Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

Christmas Magic 2022

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

With Noah in exams until the Thursday before Christmas, we did not have an opportunity this year to play any Magic before the start of the break. The boys found some JumpStart 2022 packs in their stockings on Christmas morning and that was our first game of the holiday season.

Christian’s two packs were Ferocious Detective (B). Noah ended up with Snow Law (WU) and I got Cruel Gigantic (BG). No big money cards in any of them. My best draw was Runadi, Behemoth Caller, a card I like (I like big green things) but not sure where it might go just yet.

We decided to do our usual round robin tournament. Noah easily beat Christian 2-0 due to a couple of mana floods and early signs that the two packs were not very synergistic. I played Noah next and went down 1-2. My best performer was Creeping Bloodsucker, a common that pings your opponent for one and gives you one at the same time. Slow and steady but it was not enough to withstand the bruising attacks from Noah’s deck. Christian and I played for the spoils and the lack of synergy in his deck was clearly in evidence as he went down 1-2.

I like the Jumpstart concept – It’s great to simply get two packs, slam them together and be ready to play. But it is frustrating when they don’t work well together. And gameplay is not particularly complex, a good thing for new players but a bit of a let down for more experienced ones (yes, I’m talking about Christian and Noah).

I will split mine out and add them to the small collection of Jumpstart packs to use when we’re looking for an easy game or when we look to introduce someone to the game.

From there, it was time for some more serious action. Noah bought Christian and I each six draft booster packs of Kamigawa as our Christmas present. Or in my case five and one Kaldheim pack as the store apparently ran out. The idea was that the two of us would build a sealed deck and over the next few weeks, Noah will add a new pack for us to enhance our decks (or build something new) in a mini-league.

Unfortunately, that left him out of the play. Fortunately, I had some Kaldheim set boosters that I had bought some time back for a rainy day. We decided to use those and to get Noah in on the action. We each gave him two of our Kamigawa packs and then complemented that with 4 Kaldheim set boosters and 2 for Christian and I to cover the two we had just given him. Think of this as some weird version of chaos sealed.

It all made for some rather odd games with no one really standing out over the others with our first builds. We’ll have to see if we continue down this path and add new packs to the mix. It definitely shows though that set boosters don’t work very well for sealed. You’d think that it would be easier with less randomness but it all felt forced – almost like playing Jumpstart but with even less synergy.

Finally, it was time for some Commander. Out came the Warhammer 40K decks. Christian and I are still running them unmodified but Noah has switched out seven cards, adding both his Mana Crypt as well as a Mox Amber pulled from the recent The Brothers’ War set among a few other cards.

Noah started slowly but both Christian and I know that the Necrons can go off quite quickly and explosively. I concentrated my first few turns on him, given that he did not have any creatures out. Christian did not attack but was progressively adding creatures and building his board state.

I was feeling quite optimistic when I played my Space Marine Devastator and cranked out three copies with my extra mana. Along with Marneus Calgar as my Commander, I was starting to amass a good number of tokens. It was time to deal with Christian. I risked it all. And ran into a wall of removal and instant speed tricks on top of the monstrous creatures he had on the battlefield. It was not my finest move by a long stretch and I ended with more losses than I had expected. The attack got through but left me wide open and reeling.

Next turn, Christian proceeded to pump up his creatures, including a couple of 12/12s, gave them all flying and swung in for 39 points of damage. That was it for me.

Noah managed to last another turn but the writing was on the wall and a further turn was enough to seal his fate. The Tyranids rule the Warhammer universe… For now.

And so ended another season of Christmas Magic.

Birthdays are a time for Magic cards

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Another birthday is now in the books. I was fortunate to get some cool Magic cards from the boys to celebrate.

From Christian, I got an Utvara Hellkite for my Kaalia deck as well as two draft packs of Kamigawa Neon Dynasty. The Hellkite will replace a Leyline Tyrant, a move that will give the deck a bigger finishing threat.

As for the two packs, I pulled a Jugan Defends the Temple in one and a Greasefang, Okiba Boss in the second. The Jugan could end up in an enchantments deck should I finally start to build one as I’ve said in the past that I would.

From Noah, I got a Plummet, a card that is becoming a running joke tradition between us. In recent months, we keep finding opportunities to gift each other at least one Plummet (More on this in a future post perhaps). I also got a number of goblin cards as Noah and I are thinking of entering the next Modern tournament (in late September).

I thought (naively) that a Goblins deck would be cheap but early signs suggest that a somewhat competitive deck will require a bit of an investment especially as I lack many of the goblin and land staples. I probably should have done a bit more research before declaring my intention!

He also gave me a Balor for my Kaalia deck. Given that I emphasized angels and dragons, I think I will keep it as backup should the Utvara Hellkite prove not to be the punch that I’m hoping for.

Finally, Noah also gave me the Unlicensed Hearse he came home with. I told him to keep it given that he’d won it (albeit in a random draw) but he told me that I needed it more than he did given how many graveyard shenanigans the boys use in their decks. I told him that snark like that was enough for me to gladly accept the present and find a deck for it to go into.

Noah’s Kamigawa gift

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

It’s Streets of New Capenna prerelease weekend! Saturday morning, before we headed off to our LGS to get our first taste of the new cards, Noah told me that he had left a gift for me in my office.

After breakfast as I was getting ready for our event, I found a small pile of Kamigawa cards on my desk. Noah explained that he did not need them and knew that I was having fun playing with Enchantments on Arena. I have not built a physical deck based on enchantments but will do so now as a way to thank Noah.

So what did Noah’s Kamigawa gift consist of:

  • One rare – Brilliant Restoration, a useful card to return artifacts and enchantments from your graveyard to the battlefield
  • Several uncommons including Michiko’s Reign of Truth, Touch the Spirit Realm, and Generous Visitor
  • Commons like a Spirited Companion and other sagas

No crazy cards but there should be enough between the cards that I already have and these to build an enchantments deck. It won’t be on the level of my Arena deck as I am still missing some key cards but it should still be a fun deck to play with against Noah (and Christian if we can convince him to build a Standard deck). If our LGS brings back Standard events, I might even look to spruce it out a bit more.

This little gift exemplifies Noah. This is not the first time that he performs a small gesture like this one completely out of the blue. He does not need a reason ; it’s just who he is. Makes me a very proud Papa.

Kami of Industry: Gorilla or Monkey?

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

The new Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty has triggered a disagreement in the family. No, not the usual ‘who is the best Magic player in the family?’ but a different one. One with a zoological slant.

First, here is the source of the debate – Kami of Industry, not necessarily a great card although it proved quite effective for Noah during the Kamigawa pre-release:

Kami of Industry

So here is the question: Is Kami of Industry a gorilla or a monkey (aside from being a spirit of course)? I’m in the camp of the former while Noah is firmly adamant that this is a monkey.

How did I come up with my assessment? There are two major differences (aside from geography which is likely not applicable on Kamigawa) between apes (which include gorillas) and monkeys. First is that apes are larger than monkeys. On our plane, the largest apes, the gorillas, can weigh more than 200 kilograms whereas the largest monkey, the mandrill, does not get much bigger than 50 kilograms. Second, apes do not have tails but most monkeys do. Granted, the sole illustration of Kami of Industry that we have does not confirm nor deny the presence of a tail but would we not see our fierce blacksmith put it to good use if it had one?

Please chime in in the comments and let us know what you think.

Ups and downs at the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Pre-release

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

With Ontario re-opening after the Omicron wave, I asked the boys a few weeks back if they wanted to participate in an in-store pre-release for Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. I should have known that this is pretty much a rhetorical question. Next was a question about where to play. The decision was to once again turn this into a bit of a trip and head up to North of Exile in Penetanguishene.

Yesterday morning, we headed up. When we left Toronto, it was -1° Celsius. By the time we arrived in Penetanguishene less than 2 hours later, it was -13° (The temperature drop happened across southern Ontario – Just pointing out how quickly it happened).

A quick stop for some lunch in Midland, Mexican this time around, before heading up to NoE. We even got to pass a protest convoy (don’t get me started!) on the way up. We were settled in and ready to crack the new set before 1pm. Turnout was modest and we made up 50% of the players!

As for my pre-release pool, my promo was Otawara, Soaring City. I sadly did not pull any Mythics from my packs but I did end up with a The Reality Chip, two Kotose, the Silder Spider, a Mechtitan Core, Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei, and a Tribute to Horobi for the rares. I’m most happy about Otawara, Goro-Goro and the Chip.

Black lacked depth and was an easy elimination. My first thought was to go Boros with Samurai but I was worried about the fact that much of their advantage is derived from attacking alone. So, I added some vehicles and some Reconfigure cars as well. I still did not feel confident that this deck was the right one so started on a Simic deck. I felt even less confident about that one and ended up shelving it in favour of the Samurai.

Round 1 fell apart simply because I did not pay attention to the cards in play. In the first game, I missed the Ward 2 on Patchwork Automaton not once but twice. There was no sympathy from my opponent (none other than Christian). My deck was light on removal and losing both proved to be costly. The second game went better but only because Christian got a slow start. In the third game, Christian got a good start and it was all he needed.

I played against Noah in the second round. That was a quick game with him steam rolling me 2-0 in no time. In what would prove to be a theme for the rest of my afternoon, I was done in by my mana in the second game. It’s hard to play red cards when all your mana is white.

Round 3 – I lost the first game. Once again, my mana failed me, leaving me with only red mana available and white card in hand. My opponent suffered the same fate in the second round but I inherited the curse once more in the third game, this time with white cards ready to go but red mana on the board.

While I collected the ugly 0-3, Christian went 2-1 (losing only to his brother), while Noah took the crown with a 3-0 record. Even more impressive was that he did it in a clean sweep with 6 wins and no losses.

While I wish I had done better and pulled at least a few cards that I was hoping for, it was another great pre-release if only for the time spent with the boys at a great LGS.

No love for Clerics and Giants in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

/ Jerome / Leave a comment

Two of my favourite Arena BO1 decks are my UR Giants and my WB Cleric decks. With Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty spoilers now done, I took a look to see what new cards might help me improve those decks. At first glance, it does not look like either deck will unfortunately see a lot of updates.

On the creature front, the new set comes does not come with any new Giants or Clerics. This is less of a concern for my Clerics deck but does keep my Giants deck saddled with a few creature cards that would be easy cuts (I’m looking at you Zalto, Giant Fire Duke).

On the lands side of things, the very intriguing and likely breakout card of the set, Boseiju, Who Endures, fits into neither of the decks with the current mana bases. The other Legendary Lands also don’t stand out as automatic additions.

The two Legendary Lands that could go into my Clerics deck each come with downsides. Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire could replace an existing removal spell and give my mana fixing a small boost. Could be worth an inclusion to test it out.

Takenuma, Abandoned Mire’s Channel cost is quite high but could help put some clerics into the graveyard for a dying Orah, Skyclave Hierophant to bring back to the battlefield. My first thought is that it’s simply not worth it though. – Too many hoops to jump through.

Only one Legendary Land could be useful in my giants deck. Otawara, Soaring City, could help protect my costly giants should they come under threat. Rather than losing them, they would return to my hand. The downside is the high Channel cost that would likely prevent me from playing another giant during my turn.

One new land inclusion for my Clerics deck could be Scoured Barrens. The life gain would work well with Cleric of Life’s Bond and Voice of the Blessed. For my giants, the Izzet Swiftwater Cliffs comes in tapped and its life gain would not trigger if Quakebringer was in play. That one is a pass.

Where things could get more interesting is with the new equipment cards that double as creatures. For example, reconfiguring Lizard Blades onto Quakebringer would definitely be a sweet play – Especially if Calamity Bearer is on the battlefield as well. The Reality Chip could also be an interesting addition – If nothing else, worth a try.

Could my Clerics deck benefit from Blade of the Oni, the Equipment Demon? I suspect that its ability to turn an equipped creature into one with base power and toughness 5/5 and menace and still remain a Cleric would be a powerful combination. But that assumes it can stay on the board long enough given that it comes in as a creature with only 1 toughness. Leech Gauntlet with Lifelink also has potential and Lion Sash just looks like it could be a strong include (too bad it does not have lifegain like good old Scavenging Ooze).

Lastly, the sagas that turn into creatures are definitely intriguing but none of them leaped out at me. Except maybe for Behold the Unspeakable for my giants deck but do I really need another 5 CMC card in my deck, especially if I have to give up a giant for it?

Finally, there may be some opportunities to replace a few cards with new Instant and Sorcery cards. Unquenchable Fury could be interesting in my Giants deck and there are a few possibilities for the Clerics as well. For example, could Lethal Exploit replace Baleful Mastery? I definitely need to spend a bit more time on these cards.

All in all, Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is shaping up to be an interesting set but I suspect it will take me in new directions rather than helping me with my existing Arena BO1 decks.