Alara Reborn Prereleases
- Thread starter Spiderman
- Start date
I went and have some stories to tell, but will later. What I will say is the following:
1. I went 3-2, losing my two matches after failing to draw appropriate following poor decisions to not mulligan.
2. My tiebreakers sucked
3. Behemoth Sledge is a BOMB!!!
Ransac, cpa trash man
1. I went 3-2, losing my two matches after failing to draw appropriate following poor decisions to not mulligan.
2. My tiebreakers sucked
3. Behemoth Sledge is a BOMB!!!
Ransac, cpa trash man
Alright, here's my report. The set-up for this local pre-release was 2 Shards, 1 Conflux and 3 Reborn. Some of the locals seemed a bit upset about not going SSSRRR, but since I hadn't played with much of anything recently, I was pleased to have more exposure to the current limited.
Let me state this: Naya is SICK with Alara Reborn. Absolutely sick. I gathered that about 60-70% of the room came to the same decision. Naya gives you access to cheap big creatures, burn, exalted AND potential to splash B for removal. My pool of cards yielded an edge to straight up Naya with only 1 (major) downside: limited mana fixing. I pulled 1 Borderpost in Naya colors (Borderposts are amazing) and the Bant Panorama and Tri-land. Here's what I put together:
Creatures:
2cc
Aven Squire
Jund Hackblade
Naya Hushblade
Qasali Pridemage
Stun Sniper
3cc
Godtracker of Jund
4cc
Bloodbraid Elf
Gloryscale Viashino
Leonin Armorguard
Rhox Brute
Wall of Reverence
5cc
Gorger Wurm
Uri, the Miststalker
6cc
Cavern Thoctar
Sigiled Behemoth
Valler Runner
Non-Creature Spells
1cc
Might of Alara
2cc
Crystallization
Sangrite Backlash
3cc
Behemoth Sledge
Lightning Talons
Violent Outburst
Wildfield Borderpost
6cc
Sylvan Bounty (1G, basic landcycling)
Land
Forest x5
Mountain x5
Plains x4
Bant Panorama
Seaside Citadel
Notable Sideboard:
Valeron Outlander
Vithian Renegades
Some words on a few cards:
Behemoth Sledge: The owner of the shop mentioned that this card should be banned in Limited. I'm not sure if I'd go THAT far, but it is a game-breaker. I never lost a game if once I played this card.
Uril, the Miststalker: Troll Ascetic's big bad cousin twice-removed...... maybe..... could've been adopted...
Match 1: Nice Guy, playing Naya
Game 1: I can't remember the names of most of my opponents, so I won't try. Game 1 ended up being a complete demolition and created the game-state I remember the most: A Rhox Brute enchanted with Lightning Talons and equipped with Behemoth Sledge, a.k.a. a 9/6 trampling, first striking, lifelinking rhino....... The final life total was 45-0
Game 2: I can't draw into any Plains or white-mana fixers. I manage to hang on at 2 life for 4-5 turns, but I end the game with a fist-full of white-gold cards and no way to end the onslaught on the table.
Game 3: Read game 2, but no hanging on for 4-5 turns.
Turns out I was this guys only match win that day. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the mana. I shuffle up a few more times and solitaire 3 turns for a while and consistently draw my sources. I guess this was the nature of the 3-colored beast that is Alara Sealed.
Match 2: Another nice guy, playing Jund
Game 1-2: Nice guy 1's friend. I don't have any recollection of this match other than I felt a bit underwhelmed by his Jund plays and I bash through one game with a Uril holding a Sledge and build up a nice board in the other while relying on Wall of Reverence to keep me out of harm's way.
Match 3: Girl named Raven, playing Bant
Game 1: I'm drawing into the right spells consistently, but fail to draw any Mountains.
Game 2: Wall of Reverence keeps giving me a steady stream of life, Gloryscale Viashino manages to pump to 6-9 consistently, forcing her to stay in chump-block mode. She scoops at about 12 life when she determines she has no answer for the race on the board.
Game 3: See game 1
Okay, it is now perfectly clear to me that this is a format where mana-fixers are more important that early game threats. Unfortunately for me, I'm playing all of the accelerators I have (save for some Esper Borderposts, but I pulled nothing noteworthy in my pool to validate playing WUB). I come to grips that the pool given to me, while very powerful in Naya, just wouldn't give me the consistency to win anything. here.
Match 4: Yet another nice guy, playing 5-color
Game 1: He starts to drop a few threats, but putters out after a while. I manage to stick Uril with a Lightning Talons (that's a 10/7 first-striker, to all you out there) and he packs it up.
Game 2: Nothing gets played on either side (save for a Borderpost on my end) until I Bloodbraid Elf into a Jund Hackblade, swinging for six. He finally plays a (small) creature the next turn, with I answer with a Sangrite Backlash. He scoops next turn after not drawing land again.
I chat with this guy after the match and asked why he went 5-color, to which he replied with something along the lines of "It looked good." I asked if he just had a problem drawing into his Borderposts, to which he looked puzzled and didn't know what I was talking about. After looking through his sideboard, I noticed he pulled 3 Borderposts which he deemed unnecessary. Turns out he didn't read the alternate casting cost. He promptly added them to his deck and playtested it, consistently getting what he needed to play into what he had. A little too late as there is only 1 round left
Match 5: Nice guy, playing Esper
Game 1: We chat back and forth about our ho-hum 2-2 placings at the moments and discuss what we liked about the set. He plays out a Metallurgeon on turn two and this gives me fits (lots of artifacts). In the end, I manage to play it out with a Uril holding a Sledge and a Sigiled Behemoth holding back his potential game ending attackers. I pull this one out.
Game 2: Again, he drops a turn two Metallurgeon. I make the ridiculous mistake of targeting it with my sided-in Vithian Renegades thinking he tapped out his white, but I missed his Rupture Spire in his land. I don't see Sledge or Wall in this game, but I'm applying pressure with my beefy creatures. Eventually, he gets a couple of fliers into play and I attack, hoping for him to misread the board and chump with some of his small army. He doesn't block with his fliers (bummer) and I Violent Outburst to get more damage in, cascading into.......... Aven Squire, the one cascadable card left in my deck that can block any of his fliers, buying me another turn to swing for the win. He can't believe it, draws and scoops.
Overall, not bad. I managed to pick up 3 Anathemancers and a Thought Hemorrhage for the sideboard of my Blightning. This was my first week back in tournament magic in a little over 2 years, finishing 3-2 in both Standard and Sealed. With a little practice, hopefully I'll be able to crack a top 8 or so.
Ransac, cpa trash man
Let me state this: Naya is SICK with Alara Reborn. Absolutely sick. I gathered that about 60-70% of the room came to the same decision. Naya gives you access to cheap big creatures, burn, exalted AND potential to splash B for removal. My pool of cards yielded an edge to straight up Naya with only 1 (major) downside: limited mana fixing. I pulled 1 Borderpost in Naya colors (Borderposts are amazing) and the Bant Panorama and Tri-land. Here's what I put together:
Creatures:
2cc
Aven Squire
Jund Hackblade
Naya Hushblade
Qasali Pridemage
Stun Sniper
3cc
Godtracker of Jund
4cc
Bloodbraid Elf
Gloryscale Viashino
Leonin Armorguard
Rhox Brute
Wall of Reverence
5cc
Gorger Wurm
Uri, the Miststalker
6cc
Cavern Thoctar
Sigiled Behemoth
Valler Runner
Non-Creature Spells
1cc
Might of Alara
2cc
Crystallization
Sangrite Backlash
3cc
Behemoth Sledge
Lightning Talons
Violent Outburst
Wildfield Borderpost
6cc
Sylvan Bounty (1G, basic landcycling)
Land
Forest x5
Mountain x5
Plains x4
Bant Panorama
Seaside Citadel
Notable Sideboard:
Valeron Outlander
Vithian Renegades
Some words on a few cards:
Behemoth Sledge: The owner of the shop mentioned that this card should be banned in Limited. I'm not sure if I'd go THAT far, but it is a game-breaker. I never lost a game if once I played this card.
Uril, the Miststalker: Troll Ascetic's big bad cousin twice-removed...... maybe..... could've been adopted...
Match 1: Nice Guy, playing Naya
Game 1: I can't remember the names of most of my opponents, so I won't try. Game 1 ended up being a complete demolition and created the game-state I remember the most: A Rhox Brute enchanted with Lightning Talons and equipped with Behemoth Sledge, a.k.a. a 9/6 trampling, first striking, lifelinking rhino....... The final life total was 45-0
Game 2: I can't draw into any Plains or white-mana fixers. I manage to hang on at 2 life for 4-5 turns, but I end the game with a fist-full of white-gold cards and no way to end the onslaught on the table.
Game 3: Read game 2, but no hanging on for 4-5 turns.
Turns out I was this guys only match win that day. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with the mana. I shuffle up a few more times and solitaire 3 turns for a while and consistently draw my sources. I guess this was the nature of the 3-colored beast that is Alara Sealed.
Match 2: Another nice guy, playing Jund
Game 1-2: Nice guy 1's friend. I don't have any recollection of this match other than I felt a bit underwhelmed by his Jund plays and I bash through one game with a Uril holding a Sledge and build up a nice board in the other while relying on Wall of Reverence to keep me out of harm's way.
Match 3: Girl named Raven, playing Bant
Game 1: I'm drawing into the right spells consistently, but fail to draw any Mountains.
Game 2: Wall of Reverence keeps giving me a steady stream of life, Gloryscale Viashino manages to pump to 6-9 consistently, forcing her to stay in chump-block mode. She scoops at about 12 life when she determines she has no answer for the race on the board.
Game 3: See game 1
Okay, it is now perfectly clear to me that this is a format where mana-fixers are more important that early game threats. Unfortunately for me, I'm playing all of the accelerators I have (save for some Esper Borderposts, but I pulled nothing noteworthy in my pool to validate playing WUB). I come to grips that the pool given to me, while very powerful in Naya, just wouldn't give me the consistency to win anything. here.
Match 4: Yet another nice guy, playing 5-color
Game 1: He starts to drop a few threats, but putters out after a while. I manage to stick Uril with a Lightning Talons (that's a 10/7 first-striker, to all you out there) and he packs it up.
Game 2: Nothing gets played on either side (save for a Borderpost on my end) until I Bloodbraid Elf into a Jund Hackblade, swinging for six. He finally plays a (small) creature the next turn, with I answer with a Sangrite Backlash. He scoops next turn after not drawing land again.
I chat with this guy after the match and asked why he went 5-color, to which he replied with something along the lines of "It looked good." I asked if he just had a problem drawing into his Borderposts, to which he looked puzzled and didn't know what I was talking about. After looking through his sideboard, I noticed he pulled 3 Borderposts which he deemed unnecessary. Turns out he didn't read the alternate casting cost. He promptly added them to his deck and playtested it, consistently getting what he needed to play into what he had. A little too late as there is only 1 round left
Match 5: Nice guy, playing Esper
Game 1: We chat back and forth about our ho-hum 2-2 placings at the moments and discuss what we liked about the set. He plays out a Metallurgeon on turn two and this gives me fits (lots of artifacts). In the end, I manage to play it out with a Uril holding a Sledge and a Sigiled Behemoth holding back his potential game ending attackers. I pull this one out.
Game 2: Again, he drops a turn two Metallurgeon. I make the ridiculous mistake of targeting it with my sided-in Vithian Renegades thinking he tapped out his white, but I missed his Rupture Spire in his land. I don't see Sledge or Wall in this game, but I'm applying pressure with my beefy creatures. Eventually, he gets a couple of fliers into play and I attack, hoping for him to misread the board and chump with some of his small army. He doesn't block with his fliers (bummer) and I Violent Outburst to get more damage in, cascading into.......... Aven Squire, the one cascadable card left in my deck that can block any of his fliers, buying me another turn to swing for the win. He can't believe it, draws and scoops.
Overall, not bad. I managed to pick up 3 Anathemancers and a Thought Hemorrhage for the sideboard of my Blightning. This was my first week back in tournament magic in a little over 2 years, finishing 3-2 in both Standard and Sealed. With a little practice, hopefully I'll be able to crack a top 8 or so.
Ransac, cpa trash man
M
Modus Pwnens
Guest
I judged saturday, nothing too interesting.
Sunday played 2HG for funs, was pretty nice (Sharuum, get Enigma Sphinx back was probably the play of the day
)
There actually was a guy who got the following cards out of his 3 (three) shards boosters:
Ajani Vengeant
Ajani Vengeant (Foil)
Sarkhan Vol
Oblivion Ring (Foil)
Battlegrace Angel
Battlegrace Angel (Foil)
Then he went on to rape his pool and ended at a 4-2 record. Man, if only I'd get pools like that at the next limited PTQ/GP ^^
Sunday played 2HG for funs, was pretty nice (Sharuum, get Enigma Sphinx back was probably the play of the day
)There actually was a guy who got the following cards out of his 3 (three) shards boosters:
Ajani Vengeant
Ajani Vengeant (Foil)
Sarkhan Vol
Oblivion Ring (Foil)
Battlegrace Angel
Battlegrace Angel (Foil)
Then he went on to rape his pool and ended at a 4-2 record. Man, if only I'd get pools like that at the next limited PTQ/GP ^^
Okay... I typed up a huge post and the page suddenly wiped it away..... DAMN YOU vBulletin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, shorter version. I like it. It's a flavorful way to represent this merging of Shards idea. Plus, it gives weight/legs to the decktypes that never got off the ground in this Standard (i.e.: 5-power matters gets Spellbreaker Behemoth, Gorger Wurm and Uril the Miststalker, not to mention Behemoth Sledge) AND GW gets a huge bomb in Dauntless Escort (I'll WoG YOUR side of the board). It was a LOT of fun to play Sealed and I hope to play it again (with some more mana fixers, please).
Ransac, cpa trash man
Anyway, shorter version. I like it. It's a flavorful way to represent this merging of Shards idea. Plus, it gives weight/legs to the decktypes that never got off the ground in this Standard (i.e.: 5-power matters gets Spellbreaker Behemoth, Gorger Wurm and Uril the Miststalker, not to mention Behemoth Sledge) AND GW gets a huge bomb in Dauntless Escort (I'll WoG YOUR side of the board). It was a LOT of fun to play Sealed and I hope to play it again (with some more mana fixers, please).
Ransac, cpa trash man
Cascade is a beast. I never had a complaint with the cards I played off of it. Their initial abilities are fairly limited (i.e.: Bituminous Blast only targets creatures) but that's what you get for landing a potential free spell.
Also, my prior post said "Gorger Wurm" and I meant "Enlisted Wurm."
Ransac, cpa trash man
Also, my prior post said "Gorger Wurm" and I meant "Enlisted Wurm."
Ransac, cpa trash man