The Online Outlook #3 — Tales From Release Week

I’ve decided to quit smoking.

When I was a young man, not so long ago, I was vehemently anti-fag (easy, tiger… I’m English, remember?). My parents smoked, as did my younger brother and sister. As an eighteen-year-old, setting out on a university adventure, I did the patent “non-smoker cough” every time a family member sparked one up. You know the one: that polite yet insistent hem hem hem straight from the mouth of Dolores Umbridge that I’ve since come to loathe. However, university and beyond leant a new and sexy meaning to the phrase “peer pressure,” and soon I was a twenty-a-day man. I know, I was old enough to know better.

My brand? Marlboro Lights. I loved cracking the packs and ripping off the inner foil, sniffing deep the strange aroma of cooking chocolate that wafted up to my poisoned nostrils. Of course, when I walked from a well-paid job into the queues of the Great Unmotivated, cash worries meant I was on the rolling tobacco not long after. I roached with Magic cards, under the pretence of trying to rid the planet of as may COP: Reds as possible. Nowadays I use shop-bought filters, although the tobacco I use is still the cheapest I can find.

The thing is, to me, smoking is sexy and cool. It makes me look sophisticated, and it gives me something to do with my wispling fingers besides paradiddling the living hell out of the pub table, much to my companions’ relief.

Why, then, am I tuning my back on the amber leaf?

This past weekend, I teamed up with my good friend Craig Smith for the Two-Headed Giant Champs tournament. We did badly, finishing in the lower half of the field on the back of some awful cards and some worse play errors. That, however, is not the story.

By chance, we both brought our English Nationals Competitor Deckbox to the tournament – a pristine white tin emblazoned with the English flag, handed out in the player pack at English Nationals 2005 (or 06).

Craig Smith – or Geordie to his mates – is a smoker, like me. However, he has two young kids, and thus he relegates his habit to his front garden. His home is a smoke-free zone.

His deckbox was white as snow.

Me? I smoke while I work, ash dripping into my keyboard, monitor engulfed in a sepia hue.

My deckbox was yellow as piss.

The contrast was sobering, stark. We laughed, of course, and smoked in between each round… but I was actually affected. Sure, we know that smoking’s bad… but we don’t really know. Sometimes, it takes real, personal evidence. I’m glad that, for me, the evidence didn’t include a lump or some hacked-up blood.

So that’s it. I’m out. No more cigarettes for me. Maybe one or two at Amsterdam, but that’s another story. Nope, it’s time to retire my lighter and toss my Rizlas down the toilet.

It’s strange… I owe Magic a great deal, but I never thought it’d have a positive impact on my health.

Now, if I just get stuck in a turnstile when registering for the GP, maybe I’ll start that diet…

…

With Magicians Online currently mired in the Release Week Premier Events and Leagues, cataloguing the ebbs and flows of the various online metagames has become impossible. Wow, I sure picked a grand old time to take up this column.

Never fear, faithful columneers! I have content! Content in the form of…

My Release Week Adventures!

Usually, I’m rather frugal when it comes to Release Week. I splash out for enough product to partake in one Release League and one Release Premier Event. Any more, it seems, seems rather wasteful of my energies. Yes, the new cards are a boon, but I generally pick up enough of the commons and uncommons through regular drafting, and rares I try to pick up when the price furore has diminished. In the past, I usually post a 4-1 or a 5-0 in the league (why yes, I am that good), but I generally 1-2 or 2-3 my Premier Event.

This time, I promised to stick to the plan. I bought my product for two events, and cracked the first in a league. Here’s what I opened:

Release League Pool 1

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (53)

Lands (2)

Spells (33)

I liked the look of the pool. Some power, across all the colors, and a big fat dragon with a cool ability!

Here’s what I built:

Release League Deck 1

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (15)

Lands (2)

1 Swamp
1 Terramorphic Expanse

Spells (23)

Yes, I was greedy… but hey, Big Fat Dragon!

I thought this deck had power, a decent curve, and some high-end gamebreakers. Yes, the manabase could be a worry, but I had fixers like Terramorphic Expanse, Prismatic Lens, and Evolution Charm, as well as a gaggle of card drawing. I expected good things, and was looking forward to some fun-filled games.

My final score?

1-4

Honestly? I don’t know what the hell happened.

I’d read somewhere that this format was all about the bombs. Well, I had the bombs. I was removal light, I admit… but double Sunlance should help, no?

My first three matches were against White decks. I lost them all.

Including, and I’m embarrassed to admit this, one match in which I was manascrewed by my inexperienced opponent in game 1 when he used his maindeck Seal of Primordium on my essential Prismatic Lens.

I wouldn’t complain, but he also got to draw a card off his Mesa Enchantress.

I never saw Teneb or Tromp in any of the five games I played.

With the humiliating taste of defeat rolling around my teeth and gums, I decided to blow my remaining product on another Release League. After all, I may be bad a Limited, but I’m not 1-4 bad.

(My Limited ranking on MTGO hovers around 1800, and IRL it’s about the same – down from the lofty heights of mid-1900 it was before Worlds).

My second pool, destined to save my blushes, looked like this:

Release League Pool 2

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (58)

Lands (2)

1 Dreadship Reef
1 Urza's Factory

Again, some fine lookin’ cards, and a Big Fat Dragon with which to smash face.

Here’s what I built:

Release League Deck 2

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (20)

Lands (2)

2 Swamp

Spells (18)

I dunno, maybe I shoulda ran with the power of Blue, or the comfort of Green (every Sealed’s savior). But I couldn’t. Big Fat Dragon!

I didn’t like my deck going into my matches, but I was determined to post that 5-0 or 4-1…

My score?

2-3

Now I was angry.

Magus of the Arena? Overrated. He never did anything special. Molten Firebird? “Hey, he’s recursive… he’s fab!” Of course, having two opponents beat me to death with Voidstone Gargoyles wasn’t fun, because I could never get rid of the damn phoenix and I was soon locked out through my need to chump-block. And again, I was removal-light…

Looking back, I think the Blue was the right call here. I was lured into the Shiny Land of Cool Stuff, with Oros providing the siren song of doom.

And of course, I never saw Oros in any of the five games I played. My two wins came of the back of Chronosavant beats.

Yup, this one was a clear misbuild.

I looked at my collection, noting the gaping hole where my precious product once sat. “Sod it,” I thought. “I’m Thelma and Louise driving off that cliff! Get me to the MTGO Store!”

Half an hour later, I was back in the Release League signup room. I was ready to kick some ass and take some names.

Here’s my third pool:

Release League Pool 3

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (55)

Spells (35)

Hmm… so far, the worst of the bunch. No standout high-end bombs, Tromp the Domains aside. No dragon. Some nice Black, and some strong mid-range players like Mirri the Cursed and Soul Collector. And Null Profusion… that’s good, right?

I built my deck, but I didn’t feel confident.

Here’s what I threw together:

Release League Deck 3

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (15)

Lands (8)

8 Swamp

Spells (17)

I had to run the Black, and Null Profusion looked fun. I had some removal for once, but the creatures felt decidedly ropey.

My score?

3-2

This deck felt much better, even though some of my wins were by the skin of my teeth. Games in which my opponents had infi turns to top the removal for the cheeky Fortune Thief.

I found out a few things when running this deck. The first?

Null Profusion is insane.

Whenever it hit, I’d win. No question. The gas it creates, the momentum it offers, is incredible. Yes, the hand-limit can be a pain, especially with double Citanul Woodreaders, but I wouldn’t hesitate to drop it blind game 1 on turn 6 and discard two or three cards. You will see more.

The lock? What lock? Never saw it happen once. At six mana, I can generally cast anything I draw, and even the dreaded two-lander only stalls for a turn.

Soul Collector, however, was underwhelming. A 3/4 flyer is never bad, but his ability? Forget it, it just ain’t happening.

So, I’d posted my first winning record. Even so, a 3/2 result was hardly a legendary performance. It seemed that my forays into this fickle format, as foretold, only factored a favorable record over five when my forty felt full of both fantastic bombs and fabulous removal. And Null Profusion? A bomb, no doubt.

As a finale, I pumped the remnants of my product into one final Release League… Here’s my fourth pool:

Release League Pool 4

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (55)

Lands (2)

1 Calciform Pools
1 Vesuva

Spells (32)

Hah! Damnation! That’s what I’m talking about!

Bombs, removal, funky combat tricks, and mana consistency… oh, and the hottest rare since Hallowed Fountain. What more can a guy ask?

Here’s what I built:

Release League Deck 4

Craig Stevenson

Test deck on 03-11-2007

Time Spiral Limited

Creatures (15)

Lands (7)

7 Swamp

Spells (18)

I felt this deck held together pretty well, and it had some stone-cold nutzorz with which to rock my opponents’ worlds. Would this be the deck with which I’d finally post my 5-0?

Current score with this deck?

3-1

My first three rounds went swimmingly. I defeated classy opponents with some skill and luck. I was going all the way… or so I thought. Then a quick loss to a 1500-ranked player that made me walk away from the screen in disgust. Yeah, I can be a jerk when I play MTGO. Not to his face, of course… I wished him a gg and gl, but nevertheless I hate to lose.

I’ll play my final game once I’ve posted this article. Hopefully I’ll make a 4-1, for what it’s worth.

The best thing I learnt from this pool is the strength of the rescue creatures. I pulled off some frankly obscene combat trades and tempo advances, leaving my board full and my hand packed with cards. If you’ve got White this good, don’t leave home without it. Void was great, Cradle to Grave surprisingly good, and Endrek Sahr backed with Fortify is ridiculous. As for Damnation? Yes, it’s all that.

…

I spent a little more than I’d planned in entering four leagues… and in retrospect, I didn’t do very well at all. Having said that, I did learn a few cool interactions from the cards, and I now have a good idea about the strengths and weaknesses of some of my more questionable choices.

So why, I hear you ask, should you care?

In this article, I’ve presented you with four cardpools, and the personal choices made for the respective decks. I know I made mistakes. That’s the point. I find, as a Limited player, I have a severe weakness when it comes to evaluating new sets. By the time Future Sight rolls around I’ll be winning 8-4 drafts and slinging spells with the best of them… with Planar Chaos still fresh, I’m little more than Bambi, trapped in the headlights.

Please, come to the forums and share your own builds. I want to learn, and quickly, and I expect you all feel the same. After all, you too have been pounding the Release Week streets, hoping for those Top 8s or 5-0s…

Did you make it? Are you a Planar Chaos winner? If so, share your secrets! We could all use the help at this formative stage.

So now, I wait in the forums… I look forward to your views. Come share your deckbuilds, and your Release Week stories.

Let’s play.

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

Thanks for listening,

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

Creatures (53)

Lands (2)

Spells (33)

Creatures (15)

Lands (2)

Spells (23)

Creatures (58)

Lands (2)

Spells (30)

Creatures (20)

Lands (2)

Spells (18)

Creatures (55)

Spells (35)

Creatures (15)

Lands (8)

Spells (17)

Creatures (55)

Lands (2)

Spells (32)

Creatures (15)

Lands (7)

Spells (18)