Cards I missed at the Prereleases

So I was talking to TS about the Prerelease and I realized very quickly that cards I had seen over and over were cards he had pretty much missed and vice versa. I figured I could take a look through the spoiler and find a few of these and talk about how awesome/awful they are. Oh, one quick note. Steve Sadin appears to be just as in love with Tel-Jilad Defiance as I am. So wooo!

First, TS mentioned some golem which I originally thought was Precursor Golem but was actually Golem Artisan. So, which would I rather in my sealed pool? Precursor is more of a put my opponent under pressure card, where Artisan kind of says, "Alpha strike for the win". I think infect decks would clearly rather the Artisan, but aggressive decks that want to kill with damage would prefer the Precursor. Certain cards (cantrips) are a serious blowout against Precursor, but it's such a deal that I think the chance is worth it.

Clone Shell - 5, Artifact Creature, Imprint — When Clone Shell enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library, exile one face down, then put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
When Clone Shell is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, turn the exiled card face up. If it's a creature card, put it onto the battlefield under your control.

I like this, especially at uncommon. I wish is dug a little deeper than four cards. Even five would give you a significantly better chance of a hit. Another nice thing would be to let you get a land, but I suppose that's not flavorful.

Culling Dais - 2, Artifact,
Tap, Sacrifice a creature: Put a charge counter on Culling Dais.
1, Sacrifice Culling Dais: Draw a card for each charge counter on Culling Dais.

Here's a fun one that I wouldn't pay more for, but I think this is costed right and I like playing games with it. Especially because you can proliferate once you've got the first counter. I wish they had brought back Doubling Season for this environment, but I guess it might have been a little(lot) broken.

Strata Scythe - 3, Artifact-Equipment,
Imprint — When Strata Scythe enters the battlefield, search your library for a land card, exile it, then shuffle your library.
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each land on the battlefield with the same name as the exiled card.
Equip 3

I am trying to avoid rares, because one will run into them less, but this is one of the cards TS mentioned. This is obviously such a bomb. Even if you could only imprint a card from hand it would be good, but the flexibility to search makes it out of sight.

Tower of Calamities - 4, Artifact, 8, Tap: Tower of Calamities deals 12 damage to target creature.

Basically, it's an Aladdin's Ring for creatures and just about as playable. Maybe in a metalcraft deck with tons of mana Myrs? I don't know, even then, it just eats a Shatter...

Abuna Acolyte - 1W, Creature-Cat Cleric,
Tap: Prevent the next 1 damage that would be dealt to target creature or player this turn.
Tap: Prevent the next 2 damage that would be dealt to target artifact creature this turn.

Now that's a Samite Healer with some guts.

Myrsmith - 1W, Creature-Human Artificer,
Whenever you cast an artifact spell, you may pay 1. If you do, put a 1/1 colorless Myr artifact creature token onto the battlefield. 2/1

Ok, this seems good because 2/1s for 2 are generally playable as are 1/1 artifact creatures for one. I'll fully confess that I could be wrong about this since x/1s are so vulnerable in the environment.

Twisted Image - U, Instant,
Switch target creature's power and toughness until end of turn.
Draw a card.

As a trick, I don't think power/toughness switching is awesome in the environment (except against white) but cantrips for 1 are pretty much always playable.

Fume Spitter - B, Creature-Horror,
Sacrifice Fume Spitter: Put a -1/-1 counter on target creature.

Festering Goblin holds a special place in my heart. This isn't quite as good, or at least, it wouldn't be without proliferate.

Barrage Ogre - 3RR, Creature-Ogre Warrior, Tap, Sacrifice an artifact: Barrage Ogre deals 2 damage to target creature or player.

I would play this if I was playing red, but it would pull me into red at 2RR. Which it isn't. Boo.

Acid Web Spider - 3GG, Creature-Spider,
Reach
When Acid Web Spider enters the battlefield, you may destroy target Equipment.

Yes, yes, yes. This is the kind of card I love. It's got all kinds of utility in the environment. It eats blue fliers. It eats infect guys. Also, props to creative for not naming this Acidweb Spider. They seem to love the "smash two words together" school of naming and this one is dead on.

Finally, Tangle Angler - 3G, Creature — Horror, Infect
Green: Target creature blocks Tangle Angler this turn if able.

I have nothing to say about this card other than that it appears to be the clear favorite card name amongst casual players. Tangle angler, tangle angler, tangle angler. It is fun to say.

Back

So, after a long hiatus, CBG is back on the Magic horse. TooSarcastic invited me to a birthday Cube, then JBro invited me to a birthday mitotic draft and lo and behold, the effin Scars of Mirrodin prerelease was this weekend and the point is...I thought I was out, but they keep pulling me back in. One of the dudes in the playgroup has started a podcast (whose name i will pimp once he gets back to me) but I think there's a place for a more active blog. I'm going to rehash my two prerelease pools here and we can talk it out.

Let's have a conversation about race.

Oh, MAN! Why do we have to have a conversation about race? Well kiddies, because Fugie posted a great post about the wonder of islands and proper threat assessment and inexplicably sprinkled it with at least three racist comments, the precise wording of which has been lost to time and the mists of our RSS feed. I edited the post without asking Fugie and in response, he pulled the post and sent this extraordinarily humorous response out into the world instead. I trust I don't have to explain why I still consider the blog a safe space for white folks despite Fugie's protestations to the contrary.

So first, why did I edit the post? I'd like the blog to be a space where everyone can feel comfortable and not feel like they are going to be made a target. Snide or derogatory comments of a racial nature make public spaces feel unwelcoming. It minimizes people's reactions as if those persons who are affected by the comment are not allowed to participate in the discussion.

Magic is primarily produced and played by white men. We can debate the reasons for this back and forth but the fact is not in doubt. A Misty Mountain prerelease will have several hundred patrons, only 2 or 3 of whom will be people of color and 2 or 3 of whom will be women. This has a self perpetuating effect as the very fact of this horribly skewed environment can be very intimidating for players who don't meet the norm. The only way to overcome this effect is to make an active effort to create safe spaces where women and people of color can participate fully. Make no mistake, racist and sexist comments are a form of assault and can cause emotional trauma. Even a seemingly minor comment can have a major effect on the motivation of players who don't fit the young, white male model. Why would anyone participate in a leisure activity where they have to be on guard all the time?

This very dynamic has hurt our local store in the past. A group of young, loud male children who think nothing of throwing around racist, antisemitic or homophobic slurs participates there on a regular basis and it has a significant effect on the store's bottom line. I know a number of people who limit their participation or don't play at all due to this situation.

So that's my point. This blog is supposed to be about Magic. It's not about race, or gender, or homophobia. That doesn't change the fact that I feel the need to confront these issues head on when they come up. I'm sorry, Fugie, if you felt hurt because I edited your post without your permission but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The Build

Avian Changeling
Kinsbaile Balloonist
Oblivion Ring
Hillcomber Giant
Veteran of the Depths
2 x Glimmerdust Nap
Inkfathom Divers
Mistbind Clique
Ringskipper
Ponder
Sentinels of Glen Elendra
Silvergill Adept
Silvergill Douser
Dreamspoiler Witches
Eyeblight's Ending
Final Revels
Peppersmoke
Warren Pilferers
Hamletback Giant
Brion Stoutarm
Moonglove Extract
Wanderer's Twig
2 Shimmering Grotto
Vivid Crag
2 Vivid Creek
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Plains
6 Island

TS almost nailed my build. I play Hillcomber Giant over Surge of Thoughtweft. It's a good trick, but I often err on the side of not enough tricks. As I intimated in the comments, I played Ringskipper over Paperfin Rascal to give one more target for the Champion ability on the Clique. I think this is very strong. I understand scoop's motivations for his build, but the blue in this pool is out of control. I think we have to play it.

So who's gonna post a pool late tonight/early tomorrow?

It's pack cracking time

...and so, CBG emerges from his alcohol and work induced haze to bring you a sealed build! First, I'd like to thank scoop_phase for reminding me the correct way to do this is with a tourney pack and two boosters. Unfortunately, all I have is boosters. Just keep the fact that quadruple anything builds are unlikely in real tourneys in mind and you'll be fine. Second, save your Morningtide ads and bring them to me, my pretties. I am still working on my mural.

The open...

White
Avian Changeling
Burrenton Forge-Tender
Cenn's Heir
Goldmeadow Stalwart
Hillcomber Giant
Kinsbaile Balloonist
Oblivion Ring
Pollen Lullaby
Soaring Hope
Springjack Knight
Surge of Thoughtweft
Veteran of the Depths
2 Wellgabber Apothecary

Blue
Aquitect's Will
Captivating Glance
Ego Erasure
2 Glimmerdust Nap
Inkfathom Divers
Mistbind Clique
Paperfin Rascal
Ponder
Protective Bubble
Ringskipper
Sentinels of Glen Elendra
Silvergill Adept
Silvergill Douser

Black
Black Poplar Shaman
Bog Hoodlums
2 Boggart Birth Rite
Boggart-Harbinger
Dreamspoiler Witches
Eyeblight's Ending
Final Revels
Hornet Harasser
Mournwhelk
Peppersmoke
Scarred Vinebreeder
Warren Pilferers

Red
Blind-Spot Giant
Blades of Velis Vel
Boggart Shenanigans
Goatnapper
Hamletback Giant
Incandescent Soulstoke
Ingot Chewer
2 Inner Flame Acolyte
Mudbutton Torchrunner
2 Soulbright Flamekin
Stinkdrinker Daredevil

Green
Battlewand Oak
Bog-Strider Ash
Cloudcrown Oak
Elvish Branchbender
Gilt-Leaf Seer
Jagged-Scar Archers
Kithkin Daggerdare
Masked Admirers
Nath's Elite
Seedguide Ash
Spring Cleaning

Multicolor, Land and Artifacts
Brion Stoutarm
Moonglove Extract
2 Shimmering Grove
Vivid Crag
2 Vivid Creek
2 Wanderer's Twig

Packs of Lorwyn cracked in draft and sealed...28.
Planeswalkers opened in Lorwyn sealed...0.

Okay, just typing those in says U/W/b/r. But let's go through systematically. One note: I break them up into three categories, but these valuations obviously shift dramatically depending on archetype. Goldmeadow Stalwart is not even filler here, but he's obviously teh nuts if you have like double Wizened Cenn or something.

White
Solid Playables: Avian Changeling, Hillcomber Giant, Kinsbaile Balloonist, Oblivion Ring, Veteran of the Depths, Brion Stoutarm
Filler: Burrenton Forge-Tender, Pollen Lullaby, Surge of Thoughtweft

Going through at first, I thought the white was a slam dunk. Now I am not so sure. The Veteran can be strong, if he doesn't get ganked right away. Brion is better with giants to throw (not that i won't play him).
Kinsbaile is better with giants to lift (though he helps the Veteran nicely as well). I think we still want white, but we may evaluate how heavily to play it. The tricks are nice.

Blue
Solid Playables: Silvergill Douser, Silvergill Adept, Sentinels of Glen Elendra, Mistbind Clique, Inkfathom Divers, 2 Glimmerdust Nap
Filler: Ringskipper, Protective Bubble, Ponder, Paperfin Rascal

Nice. Open. We are a little thin on faeries but I think we just shove every changeling we can find in and hope. The ones we have are very strong. I think we probably play the Ringskipper just to up the faerie count. What I wouldn't give for a Pestermite.

Black
Solid Playables: Dreamspoiler Witches, Warren Pilferers, Mournwhelk, Final Revels, Eyeblight's Ending
Filler: Peppersmoke, Hornet Harasser, Boggart Harbinger, Boggart Birth Rite

Here we have all the good support spells for goblins and none of the bombs that would make me want to play them. No Fodder Launch, no Wort, No Mad Auntie. The Dreamspoiler is a gift and the Peppersmoke will probably get in there somewhere. Final Revels seems amazing. That's because it is. Incidentally, if you get it in 2HG, take it. I'd take it over everything but a planeswalker.

Red
Solid Playables: Goatnapper, Mudbutton Torchrunner, Incandescent Soulstoke, Hamletback Giant, Brion Stoutarm
Filler: Soulbright Flamekin, Inner-flame Acolyte

Brion. Hamletback. That's about it. I know from experience that the Soulstoke has a KILL ME! sign on his 2-butt.

Green
Solid Playables: Seedguide Ash, Nath's Elite, Masked Admirers, Jagged-Scar Archers, Battlewand Oak
Filler: Kithkin Daggerdare, Cloudcrown Oak, Bog-strider Ash

This is actually a decent open, but it has no synergy with the rest of the cards. Yes Masked Admirers is nice. No it is not splashable. Unless you are Fugie.

Artifacts and Lands
Solid Playables: Vivid Crag, Vivid Creek, Shimmering Grotto, Moonglove Extract
Filler: Wanderer's Twig

Oh, my. Seems playable. I don't know, do we play both shimmering grotto? I think so, because then we can go 4 color with 17 land and no basic swamps or mountains. Bizarro world. I'd go down to 16 land if not for the 3 CIP lands. Well, this is long enough. I'll post a build later tonight. You'll have to wait til then to tear apart my choices.