This is truly a turn up for the books, really. The title says it all really, but today was the day I made my second attempt at sealed drafting. Now, if you have read the previous writeup, you'd know the last time didn't go too well, placing me a few positions up from last place. You can imagine my surprise this time around. Without further adieu..
This prerelease was set to be a good one. I turned up on the saturday, with five of my friends, all looked hyped to take on the world, and hopefully do better than our last (and disappointing) prerelease standing. Of the six of us, four were drawn in by the green pack, a friend taking black and I (for increased chance of Athreos) took white. The seeded pack pulled me an Aegis of the Gods on top of my promo, my pool netting me a fair amount of aggro (and heroic triggers to properly benefit the promo - Dawnbringer Charioteers) and the inclusion of Iroas and a Foil Temple of Triumph on top of a strong Selesnya pool lead me to finalise my deck in the colours of Naya - Previously unexplored territory buildwise and the complete opposite of the last prerelease, when I played Dimir Control. Nevertheless, My decklist is as follows:
(Full decklist will be here when I publish it)
1x Aegis of the Gods
1x Bladetusk Boar
1x Blinding Flare
1x Chained to the Rocks
1x Charging Badger
1x Dawnbringer Charioteers
1x Desperate Stand
2x Eagle of the Watch
1x Font of Ire
5x Forest
1x Gods Willing
1x Iroas, God of Victory
5x Mountain
1x Nessian Demolok
1x Oreskos Swiftclaw
1x Peregrination
1x Phalanx Formation
1x Pheres-Band Thunderhoof
6x Plains
1x Prowler's Helm
1x Rouse the Mob
1x Sightless Brawler
1x Starfall
1x Temple of Triumph
1x Titan's Strength
1x Traveler's Amulet
1x Vanquish the Foul
1x Voyaging Satyr
1x Warrior's Lesson
Not like me to post a decklist like that, but the situation is pertinent enough that my thought process might as well be recorded. Looking at the mana curve, my hopes for a high tempo deck with plenty of combat tricks to back them up. After about an hour, the matchups began.
Matchup #1: Izzet Control(?)
The question mark in this one was because the intent of the deck wasn't immediately clear. The guy was running counterspells, cantrips, a fair amount of red creatures... But nothing to really push the creatures through. He was a charming lad, with an entourage of support, apparently he was as new at this as I was; but between the lack of disruption once my Charioteers hit the field, coupled with not really enough damage to push through, I took my first victory of the game relatively unopposed. 2-0.
Matchup #2: Azorius Tempo
To my surprise, this matchup saw me against a familiar face; the Golgari player from the Born of the Gods prerelease. He sported a white pool with an appropriate backup/removal to support a dual-colour strategy. I hoped he would be a good matchup like last time; We dealt up, and played on. First game was a pretty decisive one in my favour; he burnt his removal on smaller threats, tapping himself out on the turn I brought out my Charioteers, then blowing a ton of heroic triggers on it to swing for lethal (I believe the blow was dealt by 5/8 double strike lifelink). Second game was MUCH closer however; we both stalled out, building up forces but neither one wanting to take a swing at the other. Eventually through the few removal spells I had/Iroas I could take his bulwark apart and (eventually) swing through for lethal. 4-0.
Matchup #3: Naya Midrange
My third matchup was a friendly face. He was one of the group that I arrived with, giving me the advantage of knowing 1) what he was playing, 2) what he intended to do with it, 3) He was packing an Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. Needless to say, we shuffled up and dealt out. I've played against this guy A LOT since I started playing magic, so I know his style.
First game was pretty easy going for my side, the guy had some pretty easy to deal with creatures, he dropped a Swarmborn Giant on me which was dealt with easily enough by the fact that I had managed a turn 4 Iroas the turn before. Between my Bladetusk Boar and Dawnbringer Charioteers, once Ajani hit the board I could push through enough damage to kill him on the first turn while pushing for his face as well.
Second game felt a bit cheap, but he still put up a valiant fight all the same; I put my strategy together on the board and pushed through to his life somewhat quickly; in a game where the guy didnt pulled a single forest. his Boros offensive was valiant, but without Swarmborn Giant or Ajani he didnt really have too much of a chance. 6-0.
Matchup #4: Dega Minotaurs
This was a janky deck. I knew the guy I was playing against, and knew round about what to expect. He had timmied out at the sight of all the minotaurs in his pool, and looked to put them all in, with some white for good measure. I very nearly underestimated him, weren't it for the fact that he was 5-1. I chose the side of caution. Game 1 was a blow out in my favour, all my pieces came together and I won effortlessly. Perhaps this was to be my downfall, as in the second game it was one sided in the opposite direction. The third game was close but, ultimately, was not to be. A horde of deathtouch minotaurs sealed my fate. 7-2.
This would normally signal the end of the prerelease, but no. Not today, as there was a 4 way tie for first. Having played against the other two in the tie (Matchups #2 and #4) I sat down against another familiar face, running mono green. Unfortunately there is not much to talk about, as he didnt draw lands either of the games and I 2-0ed him without too much trouble. The other game ended up in Dega being 2-0ed by the Azorius, but because I had beaten the Azorius player previously, it is assumed that I rose above him in the standings as I was declared the winner at a prerelease for the first time in my Magic career. Truly a wonderful day.
