I just wanted to say how much fun I had playing in my first PRE. This is the closest thing I've had to being at an actual FNM since I had to quit paper magic. Thanks a lot Flip, and I hope to play again in the future!
we'll miss ya in the league but some attrition from the constructed group is inevitable, though it's looking like we're getting more than enough totally new players to make up for it.
unfortunately Mr.Slippery beat you to the punch last weekend with his helix deck, it was a pretty epic match that's covered in Paul's guest Heirloom article that should publish soon.
Of course those gobs will try again so no sense in letting them get us while our guard is down lol.
I will not play in the parallel universe (due to time problems), but I do wish all players the best of luck. I will most probably play this Saturday and as always I'm coming with a very powerful deck. Let's see what will happen :).
Oh and so that everyone knows, I am coming with a totally anti-red heavy sideboard. The reign of those stupid gobos will end this weekend :).
maybe one week you'll have enough time (I'll probably give out the participation award if someone plays at least 3 matches) and the next not, no pressure here, I'm pretty laid back as far as things go and I'd rather someone try to play than just sit out =P
I'm torn... I'd like very much but I'm not sure I can participate because of my new job; it will likely start during next week (I said the same last week and the week before that... I hate bureucracy) and I don't know if I will be able to play in the evenings.
I suppose it can't hurt for me to try it out though, right? Well, if it's not too much trouble, count me in and generate my pool, I should know by then if I'm able to play or not.
Obviously I was under the (mistaken) impression that the deck could win. 2 baneslayers on the board is not some to be overcome by a dragons deck. Particularly when they are not alone.
I lost a limited game to a sick combo of clone shell, barrage ogre and nim deathmantle. So each turn he gets to pay 4 mana to shoot something for two and tutor a creature from the top 4 of his deck into play. Pretty brutal!
(not particularly relevant, but I felt like sharing)
Thanks for another good article, Mike.
I'm glad I could contribute!
I like the format very much, I think it's perfect for both veterans, who can challenge themselves with a limited pool, and new players (like me), who can learn some tricks and play fair matches without those overpowered 25$ cards.
Balanced decks are ok true but in LE's case he is a far better player than his friend ... 11year exp on them.
A very good way for 2 players is theme decks (not the base set ones though) they set generally about the same power and a good way to teach new players.
Clone shell likes cards that set up the deck for it and control its death. So yeah I wouldn't draft it unless the deck was geared towards taking advantage of its ability.
Yeah I think decks balanced in tune to each other is definitely the best way to teach people. When I was doing the Guru thing that was my approach...starting with simple decks and growing them to fully complex constructed decks such as the ones I talked about above.
As far as psychographics, I think most players start with one thing and grow out of that as they discover more aspects of the game.
I have to say I was fairly disappointed to run into the spoiler deck (Mangiafuoco's) first round with my relatively ok Dragon deck and to see not 1 but 2 baneslayers. I could not be bothered to complete the match much less the first game after that, kicking myself for wasting my time bringing a theme deck to this event. In fact that will be the last time for the foreseeable future that I join said event. Theme decks are for chumps and I do not like feeling like a chump. Particularly when my opponent deliberately and with forethought brings the antideck.
For those curious this is what I brought:
1 Breeding Pool
1 Quicksilver Dragon
4 Steel Hellkite
1 Hellkite Charger
2 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Ryusei, the Falling Star
4 Cloudpost
4 Imperial Hellkite
4 Clone Shell
1 Stomping Ground
1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1 Intet, the Dreamer
3 Forest
4 Darksteel Ingot
1 Island
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
3 Dragonspeaker Shaman
3 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Academy Ruins
3 Mountain
1 Fireball
2 Steam Vents
4 Glimmerpost
2 Fireball
1 Spellbound Dragon
4 Hellkite Hatchling
Normally Id never play with a card like hatchling but in the week prior to this the testing showed it was a great combo with Clone Shell and often brought out a Bogardan Hellkite or other monstrosity very quickly. The 8 loci helped speed up the deck. Initially in testing I was trying to use Genesis Wave to cheat out the dragons if clone shell wasn't sufficient but I found that to be redundant and ended up swapping them for fireballs. The deck did very well in testing only losing to a few decks none of which I expected to see in tourney. What I did not count on was running into Baneslayer.dec and I should have. I also considered bringing this deck instead and probably should have because it skirts around the whole protection from dragons issue:
Oh well...nice idea poor execution. I did enjoy testing various AJ's decks with him and didn't realize he what he was going to end up bringing. Very nice work around AJ. Also praiseworthy is the Wurm deck as you noted and the deck Westane brought as that was a deck I would have enjoyed playing too. (Nice colors UR).
I guess I forgot to mention the season finals in this article, so many things to cover lol, so ya the season finals will essentially be 2x the prizes, 12 tix to first, and 20 tix divided among all the people that only lose one round as well as 4 tix to 3 random entrants that play till the end but don't win a placement prize and 4 foils to choose for everyone who plays at least 3 rounds. One random player (won placements prize or not that plays till the final round) will also receive the 12 goblin rares that were donated and redonated awhile ago as well as some other donations we've recieved lately of foils and such. (4 goblin goon, 4 shared animosity and 4 goblin chieftian)
So ya if you're going to go to any Heirloom constructed event this is probably the one to find time for heh.
I tried every which way to get it to work, but just couldn't. That was my first choice of deck.
Just out of curiousity, did anyone try Dragonstorm this week? I know Hypergenesis was banned but I didn't see anything about Dragonstorm.
I just wanted to say how much fun I had playing in my first PRE. This is the closest thing I've had to being at an actual FNM since I had to quit paper magic. Thanks a lot Flip, and I hope to play again in the future!
Lol,
Our-Lord-Erman,
we'll miss ya in the league but some attrition from the constructed group is inevitable, though it's looking like we're getting more than enough totally new players to make up for it.
unfortunately Mr.Slippery beat you to the punch last weekend with his helix deck, it was a pretty epic match that's covered in Paul's guest Heirloom article that should publish soon.
Of course those gobs will try again so no sense in letting them get us while our guard is down lol.
X-
I will not play in the parallel universe (due to time problems), but I do wish all players the best of luck. I will most probably play this Saturday and as always I'm coming with a very powerful deck. Let's see what will happen :).
Oh and so that everyone knows, I am coming with a totally anti-red heavy sideboard. The reign of those stupid gobos will end this weekend :).
LE
I did see the Steel Hellkites just kind of missworded the not containing any dragons part :)
Sure thing Mich,
maybe one week you'll have enough time (I'll probably give out the participation award if someone plays at least 3 matches) and the next not, no pressure here, I'm pretty laid back as far as things go and I'd rather someone try to play than just sit out =P
X-
I'm torn... I'd like very much but I'm not sure I can participate because of my new job; it will likely start during next week (I said the same last week and the week before that... I hate bureucracy) and I don't know if I will be able to play in the evenings.
I suppose it can't hurt for me to try it out though, right? Well, if it's not too much trouble, count me in and generate my pool, I should know by then if I'm able to play or not.
Five fireballs for that share... :) Seems relevant to me. :)
Obviously I was under the (mistaken) impression that the deck could win. 2 baneslayers on the board is not some to be overcome by a dragons deck. Particularly when they are not alone.
I lost a limited game to a sick combo of clone shell, barrage ogre and nim deathmantle. So each turn he gets to pay 4 mana to shoot something for two and tutor a creature from the top 4 of his deck into play. Pretty brutal!
(not particularly relevant, but I felt like sharing)
Oh weird,
maybe when I was defining anchors I made them hyperlinks instead, ya ignore those theyre not meant to go anywhere lol.
X-
"As" and "Then" are the Hyperlinks you used. For the Static legal Card List and the sealed league I guess.
"As", "Then"? not sure which you mean.
X-
Thanks for another good article, Mike.
I'm glad I could contribute!
I like the format very much, I think it's perfect for both veterans, who can challenge themselves with a limited pool, and new players (like me), who can learn some tricks and play fair matches without those overpowered 25$ cards.
Note: Some Links don't work for me: "As" "Then".
Balanced decks are ok true but in LE's case he is a far better player than his friend ... 11year exp on them.
A very good way for 2 players is theme decks (not the base set ones though) they set generally about the same power and a good way to teach new players.
Point taken ... my bad
Baneslayer can be dealt with Paul just hard with the deck you played not much in the way of removal for an anti dragon card.
But we had this conversation last week about anti theme decks.
You got to ask yourself Paul do you want to win or just make up the numbers?
Hats off to AJ great twist on a theme week. (do wish i had your MTG budget)
Clone shell likes cards that set up the deck for it and control its death. So yeah I wouldn't draft it unless the deck was geared towards taking advantage of its ability.
Yeah I think decks balanced in tune to each other is definitely the best way to teach people. When I was doing the Guru thing that was my approach...starting with simple decks and growing them to fully complex constructed decks such as the ones I talked about above.
As far as psychographics, I think most players start with one thing and grow out of that as they discover more aspects of the game.
Absolutely Paul,
Thanks for the great balls of fire approval =P
=)
Be sure and register me for the sealed league event.
I have to say I was fairly disappointed to run into the spoiler deck (Mangiafuoco's) first round with my relatively ok Dragon deck and to see not 1 but 2 baneslayers. I could not be bothered to complete the match much less the first game after that, kicking myself for wasting my time bringing a theme deck to this event. In fact that will be the last time for the foreseeable future that I join said event. Theme decks are for chumps and I do not like feeling like a chump. Particularly when my opponent deliberately and with forethought brings the antideck.
For those curious this is what I brought:
1 Breeding Pool
1 Quicksilver Dragon
4 Steel Hellkite
1 Hellkite Charger
2 Vivid Crag
1 Vivid Creek
1 Vivid Grove
1 Ryusei, the Falling Star
4 Cloudpost
4 Imperial Hellkite
4 Clone Shell
1 Stomping Ground
1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
1 Intet, the Dreamer
3 Forest
4 Darksteel Ingot
1 Island
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
3 Dragonspeaker Shaman
3 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Academy Ruins
3 Mountain
1 Fireball
2 Steam Vents
4 Glimmerpost
2 Fireball
1 Spellbound Dragon
4 Hellkite Hatchling
Normally Id never play with a card like hatchling but in the week prior to this the testing showed it was a great combo with Clone Shell and often brought out a Bogardan Hellkite or other monstrosity very quickly. The 8 loci helped speed up the deck. Initially in testing I was trying to use Genesis Wave to cheat out the dragons if clone shell wasn't sufficient but I found that to be redundant and ended up swapping them for fireballs. The deck did very well in testing only losing to a few decks none of which I expected to see in tourney. What I did not count on was running into Baneslayer.dec and I should have. I also considered bringing this deck instead and probably should have because it skirts around the whole protection from dragons issue:
3 Patriarch's Bidding
1 Living Death
1 Malfegor
4 Dragonspeaker Shaman
4 Forest
4 Kokusho, the Evening Star
4 Cloudpost
1 Rorix Bladewing
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Overgrown Tomb
3 Buried Alive
4 Steel Hellkite
4 Mountain
4 Darksteel Ingot
4 Imperial Hellkite
1 Stomping Ground
3 Broodmate Dragon
3 Bogardan Hellkite
1 Damnation
1 Swamp
1 Blood Crypt
4 Glimmerpost
Oh well...nice idea poor execution. I did enjoy testing various AJ's decks with him and didn't realize he what he was going to end up bringing. Very nice work around AJ. Also praiseworthy is the Wurm deck as you noted and the deck Westane brought as that was a deck I would have enjoyed playing too. (Nice colors UR).
Hey Naga,
Ya things have been going great,
I guess I forgot to mention the season finals in this article, so many things to cover lol, so ya the season finals will essentially be 2x the prizes, 12 tix to first, and 20 tix divided among all the people that only lose one round as well as 4 tix to 3 random entrants that play till the end but don't win a placement prize and 4 foils to choose for everyone who plays at least 3 rounds. One random player (won placements prize or not that plays till the final round) will also receive the 12 goblin rares that were donated and redonated awhile ago as well as some other donations we've recieved lately of foils and such. (4 goblin goon, 4 shared animosity and 4 goblin chieftian)
So ya if you're going to go to any Heirloom constructed event this is probably the one to find time for heh.
X-