Today is the day that Gamer Bling officially jumps from 3.5 to 4e. Why? Because, in order to ensure that he has Christmas money to spend on Gamer Bling Expansion #1 and Gamer Bling Expansion #2 (to say nothing of The Gamer Bling Official Companion), he is putting 47 D&D 3e and 3.5 books up for auction on Amazon.com. You can view all of Gamer Bling’s offerings by clicking here.

Gamer Bling encourages all of you to bid early, often, and aggressively. He keeps very good care of his books, and many of these are in mint condition. He may even put his gold-stamped PHB up for auction; that remains undecided.

That’s the “One in All” part: one game in all those books. The “All in One” part is a new review for the D-Total by GameScience. If half of the value of a die is its utility and the other half is its novelty factor (gem dice, metal dice, tiny dice, huge dice), then this die is 50% value and 75% novelty.

Happy gaming!

Few decks ever suceed without creatures. Only the stoutest of control decks can surivive without them, and even then, most control strategies unleash a few monsters to finish the job. However, not any creature will do. Many are printed, few are chosen. Gone are the days of Grizzly Bears and Shivan Dragon; in today’s removal heavy world, every creature must be worth more than it’s mana cost, or at least the cost of the spell used to take it out.

So who are these superstars of today’s standard metagame? It’s hard to tell. A few stand out, either being great on their own or finding a home in a currently sucessful deck.

Like any good superstar; just as many people hate the Baneslayer as love her.

Here are the critters I consider A-listers. Most of them don’t need any explaination; you should already know what they do.

Baneslayer Angel
Bloodbraid Elf
Putrid Leech
Sprouting Thrinax
Ranger of Eos
Broodmate Dragon
Iona “I-own-you“, Shield of Emeria
Wall of Denial
Lotus Cobra
Sphinx of Jwar Isle

However, with Zendikar on the table for little over a month, decks are still being tuned in card shops, apartments and basements, and new creatures are being used and abused,  just waiting to be unleased on an unsuspecting meta.

Here are some of the guys I think might be up-and-coming stars.

Knight of the Reliquary
I mentioned this before, but I think KotR is going to only become more powerful as the Zendikar block continues. She works great with the fetches and with the introduction of the landfall mechanic, can do all sorts of little tricks by sacking lands and putting another in play. She can grow quite large too, sacking lands to find fetches to sack for another land.

Steppe Lynx
Steppe Lynx has two things going for him, his mana cost and the ease of triggering the landfall mechanic. In the right deck he could dish out some serious early damage, as well as be a nice surprise blocker. The lynx can also be found with Ranger of Eos, allowing for players to consistantly put him on the board. The one W cost also makes him a very efficient; no matter how they get rid of him, you only paid one.  If the right landfall deck is built, this guy will be a superstar.

Scute Mob
A lot of people are on the fence about this guy, but I think the bug is one of the most efficient creatures around. The mob is a 1/1 for G, but eventually he’s going to be a 5/5 for G, and then a 9/9 for G. However, the “eventually” part is what scares most people off. What also scares people is wasting removal, any removal, on a 1/1 you paid G for, and they’ll let him nibble away until they absolutly have to do something about him. If he gets his grow on, he becomes a beast. I think the mob has a place in a lot of deck, from aggro to control, and making him grow isn’t hard, especially with a little mana acceleration.

Ob Nixilis
Like the Lynx, with a deck centered on landfall, Ob could become a serious threat. Yes, there is a chance you are going to pay 3BB for a 3/3 who is going to get smoked by Lightning Bolt, but if you are smart about it, there is also a chance you are going to get a 6/6 or a 9/9 and make the opponent lose 6 life for 5BB. People are tyring to make this happen as we speak.

ThornlingWhen people first saw Thornling, they went nuts; until they saw Path to Exile, that is. However, last time I looked, the most popular deck in the format doesn’t run white, or anything that could deal with him at all, for that matter. Thornling is a solid creature that would have been better in a format without so many “removed from game” effects, but that shouldn’t mean he never sees play. Perhaps he could be a good sideboard card against Jund, or as a nice ramp monster. Remember, they can’t path him unless they have the card in their hand. Don’t be a fraidy-cat!

Dumb looking and a bit redundant, but he could be a solid beater.

Great Sable Stag
The stag saw a lot of play when Faeries was still in standard, but since then, players have put him down for different monsters. I wonder, why? He still has protection from black, and black is all the rage right now. Yes, the Jund player can bolt him, but that is four cards in 60, and Vampires can’t do shit. The proud stag should at least be boarded if players don’t want to run him in the maindeck.  

Bloodghast
Bloodghast has a few things keeping him from greatness right now, Vampires, Creatures, and spells that have the word “exile” on them. All are very popular, and all pose a major threat to the ghast. He doesn’t have a home outside vampires at the moment, and that deck is pretty bad, at least when it runs up against competent players with a good deck. The Bloodghast is also terrible when it comes to fighting the other super-powered creatures in today’s metagame, though he can do a fair job of trading with a few of them. Finally, he gets pathed a whole lot, which wouldn’t be so much of a problem if most decks running path didn’t also run creatures he can’t get through. However, if he finds his way into a non-vampire deck or if the metagame sees a shift from it’s current state, he could become a nusiance. He is nearly impossible to deal with using conventional removal, and countering him is just as useless. All it takes is a few in the graveyard and a land drop to cause a serious problem.

Emeria Angel
Again, if landfall becomes a serious deck, this critter could become quite popular.  A 3/3 flier who makes little birds every time a land drops. It wouldn’t be hard to power out 2-4 birds in a turn, and this could be deadly with Garruk and Overrun.
Please notice, landfall looks to work the best with W/B and G at the moment, which also happen to be the colors with some of the best spells avaliable at the moment.

World Queller
The queller is a nice combination of body and utility. He is a 4/4 for 5, which isn’t bad when you couple it with the ability to cause each player to sacrifice a permanant of the type you choose each upkeep. You get to choose  the type, each upkeep. It might seem awkward at first, but with the right set-up, the savvy player can find ways around his drawback of having to sacrifice something of your own.

There are the guys I would be watching. To see some new standard decks and perhaps a glimps of how these creatures might be put into a deck, visit the official WotC website to see the recent Magic Game Day decks.

Poetess and journalist Renata Verejanu, leader of civil society

Although she works a lot so she could be forever young –
here are some anniversaries of the WOTC leader, which remind u show time flyies:
40 years since first publication in national media,
30 years since editorial debut – first book with poems in Romanian language,
20 years of activity and promotion of Civil Society…

We look back and we discover that poetess Renata Verejanu  was a step ahead of many colleagues of her, and she may considered, truly:
- the first poet who organized first Caravan of Culture of Peace from East to West, passing form capital to capital, to Council of Europe (Strasbourg) and UNESCO (Paris), where the members were welcomed at the highest level (2000),
- the only poet who participate dat the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe, several times between 2002 and 2009,
- first poet who, between 1993 and 2009, have met the last 5 General Secretaries of the Council of Europe and the Secretary General of the United Nations,
- first poet who promotes the activities and politics of Council of Europe among youth,
- first poet who created structures of civil society (World Organization of Talented Children, Clubs of Council of Europe, European Academy of Civil Society etc.) in Moldova and in other countries: a network of more than 40 NGOs that represent an important spiritual structure for children and youth, that obtained participatory status with Council of Europe,
- first poet who promoted the UNESCO movement in Moldova, an active member of the World Federation of UNESCO Clubs, Centers and Associations and was delegated in the period 2000-2009 at several world congresses of the UNESCO movement

- first poet that launched and implemented over 100 projects at local, national and international level, well known worldwide, where participated over 55,000 young talents from all the continents,
- first poet that created the prestige of Moldova in the world by intercultural dialogues, conferences, marches of the volunteers for Human Rights, World Forum of Talented Children, debates, trainings, festivals, contests etc.
- first poet that founded the literary circle „Grai Matern” and publishes during 18 years Little Prince Magazine, newspaper Children of Europe and created after the independence of Moldova, the first press agency: Agency of Young Journalists (1991), – first modern media institutions for student, wiht NGO status…
We could give 101 pages with events and achievements with Renata Verejanu, but we believe that is better to just read her poems… Untill then, you are invite at the special reception of poetess Renata Verejanu, that will take place on 22 October 2009, at Writers’ Union, with the theme:  

“I knew how to make a joy from my life”.

Reporter AMP-INternational

As artists sign up for the GP I will be posting here. Keep in mind that the events almost a year out so all artists are tentative and will need to be confirmed as the event comes closer – however I promise an amazing list of artists.

First artist to sign up is – RK Post.

This is going to be amazing folks.

I live in Portland. I love Portland and last night Wizards of the Coast web site went live with the news that Portland Oregon is going to get a GP. Thats right – Portland Oregon is getting a Grand Prix.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/other/110509a

For years players have been asking me –  ”When will Portland get a GP”  and I have never had a good answer – well now I do. The Grand Prix Portland will be Sept 11 and 12th.

So Good. So flipping good.

I can’t wait to show off Portland – easily one of the best cities in the world to everyone at the GP.

I know everyone wants details as soon as possible and I have been working for months on getting this event together and will be ready to announce things like location, hotels, artists and side event schedules over the next weeks.

But for now – I’m just so happy to announce that Portland gets a GP.

Tim

Ryan Leslie is one of the best self promoters around. Any avid YouTube watcher knows to check out his videos of beat making or promotional teasers of potential music videos since about 2004. Nine months after putting out his debut CD to underwhelming response, Ryan Leslie is back, this time, with “Transition.”

Transition, a true summer love story from the passionate multi-instrumentalist, features 11 songs that Ryan wrote and produced. The lead single, “I Choose You,” is a ballad that differs from his previous mid-tempo hits and already has radio programmers buzzing. Other tracks on Transition include “You`re Not My Girl,” which offers up a video directed by Anthony Mandler (Beyonce, Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Fergie), “Something That I Like” featuring Pusha T of the rap duo The Clipse, and “To The Top” which showcases Ryan’s signature falsetto.

In addition to putting out his own album (his second this year), Ryan has been busy in the studio handling production for R&B superstar Mary J. Blige’s upcoming album, singer songwriter Keri Hilson, pop phenom Chris Brown, grammy nominated vocalist Jazmine Sullivan, and rapper Fabolous, among others.

Nominated for 2009`s BET Awards and the Soul Train Awards “Best New Artist,” Ryan isn`t showing any signs of slowing down for 2010.
The transition doesn’t refer to his music. Instead, the singer says his sophomore disc was inspired by “a summer of secret love.” After that fling ended, the result became “Transition”: an 11-track set full of futuristic R&B tunes that finds the 31-year-old R&B-crooner sweet-talking his sweet hopeful. “I just want a girl that still looks good with no makeup,” he sings on the opening track, “Never Gonna Break Up,” promising to never break up if he found the one.

Overall, Transition is sweet and worth listening to. One of the reasons Ryan Leslie’s music should be appreciated is because it’s always positive. It’s seldom today to have artists have music a grandmother and child can listen to at the same time. . His work usually leaves listeners with a smile and bopping their heads to his simplistic beats. As long as he doesn’t try to rap on every track and stays true to his audience he’ll always do well.

Transition is set to release November 3:

Tracklisting:

1. Never Gonna Break Up
2. Something That I Like (feat. Pusha T)
3. Zodiac
4. Is It Real Love
5. Sunday Night
6. You’re Not My Girl
7. To The Top
8. Nothing
9. Guardian Angel
10. All My Love
11. I Choose You

WHAT UP NEW YORK??? THIS IS OUR ANTHEM!!! I’LL BE POSTIN THE PERFORMANCE FROM GAME 2 OF THE WORLD SERIES IN THE BRONX SHORTLY

GAME 2 OF THE WORLD SERIES, LIVE FROM THE BRONX @ YANKEE STADIUM

O tara e mare sau mica, e importanta, nu prin dimensiunile teritoriale,
ci prin personalitatile tarii…

poeta Renata Verejanu,
liderul Reţelei OMCT,
a deschis Conferinţa TT
fiind prezentată
de vice-rectorul
ULIM…
22 octombrie 2009,
Sala Magnifică, ULIM

Big and dumb can be pretty dangerous.

 One of my favorite decks is Naya Zoo. Yeah, it is a tier 2, at the moment,  but I think the deck has the potential to break into the top tier.

I’ve been playing Naya Zoo for quite some time now, and it seems pretty solid. That being said, I cannot say much about how it matches up in today’s metagame. I haven’t played consistently enough against the same sort of decks you would see at a major tournament.

What I can tell you is what the deck does well. It plays cheap and powerful or cheap and potentially powerful creatures and turns them sideways. Yes, it is a beatdown deck. However, it has a few tricks. Naya Zoo generates card advantage with cascade and Ranger of Eos, a pretty nice trick with all of the removal out there. It also has a bit of removal too, for things like those pesky Baneslayer Angels.

As much as a dumb monster deck as Naya Zoo is, you cannot just throw things out there without thinking and expect to win. I know this from experience. Naya Zoo still requires brains. I would have to say 50% of my losses with this deck were due to user error.

Here is a build I went 5-2 with last Friday.

Naya Zoo

Again, I can’t say a whole lot about the matchups. I only played a few decks what I would consider “mainstream”. However, I can briefly discuss some of the cards  and how they perform.  

Scute Mob: Some say he’s great, others say he sucks, but his board presence is undeniable. He has to be answered eventually, or he will quickly get out of hand. Yes, all removal kills him, but you only paid one G. Maybe he’s a 1/1, maybe he’s a 9/9.  

Knight of the Reliquary: The best trick with her is to blow up a plains and then look for an Arid Mesa. You can figure out what to do next. Not only does this help her grow by 2 each turn, but it helps to thin your deck out too. Block and do it before damage is dealt.  She can be a lot of work, and I would suggest boarding her out in control matchups where the chances of your hard work paying off are minimal. Against other creature decks with little removal, she’s a superstar.

Enlisted Wurm: Cascade is insane, and to keep up with something like Jund, you need to be able to “cheat” in as many free monsters and spells as possible. Not only can the wurm do that, but he has a solid body as well.

Naya Charm: I only saw this a few times, but it was a monster each time I did. All of the charm’s abilities are pretty relevant. The least useful ability is the 3 damage. The charm’s other two abilities are what really makes it shine. In a standoff situation, it will win you the game. It also counts as “extra copies” of spells or creatures already in the graveyard.

Oran-Rief, the Vastwood: Sometimes, 4/4 Nacatls are really useful. The extra point of power and toughness can sometimes make a huge difference.

Sideboard: Was terrible, except for the Journey to Nowhere. Sometimes a little extra removal is necessary against those big finishers.

After Friday, I made a few slight changes to the mainboard, and quite a few changes to the sideboard. Here’s the new makeup.

Naya Zoo Two

Ajani sucked in all of my games. If I saw him, that was. Even in control matchups, there was always a sphinx or sodding Baneslayer Angel flying over my head to kill him if I didn’t have a path. However, an extra bolt or Naya Charm would have won me a few games, so I added them in.

Sideboard 2

Naya does horribly against the stupid mono-red decks out there. They burn your creatures, hit you with earthquake a few times and then Spire Barrage you to death. I wished for some Captured Sunlight, which I had in the original sideboard but took out. It will also help you get back some of your burned monsters. Uril the Miststalker should be great in removal-heavy matchups, and as an added bonus, bigger than anything Jund has. The Luminarch Ascensions should help with control matchups.

Here are a few tips on how to play Naya Zoo.

Your deck is best at 5 + lands. Never keep a hand with less than 3 lands in it. I am willing to bet I’ve lost most of the games I’ve tried it with fewer.

Unless you really need guys on the field, use Bloodbraid Elf and Enlisted Wurm as if they were removal; cast them when there’s something you need to get rid of. Cascading into a path when you don’t need it sucks, and being able to get a free one and a monster is great.

Scute Mob should be dropped on turn one, if you have it in your opening hand. They’ll have to get rid of it eventually, and even if you only get in for a couple points before you have to hold it back or it gets removed.

In a control match-up, play Ranger of Eos whenever they don’t have the mana to counter, even if you don’t think you need the guys. You will. Playing a Bloodbraid Elf or Enlisted Wurm into a counterspell is okay. They’ll have to choose.

When a block rotates out and a new one steps in, there is a rare moment when the metagame is a relatively clean slate. Here there is a chance for real innovation. New cards come in, old cards previously not “good enough” are suddenly look a lot better and strategies that just didn’t make it in the old metagame might get the chance to shine in the new one.

Lets take a look at some of the post-Zendikar decks that didn’t have a strong showing at the Starcitygames Phillidelphia 5k, or are still in the “development” phase.

Cruel Control
Bant
Naya
Soldiers
Cascade
Other Control

*Each highlighted deck link is a different version of the discussed deck.

Traditional Cruel Control (and varients)

Cruel Control has been a popular deck for quite some time now, starting as Quick n’ Toast first and slowly evolving to what we know now as Cruel Control (as almost every variant runs at least two copies of the namesake sorcery). This deck usually ends up on top sometime due to its ability to play all of the best cards in the format, no matter what the color, and can thus have an answer to most everything in the metagame. However, the deck usually has lull periods when the best cards in the format and the “enemy” are yet to be defined, such as right now, when the meta is in flux.  
At it’s core, Cruel Control is just as it says; a control deck. It keeps the board squeaky clean with the best removal, sweepers and countermagic; drawing cards in the meantime and waiting until the right moment to drop an efficient threat like Broodmate Dragon or Baneslayer Angel or cast its flagship card, Cruel Ultimatum.
Right now, the biggest changes to the deck are the loss of countermagic (not Cryptic Command = teh suck for many) and the addition of fetches (no more Reflecting Pool or vivid lands). What the deck gained is Wrath of God (Day of Judgment) and a nice finisher in Sphinx of Jwar Isle.
The deck still plays the same, just different spells. Kill, counter, cast a finisher or Cruel Ultimatum. What remains to be seen is what the deck will have to include to counter todays threats and if the old card choices are as effective as they were pre-Zendikar.

Other variants exist, such as Cascade Control. Here, the idea is pretty much the same; control the board, but with less countermagic and more creature removal, as cascade doesn’t play well with counters. Cascade control is a little more pro-active, if you ask me, if only on the back of the free cards generated by the  nine or so Cascade cards.

Other varients of Cruel Control exist too, but they all pretty much play the same way, with the choice of finishers or the inclusion of a few extra counter/kill cards being the only difference.

Bant

Bant is a deck people have been trying to work on since Shards of Alara was printed. However, the archetype has only seen limited success, usually with aggressive decks riding on the back of Rafiq of the Many or Finest Hour.
Bant is an interesting combination of cards, featuring a little bit of muscle, combat trickery and countermagic.  The deck operates as an agressive or mid-range creature deck, getting in for some early damage and then keeping the board clean until it can get in with a power hit after dropping Rafiq, Finest Hour or both.  The deck can even deal with a few things larger than itself with some countermagic. However, the deck never seems to get there. Some of the coolest creatures and best removal are in Bant colors, yet the deck just never seems to get there constantly. I do not know why, but I can speculate; the cards in the other decks are just a bit better. With no cascade, card drawing, or direct damage, it seems Bant has no real way to come back once the game starts going south either.  
Still, Bant is one of my favorite color combinations. Perhaps with the additional white removal or with a few creature changes, Bant can make a stronger showing  in the new Metagame.

Naya

Naya is another second-string deck that, like Bant, just doesn’t seem to have gotten there yet, despite great cards. Also like Bant, there seem to be different versions post-Zen; aggressive versions and a mid-range mana-rampish version. The former version is one I have had experience with. The deck usually throws out some quality one drops like Wild Nacatl and now Goblin Guide or Scute Mob, then picks up the pace with the cascade triggering Bloodbraid Elf, the powerful Woolly Thoctar or the card drawing Ranger of Eos, keeping the board and hands full. Some versions run Ajani Vengeant. The deck also runs with some removal like Path to Exile and Lightning Bolt. The extent of the Naya strategy is to bash to victory and hopefully get good draws from the elf and enough guys from Ranger to survive sweepers, which the deck was originally pretty immune to (before they reprinted wrath).
The second version, Naya Lotus Angel, uses Lotus Cobra to ramp up to Baneslayer Angel, Rampaging Baloths or Enlisted Wurm quickly. It also plays many of the same creatures  Naya Aggro runs, such as the one drops.
Naya is now adding critters like Dauntless Escort and Knight of the Reliquary, dropping some of the bigger vanilla monsters. Good move, I say. Perhaps the deck just needs some fresh cards.

Soldiers

Soldiers, the token white weenie deck of the format. Play lots of dudes, power them up with other dudes and the white-only enchantment Honor the Pure. Play more dudes and overwhelm your opponent. Not a lot of innovation here. Captain of the Watch is great for six mana. Brave the elements is great for either protecting your guys from a damage-dealing sweeper or surprising the opponent by giving your guys protection from thier guys and swing in for lethal damage.  Removal is usually limited to path, and maybe a few combat tricks with Brave the Elements or Harm’s Way.
Question: why do soldier decks playing Ranger of Eos and Captain of the Watch not play Kor Skyfisher? A 2/3 flying soldier for 1W. Return the ranger or the captain to your hand to cast them again for their CIP ability.

Cascade

Everybody knows how powerful cascade is; you get cards for free doing something you would normally do; cast a spell. It is no wonder so many powerful decks have a bit of cascade built into them, such as Cruel Cascade and Jund. Some decks are trying to capitalize on this by adding the best of the cascade cards to a single package, though the effectiveness of this idea is yet unknown. Give it a shot.

Other Control

Control is a popular strategy, and no wonder; some kind of control deck usually ends up pwning the formate eventually. Right now, aside from Cruel Control, there are quite a few other control strategies out there. Time Sieve, for example, keeps your opponent from doing any real damage before you either a.) kill them with animated artifacts, or b.) take 20 turns before killing them with animated artifacts. It seems like a dumb idea, but it works pretty well. The version linked above is a little strange, as it doesn’t run much removal or counters, but it can still be deadly.
Other combo decks include this new innovation here. According its creator, the deck’s strange spell choices might just come out of left field. but are great in today’s meta. Personally, I like Swerve, especially with cards like Mind Sludge and Blightning running around. It can switch the target of a Malestrom Pulse nicely too, saving your planeswalker. Magosi the Waterwell ain’t too bad either. Drop a counter when the opponent doesn’t make a play, let him take the next turn and then do something stupid like draw 7 with Mindspring and take another turn. 
Mono White control is also trying to make a showing, likely due to the new ”wrath” and Lumiarch Ascension. It is not as hard as it seems to get that sucker online.  Iona, Shield of Emeria can shut down games fast, and Emeria, the Sky Ruin can bring back fallen Baneslayers and Knight of the White Orchid.

Saudações goblinóides, pessoal.

Enquanto o Arnaldo tenta resolver uns problemas elétricos na casa, (vai demorar até ele descobrir que inverti a bipolaridade eletrostática do meu difusor de partículas quartziáticas) eu resolvi trazer aqui as últimas novidades RPGísticas que acabei de receber: hoje foi lançado o segundo livro básico do Pathfinder RPG, the Bestiary.

Antes de falar sobre o Pathfinder, vamos falar um pouquinho sobre o D&D e o recente D&D 4ª Edição. O Dungeons & Dragons (abreviado como D&D ou DnD) foi publicado primeiramente nos EUA em 1974, pela TSR, empresa fundada por Gary Gygax (falecido no ano passado), que criou o jogo ao lado de seu amigo, Dave Arneson (falecido em Abril deste ano). 3 anos depois do lançamento, o D&D foi dividido em 2 vertentes, uma mais simples que continuaria a ser chamada de D&D, e outra mais complexa com sistemas de regras mais robustos e completos que foi nomeada de AD&D (Advaced Dugeons & Dragons), e que teve sua 2ª edição lançada em 1989. Assim continuou até que, em 1997, a TSR foi comprada pela Wizards of the Coast (empresa criadora do jogo de cartas Magic: The Gathering, lançado em 1993). A Wizards por sua vez, em 1999, foi comprada pela gigante dos brinquedos Hasbro (criadora de jogos como Banco Imobiliário, e detentora de marcas como Pokemon e Transformers).

Em 2000, a versão mais simples de D&D foi descontinuada e o AD&D retornou ao seu nome de origem com o lançamento do D&D 3ª edição (ou D&D 3.0). Junto com esta edição, a WotC trouxe a OGL (Open Game License), permitindo que quaisquer outras editoras pudessem criar suplementos compatíveis com o jogo (claro que tem suas regras e restrições, mas não vou me entreter nisso). 3 anos depois, novas modificações vieram para o jogo com a chamada D&D versão 3.5 (ainda sob OGL), e, em 2006, o sistema era destacado como o mais conhecido e mais vendido RPG do mundo, com uma estimativa de 20 milhões de jogadores e mais de US$1bi na venda de livros e equipamentos relacionados.

Em Junho de 2008 foi lançada a 4ª edição de D&D, aguardada com bastante expectativa pelos fãs. Para a surpresa de praticamente todos, a nova versão não seria mais licenciada pela OGL, trazendo uma nova licença, muito mais restritiva (a D&D GSL – Game System License). Além disso o número de mudanças de regras no sistema foi enorme, fazendo com que jogadores veteranos tivessem que “desaprender” quase tudo do sistema antigo. Eu, particularmente gostei de muitas das melhorias, mas odiei outras, que fizeram com que cada jogador precise consultar o livro pra cada ação que ele vai tomar (a não ser que decore ou copie em umas folhas de papel). No geral, muitos jogadores de D&D se decepcionaram com a nova versão, e veem a nova licença como uma barreira para que a versão alcance o sucesso da versão anterior.

Mas enfim, onde é que entra o Pathfinder RPG? Entra exatamente nessa grande mudança do D&D 3.5 para D&D 4E. A editora Paizo, produtora de vários suplementos e material do D&D3.x, resolve transformar o seu cenário (Pathfinder) e transformá-lo em novos livros de regras, a partir do sistema do D&D3.5, fazendo as modificações que os jogadores queriam, criando o Pathfinder RPG. Para isso, todas as mudanças foram discutidas e testadas via fórum específico com diversos jogadores, e versões Beta foram disponibilizadas gratuitamente via download para que as mudanças fossem testadas pelos jogadores ao redor do mundo. E, em agosto desse ano foi lançada a versão final do Core Rulebook (algo como Livro de Regras Central) do Pathfinder RPG (e sob OGL). Também já foram lançados escudo do mestre, guia de transição do D&D3.5 para o Pathfinder RPG, além do (belíssimo) pôster abaixo.

Pôster Pathfinder RPG - 3.5 sobrevive 3.5 evolui

A grande novidade é que exatamente hoje, foi lançado o segundo livro do Pathfinder RPG, the Bestiary (o Bestiário), trazendo todas as informações monstros, animais e os diversos seres que povoam as aventuras dos jogadores. Novamente foram disponibilizados gratuitamente para download betas e previews antes do lançamento da versão final, cuja capa está aí em baixo (vou te contar… os goblins já eram feios, mas agora tão realmente asquerosos… gostei).

Pathfinder RPG Bestiary - soltaram as feras

Eu, como bom estudioso e inteirado das coisas, já me deliciei com os betas e previews dos dois livros. Posso dizer que o sistema d20 chegou em sua melhor forma com o Pathfinder RPG. Infelizmente, não há previsão ainda para tradução e lançamento do Pathfinder RPG aqui no Brasil. Mas de acordo com a D&D GSL, parece que a Devir estaria impedida de lançar outros materiais de regras do sistema D20 (já que ela já lançou a versão brasileira dos três livros de D&D4E). Uma das esperanças é o pessoal da Jambô, mas não há nada confirmado até o momento, e a produção dos novos livros básicos de Tormenta podem inviabilizar a vinda do Pathfinder. Abaixo um vídeo mostrando o Core Rulebook para vocês babarem na tela.

Como eu sou um goblinóide poliglota (único, talvez) não tenho problema nenhum com o anão arcaico inglês. Para quem também não liga muito para diferenças linguísticas, acesse o site da Paizo e confira as novidades. Para as novidades do sistema d20 em português, recomendo o blog dot20.

Beijo do goblin. (agora com conta própria no WordPress se não perceberam… só falta achar uma câmera que não queime para tirar uma foto minha)

PS.: o terceiro livro de regras de Pathfinder RPG, the GameMastery Guide (o Guia de Maestria de Jogo), deve ser lançado em fevereiro de 2010.

Lors d’un débat télévisé consacré le 9 octobre à la peine de mort,
le professeur de droit slovène Dragan Petrovec a déclaré que les victimes ne devraient jouer aucun rôle dans la condamnation des délinquants. ”La victime n’est jamais objective”, a-t-il ajouté, et ”
les victimes ne peuvent s’ériger en juge”. L’ambassadeur suédois
des droits de l’homme, Jan Axel Nordlander, a également pris part à ce débat organisé par le Conseil de l’Europe à l’occasion de la Journée européenne contre la peine de mort. Jeroen Schokkenbroek, chef de Service au Conseil de l’Europe, a précisé que l’Organisation se montrait critique à l’égard du recours à la peine de mort par les
États-Unis et le Japon, en ajoutant que ”le dialogue se poursuivait” avec les deux pays pour mettre un terme à cette pratique.

Reporter
AMP-International

When Ghost announced he was releasing Ghostdini: The Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City, people were wary thinking Ghost would be singing the entire album. A subsequent interview revealed that Ghost wouldn’t be singing, but instead bringing along a number of R&B artists to sing the hooks while he stuck to what he does best; rap.

The tracks are as follows:

1. Not Your Average Girl Ft. Shareefa
2. Do Over Ft. Raheem DeVaughn
3. Baby Ft. Raheem DeVaughn
4. Lonely Ft. Jack Knight
5. Stapleton Sex
6. Stay
7. Paragraphs Of Love Ft. Vaughn Anthony & Estelle
8. Guest House Ft. Fabolous & Shareefa
9. Let’s Stop Playin’ Ft. John Legend
10. Forever
11. I’ll Be That Ft. Adrienne Bailon
12. Goner Ft. Lloyd
13. She’s A Killah Ft. Ron Browz (Bonus Track)
14. Back Like That [Remix] Ft. Kanye West & Ne-Yo (Bonus Track)

The album kicks off with “Not Your Average Girl” and should allay most fears for the album. Ghost kicks off the album by making an appeal for a girl who’s something more than the average, someone who will go for their own and be there for him when things go bad. Scram Jones provides a catchy beat which is strictly hip-hop, no sugarcoated pop tracks here.

For the most part, Ghost does an excellent job of handling themes such as relationships, love and dedication to your lady without the need to change his style to make it more accessible. All the songs have a very grown feel to them; rather than resorting to immature attempts to win a girl back, he addresses the theme of losing a loved one after cheating on her with a sense of maturity on “Do Over” and “Lonely” follows on as a lament of knowing a girl won’t come back.

“Paragraphs Of Love” features Ghost and Estelle trading verses as he recounts a meeting with a girl for the first time. Descriptive as ever, Ghost hasn’t lost a step when it comes to the lyrics and “Guest House” is an excellent example of this. Easily the best song on the album, Ghost describes searching for his wife after she’d been missing for hours. Ghost does an excellent job of building to the track’s climax and you can really feel the anticipation of what’s going to happen next. Fabolous does a good job playing counterpart to Ghost and it’s definitely a standout track.

The production on the album is outstanding as Ghost once again proves he has an excellent ear for beats without a dud in sight. Most of the beats feature lush piano loops or an old-school slow jam feel to them, a nice contrast to the synth heavy beats we get in contemporary R&B today. There are a couple of exceptions, the aforementioned “Not Your Average Girl” and “Guest House” feature much more typical hip-hop beats and “She’s A Killah”, a collaboration with Ron Browz that was surprisingly good. The beat is definitely club-friendly, as are the lyrics so it makes for a good change of pace.

The guests work well for the most part too. Ghost resisted the temptation of including artists such as Akon or T-Pain and has stuck with genuine singers for the most part. Raheem DeVaughn does a wonderful job on “Do Over” and “Baby” as do Jack Knight on “Lonely” and John Legend on “Let’s Stop Playin’”. Vaughn Anthony rounds out “Paragraphs Of Love” with a nice verse and even Lloyd does a decent hook on “Goner”.

There are a couple of problems with the album though. “Stapleton Sex” may be Ghost at his descriptive best, but when it’s about describing him having sex, it’s not exactly the kind of mental picture you want to develop in your head. The inclusion of “Back Like That” is also confusing. The original on Fishscale was fine. The remixfeaturing Kanye West is good, but it was on More Fish, then later GhostDini The Great and now here. The concept of ‘third time’s a charm’ doesn’t apply to including the same song three different times on three different albums.

Summary: 

Ghostdini: The Wizard Of Poetry In Emerald City was a chance that has paid off for Ghost.  It’s not your average Ghostface Killah album as the tracks are more in line with ones such as “Love” and “Back Like That” from recent times however, for someone looking for an album that blends R&B themes and production with genuine hip-hop rapping, this is certainly an album for you. Definitely recommended, give it a listen if you’re looking for a change of pace.

The WOTC is a tax credit that you can receive for hiring workers belonging to targeted groups.  These groups include veterans, ex-felons, food stamp recipients, social security income recipients, vocational rehabilitation referrals, summer youth employees, disconnected youth, long-term family assistance recipients, IV-A recipients, and designated community residents.  Please contact me if you think you may have someone who fits one of these categories.

In most cases, the WOTC comes to 40% of the employee’s qualified wages for the first year of employment if they work at least 400 hours that year.  If they work at least 120 hours, but less than 400 hours, the credit is 25%.  The credit is limited to the first $6,000 of income, although there are exceptions that I will note later in this memo.  The wages subject to the credit cannot be claimed as a deduction on your tax return.

In order to qualify for the WOTC, you must fill out Form 8850 for the IRS (which has a portion for the employer and employee to fill out) and file for certification with your local agencies.  For Florida, the Form 8850 and Florida Form ETA-9061 must be completed and mailed to the Agency for Workforce Innovation in Tallahassee no later than 28 days after the employee’s start date.

Examples of WOTC Scenarios:

You hire Mr. Smith for $10 an hour.  Mr. Smith is an ex-felon and works for you for 700 hours this year, or 17 and a half weeks.  At the end of the year, you have paid him $7,000 in gross income.  The work opportunity credit comes to $2,400 (first $6,000 in wages x 40%).

Instead, you hire Mr. Smith for $10 an hour and he works 300 hours, or 7 and half weeks.  At the end of the year, you have paid him $3,000 in gross wages.  The total credit is $750 ($3,000 x 25% since he worked more than 120 hours, but less than 400).

Exceptions:

For qualified veterans, the wage limit is $12,000.  This means that your potential credit could be as much as $4,800.

For summer youth employees, the credit is 40% of wages paid during any 90 day period between May 1 and September 15 up to a maximum of $3,000 per employee.

Wages do not include amounts paid under federally funded on-the-job training programs, Social Security work supplement payments under section 482(e) of the Social Security Act, or wages paid to employees filling strike replacement positions.

Drawbacks:

Except in the case of a C-Corporation, the WOTC is taken on the personal income tax return of the owners of the company.  In other words, even if you hire someone to work for the first half of the year, you won’t be able to apply the credit until the following year when you file your corporate and personal income tax returns.

You must reduce your deduction for wages by the total amount of the credit.  If you pay someone $20,000 for the year and take the maximum credit of $2,400 (40% x the first $6,000 in wages), then on your company’s tax return you can only deduct $17,600 in wages for that individual.  If you are the single owner of an S Corp and in the top tax bracket, that would reduce your effective tax savings by $840 ($2,400 x 35% tax bracket).

The WOTC is taken on Form 3800 of your personal return as a general business tax credit, but it is not refundable.  In other words, if your total tax liability after other credits and deductions comes to zero for the year, you cannot take the WOTC for that year.  You can carry it forward up to twenty years or carry it back to the previous year.

THORBJØRN JAGLAND,
PRESIDENT OF THE NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENT (STORTING)

Thorbjørn Jagland is President of the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) since 2005 and Member of Parliament from Buskerud County since 1993

Mr. Jagland was born on 5 November 1950 in Drammen, Norway.
He is married to Hanne Grotjord. They have two children.

CABINET POSITIONS
v Prime Minister, 1996-1997
v Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2000-2001

PARLIAMENTARY POSITIONS
v President of the Norwegian Parliament (Storting) since 2005
v Member of Parliament since 1993
v Member of the Standing Committee on Defence and the Enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee, since 2005
v Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee, 2001-2005
v Chairman of the EEA Consultative Committee since 2000-2005, member of the Committee 1994-1996 and again from 1997-2000
v Member of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Enlarged Foreign Affairs Committee, 1993-1996 and 1997-2000, Chairman of the Committee for two months in 2000,

EUROPEAN AND TRANSATLANTIC PARLIAMENTARY POSITIONS
v Head of the Norwegian delegation for Relations with the European Parliament, 2001-2005
v Member of the Norwegian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, 2001-2005
v Member of the Norwegian delegation to the Nordic Council, 1993-1996 and 1997-2000
v Head of the Norwegian delegation at the Second Summit of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg 1997
v Member of the Norwegian delegation for Relations with the European Parliament, 1993-1996 and 1997-2000

INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL POSITIONS
v Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights since 2006
v Chair of the Socialist International Middle East Committee,
2000-2006
v Member of the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Commission
(“Mitchell Commission”), 2000-2001
v Vice President of the Socialist International since 1999
v Member of the International Board of Governors,
Peres Center for Peace since 1997

v Chair of the Socialist International Finance and Administration Committee, 1987-1992

NATIONAL POLITICAL POSITIONS
v Chairman of the Norwegian Labour Party, 1992-2002
v Party secretary of the Labour Party, 1987-1992
v Secretary of the Labour Party Programme Committee, 1986-1989
v Chairman of the Labour Party International Committee since 1986
v Acting party secretary of the Labour Party, 1986-87
v Secretary of the Labour Party Committee on
Disarmament since 1982
v Chairman of the Norwegian Labour Youth League, 1977-1981
v Chairman of the Labour Youth League, Buskerud County, 1973-1976

ELECTED POSITIONS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
v Member of Buskerud County Council, 1975-1983

PUBLICATIONS
In the course of his political career, Mr. Jagland has published
a large number of articles and publications on Norwegian and international issues, in particular on European issues. In 1990,
Mr. Jagland published the book “Min europeiske drøm”
(“My European Dream”).

EDUCATION
v Degree in Economics, University of Oslo, 1975

Communiqué de presse – 705(2009)

Thorbjørn Jagland élu Secrétaire Général du Conseil de l’Europe
STRASBOURG, 29.09.2009 – L’Assemblée parlementaire du Conseil de l’Europe (APCE) a élu aujourd’hui Thorbjørn Jagland (Norvège) Secrétaire Général de l’Organisation pour un mandat de cinq ans.

Au premier tour de l’élection, Thorbjørn Jagland a obtenu 165 voix (majorité absolue) et Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (Pologne) 80 voix.
Il y a eu 245 voix exprimées.

M. Jagland est Président du Parlement norvégien (Storting) depuis 2005 et député du Département de Buskerud depuis 1993.

Il est né le 5 novembre 1950 à Drammen, Norvège. Il est marié à Hanne Grotjord. Ils ont deux enfants.Thorbjørn Jagland prêtera serment en tant que Secrétaire Général le 1er Octobre 2009.

AMP-International

Zendikar poses a problem for me. I like obviously powerful cards that have an obvious place in the metagame. A good example of this would be something light Lightning Bolt. It is cheap, powerful and I know exactly where I want to put it.

Zen has a few cards like this. However, the set seems to  have a lot more of what I call cards with potential; powerful cards without an obvious slot in the current metagame. These are cards that are good in a vacuum, “win-more” cards or cards which would necessitate building a new deck.

I think the reasons for this are two-fold. I have never seen cards like the cards in Zen before, so I’m not quite sure how to classify them. The metagame, after losing Lorywn, will probably consist of several Alara based decks such as Bant, Jund and Naya, which don’t have so many open slots and seem to do just fine without the new cards. 

Of course, new decks always come along when one set rotates out and another takes its place. Sometimes it just takes time, and cards with potential.

Here are my picks for Zen, the rare cards.

Obvious choices

Fetch Lands
At first glance, fetch lands don’t seem to be all that, but on closer inspection, they do so much. First, they are super mana fixers. A few sets of these will keep the three and four color decks running strong. Secondly, they thin your deck out. Lastly, they trigger landfall twice, once with the initial drop and once when you put the land you searched out into play. Money rares already near $20 per.  

Day of Judgment
It doesn’t kill regenerating creatures, but it is still Wrath of God. Since when has regeneration really been relevant? River Boa will probably laugh at this, but that’s about it. Control will want.

Goblin Guide
Some say he’s better than Figure of Destiny, some say he’s worse. I don’t know who’s right, but a 2/2 with haste for 1 will be played in aggressive decks in his color. Uncontested, on turn three you get the same amount of damage in as you would with the figure, minus the extra 4 mana you played. He doesn’t have late game presence, but the haste could still be relevant for the last few points of damage. His drawback is interesting too. You get to see what they are drawing next turn. Of course, they might get a land, but we’ll see if this ends up being relevant.

Cards with Potential 

Mindbreak Trap
Played for free or for 2UU, you still get to counter any number of cards. It will always counter at least one. Perhaps this will see some sideboard action against cascade. If a combo deck appears in standard, we will certianly see this.

Bloodchief Ascension
I fully expect somebody to figure out how to build a deck around this. I can already see it going in some sort of mono-black Vampire aggro deck or Blightning. With cheap damage and hasty creatures abound in standard, activating two or three of these is pretty feasible. Not to mention devastating.

Scute Mob
I don’t care what they say, Scute Mob has board presence turn one. He will get there eventually if they don’t kill him. Drop him early and get in a few pings, drop him late and he can grow to stupid size in just a few turns. He might be a removal magnet, but that’s okay. He only costs one mana.

Ob Nilixis, the Fallen
Ob might make a good finisher. If he dies before you get to drop a land, he’s underpowered. If he dies after you drop a land, you got a 6/6 and 3 damage in for 3BB. He’s great with Harrow and Fetchlands. He doesn’t even have to swing, but if he does he’ll likely be huge. Of course, he will require a bit of building around, but I think he’ll get there.

Malakir Bloodwitch
On her own, she’s a 4/4 pro white with flying, one life to you and one away from your opponent. For 3BB. Two or vamps on the field and you just got mad value from her.

Pyromancer Ascension
Might be nice on its own, but I see some U/R nonsense with draw a card, discard a card, then double your pleasure. Cruel Ultimatum X3!

Summoning Trap
Nice side for anything heavy in green if counter-control comes into power. Not bad at 3GGG and certainly not at 0. Might help you find that creature you really need in a pinch too.

Oran Rief, the Vastwood
Two of these in play and little guys like Scute Mob, Wild Nacatl and Bloodbraid Elf just seem like fun.

Luminarch Ascension
This card was built for control/fog decks and at the same time for defeating fog/control decks.

Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Three land draws in a row in mono-red won’t suck so badly anymore.

Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Mono white will have endless creatures.

Exploring Zendikar at the prerelease was a blast! The cards are very new and very interesting.  The new plane was very good to me and I had a very strong blue card pool. With a nice splash of white, I was able to go 7-1-1 and claim some very nice booster packs.

It is surprising how many times 7 mana for a 1/2 won me the game.

Here’s the deck. 

Critters
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
2 Welkin Turn
2 Tempest Owl
3 Merfolk Seastalkers!
1 Kor Aeronaut
1 Shepherd of the Lost
1 Kazandu Blademaster
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
2 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Kor Hookmaster
1 Gomazoa

Instants
2 Pitfall Trap
1 Shieldmate’s Blessing
1 Into the Roil

Sorcery
2 Paralyzing Grap

Artifact
1 Spidersilk Net

Lands
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Misty Rainforest
7 Plains
8 Islands

As you can see, I got lucky with some very solid creatures. All but 5 of my dudes could fly, and almost all of them had some sort of ability relevant throughout the game. I could usually get in the quick beats and the deck curved out quite nicely. The deck didn’t really have a lot of big creatures, so the long game strategy was to muck up the field and sneak in for a few damage each turn if possible, and I could spend a lot of time setting up a fatal strike. The deck could consistently pull out of a downward spiral if I drew a few key cards.

Total a-holes.

I’m not going to go play by play. Instead, I will say a few words about the best cards of the deck.

Merfolk Seastalkers
This guy was the MVP of my deck, making the game a nightmare for my opponent. Having three of these bomb uncommons in my sealed pool is likely the reason my deck performed so well. The ability to tap non-fliers for three mana, without having to tap themselves, is nuts. The stalkers are also have islandwalk and a 2/3 body. Finally, they only cost 3U. Playing these guys with six or more mana meant I didn’t have to sacrifice my fragile flyers to block anymore, and were often the beginning of the end for my opponent.  Dropping them on turn four if my opponent was having a slow start made for a very easy game. The islandwalk was surprisingly relevant too.

Tempest Owl
A 1/2 flier for 1u. If I paid 5uu, he taps three permanents when he comes into play. His kicker ability allowed me to mount a fatal attack more often than I thought it would. He also made a decent chump blocker.

Welkin Turn
A 2/1 flier for 1u. I found him in my opening hand quite often and usually he was good for early damage. I did find his drawback, not being able to block non-fliers, to be a problem. However, the damage he could usually get in made it worth the pain. 

Sphinx of Lost Truths
I never played him without the kicker and he always seemed to pull me out of a tight spot. Most of the time he ended up being a removal magnet, but the three cards were always worth it. 

 The rest of the cards

Gomazoa: Nice blocker and virtual removal. Interesting card.
Pitfall Trap: Nice, easy way to take care of big monsters. Beware, there are a surprising amount of fliers in Zen.
Shepherd of the Lost: Nice abilities for a decent price. A removal magnet. Didn’t see her but a couple of times.
Kor Aeronaut: He flies for WW, never kicked him.
Kazandu Blademaster: 2/2 first strike and Vigilance for WW. Better with allies. 
Kor Hookmaster: Taps an enemy for  two turns. Can be handy. 
Sky Ruin Drake: 2/5. Nice blocker.
Sphinx of Jwar Isle: 5/5 flier with Shroud. Not bad. Second ability is wierd. Didn’t seem him much unfortunately.
Into the Roil: Card drawing and a bounce.
Paralyzing Grasp:Kinda removal. Good with Merfolk Seastalkers.
Shieldmate’s Blessing: Seems good but never did a lot for me.
Spidersilk Net: Nice, inexpensive  way to add extra toughness to fragile creature.

It seems blue and white were popular colors. I know at least 5 (including myself) of the top 8 played B/U. It seems there are quite a few fliers in these colors, and blue has some tough, cheap blockers. Most decks I had problems with were B/U, as they often had fliers of their own which I could not tap down or hit with Pitfall Trap.

Zendikar has been fully spoiled. Starcity has gone live with presales of singles. Wallets are screaming for mercy in unison across the planet.

Thanks WotC; we were bored with our playsets of Wrath anyway.

The enemy colored fetchlands are going for between $15 and $20 a pop right now, with Misty Rainforest and Verdant Catacomb selling the highest. Day of Judgment is at the $15 mark. The greatly anticipated Lotus Cobra is selling at a whopping $25.

On the bright side, Devout Lightcaster isn’t even $2 yet; get her while she’s cheap.

Besides the obvious staples like the fetches and the wrath replacement, Zendikar is full of super powerful cards. Lorywn is  rotating out and  a power vacuum is being created. Nobody knows what standard is going to look like in a few weeks. Right now, there is infinite possibility.

To be honest, I have never seen cards like what Zendikar is packed full of. It is not just the power level of the cardboard, but the strangeness of the set. When Timespiral block dropped and Alara took its place, we got plenty of neat new cards, but it felt like the same game. I feel there is going to be an interesting shift in the game soon. 

Perhaps you should be safe and just buy a whole set.

La 23 septembrie 2009, liderul Reţelei OMCT – poeta Renata Verejanu, a prezidat reuniunea liderilor ONG-urilor din reţea, unde s-au făcut totalurile activităţii foarte rodnice în perioada 2008-2009, şi s-au lansat proiectele pentru perioada 2009-2010.

Unul dintre proiectele de lungă durată – Forumul Mondial al Copiilor Talentaţi, proiect al Renatei Verejanu, lansat în 2001 şi implementat anual de către Organizaţia Mondială a Copiilor Talentaţi, s-a realizat cu succes şi în 2009, reunind tinere talente şi mari personalităţi ale culturii europene din şapte ţări.

În ocrombrie 2009 vor demara pregătirile pentru ediţia 2009-2010 a Forumului Mondial al Copiilor Talentaţi.

În poză: nepoţica lui Boris Tcaci, o domniţă din Moscova, membră a Organizaţiei Mondiale a Copiilor Talentaţi., mascota Forumului.