FNM Amonkhet with friends

Looking forward to doing a small friend draft of Amonkhet with a '"regular" play group. Its a couple hard core Magic players, and the rest of us wishing we had time to do more. Mostly we text each other a crap ton with the great annoyance to everyone on the list.

Each of us needs to show up with four packs, three to draft from, one for the prize pool. Doesn't matter how you get the packs. Me, I think the bundle/fat pack is the best deal. (Rumor: the land pack is supposed to be at least a quarter full art land)

Some of us played in the pre-release... some of us watch from the sidelines, others just complain. It happens.

I think drafting this set will be a completely different result from the sealed constructed of pre-release. The value on cycling goes up with draft... need to figure out how much we value exert as a mechanic.

Thoughts on the set from my "limited" prospective:

• Flying is, once again, extremely valuable. 
• Blue could be good, but slow to develop of course
• I'm not in love with exert currently, its extremely helpful when you are trying to end the game though
• I value Embalm and Aftermath cards slightly higher because they "extend" your playable cards. Two'fers is always welcome.
• Not sure how I feel about Red for this set.

Amonkhet pre-release results (clue, I went 3-1)

I won some packs, hooray for me. However, after my first round, I did not feel like I would. Why?

I got OWNED by a Glorybringer. Twice. Yeah, it hurt.

Rewind for a moment... Lets review what I pulled. My inserted promo rare was Prepare to Fight. Meh

I did pull a Gideon. Hooray! I could not use it, booooo. I wound up getting most of the black and blue removal! Hooray! I focused too much on that and almost lost my second round, booooo.

The only saving grace was that I was playing against a relative new player who made some bone headed mistakes. I tried to help... seriously. They took the first game, and I felt like my day was about to end. I made a deft comeback at 3 life, and took game 3 with some swift justice via Zombies. 

(my first build is featured on the right, I pulled the artifacts before first game play)

At that point there was a lunch break, yup the game store I went to included some sweet wraps from a local joint. 

I realized my deck wasn't running the way I wanted it to. It was too reactionary, and not enough creatures. I had TWO Final Rewards, TWO Splendid Agonies, Lay Claim, Rags to Riches, Never to Return, Floodwaters, Step into Wonder, and Angler Drake. Seriously I had a TON of control/removal. (not to mention a cancel and essence scatter)

I dropped in 4 Forrest, added Shefet Monitor, Greater Sandwurm, Naga Vitalist, Colossapede, and a Pouncing Cheetah. 

The deck hummed after that.

Third round, it turned out that whoever mulliganed, won the game. The big green bodies, with the control and removal proved to be the winning combination. Funny note from that match, I pulled a Lay Claim, grabbed his Greater Sandwurm, and he threw an Illusory Wrappings on it. *sigh*
Interesting note- my Grimm Strider had a neat play. I had 3 cards in hand, and flashed in a Pouncing Cheetah to give it one more point of damage. I was hoping he would block, so I could produce a cool trick, but not to be.

Fourth game, we were both 2-1, decided to play for 1 pack. Both would get 2 packs no matter what. First game I trounced him. Don't recall what happened. Second game was closer... funny note- he played the Hazoret the Fervent. I top decked a Lay Claim and proceeded to close out the game with his own God. Muhahahahahaha. 

Notes- 

• Stir the Sands is good.  3 2/2 bodies is always welcomed.
• I liked the Aftermath mechanic. Even if you are forced to discard it, you can still use the second ability. Good stuff. 
• Very rarely was something cycled, I had some cycling cards, but NEVER used it.
• Exert was rarely used, matter of fact it only happened during my first round via Glorybringer 
• Embalm was also very rarely used. Might need to test more on that.
• Props to the design department at WoTC for the pre-release boxes recently. Very good stuff. 
• The monuments were annoying. Not overly powered, just annoying. 
• Oracle's Vault can be VERY good.
• Saw a guy who pulled a Masterpiece Daze, and had a somewhat tough time trying to find one person out of the 90 people there want it. I don't think most people brought decent trade material to a pre-release though.
• I had at least three people who wanted my Gideon but did not have trade material to take 

Update: Forgot to share the 4 sided die I got just for showing up. You had to ask for them. You get one every event you attend as part of the  "Trial of the Five Gods."

Legacy- Death and Taxes

I will admit, Death and Taxes was one of the first deck archetypes I understood and wanted to use when I got back into Magic. The version I knew has evolved and changed, and it is time for me to change with the times. I am also man enough to admit, I haven't played it in months. *sigh*

I pulled a few cards out to use in other decks... but as all my legacy decks are proxy, I could simply just print out a few replacements and slide them back in.

The new developments for this deck come via Commander 2. Namely Recruiter of the Guard, and Sanctum Prelate. While I agree these are very very good cards, I like to run a different build from what is typically found. (Hello mtggoldfish build!)

What I have done with some positive effect is the following:
Run two Batterskulls
Main deck a Rest in Peace (I am serious, I bank on the other player abusing graveyards... BR Reanimator, Deathrites, Goyfs, Storm. God I hate Storm)
Thalia Heretic Cathar, though that might be a one of

In any case, I don't want to run the vanilla build of something... throw some spice out there, throw people off, unexpected twists, etc. Nothing too crazy, keep to the heart of the matter, but do play forks of my own design.
To that end, I am still debating the number of the Recruiter and Prelate to run. What gets the best effect for the show of force. Might have to test on Cockatrice a bit.




For the record, here are my current decks for Legacy: (before you ask, yes, these are all sleeved with sideboards)

• Death and Taxes
• Merfolk
• Infect
• Sneak and Tell
• Shardless Bug
• Eldrazi MUD Post
• Miracles
• Lands
• White Eldrazi
• Burn, crappy build

Pre-release Amonkhet

Its time ladies and germs. Favorite time of the year- pre-release time!

I've taken a little more time this release to study up on the cards to look for. It is only because I have had an easier time to listen to the reviews. I've not done any sample packs yet. I'll likely spend a little time tonight and tomorrow just familiarizing myself with the curves and such.

I still think this set of advice for pre-releases is still relevant.

One note- I will be attending an event where they have food! And a food break to enjoy it. I might still pack a bar to make sure I am not hangry. (its a word, I swear!)


Great little video from GG Degree on knowing your new mechanics.

If you want to REALLY dive deep, go check out the FOUR hour preview of all the commons and uncommons from Limited Resources.


One other note- I might print out some little -1/-1 tokens to have on hand, because I think dice might get REALLY confusing on what they mean. Could be handy... lets see if I have 10 minutes to create it and cut it out tomorrow. ;)



Last note- I honestly don't expect to do very well. I am hoping to just have fun, check out the new cards, and give the set a spin. The true test for this set comes with drafting! I do want to get out to a couple drafts before the next set hits the street.

Not much time

I've had very little time to turn 90 over the past two plus weeks. Busy with life, kids, etc. Hopefully come this summer, things will slow down a bit, and I can get into a more stable play routine. In the meantime, how do I keep up on things?

- Reading, investigating, discovery. I did skip 16 years of magic.
- Watching A LOT of YouTube coverage of play. That could be Legacy matches, draft, or whacky against the odds on MTGgoldfish.
- Trading barbs with friends who play
- Listening to podcasts, which is a new thing for me. Currently I am at one Magic podcast- Limited Resources. If you like draft, this is the one for you. I could do more, but I'm busy with other podcasts that keep me going.

All in all, most of my action comes via YouTube... even if that means having it going in the background at work, just to listen to things. Strategy plays, etc.
There is so much content out there.