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It’s Friday night, the kids are sound asleep, the wife is happily doing her own thing, and the online Zendikar prerelease is waiting for me. I knew I wouldn’t have to wait long for one to fire; I’d checked in on the queues when they went live, and counted 56 prerelease events in progress after only 13 minutes!

Sure enough, when I logged on to play, the “players” column in the event queue was ticking upwards like a stopwatch, and less than half a minute after entering, I was looking at my first online Zendikar sealed pool! A rarity sort showed me both Ob Nixilis, the Fallen and Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet, so I figured I’d be playing black barring a complete absence of support cards. My black was actually pretty light; two Giant Scorpions, two Crypt Rippers, and a few other playables, but no Disfigures or Hideous Ends. I almost bailed on black despite the mythic bombs, but decided to look at it with the other colors and see if there was a good fit.

When I checked blue-black, I liked what I saw. Blue had the depth black was missing, but wasn’t heavily demanding on blue mana, which was exactly the kind of partner color my black cards needed. With two Welkin Terns, two Into the Roils, a Windrider Eel, and some long-game enablers in Kraken Hatchling, Paralyzing Grasp and Gomazoa, I thought it would play well in the format, especially with my Adventuring Gear, Trusty Machete, and Grappling Hook making my attackers that much better. It was light on hard removal for a black deck, but I felt it could put on some early pressure and take over a long game.

I lost match one after both of Villain’s Baloth Woodcrashers showed up in games two and three, but felt like I still had a great shot to go 3-1 with the pool. I was on my way to doing just that in round two against a friendly regular reader (ggs, Kriterian!). I’d started a memorable comeback in game two that required a series of intense blocking decisions in which I let my life total slip to 1 to his 26, but me with a Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet that had stopped the bleeding, and Ob Nixilis, the Fallen about to go to town with my freshly-drawn Grappling Hook. With Villain down to just under twenty after my first post-takeover attack, I would win if I could pull a land to deal three and make Ob Nix a 6/6…

Boom.

Apparently, Magic Online has the capacity to handle a PTQ without a problem, but not a prerelease for a hotly anticipated new set! Magic Online crashed good and hard right at that moment, and it was about a half an hour before anyone was able to log on again. By then, all prerelease events active at the time of the crash were cancelled (you keep your cards), and the reimbursement request link was making its way around the Magic community faster than the swine flu at PAX.

Freeroll! It was a bummer to have to restart a prerelease event at 11:30 PM, and I honestly want Magic Online to succeed more than I want twelve packs of cards for the cost of a six-pack event, but I looked at the bright side, banked my cards, and started over again on the house. I felt for those who didn’t have the means to secure 30 more tickets, as reimbursements for lost events don’t go out for a couple of days after filing a request.

Deckbuilding

I’m going to look at my rares and then evaluate each color individually, but for some mechanical suggestions on how to tackle a sealed pool in twenty minutes, check out my article on the M10 prerelease, where I divulge my secret tech for building a sealed deck online. OK, on to rare check number two:

Rite of Replication, Bloodghast, Kazuul Warlord, Rampaging Baloths, Magosi, the Waterveil, Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

Rite of Replication is a serviceable Clone variant that is unlikely to be kicked, and while happily playable, I don’t consider it a draw to play blue. I’m not sure how good Bloodghast is in limited yet: on the one hand, blocking is awfully useful, but on the other hand, so is a creature that won’t stay dead as long as you have a land drop. I’m definitely running it in any aggressive black deck, but I’m preparing for occasional frustration when I do.

A true ally deck is unlikely in sealed, but Kazuul Warlord is playable if unexciting as a 4/4 for 5 in red, with additional playable allies being gravy. Rampaging Baloths is quite good—certainly enough of a bomb to pick over removal in a draft—but landfall suffers on permanents with high casting costs since you are less likely to have lands when they hit. A 6/6 trampler for is very good without a landfall ability, though, and it only takes a couple of landfall triggers for it to become back-breaking. It’s the only rare I’ve opened that has me actively hoping for the depth in its color.

Magosi, the Waterveil isn’t likely to be too much more than an Island that enters the battlefield tapped, but it has some upside for that relatively small cost. Turns are powerful, so manipulating who takes them and when can also be powerful, even if you have to be fair about it. For example, storing a turn with mass removal in hand and then taking an extra turn after you blow up the board is a potent play. Magosi also improves counterspells in hand, since you can store a turn, tap out for something worth protecting before taking an extra turn, then untap, ready to protect your investment. I’m not expecting amazing things from it, and it still doesn’t make me happy to play reactive spells in limited, but it’s a low-risk, low-gain card that I will try out if I end up in blue.

Oran-Rief, the Vastwood has the same relatively small drawback as Magosi, but more potential to be relevant to a given game with its pure-upside ability that only requires a new green creature and a spare mana to use.

Before I check each color, I note my lands and artifacts, which include Adventuring Gear, Akoum Refuge, Piranha Marsh, Turntimber Grove and two Soaring Seacliffs. Since green is the color I’m hoping contains some depth, let’s start there.

Green

Grazing Gladehart, Harrow, Nissa's Chosen, Oran-Rief Recluse, Oran-Rief Survivalist, Primal Bellow, Rampaging Baloths, Relic Crush, Savage Silhouette, Scythe Tiger, Tanglesap, Turntimber Basilisk, Vines of Vastwood

Ouch, major bummer. Only six creatures that I’d play, here, with only eight or nine total playables. As much as I like the Rampaging Baloths, green doesn’t look like a strong contender for a main or support color, unless there is a complimentary color that is extremely deep.

Red

Bladetusk Boar, Burst Lightning, Demolish, Goblin Bushwhacker, Goblin Shortcutter, Goblin War Paint, Kazuul Warlord, Magma Rift, Plated Geopede, Seismic Shudder, Shatterskull Giant, Spire Barrage, Unstable Footing

Also a bit light on creatures, but it has three solid removal spells, and I like several of the creatures I do see, with Plated Geopede emerging as one of my favorite two drops in the set, and Bladetusk Boar representing a great finisher against anyone not playing red. There are definitely some unexciting cards at the low end, but Demolish is the only card I can’t see myself ever playing main, although I’d also hope to start Seismic Shudder and Goblin War Paint in the board as well. With 12 cards I’d be willing (if not thrilled) to maindeck, red is a solid option.

Black

Blood Seeker, Bloodghast, Bog Tatters, Feast of Blood, Giant Scorpion, Grim Discovery, Guul Draz Vampire, Heartstabber Mosquito, Marsh Casualties, Mind Sludge, Nimana Sell-Sword, Quest for the Gravelord, Surrakar Marauder, Vampire's Bite

A deep color in terms of sheer quantity, there are some solid early drops to compliment the red we just looked at, particularly the two Surrakar Marauders, and to a lesser extent the Guul Draz Vampires, who end games in a hurry once your opponent is "bloodied" (at 10 or less life). Feast of Blood is not playable with this vampire count, and Vampire's Bite is either a Lava Spike or a voluntary 2:1, so I would hope not to play it, either. Grim Discovery is best with land-sacrificing effects and bomb creatures, but could fill out any black build in a pinch. Giant Scorpion is a very solid card in the format, sometimes bringing entire offenses to a halt. Nimana Sell-Sword is a fine creature without a high ally count—it turns out Hill Giants are actually pretty good in a world where so many creatures deflate when it’s not your turn.

Seven mana is a lot, but unconditional removal that leaves a 2/2 flyer behind is clearly quite strong, so Heartstabber Mosquito will make any black deck I run. Quest for the Gravelord is nice as far as quests go. A 5/5 for is a great deal, and unlike a lot of quests, this one is going to be good even when dropped turn five or six, as there is typically a lot of creature death yet to come at that point. Blood Seekers seem pretty marginal to me. They are terrible in combat, an awful topdeck, and not as aggressive as I want to be on turn two. I can see them being the “meh” part of a successful vampire draft deck, but I’m unconvinced of their worth in sealed. Mind Sludge is playable in a heavy-black two-color deck, but it wants all Swamps (i.e., draft) to shine, and Bog Tatters is purely a sideboard card against black.

Sadly, there are no Hideous Ends or Disfigures in my second pool, either, but there is my early contender for “best non-rare in Zendikar limited” status, Marsh Casualties. One-sided mass removal is incredibly powerful, and even the newest players can see one obvious reason why: theirs die, yours don’t. The more subtle value of that result, however, is how it allows you to play the early turns compared to regular mass removal when you have the spell in your opening hand.

With an Infest in your opener during Alara-block limited, for example, you have to balance committing creatures to the board with setting up for your sweep spell, all while avoiding telegraphing your sweeper by suspiciously sandbagging creatures despite no mana problems. You end up altering your board development around setting up an optimal progression into your sweeper, which frequently involves losing a creature or two of your own anyway.

One-sided sweepers don’t warp your early board development in this way. You can dump creatures to the board safe in the knowledge that they won’t die to your sweeper, which also disguises its presence in your hand. In a limited format where many of the playable creatures are cheap and have an “at rest” toughness of two or less, a kicked Marsh Casualties is an absolute beating, producing three-for-ones or better regularly upon resolution.

Marsh Casualties compares favorably to other recent one-sided sweepers like Flame Wave and Plague Wind by being much easier to cast. It is really more directly comparable to the five-mana three-for-ones Incremental Blight and Cone of Flame, both acknowledged bombs in their respective formats. Given the history of this kind of effect, Marsh Casualties represents the most aggressively-costed one-sided sweeper spell in the modern limited era.

It’s my Zendikar Overrun: first pick it in draft, lean towards it in sealed, build around it, and win a high percentage of the games in which you resolve it. It is a strong pull into black in this pool.

Blue

Æther Figment, Caller of Gales, Gomazoa, Into the Roil, Ior Ruin Expedition, Lethargy Trap, Merfolk Seastalkers, Paralyzing Grasp, Quest for Ancient Secrets, Reckless Scholar, Rite of Replication, Spell Pierce, Spreading Seas, Summoner's Bane, Trapfinder's Trick, Trapmaker's Snare, Welkin Tern

The near-worthless one- and two-drops make blue questionable out of the gate, with only Welkin Tern making me happy at the low end. Paralyzing Grasp and Gomazoa are solid quasi-removal for blue, and the rumors of looting not being good in Zendikar have been greatly exaggerated. Card quality is still improved even if you don’t always want to ditch lands, and Reckless Scholar helps you find whatever it is you need most, and gets rid of useless, topdecked quests. He can also join in more effectively for an alpha strike than his merfolk cousin. (Check out the third Limited Resources podcast for my promised in-depth discussion of looting, and learn why you should loot basically every turn in which it’s an option.)

I love Into the Roil, too, but let’s face it, there’s not enough good blue in this pool to make it worth playing. We’re looking red-black so far, can the white change the plan?

White

Bold Defense, Brave the Elements, Caravan Hurda, Cliff Threader, Kor Aeronaut, Kor Cartographer, Kor Hookmaster, Kor Outfitter, Kor Sanctifiers, Landbind Ritual, Narrow Escape, Ondu Cleric, Quest for the Holy Relic

That would be a big “no.” Cliff Threader, Kor Aeronaut, Kor Cartographer, Kor Hookmaster, Kor Outfitter, and Kor Sanctifiers are all playable, but they are just guys. Pitfall Trap, Journey to Nowhere and bomby rares are the types of cards that draw you into white, not conditionally-good or color-intensive two drops.

The Deck

My color-by-color analysis put me pretty quickly into red-black, and here’s what I submitted:

The deck has an odd curve (adjusted for expected kickers), with only one three drop I actually want to cast on turn three, and five five-drops. I expect that my third turns will frequently involve casting a two drop and a one drop, or a two drop and equipping Adventuring Gear. I went with 17 land because of the generally low curve, but Mind Sludge was never very good for me at half strength, and in hindsight, I would rather start the Goblin Bushwhacker, Grim Discovery, or another land over it.

This deck wants to play first, hit fast, then finish with intimidate, Unstable Footing, or Marsh Casualties. Let’s see how it works out.

R1G1

I lose the roll and check my seven for the draw after Villain keeps.

This looks too slow. Sure, I might draw into early plays, but this hand is counting on a stumbling Villain or multiple, specific draws to be good. I would rather take my chances with a fresh six.

That looks somewhat better. I still don’t have any early defensive capabilities, but I can’t complain about a starter containing two Swamps, a Marsh Casualties, and another land or two, so I keep.

Villain leads with a turn-one Scythe Tiger. In most games, I’m going to be fine seeing that across the way on the first turn, but this one is a little more nerve-wracking. My two-drop doesn’t block, so unless I draw some help, I’ll be taking 12 from the tiger before I can sweep it, plus whatever else joins it on offense in the next three turns. My deck doesn’t cooperate, and I pull land off the top for three straight turns. Villain manages a turn-two Trusty Machete (the shroud on Scythe Tiger is almost equal parts drawback and bonus), but nothing else until a turn-five Windrider Eel. I have the Marsh Casualties two-for-one at that point, but I’ve taken 12 from the tiger now.

R1G1 #1

I cast the kicked Marsh Casualties and swing for 2 before passing. Villain recovers nicely with a River Boa that will soon be wielding a Trusty Machete (one of the best things equipment has done for the game is to provide some extremely comical creature/equipment pairings). With no Disfigure, I’ve already used up my only means to kill the boa besides killing it multiple times in one turn, and I don’t have anything big enough to block a 4/3 and live. I untap and pull a Guul Draz Vampire. What’s the play? I haven’t dropped a land yet.

R1G1 #2

I make a mistake here and cast the Mind Sludge precombat. There’s no way Villain blocks if I swing in first, and if he does, no big deal, landfall puts it back in play. Instead, attacking post-sludge is worthless. It ends up not mattering, as I don’t draw another spell, and eventually relent.

R1G1 #3

I don’t like Scythe Tiger, but it’s worth noting that the two times I’ve seen it across from me on turn one so far, I’ve lost the game. Normally, the Scythe Tiger opponent is going to come up with something that can trade with it fairly quickly, rendering it not worth the huge, tempo-crippling drawback. In this case, I just flooded and couldn’t deal with it until it had already softened me up for the kill. The other time, I lost to a turn-one Scythe Tiger when I was playing Allies and declined to trade early, then lost to Zektar Shrine Expedition and a flying Ruinous Minotaur. Results not typical.

R1G2

On the play now, I look at my seven:

If any of those red cards were a Mountain, I’d keep. As it is, I need to ship this back.

No pressure, but I can’t really ship this back, either. Hopefully my one-sided sweep will come through. My first draw is a Mountain, and on turn two Villain casts a River Boa. Should I use up my Burst Lightning on it?

If I had two Swamps, or if I had a creature coming up that could at least hold it off, I wouldn’t use removal on the boa with Marsh Casualties in hand. As it is, I have no guarantees that I will be casting the casualties in a timely fashion, or that I will find a creature to hold it off, so I burn it out while I can. It’s a fairly conservative play, but the format can be so explosive, the six points of damage I save here could easily be the difference between winning and losing after a turn-four Windrider Eel and a turn-five Harrow. The bolder play is to let it live and stunt its controller’s development, assuming Villain keeps up regeneration mana.

I immediately draw a Swamp, and now I’m hoping for more sweeper targets. Villain obliges, playing out a Grazing Gladehart on turn three. I have nothing but additional land on turn four, and shortly I’m taking two and staring up at a Windrider Eel. With nothing but Marsh Casualties and Goblin War Paint, I’m assuming I’ll cast casualties next, but I draw Shatterskull Giant to make things a little more interesting. What’s the plan this turn?

R1G2 #1

I could take the simple 2:1 with Marsh Casualties and set up for a Shatterskull Giant/Goblin War Paint play next turn, but I could also get a little greedy and play out the giant now, stop the gladehart attacks, and hopefully turn the 2:1 into a 3:1 with a little help from my enemy. If he casts and equips Trusty Machete I’ll be sad, but I decide it’s worth getting greedy, since most of the creatures I’ve seen from Villain die to casualties. I play out the giant and pass.

Villain misses the fifth land drop, and hits me for 2 in the air before dropping an unkicked Mold Shambler, thwarting my plans to 3:1 next turn. I untap and draw Guul Draz Vampire. What’s the best course of action, here?

R1G2 #2

I could again casualties for the 2:1, but I’m at a steady life total, and I feel if I give this opponent a chance, I should be rewarded with a more-profitable Marsh Casualties. I don’t want to put the Goblin War Paint on the giant and attack because it just offers a 2:2 involving a creature that will die to Marsh Casualties. Villain doesn’t have pump or I would have been attacked by the gladehart last turn, though, so I can still play the Goblin War Paint on the 4/3 and create a creature that the Mold Shambler can’t attack into either.

I’m risking Into the Roil with the play, but it continues to set up a good Marsh Casualties, so I paint up the giant, drop the Guul Draz Vampire and pass. So far, Goblin War Paint is uninspiring, with the haste ability not mattering, turning the spell into Giant Strength.

Once again, I wait anxiously, hoping my Marsh Casualties slowplay will become worthwhile. Instead of a two-toughness creature, though, Villain drops a Beastmaster Ascension, and I’m staring down a new kind of clock. The ascension can seem tough to turn on, but the key is that it triggers during the declare attackers step, so if you can swing in with what would normally be a suicidal attack and put the seventh counter on Beastmaster Ascension, those suicidal 1/1s become 6/6s before combat damage. I take two from the eel again, the ascension gets its first counter, and I untap, hoping to draw some help.

Instead, I draw more conundrums with a Quest for the Gravelord. The plan now?

R1G2 #3

A 5/5 black creature for one mana is a pretty great deal, and it loves Marsh Casualties, but needs to be on the battlefield before the casualties goes off. If I had three Swamps here, I’d drop the Quest for the Gravelord, stop messing around, and blow the Marsh Casualties. With Villain continuing to be stuck on four lands, though, I decide I can wait again, getting the quest set up for the sweeper spell. I play the quest and pass.

Villain hits a fifth land drop, and it’s a doozy: Soaring Seacliff, which triggers the gladehart’s lifegain, launches the Mold Shambler, and buffs the eel. The subsequent attack cuts my life total in half and puts three total counters on the Beastmaster Ascension. Yikes. Villain does me a small favor, though, finally playing another two-toughness creature, this time Lullmage Mentor (who seems terrible to me). Regardless of my draw, it’s finally going to be time to Marsh Casualties.

I draw Akoum Refuge, cast the casualties, complete the gravelord quest, attack for 7, and drop the land, bringing the life totals to 8 - 17. You never know, maybe Villain will forget about the instant-speed 5/5 and attack with the shambler next turn. He does not, casting a Zendikar Farguide and passing the turn. I make a 5/5 token before untapping, and draw a Swamp. Am I attacking here?

R1G2 #4

Yes, I swing in with the 6/5 giant. Villain has shown no bounce or pump, so the 5/5 zombie giant token should be able to hold down the fort, and now I’m happy to offer a 2:2 with the ascension at three counters. I’m also interested in bloodying Villain to turn on the Guul Draz Vampire, who can then end the game in a few swings. The giant goes unblocked, bringing life totals to 8-11, and I pass. An Oran-Rief Recluse joins the opposing army, but there are no attacks before I untap and draw another Mountain.

Nothing much has changed, since the recluse still doesn’t allow for a profitable block and Villain is still over ten life. I swing in again with the giant, since an all-out counterattack isn’t enough for an alpha, nor is it enough to turn on the Beastmaster Ascension. No blocks, and it’s now 8-5, and my vampire becomes a 3/2 intimidate.

I have a moment of panic when Villain untaps and casts Tempest Owl, but inexplicably doesn’t kick it. A mistake, a bluff, or is that last card in hand something to be concerned about? I’m thinking it was a bluff, because even kicked I wouldn’t be facing an alpha strike, and I could then counterstrike for alpha on my turn. May as well leave the mana up to scare me. No attacks, and I pull yet another land. What’s the plan on this board?

R1G2 #5

If the fail to kick was not a mistake or a bluff and I’m facing Into the Roil, Whiplash Trap, or some other combat-nullifying trick, I’m going to lose no matter what I do, so I should play as though I'm not up against those cards. If either my zombie or giant connect with my opponent, the game is over, so I can swing with everything, knowing I will at least force a double chump and hit for 3. In actuality, I leave behind the 5/5 token, and I’m not sure why, sitting here now. Reflexive conservatism? That’s unlike me, as while I can be conservative in what I play around, I’m typically looking for reasons to attack with more men.

It doesn’t change things too much since there is still no counterattack that can activate the ascension, and I still win on my next turn with the vampire unless Villain does something about it. The recluse jumps in front of my giant to take one for the team, and I earn a concession after the next draw step.

R1G3

Back on the draw, I look at my seven after Villain mulligans to 6:

I’d feel better about this hand if one of those Mountains were a Swamp, but this is keepable, if vulnerable to a fast start, given that I have removal I don’t want to use until after turn four, and a two-drop that can’t block.

The first play of the game is my Adventuring Gear on turn two after drawing a Mountain turn one. A Grazing Gladehart lands across the battlefield, and I prepare to outrace the lifegain. I can’t find a Swamp, instead finding a Mind Sludge that is currently masquerading as a five-mana, retrace-free Raven's Crime. Pretty terrible, and I vow at that point to side out the Mind Sludge on the draw in the future unless I've seen an expensive bomb in game one.

Villain plays a land, gains some life, hits me for two, and passes the turn curiously, with four mana up and four cards in hand. Does that untapped land change anything about the play this turn?

R1G3 #1

My main concerns are Summoner's Bane and Into the Roil, but I can’t really play around either, I have to push through them. Nimana Sell-Sword comes down over the Bladetusk Boar since the sell-sword can hold off the gladehart. Into the Roil it is, though, undoing my turn and keeping my back on my heels. Love that card!

That pesky River Boa makes another appearance across the table, this time with regeneration mana ready, which is going to be supremely annoying. I take 2 from the gladehart, and the life totals stand at 16 – 24 as I untap and draw Guul Draz Vampire. The play?

R1G3 #2

If I had three Swamps, I might consider taking another four points from the next attack to clear out Villain’s three-card hand, but if I can’t strip them all, I’d rather build up my board. I think the right play is to drop the Mountain, replay the sell-sword, than add the vampire. I decide against dropping the Mountain, and the sell-sword meets a Cancel.

Thinking ahead to landfall, I decide not to play out the Mountain at all, which I think is an instance of the allure of landfall tempting me into making a suboptimal play. If I played the turn straight, I’d have a vampire out and a land draw would get me the Bladetusk Boar and the Bloodghast next turn, although that still leaves me in a bad position for blocking. Losing that three-toughness creature is starting to look like a pretty big deal as I stare down a River Boa.

No play from Villain, just an attack for 4, and I draw into Goblin War Paint. Now what?

R1G3 #3

I’m hoping that if I build my own 3/3, I’ll be able to hold the ground until I can develop my board a bit more. Once again turning Goblin War Paint into Giant Strength, I play out the Guul Draz Vampire, paint him up, attach the Adventuring Gear, and this time play out the land.

My play works as intended, with Villain passing his turn without an attack or a play of any kind. What four spells am I up against, though? Confusing. I draw my second Guul Draz Vampire, and cast it and the boar before passing the turn. Villain finds a land, plays it, but again has no action, and passes it back to me. I pull a Plated Geopede and have some choices to make.

R1G3 #4

Since the 3/3 vampire is holding off attacks, it’s safe to send in the boar on offense. After combat, I play the geopede and the Bloodghast to add more threats to the table. I move the Adventuring Gear over to the boar in hopes that he will begin swinging for big chunks of life each turn. Those hopes are dashed shortly after by a Paralyzing Grasp, and my evasive win condition is neutralized. I draw Heartstabber Mosquito and assess my options:

R1G3 #5

The anti-synergy between the mosquito and the Magma Rift is fairly annoying, but even more so is having two Swamps instead of three for the Mind Sludge. If I could strip Villain’s hand completely, I would again love the Mind Sludge play, but leaving the best card in hand makes me sad. One option is to give up on seven mana for the kicked mosquito, take out the Grazing Gladehart with the Magma Rift, and apply some pressure. I can also attack with the painted vampire and the Bloodghast and sludge after combat to at least hit for a couple damage and a couple cards.

Assessing this now, I like being more aggressive. I’ve got a big life gap to make up, and if I stop worrying about kicking the mosquito, I can take out the gladehart, attack, and either make a 2/2 flyer or sludge for Villain’s hand next turn. With evasion and Adventuring Gear, if I can start hitting land drops, the damage should begin to pile on despite the regenerating blocker.

Instead, I opt for a very passive turn, casting Mind Sludge for 2 (hitting Beastmaster Ascension and Island) and passing. I fell in love with the idea of a kicked mosquito, here, when I would give myself a better chance of winning if I become aggro and make Villain play control.

A Windrider Eel joins the opposition, and I draw a Swamp to put me in a tough spot, with six land and the Magma Rift and Heartstabber Mosquito pulling me in opposite directions, and the threat of a land drop looming large on the other side of the battlefield. What’s the most likely path to victory now?

R1G3 #6

I liked going aggro over my choice of plays last turn, but now I really think I need to hit seven land and utilize both cards in hand as removal to be able to win this one. I still have a solid attack, though, by moving adventuring gear onto the Bloodghast, dropping a land and swinging with the Bloodghast and the geopede. I have to get the licks in that I can while maintaining a solid defense, and that is accomplished with this play, connecting for 3 as the boa blocks the Bloodghast.

If I’d waited another turn for the sludge, I’d likely be facing the same board right now, but Villain would have an empty hand. I really want a land next turn. No landfall from the enemy, and I take 2 in the air from the eel and see a Scythe Tiger enter the battlefield before attempting to mise myself into a kicked mosquito or a devastating Marsh Casualties. No luck, I pull my Goblin Shortcutter instead. Cast it?

R3G1 #7

The shortcutter seems destined to render the boa unable to block, but I don’t really want to do that until I’m landfalling on the same turn. My ideal sequence (that doesn’t involve drawing a disgusting Marsh Casualties) is to draw a land, cast a kicked mosquito targeting the eel, swing with the geopede and the Bloodghast for 3, draw another land, move the gear onto the painted vampire or the flyer, Magma Rift the gladehart, cast Goblin Shortcutter targeting the boa, play the land, and hopefully drop Villain to 10 or force some awkward blocking. Two land in a row is not some miracle draw, so that’s what I play for, passing the turn once again.

I dodge another landfall bullet and take just the 2 from the eel before getting the turn back. Come on, topdeck! Nope, Unstable Footing. Yuck. My plan goes unchanged, although with each passing turn it becomes less and less likely that it will work.

My luck finally runs out as Villain topdecks a land to gain more life and double the damage from the eel, making it a 4 – 22 game. In a terrible oversight, I fail to cast Unstable Footing before untapping, distracted by the greater problem of a possible four-powered eel attacking me next turn. I once again fail to rip land, and my Kazuul Warlord wonders why I’m not happy to see him. What’s the right play for desperation time?

R3G1 #8

Gotta kill the eel or risk losing to a landfall attack next turn. I play the Magma Rift and pass. Villain drops a Seascape Aerialist, which is terrible unless there are five other allies I just haven’t seen in that deck. No attack, and I get the turn back. Naturally, I draw a land. Is it too late to turn this game around?

R3G1 #9

Maybe not! I can still apply some pressure here, so I drop the land, swing with the Bloodghast and the Plated Geopede, than cast the warlord. With another land, I can really turn the tide, taking out a creature, hitting for more damage, and setting up for an alpha strike as soon as I can get Villain at 10 or less life.

Unfortunately, a kicked Tempest Owl puts a monkey wrench in my plans for a Big Comeback:

R3G1 #10

Ouch. That’s enough to clear away my blockers, and Villain deals 9 points to my face, 13 points to my rating, and 25 points to my ego. I was so close to turning that one around, but just couldn’t hit the cards I needed in time. Did I miss a play? I’m left wondering how the game might have turned out had I waited on the Mind Sludge until it could take out the entire hand, or if I’d used the Magma Rift earlier and simply played out the mosquito as a boring 2/2 flyer.

There were definitely some tough choices in this one, but just because some different plays might have won me the game in this specific case, it doesn’t necessarily make them the right plays in the abstract. “Decisions, not results,” is my poker mantra, where it’s a common occurrence to make the correct play and lose or make the incorrect play and win, and it’s a mantra that holds for Magic as well. I’m not as concerned with whether or not I won this game as I am with whether or not my decisions gave me the best chance to win.

Next week, I’ll wrap up the other three matches in this prerelease, and we’ll see if I was able to salvage any packs after an 0-1 start.

A Timmy Is Born

Oliver’s passion for Magic has remained strong since his introduction to the game at the Zendikar prerelease, and in my column last week I mentioned that he’d requested a monogreen deck to make use of the two promo Rampaging Baloths we had. Happy to oblige, I explained the landfall mechanic to him, and we put together a landfall deck with a core of Baloth Woodcrasher, Harrow, Khalni Heart Expedition, Grazing Gladehart, Rampant Growth, Rampaging Baloths, and Terramorphic Expanse, with a mix of other green landfall and “cares about Forests” cards to give it some variety and flavor.

He edged me out of the first game we played, landing a Rampaging Baloths and generating enough 4/4 tokens to overwhelm me before I could deal with the pesky mythic. Clara joined in for a game of Dad vs. the Two-Headed Giant, but Oliver hardly needed the help. His turn sequence against my green-red deck was:

• T2: Khalni Heart Expedition
• T3: Forest, Grazing Gladehart, which I Shock
• T4: Forest, Drumhunter
• T5: Khalni Gem, replay Forest, Grazing Gladehart
• T6: Baloth Woodcrasher, Forest, gain two life, draw a card at EOT.
• T7: Forest, Harrow, Harrow, pop Khalni Heart Expedition, Primal Bellow with nine Forests in play, gain 14 life, attack with a 41/41 trampler, gg.

Not much my red-green deck can do about that. I scooped up my cards and extended a hand to the winners.

“Wow! I love landfall, Dad!”

A couple days later, Oliver and I played again, and this time I managed to notch a win with a white-blue deck. He got stuck on two land for a couple turns while I curved out into some flyers he just couldn’t deal with, and by the time he landed Rampaging Baloths and popped a Khalni Heart Expedition, it was too late, I had lethal flying damage coming.

“Good game dad, you finally beat me! My record is still pretty good, though, I’ve won 7 and only lost once!”

Who was this child, and where was my son? You know, the kid who, despite holding a Pacifism in hand, nearly wept when I resolved a Shivan Dragon against him two weeks ago. The kid who’s allowed to keep his resources in Settlers of Catan when he rolls a 7 and redraw tiles in Carcassone because it’s far more pleasant to allow some light, open cheating than it is to suffer through his gamer rage. Where did that kid go? Wait, don’t answer that, I’ll just stick with this new one.

I tucked Oliver in that night, and with a big grin on his face, he again expressed his disbelief that I’d finally managed to win one, but not without mentioning his overall record again. I kissed him on the forehead, told him nothing had made me more proud during his first three weeks of Magic than the way he’d taken his first loss, and turned out the light. Hopefully, this new kid is here to stay.

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