I believe LSV chose he best card in the first three packs: Detention Sphere, then Stab Wound and third pick Frostburn Weird. It was very instructive to watch him debate which colors to play and finally get enough mana fixing and defenders to realize that he could go five color to utilize his few bombs like Radkos, Lord of Riots. The Axebane Guardian(s) were instrumental in his mana fixing and full utilization of his Weirds. I thought that it was a very useful video to watch to see how flexible you can be in building a winning deck. He might have been lucky not to face great decks, but he certainly had a method to his madness.
I entered the prerelease with less than the usual prep and went 5-0-1 for the win in a 40 man tournament.
Garruk was the main bomb, but I had a very fast R/G deck with 3 recluses, 2 Krenko's command, my Bladerusk Boar was a real star, finishing several games and brother Flinthoof Boar and Goblin Jester put on some early pressure. When combined with pump spells such as two Trumpet Blasts, along with 2 Titanic Growths with 2 Flames of the Firebrand and a Slag Storm for removal I had many fast wins. I ultimated Garruk three times for wins, but the most fun victory came in the finals, down a game with my two creatures facing three for my opponent, I'm at five life and my opponent at eight. I attack with my intimidate Boar and my opponent says "that drops me to four" and I respond that I still had an effect to play, and out comes the top decked Titanic Growth to put him to exactly 0.
I received prizes of 28 packs which I haven't opened yet.
Has anyone noticed that BSA prices on EBAY seen to be dropping towards $30-$35? I wonder if the Pro Tour, where BSA wasn't so visible and uncertainty of whether it will be in standard this Fall is influencing prices?
I don't think that the deck is random at all. Stoneforge Mystic was a card that was starting to be discovered along with the Basilisk Collar. Add that to a bunch of the strongest cards in standard (Knight of the Reliquary, Nactl, Bloodbraid Elf, Ranger of EOS, Ajani Vengeant, etc.) and a few of the new man-lands and you have a deck that can beat you in many ways. You don't go 11-0 so far in standard by just being lucky/good at piloting.
For those of you who haven't noticed he's the guy that shattered the Pro-Tour consecutive win record yesterday with a 16-0 start at Pro-Tour San Diego!
I agree that LSV is a very decent guy who represents the game well and continues to innovate. I really like his deck and I'm very interested in the open the vaults deck too, which looks like it might pose quite a challenge today.
I've played around with the Naya Boss deck as I had already built with a similar, but mostly white version of the deck with the collar and the sledge. The Naya version, due to its high quality creatures, seems to come out very quickly and can win many games even before the equipment is in play. Add the pinger with collar and sledge for life gain and you have a killer combination against most threats.
I believe that the above messages got it wrong about when we see M 10 and Alara block rotate out of standard. M10 and Alara block both rotate out when "lights" comes out. Nothing rotates out when M11 is introduced.
Very similar to LSV's initial thoughts (Channel Fireball) on his post WWK UWR deck (note its 61 cards so it needs one cut):
Creatures (7):
3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
4 Wall of Denial
Corrected per feedback:
Turn 1 G; birds
Turn 2 G; Greenweaver Druid
Turn 3 G; Omnah, three in mana pool (4/4) use Vines to protect
Turn 4 G; 10 mana in pool; Omnah swings for 11;
Turn 5 ; 17 in mana pool; one mana open, Omnah swings for 18(assume opponent chumps) Tap birds for R, Fireball for 18
I know that this is goldfishing but it illustrates the power of Omnah using red as the finisher
I opened my first box of Zendikar last night and about six packs in was astonished to pull a Mox Ruby in good condition. It is white bordered and has no other notations on it. (Illus. Dan Frazier). I'm bringing it in to my card shop today so all the guys can see it.
The rest of the box was pretty good BTW although nothing could compare with the Mox, I pulled a Lotus Cobra, four fetchlands, a Scute Mob but no planeswalkers.
Garruk was the main bomb, but I had a very fast R/G deck with 3 recluses, 2 Krenko's command, my Bladerusk Boar was a real star, finishing several games and brother Flinthoof Boar and Goblin Jester put on some early pressure. When combined with pump spells such as two Trumpet Blasts, along with 2 Titanic Growths with 2 Flames of the Firebrand and a Slag Storm for removal I had many fast wins. I ultimated Garruk three times for wins, but the most fun victory came in the finals, down a game with my two creatures facing three for my opponent, I'm at five life and my opponent at eight. I attack with my intimidate Boar and my opponent says "that drops me to four" and I respond that I still had an effect to play, and out comes the top decked Titanic Growth to put him to exactly 0.
I received prizes of 28 packs which I haven't opened yet.
Amin
I've played around with the Naya Boss deck as I had already built with a similar, but mostly white version of the deck with the collar and the sledge. The Naya version, due to its high quality creatures, seems to come out very quickly and can win many games even before the equipment is in play. Add the pinger with collar and sledge for life gain and you have a killer combination against most threats.
Good luck today, LSV!
Creatures (7):
3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
4 Wall of Denial
Planeswalkers(6):
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Ajani Vengeant
Spells(22):
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Treasure Hunt
3 Essence Scatter
2 Earthquake
3 Double Negative
2 Path to Exile
2 Negate
2 Mysteries of the Deep
Lands(26)
4 Halimar Depths
1 Celestial Colonnade
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Arid Mesa
2 Mountain
4 Plains
3 Island
Turn 1 G; birds
Turn 2 G; Greenweaver Druid
Turn 3 G; Omnah, three in mana pool (4/4) use Vines to protect
Turn 4 G; 10 mana in pool; Omnah swings for 11;
Turn 5 ; 17 in mana pool; one mana open, Omnah swings for 18(assume opponent chumps) Tap birds for R, Fireball for 18
I know that this is goldfishing but it illustrates the power of Omnah using red as the finisher
The rest of the box was pretty good BTW although nothing could compare with the Mox, I pulled a Lotus Cobra, four fetchlands, a Scute Mob but no planeswalkers.
Pulls included:
Scalding Tarn
Day of Judgment
Iona Shield of Emeria (delivered three wins by itself)
Guul Draz Specter
Emeria, the Sky Ruin
Oracle of Mul Daya
Went R/W with a so-so deck, but two bombs (Emeria and Judgment) and ok removal (Journey to Nowhere, Punishing Fire, Spire Barage x2). I was tempted to play B/W with three Vampire Lacerator, the Specter and Vampire Hexmage, but removal and consistency was more important in the end. Fun Day!
Instant (C)
Seismic Shudder deals 1 damage to each creature without flying.
"The land here seems to go out of its way to kill you"
-Chandra Nalaar