The 2007-2008 Preconstructed Deck Championships

Springtime is here, and you know what that means. Warming weather? Sure. Insects and animals reappearing in abundance? Of course. More hours of light in the day? Yeah, yeah, yeah, all that stuff too. But even more important than that! Gutteral battle cries and the crunch of bone and sinew on the arena floor?

Now we’re talkin’!

That’s right, it’s the return of the fan-favourite Preconstructed Deck Championships! For those newly joining us, this is the semi-annual tradition where we pit a series of precon decks against one another, March Madness-style, and give you the chance to try your predictive skills at picking the winner. There’s glory on the line both in and out of the arena, as the decks look to write their own page in history amongst previous champions, and the Prediction League competes for fame and fabulous prizes.

In keeping with Championship custom, we look back to an earlier season in Magic’s history for our Spring clash, just as the Autumn one represents the block just completing (for instance, this Autumn being Return to Ravnica block). We’ve selected the 2007-08 season, which was a dynamic time in Magic’s history. For one thing, the traditional three-set block structure was overturned as instead we saw two blocks of two released. Lorywn was followed by Morningtide, then day switched to night as Shadowmoor ascended with Eventide.

In addition, the Tenth Edition decks of the time similarly bucked convention. Up until that point the Core Sets had shied away from legendary creatures, but Tenth Edition reprinted two from each colour, and threw in a legendary artifact to go with it. If you’ve got it, flaunt it seemed to be the mantra as each of the five Theme Decks were headed by a legendary creature, giving them an immediate identity and focus.

On top of it all, a new product line was unveiled. Duel Decks: Elves vs Goblins set the standard for the ‘tribal’ Duel Deck release, pitting two of the game’s best-loved creature types against one another. The gamble paid off, and we now see two Duel Decks releases a year, going strong! All in all, it’s a great time to draw a line in the sand and challenge only the very best to cross it. Twenty-six decks will enter the arena, and by the end of the run only one shall remain to be called Champion. That deck will take its place alongside past winners: Planar Chaos’s Endless March (2005-07), Alara Reborn’s Dead Ahead (2008-09), Eldrazi Arisen of Rise of the Eldrazi (2009-2010), Elspeth’s Duel Deck (2010-11), and most recently Innistrad’s Hold the Line Event Deck (2011-2012).

In the three seasons that the Prediction League has been running, we’ve yet to see a repeat champion- it’s a fresh, wide-open race each season! Icehawk was the first (2010-11), followed by Gobias (2005-07) and the dead heat of Euphet16 and Jenesis (2011-2012). Who will be the winner at the end of this one, having their name immortalised for their predictive prowess while getting their rightful reward sent in the post.

So what are the prizes? Glad you asked! This season we’re offering a single prize basket to the winner. Take the most points at the end of the Championship, and all of the following will be yours:

1. A copy of Duel Decks: Sorin vs Tibalt
2. A Dragon’s Maze Fat Pack
3. One sealed Theme Deck from the 2007-08 season
4. A $30 gift certificate at Jimi’s hot new card store, mindgamesltd.com

Not a bad bit of business for some good ol’ fashioned prognosticatin’! So break out the tea leaves, pull out the runesticks, and dust off the telescope because the contest is about to begin!

How It Works

The decks are randomly seeded, bracket-fashion. Because this season had less than 32 decks, some lucky entrants get a free bye at the start. Each weekend on whichever day we don’t have a review going up, we’ll have that day’s matches played out. A thread will go up a few days earlier announcing that weekend’s lineup while giving you the skinny on the decks, and asking for your predictions. Just let us know which ones you expect to see win, and we’ll keep track of the rest!

The competition runs for nine weeks, and at the end of that time the person with the most points (correct guesses) is declared the winner! In the end of a tie, the winner of the prize package will be determined randomly- but we’ll be sure to find a consolation prize for anyone missing out by that cruelest of luck.

You also can look at previous seasons to see how the contest is structured.

The opening matches in the Nagle Division will be up this Sunday, so look for the first call for predictions this Wednesday. Good luck to all!