All-Foil Boosters

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We will take a short break from our run through of the Zendikar Booster Packs (here & here) to have a look at some interesting from Wizards today . . .

Quote:
Stories are told of boosters with all rares, or all foil premium cards. But those stories are strictly rumors. Legends. Tales told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Until now. Take one last trip to Alara and collect all 539 foil premium cards, in this handsome foil booster. Each of these boosters contains fifteen foil, black-bordered cards from Shards of Alara, Conflux, and Alara Reborn. These boosters will be available for a limited time, starting on January 8, 2010. And they're only $11.99!

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Very interesting. This may or may not be the next winning marketing gambit being rolled out by the Wizards of the Coast. Personally, we will probably not be picking any of these up simply because it seems about $2 to $3 overpriced. This may also have an adverse effect on the singles market for foils. There are some players I know do not care for foils at all due to the bending and warping issue due to the printing process which had not quite been fully resolved to their satisfaction.

Just another note - I'm certain only the very rich would be able to afford the $40 drafts with these packs. ;-)


Having said that, we personally know several EDH (Elder Dragon Highlander) players who are most likely going bananas on receiving this news today. If you are not aware, EDH is yet another Magic the Gathering multiplayer variant format which enjoys a healthy measure of popularity. In EDH, decks are comprised of 100 cards, with only one of each card within the deck. Many players enjoy pimping their EDH deck to include premium foils.

Although WoTC had not elaborated within their post, we are assuming that this special all-foil booster pack will contain 15 cards in total withe the usual distribution of rarity : 1 Rare / Mythic, 3 Uncommons, 10 Commons, and 1 Basic Land. Previously, one would be lucky to find that foil card inserted randomly at the back but since the cards in this special booster are all foils, some waggish players prognosticate that there will be a randomly inserted plain non-foil card. :)

As all of these cards may come from either Shards of Alara, Conflux and Alara Reborn, there is a good chance to see that Bloodbraid Elf, Path to Exile, or Elspeth, Knight-Errant foil you had been wanting but never were lucky enough to open.

Speaking of luck, let's change to chances of opening up a foil in a normal pack to better understand why the foil cards were so highly sought after because of their rarity.

> This quote from Ben Bleiweiss . . .
The chances of opening a FOIL Path to Exile is 1 in 720 packs (two Uncommons per box, 40 Uncommons in the set). You would need to statistically open TWENTY booster boxes to get a single foil Path to Exile. To get a PLAYSET of Foil Path to Exile, you'd need to open Two-Thousand, Eight-Hundred and Eighty booster packs, or EIGHTY booster boxes!

What I'm Playing 6

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This particular episode of 'What I'm Playing' (WIP #6) features a deck which has yet undergone any playtesting to date. Hopefully, this will see some play that this week's FNM. Essentially, this is one of my older Naya decks featuring Realm Razer and Meglonoth at the business end tweaked to include new card goodness from the recently released Alara Reborn set.

Let's have a quick walk through to see where this is all going . . .


The requisite one-drop for many Naya decks is of course Wild Nacatl - a decent 1/1 which balloons to a 3/3 when you get a Plains and a Mountain on the board. There really is no other purpose here than to provide a board presence in the game's first turns.

Path to Exile provides good spot removal of threats. The purpose here is to trade your opponent's threats and replace them with a basic land card which you will get to remove when Realm Razer hits the board.

Many decent Naya builds also feature Druid of the Anima which provides additional mana to you at a critical time in the game. The Druid also gets a jump start on things when Realm Razer enters play and there is a sudden and distressing lack of mana.


Stun Sniper is a new addition and as I have mentioned has not been play tested yet. It appears that this will be a strategic inclusion in order to kill off single 1/1 tokens flying or not as well as being able to tap down any of your opponent's fatties which may hit the board.


Another new addition is Jund Hackblade. This card has been getting some fairly decent reviews from other players. The Hackblade's potential to become a hasty 3/2 on turn two provided the presence of another multi-coloured permanent on your side is enviable.


Woolly Thoctar is simply obligatory in any deck that runs the Naya colours of Red / Green / White. A 5/4 beastie for only 3 mana is just insane even considering today's power curve.


Many players consider the cascading 3/2 Bloodbraid Elf one of the best (non-rare / mythic rare) cards of the set. For only four mana, you get a hasty 3/2 AND a FREE random spell - which in this deck may be ANY of the previous cards - I'm personally hoping for the Thoctar or perhaps the Hackblade. I do agree with Evan Erwin (Mr. Magic Show), that Captured Sunlight may very well be on par with the Hackblade, but I thought that the colours were just a bit better with the Hackblade for this build.

Once more again into the unkown territory of new deck inclusions is Knight of New Alara. Although the Knight is a very tenuous and easily-removed 2/2 for a cost of 4, the proof of WIN is in this card's ability . . . "Each other multicoloured creature you control gets +1/+1 for each of its colours". When this card hits the board, Woolly Thoctar becomes an 8/7 monster and Jund Hackblade becomes a 6/5.

One cannot effect provisions for every possible late-game play but when things go into the ceramic bowl of games gone awry Wall of Reverence, may become very relevant. I needed something in this deck to deal with flyers other than Stun Sniper and this seemed most appropriate as the Wall can give the flaggin player new life . . literally. Life gain off one the afore-mentioned fatties is nothing to balk at.

Next up is Meglonoth. This vigilant / tramply (a real word?) 6/6 for six mana is a solid inclusion in this slot. An excellent threat is that whenever Meglonoth blocks, it also dings the attacking creature's controller for pain equal to it's power. If the Knight of New Alara is still out, this adds up to a total of 9 damage on the stack that your opponent is either going to have to take in the face or provide a strategy for.

Finally, we have Realm Razer. Realm Razer at 4/2 is again easily removed and you really do not want that considering that once this critter is gone, your opponent will have all those lands back in order to play all those nasty spells in their hand. Protect his creature with Meglonoth or at least ensure that it is pumped up with the Knight for a decent 7/5.

Also - I am still tweaking the mana base and need to include some artifact mana producers such as Firewild Borderpost or perhaps Obelisk of Naya so that I have an alternate deck power supply when Realm Razer hits play.

I am still working on a side board and would very much like to hear from you the reader - so please drop me a comment.

Stompy Razer - 60 Cards

Creatures - 40 Cards
4 x Wild Nacatl
4 x Path to Exile
4 x Druid of the Anima
4 x Jund Hackblade
4 x Stun Sniper
4 x Woolly Thoctar
4 x Bloodbraid Elf
3 x Knight of New Alara
3 x Wall of Reverence
3 x Meglonoth
3 x Realm Razer

Lands - 20 Cards
5 x Mountains
5 x Forests
6 x Plains
4 x Firewild Borderpost

Sideboard - ? ? ? (please assist)

LSV Top 8 ARB

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Hey there - remember just yesterday I was yattering away about Regionals and what impact Alara Reborn may have on Standard format ? Great. Well, anywhoos, this may be a good time to have a quick look at the top 8 Alara Reborn picks for constructed as present by Luis Scott-Vargas on Channel Fireball. You may have heard of 'LSV' - the exceptionally good who has been kicking butt and taking names on the GP / PT circuits . . . so - when this player has something to say about the standard metagame, most people take a listen.

Let's have a look at the video first before we get started.

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So how cool were those video effects ?! LSV was throwing exploding MTG cards . . . w0w ! - Just like Gambit of Marvel Comics / X-Men fame. I would love to have the kind of cash which allows me to throw ('gasp') a Maelstrom Pulse like that - Perhaps Luis had stunt cards stand in. Like I said - great video - solid delivery and much more engaging than those MTGO draft vids that LSV has been posting.


LSV's Top 8 ARB constructed : Anathamancer / Bituminous Blast / Bloodbraid Elf / Borderposts / Dauntless Escort /Maelstrom Pulse / Quasali Pridemage / Zealous Persecution

Anathemancer - 1BR
Creature - Zombie Wizard (Uncommon)
When Anathemancer comes into play, it deals damage to target player equal to the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
Unearth {5}{B}{R}
2/2
With all those Five Colour Control decks out there filled to the brim with nonbasic lands are feeling the hate this card delivers. This promises to put a dent into some B/W token decks as well.

Bituminous Blast - 3BR
Instant (Uncommon)
Cascade / Bituminous Blast deals 4 damage to target creature.
Cascade mechanic rocks. BB is all that and a bag 'o' chips. This gives you 2 spells for only 5 mana . . one spell dealing 4 damage and the second giving you a random - just how fun is this ?! FTK

Bloodbraid Elf - 2RG
Creature - Elf Berserker (Uncommon)
Haste / Cascade
3/2
Altough some players would rather choose the similar Captured Sunlight (2GW / Cascade / gain 4 life), over Bloodbraid Elf, I still think that the typical aggro player will go with the elf. 'nuff said - cascade provides not only a level of fun to the game, but also card advantage.

Borderposts
(Fieldmist, Firewild, Mistvein, Veinfire, Wildfield) Common Artifacts
You may pay 1 and return a basic land you control to its owner's hand rather than pay (Name) Borderpost's mana cost. (Name) Borderpost comes into play tapped.
Tap: Add Colour 1 or Colour 2 to your mana pool.
I concur that multicoloured artifacts in this block are a plus (and sometimes necessary) but cannot agree 100 % with LSV's assessment for standard - having a CIPT land/artifact in the fast-moving game of today, one had better ensure that these borderposts are fitted appropriately to your deck.

Dauntless Escort - 1GW
Creature - Rhox Soldier (Rare)
Sacrifice Dauntless Escort: Creatures you control are indestructible this turn.
3/3
Amazing card in constructed / limited. There has been a high number of solid G/W cards in this set / block but this one sits on top. If you see an Escort hit the table, you can be certain that your opponent will eventually be setting up with a Wrath of God / Martial Coup . . . be scared.

Maelstrom Pulse - 1BG
Sorcery (Rare)
Destroy target nonland permanent and all permanents with the same name as permanent.
A vicious Vindicate. Say bye-bye to multiple pesky problematic permanents. If anyone would like to donate this card to me, please eMail me so I don't have to take a second mortgage.

Qasali Pridemage - GW
Creature - Cat Wizard (Common)
Exalted / {1}, Sacrifice Qasali Pridemage: Destroy target artifact or enchantment.
2/2
A solid two drop for just two - add exalted into the equation and this just went from decent to awesome. Then, just when you thought it can't get better, add a sac utility to eliminate a threatening artifact or enchantment . . . over the top my friends.

Zealous Persecution - WB
Instant (Uncommon)
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 and creatures target opponent controls get -1/-1.
For only 2 mana, one can mow the ENTIRE field clear of those 1/1 tokens. This instant is a solid combat tactic to employ - - when I saw this spoiled, I immediately planned this for inclusion with my one deck which runs Stillmoon Cavalier for enhanced combat step hilarities.

Walls

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This post really is not meant to discuss which wall is better than the other but rather draw out it's particular (or peculiar) differences . . . only you, the player, can decide whether one, the other (or both?) work the best with your deck.

Please take a moment and take the poll . . . The Question : 'Which wall do you prefer in Standard?'. Remember - This really is not about which one is better but which one is the best suited to your particular deck or local metagame.

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Wall of Denial, 1WU
Creature - Wall, Uncommon
Defender, flying, shroud
Flavor Text : It provides what every discerning mage requires—time to think.
0 / 8

PROS : Flying. Shroud - in a standard environment with the likes of Path to Exile, Terminate, and Oblivion Ring, the shroud ability is worth gold. Good lock down of Bant exalted strategies and a major pain for aggro players.

CONS : Wither and deathtouch kill the party. Nacatl Outlander and Oversoul of Dusk with protection from blue sneak past this wall. Two mana colours required. Silly flavour text.


Wall of Reverence, 3W
Creature - Spirit Wall
Defender, flying
At the end of your turn, you may gain life equal to the power of target creature you control.
Flavor Text : The lives of elves are long, but their memories are longer. Even after death, they do not desert their homes.
1 / 6

PROS : Flying. Life gain - very little advances on the life gain deck archetype but this does not stop a deckbuilder from using Cradle of Vitality to their advantage. Having said that life gain still saves your sorry but more times than not by turning a stalled stalemate into a win. This can kill off non-pumped 1/1 tokens. Cool flavour text.

CONS : Spot removal. Use of disruptors like Prison Term or Stun Sniper can make this wall ineffective. Wither and deathtouch again. Goblin Outlander and Stillmoon Cavalier with protection from white can bypass this wall.

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Here is a another wall we can expect with the release of Magic 2010 (or 'M10') in the near future.

Wall of Frost, 1UU
Creature - Wall, Uncommon
Defender
Whenever Wall of Frost blocks a creature, that creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.
Flavor Text : 'I welcome it. The pasture is cleared of weeds and the wolves are frozen solid.'
0 / 7

PROS : Nice relative toughness of '7'. Great disruption with tap-down - even if a large double-striker hits the wall, you have an extra turn to come up with a solution to address that threat.

CONS : Much the same as Wall of Denial . . . Wither and deathtouch kill the party. Nacatl Outlander and Oversoul of Dusk with protection from blue sneak past this wall. Two mana colours required. Silly flavour text.

ARB 'Power' Packs

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Intro Packs are the perfect way to introduce new players to Magic: the Gathering. Each Alara Reborn Intro Pack contains a ready-to-play 41 card deck, 1 Alara Reborn Booster Pack, an Alara Reborn strategy guide, and a Magic: the Gathering rules insert for new players.

I have a love / hate relationship with Booster Packs - Although I love tearing into the packs to see what rare or uncommons I got, I am often disappointed when I get a handfull of jank that I can't even trade if I wanted to. To this end, I often look at Intro Packs . . . this avenue has little surprise and I am guaranteed to obtain exactly what I expected in these pre-constructed decks (with the exception of the one booster pack).

Many folks on the forums had been asking which is the 'best' Intro Pack to get . . . one way to determine this is thet value of the cards inside the pack - bear with me. As with many things in the world of the fickle consumer, I will determine the 'Return On Investment' or R.O.I. With this information, I am best able to determine which is the best product to purchase.

Up here in desolate and barren reaches of Central Ontario, Intro Packs are going for just under $15 (US). If you are state-side, expect to pay anywhere from $10 to $13, depending upon where you are. I looked at the card value in each Intro pack and determined the value of the product if you were able to sell each card as a single.

Eternal Siege (GW) - Worth $18
Rare : Dauntless Escort ($7), Knight of New Alara ($4)
Uncommon : Path to Exile ($5), Drumhunter, Enlisted Wurm, Sunseed Nurturer, Vagrant Plowbeasts, Mighty Emergence, Reborn Hope


Eternal Siege Alara Reborn Intro Pack - 41 cards

18 lands : 8 Forest, 8 Plains, 2 Terramorphic Expanse

15 creatures : 1 Beacon Behemoth, 1 Dauntless Escort, 1 Drumhunter, 1 Enlisted Wurm, 1 Godtoucher, 2 Grizzled Leotau, 1 Knight of New Alara, 1 Mosstodon, 2 Pale Recluse, 1 Qasali Pridemage, 1 Sigiled Behemoth, 1 Sunseed Nurturer, 1 Vagrant Plowbeasts

8 other spells : 1 Captured Sunlight, 2 Excommunicate, 1 Mighty Emergence, 1 Path to Exile, 1 Reborn Hope, 1 Sigil Blessing, 1 Sigil of the Nayan Gods


Legion Aloft (WU) - Worth $13
Rare : Aven Mimeomancer ($2), Filigree Angel ($2)
Uncommon : Path to Exile ($5), Wall of Denial, Bottle Gnomes, Metallurgeon, Kiss of the Amesha, Protomatter Powder, Whispersilk Cloak

Legion Aloft Alara Reborn Intro Pack - 41 cards

18 lands : 8 Island, 8 Plains, 2 Terramorphic Expanse

15 creatures : 2 Arsenal Thresher, 1 Aven Mimeomancer, 1 Bottle Gnomes, 1 Esper Cormorants, 2 Ethercaste Knight, 1 Etherium Sculptor, 1 Filigree Angel, 2 Glassdust Hulk, 1 Metallurgeon, 2 Sanctum Plowbeast, 1 Wall of Denial

8 other spells : 1 Kiss of the Amesha, 1 Offering to Asha, 2 Pacifism, 1 Path to Exile, 1 Protomatter Powder, 1 Stormcaller's Boon, 1 Whispersilk Cloak


Unnatural Schemes (UB) - Worth $10
Rare : Lich Lord of Unx ($3), Nemesis of Reason ($3)
Uncommon : Fatestitcher, 2 x Grixis Slavedriver, 2 x Nantuko Husk, Phantom Warrior, Countersquall

Unnatural Schemes Alara Reborn Intro Pack - 41 cards

18 lands : 8 Island, 8 Swamp, 2 Terramorphic Expanse

15 creatures : 2 Architects of Will, 1 Fatestitcher, 2 Grixis Slavedriver, 2 Jhessian Zombies, 1 Lich Lord of Unx, 2 Nantuko Husk, 1 Nemesis of Reason, 1 Phantom Warrior, 2 Tidehollow Strix, 1 Vedalken Ghoul

8 other spells : 2 Agony Warp, 1 Brainbite, 1 Countersquall, 1 Deny Reality, 2 Essence Drain, 1 Soul Manipulation


Dead Ahead (BR) - Worth $11
Rare : Deathbringer Thoctar ($3), Lightning Reaver ($3)
Uncommon : Blood Cultist, Bog Wraith, Sanity Gnawers, Bituminous Blast, Cruel Edict, Leonin Scimitar

Dead Ahead Alara Reborn Intro Pack - 41 cards

18 lands : 8 Mountain, 8 Swamp, 2 Terramorphic Expanse

16 creatures : 1 Blister Beetle, 1 Blood Cultist, 1 Bog Wraith, 1 Deathbringer Thoctar, 1 Dreg Reaver, 2 Dregscape Zombie, 2 Igneous Pouncer, 1 Lightning Reaver, 1 Monstrous Carabid, 2 Sanity Gnawers, 1 Singe-Mind Ogre, 1 Viashino Skeleton, 1 Viscera Dragger

7 other spells : 1 Bituminous Blast, 1 Blightning, 1 Breath of Malfegor, 1 Cruel Edict, 1 Leonin Scimitar, 2 Terminate


Rumbler (RG) - Worth $13
Rare : Blitz Hellion ($3), Spellbreaker Behemoth ($4)
Uncommon : Algae Gharial, Bloodbraid Elf, Gluttonous Slime, Rockslide Elemental, Thunder-Thrash Elder, Sangrite Surge, Vengeful Rebirth

Rumbler Alara Reborn Intro Pack - 41 cards

18 lands : 8 Forest, 8 Mountain, 2 Terramorphic Expanse

16 creatures : 1 Algae Gharial, 1 Blitz Hellion, 1 Bloodbraid Elf, 2 Dragon Fodder, 1 Elvish Visionary, 1 Gluttonous Slime, 1 Godtracker of Jund, 1 Gorger Wurm, 1 Rhox Brute, 1 Rockslide Elemental, 1 Spellbreaker Behemoth, 1 Thunder-Thrash Elder, 1 Tukatongue Thallid, 2 Valley Rannet

7 other spells : 1 Colossal Might, 2 Incinerate, 1 Sangrite Surge, 2 Shock, 1 Vengeful Rebirth

Given this, I have a rough idea which not only be the better deck but also the best price based on the contents.

ARB Pumped Tokens

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I was planning to provide a post detailing some of the very nice Alara Reborn combos that are starting to emerge but got caught up with just how cool Sigil Captain was. I am certain that this card will not make any big waves in the standard environment but he does undoubtedly make a great centerpiece for a casual token generating deck.


Having Sigil Captain pump your newly generated 1/1 tokens cowbell into play as a 3/3 is just fun - and that is what my particular MTG game is all about. Depending upon what casual format you are playing as well as the colours you are running, you may have a multitude of options here . . .

Some might include Bitterblossom, Goblin Assault, Imperious Perfect, Creakwood Liege, Elvish Promenade, Jund Battlemage, Lys Alana Huntmaster, Mercy Killing, Militia's Pride, Presence of Gond, Spectral Procession, or Stonybrook Schoolmaster. A Naya-type deck with Dragon Broodmother may also be acceptable but a poor use of the newly-hatched Devour 2 tokens.

Sigil Captain, 1GWW
Whenever a creature comes into play under your control, if that creature is 1/1, put two +1/+1 counters on it.

The following cards are suggested to compliment Sigil Captain to create token rage . . .

Martial Coup
Put X 1/1 white Soldier creature tokens into play. If X is 5 or more, destroy all other creatures. Wow - an empty field with five new 3/3 beaters on your side. For added fun, make sure you run a Dauntless Escort (making your critters indestructible).


Mycoloth
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 1/1 green Saproling creature token into play for each +1/+1 counter on Mycoloth. I have played several games where Mycoloth did get get big (before the PTE its fugly green mushroom butt) and it generated a hoard of irritating 1/1's. The same games would have been over for me had Sigil Captain been on board.

Flurry of Wings
Put X 1/1 white Bird Soldier creature tokens with flying into play, where X is the number of attacking creatures. Somewhat similar to Militia's Pride (below) but these are now 3/3 flyers which in my book ain't bad by any measure.


Militia's Pride
I used to run a Kithkin deck with this in it and must admit this may have been one of my favourite casual Lorwyn decks. Having extra mana to pay for a hoard of new tokens with Militia's Pride and then having them come in pumped with Sigil Captain really does put a whole lot of zing in the Kithkin mêlée.


Elspeth, Knight-Errant
The first +1 ability provides a 1/1 white Soldier creature token on your turn. Nice and dependable but not quite as threatening as the previous multiple token generators.


I am going to try to get off another post before I head off to Manhatten latter in the week - perhaps I may have some stories about the MTG scene down there for you in a latter post.

Blade Cycle

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Hello again - I am freshly returned to civilisation from the barren tundras of northern Ontario and am more than excited to be able to get internet access again . . . (I think I was having web withdrawals).

Today, I'll yatter about a random Alara Reborn cycle. A simple cycle (or horizontal cycle), usually just called a cycle, often consisting of five cards within a set, one in each color (or shard as in the Shards of Alara block). I wanted to post some summaries of cycles within the Alara Reborn and there happens to several nice ones to choose from ; Allied-colored equipments, Blades, Borderposts, Dual-Landcyclers, Hybrid-cyclers, Sojourners, etc. Today I will hit up the 'Blade Cycle'.

Our contestants for the blade cycle are Bant Sureblade, Esper Stormblade, Grixis Grimblade, Jund Hackblade, and Naya Hushblade. Each of these are common 2/1 creatures have a converted mana cost of two with one hybrid mana and one other mana colour. The colour represents which shard they represent as shown below . . .

Bant : {G/U}W
Esper : {W/B}U
Grixis : {U/R}B
Jund : {B/G}R
Naya : {R/W}G

Each creature in this blade cylce has the text "As long as you control another multicolored permanent, (creature name) gets +1/+1 and has [ability word]".

Bant : First Strike
Esper : Flying
Grixis : Deathtouch
Jund : Haste
Naya : Shroud

The best two in this cycle appear to be Jund Hackblade and Naya Hushblade, since the haste and shroud abilities tend to give the most grief to your opponent, especially when dropped at turn 2 or 3. The player should not get too attached to these critters due to the ease of removal given a toughness of just 2 but should rather think of these as being able to potentially disrupt the early game or getting in early hits . . . these are expendible.

The Alara Reborn borderposts will work quite nicely with the new Alara blade cycle. These multi-colour artifacts could be dropped as early as turn one to provide you with the cowbell required for your particular blade - example -

Turn One - Play land, Firewild Borderpost
Turn Two - Play land, Jund Hackblade

Jund Hackblade is now the fully enhanced 3/2 hasty little monster that you want him to be.

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Something altogether different now . . .

I will be checking out the relative worth of Alara Reborn Singles Prices. Below are the approximate price of cards which have not seen too much change in the last week or so.

1) Maelstrom Pulse ($18)
2) Jenara, Asura of War ($12)
3) Meddling Mage ($12)
4) Lord of Extinction ($10)
5) Sen Triplets ($10)
6) Dauntless Escort ($7)
7) Thought Hemorrhage ($7)
8) Uril, the Miststalker ($6)
9) Spellbreaker Behemoth ($4)
10) Sphinx of the Steel Wind ($4)

ARB Pre-Release

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I could not get out to the Saturday Alara Reborn Pre-Release but did manage to make it out to the Sunday one. I was happy to find that we did have more than enough players (to make it a DCI sanctioned event) and several players who were playing in the tourney the previous day but simply could not get enough of the new card goodness.


Here is the Match summary ( 2 - 2 ) . . .

Match One (Stewart) : Game 1 - Win, Game 2 - Win.

Match Two (Brian) : Game 1 - Win, Game 2 - Loss, Game 3 - Win.

Match Three (Mike) : Game 1 - Win, Game 2 - Loss, Game 3 - Loss.

Match Four (Pat) : Game 1 - Loss, Game 2 - Win, Game 3 - Loss.

Winning decks in this tournament were typically a Jund build - unfortunately, I had put together and Bant deck. I am totally ineffective in the sealed environment but must admit that I may have played only less than a dozen times or so. Having said that, I must also admit that I am seeing some marginal improvement. I thoroughly enjoy building decks and play-testing these in the constructed standard environment but realise that variety is good.

You can check out this video summary of the Alara Reborn Pre-Release and see the notes below.



This is the build I went with . . .

BANT BUILD (G/W/U) - 40 Cards

17 LANDS : 5 x Forrest, 6 x Plains, 5 x Island, Seaside Citadel

1 Drops : Valiant Guard, Court Homonculus, Might of Alara

2 Drops : Knotvine Palladin, Steward of Valeron, Esper Stormblade, Cylian Elf, Call to Heel, Aven Squire

3 Drops : 2 x Rhox Warmonk, Lorescale Coatle, Winged Coatl, Guardian of Akarasa, Parasitic Strix, Obelisk of Bant

4 Drops : 2 x Bant Sojourners

5 Drops : Waveskimmer Aven

6 Drops : Sigiled Behemoth

7 Drops : Rockcaster Platoon, Yoked Ploughbeast

8 Drops : Kederekt Leviathan


Hindsight is a beeotch - After the event, I went home, grabbed a beverage and looked at the card pool again. This is what I should have played . . .

ALTERNATE JUND BUILD (B/R/G) - 40 Cards

17 Lands : 6 x Swamps, 6 x Mountains, 5 x Forests

1 Drops : Hissing Iguanar, Shadowfeed

2 Drops : Jund Hackblade, 2 x Goblin Outlander, Maniacal Rage, Dragon fodder

3 Drops : Nyxathid, Knotvine Mystic, Matca Rioters, Savage Hunger, Branching Bolt, Wandering Goblins, Dark Temper, Llightning Talons, Resounding Thunder, Pestilent Kathari

4 Drops : Scavenger Drake, Sewn Eye Drake, Singe-Mind Ogre

5 Drops : Voracious Dragon

6 Drops : Morbid Bloom, Valley Rannet


Hey - I might even make it out to the proper Alara Reborn Release event (because I am salivating for that Knight of New Alara) and be much wiser for the above silliness. I did bring home a pack I won which provided me a Filigree Angel so I guess the day was not a complete loss.

. . . by-the-way - Does anyone else think that the art on both pre-release cards is worse than the regular cards ?

Alara Reborn FAQs

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The Alara Reborn FAQs have now been posted on the WoTC product section. The direct link to the document is HERE. Please be kind to your Tournament Organiser / Judge before you head out to the Alara Reborn Pre-Release / Release Tourney and have a glance at this handy rules and reference guide.


Quick summary of contents . .

GENERAL NOTES
***Theme: All Multicolored***
***Keyword Ability: Cascade***
***Returning Keyword Ability: Cycling***
***Returning Keyword Ability: Landcycling***
***Cycle: Sojourners***
***Returning Mechanic: Hybrid***
***Cycle: Borderposts***

There is also a huge section on CARD-SPECIFIC NOTES - see the end of the post for which cards are addressed.


Right off the top, let's look at the new keyword ability 'Cascade'. Each time you play a spell with cascade, you'll get a free bonus spell from your deck . . . but you don't know what it'll be!

502.85. Cascade
502.85a Cascade is a triggered ability that functions only while the spell with cascade is on the stack. "Cascade" means "When you play this spell, remove cards from the top of your library from the game until you remove a nonland card whose converted mana cost is less than this spell's converted mana cost. You may play that card without paying its mana cost. Then put all cards removed from the game this way that weren't played on the bottom of your library in a random order." 502.85b If a spell has multiple instances of cascade, each triggers separately.

Here's the timing for cascade:

1) You play a spell with cascade.
2) The cascade ability triggers and goes on the stack on top of the original spell.
3) The cascade ability resolves. If you find an applicable card that you'd like to play, you do so.
4) The spell you played as a result of the cascade ability resolves.
5) The original spell resolves.

* For the most part, cascade is mandatory. You must remove cards from the top of your library from the game, even if you know that you won't remove anything you want to play. Whether or not to play the last card you remove is the only optional part.

* The spell you play as a result of the cascade ability resolves before the original spell. If you play a creature spell with cascade and then play an Aura as the result of the cascade ability, you can't enchant that creature with it because the creature spell hasn't resolved yet.

* Cascade won't trigger if you put a copy of a spell with cascade on the stack (due to Cloven Casting or Twincast, for example). That's because you didn't play the copy.

* Countering the original spell doesn't counter the cascade ability.

* Since cascade is a triggered ability, anything that interacts with a triggered ability (such as Stifle) will interact with cascade.

* All players can see the cards you remove from the game as the cascade ability resolves.

* If you remove a split card from the game this way, check if at least one half of that split card has a converted mana cost that's less than the converted mana cost of the spell with cascade. If so, you can play either half of that split card.

* If you play a card this way, you play it as part of the resolution of the cascade ability. Timing restrictions based on the card's type (such as creature or sorcery) are ignored. Other play restrictions are not (such as "Play [this card] only before attackers are declared").

* A spell played as part of the resolution of cascade is played from the removed-from-the-game zone, not from your library.

* If you play a card "without paying its mana cost," you can't pay any alternative costs, such as evoke or the alternative cost provided by the morph ability. If it has X in its mana cost, X must be 0. However, you can pay optional additional costs, such as conspire, and you must still pay mandatory additional costs, such as the one on Goldmeadow Stalwart.

* If you play a card this way, you're playing it as a spell. It can be countered. If you play another card with cascade this way, the new spell's cascade ability will trigger, and you'll repeat the process for the new spell.

* After you play an applicable card, you randomly rearrange the other cards removed from the game this way and put them on the bottom of your library. Neither you nor any other player sees the order of those cards.

* If you don't want to play the applicable card you remove from the game with the cascade ability, you don't have to. Include it with the other cards removed from the game this way when you randomly rearrange them and put them on the bottom of your library. The same is true for an applicable card that you can't play (because there are no legal targets, for example).

* If you play a spell with cascade and there are no nonland cards in your library with a converted mana cost that's less that that spell's converted mana cost, you'll remove your entire library from the game. Then you'll randomly rearrange those cards and put them back as your library. Although you're essentially shuffling those cards, you're not technically doing so; abilities that trigger whenever you shuffle your library won't trigger.

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There are numerous notes and explanations in the FAQ document for the following Alara Reborn cards :
Arsenal Thresher, Aven Mimeomancer, Behemoth Sledge, Blitz Hellion, Brainbite, Cloven Casting, Crystallization, Dauntless Escort, Deadshot Minotaur, Deathbringer Thoctar, Demonspine Whip, Double Negative, Dragon Appeasement, Dragon Broodmother, Drastic Revelation, Enigma Sphinx, Ethersworn Shieldmage, Etherwrought Page, Fight to the Death, Filigree Angel, Finest Hour, Flurry of Wings, Giant Ambush Beetle, Glory of Warfare, Grixis Sojourners, Illusory Demon, Intimidation Bolt, Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund, Kathari Bomber, Knight of New Alara, Knotvine Paladin, Lavalanche, Leonin Armorguard, Lich Lord of Unx, Lorescale Coatl, Madrush Cyclops, Maelstrom Nexus, Maelstrom Pulse, Mage Slayer, Mask of Riddles, Mayael's Aria, Meddling Mage, Mind Funeral, Morbid Bloom, Mycoid Shepherd, Necromancer's Covenant, Nemesis of Reason, Nulltread Gargantuan, Offering to Asha, Predatory Advantage, Retaliator Griffin, Sages of the Anima, Sen Triplets, Shield of the Righteous, Sigil Captain, Sigil of the Nayan Gods, Skyclaw Thrash, Slave of Bolas, Soul Manipulation, Sovereigns of Lost Alara, Spellbound Dragon, Spellbreaker Behemoth, Tainted Sigil, Thopter Foundry, Thought Hemorrhage, Thraximundar, Time Sieve, Unscythe, Killer of Kings, Vedalken Heretic, Vengeful Rebirth, Vithian Renegades, Wargate.

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