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I arrived in Prague on Wednesday the 2nd of September. I didn’t do a lot on that day, aside from searching for a hotel for one night. Later, I’d be moving to an apartment with lots of other Swiss, German, and Austrian Magic players. The next day, Yves Sele and I were sight-seeing, discovering the city, until we walked around the corner and we saw – the legendary David Besso. What a small city! He shared that he was meeting up with some Frenchies, Gau, and Sam Black, as well as Martin Juza, for a spot of lunch; we were in. One original Czech meal later, and we were ready for some sightseeing... but the rain destroyed that plan. Alternate plan – back to the hotel and draft on MTGO. Two or three drafts later, I called up the Germans at the apartment. They told me the address, and that the best thing would be to just jump into a taxi. Google maps told us that it was merely four minutes away – so lucky! FORTY minutes later, we found the apartment. Go my sense of direction.

Thirty-six hours of enjoyment in the city of Prague later, I opened the following M10 Sealed pool.

White:
1 Angel’s Mercy
1 Armored Ascension
1 Blinding Mage
1 Divine Verdict
1 Glorious Charge
1 Mesa Enchantress
1 Open the Vault
1 Pacifism
2 Safe Passage
1 Serra Angel
1 Silvercoat Lion
1 Soul Warden
1 Solemn Offering
1 Veteran Armorsmith
1 White Knight

The color seems fine. It includes Serra Angel, Pacifism, and Blinding Mage as cards that are stronger than average. On the downside, however, is the fact that the color only includes six playable creatures, including Soul Warden and Silvercoat Lion. With such a creature base, it needs a heavy creature color in order to make the Safe Passages and the Armored Ascension shine.

Blue:
1 Air Elemental
1 Cancel
1Disorient
1 Flashfreeze
2 Horned Turtle
1 Ice Cage
1 Jump
1 Phantom Warrior
1 Ponder (foil)
1 Serpent of Endless Sea
1 Snapping Drake
1 Telepathy
1 Tome Scour
1 Unsummon
1 Zephyr Sprite

Another color with another 4/4 flyer... Yay. Sadly, aside from Air Elemental, the color is super-thin and not worth playing.

Black:
1 Acolyte of Xathrid
1 Assassinate
1 Consume Spirit
1 Doom Blade
2 Dread Warlock
1 Duress
2 Gravedigger
1 Mind Rot
1 Relentless Rats
1 Sign in Blood
1 Unholy Strength
1 Wall of Bone
1 Zombie Goliath

Doom Blade is the only card that really shines in this color. Aside from that, there are several card advantage cards here, including double Gravedigger which is awesome against any Black-based deck. Double Dread Warlock adds some evasion, and is screaming for a heavy Black base along with Consume Spirit and Sign in Blood.

Red:
1 Burning Inquiry
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Fireball
2 Firebreathing
1 Kindled Fury
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Elemental
1 Manabarbs
1 Panic Attack
1 Raging Goblin
1 Seismic Strike
1 Shivan Dragon
1 Viashino Spearhunter
1 Wall of Fire

Fireball and Shivan Dragon are the best two cards we’ve seen so far in this pool, and we are very likely to splash the Fireball with Lightning Bolt. Sadly, the color doesn’t add anything to a main color.

Green:
1 Acidic Slime
1 Borderland Ranger
1 Craw Wurm
1 Elvish Piper
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
2 Giant Growth
1 Giant Spider
1 Naturalize
1 Mist Leopard
1 Mold Adder
1 Nature’s Spiral
1 Regenerate
1 Runeclaw Bear
2 Stampeding Rhino
1 Windstorm

The color gives the right base to the deck. Garruk Wildspeaker is one of the best cards you can open, while Acidic Slime, Borderland Ranger, and double Stampeding Rhino are supporting it perfectly.

Artifacts/Lands:
1 Coat of Arms
1 Darksteel Colossus (foil)
1 Kraken’s Eye
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Whispersilk Cloak

Terramorphic Expanse makes sure we can splash the Red, while Whispersilk Cloak goes well with the Green.

This is the deck I submitted.

8 Swamp
7 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Elvish Visionary
2 Dread Warlock
1 Wall of Bone
1 Borderland Ranger
2 Gravedigger
1 Giant Spider
2 Stampeding Rhino
1 Acidic Slime
1 Shivan Dragon
1 Craw Wurm

1 Lightning Bolt
1 Doom Blade
1 Sign in Blood
1 Assassinate
1 Mind Rot
1 Whispersilk Cloak
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Consume Spirit
1 Fireball

This list is built to battle the removal-heavy decks or Green/White midrange decks, and thus it’s pretty bad against Blue/White tempo. I played a lot of games against Oli’s Blue/White tempo deck during the byes, and it wasn’t looking good for me. This is how the deck should look after sideboarding against Blue/White tempo:

1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Mountain
7 Forest
9 Plains

1 Soul Warden
1 Veteran Armorsmith
1 White Knight
1 Blinding Mage
1 Silvercoat Lion
1 Runeclaw Bear
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Borderland Ranger
1 Giant Spider
1 Serra Angel
1 Acidic Slime
3 Stampeding Rhino
1 Craw Wurm

1 Lightning Bolt
1 Pacifism
1 Solemn Offering
1 Armored Ascension
1 Divine Verdict
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Windstorm
1 Fireball

I was confident that the deck I submitted was better against most of the decks I would be facing. It had a better curve and far more card advantage. The second build is the deck I would sideboard into when the card advantage doesn’t shine and I need to have a creature on turn 2 to be able to fight my opponent’s rush.

The first three rounds were pretty simple for me. My opponents were screwed, flooded, and their decks didn’t include a lot of bombs. The next two rounds I got attacked by several Baneslayer Angels and other bombs, which did put me in the situation I expected to be with the deck: 6-2, and playing for Day2. The next round I played against the player that defeated Oli the round before – winning with a splashed Act of Treason and Giant Growthing up the guy. I didn’t see any bombs in his deck, and I drew Garruk Wildspeaker several times, which led me into Day 2.

One of the Germans, Max Eckenberger, opened an insane sealed pool with Baneslayer Angel, Cemetery Reaper, Magebane Armor, and other very good cards, but he didn’t manage to make Day2. I wouldn’t tell you this if he hadn’t promised to eat his Baneslayer Angel if he didn’t make the second day...

He spent a little over an hour doing so.

I made Day 2, and I needed a 6-0 record in order to make Top 8, or a 4-2 record to make Top 64.

In the first draft, I opened Air Elemental, which I picked over Doom Blade. I got passed a second pick Snapping Drake into Magebane Armor and Xathrid Demon. I didn’t see a lot of removal in the draft, as I pick Cemetery Reaper over another Doom Blade in the third pack, and alongside from the four bombs, I rounded the deck out with a pair of Merfolk Looters.

9 Island
9 Swamp

1 Child of Night
2 Merfolk Looter
1 Drudge Skeleton
1 Coral Merfolk
1 Phantom Warrior
1 Cemetery Reaper
2 Warpath Ghoul
1 Wind Drake
1 Snapping Drake
1 Air Elemental
1 Xathrid Demon

1 Weakness
1 Duress
1 Deathmark
1 Ice Cage
3 Divination
1 Mind Rot
1 Magebane Armor

Notable Sideboard:
1 Sign in Blood
2 Cancel

I lost the first two rounds to mediocre decks which had far better draws than me, and I won the last round against another mediocre deck where I had the better draws. Aside from the draws, he made a very special play... He had an Ice Caged 4/4 on the board, with four lands, after missing his fifth land drop and not playing a spell. When I Mind Rotted two of his four cards away the next turn, he discarded Act of Treason and Fog. I expected the worst, as he hadn’t Acted his 4/4 guy. He awkwardly only had a pair of guys in his hand, and I won the game.

The next draft, I started off with a Serra Angel, and was Mono-White after pack one, with a Ponder and a Prized Unicorn. I didn’t open anything in pack 2 and had to go with a Veteran Swordsmith, but then I was passed two Might of Oaks, which I gladly picked up and moved into Green/White. I opened another Might of Oaks, and got passed some more cards to combo with it. I ended up submitting the following deck.

8 Forest
9 Plains

1 Llanowar Elves
1 Soul Warden
1 Elvish Visionary
1 White Knight
1 Runeclaw Bear
2 Griffin Sentinel
1Veteran Swordsmith
1 Awakener Druid
2 Palace Guard
1 Rhox Pikemaster
2 Prized Unicorn
3 Stampeding Rhino
1 Serra Angel

2 Excommunicate
3 Might of Oaks

Notable Sideboard:
1 Safe Passage
1 Celestial Purge
1 Undead Slayer
1 Nature’s Spiral
1 Emerald Oryx
1 Craw Wurm
2 Regenerate
3 Naturalize
1 Whispersilk Cloak

I expected the combination of Palace Guard and Might of Oaks to be far better than it was. I sideboarded out the Guards all the time, as I wasn’t very interested in blocking, and not at all interested in using a Might of Oaks on defence instead of as a Super Lava Axe. I won round 1 against a Mono Red control deck, but then got flooded twice against a mid-ranged Black/Green deck. I dropped, as I was no longer able to make Top 64.

For those who don’t want any information about any cards in Zendikar, I suggest finishing the article here. As I’ve written about M10 quite often recently, and today I wrote about it once more, I must ask you guys: what you would like to read about next week? Come to the forums and tell me!

Thanks for reading.

Manu B

Zendikar Spoiler Alert!

During Day 2 of the GP, I was told by Sam Black that there would be enemy-color Fetchlands in Zendikar. I was expecting the format for Austin to change a lot, as people wouldn’t be able to play whatever cards they wanted in their deck. Now, with the return of the fetchlands, the rotation of Onslaught block seems to change little, aside from weakening Elves and removing Riptide Laboratory from Faeries.

I am pretty sick of the fact that people can play any card they want in their decks. When I was playing any spell I wanted at the Pro Tour in Hollywood, I was enjoying it, and I was still enjoying it a few weeks later. But as time passes, every deck seems to be casting any spell they want. Even decks that are built on constancy, like Faeries, are splashing for Lightning Bolts. I am glad that this craziness hopefully ends with the next Standard season, looking forward to the Grand Prix in Tampa.

I think the Fetchlands are very bad for the Pro Tour in Austin, but they are really cool for the upcoming Standard format. Putrid Leech and Tidehollow Sculler become much easier to cast, and the Shard manabase gets a lot better with the Fetchlands and the M10 duals. You can still build a solid manabase, but hopefully you’ll no longer be able to go crazy.

M