I went to the midnight prerelease at Villa Park, IL, and rolled Atarka. Oddly enough, I didn't get a single dragon card, but I did get Haven of the Spirit Dragon (go figure). In any case, I made the following deck:
Match 1: I won 2-0 against a b/r/g aggro deck.
Match 2: I won 2-0 against a w/u/b control deck.
Match 3: I won 2-0 against a r/g/w aggro deck (In round 1, I got my Warden of the First Tree to become a 10/10 with trample and lifelink!).
Match 4: I won 2-0 against a r/w Ojutai aggro deck.
Match 5: I won 2-0 against a g/w Dromkoa bolster deck.
This was the first time I ever won match 1, the first time I made it to the top 8, and the first time I achieved a 5-0 record. And to top it off, the store had a raffle and I won a free playmat.
I was living the dream.
I was then paired up with my match 4 opponent in the first round of the top 8. I had beaten him before, what could go wrong? Well, the dream came to a cruel end: I was blown out 0-2. They weren't even close games; he had the tempo and a relentless barrage of white control spells. I was knocked out and went home with a meager 2 Dragons of Tarkir boosters.
Irony of the night: I won every match except for the one that mattered most. I can't complain though because I played better than I normally do.
Overall, I thought red was the strongest color at the prerelease: good burn, solid creatures, and not a lot of mass removal or pesky creature tokens to get in the way. My green creatures were also fantastic. Dromoka decks were my biggest challenge to overcome because of their high toughness and lifelink capabilities.
Hostile Realm comes in handy when Ruhan is forced to attack a player with a bigger creature (you'll also have more control over who has to block Ruhan). It's also a good for meddling in other player's combat phases.
Does anyone know if these come with tokens of any kind?
I doubt the decks will. There wouldn't be enough printed for the Counterpunch deck (not only in quantity but in token type as well: snakes, at least one wolf and elephant, saprolings, pegasus, Spwanwrithes, insects, zombies, and Eldrazi Spawns).
I know my card has the top score currently, but there seems to be a mistake in this judging, if that would affect anything; the card makes the enchanted artifact lose all abilities, including the triggered and activated ones. There might be a change of scores in order...
Another moment of stupidity brought to you by The Letter 3... I will make some adjustments to the scores some time today.
I have shoveled my way out of snow that was 2 feet high to deliver you my scores for January's MCC final round. Feel free to send me a pm if you have questions, but be warned: if you mention anything about "shovels" or "snow", I'm going to be very, very, angry.
Now if you don't mind, I'm going to collapse on my bed and remain unconscious for a couple of hours...
I went to the midnight prerelease at Villa Park, IL, and rolled Atarka. Oddly enough, I didn't get a single dragon card, but I did get Haven of the Spirit Dragon (go figure). In any case, I made the following deck:
1 Warden of the First Tree
3 Guardian Shield-Bearer
1 Den Protector
1 Hardened Berserker
1 Dragon-scarred Bear
1 Kolaghan Forerunners
1 Atarka Efreet
1 Goblin Heelcutter
2 Conifer Strider
1 Sabertooth Outrider
1 Atarka Pummeler
1 Ambush Krotiq
1 Rending Volley
1 Twin Bolt
1 Tail Slash
1 Lose Calm
2 Sarkhan's Rage
1 Map the Wastes
Enchantments (1)
1 Berserkers' Onslaught
1 Dromoka Monument
Lands (16)
7 Mountain
6 Forest
3 Plains
It was a simple strategy: play creatures and remove obstacles with burn. Berserkers' Onslaught turned my Conifer Strider, Ambush Krotiq, and Kolaghan Forerunners into nightmares. I kept using my Den Protector to bring back Rending Volley and Sarkhan's Rage. Guardian Shield-Bearer and Goblin Heelcutter were consistent beatsticks. Atarka Efreet megamorphed to deal a surprise 7 damage. It was a thing of beauty.
This was my record:
Match 1: I won 2-0 against a b/r/g aggro deck.
Match 2: I won 2-0 against a w/u/b control deck.
Match 3: I won 2-0 against a r/g/w aggro deck (In round 1, I got my Warden of the First Tree to become a 10/10 with trample and lifelink!).
Match 4: I won 2-0 against a r/w Ojutai aggro deck.
Match 5: I won 2-0 against a g/w Dromkoa bolster deck.
This was the first time I ever won match 1, the first time I made it to the top 8, and the first time I achieved a 5-0 record. And to top it off, the store had a raffle and I won a free playmat.
I was living the dream.
I was then paired up with my match 4 opponent in the first round of the top 8. I had beaten him before, what could go wrong? Well, the dream came to a cruel end: I was blown out 0-2. They weren't even close games; he had the tempo and a relentless barrage of white control spells. I was knocked out and went home with a meager 2 Dragons of Tarkir boosters.
Irony of the night: I won every match except for the one that mattered most. I can't complain though because I played better than I normally do.
Overall, I thought red was the strongest color at the prerelease: good burn, solid creatures, and not a lot of mass removal or pesky creature tokens to get in the way. My green creatures were also fantastic. Dromoka decks were my biggest challenge to overcome because of their high toughness and lifelink capabilities.
I have no regrets and would play Atarka again.
Out of the way Ghave, we've got some devouring to do!
I doubt the decks will. There wouldn't be enough printed for the Counterpunch deck (not only in quantity but in token type as well: snakes, at least one wolf and elephant, saprolings, pegasus, Spwanwrithes, insects, zombies, and Eldrazi Spawns).
Another moment of stupidity brought to you by The Letter 3... I will make some adjustments to the scores some time today.
My Februrary round 1 judgings are complete.
Now if you don't mind, I'm going to collapse on my bed and remain unconscious for a couple of hours...