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By: Pitlord, Grant Champion
Apr 29 2011 11:57am
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 I started playing Magic right around the time of Invasion, and started playing seriously right as Odyssey was coming out. I remember the first draft I ever won. It was Torment/Odyssey/Odyssey. My deck had multiple Painbringers and Firebolts, and I managed to just crush everyone with my BR control pile. I've come a long way since then, and drafted quite a bit more since then as well. I've drafted every set since then, and played a fair amount of sealed as well since my first local game store had lots of small sealed events. Sealed is a format that I have mixed feelings about. I almost always enjoy playing it, and secretly I really like just busting packs, but there are times when it leads to nothing but frustration. Overall though, I'm always more than happy to jump at a sealed event whenever I can, especially one for a format I've never played. So when Urza's Destiny was released on MTGO complete with release sealed events, I jumped at the chance to play in at least one. Here's what happened.

 I knew I planned on playing the premier event at 8 am Thursday since my lab for the day was canceled and I didn't work until that night, I knew I could top 8 draft and still make it to work, while filling my day with Magic fun. So of course, insomnia wakes me up at 3:30 that morning, and I lie in bed for hours just trying to fall asleep, lazily thinking about my odds of opening a money rare. Finally, it's 6 am, the lady gets out of bed to prepare for work, which means I can do likewise to prepare for Magic. I read a little bit online and do some homework. My reading for the morning included Peter Jahns latest article on the ULD sealed format, where he makes some decent points and gives me a little insight into an otherwise completely unknown format. I hopped into the Premier events room and queued up. It took around an extra 15 minutes to actually fire, but it does, and I'm greeted by this:

 

  Well, none of the bomb money rares I was hoping for, but at least a few decent commons and some mid-tier rares that ensure I won't completely bust on the day. I had a few thoughts immediately after glancing over the pool. The first was “drats, no big money. That means I actually have to play Magic today.” Second was “Crap, no one single dominating color that makes it an easy pool.” My third was “Well, Masticore is at least one slot, 22 more to go.”

  

After breaking it down by color, I realized that although I had similar quantities of cards in each color, the red cards were both the weakest and the least numerous. It had only Ghitu Slinger and Keldon Vandals as decent removal, and little else outside of crappy 2/x dorks. Moving on...

  

The green was next up since it had the next fewest cards to look at. The ones I did have though were fairly spicy. Yavimaya Elder is just absolutely insane because of the card advantage he provides. I've referred to him as the green Ancestral Recall for a while actually. Beyond him I noticed some random fat in Yavimaya Wurm and Yavimaya Scion, and a way to get them into play with Priest of Titania and potentially Gamekeeper. The rest was some decent filler like pump spells and random dorks.

  

Blue came next for analysis, and was certainly interesting for this pool. Blue is usually one of my favorite colors in sealed because of the evasive creatures and all-around utility is usually provides. My pool had some of this, but not a ton. Pendrell Drake looked like my only decent flier, though I did also have a Cloud of Faeries and the excellent defensive Fog Bank. I also had some mediocre other creatures like a few Beebles, and some utility like Rescind and Miscalculation. I'm also a fan of (Mental Disciple) for many of the same reasons Peter outlined in the article I'd just read by him. Giving every card cycling is very powerful in the late game, and it should be hard to lose when you can turn all of your late lands into spells for just two mana.

  

White is somewhat interesting in this pool. It has lots and lots of defensive cards like Tormented Angel, Sanctum Guardian, and (Capashan Templar). It also had basically all of the enchantment removal in my pool, with Scour and Disenchant both. Karmic Guide is also pretty decent card advantage. If my deck looks like it ends up being more defensive, I'll probably be looking to white since it offers a good mix of answers and defense.

  

Finally, I saved my best for last with black. Immediately Pestilence jumped out at me as an all star. I also had double Ravenous Rats, Duress, and a Cackling Fiend creating a fairly substantial discard suite. There were also a few fliers, and a decent utility card in Unearth. I've read from multiple sources though that Urza's block was fairly heavy, but you wouldn't know it from looking at my pool. My best removal spells amount to a Scent of Nightshade and a Swat. Neither is terrific, but both are playable.

  

When it came time to actually build the deck, I was faced with a tough decision. Black was obviously going to be my core so I could maximize my discard effects, Pestilence, and Looming Shade. What remained was the decision between green or white as a support color. Both have the bonus of a pro-black creature to keep Pestilence around, and both have their merits. Playing white would lead to a slower, more controlling deck that banked heavily on stalling the early game and getting to abuse Masticore or Pestilence to clear the board and win. Playing green as a support color would lead to a more or a midrange style deck with a smattering of discard, removal, and fat similar to the typical constructed strategy of the color combination.

 

 In the end I decided on the black/green combination for a few reasons. One of them is simply that I didn't really like the thought of relying on just Masticore to win games for me when I knew everyone else would likely be playing larger creatures. Secondly, Yavimaya Elder really is just that insane. White had nothing that comes even close to the card advantage he provides, and I'd rather have my early chumps draw me three cards than just sit there and get outclassed or flown over. I ended up registering this:

 

 

It had some mild disruption, a little removal, and a few fatties. And Masticore. Have I mentioned Masticore? It isn't the greatest sealed deck I've ever registered, but it certainly isn't the worst either. I knew going in that I was slightly light on removal and fliers, both of which could potentially be major weaknesses. Also, I should have played the Tethered Skirge instead of the Duress. Despite what Peter says, I cast Duress 5 times in the tournament, and hit only once, on a Silk Net. I don't know if my results are typical, but it's out there, for what it's worth. The last card I want to touch on is Symbiosis, which seems good but I never actually played. I haven't had enough experience in the format to honestly tell how good it is, and in retrospect I think not playing it was probably a mistake.


 Round 1
I win the roll and elect to draw first since the format seems fairly slow and bomb driven. My opponent mulligans once and I'm excited to be off to a good start. That's when I noticed that his deck still had 134 cards left... yes, it is nice, thanks for asking. He does nothing while curve out with rats and Ticking Gnomes. I sideboard nothing, and strangely, neither does he. He manages to at least play a Thran War Machine game 2, but he's never really in it and I win a quick 2-0. 
 

Round 2

 I win the roll again and elect to draw again. I miss on my turn 1 Duress, seeing a hand full of damage prevention dorks and a pair of (Tormented Angels). Unfortunately for me, my hand banked pretty hard on Pestilence and Masticore, leaving me to do basically nothing all game except stall out the ground and lose to the 1/5 angels, one of which was eventually suited up with a Rancor. The second game plays out very similar, with him having both (Tormented Angels) and clogging the ground with mediocre midrange guys while his fliers get in there slowly. This game though I can't draw a Masticore or Pestilence, which would have actually been able to take out his board since he lacked any prevention effects until very late. I don't think I was dealt a single point of damage the entire match except by (Tormented Angels). Gross.

Lose 0-2

 Round 3

 I lose the roll and get put on the draw with a decent hand that has both Duress and Ravenous Rats, which should theoretically allow me to get some decent advantage early by shredding his hand. Obviously though, I whiff on my turn one Duress, seeing a Bog Raiders and some other bigger creatures. He plays the landwalker and says go. I have a Lone Wolf for my turn three, which is immediately outclassed when he (Dark Rituals) out an Ancient Silverback on turn four. I stall a little while with Gamekeeper into Masticore, but I can't stop all the beats. I sideboard out my Duress for the Tethered Skirge and draw. I quickly end up on the defensive with Masticore and Pestilence, eventually having to clear the board with Pestilence going to five life. I topdeck a Looming Shade and Ravenous Skirge to come back, while he inexplicably sacrifices his Skittering Horror to play a Taunting Elf. My shade and skirge finish him quickly before he can draw out. Game three he boards into a green/red deck for some reason, and our early plays are mediocre. He answers my early Masticore with Reckless Abandon, but he does little else while I assemble Darkwatch Elves and Pestilence to ensure he can't play any more creatures.

 Win 2-1

 Round 4

 My opponent shows up after about four minutes, dashing my hopes of the time-out bye. My Duress hits this game for the only time in the event, hitting a Silk Net. Yippee! I have early pressure but not many lands, when he drops Citanul Centaurs, which is hard for me to deal with. I can hold off his team though with Pit Trap and (Cloud Of Gnats). Eventually I'm able to hit some lands thanks to Yavimaya Elder, and can start swinging with Looming Shade and Masticore, which forces the concession. Game 2 I keep a greedy 2-landers on the play and miss my third land drop. He misses his fourth though, and I eventually hit runners for land. He stays stuck on three for a while while I keep drawing lands. I stall out the ground and wreck his board of smallish creatures with Pestilence and clean up with some guys.

 Win 2-0

 Round 5

 In keeping with the theme of the event, I draw first and whiff with my turn one Duress. His hand has lands, Thieving Magpie, Thornwind Faeries, and Yavimaya Elder. He plays some cards, and I play a Darkwatch Elves with Pestilence in hand, knowing it's the only way I have to win. Unfortunately, I can't draw a third Swamp and die in short order to a Rancored Vigilant Drake. Game two plays out very similarly, but without crappy Duress being a virtual mulligan, and I can actually draw swamps to go with my Pestilence and Darkwatch Elves. Game three he has the exact same hand with a turn five Vigilant Drake, turn six (Xephid), and a Treachery for my Fog of Gnats that was stalling him, just to really crush me after keeping a three-lander and not drawing any more. Oh well.

 Lose 1-2

Round 6

 I'm not too thrilled about my chances here of making top 8 since my breakers are pretty mediocre due to my first round opponent dropping immediately after the round. Oh well, I still have to play it out and hope for an outside shot at the top 8 draft and qualification for Urza's champs. He's on what appears to be mono black and misses his fourth land while I plop down a Masticore and start going to town on his team. I ride the 'Core all the way to the quick win. I board the typical Duress out, Tethered Skirge in, and play first. His first turn is Plains, Mother of Runes, which shocks me a little. I Ravenous Rats and Cackling Fiend him while he answers my Ravenous Skirge. He drops Planar Cleansing to wipe the board, netting him a sweet 4-for-2. We sit there and stall a while while I cycle lots of cards, eventually finding Masticore and ruining his board. He finds removal for it eventually, but I've done enough damage that Pestilence is able to finish him off. Have I mentioned that those two cards are a little bit good?

 Win 2-0

 Unsure of my prospects on top 8ing due to my first opponent dropping, I wander off to try and fix my fiancés GPS that was acting up that morning. I meander back into the living room where my laptop is just in time to see that a draft window has popped up on the screen with only a few seconds left to pick. The rare wasn't worth any money and wasn't a huge bomb, so I snap picked the Pestilence and was excited about it. The card won me lots of games in sealed and seems great in draft, but I wasn't looking forward to fighting over black with everyone. The next pack had no playables in black, but it did have a Pendrell Drake, letting me plant myself into blue/black control, which seemed like a fine archetype. The next few picks saw no playables in either color, so I worked on picking up decent green cards, which seemed to be coming. Most of the rest of the pack was underwhelming, and I managed to pick up great hits like Rewind and Sicken. Joy!

 Luck was at least partially on my side for the next pack though, as I managed to open up a Grim Monolith, though it meant passing a sweet Opportunity that I was sad to let past. My second pick also sees me miss a great Opportunity, instead taking a foil Rancor out of greed. At the time I figured that since I have no experience in the format, I might as well take the easy money. My third pick sees a Yavimaya Granger since green seems to be more open than black. I also manage a Vigilant Drake fifth, which makes me reconsider blue over green. Some more mediocre filler like Cloud of Faeries and Unearth comes my way, and I've officially abandoned green.

 The decent luck keeps coming in Destiny, as I open up a Masticore, letting me re-create my winning strategy from the sealed portion. The underwhelming Body Snatcher is my next pick. The rest of the pack is dedicated to picking up as many playables in black and blue as possible, including two of the apparently undervalued Mental Discipline. The deck wasn't a complete train-wreck, but it certainly suffered due to my inexperience in the format and how easily I was distracted while drafting by money cards instead of playables. I forgot to screencap the list, but this is what I ended up with when all was said and done:

 Creatures

1x Body Snatcher 

1x Bog Raiders

1x Bouncing Beebles

1x Bubbling Beebles

2x Cloud Of Faeries

1x Giant Cockroach

1x Iridescent Drake

1x Looming Shade

1x Masticore

1x Metathran Elite

1x Pendrell Drake

1x Skittering Horror

1x Vigilant Drake

Spells

1x Grim Monolith

1x Miscalculation

2x Mental Discipline

1s Pendrell Flux

1x Pestilence

1x Rewind

1x Sicken

1x Unearth

Lands

8x Island

9x Swamp

Given what how poorly I drafted, the deck wasn't horrendous, having only Pendrell Flux as my only truly dreadful card in the maindeck. I didn't really have any sort of sideboard either, but things could have gone much, much worse. My hope was basically to lean once again on the power of Masticore and Pestilence, while using the rest of my deck to stall.

Round 1

My opponent won the roll and elected to play first. I mulligan to a mono-blue, mono-island six card hand. We both start out somewhat slow, with me having a turn two Cloud of Faeries and some mediocre dorks to follow up that he trades with. I chip away at his life total for a while with the flier and eventually sacrifice my Skittering Horror to play a Bog Raiders and start swinging into my also u/b opponent. He drops a Looming Shade that threatens to race, when I draw a Vigilant Drake to add to my evasive team. Eventually the winning play comes from me swinging with my evasive team and using Mental Discipline to find a Pestilence to kill him while I'm at a low life total. Game two starts off looking good with a sweet hand of lands, Bog Raiders, Pendrell Drake, and Mental Discipline. I come out strong in the early game, with my Raiders and Drake getting in some early damage and answering his (Thronwind Faeries). My momentum slows though as I draw into a stream of lands and am forced to play (Mental Disciple) to try and dig myself out. This allows his Bubbling Beebles to start swinging through though, and he casts multiple Opportunitys to pull farther ahead. I knew I shouldn't have passed that card. My Mental Discipline continues to find me more lands, and I'm eventually overwhelmed by his forces (and beebles). Game three I suffer the unfortunate fate of having the exact opposite luck, mulliganing a no-lander into a one-lander into a one-lander and not drawing another until turn seven. Needless to say, I'm never really in it, and he eventually finishes me off with his mediocre, but better draw.

It's always sad to lose in top 8 to miserable luck, but nothing could be done about it that point, and I'm still happy to have pulled a money rare, won some packs, and qualified for the release event championships. Not a bad way to spend a day off of class I suppose.

I learned a few things in the course of event also. First and foremost, single-shot discard effects like Ravenous Rats and Cackling Fiend are very, very mediocre. Sure, they create 2-for-1s in theory, but the bodies are so small for the cost that they rarely if ever count for an extra full card, meaning that they often amount to just half a Mind Rot and a chump blocker. Even when I had multiples in successive turns, they seemed to being having a really negligible effect on my opponents gameplan. I won't pick or value them very highly from now on.

Second, I learned that creatures in this format often have big butts, and ground stalls are fairly common. My sealed deck had good ways to break ground stalls, which was consistently awesome. It also lacked decent answers for fliers and other evasive guys though, which would have helped tremendously in my two loses in the sealed.

Finally, the biggest lesson I took away from this event wasn't so much something I learned, as something I already strongly suspected and simply confirmed.

Masticore Pestilence

These two are absolute limited bombs, and you should probably open them in every sealed pool you play in Sage/Legacy/Destiny. ;) But seriously, Pestilence is easily a great first pick in limited and worth fighting over black with others for. Masticore wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped, but that doesn't mean I would ever pass him, because even at his worst he's well above average, and at his best he wins you the game singlehandedly. 

Thanks everyone for reading my first PureMTGO article, and I hope to writing for the site in future.

 - Grant Champion

- Pitlord on MTGO and forums

- @Grant_champion on Twitter

2 Comments

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