I played Boros, and did the best I've ever done at any event. I went 6-0 before the top 8. Top 8 was single elimination, and was undefeated until the final round, so I got 2nd place overall (though I would have gotten first had we gone by points). I've never even made top 8 before.
Funnily enough, I opened Obzedat, Ghost Council, and I plan on going Orzhov tomorrow. I'm hoping I open Aurelia just because I would find it funny.
Played Gruul. Swung for 18 trample a few times with Skarrg Goliath bloodrushed onto Ruination Wurm. Solid. Overall Orzhov cheap extorters and removal seemed strong. Syndic of Tithes and Basilica Screecher do very well in this respect. Play the Syndic no questions asked if you're Boros.
Wen 3-2-1 playing Orzhov. Both losses to Boros and drew in the Orzhov mirror, wins against Dimir/Simic/Gruul. Got Godless Shrine x 2, Obzedat, High Priest of Penance and a Stomping Ground.
Matchups were fine except for the aggro of Boros...got caught out was on 15 and Boros opponent on 5, made the mistake of letting 2 Boros Reckoners attacks go through as was expecting to win on the next turn, then Martial Glory + Boros Charm let him hit me for exactly 15 lol.
I went 2/2 with my Simic pool. My rares were Unexpected Results x2, another Fathom Mage, Spark Trooper, Involuntary Servitude and Sacred Foundry (yay money card!)
My deck wasn't too bad, considering I had no Cloudfins or Experiment Ones, and only one Gruul beater to splash. I lost to a Boros player who had a sick deck, and Orzhov after she stabilized at 2 life.
One of my friends had some awesome pulls in his packs (he went Boros): Frontline Medic x2, Master Biomancer, Gyre Sage foil, and a Mystic Genesis foil with three other decent rares.
Midnight showing for me was Boros. Opened up a lot of junk, unfortunately. Two on color primordials and a second Foundry Champ to go with my promo. Decided not to play any of them, siding out the Champions for a pair of Scorchwalker after my first game and never looking back. I did get a Frontline Medic who saw play once to great effect against a Boros mirror. Additionally, the only removal I got in my colors was a pair of Massive Raid. In the end I placed first out of 60 on the backs of a pair of Fortress Cyclops (MVPs) and three Skyknight Legionnaire. Boros Charm and Gift of Orzhova helped round things out. The winning combo usually revolved around getting battalion going on turn three with a one drop, two drop, then Skyknight or trading until I got a Cyclops out with Gift and was able to take over with it. Daring Skyjek with Madcap Skills on turn three is also pretty brutal if you can keep their board relatively clear.
This afternoon I was scheduled as Gruul but decided to switch to Ozrhov because I wanted to try something other than creature smash. Once again, I opened up a dearth of on color rares (thought I did main deck my promo this time). Crypt Ghast was my only other main deck rare (typically dying to Mugging) and Merciless Eviction was side boarded in a couple times but never played. Why not main deck the Eviction? Because I made up for my midnight lacking of removal by opening and running 11 on color removal spells.
Of 12 creatures, half were extortioners. Most matches were won with 5 combat damage or less, relying almost entirely on extort. Some matches even ended relatively quickly when all my removal magic let my measly creatures attack in. One round ended in a draw (would have won with more time) and I placed second out of 60 as a result.
Lessons of the Day:
Skaarg Guildmage must be killed on sight!
Simic with a splash of red is a great combo
Opening bomb rares and mythics is great but winning 27 booster packs on the backs of commons and uncommons feels fantastic
I went Dimir, got a pretty terrible pool with the exception of Mind Grind and Sepulchral Primordial. Had to splash white to get some removal. Had all of one cipher card in my pool. I was unhappy, but made due the best I could.
Ended up going 3-3, losing once each to Boros, Gruul, and Simic. Would have won against the Simic player had his last two cards in his library been in a different order. He drew his last card just before killing me.
I can say though that the Dimir promo was the nuts every single game it hit the table. It got huge fast and helps speed up milling. I wish I'd had a Gift of Orzhova for him, as evasion would have ended several games. Mind Grind was a decent role-player in the deck and ended several games as soon as I played it, and did serious work in most of the rest. By far though, the single card I was happiest to see whenever it appeared was Aetherize. That card was a blowout every single time I cast it.
Didn't play against another Dimir player. Didn't even see a single actual Orzhov deck playing. Top 8 was 5 Boros, 2 Simic, and 1 Orzhov player who was really Boros just splashing black.
I went Orzhov and it did the best at my prerelease. I got third losing to the 1st place guy only (also Orzhov). I opened up a lot of good bombs in color (obzedat, high priest, and alms beast) but not a ton of removal. That said my bombs and extort carried me through to undefeated going into the 5th round (didn't drop a single game). The other Orzhov guy (also undefeated) had 10 removal spellls... yup ten... and the specter. So he just kept the board cleared of fliers... while extorting you... and stealing cards for massive CA advantage with the specter. It was really good.
Orzhov was good.... definitely the strongest guild based on my stores experience.
Just wanted to post an interesting story. I was playing simic against orzhov in the second round. in the first game, i lost and he never dealt a single point of combat damage to me. not one! It was so crazy. Orzhov dominated both prereleases so far and I don't see it going any differently tomorrow.
EDH is like French fries: some people like waffle cut, crinkle cut, or plain old straight cut, and while there's slight flavor difference and personal preference, at the end of the day they're still fries.
Wanted to reiterate the fact that Extort was a really fun ability. Letting my opponent swing at me with his game-finisher, blocking him with a little 1/1, casting Smite and then activating multiple extort triggers was always a joy for me (not so much for my opponent).
Though I already have the pieces for a Boros deck ordered and on their way, I really want to try to make an Orzhov control deck. I just wish Esper didn't seem like a better option.
I won against Gruul on a mulligan to four and i was on the draw(i used Simic). He was pretty greedy with the bloodrush effects but i used two Hindervines to blow him out. I stabilized with two Crocanuras in the end.
Oh and Dimir is awesome. 20/20 Consuming Aberration and 10/10 Wight of Precinct 6 is gamebreaking.
I'm now known as "the guy that answers everything." Here is why:
My deck had 2 Executioner's Swing, 2 Orzhov Charm, 3 Devour Flesh, 2 Grisly Spectacle, 1 Killing Glare, 1 Arrows of Justice, 1 Merciless Eviction, and 2 Smite.
I killed them. I killed them all. No mercy, no regrets, only violence.
I chose Dimir for my favorite colors, and opened what I thought was a pile of good but not great cards. I made a Dimir deck with a splash of white. I expected to win mostly by sheer luck with some decent cipher spells.
The amount of synergy amongst the Dimir cards is really good. My deck was just as capable at milling people as it was at just beating them to death with evasive creatures. The removal and counterspell options allowed for some great plays.
I ended up at 4-1 for the day. Good enough for 9th and four extra packs.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The world is on fire
and you are here to stay and burn with me.
Overall, went 4-2-1 (split for top 24) and got 6 packs only getting another Breeding Pool as the only decent rare.
All in all, I'm super happy I chose Orzhov. Extort is nuts. Especially with a good curve (I curved all the way to the Angel a few times), it's a ridiculous mechanic. Also having a lot of cheap removal (Smite) works extremely well with the mechanic, especially when it stacks.
wow how? i've gone undefeated with like pretty much no are orzhov.
orzhov is the nuts. it was funny because honestly a lot of people in my area were all over boros and gruul and everybody kept questioning me. so at the midnight prerelease i cleaned up. then i played in 3 prereleases on saturday. cleaned up 1 with orzhov, then got the worst pool i've ever seen as orzhov. i had FOUR extort guys. i went 1-1 and just dropped, the card pool was beyond poor. i didnt even know it was possible to open as bad as i did. then my 3rd sealed of saturday i went 3-0 with SIMIC and then drew round 4 for a split.
orzhov is definitely the nuts it was nice not playing mirrors during midnight prerelease, but then saturday came, and then orzhov started being "out of stock". im just glad my card evaluation skills are awesome, i chose selensya for RtR and cleaned up, then orzhov
I wenet 3-2 with boros and had two guildmages but my deck was not fact enough to beat anothe boros deck and i lost to a dimir deck due to the fact that i was not drawing my land. Both games against dimir i had no mana to play anything. I did not use but two of rares the reckoner and the foundry champion
My friend went 5-1 to get 2nd place, losing his pair down in the 5th round and then beating the undefeated player, with 2 complete decks. He opened well enough that he made a Simic list and a RWB list. He swapped between them and believes that his only two game losses were because he played the Simic list against an evasion and removal heavy Dimir deck. He didn't have the removal to deal with the evasive creatures and couldn't race because of the removal. He finished every round except round 5 in 15 minutes.
I went 4-2 with Simic, losing to Boros round 1, who went to a 1-2 drop, and losing to the same Dimir deck in round 4, which was run by the TO. By far the best card in my deck was Clan Defiance. I was pretty basic Simic splashing red for the Defiance and Madcap Skills. A large number of my wins came from 3x Frilled Oculus 2x Shambleshark, and 1x Drakewing Krasis combining with the Madcap Skills. Hitting people with an evasive 6 power creature on turn 4 was just backbreaking.
I'm now known as "the guy that answers everything." Here is why:
My deck had 2 Executioner's Swing, 2 Orzhov Charm, 3 Devour Flesh, 2 Grisly Spectacle, 1 Killing Glare, 1 Arrows of Justice, 1 Merciless Eviction, and 2 Smite.
I killed them. I killed them all. No mercy, no regrets, only violence.
You sound like the dude I lost too. I kid you not he had all those cards. Impossible to bloodrush knowing your opponent has removal galore.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Some call it a Habit, Cardboard Crack Addict
Tried to pull away, but now I'm Back At it
Love is Emphatic, cards need to be played
Hailing from the BA, accumulating CA"
Yea, those are MTG Bars. What can I say, I am a dork
Anyone else just straight up lose to mind grind? In 2 different rounds I lost in 2 when that card was dropped, maybe its just my luck, got my deck milled 4 times in one night.
Went Gruul with boros splash got 3-1, only loss was to massive mana flood twice in a row.
Went Orzhov, got 3-1 lost gruul. In final standings there was only 1 orzhov 3-0-1 deck.
I should say that in the first prerelease, my friends were 1 gruul, 2 simic, 1 boros. All non gruul splashed gruul. We were all 3-1 or 3-0-1. We crushed all our opponents and lost only to bad mana. No dimir or orzhov made it.
Gruul is the best color hands down. In order for orzhov to have a fighting chance they need 4+ extort cards at the 2-3 cast range, and the rest of their deck has to be low cost. The game that i lost as gruul was due flooding 8 lands in a row, my oponent with 3 syndic tithes in play manage to extort 14 life and killed me at single digit life still.
Dimir is terrible, if their first real play is at turn 3 they are somewhere between 8-12 life against a gruul splash deck.
Of the two dimir and orzhov, orzhov has a stronger chance at winning if orzhov splashes gruul and grabs all the cheap spells in red. Yes, pit fight and treachery are incredibly important. The play for orzhov is to keep spells cheap and be able to extort about 8-12 times in a game, and using removal to stay alive. 8-12 times is by turn 8, surviving with double digit life by then, you have stabilized properly and can win.
Could not figure out an effective dimir strategy. I have feeling that any dimir getting easy was probably due to having 5-6 playable rares.
In this set you have a 60% chance at playable rares per pack. As gruul I crushed players with 4-5 bomb rares in allied tricolors. My friends that were similar also crushed opponents in a similar fashion
Dimir is terrible, if their first real play is at turn 3 they are somewhere between 8-12 life against a gruul splash deck.
Could not figure out an effective dimir strategy. I have feeling that any dimir getting easy was probably due to having 5-6 playable rares.
Could not figure out an effective dimir strategy. I have feeling that any dimir getting easy was probably due to having 5-6 playable rares.
I played dimir with an orzhov splash, and went 3-1. the splash of white for extort was key to me winning. 2 orzhov keyrunes and basilica guards helped hold off the aggro decks long enough for me to stabilize, get a cipher card going, and go to town. In one match against gruul (2-0) my opponent got me to single digits of life before I was able to start grinding my way back. I was lucky and got some decent cheap 1 and two drops in my colors, which let me play more aggresively if need be, and I could still fall back on the defensive aspect if required. I think dimir is very strong, but it needs a splash of something to support it. And for the record, the only rare in my deck was the promo. I had a lot of playable uncommons, that was where the real power was.
Anyone else just straight up lose to mind grind? In 2 different rounds I lost in 2 when that card was dropped, maybe its just my luck, got my deck milled 4 times in one night.
I lost my first game of my first match to Mind Grind X=7.
I was able to win a game with that Biovisionary's trigger
That was the most epic victory at the Prerelease
I'm guessing you used Stolen Identity? Pretty awesome. Even moreso if it was your opponent's Visionary and you stole it to win the game by cloning it multiple times.
Funnily enough, I opened Obzedat, Ghost Council, and I plan on going Orzhov tomorrow. I'm hoping I open Aurelia just because I would find it funny.
Matchups were fine except for the aggro of Boros...got caught out was on 15 and Boros opponent on 5, made the mistake of letting 2 Boros Reckoners attacks go through as was expecting to win on the next turn, then Martial Glory + Boros Charm let him hit me for exactly 15 lol.
My deck wasn't too bad, considering I had no Cloudfins or Experiment Ones, and only one Gruul beater to splash. I lost to a Boros player who had a sick deck, and Orzhov after she stabilized at 2 life.
One of my friends had some awesome pulls in his packs (he went Boros): Frontline Medic x2, Master Biomancer, Gyre Sage foil, and a Mystic Genesis foil with three other decent rares.
Club Flamingo Wins: 1!
This afternoon I was scheduled as Gruul but decided to switch to Ozrhov because I wanted to try something other than creature smash. Once again, I opened up a dearth of on color rares (thought I did main deck my promo this time). Crypt Ghast was my only other main deck rare (typically dying to Mugging) and Merciless Eviction was side boarded in a couple times but never played. Why not main deck the Eviction? Because I made up for my midnight lacking of removal by opening and running 11 on color removal spells.
4 Devour Flesh
2 Grisly Spectacle
1 Executioner's Swing
1 One Thousand Lashes
1 Arrows of Justice
1 Killing Glare
1 Angelic Edict
Of 12 creatures, half were extortioners. Most matches were won with 5 combat damage or less, relying almost entirely on extort. Some matches even ended relatively quickly when all my removal magic let my measly creatures attack in. One round ended in a draw (would have won with more time) and I placed second out of 60 as a result.
Lessons of the Day:
Skaarg Guildmage must be killed on sight!
Simic with a splash of red is a great combo
Opening bomb rares and mythics is great but winning 27 booster packs on the backs of commons and uncommons feels fantastic
I just posted a very long article about the whole experience here:
http://www.casualmtg.net/2013/01/going-4-0-in-my-first-pre-release.html
Long story short: Lots of extort, lots of removal, and lots of fliers = success!
Thread | Draft
Ended up going 3-3, losing once each to Boros, Gruul, and Simic. Would have won against the Simic player had his last two cards in his library been in a different order. He drew his last card just before killing me.
I can say though that the Dimir promo was the nuts every single game it hit the table. It got huge fast and helps speed up milling. I wish I'd had a Gift of Orzhova for him, as evasion would have ended several games. Mind Grind was a decent role-player in the deck and ended several games as soon as I played it, and did serious work in most of the rest. By far though, the single card I was happiest to see whenever it appeared was Aetherize. That card was a blowout every single time I cast it.
Didn't play against another Dimir player. Didn't even see a single actual Orzhov deck playing. Top 8 was 5 Boros, 2 Simic, and 1 Orzhov player who was really Boros just splashing black.
Casual EDH Player
Orzhov was good.... definitely the strongest guild based on my stores experience.
Though I already have the pieces for a Boros deck ordered and on their way, I really want to try to make an Orzhov control deck. I just wish Esper didn't seem like a better option.
Oh and Dimir is awesome. 20/20 Consuming Aberration and 10/10 Wight of Precinct 6 is gamebreaking.
My deck had 2 Executioner's Swing, 2 Orzhov Charm, 3 Devour Flesh, 2 Grisly Spectacle, 1 Killing Glare, 1 Arrows of Justice, 1 Merciless Eviction, and 2 Smite.
I killed them. I killed them all. No mercy, no regrets, only violence.
DCI Level 1 Judge
Oh my. I felt bad for some of my opponents. Cipher was insanely good, especially early on an evasive creature. At one point I had a Basilica Screecher with Paranoid Delusions alongside a Wight of Precinct Six with a Gift of Orzhova and Hands of Binding.
The Consuming Aberration was an absolute monster alongside the Dimir Keyrune and any cipher spell.
The amount of synergy amongst the Dimir cards is really good. My deck was just as capable at milling people as it was at just beating them to death with evasive creatures. The removal and counterspell options allowed for some great plays.
I ended up at 4-1 for the day. Good enough for 9th and four extra packs.
The world is on fire
and you are here to stay and burn with me.
wow how? i've gone undefeated with like pretty much no are orzhov.
orzhov is the nuts. it was funny because honestly a lot of people in my area were all over boros and gruul and everybody kept questioning me. so at the midnight prerelease i cleaned up. then i played in 3 prereleases on saturday. cleaned up 1 with orzhov, then got the worst pool i've ever seen as orzhov. i had FOUR extort guys. i went 1-1 and just dropped, the card pool was beyond poor. i didnt even know it was possible to open as bad as i did. then my 3rd sealed of saturday i went 3-0 with SIMIC and then drew round 4 for a split.
orzhov is definitely the nuts it was nice not playing mirrors during midnight prerelease, but then saturday came, and then orzhov started being "out of stock". im just glad my card evaluation skills are awesome, i chose selensya for RtR and cleaned up, then orzhov
Highlights of his two decks were Zegana, 3x Drakewing Krasis, and the promo Fathom Mage for his Simic deck and Gideon, Assemble the Legion, and Firemane Avenger in his RWB deck.
I went 4-2 with Simic, losing to Boros round 1, who went to a 1-2 drop, and losing to the same Dimir deck in round 4, which was run by the TO. By far the best card in my deck was Clan Defiance. I was pretty basic Simic splashing red for the Defiance and Madcap Skills. A large number of my wins came from 3x Frilled Oculus 2x Shambleshark, and 1x Drakewing Krasis combining with the Madcap Skills. Hitting people with an evasive 6 power creature on turn 4 was just backbreaking.
The final turn cycle against the Dimir deck was Consuming Aberration into Spell Rupture for 24 to counter my lethal Simic Charm.
Simic Charm/Slaughterhorn + Miming Slime also led to some blowouts.
How so?
You sound like the dude I lost too. I kid you not he had all those cards. Impossible to bloodrush knowing your opponent has removal galore.
Tried to pull away, but now I'm Back At it
Love is Emphatic, cards need to be played
Hailing from the BA, accumulating CA"
It's just backbreaking. Knowing that I can easily lose 5+ life on the charm JUST to Extort it all back in like 3 turns.
DCI Level 1 Judge
Went Orzhov, got 3-1 lost gruul. In final standings there was only 1 orzhov 3-0-1 deck.
I should say that in the first prerelease, my friends were 1 gruul, 2 simic, 1 boros. All non gruul splashed gruul. We were all 3-1 or 3-0-1. We crushed all our opponents and lost only to bad mana. No dimir or orzhov made it.
Gruul is the best color hands down. In order for orzhov to have a fighting chance they need 4+ extort cards at the 2-3 cast range, and the rest of their deck has to be low cost. The game that i lost as gruul was due flooding 8 lands in a row, my oponent with 3 syndic tithes in play manage to extort 14 life and killed me at single digit life still.
Dimir is terrible, if their first real play is at turn 3 they are somewhere between 8-12 life against a gruul splash deck.
Of the two dimir and orzhov, orzhov has a stronger chance at winning if orzhov splashes gruul and grabs all the cheap spells in red. Yes, pit fight and treachery are incredibly important. The play for orzhov is to keep spells cheap and be able to extort about 8-12 times in a game, and using removal to stay alive. 8-12 times is by turn 8, surviving with double digit life by then, you have stabilized properly and can win.
Could not figure out an effective dimir strategy. I have feeling that any dimir getting easy was probably due to having 5-6 playable rares.
In this set you have a 60% chance at playable rares per pack. As gruul I crushed players with 4-5 bomb rares in allied tricolors. My friends that were similar also crushed opponents in a similar fashion
I played dimir with an orzhov splash, and went 3-1. the splash of white for extort was key to me winning. 2 orzhov keyrunes and basilica guards helped hold off the aggro decks long enough for me to stabilize, get a cipher card going, and go to town. In one match against gruul (2-0) my opponent got me to single digits of life before I was able to start grinding my way back. I was lucky and got some decent cheap 1 and two drops in my colors, which let me play more aggresively if need be, and I could still fall back on the defensive aspect if required. I think dimir is very strong, but it needs a splash of something to support it. And for the record, the only rare in my deck was the promo. I had a lot of playable uncommons, that was where the real power was.
I lost my first game of my first match to Mind Grind X=7.
But I won the match and went 4-0 after that.
Thread | Draft
I'm guessing you used Stolen Identity? Pretty awesome. Even moreso if it was your opponent's Visionary and you stole it to win the game by cloning it multiple times.
In any case, well done.