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Magic: The Gathering |OT|
- Thread starter The Technomancer
- Start date
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17-18
JetBlackPanda
Member
will land be provided at all?
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Yes, shops always provide the land but some people bring their own but shop definitely has them.
JetBlackPanda
Member
Thanks this will be my first time going to anything like this, kind of freaked out.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
If you have a question try to ask the other player and hopefully they'll help you out. If it sounds wrong to you never be afraid to raise your hand and ask for a judge to come clarify something.
Bolded for importance- this is a pre-release- this isn't designed to be a competitive event, its designed to be a fun, causal, and inviting event. If you read the article, Paulo even says that he dislikes pre-releases because he doesn't want his opponents to be trying to do things like "get 3 Angels into play", he wants his opponents to be trying to win the game. Don't pick something because you think its the best- pick what you are most comfortable with, and what you will have the most fun with!
(Although, if you are looking for advice on "the best", PVDDR is probably the guy you want to listen to
)I agree, but after trying some drafts I think the rest of the Selesnya guild pack could be better than the Azorius one. Without the prerelease pack I definitely think Bant (W/U/G) are the colours you want to be in most in RTR limited.
Also thinking the Keyrunes are all pretty insane and probably first pickable, some of them could be constructed playable as well. The Rakdos one deals with Thragtusk which is one of biggest problem cards for control decks I think.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Wow, he put golgari fourth overall? That's really interesting...Bolded for importance- this is a pre-release- this isn't designed to be a competitive event, its designed to be a fun, causal, and inviting event. If you read the article, Paulo even says that he dislikes pre-releases because he doesn't want his opponents to be trying to do things like "get 3 Angels into play", he wants his opponents to be trying to win the game. Don't pick something because you think its the best- pick what you are most comfortable with, and what you will have the most fun with!
(Although, if you are looking for advice on "the best", PVDDR is probably the guy you want to listen to
Little Old Man
Member
Completely fell out of the loop with Magic the past couple of months. Now I'm back at uni I'm going to start going the local magic club on a regular basis. Gutted I can't go the RTR prerelease though!
If you are playing Selesnya, play 18 lands due to the promo. (If you open a second, play it as well, but still play 18.)
You won't need that much, I don't think. This format is slow, and Selesnya will have access to mana fixing/pseudo-excel (Keyrunes, Axebane Guardian, Gatecreeper Vine). By the time you can comfortably sac it, you won't need the extra 1 mana.
Selesnya players do need to remember, however, that the promo will cost them a land and plan ahead for that.
Selesnya players do need to remember, however, that the promo will cost them a land and plan ahead for that.
You play an extra one because it taps for colourless which can be awkward in a set like this.
divisionbyzorro
Member
Found this on Reddit. Regardless of your personal opinions of this particular combo, the art is fantastic. It would make a great wallpaper or playmat.
So the way it's being done here is you choose the top 3 guilds you want, then it's randomized from those top 3. I thought it would've been first come, first serve so kinda disappointed by this, especially since I got the third one I wanted. I was top 10 to sign up lol. Oh well!
JetBlackPanda
Member
Is anyone else at the event? My store had me select one guild and that's it.
Gatekeeper
Member
That is fucked.
divisionbyzorro
Member
Just went 2-0 split in an M13 8-4 draft on MTGO with a super janky WBG Exalted deck starring Stuffy Doll (who came to me pick four pack three!). It was so janky that I actually took an Evolving Wilds first in pack three just so my picks to that point would be playable. But I had five exalted sources in my deck, and it turns out that often enough to win matches.
But the only reason I bring it up is match two - I should not have won match two. Game one he assembled Roaring Primadox (with a green ring on it) and Thragtusk - that combination is almost unbeatable if you don't have a kill card (and my deck had zero control elements). I almost scooped when he got there, but decided to play it out - after all, I had Stuffy Doll, a Griffin Protector, and a couple of exalted sources. So we played this game for a while where my big fliers ate into his life and he just got it back. Eventually we get to this point:
And on my turn, I drew a card that I picked fourteenth in pack two and was only running because I needed a 22nd card (I ran 18 lands in this deck). Any guesses which card I could play here that auto-wins in this position?
My opponent went way on tilt for the second match. Actually attacked into my Stuffy Doll with a fairly large guy at one point.
But the only reason I bring it up is match two - I should not have won match two. Game one he assembled Roaring Primadox (with a green ring on it) and Thragtusk - that combination is almost unbeatable if you don't have a kill card (and my deck had zero control elements). I almost scooped when he got there, but decided to play it out - after all, I had Stuffy Doll, a Griffin Protector, and a couple of exalted sources. So we played this game for a while where my big fliers ate into his life and he just got it back. Eventually we get to this point:
And on my turn, I drew a card that I picked fourteenth in pack two and was only running because I needed a 22nd card (I ran 18 lands in this deck). Any guesses which card I could play here that auto-wins in this position?
Freakin' Battleflight Eagle. Makes Crusader an 8/8 + 2/2. Two exalted triggers make it attack for 12 in the air. Stuffy Doll deals the final point of damage.
My opponent went way on tilt for the second match. Actually attacked into my Stuffy Doll with a fairly large guy at one point.
Nope, I'm not greedy
3-0 after siding into the mill deck with 2 of the Codex Shredder in a u/w mirror. Won on turn 4 of extra turns
divisionbyzorro
Member
Judge's Familiar isn't off color for Selesnya. I also don't think it's very good in sealed.
narcosis219
Member
You can do whatever you want. You can even do 5 colors. You can even make an Azorius guild if you picked the Rakdos pack.
It's just a matter of what you open in your pack. Picking a guild pack just guarantees you have a bunch of guild appropriate cards to make your deck building a bit easier.
Furious with prize support at my store. I finished in 4th at 3-1 and got 3 packs. Person in 3rd at 3-0-1 got 9 packs. They decided to give everyone at least 1 pack, and tons of people with worse records also got 3 packs. Was planning on going back on Sunday, but that soured me on it I think
divisionbyzorro
Member
Maybe he thought you were asking if you could switch which promo pack you were getting?
I had lots of fun tonight.
I decided to go Azorius after being undecided since the pre-release shenanigans were first announced during Comicon. Detain is a fantastic limited mechanic and really holds its own weight. Managed to take 4th out of 26 players. Lots of competition for the top spots (if I'd won the last game of the last round I would have taken first).
I also managed to get 3 wins with Azor's Elocutors' alternate win condition, which was great.
I was surprised at the popularity of the different guilds. Rakdos was, by far, the most popular and Izzet the least popular.
I got a Chromatic Lantern in my pool and an Angel of Serenity in my prize packs, but other than that nothing that I was really looking for.
I decided to go Azorius after being undecided since the pre-release shenanigans were first announced during Comicon. Detain is a fantastic limited mechanic and really holds its own weight. Managed to take 4th out of 26 players. Lots of competition for the top spots (if I'd won the last game of the last round I would have taken first).
I also managed to get 3 wins with Azor's Elocutors' alternate win condition, which was great.
I was surprised at the popularity of the different guilds. Rakdos was, by far, the most popular and Izzet the least popular.
I got a Chromatic Lantern in my pool and an Angel of Serenity in my prize packs, but other than that nothing that I was really looking for.
Revised power rankings for sealed after playing and watching others play
1. Azorius- Detain is insanely powerful, and most other decks don't have any real defense against a swarm of flyers.
2. Rakdos- This format is pretty slow, and getting a very fast start can be all you need in most games. In addition, getting access to the best removal in the format means you can break out mid-game stalls
3. Selesnya- While really slow, you can grind out late game inevetibility with Populate, although bounce can really blow you out. Probably the easiest deck to get a nice, consistant mix with
4. Izzit- Izzit probably needs a support color for aggro, and some of the cards aren't as good as you would want them (the pinger is not that strong, for example), but your tricks can do a lot of harm, and Overload is a really nice ability, letting you hold cards for powerful effects late in the game
5. Golgari- was really unimpressed by Golgari. By far the slowest deck, with many of its creatures being overcosted and Scavage being really slow and mana intensive. And if your spending a whole turn Scavaging counters onto a creature, you are opening yourself up to a blowout via bounce spell or Detain effect.
Golgari was the most popular choice at my 40 person event (and none of them did well, with 1 player going 2-1-1 for the best record), and Azorius was the least popular (and was responsible for the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th place finishes).
As best I can tell, only one person abandon'd his guild entirely- a Selesnya player ended up playing a Grixis deck to a 3-0-1 record, on the back of 2 Mizzum Mortars and a Rakdos Return among other awesome control cards
1. Azorius- Detain is insanely powerful, and most other decks don't have any real defense against a swarm of flyers.
2. Rakdos- This format is pretty slow, and getting a very fast start can be all you need in most games. In addition, getting access to the best removal in the format means you can break out mid-game stalls
3. Selesnya- While really slow, you can grind out late game inevetibility with Populate, although bounce can really blow you out. Probably the easiest deck to get a nice, consistant mix with
4. Izzit- Izzit probably needs a support color for aggro, and some of the cards aren't as good as you would want them (the pinger is not that strong, for example), but your tricks can do a lot of harm, and Overload is a really nice ability, letting you hold cards for powerful effects late in the game
5. Golgari- was really unimpressed by Golgari. By far the slowest deck, with many of its creatures being overcosted and Scavage being really slow and mana intensive. And if your spending a whole turn Scavaging counters onto a creature, you are opening yourself up to a blowout via bounce spell or Detain effect.
Golgari was the most popular choice at my 40 person event (and none of them did well, with 1 player going 2-1-1 for the best record), and Azorius was the least popular (and was responsible for the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th place finishes).
As best I can tell, only one person abandon'd his guild entirely- a Selesnya player ended up playing a Grixis deck to a 3-0-1 record, on the back of 2 Mizzum Mortars and a Rakdos Return among other awesome control cards
Gaming Truth
Member
Just got back from going 4-0 (8-0) with Selesnya. Some games it was Grove wurm, populate populate. Some it was early smiter, built up.
The keys to victory were:
2x grove (1 promo, 1 opened)
2x guildmages (repeatable populate)
8 populate spells (2 fogs, 3 birds, 2 disenchants, 1 swords)
1 armada wurm, 1 smiter
There was plenty more, but these guys controlled everything. Birds, centaurs, 5/5 wurms, 8/8 elementals, as many as I wanted. I legitimately attacked one opponent with 50 points of damage.
Placed 1st out of 86, so fun!
Edit: Azorius hates Selesnya. Detaining is worthless and the deck can't stop the breeding
The keys to victory were:
2x grove (1 promo, 1 opened)
2x guildmages (repeatable populate)
8 populate spells (2 fogs, 3 birds, 2 disenchants, 1 swords)
1 armada wurm, 1 smiter
There was plenty more, but these guys controlled everything. Birds, centaurs, 5/5 wurms, 8/8 elementals, as many as I wanted. I legitimately attacked one opponent with 50 points of damage.
Placed 1st out of 86, so fun!
Edit: Azorius hates Selesnya. Detaining is worthless and the deck can't stop the breeding
You only go 4 rounds with 86 people?
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Hm, my partner and I were thinking of going Azorious/Golgari, I might recommend we go Azorious/Rakdos. Splitting the two decks into Support/Attack has always worked best for me in the past.
Gaming Truth
Member
Yeah, thank goodness. They then do math based on strength of schedule (opp. Win %) and other things to figure out placement
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
I've never been so happy to see people say Golgari is disappoiting. 
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
I've never been so happy to see people say Golgari is disappoiting.
I think constructed will be a different matter when you're just pulling out the best cards
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
Hush you! Let me take my temporary victory!
Edit: I haven't looked at the majority of the cards for this set, I'm hoping it doesn't come back to bite me.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
So there's not really any good counters huh? Only decent ones are rares, the rest have pretty useless second effects and cost a shitload to play. Should be interesting.
divisionbyzorro
Member
So apparently Wizards is duplicating the Choose Your Guild pre-release structure on MTGO for the online pre-release. That's pretty cool.
Ooh that is awesome.
Alien Manobo
Member
Managed to go 4-0 today placing first with my pseudo zombie Jund deck. I got lucky with not being mana screwed and being able to consistently land my 6th mana to cast Assassin Strike as my take care of everything card. Stab Wound and Annihilating Fire were also great in keeping the populating centaurs in check.
Out of all the guilds that I faced, Rakdos and Selesnya were the hard ones to play against.
While everyone else was pulling shock lands and planeswalkers, these were the only notable stuff I got today: *super blurry cam pic*
I still can't believe that I placed first with this being my first PR. I thank my lucky stars that on the 3rd match of the final round, my opponent mulled to 3 with him playing Rakdos trying to get an aggro hand like he was able to do on our first game ie: T1 land, unleashed cackler, T2 land, 2 more unleashed cacklers totaling 6 power on the board.
Out of all the guilds that I faced, Rakdos and Selesnya were the hard ones to play against.
While everyone else was pulling shock lands and planeswalkers, these were the only notable stuff I got today: *super blurry cam pic*
RTR shirt, Loxodon Smiter, Worldspine Wurm, Isperia, Desecration Demon (limited bomb), Isperia Supreme Judge, Counterflux, Jarad, Corpsejack Menace(x2), Lotleth Troll (x2)
I still can't believe that I placed first with this being my first PR. I thank my lucky stars that on the 3rd match of the final round, my opponent mulled to 3 with him playing Rakdos trying to get an aggro hand like he was able to do on our first game ie: T1 land, unleashed cackler, T2 land, 2 more unleashed cacklers totaling 6 power on the board.
Holy hell is populate great, and fun.
I didn't do so hot, but I had a ton of fun. Here are my notable pulls:
Loxodon Smiter
Selesnya Charm
Vitu Ghazi Guildmage
Temple Garden
Wild Beastmaster
Grove of the Guardian (promo)
Plus a ton of other great G/W cards. Everyone was pulling awesome stuff though so it was still a hard night. Lots of fun though.
I didn't do so hot, but I had a ton of fun. Here are my notable pulls:
Loxodon Smiter
Selesnya Charm
Vitu Ghazi Guildmage
Temple Garden
Wild Beastmaster
Grove of the Guardian (promo)
Plus a ton of other great G/W cards. Everyone was pulling awesome stuff though so it was still a hard night. Lots of fun though.
JetBlackPanda
Member
Alight guys! I need some help. I am going to the RTR event tomorrow and need some advice since I haven't played in so long.
What are the basic breakdowns when building a deck at a thing like this?
Lands? Creatures? Instants.. Etc..
Just some basic numbers so I don't have a huge disadvantage.
Is the deck 40?
What are the basic breakdowns when building a deck at a thing like this?
Lands? Creatures? Instants.. Etc..
Just some basic numbers so I don't have a huge disadvantage.
Is the deck 40?
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