Kaladesh PreRelease Preparation

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Happy Thursday MTG peeps,

This weekend, gaming stores around the world will be packed with Magic: the Gathering players anxious to get in on the Kaladesh PreRelease events taking place.  MTG Realm will be in at our local store, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario, Canada to get our fun on.  As usual, they will be running events all weekend long starting with a midnight event on Friday and wrapping up with a Two-Headed Giant event on Sunday afternoon.  

For those new players who have not yet played at one of these fun and casual events, do not be intimidated.  We will suggest you read Gavin's great PreRelease Primer (linked over here) and please, please, please - if you happen to pull a 'Kaladesh Invention' card (it will have a very distictive border from the rest of the cards), make certain you use sleeves should you play it in your deck.  Failure to do so, will cause other veteran MTG players to swoon.

Anywhoos, here is the Kaladesh PreRelease Pack you will receive - 

Once you have cracked this very cool-designed box, you will find the following -
• 6 Kaladesh booster packs
• 1 Randomized, date-stamped, premium promo card, drawn from any rare or mythic in the set
• 1 Spindown life counter
• 1 Deck building advice insert
• 1 build your own awesome thopter

For the 40-card deck you create, try going with 17 lands to 23 spells.  Also try to stick to no more than two different colours.  We've heard from the Pros that when choosing creatures, there are advantages in this environment in having creatures with toughness of 3 or more.  As always, since this limited format typically sees a lot of creatures, removal is quite good.

For those interested, there are some very good guides out there which may assist you in selecting cards for instant speed tricks, which may be very useful in pushing past lethal damage for the win or using this combat trick in removing an opponent's threat.  Pop on over to the following for more - 

• Kaladesh Instant-Speed Tricks (MTG Goldfish)
and
• Kaladesh Instants and Flash Spells (Hipsters of the Coast)
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Masterpiece Monday

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Loads of Magic: the Gathering news out today - let's get to it !  First up is the new 'Masterpiece Series / Kaladesh Inventions' - 

Announced today on the mothersite - Every block will now have its own version of Expeditions, as part of the Masterpiece Series. Zendikar retroactively had Masterpiece Series: Zendikar Expeditions, and today, MaRo had elaborated on the Masterpiece Series: 'Kaladesh Inventions'. The copper border on the Invention cards will all be foil and may be played in any Limited format they're opened in and in any Constructed format in which the card is already legal.  The Masterpiece Series are to printed at a rarity higher than mythic rare. In Kaladesh, one can expect to open a Kaladesh Inventions card roughly 1 out of every 144 boosters, so expect to see a high value on the single card market.

The Kaladesh Inventions are Gauntlet of Power, Hangarback Walker, Mana Crypt, and Verdurous Gearhulk.  (To be updated later this evening)

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New Kaladesh previews out today -

Nerdist previews some very kewl Aetherborn cards -
• Lawless Broker
• Prakhta Club Secruity

• Contraband Kingpin

Blossoming Defense (MM Cast) - nice combat trick.

Glint-Nest Crane (Ian Duke) - draw and library manipulation is always welcome.

Cataclysmic Gearhulk - very decent control element.

Combustible Gearhulk - damn fine limited pick here with applications in other formats.

Consulate Surveilance and Electrostatic Pummeler - both decent choices should you wish to power up with the new energy mechanic.


Tool-Crafter Exemplar - At the beginning of combat on your turn, if you control an artifact, Tool-Crafter Exemplar gets +2/+1 until end of turn. If you control three or more artifacts, Tool-Crafter Exemplar gains first strike until end of turn.  Damn !  Awesome one-drop with solid synergy in the new format.

Also out today - Blake Rasmussen has previewed all of the Basic Lands for Kaladesh.  We've seen several of these illustrations already and we now have 'em all on the card frames - lovely art work!

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