Got signed up for prerelease on Sunday night. This will be my first sealed event. Any tips on how to approach it?
― Moodles, Tuesday, 25 September 2012 22:33 (eleven years ago) link
this prerelease has the gimmick wehre you choose a guild and one of your 6 boosters is a special pack with only cards from that guild's colors. so: make sure you pick a guild you're going to enjoy playing. if you don't know what they're about already, here's their basic strategies:Selesnya (green/white) - dump a bunch of creature tokens onto the board to stall the game out, then keep making guys until you have an overwhelming advantage.Golgari (green/black) - play defense and trade your creatures off early, then recycle stuff from your graveyard to build giant monsters in the late gameRakdos (red/black) - play aggressive creatures and keep swinging for the fences until you win or run out of gasIzzet (blue/red) - control the board with big splashy spell effects that keep the path cleared for your utility creatures to get through for damageAzorius (white/blue) - beat down in the air with fliers while locking down your opponent's best threats or blockers
-because of the guild booster, there's like a 80% chance that your ideal deck is just the 2 colors of your guild, plus a couple powerful cards splashed from a 3rd color. -if you're splashing, it should be for good removal or late-game bombs, not just ordinary creatures, because you'll have games where you don't draw a source for your 3rd color until later in the game and you want the splash card you've been holding in your hand that whole time to still be relevant to the board.-avoid 1/1s or 2/2s without good abilities, because sealed games tend to go long and they get outclassed in the late game.-make sure your curve is decent. in sealed it's more important to play your strongest cards than have a great curve, but you still want to avoid having a lot of cards that cost 5 or more-be proactive. your opponents are going to be mana screwed or color screwed or have bad draws sometimes, it's just how Magic works, and you want your deck to take advantage of this.-40 cards total, 17 lands, no exceptions
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 03:30 (eleven years ago) link
won again tonite w/ this deck
ring of xathrid ring of kaloniacathedral of war
rancorduskdale wurm deadly reclusegarruk's packleaderprey uponspiked baloth x 3mwonvuli beast tracker arbor elf
liliana's shadedark favor x 3crippling blight murder x 2 duty bound deadtormented soulvampire nighthawkbloodhound bats
dnp: phy lichmind rotduress disciple of bolas (well I did but then I swapped it for another baloth)titanic growth fungal sprouting 4th balothvastwood gorger
would u guys have made it differently? not that learning more about m13 limited will help me now
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 03:34 (eleven years ago) link
i think you have to decide on a plan - like if you're going the soul + multiple favor and exalted route cut most of your green creatures and add disciple + growth for card draw and fungal sprouting to spam blockers and potential swarm strategy. in this case gorger is a better top end than worm since it comes down earlier and blocks essentially the same
if your plan is green midrange draw a card than cut the favors and the soul for the last baloth and i guess the gorger.
either way i think the green ring is really bad since your green creatures mostly already have trample and your good black creatures have evasion. tracker is also p shitty since it cant get you packleader and thats really the only card you care that much about. well i guess nighthawk. i would still rather play something else though. growth + disciple is also really good and should be in any build and i would probably play mind rot in the fast black version of the deck to protect your soul against removal
― Lamp, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:02 (eleven years ago) link
yeah it played strangely, like half the time it was controlly and the other half it was winning in 4 turns w/ some rancor/favor/ring. I think growth instead of the ring might have been better for those kinda games.
tracker always seemed to be going for recluse.
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:05 (eleven years ago) link
the green ring giving trample actually won me a game tho
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:06 (eleven years ago) link
you can always take a look at the visual spoiler just to have some familiarity with the cards beforehand
otherwise i think ciderpress has it p much right, generally its a good plan to build around your most powerful cards and try to think about how your deck is going to play out - both in cases where you're curving out and drawing well and with more difficult draws - and then think about how you might add or subtract cards to help your deck's plan. generally speaking bombs and removal are the things you want to prioritize in your deck but creatures are really good like if you're choosing between a spell and a a creature, most sealed decks just want the body
― Lamp, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:09 (eleven years ago) link
haha wellllll
its kinda sick how good disciple is in your deck the more i think about it, like rancor just gives so much value, favors, growth, ring so many ways to pump stuff and then just draw a million cards...
id probably have built it like:
6 - CC1: blight, soul, dead, elf, rancor, prey upon6 - CC2: favor (3), recluse, growth, black ring4 - CC3: nighthawk, murder (2), mind rot5 - CC4: shade, bats, sprouting, disciple, baloth1 - CC5: packleader1 - CC6: gorger
― Lamp, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:20 (eleven years ago) link
yeah I was playing a fun game w/ disciple in it and I used it on something w/ two dark favors that was gonna be killed next turn
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:22 (eleven years ago) link
but I was really scared of drawing it in my first 7 w/ no other creatures and/or when I'd have a slow opening
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:24 (eleven years ago) link
I didn't run into a deck w/ heavy removal, which I think was a big risk w/ the 3 dark removals
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:27 (eleven years ago) link
errr dark favorit's late
w/o looking at it too close, i'd say cutting Discipline for another Baloth is a mistake, I think Baloth is fine but it's kind of underwhelming and Disciple's effect can give you a big advantage for the rest of the game. Baloth just seems right for a different kind of deck, one that'll play Titanic Growth w/o reservation
― frogbs, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 04:57 (eleven years ago) link
yeah disciple is quietly one of the top 10 cards in the set imo
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 13:18 (eleven years ago) link
I absolutely love the card Momentous Fall from Beseiged (I think?) so Disciple was immediately a favorite of mine. I'd do like end step Primal Bellow on a Wurmcoil, Fall it for 12 life and 12 cards + the tokens, good times
Have yet to really think of a use for Disciple but there's got to be some way to abuse it
― frogbs, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 13:47 (eleven years ago) link
momentous fall was in ROE, if it had been in standard this past year i'd have played it in everything
if there's a midrange grindy rock deck in the new standard, it's probably going to use disciple + thragtusk as its card advantage engine
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 13:52 (eleven years ago) link
hey ciderpress - which guild is best if i'm generally a big fan of white weenie type strategies?
― Mordy, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 13:59 (eleven years ago) link
unfortunately, the real white weenie guild is Boros which is in the next set. if you like the 'fast aggro' angle of white weenie then Rakdos is closest to that, but if you like the 'having lots of creatures' angle i'd go Selesnya, since Rakdos doesn't actually have a ton of good creatures and will be relying on burn spells and such to finish people off.
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 14:18 (eleven years ago) link
also obviously Rakdos isn't actually white, if having white cards is the important thing
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 14:24 (eleven years ago) link
nah- fast aggro is the important part
― Mordy, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 14:55 (eleven years ago) link
rakdos also looks like the hardest guild to play in this set - the unleash mechanic forces you to make tough choices on turns 2-4 that could seriously backfire without a good read on your opponent's strategy. i think you're always going to want to unleash the 2-power guys to get them to 3 power when you're playing them early in the game, but the 1/1 regenerator and 1/2 deathtouch are a lot trickier since they have serious value as blockers if the game goes long.
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:13 (eleven years ago) link
btw, the full set is up on magiccards.info now for browsing/searching/etc:http://magiccards.info/rtr/en.html
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:14 (eleven years ago) link
angel of serenity seems awfully expensive for a mythic rare 5/6 flyer w/ a 3x journey to nowhere effect
― Mordy, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
haha that card is p nuts, way better than just journey to nowhere effect
― Lamp, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:38 (eleven years ago) link
you have to believe there's a sick combo in there somewhere
― frogbs, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:38 (eleven years ago) link
yeah angel of serenity is the best 'fatty' in the set, since having the additional option to get your own guys back, especially a second angel, gives you an almost unbeatable endgame
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:41 (eleven years ago) link
its probably less playable than armada wurm tho, even if its better value
― Lamp, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:46 (eleven years ago) link
for limited or constructed?
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:55 (eleven years ago) link
both of those cards are huge limited bombs but i think the wurm is a lot better positioned for constructed or at least more obviously playable
― Lamp, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 15:56 (eleven years ago) link
are auctions like this a terrible idea?http://www.ebay.com/itm/1600-UNCOMMON-DECK-LOT-Magic-the-Gathering-MTG-CARD-/200823749761?pt=Trading_Card_Games_US&hash=item2ec2073c81
― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:00 (eleven years ago) link
no that seems like a good way to get a lot of cards
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:01 (eleven years ago) link
for fun I mean
what exactly are you trying to accomplish by buying that
― frogbs, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:02 (eleven years ago) link
have a playable deck i guess
― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:06 (eleven years ago) link
than just buy one of the decks that wizards puts out. the green/white event deck from M13 is p good value and its only like $20
― Lamp, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:07 (eleven years ago) link
i mean if you just want lots of cards i have boxes of draft commons and uncommons you can have for free
let's play sometime. i need to learn more than just ipad-style
― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
those mixed lot auctions are okay but kind of a ripoff given that there are plenty of people out there like me or Lamp who draft a lot and will gladly dump off all their commons/uncommons on you for no charge. i don't even bring all my drafted cards home from the store anymore, i just leave the commons/uncommons lying around for other people to pick up, unless i specifically need them for a deck.
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:10 (eleven years ago) link
forks I live in ny and will play w/ you
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:11 (eleven years ago) link
yeah Wizards has a lot of products for those who want an okay Standard deck for cheap. if you're looking for bulk common/uncommons just head on down to a store where people draft and ask around. most drafters are more than happy to give away stacks of cards...hell when I draft I would say maybe 1 or 2 of the guys actually keeps what they draft. the rest just lies around. just getting a bunch of random uncommons really won't get you anywhere.
― frogbs, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:21 (eleven years ago) link
well afaik forks is pretty new to the game so getting a bunch of random uncommons could get him 'a good time', it's not like he's gonna be playing competitive constructed anytime soon
― iatee, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:25 (eleven years ago) link
well yeah but if you just want a bunch of random cards you shouldn't have to buy them on eBay. those M13 decks aren't really competitive but for someone just coming into the game I think they're good since the cards are meant to play together. if you're stringing together cards from random sets you'll definitely wind up with something unique but you miss the synergy between mechanics which is a big feature of pretty much any modern set
again it all really depends what exactly you're looking to do
― frogbs, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 16:28 (eleven years ago) link
i should probably steer clear entirely honestly, i have enough addictive issues as it is.But i will be down to try a few hands sometime.
― EVERYONE COOKING SCMABLED EGGS,CHEESE WITH TOASTER!! (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 17:08 (eleven years ago) link
the duel decks are actually just awesome if all you want is to have 2 decks that are evenly matched to pick up and play with anyone else. i have knights vs dragons, which is probably one of the crappier ones, and yet it's still a lot of fun to pull out when you don't really feel like playing hardcore
― ciderpress, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
The more I look at the RtR cards, the more I'm thinking that Rakdos is the way to go for the prerelease as it looks like it would shine in Limited, although I think I prefer Golgari overall and might throw in some Scavenge creatures if the opportunity presents itself.
― Moodles, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:45 (eleven years ago) link
I'm digging this series of articles:
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=10726
― Moodles, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:46 (eleven years ago) link
they're entertaining but it's weird to go back and see how inaccurate they wind up being; I think these sets are too complicated and have too many interactions for anyone to really definitively say what's great and what's not without playing the set (besides obvious cards like Talrand's Invocation)
― frogbs, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 22:22 (eleven years ago) link
well well well Cube draft is back
― frogbs, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:44 (eleven years ago) link
i don't like cube, i'm more excited about tempest drafts next week
― ciderpress, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:53 (eleven years ago) link
i've never drafted mirage or tempest. awesome this is happening but i'm kind of sad it's only going to last a week or so. either way this is exactly the kind of thing that makes me forgive MTGO for its many many flaws
― frogbs, Thursday, 27 September 2012 00:59 (eleven years ago) link