MTG Salvation

It's that time again! Tell us about your prerelease experience: was it fun? Fast? Durdletown? Were there any over- or under- achievers worth mentioning? Did you find any cards from Kaladesh jumped or crashed in power? Is this Assembly-Worker deck a thing?

My pool was crazy good and I got to pull off some really busted stuff. Baral's Expertise, free Shipwreck Moray, give it haste with Spontaneous Artist, smash opponent. Decommission seems easily maindeckable and always found a target. Improvise felt good, I usually got the spells at a discount of 1-2 mana. With only a single Revolt spell in the deck, I never got to Revolt.

Had a lot of fun. Played GB energy/trample, went 3-1 and finished fourth, my best prerelease ever.

Consulate Dreadnought was a rock star tonight. Was just an excellent defensive card that proved difficult to get around- and could go on a nasty attack spree when needed too.

Aetherstream Leopard was another one that really did well for me. Combined it with Consulate Turret and Fabrication Module and things got out of control fast- especially the game I got in a Mobile Garrison and was able to double up on the Turret's activation. Rishkar, Peema Renegade (my promo) was really handy too- both to increase some stompiness, and for the occasional extra mana. Peema Outrider and Arborback Stomper were as solid as ever.

From my opponents side, Sram's Expertise was annoying (especially with the Dreadnought on the board, but a well timed Release the Gremlins completely devastated me one game. Walking Ballista also proved to be a pain, and proved an excellent mana sink/control mechanism in a longer game.

my pool was marginal at best, the only rare i ended up being able to play was aethersquall ancient with no real energy cards to support him. I still went 3-1, the loss being in the finals to a guy who was on his first ever prerelease. He also happened to have verdurous gearhulk, aetherwind basker, aethertide whale, insidious will, 2 nature's way, monstrous onslaught, and all the little support guys to go with it. He also had, but didn't play, gonti's aether heart.

The format seemed pretty fun over all but that sealed pool in the finals was legit one of the best pools i've ever seen. I honestly think a caveman could pilot that pool. not to slight my opponent of course, he seemed like a decent player.

Oh boy this pre was good...

I decided to open KLD packs first.

Saheeli Rai is there.

I knew what that can mean. What if...

And there it is! Felidar Guardian in 3rd pack of AER!

No matter what I had in other colors, I just had to play jeskai tempo/combo. I played a lot of cantrips, tappers, bouncers and tempo creatures to survive till combo.

I went 3-1, in my 6 won games i ended with a combo. I had the most fun I ever had in prerelease hands down. Not sure about my opponents tho.

I went 4-1-1, top 8. Played a solid G/B deck, featuring Aetherwind Basker and Battle at the Bridge as the only rares. Only round I lost was to 2 of the geo miner guy plus missing my third forest for basker(9/8 split g/b). Defiant Salvager was probably the one card that over performed, but mostly thanks to his snake friend, Winding Constrictor. Fatal Push was always awkward, but still good. Basker is nuts, I was able to attack through the new archangel mythic from 15 to 0 to 20 to 0 in 2 turns just with him lol.

Opened promo Pia's Revolution,another one in the pool, Angel of Invention,Exquisite Archangel,Merchant's Dockhand,Solemn Recruit,and Key to the City.

I built RWb, with aggro beaters and vehicles,splashing B for Vengeful Recruit and Foundry Hornet. I had both trains (Freighter and Untethered Express),Bomat Bazaar Barge,and Gearshift Ace. Also 2 maps,Restoration Specialist,and other things to trigger revolt. Also Siege Modification. Seriously,I was missing just Caught in the Brights

Went 4-0 (had to drop the last round because of family issues). Won against Chandra two times and Nissa once.

Overperformers: Solemn Recruit, Invigorated Rampage. I KNEW they were gonna be good,but not this good. I have even won a "lost" game when I was facing Nissa, tapped 5/5 land-elemental, Cowl Prowler,some 2/3 and Defiant Salvager,just about to lose next turn (it was 12-7). So I just attacked with the Recruit (2/2). He blocked only with the Salvager and I gave it +4/+0 and trample,dealing him 10 damage.

Also,Untethered Express is exactly as sick as you would expect.

Underperformers: frankly,nothing.

My prerelase sealed was pretty funny, 2 wins, 2 loses, but whatever.
Run WB (just like I did on Kaladesh prerelease) with a lot of Aetherborns and Midnight Entourage. Treasure Keeper was my best bro, too. Oh well, my prerelease promo was Hope of Ghirapur
Revolt is a great mechanic, pretty straightforward and universal. Improvise is a trash.
Didn't play with guy next to me who played Saheeli Rai + Felidar Guardian. Thank goodness.
And yes, Untethered Express is pure evil.

Got the Lightning Runner + Aetherwind Basker combo

Comboed just once though, but infinite attack steps is funny

GB +1+1 counters list going 2-0 1-1 2-0 1-1.

Scrounging Bandar was great. Beats early, triggers revolt and pumps up evaders. Freaking loved that thing.

Here's the list I went unfeated with.

• 1 Implement of Ferocity
  
• 1 Fourth Bridge Prowler
  
• 1 Prey Upon
  
• 1 Unbridled Growth
  
• 2 Implement of Malice
  
• 2 Resourceful Return
  
• 2 Kaujar Seedsculptor
  
• 2 Winding Constrictor
  
• 1 Scrap Trawler
  
• 1 Daredevil Dragster
  
• 1 Foundry Screecher
  
• 1 Lawless Broker
  
• 1 Thriving Rhino
  
• 1 Fleetwheel Cruiser
  
• 1 Filigree Crawler
  
• 1 Peema Outrider
  
• 1 Night Market Aeronaut
  
• 1 Yahenni's Expertise
  
• 1 Lifecraft Cavalry

Winding Constrictor and Kujar Seedsculptor did most of the work.

The Implements were very good as well.

Resourceful Return was just value.

Fourth Bridge Brawler 2-for-1's

Yahenni's Expertise was never cast.

4-1 played bw removal. Unbelievably not one flyer in my entire pool. Rares i played were cataclysmic gearhulk, srams expertise, call of unity, syndicate trafficker, battle at the bridge.

Overperformers: conviction - great effect, revolt for w!.

Underperformers: hands down call of unity. This is closer to a five mana conditional glorious anthem than a dictate of heliod. White gearhulk is alsp painfully difficult to turn into value - I cast it three times and not once did it generate value, just a bastion mastodon

Highlights - had opponent put the flying vehicle enchant on the dreadnaught and hit me for 9 in the air :/

Had opponent bounce my renegade freighter, cast srams expertise and put it back down

Had opponent cast yaheenis expertise with a 4/4 out - got to use my -1-1 to opp creatures to kill.

Quote from Tripa_Seca »

Got the Lightning Runner + Aetherwind Basker combo

Comboed just once though, but infinite attack steps is funny

How did it go infinite? You only generate 3 energy per attack step, and Runner needs 8.

I opened a pretty crappy pool. My rares were Animation Module, Depala, Pilot Exemplar, Aethertide Whale, Inspiring Statuary, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Sram's Expertise, and a promo Quicksmith Rebel. I had about 10 solid playables in green including Durable Handicraft to go with the Animation Module and some +1/+1 counter support, but I had no color-fixing. I had nowhere near enough playable cards in white or red, and I had about 7 blue cards and 8 black cards that seemed good enough to play. Worse was that my good blue cards and good black cards all needed double-colored mana, so I couldn't really play one and splash the other. I ended up playing GB splashing red as the black ended up playing into my synergies and mana curve better and had solid removal options, and red gave me access to another pair of removal spells in Chandra's Revolution and the activation cost on Welding Automaton. I ended up playing this:



I really wish I had better creatures to run as 12 didn't feel like enough, but I just didn't have any other good options. I did get the Animation Module + Durable Handicraft combo in a few games, but I was constricted on mana and was only able to really take advantage in one game. I ended up 1-2 (4-4) and generally unhappy with Aether Revolt. Hopefully I have better luck opening packs in upcoming drafts or at the sealed GP.

Quote from Teysa_Karlov »

Quote from Tripa_Seca »

Got the Lightning Runner + Aetherwind Basker combo

Comboed just once though, but infinite attack steps is funny

How did it go infinite? You only generate 3 energy per attack step, and Runner needs 8.

Basker gives energy for EACH creature you control.

Played 1v1 and 2HG today. Went 2-1 in both (lost to the same guy at 2-0 in both events womp womp). Not really sure how I even performed at that level, because my cards were not particularly awe-inspiring. In the 1v1 event, I played a Jeskai vehicles/fliers deck that maxed out on evasion. Both times that I played Release the Gremlins at X=5, it was backbreaking. Got an insta-scoop in another game when I played a Siege Modification on a Fleetwheel Cruiser.

In 2HG, we ran a really good RG stompy deck in tandem with a so-so control deck built around Dark Intimations and Improvise. Ridgescale Tusker in a freaking bomb. Outside of that, we really won our 2 matches off of solid play more than anything. Our decks weren't exactly spectacular.

Won my prerelease 4-0 with the following deck:



I briefly thoguht about going blue black when I opened two Midnight Entourages (with one being my promo), but opening THREE Caught in the Brights and a Revoke Privileges in my pool instantly attracted me to white as my second color. Caught in the Brights is good removal, but beware: it still allows the creatures to crew vehicles. Learned that the hard way when I lost a game to the caught creatures crewing Mobile Garrison. Also, it doesn't get vehicles, which were played more often than I thought it would be. Reverse Engineer does its work as expected, and is definitely the solid card that it was hoped to be.

Quote from Funkenstein3D »

Quote from Teysa_Karlov »

Quote from Tripa_Seca »

Got the Lightning Runner + Aetherwind Basker combo

Comboed just once though, but infinite attack steps is funny

How did it go infinite? You only generate 3 energy per attack step, and Runner needs 8.

Basker gives energy for EACH creature you control.

Ah, I need to RTFC.

I did two yesterday. 3-0 in the first with ub and tons of removal (and a mana crypt) and split the last round for prizes.

Went 3-1 in the second event with a RGb aggro deck i was surprised did well.

I splashed black for winding constrictor and that card is awesome.

I had two lifecrafters gift, a ridgescale tusker and tons of energy producers with lightning runner as the payoff

Quote from Teysa_Karlov »

Ah, I need to RTFC.

You're not the only one. I had to look at that card like three or four times on the spoiler before I realized it gave you more than one energy at a time.

My prerelease deck was reasonable but unexciting. It didn't really have much as far as bombs or removal but I was able to build an aggressive W/B build with a solid curve. The only rare I ran out of Aether Revolt was Aethergeode Miner, which really overperformed for me. I figured it was good but the combination of an aggressive body and repeatable energy and revolt enabler made it really great. The other card that really impressed me was Dawnfeather Eagle. The pump effect is just so great for pushing through board stalls and pulling ahead in races. Even if you are behind and can't take advantage of the ETB trigger very well the fail case is still just a slightly worse Skyswirl Harrier which is still pretty good.

I felt like the revolt mechanic underperformed in general for me. Unless I had the Miner or my opponent was willing to trade it was hard to turn on and get value out of. It led to awkward situations where I'd be like, do I want to try to trade a servo for a +1/+1 counter on my Night Market Aeronaut? Sigh, I guess so. And casting a creature with revolt without getting the revolt trigger just feels bad. The whole mechanic seemed like a feel-bad mechanic where I was often just losing out. Hidden Stockpile was a particularly unimpressive card when I got it out. I figured it might be worth while as a revolt enabler that would give me some value when my creatures died but the fact that it only triggers on your own turn makes it hard to get value out of and sacrificing stuff always felt like I was downgrading. I ended up taking it out after the first game I drew it.

I ended up 2-1-1 with the loss and the tie being by far the most interesting games. Those games were very close while my wins where completely one-sided affairs where I crushed a mana-screwed opponent very quickly. Overall I thought the keywords in this set were disappointing. I had no improvise cards in my deck and only saw one opponent cast a spell with improvise. Hopefully improvise and revolt play better in the draft format where you can build around them more.

Quote from Fedders »

Here's the list I went unfeated with.

• 1 Implement of Ferocity
  
• 1 Fourth Bridge Prowler
  
• 1 Prey Upon
  
• 1 Unbridled Growth
  
• 2 Implement of Malice
  
• 2 Resourceful Return
  
• 2 Kaujar Seedsculptor
  
• 2 Winding Constrictor
  
• 1 Scrap Trawler
  
• 1 Daredevil Dragster
  
• 1 Foundry Screecher
  
• 1 Lawless Broker
  
• 1 Thriving Rhino
  
• 1 Fleetwheel Cruiser
  
• 1 Filigree Crawler
  
• 1 Peema Outrider
  
• 1 Night Market Aeronaut
  
• 1 Yahenni's Expertise
  
• 1 Lifecraft Cavalry

Winding Constrictor and Kujar Seedsculptor did most of the work.

The Implements were very good as well.

Resourceful Return was just value.

Fourth Bridge Brawler 2-for-1's

Yahenni's Expertise was never cast.

Am I mistaken or do you always post a deck that is basically every 1, 2, and 3 drop in your pool, and then say you go 4-0 with it? I'm sure I'm exaggerating but I feel confident that you've posted similar decks for previous prereleases, to the point that I thought before, "wow this guy just builds a super low curve and then goes 4-0" and here it is again.

Is it really that easy to 4-0? I wonder how such decks would perform on Magic Online. Is it just that the player base at your local store is easy to beat? Or is the secret to winning just having an average casting cost of 2?

EDIT: I just checked Fedders post history and clearly it wasn't him, this is his first prerelease post as far as I can tell. Something about the Bill Murray avatar tickled my memory. I have to go search to see who I am thinking of.

If he had 5 or more creatures in addition to Lightning Runner and Aetherwind Basker it would crank out 8+ energy per attack if both Lightning Runner and Aetherwind Basker attacked each attack as Aetherwind Basker reads

Whenever Aetherwind Basker enters the battlefield or attacks, you get E (an energy counter) for EACH creature you control.

. It is indeed an infinite attack phase combo at least until the board state changes, he decides not to continue the loop or his opponent loses.

My primary concern is color balance, as green and black seemed very heavily represented, but most games I played yesterday were fun and interactive.

Played 3 events, opened an invention in every pool (but none of them limited playable), and went 5-0, 3-1-1, and 3-1. Played aggro GW, aggro GB, and wonky GW with 2 Consulate Dreadnought and 2 Aerial Modification for maximum hilarity. It was horrible, but very fun, and it won plenty of games.

I was really impressed by the combination of solid curves and interesting combat interactions, all while never feeling completely run over. Aether Poisoner is very good for the format at common, and the common vehicles in Aether Revolt are generally pretty awful, which balances things from the "lose to Freighter" nature of Kaladesh.

Quote from Balunu »

Quote from Fedders »

Here's the list I went unfeated with.

• 1 Implement of Ferocity
  
• 1 Fourth Bridge Prowler
  
• 1 Prey Upon
  
• 1 Unbridled Growth
  
• 2 Implement of Malice
  
• 2 Resourceful Return
  
• 2 Kaujar Seedsculptor
  
• 2 Winding Constrictor
  
• 1 Scrap Trawler
  
• 1 Daredevil Dragster
  
• 1 Foundry Screecher
  
• 1 Lawless Broker
  
• 1 Thriving Rhino
  
• 1 Fleetwheel Cruiser
  
• 1 Filigree Crawler
  
• 1 Peema Outrider
  
• 1 Night Market Aeronaut
  
• 1 Yahenni's Expertise
  
• 1 Lifecraft Cavalry

Winding Constrictor and Kujar Seedsculptor did most of the work.

The Implements were very good as well.

Resourceful Return was just value.

Fourth Bridge Brawler 2-for-1's

Yahenni's Expertise was never cast.

Am I mistaken or do you always post a deck that is basically every 1, 2, and 3 drop in your pool, and then say you go 4-0 with it? I'm sure I'm exaggerating but I feel confident that you've posted similar decks for previous prereleases, to the point that I thought before, "wow this guy just builds a super low curve and then goes 4-0" and here it is again.

Is it really that easy to 4-0? I wonder how such decks would perform on Magic Online. Is it just that the player base at your local store is easy to beat? Or is the secret to winning just having an average casting cost of 2?

EDIT: I just checked Fedders post history and clearly it wasn't him, this is his first prerelease post as far as I can tell. Something about the Bill Murray avatar tickled my memory. I have to go search to see who I am thinking of.

No worries mate.

I've been crushed plenty of times. And I believe I got super lucky with my draws here.

I regret getting hyped up for Monstrous Onslaught, as I ended up cutting the card from my GW deck, which only had 2 ways to get 4 power on the board. I blame that user who hyped me up, since it's much closer to my initial evaluation of "insane if you have a 6 power guy on board, okay with 4 power, and bad with 3 or less power". The green implement did a ton of work throughout the day, since it just gave a random counter for free.