A tough build

Well, I attended the Mirrodin Besieged midnight Prerelease last night but it didn't go as smoothly as Scars. I opened a Sword of Feast and Famine and a True Conviction but a couple bombs wasn't enough to get me over the hump. The deck had a decent amount of usable metalcraft dudes, a lot of conditional removal and not quite enough good artifacts to make metalcraft run. I chose Mirran so only the White and Red was usable (though the Green was marginally playable). Here's the pool, shorn of it's useless colors

White	Red	Artifacts
Abuna Acolyte 2 X Ardent Recruit Auriok Sunchaser 2 X Divine Offering Ghalma's Warden Glimmerpoint Stag 2 X Leonin Relic-Warder Loxodon Partisan Master's Call Revoke Existence Seize the Initiative Sunspear Shikari True Conviction	2 X Blisterstick Shaman Burn the Impure Concussive Bolt 2 X Crush Galvanoth 2 X Gnathosaur Goblin Wardriver Koth's Courier Kuldotha Rebirth Rally the Forces Turn to Slag	Argentum Armor Bladed Sentinel 2 X Copper Myr Echo Circlet Grafted Exoskeleton Leaden Myr Nihil Spellbomb Shriekhorn Soliton Spin Engine Strider Harness Sylvok Lifestaff Vector Asp Vulshok Replica	Auriok Replica Copper Carapace Darksteel Plate Golem's Heart 2 X Gust-Skimmer Myr Reservoir Razorfield Rhino 2 X Silverskin Armor Sphere of the Suns Snapsail Glider Sword of Feast and Famine Throne of Geth Viridian Claw

I wanted to run metalcraft but the pool is long on playable equipment and short on good dudes to carry it. Here's what I came up with, with less than a minute to spare...

Creatures	Spells and Land
Abuna Acolyte 2 X Blisterstick Shaman Galvanoth Glimmerpoint Stag Goblin Wardriver Leonin Relic-Warder Loxodon Partisan Razorfield Rhino Sunspear Shikari Vulshok Replica	Burn the Impure Concussive Bolt 2 X Divine Offering Master's Call Revoke Existence Sword of Feast and Famine Sylvok Lifestaff True Conviction Turn to Slag Viridian Claw 9 Plains 9 Mountain

How would you build this pool?

Scars of Mirrodin Sealed Lesson

GP Nashville is still going strong on day two, but the sealed decks have done their work. The coverage team took a look at the undefeated Sealed decks for Day 1, plus a few 9-1 decks that the coverage team liked. Of the 7 decks shown, what percentage do you think played Mountains? 100%. How about the percentage that played Islands. Big old goose egg. Limited deck lists are notoriously tricky to learn from since, compared to Constructed, players have less control over their final card pool. However, as a blunt instrument I think we use this data as evidence for some conclusions that you may have already guessed: Red is the strongest color in Scars Limited and Blue is the weakest. Oh, yeah. And if you want to go undefeated in a 10 round sealed event, you might want to open a pool with some strong red.
T

Midnight Prerelease - Scars of Mirrodin

I went to the midnight prerelease at Silver Spring Hobby on Friday night. I've wanted to do a midnight prere for years and my birthday is next week so I decided to roll it. There were around 40 lucky souls who sat down around 12:30 (boo, hiss) to crack 6 packs of Scars of Mirrodin. The big news of the set is of course, poison, and it played an important role all night. First, let's crack the packs and we can talk about meaning later.

Sealed Pool

White	Blue	Black
2 Arrest	Bonds Of Quicksilver	Blistergrub
Auriok Edgewright	2 Neurok Invisimancer	Contagious Nim
Elspeth Tirel!	Plated Seastrider	2 Dross Hopper
2 Ghalma's Warden	Riddlesmith	Grasp of Darkness
Glint Hawk	Scrapdiver Serpent	Moriok Reaver
Loxodon Wayfarer	Screeching Silclaw	Relic Putrescence
Salvage Scout	Sky-Eel School	Tainted Strike
	Steady Progress
	Stoic Rebuttal
	Thrummingbird
	Vedalken Certarch
Red	Green	Artifact/Land
Assault Strobe	Bellowing Tangleworm	2 Argentum Armor
Bloodshot Trainee	Carapace Forger	2 Chrome Steed
Ferrovore	Carrion Call	Contagion Engine
2 Flameborn Hellion	Cystbearer	Copper Myr
2 Furnace Celebration	Ezuri, Renegade Leader	Darksteel Axe
3 Melt Terrain	2 Ezuri's Archers	Darksteel Myr
Shatter	Lifesmith	Darksteel Sentinel
Turn to Slag	Molder Beast	2 Echo Circlet
	Tel-Jilad Defiance	2 Glint Hawk Idol
	Withstand Death	Gold Myr
		Ichorclaw Myr
		Liquimetal Coating
		Neurok Replica
		Nihil Spellbomb
		Palladium Myr
		Precursor Golem
		Razorfield Thresher
		Rust Tick
		Saberclaw Golem
		Soliton
		Sylvok Replica
		Trigon of Infestation
		Trigon of Rage
		Trigon of Thought
		Tumble Magnet
		Vector Asp
		Wall of Tanglecord

White is very solid, with double Arrest and "win the effing game" card Elspeth Tirel. Also notable is the white mana myr and the double glint Hawk Idol.

Blue is excellent as well. No bombs, but Bonds of Quicksilver, Riddlesmith, Sky-Eel School, Stoic Rebuttal (hard counters are good in sealed), Thrummingbird and Certarch are all cards I'd be glad to run.

Black is the first color I cut from consideration. No bombs, only one infect creature, little evasion or removal. Yech.

Red has the all star Shatter, a couple of hasty worms (sorry, hellions. Whatever, WOTC. I know a fucking worm when I see one.) and a Turn to Slag. It also has three too many Melt Terrains and is really creature light. No thank you.

Green is very solid. Good curve, good fat, a couple of decent tricks. This is another front runner. Again, little infect.

Artifacts. I don't know what to say in general about artifacts. Play good Equipment, mana Myrs and decently costed creatures. The one late add was Darksteel Sentinel. I thought he was too expensive at 6. I was wrong. He's a champ.

Ultimately, the lack of removal in Green kept me away despite the repeatable overrun on Ezuri and the nice curve. Blue was tempting until I realized I was going to be playing five rounds starting at 1 am and counting on myself to make optimal plays was not wise. Ultimately, the siren song of a pretty straightforward deck with a win now condition got me into White. I was actually going to go mono-W until I realized I could cut a few subpar artifacts in order to make room for Shatter (all-star) and Bloodshot Trainee (3 ways to activate and a 3-butt). I did leave the Wayfarer on the sidelines, but played everything else. Final list:

2 Arrest - Is this or Shatter better in the environment? Discuss.
Auriok Edgewright - It was surprisingly hard to get metalcraft going even with 14 artifacts. It might be better in draft, but I was unimpressed.
Elspeth Tirel
2 Ghalma's Warden - OTOH, these were solid. 4 butts were nice, even against infect dudes and there are tons of -1/-1 counters flying around.
Glint Hawk - I so wanted this to be better. Maybe with a Memnite...
Salvage Scout - This is a superhero in the environment.
Darksteel Axe
Tumble Magnet
Precursor Golem - You will occasionally get blown out, like when somebody hits one with a cantrip. Nonetheless, 9 power for 5 mana is...good.
2 Glint Hawk Idol - almost better than Glint Hawk. Carries equipment like a champ.
Copper Myr - I don't know if you play offcolor mana Myr in an infect deck, but I don't know if they ever hit the sideboard otherwise.
Darksteel Sentinel - See my note above. You probably think this is overcosted. It's not.
Rust Tick - never dead, and a Puppeteer you only have to pay for once is nice, even if it's somewhat limited in it's tricksiness.
Trigon of Rage - I only recharged this once. Three activations is plenty.
Horizon Spellbomb - House, though I obviously wouldn't have played it without the red splash
Gold Myr - etc.
Palladium Myr - also carries an axe and lures removal
Argentum Armor - I wish I hadn't opened two of these but an active one is basically game over, as it turns everything into an Eldrazi.
Contagion Engine - zomg, really.
12 Plains
4 Mountain

Round 1 I played against Tony, who was playing what appeared over the next day to be a pretty standard infect deck. A lot of little guys who give you poison counters, a few tricks, some removal. The games were reasonable but he was able to force through enough poison each time. I did end up mulliganing twice and that might have been the problem, but I think the bigger problem was I just didn't know how to deal with an infect deck yet, and he ran a bit more removal than is typical for those types of deck.

Round 2 I played against a very nice goldfish playing a defensive GW deck with no apparent win conditions. Once I was able to work my way through his Wall of Tanglewood and various lifegainers, I won handily.

Round 3 was a singularly unmemorable beatdown of an infect deck, played by someone who wasn't as good at deckbuilding as my first round opponent. He snuck a game 2 win against me but it wasn't enough. Contagion Engine just wins games. Nearly everyone at the top tables had one. It's basically a Plague Wind that gives you random positive effects like; add a counter to your Trigon and, give the other dude a poison counter. At this point, it was around 4:15 am and I had yet to see my Elspeth, except a brief appearance in a 7-card, no-land hand. That was about to change.

Round 4 I played against a solid red blue deck, with lots of red blue things, like hard counters, burn and Confiscate effects. Side note: if WoTC never prints another Confiscate, it'll be too soon. Being hit with your own guys is spectacularly unfun, especially when they didn't even have to die first. Game one, I finally saw Elspeth, which was convenient, since I was being beaten about the head and neck with one of my own guys. I won. Game 2 was epic central. We went back and forth for a while until I got Elspeth online and fired off her ultimate ability, leaving myself with an indestructible golem carrying an indestructible axe and a Soldier token and my opponent with one card in hand. Unfortunately for me, that card was an Arc Trail, killing off Elspeth and a token for a grand total of two mana. No problem though, because I still have five power on the table, 27 life and...he ripped a Volition Reins. Hey, no problem, I still have like 5 draw steps. Of course, I can't get my equipment back until I rip a creature, and my draws for the rest of the game were, and I remember this clearly, Plains, Plains, Plains, Plains, Plains. Nice win. Then I won game 3 with Elspeth. w00t. Planeswalkers are good.

Round 5 was the difference between one pack and six packs, so I needed to concentrate. Unfortunately, that apparently means I can't remember much other than that I won and that both Elspeth and Argentum Armor made an appearance. So, six packs, 4-1 and yay! Fliers with equipment and Planeswalkers are both valid ways to win in this environment. One sided Wrath of Gods are still good, Proliferate is good, poison is interesting and those decks defintely have an "oops, I win" characteristic, but they didn't seem to be unbalanced so yay WoTC. MaRo has stated many times that they wanted to avoid poison as "just another life total". I think there is something to that, but mostly, poison is just another life total, and as long as they don't push the power level too much, it's a lot of fun.

The prerelease was so fun I did it again at noon the next day, but this post is already long enough.

How to Top 8 without much effort

So I'm a luck sack (not a big surprise). For the second time in the last two plus years, I manage to top 8 at a release event at GU. I'd like to think is was pure luck, but having not gone to the Prerelease nor spending much time looking @ the set (I didn't even look at the preview cards until after the prerelese).

My success goes back to something Brian Bomberger once said to me, several years ago, at my first release event at GU. "Sealed deck is all about removal and evasion. Play as much or both as you can muster, and you should do just fine." Since then I've taken that advice to heart and have generally been able to build better then average decks with only average sealed pools.

Like the rest of life, being successful at sealed deck is about playing to the strengths that you have and learning from your mistakes (It also doesn't hurt to get a pool that lends itself to one stand out build). For the record, I did go 4-0-2 in the Swiss, but got hammered by Swiz in the finals by never seeing a two drop in either game (also note that in triple Eventide draft, Red-Blue on the play is amazing as it's mimic is unblockable and red has one mana removal for other mimics).

Well, until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.

Shadowmoor Sealed, Week 1

Quintuple black is a lot to ask for in a black red deck. It should be only a mistake that a noob should make, but alas I too have fallen victim to the delusion that I should play all of my bomb rares that are in any of the colors that I am playing.

Kind of a different intro than I usually do, but I am having a really hard time keeping my thoughts straight. Anyways, this past Tuesday we started over with a fresh sealed deck of Shadowmoor, and I am happy with what I am seeing. Amongst the Painter's Servant, Ghastlord of Fugue, foil Knollspine Dragon, & Dusk Urchins; I have the makings of a pretty solid red-black deck. Add a heaping helping of aggressive dudes, a splash of reasonably costed removal, and season to taste. If only it was that easy.

Well enough of my incoherent thoughts and on to the deck list.

Ashenmoor Cohort
Dusk Urchins
Sickle Ripper
Bloodmark Mentor
Boggart Arsonists
Knollspine Dragon (foil)
Rustrazor Butcher
Ghastlord of Fugue
Gravelgill Axeshark
Ashenmoor Gourger
Kulrath Knight
Murderous Redcap
Sootstoke Kindler
Painter's Servant
Scrapbasket
Tatterkite

Corrupt
Gloomlance
Burn Trail
Ember Gale
Puncture Bolt
Torper Dust
Blight Sickle

(10) Swamp
(7) Mountain

Well as you can see, I've managed to get a deck that wants to (an can reliably) get in there with a guy with both wither and first strike. Unfortunately, you need to actually draw the guys and not all of your removal and all of your lands (with the exception of my games against the Captain, I got mana flooded and failed to draw guys I could play with the mana I had. I managed to get to 11 mana against AJ and not be able to play the Knollspine Dragon in my hand because I only had one mountain in play). Well them's the breaks.

Looking forward to next week, here's what I opened.

Traitor'r Roar
Curse of Chains
Somnomancer
Rattleblaze Scarecrow
Devoted Druid
Smolder Initiate
Gloomwidow's Feast
Sinking Feeling
Goldenglow Moth
Smash to Smithereens
Tattermunge Maniac
*Incremental Blight
Dawnglow Infusion
*Ashenmoor Liege
*Burn Trail (foil)

I've marked with an * the three cards I'll try to include in next weeks deck. Well, until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.

Shadowmoor Sealed, Week 3

I can’t wait for May to be over. May has been nothing but bad week followed by worse week. So this past weekend I head back up to the Twin Cities Friday night for my brother’s graduation from law school (by the way Hamline has a really beautiful campus) only to have to drive back Saturday night so I can be back at work on Sunday. I finally thought that we had gotten over the hump, but we always manage to find a way to shoot ourselves in the foot.

To further complicate things, I am train my counterpart from Irwindale (near LA, CA) on the BrewAS tool that I use. It has moderately increased the amount of time I am spending at work this week, but at least the scenery is nice.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it to the store on Tuesday, but did make it down to TS place Tuesday night for a cook out and a few games of EDH (I didn’t get done at work until after 6 pm). One conclusion I can draw in two player is that the person on the draw wins ~80% of the time (that extra card is a huge advantage).

I do intend to try to make it down to the store next Tuesday, but with the way things have been going, I won’t hold my breath. Well until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.

Shadowmoor Sealed, Week 2

Red-Green Beats, literally. Those four words best describe or Shadowmoor league right now. I am not sure if it is just because of the ridiculous cards many of us have opened in those colors or if they are really that good, but here we are.

I myself am glad to have access to both the Black-Red hybrid and White-Green hybrid cards in my Red-Green deck. I am also very pleased to have access to both the best and second best two ability combinations in my colors. What are the best and second best two ability combinations? (Thank you voices in my head) Well I’m glad you asked. After some discussion with the Captain, we agreed upon the best two ability combinations both being in Red-Green.

The best is Wither and First Strike. Sending in your wither/first strike guys makes for some very touch blocking decisions for your opponent. As Scoop-Phase can attest to from the prerelease, first striking wither guys will win the ground stall. I know that I am very fortunate to have multiple Bloodmark Mentors to go with my multiple Boggart Ram-Gangs.

The second best (a very close second) is Double Strike & Trample. At current there is only one card in the set that enables it (Runes of the Deus) and that is why it isn’t the best. However, it is still amazing to crack back with a huge beastie that has both double strike and trample.

As my previous words alluded to, I found much success with my red-green beats deck, but also found many challenges in the two mirror matches.

For next week, here is the pack I opened:
Cinderhaze Wretch
Silkbind Faerie
Wanderwine Rootcutters
Scar
Boggart Arsonists
Presence of the Gond
Goldenglow Moth
Zealous Guardian
Loch Korrigan
Embergale
Niveous Wisps
Seedcradle Witch
Sapseep Forest
Fossil Find
Demigod of Revenge

Until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.

Shadowmoor Sealed, Week 1

What a difference a week makes. Last week there were very few people (or so I’ve been told) and this week there were at least eight of us by 6 pm. I just guess a new set will do that, but I am also inclined to believe people are sick of Morningtide/Lorwyn sealed.

This week I opened fairly well, a solid Red/Green deck, with the possibility to tap into some White/Green cards if necessary. Without further ado, here is what I played this past Tuesday.

Creatures:
Blistering Dieflyn
Bloodmark Mentor (2)
Boggart Arsonists
Boggart Ram-Gang
Crabapple Cohort
Cultbrand Cinder
Elvish Hexhunter
Juvenile Gloomwidow
Kulrath Knight
Morselhoarder
Mossbridge Troll
Scrapbasket
Sootwalkers (2)
Tatermunge Duo

Spells:
Fists of the Demigod
Jaws of Stone
Puncture Bolt
Scar
Tower Above (2)
Trip Noose

Lands:
Mountain (9)
Forest (7)
Reflecting Pool

A couple of quick comments about some card selections. Blistering Dieflyn is very sub optimal and is the 16th guy in the deck. Also for those who are not aware, Tower Above is amazing!!!

Overall the deck was fairly aggressive and was able to push past the slower more controlling decks as needed. The toughest match up was against Mark’s Red/Green deck as he had way more removal than I could handle (something about getting Puncture Bolted three times in one game). As far are the rest of the games that I saw, I do vaguely remember the Captain getting blown out by Prison Term coming down on his 4/4 indestructible lifeline critter enabling her to swing for just enough, but I’ll let the Captain tell the story of how he got beat down by a girl (no offense to Kerstin as her game play has improved dramatically over the past few months and she has the potential to beat any person at any time).

Here is the pack for next week (I currently can’t find the rest of my pool, but it should turn up):

Safehold Duo
Scuttlemutt
Medicine Runner
Ghastly Discovery
Wildslayer Elves
Woeleecher
Prismwake Merrow
Crimson Wisps
Viridescent Wisps
Cinderbones
Boggart Ram-Gang
Trip Noose
Sapseep Forest
Dusk Urchins
Smash to Smithereens (foil)

Until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.

Last month of Morningtide Sealed, Part 5

Well as can be expected, by the time the fifth week rolled around I wasn’t in the mood to play any more Morningtide limited, with the release of Shadowmoor at the end of the week. I did manage to make it down to Game Universe (GU), but decided a few days before to draft Shadowmoor instead. We; namely myself, CBG, Too Sarcastic (TS) & Scoop Phase (SP); managed to put together a four man over at Genesis (For those of you who aren’t familiar, Genesis is a Greek-style family type restaurant up the street from GU. The food is decent and moderately priced and they are very good about letting us hang out and draft after we are done eating). One other thing of note is how busy they were on a Tuesday at 1800. I understand a dinner rush, but every table in the non-smoking section was full on a Tuesday.

Anyways, TS & headed over and met up with SP and got a table and had no more than given our menus back to the waitress and CBG shows up. I am still impressed with your innate ability to show up at the last minute even though you had the shortest distance to travel, but I digress. So while we are waiting for our food we take care of the draft. For ease we decided to draft as we were seated at the table when we ordered (in the past we have switch the seating order after we order and it is kind of mean to the wait staff) with TS to my immediate left, SP across from me, and CBG to my right.

As far as overall picks I only remember a few key ones. Pack 1 pick 1 was a Burn Trail with my second pick being a Mercy Killing. From pack 2, I first picked a Flame Javelin only to have Puncture Bolt come back on the lap. As far as the rest of the draft, I took as much red/green removal as I saw and all of the green fat I could muster. One other note, the black we opened was terrible which leads to my next point. As could be expected in a four man it is highly likely that the person sitting across from you is in the same colors. Well, we managed one better, with both SP and I in red/green & CGB and TS in blue/white.

I will be the first to admit that my deck wasn’t very good nor was the curve great, but it was good enough to go 3-0. I will also not that I had enough removal and curved out enough times to play my 8 drop in three of the first four games by turn nine. Well without further ado, here is what I played.

Creatures:
Intimidator Initiate
Rustrazor Butcher
Crabapple Cohort (2)
Devoted Druid
Foxfire Oak (2)
Gloomwidow
Juvenile Gloomwidow
Woodfall Primus
Sootwalkers
Mudbrawler Raiders
Scuzzback Marauders
Scuzzback Scrapper
Safehold Elite

Spells:
Burn Trail
Flame Javelin
Power of Fire
Puncture Bolt
Runes of the Deus
Mercy Killing (2)
Blight Sickle

Lands:
Sapseep Forest
Forest (8)
Mountain (8)

Other cards of note from the side board:
Ember Gale
Smash to Smithereens
Gloomwidow’s Feast

As far as the matches, I played SP first and managed to turn 8 and turn 9 Woodfall Primus to hit a key artifact and win soon there after. I also may have managed to put Runes of Deus on Mudbrawler Raiders and swing for 13 on turn five.

In the second round I played TS who drafted a very controlling blue/white/black deck with lots of bounce and tap effects. I got the first game due to pure agro combined with four removal spells (including the combination of Blight Sickle and Power of Fire too off his weenies). For the second game I brought in Gloomwidow’s Feast taking out Runes of the Deus (it didn’t out right kill anyone and set me up for a two for one). But missed my third and fourth land drops to die to multiple weenies. In the third game he got mana screwed and I had a slow start (didn’t play anything until turn four). I did have enough removal to take care of his first few plays and managed to beat down with random guy (also not that I never say a green source but managed to see six of my eight mountains).

The last round was me versus CBG and it wasn’t very close with him scooping to me when I managed to get better threats to his many land draws.

Well that’s all for this week and I look forward to next week and Morningtide Sealed league.

Last month of Morningtide Sealed, Part 4

Despite having gone to the Shadowmoor prerelease last Saturday, I was still looking forward to Tuesday night Old Fart Magic. I think that I may have started to turn the tide in the war against mana screw. I only mulliganed once in 6 games this past week.

As far as my two matches, all but one of the games was really good. My three game set against the Captain was by far one of the better limited matches I’ve played in a while. Winning the clash on Gilt-Leaf Ambush to get rid of his Taurean Mauler and his other guy was key to turning around a game in which I had few outs (Some times you just get lucky).

My second match really came down to Ed (Tesch) not getting Taurean Mauler with his Elvish Harbinger on turn 3 of the first game and instead getting Wren Run Packmaster (he forgot that Elvish Harbinger can make red mana as he had no other red sources in play). He did manage to crush me in the second game (this would be the one that wasn’t even close). The third game was really tight until I got down Wolf-Skull Shaman, Bramblewood Paragon, & Lys Alana Huntmaster (getting free 2/2 wolves every time you kinship an elf and then getting a free 2/2 trampler every time you play an elf spell is ridiculous).

As far as the final week, here is the pack of Lorwyn:

Oblivion Ring
Quill-Slinger Boggart
Bog-Strider Ash
Aethersnipe
Tarfire
Gilt-Leaf Seer
Protective Bubble
Ingot Chewer
Amoeboid Changeling
Spring Cleaning
Veterans of the Depths
Makeshift Mannequin*
Jagged-Scar Archers*
Fathom Trawl
Island (foil)

Cards of note:
Jagged-Scar Archers warrants serious consideration in my mostly mono green elf deck.

Makeshift Mannequin seems like an interesting combat trick or way to recur Shriekmaw at instant speed.

Moving along to tonight, current plans are to draft Shadowmoor tonight @ CBGs. I am sure that CBG will do the post mortem tomorrow, but I would just like to send out a special thanks to Scoop Phase for hooking me up with two more draft sets of Shadowmoor.

Shadowmoor Prerelease: Sealed Lessons

I am posting my sealed build, partly because I did well with it, but also because I can revisit it for laughs in a few months- when we know what is going on in the format. I regret not being able to play more blue/white, but I decide to go green/black for a few reasons. We had talked about how pairing enemy colors freed up more of the hybrid cards for inclusion. If I go G/B I only lose the W/U hybrid stuff, whereas if I go (for example) W/U I lose the hybrid G/R and the B/R stuff. I got to play most of my bombs this way as well. Maybe I should have gone W/B but then I lose dudes and gain removal. I tend to prefer running more dudes in sealed if possible, since sometimes you just win that way. The singleton mountain can be fetched by Farhaven Elf in case the Valleymaker is out.

Sealed Build:

8 Swamps
7 Forests
1 Mountain
1 Sapseep Forest

1 Medicine Runner A fine two drop, especially with persist guys.
1 Oracle of Nectars Bomb.
1 Rhys the Redeemed
2 Raven's Run Dragoon
1 Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
1 Farhaven Elf
1 Juvenile Gloomwidow
1 Valleymaker He’s big.
1 Ashenmoor Gouger Turn three he is awesome.
1 Cultbrand Cinder Very solid.
1 Murderous Redcap Bomb.
1 Faerie Macabre Never regretted drawing her.
1 Inkfathom Infiltrator Solid.
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae Bomb.
1 Thornwatch Scarecrow

1 Barkshell Blessing
1 Shield of the Oversoul Your Mileage May Vary.
1 Giantbaiting Better than it looks.
2 Scar Gets persist guys to go away.
1 Incremental Blight Bomb.
1 Scarscale Ritual Quite good, especially against players with white removal that doesn’t kill your guys.

Sideboard:

Ballynock Cohort
Barrenton Medic
Goldenglow Moth
Inquisitor's Snare
Kithkin Rabble
Mistmeadow Skulk
Strip Bare

Curse of Chains
Mistmeadow Witch
Repel Intruders
Silkbind Faerie
Thistledown Duo

Consign to Dream
Deepchannel Mentor
Drowner Initiate
2 Kinscaer Harpoonist
2 Sinking Feeling
2 Whimwader

Fate Transfer
Helm of the Ghastlord
Oona's Gatewarden

Cinderhaze Wretch
Hollowsage
Smolder Initiate
Wound Reflection

Emberstrike Duo
Sootstoke Kindler

Bloodmark Mentor
Boggart Arsonists
Crimson Wisps
Intimidator Initiate
2 Mudbrawler Cohort
Power of Fire
Rustrazor Butcher
Smash to Smithereens

2 Runes of the Deus

2 Gloomwidow's Feast
Presence of Gond
2 Toil to Renown

Safewright Quest
Seedcradle Witch

Chainbreaker
Heap Doll

Madblind Mountain

Round One: White removal is really good.
I am mana flooded, but come out of the gates swinging Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers. Which is met with Curse of Chains. Then I drop Cultbrand Cinder. The first swing in- Inquisitor's Snare. Then I drop my Thornwatch Scarecrow. Nope. Gleeful Sabotage. I lose. Game two he plays his Wilt-Leaf Liege. Then he plays his foil Wilt-Leaf Liege. I could not resist doing the droll Captain Bondage Goth-esque “Nice. Open.” comment. He went on to go 3-1, losing only to our own Scoop_Phase (who 4-0ed the pod). Vengeance!
Lesson 1: Curse of Chains, Inquisitor's Snare, Last Breath, Prison Term. White may have the best removal at common and uncommon of all the colors in Shadowmoor. How often has that ever been said? Also, there will be that one time that you Curse of Chains your own dude that has an untap ability.
Lesson 2: You can run disenchants in the main. There are awesome enchantments, and lots of scarecrows. No fear. Do it.
Lesson 3: Finally, double Liege creatures are the bomb. Good luck opening them.

Round Two: Murderous Redcap is Amazing.
I play against a gentleman who is obviously pissed to be 0-1. He looks at me oddly when I shuffle his deck after he presents it. Game one I curve out with turn three Ashenmoor Gouger. I proceed to trade three of his guys for my Murderous Redcap. Win. Between games I go to shuffle his deck and he stops me, saying that I’m not allowed to do so, “Because it wears on the cards [he did not use sleeves] and is rude.” Dude is obviously pissed and I have no desire to be a jerk. I try to think of a way to tell him that actually, at higher level tournaments players are REQUIRED to shuffle their opponents decks, but instead of saying something that might diffuse the tension, I opt for “You don’t play at a lot of tournaments, do you?” I decided I did not need to bother trying to enlighten this opponent to the DCI floor rules, so just said “You know, never mind,” and cut his deck. I curve out again and win on 20 life. Afterward I apologize about the whole shuffling thing, telling him I didn’t mean anything by trying to shuffle his deck. He picks up his things, stands up, and walks away without responding.
Lesson 1: Murderous Redcap! Draft him. If you are green/white draft him. If you are blue/white draft him. If you are green friggin' blue draft him. No you can’t splash him. But if you are getting shipped Murderous Redcap at any point, more black and red will be coming your direction. I literally 4 for 1ed an opponent in my second draft of the day with him. It is entirely possible that he the best uncommon for limited in a set with tons of amazing uncommons.
Lesson 2: Sorry you’re losing man. I am all for good stewardship to less experienced players, but some guys are bound and determined to be pissed off, and not willing to learn anything either. I really do feel sorry for them, because I’ve been there. But the phrase “cutting off your nose to spite your face” comes to mind.

Round Three: Aggro Wins (also, don’t play with 47 card sealed decks).
Yeah, nobody reading this blog is going to learn anything by me recounting how hitting your land drops and curving out wins against opponents who can’t buildi a 40 card deck. Also Rhys the Redeemed is a reasonable rare. It really needs to be dealt with in about three or four turns, or sick things occur. I will say that my opponent was a genuinely pleasant human being who was enjoying himself regardless of wins or losses. We did some trading later. I think he had different reasons for being at the prerelease than I did. Nothing wrong with this.
Lesson 1: There is no lesson. Actually there is a red/black aggro deck (Giantbaiting FTW!) out there waiting to be built in draft, but that’s a story for another night.

Round Four: Down to the wire
Game one I am very flooded and he cannot take advantage of it. I feel like I am ready to win because my Faerie Macabre is plunking away, but then he gets a blocker. He could have won this game by choosing to attack about two turns earlier, but is uncertain and doesn’t press his advantage. When he finally has overwhelming board presence he comes in. Next turn I rip Oracle of Nectars and now I am gaining more life than he can attack for. He Memory Sluices with the conspire, milling 8 away. I have 7 cards left in my library. With almost no offense left on the board, I have to be seriously worried about decking. Then I rip… Oona, Queen of the Fae! The turn I cast her I still can mill him for four (yes, I had 11 mana. It was very late-game, I know), then I untap, mill for ten, GG. Game two is a race. I see a Prison Term I didn’t in game one, and it is the key for him. Also key were the two Gloomlances on two of my green guys. Rough Beats. I get him to 7 life, that’s it. Now we have five minutes for game 3. I know I can tempo him out with the right draw. I see what I want and I keep. He is a little slow on the play speed, but I only warn him once and he is moving just as fast as I am. I begin my attack with a few dudes on the board, swinging in for four a turn. He plinks me to 18 and then time is called. He leaves his only guy back as a blocker. He is at 12, me, 18. A judge is there immediately. I get turn one of extra turns. I have a decision to make. I can either play another guy and swing for 3 with my Raven's Run Dragoon (leaving my Medicine Runner back against his 2/3 blocker) and cast another dude or I can cast Incremental Blight targeting his 2/3, my Prison Termed Oracle of Nectars, and the Raven's Run Dragoon. Then I swing in to his empty board for 4. I only have 3 turns, and in three turns (if he has no other blockers) my four power of guys will get there. But if he drops another guy (with power less than three) next turn I can two for one him on the Incremental Blight. I decide that the chances of him laying another blocker with under two power are probably better than the chances of him laying no creatures at all, and so I swing for three, drop the extra dude (can’t remember what it was, but I think it was Faerie Macabre) and pass turn. Turn two of extra turns, he lays a one-butt. He has to play for the draw, even though at 2 wins 1 loss it gets him nothing, because he can’t race me when I’m at 18 and he’s at 9. So he passes turn with two blockers. I play the Incremental Blight, wipe his board, swing in for 7 (taking him to 2), he has no tricks to stop me. Turn four he lays a blocker but turn five my guys pile in and get there on the final turn! Hell of a match. He is a great sport and extends the hand, “Good game!”s all around, all that sort of thing.
Lesson 1: There is a mill deck floating around there somewhere. Scoops got milled for 12 cards in one turn. In sealed! Drowner Initiate turn 1, Drowner Initiate turn 2, turn 5 Memory Sluice with conspire, paying all four Drowner Initiate triggers. Opening Oona, Queen of the Fae would help, too.
Lesson 2: Play your bombs. But you already knew that. Oracle of Nectars. Oona, Queen of the Fae. This is sealed. Make the mana work.
Lesson 3: Incremental Blight is really good. Don’t expect to see these going too late around the draft table. Double black is a commitment, but it is really worth it.

I went 3-1 and got 3 packs. There are so many other cards I want to discuss, but I am out of time and energy tonight. Next week I want to discuss drafting Shadowmoor, and I will hopefully have a few more drafts under my belt to help.
T

Last month of Morningtide Sealed, Part 3.

Well, I’ll briefly recap last Tuesday’s Old Fart. I got there kind of late (after 6) and spent a lot of time shuffling. I was only able to get one match in with Mark. However the lack of quantity was overshadowed by the quality of our three games. At no point were either of us completely out of it. Over all my deck did what it was supposed to do.

As far as next week, here is the pack that I opened (notables marked with an *):

Sunflare shaman
*Moonglove Changeling
Fertilid
Burrenton Bombardier
Disperse
Brighthearth Banneret
Ink Dissolver
Frogtosser Banneret
Mothdust Changeling
Blightsoil Druid
Forfend
Waterspout Weavers
*Bramblewood Paragon
Boldwyr Intimidator
Gilt-Leaf Archdruid

Hopefully next week I’ll be able to get down there a little earlier and get in more than one match.

Last month of Morningtide Sealed, part 2.

As I expected last week, Diviner’s Wand made the deck, and was amazing, when I saw it. However, I think that I’ve unintentionally angered the mana gods, as I had two of three games against the Captain in which I did not see more than one black source, if any at all. Overall it was a decent week. I ended up cutting Black Poplar Shaman, Scarred Vinebreeder, & Crib Swap in favor of Bosk Banneret, Winnower Patrol, & Diviner’s Wand. I also replaced the lone plains with a forest and in hind sight should replace Shimmering Grotto with a swam ( I am no longer running three colors so the Shimmering Grotto is not nearly as necessary).

Here is the Lorwyn Pack for next week:
Hamletback Goliath
Shriekmaw*
Vivid Marsh
Kithkin Mourncaller
Flamekin Brawler
Spiderwig Boggart
Spellstutter Sprite
Lairwatch Giant
Giant’s Ire
Leaf Gilder*
Pestermite
Necksnap (#2)
Inner-Flame Acolyte
Runed Stalactite
Lys Alana Huntmaster*

I’ve marked the cards worth considering with an *.

Until next time, may the mana gods not hate you.

Last month of Morningtide Sealed, part 1.

Well, we’re off to a good start for our last month of Morningtide sealed. We had a pretty good turn out on Tuesday (9 people => Me, Sco0p_Phase, The Captain, Jake, Ed, Mark, Bill, Kirsten, & Cameron). The mood was definitely good and I think I can conclude good times were had by all (6-0 in games, 3-0 in matches). For the third time in recent memory I open good black-green elves/treefolks. I think I can summarize why my deck wins as follows:

1. Epic Proportions on random guy can just win games (four times on Tuesday).

2. Removal is good.

3. Death touch is amazing.

4. Kinship is broken when Gilt-Leaf Seer is out.

Enough about why my deck wins games and on to the deck list. Here is what I played:

Black Poplar Shaman (less than optimal)
Elvish Eulogist
Gilt-Leaf Seer
Kithkin Daggerdare
Leaf-Crowned Elder (potentially game breaking)
Lys Alana Bowmaster
Moonglove Changeling
Moonglove Winnower
Nath’s Elite
Scarred Vinebreeder (sub-optimal)
Warren Pilferers
Weed-Pruner Poplar
Winnower Patrol
Wolf-Skull Shaman (amazing!!)
Woodland Changeling
Wren’s Run Vanquisher

Crib Swap
Epic Proportions (see above)
Gilt-Leaf Ambush
Hunting Triad (almost always Reinforced)
Pack’s Disdain
Violet Pall
Weed Strangle
Springleaf Drum
Shimmering Grotto
Plains (1)
Swamp (6)
Forest (8)

As far as the rest of the pool, other than Mulldrifter & Fodder Launch, there isn’t much else I am saddened to not be playing. Well, you can just judge for yourself.

White
Changeling Hero
Goldmeadow Dodger
Kithkin Ballonist
Neck Snap
Surge of Thoughtweft
Burrenton Shield-Bearers
Changeling Sentinel
Coordinated Barrage
Daily Regimen
Kithkin Zephyrnaut
Order of the Golden Cricket
Stonybrook Schoolmaster
Swell of Courage

Blue
Amoeboid Changeling
Etheral Whiskergill
Faerie Trickery
Mulldrifter
Protective Bubble
Scattering Stroke
Sentinels of Glen Elendra
Shapesharer
Wings of Velis Vel
Latchkey Faerie
Merrow Witsniper (2)
Negate
Slithermuse
Stream of Unconsciousness

Black
Boggart Harbinger
Exiled Boggart
Fodder Launch
Lys Alana Scarblade
Morsel Theft
Stinkdrinker Bandit

Red
Axegrinder Giant
Boggart Shenanigans
Caterwauling Boggart
Ingot Chewer
Inner-Flame Acolyte
Mudbutton Torchrunner
Smokebraider
Soulbright Flamekin
Thundercloud Shaman
Hostile Realm
Shard Volley
Stingmoggie
Sunflare Shaman

Green
Springcleaning

Artifact
Twinning Glass
Thornbite Staff

After looking over the rest of the pool, I am just now realizing that I am playing all but one of the green cards in the pool. What is even more amazing is that Springcleaning is a valid sideboard option against many white decks.

Looking at next weeks pack, Morningtide, I am pleased to see even more good green picks. I’ve place an * next to the cards to consider for inclusion for next week. As always feel free to post your ideas as far as what I should include. Here is the pack for reference:

*Winnower Patrol
Seething Pathblazer
Final-Sting Faerie
Latchkey Faerie
Lunk Errant
*Earthbrawn
Negate
*Bosk Banneret
Prickly Boggart
Stingmoggie
Festercreep
*Diviner’s Wand (2nd best equipment in the set)
Pyroclast Consul
Heritage Druid
Titan’s Revenge

Fire Suppression System GO!

Funny thing, I don’t remember it saying firefighter anywhere in my job description, but that seems to be what I’ve been doing every day, for the last several weeks (basically since the 1st of the year). Last week was when I got to the tipping point and finally succumb to that thing that’s been going around (we’ve nicknamed it “Team Leader Disease”, as 5 out of 8 team leaders in Brewing were out sick last week), and went home sick on Monday. When I got back on Tuesday, I walked into the eye of the fire storm and have been trying to catch up ever since.

On the bright side, my D&D session last week got cancelled (Conn, hope you are feeling better), so I was able to play cards on Friday. The original plan was to go to CBG’s, drink heavily, & play some EDH. How quickly things change. I go the call from Too Sarcastic that everyone was heading up to a new shop up in Whitefish Bay (Calvary Games, I think, correct me in the comments if I am wrong), for a sealed FNM. Well that was like water to a thirsty man in the desert, as I am most likely the biggest fan of sealed in our play group. I relish the opportunity to play sealed whenever I can, hence my devotion to Old Fart at Game Universe.

So I head up the road just a little further (it’s probably ten miles closer for me that GU) and turn off on Silver Spring and head east towards the lake. From the directions TS gave me it was across the street form the Sendecs. I kind of went right by it the first time but found it quite easily when heading west (Quite note, it’s located on the south side of the street and there is a free parking lot ½ block west ½ block to the north or you can park across the street in the Sendecs lot). Long story short, I find the place and it is packed to the gills. However this statement is misleading, as the whole store is only 12 to 15 feet wide, so if you put 15 people in a narrow space, it’ll seem very full.

But, this is just fine, so I go up to the counter and get my sealed pool (three packs of Lorwyn & two packs of Morningtide for retail, so just over $21). As I am opening up my packs I am listening as the rest of the crew is fawning over the brokenness they have opened (come on CBG, Profane Command again). I am looking over what I’ve opened and am impressed, as it is much easier to play a sealed pool that is skewed versus one that is pretty even.

I basically fall into Black/Green elves/treefolks, which for me is a pretty standard archetype for this format, with the ability to splash for white &/or red removal (Lashout & Crib Swap). With double fertile ground, I decide to splash for both. We end up having 12 people and are told there will be three rounds. I shuffle up and wait for the first round to begin.

My first round opponent is a kid named Ian, I call him a kid because he can’t be much more that 17 or 18 years old (I sound like an old man, yet I am amongst the youngest of our play group). He is piloting a black/blue faerie/rogue/wizards build, of some sort. In the first game he is able to put some early pressure on while I accelerate in big guys and kill him in three short swings. The second game is pretty much more of the same with me being able to do just enough with Earthbrawn and a swarm of guys. Despite how much I dominated Ian, when we finish there are only two matches still going.

About twenty minutes later, round two starts and sit down across from Darren. From what I’ve been able to gather over the previous hour and a half, he is most likely to be the alpha male of this group. He is definitely has the makings of a competent player, but after a few turns it is apparent that limited isn’t his strong suit (quick aside. You don’t realize it until you get out of your comfort zone, but the competition at GU is above average). I proceed as the previous match and hit four out of five times with my Wolf-Skull Shaman, plus Incremental Growth, and Cloudthresher for good measure. The Second game is more of the same with Shriekmaw and Diviner’s Wand showing up too. After round two ends there are two other undefeated’s left, Scoup_phase and The Captain.

For round three I get paired against the Captain and Scoup_phase gets paired against Tabasco. We figure that if Tabasco beats SP, the Captain & I can draw into 1st & 2nd which as it turns out, 1st & 2nd both get the same prize (I’ll go into that later). We shuffle up and slow roll the 1st two games. I take the first game on a timely Crib Swap (1st time I’ve played it all night) and lose the second to a misblock & a timely pump spell. As we are shuffling up for game three Tabasco is dominating the 3rd game of his match and we decide it is safe to draw. So we draw and play a third game for the hell of it.

History repeats itself once more, as the Captain can attest to. He punted an attack, by swinging his 2/2 Smokebraider into an elf warrior token (from Ambassador Oak), when I had Imperious Perfect on the table. It went down hill from there in a hurry as he got stuck on three lands for several turns whilst I continued to commit threats to the board.

All in all it was a good experience. I managed to walk away with the same prize as he, however I am not positive my deck would have won, if he hadn’t made that mistake, but we will never know. I would like to wish the boys up in Whitefish Bay good luck with their store and look forward to going to a release event up there some time soon.

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

MGTO Sealed Pool

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

T

What have we learned?

(1) My blue was a lot better on paper than in real life. In 4 matches, I think I picked up a total of 2 games. I would have sold my soul for a Mulldrifter.

(2) Playing multiple builds doesn't work when there are so many people. We should do an inner-circle testing session just for that. Sorry TS and Major_luck. You guys definitely had the correct mindset. My fault for not planning better.

(3) When you get 8 Magic players together, they will draft. Even if 4 of them are supposed to be practicing for a sealed ptq. Even if it's 10 pm and 4 of them have a vintage tourney with a playset of Bazaars on the line in 12 hours. Even if one of them has a wife who wouldn't mind getting to sleep sometime. They will draft.

(4) The Elemental deck works okay. You really have to be the only one at the table. But it works. It helps to have somebody passing all the good red in favor of Flamekin Bladewhirls. It also helps to get 2 X Mulldrifter, 2 X Aethersnipe, and 2 X Smokebraider. Was the phrase, "It's a 1/1!" heard? Yes, it was. Also heard was, "I'll hardcast Mulldrifter on turn 3" and "I think I just win now. You're on 18? Yeah. Good games."

(5) Mulldrifter has flying. Yes, I know I should have known this. If you ever needed any kind of proof that development is unreasonably fond of blue, think of this. Counsel of the Soratami reads 2U, draw 2 cards. Mulldrifter costs 4U as a hardcast. So apparently, the correct costing of a 2/2 flier is 2 colorless. Or something like that. I realize that isn't quite how the evoke creatures are costed. But holy cow. I would hardcast Mulldrifter for 7. Would that be a lot worse? Yes! But it would still be playable at 7. Sheesh.

Edit to add: I actually checked Gatherer twice while writing point 5 despite the fact that I hardcast the damn thing like 5 times last night. So. Broken.

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.