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.
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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!
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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!
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