well i went to the prerealese and i was dissapointed. My cards forced me to play a naya deck. it sucked and i hated it cause i was gona run esper. i truly have bad luck. Was anyone in the same boat?
I've never done a release myself but from what I hear I don't have much to look forward to. apparently there aren't any drafts occurring (which I was looking forward to trying despite being a newb at the game) and only sealed deck tournaments. the one I'll be at tomorrow, we get 1 tournament pack and 3 boosters, so about 80 cards to make a 40 card deck. I was hoping I could put together a primarily red deck, but with the way shards is set I'll have to use at least 3 different colors...thought I could pick and choose a red-green-black deck then, until it was explained to me that there's not much of a chance of constructing a good deck by picking my colors before seeing the cards--it's common sense, but I was still hopeful I wouldn't have to delve into the game tactics typical of colors other than red or black (I'm the impatient kill-kill-kill-chaos player) since I know how out of place I'd feel using white, green, or blue...too much order and thinking involved!
basically, from discovering all of that, and coming across not-so-positive feedback, I'm expecting a lack-luster release for me tomorrow. I'm sure this thread will wrack up a few stories I can only hope to learn from, since all I can provide at the moment is a prediction.
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I live for romance, because romance is about feelings. I live to feel. I take heart...and I take risks, because sometimes the chaos in life can be enriching.
If you go into a sealed with expectations as to which colour(s) you're going to play, you'll fall flat and most likely build a suboptimal deck. In Shards sealed 5c Green or Unearth advantage seemed the strongest- opening enough manafixing isn't hard- hell, someone splashed for Predator Dragon (and got there!)
pre-release was a bomb for me, yah going 2-1-1 in both flights only netted me 4 packs total.. but i did pull 5 mythics in two selaed flight:P i mean come on!
"Crovax Connections" does sound like a friendly corner store run by your local Ascendant Lord
I bet we have a case of Jon Finkel sleeping with the girl, then never calling her again and she going bat #%^% crazy and writing this article case closed.
First PTQ top 8 6/13/09(1st) Second PTQ top 8 10/7/09(5th) Second at national Qualifier 5/15/10
Third PTQ top 8 2/12/11 (2nd)
Second at Alberta 2011's
Fourth PTQ top 8 3/17/12(8th)
GP Vancouver 2012 (18th)
I thought it was awsome, played in flight 1 and went 3-1, the only way I lost was I had 2 straight games where I drew exactly 5 lands. 3 in the first game, and 2 in the second. I played a Naya deck, with only 1 rare, Flameblast Dragon. I had a open deul deck, The Grixis Undead deck, the Vein drinker won me games against Exalted beats. Seems that the way to beat the Exalted is to take some damage, and keep attacking them, well that's what I got out of it. 3-1 grabbed me 3 packs I was 10th of 36. Only grabbed 1 Mythic, Sphinx Sovereign, Meh.
I went this morning with my little brother, two friends and my girlfriend; and my girlfriend's esper deck was the best by far, with a Scourglass, Ethersworn Canonist, Salvage Titan...and ****ing BRILLIANT ULTIMATUM...(I'd never been so upset at my seating then when I saw her rares...)Anyhow because of how new she is to mtg, she could only take the deck to 3-2. Where as my Naya filled with no bombs other than manaplasm...went 4-1...Point is if you were "forced" to play naya you probably had a few Wild Nacatl's, probably a few beasts that were 5/*, and my personal mvp of the morning Resounding Roar (2 mana giant growth)...i guess it sucks that the OP had a bad experience but for any others scanning the forums wondering whether to check out the (pre)release, the cards are a hell of a lot of fun to play in limited.
Before tonight I'd only played in eternal Constructed formats and the card pool I got forced me into playing the three colors I never use ordinarily. And I was running the least colors of anyone I faced, even at three. First time I've had any success with more than two.
Basically you can't go into drafting this set with any preconceived notions of what colors you're taking. Red was my heaviest color. I hadn't played red in years. But it was the best I could do.
I opened an awesome Esper deck (With a couple bant angels and exalted guys) that went 4-0 and didn't lose a game!! I had 3 Sanctum Gargoyles to go with the Tower gargoyle and some other good artifact support (artifact discounter) = crazy card advantage. Swinging with a 7/7 lifelinked gargoyle (exalted)that you can regenerate is really effective.
I judged our first flight of the day and then participated in our 2nd of flight of the day (we started at 1pm mdt)
I didn't open great stuff but I had a serious exalted theme going on. Piloted the deck to a 4-1 finish for 4th and got 3 packs. Was a great way to end the evening for me (we finished at 12:30am mdt)
I wanted to play esper and i had the chance to play esper, but I was pretty disappointed with the actual prerelease itself.
I don't know if its just me, but i didn't like being cramped in a tight space with 30+ people and trying to play magic. The scents alone made me leave early it was that bad.
I miss making a trip out of prereleases and haveing all that room to rome around at. And since the store i played at was a family store first and formost, we had to rush the rounds and could only have about 40 mins to a round with no time imbetween. Kinda lame if you ask me.
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::Circular Logic::
If right is right then left is wrong and if left is wrong and two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do then for every wrong wronged you wrong them twice and
everythings right again.
DON' DENY MY LOGIC...please
We had 50 players in a store that normally only has like 25 players. We sat 6 to a table and there was only going to be 4 rounds. My sealed pool was ok but the group I was with decided that not going 4-0 wouldn't be worth the packs won considering the cramped space and 6pm start time. I went 1-1 drop and then left. No bombs opened but did open a Brilliant Ultimatum. (unplayable in my pool but cool nonetheless) Played Jund colors and splashed for Prince of Thralls
All in all I would say the experience was 50% good and 50% bad. The start time was a real dealbreaker for me. I'm used to Prereleases starting in the morning.
I played a Bant/Esper hybrid with lots of fat fliers and angels, went 3-2, losing to the eventual winner and to my deck not delivering lands. So far I really like the format, despite the fact that it tends to start painfully slowly, with more time spent on mana development with the Panoramas, uncommon CIPT lands, and obelisks than, well, anything else.
I played in one flight and played a dedicated jund deck with Mycoloth, Flameblast Dragon, Hellkite Overlord, and Quietus Spike. I went 3-1 with my one match loss coming as a result of running out of steam and not drawing any creatures once I dropped Quietus Spike in the first game and being stuck on 4 land with a mycoloth in hand in the second game.
Other than that match loss I ended up 8th and winning three packs. Death Baron was the only notable rare I opened out of those.
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I played tody after playing horribly yesterday. The format does seem easier once you simply get used to the tempo.
Today, i had perfect mana in the form of all five Obelisks, three different taplands, and two differant cracklands. Notable opens? Stoic Angel, RGW Ultimatum, FOIL WUB Ultimatum, Aethersworn Canonist. Went RGWu for two blue dudes and the blue capsule. I completely screwed up round one by not having my mana proper. I ended up simply losing to tempo removal and bigger dudes. Ah well. I came out ahead with money.
I'll tell ya'll why this prerelease was dissapointing. The nearest prerelease was an hour or so away from where I live. They only could run one flight of 24 on one day. So. I couldn't because there was no guarantee of being able to play. I am not wasting my gas on that when you could have simply wasted your time going.
I had a great time! Naya and Bant were very strong - lots of people were playing both combos - I opened strong grixis rares but nothing to support - The main thing for me was to to stay disciplined and on track with the role of the deck - I was fairly aggro so going 4 colors for the red splash was not an option. I went 3-1 only losing to a deck with 2 O rings 1 resounding silence, 2 Naya Charms, and other ridiculous removal. The only other deck I lost a game to had a very aggro turn 1, turn 2, turn 3, turn 4 run...
I went 2-3 Saturday playing Naya for 12th/19th, and just flat out getting screwed on my draws all day. Then 5-0-1 Sun with Esper for 1st/8th, drawing my friend into the top 4 playoffs, who in testing I beat 4-1.
I honestly really don't like this set for sealed, but think it will be amazing in draft. It's just got too much random fat for sealed, which means you either get all fat or no fat in your pool.
I was undefeated all day. I played G/B/R Hellkite Overloard get there. My other playable rare was Mycoloth, and if it sticks around you should just win. Overloard is obviously a house. I was 4-0-1 with the draw into top 8. In top 8 i was also undefeated and for thp 2 my final opponent didnt want to play me for a second time and just took the loss. I won 7 packs and a entry into next weeks release event. Great day overall but sill would have liked to be at the larger prerelease. We only had 1 24 man wave with no drafts.
I was undefeated all day. I played G/B/R Hellkite Overloard get there. My other playable rare was Mycoloth, and if it sticks around you should just win. Overloard is obviously a house. I was 4-0-1 with the draw into top 8. In top 8 i was also undefeated and for thp 2 my final opponent didnt want to play me for a second time and just took the loss. I won 7 packs and a entry into next weeks release event. Great day overall but sill would have liked to be at the larger prerelease. We only had 1 24 man wave with no drafts.
Stores are only aloud, and supplied with, 1 24 man wave and no drafts are aloud before the release of sets any more... yes it sux, every one complained.
I was at one of the "convention" pre-releases me and 3 of the best people in the room, who are friends of mine, all played greedy 5 color decks. The other 3 all went undefeated and I only had 1 loss to a GR planeswalker, which is a huge bomb in sealed deck.
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I will play what wins, not what is convenient. Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters. I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity. Style points do not appear on tournament reports. A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win. I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him. Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
I went to the "big" pre-release in the Denver area. While I am sure it was bigger than a store pre-release, it seemed tiny compared to the old pre-release.
Only played one flight, went 2-1-1, which would have been 3-1 if i had played better in the draw. My pool had ridiculous amounts of removal: 2 resounding thunder, 2 resounding silence, 1 magma spray, 1 branching bolt, 1 resounding wave, bant charm. Played a naya bant combo which normally removed any threats they played while building up to my bigger bant threats: battlegrace and stoic angels.
The format is definitely slower than Shadowmoor with its fast R/G decks. The bombs of Shards are just so bomby that it is nearly impossible to win once your opponent drops their bomb.
The format demands two Limited skills that I (and many opponents I faced) have difficulty with:
1. Mana base design and
2. Mulliganning
I missed getting 1st place on one flight when I had my 2 (!) Manaplasms in hand and the GR1 burn spell and no green sources in play.
I beat opponents who had better decks bc (IMO) they were hesitant to mulligan away "playable" hands IF YOU IGNORED THE FACT THAT THE MANA WOULDN'T LET YOU PLAY ANYTHNG! I lost one game for the same reason. Cloying hands that lost games bc the color-fixing was not in the opening grip.
And to amplify what was said before:
3. You have to have specific deck-building skills to do well in Sealed. Pre-planning a favorite color scheme won't work.
ended up w/ 5 packs, an empty wallet, and a very lonely experience. everyone kinda stuck to their groups and stuff. i hope these guys get their act together for next time...
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basically, from discovering all of that, and coming across not-so-positive feedback, I'm expecting a lack-luster release for me tomorrow. I'm sure this thread will wrack up a few stories I can only hope to learn from, since all I can provide at the moment is a prediction.
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My..Kinda Drama-Ensuing..'Introduce Yourself' thread! ...And it's lame-***, horribly failed, unholy spawn!
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First PTQ top 8 6/13/09(1st)
Second PTQ top 8 10/7/09(5th)
Second at national Qualifier 5/15/10
Third PTQ top 8 2/12/11 (2nd)
Second at Alberta 2011's
Fourth PTQ top 8 3/17/12(8th)
GP Vancouver 2012 (18th)
Basically you can't go into drafting this set with any preconceived notions of what colors you're taking. Red was my heaviest color. I hadn't played red in years. But it was the best I could do.
Lets just say Naya isn't bad when you pull that off.
Esper can be good if you get enough fliers WUB was always decent as a more controlish color.
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I didn't open great stuff but I had a serious exalted theme going on. Piloted the deck to a 4-1 finish for 4th and got 3 packs. Was a great way to end the evening for me (we finished at 12:30am mdt)
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I wanted to play esper and i had the chance to play esper, but I was pretty disappointed with the actual prerelease itself.
I don't know if its just me, but i didn't like being cramped in a tight space with 30+ people and trying to play magic. The scents alone made me leave early it was that bad.
I miss making a trip out of prereleases and haveing all that room to rome around at. And since the store i played at was a family store first and formost, we had to rush the rounds and could only have about 40 mins to a round with no time imbetween. Kinda lame if you ask me.
everythings right again.
DON' DENY MY LOGIC...please
Not Very Impressive, but done by me nonetheless
All in all I would say the experience was 50% good and 50% bad. The start time was a real dealbreaker for me. I'm used to Prereleases starting in the morning.
Standard:
W Kithkin; R RDW
My Haves/Wants
Other than that match loss I ended up 8th and winning three packs. Death Baron was the only notable rare I opened out of those.
Today, i had perfect mana in the form of all five Obelisks, three different taplands, and two differant cracklands. Notable opens? Stoic Angel, RGW Ultimatum, FOIL WUB Ultimatum, Aethersworn Canonist. Went RGWu for two blue dudes and the blue capsule. I completely screwed up round one by not having my mana proper. I ended up simply losing to tempo removal and bigger dudes. Ah well. I came out ahead with money.
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Jhessian Inflitrator
1 Knight of the Skyward Eye
2 Steward of Valeron
1 Kathari Screecher
1 Rhox War Monk
1 Naya Battlemage
1 Court Archers
1 Rhox Charger
1 Mosstodon
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Cavern Thoctar
1 Jungle Weaver
1 Resounding Roar
1 Naturalize
2 Sigil Blessing
1 Excommunicate
1 Bant Charm
1 Resounding Silence
//18 Lands
1 Esper Panorama
1 Naya Panorama
1 Bant Panorama
7 Forest
5 Plains
3 Islands
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I honestly really don't like this set for sealed, but think it will be amazing in draft. It's just got too much random fat for sealed, which means you either get all fat or no fat in your pool.
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Great Quotes
"Luck is statistics taken personally." - X DarkAngel X
Stores are only aloud, and supplied with, 1 24 man wave and no drafts are aloud before the release of sets any more... yes it sux, every one complained.
I was at one of the "convention" pre-releases me and 3 of the best people in the room, who are friends of mine, all played greedy 5 color decks. The other 3 all went undefeated and I only had 1 loss to a GR planeswalker, which is a huge bomb in sealed deck.
Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters.
I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity.
Style points do not appear on tournament reports.
A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win.
I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him.
Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
Only played one flight, went 2-1-1, which would have been 3-1 if i had played better in the draw. My pool had ridiculous amounts of removal: 2 resounding thunder, 2 resounding silence, 1 magma spray, 1 branching bolt, 1 resounding wave, bant charm. Played a naya bant combo which normally removed any threats they played while building up to my bigger bant threats: battlegrace and stoic angels.
The format is definitely slower than Shadowmoor with its fast R/G decks. The bombs of Shards are just so bomby that it is nearly impossible to win once your opponent drops their bomb.
1. Mana base design and
2. Mulliganning
I missed getting 1st place on one flight when I had my 2 (!) Manaplasms in hand and the GR1 burn spell and no green sources in play.
I beat opponents who had better decks bc (IMO) they were hesitant to mulligan away "playable" hands IF YOU IGNORED THE FACT THAT THE MANA WOULDN'T LET YOU PLAY ANYTHNG! I lost one game for the same reason. Cloying hands that lost games bc the color-fixing was not in the opening grip.
And to amplify what was said before:
3. You have to have specific deck-building skills to do well in Sealed. Pre-planning a favorite color scheme won't work.
J
then 3/0/1
ended up w/ 5 packs, an empty wallet, and a very lonely experience. everyone kinda stuck to their groups and stuff. i hope these guys get their act together for next time...
I've also made over 95 bucks on this site since I started on 11/24/09. Give it a try!
Looking to try out a new card site, but need an incentive? Want to buy 2 NM Hallowed Fountains for less than $13 shipped? Send me your email in a PM and I can get you a coupon for $5 off of your first order of $10 or more at cardtitan.com!