Tales from the Magic 2010 Prerelease

Hello everyone, and I hope you had a great time at the Magic 2010 Prerelease over the last weekend. We had stunning turnout, with 24 players crowding Wizards Comics & Collectibles, and two people had to play on the shop’s countertop. After opening my product, this is what I was presented with.

Zak’s Prerelease Pool (6 Boosters, sorted in WUBRG order)

The first thing I noticed about my pool was the abundance of bombs I had opened. From the mythic-rare Bogardan Hellkite to the simply awesome Master of the Wild Hunt, I thought I had it made. I also had the awesome Magma Phoenix whose ability to clear the board and blast my opponent seemed extremely powerful.

Unfortunately, this pool contained no Lightning Bolts, yet it did have Assassinate, double Doom Blade, and a Tendrils of Corruption. Lots of black removal = good. By the way, the guy in front of me opened double Lightning Bolt, and went on to win the tournament 4-0 (although it does help that he’s played on the pro tour multiple times).

The first instinct I had was to build a red-black deck that got both my red bombs as well as my great removal. Unfortunately, I could only get 18 playables in those colours, and would have to settle for something else.

I then looked at doing 3 colours, splashing the best cards from both red and black. After separating out the non-playable cards from each colour, I determined that green was the most consistently playable colour. Not to mention it had the most creatures of any of my colours, which last I heard, were good in Limited.

With my heart set on the colour combination of green with a splash of black and red, I went off to build my deck.

Looking at all the splash-worthy cards in red, I determined that only Magma Phoenix, Bogardan Hellkite, and Prodigal Pyromancer would be strong enough to make the cut as a splash. Unfortunately, 2 of those cards required a double investment of red mana, which would prove to be a problem later on.

Black turned out to be more of a secondary colour than a splash, because there were so many cards worth playing. I added all my removal spells (sans Weakness), Rise from the Grave, and Wall of Bone. Many people (including myself) questioned the addition of Tendrils of Corruption to a deck with only 6 black spells. My logic behind it is that not only is it instant-speed (which matters immensely in limited), but there are enough cards that are X/1 in the format that might need removing. The lifegain was not a factor in playing it over Weakness, but the potential for more damage and the speed of its effect were what possessed me to include it.

Thus far, I had 9 cards that were not in my main colour. From green I added my bomb in Master of the Wild Hunt, as well as several mid-range creatures. Topped up with a Giant Growth as a combat trick, I had two more slots left in my deck. Looking at the number of creatures in my deck thus far (15), I figured that Lurking Predators might be worth playing. This was a classic Johnny moment, where I imagined flipping my Bogardan Hellkite off of a Predators activation. So I slipped the green enchantment into my pile.

The last card I chose was the equipment Gorgon Flail. Not only because it was a good equipment for combat, but because it made Prodigal Pyromancer all the more deadly. Here’s the list I ended up running.

Zak’s Sealed Deck: 40 Cards

Round 1: vs Lorenzo (WGB)

I’ve played Lorenzo before, and he’s an excellent player who knocked me out of prize contention at this years Regionals. Game 1 we both get screwed out of black, but I resolved a Master of the Wild Hunt. After blowing up several of his creatures, I get the easy victory.

In game 2, I again get a turn-4 Master, but not only does Lorenzo have a quick Doom Blade for it, He resolves Captain of the Watch, and makes short work of me, as Wall of Bone can’t handle 4 creatures with Vigilance at once.

In game 3, He again resolves captain of the watch with me at 8 life. Luckily, I have a Magma Phoenix in my hand, ready to wipe his board. Unfortunately, I fail to draw a second mountain needed to cast it, and promptly die.

0-1

Round 2: vs Brent (UWB)

I don’t remember much about this game, but I do know that I lost in 3 games, again, the one that I cape out on top in was thanks to a Master of the Wild Hunt. Although he succeeded in Clone-ing it, I got my 2 wolves first, and was able to kill his copy, and went on to win. Unfortunately, I ended up losing in three games.

0-2

Round 3: vs Melanie(UW)

Melanie was the only female in the room, and we squared off at the third-lowest table. She came out of the gate very quickly with Zephyr Sprite and White Knight, but I was able to trade an Emerald Oryx with the knight while she stumbled on mana. I was able to resolve the Prodigal Pyromancer + Gorgon Flail combo before she could mount a sizable offense, and my larger creatures were too much for her diminished flying army.

In game 2, she got screwed on white mana, and when she finally got a plains, she realized that she couldn’t play the White Knight in her hand. I got a turn 5 Lurking Predators, and her spells only ended up netting me extra creatures, including a Centaur Courser and a Stampeding Rhino. I ended up doing an alpha-strike to leave her at one, but I had the Magma Phoenix to finish her off.

1-2

Round 4: vs ??? (UGW)

I forget my opponent’s name, but I do remember him casting multiple fliers (which luckily all bit the dust due to Master of the Wild Hunt, as well as my Prodigal Pyromancer + Gorgon Flail combo. Eventually, my wolves just overwhelmed him, netting me the win.

In the second game, I resolved a Lurking Predators, which was the only reason I didn’t die to his Captain of the Watch. He equipped his soldier lord with a Whispersilk Cloak, so my Doom Blades were next to useless. Luckily, I had a Prodigal Pyromancer to deal a point of damage before drawing the second mountain I needed to cast Bogardan Hellkite, taking the last 5 points of life away from him.

2-2

I really enjoyed the M10 Prerelease. I was able to trade for a playset of Pithing Needles (each from a different person), when I came into the tournament without a single one to my name. I got a second Glacial Fortress and some extra M10 cards like the sexy new Elvish Archdruid, so I’m very happy. I hadn’t actually played tournament Magic in 3 weeks or so (work gets in the way), so I’m excited, know that I’ve gotten past my initial rustiness.

If you’d have built my sealed deck differently, post in the comments. As always, any questions or article suggestions can be emailed to me at zak -at- power9pro.com, or through my twitter feed at www.twitter.com/zturchan.

Cheers,

Zak.