Magic: the Gathering - Battle for Zendikar |OT| Lands matter (but nothing else does)

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A Serious Man said:
What rares did you pull? Any advice for the rest of us about the format?
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Endless one, Oblivion Slower, Desolation Twin, Promo Angelic Captain a Prarie Storm and another rare I can't remember at this point.

The only advice I can give you is that fliers are incredibly good in this set, there's more evasion than removal it seems...and that most games start with a horde of tiny creatures before someone gets something big out and roflstomps their way to victory.
 
I got a pretty bad pool. My promo was Drana, and I opened 4 gold rares in R/G and U/W and stuff (none of which I could use). Ended up going U/B control, using the exiling counterspells and exiling killspells to feed processors, because I didn't get any ingesters apart from that awful black 1 drop guy. It worked very poorly (0-3, if that wasn't obvious).

I actually quite liked pushing stuff into exile and then feeding off it, but man, it was taking a whooole lot of work to get that happening and then the payoff wasn't all that great.
 
Currently 3 - 1 with 2 rounds to go , just lost to a socially awkward kid who managed to get both ingest creatures and things that interact with them. Will post my pool later, currently playing u/b control deck with 12 creatures but I think my g/r deck is better I think.

Btw 6 rounds of Swiss and x - 2 is pretty much in top 8
 
3-1 to win 4 packs. Casting Ulamog is entertaining.

I saw way too many people playing Sylvan Scrying. Don't do what Donny Don't does.
 
Arksy said:
Endless one, Oblivion Slower, Desolation Twin, Promo Angelic Captain a Prarie Storm and another rare I can't remember at this point.

The only advice I can give you is that fliers are incredibly good in this set, there's more evasion than removal it seems...and that most games start with a horde of tiny creatures before someone gets something big out and roflstomps their way to victory.
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THIS SO HARD.
 
manipulate said:
I got a pretty bad pool. My promo was Drana, and I opened 4 gold rares in R/G and U/W and stuff (none of which I could use). Ended up going U/B control, using the exiling counterspells and exiling killspells to feed processors, because I didn't get any ingesters apart from that awful black 1 drop guy. It worked very poorly (0-3, if that wasn't obvious).

I actually quite liked pushing stuff into exile and then feeding off it, but man, it was taking a whooole lot of work to get that happening and then the payoff wasn't all that great.
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What? That guy is great. He always gets in there because of the threat of pump, and because no one wants to trade their 3 drop for him. And late game he beats for 4. If you didn't play him, you should have.
 
Here Dux, I made you a decklist:

GW Aggro

32 Creatures
  • 4 Expedition Envoy
  • 4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
  • 4 Dragon Hunter
  • 4 Mardu Woe-Reaper
  • 4 Scythe Leopard
  • 4 Warden of the First Tree
  • 4 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
  • 4 Managorger Hydra

9 Spells
  • 4 Defiant Strike
  • 4 Might of the Masses
  • 1 Become Immense

19 Lands
  • 4 Windswept Heath
  • 4 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Forest
  • 4 Canopy Vista
  • 6 Plains

Sideboard:
  • 2 Valorous Stance
  • 2 Hallowed Moonlight
  • 4 Vryn Wingmare
  • 3 Hooting Mandrills
  • 1 Suspension Field
  • 1 Radiant Purge
  • 2 Dromoka's Command
 
ultron87 said:
I saw way too many people playing Sylvan Scrying. Don't do what Donny Don't does.
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That card was great in my bug deck. Start game with 2 colors and get third on turn 2. I had no complaints with it.


Ended up going 3-1 to get 6 packs. Got a Gideon and my third ruinous path in prize packs
 
Went 3-1 for 3 packs at my more casual friendly LGS with a UWR deck that had a ton of cheap removal but few ways to win a game or deal with bombs. Didn't pull anything noteworthy in my pool besides a couple good, on color limited rares. Did however get an Ulamog and Ob from my prize packs which more than opened up for the bulk in the pool.

Saw at least 5 Expeditions pulled around me: Bloodstained Mire, Steam Vents, Marsh Flats, RG battle land, and Godless Shrine. Ended up trading for the Mire after the guy unexpectedly said he was willing to part with it.

The whole allies being mostly trash and ingest not being on enough cards is a huge damper on limited. Didn't even see one person trying to play an allies strategy.
 
So I went 3-2 before dropping. My best list was ub processor without any processors so I splashed white for the Roil legend ally and made it esper awaken. The deck was meh, but won me more than losing. I would have stuck around for the last round but they were only giving 1 pack for 5-8th,which was weird as fuck. Fathom Feeder is really good,i really didn't hate the sealed event but it wasn't my favorite either.
 
I got both the Sphinx and the Landfall angel and both cards were insane. I had to constantly consider which land to play and which to keep. In case I drew any of them.
Flyers will be so good almost no one but me played flyers.
And Felidar Sovereign can turn almost any game around.
The white enchantment that cantrips and draws you a card is pretty good, again because of the lack of flyers.
And that awaken spell that gives your creatures lifelink. Healed me for 10+ life twice.
Oh and Ugin's insight with X between 3 and 7, card is unbelievable.
 
Okay, I've seen fat packs preorders for €60 at my LGS. That's a €24 land tax if you discount the dice and box. Really insane.

Also can't make it to a prerelease, but am I actually missing out on any fun? How would you rank this prerelease compared to other sets (especially Zendikar and Rise)?
 
I saw this on Perilous Research, what do you think?

Planeswalker (8)
  • 3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
  • 3 Ob Nixilis Reignited
  • 1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
  • 1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Creature (18)
  • 4 Knight of the White Orchid
  • 4 Hangarback Walker
  • 2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
  • 4 Siege Rhino
  • 2 Den Protector
  • 2 Anafenza, the Foremost
Sorcery (1)
  • 1 Ruinous Path
Instant (5)
  • 4 Abzan Charm
  • 1 Dromoka's Command
Land (28)
  • 4 Shambling Vent
  • 4 Sandsteppe Citadel
  • 4 Caves of Koilos
  • 4 Llanowar Wastes
  • 4 Canopy Vista
  • 4 Windswept Heath
  • 2 Plains
  • 2 Forest

EDIT: I forgot the sideboard.

Sideboard (15)
  • 1 Den Protector
  • 2 Dromoka's Command
  • 3 Tragic Arrogance
  • 1 Read the Bones
  • 4 Duress
  • 2 Crux of Fate
  • 2 Grip of Desolation
 
ironmang said:
The whole allies being mostly trash and ingest not being on enough cards is a huge damper on limited. Didn't even see one person trying to play an allies strategy.
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My lesson is to never judge themed strategies in sealed. You're gonna be missing half of what you want most of the time. I'm sure Allies can be something when drafting.

What makes fliers so much better in this set? Lack of reach creatures? Typically fliers owns in limited anyways.
 
kirblar said:
They read as colored artifacts to me. I think putting this mechanic on permanents was a mistake.
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If putting it on permanents was mistake then the idea as a whole was a mistake. Devoid spells seem like literally the most useless thing ever, unless you have one of the two "reduce costs by 1" abilities out or whatever
 
y2dvd said:
My lesson is to never judge themed strategies in sealed. You're gonna be missing half of what you want most of the time. I'm sure Allies can be something when drafting.

What makes fliers so much better in this set? Lack of reach creatures? Typically fliers owns in limited anyways.
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This is why I'm super unsure about going to the pre-release, Sealed can suuuuuuuuuck so easily
 
Went 4-1 for 4th place overall! I was really lacking in good filler creatures, so I ended up playing 3 color Jeskai to play my bomby rares. Thankfully, the format was slow enough to play 3 colors without any fixing what-so-ever. Awaken played beautifully, especially with Planar Outburst hehe, and I didn't have any problems with Devoid. The Processor payoffs were too few and mostly too weak to matter much. Noticing what was an ally was way too much work, they needed a watermark.

Dragonmaster Outcast and Ugin's Insight were my MVPs. Ondu Rising was C/U MVP.
 
0-1 drop. Pool wasn't horrific, I just repeatedly misplayed my way to a loss because you know it was 1:45

I would have easily won the match if I didn't swing in with Dragonmaster Outcast even though I saw Gideon's Reproach twice in Game 1.
 
This is interesting.

Basically a control deck built around these two:

635778213841758752.png
386571.full.jpg


I'm not in love with any of the lists they've cooked up so far but the potential is clearly there. Can't wait to work on it once BfZ hits Modo.
 
A Serious Man said:
This is interesting.

Basically a control deck built around these two:

635778213841758752.png
386571.full.jpg


I'm not in love with any of the lists they've cooked up so far but the potential is clearly there. Can't wait to work on it once BfZ hits Modo.
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The idea of "stay alive until I combo off" seems far less tenable than I think people believe it will be, really. Its like the Bring to Light deck except without any kind of reach.
 
Went 1-2-1 so a meh night, but I did pull an Overgrown Tomb so I was quite the happy camper.

I typically like to make aggro decks, but didn't really open up any decent Allies. I settled for a mid-range deck with some Eldrazi beef at the top end.
 
Any traction to this rumor that Dig Through Time is about to get a Legacy ban? I don't follow Legacy.
 
Angry Grimace said:
Any traction to this rumor that Dig Through Time is about to get a Legacy ban? I don't follow Legacy.
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It obviously should have been banned alongside Cruise, it was just a matter of time until they actually sucked up the courage to admit they screwed up with not taking it out as well. It's an inevitable ban.
 
This all reek of "let's ban everything but necro" but with brainstorm in legacy. Blue Cantrips have been problematics for a while but whatever. I guess banning the new card appeal more to legacy player than removing the stupid OP old card.
 
G.ZZZ said:
This all reek of "let's ban everything but necro" but with brainstorm in legacy. Blue Cantrips have been problematics for a while but whatever. I guess banning the new card appeal more to legacy player than removing the stupid OP old card.
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It's like SF2 HD Remix- you don't want to mess with what players are used to here.

The new card in this case is straight up broken, blue cantrips aren't an issue in a format with billions of them alongside fetches to fuel the delve cost.

DTT/TC just aren't OK cards - I have no idea how DTT even got printed, its ridiculous, even in Standard. (TC I understand.)
 
kirblar said:
It's like SF2 HD Remix- you don't want to mess with what players are used to here.

The new card in this case is straight up broken, blue cantrips aren't an issue in a format with billions of them alongside fetches to fuel the delve cost.

DTT/TC just aren't OK cards - I have no idea how DTT even got printed, its ridiculous, even in Standard. (TC I understand.)
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Simple, it's blue. WotC has a nerdboner for blue, justifying anything in that color, even the best efficient aggro beaters , midrange beaters, planeswalkers etc..
 
Went 3-0-1 for 6 packs playing UB colorless. I think my deck was pretty decent. But the 3 people I beat didn't even seem like they knew how to play.

This guy was at a 2-1 record and had an 0/6 wall, blocked my 3/2 attacker and tried to convince me his wall should be dead for 5 minutes.
 
G.ZZZ said:
Simple, it's blue. WotC has a nerdboner for blue, justifying anything in that color, even the best efficient aggro beaters , midrange beaters, planeswalkers etc..
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Legacy's been blue based since its inception. Altering that does more damage than its worth. Modern's where to implement stronger balance changes.
 
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";180010913]Bring to Light is a 0-mana Demonic Tutor.[/QUOTE]

Bring to Light must be GB's new Whip of Erebos.
 
Ended up 4 - 2 and in 7th out of 45 people. There's only so much you can do in sealed when someone has a better pool then you. Blue black was at the top tables near the end.

I also had a blue/black deck with Scatter the winds, Ugins Insight, Conduit of Ruin, and Breaker of armies. Also had the u/b flash guy and Coastal discovery. Problem was I had no removal, In a deck with 12 creatures I was running bone splinter and had a whopping 2 ingest guys in the whole deck. Which meant nullifier was often a 2/3 flash flyer.

Still think this limited environment is completely undercooked, allies are horrible, ingest isn't on enough of the smaller cards to enable the big ones, and the life gain decks can lead to slogs of games.

And standard doesn't look any better either. I have zero clue how you drop the ball on allies so badly. I kept waiting for a good one to make them at least tier 2. Instead we got jank rares that don't even do anything in limited when they hit the field, let alone a constructed format.

And this is the condensed version of my complaints since I'm on a cell phone and on vacation.


How many more months of this set ?
 
We'll have to watch how this plays out with regular product, but at least at the prereleases it sounds like expeditions are noticeably more common than expected (more on the order of 2 per case than 1.)
 
I found that ally & landfall had good synergies, Eldrazi did not. At all. I'll echo that life gain led to some people's rounds not even finishing game 2.

The white first strike landfall common was my favorite card to play today.
 
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