The Online Outlook #2 — How Low Can You Go?

What the hell can I write about this week?

After an auspicious start to my column last week, today’s article is in

somewhat of a limbo. And by “limbo,” I don’t mean it’s partying

like Hermes Conrad, oh no… I mean that, with the online release of Planar Chaos a

mere one day old (at the time of writing), and Limited events not starting until 9am

tomorrow (at the time of reading), I’m stuck up a rather large creek without the

obligatory paddle. In fact, the boat’s looking decidedly ropey too, and I think

the water is full of eels.

What’s a guy to do?

I mean, there’s no point looking at the Constructed metagames this week…

it’s all change at the moment. People are trying to obtain cards, and unless

they’re cracking and stacking then the real work will be done in the Release

events. And as for cataloguing the online prices… I’ve yet to discover the

ctrl-letter function that represents “an arm, a leg, and the blood of your first

born son.”

Still, the endless clamor for content continues unabated, so I’ve gotta come

up with something.

As I mentioned last week, my previous forays into Magic Online play revolved around

Draft. Seven virtual players, and anything between one and three hours of good times,

from the comfort of my own home. Yes, I’d played Release events, and I will be

doing so for Planar Chaos, but the world of the Premier Event was a largely foreign

country. And not a developed foreign country, like Spain or Australia, where

there’s hot running water and paved highways; more a foreign country peopled by

stocky moon-faced hunchbacks that eat rats and play the banjo with webbed fingers. A

country like Wales.

Today’s Online Outlook sees me take to the streets of such a country, waving a

flag and swilling cheap wine. And, as the best investigative journalist, I’m here

to report back on my findings. So if you’re one of those people who, like me, only

ever drafts on MTGO, then I hope the article is useful. After all, I had a lot of fun.

As for the rest of you, I’ll see you next week. The metagame will have taken

shape by then, and we’ll be off to the races.

…

On Monday, I entered a Time Spiral Sealed 2x Premier Event. Here’s how it

went.

First, I bought the requisite product from an online vendorbot that specialized in

packs. I’d bought the tix I needed for this from another established

vendor, paying via Paypal. That’s a handy tip for some, as the online store

charges full price for such services, and discounts are available if you look. Plus,

buying from the online store can see your boosters be delayed — whenever I’ve

bought stuff from there, looking to play an event that starts in twenty minutes, the

store invariably ships the goods in twenty-one.

Cost Breakdown:

TSP Starter — 16 tix
TSP Booster — 4 tix (x2)
Entry fee — 2 tix

Total: 26 tix. Or, of course, $26. Fourteen pounds (ish) for those in good old Blighty,

which is cheaper than we usually play for real-life Sealed events.

Signing up was easy… I played in tournament #918409, which had around 45

players when push came to shove. I spent the first few minutes checking out the online

ratings of my possible opponents, and wasn’t intimidated much (my Limited rating

online hovers around 1800). I did spot Stuart Wright, sporting the smiley face of

someone on my buddies list… with a Composite ranking in the 1900s, he’s quite

a MODO Bandit Warlord, let me tell you.

(By the way, I’m not changing. Yah Boo.)

Here’s what I opened:

I won’t go deep into my choices… after all, the format is redundant come

9am today. This is not an article for those wishing to improve their Limited game…

it’s an article for those wanting to know just what goes on when playing Premier

Events.

What’s the first thing I did? Probably the first thing that anyone with a

limited MTGO collection does… “right-click, Sort By Rarity.”

I pulled, in the rare slot:

FOIL Scion of the Ur-Dragon
Tivadar of Thorn
Opal Guardian
Stronghold Overseer
Academy Ruins
Gauntlet of Power

And in the Purple slot:

Mystic Enforcer
War Barge
Kobold Taskmaster
Undertaker
Merieke Ri Berit

Why can’t I open Call of the Herds? Or Teferis? I still need three of them!

So where do we go with this pool?

It’s obvious that we’re removal-light. Black, with its Assassinate and

Tendrils of Corruption, not to mention the two Madness enablers in Urborg Syphon-Mage

and Trespasser Il-Vec coupled with Nightshade Assassin, and the ridiculous Stronghold

Overseer, will probably see play. Green, Blue, and White are all tempting: Green for the

depth of guys, White for the strong cards like Opal Guardian and Griffin Guide, and Blue

for the marquee Errant Ephemeron and Riftwing Cloudskate. Red is the only color lacking

real strength, and even then I could splash a Lightning Axe if the need arose.

Here’s what I played:

While the Green and White comboed well with the Black, I thought the mana issues

could be a real problem. I wanted to try the Gauntlet of Power, as I’d never

played with it before this tournament, and it works wonders with Stronghold Overseer and

the high-cost Blue guys like Slipstream Serpent and Errant Ephemeron. Plus the B/U/W

combination meant I could run lovely Merieke Ri Berit. Fragile, yet powerful.

Anyway, I’m sure I’m wrong. Come sound off in the forums!

With my deck built, and my unease growing at my choices already, I sat and waited

until Round 1 began. The little clock in the bottom corner, invaluable to everyone who

lacks patience like myself, slowly counted down to the appointed hour.

Round 1 — Noli01 — Four-Color
This was Noli01’s first tournament. He told me so deep into game 3, when he had

the upper hand. I was not impressed. As I’ve mentioned, MTGO tends to make a jerk

of me… whenever I see “Player X mulligans to 6,” I’m chanting

“FIVE! FIVE! FIVE!” at my monitor. Of course, I’m pleasant to people

in chats, and I always wish GL and GG no matter how bad my manascrew and mulligans.

Noli01 took game 1 by stalling the ground with an early Thallid Shell-Dweller, then

making Sarpadian Empires, Vol.VII. Now, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t

much like Volumes I through VI, but it did the trick. He made Gauntlet of Power on White

after making the creature-spewing artifact on Green, but got full value by turning his

guys White with Cloudchaser Kestrel. My draw was underwhelming, but I kept up until the

race became inevitable.

Game 2 was much better for me. Turn 6 Stronghold Overseer went all the way, backed

with my own Gauntlet set to Black to take my guy out of Axe-range and to easily negate

his attacking 1/1 armies.

Game 3 was trickier, and I was behind for a lot of the time. As I stabilized after

Mindstabbing my opponent, he made Magus of the Disk. I managed to bounce it with

Riftwing Cloudskate while beating down with a Griffin Guided Urborg Syphon-Mage, but was

Disked out a few turns later. Luckily I drew Pit Keeper and managed to reuse the

Cloudskate to take game and match.

1-0 (2-1)

After the match, I was pleased to see there were only two other matches still

playing. That’s the first thing you must realise when playing a Premier

event… it’s gonna run long. Six rounds, plus possible Top 8, with

the first two rounds at least guaranteed to go to time… we’re talking five

hours at least. Sure, there’s no drive-time to get to the venue, and the food is

probably better. Even so, be prepared for a long slog, as it’s harder to maintain

focus when you’re surrounded by your CD and DVD collection while attached to the

Worlds Largest Pr0n Gateway.

Round 2 — Boris92 — G/B/R
Boris92’s rating was in the high 1700s, just like mine. He could play.

Game 1 saw another underwhelming draw overpowered by Herd Gnarr and first-main-phase

creature backup. When Phantom Wurm hit the pitch, it was all over bar the shouting.

Game 2 was better, as I had tempo advantage from the get-go. An early Sage of Epityr

(I can’t believe I once hated that guy) stacked my draw, and I beat down with

Viscid Lemures and Riftwing Cloudskate after bouncing a key monster to swing for the

exact seven I needed.

Game 3 was a strange one… by turn 4 or 5, Boris92 had five or six 1/1 guys in

play, while I couldn’t find anything of import. I took the beats for a fair time,

until death loomed. Then , off the top came Stronghold Overseer. I chose to attack, even

though I’d seen Assassinate in earlier games, as I thought I could kill him in two

swings if he didn’t have it. Of course, he had it, and I fell not long after. On

my last turn, I needed to top my Pit Keeper in order to return (and replay) the Overseer

for a chance at victory. In such circumstances, a Swamp doesn’t cut the mustard.

1-1 (1-2)

So, my first loss. I knew that another would put me virtually out of contention of

Top 8, and thus out of the prizes. In a Premier Event online, when surrounded by home

comforts, it’s easy to let such losses set you a’tilt. After all, it’s

not hard to simply disconnect and go draft. I saw a few people disconnect after round

1… sure, they lost, and they may feel their pool ain’t all that, but

they’re still in with a chance! Don’t be that guy.

Round 3 — Shadiest — R/W
I’d seen the name Shadiest before… maybe I’d played him in a draft or

something. Again, he was ranked in the mid-to-high 1700s, so I knew he could turn

‘em sideways.

Game 1 curved well. I suspended Errant Ephemeron on turn 2, and made Merieke Ri

Berit on turn 3, which snagged his Bonesplitter Sliver before biting the big one. I

bounced his Watcher Sliver the turn after with Cloudskate, and the six power of flying

beats took me home. I had gas in hand too.

Game 2 was more of the same. Mindstab is so unfair when suspended on turn

1. Okay, so this time Shadiest had an empty hand when it hit, but I’d dealt with

most of his guys anyway. Celestial Crusader made a fool of my opponent when he tried to

Conflagrate Merieke for one, and the flashback stripped his hand before the Mindstab did

the job for me. His Keldon Halberdier threatened to make a game of it, but Overseer soon

overpowered that. And a Pit Kept Riftwing helped out too.

2-1 (2-0)

Round 4 — Lemmiwinks — U/W/R
Y’know what kills my deck stone dead? Prodigal fecking Sorcerer.

Game 1 saw my 1/1 horse defeated by Tim and his Clockwork Hydra pal. Overseer

arrived the turn I would die to monster mashings.

Game 2 was better. Yes, my guys are largely 1/1s, and yes my opponent made an early

Tim, but my Gauntlet of Power boosted my troops enough to let chumpage happen while

Overseer ruled the skies.

Game 3 saw me on the back foot for the entire match. I thought I’d stabilized

in the face of Clockwork Hydra and Foriysian Totem beats, but a Firemaw Kavu put paid to

my ideas of a glorious comeback. C’est la vie.

2-2 (1-2)

At two wins and two losses, I was pretty much out of contentions. Yes, one player at

4-2 may make it into the Top 8, but as my losses came in rounds 2 and 4 I doubted my

breakers were up for the job.

Did that mean I dropped from the tournament?

No sir!

I knew you readers would have my guts for garters if I left in such an ignoble

fashion. I struggled on regardless, and I advise all folk to do the same. After all,

you’ve paid for the games, you may as well play them out. It’s not as if

your online rating actually means anything.

Round 5 — Callakov — G/R/W
This round was fun!

Callakov had some funky slivers and got his beat on early, but we eventually

stalled. However, while he made guys I made land, and prayed for Stronghold Overseer to

trump the army of 1/1 tokens he’d Emptied from the Warrens. When I died, with 14

cards in my library, I clicked the “Draw a Card” button until I saw the

Overseer. It actually was the bottom card.

Game 2 started the same, and I traded away my morphs for Ashcoat Beats and Spinneret

Slivers. Gauntlet came down early, and Trespasser, Syphon-Mage, and Overseer followed.

Yeah, I won that one.

In the final game I finally managed to get Undertaker working… he helped

return a Cloudskate, which is some good. However, the game was back and forth, very cut

and thrust, and it came down to a turn in which I needed to topdeck my fourth Swamp in

order to pump my Overseer for the win, or die horrendously the following turn to large

beats.

The Swamp came off the top, and there was much rejoicing.

3-2 (2-1)

This round showed me the reason to carry on playing (other than the fact that I had

nothing else to do, of course). It was a tense, cut-throat, and highly enjoyable match.

If I’d simply packed it all in on receiving my second loss, I’d’ve

missed the opportunity to have such fun. Great stuff. If you’re playing an online

Premier Event, and you are out of contention for Top 8 and prizes, consider sticking

around. It could be good for you.

Round 6 — ali3765 — G/R/W
Ali3763 also packed the slivers. Synergy is brilliant!

My opponent made with the ridiculous beats early, but thankfully I stabilized with

Sage of Epityr finding Stronghold Overseer. I managed to Griffin Guide my Dream Stalker

to provide stupendo-blocker, and won with two life to spare.

Game 2 was the game in which I had my perfect curve…

Turn 1 Sage of Epityr. Turn 2 suspend Ephemeron. Turn 3 Trespasser Il-Vec. Turn 4

Dream Stalker, replay Sage. Turn 5 Gauntlet of Power. Turn 6 Stronghold Overseer and

Urborg Syphon-Mage. Not even a turn 5 Spectral Force and Turn 6 Jaya Ballard could stand

up to that.

Oh yeah, I drew the Assassinate for the Force too. Go me!

4-2 (2-0)

In the end, I place 9th, missing out on Top 8 by 0.05%. Sure, I said earlier that I

knew I wouldn’t make Top 8 once I’d picked up my second loss… but even

so, this smarted a little. I left the happy Top 8ers to their draft (including one guy

on an ecstatic 4-2, and Stuart Wright on 4-1-1). I dunno who won in the end…

Stuart, probably. He is that good.

Overall, I had a lot of fun playing this Premier Event. If you’ve not dabbled

yourself, I suggest you give it a go. It’s the perfect time, as Planar Chaos is ready to

go… and if the servers hold up, we’re in for a rollicking good time. (If the servers

hold up… heh.) Just remember to give yourself ample time to play, and don’t be

disheartened by an early loss (or double loss). You never know, the next lucky 4-2 guy

could be you.

I’ll be back next week with a more traditional metagame column, as Planar Chaos

slowly filters into the prospective cardpool. It’s an exciting online time at present,

and I hope to see you tapping electronic cards soon. Come say hello if you see me… I’m

Scouseboy.

Until next week, remember — you can’t stop the signal.

Thanks for reading,

Craig Stevenson
Scouseboy on MTGO
Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2