Here's my pool and deck from the pre-release at Mythic yesterday.
Elixir of Immort
Phyrex Hulk
Kitesail
Ring of Valkas (red)
Ring of Xathrid (black)
Ring of Thune (white)
Wall o' Fire
Trumpet Blast
Goblin Arsonist
Mogg Flunkies
Mindclaw Shaman
Reckless Brute
Craterize
Turn to Slag
Dragon Hatchling
Chandra's Fury
Kindled Fury
2x Searing Spear
Hamletback Goliath
Dark Favor
Blood Reckoning
2x Giant Scorpion
2x Murder
Bloodthrone Vamp
Disentomb
Liliana's Shade
Cower in Fear
Bloodhunter Bat
Veilborn Ghoul
2x Tormented Soul
Nefarox, Overlord
Liliana o' the Dark Realms
2x Kraken Hatchling
Merfolk o' Pearl
Welkin Tern
Watercourser
Unsummon
Tal's Invocation
Courtly Provo
2x Scroll Thief
Wind Drake
Mind Sculpt
Downpour
Fog Bank
Hydrosurge
Void Stalker
Master o' Pearl
Guardian Lions
Glorious Charge
Ajani, Caller o' the Pride
Healer o' the Pride
2x Angel's Mercy
2x Prized Elephant
Erase
2x Attended Knight
Rain o' Blades
Pacifism
Ajani's Sunstriker
Cap's Call
Show o' Valor
Silvercoat Lion
Divine Verdict
Battlefight Eagle
2x Primal Huntbeast
Bond Beetle
Prey Upon
2x Deadly Recluse
Naturalize
Arbor Elf
Sentinel Spider
Plummet
Duskdale Wurm
Titanic Growth
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What to build? Some decent power in that pool. What do you think?
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Hard to ignore those planeswalkers... But was white and black a dangerous color combo?
Did I have enough black to just splash white? Hmm... This is what I rolled out.
Rings o' Thune & Xanthrid
BT Vamp
2x Murders
2x Scorpions
Veil Ghoul
Blood Bat
Cower in Fear
Lili's Shade
Liliana
Nefarox
Healer o' Pride
Ajani
2x Prized Elephants
2x Attend Knights
Pacifism
Cap's Call
Divine Verdict
Silver Lion
SB: Disentomb for the white ring
Long story short: went 3-2 with mana probs all day long. The double-mana casting costs were trouble. I went 10 swamps and 7 plains, but got hosed too often. When I had good mana, I won my games easily. Ugh. A painful lesson. Ian and Paul went 3-2 as well and Mr. Boland got 4-1.
24 players. Good times.
Kudos to Mythic for the spacious extra room to play. Nice not to be squeezed in for this!!
Sweetest play o' the Day: With Ajani and BT Vamp in play as well as 3 other dudes, I played the Attended Knight and used the flying/double strike ability on Ajani and targeted the Vamp. Then sac'd all the other dudes to make it a 11/11 flying, double-striker. Wham - game over! Sorry Paul!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
M13 Pre-release 7/7/12
M13 Pre-release 7/7/12 @ Epic Adventures
I had plans already and was going to skip, but the plans fell through. I'm glad they did.
I had done some research on the new cards - exalted is back. Blue has tricky tricks (as usual). Maybe mill in draft is possible? Let's open some packs. $30 to play, 20 players and 4 rounds.
Elvish Visionary (nice to see you again!)
Deadly Recluse
Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
Primal Huntbeast
Fungal Sprouting (they make a cream for this)
2x Vast Gorger
Sentinel Spider
Plummet
Fog
Naturalize
Bountiful Harvest
Ground Seal (so good in limited... not)
Index
2x Unsummon
2x Welkin Tern
Watercourser (weirdest picture ever)
Wind Drake
Tal's Invocation (when only one drake just won't do)
Faerie Invaders (not as tough as "space" invaders)
Tricks o' Trade
Negate
Essence Scatter
Downpour (this should not effect merfolk)
Fog Bank
Stormtide Leviathan
2x Rummage Goblin (you see them at garage sales and flea markets)
Canyon Minotaur
Kren's Command
Goblin Arsonist
Trumpet Blast
Bladetusk Boar
Searing Spear
2x Goblin Battle Jester (prefer his cousin Battle Rattle)
Volcanic Geyser
Mark o' Mutiny
Dragon Hatchling
Arms Dealer (the only good use for a goblin)
Mogg Flunkies
Cap's Call
Faith's Reward (got faith? get your dead guys back)
Pillar Ox
2x Ajani's Sunstriker
Serra Avenger
Show o' Valor (is she saving or tossing the kid in this pic?)
Aven Squire
War Priest o' Thune
2x Warclamp Mastiff (this card is making ma'stiff!)
Safe Passage
Battleflight Eagle
Prized Elephant
Divine Verdict
Walking Corpse
2x Servant o' Nefarox
Tormented Soul
Duty-Bound Dead
Vamp Nighthawk
Crippling Blight
Vile Rebirth
2x Knight o' Infamy
Public Execution (cuz in private would be so lonely)
Murder (was the case that they gave me)
Liliana's Shade
Mark o' Vampire
Mind Rot
Sign in Blood
Duskmantle Prowler
Bloodhunter Bat
Shimian Specter
Duress
Evolving Wilds
Jaye's Tome (multiple editions and still unreadable)
Gem of Becoming
Sands o' Delirium (got mill?)
Ring o' Valkas
Elixir o' Immortality
Go ahead. Make your deck. I'll wait.
.
.
.
Xanthrid Gorgon was the promo that they gave me. Really? I mean the alt art is cool, but remember when they gave out promos like Wurmcoil Engine? Now that was worth getting!
.
.
.
I thought about using the goblins + Arms Dealer, but I couldn't make the sacrifice.
Blue was tempting with the Unsummons and flyers. And the mill artifact rare would be fun.
But I went with Red/Black to leverage the exalted and removal.
Exalted: 2x Servants, 2x Knights, DutyDead and Prowler.
Evasion: Hatchling, Bat, Boar, Soul, Specter and Nighthawk.
Removal: Blight, Murder, Spear, Geyser and Execution.
Extra: Mark o' Mutiny, Mark o' Vamp, Elixir and some dudes.
Curve: four 1cc, five 2cc, five 3cc, seven 4cc, one 6cc and one Xcc.
Lands: 10 swamps, 6 mountains and Evolving Wilds.
Round one vs. Brad. Quiet, but nice enough guy. He was RG with Rancor and dudes. He won the roll and proceeded to smash me with trample damage. 3rd turn Rancor and curved out on dudes. I was able to kill a few of them but they kept coming. With Rancor. Did I mention that it's good?
Regroup game two I got out 3 exalted dudes and the bat swung in for 5 each turn. He had no air defense, so I won the race. Played Public Execution on his best attacker and -2/0 on the others. This gave me a lethal swing back. Game three was turn one Tormented Soul, turn two Knight, turn three Servant and turn four Mark o' Vamp on the Soul. 3/3 unblockable lifelinkers are great! (1-0. 2-1)
Round two vs. Robert. I told him earlier I did not want to play against him. He had the Thunder Hellkite and Extra Value Beast: Thragtusk. He won the roll and curved his way with big green dudes for the win. My exalted deck is not good for blocking big guys. Game two was better and I got the Marked Soul combo rolling for the win. Had 30 life in that one. Game three was the same but with Nighthawk doing the duty. Exalted plus evasion guys wins games! (2-0, 4-2)
Round three vs. Quinn. Nice, friendly kid. He was rocking a BG concoction. Big greenies and removal. Game one we raced back and forth and we each got to one life. Most comabt was where leaving back a blocker or two was key. I won it with the Tormented Soul for exacties. Game two he mulled to 4. Ouch. Had him at 9 before he got a decent board but another exalted swing with the Soul and a Volcanic Geyser finished him. (3-0, 6-2)
Sweet! 3-0 with only one rare in my deck. And the specter was by no means a game-changer. When I first starting drafting or doing sealed, I would always try to cram as many rares as possible. If they were rare, they must be good, right? Um, no. Synergy, that's the trick.
Round four vs. Michael. I've been playing him here for a while now. We chatted about our pools and our games so far. You know you will be playing against good cards at the final table. He had a BW deck. I won the roll and started my exalted army up as usual. Then wham! Mutilate. Ugh. But my next plays were both Knights that had protection from white. They held back his threats and I killed his flyers. Finally whittled him down low enough for the Geyser. One cool play was my Crippling Blight on his Chronomaton, which he tapped to pump it and save it. But Blight also says "can't block" and that got my Knight through. Game two was a manatastrophe, to which he was stuck on 2 lands. I rolled him for the win. (4-0, 8-2)
4-0 got me 6 packs and an Ultra-Pro Dual Deck Box. Cool!
First impressions:
Exalted is a thing. If you can pair it up with some evasion guys, watch out!
Volcanic Geyser is a great finisher.
Rancor and Vampire Nighthawk are as ridiculous as they ever were.
Dusk Prowler will surprise people. Hasty 3/3 attacker. Could be more with other exalted guys.
Players liked the cycle of creatures that said they got +1/+1 if you had a kind of land. Also, the Rings were good for your on-color dudes.
Here's to a great new drafting season with M13. May it keep us happy until we return to Ravnica!
I had plans already and was going to skip, but the plans fell through. I'm glad they did.
I had done some research on the new cards - exalted is back. Blue has tricky tricks (as usual). Maybe mill in draft is possible? Let's open some packs. $30 to play, 20 players and 4 rounds.
Elvish Visionary (nice to see you again!)
Deadly Recluse
Mwonvuli Beast Tracker
Primal Huntbeast
Fungal Sprouting (they make a cream for this)
2x Vast Gorger
Sentinel Spider
Plummet
Fog
Naturalize
Bountiful Harvest
Ground Seal (so good in limited... not)
Index
2x Unsummon
2x Welkin Tern
Watercourser (weirdest picture ever)
Wind Drake
Tal's Invocation (when only one drake just won't do)
Faerie Invaders (not as tough as "space" invaders)
Tricks o' Trade
Negate
Essence Scatter
Downpour (this should not effect merfolk)
Fog Bank
Stormtide Leviathan
2x Rummage Goblin (you see them at garage sales and flea markets)
Canyon Minotaur
Kren's Command
Goblin Arsonist
Trumpet Blast
Bladetusk Boar
Searing Spear
2x Goblin Battle Jester (prefer his cousin Battle Rattle)
Volcanic Geyser
Mark o' Mutiny
Dragon Hatchling
Arms Dealer (the only good use for a goblin)
Mogg Flunkies
Cap's Call
Faith's Reward (got faith? get your dead guys back)
Pillar Ox
2x Ajani's Sunstriker
Serra Avenger
Show o' Valor (is she saving or tossing the kid in this pic?)
Aven Squire
War Priest o' Thune
2x Warclamp Mastiff (this card is making ma'stiff!)
Safe Passage
Battleflight Eagle
Prized Elephant
Divine Verdict
Walking Corpse
2x Servant o' Nefarox
Tormented Soul
Duty-Bound Dead
Vamp Nighthawk
Crippling Blight
Vile Rebirth
2x Knight o' Infamy
Public Execution (cuz in private would be so lonely)
Murder (was the case that they gave me)
Liliana's Shade
Mark o' Vampire
Mind Rot
Sign in Blood
Duskmantle Prowler
Bloodhunter Bat
Shimian Specter
Duress
Evolving Wilds
Jaye's Tome (multiple editions and still unreadable)
Gem of Becoming
Sands o' Delirium (got mill?)
Ring o' Valkas
Elixir o' Immortality
Go ahead. Make your deck. I'll wait.
.
.
.
Xanthrid Gorgon was the promo that they gave me. Really? I mean the alt art is cool, but remember when they gave out promos like Wurmcoil Engine? Now that was worth getting!
.
.
.
I thought about using the goblins + Arms Dealer, but I couldn't make the sacrifice.
Blue was tempting with the Unsummons and flyers. And the mill artifact rare would be fun.
But I went with Red/Black to leverage the exalted and removal.
Exalted: 2x Servants, 2x Knights, DutyDead and Prowler.
Evasion: Hatchling, Bat, Boar, Soul, Specter and Nighthawk.
Removal: Blight, Murder, Spear, Geyser and Execution.
Extra: Mark o' Mutiny, Mark o' Vamp, Elixir and some dudes.
Curve: four 1cc, five 2cc, five 3cc, seven 4cc, one 6cc and one Xcc.
Lands: 10 swamps, 6 mountains and Evolving Wilds.
Round one vs. Brad. Quiet, but nice enough guy. He was RG with Rancor and dudes. He won the roll and proceeded to smash me with trample damage. 3rd turn Rancor and curved out on dudes. I was able to kill a few of them but they kept coming. With Rancor. Did I mention that it's good?
Regroup game two I got out 3 exalted dudes and the bat swung in for 5 each turn. He had no air defense, so I won the race. Played Public Execution on his best attacker and -2/0 on the others. This gave me a lethal swing back. Game three was turn one Tormented Soul, turn two Knight, turn three Servant and turn four Mark o' Vamp on the Soul. 3/3 unblockable lifelinkers are great! (1-0. 2-1)
Round two vs. Robert. I told him earlier I did not want to play against him. He had the Thunder Hellkite and Extra Value Beast: Thragtusk. He won the roll and curved his way with big green dudes for the win. My exalted deck is not good for blocking big guys. Game two was better and I got the Marked Soul combo rolling for the win. Had 30 life in that one. Game three was the same but with Nighthawk doing the duty. Exalted plus evasion guys wins games! (2-0, 4-2)
Round three vs. Quinn. Nice, friendly kid. He was rocking a BG concoction. Big greenies and removal. Game one we raced back and forth and we each got to one life. Most comabt was where leaving back a blocker or two was key. I won it with the Tormented Soul for exacties. Game two he mulled to 4. Ouch. Had him at 9 before he got a decent board but another exalted swing with the Soul and a Volcanic Geyser finished him. (3-0, 6-2)
Sweet! 3-0 with only one rare in my deck. And the specter was by no means a game-changer. When I first starting drafting or doing sealed, I would always try to cram as many rares as possible. If they were rare, they must be good, right? Um, no. Synergy, that's the trick.
Round four vs. Michael. I've been playing him here for a while now. We chatted about our pools and our games so far. You know you will be playing against good cards at the final table. He had a BW deck. I won the roll and started my exalted army up as usual. Then wham! Mutilate. Ugh. But my next plays were both Knights that had protection from white. They held back his threats and I killed his flyers. Finally whittled him down low enough for the Geyser. One cool play was my Crippling Blight on his Chronomaton, which he tapped to pump it and save it. But Blight also says "can't block" and that got my Knight through. Game two was a manatastrophe, to which he was stuck on 2 lands. I rolled him for the win. (4-0, 8-2)
4-0 got me 6 packs and an Ultra-Pro Dual Deck Box. Cool!
First impressions:
Exalted is a thing. If you can pair it up with some evasion guys, watch out!
Volcanic Geyser is a great finisher.
Rancor and Vampire Nighthawk are as ridiculous as they ever were.
Dusk Prowler will surprise people. Hasty 3/3 attacker. Could be more with other exalted guys.
Players liked the cycle of creatures that said they got +1/+1 if you had a kind of land. Also, the Rings were good for your on-color dudes.
Here's to a great new drafting season with M13. May it keep us happy until we return to Ravnica!
Monday, July 2, 2012
GP Vancouver June 2012
GP Vancouver June 22-25, 2012
Ryan, Greg, Russell, Nate and I all got up to Canada (eh) and planned to take down the GP. Two of us made Day Two. One of us got money and a Pro Point. Read on to find out who!
So Vancouver is a big city. And blurry. No, that's my whack camera. But it is big.
I took Friday off to fly in from SFO. I was going to meet Greg at the Vancouver airport - he came in from Denver. My flight was delayed in SF due to mechanical difficulties and we finally left 90 minutes late. Thankfully, I found room for my carry-on in the overhead and I just read my book. Snackbox for $4? What about free peanuts? Good old United.
I found Greg next to a Subway at VAN (those were everywhere up here), and we decided to split a cab to the hotel. $30 Canadian and some sprinkles got us there in 20 minutes. I had got us all a room at the Best Western downtown. Russ, Ryan and Nate were grinding at the Con Center, but came up to meet us soon. We went to a cool, little organic Japanese place and ate much sushi. Alcohol is heavily taxed in Vancouver, much to our chargin. $13 for a six-pack of Pabst. We found some 20 oz. cans for $3, which was doable. And a handle of Tacquery for $30. Guess who won the credit card game for that? Me! After too many drinks and Magic strategizing, we hit the sack to be ready for the next day.
Up early Saturday - registration at 8am. Still groggy from last night, we all walked in the rain to the Con Center. About 15 mins. I should have gotten some coffee, but we didn't want to miss anything. No cafe in the Con Center and none in the blocks surrounding. We paid and sat and got our packs.
I opened up Avacyn actually, but not much else of note. Happy to pass it along. My deck was:
RW Humans
Pillar
Somber Vigilante
Bladed Bracers
Thunderbolt
Exterminator - always got killed
2x Lit Mauler
Striker
Thraben Valiant
Inquisitor
Thatch Revolt
2x Ringleader
Moonlight Geist
Haven Vamp - surprisingly good
Seraph of Dawn
Goldnight Commander - broken
Herald of War
Spectral Guards
2x Thunder Wrath
Voice of the Provinces
And then I got a game loss. Really? I finished building and submitted my deck with 15 mins to spare. I thought "Plenty of time" to search for coffee. I had a slight headache/foggy feeling. And the stupid game hall was bottom level, way in the back. Shoot! I got back just as the judge was walking away from my table. My opponent was sympathetic, but I was mad and tilted. He played Wolfir Silverheart and crushed me game 2. Oh well!
I needed a break. I was shamed. I went upstairs and sulked. I did a crossword. I ate a granola bar.
Hey, I thought, I probably would've lost to that Wolfir anyway. Chill, dude!
Greg texted me asking where I was. I needed to get back to round 2.
I had to be out the gate fast to win with this deck. Sometimes the Herald got big, but I needed to do damage quick and then burn them out. Versus big green (there was a lot), I was toast. The Vampire was amazing with Thatcher. As was the Commander. You should definitely salute when he comes into play.
I righted the ship and got to 2-2 before losing in the 5th round. X-3 = no Day Two. Sigh.
But Greg and Ryan were rocking undefeated! Go Team SC! We rallied around them and gave support. Russ and I joined a random draft and I was amazed at how fast it went. Maybe Woodstock's drafts are too slow? Pick, pass, pick, pass, zip, zip, zip! I won the first round and lost in the second. Still good for 2 packs.
Saturday night we celebrated Ryan and Greg's records for Day Two. Another bottle of gin and another loss for me in the CC game. Running hot! Russell and I went to really good Indian food and cruised around the shops downtown. There were some ladies upstairs from our room. They chatted us up a bit, but smartly continued on their way. Didn't get too crazy, so the guys could be rested for Sunday.
No rain on Sunday! We all went down to the Con Center to support R & G. They spent some time going over strategy and draft color options. Luckily, they were in different pods. I had breakfast with Nate around the corner on the water. Very good. Took some pictures and drafted again later. Ryan played a feature match on camera vs. Paul Rietzel and lost bad. He was never in it. Oh well. Greg bombed out and ended up out of the money. But Ryan snuck in with tiebreakers at #58. Good for $200 and a Pro Point! He's a pro!
Beers at the local brewery and then another bottle of gin. I lost the CC game again - sheesh! We played Fire & Smoke (Nate's game). We played Mexicali (my game). We hit up a club. We got poutine. We watched Ryan order pizza from 3 different places. We saw a skunk in the hotel's courtyard. We saw Ryan and Greg feed the skunk blueberries. They were one with nature. 2:30am crash!!
Side note: Poutine! It's fries with cheese curds covered in a brown peppery gravy. And it's gooooood!
There was a place right around the corner from our hotel and it was open until 4am. Craaazy!
Such the delicious snack after late-night partying. Lots of different sauces too. Highly recommended.
Monday was just cloudy too. We had breakfast at the hotel and Greg, Nate and I had to catch our plane. Spent my remaining Canadian dollars at the airport on things for the kids. We flew back to SFO and I drove them back home. Russ and Ryan stayed an extra day and went to Stanley Park and the Aquarium. The story is Ryan met a girl there and made plans for dinner later, but she didn't show. Next time, man, get her number! But hey, a pro point is better than that, right?
Ryan, Greg, Russell, Nate and I all got up to Canada (eh) and planned to take down the GP. Two of us made Day Two. One of us got money and a Pro Point. Read on to find out who!
I took Friday off to fly in from SFO. I was going to meet Greg at the Vancouver airport - he came in from Denver. My flight was delayed in SF due to mechanical difficulties and we finally left 90 minutes late. Thankfully, I found room for my carry-on in the overhead and I just read my book. Snackbox for $4? What about free peanuts? Good old United.
I found Greg next to a Subway at VAN (those were everywhere up here), and we decided to split a cab to the hotel. $30 Canadian and some sprinkles got us there in 20 minutes. I had got us all a room at the Best Western downtown. Russ, Ryan and Nate were grinding at the Con Center, but came up to meet us soon. We went to a cool, little organic Japanese place and ate much sushi. Alcohol is heavily taxed in Vancouver, much to our chargin. $13 for a six-pack of Pabst. We found some 20 oz. cans for $3, which was doable. And a handle of Tacquery for $30. Guess who won the credit card game for that? Me! After too many drinks and Magic strategizing, we hit the sack to be ready for the next day.
I opened up Avacyn actually, but not much else of note. Happy to pass it along. My deck was:
RW Humans
Pillar
Somber Vigilante
Bladed Bracers
Thunderbolt
Exterminator - always got killed
2x Lit Mauler
Striker
Thraben Valiant
Inquisitor
Thatch Revolt
2x Ringleader
Moonlight Geist
Haven Vamp - surprisingly good
Seraph of Dawn
Goldnight Commander - broken
Herald of War
Spectral Guards
2x Thunder Wrath
Voice of the Provinces
And then I got a game loss. Really? I finished building and submitted my deck with 15 mins to spare. I thought "Plenty of time" to search for coffee. I had a slight headache/foggy feeling. And the stupid game hall was bottom level, way in the back. Shoot! I got back just as the judge was walking away from my table. My opponent was sympathetic, but I was mad and tilted. He played Wolfir Silverheart and crushed me game 2. Oh well!
I needed a break. I was shamed. I went upstairs and sulked. I did a crossword. I ate a granola bar.
Hey, I thought, I probably would've lost to that Wolfir anyway. Chill, dude!
Greg texted me asking where I was. I needed to get back to round 2.
I had to be out the gate fast to win with this deck. Sometimes the Herald got big, but I needed to do damage quick and then burn them out. Versus big green (there was a lot), I was toast. The Vampire was amazing with Thatcher. As was the Commander. You should definitely salute when he comes into play.
I righted the ship and got to 2-2 before losing in the 5th round. X-3 = no Day Two. Sigh.
But Greg and Ryan were rocking undefeated! Go Team SC! We rallied around them and gave support. Russ and I joined a random draft and I was amazed at how fast it went. Maybe Woodstock's drafts are too slow? Pick, pass, pick, pass, zip, zip, zip! I won the first round and lost in the second. Still good for 2 packs.
Saturday night we celebrated Ryan and Greg's records for Day Two. Another bottle of gin and another loss for me in the CC game. Running hot! Russell and I went to really good Indian food and cruised around the shops downtown. There were some ladies upstairs from our room. They chatted us up a bit, but smartly continued on their way. Didn't get too crazy, so the guys could be rested for Sunday.
Beers at the local brewery and then another bottle of gin. I lost the CC game again - sheesh! We played Fire & Smoke (Nate's game). We played Mexicali (my game). We hit up a club. We got poutine. We watched Ryan order pizza from 3 different places. We saw a skunk in the hotel's courtyard. We saw Ryan and Greg feed the skunk blueberries. They were one with nature. 2:30am crash!!
There was a place right around the corner from our hotel and it was open until 4am. Craaazy!
Such the delicious snack after late-night partying. Lots of different sauces too. Highly recommended.
Monday was just cloudy too. We had breakfast at the hotel and Greg, Nate and I had to catch our plane. Spent my remaining Canadian dollars at the airport on things for the kids. We flew back to SFO and I drove them back home. Russ and Ryan stayed an extra day and went to Stanley Park and the Aquarium. The story is Ryan met a girl there and made plans for dinner later, but she didn't show. Next time, man, get her number! But hey, a pro point is better than that, right?
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