F'N Ms! A Rundown of my Magical Friday Nights

So, you thought I forgot about the blog? Heck no!

I'm here to stay now to blog about yesterday at the first venue since arriving at college.

I was running Bazaar Trader combo. My decklist is as follows:

4 - Swamp
9- Mountain
5 - Forest
4 - Bojuka Bog

4 - Vampire Nighthawk (Hereafter referenced as "Cockhawk" lol)
4 - Bazaar Trader
2 - Conquering Manticore
3 - Bloodbraid Elf (BBE)

3 - Immortal Coil

2 - Leyline of the Void

1 - Sarkhan Vol

2 - Smother
4 - Lightning Bolt
3 - Mark of Mutiny
3 - Harrow
4 - Terminate
3 - Blightning


SB:

1 - Immortal Coil
1 - Pithing Needle
3 - Deathmark
3 - Duress
2 - Smother
2 - Act of Treason
2 - Naturalize
1 - Blightning

Anyhow, the deck is supposed to play kill spells and burn, filling up your graveyard and hopefully not fill your opponent's. Once you have a Bazaar Trader that isn't Summoning Sick, play Immortal Coil. Unless you've been doing something wrong (like having an empty graveyard and losing right there), you would be able to donate the Coil with the Trader at that point and win. Many cards keep graveyards from filling so it is inevitable that it would happen. Beats are possible too, with BBE and Cockhawk helping here.

So, there were three rounds this tourney and I didn't do as well as I wanted to (in matches I went 1-2-0). However, while it sounds like I'm settling, I quite enjoyed my matches. Read on and you'll see a rundown. Unfortunately, there isn't any decklist from any opponents of mine so sorry about that. Here we are:

MATCH 1 (Sean) - UG Overrrun - 1-2-0
I managed to whittle Sean down to 8 with burn and (IIRC) Cockhawks before he had enough Eldrazi Spawn and Elvish Visionaries to overrun me over 2 consecutive turns, for my loss first game.
Second game I pulled off the combo, and while Sean had no burn/kill spells to deal with a free Bazaar Trader with a full graveyard, he also had no graveyard of his own/ The look on his face when I donated the Coil to him was fairly priceless, and one of the responses I tend to love about this game and playing quirky decks like mine.
Game 3 was fast. Sean had played a Birds of Paradise (BoP for when I mention it ever again) and I killed it right off hand with a Lightning Bolt (Bolt). He still Overrunned into winning. He was close to losing somehow and he top-decked off of a Visionary... I recall him saying "It all rides on whatever I get from this Visionary" lol

Quite a fun match despite the loss. Moving on!

MATCH 2 (Vince) - B Vampires - 0-2-0
I hate playing against Vampires. When someone uses Vamps competitively, I wonder to myself, "if they play this competitively, if they don't go Pro, what will they do when Vampires rotates out?" I was quickly throttled which was a nuisance. I didn't see a single Bloodghast which made me question the deck and its contents. I did expect them after I Blightning'd him. Ah well, a loss is a loss is a loss is a loss to Vampires.

MATCH 3 (Mike) - B Disruption Aggro - 2-0-0
Mike is a cool guy. He decided to play a monoblack aggro with discard and Blood Tithes. His creatures were very Vanilla and French Vanilla and that's all good. He claimed that a simple strategy can be most effective. I forget how the wheel of decktrumping goes, if it's combo that beats aggro or if it beats control, but I trumped his deck (In hindsight I think it is that Aggro beats Combo but this must have been an exception). So, I was freaked the first game when Mike whittled me to 1 with a Gloomhunter a Black Knight, a Nether Horror and incapacitating my guys while Blood Tithing me to high Hell. At 1, I decided to see if my failsafe was workable. I played Immortal Coil and turned the tables for as long as he'd had no damageless life loss cards. And whoosh, I was at 18 again, essentially. He was at 27, IIRC. I played a few Cockhawks and swung face. When he had no graveyard I played Trader and when he didn't topdeck Bloodtithe or Sign in Blood, I gave him my failsafe FTW.
Game two, I opened with a Leyline of the Void. He looked at me, smiled angrily, and said "damn you." I was feeling pretty good about that game and while his deck still held the tricks it had before, I ended at about 23. He'd played Curse of Wizardry and named red with is annoying but I still got through even playing some red spells. Still, I forget (a DAY later...Ugh. I have a terrible memory for these things) if I swung face ftw or if I Bazaar comboed out ftw. Regardless, I won that one with less trepidation than before.

So, that in mind, I have given all of my opponents my blog address, and I invite them to share their opinions here about our matches and other matches from yestrerday. :)

Till next FNM, make sure you don't sell the horse while trading the Bazaar.

~Kalkris

Classes Without Glasses: A First Glance At Courses Without Actual Prior Knowledge of What to Expect, Round 1

Hey all, told you I'd be back!

So, I'm taking 5 courses for my first semester here in college, and I must say I am pleased with the idea that I'm now a college boy...! But I don't want to bore you with all this talk of how amazing it is, or how amazing I am (or not... lol), so I'll just get on with my system of grading my classes.

This is out of 8, and decimals involved. The scoring is based on my initial level of pleasure in being in the class. This does in no way reflect the course, nor the teacher, for this is in the initial thoughts of the class. The overall grade is out of 200, whereas the classes' grades are averaged and then multiplied by 25. If the score is below 100, it was a bad mix of classes and I do not recommend taking this particular cocktail, at least with the teachers I have.

So, without further ado, the scores and why:

DAY ONE:

ANT: Intro to Archaeology: 6.5 (Fairly/Quite Pleased)
In my archaeology course which I am taking so I can get one singular credit more out of my history course, I expected a boring class. Boy oh boy, was I wrong. I made a couple of friends here in Introduction to Archaeology, and as such, I was among good company when we entered. I didn't expect much from the room, and didn't think much on it before entering. I was amazed. The walls were lined with pisplay cases featuring skulls of many species of hominid. It was so cool. Then the professor came into class. Being that this was my first college course ever, I expected an old guy in a gray suit, just skulking to his desk, then taking attendance in his dull, monotonous voice (think: "Bueller? Bueller?") However, when the professor came in he reminded me of one of my favorite teachers in high school, in that he was balding (not a bad thing) and wore a polo shirt, as well as having a similar body type.

The class started, and we all took out our books and such. We went over the syllabus, which was fine even though the cell phone rule makes it so it should be off no matter what. It would suck if I had it on vibrate and it could be heard, because I would be penalized even for that. Bummer.

Anyhow, the lesson was an intro to the course, and a brief lecture on what archaeology isn't. It is not these things:
alien contact
alternate timelines
sasquatch, or yeti, or bigfoot, or what have you
atlantis
diffusionists
2012
Richmond Joagland
Erich von Daniken
Graham Hancock
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Eric Idle
American Idol
American Beauty
Sleeping Beauty

Anyway the point I'm making is that he rambled a bit, also like that same high school teacher I had. But I'm used to that. Grade is fair.

THE: Intro to Theatre: 8 (Extremely Pleased)
Came into lecture hall of short of 150 students. Big class, big deal. Teacher told us how we function as per syllabus rules, okay... That's normal. Then we had our lesson. Cool, not a problem.

Why did I give his class an 8, the highest mark I'll ever give?

WELL. This professor was so cool that he bothered to walk on the tables to get a point across. He was so cool that he mentioned "screw me dot com". I know, the grade seems biased, being that I'm a theatre buff, but no, he's so cool he makes it fair. :D


ARH: Art of the Western World II: 3 (Slightly Displeased)
Our class was in the same building as the above course, but this was nowhere near as cool. I suppose after the above class this one was underwhelming and couldn't possibly top it. Granted, we were told we get a field trip to the Met, but I mean, in THE we're getting a trip to an off-Broadway show! And being in MoMA as often as I was last year, I don't think I need more museums for awhile. lol

I won't like this class, I'll tell you now. Homework involves rote memorization, something I'm terrible at. I'll pass but barely, worst case scenario. I take it based on the faces of my classmates that it's a fair grade.

DAY TWO:

ENG: Composition I: 7.5 (Quite/Extremely Pleased)
"8AM English class. Whoo." is the thoughts going through my head as I started today. When I came to class, I had to eat my sarcasm. This professor rocks. He is young, and he definitely is "hip," as people may put him, and he is making us (read: MAKING US! [MAKING! US! {M!A!K!I!N!G! ! U!S!}]) read Watchmen (WATCHMEN![WATCHMEN!{W!A!T!C!H!M!E!N!}])!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME. Definite 7.5, not an 8 because the diagnostic essay we had to write at the end was given too little time to allow for much contemplation.

HIS: Ancient World: 2.5 (Fairly/Quite Displeased)
Remember ARH, and how it was underwhelming? Well, today after ENG, I went here. My professor is from Japan, so he has that really obviously-Japanese accent with the r/l switch and the heavy "u" sound, like with an umlaut on it. So, I won't understand all of what he is saying. I am hoping he writes on the board but seeing as he did not this class, he may not at all. He doesn't allow any absences, and he even said, from the get-go that he will try to scare us out of this class because it is past capacity. Homwork wasn't terrible which was the roughly 1.5-point redemption for his course.


AVERAGE RAW SCORE: 5.5

FINAL SCORE: 137.5

Hey, it's above average, right? 100 is average and over 135 is genius, according to psychoanalysts in IQ research. So, I'd say we have a genius course listing on our hands. GREAT SUCCESS!!! Now I just need to live through it... lol

Till next time which should be a few Saturdays from today, IIRC,

~Kalkris

Enter Kalkris

Hi all, my name's Josh, but refer to me as Kalkris. It's a little nickname of mine. (However, in person if you use it I will quiz you on quite a bit of information regarding it so use it prepared for that lol)

Just wanted to start my own blog while out on campus at college, so here is how this sort of thing will be laid out:

Last Saturday of month, starting September: I will be posting feelings about each of my classes and the state of things academically where I am, in terms of how I'm handling those classes.

Every third Wednesday of month, starting September: Poetry. I'll be writing about 2-3 poems each month for your viewing pleasure.

First Sunday of month, starting October: I will be posting club information Re: my own clubs and awesome info with that in mind. I'll probably join 3ish clubs this year. :)

Each Saturday following an FNM, if applicable (May start in November): I'll post results, details about the games, and decklist, as well as possible opponent decklists. Yeah, I play Magic, too.

Of course, I'll be writing blogs here and there without routine precision, so you may have stuff to look for. Keep checking back for that!

Well, I'm off to write initial thoughts on my 5 courses this semester, so I'll be with you in a smidgen. Ta-ta!

~Kalkris

My Account Is Brand Butt-Slapping New!

My other account, "So Sayeth Joooshy," got fudged up so I made a new one for the viewing pleasure of you.

Here it is.

With extra fiber.

Whoo.

~Kalkris