Events

Family Tradition Ended by WOTC Buy-a-Box Promo Decision

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

A family tradition is about to end for us! This sounds dramatic but it’s not quite as momentous as you might think. So, what happened?

WOTC this week announced that it is ending its Buy-a-Box program in early 2026. They announced their decision rather quietly in a Wizards Play Network (WPN) post a few days back. Based on “careful review,” they plan to sunset the program with Lorwyn Eclipsed, the first set to come out next year.

The Buy-a-Box program provided a bonus card with each booster box purchased at an LGS. The cards offered were not always spectacular but there some some pretty desirable ones as well. Both Nexus of Fate and Kenrith, The Returned King spring to mind as good examples of some great card to come through the program.

The program ran for 17 years, longer than the family has been playing Magic. No reason was provided for the decision but WOTC does promise new future promotional initiatives:

We remain focused on investing in promotional programs and incentives that drive long-term growth and repeat play in stores. You will continue to see strong in-store support through initiatives that reward player engagement, spotlight new releases, and help you activate your local audience through in-store experiences. We will also continue testing new event structures, support, and promotions to identify and expand your store’s experiences.

So, how does this announcement end a family tradition? Anyone following our adventures knows that we buy a box with every set. Well, almost every set as we put an end to that tradition with The Last Avatar given our lack of interest in the set.

We gather together at our gaming table and crack open the box. We then go around, one at a time, picking up a pack until the box is empty. The real fun then follows. We all together crack a pack and go through our cards. We reveal the Rare and Mythic pulls. We then repeat until we have gone through all the packs. Surrounded by the empty booster wrappers, the final part of the tradition is to give the Buy-a-Box promo card to the person who pulled the least Mythics. While most of these have little value, it was the consolation prize (and it did work out in a few cases!). Some even became favourites. I’m fond of Firesong and Sunspeaker (despite the fact that Noah has it). And Noah built a cats and dogs deck with Rin and Seri, Inseparable. And while we were not playing when Surgical Extraction was the promo, it might have been a nice card to end the opening tradition with.

It is rare for whatever reason that we end up with equal number of Mythics. There is typically one person who does really well while there is also someone disappointed with their pulls (the trial and tribulations of opening booster packs). Sliding the BaB promo over to that person was essentially with some light-hearted teasing.

With Lorwyn Eclipsed coming up next, the boys and I had already talked about resuming the tradition. We are still discussing the timing given that Noah is now out of the province for university but we are looking forward to the new set. Unfortunately, we’ll have to see if we can come up with an alternative tradition for the compensation prize.

Final Fantasy Pre-Release: A New Era in Magic

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

The Final Fantasy pre-release marked the beginning of a new era in our family. It was the first one where I went alone as Christian was working and Noah decided that he had/has no interest in this set and that it does not exist. “It’s a summer without new Magic sets,” he declared some time back.

I knew from the hype leading to the launch that this would be a huge set. The fact that it was the best-selling set ever even before it officially launched certainly suggested as such. But it really hit home as I listened to players around me talking about playing the video game through all of its different versions. I was definitely in the minority as someone who has never played this game.

And then came the moment to start building!

Jecht, Reluctant Guardian
Clive, Ifrit's Dominant
Firion, Wild Rose Warrior

I cracked my packs and laid out my cards. Three cards immediately stood out for me: Jecht, Reluctant Guardian which flips into a 7/7 creature saga, Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant, my only mythic and another creature saga, and Firion, Wild Rose Warrior. My White was not particularly strong but had some decent removal and had Moogle’s Valor, a card that looked like fun.

Final Fantasy pre-release deck building

I quickly ruled out Blue as it had nothing that called out to me. Green was not much better despite having a few cards, including some saga creatures but none that flipped. I was not convinced that these would be strong enough as they were not long for the board.

I’ve not had much luck in the past with three colours so looked to build a two-colour deck but I had only two spells in that colour and neither was particularly good. Red was strong, particularly with a Suplex as one of the better removal spells in the set. I caved and went three colours to get some white removal and smooth out my curve a little bit. To be honest, I was not exactly feeling my deck. It felt like I was trying to do a lot with it and I wondered how it would all come together.

Minwu, White Mage

One card that I had hoped to find was Minwu, White Mage. It was not necessarily for the pre-release but for my Clerics decks. More on that card in an upcoming post.

My first round was against a player who was coming back to Magic because of Final Fantasy. He had stopped playing some years back but the new set drew him back. He played what looked like a Selesnya deck that promised some big creatures.

A few cards came through for me as I won the first game: Mysidian Elder and more importantly, the 0/1 black Wizard token who would ping him for one every time I cast a noncreature spell, Red Mage’s Rapier with the Job select mechanic that would immediately attach the Equipment to a Hero token, and Moogle’s Valor.

Mysidian Elder
Wizard token
Red Mage's Rapier

The second game went pretty much the same way. It turns out that my opponent was playing three colours but his mana did not cooperate for this first round. I ran into him later and his deck did work better after our games.

For me, it was a first round win – Something that has not happened in a while!

My second round was against an Izzet deck. There was good synergy between the cards of his deck but my deck continued to surprise me. I was able to play Jecht, Reluctant Guardian, but he realized the threat and quickly dealt with it. It did cost him one of his few removal spells, I found out later. The game went long after that but I managed to prevail.

We kicked off the second game and it again went long. The decks were clearly evenly matched and I got to play Clive, Ifrit’s Dominant. Again, my opponent astutely recognized the threat and Clive was quickly removed. Sadly, once more I was not able to transform one of my creature sagas.

This time, it was my opponent who prevailed just as time as called. We had to settle for a draw but I was not unhappy as my deck was fun to play and was continuing to play better than I had expected.

For the third round, I was paired up against someone who had been deckbuilding not far from me. When I saw him sit down across from me, I knew the odds were not going to be in my favour. He had pulled not one but two Vivi Ornitiers, one of the most potent cards in the deck.

In our first round, he mulliganed down to 5 cards. I started feeling a little better about my chances. I held my removal for his Vivi and was able to control the game and chip away slowly again using my 0/1 Wizard tokens. The game went long but I prevailed.

In the second round, it was my turn to mulligan down to five cards. Lands suddenly were scarce and I did not feel like playing with one land hands. This game felt very much like the mirror of the first one. Me starting with five and him consistently inflicting damage in a slow methodical way that I could not answer. At time, we were at one win a piece. A second draw to complete the round.

As usual, our LGS handed out two packs for each match, letting players decide amongst themselves to split the or play for them. We agreed to split them in all three rounds. From them, I pulled the following Rares and Mythics: Lightning, Army of One, a Cecil, Dark Knight, The Darkness Crystal, Triple Triad and Zell Dincht. Some interesting stuff!

Cecil, Dark Knight
The Darkness Crystal
Lightning, Army of One

I am thinking that I will build a Commander deck around Lightning, Army of One. The Stagger ability could definitely lead to some interesting negotiations at the table.

All in all, I’m pleased with my 1-0-2 record but I do still wish that the boys had been here. Magic is all about the gathering as so many say and I missed our chats during deck building and between games. It is a new era here at Family Magic.

Tarkir: Dragonstorm Pre-release recap

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

You may recall that Aetherdrift did not impress the boys and I. It was another of those sets where some familiar characters were forced into a tropy setting, one that really did not resonate with us. Fortunately, the following set held more promise. And it has finally arrived: Tarkir: Dragonstorm pre-release season is upon us (if only for a week).

Why the excitement? It is the return to a somewhat familiar plane. When the boys and I first got into Magic during Battle for Zendikar, both boys also purchased packs from some previous sets. And two sets in particular were quite popular. And where were these set? Surprise, surprise, they were the Tarkir sets. When Wizards announced the return to Tarkir, there was much rejoicing in this house. As for me, I like that this is a solid set that, like Foundations or Bloomburrow, plays like a traditional Magic set.

Unfortunately, Noah once again had to miss out on Pre-Release, this time because of his participation in the school musical (Footloose this year!). So, Christian and I headed off Saturday morning, chatting about which clan we would choose. Christian was set on Mardu while I settled on Abzan.

My six packs, including the seeded one, pretty much locked me into Abzan. My promo, Revival of the Ancestors, was also an Abzan card (Christian ended up with a Jeskai promo). My blue was weak except for Taigam, Master Opportunist. My Red pulls left me equally uninspired and I stuck to my original plan.

Deck building felt good. I cut blue and red with no hesitation and set to building my Abzan deck. Along with my promo, I threw in Felothar, Dawn of the Abzan (could I play Abzan without its lord?) and Skirmish Rhino as a tribute to the old Siege Rhino. A few dragons and some good removal and I was ready.

My first match was a fairly evenly matched affair. Good fun!

In the first game, my opponent’s deck started a bit faster but I was able to catch up and we traded damage fairly evenly through the first turns, quickly ending up in single digits. Omens proved quite useful for me, helping with mana ramp and card draw. Removal played an important part in both our decks, keeping the creature count low. A string of three lands in a row late in the game changed the tone of the game, leaving me on the backfoot, unable to either remove his creatures or cast new ones of my own to replace those I was losing to his removal. In the end, that run of lands left me with an empty board and no answers to the damage coming in.

Game 2 started more strongly for me, especially after my opponent milled two of his removals, looking through his library for a threat. Again, the omens helped early in the game. While he started on the backfoot, he was able to catch up. Renew helped turn the tides for him, particularly his Qarsi Revenant, along with a few other Deathtouch creatures. We once again found ourselves in low single digits but it was his game in the end.

For my second match, I found myself relegated to the last table of our LGS where I met my next opponent.

I handily won the first game against a 4-colour deck. My opponent claimed to be playing five colours but I never saw a red land. If her strategy was indeed five colours, this first game would have been very frustrating. We talked as we shuffled up for the next game and it sounds like she just ended up with a pretty janky pool that really did not come together. I hate those kinds of days.

Game 2 was another decisive win but not for me. I went deep into the game without any White mana and a full hand of cards calling for White. With little else to cast, I had to discard cards for several turns, frustrated that I otherwise had a solid hand. On her side, my opponent pinged me for at least 1 from her second turn (and later 2 from each creature as counters entered the game). It was enough to whittle me down to the point that even when White showed up, it was too late. She was definitely pleased to pull a win out with her jank.

Fickle luck decided to smile on me again in the third game and everything lined up nicely for a quick win.

Mardu was a popular choice at our LGS and but it was only in my third match that I faced off against it.

The first game went long and was a very close affair. Removal and lifegain helped me weather the token storm. This was a fun game where my opponent kept attacking as “that is the Mardu way.” Qarsi Revenant (again!) certainly made it an interesting game. Using Renew to give another creature a flying counter, a deathtouch counter, and a lifelink counter when it dies is a pretty nasty little trick. Fortunately, between my own flyers and my removal, I was able to win the first game.

Game 2 started with my opponent taking a mulligan. From there, things did not improve for her. Two removal spells ended up in her graveyard shortly after while my own kept her in check. I was able to establish a solid board presence and was able to hit for damage consistently.

One card that really helped contain her threats was Arashin Sunshield, which can tap enemy creatures. I simply used it on her turn to control her biggest threat until I finally was able to permanently remove it. She never really recovered and I won the match 2-0.

It was nice to end 2-1 after the pretty horrid stretch I’ve had in recent pre-releases.

In general, I was pleasantly surprised by the Omen mechanic. I used them early in the games and was lucky enough to have them pop back into my hand a couple of times afterwards allowing me to then use the more expensive creature side. Definitely more flexible than I thought although they may not be as useful in larger decks where there is a smaller chance that they will reappear.

And one last thought. I wish the MTG Companion app would let you see your match history. It was something you could do back in the DCI number days. I would have liked to be able to see my standing before the event closed out.

Anyways, a good set and a fun pre-release…

Aetherdrift Pre-Release Gameplay: Lessons from My Matches

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Aetherdrift did not impress me during previews. There was something about this vehicle-heavy race-themed set that just did not connect with me. The story behind it and the new mechanics, Start Your Engines and Exhaust, did not impress me either. But, a pre-release is a pre-release and the best way to discover a new set. I hoped that my first impressions would be proven wrong.

Unusually, Noah could not make the pre-release as he was at a robotics competition all day. So, Christian and I were the only ones to head off (in fact, Noah left the house earlier).

Cracking my six packs revealed a pool that left me wondering what kind of deck I would build. A first glance revealed few clear bombs, aside from The Speed Demon. All my colours were low on creatures, especially, red and blue. Green was strong on creatures but none were absolute or even near bombs. With the heavy reliance on Vehicles and Mounts, a good pool of creatures was key in my mind. I did pull two Verges so not all was lost as I’m a firm believer that good mana is at the heart of all decks. Not that you’d believe that when I decided to go with a 16 land deck.

I ended up with an Orzhov deck (seems to be my colour pair these days) built around The Speed Demon, two Streaking Oilgorgers and flyers like Swiftwing Assailant. There was plenty of removal to hopefully keep me in the game while I built my board.

The Speed Demon

My first match of the day was against a Simic deck piloted by an actual content creator (Regular_Zach on Twitch if you’re interested). In our first game, I got to see how Exhaust could work. It proved to be a stronger mechanic than I expected, especially as it kept bringing back the pesky Afterburner Expert.

I also found my deck slow to get started (I had a feeling when I built it) and quickly went down in two games. In the second game, I got to hit Max Speed but it was too late to help me deal with a fierce opponent.

My second game was against an old neighbourhood friend of mine. I discovered in our first game that The Last Ride can be a pretty potent threat. But to be, it does need a bit of strategy and willingness to take some risks. Unfortunately, my friend misplayed it causing it to die when it became crewed. It was only upon rereading the card the next turn that we realized that rather than hitting me for 13, it should have died. We agreed to play on and that I would take the win. The match was a long drawn out but fun affair that left us with little time for our next game.

Back to The Last Ride for a moment. For a single Black pip, you get a 13/13 legendary artifact vehicle. The downside is that it will die if you crew it when your life is greater than 12. But you can still play it before that and use it for card draw while reducing your life to below 13. The lower your life, the bigger the threat. It really becomes a potent foe when your life is low. If you play with your life as a resource, it can be quite the threat but beware as it also dies easily to removal.

Unfortunately, I lost the second game in extra time and we settled for the draw.

My third game was simply ugly. In both matches, I was quickly overrun by a Boros deck built around cheap mana creatures and Start Your Engines. At Max Speed, those little creatures suddenly became bigger threats. In my first game, I could only manage two lands and that hampered my progress and quickly sealed my fate. In the second, I had the lands but my deck’s slow speed simply could not deal with the aggro tempo.

While I ended at 0-1-2 and near the bottom of the standings, Christian found his groove and went an impressive 3-0, losing none of his games! And he managed that with a Boros deck (a combination that he does not play very often).

As for Noah and his robotics competition, his team was eliminated in the first tournament round after clawing back with three straight wins after two losses in the preliminaries.

Next up for us will be the Tarkir: Dragonstorm pre-release. I’m definitely looking forward to this one.

Note: The feature image is again generated by AI.

Genesis: Battle of Champions returns to Kickstarter

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

A year after Genesis: Battle of Champions died and was resurrected, it looks like the game is making a slow and steady comeback. Edge of Exile Entertainment (EOE), the new owners, released a new expansion set late last year (Invasion) and are now getting the next one ready, hoping to get it out soon. They celebrated their 50th livestream episode a week ago and used the occasion to announce some “big news.” A new Kickstarter campaign is kicking off on July 8th.

This is not the first Kickstarter for Genesis, Battle of Champions. Back in 2022, the world was a different place. The game was still run by Haunted Castle Gaming; we were still dealing with the repercussions of COVID 19; interests rates were starting to climb to levels unseen in a while. The campaign closed with more than 600 backers (666 to be precise – read into that what you want) and nearly CA$350,000 raised.

Things promise to be different this time around. The new ownership wants to try something very different with this campaign. Unlike the previous one, this upcoming one will not offer booster boxes. Instead, it will focus on various exclusive backer rewards. As Jason Malott, EOE President, explained during the livestream, the idea is to offer products that will not cannibalize LGS sales but offer complimentary products for fans of the game.

The Kickstarter is expected to launch on July 8th, a bit later than Canada Day. A nice touch if it would have happened as Genesis is a Canadian-made game.

In terms of funding tiers, we will get exact information when the campaign goes live but up for grabs will be:

  • T-shirts featuring new art for Champions such as Erika and Oni
  • A Kickstarter exclusive playmat. The design is not finalized but it could be a map of Jaelara
  • Tokens featuring your backer or content creator name
  • Character cards based on your appearance either in Metamorphosis or Cataclysm
  • New Exert tokens from the same creator who made the commemorative Invasion Release Day ones
  • Kickstarter exclusive set of non-foil alternate art Champions appearing in Metamorphosis
  • Serialized set of alternate art of each Champion appearing in Metamorphosis
  • A very limited ultimate tier where you will get a chance to guest host on the Genesis BOC livestream

EOE hopes to raise at least $40,000 with the Kickstarter campaign. The funds will be used to accelerate plans, including getting Metamorphosis, the next set, to market faster (“hopefully before the cold weather,” according to Jason. Other plans for the funds include the launch of organized play and getting listed on TCGPlayer.

EOE also shared their Plan B should the Kickstarter fail. This includes delaying the release of Metamorphosis and organized play, possibly into next year. They also have alternative fundraising plans. Here’s hoping that they will not be needed.

I’ll update this post once the Kickstarter is live with more information on the different tiers.

Update:

A few new details:

  • The Kickstarter is expected to kick off on July 8th
  • Special discounts will be offered for the first 24 hours
  • If the campaign goal of $40,000 is reached, Metamorphosis will immediately go to the printers
  • Stretch goals for $45,000, $50,000 (including an enhanced Organized Play program), $60,000 (with OP promo packs), $70,000 (special commemorative exert tokens) and $150,000 (to get onboarded on TCGPlayer.com)

Update #2 (July 8th, 2024):

The Kickstarter campaign is live! It looks like a good start with the campaign almost 20% backed already!

Lost Caverns of Ixalan Pre-Release

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

The last pre-release of the year. It’s hard to believe that it’s been six years since we last visited Ixalan for a pre-release.

My card pool was good but not extraordinary. It clearly pushed me into Gruul with plenty of dinosaurs but neither colour featured good removal. Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant, was my sole Mythic and clearly a sign that I was meant to play Dinosaur Tribal. I considered splashing some white to give me some relief in the removal department (Cosmium Blast, Spring-loaded Sawblades) but decided instead to stick to two colours and adjust later should games not go my way.

My first game was a closely fought affair. I quickly won the first one as my opponent struggled getting his mana out. The tables turned in the second game and he quickly build his board state. Sovereign Okinec Ahau is a powerful card (once you decipher its terribly worded ability). With my opponent throwing +1/+1 counters everywhere, things rapidly got out of control for me.

The third game went to turns. On what was to be my last turn, I had my opponent down to 5 and could only inflict 4 points of damage. I ran through all the permutations I could think of but always came up short by 1. On his last turn, he ran into a similar situation, leaving me with 2 life. We settled for the draw. Definitely a good match to start with!

In the second match, errors dominated my game play. I mulliganed my first hand as it had two red lands and everything else was green. My next hand had one land but a good mix of other cards. I kept it and then proceeded to not see another land for 4 turns. Fortunately, I had Ixalli’s Lorekeeper and the Poison Dart Frog to keep me alive but it was only a matter of time.

In our second game, I had a good board state but struggled to inflict damage. My opponent was able to chump block enough to stymy enough damage to draw the game out. He then started to come back and inflict damage of his own. And then I made a fatal mistake, forgetting about an activated ability that reduced toughness on one of my key creatures on the board. There was no recovery at that point.

In the third game, I found myself playing the near-mirror (Gruul Dinosaurs). I won the first very quickly thanks to my opponent not being to get lands out quickly enough. I was ahead enough that I always had an answer to what he played. In the second game, he had the lands but kept drawing the smaller creatures while I was able to ramp quickly thanks to Lorekeeper and Poison Dart Frog.

I left relatively pleased to finish with a 1-1-1 record but it could have easily been 2-1 had I not thrown away the second match with simple mistakes.

My game store promo card was Path of Ancestry. I’ll definitely find a home for it in one of my Commander decks.

Impressions of the set: I love the Ixalan tribal theme (loved it six years ago and still do today). Dinosaurs, Vampires, Pirates and now Gnomes. What’s not to like? Oh yeah, the fact that so many cards are very wordy. There is so much packed into each card. The power creep is real as is the proliferation of counters (now including Finality counters, Bore counters, etc).

I was really happy to see Explore return. I loved it last time and enjoyed it just as much this time around. A straightforward mechanic that just works well and that I intend to revisit on Arena! Jadelight Ranger and Wildgrowth Walker, here I come!

Last but not least, the boys both went 2-1. I guess they will continue to remind me that they are better players!

Wilds of Eldraine Pre-Release

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Our Wilds of Eldraine Pre-Release was a most unusual one. The boys and I normally go down together to play and often find at least two of us paired up for a game at least once per event. Scheduling conflicts meant that we could not go together this time around. I headed off alone Friday night for Face to Face while the boys met up with some friends and went Saturday morning.

My pool was better than I have seen in recent events. I drew four Mythics: Virtue of Knowledge (my promo), Virtue of Courage, Rowan, Swion of War and Land Tax. Just there, I was pretty happy, especially with that last card. But looking at the rest of my pool, I ended up with a Rakdos deck focused around rats that used none of them. I toyed with the idea of using Virtue of Knowledge but I just did not have enough cards with abilities to make it worthwhile to splash a card costing 4 and a .

I lost my first round in two games. A mental mistake on my part cost me the first. Archon of the Wild Rose gives all creatures flying, not just to itself. Small distinction that I failed to catch and left myself wide open to an aerial assault that sealed my fate. In the second game, no mental mistakes but simply overwhelmed by the power of Agatha’s Soul Cauldron.

Archon of the Wild Rose
Agatha's Soul Cauldron
Agatha’s Soul Cauldron

In the second round, I easily won the first round with my rats overwhelming my opponent struggling to keep creatures on the board thanks to my removal spells. I was not so lucky in the second game as momentum shifted to the other side of the table, leaving me on the backfoot. Our third game went to time and we settled for the draw.

My rats finally showed what they could do in the third round (or maybe the stars aligned a bit better). I won the round, giving me a 1-1-1 record for the pre-release. That’s the same result as I had for the LOTR Pre-Release.

The game store promo card was a Reine des frelons (Hornet Queen). While not a powerful card, I do have it in my Kamahl and Jeska Commander deck. Maybe I’ll sub in this French version. It always infuriates the boys when I play French cards.

As for the boys, Christian went 1-2 while Noah went 1-1-1 on Saturday morning.

I’m definitely looking forward to Caverns of Ixalan in November. I loved the lore of the original Ixalan sets and hope that revisiting the plain (even if we’re going to the middle of it) will be as much fun this time around!

Another birthday means more Magic gifts

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Another birthday is now in the books. This one was a low-key affair (bigger celebrations are planned for later in the year but they are not in any way related to Magic or any other TCG). So back to the (big?) day. Much like last year (and other past years), the boys focused on Magic for gifts.

Before I explain Christian’s gift, here is some important background. First, while I recognize that Blue is probably the most powerful colour in Magic, it is not my favourite. It is at the bottom of the list with Black.

That did not prevent me from building a mono-Blue Commander deck headed up by Talrand, Sky Summoner. This Merfolk Wizard is all about casting instant or sorcery spells to create an army of 2/2 drakes. Logically, you would expect the 99 to come with plenty of both to overwhelm his foes with lots of flying threats. Maybe a Temporal Manipulation (especially that Frazetta version) or the annoying Alrund’s Epiphany? Or a heap of cheap counter and draw spells that not only stymie your opponent but also get you more drakes.

Talrand, Sky Summoner
Secret Lair - Temporal Manipulation
Alrund's Epiphany
Alrund’s Epiphany

While Talrand has featured in a few rounds of Commanders, wins have been few and far between (but they have happened). And after every loss comes the advice to drop the many enchantments in the deck in favour of more instants and sorceries.

So, Christian kindly put together a selection of blue cards that would help my Talrand deck. Among the cards were Baral’s Expertise, Insidious Will, Overwhelming Denial, Pull from Tomorrow. A Mindsplice Apparatus, a useful artifact, and a Cemetery Illuminator were also included. As well as number of enchantments like Mirror Mockery and Monastery Siege (probably a sly shot from Christian that I may have too many enchantments in my deck).

Insidious Will
Pull from Tomorrow

Also included was a Mithril Coat from the recent The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth set. It’s not intended for my Talrand deck but was a card that I had hoped to pull for my Ruhan deck.

And then there is Noah’s gift. It is a scrap of torn paper. It is a handwritten coupon for one free event (a pre-release, a draft or another limited event). Maybe not much to look at but an awesome gift nonetheless. While I know Noah probably scrambled (I’m on to you, Noah!), it is a great gift because of what it represents – A future memory of time spent having time with him (it’s explicitly called out after all). How cool is that?

All in all, a very awesome birthday. And Talrand will soon be upgraded and ready for another round of Commander while Noah and I decide which event to go to next.

Running a pre-release at a cottage

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

I bought three Lord of the Rings pre-release kits for our cottage vacation. Magic for a rainy day was the plan. But it almost came not to be.

I packed the kits along with two Commander decks and the usual game supplies (playmat, dice, life counter). Christian similarly brought up two Commander decks while Noah only brought one, worried about some more expensive cards in his other decks.

First crisis (I’m being melodramatic – for effect): I realized early in the trip that we did not have sleeves for our new cards. Fortunately, we found a game store during one of our day trips and was able to remedy that oversight quickly.

On a rainy and windy Thursday morning in the second week of our vacation, we decided that this would be the day to hold our Cottage Pre-Release event. It rained in the morning and remained cloudy and cool into the afternoon. We settled around a coffee table that probably has seen its share of board and card games and cracked our kits (nothing earth-shattering in any of them) and set to building. And that’s when it hit the boys (not their father who was still trying to figure out whether he should go Black Green or Black Red). Second crisis:

“Do you know what we forgot?” asked Christian.
“No, what?” I answered, looking up from my pool of cards. “We have the sleeves.”
“But we don’t have lands.”
Some choice words may have escaped me at that point.

Fortunately, the kids are resourceful. We pulled lands from our Commander decks where we could. Unfortunately, there were not enough. So we complemented those with home made proxy lands. We first thought to use regular playing cards but they’re not the same size. Noah, apparently the self-appointed Judge, ruled these as inadequate. Instead, we settled on using some cards that did not go into our decks with home-made labels.

No style points here but they allowed us to go on our mini pre-release. Noah ended up going 2-0 with a White Green deck featuring Rosie Cotton of South Lane and lots of tokens. Christian and I ended up going 1-1 with him playing a Blue Red deck and I going with a Black Red deck.

Crises averted, rainy day dealt with and more Magic memories made.

This finally happened!

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

So this finally happened:

I’ve been playing MTG:Arena pretty much since the early days of the beta. As a F2P player, gems are not easy to accumulate but I’ll typically use them for drafts once I’ve accumulated enough. Unfortunately, I’m not a very strong draft player so this normally ends up as a losing proposition (albeit a fun one). I more rarely treat myself to sealed events but decided to do so earlier this week in honour of the new The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth set.

My pool was far better than what I drew at the Pre-Release for the set. I pulled two green Mythics, Radagast the Brown and Last March of the Ents and I immediately knew that I would be playing some kind of Green deck. Throw in Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, Rangers of Ithilien, and The Shire and it was an easy decision to go Simic.

I started playing Monday night. One win, two wins and then three wins without a loss. I was on a run but it was getting late. “One more,” I told myself and this last game also turned into a win. Another “One more”‘” despite knowing that I might have a hard time waking up the next day, turned into a fifth win in a row. While one or two games might have easily gone the other way, this deck just seemed to have answers for everything, particularly thanks to two copies each of Bewitching Leechcraft and Hithlain Knots. Never underestimate the power of removal, I say despite knowing that I will ignore my own advice despite seeing its efficacy in action the next time I’m building a deck under a time limit.

Reason prevailed finally and I called it a night at 5-0. This was already a run I was pretty happy with. I went to bed, hoping that whatever good luck I’d had would prevail for the remainder of my run.

The next night, I resumed. After a small scare where I inadvertently picked a different game and suddenly wondered where my Simic cards had gone. Game 6 picked up where I had left off with an easy win. The next game did not go the same way and I recorded my first loss. Undeterred, I started my next game and my deck once again delivered and I reached the 7 win milestone! I’m pretty sure that this is the first time I have managed this feat. In case I later forget, this post will serve as a reminder!

The one thing I regret is not saving the deck list. I thought it would automatically get saved but it does not appear so. Aside from the cards mentioned above, other strong performers were Chance-Met Elves and Gift of Strands. Two mechanics, Scry and the ring temptation, gave the deck the consistency needed across the games.

I find that Sealed goes one of two ways for me. Either I know immediately what I’m going to build, like in this case (it can still end up being bad though), or I end up second guessing myself and generally end up with something that just does not gel together.