Magic 2010 Prerelease - July 11, 2009

Whoa! Hello Magic world!

I had been dormant from Magic for more than 2 months (as evidenced by my previous post: the Alara Reborn PR!) -- I basically skipped the whole Alara Reborn expansion -- but that's what happens when a hectic work schedule gets in the way. :(

Anyway, I'm back, and I hope to be as active in Magic as I was before the "temporary freeze" -- going to FNMs, playing online, and maybe some weekend tourneys -- and the first step to getting my feet wet again was playing in the Magic 2010 (M10) prerelease. :)

Here's the deck that I built and played:



// Lands
7 [M10] Swamp
4 [M10] Mountain
4 [M10] Plains
1 [M10] Terramorphic Expanse
1 [M10] Gargoyle Castle

// Creatures
2cc:
1 [M10] Child of Night
1 [M10] Stormfront Pegasus
3cc:
1 [M10] Prodigal Pyromancer
1 [M10] Goblin Artillery
1 [M10] Looming Shade
1 [M10] Warpath Ghoul
1 [M10] Royal Assassin
1 [M10] Dread Warlock
4cc:
1 [M10] Howling Banshee
1 [M10] Lightning Elemental
5cc and up:
1 [M10] Serra Angel
2 [M10] Berserkers of Blood Ridge
1 [M10] Siege Mastodon

// Spells
2 [M10] Harm's Way
1 [M10] Deathmark
1 [M10] Doom Blade
1 [M10] Lightning Bolt
1 [M10] Lava Axe
1 [M10] Pyroclasm
1 [M10] Disentomb
1 [M10] Rise from the Grave


A pretty good deck, in my opinion, but piloted very poorly by the deckbuilder. :P And it didn't help that I got home pretty late the previous night from a drinking session. >:-)

I went just 2-2 in 4 rounds, but the deck had flashes of brilliance at times.

My MVP was Harm's Way -- that card is just superb. It's a combat trick, a burn spell, and just pure awesomeness all rolled into one. :)

My biggest misplay (which I, of course, realized only after the tourney) was with Royal Assassin. I drew and played it just once in all 4 rounds, but in that only time that it went online, I never used it on my opponent's turn. I would let my opponent attack, take the damage, and then kill the creature in my turn. Duh!

Of course, a prerelease would not be complete without some fun moments:
1. I was once at 2 life, and my opponent defeated me with a Sign in Blood -- targetting me. :)

2. Me and my opponent were both in topdeck mode, and in a battle of attrition. I topdeck Serra Angel (which he has nothing to block with), play it and pass the turn. He topdecks Lifelink, casts it on the Serra Angel, and says he gains the life dealt by the angel. I call the judge, and he correctly explains that the owner of the creature gains the life. Lifelink ftw! :)

3. Joven and I have a new recruit -- my officemate, Randy -- who is a fellow UP alumni, and also played Magic around the time we were playing it back in college. All three of us went 2-2 during the PR. :)

Good times.