It's a Miracle!

At least that's what I'm looking to say, with some snark, as I play a deck with some of the new Magic cards with the "Miracle" mechanic in the new Avacyn Restored set. Top decking like a pro has never been so profitable.

So this post is all about MTG since there was a timely set release this past weekend. I was able to partake in the pre-release festivities, both regular and Helvaultian, and will share what morsels of knowledge I managed to scrape from the blur that was Saturday.

The mechanics in the set are refreshing and can allow for things to take quite a turn quickly. Miracle for instance, rewards luck and the use of cards that modify the top of your library. Should you find one of these cards in your opening hand, well, good luck with that. People rave about the synergy with Ponder, but my thought is that if a Miracle card is within 3 turns of you drawing anyways, that extra speed may matter in the minority of cases.

Undying makes a return, which I'm happy about. My languishing Pod deck is in dire need of retooling. This guy can suck lemons though. Play him at your own risk or if you like flirting with shooting yourself in the foot. Or come up with something clever.

Soulbond. This mechanic will be interesting to see how it plays out. I've always hated to pull creatures out of a deck merely due to that lack of a certain somethin'-somethin'. I've always loved the combo of deathtouch and first strike. It is invariably the reason why Glissa, the Traitor is my EDH general. That and my affinity for artifacts. But I digress. With this nift mechanic, you can cross-breed your fave mechanics. I know I'm going to explore possibilities with  Silverblade Paladin, Nightshade Peddler, and Hanweir Lancer. I think what I like about this mechanic the most is that it turns early/mid game drops into solid contributors to late game drops as well.

While not a mechanic, Black got some non-Miracle related love with "loner" buffs. If you have but a single creature, who is I'm sure is very ronery, there are some cards that will reward you for being so bold. Demonic Rising was one such enchantment worthy of mention later.

So you get the idea of the mechanics. Here's how the pre-release events went:

The first event was at midnight at LGS#1. It was a normal pre-release, as in no Helvault, so I opened my first AVR packs with caffiene pumping through my veins. My rares were Demonic Rising, Desolate Lighthouse, Craterhoof Behemoth, Deadeye Navigator, Dread Slaver, and Reforge the Soul. I only opened 6 or 7 green common and uncommons that were more side-boardworthy than anything, so I didn't run Craterhoof (his mana requirements didn't help either). It's a good thing too, cause I never peaked more than 7 mana the entire night.

What I did settle on, was a Black/Red deck that utilized Demonic Rising with Bloodflow Connoisseur to keep my keep my critters in check so I could get myself a delicious demon to join in the shenanigans. This combo worked extremely well when the two were in play. I threw in a couple Soulcage Demons for the one-two punch of hitting the opponent followed by the sac to keep momentum in my favor at the right times. In case these things didn't work out, I had my Dread Slaver/Lightning Prowess combo to keep the heat off me. I was lucky enough to open a lot of damage/removal to make it easier for this combo to come through several times that night. My record that night was 2-1-1 and made 5th place. My highest ranking thus far in my relatively short time doing sealed events.

Now on to the Helvault!

Like a piñata, but instead of candy.... there be demons 

So after I got home and got some sleep, I headed back out into the fray with my girlfriend to tackle a different LGS that featured the Helvault. This time around, I opened a Druid's Repository, Wild Defiance, Treacherous Pit-Dweller (@#$&%), an Alchemist's Refuge, and two Descendants' Paths. I definitely made up for the lack of green last time in this pull. So green was definitely an awesome potential color. I had some green bombs that would definitely have potential. Black sucked. Blue also sucked. White was mediocre (ZERO angels), which left Red as my next strongest color. I did something that I would later regret. I made a R/G/W Human deck. Only humans.I was hoping that if I managed to get at least one Descendants' Path out, it would ramp up the number of humans on the board so I could drop the hammer with Kessig Malcontents or filter my deck at the very least.

To say it crashed and burned doesn't quite cut it. It was a two lame ducks trying to fly in opposite directions. I won a single match at the end, and only after I made some tweaks and diluted the human pool with vampires. It was the best thing I did all night. The human-only scheme would work well in certain circumstances, but as soon as the bombs come out the strategy stalls faster than a car underwater. There was one point where I had both Descendant' Paths out and I never seemed to hit any of my creatures.

My girlfriend went 2-3-0 with a Red/White deck utilizing Slayers' Stronghold and splashing Blue for Bruna, Light of Alabaster, or "Bubbles" as she is tortuously nicknamed. The performance of her deck was way better, but she did face tougher opponents than I. I went 2-3-0 that night with a bye. But I did get about 12 achievements that night and she got about 14. I really enjoyed the concept of achievements, but others at the LGS were not so keen on the notion. Sadly, I did not get to talk like a beast. 

 Like that stopped me.

The Helvault schwag we secured was the EDH promos of Griselbrand, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, and Bruna, Light of Alabaster as well as the tokens and dice that seem to have the intertubes in an uproar. Sure, I didn't get one of those sweet Demonic Tutor judge promos, but I pride myself on not going rabid at the slightest feeling of unfairness. In a game heavily rooted in luck and statistics, fairnessis not familiar terrain.

Overall I enjoyed myself. I did well and I sucked all in a 24 hour period. I think this set will make drafting and sealed events tricky and fun. There are a multitude of cards that will see Tier 1 decks in Standard and I can't wait to see if someone can upset the current meta dynamics.

So now the task of updating my decks are at hand. What will I do? We shall see in good time. This Storm King Stout I'm finishing off is excellent. I'd buy you one.

Sláinte
-WF