Is it just me or does it feel like a long time has passed since the Streets of New Capenna Prerelease? While the Labour Day weekend marked the (somewhat official) end of summer, it was also time for a new Magic set to come out and kick off a hopefully exciting new season.

No Mythics in my pool but I found potential for a fun deck with Aron, Benalia’s Ruin, and Elas il-Kor, Sadistic Pilgrim, and Sengir Connoisseur. I added a Captain’s Call to provide some of the necessary fodder to power my trio. I added blue to fill out the deck with Vohar, Vodalian Desecrator and a few defensive cards to protect my strategy.

I also pulled a Defiler but not the green Defiler of Vigor and rather the red Defiler of Instinct. No room for it in my deck unfortunately.

For their part, Christian pulled a Jaya, Fiery Negotiator while Noah did not pull any mythics but ended up with a foiled alternate Adarkar Wastes.

First round was against a younger but quite adept (aren’t they all now though – Young, I mean?) player. The first game went nearly 45 minutes. While my opponent was able to get some large threats on the board early, a mana flood allowed me to catch up and finally get enough damage through to take the win. The second game went much faster as my opponent ran into a painful mana flood. Definitely a frustrating situation for them.

The second round was definitely a fun affair with equally matched decks. I mulliganed down to 5 cards in the first game but it was not the blowout I thought it might be. I put on a solid fight, even thinking that I might have a shot at winning before being overwhelmed. Once again, that first game took a long time. Our second game then went to time. Unfortunately for me, my opponent took both wins.

I also got to see Weatherlight Compleated in action in both games. During previews, I had a hard time wrapping up my mind around how it would play but seeing it in action cleared it up. Definitely an interesting card but I’m not sure it will become a staple.

Lastly, the third match started with a win for each of us. Down to the third game, the mana drought gods decided to pay me a visit. On the other side, a few ramp cards meant that I was looking at 6 mana to my two at the end of turn 3. Anyone want to guess as to how it went from there?

Christian and I both ended with 1-2 records while Noah seemed pleased with his 1-1-1 earned with a control deck.

We made the trek back to North of Exile Games for this pre-release. It has become a tradition to visit Jason and the team at least once a year and hadn’t had a chance to do so yet this year. The store has moved from Penetanguishene to Midland since our last visit and the store had just received its new booth seating a few days before.

The drive up was difficult with a number of accidents hampering our progress. But we made it in time to play. Before heading home, we even stopped in at Xanca for some Mexican.

All in all, another fun prerelease!