Innistrad: Deathly Dominion Review (Part 1 of 2)
At the first meeting of the design team for Innistrad, lead designer Mark Rosewater had everyone present list out every theme and trope they could think of, writing them on a whiteboard. By the end of the session, there were a ton of ideas floating around. To be certain, you had the list of monster types like Vampire and Werewolf. Transformation was a big one, as evidenced by the dual-faced cards. And of course, lurking in the background like a shade was the one concept that appears in virtually every horror movie or story ever made: death.
Ordinarily, death signals the end of something. A person passes away, their remains are properly disposed of (if they are so fortunate), and the material possessions they collected over their lifetime are distributed to those surviving them (if again, they are so fortunate). Whether the end comes in silent claiming in the middle of the night or in a violent flurry of biting and tearing, it comes for us all. In Deathly Dominion, Innistrad’s Black/Green deck, death represents something else. Opportunity.
Whispers of the Muse: Julián R’s Vampire Onslaught (M12 Event Deck)
Welcome once again to Whispers of the Muse, the occasional series where a reader submits a deck they’d like some advice on, and we turn it over to you, the community! Our letter this time comes from Julián R, who had this to say:
Innistrad: Eldritch Onslaught Review (Part 2 of 2)
In our deck review, we found Eldritch Onslaught to be a most intriguing construction in the same wacky and spell-heavy Izzet mould as Mirrodin Besieged’s Mirromancy. This time, rather than abuse a Galvanoth for extra card advantage, the deck wants you to exploit the flashback mechanic. Towards that end, it packs in a number of self-milling options, ways to get your own cards into the graveyard. Each flashback card dumped in this way is a way to expand your options to affect the board state and ensure victory.
To serve as the opposition today, Jimi is playing the Black/Green morbid-based Deathly Dominion. Let’s see how they fare against one another!
2010-11 Precon Championships: Lauer Division (Part 2 of 2)
Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of the 2010-11 Precon Championships! We’re heading down the home stretch now with today’s event, the second-to-last in the season. Today we crown the last of the four divisional champions who will then square off next week to determine the winner. Today’s matches promise to be some of the most explosive thus far, as the Lauer Division is packed with power! We have an Event Deck (Mirrodin Besieged’s Infect & Defile), a Duel Deck (Elspeth), a Premium Deck Series deck (Fire & Lightning), and amongst these titans a mere moral will struggle to stay alive- Mirrodin Besieged’s Mirromancy Intro Pack deck.
Whoever wins today will go on to the Final Four, ready to face down Bring About the Undead Apocalypse for the change to make it to the Championship Match! Let’s head down now to the arena, where the first match is about to begin.
Tap: Max’s Game
Every once in awhile, you discover something which just seems to blend a few of your interests together in that chocolate-and-peanut-butter sort of way to make you really get excited at the prospect of seeing them all put together. As it happens, we here at the Lament are huge fans of Magic: the Gathering. Who knew, right? Beyond that, we take tremendous enjoyment from foreign cinema, because it affords us opportunities to look through windows to this fascinating world we might not otherwise have had. Finally, we really love a good, old-fashioned inspirational sports flick. Whether it’s Miracle or Hoosiers or, hell, Baseketball, there’s something irresistibly compelling about seeing a collection of underdogs line up for the kind of shot we all dream of- overcoming colossal adversity and emerging as heroes.
So imagine our enthusiasm today when we learned about Tap: Max’s Game. A film in the style of a sports drama from our friends in the Czech Republic (although we’ve not quite forgiven you for Jaromir Jagr’s hair), in Czech and about a group of friends who used to play Magic: the Gathering together. When one of them decides to begin playing again, it’s up to him to reunite the team for one last shot at glory on the big stage of the National Championships.
In other words, an absolute must-watch. Need more? Check out the official trailer.
Innistrad: Eldritch Onslaught Review (Part 1 of 2)
Mirrodin Besieged’s Mirromancy was in some ways the most intriguing Intro Pack release of the block. Since the transition from the Theme Deck to the Intro Pack which begun with Shards of Alara, set-released precons have tended to follow a rather simplistic strategy: load up with creatures, and use noncreature spells as support. Although a viable strategy, like anything else it can grow stale with overuse. The Theme Decks had a long tradition of variety, with a number of decks leaning more heavily on spells rather than creatures (most famously The Sparkler from Stronghold, which had only three creatures- and two of them Walls!). In many cases, like the decks of Magic 2011 or even Conflux’s Naya Domain, even a relatively high noncreature content didn’t necessarily mean that they were going to take anything other than a back seat to your beaters.
Mirromancy for the first time in the modern Intro Pack era turned this formula on its head. Your spells weren’t there to support your creatures- they were legitimate and consistent win conditions of their own. Indeed, the deck’s foil premium rare- which usually gives good insight into the deck’s aims and means- itself was designed to support a spell-heavy deck. Sure Galvanoth was a 4/4 body, but his free-cast ability thrived on a spell-rich (and by necessity somewhat creature-poor) environment. Blisterstick Shaman was a ping-on-a-stick, and Fire Servant was there to support your burn cards. In that light, Eldtritch Onslaught is Mirromancy’s successor, right down to the Izzet colour scheme of Blue and Red.
Innistrad: Repel the Dark Review (Part 2 of 2)
Our next match its the Humans of Repel the Dark against the very Vampires we just left behind! Innistrad is full of perils for mankind, of which the Vampires are but one. Still, if Sam has her way, she’ll leave Repel the Dark an empty husk, drained of all life. Do the Humans have what it takes to stand up to this diabolic predation? Here are our game notes as we look to find out.
2010-11 Precon Championships: Round 8 and the Leaderboard
Week by week we’ve been closing in on the final battle to decide the 2010-11 Preconstructed Deck Champion, and this coming week-end we’ll have narrowed the field of 32 down to a final four. The Nagle. The Tinsman. The Turian. Three divisions have anointed their chosen who will represent them on the field of glory. All that’s left now is the Lauer.
Every step of the way the readers have made their predictions for our giveaway, and we’ve tallied the points earned from each correct guess. It’s a close race, with the leaders separated by a single game. This past weekend saw furious opening round Lauer action as the Infect & Defile Event Deck trounced Magic 2011’s Power of Prophecy. Less expected was Mirromancy’s handy defeat of Phyrexian Poison, the infect-themed Intro Pack from Scars of Mirrodin. While the Blue/Red spell-heavy deck was celebrating its victory, Elspeth dismantled the Golems of New Phyrexia’s Artful Destruction. And closing out the day was the hotly-contested matchup between M11’s Reign of Vampirism and the all-foil Premium Deck Series entrant, Fire & Lightning.
Innistrad: Repel the Dark Review (Part 1 of 2)
In our last review we looked at the Vampires of Innistrad, as represented by their deck Carnival of Blood. Fearsome for certain, but the wary inhabitants of that benighted plane would tell you, however, that they are but one of the many perils that surround them. In the forests the Werewolves prowl, rending the flesh of any so unfortunate as to encounter one. From the dead the Spirits walk, as oftentimes the corpses do on their own accord. There is no Roil and no compleation, but there are no shortages of way to die here. Against any one of these fiends most Humans would stand little chance, but there is something available to the good citizens of the world that can withstand nearly any peril.
Teamwork.
Trite as it sounds, there is little strength like strength in numbers, and this is the survival mechanism of the Humans, those who feed most every scourge that assaults them. Werewolves, Vampires, Zombies and Spirits all have their origin in man, and many live off them still. In times past they could rely upon their faith in the Church of Avacyn to keep evil at bay (for the night is dark and full of terrors). Since Avacyn’s disappearance from the world, however, they have increasingly had to rely on far more tangible resources to stay alive- their brawn, and their wits.
2010-11 Precon Championships: Lauer Division (Part 1 of 2)
Welcome back once more to the 2010-11 Precon Championships! Today we begin the last of the four divisions- the Lauer! This season’s Lauer consists of a wide spectrum of decks. There are Intro Pack decks from each set in Scars Block, as well as Magic 2011. There’s also an Event Deck as well as a Duel Deck, and for a real wild card howabout the Premium Deck Series? With the other three divisions decided, all eyes are now here on the Lauer to see which deck will rise from the ashes of the rest to stake its claim on the Championship.
Ertai's Lament 
