Nikodemos
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Magic: the GAFering |OT2|
- Thread starter The Technomancer
- Start date
My problem with merchant is that you're obligated to play subpar creatures simply to use their black mana later on. If you don't draw the merchant, then you're already at a disadvantage. And after merchant then what? How do you plan to close out the game when G and W are coming at you with 5/5 flyers and tramplers that "dodge removal" in the form of bestow?
A lot of blacks best cards in this set are not permanents, which means you'll have to round out your side with non black creatures, cutting into your potential for a devotion blowout.
A lot of blacks best cards in this set are not permanents, which means you'll have to round out your side with non black creatures, cutting into your potential for a devotion blowout.
Nikodemos
Member
Merchant is a Common, meaning you're likely to have two in your deck (no more than two, though, 5 mana isn't cheap and you've got the bomby demon to worry about as well). So's Read the Bones, arguably one of the best draw spells at its rarity level. And apart from Fleshmad Steed, Blood-Toll Harpy and (arguable, though) Loathsome Catoblepas, the rest of Black's creatures aren't bad.
That's where the Green splash for Fade into Antiquity and/or Shredding Winds comes in (also gives you access to Pharika's Mender and, if you're lucky enough, Reaper of the Wilds). No more annoying enchantment-creatures. And Black creatures have pretty big butts, see Returned Centaur, Keepsake Gorgon (deathtouch) etc. Plus removal. What does the fox say? "Hmm, this juice tastes weird." (alternatively "Ouch! It stings! Hey, why am I smaller than that funny-looking cow all of a sudden?").
Nikodemos
Member
divisionbyzorro
Member
Just finished the Saturday pre-release here in Oz; my first paper tournament - ever. I managed to sneak into sixth place out of 27 players, winning three packs for my troubles.
I picked Blue for my promo color, based almost entirely on the strength of the supporting cards. The promo turned out to be really good as well. The pool basically built itself; my red was terrible (despite opening the Hammer), and my white was weak as well. It came down to UG vs UB, and I ended up opting to go with UG Big Stuff, splashing black for Sip of Hemlock off of three Swamps and the land enchantment. I also got to play the UG scryland, which made playing three Swamps more palatable.
My final build:
Some thoughts:
Some decent pulls as well; Thassa, Hammer of Purphoros, Tymaret, Temple of Mystery, foil Daxos, foil Temple of Silence. All in all, it was a great time.
I picked Blue for my promo color, based almost entirely on the strength of the supporting cards. The promo turned out to be really good as well. The pool basically built itself; my red was terrible (despite opening the Hammer), and my white was weak as well. It came down to UG vs UB, and I ended up opting to go with UG Big Stuff, splashing black for Sip of Hemlock off of three Swamps and the land enchantment. I also got to play the UG scryland, which made playing three Swamps more palatable.
My final build:
Some thoughts:
- Maindeck Annul was insane. I ended up siding a second one in for a couple of my matches. Maindeck Fade into Antiquity was not insane. The tempo difference is that big.
- Bestowing Thassa's Emissary on a Wavecrash Triton feels really good.
- Thassa herself is really good - when cast on turn 3. The longer it takes to cast her, the worse she gets. You obviously run her whenever you can, but prioritize her in your casting order if you can.
- Prognostic Sphinx is a true bomb. Even just one Scry 3 puts you so far ahead it's insane.
- There are some insanely aggressive creatures in the set. You're going to be able to draft some bonkers white-based aggro decks. I'm looking forward to going back to draft next weekend.
Some decent pulls as well; Thassa, Hammer of Purphoros, Tymaret, Temple of Mystery, foil Daxos, foil Temple of Silence. All in all, it was a great time.
I know! But two blue devotion mythics, two sea god's revenge, two griptide, two mnemonic wall, 3/4 flier...
divisionbyzorro
Member
Master of Waves and Thassa are playable on their own though. By that I mean you don't need to be 70% blue to play the; they're good even if you're just 40% blue.
I'm also pretty sure that the pre-release packs had a higher than average concentration of Gods. I was shocked at how many Gods I saw floating around.
Also, Elspeth is insane in sealed, just as you might think. I lost hard to that card.
I'm also pretty sure that the pre-release packs had a higher than average concentration of Gods. I was shocked at how many Gods I saw floating around.
Also, Elspeth is insane in sealed, just as you might think. I lost hard to that card.
Went 5-1 for 2nd at my prerelease. Picked blue and had a even pool with very few bombs. The guy I lost to had 2 red gods, an extra red promo, and an overall very quick mono red deck. I did get a lot of good removal which helped stall until I could drop big flyers, the 6 drop hexproofer, and some of the better bestow creatures. Got 19 prize packs which pretty much had garbage in them lol. Did get a thoughtseize from my pool which made it not a complete bust.
5-1-1 at midnight prerelease. Decided to just not play the last one and tie; I'm tired and wouldn't have as much fun as I normally would. I picked the blue pack but ended up with a rakdos deck that went incredibly fast, usually winning turn 6 or earlier. Woke up at 7 yesterday and haven't slept since, lol.
2 of my rares were dual lands. The others were green God Artifact, red God artifact and a fabled hero.
Finished 0-3. The first 2 guys I faced both had Blue Red. And they both each had a stormbreath and blue God.
My deck was hopeless as soon as the other player got flyers out there.
Finished 0-3. The first 2 guys I faced both had Blue Red. And they both each had a stormbreath and blue God.
My deck was hopeless as soon as the other player got flyers out there.
blindrocket
Member
Today at one of the LGS, the winner gets a box of Theros as the prize.
My other LGS is kind of the same way. They'll give out the required prize support but paying out to almost half of the players. Stopped going there when it got to a point that I was making finals of 60+ events and only getting 10-12 packs to show for it. New shop has a much better prize structure and only costs $20 to enter.
platypotamus
Member
I thought these events were 4 matches long, not 6?
Prereleases are typically pretty long since there's more people than at weeklies and they don't use pods.
Most of the games I lost were from busted heroic starts. It's a little inconsistent in sealed but there are going to be a lot of quick draft games due to cheap heroic creatures and the 2CMC enchantment cycle.
platypotamus
Member
Huh. The shop I usually go to always does 4 matches. I am going to a different one tomorrow, but I'm guessing if they are at noon and 5, they must be just 4 as well.
blindrocket
Member
I've read speculation that Liliana of the Veil could double in price over the next year due to Modern. She just jumped in price two weeks before she rotates out of Standard.
Hmm... should I invest especially if I plan on playing Modern eventually?
Perhaps the money is better put towards Thoughtseize (Theros) considering it will be Standard.
Hmm... should I invest especially if I plan on playing Modern eventually?
Perhaps the money is better put towards Thoughtseize (Theros) considering it will be Standard.
picklecannon
Member
Played in my first ever pre-release today (just got back) and scrubbed out 0-2 drop. Ended up making a rather slow UG deck with a lot of bestow, heroics and flyers. Just couldn't get there with land drops (probably should've mulled a lot more agressively). Only real noteworthy rare I opened was hero's downfall. I got a free pack for staying until round 2 at my LGS and I opened up elspeth! So overall the day was good today and I at least broke even.
I'd like to think that she'll be reprinted in M15, Modern Masters 2 or a Duel Deck of some sort at some point. There is NO reason why she needs to be where she's at price wise already as far as I'm concerned.
4-1. Blue/Green. Saw a lot of that color combo near the top of the standings. Best card was Artisan of Forms. Thing is incredible with enough stuff to trigger it. An aura turns it into a better version of the best thing on the board.
Got second through some tie breaker stuff I don't quite get since I lost in the second round. Shrug. I'll take it.
Got amazing prize packs pulls: Xenagos, Erebos and Stormbreath. Might try and trade Xenagos away tomorrow.
Got second through some tie breaker stuff I don't quite get since I lost in the second round. Shrug. I'll take it.
Got amazing prize packs pulls: Xenagos, Erebos and Stormbreath. Might try and trade Xenagos away tomorrow.
I went 2-2 going white path and playing WU. Sea God's revenge, 2xVoyage's End and a Mnemonic Wall were the all-stars, I got 2 M14 and 2 Theros packs as prizes but haven't opened them yet.
I was 0-2 and dead on board, top decked my Archon, Bestow for the win. Lots of long fun games.
I was 0-2 and dead on board, top decked my Archon, Bestow for the win. Lots of long fun games.
Ha! I picked red and went undefeated.
Purphoros + Whip of Erebos is filthy.
:lol
blindrocket
Member
That would be nice, but would it lower her value considerably?
divisionbyzorro
Member
My first match loss came from a forced mull to four (6 lands, no lands, no lands). My second match loss came at the hands of Elspeth (I beat her once, but couldn't beat her three times). That card is ridiculous.
I had two in my pool. They were the strongest force pulling me to play UB, but I didn't like the rest of the pool in black.
I saw a lot of people enticed by the heroic cards and trying to build aggressive pools. When they got the right draws, they were scary as hell, but they just couldn't consistently get those draws. Wx aggro is going to be a real thing in draft.
I had two in my pool. They were the strongest force pulling me to play UB, but I didn't like the rest of the pool in black.
I saw a lot of people enticed by the heroic cards and trying to build aggressive pools. When they got the right draws, they were scary as hell, but they just couldn't consistently get those draws. Wx aggro is going to be a real thing in draft.
divisionbyzorro
Member
Just transcribed my sealed pool for anyone interested:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/theros-pre-release-sealed-pool/?category=color
The first color combination I laid out was UB, but look at that nasty curve. I couldn't handle building a deck that couldn't do anything at all in the early turns.
I then laid out UW, but it just felt bad. Something about it didn't click with me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but my gut said not to do it.
UG wasn't incredible when I laid it out, but it looked solid across the board. I linked the deck that I built in the description of the pool.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/theros-pre-release-sealed-pool/?category=color
The first color combination I laid out was UB, but look at that nasty curve. I couldn't handle building a deck that couldn't do anything at all in the early turns.
I then laid out UW, but it just felt bad. Something about it didn't click with me. I couldn't put my finger on it, but my gut said not to do it.
UG wasn't incredible when I laid it out, but it looked solid across the board. I linked the deck that I built in the description of the pool.
goldlion054
Member
Did the pre-release last night with around 50 people at the shop. I ended up running Black and splashing blue because I cracked open 3 Agent of Fates in my sealed pool. I basically controlled the board with them and splashed the blue because I had so many instant speed blue plays in my pool. I ended up going 5-0-1 (we did an intentional draw to ensure both of our top 8's in my last game) and we split top 8. Ended up all getting 17 packs of Theros, which is nifty. We did play top 8 out for a booster box of From the Vault, but it was already 6:30 and I was tired and had work at 9, so I just dropped, took my packs and went home.
It was a good pre-release
A side note: The guy who I took the intentional draw with and I decided to play for casual fun while we waited. He played the White God Spear and then the Akroan Horse (where the ive it to your opponent and it produces the 1/1 soldiers) and it was insane. I laughed when he played the horse and then it quickly took over because I couldn't keep up with the removal. It was fucking majestic
It was a good pre-release
A side note: The guy who I took the intentional draw with and I decided to play for casual fun while we waited. He played the White God Spear and then the Akroan Horse (where the ive it to your opponent and it produces the 1/1 soldiers) and it was insane. I laughed when he played the horse and then it quickly took over because I couldn't keep up with the removal. It was fucking majestic
If printed in Modern Masters 2: Not super likely unless the print run is higher than the original Modern Masters.
If printed in a Duel Deck: Most likely would cut it to near half what it is now for the Innistrad version, while the DD version would be cheap.
If printed in M15: Absolutely would bring the value down.
MM2 will definitely have more. Especially since they know they can push further than what they previously did. (i.e., more languages, etc.)
blindrocket
Member
That would be awfully nice of them. lol
Here's a question for my GW Voice/Archangel Standard deck...
Spear of Heliod or Ajani Planeswalker?
Both are 3 CMC and I'd probably run two...
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