Kaladesh is finally here, and it looks fantastic. My journey with the set didn't go off to a particularly good start, though.
You see, going to paper prereleases is something that I don't do as often these days. Prereleases were a huge part of my early competitive Magic years - back in the early noughties, the local store in my hometown used to hold them as huge single-day events, which would routinely draw 100+ players (sometimes 200+) to battle it out for a shot at the top 8. In Brazil, we don't get nearly as many PTQs and GPs as elsewhere in the world, and much less back in my state, so prereleases were one of the few opportunities we had to experience this kind of huge-tournament vibe.
These days, however, things have changed, as not only has real life gotten in the way of me routinely playing paper Magic (meaning that, outside a few commander decks, I don't really collect paper cards anymore), but also prereleases in Brazil have become more subdued affairs. Add in the fact that most of my Magic buddies are back in my hometown, and I don't have a ton of incentive to go play.
This time, though, things worked out, and a friend and I decided to attend a Kaladesh prerelease. We went to one of the largest stores in São Paulo (and, by consequence, in Brazil), which holds a six-round swiss event with very attractive prizes to the top 16 players. I opened a ridiculous pool, with nice removal and a least a couple of bombs in Demon of Dark Schemes and Skyship Stalker.
I proceeded to quickly go 3-0, with big old Demon handing me quite a few games (including one in which I topdecked it on the last possible minute, right after my opponent had played an Angel of Invention... ouch).
I then proceeded to lose two rounds to two different copies of Smuggler's Copter, which got me beyond sour at the card's ridiculousness. If that weren't enough, I got mana screwed out of the last round and lost it, ending up at... 17th. Yep, right out of the prize range, after an amazing 3-0 start. And all because of two blasted Copters.
So yeah, I was pretty bitter about Kaladesh, but I knew eventually I'd be the one who would open the damned card. Which brings us to this event.
So yeah, Kaladesh is here, and even with all of my previous frustration, I intend to play a ton of drafts. I have to admit the format looks ridiculously fun, and I'm eager to get more experienced with it.
