So... We just had a small, unofficial tag tournament yesterday. You guys know how Disaster/Disaster-based strategies are really good against light/dark decks, right? Well, of all decks for me to pair up with, I was paired up with Junk Doppel. I was extremely worried because my deck directly countered his and now, we needed to work together. Even worse was that he would have turns trying to maintain Drago, which pretty much kills his own deck off entirely. It was really an awkward pairing.

Our first matchup was against Infernity and Demon Roar/Fabled. Off all things to go against, it had to be decks that had great synergy with each other. Basically, I was surrounded by Light/Dark decks. My partner, on the other hand, felt like he was going 3 against 1 instead of 2 vs 2.

So, the match began.

We won the dice roll and (out of worry) I let my partner go first, hoping he could make some plays before my deck started to restrict him. He set a monster (dandy) and backrow (torrential), then ended. I opened with Drago, REDMD, RaiOh, Black Hole and Bottomless.

Demon Roar deck came up next. He summons Demon Roar Godbeast Cerberal by discarding something. He does another special summon (forgot which one) and my partner throws torrential, getting us 2 dandy fluff tokens. They end.

My turn next. Drew into Torrential. Useless at this time. I summon Drago (my partner groaned...) and attacked directly. It hits w/ no further response. I set Bottomless and ended, revealing REDMD.

Infernity takes his first turn, sets a monster and 2 backrow. Ends.

My partner looks ruefully at my Drago. I couldn't help but apologize, considering that I was working against my partner w/o even wanting to. He attacks into a Necromancer, w/ us losing 100 LP. He ends his turn. Now, we were expecting Drago to die. However, he did the amazing. He revealed Debris Dragon from his hand, MAINTAINING IT!

Demon roar player passes.

My turn, summoned RaiOh and ended, showing REDMD for Drago.

Infernity player summons Dark Grepher, tosses Infernity Revenger to dump Infernity Demon to the grave, then ends. He's got 2 cards in hand at this point in time.

Partner's turn. Of all things to draw into, he drew a Tuning, just when I had newly summoned RaiOh on the previous turn. Fail. He attacks Dark Grepher, then ends, maintaining my Drago again w/ his Debris! (We LOLd again)

Demon Roar summons Grimlo and attacks a token. Ends.

My turn, I set a newly drawn Masked and ended, showing REDMD.

Infernity sets another monster and ends.

Partner attacks with RaiOh into another Necromander (damned 2k DEF!) and ends, maintaining Drago once more~!

Demon Roar summons Kushano and tries to Grimlo, forgetting about RaiOh's effect. He takes it back, but that move basically revealed his one and only hand card. He attacks the last dandy token and ends.

My turn. I drew into Future Fusion! Sadly, with Drago on the field, I can't use it. Oh well. RaiOh attacks Kushano, with me praying for no Honest the entire time. It hits! I ended, revealing REDMD.

*The entire game moved very slowly considering we were taking minor hits and couldn't make big plays. Basically, RaiOh and Drago stunned EVERYONE, including me. All the onlookers took note of that and commented that it was like being thrown into jail with a straitjacket XD*

Infernity player passed.

My partner passed, looking distraught at his Quick Synchron, Junk Synchron and Tuning. He still maintains Drago though.

Demon Roar player made a misplay on this turn. This was vital. He flipped one of the backrows up, revealing it to be an Infernity Break. However, he wasn't handless and Infernity player reminds him of it's effect. Both of them had 2 or more hand cards. He ends. I finally got to see what that one backrow was. I felt safe, knowing they couldn't use it.

I decide to flip Masked, hoping to do something. I derped for a bit, then attempted to send them to the grave for a tribute summon... but I stopped halfway. My hand was still halfway to the grave, covering them. I wanted to tribute summon REDMD and just bring Drago back, but realized that if I did that, I wouldn't have any more in-hand dragons for maintenance. So I took my hand off from Drago-Masked and just ended.

Infernity player summoned Knight of the End/Arma Knight, dumping another Infernity Revenger and ends, still with 2 cards in hand.

Partner hits Arma Knight w/ Drago and ends. I was hoping he wouldn't touch Arma Knight so my Masked could crash into it and grab me a Delta Fly, but oh well. He sets a face down (Solemn J) and ends.

Demon Roar looks at his hand for a bit. Then, he uses a facedown Phoenix Wing Blast, throwing Cruz and targeting Drago. Partner contemplates for a bit, confirms Cruz's effect, checks the graveyards, then decided to Solemn that Phoenix Wing Blast. Demon Roar then grabs Kushano from grave by discarding Solcius. He plays Prohibition and declares REDMD. I presumed that he must've guessed what I was trying to do in my previous turn. He ends.

My turn. I finally drew into another Drago. With another in-hand dragon, I decided that it was time to get this duel going. I threw an MST that I kept in-hand from a few turns back, targeting Prohibition. It breaks. I tribute both on-field Drago and Masked for REDMD. No response from them. Remember, we don't have prio anymore, so REDMD is prone to Bottomless or whatever. Anyway, I play Future Fusion and it pushes through, with me tossing another REDMD, 2 Wyverns, Delta Fly and Prime. REDMD Revives Drago and I attack one Necromancer. No response from them. It hits, then I end, showing my second Drago in hand.

Infernity player draws, curses and ends. Based on that expression, I guessed that he must've drawn consecutive monsters or something w/ no way of discarding em. Tough luck for him.

Partner drew into Sangan. Another fail draw considering RaiOh was on the field. He checked the grave, contemplating to use REDMD. He decides not to use it and against my wishes, he plays Avarice, sending 4 of my dragons to HIS deck!  He returns 1 Wyvern, Prime, Masked and REDMD and one of his monsters, draws 2, then MSTs one of the backrows. It hit Reborn, lol. That Reborn belonged to the Infernity player. He left Delta Fly in the grave. I was thinking he was gonna revive it and synchro for 6 or 7, but he decides not to summon anything at all and just attacked the second Necromancer. Still no response from them. That second Necromancer was taken down and Drago hits directly for 1900. He sets Ryko and ends, revealing Debris to maintain Drago. At this point in time, Future Fusion's turn count was 1.

Demon Roar player asks if Five God will hit the field or not once FF's count hits 2. I say no because of Drago and mention that it'll be sent directly from the Extra to the grave. He sets his last hand card THEN activates that Infernity Break, killing off Drago. Partner couldn't do anything about it (he was the active player). Demon Roar then does something and somehow syncs 5 into Tech Genus Hyper Librarian. I was expecting my partner to negate it w/ RaiOh, but to my surprise, he does nothing in response. He enters battle and kills RaiOh off. Surprisingly enough, despite the fact that both stun monsters are now gone, he doesn't have a follow-up. He ends with only Librarian and 1 backrow (the card he set to become handless).

This was it. My turn. Since Drago is no longer on the field, FF finally completes its revolution and Five God Dragon successfully hits the field! No response. I flip my partner's Ryko and it hits the back. Mirror Force! Backrow clear, opp handless, I make my move. Using REDMD, I revive my in-grave Wyvern, summoned my in-hand Drago and attacked Librarian and directly for game.

Whew, that was long! And that was the end of game 1!

Game 2 to be posted some other time~
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This game was amazing. I never would've expected him to work with me and actually maintain my Drago using his one and only Debris! What were the chances of that? Drago was definitely the MVP of this duel, followed up by RaiOh. They owned this game soooo much. I couldn't help but feel sorry for my junk-doppel partner though. He basically took a backseat to me and just played support instead. I really hoped that he could've done something at the very least. Alas, it was not meant to be. I'll post game 2 up when I have more time.

I would SO love to get these!

The Korean Playmat Special Edition package comes with 1 playmat (Yusei-Jack or Aki-Crow, random design per box), 50pcs Junk Berserker sleeves, 12 5D's booster packs (from TDGS to EXVC), 1 Secret Rare Tech Genus Hyper Librarian and 1 Secret Rare Shooting Quasar Dragon! They're in Japanese-style Secret-Rare Cross Foil too! What an awesome package for only $30-40! AWESOOOOME! OAO

Reaction to the recent fall of home sales in the US

In response to the topic presented in this link, of all the economics topics to appear in my news feed, the timing of this one couldn’t have been any better. We just had our lesson on the recession and this bit of news is directly related to it. So, the prices of houses in the United States are falling. No surprise there. This was expected, considering the housing boom they had a few years back. Investors put too much of their investments on houses and banks became lenient to the point that they let people with bad credit balance make housing loans. Bad move of their part. Added the fact that they overbuilt, it “should” have been expected that there would be a surplus of houses the moment the housing craze ends. Perhaps it was expected. Perhaps the economists knew. After all, they are experts in this field. They should have foreseen something like this the moment the housing craze spread like wildfire throughout the country. I know some housing or real-estate organizations seek out the opinions of professional economists. I can only presume that these so-called professionals have given some sort of warning. Perhaps these organizations chose to ignore it? That might be, considering that the money earned from the returns of such large investments would seem tempting indeed. And of course, as with all booms, the bubble has to burst at some point or another.

Now, I have read a few other articles that talk about a similar topic, particularly about the fairly recent economic recession of 2006. These articles claim that one of the causes for the recession was because of financial institutions and individual money lenders hiding the risk involved in making such big economic decisions and empowering themselves by fooling investors. Whether or not this is true, the fact is that they really did invest too much in housing. The way I see it, they were too ambitious and invested heavily on something during the time of an economic boom and when it ended, repercussions were felt throughout their entire economy.

The effects of the previous recession would haunt the housing market as the memory of the suffering felt during the time is still fresh in the minds of many. Because of this, people would no longer be willing to buy. If they’re unwilling to buy, the country’s economy falls. If the economy of the country falls, we too are affected. We would feel the effects of the recession because of globalization. As the countries in the world are part of the worldwide economy, the fall in one will lead to serious fluctuations in another. If this continues, the way I see it, another recession will be inevitable.

New-home sales fall, 2011 could be worst year yet

For Economics class: link to news article

New Disaster Dragon deck for the new Banlist

In a meta that's slower, where Xyz material monsters are not considered to be on the field and where Tour Guide doesn't exist, I've been having a lot of success with Breakers in the main deck. At first, I had put that as a temporary substitute for RaiOh until I get my own copies, but now, I'm actually thinking of keeping them in for good. It's a great way to test if the field is safe and if ever, remove the threat of backrow when Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm aren't available. Breakers gives me access to both Arcanite Magician and Dark End Dragon, similar to what Summon Priest does, but to greater efficiency as he doesn't force you to minus yourself. Here's what I've been running so far:

Monsters: 22
3 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
3 Red-Eyes Wyvern
1 Dark Horus Dragon
1 Prime Material
3 Core Chimair Drago
2 Masked Dragon
1 Delta Fly
1 Exploder Dragon
1 Messenger of Hades, Gorz
2 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Chaos Sorcerer
2 Effect Veiler
1 Sangan

Magics: 11
1 Future Fusion
1 Dragon Canyon (this should be replaced with something, but I'm leaving it in as a filler for side-decking options)
1 Monster Reborn
1 Dark Hole
1 Heavy Storm
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Mind Control
1 Book of Moon
1 Allure of Darkness

Traps: 8
2 Divine Warning
1 Solemn Judgment
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Torrential Tribute
2 Call of the Haunted
1 Mirror Force (Filler for now, but it's been working good... so far. I've got Burst Breath sided if ever. I can also remove it if need be.)

Total Deck Count: 41 (40 if either Mirror Force or Dragon Canyon are removed)

Extra Deck: 15
1 Five God Dragon
1 Tech Genus Hyper Librarian (filler ->to be replaced with Kachi Kochi Dragon when I get it)
1 Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Boundary
1 Chain Dragon (to be replaced with Revise OR Orient Dragon... if ever)
1 Black Rose Dragon
1 Scrap Archfiend (filler -> to be replaced by Dark End! Yey for Breakers!)
1 Thought Ruler (filler ->to be replaced by Crimson Blader... if ever)
1 Gigantech Fighter (filler ->to be replaced by Arcanite Magician when I get it)
1 Stardust Dragon
1 Scrap Dragon
1 Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Boundary
1 Catastor (filler-> Numbers 39: Kibou-Oh Hope)
1 Ancient Fairy (filler-> Gemknight Pearl)
1 Gurenzaurus (filler-> Inverz Roach)
1 Numbers 20: Giganto Brilliant (filler-> Numbers 17: Revise Dragon / Levaiel)

This build is still subject to change. Here's hoping the deck works when the time comes!

Heads up people! It's BANLIST time!

New Bans:
Fishborg Blaster
Mind Master
Giant Trunade (guuuh...)
Royal Oppression (NOOOOO!)

New Limiteds:
Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning (So it WAS true...)
Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En
T.G. Hyper Librarian
Debris Dragon
Formula Synchron
Lonefire Blossom
Heavy Storm (STARLIGHT ROAD IS BACK ONLINE!!)
Primal Seed
Shien's Smoke Signal
Pot of Avarice

New Semi-Limiteds:
Summoner Monk (Tch... More exceed shenanigans)
Tragoedia
Necro Gardna
Dewlauren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier
Destiny Draw
Swords of Revealing Light (Wut?)
Mind Crush
Call Of The Haunted (HUH?! They took out Oppresion and put THIS to 2?!)

New Unlimiteds:
Judgment Dragon (WHAAA???)
Spirit Reaper (Huh?????)
Overload Fusion (Cybers?)
Mystical Space Typhoon
Megamorph
Gravity Bind (Tsk. They REALLY wanna milk Exceeds, don't they?)
Icarus Attack
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Junk-based decks are dead, but LS and BFs are BACK! Run for your lives people! It's Chaos all over again! DX

My reaction to the recent forex wave

The current foreign exchange rates due to this billion-dollar transaction has several advantages and disadvantages to the Filipino people. Sure, the value of the Philippine Peso went up, but on the other hand, the value of the United States Dollar went down, and I personally believe this holds a significant meaning to us people living in this economy-driven world.

Before we go any further into the topic, let me cite a few of advantages of having a lower dollar value, or rather, the strengthening of the Philippine Peso: 1) Cheaper imported goods 2) Being able to pay off our country's debts to the International Money Fund (IMF) as well as the World Bank and 3) Improved economy for the Philippines. Of course, who wouldn't want their economy to rise? Certainly not me! And I personally love the fact that I can now buy things online at a much lower price than normal. But wait, let us look at things the other way around. What effects would a lower Dollar rate have on us? Personally, I think that while it won't affect us directly, it will affect us in another way.

Let us think about our "modern-day heroes", the Overseas Filipino Workers, otherwise known as the OFWs. They risk their lives, sweat and blood everyday, forcing themselves to be separated from their families just to give their families a chance to live. They work in countries that have better economy and send money here via remittance.  The thing about remittance is that the money is sent here in its native currency, so for the people who work and earn U.S. Dollars, as well as the people receiving it, are now on the wrong end of the line. There is less money involved and now, making a living earning the U.S. Dollar is harder than ever.

It is hard enough making a living in this country, what more for those people who had to leave and travel abroad to support theirs? Before we say that one thing is good for us, we should also think about the negative effects it may or may not have on others.

A billion-dollar transaction sends forex rate cresting.