12
Jul
FNM and M11 Pre-release report
This past Friday I attended FNM at my favorite gaming spot, but I didn’t run Jund! I know, big Shocker there. I didn’t run Jund because I wanted to prove to myself (and some other people) that I can indeed win without playing Jund. Well, I did just that. I ended up placing top 4 (it was reported as 2nd) with a home brewish deck. I sleeved up the following:
4x Nest Invader
4x Vengevine
4x Goblin Guide
Sideboard:
2x Forked Bolt
Now I say its home brewish because it looks a lot like a deck I saw (for the love of me I can’t find it) but I changed a good amount of the cards. I actually started from scratch and build the deck, minus the manabase, and it came out the way it did. I borrowed and tweaked the manabase from the deck I saw to fit my build. Sideboard was mine, built to fit the meta at my store.
Overall I had a lot of fun with this deck. I love being able to ramp into an Eldrazi Monument turn 3 (when I have the proper creatures to sacrifice of course) or being able to fetch a Sejiri Steppe with a Knight. I don’t remember the exact matches but first round I went to time facing a team mate with U/W Control. Second round I lost to a B/R home brew deck (featured a Goblin Bushwhacker/Death’s Shadow combo to end me), third round I beat a W/W deck 2-0 and forth round I beat a R/U Polymorph deck 2-0. Everyone wanted to go home early so they could rest up for the M11 pre-release, so we split the top 4 prizes.
The following day I attended my second ever Limited event, the M11 pre-release. We had a good turnout (18 players) much of them being the same people I attend FNM with. I ended up building a W/R/G deck, ironic considering I played Naya the night before, and ended up going 2-3 on the day. I can’t complain much because I pulled a Baneslayer Angel from my first pack, along with Inferno Titan and Birds of Paradise. Add in the promo Sun Titan, I did pretty well card wise. Compared to the ROE pre-release, M11 plays MUCH faster. You don’t sit for 6 turns and build up to a big Eldrazi drop, most games were finished by turn 6 actually. For the most part if someone dropped a Titan, the game was pretty much over. Both times I played my Inferno Titan I won the match. My Baneslayer wasn’t so lucky unfortunately. She always seemed to bite the big one from a well placed Condemn or a random Counterspell card. But when she stuck, the match was won. I ended up having both Inferno Titan and Baneslayer Angel out in one match, which drew the attention of the surrounding players. I was the only one in the shop to pull a BSA, which was my first actually, so I call the event a victory.
Not sure what I will play at this week’s FNM but I am already brewing up some ideas. I feel much better knowing I can win without playing Jund, I have a feeling I will be bringing some wacky ideas to the table over the next few months.