Magic 2010 Prereleases
- Thread starter Spiderman
- Start date
Participated in two flights, a 60-man and a 32-man (though it only had 26). I made eighth place in both flights going 3-1 and 2-2 respectively. I shall go into more detail when I'm not so beat. I played R/G aggro in the first flight and R/U/G control in the second flight. Took home prizes for both flights.
Ransac, cpa trash man
Ransac, cpa trash man
Main Event Flight:
Open my six packs. Notables cards I didn't play with were:
Royal Assassin & Mind Shatter: Nice cards in this formats, but there wasn't enough removal or beef in my black selection to warrant this color. Didn't want to splash for just two BB cards, too.
Darksteel Colossus: I know he would just win games and I did have him in deck in round 1. However, I ended up just holding him in hand more often than not and felt he wasn't right for limited. Plus, with Excommunicate and Unsummon hanging around, there are plenty of answers waiting to deal with him.
White in General: I believe that White is the strongest limited color in this set and I had a LOT of decent white removal spells..... just no decent creatures.
Overall, I ended up with a R/G aggro deck with a good bit of fatties. Here's my decklist.
Creatures:
Ball Lightning
Fiery Hellhound
Goblin Artillery
Inferno Elemental
Jackal Familiar
Lightning Elemental
Raging Goblin
Sparkmage Apprentice x 2
Acidic Slime
Ant Queen
Awakener Druid
Elvish Visionary
Runeclaw Bear
Stampeding Rhino x2
Spells:
Lava Axe x2
Lightning Bolt
Seismic Strike
Entangling Vines
Giant Growth
Rampant Growth
Lands:
Mountains x10
Forest x6
Terramorphic Expanse
Cards Sided in:
Wurm's Tooth
Fiery Hellhound No. 2
Naturalize
Ignite Disorder
Ornithopter
Round 1: vs. WGB
I felt certain that this round was going to depict my first flight. I never got close to mounting an offense. I had plenty of lands and removal in game 1, but he eventually stuck a Serra Angel and beat in for the win. I had plenty of threats in game 2, but he eventually stuck a Serra Angel and beat in for the win again. My lack of fliers and reach creatures make the primary evasion creatures a problem for me. Also, I got stuck with Colossus in my hand for a while in game 2 and I decided to swap him out for the Runeclaw Bear.
0-1, 0-2
Round 2: vs. BW
Game 1 was an utter beating as I went Jackal Familiar, Raging Goblin, Ball Lightning for my first three turns. Eventually, I stuck an Awakener Druid and a Stampeding Rhino after he used his removal on my Jackal and my Runeclaw Bear. Game 2 was close. I had been able to get some beating in with a Druidly Awakened Forest, but he destroyed the Druid and started applying some beats. Eventually, he was at 5 and I was dead on board his next turn, but I topdecked the Lava Axe for the win.
1-1, 2-2
Round 3: vs. GW
Game 1 was fairly a good game. I believe that he had been beating with an Awakened Forest, but I Seismic Striked the Forest to set him back. He had played two Soul Wardens, which was stymieing my Ant Queen from making any guys. Eventually, I had enough threats to force him to chump with one of the Wardens, allowing me to create a huge army with little consequence . Game 2 was a little lackluster as he got stuck on lands and I managed to get in there with a couple of small threats for the majority of the game before I Lava Axed him to end the round.
2-1, 4-2
Round 4: vs. UW
Game 1 was a nightmare, as he played a Sage Owl on turn two and sat on a defensive strategy. I managed to get him to 11 before he stabilized and dropped Captain of the Watch and a Lifelinked Snapping Drake. Game 2 was very close as he got an Ajani Goldmane out and started erasing an early Goblin/Jackal deficit with his lifegaining ability (Ajani and Captain in the same sealed?!). He left his Ajani unprotected with 6 counters a couple turns later and I punished him with a Ball Lightning to stop the anti-bleeding. A few Rhinos and a Helhound gave me Game 2. The final game of the flight was fairly anti-climactic as he was mana-flooded and I had Goblin Artillery to pick off his small defenders. With only a couple of Palace Guards to stand between multiple Rhinos and a Hellhound, the match was mine.
3-1, 6-3.
The only person who beat me ended up No. 1 in the Main Event Flight, so I ended up with 8th place out of 60 and one of my driving buddies placed 7th, netting each of us 6 packs.
I'll post the second flight later.
Ransac, cpa trash man
Open my six packs. Notables cards I didn't play with were:
Royal Assassin & Mind Shatter: Nice cards in this formats, but there wasn't enough removal or beef in my black selection to warrant this color. Didn't want to splash for just two BB cards, too.
Darksteel Colossus: I know he would just win games and I did have him in deck in round 1. However, I ended up just holding him in hand more often than not and felt he wasn't right for limited. Plus, with Excommunicate and Unsummon hanging around, there are plenty of answers waiting to deal with him.
White in General: I believe that White is the strongest limited color in this set and I had a LOT of decent white removal spells..... just no decent creatures.
Overall, I ended up with a R/G aggro deck with a good bit of fatties. Here's my decklist.
Creatures:
Ball Lightning
Fiery Hellhound
Goblin Artillery
Inferno Elemental
Jackal Familiar
Lightning Elemental
Raging Goblin
Sparkmage Apprentice x 2
Acidic Slime
Ant Queen
Awakener Druid
Elvish Visionary
Runeclaw Bear
Stampeding Rhino x2
Spells:
Lava Axe x2
Lightning Bolt
Seismic Strike
Entangling Vines
Giant Growth
Rampant Growth
Lands:
Mountains x10
Forest x6
Terramorphic Expanse
Cards Sided in:
Wurm's Tooth
Fiery Hellhound No. 2
Naturalize
Ignite Disorder
Ornithopter
Round 1: vs. WGB
I felt certain that this round was going to depict my first flight. I never got close to mounting an offense. I had plenty of lands and removal in game 1, but he eventually stuck a Serra Angel and beat in for the win. I had plenty of threats in game 2, but he eventually stuck a Serra Angel and beat in for the win again. My lack of fliers and reach creatures make the primary evasion creatures a problem for me. Also, I got stuck with Colossus in my hand for a while in game 2 and I decided to swap him out for the Runeclaw Bear.
0-1, 0-2
Round 2: vs. BW
Game 1 was an utter beating as I went Jackal Familiar, Raging Goblin, Ball Lightning for my first three turns. Eventually, I stuck an Awakener Druid and a Stampeding Rhino after he used his removal on my Jackal and my Runeclaw Bear. Game 2 was close. I had been able to get some beating in with a Druidly Awakened Forest, but he destroyed the Druid and started applying some beats. Eventually, he was at 5 and I was dead on board his next turn, but I topdecked the Lava Axe for the win.
1-1, 2-2
Round 3: vs. GW
Game 1 was fairly a good game. I believe that he had been beating with an Awakened Forest, but I Seismic Striked the Forest to set him back. He had played two Soul Wardens, which was stymieing my Ant Queen from making any guys. Eventually, I had enough threats to force him to chump with one of the Wardens, allowing me to create a huge army with little consequence . Game 2 was a little lackluster as he got stuck on lands and I managed to get in there with a couple of small threats for the majority of the game before I Lava Axed him to end the round.
2-1, 4-2
Round 4: vs. UW
Game 1 was a nightmare, as he played a Sage Owl on turn two and sat on a defensive strategy. I managed to get him to 11 before he stabilized and dropped Captain of the Watch and a Lifelinked Snapping Drake. Game 2 was very close as he got an Ajani Goldmane out and started erasing an early Goblin/Jackal deficit with his lifegaining ability (Ajani and Captain in the same sealed?!). He left his Ajani unprotected with 6 counters a couple turns later and I punished him with a Ball Lightning to stop the anti-bleeding. A few Rhinos and a Helhound gave me Game 2. The final game of the flight was fairly anti-climactic as he was mana-flooded and I had Goblin Artillery to pick off his small defenders. With only a couple of Palace Guards to stand between multiple Rhinos and a Hellhound, the match was mine.
3-1, 6-3.
The only person who beat me ended up No. 1 in the Main Event Flight, so I ended up with 8th place out of 60 and one of my driving buddies placed 7th, netting each of us 6 packs.
I'll post the second flight later.
Ransac, cpa trash man
I can't say that I actually had to think about any of the new rules. The interactions that involved them rarely came up. I didn't have any "stack combat damage/do this other thing" ideas that frustrated me. Only once did an opponent double block a creature for me to assign an order.
Ransac, cpa trash man
Ransac, cpa trash man
When I opened up my second flight packs, I was sorely disappointed that I (once again) wound up without any strong white. What's worse, I was strong in blue, what I perceived to be the worst limited color for M10. That being said, I look at the red and green cards at my disposal and determined that, if I was willing to play 45 minutes matches for the whole flight, I could build a relatively decent UGr control deck. To go with my plethora of blue fliers, green gave me some decent fatties (plus a Piper to play them easily) and red gave me 2 Pyroclasms to stabilize after giving away the early game. Here's what I came up with.
Sphinx Ambassador
Djinn of Wishes
Illusionary Servant x2
Merfolk Looter
Zephyr Sprite
Wall of Frost
Giant Spider
Enormous Baloth
Centaur Courser
Elvish Piper
Stampeding Rhino
Canyon Minotaur
Divination
Ponder
Negate
Sleep
Entangling Vines
Fog
Rampant Growth x2
Act of Treason
Pyroclasm x2
Island x7
Forest x5
Mountain x3
Gargoyle Castle
I've always wanted to play a deck like this and I finally did with the excuse of "The rest of my cards sucked, so I went with this." Notable sideboard cards included Deadly Recluse, Emerald Oryx, Viashino Spearhunter x2, Giant Growth and Panic Attack.
Round 1: Vs. RG
My prediction of 45 minutes matches came true, btw. This red aggro deck couldn't win or lose fast enough against me. Game 1 was brought to a halt when I Pyroclasmed away his board and stuck a Giant Spider to ward off any new defenders. Eventually, I played my Sphinx Ambassador and (for the only time in this flight) manage to hit my opponent with it. After searching his deck, I noted that he had Ant Queen and that would be the creature he'd name. So, I pulled an Inferno Elemental and sure enough he named Ant Queen. Unfortunately, he found Seismic Struck my Ambassador and then played the Ant Queen he just drew off of the reshuffle. With I couldn't draw into an answer and get swarmed. Game 2 and 3 were relatively the same, with Djinn of Wishes hitting the field on turn 4 both game (thanks to Rampant Growth) and wishing for ways to stall his both (Sleep and Pyroclasm) while I swung overhead for the win.
1-0, 2-1
Round 2: vs BGr
Game 1 took forever as the two of us continually traded board control back and forth. His deck seemed slow controllish like mine, but using B instead of U for Assassinate and Doom Blade and the like. I managed to stick my Ambassador, but he was held back by a Deadly Recluse on the other side. Eventually, he dealt with my creatures and pushed through. The last two games felt like game 1, however, I managed to draw or wish for Sleep when I needed it to deal the Alpha Strike.
2-0, 4-2
Round 3: vs UG
This may have been the best match I've ever played. His deck was very similar to mine, Blue had draw/stall cards and green had the fatties. He had more flyers via multiple drakes, but they weren't as big as mine. I dropped Piper in game 1 to call out a Baloth, which stalled the game forever. Eventually, I played Sleep to tap him out for a two turn clock, but he responded with a Sleep of his own the following turn, giving him the first untap and the alpha strike. Game 2 saw the advantage shift to me, with Centaur Courser and Canyon Minotaur giving him problems while I draw more cards to help out the late game. I get a Djinn on the field and have to wish all three times to find my Sleep. He tried to Negate the Sleep, but I Negated the Negate. Game 3 was completely different. He played a turn 2 Merfolk Looter, which I gladly traded for Pyroclasm. He then pushed for an aggro game by playing Whispersilk Cloak and then Wind Drake, giving me a clock that can only be stopped by drawing the other Pyroclasm or going for the win myself. I unloaded Centaur Courser and Stampeding Rhino over my next couple of turns and began to race him. I played Sleep, which he then responded to with a Sleep. I had lethal on the board for the turn following his alpha strike, so I had to make a move. He swung. I played Fog. He played Flash Freeze. I extended my hand. Hell of a match.
2-1, 5-4
Round 4: vs. UBRW
I don't know how you make 4-color work without mana-fixers, but he did. To get all of my excuses out of the way, I had not had a bathroom break since before the flight began (thanks to all of my matches being the last to finish) and my 5-Hour Energy was wearing off. I made a lot of mistakes in this match, like not recognizing that even if I counter a spell that targets my Servant, it still dies. I lose this match 1-2, but I couldn't tell you how I lost or won any of those games as I was mentally drained and in need of a bathroom break. That doesn't take anything away from the guy who beat me, mind you. His deck was still tight and I probably wouldn't had a lot of trouble had I been in full possession of my mental faculties.
2-2, 6-6.
I ended up in 8th place out of 26 people (the two people who beat me were 1st and 4th, hence I had the best tie-breakers out of the 2-2's). I was really proud of this deck and wish that I had been able to play this deck in the Main Event and the other deck in this flight. Overall, I ended up prizing in both flights and I was satisfied with that.
Ransac, cpa trash man
Sphinx Ambassador
Djinn of Wishes
Illusionary Servant x2
Merfolk Looter
Zephyr Sprite
Wall of Frost
Giant Spider
Enormous Baloth
Centaur Courser
Elvish Piper
Stampeding Rhino
Canyon Minotaur
Divination
Ponder
Negate
Sleep
Entangling Vines
Fog
Rampant Growth x2
Act of Treason
Pyroclasm x2
Island x7
Forest x5
Mountain x3
Gargoyle Castle
I've always wanted to play a deck like this and I finally did with the excuse of "The rest of my cards sucked, so I went with this." Notable sideboard cards included Deadly Recluse, Emerald Oryx, Viashino Spearhunter x2, Giant Growth and Panic Attack.
Round 1: Vs. RG
My prediction of 45 minutes matches came true, btw. This red aggro deck couldn't win or lose fast enough against me. Game 1 was brought to a halt when I Pyroclasmed away his board and stuck a Giant Spider to ward off any new defenders. Eventually, I played my Sphinx Ambassador and (for the only time in this flight) manage to hit my opponent with it. After searching his deck, I noted that he had Ant Queen and that would be the creature he'd name. So, I pulled an Inferno Elemental and sure enough he named Ant Queen. Unfortunately, he found Seismic Struck my Ambassador and then played the Ant Queen he just drew off of the reshuffle. With I couldn't draw into an answer and get swarmed. Game 2 and 3 were relatively the same, with Djinn of Wishes hitting the field on turn 4 both game (thanks to Rampant Growth) and wishing for ways to stall his both (Sleep and Pyroclasm) while I swung overhead for the win.
1-0, 2-1
Round 2: vs BGr
Game 1 took forever as the two of us continually traded board control back and forth. His deck seemed slow controllish like mine, but using B instead of U for Assassinate and Doom Blade and the like. I managed to stick my Ambassador, but he was held back by a Deadly Recluse on the other side. Eventually, he dealt with my creatures and pushed through. The last two games felt like game 1, however, I managed to draw or wish for Sleep when I needed it to deal the Alpha Strike.
2-0, 4-2
Round 3: vs UG
This may have been the best match I've ever played. His deck was very similar to mine, Blue had draw/stall cards and green had the fatties. He had more flyers via multiple drakes, but they weren't as big as mine. I dropped Piper in game 1 to call out a Baloth, which stalled the game forever. Eventually, I played Sleep to tap him out for a two turn clock, but he responded with a Sleep of his own the following turn, giving him the first untap and the alpha strike. Game 2 saw the advantage shift to me, with Centaur Courser and Canyon Minotaur giving him problems while I draw more cards to help out the late game. I get a Djinn on the field and have to wish all three times to find my Sleep. He tried to Negate the Sleep, but I Negated the Negate. Game 3 was completely different. He played a turn 2 Merfolk Looter, which I gladly traded for Pyroclasm. He then pushed for an aggro game by playing Whispersilk Cloak and then Wind Drake, giving me a clock that can only be stopped by drawing the other Pyroclasm or going for the win myself. I unloaded Centaur Courser and Stampeding Rhino over my next couple of turns and began to race him. I played Sleep, which he then responded to with a Sleep. I had lethal on the board for the turn following his alpha strike, so I had to make a move. He swung. I played Fog. He played Flash Freeze. I extended my hand. Hell of a match.
2-1, 5-4
Round 4: vs. UBRW
I don't know how you make 4-color work without mana-fixers, but he did. To get all of my excuses out of the way, I had not had a bathroom break since before the flight began (thanks to all of my matches being the last to finish) and my 5-Hour Energy was wearing off. I made a lot of mistakes in this match, like not recognizing that even if I counter a spell that targets my Servant, it still dies. I lose this match 1-2, but I couldn't tell you how I lost or won any of those games as I was mentally drained and in need of a bathroom break. That doesn't take anything away from the guy who beat me, mind you. His deck was still tight and I probably wouldn't had a lot of trouble had I been in full possession of my mental faculties.
2-2, 6-6.
I ended up in 8th place out of 26 people (the two people who beat me were 1st and 4th, hence I had the best tie-breakers out of the 2-2's). I was really proud of this deck and wish that I had been able to play this deck in the Main Event and the other deck in this flight. Overall, I ended up prizing in both flights and I was satisfied with that.
Ransac, cpa trash man