so the other day my friend came over and told me that the deck that i was letting him borrow a RDW with 4 demigods and a foil figure of destiny was stolen or misplaced at the tournament last weekend. he was totally worried that i would be super pissed.
actually the opposite happened...i was completely forgiving of the situation. stuff happens you know? it was really cool being on the giving end of grace and mercy. what he didnt know was that i was a person who had already been given much grace and mercy (and continuing to receive!). he was pretty shocked that i wasnt upset at all. i was a little sad to have lost my complete set of demigods that i had been coveting for a long time, but the lesson learned was so much more important. i'm glad that God gave me the opportunity to give grace, it helps me to understand how much he gives each day!
one more thing, he felt so bad that bought me a bitterblossom and is going to give me a complete set this next pay day! how cool. what a hidden blessing. with grace and mercy comes blessings!
now on to my new B/W tokens deck. dlaab xay will not be the only one playing this deck!
josh out.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Dreams
Real Dream: The other night I dreamed that Sam & G visited here. But they didn't bring Kam. They left him at home, but they did bring Riley and their other kid, a little girl! It cute cause the new girl kept saying, "Kam, Kam!" New Chang baby int he future... ??
Mid-Blog Break: Hey, we just heard a funny story. Well, it's not funny. But it'll be funny to a select few, like me! My cousin Caag and Julie, you know, from Green Bay, they had a boy. But he got sick, you know, the Hmong sick when a baby is sick. So they renamed him, and wanted to give him a really strong name and name him after a strong person. So they named him, Bee!
Future Dream: In the future, I would like to go back to school. First, to study Christian Education. I don't remember much from Greenville, and hittin' the books again would be great. Sometimes I think about directing the Christian Education program at a church, and I think I would really like it. But I still have problems with believing I'd be the right person at it, cause I'm not a pastor. Second, I want to go to cooking school. I think it would be so fun!
Mid-Blog Break: Hey, we just heard a funny story. Well, it's not funny. But it'll be funny to a select few, like me! My cousin Caag and Julie, you know, from Green Bay, they had a boy. But he got sick, you know, the Hmong sick when a baby is sick. So they renamed him, and wanted to give him a really strong name and name him after a strong person. So they named him, Bee!
Future Dream: In the future, I would like to go back to school. First, to study Christian Education. I don't remember much from Greenville, and hittin' the books again would be great. Sometimes I think about directing the Christian Education program at a church, and I think I would really like it. But I still have problems with believing I'd be the right person at it, cause I'm not a pastor. Second, I want to go to cooking school. I think it would be so fun!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Spending time with the Mrs.
Life has been really awesome and very rewarding of late. Mai Kao and i have been enjoying life overseas with all the ups and downs. when it rains in Shanghai, life can be pretty drab and you dont want to ever go out (sometimes it rains for weeks!) but when its sunny out, it is absolutely gorgeous out and well worth the wait.
Lately, i've been trying to spend some of my best time with Mai Kao. its been great. one of my favorite things in life is walking in the city and talking with Mai kao about anything. it is difficult to find a good conversation sometimes, but when you live with your best friend they come often.
I love my wife.
josh out.
Lately, i've been trying to spend some of my best time with Mai Kao. its been great. one of my favorite things in life is walking in the city and talking with Mai kao about anything. it is difficult to find a good conversation sometimes, but when you live with your best friend they come often.
I love my wife.
josh out.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
A taste of FNM success
all this time it was right under my nose! a legit magic store right outside my school gates! i'm such a dummy for not checking around my neighborhood. this is the closest i've ever been to an MTG store. i could honestly go there during my lunch break, its so close. theyve got many good rares and most commons and uncommons the store owner gives away FOR FREE! everything else is pretty darn cheap. packs are under 3 bucks, i bought 3 Demigods for 4 bucks each, and more! i'm gonna go back and buy the bitterblossom set they have for 100 kuai each, thats roughly 15 bucks a piece and i'm gonna try haggle the price down a little. but on to the real story.
today i went to my local MTG store and played magic against chinese people at their FNM. It was a ton of fun and i plan to go back. the guys are all super nice and speak a little english, so it makes it easier for me and my friend dennis to communicate.
They were super accomodating and asked us which format we wanted to play. Lots of them wanted to draft so being new and all (and not having competitive constructed decks) we felt it was best to draft. I feel that Limited is one of my stronger magic skill sets and so it was great for me...also, it put me on equal playing field (card wise) with everyone. we would be drafting Chinese cards so i had to keep my ears perked and be as attentive as possible to my cards.
we got situated and started drafting right away.
First Pack, i open my pack and immediately go to the rare...and what did i see? Master Etherium staring me right in the eyes. easy pick one...initially i was hesistant to take it but decided it was the best card by far in the pack...(little did i know it really was a bomb rare). the rest of the pack i got shipped 2 agony warps, two tri lands(esper and grixis) 2 call to heels, and two esper obelisks. i was very happy with my first pack...i knew that my esper build would be very consistent and that i would never have any issues casting my spells. i was a bit worried about the lack of creatures as i was really busy trying to get my fixers this pack so that next 2 packs i could just worry about getting good creatures...especially Conflux which by far has the best esper creatures. time would tell if my gamble would pay off.
next pack, another awesome rare...Scourglass. now i was all in in Esper. a mass removal spell that only cleared my opponents? ridiculous. the pack went around and i was able to nab 2 screeching katharis, one cloudskate drake?, cancel and a couriers capsule. sadly, that was all and i was still very short on the creature front. i did not see any executioner capsules or sanctum gargoyles going around so that probably meant someone else was Esper too. good thing esper is a strong enough shard to support a few decks in drafting.
Conflux pack opens and i find myself in a real hard place. i forget what the rare card was because it really sucked a lot and so i found myself grabbing a sludge strider. a good card, but not a great first pick. next pick though really saved me, a cumberstone...the pack came around and i was able to nab a scepter of card drawing, the black sedraxis guy that bounces creatures, vedalken pro red guy, zombie outlander, traumatic visions, gleam of resistance, and two golden late round picks, esper cormorants and a darklit gargoyle. all in all it was a decent pack but not amazing.
i was pretty confident my deck was a good deck...but i was a little scared that i was a little creature light. decent removal and combat tricks would have to carry my light creature load.
Here is my deck list:
Creatures:
Master Etherium
sludge strider
zombie outlander
vedalken outlander
darklit gargoyle
sedraxis alchemist
cloudskate drake
esper cormorants
2 kathari screecher
Artifacts:
scourglass
cumberstone
scepter of card draw
2 esper obelisk
Spells:
2 call to heel
resounding wave
2 Agony Warps
gleam of resistance
cancel
traumatic visions
Match one: some guy playing a weird U/B/G Unearth deck. i come out strong and win the first game on the back of master etherium/cumberstone/scourglass. i lose a close one game two after having all my guys removed and killed, my deck ran out of gas at the end as my opponent just had more creatures in his deck than i did. so sad. game three is another long one, but i lose. it was close and i should have won. why? b/c the entire time i forgot about master etheriums special ability of giving all my artifact creatures +1/+1 as well! this is something that would have never missed, IF THE CARDS WERE IN ENGLISH! my opponent was not an honest guy and did not let me know this, also he tried getting a forest with a grixis panorama, i caught him immediately and told him i knew what the card did...he was pretty embarassed that i caught him trying to cheat...dirty. all in all, nice guy, but tried to take advantage of a foreigner. his antics would bite him in the rare end when all was said and done though. Record 0-1 (1-2)
Match Two: i come out strong a play a real nice guy named Apu. He played a Grixis Unearth deck with a white splash for esper charm. game one, turns 2-6 were as follows, vedalken outlander (perfect against his deck), master etherium (by this time i had finally figured out that the master E's other pump ability), cumberstone, cloudskate, scourglass. my opponent laughs and then scoops. Game two, he wins a long one after both our boards are cleared and he starts unearthing creatures like crazy. game three, another long game, but this time i'm able to clear the board and stall like crazy with the cumberstone, by then i'm down to 7 life . Master E and cloudskate go the distance for me taking him down 24 life points as he draws land after land...it didnt matter though, b/c i was holding cancel and traumatic visions to protect my board position.
Record 1-1 (3-2)
Match Three: Nice guy named txaaj (so i called him bed) he was playing a bant exalted deck...with a hilarious twist. game one, all is going well and it looks pretty promising until he sacs three creatures and pulls out yep you guessed it EMPYRIAL ARCHANGEL! with him being shroud and my life total too small to do anything, i scoop. crazy. game two now that i knew his twist i would be more prepared. i come out flying with zombie outlander and cumberstone stalling his ground game, kathari screecher and darklit gargoyle. Master E joins the table, giving my guys a pretty awesome boost. i attack his life total down to 7 and then he does it again, sacs three guys to put out empyrial Archangel. this time though it was not enough as i attack with all four creatures and all 12 damage goes to the angel. she dies and eats my master E. next turn Bed plays a Pro artifact guy and another creature that gets met with counter. i untap cast agony warp on the guy and attack for seven for the win. phew, Empyrial Angel is crazy good. game three, he starts piling up the board with guys to sac to find the Angel again. i build up a board of Master E, Cloudskate, cumberstone, scepter and scourglass. my upkeep i blow up his board and attack him down to 15. his next turn he drops his 8th land and cold casts, yep...you guessed it Empyrial Archangel!!!!! too bad for him as i have a traumatic vision i had been holding on to all game for that purpose exactly. he smiles and then gives me a handshake. I cant believe he cast that angel on my 3 times. too funny. great guy, great game. Record 2-1 (5-3)
the swiss rounds are over and we tally up the points. AND............
i come in second place!!!!!! i win two packs of morningtide...get all garbage cards but it was totally fun. i should have won it all but i failed to realize that my Master E gave all my creatures +1/+1...oh well, next time though i will not make that same mistake. it was really awesome playing against other people and knowing that i can stand up to most players. the locals here are all pretty good to excellent players with good grasps of the mechanics and card knowledge. i was pretty rusty but was really happy with my playing and drafting. Playing competitively makes you a much better player and i learned a lot about my playing ability from this. i plan to play hard and come home a much better player than before. these guys here are good and i feel that will only make me better.
okay, here are my allstars of my draft
Master Etherium: when i first picked him i didnt know how awesome he was...now i know. simply an amazing card.
Scourglass: if your all in esper, this is a mega A-Bomb on your opponent. i honestly cleared the board 5 times with this little bad boy. having to wait a turn is not the greatest but it is super good when it blows things up and leaves you with a board full of creatures. awesome.
cumberstone: easily my #2 card in my deck. it is so good at slowing the game down for you to set up your board favorably. one is awesome, if you can get ahold of 2 its pretty much good game. i loved casting this card almost as much as i loved casting the master E.
Suprise Sleeper MVP's: Cancel and traumatic visions...once you got the board locked down, these guys will make sure you keep it that way. they make sure your opponent never successfully casts their bombs on you. if i'm in esper again next draft i will try to squeeze in two counters.
so there you have it, my first FNM success story. i was very pleased with how things went and cant wait to play again to try to win it all next time!
josh out.
p.s. if you've read this far...thank you.
today i went to my local MTG store and played magic against chinese people at their FNM. It was a ton of fun and i plan to go back. the guys are all super nice and speak a little english, so it makes it easier for me and my friend dennis to communicate.
They were super accomodating and asked us which format we wanted to play. Lots of them wanted to draft so being new and all (and not having competitive constructed decks) we felt it was best to draft. I feel that Limited is one of my stronger magic skill sets and so it was great for me...also, it put me on equal playing field (card wise) with everyone. we would be drafting Chinese cards so i had to keep my ears perked and be as attentive as possible to my cards.
we got situated and started drafting right away.
First Pack, i open my pack and immediately go to the rare...and what did i see? Master Etherium staring me right in the eyes. easy pick one...initially i was hesistant to take it but decided it was the best card by far in the pack...(little did i know it really was a bomb rare). the rest of the pack i got shipped 2 agony warps, two tri lands(esper and grixis) 2 call to heels, and two esper obelisks. i was very happy with my first pack...i knew that my esper build would be very consistent and that i would never have any issues casting my spells. i was a bit worried about the lack of creatures as i was really busy trying to get my fixers this pack so that next 2 packs i could just worry about getting good creatures...especially Conflux which by far has the best esper creatures. time would tell if my gamble would pay off.
next pack, another awesome rare...Scourglass. now i was all in in Esper. a mass removal spell that only cleared my opponents? ridiculous. the pack went around and i was able to nab 2 screeching katharis, one cloudskate drake?, cancel and a couriers capsule. sadly, that was all and i was still very short on the creature front. i did not see any executioner capsules or sanctum gargoyles going around so that probably meant someone else was Esper too. good thing esper is a strong enough shard to support a few decks in drafting.
Conflux pack opens and i find myself in a real hard place. i forget what the rare card was because it really sucked a lot and so i found myself grabbing a sludge strider. a good card, but not a great first pick. next pick though really saved me, a cumberstone...the pack came around and i was able to nab a scepter of card drawing, the black sedraxis guy that bounces creatures, vedalken pro red guy, zombie outlander, traumatic visions, gleam of resistance, and two golden late round picks, esper cormorants and a darklit gargoyle. all in all it was a decent pack but not amazing.
i was pretty confident my deck was a good deck...but i was a little scared that i was a little creature light. decent removal and combat tricks would have to carry my light creature load.
Here is my deck list:
Creatures:
Master Etherium
sludge strider
zombie outlander
vedalken outlander
darklit gargoyle
sedraxis alchemist
cloudskate drake
esper cormorants
2 kathari screecher
Artifacts:
scourglass
cumberstone
scepter of card draw
2 esper obelisk
Spells:
2 call to heel
resounding wave
2 Agony Warps
gleam of resistance
cancel
traumatic visions
Match one: some guy playing a weird U/B/G Unearth deck. i come out strong and win the first game on the back of master etherium/cumberstone/scourglass. i lose a close one game two after having all my guys removed and killed, my deck ran out of gas at the end as my opponent just had more creatures in his deck than i did. so sad. game three is another long one, but i lose. it was close and i should have won. why? b/c the entire time i forgot about master etheriums special ability of giving all my artifact creatures +1/+1 as well! this is something that would have never missed, IF THE CARDS WERE IN ENGLISH! my opponent was not an honest guy and did not let me know this, also he tried getting a forest with a grixis panorama, i caught him immediately and told him i knew what the card did...he was pretty embarassed that i caught him trying to cheat...dirty. all in all, nice guy, but tried to take advantage of a foreigner. his antics would bite him in the rare end when all was said and done though. Record 0-1 (1-2)
Match Two: i come out strong a play a real nice guy named Apu. He played a Grixis Unearth deck with a white splash for esper charm. game one, turns 2-6 were as follows, vedalken outlander (perfect against his deck), master etherium (by this time i had finally figured out that the master E's other pump ability), cumberstone, cloudskate, scourglass. my opponent laughs and then scoops. Game two, he wins a long one after both our boards are cleared and he starts unearthing creatures like crazy. game three, another long game, but this time i'm able to clear the board and stall like crazy with the cumberstone, by then i'm down to 7 life . Master E and cloudskate go the distance for me taking him down 24 life points as he draws land after land...it didnt matter though, b/c i was holding cancel and traumatic visions to protect my board position.
Record 1-1 (3-2)
Match Three: Nice guy named txaaj (so i called him bed) he was playing a bant exalted deck...with a hilarious twist. game one, all is going well and it looks pretty promising until he sacs three creatures and pulls out yep you guessed it EMPYRIAL ARCHANGEL! with him being shroud and my life total too small to do anything, i scoop. crazy. game two now that i knew his twist i would be more prepared. i come out flying with zombie outlander and cumberstone stalling his ground game, kathari screecher and darklit gargoyle. Master E joins the table, giving my guys a pretty awesome boost. i attack his life total down to 7 and then he does it again, sacs three guys to put out empyrial Archangel. this time though it was not enough as i attack with all four creatures and all 12 damage goes to the angel. she dies and eats my master E. next turn Bed plays a Pro artifact guy and another creature that gets met with counter. i untap cast agony warp on the guy and attack for seven for the win. phew, Empyrial Angel is crazy good. game three, he starts piling up the board with guys to sac to find the Angel again. i build up a board of Master E, Cloudskate, cumberstone, scepter and scourglass. my upkeep i blow up his board and attack him down to 15. his next turn he drops his 8th land and cold casts, yep...you guessed it Empyrial Archangel!!!!! too bad for him as i have a traumatic vision i had been holding on to all game for that purpose exactly. he smiles and then gives me a handshake. I cant believe he cast that angel on my 3 times. too funny. great guy, great game. Record 2-1 (5-3)
the swiss rounds are over and we tally up the points. AND............
i come in second place!!!!!! i win two packs of morningtide...get all garbage cards but it was totally fun. i should have won it all but i failed to realize that my Master E gave all my creatures +1/+1...oh well, next time though i will not make that same mistake. it was really awesome playing against other people and knowing that i can stand up to most players. the locals here are all pretty good to excellent players with good grasps of the mechanics and card knowledge. i was pretty rusty but was really happy with my playing and drafting. Playing competitively makes you a much better player and i learned a lot about my playing ability from this. i plan to play hard and come home a much better player than before. these guys here are good and i feel that will only make me better.
okay, here are my allstars of my draft
Master Etherium: when i first picked him i didnt know how awesome he was...now i know. simply an amazing card.
Scourglass: if your all in esper, this is a mega A-Bomb on your opponent. i honestly cleared the board 5 times with this little bad boy. having to wait a turn is not the greatest but it is super good when it blows things up and leaves you with a board full of creatures. awesome.
cumberstone: easily my #2 card in my deck. it is so good at slowing the game down for you to set up your board favorably. one is awesome, if you can get ahold of 2 its pretty much good game. i loved casting this card almost as much as i loved casting the master E.
Suprise Sleeper MVP's: Cancel and traumatic visions...once you got the board locked down, these guys will make sure you keep it that way. they make sure your opponent never successfully casts their bombs on you. if i'm in esper again next draft i will try to squeeze in two counters.
so there you have it, my first FNM success story. i was very pleased with how things went and cant wait to play again to try to win it all next time!
josh out.
p.s. if you've read this far...thank you.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
29 years and counting...
Happy Birthday, Audrey! I remember when Josh and I went to the hospital and saw her and she was the prettiest baby I'd ever seen. She still holds the record in my book!
Thank you everyone for your b-day wishes. They were all a pleasant surprise in my mailbox. I would like to write a long list of all the things I'm thankful for, but you might tune out after a while. So I'll just tell God.
This birthday, there's just one thing I wish I could do. I wish I could cook for my favorite people to cook for. They include: dinner for Uncle Jovan (and Isiah.) and cookie bars for the girls (Sam, Judy, TD Xay, and Pang).
It's a strange birthday wish, I know. To be honest, I have no deep thoughts about being older.
Thank you everyone for your b-day wishes. They were all a pleasant surprise in my mailbox. I would like to write a long list of all the things I'm thankful for, but you might tune out after a while. So I'll just tell God.
This birthday, there's just one thing I wish I could do. I wish I could cook for my favorite people to cook for. They include: dinner for Uncle Jovan (and Isiah.) and cookie bars for the girls (Sam, Judy, TD Xay, and Pang).
It's a strange birthday wish, I know. To be honest, I have no deep thoughts about being older.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Random strange and stranger
Yesterday and today are the first, blue sky sunny days we've had for several weeks now. I've never realized how happy the sun makes me feel; now that it's come out, I really hope it will stay for a while.
On the track this morning, there was a lady running backwards. Chinese are really in to this running backwards thing. They even climb up and down the mountain backwards. I decided that I'll give it a go and try it, but it's still strange.
We've sent packages home finally. But be warned, it'll take about 2 months to get there, I think. Sorry. The mail is slow here, as slow as it can be. Sharon and the Her family sent us a Christmas card, and we didn't get it till February. But we loved it all the same.
There's a restaurant that Josh really likes to eat at. But it's really ghetto. They have a dog, and it'll pounce around the place, on tables and chairs while you're eating. Also, at this same place, we've seen the waitress wash her face, wipe it on a table cloth at the table next to us, and then proceed to take our order. Also, this guy walked into the restaurant holding a flapping raw fish. And then served Josh a bowl of rice. I think he washed his hands, but I bet he didn't use soap. (Josh said he didn't wash his hands at all. Sick.)
While on the topic of gross and food, one thing that never ceases to amaze us is the amount of food service people that pick their nose and then serve food. We've seen it enough to feel alarmed, and only hope to never see our waiters doing the same.
Also, at the supermarket today, Josh saw the butchers sitting around the butcher table. They're wearing butcher aprons. There's a counter with regular cutting boards. And there's also a huge circle laug caam made out of a tree stump, just like the moob's people's house. There's like, bits of meat and blood and stuff around. And what are they doing? EATING PEANUTS! butchers eating peanuts! Putting the shell on their mouth, with their hands!, and then spitting them out.
Before we go, here's a last one for you all. What does a $30 (180 yuan) apple in China look like? See below!
On the track this morning, there was a lady running backwards. Chinese are really in to this running backwards thing. They even climb up and down the mountain backwards. I decided that I'll give it a go and try it, but it's still strange.
We've sent packages home finally. But be warned, it'll take about 2 months to get there, I think. Sorry. The mail is slow here, as slow as it can be. Sharon and the Her family sent us a Christmas card, and we didn't get it till February. But we loved it all the same.
There's a restaurant that Josh really likes to eat at. But it's really ghetto. They have a dog, and it'll pounce around the place, on tables and chairs while you're eating. Also, at this same place, we've seen the waitress wash her face, wipe it on a table cloth at the table next to us, and then proceed to take our order. Also, this guy walked into the restaurant holding a flapping raw fish. And then served Josh a bowl of rice. I think he washed his hands, but I bet he didn't use soap. (Josh said he didn't wash his hands at all. Sick.)
While on the topic of gross and food, one thing that never ceases to amaze us is the amount of food service people that pick their nose and then serve food. We've seen it enough to feel alarmed, and only hope to never see our waiters doing the same.
Also, at the supermarket today, Josh saw the butchers sitting around the butcher table. They're wearing butcher aprons. There's a counter with regular cutting boards. And there's also a huge circle laug caam made out of a tree stump, just like the moob's people's house. There's like, bits of meat and blood and stuff around. And what are they doing? EATING PEANUTS! butchers eating peanuts! Putting the shell on their mouth, with their hands!, and then spitting them out.
Before we go, here's a last one for you all. What does a $30 (180 yuan) apple in China look like? See below!
We don't know how the picture was put on the apple because part of the apple skin. But all in all, yes, the apple is that huge, like half the size of Josh's head. And yes, that it is a flaming Buddha.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
no Zur for me!
so i'm torn between Generals to choose for right now. Initially, i wanted to play with Zur, however, he's too powerful and it wouldnt be fun to make a EDH deck that wasnt fun to play against. Dont get me wrong i like to win (a lot too), but i'd much rather have fun.
so i'm torn between these two (all UGW) my three favorite colors of magic
Phyldegrif
Treva, the renewer
the reason i like these three are they all have good abilities, some with drawbacks even. however, the main reason is because in a fun format i want to play my favorite cards and mechanics. which are:
so i'm torn between these two (all UGW) my three favorite colors of magic
Phyldegrif
Treva, the renewer
the reason i like these three are they all have good abilities, some with drawbacks even. however, the main reason is because in a fun format i want to play my favorite cards and mechanics. which are:
- Blinking(removing from play and returning)
- creatures with flash and comes into play effects
- graveyard recursion
- card drawing
- and newest on my list: SEARCHING FOR LANDS!
i forgot how much i love searching for lands. this past week i put together a cheap conflux alara deck with armillary spheres/basic landcycling, etc. and had tons of fun playing the deck. it reminded me of invasion when i regularly would Harrow (remember that blast from the past) lands into play or cycle Krosan Tusker for a land and draw a card!
i'm currently putting a list together right now.
josh out.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
to the victor goes the spoils
Congratulations to Team Illinois on a well earned victory. i'm glad for you guys, but mostly, i'm glad for the excuse to get MN peeps down to Illinois for a weekend of Magic/Mafia/Karaoke and BBQ at Sam and Geu's sometime.
I am glad that we are making such an effort to stay friends as we grow old. i see how our parents are not that close anymore and i dont want that to happen to us.
Isiah - proud of you bro! i knew you had it in you. wow! 7-0-1 thats an amazing record. the best part is you did it your own way with a deck you concocted by yourself. major props. also, i've always known you to be a great magic player, with a flare for the goofy deck.
NON MAGIC TALK
Church this weekend was awesome. mai kao and i attend SHOP (Shanghai House of Prayer) and we are so blessed to be part of that ministry. beholding is becoming. the reason why many Christians including myself don't live a life that reflects Christ in us is because we do not spend much or anytime at all beholding God (meaning looking at, trying to know). one thing that would make our friendships and relationships even stronger is if we were to be known as a group of friends who not only played together but prayed together too. i encourage us to pray for each other daily and keep each other accountable.
i will be starting a prayer list for our friends and i hope you'd like to join it. this is how it works. i'm going to make a list and you will be assigned one person to pray for a whole week. then following week i'll publish a new list with someone new to pray for. it will then be up to you to pray for and communicate with that particular person or family to find out what they need. i hope this works.
He must increase,
I must decrease,
Josh out.
I am glad that we are making such an effort to stay friends as we grow old. i see how our parents are not that close anymore and i dont want that to happen to us.
Isiah - proud of you bro! i knew you had it in you. wow! 7-0-1 thats an amazing record. the best part is you did it your own way with a deck you concocted by yourself. major props. also, i've always known you to be a great magic player, with a flare for the goofy deck.
NON MAGIC TALK
Church this weekend was awesome. mai kao and i attend SHOP (Shanghai House of Prayer) and we are so blessed to be part of that ministry. beholding is becoming. the reason why many Christians including myself don't live a life that reflects Christ in us is because we do not spend much or anytime at all beholding God (meaning looking at, trying to know). one thing that would make our friendships and relationships even stronger is if we were to be known as a group of friends who not only played together but prayed together too. i encourage us to pray for each other daily and keep each other accountable.
i will be starting a prayer list for our friends and i hope you'd like to join it. this is how it works. i'm going to make a list and you will be assigned one person to pray for a whole week. then following week i'll publish a new list with someone new to pray for. it will then be up to you to pray for and communicate with that particular person or family to find out what they need. i hope this works.
He must increase,
I must decrease,
Josh out.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
My Pre Tournament Predictions
Okay guys, no hurt feelings here but these are my pre tournament predictions
Top 8 - Constructed
1. Johan
2. Peter
3. Vipat
4. Isiah
5. Xay
6. Jimmy
7. Vern
8. Blong
Top 8 - Limited
1. Vipat
2. Jimmy
3. Johan
4. Vern
5. Peter
6. Isiah
7. Second
8. Xay
Top 4 Overall
1. Vipat
2. Johan
3. Peter
4. Isiah
Winner - surprise sleeper pick : ISIAH
Winner of the MN vs. IL tourney
close call but i still think IL wins by the smallest margin.
let the games begin.
josh out
Top 8 - Constructed
1. Johan
2. Peter
3. Vipat
4. Isiah
5. Xay
6. Jimmy
7. Vern
8. Blong
Top 8 - Limited
1. Vipat
2. Jimmy
3. Johan
4. Vern
5. Peter
6. Isiah
7. Second
8. Xay
Top 4 Overall
1. Vipat
2. Johan
3. Peter
4. Isiah
Winner - surprise sleeper pick : ISIAH
Winner of the MN vs. IL tourney
close call but i still think IL wins by the smallest margin.
let the games begin.
josh out
Monday, March 2, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Teaching
this week is Monthly exam week so aside from having to grade all those papers, it should be an easy week (lesson planning wise) for me.
mai kao and i stayed in this past weekend and called up the Xiong side of the family. we usually call the Kong's most of the time but this time we decide spend some time with the Xiongs. it was a fun time video skyping with Vern. we got to see little Wester, Linda, Vern, Laj, both sister in laws, talked with grace and tubter. but the most exciting thing for me this weekend was....
skyping a magic game vs. Vern. it was great. I've been away from competitive play for awhile now and got totally wasted by Vern. I wont divulge deck secrets but i will tell you this. Minnesota has gotten lots better. watch out for Vern if he plays serious. my cards that i was playing was totally outclassed by his big guns. after getting destroyed by vern, i spent the afternoon proxying my take on the EsperLark deck. its pretty powerful and has great match ups across the board.
I also realized a lot of my playing weaknesses (as far as MTG goes).
mai kao and i stayed in this past weekend and called up the Xiong side of the family. we usually call the Kong's most of the time but this time we decide spend some time with the Xiongs. it was a fun time video skyping with Vern. we got to see little Wester, Linda, Vern, Laj, both sister in laws, talked with grace and tubter. but the most exciting thing for me this weekend was....
skyping a magic game vs. Vern. it was great. I've been away from competitive play for awhile now and got totally wasted by Vern. I wont divulge deck secrets but i will tell you this. Minnesota has gotten lots better. watch out for Vern if he plays serious. my cards that i was playing was totally outclassed by his big guns. after getting destroyed by vern, i spent the afternoon proxying my take on the EsperLark deck. its pretty powerful and has great match ups across the board.
I also realized a lot of my playing weaknesses (as far as MTG goes).
- I overcommit too much to try to kill the opponent faster. it leads to a bunch of 2/3 even 4 for 1's.
- Overcommiting keeps my handsize too low. often times Vern had 5/6 cards to my 2/3. less options and opponents are more likely to know your options.
- I'm not a good aggro player. i dont quite know how much to commit, how much resources to keep. (i think Dlaab Peter is the bestaggro player, he's spent more time playing that archetype than all of us combined.)
I also realized i'm more of a aggro/control or straight combo guy. the following decks are the ones i feel fit me the best (old and new)
- Odyssey U/G madness decks: wild Mongrel, etc.
- Astral Slide deck
- any combo deck
- Reveillark decks
just wanted to post about MTG. sorry folks.
josh out
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