Check- preping for a tourament

I am set on the deck I am going to play at the Legacy Pit Open.  Just need to get rid of the one Abrade in the SB for something else- yeah, I am that guy. There are other things I am thinking about making sure I am bringing- here they are:

• Decklist- to be submitted via MTGmelee
• Bag
• Snacks- bars
• Water- bottle(s)
• Life pad
• Pencil
• AirTag  (just in case insurance)
  
• Playmat
• Dice
• Tokens
• Mask(s)  (They are required for the event)
  
• Extra decks?
• Extra sleeves
• Draft land set(s)sideboard list

 

Do I expect to make day 2? No... but luck favors the prepared or some such. 
I've watched several people play the deck I am running enough to know kinda how to handle it in various match ups which means I am going to play completely off the wall decks that I've never see before. Huzzah. 

Still, what I have learned is that I want Sneak and Show to be good- but that is not happening. It is tier 2.5 at this point. Its that bad. It can be super lucky, but thats it. Can't depend on luck right now. 

My goal is to have more wins day one than the crew that is going to the event together. Thats it!

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Something else I realized this week, I have 9 different sets of land for sealed/draft time.  Last time I checked I had 7. Since that time I have added a set of full art Innistrad and nearly completed a set of foil full art Dominaria United. 

Normally I don't give a rats butt about foil, but something about the stained glass effect and full art versions got me. I traded for roughly half of the lands, and bought the rest when they bottomed out over this past weekend. (total luck, not skill in this case. None were over $1.5 per card)

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I've noticed that Arena has a pattern of screwing me over good during draft play... I will win a couple games than usually mana floods me to 2 loses, win one, then done.  Thats with filtering too... I don't know how else to explain it. Its awful. 

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Fun pickup for the day- I got 2 LP Unlimited Red Elemental Blast for $6 total.  Seems like a good deal to me... Betas are stupid expensive. These still have the SUPER dark contrast still... I'll take it.

Pre-release, deck selection?, and stuff

 I went to two different pre-releases for Dominara United. The first was the Friday night at Gamer-Corp,
and the second at Gritty Goblin. Over all, I went 4-2. I got a few packs. Friday night's event took WAY longer, had more people, and I had a better set of cards.  Hell, I even opened a Liliana! 

The deck felt really strong, even if I had a round one Bye among a nearly sold out event. I never felt out of the few games I played, always had an answer if I could find it- and generally had a good time.

I even managed to make a couple good trades in my book- First was trading for an Alpha Forest in MP condition. As I told the guy- I have a problem with basic lands... and the A/B/U time period is the worst problem I have. There is no logical reason for this obsession.
The second trade I made was I finally dumped my Imperial Seal for two full art foil Subtlety and a Submerge.  Reason thinking- I don't want the Imperial Seal as a longer term hold. That and I was having a very hard time finding a trade partner on-line via DeckBox for it. (yeah, I was surprised too) The Subtlety seems to be a good card for trade if nothing else... but I think it has room to grow in the near future providing me some value overall. Not a bad night of trading to be honest. 

The second pre-release was vastly meh. I did not open much of anything, did not exactly play super well, and generally felt blah about the results. Had some fun conversations with guys who hadn't played in a long time, and enjoyed myself. 

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I did discover a possible solution to my shuffling D&T- Single sleeve it. 

Here is a photo comparing 80 single sleeved lands compared with my 80 card D&T deck.

While I am fairly sure I am not playing the deck, it is good to know I was working the problem in the mean time. I think the most valuable card are the Solitudes? Maybe?

In the mean time, I am heavily leaning towards playing Dragon/Moon Stompy for the event. 

It can be very solid, give control fits, and might have a decent game vs Delver. One downside, I've noticed Delver players starting to pack Blue Blasts. sigh. That does annoy me.
I am still hoping to have a .500 record. I would chalk that up to a win for me. 

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Its open sales weekend for the new set, and I've had my eye on several things. Here is what I am currently watching prices on:

•  Shivan Devastator
• Rundvelt Hordemaster
• Vesuvan Duplimancy
• Full art foil basic lands.

I guess I should talk about the lands again. Normally I hate foil. I really do. However, these stained glass lands do something for me... not sure how to describe it... but if you have some you want to off load- let me know.