New Cube adds and cuts (through Scars of Mirrodin)

I was procrastinating on this, sorry. It turned out to be less work than I expected. A full list will be up sometime, maybe this weekend. Lots of sacred cows were slaughtered this time around, and only a few fistfights occurred. Thanks especially to Russ for stepping up and loaning dual lands to the Cube again, as well as de-proxying Mana Drain, among other cards. I personally think some of these adds are stinkers, but this is a democracy and I voted, so I get to complain, right? The new Scars Replicas in particular seem not good enough, but eh. We killed a full cycle of multicolor lands, plus the signets, in addition decreasing multicolor by 20 cards, including all the 3 color cards. I'll be interested to see if we actually hosed multicolor, finally. We moved artifacts with colored activations to that color, hence Memnarch being "In" in Blue and "Out" in artifacts. The only downside to adding so many mono-colored cards is we couldn't cut as many stinkers from each of the five colors as I wanted to. If we are missing any good mono-colored cards, let us know in the comments. I think midweek next week will be the first time I will have time to host a Cube. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to 2 headed giant Lorwyn/Shadowmoor draft hosted by CBG this weekend. My team will forcing giants... in 2HG draft! Get it? ...Ugh.

IN
U Frost Titan
U Scroll Thief
U Aether Adept
U Jace's Ingenuity
U Preordain
U Conundrum sphinx
U Quicksilver Gargantua
U Memnarch

G Primeval Titan
G Fauna Shaman
G Garruk's Packleader
G Obstinate Baloth
G Cultivate
G Gaea's Revenge
G Genesis Wave
G Mitotic Slime
G Overwhelming Stampede
G Garruk's Companion
G Cudgel Troll
G Sylvok replica
G Ezuri's Brigade
G Bellowing Tanglewurm
G Tower Above
G Sylvan Ranger

Chimeric Mass
Contagion Engine
Moltentail Masticore
Crystal Ball
Brittle Effigy
Wurmcoil Engine
Precursor Golem
Ratchet Bomb
Mimic Vat
Infiltration Lens
Nim Deathmantle
Trusty machete

R Inferno Titan
R Ember Hauler
R Chandra's Outrage
R Reverberate
R Hoarding Dragon
R Chandra's Spitfire
R Arc Slogger
R Kiln Fiend
R Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
R Arc Trail
R Vulshok Replica
R Koth, the Hammer
R Spikeshot Elder
R Magma Phoenix
R Oxidda Scrapmelter
R Wildfire

Mystifying Maze

W War Priest of Thune
W Elspeth Tiriel
W Sunblast Angel
W Glimmerpoint Stag
W True Conviction
W Dawnglare Invoker
W Soltari Champion
W Indomitable Archangel
W Kor Aeronaut
W Knight Exemplar

B Liliana's Specter
B Carnifex Demon
B Grasp of Darkness
B Geth, Lord of the Vault
B Painful Quandry
B Skinrender
B Moriok Replica
B Necrogen Scutter
B Grave Titan

WU Venser, the Sojourner

OUT
Lightkeeper of Emeria
Story Circle
Admonition Angel
Twilight Shepherd
Pristine Angel

Corrupted Zendikon
Corpse Connoisseur
Lord of the undead
undead warchief

Sulfur Elemental
Frenzied Goblin
Tribal Flames
Crusher Zendikon
Sudden Shock
Kamahl Pit Fighter
Reckless Wurm
Heat Shimmer
Dragonmaster Outcast
Goblin Matron
Johkulhaups??

Golgari Grave troll
Caller of the Claw
Vinelasher Kudzu
Iwamori of the Open fist
Scryb ranger
reach of branches
Simian Grunts
Defense of the Heart
Awakening Zone
Berserk
Seal of Primordium

Ophidian
Cache Raiders
Lighthouse Chronologist

All signets
etched oracle
obelisk of alara
memnarch

The Ravnica "Karoo" bouncelands
Urza's Factory

Putrid Leech
Swans of Brynn Argoll
Mistmeadow Witch
Goblin Legionnaire
Burning-Tree Shaman
Shambling Remains
Soul Manipulation
Temporal Spring
Nucklavee
Tidehollow Sculler
Armadillo Cloak
Rafiq of the Many
Bant Charm
Doran, the Siege Tower
Lightning Angel
Woolly Thoctar
Lavalanche
Broodmate Dragon
Rhox War Monk
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Sphinx of the Steel Wind

Lorwyn Rotisserie Strategy

I am posting this a scant hour prior to doing my first Rotisserie draft ever. No idea if these ideas will play out as I expect, but that's why I'm posting it now; so I won't be tempted to rewrite it when I'm wrong. I wasn't looking to point out the best tribal cards for each tribe, just the ones that may prove to be good signals for drafters. The "Other Drafters May Hate" section is to remind myself what cards I will need to take more highly to avoid them being stolen from me.
T

Elementals 35 total

Signal Picks: Ashling the Pilgrim, Horde of Notions I guess, Smokebraider, Incandescent Soulstoke

Other drafters may hate: Everything! All the non-red elementals are great.

Two ways to go here. Awesome five color elementals or aggressive red (splash blue?) beats. 5-color seems unviable, since you need Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter-caliber cards to make it worth it. Good luck with that, Fugie. On the upside, you have about 12 cheap red Elementals that no one else (maybe giants are the exception?) will ever care about. Can it be a full deck? Doubt it. Stay away unless it’s handed to you. And grab the red removal HIGH.

Elves 24 total

Signal Picks: Elvish Promenade, Immaculate Magistrate, Imperious Perfect, Wren's Run Packmaster,

Other drafters may hate Nath's Elite, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, Masked Admirers, Gilt-Leaf Ambush, Eyeblight's Ending

Good news: plenty of scalable playables that no one else will care about. The only reason people will be hating you is because some of the high end elves are so good on their own that a treefolk or goblin deck might splash for them. But realistically they probably have better things to take. Bad news: You have no natural removal. You die to any mass removal spell, and you will be playing against all of them, even the rares. Is your splash color black for certain? What about red?

Goblins 27 total

Signal Picks: Mad Auntie, Wort, Boggart Auntie, Fodder Launch

Other drafters may hate: Warren Pilferers, Caterwauling Boggart, Stinkdrinker Daredevil, Tarfire

Lots of ‘em, most of them are useless to other tribes, and they come with their own built in removal. Seems strong. But don’t expect to get any other non-goblin removal spells. Black and red will both be at a premium. Keep an eye out to see if this is open.

Treefolk: 16 total

Signal Picks: Doran, the Siege Tower, Dauntless Dourbark, Timber Protector,

Other drafters may hate: Cloudcrown Oak, Lignify, Rootgrapple

So nobody wants your good stuff. Rootgrapple murders all five planeswalkers and it might go late. But you’ve only got 16 total treefolk spells! What are you going to play in your deck? A lot of changelings and removal I hope. Good luck with that. If you draft good stuff early, this mught a good audible if Doran and Dourbark are still around. The other stuff you will want should go even later. Take your mana fixing high, then too.

Kithkin: 22 total

Signal Picks: Wizened Cenn, Thoughtweft Trio, Militia's Pride?

Other drafters may hate: Kinsbaile Balloonist, Goldmeadow Harrier, Galepowder Mage, Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile, Kithkin Greatheart, Plover Knights,

Okay so some assumptions. You’re obviously a gamblin’ man, because you will need to be mono-white maybe with a light splash for removal to have any chance of this deck working. And merfolk and giants want lots of your best stuff. But if you get it together (maybe with some blue bounce?) you will be kicking ass. God help your opponents if you used your first pick for Mirror Entity.

Merfolk 22 total

Signal Picks: Drowner of Secrets, Merrow Reejerey, Summon the School,

Other drafters may hate: Stonybrook Angler, Silvergill Douser

Faeries may hate your doods. They like a lot of the early drops to hold the ground, and you will be playing against your own Stonybrook Angler and Silvergill Douser if you don’t take them early enough. The good news is there are plenty of playables. Plenty. This will be one of the more robust decks (but watch out for the all rare mass removal floating around), and somebody’s going to draft it. Grab your blue bounce and white removal highly. Not a bad tribe to be in.

Faeries: 19 total

Signal Picks: Wydwen, the Biting Gale, Scion of Oona, Mistbind Clique

Other drafters may hate: Faerie Trickery, Marsh Flitter, Oona's Prowler, Peppersmoke, Sower of Temptation, Pestermite?

Man, everybody wants your goodies! Expect a fight unless they’re wide open. You will need to be drafting the Fae pretty high, with a few exceptions. Go all in. Keep an eye on the black removal, and blue instants lest they dry up.

Giants 16 total

Signal Picks: Thundercloud Shaman, maybe Stinkdrinker Daredevil.

Other drafters may hate: Cloudgoat Ranger, Brion Stoutarm, Axegrinder Giant

Seems really bad. I mean really bad. Don’t do it. Can you live until turn seven? I hope so. Draft Kinsbaile Balloonist, Goldmeadow Harrier, Knight of Meadowgrain, and Kithkin Greatheart. You’d have a decent deck then. Or cheap goblins. It’s bad when your tribe needs another tribe to make it any good.

Changelings

There are 19 of these guys in Lorwyn. Of those, 16 are absolutely maindeck material, while the other 3 are merely playable. Expect to take these pretty high. Green only has 2, while blue has 5, so keep it in mind if you are nudged toward Merfolk or Faeries (or Treefolk or Elves).

MODO

Man, do I ever hate MODO. I opened a terrible sealed pool on Tuesday night, promptly went 1-3 (I was particularly fond of the dude who hit turn 3 Crusher all three games) and then got booted when the server crashed during match 5. I opened a pretty strong pool last night (server crash during building) and have since gone 1-2, mostly due to horrible draws. One land opener off 18 land? Check. Game where 14 of my first 18 cards were land? Check. Also, I failed to read Veteran's Armaments one game and managed to trade my Nath for an equipped Shriekmaw rather than killing it. I am so looking forward to drafting 4 times in the next 36 hours.

Lorwyn Rotisserie Draft Resources

Texans have already posted their Lorwyn Rotisserie picks. Wizards' Lorwyn Rotisserie draft. Proto-Rotisserie (circa Invasion block). Bone up for the Draftstravaganza,boys!
T

Doctor Boom...

...or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Defiler...

...a/k/a Fugie Gets pwned...

...or 12 Scenes From My Basement

I fell asleep thinking about this story and how to tell it. I woke up thinking about this story and how to tell it. I've occasionally had a nice play story to tell at the end of a long tournament, but I am invariably amazed at the Magic players who can recall incredible bad beat or shocking win stories and every detail thereof from years previous. Last night, I experienced my own story and now I know. I'll warn you now, this isn't an unbelievable comeback story. It's a you played that?!? and won story. The problem is where to begin. How about the beginning?

(1) In the beginning, there was darkness...wait! Wrong beginning. So we had 9 last night for the draft. Fugie won with treefolk. Do not disrespect the treefolk. They are good. Except when they're not. I went 2-2 with a mediocre Faeries/Merfolk hybrid that just didn't work quite right. Eh. 2-2 is all right, though I doubt the other authors of this blog would agree with me.

(2)I got up from my chair, darted into the other side of the basement, popped out in the middle, took off all the way to the other end, slammed the door down there, sprinted back to the table, through the closest door and windmill slammed-

(3)"Dude, come here. You have to see this." I handed TooSarcastic the lands in front of me. "Count these."

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12

Then I showed him my hand. Jokulhaups in front and laughter behind.

(4)Fugie, Major Luck and I start an EDH in between rounds. I win that with Herald of Leshrac. We decide to do one more after the draft is over. My general is Wort, Boggart Auntie. Fugie has Dakkon Blackblade. Major Luck was peeved at Fugie for shotgunning Dakkon Blackblade and was instead playing Dromar, the Banisher. Nice consolation present. I get a 5 land plus Graveborn Muse hand and keep it. Fugie dances around a bit with Volrath's Stronghold plus Shriekmaw (turns out that's good) while Major Luck drops Douse. This is actually a really good way to convince the BR player to focus his attention on you. The Major was spinning his Top and shuffling a lot, but had no board presence. I was peacefully drawing my 2 cards a turn. Fugie drops Jace, Ajani, Lilliana and Platinum Angel. I'd be worried about Platz if every other card in my deck wasn't an answer for it. Basically, what I am trying to say is... I was ahead.

(5)Fugie Vamps for something. He flashes it to TooSarcastic. I'm worried. What does he think could blow me out here? TS smiles and says, "That's not gonna help." I have no idea what the guys put me on here, but it was pretty clear I had something "amazing", which is to say, amazing to Timmy. Fugie passes the turn.

(6)So I am sitting there wondering how to get Major Luck to tap down, so I can force Jokulhaups through the Douse. Fugie is having us draw an extra card...Nevinyrral's disk! Ding.

(7)"You realize Disk is about to untap, right?" says Fugie to a very aware Major Luck. Luckie considers his options, then transmutes Drift of Phantasms? 3! What's at 3? Am I about to be blown out? Capsize! On the Disk! Major has 7 mana up. He can't buyback and leave mana up for the Douse. And I am thinking to myself, "How the hell do I convince him to buyback without being obvious about it?" Thank heavens for TS, who provided just enough, "oh shit, you're screwed," commentary, that I didn't have to lay it on too thick. I picked up the card, squinted at it and said, "It has buyback?" Major Luck taps 6. Oh man...

(8)I drew something. Tapped 12 mana. Jokulhaups. Luckie spins the top with it on the stack, saves the Top. Fugie bins everything but Jace and Lilliana (Ajani had died somehow). I floated BBBRRR. When I finished my ridiculous windmill slam, I revealed Rakdos the Defiler. Fugie has to find an answer, now.

(9)We start discussing Unsummon. "If somebody has an answer to that, I applaud them, because that would be an awesome comeback." I say. Now that my heart has stopped racing, I've got the fear. What if they do have a one mana answer? Like Unsummon? Or something? I'm never very good at thinking of all the cards. Lilliana is on 6. Fugie takes her to 7 and I pitch something I'd never be able to cast. Major Luck fails to drop a land

(10)Fugie kindly explains to me how Lilliana can't go up to 8 and then Living Death in the same turn. Oh right. I guess I will hit you again Fuge.

(11)Fugie draws for the turn. We all draw off Jace. Lilliana goes to 8. Major Luck again fails to drop a land. I hit Lilliana down to 1. Major Luck misses another land drop. I hit Fugie and he scoops and...

(12)...goes through his deck and flashes the Swords to Plowshares that he was desperately trying to topdeck.

The Swords to Plowshares he had the land to play.

The Swords to Plowshares he could have Demonic Tutored for with Lilliana.

The Swords to Plowshares he could have drawn with Jace after D-tutoring with Lilliana. CBG dodges a bullet.

Man, that was fun. Finishing off Major Luck was academic. I bathed in glory. It was AWESOME.

Coyoeuglly is vindicated?

Last Friday night Coyoeuglly got assaulted by another (peripheral) member of our playgroup for taking a Lash Out over Deathrender 1st pick 1st pack. Actually the guy was salty because Major Luck ended up pounding the hell out of him with the Deathrender, not really because of Coyoeuglly's card choice. Regardless, Coyoeuglly got shit all night for it. Now, I think Deathrender is really good, in almost any deck, but even I thought the Lash Out pick was justified given the kind of decks Coyoeuglly drafts. Now, we have an opinion from the Mothership's own Quentin Martin, albeit one that is hastily tossed off as an aside. I will quote; "Deathrender is far too expensive for what it does, although it is still okay, but six mana to give a guy +2/+2 is pricey." He also ignores the second ability of the sword, which is obviously more relevant for most decks. Keep in mind this comment comes as ol' McMarty is deliberating his FOURTH pick, not his first of the pack. So in his in tempo-oriented faeries deck, Q wouldn't touch this Deathrender with a 10-foot clown pole. Is this a vindication for Coyoeuglly? I don't know. But it does seem to imply that we may be valuing the rusty sword a little higher than we should be. Or do we know better than this four-time Limited Grand Prix Top 8er?

CBG's PTQ deck

I know it's dangerous to throw your 4-4 ptq deck up for everyone to criticize but I felt really torn when building this one and wouldn't mind some input. Did I punt before we even started? Let's find out.

The Deck

1 Adder-Staff Boggart
1 Aethersnipe
1 Cairn Wanderer
1 Eyeblight's Ending
1 Ghostly Changeling
1 Giant's Ire
1 Incendiary Command
2 Inkfathom Divers
1 Jace Beleren
1 Lash Out
1 Merrow Reejery
1 Moonglove Extract
1 Mudbutton Torchrunner
1 Sentinels of Glen Elendra
1 Shriekmaw
1 Silvergill Douser
1 Springleaf Drum
1 Stonybrook Angler
2 Tarfire
1 Turtleshell Changeling
1 Wanderer's Twig
1 Whirlpool Whelm
8 Island
5 Mountain
3 Swamp

In the Sideboard

White
1 Avian Changeling
1 Changeling Hero
1 Entagling Trap
1 Hillcomber Giant
2 Judge of Currents
1 Kithkin Greatheart
2 Lairwatch Giant
2 Soaring Hope
1 Wispmare
1 Wizened Cenn

Blue
1 Aquitect's Will
1 Mistbind Clique
1 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Turtleshell Changeling
1 Faerie Trickery

Black
2 Bog Hoodlums
1 Boggart Loggers (yes, I did sideboard this vs. Treefolk)
1 Boggart Mob
1 Lys Alana Scarblade
1 Nectar Faerie
1 Nightshade Stinger
1 Peppersmoke
2 Spiderwig Boggart
1 Thieving Sprite

Red
1 Boggart Forager
1 Ceaseless Searblades
1 Consuming Bonfire
1 Crush Underfoot
1 Faultgrinder
1 Flamekin Brawler
1 Inner-Flame Igniter
2 Needle Drop
1 Rebellion of the Flamekin
1 Stinkdrinker Daredevil

Green
1 Bog-Strider Ash
1 Elvish Branchbender
1 Elvish Promenade
1 Fertile Ground
1 Lys Alana Huntmaster
2 Oakgnarl Warrior
1 Sylvan Echoes
1 Treefolk Harbinger
1 Warren-Scourge Elf

and 1 Herbal Poultice

Wow, it's amazing what typing a pool can do for your senses. I realize now I got pulled into red by the Incendiary command and convinced myself I couldn't play the Mistbind Clique due to lack of faeries. I should have played all the black faeries, the Clique, the trickery and the blue changeling. If I needed to splash, I could have done 1 Lash Out, but I am not sure it would even be necessary. I obviously would if I had a Dreamspoiler but I don't so...oh well. What do you guys think? I feel like the green is powerful but not synergistic.

Hey!

Well, CBG finished 52nd in this 199 player ptq, with a 4-4 record. Major Luck went 4-4. Fugie went 4-4 (perhaps you are noticing a pattern). TooSarcastic finished 3-4-1. Thank goodness for that most supernatural of dudes, coyoeuglly. He lost in the first round and then won out from there, making top 8 with a 7-1 record. The wheels came off in the draft and he landed in 5th or 6th. An impressive showing, despite coming up empty of a ticket to Malaysia.

League Deck

I finally realized I could enlarge the size of the cards in the deck editor for y'all to see (you still should click on the image to see it in detail). Here is the pool I am currently 9 points, 3 tiebreaks with. I'm at 34th. I don't know if trying to make top 32 is worth it since I had to play six matches to get those three points (lost four in a row, won two in a row, lost the last match in three games, losong one point).

Here's the pool (only basics on the bottom):

Here's my build:

I originally ran Teeg instead of the Changeling. Teeg never did anything but turn off my Summoon the School. Judge of Currents was cut for one more Island (bringing the count up to 17 land), as I was mulling to five way too often. Fugie is right, one more land is usually better in this format. Familiar's Ruse comes in for bombs, Forge Tender against red decks, Wispmare against O-rings and other scary enchantments. How did I misbuild?

T

Overnight PE

I am in a 4X Sealed. 2-1 right now. Last game was

turn 1 Vivid land
turn 2 Fertile Ground
turn 3 Garruk, dude
turn 4 dude, dude
turn 5 dude, dude, removal
turn 6 overrun.

Never drew a 4th land. So wrong.

Regarding the build. Yes, I do know I left some good stuff on the side. I really wanted to go 5 color black. I'm just like that. I've been flooded three times so 19 sources is probably too many. What to cut though?

Nova Chaser is wrong. I am siding it out for Glen Elendra Sentinels or Adder-Staff Boggart (Don't hit me!). It would be so much better at 10/3.

Wispmare has had targets twice and makes a decent evasive finisher when I use the positive side of Final Revels. So stop complaining about it. I think it's worth maindecking and I think its worth splashing. Rings of Brighthearth + Garruk is disgusting. A 2nd Beast for 2 is insane. I don't even use the untap if rings is out. Deal with 8 3/3s. I dare you.

The two changelings bounced in and out a bit, as did the blue tempo cards. I can see siding in broken ambitions for big stuff. The first match was against a dude playing HUGE stuff so the Revels came out for blue temp and were very good. Of course he complained of mana flood as we both sat there with 12 lands on the table.

Also, you know I talk about how I never count how many creatures I have? Well, I probably should have this time (11!(though remember it doesn't count Garruk)). Oh well. Building well is for Fugies and I saw 5 amazing pieces of removal and got a little overexcited.

Edit-11 minutes into round 4. Well, I just ate it to a GW deck. Game 1, karma bit me on the ass. turn 3 Garruk. The rest is details. I had one turn to topdeck a Lash Out to blow him out. I didn't. Game over, man. Game 2, I stupidly left Final Revels in the deck even though it could kill almost nothing I had seen in game one. Ugh. 2-2. Come on, papa, let's get to 3 wins.

Update 2-1:20 am. 38 minutes into round 5. Pulled that one out! Final Revels is pretty darn good. Faced yet another green deck. Are we missing something? Seems sketchy but everyone seems to be running 'em. Game 1 was a seesaw battle where I put him on his back foot right away, hardcasting Mulldrifter turn 3 off a Smokebraider, Nova Chaser turn 4 championing MD. Attacking for 8 and getting the MD back on turn 5. Unfortunately, he stabilized at 5, and a huge misplay by me (fricking Mudbutton) cost me the game. Game 2, Garruk came out and does what he does. Game 3, he got screwed for 3 turns and that was all it took. By the time he got his 4th land, I was able to +2 Revels ftw. 3-2! Come on T16!

Update 3-2:39 am. Took the entire round for me to die with my opponent having 58 seconds left on his clock. I don't wanna talk about it. Boo.

MGTO Sealed Pool

Can you see this? I doubt you'll be able to see this. I'll post the list later tonight.

T

The (wasted) build

Wasted Sealed Build Lorwyn 1.0
Done drunk and not reading any other posts on this pool prior.


Avian Changeling (foil)
2 x Cloudgoat Ranger
Goldmeadow Harrier
Kinsbaile Balloonist
Kithkin Harbinger
Oblivion Ring
Oaken Brawler
Springjack Knight
Thoughtweft Trio
Wellgabber Apothecary

Footbottom Feast
Shriekmaw

Ashling the Pilgrim
Axegrinder Giant
Blades of Velis Vel
Blind-Spot Giant
Consuming Bonfire
Inner-Flame Igniter
Hurly-Burly
Mudbutton Torchrunner
Stinkdrinker Daredevil

Dolmen Gate

Shimmering Grotto
7 Plains
7 Mountains
2 Swamp

17 land
17 creatures
6 other spells

1 drops = 1
2 drops = 4
3 drops = 9
4 drops = 3
5 drops = 5
6 drops = 1

Wow. What a balanced pool. This is awful to build sober, so I started drinking. I know that the Kithkin seem great, topping off with Thoughtweft Trio, but there’s also some real chaff with them as well. Luckily the dubs Cloudgoat Ranger helps to mitigate this. Awesome evasion and Kithkin tokens to Champion. I feel like given the O-ring (removal!) and the Dolmen Gate to help with our aggressive strategy we definitely go white here. But the second color is totally up for grabs. Blue would give a sizable number of faerie fliers (Glen Elendra Pranksters, Pestermite, 2 x Sentinels of Glen Elendra), some conditional removal (Stonybrook Angler, Glimmerdust Nap, and Silvergill Douser, which in this pool is stretching it), and one potentially game breaking bomb copier (Shapesharer). We also get a conditional counterspell. Is it enough? I thought so at first, then I drank more alcohol. Then I decided it wasn’t. Let’s keep going. Black is almost equally deep, with 2 x Boggart Birth Rite (if we had, you know Boggarts), Dreamspoiler Witches, Fodder Launch, Footbottom Feast, Marsh Flitter (Goblins AND a faeries!) and Moonglove Winnower (AKA killer bomb-blocking dude). There’s also some creature I’ve never heard of before named Shriekmaw. Too soon to tell if that guy is any good. Black is SO close to being playable. You can make a build that works on the goblin synergy if you are willing to run at least one Nath’s Buffoon; but it’s Nath’s Buffoon! You don’t want to do that. Onward. Red is seemingly too scattered to be playable at first. Some Elementals, some giants, some goblins, eh. But Ashling the Pilgrim is a bomb, both for removal and for being able to grow whenever you have the mana available. Consuming Bonfire does kill any of your opponent’s dudes, so that seems okay. Running Axegrinder Giant and Blind-Spot Giant ups you to five total giants (counting the changeling) so the Stinkdrinker Daredevil doesn’t seem terrible. Hurly-Burly and Mudbutton Torchrunner are more or less removal and Inner-Flame Igniter is tricksey. Blades of Velis Vel is a sad, sad substitute for Surge of Thoughtweft, but at least it gets an extra four damage in there. Finally, green. I really wanted to find a way to play Kithkin Mourncaller in this build. It just wasn’t happening. Everything else is too tribal to be useful in small amounts (Lys Alana Huntmaster, Battlewand Oak, Gilt-Leaf Seer) with maybe the exception of Gilt-Leaf Ambush (maybe removal, or just a fog) and Oakgnarl Warrior (fucking big). Just not gonna happen, green. Sorry.
There are definitely some sub par dudes in my build. Wellgabber Apothecary? Well, if you don’t have the Dolmen Gate this guy can keep your team attacking for a little longer, and it’s definitely a rush deck, so that’s the strategy. Oaken Brawler? What? You’d run Kinsbaile Skirmisher instead? Because that’s about all we’ve got left to run. This guy might be three power and will rarely be killed if he swings. Also helps to even out the curve. Blind-Spot Giant? Definitely power over consistency here. We have to get guys through and with this build maybe that means getting lucky and drawing your giants in multiples. Preferably after playing Stinkdrinker Daredevil. Footbottom Feast? Shriekmaw? Well, we have no fucking fixing except for the Drum and the Grotto, both sub par. We will stretch for playables in any color combination. I’d rather splash for powerful stuff than play utter chaff in color. The Feast, by the way, is better in a 17 creature deck than elsewhere. Late game it stacks our deck full of more gas. Our removal is very conditional, but I felt like the Elementals offer some explosive power at the low end of the curve over the consistency that we could have with the puny faeries. I cut the Smokebraider very last despite having visions of a turn three Shriekmaw. This deck wants guys that can swing early and hard, and this guy only enables. We have 17 dudes already, we need room for removal. Now I will look at all the better builds that you guys posted.

Green sucks in sealed, now?

So it looks like green is ruling the roost in constructed. States decklists have green all over the place as midrange and aggro-control archetypes seem to have done a number on white aggro, red aggro and assorted junk that showed up. But am I the only one who has looked at the 3 sealed pools that we've opened so far and barely even glanced at the green? Even in Andy's pool with a Garruk and Imperious Perfect, there just didn't seems to be any good reason at all to go green.

The past couple years of sealed have been held together with green as big smashy Wurms won a Pro Tour and England Nationals alike during Rav block. Time Spiral Block presented lots of fat, aggressive reasons to go green as well. But Lorwyn just seems really, really bare of solid reasons to pull your pool green. Traditionally, fat bodies and acceleration and fixing have been the motivation. Now, fixing is colorless, the fat verde all has a power lower than its toughness, and the acceleration is almost nonexistent. There are a few bombs that might make you play Treefolk (Doran, Timber Protector) and a very nice (best?) planeswalker. But the elves in sealed seem distinctly below the tribal curve. Merfolk, Faeries, Goblins, Elementals and Giants all seem playable in the right (not too unlikely) circumstances. Green just seems iffy right now.

This is not a complaint, by the way. In Rav Block, everyone was playing green in sealed. It's good to have a cycle of power levels. I am just making what is more by way of an observation. I'll be happy if I open Garruk at the ptq, just not because I think he'll win me the tourney. It's just one less I have to pay retail for.

Interesting Sealed Build

White

dawnfluke
goldmeadow dodger
plover knights
wellgabber apothecary
wispmare
battle mastery
2x necksnap
summon the school

blue

amoeboid changeling
faerie harbinger
2x guile
mulldrifter
pestermite
ringskipper
silvergill douser
spellstutter sprite
steambed aquitects
aquitect's will
broken ambitions
ego erasure
familar's ruse
whirlpool whelm

black

black poplar shaman
bog hoodlums
2x dreamspoiler witches
nath's buffoon
nectar faerie
shriekmaw
skeletal changeling
thieving sprite
colfenor's plans
eyeblight's ending
final revels
footbottom feast
makeshift mannequin
peppersmoke

red

Axegrinder giant
boggart sprite-chaser
glarewielder
2x goatnapper
ingot chewer
mudbutton torchrunner
nova chaser
soulbright flamekin
blades of velis vel
boggart shenanigans
consuming bonfire

green

battlewand oak
elvish branchbender
elvish handservant
guardian of clordell
imperious perfect
oakgnarl warrior
2x fertile ground
garruk wildspeaker
heal the scars
2x rootgrapple
spring cleaning

TooSarcastic Sealed Pool

Sealed Pool

Avian Changeling (foil)
Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 x Cloudgoat Ranger
Dawnfluke
Goldmeadow Dodger
Goldmeadow Harrier
Kinsbaile Balloonist
Kinsbaile Skirmisher
Kithkin Harbinger
Oblivion Ring
Oaken Brawler
Soaring Hope
Springjack Knight
Summon the School
Thoughtweft Trio
Wellgabber Apothecary
Wispmare

Broken Ambitions
Captivating Glance (foil)
Glen Elendra Pranksters
Glimmerdust Nap
2 x Inkfathom Divers
Merrow Commerce
Pestermite
2 x Sentinels of Glen Elendra
Silvergill Douser
Shapesharer
Stonybrook Angler

2 x Boggart Birth Rite
Dreamspoiler Witches
Fodder Launch
Footbottom Feast
Marsh Flitter
Moonglove Winnower
2 x Nath’s Buffoon
Peppersmoke
Prowess of the Fair
Quill-Slinger Boggart
Shriekmaw
Squeaking Pie Sneak

Ashling the Pilgrim
Axegrinder Giant
Blades of Velis Vel
Blind-Spot Giant
Consuming Bonfire
Faultgrinder
2 x Ingot Chewer
Inner-Flame Igniter
Hurly-Burly
Mudbutton Torchrunner
Smokebraider
Stinkdrinker Daredevil

Battlewand Oak
Elvish Handservant
Gilt-Leaf Ambush
Gilt-Leaf Seer
Kithkin Mourncaller
Heal the Scars
Lignify
Lys Alana Huntmaster
Oakgnarl Warrior
Rootgrapple
Seeguide Ash
Spring Cleaning

Dolmen Gate
Springleaf Drum
Twinning Glass

Plains (foil)
Shimmering Grotto

That's all you get tonight.
Figure it out.
Post it.
I'll post my comments/build on the morrow.
T

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.

Kuala Lampur Ahoy!

So type 2 states is finally behind us. This means that you serious Magic folks will be focusing on Limited again. Awesome. I have a suggestion. We have this here site. What if, in training for the PTQ in two weeks, we open up a sealed pool each, post the contents (yes, lots of writing, so what?) sans build, and then people can each post their own suggested deck in the comments. We could even then test out our optimal builds IRL (say CBG's dungeon, Friday night?). Learning is fun!
T

2HG - Telling You Crap You Already Know

We've been drafting a lot of Two Headed Giant over at Casa de Bondage Goth lately. Fugie's teaser post alluded to a deck in such a tourney, but I won't spoil his story for you. I am here to talk about some guidelines for 2HG that have proven to be true yet again. These are things that most of you competent players have a vague idea of, but may not have thought about in a while. So as you start to integrate 2HG into your Lorwyn Limited experience, consider a few truisms.

#1 Removal is (still) better than a body.

Lorwyn block gave us some interesting tension when it comes to drafting. Unlike past formats, getting your 13th Kithkin can be critical to the way your deck plays. You shouldn't be looking for 12-19 bodies, you should look for an equivalent number of synergistic creatures types and abilities. There are some formats where having the dudes is more important (admittedly I can only think of ChKChKChK draft, which was super aggressive and weenie-based, and possibly Coldsnap draft, because of the inherent synergies in that good old set) and some where you have to take removal over nearly everything else (XthXthXth draft skews closer to this side, more examples of either format are welcome in comments). It seems to be the rule that in 2HG the removal becomes even more important because the low end of your creature curve gets obsoleted mid-game and and everyone has plenty more time to find and play their respective bombs. Since we all know bombs win games, having removal (and knowing when to use it, obv) gets you back into things before you are smashed to a pulp. HOWEVER, one of the things I was most interested in when playing 2HG Lorwyn Limited was whether or not the need for creature type synergies would overmaster the need for decent removal. If your dedicated Merfolk deck, in the last pack of a 2HG draft, has a choice between a third pick (technically 5th and 6th picks, you know what I mean) Neck Snap and Summon the School which do you take? (Let's assume you other pick in that pack was, uh, Mad Auntie for your other head's half-built Goblin deck, whatever.) The Merfolk Sorcery makes your deck all kinds of awesome in the late game- which you will usually get to in 2HG. But the removal is also really good. It appears, after some experience, that removal still trumps the majority of creatures, even if it means diluting the internal synergy of your deck's creature base. In 2HG, if you see no guys that need to be gotten rid of on the other side of the board, you are winning. There will be targets for removal. Your Summon the School only gets ridiculous if you are able to reach a critical mass of Merfolk (quick aside; Summon the School is not as good in 2HG as regular draft. 30 life plus many more chump blockers = far less effective at ending the game). Getting to that critical mass may take the whole game, or not even happen at all. So keep on taking those Weed Strangles and Tarfires when they come. Now, sometimes you are going to need to kill more than one monster at a time in order to stay in the game. This leads us to our second Rule You Already Know.

#2 Card Advantage Wins 2HG Games

You know how to destroy an opponent in 2HG? Cast Mournwhelk, forcing player A (let's call him "Lajor Muck") to ditch two of the three cards he still has in hand. Then, next turn, counter player B's Footbottom Feast with Familiar's Ruse, returning your Mournwhelk only to recast it again to strip the last two cards from player B's hand. Yeah, TooSarcastic's team won that one (sorry, Major Luck). It's really hard to fight through that much card disadvantage. Likewise, CBG and I ended up drawing the round prior, partly because we are bad players, but mostly because we passed a (foily!) Final Revels in the draft that ended up making it to our opponents, who then used it wreck us on card advantage, along with a second Revels later in the game that mopped up all the 2-butts we had cast after the first Revels resolved. Casting a Hoarder's Greed to draw four cards wasn't bad for the other team either. I mean, who cares about losing four life in this format? The only way my Gothy Captain partner and I were even still in that game was the fact that we also cast our own copy of Final Revels to four-for-one their board as well. In regular draft, getting tempoed out while waiting to reap the rewards of your card advantage is a fairly common concern. This is less so in 2HG. Weenie rushes are less good. Play the 7-casting cost spell that gets two of their cards. You will (almost) always be able to play it. Having said that...

#3 Curving Out Still Wins Games

Last night I was again paired with CBG playing against Fugie and his roommate. I kept a hand with 2 Plains, an Island, Summon the School, Merfolk Harbinger, Inkfathom Divers, and Faerie Trickery. CBG looked at me like I was crazy, but I said, "It's 2HG, I'll get the 4th land eventually. We've got time." Turn two (we were on the play) I drew Moonglove Extract. Just fine. Meanwhile, Fugie had played a 2/1 elemental turn one. Turn three I drew Fallowsage and cast the Extract. Fugie's team had four dudes out to our one, but we had on-board removal so it was fine, right? No it wasn't. Wort, Boggart Auntie comes down next turn with a board full of Gobs for them. Also, my extract can't even kill the Elemental because of Wings of Velis Vel from Fugie. Suddenly half our life is gone. This is the turn. I need to draw a land to continue play spells. I rip... Fallowsage number two! I guess this is a bad beats story. Also, the match prior, I dug through all but the last three cards of my library looking for the game-winning planeswalker Ajani. After the match, I flip over the deck to reveal Ajani as the bottom card. Bad. Beats. But I digress. The whole point is playing land number four (on turn four) and casting Merfolk Harbinger for Stonybrook Angler might not have won the game, but it sure as hell would have made it closer than playing my fourth land on turn six, which is what ended up happening. Build your deck with a curve in mind. Consider mulligans with a curve in mind. You curve may start at three (or maybe even four) instead of one, but 2HG still needs a curve. There are some beatdown strategies out there. They may not be the strongest archetypes, but if people discount them and don't build to protect against an early rush, Kithkin, Elemental and Goblin synergies can overwhelm an opposing team pretty quickly. Also, 90% of the time it's right to play 18 land. I've heard "official" columnists make the argument that you should run fewer lands in 2HG because you get a free mulligan, you have a partner to help you if you stumble, and the games go longer so you draw more cards. It has been my experience that the games I win come from casting Mournwhelk on turn seven, preferably with Aethersnipe either the turn before (to get the bomb into their hand so they discard it) or the turn after (to return Mourwhelk so as to destroy the second opponent's hand). It's hard to lose games when you hit the top end of your curve on schedule. And you know your curve will end higher than your average individual draft deck. Run more land than normal, not less. Getting flooded sucks, but at least when you do draw your business spells you can cast them.

That's it kids. Go play some 2HG.
T

Some Musings on Lorwyn Limited (In the form of a Release Tournament Report)

It’s not bragging if you’re learning, right? Seriously, I realize no one wants to slog through page after page of some schmuck alternately stating “I won” or “I got hosed.” So I will try to toss in some strategic insights on this still young format based on my results. Here goes!

The Deck: I was blessed with several possible directions for a build, but none of them felt overpowering for me. I had about half of a stellar Faerie deck (Faerie Harbinger, Peppersmoke, Pestermite, dubs Dreamspoiler Witches, Faerie Trickery, and Oona's Prowler) and some other good back up cards (dubs Æthersnipe, Liliana Vess, Nameless Inversion, Cairn Wanderer and Ponder. Yes, I did consider splashing the Æthersnipes, thank you. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This was a very solid dozen or so cards. Another direction was Elves, given my dubs Elvish Promenade, but sadly I had merely five other Elf creatures. And there was an Austere Command to consider. Given that my pool had great creatures but was light on removal, I decided a build-your-own Wrath of God would be good idea. So I decided I would play white if at all possible. In the end, my choice was to play all my Kithkin and all but two of my Treefolk, with a splash for the Nameless Inversion and Cairn Wanderer. What about Liliana Vess? I felt like it was too greedy to depend on getting double black given my dearth of fixing. She got cut. Here’s what I ran.

The List:
Kithkin Creatures:
Goldmeadow Harrier
Kithkin Daggerdare
Plover Knights
2 x Springjack Knight (Surprisingly good)
Wizened Cenn

Treefolk Creatures:
2 x Battlewand Oak (Without these a Treefolk deck doesn’t work)
Bog-Strider Ash
Cloudcrown Oak (The best Treefolk at common, I believe)
Oaken Brawler
Oakgnarl Warrior
Sentry Oak (Quite good)

Shapeshifter Creatures:
Cairn Wanderer
Changeling Titan

Elemental Creatures:
Briarhorn (Play it. If you have to, splash for it. Amazing.)

Total Creatures: 16

Spells:
Oblivion Ring (Play it)
Austere Command (Duh)
Dolmen Gate (It fits this deck’s strategy. I would play it in a Kithkin, Faerie, or maybe Merfolk deck)
Lace with Moonglove
Nameless Inversion (Best common after O-ring in the set)
Surge of Thoughtweft
Incremental Growth (A real skill tester. Goes up in value the better the player you are.)
Total Spells: 7

Land:
7 x Plains
7 x Forests
2 x Swamps
Vivid Marsh
Total Land: 17

Other possible playables: Kinsbaile Skirmisher, Fistful of Force, Runed Stalactite.
I won’t lie: the first match I had the Skirmisher and the Stalactite in the main instead of Lace with Moonglove and Bog-Strider Ash. People told me the Fistful of Force was good, but I just couldn’t see it being better than any spell other than maybe Lace with Moonglove, and I refused to cut a creature for it. Anyone want to make an argument for any of the board cards? Let me hear it.

Round 1: Scott
Scott says that we’ve played before, at a different release tourney. I smile and say “I think that we have.” Then he says with an edge of resentment that he is pretty sure that I beat him in that tournament. I tell him I don’t remember, but he cuts me off and says that he knows this because he lost every match of that tournament. Is it wrong of me to feel some relief when an opponent tells you that? Should “easy win” be floating through your mind? Or would that make you a dick? Just asking. We both mull to six and he asks me if we can just draw seven again. “I wish,” I reply, “but we better keep this match within the official rules.” He keeps a two lander after the Paris and I proceed to roll over him as he discards every three casting cost Kithkin ever printed. Dude got screwed. At this point I was thinking about round 2 already. That may have been a mistake. Next game he makes some guys, I kill them and I am looking at overwhelming board position. Then he drops foily Garruk Wildspeaker, untaps two lands and drops Ajani Goldmane, gaining himself 2 life. This is like turn six. Next turn he makes a beast and gives it a +1/+1 counter. I tap the 4/4 beastie with my Goldmeadow Harrier, play Incremental Growth and manage to kill both Planeswalkers that turn. Crisis averted. I also inform him that his foily Garruk should net him around $10 if he so desires. That’s the match. Moral: Planeswalkers are good. But I also think they are a little skill testing. Scott could have waited until he had just one creature down, then dropped the Planeswalkers and made a Beast. Even if I knocked one of ‘Walkers out, I still probably would have lost the tempo I had and likely the game. Instead they just sucked up one turn of attacks before I began beating on Scott.

Round 2: Ryan
Ryan is Scott’s buddy. He is one of those guys who plays like they have five minutes to win every game. In game one it actually took Ryan about five minutes to pound me into oblivion with Merfolk and Elementals. I took 13 damage on the last turn of the game. He was still at 20 life. Game two I was pinging away with some weenies and able to activate Springjack Knight multiple times to force through lots of damage. Unfortunately, he had Judge of Currents gaining him a total of nine extra life this game. I managed to kill a Sygg, River Guide and Veteran of the Depths before finally taking him out. We had 12 minutes to finish game three. This game I got the sense that he was more interested in tapping his Merfolk to do extraneous stuff than he was focused on winning. He took me to seven, but I managed to get him. After he lost Ryan told me that he had the perfect answer to my deck- Soaring Hope. Suffice it to say I would have been fine with him playing that card instead of actual threats. Moral: Lifegain is bad, but you already knew that. Clashing every turn is good. I know it helps your opponent too, smoothing his draws and letting him see your cards, but if you’re clashing then occasionally you get an added benefit as well, like a doublestriking a creature. Sentry Oak was great for that reason. You don’t even have to throw the guy in the red zone if you win the clash. You can just write down the removal spell that your opponent revealed, put the land you revealed on the bottom of your library and make plays to reflect this new information.

Round 3: Joey McHaines
We all know Joseph by now. I will withhold comments accordingly. He was listening to the Packer game on his radio, which was a nice bonus. His deck was a dedicated Elf creation with about twelve creatures and about eight hojillion removal spells. Seriously, he was splashing white for double O-ring and Neck Snap. Healso ran dubs Eyeblight’s Ending, a Weed Strangle, a Lignify etc. We both mulled to six and both had very slow hands. I was stuck on two land, swinging with a Kithkin Daggerdare and he was stuck on three with a Avian Changeling beating me above. He swung in for five turns before we really started to get rolling. He Lignified my Sentry Oak, which was fine, because I gave it three +1/+1 counters with an Incremental Growth. A 0/4 Treefolk with no abilities can still swing, and often should if it is now a 3/7. He finally played Nath of the Gilt-Leaf and started removing all my blockers with his, uh removal. It was elementary after that. Game 2 our decks actually came to play. I feel like he killed about eight of my guys, but I think I Wrathed the board with Austere Command, so I may have helped him out in that regard. He of course played Footbottom Feast to reload. He also was apparently gaining life (according to the life totals recorded), although I’m not sure how. He got this game and the match with what seemed like four total creatures that he just recurred. Joe went on to go 4-0-2 and made the top 8. Moral: Removal is SO good in this format. Lorwyn is about creatures, yes? If you can remove creatures, not only do you stop ridiculous synergies from occurring, you also can win the game yourself- with YOUR creatures. Wizards supposedly dialed back the amount of removal for this set, so I suggest taking it over bomb creatures in this format.

Round 4: Dylan
It was win or go home time. Dylan came out packing a base-blue deck that splashed white (Veteran of the Depths, probably other stuff), black (Nameless Inversion) and red (Tarfire). Also he had Merfolk, at least one Æthersnipe and a Benthicore. I couldn’t stop the Benthicore game one. That thing is a house. He got me when I was one White mana shy of the Austere Command. But I was ready for Benthicore game two. He was beating me in the air with some 2 power flyer for about four turns. Then drops the big guy and next turn tries to turn it sideways. Down comes Briarhorn, giving itself +3/+3. Go ahead, tap your Merfolk and give Benthicore shroud. I don’t have to target your guy. That swung the game around. My Treefolk had time to come down and after that it was lights out. Game 3 he was on his back foot the whole time. I would see him keep a Tarfire on top of his library after a clash with no Mountains in play. Same thing would happen with Nameless Inversion. By the time he got mana I had him at 13 with no chump blockers. I Surge of Thoughtweft with a bunch of dudes to drop him to 3 and that’s too far for him to recover. He takes me down to 18 and scoops them up. Moral: Briarhorn. Is. Amazing. Splash for him, draft him first pick, do whatever you have to do to play him. He is removal for all non-evasive creatures 6/6 and smaller. Draft him like a removal spell that also happens to give you a dude. The only time I didn’t kill an opponent’s creature with this guy was when I cast him at the end of my opponent’s turn so I would have enough bodies to swarm for the win on my next turn. Some cards are skill testers. This card will get you raped by thirteen year-olds because anyone with even a vague notion of Magic’s turn structure can destroy people with this. Okay, I’m done ranting.

Round 5: Keith
I have played with Keith before and there was something about him that made me dislike him. He seemed fine on the surface; a clean-cut guy with a good poker face. I usually appreciate opponents who don’t show any emotion because I can (mostly) rely on them to keep any psychiatric and or personality disorders to themselves. I hate the guy who is socially retarded, or gregariously condescending, or wants to tell you about how hot his girlfriend is, and how also he makes millions of dollars and definitely doesn’t have a really, really small penis. I prefer losing to emotionless killing machines than dealing with the same bizarre shit I slog through working at a mental health clinic. Sorry about the aside. Back to Keith. I am probably slandering Keith here, but I have a vague intuition that the last time we played he won, and was just the tiniest bit smug about it- just smug enough to let me notice. Now I sound like the crazy one. But hey, everyone likes winning and has a right to happy about it, so I should probably stop whining about that. It’s Magic-playin’ time. Keith is running a base-red Elemental deck with Blue as the secondary color. The first game he removes some of my early drops then has some strange combo-esque play involving Inner-Flame Acolyte pumping up a Changeling Berserker after equipping it with Runed Stalactite. I was at a healthy 17 life and two turns later I was dead. The Elementals can come out of nowhere to win. Very anxiety producing. Game 2 I had the perfect curve. Turn 2 Wizened Cenn, turn 3 Springjack Knight, turn 4 swing with both Kithkin, win the clash, Springjack gets doublestrike, cast Surge of Thoughtweft after Keith chooses not to block, take eleven sir- wait, you what? You Familiar's Ruse, countering my Surge of Thoughtweft, returning your Inner-Flame Acolyte? Ugh. I guess you just take 8 instead. After I dropped Plover Knights on turn 5 his mask cracked a little. “Of course. Of course you have Plover Knights on turn five.” He started to turn the game around and then I three-for-oned him with the Austere Command. He scooped on 7 life. We shuffled up for game 3. When I dropped turn two Dolmen Gate he got real salty. He threw up his hands and exclaimed, “Great, just great. That card!” I had seen mixed success with it previously (I was able to continue to attack in for a few damage per turn during a creature stall against Dylan, but against Joe I wished it had been another dude), and to be honest the card itself did less for me this game than the knowledge that my opponent was frustrated. We were both racing and I doubt Keith would have blocked more often if the Gate hadn’t been there. He had me down to 10, which I knew would go fast if he drew a hasty Changeling Berserker with any amount of pump or burn. Still I had no real option but to hope he didn’t draw the right cards and try to end the game as quickly as possible. After he went to 7 life he started holding his Elementals back to chump block. He was land flooded and I started to suspect his last 2 cards in hand were also lands. One more all-in attack took him to 3. He tossed his hand of two basics onto the table, conceding in disgust. Wary of returning the smugness he may have possibly given me in the past, I told Keith that he had me scared the whole time because I knew his deck could drop large amounts of damage from nowhere. “It’s a good deck,” he replied, shaking his head. “When I draw non-land cards.” We’ve all been there. Moral: Dolmen Gate is a fine card in an aggressive deck. Still, I would definitely relegate it to the sideboard in matches where you know your opponent has lots of removal or has a good chance of outracing you. In draft, even if you are building a mid-range deck I would snag a late Dolmen Gate for sideboarding in against decks where you know you will be the aggressor. It remains to be seen what pick will end up being “late” for a rare like this. I’m predicting if you see this coming anywhere after fourth pick it’s probably better than the other cards still in the pack- unless you’re running the slowest and of control decks.

Round 6: Tom
I found my opponent. I explained to him that looking at the standings we were guaranteed a Top 8 berth with a draw in this round. “Okay.” He replied. “So, where do you want to play?” I was confused. “Do you… mean for fun?” I asked. “No. I came here to play. And I think I have a pretty good chance.” “You don’t understand,” I countered. “If you lose this round there’s a good chance you won’t make it in to the Top 8. I don’t care how good you think your deck is, you have to admit there’s still a chance of you losing. If we draw, it’s a guarantee. Why would you want to take the risk?” He looked at me with the tiniest hint of smile. “I think my tiebreaks will get me in even if I lose. And besides; if I want to play, you have to play.” “Fair enough.” I replied, cursing inwardly that I got paired against the one cowboy still left in this tournament. We finished shuffling. Before presenting my deck I said, “One last chance. Will you ID with me?” Now he was smiling wide. “Nope.” I took a deep breath. Here we go. I throw back a one-lander. He blithely keeps immediately, not waiting for me to finish mulling. My six card hand features two Forests, a Dolmen Gate and three White creatures. I think for a while, then decide five is better. I keep on two lands and three spells I can’t cast. He starts laying dudes a’plenty, capping it off with a Brion Stoutarm. I have an O-ring ready for big bad Brion, but before I lay the removal he drops Purity. Okay, I have to remove that from the game before I can kill Brion with damage anyway. I have no other way of dealing with the Incarnation, but at least if he starts swinging with the Giant I could slide a Briarhorn in front of Brion. He doesn’t swing with Brion. And I don’t draw Briarhorn. He gets me with weenies and flings the last four damage at me. Game 2. It’s ugly. Turn 4 Brion Stoutarm for him. I’m “racing” him, but with the lifelink I really feel like I’m racing on a treadmill. He gains 15 life over the course of the game. He O-rings my Cairn Wanderer. I O-ring his Stoutarm. He O-rings my O-ring. I may have said some sarcastic comments at that point. I also lose badly. At the end of the game I told him “I feel no compulsion to be nice to you if I don’t make the Top 8.” That, kids, is me admitting right here and now that I am a dick. I realized this about four minutes later and apologized to Tom. Perhaps because of this apology, Providence decided to let two losers on 4-2 make the cut. I was one of them. Moral: Don’t be a dick. If there is some doubt in your mind as to whether or not you have been dick, rest assured you have. If you find yourself admitting that you are, in fact, a dick, make amends as best you can. It won’t always get you into a Top 8, but it will dampen the flames of whatever B.O. perfumed inferno awaits gamer assholes like us on the Other Side.

Top 8 Draft: We set up for the draft. Fugie, having been knocked from the tourney, is judging this show. I have recorded my picks.
Pack 1 Pick 1: Oblivion Ring
Best common removal in the set. Mise.
P1P2: Cloudthresher
A guy would have to be pretty heavy green to pay the GGGG in the casting cost, but it’s the second pick and I might as well shoot for it.
P1P3: Silvergill Douser
Nothing in Green. I’ll take the best card left in the pack.
P1P4: Thundercloud Shaman
I’m not seeing a lot of solid signaling, but if I end up in red this guy gets in there for sure. 4/4 for five is just fine thanks. Killing weenies is gravy.
P1P5: Wanderwine Prophets
I don’t know the set well enough to know if this is a signal or not. This guy seems abusable in the right deck.
P1P6: Silvergill Douser
Now we’re talking. I know these dudes are good. If people want to ship me more Merfolk I will snap them up.
P1P7: Battlewand Oak
I really like Treefolk. They’ve been good to me in one draft and in this sealed pool. This guy is excellent in a Treefolk deck. I will look out for more coming.
P1P8: Amoeboid Changeling
I seem to be shifting toward Blue, and this guy is capable of creating two extra Merfolk (or Treefolk, or whatever).
P1P9: Giant Harbinger
I don’t know if I’m in Red or not, but all the Harbingers have been really good for me prior. This one seems like it won’t be any different.
P1P10: Glimmerdust Nap
First removal I’ve picked since O-ring.
P1P11: Springleaf Drum
I don’t know if this is good fixing, but it’s fixing.
P1P12: Deeptread Merrow
Solid dude that will make the maindeck. Not a bad 12th pick.
P1P13: Mournwhelk
Really? 13th? This seems better that 13th pick to me. Maybe 7 is just too much to pay. We’ll see.
P1P14: Ponder
I think Blue is open. Can you imagine passing this- twice?
P1P14: Wellgabber Apothecary
Playable 15th pick. Nice.
Pack 2 Pick 1: Guile
The on-color Incarnation. How lucky.
P2P2: Mulldrifter
Daddy like.
P2P3: Mulldrifter
For reals. Blue is WIDE open. This deck is almost built.
P2P4: Briarhorn
I’m pretty sure by Christmas a Briarhorn will never, ever, ever go fourth pick. I know I will at least splash for green now.
* * *
It’s at this point that a guy on the other side of the table raises his hand and says, “I think this pile has too many cards in it.” He was right. The pack he was passing should have had 10 or 11 cards, but had 14. He was short 2 cards that he drafted (from his picked cards, but then some other dude next me was also short one card in his draft pile. WTF? Judge Fugie takes about ten minutes to gather info and contemplate what could have gone wrong. When he returns from his monastic hideout behind the store counter, Fugie is unhappy. “The mistakes made are incorrectable. Take the cards you have drafted so far and put them as far away from the table as possible. We will start the draft over and the packs used to do so will come out of the prize payout.” Oh shit. Also, The Fugitive Wizard explains that we will be doing this thing “all the way Pro Tour,” counting every single pack and passing on his command. Timed review periods, picks, and deck building. Oh, and the genius with 14 cards in his pack got a game loss. When Fugie ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.
The next draft took twice as long. I won’t bore you with my picks, since I didn’t bother writing them down anyway. I was very tired by this point and somehow managed to try drafting Black/White Treefolk. Moral: Don’t try to draft Black/White Treefolk. Some of the best Treefolk are in Black and White, but you’ll never get enough to make it work. At least I didn’t. I realized this halfway through and ended up drafting some shitty Boggarts as well. It was B/R/w. I barely got sleeved in time to sit down for the Quarters. I faced Tom- again.

Quarterfinals: Tom
Neither of us were feeling very good about our decks, but his came to play. He had a U/W Merfolk deck with so much card draw. Dubs Mulldrifter for starters. Must be nice. Reminds me of a deck I drafted once... Game 2 I dropped him to 7 before he stabilized, but I was never able to punch through for enough damage. I remember ripping a crucial Fodder Launch with two guys (one a Gob) on board; a Lowland Oaf and a Spiderwig Boggart. I give the Boggart +1/+0 and flying with the Oaf and swing for three in the air. We go to the second main. I sac the Boggart and target his Stonybrook Angler with the Fodder Launch. In hand I have the Warren Pilferers to return the Spiderwig from the graveyard, but he has the key Faerie Trickery to counter the Fodder Launch. As a result he stays out of alpha strike range. He mops me up after drawing (literally) seven more cards than me. Moral: I don’t know how to do a successful draft of Lorwyn if people around you are switching tribes midstream, or sending terrible signals. You need to go tribal to have any chance of winning a draft, but if your tribe of choice dries up, I have this feeling you could just be fucked. I’m not sure how good drafters will end up compensating for this. There must be more complexity to the format than I’m giving it credit for, but it certainly feels easier to get hosed by people switching (or dipping in) to other tribes. Be ready for it to happen to you, boys.

Finally, Finish This Damn Article!
Well, I finished pretty poorly after a strong start. I lost four games straight at the end of the night (to the same guy!), and finished a middling 4-3. But I somehow made Top 8, and I got 1.5 free drafts out of the deal, along with another deck box. One final moral: In Lorwyn Sealed your ideal deck will be two tribes only, with a few supporting off-tribe bombs. Do not play a Merfolk/Faerie/Elemental deck because they’re all base blue. Color doesn’t matter as much as tribe. I was happy with Kithkin/Treefolk, and would build it again if the cards were there.
One thing’s for sure: Those of you waiting for TooSarcastic to win a Release tournament may have a long wait.
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