While Win-a-boxes are casual side events, tournament rules are typically applied. If you look at the Tournament Rules, section 2.5 End of Match procedure, it states:
In single-elimination rounds, matches may not end in a draw. If all players have equal game wins, the player with the highest life total wins the current game. In the event all players have equal life totals (or are between games and the game wins are tied), the game/match continues with an additional state-based action: if a player does not have the highest life total, he or she loses the game.
So yes, win-a-boxes would likely be a single-elim event, and so they would say whoever has the highest life wins. If they're both at the same life, the next life-change would decide the game, either one person losing life or the other gaining it.
It's a yes. When you move to the combat phase, there's a "Beginning of combat" step. At the start of that step, your Demon puts his trigger on the stack. While it's on the stack, you each get priority. Once any other effects are resolved, your opponent may or may not choose to sac a creature. After that's done, you may animate your keyrune and attack with it (assuming it was in play at the start of your turn or is given haste, etc.). As long as you're in "Beginning of combat" and haven't moved to "Declare attackers" step, you're good.
* The type-changing ability that can make the God not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It’s always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to its color.
So if you have a vial on 3 you can put Thassa into play. Once vial's ability resolves and shes in play, state based effects are checked and if you don't have 5 devotion point she stops being a creature before any other actions can be taken.
It depends on the exact context but generally it means something is better than it might be expected to be for the cost. One could say the Thragtusk is "pushed" because it gives you 2 significant bodies, and a significant life bump, for a cost that is better than 2 separate cards doing the same thing, and that cost only requires a single colored mana. If it did what it did without the life gain, or it required it to go to the graveyard to make e token, or it cost 2GGG, it would be a much different card.
Sure. Some people signed up and dropped without playing. And not every slot in every store in the world has been sold. Check out what guild boxes are going for on eBay.
Pros:
Hitting more than one permanent
Redundancy with O-ring
Probably the strongest constructed color combo
Token army destroyer
Cons:
How often are there more than one permanent with the same name, other than tokens (which admittedly isn't much of a con)
You might own one or more of said permanents
Does require 2 colors
Fizzles if the target permanent is removed before the ETB effect resolves
On the third hand, I want to be able to say,"Shut down all the garbage mashers on the Detention Sphere!"
It sounds fun but it's not. Trying to match up sets across time is tough. We did a MD5SMN draft last year and it was overall unpleasant. It was only 6 people but I don't think a greater pool of participants would have helped. One guy ended up with the red metalcraft deck, fairly sick actually, and didn't drop a game. Doing a sealed version might be different, but probably would just result in even screwier, less synergistic decks. We also wacky drafted a lot before local supplies of packs either dried up or inflated in price greatly. As stated, the mechanics in different blocks, even the revisited ones, are often either completely unrelated or actually conflicting with each other. Rtr might be different, but original RGD packs are beyond the price most people want to pay for a casual event.
A couple years ago when Megrim, Liliana's Caress, Hypnotic Specter, and Scepter of Fugue were all in Standard, along with Thoughtseize and Duress, IIRC, I made a reasonable discard-themed deck that did double-duty of paring down my opponent's options while doing damage. Underworld Dreams also helped. But it was tough, balancing discard stuff with control elements, since one or the other, if not both parts, are going to be useless at some point in the game.
Today is not the same environment. I haven't looked at discard in a while, but I'm pretty sure there aren't the tools to get anything going. Duress and Despise are useful, but I wouldn't build a deck around them.
I have been wanting to build a deck with a lot of Exalted dudes and Dream Prowler. But Invisible Stalker is probably better, half the cost and none of the STPability. Or Lunk Errant so it's not really chumpable. Or Cold-Eyed Selkie, which is pretty often unblockable, on-color, and gives you a useful effect.
I played him in Standard Goblins and when he sticks he is great. In 4 rounds I had a couple games where he practically won the game by himself. He survives some sweepers due to 3 toughness, and can build or rebuild your army by himself. However, Standard is not Legacy, so he isn't the build-around card here. I see him more as a sideboard card against other swarmy style decks, but there are probably better options in that case. Still, he seems too good not to get a thorough tryout with the commonly-played haste enablers.
In single-elimination rounds, matches may not end in a draw. If all players have equal game wins, the player with the highest life total wins the current game. In the event all players have equal life totals (or are between games and the game wins are tied), the game/match continues with an additional state-based action: if a player does not have the highest life total, he or she loses the game.
So yes, win-a-boxes would likely be a single-elim event, and so they would say whoever has the highest life wins. If they're both at the same life, the next life-change would decide the game, either one person losing life or the other gaining it.
* The type-changing ability that can make the God not be a creature functions only on the battlefield. It’s always a creature card in other zones, regardless of your devotion to its color.
So if you have a vial on 3 you can put Thassa into play. Once vial's ability resolves and shes in play, state based effects are checked and if you don't have 5 devotion point she stops being a creature before any other actions can be taken.
Left column
Merciless eviction
Skarrg Goliath
Boros reckoner
Undercity plague
Ogre slumlord
Biovisionary
Ooze flux
Nightveil specter
Obzedat, ghost council
Mind grind
Sacred foundry
Gruul ragebeast
Center
Sylvan primordial
Assemble the legion
Deathpact angel
Hellkite tyrant
Luminate primordial
Alms beast
Whispering madness
Realmwright
Stomping ground
Mystic genesis
Thespian's stage
Godless shrine
Right
Rubblehulk
Spark trooper
Frontline medic
Gyre sage
Clan defiance
Borborygmos enraged
Foundry champion
Gideon, champion of justice
Firemane avenger
Assemble the legion
Rubblebelt raiders
Biomass mutation
Didn't note which packs contained foils or their wrappers.
Hitting more than one permanent
Redundancy with O-ring
Probably the strongest constructed color combo
Token army destroyer
Cons:
How often are there more than one permanent with the same name, other than tokens (which admittedly isn't much of a con)
You might own one or more of said permanents
Does require 2 colors
Fizzles if the target permanent is removed before the ETB effect resolves
On the third hand, I want to be able to say,"Shut down all the garbage mashers on the Detention Sphere!"
Today is not the same environment. I haven't looked at discard in a while, but I'm pretty sure there aren't the tools to get anything going. Duress and Despise are useful, but I wouldn't build a deck around them.