Theros Sealed: IRL

Jonathan and I trekked to Gorilla King Comics in Fells Point Baltimore for Theros pre-release day. Its a small, casual store that pulled together 10 people for the sealed event.

I will go on the record and say that I don't like the "pick your color" style of sealed that the pre-releases have become. I want to use these for sealed practice and these pools are less realistic. That being said, I understand why Wizards is choosing to do it this way and I would guess the format is here to stay. As for us, it just becomes a new challenge. Rather than scraping for playables in that color, we end up making tough cuts just to get down to 40 cards.

I admit I didn't know what the playable pre-release promos were, nor which color had the money bombs, so I chose green because I wanted to battle with some efficient beef. It turns out that outside of a 4/5 for 5, our pre-release card is not too hot:

I had big plans, but actual targets of Anthousa were zero.

Green was deep, obviously. White was pretty good, red was very good but shallow, while blue and black are not good enough.

Main deck

If you can't read the picture:

1 - Temple of Mystery

2 - Fleecemane Lion, 2x Battlewise Valor, Savage Surge

3 - Chronicler of Heroes, Nessian Courser, Opaline Unicorn, Agent of Horizons, 2x Fade into Antiquity, Time to Feed

4 - 2x Staunch-Hearted Warrior, Heliod's Emissary, Divine Verdict

5 - 2x Anthousa, Setessan Hero, 2x Nessian Asp, 2x Observant Alseid

X - Mistcutter Hydrya

8x Forest, 8x Plains, Unknown Shores

Sideboard:

Shredding Winds, 2x Last Breath, 2x Setessan Griffin

Green-white cuts

The five-mana fliers should have probably replaced the two copies of Anthousa.

Red possibility: burn, planeswalker, and not much else

Two of the best red cards were the instant-speed naturalizes. I chose to use the green sorcery version that exiles in case I ran into any gods.

This is a very non-Archer deck, with no evasion, little in the way of tricks, just efficient beef and plenty of late-game mana-hungry cards.

In match one, I was paired up with Jonathan Mu in a match where two men would enter and only one would leave. He chose the Path of Red, then brewed up a spicy red, white, splash black minotaur tribal deck. I was rolled. I was constantly trading with my guys, waiting for my beef to outclass his, but he kept dropping minotaur lords and haste duders with four or more power. I lost with extreme prejudice and headed over to the losers' bracket. I will ask Jonny to provide his list for our amusement.

In match two, I played against Daniel, with a red-green deck that had no chance. He played Xenagos, the Reveler, but was so new to Magic that he told me this was his first planeswalker in play. I can confirm this is likely true based on his play choices.

In match three, I played against Mark, with another red-green deck. This one was closer, and he monstrosified his red pre-release card, but I had already monstrosified my fleecemane lion and suited it up with vigilance bestow. I got in for a few free cards when Mark chumped my indestructible, vigilant guy despite having a blocker big enough to safely block as long as I didn't have a trick. (I didn't).

In game two, he made a two-drop, three drop, then Xenagos the Reveler and a haste satyr. I never recovered.

Sidebar: three of the same planeswalker in 50 packs opened? That seems unusual.

In game three, I got the dream curve and demolished him.

Match three against Zach, playing red-blue.

Sidebar #2: Zach and I had exchanged a little banter between rounds after he claimed my planeswalker was worth $30. I countered that it is only worth whatever I could get someone to pay me for it. He passed at buying it for $30, $25, and $20, so I believe I won that one. Anyhoo, there was a little tension in the air for this round. (Xenagos sells for $23 on eBay)

In game one, I mulled, then kept four lands, Opaline Unicorn, and Mistcutter Hydra. (From scouting, I knew Zach was nearly mono-blue.) I made a turn 4 4/4 haster that sent Zach's life from 20, to 16, 12, 8, 4, 0. Incidental, for-constructed, pro-blue can be a real bitch sometimes.

Our second game was interactive. Zach played scry spells, burn spells and two */3 chimera that eventually grew to 4/3s. Unfortunately for him, I had two main deck Asps that are 4/5 reach, so his large fliers did bupkis. We reached a standoff where in addition to my Asp, I had a Staunch-Hearted Warrior with no counters, and in addition to his fliers, he had a Crackling Triton, three open mana, and a Sealock Monster about to get big.

I could smell his desperation to get me with his on-board trick in response to me targeting my hero, so I played Time to Feed, forcing my hero, which would become a 4/4 to fight his 5/5. Before I could even say what I was targeting on his side, he grabs his merfolk, sacs it and says in response deal two to your guy. I very calmly play the Battlewise Valor I also had in hand to make my guy 6/6 with +2/+2 and two damage, who then fought the 5/5 sea monster. Blowout city. If Zach just thinks for a second there, he still loses his monster and is facing down a 6/6, but he threw away his shock guy for no value, since I had to act next no matter what.

Technically, that is only a two-for-two, but I killed a 5/5 (soon to be 8/8), killed a 2/3 that can shock anything, added 4 +1/+1 counters to my guy, scryed 1, and gained three life for the low cost of those two cards and five mana.

From that point on it was academic. For good measure, I blew him out again when he tried a triple-block on my 6/6 with his two fliers and another small creature. I had the Shredding Winds (and an extra Divine Verdict) in hand.

Jonathan 4-0'd the tourney and the two of us rolled into this store, went 6-0 against not each other, and took first and third places.

Lessons of the day:

1. Play the maindeck enchantment removal. 
2. Always choose blue. Green big dudes just aren't fun.
3. Force minotaur tribal in Theros draft.