2011-12 Precon Championships: Round 9 and the Leaderboard

And so it’s come to this. Thirty-two different preconstructed decks from the past season entered the arena, looking to prove which one of them would have the right to declare itself Champion. For the victor, eternal glory as its name was etched in the lore of the site. For the losers, a sinking into anonymity, as antagonist’s in another deck’s story. We’ve had twenty-eight different matches to get here, and now only four decks await their destiny.

This past weekend saw the conclusion of the last Division, the Lauer. The first match was between a pair of Intro Pack decks, Angelic Might from Avacyn Restored, and Dark Sacrifice from Dark Ascension. Although Dark Ascension had done well to trounce the Duel Deck of Nicol Bolas, it still found few predictors rallying to its banner. “Dark Sacrifice does not have the tools to conquer Angelic Might,” opined Limbonic_Art, “as it is slow and needs to bid its time to get its engine working. Angelic Might just needs to stall until the late game and overwhelm with its big angels.” That’s about what happened, as Angelic Might dominated the opener, and Dark Sacrifice choked in the next game, and the Angels advanced.

Our next match-up was another shocker, though it didn’t surprise as many as you’d think. Event Decks have been odds-on favourites this competition regardless the opposition, and not unfairly. Packing seven rares apiece and competitively tuned, they are capable of highly organised plays which the other decks can only envy. But that doesn’t mean they are invulnerable, as Humanity’s Vengeance found to its detriment. With potentially aggressive strings of fliers, Mystical Might was able to surrender the ground game and win in the air, where Humanity’s Vengeace had few answers. In watching the match unfold, mcc1701 remarked, “I think we can all learn about something here: blue/white is powerful in intro decks, primarily because of lack of flying defense in many decks.” Still, ten predictors tabbed Mystical Might for the win!

Then we moved to the final match on the day, the “All-Might” finals between Angelic Might and Mystical Might. As unlikely a scenario as it seemed, the Lauer Division was up for grabs between two Intro Pack decks. The Angels went up early, but couldn’t close the deal as the Illusions battled back to take two in a row, the win, and the Division.

Next, let’s have a look at the Prediction League. Jenesis still leads the pack, but Euphet16 is right behind! With three points still left to play for, a few others in the pack still have a shot as well. It’s worth a reminder here- as we might not have called it out at the start of the competition this season- as per custom, should there be a tie at the top at the end of the competition, the winner of the prize package shall be chosen at random- though in a break from the past the ‘runner up’ will be given a consolation prize (to be determined) as well as having their name written down in the immortal register of champions!

Here’s the table! Special mention surely must go to Diennea and Brad Hall, both of whom collected all three points on the day!

And now, here’s the final slate of matches. For those in the League, you’ll want to pick a winner for the Rosewater Conference (Game 29), Forsythe Conference (Game 30), and the overall Champion (Game 31).

Good luck to all!