Passive play = Defeat

Played Dark World against some random player and the lesson learnt was never play passive.  Even if you know your opponent has mirror force etc, just ram into it.  Cause clearing one obstacle means you have room for bigger and badder plays.  This also applies to real life.  When you are faced with a predicament, just go full throttle and resolve it as soon as possible.  One predicament usually leads to another and in no time, they will accumulate to an immeasurable amount!!

Secondly, I think Konami won't unban Chaos Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning.  I tested it out at Dueling Network and anyone would have laughed at the advantage it generates just by being on the field.  3000 beatstick with either RFG every turn/consecutive attack every turn.  My goodness, it is splashable in almost any deck that runs light and darkness monsters!

Lastly, friends are such a blessing to have!  You can just sit around a table talking about nonsense and feel like on top of the world.  I am eternally grateful that I have friends whom I can argue with, laugh with, cry with and talk with.  Recapitulating my primary and secondary school life, I must say fate definitely has a way of arranging things.  Where I hardly had any friends back in primary and secondary school, I now have friends whom I can truly cherish and be happy with by my side.  Something which I have yearned for ever since I was a child.

For the next few days, I will not be updating my blog as frequently as the assignments are starting to settle in and I fear that time will be a constant constrain.  That's all from me, until next time, see ya~

Two Ends to a Fun Duel

How long has it been since I have last felt that YuGiOh! was fun, earnestly fun.  I realised it when I played against my friend today who uses a pyro deck.  At first I was all serious and used my Dark World deck to totally pummel his pyro deck, with 2 graphas dealing the final blow.  When we moved to the 2nd round, he played respect play whereby both players are required to show their hands while playing.

I was shocked as it has been millenia since I last saw that card hitting the field.  Last time when I played in my secondary school, I played eye of truth to look at my opponent's hand.  Hence, I played with my entire hand revealed.

After some time, I discovered that it was actually quite funny since no matter what cards I set, he knew what card I would be playing.  So, I thought to myself, "Why bother".  Henceforth, I said, "I set a card face-up" while revealing what card I had in play.

We played a total of 2 matches and half of the time we were just laughing away.  There was a round where he saw my card destruction and shattered pot and said, "I know what you are up to.  I will set all my cards and summon 1 monster."  I synchroed black rose next turn wiping out his entire field.  He blurted, "Should have let you card destruct me."  It was so hilarious!!

As I am writing this post, I can't help but think that Konami has indeed given YuGiOh a more competitive edge but has taken the fun out of the game.  Nowadays, children aside, most older players just play to end the game as fast as possible with OTK and FTK.  They don't just sit there and duel idly like how we used to.  A card game is where players can get together, sit down and have some laughs while playing.  Hate to admit it but Magic The Gathering fulfiled that purpose better than YuGiOh.  Once upon a time, YuGiOh was actually like that but now, no more.  It has become yet another mundane card competition (not game anymore).

With the release of Photon Shockwave that re-introduced rescue rabbit and various other altered versions of the original banned cards, I can see that Konami is trying to restore the pleasure in YuGiOh.  For example, one can put in Tribe Electrocuting Virus in a "Rojak" deck and later defeat his opponent by banishing the type he has in his hands.  That would be so funny as you see single themed deck crumbling before it.

Well, that's all for my post today.  Remember, dueling competitively is good but it is the joy and pleasure while doing so that remains the essence of the card game.  Until next time, see ya~

Yu-Gi-Oh! is bias?!

I was reading a post by Mike from Dueling Legacy about his observation on both OCG and TCG and frankly, I concur with his statement saying that Konami OCG isn't making much effort in bringing a more competitive and fun play to the mentioned realm.

In fact, just last week, I dueled against a player from the TCG and he was playing all those TCG cards which I have never seen (except on website) like Reborn Tengu.  I must admit, I was a bit envious since with those cards, he was able to overwhelm me and I couldn't do anything against him.  What rotten luck!  When we were preparing for the 2nd round, I discussed the disparities between OCG and TCG and he said how he admired OCG players since they are able to access the new cards faster than the TCG players.  I retaliated by saying how easy it is for them to acquire all the cards they want.  For instance, in the OCG, players needed to buy the booster packs just to get one Black Rose Dragon but in the TCG, they got it off a freaking tin!!  In terms of card price, there weren't much difference since in USD and RM, PoD is roughly the same in both currencies (without conversion).  Basically, it is quite funny since the OCG players admire the TCG players because they have a wider variety of cards but the TCG people admire the OCG players because they receive their cards faster.  Oh well, guess there are pros and cons to everything in this world.
___________________________________________________________________________

Recently, I read a lot about rescue rabbit being an overkill card and that it can wreak havoc as much as rescue cat could.  Well, I don't really see the benefit of running such a card unless you are 100% normal monster oriented.  Sure, it could fetch you raiga and those rank 4 and below exceed monsters instantly but I cannot see the advantage generated.  I guess I need to wait for people to actually play it and post its video before I can make any judgment about this card.  Honestly, if Konami even bothered releasing such a card that would get bashed by players so badly, why do they still release it?  However, there are a few cards which I really like from Konami, e.g. Shattered Pot of Greed.  In my last short and simple post, I talked about how broken it can be since hardly anyone will use their MST or Dust to destroy that card especially since they want to reserve it for some more perilous cards such as solemn and dimensional prison.  As a pro players will notice, hand advantage is extremely important in any duel.  Who knows, one of those 2 cards might actually turn the table around.

I have the honour of doing skype dueling with most of my friends from the States and other parts of the world.  Remember my disparaging comments about Dark World?  I decided to use the Dark World deck against them to prove how useless it was but alas, to my surprise, Dark World actually pulled through magnificently, destroying BF, Agent Angels, Gravekeepers, Jurrac and Doppel deck.  You wouldn't believe the amount of damage Eradicator Epidemic Virus can harness and Grapha saves the day!  There was a duel where I was locked down due to Kristya's effect.  I had 2 Beiges and 2 Graphas in my hand with the Shattered Pot on my field (2 turns have passed).  During my main phase, I sent the pot to the graveyard to draw 2 cards and I got card destruction.  Disposing all my DW monsters into my graveyard fetched me 5 new cards and 2 Graphas on the field.  Normal summoned Beige + Gate got me an instant win.  The advantage generated was too much and next turn when I activated EEV and declared Spell cards (which was 2/3 of his hand), he offered the handshake.

In short, Dark World is extremely powerful as long as you can discard them but they have far too many weaknesses.  However, that doesn't mean they are not fun.  Until next time, see ya~

"MVP of the day!"

Shattered Pot of Greed

I was testing this card out on Dueling Network and found that this card is extremely good!  Well, needing to wait for 2 turns can be a bother but not many people (I mean it!) will want to waste their MST or Dust Tornado on such a card since they don't find it threatening.  However, when the two turns are up, this card becomes extremely convenient as it allows you to draw 2 cards by sending this card to the graveyard.  It can totally bring about a change to the current format as it can help you decide between victory and defeat.  For those who cannot afford Pot of Duality, this card is a good alternative.  I also found that Pot of Duality is not as good as I imagined it to be, so no idea why there is such a huge ruckus about that card.

Well, this concludes today's short post.  Until next time, see ya~

What Defines a Good Lecturer

My class started last week with various classes ending at 3 in the afternoon followed by my hall's activity at night resulted in me being unable to update my blog recently.  Now that I am free, I will resume my blogging so that you guys will have a good time reading my entries albeit I know it isn't that interesting.  So, today, I would like to explicate a bit about what makes a good lecturer/teacher and what aspects are we, as students, are searching for.

The other day when I went to my psychology class, there was this lecturer who was filled with enthusiasm and knowledge and the way she taught captivated all of us in the hall.  And for the first time ever of being a student, the hall, filled with 300+ students, was dead quiet.  Well, everyone knows psychology is a very fascinating subject to do but there are times when a teacher/lecturer just completely destroys the interest in the subject simply because of his/her pathetic teaching.  It doesn't come as a surprise especially from where I come from.  In my country, there are teachers whom you, after taking his/her class, would go, "What the f***?!" and I have experienced that type of feeling myself.  And to date, when we actually introspect and recapitulate, we wonder to ourselves what makes us love some of the teachers' lessons and loathe the others'.

The answers unveiled itself yesterday in a class where we discussed the traits and qualities that define a good teacher/lecturer.  Answers could be heard from different mouths all spouting something similar and here's what was generally agreed on:

A good teacher is -

1) Compassionate

2) Enthusiastic

3) Humourous

4) Hardworking

5) Knowledgeable

Drawing up on these qualities, one would instantly think of a female teacher since girls, according to researches, are all the above by default (with exception to few).  However, this is not necessarily the case, there are male teachers who have those traits too, just fewer.  Now, let's review these traits and why they are imperative in a good teacher.

Firstly, being compassionate also means one can be empathetic and doesn't mind sacrificing his or her time to help a student achieve greatness or a particular set of knowledge.  Humans react easily to acts of kindness and once you have gained their favour, it is all the more easier to enjoy the class.  The second trait is self-explanatory since no one likes a teacher who just comes in and slack off.  Being humourous means you know when to cut loose and break a bone with the students.  For example, your students have studies for 4 hours consecutively and the subject you are teaching is extremely dry.  No point forcing your way through when they cannot even focus, it will be wise to just get along with the students for some time and let them feel that they are not expected to study like mad.  When students are acknowledged, they themselves will make the effort to change for the better and excel (from experience).  The last two traits are, again, self-explanatory as the first impression given to students when you are lazy and always read from the book is that you are a total jackass who doesn't even cherish yourself, what more to say your students.  Students aren't dumb or passive, they have a mind of their own and would like to be appreciated for what they have done or accomplished.  

Hence, being a teacher is not that easy and to be frank, it might as well be the most onerous profession out there but that doesn't mean the reward is not great.  At the end of the day, when you see your students smiling faces as they walk out of the classroom and thanking you for all that you have done.  That type of feeling is infinitely better than being the world's richest man or building the world's tallest building.  You feel peace at heart.  In my opinion, there is no greater reward than that.  Until next time, see ya~

Ancient Gadget Deck

Following up on my rant about Dark World deck, there's an archetype that has caught the eyes of public with its debut at the Singapore's tournament.  It's cheap, resilient and stable, making it a wonderful deck for beginners and intermediate players if they ever want to take down other opponents.  As the title suggests, it is the gadget archetype.  A once underrated deck for its weak monsters and inability to summon out stronger monsters, this deck has now been empowered by the presence of Exceeds (Xyz in TCG).  Combined with support cards like Ultimate Offering and Solidarity, this deck can be lethal.

For me, I propose running this deck alongside Machiners (Machina in TCG) to give it speed and power so that you can make full use of its potential.  Machiners is another archetype that focuses on swarming the field with powerful monsters and the staples in this deck consist of Machiners Fortress and Machiners Gearframe. The third Machiners, Machiners Peacekeeper is not a good card as it is a bit slow in this format and its effect that only fetches union monsters work better in VWXYZ deck.  Running some Ancient Gears in this deck also provides sufficient firepower and discard folder for Fortress's effect.  Let's have a quick run through the deck:

Monsters (18/16):

3x Machiners Fortress

3x Machiners Gearframe

1x Machiners Force

2x Red Gadget

2x Yellow Gadget

2x Green Gadget

2x Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon

1x Unknown Synchron

1x Grow-Up Bulb (Optional)

1x Sangan (Optional)

Spell (12/14):

1x Limiter Removal

1x Monster Reborn

2x Mystical Space Typhoon

2x Shrink/Enemy Controller

2x Gear Town

1x Terraforming

2x Pot of Avarice/ Hand Severing (I personally don't recommend the latter as times and again, you don't know just what to send to the graveyard)

2x Solidarity (If you take these, you need to remove Sangan and Grow-Up Bulb since they will disrupt its effect)

1x Dark Hole

Traps (10):
2x Ultimate Offering
2x Emergency Evacuation Device
2x Bottomless Traphole
2x Solemn Warning
1x Torrential Tribute
1x Call of the Haunted

Basically, yeah, that's the deck.  It's quite simple to run and I have tested it on various opponents.  It is incredibly stable and powerful!  The traps protect your low level monsters from being bullied by the bigger and badder monsters such as rai-oh etc.  Shrink works wonders!  It allows your monsters to thoroughly run through your opponent monsters!  Gear Town is used as an easy summon for the Dragon and the Dragon itself acts as the discard folder for Machiners Fortress.  In short, you can spam your field like crazy with minimal effort as long as you get some cards in your hand.  That's all from me, until next time, see ya~

Thoughts on Dark World Archetype

Recently, people have been commenting on the latest Dark World deck saying how strong and powerful it is.  Some of them went as far as to say that Dark World is a Tier 1 deck.  Being convinced by these comments, I went and purchased 3 boxes of the Dark World decks and created a deck with it.  At first, I was really excited as the artworks are awesome and with the addition of their own dragon, the archetype might as well achieved its epitome.  How wrong I was...

When I dueled with other people on the net, I discovered how weak and pathetic Dark World really is.  Even if you have a hand of godly monsters, if you don't have a discard folder, your hand is literary dead!  Compared to angels, doppels or TG that can function as long as they can hit the field, Dark World monsters rely too much on those freaking spell cards or monster effects that the condition becomes: you discard, you win; you can't discard, you lose.  Simple formula actually.  When I took a look at the East Japan's tournament and saw that Dark World deck got 1st, it dawned on me that that Dark World deck was running 3 Pot of Dualities just for the sake of increasing consistency.  Hence, this makes Dark World deck one of the expensive decks to run and unless you are funded or feel that you are a millionaire, your deck just won't do unlike angels that are already Tier 1 once they are out of the box.

That being said, Dark World is, without a doubt, powerful with its new monsters and support but Konami could have included Dark Corridor which allows the player to fetch a Dark World card and discard one card from their hand.  That would make Dark World more stable as well as providing the opportunity for less able players to actually run the deck.  Celri is utterly useless that lets your opponent have a +1 advantage the turn it is special summoned to your opponent field since Solemn and Bottomless and easily destroy your discarded Dark World monster and enables your opponent to synch for Trishula next turn.  If only the deck had Dark World Corridor instead of the useless Celri, the deck would have looked like this:

3x Dark World Dealings

3x Gate of Dark World

3x Dark World Lightning

3x Dark World Corridor

With 12 discard folders, it will be a miracle if you ever lose!  But Konami doesn't take into account of their players and loyal fans.  I started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! ever since it first became popular and have most of the old cards.  Back in those days, Konami was not such a stucked up snob who doesn't listen to the comments from their players.  The decks released were more decent too with extra cards for you to fiddle with as well as more rooms for you to optimise your deck.  Contemptibly, Konami is just focusing on sucking you dry of your money because all the good cards are nowhere to be found in any structure deck anymore.  Only a FEW good cards were ever reprinted in structure decks.  An example off the top of my head would be Dimensional Prison and Bottomless Traphole but those are also rare in other decks.  I think Konami should step down from their throne for one day and take the time to listen to their players' opinions.  If they still don't do so, a calamity will befall them in the near future.  That's all from me today, see ya~

Friends

Just the other day while I was browsing through Facebook, I saw a friend's status commenting on friendship.  Well, obviously there were people commenting on that saying how friendship is like and how much they are willing to sacrifice for the friendship.  I was a bit saddened by how some of the people commented there saying that friendship is only meant for the current time and place and is not worth being kept when one departs.  My dad also said that friendship only lasts in that specific spectrum of time.  However, I would beg to differ.

"Your all time best friends...xD"

My childhood and secondary school were not very pleasant as my friend's circle was puny as compared to my current circle.  Nevertheless, the friends I made back then are considered very precious to me and I still keep in touch with them and engaged in lively conversations whenever we have the time.  Friendship is not something that can be taken granted for.  Indeed, some may argue that it is not as important as your family and career but there are some things that only a friend can help with.  For example, you have a bad time with your family and feel like crap, you could confide in the counsellor but most frequently, we confide in our friends as they are of the same age group and if they had experienced the same situation as you, they would have a clearer grasp of the situation; thus, providing valuable advice.  

I sincerely believe that there are two types of friend in this world.  The first one is the ones that we see on the street ubiquitously.  Their friendship extends skin deep and they have no actual conviction to follow you through thick and thin.  These sort of "friends" are everywhere like mushrooms sprouting after a rain and they tend to fend for themselves only as the adage goes, "You are the most important being."  The first type will probably forget you once they see that they could not get any benefits from you, which is a bit disheartening for some.  The second type, also known as the rare breed, is friends who put your importance on the same level as theirs.  This sort of friends is extremely and I do mean extremely, rare!  Coming across one of these is better than winning a lottery at a casino!!  They wouldn't mind devoting their time to listen to you and give you a small push on the back when you feel down or anxious.  They will not abandon you nor forsake you for their own personal purposes and will likely stick with you to the ends of time, in short, a true friend.

So, when friendship is concerned, I take every individual that I call my friend seriously and even if I lack communication, I would find time to meet up with them or have some casual chat with them as I don't wish to see our bonds dissipate.  Friends are people whom you meet not because of coincidence but because of fate, cherish them.  "There is no such thing as coincidence in this world, everything happens for a purpose, be it good or bad."

The Galaxy Shall Shudder

We all remember the most powerful card that Seto Kaiba used in his duels against Yugi.  It was a rampaging machine that would always deal heaps of damage to Yugi and in some cases, nearly wiped him out.  You guessed it, it is none other than the Kaiba's heart and soul as a duelist, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!!

Back in those days when Yu-Gi-Oh! was still very young and not so prevalent, this monster struck awe into the opponent whenever it hits the field.  Why?  Because there was no freaking monster in those era that could match this beast's ATK points!!  Reminiscing about that sure brings back fond memories.  Alright, back to the topic.  However, as Blue-Eyes was a normal monster, it fell prey to attack negating cards such as mirror force and sakuretsu armour.  When the new league of monsters (effects, fusion and synchro) was introduced, this once horrifying beast slowly fades away into the dim zone...

Now, Konami has revitalized Blue-Eyes and mould it into a totally different form while maintaining its superiority over others with its high ATK points.  It has now been reincarnated into Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon!!  It has made the cover, whoo-hoo~

What makes this card that great compared to its predecessor?  Let's have a look shall we.

Firstly, it is an effect monster (obviously).  While Blue-Eyes needed to tributes two summon it, Galaxy-Eyes requires two 2000ATK or higher monsters as sacrifice to special summon it.  In terms of summoning, Galaxy-Eyes obviously generates more advantage as it saves you your normal summon.  Moreover, you can opt to summon Galaxy-Eyes this way or the rhetorical tribute summoning, whichever suits your liking more.  The real deal is its effect that banishes the monster it is attacking and itself, meaning that it will escape the wrath of attack negating cards such as mirror force and dimensional prison as the effect takes place before the damage step and you can chain its effect to mirror force and co.

In this Exceed era, it has become more potent as when it banishes a Exceed monster, it will gain an additional 500ATK for each Exceed material the monster had; thus giving it a greater damage boost.  Talk about deadly.  Best of all, you can "honest" this monster and bring its attack up by a few more grands. 

That wraps up my post for today, until next time, see ya! 

The Path of Evolution by Konami

Konami sure has brought about heaps of changes to the card game Yu-Gi-Oh!.  Now that I recapitulate, when I first started playing this game, everyone was hyped over Blue Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician as these monsters are the trademark of the two main characters in the animation.  Soon, Effect monsters were introduced and this was followed by Fusion monsters, Synchro monsters and up to this current point of time Exceed (Xyz for TCG) monsters.  I was dueling against my friend on Skype today and it really surprised me how fast I could swarm my field with just a mere 5 or 6 cards.  Back in those days, we had high defense or high attack monsters in our deck so that we could either stall for time until we get bigger monsters or just downright own the opponent's play.  Nowadays, Yu-Gi-Oh! is all about being competitive and speed, the fun time chatting while playing this card game has significantly reduced.  I still remember when I was playing Yu-Gi-Oh! a few years back with my brother and we always had laugh when one of our lower attack monsters rammed into a high defense monster (2000DEF and above) and we would just continued playing while laughing and joking about the size of the wall the monster had built on the field.  That's all for the sentimental part, let's go into the card discussion for the day.

As noted in a few blogs (duelinglegacy.blogspot.com and Team Mental Warfare), there is a new card that was introduced in Photon Shockwave that is causing a fuss at the moment and that card is "Shining Darkness/ Dark Flash".  Before we go in depth, let's have a quick view of the card itself:

"I have the power!!!!"

Okay, so the effect goes like this: "Activate by tributing (releasing) one 1500ATK or higher DARK monster on your side of the field.  Destroy all monsters special summoned this turn."

Now the cost to activate this effect is nearly insignificant with the amount of DARK monsters that are in the decks in this current meta.  For the TCG, we have plants, gravekeepers and BF while in OCG, we have dark worlds, doppels, BF and literary any deck that runs breaker, dark grepher or the sort.  Take note of its effect, "destroy ALL monsters special summoned this turn."  I am not sure about this but does that include your own field too since it didn't specify whether your opponent gets the full blast or not.  Alright, let's move on to the advantage of maining this card in your deck.  It stops all FTK, OTK and swarmings for one turn while giving you the chance to retaliate during your next turn.  Since it doesn't destroy when its condition isn't fulfiled, I am guessing Stardust Dragon cannot negate its destruction effect.  However, this card doesn't destroy monsters that are normal summoned so your opponent still has a chance of dealing you damage albeit being unable to special summon.

Looking at the description of the card, it reminds me of the three virus brothers.  We had the original that required us to tribute a DARK monster with 1000 or less ATK.

"I am the original!! :3"

Time passed and we had one that required us to tribute one DARK monster with 2000 or more ATK.

"1500 or less ATK monsters beware..."

As we entered the 21st century, Konami decided that it was about time they introduced one with the highest requirement and altered its effect a bit.  Let me introduce you to the virus that requires you to tribute one DARK monster with a whooping 2500 or more ATK and it destroys either spell/trap!!

"I am the biggest and meanest baby~"

I guess when Konami reviewed their virus stockpile, they realised there was a gap between 1000 and 2000, so they decided to put in a 1500 with a slightly altered effect that focuses on summoning.  That wraps up my review of the new card and its trivia.  Until next time, see ya~

"We have come a long way but once we are out, you can scoop. ^^"

Crimson Blader

"Let me rip your arses"

Possibly one of the most broken synchro monsters released into the format yet!  Let's check its effect shall we and my thoughts on why it being so utterly broken:

"Crimson Blader「クリムゾン・ブレーダー」
FIRE/Warrior - Synchro - Effect/8/2800/2600
Tuner + 1 or more Non-Tuner Monster
When this card destroys an opponent's monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, during your opponent's next turn, your opponent cannot Normal Summon or Special Summon a Level 5 or higher monster." 
(Source from shriek.twoday.net)


Alright, let's start with the breakdown shall we?  Firstly, it is a generic synchro monster.  This means that it doesn't matter what tuner and non-tuner monster (s) you use to synchro summon this tyrant out, as long as you can do it.  It has a very decent ATK of 2800 which means that it can easily overpower most of the boss monsters in the current meta (e.g hyperion/grapha/fortress etc).  It also has a very strong defense, making it impenetrable by other synchro monsters such as stardust and the sort.  Now this is just the prelude, the real terrifying thing about this monster is its effect "your opponent cannot Normal Summon or Special Summon a Level 5 or higher monster".  Noticed the bold words?  Yes, you got it right, as long as this babe can ram your monster and send it to the graveyard, you can literary skip your next turn without setting a monster since all your monarchs, shi en, trishula, grapha, hyperion, kristya and the sort are totally locked down and setting a monster that will get destroyed anyway is just going to make this loop a recurring one.


Now that we know how lethal this card can be, there must be some countermeasures to it right?  Rest assure, there are a few steps that can be taken to block this jerk out of your face.  First of all, its effect being its weakness.  "sends it to the Graveyard", noticed this string of words?  Exactly, this means that as long as your monster doesn't get sent to the graveyard after being destroyed, its effect will not apply.  And we all love the Removed from Game zone don't we.  Dimension Fissure, Battle Fader and all those RFG cards can effectively lock down its summoning prohibiting effect but that doesn't mean you can ward off its beastly attack.  It only provides you more time to come up with a decent strategy to fight against it.  The second weakness of this monster is it must destroy a monster by battle.  So, spirit reapers and marshmallon can come in handy if you want to prolong your life a little since this monsters are invulnerable to battle destruction.  The third weakness is ye old summoning negating brothers ranging from the holes to the solemns.  If you have these set, then there's basically nothing to fear.  That being said, trunading at the wrong time spells instant death to some decks (plants and SS perhaps?).


So, that wraps up my analysis of this card.  This card is extremely powerful and is anytime better than those destruction effects since destruction is basically a +1 but preventing effects such as this are a +? until your opponent can get over the loop.  This means that it can generate more advantages than you can possibly imagine.  So, getting this card and putting it into your extra deck might not be such a bad idea after all eh, for all its worth.  Till next time, over and out!

South Island Trip - In a Nutshell

Be advised: This is going to be a long text.

It has been a long time since I have last updated my blog, mainly due to Japanese animations and Japanese comics taking up my time.  But now that I have finished most of it, it is time for me to kick back and start explicating my trip towards the South Pole.  Alright, my friends and I started things off at Christchurch, the once magnificent town that has been devastated by the earthquake.  Ironically, it is also referred to as the "Garden City", credits to its splendid meadows and natural scenery.

We were received warmly by our friend and she gave us an elaborate tour around Christchurch, elucidating its foundation and showing us the beautiful view of Christchurch's night scenery.  Even though Christchurch is in the process of recovering from the calamity, it still has some very attractive views to offer.  Sadly, I was forced to part with Christchurch the following day as we needed to stick with our original schedule.  Due to some engineering issues on the flight company's part, we took a bus down to Queenstown from Christchurch. It was a tedious 8 hours drive through winding roads and mountains.  The bus itself wasn't half bad but because of the distance traveled, I felt like throwing up  between intervals of the trip.  However, the pretty views along the way to Queenstown made up for the sick feelings.  I passed scenic mountains and crystal clear lakes, as well as heaps of sheep and cattle.

When we reached Queenstown, the first thing I noticed was how cold the weather actually was.  It didn't come as a surprise as I knew we were somewhere south in the island and a temperature drop is to be expected.  From the place my friends and I were dropped, we took a 20 minutes taxi to our accommodation which was located in the central in the city, making our future endeavours more convenient.  As everyone was dead tired after the bus trip, I went and hit the sack after our dinner.  Before we had dinner, my friend and I went up on the Gondola and were able to take a good picture of Queenstown's twilight view.  The following day, I went for my Nevis Ledge Swing at a place located in between 2 canyons.

The drop off part was extremely scary but other than that, it was extremely fun!!  Basically, now I know why children love to play on the swing even if you tell them not to.  Children have good sense of fun and thrill.  Miraculously, after the swing, my height phobia dissipated too and that was unexpected...Lol.  Okay, moving on.  I concluded my day with an oriental dinner.  The owner of the shop was very friendly and we chatted for a while in the shop.  I got to know that due to certain circumstances, people chose New Zealand as their perfect getaway and at the same time, as a place to relax and nurture their health.  On the third and final day at Queenstown, I went snowshoeing!!  Basically, it is a new form of sports that was introduced to New Zealand exactly 2 years ago and is still very new in the vicinity.  My group consisted of 5 people including me and a reporter.  We went up "The Remarkables" mountain and as we departed early in the morning, I got the chance to take a glimpse at the sunrise and it was simply majestic.  The sun rising from the horizon and illuminating the dark earth with its warm beam and graceful banquet certainly was a sight to behold.

As it turned out, the mountain which we hiked was used as a shooting spot for the trilogy "Lord of the Rings" and I had the honour to actually drink tea at nearly the peak of the mountain.  We stopped at a frozen lake to have our morning tea and sipping tea in the cold was an amazing experience!

"The mountains through the eyes of the tea! :3"

Sadly, all good things must come to an end.  My Queenstown trip was blissful and sure worthed the investment.  After finishing at Queenstown, I proceeded to Otago, once again, by bus.  As we were traveling along, I got to meet fellow Malaysians who were making the same excursion as I am to Otago for the Malaysian Games held once a year.  I simply went there to support my friends and cheer for them.  When we arrived, I was amazed by the sight of Otago.  It was marvelous!  The setup was exactly like that of the Scottish country, untouched and untainted by urbanization.

I went to the Museum and was perplexed by the amount of artifacts and wonders it has to offer.  It has an array of antiques that was collected from across the world and the descriptions that came along with these antiques enlightened me on the history and "experience" of each of these antiques.  Touring around the museum took up more time than I had anticipated and when I was done, it was almost closing time.  However, the knowledge I have acquired far superseded my sense of fatigue at that particular point of time and I was contented despite my head throbbing like mad.  On the second day, I signed up for a wildlife tour near the Otago Peninsula and our tour guide, Sean (hope I got the name correct), gave us info on the founding of Otago and how it became the Otago it is today.  I had the grace to witness all the amazing wildlife in South Island which included the rare Royal Albatross, Yellow-Eyed Penguin, Blue Penguin, Fur Seal and Sea Lion. Of all the animals viewed, I like the penguins best as they were so adorable and petite! 

The tour was sublime and my highest compliment to the tour guide for giving us such a wonderful time.  The subsequent day was filled with cheering for my friends at the games and hoping that the opponents would make a blunder and lose.

Much to my delight, my friends did get champion for the activity they participated in albeit they didn't perform as well in others but that is a given as the adage goes, "When God gives you something, he takes something away from you too".  Can't do much about that.  On the second to last day of my South Island trip, I went to the Cadbury chocolate factory and got to see, not to mention eat, the most heart-filling fill of chocolate any mortal has ever seen!  Our guide, Joe, was a jocund person and he showed us around the factory while all the time, gave us free chocolate samples.  My bag was literary stuffed when the tour ended but the more the merrier so I had no complain about that.  After the chocolate heaven, I went to the Chinese Garden which is one of the few oriental paradises that are located outside China.  Drinking tea while marveling at the view of the garden is truly relaxing and for those few minutes, it was as though all my worries and anxieties vanished into thin air and my mind was totally blank, not subjected to any earthly desires nor apprehensions, just peace and more peace.

On the fifth and truly last day of my trip, I went to watch my friends play basketball and I had full confidence that they would prevail in the game.  There were some tough times when the team almost lost but thanks to their chivalrous captain and excellent teamwork, they were able to pull through and emerged victorious in the end.  

All in all, the trip was, without a doubt, tiring and exhausting but the excitement, exhilaration, joy and gratification felt transcended all those negative elements.  If I have to summarize this trip into one word, then it would be none other than, "Delightful"!

"So that humans remember, a proof is always left behind."