Hello, and welcome to the new home for the Online Outlook!
First, all you Bennie Smith fans out there need not worry. He’s not been axed — he’s simply moved house. His Monday column has moved to Wednesday, so you’ve no more than a couple of days to wait if You Lika The Juice.
Why the reason for the change of date?
It’s a couple of reasons, really. First, it seems that the world and his mate hosts their Magic Online column on a Wednesday. I do believe that our StarCityGames.com variant was the first, but I’m sure you’ll correct me if I’m wrong. Moving to a Monday means we’re the earliest each week, and means that any clash of subject matter will be less glaring. For example, I wrote a nice article last week talking about White Weenie in Block Constructed online, with heavy reference to the huge 4x Premier Event that place 8 WW decks at the final table. When I motioned to post it (admittedly 30 minutes late), I discovered that Frank Karsten had not only posted his article on exactly the same topic, but he’d clearly gazumped me with decklists and other pertinent information. I binned the article as it seemed pointless.
The other reason for shifting to Monday? My own personal schedule means I have more time to write on the weekend, therefore it makes sense to shift things around a little. Bennie was happy to help me out in this regard, so here we are.
…
Today’s Online Outlook will not be touching the Online game. I’ll be back to metagame analysis next week, with a look at both Standard and Block Constructed (in the wake of the Pro Tour), but for today I’d like to tell you the tale of two Future Sight prereleases. The first was held on Saturday in Bradford, England, and saw 47 players cracking open the Fresh New Cards. I was but one.
Here’s my cardpool:
White
Auratog
Blade of the Sixth Pride
Castle Raptors
Daybreak Coronet
Errant Doomsayers
Gift of Granite
Gustcloak Cavalier
Jedit’s Dragoons
Knight of the Holy Nimbus
Knight of Sursi
Lumithread Field
Patrician’s Scorn
Saltskitter
Temporal Isolation
Blue
Aven Auger
Blind Phantasm
Crookclaw Transmuter
Giant Oyster
Logic Knot
Mystical Teachings
Sarcomite Myr
Screeching Sliver
Second Wind
Shadow Sliver
Slipstream Serpent
Spell Burst
Spiketail Drakeling
Spin into Myth
Unblinking Bleb
Venser’s Diffusion
Black
Cutthroat il-Dal
Cyclopean Giant
Death Rattle
Deepcavern Imp
Drudge Reavers
Gibbering Descent
Gorgon Recluse
Grave Scrabbler
Liege of the Pit
Lost Hours
Magus of the Mirror
Mindstab
Oblivion Crown
Phthisis
Psychotic Episode
Skittering Monstrosity
Sudden Death
Traitor’s Clutch
Red
2 Arc Blade
Basalt Gargoyle
Bogardan Lancer
Bogardan Rager
Emberwilde Auger
Empty the Warrens
Fatal Attraction
Flowstone Embrace
Fomori Nomad
Grapeshot
Grinning Ignus
Ignite Memories
Mogg War Marshal
Riddle of Lightning
Shivan Sand-Mage
Skizzik Surger
Sparkspitter
Subterranean Shambler
Viashino Bladescout
Green
Chameleon Blur
Nantuko Shaman
2 Nessian Courser
Petrified Plating
Primal Forcemage
Quiet Disrepair
Scarwood Treefolk
Sprout
Sprout Storm
Strength in Numbers
Thornweald Archer
Thrill of the Hunt
Tromp the Domains
Wrap in Vigor
Artifact
Akroma’s Memorial
Soultether Golem
Triskelavus
Land
Arena
Dakmor Salvage
Terramorphic Expanse
Tolaria West
I apologise for the lack of a funky cardlist box o’ goodness. Once the Future Sight cards are in our database, then it’ll be business as usual.
Upon first inspection, it’s clear that the Red cards in this pool seems very special indeed. Double Arc Blade, Riddle of Lightning, Flowstone Embrace, Fatal Attraction, the hardy perennial Grapeshot… we’ve removal coming out of the kazoo. Couple this removal with such Black hits as Phthisis, Sudden Death, and Death Rattle, and it’s clear to see, should we tread this path, that nothing much is surviving on our opponent’s side of the table. And with Red now actually providing decent vanilla fat (in the form of Fomori Nomad — straight off the set of Pan’s Labyrinth), maybe a Black/Red base build is the way forward. There’s Liege of the Pit and Magus of the Mirror… they’re strong, no?
Sadly, no matter how I cut it, I couldn’t play both of these colors without skimping on the guys or splashing for mid-range men. With Tromp the Domains tempting me in Green, and some strong White cards to consider, I didn’t want to cut off my options.
Whenever I play a prerelease, especially the first prerelease available to the local Magic scene, I tend to go for beatdown and consistency. The new cards are tempting and tricky, and everyone wants to play with them. This can often be to the detriment of their deck, so supplying quick and solid beats can be overpowering. Thus, after much deliberation, I settled on the following Green/Red deck:
Mogg War Marshal
Emberwilde Auger
Sparkspitter
Basalt Gargoyle
Viashino Bladescout
Fomori Nomad
Bogardan Rager
Skizzik Surger
Flowstone Embrace
Fatal Attraction
2 Arc Blade
Empty The Warrens
Riddle of Lightning
Thornweald Archer
Primal Forcemage
2 Nessian Courser
Nantuko Shaman
Scarwood Treefolk
Strength in Numbers
Tromp the Domains
Terramorphic Expanse
9 Mountain
6 Forest
Plains
The best thing about this deck is the synergies available. The most impressive, I feel, hinge around Primal Forcemage. Let’s have a quick rundown of the stellar hits that partner the unassuming Green Grey Ogre.
Sparkspitter
Viashino Bladescout
Bogardan Rager
Skizzik Surger
Nantuko Shaman
Triskelavus
Sure, some of the synergies there are better than others, but you take my point.
On the topic of Forcemage synergy, and given that I’d plumped for Green/Red, there’s one glaring error I made in deckbuilding. I definitely should have played Sprout Swarm, in place of the Mogg War Marshal. In fact, there’s even a case to be made for playing Sprout itself.
On the other side of the coin, the synergy between Skizzik Surger and Triskelavus was rather annoying. I often held back from laying the Skizzik when sat on six lands with Triskelavus in hand, on the nebulous promise of topdecking the all-important seventh.
The White was there solely to power up the Tromp the Domains… maybe a bit silly, but it did me well, and the Thrill of the Hunt was a fine addition from the sideboard should I need it.
So how did I do?
5-1, losing in the last round to the eventual winner. Our match was over in five minutes, when I fell to screw in game 1 and flood in game 2. Actually, our match was over in less than five minutes, as quick Red and Black monsters backed with removal feast on decks that stumble. And I’d not had a problem mana-wise for the entire day until then.
The eventual winner had a fine deck and his fair share of luck, our match notwithstanding. When facing defeat in Round 4, his opponent became the first person in UK Sanctioned Magic to officially Pact For The Loss. During your attack, I’ll prevent that two damage from your Gorgon Recluse, even though I’m on eight and I’ve blockers and I’m making four Saproling sprouts at the end of every turn.
Untap, upkeep, draw, lose.
My luck on the day was in the fifth round, when I was on two life, with five guys in play and no cards in hand, facing down six power of Shadow damage the following turn alongside a fresh-cast Urborg Syphon-Mage and fourteen toughness of blockers.
Tromp off the top for the exact kill seems more than fair. Yes, I felt very dirty.
5-1, eight boosters and a t-shirt. Despite my sixth-round blowout, I felt good going into Sunday’s prerelease. Only 29 players this time round… numbers down on both the Planar Chaos and Time Spiral prereleases.
Here’s my cardpool:
White
Auger il-Vec
Barren Glory
Castle Raptors
D’Avenant Healer
Errant Doomsayers
Even the Odds
Flickering Spirit
Gaze of Justice
Gift of Granite
Judge Unworthy
Knight of Sursi
Lucent Liminid
2 Lumithread Field
Marshalling Cry
Opal Guardian
Blue
Aven Augur
Blind Phantasm
Drifter il-Dal
Eternity Snare
Fathom Seer
Forsee
Logic Knot
Mesmeric Sliver
Narcomoeba
Ovinomancer
Think Twice
Vedalken Aethermage
Venser’s Diffusion
Black
Cutthroat il-Dal
2 Deepcavern Imp
Dread Return
Feebleness
Grave Peril
Mindlash Sliver
Oblivion Crown
Skulking Knight
Strangling Soot
Tendrils of Corruption
Red
Bonesplitter Sliver
Char-Rumbler
Conflagrate
Fatal Attraction
Firemaw Kavu
Flamecore Elemental
Flowstone Embrace
Fomori Nomad
Ghitu Firebreathing
Grinning Ignus
Ground Rift
Haze of Rage
Riddle of Lightning
Rift Bolt
Rift Elemental
Skizzik Surger
Subterranean Shambler
Uthden Troll
Green
Aether Web
Centaur Omenreader
Chameleon Blur
Edge of Autumn
Gemhide Sliver
Glass Asp
Havenwood Wurm
Heartwood Storyteller
2 Kavu Primarch
Llanowar Augur
Llanowar Empath
Nessian Courser
Pendlehaven Elder
Penumbra Spider
Quiet Disrepair
Riftsweeper
Scryb Ranger
Squall Line
Multicolor
Dementia Sliver
Ghostflame Sliver
Artifact
Chromatic Star
Clockwork Hydra
Darksteel Garrison
Mirari
Phyrexian Totem
Prismatic Lens
Land
Academy Ruins
Dryad Arbor
Llanowar Reborn
Saltcrusted Steppe
Foil Mountain
First up, let’s take a look at those lovely rares and Timeshifts:
Squall Line — no complaints here, I suppose.
Academy Ruins — No Serrated Arrows abuse, sadly.
Opal Guardian — If we’ve the White to back it up, I suppose.
Uthden Troll — Rare guy go bash.
Mirari — Meh-rari.
Ovinomancer — Very poor indeed.
And the exciting rares from Future Sight?
Heartwood Storyteller — could have Constructed uses, but pretty dangerous in Limited.
Barren Glory — My god, can it get any worse?
Darksteel Garrison — Apparently, it can.
The Glory and the Garrison… a double whammy of evil.
The pool has some merit, but it does lack the Red strength I saw the day before. Again, White is pretty playable, and Blue is a piss-bag of broken dreams. Black, maybe. Red, maybe. Green, maybe.
Here’s how I ran:
Errant Doomsayers
Lumithread Field
Knight of Sursi
Lucent Luminid
Castle Raptors
Judge Unworthy
Even the Odds
Firemaw Kavu
Fatal Attraction
Flowstone Embrace
Rift Bolt
Gemhide Sliver
Riftsweeper
Scryb Ranger
Nessian Courser
Centaur Omenreader
Kavu Primarch
Penumbra Spider
Havenwood Wurm
Edge of Autumn
Squall Line
Clockwork Hydra
Prismatic Lens
Llanowar Reborn
Saltcrusted Steppe
7 Forest
6 Plains
2 Mountain
Again, I put stock in the deck’s synergies. They weren’t as obvious, or as numerous, as the deck from the previous day, but there was some niceness to be had.
Scryb Ranger with Clockwork Hydra, Errant Doomsayers, Castle Raptors, and Gemhide Sliver.
Even the Odds with Kavu Primarch and the excellent Llanowar Reborn.
Again, there were some bad synergies. Turn 1 suspended Knight of Sursi, turn 2 Riftsweeper doesn’t seem the value.
Aaaand… that’s about it.
I felt the deck was okay. Nothing great, but passable.
My record?
2-4
Two-freaking four. I place 26th out of 29.
Loss, loss, loss, bye, loss, win.
Each match was lost 1-2, and in the third game of each I had one card in hand when I died.
The card? Squall Line. Mana on the table? Exactly enough to reduce my opponent to one life.
Every. Single. Time.
By round 3, it was a running joke among my friends. By round 5, it was no longer funny. In game 3 of round 6, I drew Squall Line while getting beaten down… and almost started crying.
It was an omen, pure and simple.
Thankfully, I actually used the Squall Line three turns later, when facing lethal damage, to take the game and match. Cold comfort, believe me.
I hate Squall Line.
Thoughts on the format so far
I know that the tourney-pack-plus-three-boosters thing may bias me, but it seems that Red in ridiculously strong. There is now officially removal in spades, and creatures don’t live long. That said, anything with four power seems to be huge. Fomori Nomad and Soporloth Ancient wrecked me all day. Strangely, I now value Scarwood Treefolk higher than I have previously. Anything to stop those four-power guys caving my head in.
This four-power odyssey means a card like Centaur Omenreader is not the wonderboy I’d hoped he would be. I make him turn 4, they drop a 4/4 on their turn, and suddenly I can’t get Firense tapped in order to take advantage of his cheap-ass guy clause.
I’m sure that the format will play out more when the set comes online… I’m looking forward to drafting the full three. RRG Draft decimated me, while RGD was spectacular for my self-esteem. Hopefully, my barren times in TTP are over, and I can look forward to green pickings in TPF.
That’s the dream, anyway.
But if I ever see a Squall Line in my opening pack, I’m gonna drop. I’m sure the card has it in for me.
Until next week, when I’ll be back on the Online Metagame trail.
Remember — you can’t stop the signal.
Craig Stevenson
Scouseboy on MTGO
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