2010-11 Precon Championships: Turian Division (Part 1 of 2)
Welcome back to the exciting 2010-11 Preconstructed Deck Championships! We’re about halfway through our coverage with the Rosewater Conference now down to two remaining contenders, Knights and Doom Inevitable. They’re on hold for now as we move the action over to the Forsythe Conference’s historic Turian Division. We say ‘historic’ for while this is a relatively new competition, we’ve already crowned two champions for their respective seasons. The 2008-09 Champion, Alara Reborn’s Dead Ahead, came from the Turian and defeated two different Duel Decks– including a titanic final battle against Jace. Will the Turian prove to be the spawning ground of champions? Or just another contender?
Duel Decks- Ajani vs Nicol Bolas: Nicol Bolas’s Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
It was less than a year after the birth of the game of Magic: the Gathering that today’s antagonist was born, giving him a far longer existence than a particular Nacatl from Naya. While Planeswalkers (as a card type) were many years away, even then in his ‘weaker’ incarnation he still commanded reverence and respect. He was Nicol Bolas, and he was an Elder Dragon Legend.
Legends was released in June 1994, and was the largest set release to date. Revised Edition came closest at 306, only four cards shy- but it’s worth noting that unlike Revised, Legends did not contain any basic lands. It was an exciting and heady time to be playing Magic- after the release of the core set(s) and the Arabian Nights and Antiquities expansions, here was a whole new and massive set filled with mechanical innovation. A few of these would settle into comfortable obscurity: bands-with-other (a selective form of banding), rampage, world enchantments, and poison (which, as we know now, would see a triumphant resurrection only with the release of Scars of Mirrodin). Two of them would become integral parts of the game as played today- multicolour cards and legends.
The legends of Legends may seem by the modern eye to be a motley crew of overcosted, underpowered, context-less and disorganised individuals, but that was indeed hardly the case. To be fair, this was bold, new ground. The game was still in its relative infancy, and the degree to which being “legendary” was a drawback was not yet fully known. Nor yet was casting cost as understood as it is today. Gosta Dirk is a 4/4 first striker with a marginal ability (negating islandwalk) priced at seven mana, and there are other such examples, like Jedit Ojanen. And while there was no context for these legends, that was part of the appeal. Narrative arcs over sets was at best a vague overlay (such as in Antiquities)- it would take another three years to marry a card set with a concrete story in Tempest. These were figures of your imagination, and wondering who and what they were only added to their allure.
Ravnica: Selesnya United Review (Part 2 of 2)
For our final match before leaving the plane of Ravnica, I’ll be taking the reins of the Selesnya Conclave. A Green/White swarming strategy that looks to make full use of the conclave mechanic, I’ll be up against the slower Dimir Intrigues piloted by Jimi. The Dimir deck demans a bit of time to fully develop its milling strategy. Will it be able to withstand the Saproling hordes and let it dominate the endgame, or will the Selesnyan beaters storm the gates of the ‘secret guild?’
Here are the notes from our match.
2010-11 Precon Championships: Round 5 and the Leaderboard
With the Tinsman Division having been settled last weekend, we’re about halfway done as we turn our attention next to the Forsythe. As before, we’ll return to the Rosewater Conference clash for our final Precon Playoff piece when the Champion is crowned. In a result that came as something of a surprise for many, Mirrodin Besieged’s Doom Inevitable managed to outlast its opponents and proliferate its way to victory. In doing so, it defeated New Phyrexia’s Feast of Flesh, which itself had triumphed in the opening round against an Archenemy deck and looked to be a strong contender.
Certainly our predictors had by and large expected a different result. The successful prediction rate this time was only 35%. To be fair, the weeks where a Division are divided have something of a curveball built into them. In most matches, both contestants are known. However, to get all three points a predictor must not only guess the outcomes of both lead-up matches, but then must choose which one they think will take it all. Pick wrong in the first two matches, and unless you hedge your own bets by choosing a third deck, you’re walking away empty-handed.
Ravnica: Selesnya United Review (Part 1 of 2)
In the Conclave, individuality is an anathema.
That’s not to say that you, as an individual, don’t matter. It’s better to say that while you, the individual, are critical to the aims of the Selesnya, you as an individual must by necessity be sublimated to the needs of the whole. Look at the selfish- their lives are zero-sum. They advance themselves at the expense of others, getting ahead by leaving someone else behind. Such waste! Is it not better to group together, so that all may benefit as one? This is the way of the Selesnya Conclave, the way of fulfillment of the one through the fulfillment of the all.
Whispers of the Muse: Tegan D’s ‘Unnatural Schemes’ (Alara Reborn)
Welcome once again to another edition of Whispers of the Muse, our occasional deckbuilding advice column! Unlike many advice columns, this one isn’t just a two-way conversation between reader and author, but rather gives all of our Ertai’s Lament readers the opportunity to offer their sage wisdom and experienced counsel on how to improve a deck.
Ravnica: Golgari Deathcreep Review (Part 2 of 2)
Approaching the end of our reviews of Ravnica and readying for Duel Decks: Ajani vs Nicol Bolas, we’re still finding the Ravnica set full of surprises. The designers did a very impressive job giving each guild its own unique feel, and translating the theme decks into showpieces for each guild is a perfect match. Not for nothing this is one of the most fondly-remembered sets. For today I’ve secured Sam as my sparring partner, and she’s chosen Selesnya United to serve in opposition.
Here are our notes from the customary three games.
2010-11 Precon Championships: Tinsman Division (Part 2 of 2)
Welcome back to the exciting conclusion of the Tinsman Division! Last week eight contenders battled it out in the arena for the honour of representing this storied division, and four of them saw their dreams dashed in a first-round exit. Now the remaining four are back for the final three games to determine which one deck will contend with the Knights Duel Deck for domination of the Rosewater Conference, and a shot at the championship! With the 2009-10 Precon Champion having come from the Tinsman (Eldrazi Arisen), the pressure to perform is on. Which will be the last deck standing?
Today’s matches promise to be furiously contested. In the first bracket we have Doom Inevitable, the proliferation/living weapon deck from Mirrodin Besieged. To advance it’s going to need to get through Metalcraft in a battle which fittingly pits the Mirrans against the Phyrexians. In the day’s other bracket we have Feast of Flesh, a removal-heavy New Phyrexia construction taking on the last remaining Core Set deck in the Rosewater Conference, Breath of Fire.
As all four are Intro Pack decks, so one could fairly say that regardless the winner the hardest challenge lies ahead when it takes on Knights. But today, we’ll only be deciding the winner of the Tinsman Division, and what better time than the present?
Ravnica: Golgari Deathcreep Review (Part 1 of 2)
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
This is not only a slogan for today’s eco-conscious times, but could just as easily apply to the Golgari guild on Ravnica. To the Golgari, no living creature is ever truly dead, but rather lives on through the eternal cycle of life. A person is born, he lives his life, and then, inevitably, he dies… and then his body is fed to the Rot Farms’ crops of shambling plant-zombies. Simple. Elegant. Beautiful.
Of course, every guild in Ravnica must serve a civic function (discounting, of course, the guild that doesn’t exist- Dimir). The Boros, for instance, form its military and police force. The Selesyna provide organised spirituality as well as patrolling roads and byways and other routes of travel. To the Golgari fall the critical tasks of food production for the city’s poor (for those familiar, think ‘Flea Bottom’ and ‘bowls of brown’) and waste management.
MBtB: The Precons of Innistrad
Magic Beyond the Box takes a breather from building the Standard Cube this week as I- like most of the Magic world- turn my eye towards Innistrad. What does the future hold for its Intro Packs and Event Decks? I have a few guesses…
Ertai's Lament 