48
Gragasin	Billy	45
Jaro	Ogie	37
Ascalon	Jason	36
Ortega	Dominic	34
Dimalanta	Lawrence	31
Go	Paolo	30
Jaro	Macho	30
Maniego	Butch	30
Oca	Ramon Allan	21
Lim	Vic	21
Cruz	Neil	19
Jaro	Jhay	19
Jamir	Chip	18
Prangan	Eduardo	18
Beley	Ronnie Paul	13
Bantiles	Joel	13
Profeta	Francis	12
Abella	Rey	10
Famorcan	Caesar	10
Guevarra	JL	10
Salvatierra	Gikko	10
Perez	Ricky	9
Rama	Philip	9
Asehan	JC	9
Que	Elliot	9
Azarias	Cesyl	9
Chua	Jeremiah	9
de Mesa	Aldric	9
Paculio	DJonathan	7
Sarto	Raffy	7
Data	Ryan	7
Cabrera	Mark	6
Cirujales	Earl	6
Estacio	Rey	6
Ong	Jeff	6
Rivas	Raynand	6
Rivera	Mark	6
Sulpico	Ben	6
Hernandez	Joseph	6
Manansala	Bayani	6
Aquino	Sherwin	3
Bausa	Patrick	3
Consunji	David	3
Go	Osmond	3
Mendoza	Paul	3
Sy	Manchester	3
Velasquez	Ramon	3
Jamias	Enrique	3
Tan	Jan Vincent	3
Regino	Jaime Lorenzo	3
Torres	Romulo	3
Esparagoza	Moises	3
Gabriel	Jackie	3

Pre-Zendikar FNM and transition drafts

2009-09-10T07:46:00.000-07:00

FNM prize structure for Sept 11, Sept 18, and Sept 25:
1st place - 1 Zendikar Prerelease pass (transferable)
2nd - 5th place - Watchwolf FNM card

Booster packs will be added to the prize payout if there are more than 10 players.

Entry fee: Php 150

We will also be offering a different prize structure in our SOA-CON-ARB and M10 booster drafts starting Sept 11, 2009.
1st place - 1 Zendikar Prerelease pass (transferable)
2nd place - 1 Shards of Alara, 1 Conflux, and 1 Alara Reborn booster pack
3rd place - 1 Alara Reborn booster pack
4th place - 1 Conflux booster pack

Entry fees will still be the same; Php 600 or 3 packs + Php 240.

Pre-registration for the Zendikar Prerelease is now open

2009-09-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Event start:
Pod 1: Sept 25, 2009. 11:59 pm
Pod 2: Sept 26, 2009. 8:00 am
Pod 3: Sept 26, 2009. 1:00 pm
Pod 4: Sept 26, 2009. 6:00 pm
Pod 5: Sept 26, 2009. 11:00 pm

We will be running booster drafts all day on September 27.

Due to space constraints, we have very limited slots, only 24 players per pod. Pre-registration is now open if you want sure seats!

* Match points earned in the prerelease events will be counted in our free draft leaderboard

Neil Roxas wins another M10 draft

2009-09-03T08:26:00.001-07:00

2 Serra Angels, a foil Planar Cleansing, and a Platinum Angel. Must be nice. Neil also had 2 copies of Armored Ascension and a Whisperer's Cloak in his mono-white deck. The deck was a sure bet to sweep the draft.

Final Standings:
1. Roxas, Neil
2. Data, Ryan
3. Sulpico, Ben
4. Porter, JT
5. Bantiles, Joel
6. Esparagoza, Moises
7. Maniego, Butch

Constructed Events Repriced

2009-09-03T08:22:00.001-07:00

In an effort to get more players to play in our constructed events, we will be repricing the entry fees for Thursday standard and FNMs.

The new prices are as follows:

Standard - Thursdays, 18:00. WPN foils and booster packs at stake
Entry fee: Php 88

FNM Standard - Fridays, 18:00. FNM foils and booster packs at stake
Entry fee: Php 120

The quantity of boosters to be given away will depend on the number of players.

Prerelease Details

2009-09-02T20:13:00.001-07:00

Event start:
Pod 1: Sept 26, 2009. 00:00 (12mn of the 25th)
Pod 2: Sept 26, 2009. 8:00 am
Pod 3: Sept 26, 2009. 1:00 pm
Pod 4: Sept 26, 2009. 6:00 pm
Pod 5: Sept 26, 2009. 11:00 pm

We will be running booster drafts all day on September 27.

Due to space constraints, we have very limited slots, only 24 players per pod. Pre-registration is now open if you want sure seats!

* Match points earned in the prerelease events will be counted in our free draft leaderboard

Bangkok veterans both gain 7 points

2009-09-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

It was a late night draft where two of our local players who played in GP Bangkok meet each other in the finals. They decided not to play it out anymore and just draw; netting them 7 points each.

Congratulations to Neil Roxas and Raffy Sarto!

Final Standings:
1. Roxas, Neil
2. Sarto, Raffy
3. Lim, Vic
4. Maniego, Butch
5. Gragasin, Billy
6. Tan, Morris
7. Torres, Romulo

Announcement:
Since the prerelease is a limited format and will be using the new set, match points earned there will be counted in the leaderboard points.

Leaderboard update:

Family Name	First Name	Total Points
Tan	Morris	77
Porter	JT	54
Gragasin	Billy	45
Roxas	Neil	41
Jaro	Ogie	37
Ascalon	Jason	36
Ortega	Dominic	34
Dimalanta	Lawrence	31
Go	Paolo	30
Jaro	Macho	30
Maniego	Butch	27
Oca	Ramon Allan	21
Lim	Vic	21
Cruz	Neil	19
Jaro	Jhay	19
Jamir	Chip	18
Beley	Ronnie Paul	13
Profeta	Francis	12
Prangan	Eduardo	12
Abella	Rey	10
Bantiles	Joel	10
Famorcan	Caesar	10
Guevarra	JL	10
Salvatierra	Gikko	10
Perez	Ricky	9
Rama	Philip	9
Asehan	JC	9
Que	Elliot	9
Azarias	Cesyl	9
Paculio	DJonathan	7
Sarto	Raffy	7
Cabrera	Mark	6
Chua	Jeremiah	6
Cirujales	Earl	6
Estacio	Rey	6
Ong	Jeff	6
Rivas	Raynand	6
Rivera	Mark	6
de Mesa	Aldric	6
Aquino	Sherwin	3
Bausa	Patrick	3
Consunji	David	3
Go	Osmond	3
Mendoza	Paul	3
Sy	Manchester	3
Velasquez	Ramon	3
Jamias	Enrique	3
Tan	Jan Vincent	3
Regino	Jaime Lorenzo	3
Torres	Romulo	3

September 2009 events

2009-08-28T01:42:00.000-07:00

Zendikar Prerelease Events
Pod 1: Sept 26, 2009. 00:00 (12mn of the 25th)
Pod 2: Sept 26, 2009. 8:00 am
Pod 3: Sept 26, 2009. 1:00 pm
Pod 4: Sept 26, 2009. 6:00 pm
Pod 5: Sept 26, 2009. 11:00 pm

September 27 schedule to follow

Regular standard tourneys
Thursdays 6:00pm
Entry fee: Php 150
WPN foils and booster packs at stake

FNM standard tourneys
Fridays 6:00pm
Entry fee: Php 150
FNM foils and booster packs at stake

I just have to post this

2009-08-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Sorin Markov has been fully spoiled. The card is cool and all, but in the tradition of the Titanic Ultimatum finish; we have another potential youtube hit waiting to happen...

Winning player gets lots of "coolness" points

Alex Uy wins one for the Recto Boys

2009-08-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Double Lightning Bolt

We had 8 players who needed more dose of Magic after the standard tourney and so we ran a late-night draft to help scratch the itch. Eduds Prangan and Alex Uy were both at 2-0 coming into the last round, they decided to draw and play for the prize difference. In the end, Alex Uy was victorious!

Final standings:
1. Uy, Alex
2. Prangan, Eduds
3. Tan, Lloyd
4. Jas0-Jaso, Edilberto
5. de-Ramos, Joseph
6. Azarias, Cesyl
7. Cruz, Neil
8. Magno, Martin

Eduds Prangan destroys Standard

2009-08-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

Eduds Prangan wins (4-0) the very first Standard tourney at Titan Hobby Shop using an unconventional White Weenie deck that had maindeck Safe Passage and Lapse of Certainty.

Final standings:
1. Prangan, Eduds - White Weenie
2. Caghastian, David - UB Fae
3. Cruz, Neil - UW Isda
4. Bausa, Patrick - UW Baneslayer
5. Sulpico, Ben - UB Fae
6. Jaso-Jaso, Edilberto - Good stuff
7. Azarias, Cesyl - Jund
8. Santos, Ralf - Elf Combo
9. San Juan, Jason - Red
10. Uy, Alexander - GB
11. Rama, Philip Christopher - Toast
12. Reyes, Anthony Paul - Warp World
13. Tan, Lloyd - UBr Fae
14. de Ramos, Joseph - Shards Block 5cc

More photos from the event:

Philip Rama...

... vs Patrick Bausa

Wow andaming tao!

Guest "DJ" on the driver's seat

SOA-CON-ARB draft promo

2009-08-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who wish to revisit this draft format, we will be running a more interesting SOA-CON-ARB booster draft starting today.

Entry fee: 600 or SOA-CON-ARB packs + 240
Prize payout: Zendikar booster packs, 5-4-2-2 (to be given upon release of the product)

Draft update (better late than never)

2009-08-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

We have had 3 drafts lately that I have not posted yet, and so I will post them now.

August 15, 2009: Neil Roxas won a draft to help him get closer to his goal of having 2 byes for GP Bangkok.

Final standings are as follows:
1. Neil Roxas
2. Macho Jaro
3. Billy Gragasin
4. Cesyl Azarias
5. Eduardo Prangan
6. Aldric de Mesa
7. Jan Vincent Tan
8. Gerald Tan

August 21, 2009: It was a public holiday, most people had no work and so they hit the draft tables. Chip Jamir won this one.

Final standings are as follows:
1. Jamir, Chip
2. Jaro, Jhay
3. Jaro, Macho
4. Jaro, Ogie
5. Rivera, Mark Gerard
6. Maniego, Butch
7. Estacio, Rey

August 22, 2009: A late Saturday draft that featured the comeback of an old draft champion; Morris Tan.

Final standings are as follows:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Gragasin, Billy
3. Porter, JT
4. Prangan, Eduardo
5. Azarias, Cesyl
6. Regino, Jaime
7. de Mesa, Aldric

As for the draft leaderboard; this is what it looks like as of today:

Family Name	First Name	Total Points
Tan	Morris	74
Porter	JT	54
Gragasin	Billy	42
Jaro	Ogie	37
Ascalon	Jason	36
Ortega	Dominic	34
Roxas	Neil	34
Dimalanta	Lawrence	31
Go	Paolo	30
Jaro	Macho	30
Oca	Ramon Allan	21
Maniego	Butch	21
Cruz	Neil	19
Jaro	Jhay	19
Jamir	Chip	18
Lim	Vic	15
Beley	Ronnie Paul	13
Profeta	Francis	12
Prangan	Eduardo	12
Abella	Rey	10
Bantiles	Joel	10
Famorcan	Caesar	10
Guevarra	JL	10
Salvatierra	Gikko	10
Perez	Ricky	9
Rama	Philip	9
Asehan	JC	9
Que	Elliot	9
Azarias	Cesyl	9
Paculio	DJonathan	7
Cabrera	Mark	6
Chua	Jeremiah	6
Cirujales	Earl	6
Estacio	Rey	6
Ong	Jeff	6
Rivas	Raynand	6
Rivera	Mark	6
de Mesa	Aldric	6
Aquino	Sherwin	3
Bausa	Patrick	3
Consunji	David	3
Go	Osmond	3
Mendoza	Paul	3
Sy	Manchester	3
Velasquez	Ramon	3
Jamias	Enrique	3
Tan	Jan Vincent	3
Regino	Jaime Lorenzo	3

FREE Entrance Standard

2009-08-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

What: Free Entrance Standard tourney
Entry fee: Free nga, seryoso, magdala lang kayo ng deck.

Where: Titan Hobby Shop

When: Thursday, August 27, 2009. 6:00pm.

Why: Para lang matuloy na yung Standard na yan.

Prize support: Winner gets 4 random WPN foils, 2nd place gets 2 random WPN foils. 2 more WPN foils to be raffled to the other participants.

Seriously, why? Kasi may FNM na kami sa September. We want to get Standard players to play here.

Free WPN foils for players

2009-08-16T06:37:00.000-07:00

We have just received our very 1st set of WPN foils; those promo foil cards that our friends at WOTC give to tournament organizers. These cards are to be given away to players, yes we have to give them away. We cannot sell them. That is the only condition though, it is up to the tournament organizer how he wants to give them away.

So how will we give them away? We would like everybody to know that we will be giving a random WPN foil for players who plays a constructed or draft tourney at our store. Think of it as a "thank you for playing" present. 1 random foil for the top 2 finishers and 2 random foils will be raffled out to those who did not get a prize.

Here are the foil cards that we have at the moment:

This offer is good while supplies last.

We are on Facebook!

2009-08-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

Titan Hobby Shop now has a Facebook account. We figured that it would be a nicer venue for discussions because let's face it; very few people have the capability of posting a reply in this blog. We have also been "squatting" our discussions in various MTG forums for quite some time now and it would be nice to have our own venue for those.

Search us up on Facebook: "Titan Hobby Shop"

Draft points leaderboard update

2009-08-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

The draft leaderboard as of Saturday, 8/8/09

Family Name	First Name	Total Points
Tan	Morris	67
Porter	JT	48
Ascalon	Jason	36
Ortega	Dominic	34
Jaro	Ogie	33
Dimalanta	Lawrence	31
Go	Paolo	30
Gragasin	Billy	29
Roxas	Neil	25
Oca	Ramon Allan	21
Cruz	Neil	19
Maniego	Butch	18
Jaro	Macho	18
Lim	Vic	15
Beley	Ronnie Paul	13
Jaro	Jhay	12
Profeta	Francis	12
Abella	Rey	10
Bantiles	Joel	10
Famorcan	Caesar	10
Guevarra	JL	10
Salvatierra	Gikko	10
Jamir	Chip	9
Perez	Ricky	9
Rama	Philip	9
Asehan	JC	9
Que	Elliot	9
Paculio	DJonathan	7
Cabrera	Mark	6
Chua	Jeremiah	6
Cirujales	Earl	6
Estacio	Rey	6
Ong	Jeff	6
Rivas	Raynand	6
Aquino	Sherwin	3
Bausa	Patrick	3
Consunji	David	3
Go	Osmond	3
Mendoza	Paul	3
Prangan	Eduardo	3
Rivera	Mark	3
Sy	Manchester	3
Velasquez	Ramon	3
Jamias	Enrique	3

The top of the standings has not changed much, but a lot of players are catching up to get those 5 sponsorship slots.

Paolo Go had 2 straight 6pt finishes which allowed him to overtake both Billy Gragasin and Allan Oca.

Billy Gragasin scored just enough points to keep him inside the 5-slots.

Neil Roxas and Ronnie Beley both had 2 strong finishes putting them in strong contention for the final slot.

Neil Roxas is a man on a mission

2009-08-08T10:35:00.001-07:00

In an effort to gain his 2nd bye via ratings for GP Bangkok, Neil follows up a 2nd place finish with a draft win.

Malakas ba to? (cards ni Rivas)

Final standings:
1. Roxas, Neil
2. Que, Elliot Spencer
3. Beley, Ronnie Paul
4. Go, Paolo
5. Jamias, Enrique
6. Gragasin, Billy
7. Rivas, Raynand
8. Jaro, Macho

Ronnie Beley finishes 1st in his 1st visit

2009-08-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ronnie poses with his 5 prize packs

Final standings:
1. Beley, Ronnie Paul
2. Roxas, Neil
3. Jaro, Macho
4. Go, Paolo
5. Jaro, Ogie
6. Rivas, Raynand
7. Tan, Morris
8. Gragasin, Billy

The National Team needs help!

2009-08-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

Tentative 2009 Philippine National Team line up.
Ogie Jaro - Captain
JT Porter
Jason Ascalon

Thats 3 players who will be needing a lot of draft practice once Zendikar is released; but it takes 8 players to draft...

In an effort to solve this problem, Titan Hobby Shop will be sponsoring 5 additional drafters who will be slugging it out with the National team during their practice drafts. Priority goes by order of their "rankings".

Let me explain further how this works. First off, we will be keeping scores from our in-store drafts and rank each player according to their total match points in the drafts. As per DCI scoring, each win will yield you 3 match points, a draw gets 1, and a loss 0.

We believe that players get better thru practice and we also respect the already skilled players who show up once in a while. The system is designed in such a way that it rewards both frequent and good drafters. Of course, you gain more points if you are both.

Please note that we will be taking into account drafts from the previous months and so our ranking so far is as follows:

Family Name	First Name	Total Points
Tan	Morris	64
Porter	JT	48
Ascalon	Jason	36
Ortega	Dominic	34
Dimalanta	Lawrence	31
Jaro	Ogie	30
Gragasin	Billy	26
Oca	Ramon Allan	21
Cruz	Neil	19
Go	Paolo	18
Maniego	Butch	18
Lim	Vic	15
Jaro	Jhay	12
Jaro	Macho	12
Profeta	Francis	12
Abella	Rey	10
Bantiles	Joel	10
Famorcan	Caesar	10
Guevarra	JL	10
Salvatierra	Gikko	10
Jamir	Chip	9
Perez	Ricky	9
Rama	Philip	9
Roxas	Neil	9
Asehan	JC	9
Paculio	DJonathan	7
Cabrera	Mark	6
Chua	Jeremiah	6
Cirujales	Earl	6
Estacio	Rey	6
Ong	Jeff	6
Aquino	Sherwin	3
Bausa	Patrick	3
Consunji	David	3
Go	Osmond	3
Mendoza	Paul	3
Prangan	Eduardo	3
Que	Elliot	3
Rivera	Mark	3
Sy	Manchester	3
Velasquez	Ramon	3

As you can see, the 3 members of the National Team are already in the leaderboard. Take note that the 3 names listed is the tentative lineup, which is why their names are still included in the rankings. Do not worry because we will be automatically passing down (if needed) the sponsorships of the 3 eventual members.

What do the sponsored players get?
1. Free drafts, but all drafted cards shall be returned to Titan Hobby Shop. We want the sponsored players to play well and not to raredraft.
2. 1 pack for a 2-1 finish and 2 packs for a 3-0 finish. Again, we want them to play really well and so we added this as an incentive. 1 or 2 packs does not seem like much, but if you think about it, the National team would like to run as much practice drafts as possible. These packs will accumulate over time.
3. All practice drafts will be sanctioned and will count towards your rewards total (and ratings if you care about that).

Practice draft schedules TBA (around October).

Please read the mechanics properly. We have noticed that most people only see the words "Free" and "Draft". There is more to it than that, we will not be giving free drafts to everyone.

FAQs:

Q: How do I join?
A: Any player may join our in-store drafts.

Q: Is it free?
A: No.

Q: How do I get to draft for free?
A: If your name is among the top ranked players, you will be sponsored by the store during the Zendikar practice drafts with the National team. Priority goes to the player with the highest ranking.

Q: Thats unfair! Pano yung mga mababa ang points or wala sa leaderboard?
A: Sorry, we want the National team to train with the best drafters in the country, and this is our way of determining who those are.

Q: How do I get my name in the leaderboard?
A: Join our store drafts. You get points for every match point that you score. Pwede pa kayo humabol.

Nationals Standard portion and Top 8 part 1

2009-07-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

The preparation:
Let me start this out by saying that I did not know what deck to play. I was trying out all the decks from recently concluded Nationals from other countries and did not like any of them. Although practice was not an issue because we proxied these decks just to see how they play out, acquisition time for cards was running out. Stillmoon Cavaliers were soaring to Php 400 each, Hallowed Burials were nowhere to be found, Kithkin uncommons were selling like hotcakes, and the elves components like Regal Force and Primal Command were in very minimal quantities that it became impossible to get 4 of them.

I built a proxy Faeries and BR Iyanaga deck and played with our store tambays the whole week. The BR deck seemed really nice but I can't help but question a few card choices. This is when I talked to Ogie Jaro, our team's aggro specialist.

Ogie: "Isa lang naman tatandaan mo pag deck ng hapon e"
JT: "Ano?"
Ogie: "Wag ka na magtanong, sumunod ka nalang kasi tama na yung gawa nila"

So BR it is! Easy on the brain very little cards needed to complete. I was really gravitating towards the BR deck up until Lloyd Tan showed up Thursday and made short work of the deck with his homebrew RG deck that bore resemblance to Jund. He sent me back to the drawing board.

Edsel Alvarez sent me a text message Friday morning saying that he found Hallowed Burials and Cascade Bluffs lying around his house. Was that a sign? I called him up, picked up the cards, and built Shuuhei Nakamura's 5-color control deck. I changed a total of 6 cards in the deck. I took out the 3rd Cruel Ultimatum for a copy of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. For some reason, I also did not like having Broodmate Dragons in the deck and replaced all 3 with Baneslayer Angels. The last change that I made was to take out the Identity Crisis from the sideboard to make way for 2 Ethersworn Canonists.

My final list:

2 Cascade Bluffs
1 Exotic Orchard
3 Island
2 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
3 Sunken Ruins
2 Vivid Crag
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Marsh
2 Vivid Meadow

3 Baneslayer Angel
3 Mulldrifter
3 Plumeveil

2 Agony Warp
3 Broken Ambitions
2 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
4 Cryptic Command
1 Doom Blade
4 Esper Charm
1 Essence Scatter
3 Hallowed Burial
4 Volcanic Fallout

2 Deathmark
1 Essence Scatter
4 Great Sable Stag
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Liliana Vess
1 Pithing Needle
2 Puppeteer Clique
2 Runed Halo

My 1st opponent in standard was Mark Arriola who was playing a deck which I thought was 5-color control. In the 1st game, he dropped a Great Sable Stag on his 4th turn. I was thinking; "Maindeck Sable Stags in 5cc... why didn't I think of that? That was awesome.". The stag prompted me to play Hallowed Burial, a 1-for-1 exchange which I think made Mark very happy. As the game went on, I noticed that he was not playing 5cc, he was playing Jund control. My strategy became a lot simpler; use Esper Charms to make him discard, bait a creature for him to kill, and then use Cruel Ultimatums to get the creature back and make him discard more. Strategy worked like a charm and I won the match 2-0.

My next opponent was Mark Joven; a familiar face in the store and a veteran Faeries player. He dropped vivid land after vivid land during his turns which made me think; "What happened to the fae deck that you have been practicing for weeks?". His team apparently had a cardpool problem that prompted him to switch decks. His lack of practice playing the deck was obvious. You see, in control mirrors, the 1st player to make a move will most likely end up losing. It does not matter if you resolve a Cruel Ultimatum on that 1st move, if you make that 1st move, you will probably lose. Control players would prefer to discard a card on their end step rather than make a move 1st. With this in mind, we can conclude that not missing land drops is the key to this matchup. Mark was a bit unlucky during the 1st game as he missed one too many land drops. I was at 18 lands vs his that were only a little over 10. With the mana advantage, I was able to play non-evoked Mulldrifters which were able to go the distance. In the second game, the big turning point was when I decided to tap-out as bait so that he could play Cruel Ultimatum without fear of it being countered, and he did. Since he was now tapped out, I dropped a Nicol Bolas on the board which stayed there until my opponent scooped.

I found myself playing against a bad matchup in the 3rd round. It was Adan Mate, playing his own take of BR. His build was so quick that it made very short work of me in the 1st game. I could not even remember the sequence of plays that transpired, all I could remember was me praying that I draw my Baneslayer Angels. I managed to steal a win on the 2nd game using Mulldrifters (of all things). The 3rd game was once again very quick. The game ended with me at 3 life and having 7 mana and Cruel Ultimatum as my only spell. He was at a healthy life total with a Figure of Destiny in play and a card in hand. I had no choice but to play the ultimatum. His last card turned out to be a Flame Javelin that hit me in the dome when I tapped out.

2-1, quota reached and ready to draft.

Shards of Alara block promo drafts

2009-07-29T04:45:00.000-07:00

Shards-Conflux-Reborn drafts are now offered at a discounted rate of Php 400 entry fee. Winner takes all; the 3-0 finisher will get 2 M10 packs as prize. The drafts are DCI sanctioned.

Regular 5-4-2-2 and pack per win +1 SOA-CON-ARB and M10 drafts are still available.

Other tournaments:
Thursdays: Standard
Fridays: Legacy

Drafting with JT: Nationals Edition, Draft 2

2009-07-27T05:31:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at 4-2 prior to the 2nd draft and badly needed to score a 3-0 on this pod. Of course, the common tendency is to wish to open a bomb like Broodmate Dragon on pack 1. Lo and behold; Crucible of Fire... again. It was the same rare that I opened in my Shards of Alara pack from draft 1. This pack was a bit different though because it had Rhox War Monk, Seaside Citadel, Resounding Thunder, and the card that Sebastian Thaler picked over those in PT Honolulu; Kathari Screecher. I took Resounding Thunder. It was either RG, Naya, or Jund. I got passed a Knight of the Skyward Eye and so I took it. Welkin Guide, Naya Panorama, Magma Spray, Rockslide Elemental, Elvish Visionary, Yoked Plowbeast, and a very late Bone Splinters. Voices at the back of my head started whispering, telling me to shift to Jund, Bone Splinters is a sign.

The sudden turn of events while drafting the 1st pack made me decide to play conservatively. I took 3 copies of Matca Rioters, an Exploding Borders, and a Canyon Minotaur on pack 2. The only other playable card was an Absorb Vis. Not good at all. I had to maximize the rioters in order to get full power on my deck.

Then it was time for the best thing that happened in Shards block draft, the final pack; Alara Reborn. Pick 1 was very tough because I opened Finest Hour and will be passing to the guy whom I passed all those Bant goodies to in pack 1; Richard Badlon. The other cards that were in there was a Vithian Renegades and a Bant Sureblade. It seemed very simple but is actually very difficult. I had 3 copies of Matca Rioters, which means that I will probably be splashing an island that would make Finest Hour playable. Vithian Renegades on the other hand is great in this format; a Stone Rain with legs. Bant Sureblade is one of the best 2-drops in the format; the perfect card that I needed to smoothen my mana curve. Confused, thinking, 10 seconds left for the pick, and so I made the mistake of taking the Bant Sureblade. Luckily, my friend named "Bro" helped me out in the next 13 picks, yes the next 13. My 2nd pick was a Bloodbraid Elf followed by a flurry of great cards in the form of Sangrite Backlash, Stun Sniper, Vengeful Rebirth, Rhox Brute, a couple of fat creatures that cycle, and a 14th pick Igneous Pouncer; thanks "Bro".

Oh and I also caught a rare card; Time Sieve. It was better than nothing.

My final decklist:

Resounding Thunder
Magma Spray
Rockslide Elemental
Bone Splinters
Elvish Visionary
Welkin Guide

3 Matca Rioters
Ember Weaver
Canyon Minotaur
Exploding Borders
Absorb Vis

Bloodbraid Elf
Sangrite Backlash
Vengeful Rebirth
Stun Sniper
Naya Sojourners
Rhox Brute
Valley Rannet
Monstrous Carabid
2 Igneous Pouncer

1 Naya Panorama
1 Plains
3 Swamp
6 Forest
6 Mountain

SB cards that may be playable:
Knight of the Skyward Eye
Bant Sureblade

I won the 1st match by the skin of my teeth. My opponent was playing an Esper deck which had creatures that were as big as mine. The only difference was that they had flying. It was really close and I won mostly because of a misplay that he made early in the game where he decided to play Slave of Bolas on my 3/3 Rockslide Elemental, letting my Stun Sniper live. The Sniper made life hell for him the whole game.

Day 1 ended after that and so it was time to go home and have a little rest. I was testing my deck trying to see if I could have built it better. Fortunately, the answer was a big yes; -1 Swamp, +1 Island. Matca Rioters now grows up to 5/5 and Exploding Borders chips away 1/4 of your life total.

My 2nd opponent for this draft was Richard Badlon who was playing the Bant deck that I feared. To make things more interesting, he apparently opened Rafiq of the Many and Dauntless Escort. Lets have a recap shall we... Rafiq, Escort, Rhox War Monk, Finest Hour, and all the landcyclers that can make them happen. He was on the play for the 1st game and dropped Dauntless Escort on turn 3, followed by Rafiq. Fortunately, my turn 2 Stun Sniper backed up by Magma Spray was there to try and take Rafiq out. His Escort took the fall for him but I had Bloodbraid Elf backup which managed to fetch me a Bone Splinters. My sniper for Rafiq seemed like a very good trade. Now that the bombs are safely kept in his graveyard, I started playing my own beats in the form of 4/4 (and bigger) monsters which marched towards a game 1 steal. I executed the game 2 plan of taking out a Swamp for an Island. The game started quietly. I had a 3/3 Matca Rioters on turn 3 facing a Brackwater Elemental. I also had a Rhox Brute in my hand that had to wait because I sensed countermagic. Rocklide Elemental was used for bait, and it was indeed countered by Offering to Asha. My next creature was countered by Traumatic Visions, this one was a a bit painful because it was a Stun Sniper. His elemental surprisingly attacked me for 4, a rather bold move which had me puzzled. I went down to 16, and on his next turn, he played Rafiq and unearthed the elemental taking me down to 6 life. I topdecked Resounding Thunder 2 turns after but noticed that my opponent has yet to play another creature; combat tricks? Rafiq will probably continue to eat creatures at this point. I tried to fish out his tricks by double blocking Rafiq with a Matca Rioters and Rhox Brute. He bounced the brute and the lone remaining blocker died. At this point, I had to shoot the legend down; luckily, he had nothing to save it. The game was all me after that.

The last match of this draft was against Lloyd Tan who drafted a Grixis deck full of removals and a Cruel Ultimatum to send you further down. To sum it up, he did not draw enough removals to clear my board of fat creatures.

3-0 for the draft, 7-2 for the tourney. 2 more wins to go.

Drafting with JT: Nationals Edition, Draft 1

2009-07-27T04:48:00.000-07:00

Since this blog focuses more on limited, I shall begin my Nationals aftermath article with my draft decks.

This draft started with a 1st pick Viscera Dragger; a safe pick. I got passed a Wolly Thoctar which I picked up 2nd followed by a Hissing Iguanar on 3. It got really ugly from there as there were no red or green cards that followed. I got a relevant signal in the form of a Sanctum Gargoyle at around pick 7 or so. I made a decision to shift to UW and hoped that it was not too late. At the end of pack 1, my only relevant playable cards for UW were Sanctum Gargoyle, Cloudheath Drake, Resounding Silence, Dawnray Archer, and Sighted-Caste Sorcerer. Viscera Dragger was still on standy in case I need to expand to Esper colors.

I agonized over my 1st pick for the Conflux pack because there was a semi-bomb card in the form of Mirror Sigil Seargent; a card which I do not really like but is incredible in UW decks. The other card I was thinking about was an Esperzoa, which I took because I like fast and consistent decks. The pack did not bring anything spectacular to my deck but upped my UW playable cards from 5 to 12. I needed 11 more from Alara Reborn; which is almost impossible. That means I will probably be splashing a 3rd color.

Unfortunately, Alara Reborn still did not deliver any spectacular cards to my deck. I did get a few which had very good synergy with what I already have like 2 Ethersworn Shieldmages, and 2 Glasstdust Hulks. A Thopter Foundry was also a very welcome addition even though it's power level dropped due to the disappearance of the stack in combat situations.

My final decklist:

Cloudheath Drake
Sanctum Gargoyle
Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
Dawnray Archer
Resounding Silence

2 Gleam of Resistance
Esperzoa
Unsummon
Vedalken Outlander
Esper Cormorants
Cumber Stone
Sludge Strider

2 Ethersworn Shieldmage
2 Glassdust Hulk
Thopter Foundry
Crystallization
Bant Sureblade
Sanctum Plowbeast
Talon Trooper
Deny Reality

Esper Panorama
Rupture Spire
Swamp
7 Island
7 Plains

SB cards that may be useful:
Viscera Dragger
Dispeller's Capsule
Soul Manipulation
Offering to Asha
Guardians of Akrasa
Lapse of Certainty
Brainbite
Voices from the Void

Yes, I did not pick up any rare cards in this draft. Sad.

This deck went on to finish 2-1 losing to Eric Salazar's 5-color deck which hit me with a Martial Coup FTW.

Billy goes back to back

2009-07-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

The man whom Nick Ortega can't beat is now the man whom anyonce can't beat. Billy Gragasin and Caesar Famorcan decided to draw in the last round and play for the 1 pack difference; Billy won and became the 2nd player (Morris was 1st) to win back to back drafts at Titan Hobby Shop.

Billy and Zar

Back 2 back

Final standings:
1. Famorcan, Caesar
2. Gragasin, Billy
3. Estacio, Rey
4. Ortega, Dominic
5. Maniego, Butch
6. Abella, Rey
7. Mendoza, Paul
8. Tan, Lloyd

Billy Gragasin wins and wins

2009-07-21T06:43:00.001-07:00

MVP; 2 Singe-Mind Ogres, and Honor of the Pure from one of his prize packs

Final standings:
1. Gragasin, Billy
2. Ortega, Dominic
3. Ascalon, Jason
4. Tan, Morris
5. Famorcan, Caesar
6. Roxas, Neil
7. Bantiles, Joel
8. Paculio, DJonathan

Ilang tulog nalang...

2009-07-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

...Nationals na!

This is an open invitation to anyone who is reading this to come by the store and hang out. Players are welcome to bring their standard decks if they want to test with fellow players.

Of course we will still be having our daily drafts all week and a sanctioned standard tournament on Thursday. We are open from 3pm onwards from today until Thursday. As for Friday, we will be closing down at 10pm to force those who will be competing to get some rest for the big day.

Hope to see you guys and goodluck to the competitors!

JT Porter scores 1st home win

2009-07-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

It was a Jund deck splashing white for Bull Cerodon, Behemoth Sledge, and Path to Exile. A few playable rares namely Nyxathid, Goblin Razerunners, and Charnelhoard Wurm also helped the deck to a 3-0 finish.

Final standings:
1. Porter, JT
2. Cirujales, Earl
3. Ascalon, Jason
4. Ortega, Nick
5. Oca, Allan
6. Velasquez, Ramon
7. Rama, Philip
8. Pascual, Alfred

Neil Cruz wins M10 draft

2009-07-18T20:40:00.001-07:00

It was a late night M10 draft with an unbelievable card power (and price) level. At the end of it all, we had 2 winners.

Allan Oca wins the raredrafter of the month award

A battle for the Baneslayer Angel

UW splash Fireball

Neil Cruz wins the draft

Finals standings:
1. Cruz, Neil
2. Abella, Rey
3. Profeta, Francis
4. Porter, JT
5. Ortega, Nick
6. Bausa, Patrick
7. Dimalanta, Lawrence
8. Oca, Allan

Morris Tan wins the 1st double draft

2009-07-18T05:04:00.000-07:00

Jund in Shards block followed by BR in M10. Morris demolishes both drafts with a perfect 6-0 record and continues his winning streak.

Unfortunately, a lot of players backed out at the last minute and we were forced to run with only 8 players. Here are some photos from the event:

Pagkain...

...at pantulak, on the house

Morris Tan, medyo busy

Final standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Jaro, Jhay
3. Jaro, Ogie
4. Jamir, Chip
5. Dimalanta, Lawrence
6. Chua, Jeremiah
7. Maniego, Butch
8. Oca, Allan

M10 singles now available at the store

2009-07-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

I am feeling lazy today and so I will not list every single card that we have in stock; just the important ones that you probably care about. Prices are in Php.

Sunpetal Grove - 400
Glacial Fortress - 400
Rootbound Crag - 400
Dragonskull Summit - 400
Drowned Catacomb - 400

Honor of the Pure - 500
Great Sable Stag - 300
Ball Lightning - 250
Lightning Bolt - 50
Duress - 50

Ajani Goldmane - 450
Garruk Wildspeaker - 650
Liliana Vess - 200
Chandra Nalaar - 150
Jace Beleren - 350

Etc, etc, etc...

Check our eBay account if you want to buy these cards without the hassle of traveling.
eBay username: darth_lotus

Of course you may also drop by the store if you want to buy cards the old way.

We are on eBay

2009-07-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

In an effort to reach internet users who do not have time to visit our shop and buy cards, we have decided to sell some MTG singles thru eBay.

We are currently accepting pre-orders for a few M10 commons and uncommons. Other cards will be listed as soon as we get a hold of them. Check out our listings and if you do not see the cards that you want, you may send me an email and I will try my best to help you out.

email address: jt_ebay3@yahoo.com
eBay username: darth_lotus

Morris Tan is indestructible!

2009-07-08T07:39:00.000-07:00

3-peat

Final standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Guevarra, Jerrymel
3. Ascalon, Jason
4. Ong, Jeff
5. Rivera, Mark
6. Gragasin, Billy
7. Jaro, Ogie
8. Cabillos, Manual Ian

M10 drafts available starting next Friday, July 17, 2009.

2009-07-08T01:42:00.000-07:00

We will be running M10 drafts as soon as the set is released this July 17. Entry fee is still the usual Php 600 or 3 M10 packs +Php 240. Be sure to save those packs that you get in the pre-release.

See you there!

Morris Tan is on a roll!

2009-07-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

He did it again, Morris Tan won today's draft with an Esper deck featuring a Sharding Sphinx that worked overtime and a support group of protection bears, Faerie Mechanists, Esper Stormblades, etc etc etc.

Congratulations to Morris Tan, the 1st 2-time winner of our store drafts.

Final Standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Porter, JT
3. Roxas, Neil
4. Rama, Philip
5. Aquino, Sherwin
6. Maniego, Butch
7. Ascalon, Jason
8. Tan, Jan Vincent

July 18 and 19 premier event

2009-07-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

What: Double draft tournament
Where: Titan Hobby Shop, unit 308 MN Square Building, Shaw Blvd. Pasig City
When: July 18 and 19 (2 events)
Seatings for the 1st draft will be posted at 12:00nn

Tournament format:
Booster draft (1 Shards-Conflux-Reborn, 1 M10-M10-M10)

Tournament structure:
Booster draft #1 followed by 3 swiss rounds followed by booster draft #2 and 3 more swiss rounds. 6 rounds total.

Player limit:
16 players per event

Entry fee:
Php 1,100

Prize structure:
1st - 12 packs (3 M10, 3 SOA, 3 CON, 3 ARB)
2nd - 8 packs (2 M10, 2 SOA, 2 CON, 2 ARB)
3rd - 4 packs (1 M10, 1 SOA, 1 CON, 1 ARB)
4th - 4 packs (1 M10, 1 SOA, 1 CON, 1 ARB)
5th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)
6th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)
7th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)
8th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)

Side events:
On demand (5-4-2-2, or pack per win +1) Shards of Alara block and M10 booster drafts

Players may pre-register at the store starting tomorrow. 1st come 1st serve basis.

A real M10 release "party"

2009-07-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

I have always wondered why they called this event a release party.

Anyway, we will be running M10 drafts as soon as the product is released on July 17. We will also have a release "party" on July 18, Saturday. Drafts only as we do not have enough space to run sealed deck events. I call it a party because finger food and drinks (softdrinks and H2O) are on us from 5:00pm until we run out.

Alara Block drafts will also be available upon request. See you there.

We need more drafters!

2009-07-05T01:41:00.000-07:00

Limited play requires much less preparation and is much cheaper than constructed if you learn how to play it right. Also, statistically, the better limited players always seem to qualify for Nationals much easier.

The main thrust of the store (and the articles me and my teammates write) was to improve the skills of the Filipino Magic player. The store had a vision of being a haven for drafters. A place where drafters can draft everyday; ready when they are. We have had a few speedbumps recently because the already skilled Filipino Magic players seem to be very busy with real-life obligations. This leaves them very little time to perfect their game and draft queues are not firing as often as we hoped; leaving audiences with nothing to watch. Because of this, we have decided on a move to grow new talent. Teach those who are new to the game, the young, and young-at-heart how to play limited.

My teammate and I have been writing strategy articles here and at the Neutralgrounds forums for quite some time now but we have yet to see an increase in serious limited players. Afraid maybe? I would guess so. I myself was very nervous when I first drafted back in late 2004. So how do we go about it? I guess there is nothing better than the real thing. We play it hands-on.

Unlike constructed where you already have decks ready to play, limited starts out with you building a deck from an unknown pile of cards. We have a pile of Alara block cards lying around the store and the cube to simulate this situation. It will be different from the real drafts but the approximation is enough for players to learn the basic techniques like what cards to prioritize when picking, color choices, comfort zones, etc.

Send me an email on jt_ebay3@yahoo.com if this sounds interesting to you, we will contact you when drafts are going to start so that you can watch and learn from drafters while they are at work. Please write your name and contact number. Better yet, try dropping by the store and I will give you an instant crash course if you want (here's a sample result of the latest crash course I gave). I do have internet in the shop which means I can play an online draft if you really want to watch something. The lessons are free and involves no monetary obligations; it's charity work if you will. Think about it.

Morris Tan wins the last draft for the month of June

2009-06-30T07:59:00.001-07:00

As the month comes to a close, draft addict Morris Tan (Mr. pinoyraredrafter himself) was itching for a draft win; and he does so without the help of bomb cards. He was able to draft a GW splash red aggro deck and pilot it all the way to a 3-0 finish.

Final standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Ascalon, Jason
3. Cruz, Neil
4. Porter, JT
5. Go, Osmond
6. Lim, Vic
7. Gragasin, Billy
8. Maniego, Butch

Jason Ascalon vs Morris Tan in the last round

An unlikely MVP

Nationals is just around the corner

2009-06-28T22:18:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since I posted an article here. It has been mostly store related information and results. I guess it's time to write one right now because as everyone knows; Nationals is less than a month away.

I have been following the M10 spoiler the past week and I see some interesting new cards that would probably change the standard metagame.

First major impact of M10 would be the absence of cheap "Wrath of God" effects. It was rumored that we would have no Wrath of God and Damnation for this set, which breaks a 10-year core set tradition. The spoiler is not yet complete as of today but they have already shown the set's new board sweeper; Planar Cleansing. This leaves us with Hallowed Burial as the cheapest available "Wrath" effect.

The obvious deck that is making noise right now is White Weenie. The new Savannah Lions will probably sit on the bench for now because Kithkins are still running around the standard card pool. However, the new take on the classic Crusade is just what the doctor ordered. It is a 2 mana spell which means it will dodge every possible countermagic if you are playing first and manage to cast it on turn 2. It also curves out nicely because unlike Glorious Anthem, it does not share the 3-drop slot with Spectral Procession. Harm's Way might also be a cool addition if you were a fan of Shining Shoal back in 2005. Baneslayer Angel and Guardian Seraph are possible tools for late game power, but I still prefer Cloudgoat Ranger over them.

Blue cards... well I don't see any nice blue cards yet, not even a nice efficient card draw engine. I like Time Warp though, but goodluck in finding a deck for that. I guess WOTC is just doing what they have been doing the past few years then; bringing down the power level of blue.

Black got a significant boost on efficiency in the form of the new Terror and the reprinting of Duress. I don't even care about the other cards anymore because most are just annoying functional reprints.

Red has Lightning Bolt, but loses Incinerate and the now powered down Mogg Fanatic. The new Goblin Warchief will probably try to prove it's worth but without the help of strong goblins like the ones in Onslaught, it will probably just be another Goblin King. I say not much change for standard, but a significant change for extended and eternal formats.

Green has a lot of new tricks up its sleeve. Elvish Archdruid is getting the most attention and probably made the elf-ball deck a lot better; turn 3 Regal Force anyone? Remember that we do not have a cheap "Wrath" effect too. This means that you do not need to hold back too much on dropping little green men on the board; just beware of Volcanic Fallout. Great Sable Stag (aka Bachelor Party Horse) will probably destroy any faerie deck easy. Protean Hydra has some potential if paired with anthem effects but still has to prove itself. As for the new Hurricane, it is decent, but I still prefer Squall Line over it. The loss of the part that damages players may be costly in some games and automatically disqualifies it as a main deck card.

As for the artifacts and lands section, all I can say is that the new cycle of ally-colored lands are nice.

That's it for now, more brainstorming notes and musings next time.