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."