Act of Reason – Counter Burn Revisited and some Brews
Last time I left you I had my UR Delver of Secrets deck out there for all of you to take a peek at. Well, as it turns out, I didn’t play Friday Night Magic for two weeks and had a lot of time to think about the deck and read other builds due to its booming popularity after my article dropped (pure coincidence I’m sure). Anyway, I did not settle on the build where I left it, I in fact changed it up quite a bit.
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Act of Reason Counter-Burn
I’m going to try and get back to weekly writing again for this website, but I can’t make any promises. Unlike most people who write articles, I work a normal 9-5 day as a Desktop Support Analyst for a publishing company.
There will be some weeks that I don’t even play at Friday Night Magic, but that doesn’t mean I’m not researching, testing and tweaking some of the best decks out there. Read more
Show me Whatcha got Wizards
This week’s Act of Reason is going to be fairly short; being that I haven’t written in months. I figure it’d be in your best interest for me to write something well…interesting! This week I’d like to touch briefly on the Magic: The Gathering event decks slated for release on February 25th. I’d like to try a little experiment at my local shop on the 25th and see if these event decks really have what it takes to compete with a (relatively) normal metagame.
Scars of Mirrodin Release Party Report – Top 4
After coming off a 10th place finish at last weeks pre-release, I wasn’t too hopeful going into the release party. It was my 5th Sealed event so I have very little experience compared to Constructed. I had a very similar sealed pool compared to the pre-release with a few notable additions that changed my results dramatically.
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Scars of Mirrodin Pre-Release Report
Pre-Release Report (RegentCid33)
Sealed– 1st Place
Decklist:
I can’t remember my actual sealed pool because my prize packs mixed with my sealed pool. I did however manage to keep my winning deck separate from my other cards.
Dropping Sealed (Ratchet) Bombs
It’s been a while since I wrote an Act of Reason article, but I’ve been waiting on the Scars of Mirrodin spoilers before I write about my opinions on the new cards. Wizards of the Coast has been doing a fantastic job with keeping things under wraps, and today with only 4 days left until the Pre-Release. The pace at which cards have been spoiled has been just enough to keep you interested, but not so many that we are able to scheme and plan way ahead of the curve. Without any more blathering, let’s go!
FNM Reports posted for 9/17/2010
FNM reports are posted for 9/17/2010. They can be found in the FNM Report section.
Time Stretching
We all know what it is like to balance life and Magic. We know the sacrifices we make to spend hours upon hours of testing, deck building, failing, tweaking, more testing and then finally playing on Friday nights. During last week’s Magic Show, on Starcitygames.com, Patrick Chapin discussed that these days most of the true innovators of Magic are gone and that most people are net decking. In this week’s Act of Reason, I’m going to discuss my theory on this phenomenon and why Patrick is wrong about his reason why people are net decking. Read more
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:
Spoiled!
It’s That Time Again…
Spoiler season for the latest core set is here and in this week’s Act of Reason I’d like to talk about the cards we’ve seen spoiled so far and which ones I like for sealed. First and foremost, I don’t claim to be a sealed pro or anything special. Much like all of my articles, I can only write based upon my observations and experience. I’m going to break down each group by color. So with that, let’s begin!
White:
Obviously Baneslayer Angel is a great card to see back; especially to those of us who already own a playset. I really don’t have much else to say about this card other than it’s still amazing, but while playing in sealed, keep a close eye on it. I mean this from both sides of the card. Be hesitant to cast it early as your main threat as there is quite a bit of removal in this core set. For the other side of the coin, if you know someone pulled it—and you will, hold your removal for it. This card will lock up the game if left unchecked.
With most sealed events there are two creature types that Thrive: fliers and fatties. I want to talk about a couple other fliers that I really like. I love seeing Goldenglow Moth back in action. This card is going to be a major nuisance in sealed. Plop a Holy Strength on it, and bam, you’ve got a viable blocker, attacker, and life gainer all in one! I also really like Cloud Crusader; flying and first strike, bonus!
Another card I’d like to touch on is Sun Titan. All I have to say is that I can’t wait to see this card broken in the format. For more information read Flores’ article here. I completely agree with him. Finally to wrap up white, I want to highlight Condemn, Pacifism, and Safe Passage. We all know Condemn is going to replace Path to Exile. Being an uncommon, keep your eye on this one because if you’re splashing white, you need this in there. Pacifism will save your butt from a big creature early and likely swing the tide to your advantage, but if that doesn’t do it, a timely Safe Passage might. Honorable mention goes to Elite Vanguard in this group. A 2/1 on turn 1 can get dangerous fast, especially if it’s followed with another on turn 2.
Edit: After writing this article, more cards were spoiled—I want to take a look at Knight Exemplar. Because Knight of the Reliquary wasn’t good enough, let’s permanently make it indestructible with Knight Exemplar. This card is replacing Dauntless Escort in Mythic Conscription decks. As far as sealed is concerned, I’m not afraid of it. There’s not much of a chance you’ll see too many tribal knight decks in a sealed tourney. I’m sure I’ll be eating my words in a few weeks…
Blue:
Tons of people have talked about Aether Adept and how it is the replacement for Man o’ War. I’m not going to say much more other than I like the addition to blue and the possibilities as early soft control. Back on topic for sealed, I love Air Servant! He taps fliers while you attack with him! This guy is like Dawnglare Invoker plus. He lets you bombard your opponent with your airborne army, while you keep theirs at bay. I also like Augury Owl and all of the Scry spells. They bring fun back to blue, not only for sealed, but for constructed. Jace’s Ingenuity is also a nice card for sealed and standard. Need drawing power, check, need it at instant speed, you got it! Finally for blue, one you want to really keep an eye out for is Mind Control. If you’re running blue and you leave this card on the side you’ll really want to kick yourself. “Nice Baneslayer.” *Yoink* “Mine now!” Honorable mention for blue has to go to Diminish. I love this card paired with Cunning Sparkmage, but for sealed, pair it with Prodigal Pyromancer and we’re good.
Edit: Mana Leak!!!!! Nuff said about that. Time Reversal, wow…this card makes me happy. I’m not sure how to abuse it quite yet; give me some time to think about it. But seriously, they made a functional reprint of Time Twister! This card could be sick in sealed as well!
Black:
It’s where the removal is at, but I want to touch on the powerful Nightwing Shade for sealed. Pumpable is good in sealed, but a flier to boot; yes please! We then have your Reassembling Skeleton – your multipurpose, non-trample, blocker. Reassemble him at your opponent’s end step and untap on yours. Finally, we know that Doom Blade is back but I want to talk about Necrotic Plague a bit. This card is an enigma to me. 2BB to destroy an opponent’s creature and then one of yours. Then it’s rinse and repeat while there are still critters on the board. I just want to say I love the flavor this card is covered with, but as far as sealed is concerned, it’s only conditional removal. I have no creatures and my opponent has one, bam – bye, bye birdie. Honorable mention goes out to Stabbing Pain and Unholy Strength.
Red:
Now here’s a color that has me a little hesitant to play sealed. I’m seeing a ton of burn and burn related spells here and not a lot of good creatures to protect my Planeswalker butt. I want to touch on how good Act of Treason is in sealed. You take your opponent’s biggest creature away from them, swing out and win. More times than not it works, just watch out for the occasional Safe Passage and Fog. Now Fling on the other hand paired with Act of Treason is just a downright dirty play for all of five mana. Highlights in the burn category, for me, include Lightning Bolt, Lava Axe, and Prodigal Pyromancer. My sleeper for red enchantments is Volcanic Strength. I feel like it does so much against red that it’s a must run. Honorable mention for this group, for me, goes to Arc Runner and Ember Hauler. Arc Runner on a clean board is nasty for three mana. A hasty 5/1, that doesn’t go away, means you need an answer fast. Ember Hauler, I feel ,can be great given the right deck in sealed and it could be the card that wins you the game with that last point of damage.
Edit: Hording Dragon. I really, really, want this card to be good. It’s dripping with flavor but I just don’t see it fitting into constructed play (yet). Combustion however…wow! Let’s really take care of that big bad Baneslayer with M11.
Green:
I like a lot of cards in green right now for sealed, so I’m not going to touch on them all. I do want to talk a little bit about some of green’s fatties. I scoffed at Yavimaya Wurm until I read the card again and realized that it had Trample. It’s a much more functional version of Craw Wurm, yippee! Granted an unchecked Craw Wurm is still damaging but this guy runs through blockers if they can’t kill it. Garruk’s Companion; a 3/2 trampler is also a nasty card at two green mana. Look to face multiples of this in your events. While this card isn’t exactly a fattie, I place it there simply because of its destructive capability. If you really want to talk about a fattie, look no further than Greater Basilisk. This guy can also Wreak Havoc if left unchecked. My sleeper for green, so far, is probably Wall of Vines. This card is going to protect you in the early game while you ramp up using Cultivate to drop bigger creatures. Finally, honorable mention, and also “watch out for,” goes to Plummet. Being that you can only run four of this in constructed; I want to run as many of this as possible in sealed.
Edit: Well we got the Jund hoser spoiled that Aaron Forsythe talked about – Obstinate Baloth. This card is going to find a home in so many decks; limited and constructed. I love the symmetry of it. A 4/4 for 4 mana that gains you 4 life when it enters the battlefield and can’t be discarded. Overwhelming Stampede will see play as well, even with some potential to replace Overrun in some decks. I like its potential for a REALLY BIG swing.
Edit2: I’d also like to talk about a couple of the artifacts that have been spoiled. My teammates would not let me post this article without talking about Juggernaut. I HATE this card. Of course by hate, I mean love. This card is going to hose U/W control unless they have an answer to it. I see it making its way into some sideboards just to walk past Wall of Omens and Wall of Denial. I also like Gargoyle Sentry in sealed a lot. This guy could potentially give people fits. Big ups to MTGSalvation for posting all the spoilers, without which I wouldn’t be able to talk about all of this today.
On a final note, I got my first 1st place in a FNM last week. I made top 4 for the 2nd week in a row and they were nice enough to give me the victory. And for the “awwww” factor, I gave my prize packs to a new kid, from what I could guess was under 15, who showed a lot of guts coming to a FNM filled with 25+ year olds. I hope he comes back! I’m taking a hiatus this week from FNM in favor of a graduation party. Until next week!