My goal was to stay completely clean of Onslaught info. I would read rules updates to make sure I understood the new mechanics - but I wanted each new card to be a surprise. I would experience a pure, unadulterated prerelease.

I held myself back from all of those tantalizing spoilers and card previews on other"official" Magic sites. Then I found out that I would be out of town on the prerelease weekend and that Grand Prix: LA was going to be held in San Diego!

Well, why not just upgrade and hit the Grand Prix? I'd really have to know my stuff, since the format was all Limited Onslaught. So I broke out the spoilers, poured over the commons, and even held a mock Onslaught draft at our house.

Then plans change again, and I can't go to the Grand Prix. But I'm sure as hell ready for a prerelease!

The practice that we put in was decidedly minimal. We had fun doing it and it helped incredibly during the tournament. Actually playing with morphed creatures and getting a feel for how to use the mechanic was very beneficial, as was the testing we gave to"tribal" cards: It is very difficult to get five creatures out, let alone five of the same type. All this also made us a little more relaxed at the tournament, which always helps your play. With practice under our belts and a good nights sleep, we were ready.

The morning of the prerelease my wife, Julia, is still undecided as to whether or not she wants to deal with a roomful of sweaty men and opponents who can sometimes be a bit too competitive. In the end, she decides to go - and there is much rejoicing. We meet our friend and constant Magic companion, Gerard, and head down to the site.

The San Diego site was beautiful compared to some of the dumps I have played in. The tables look new - no ketchup stains, the chairs have cushions - no rusted parts at all, and the tournament organizers even have a microphone! Imagine that - organizers being organized! They ran four flights of 64 players and overall it was a very nice tournament.

We finally got our packs and something I'd never seen before at a prerelease - a deck registration sheet. Wow, these organizers were serious. So, here goes nothing...

<crinkle><crinkle><rip>

WOAH!

I got one! A Grinning Demon! How cool. Oh, look at his teeth and that creepy shadow on the stone wall! A 6/6 for four mana and he has that sneaky ability: Morph.

It's the card everyone has been talking about, and I got one!

This isn't supposed to happen. My opponents are supposed to have all the bombs... Oh yeah, I guess I should look at my other cards, since that is how you win tournaments. You win games with your bombs, but you win tournaments with your other dudes.

<Side Rant: I hate people who call beautiful cards like the Grinning Demon"The new Juzam" or"An improved Scuta." This bad boy ain't no pansy Djinn, and Scuta sounds like fecal vocabulary... He's a Demon and proud of it. The merits of the Grinning Demon vs. the other two are up for debate, but that's not the point - this card has a beautiful name and it deserves to be spoken with pride!

(In Jason Lee's voice from Dogma) -"I'm a f*%#ing Demon!" Call the Grinning Demon by his proper name and make the world a better place. End Side Rant.>

The rest of the cards were beautiful to look at. I really like this set - it's shaping up to be my favorite, and yes, I'm a casual player at heart. I liked how all the land in the set had some tribal-style dwelling in its art. Nice touch.

But what is up with all the white creatures wearing wicker? Is that the style these days? Because it sure doesn't look like armor.

The cards that jumped out at me were two Whipcorders, two Daru Healers, two white flyers, and two Swats. It seemed that Black and White were the order of the day.

Here is the deck I played:

White (11)
2 Daru Healer
2 Whipcorder
1 Daru Lancer
1 Gravel Slinger
1 Ironfist Crusher
1 Glory Seeker
1 Aven Soulgazer
1 Dive Bomber
1 Improvised Armor

Black (12)
1 Grinning Demon
1 Gangrenous Goliath
1 Nantuko Husk
1 Wretched Anurid
1 Disciple of Malice
1 Spined Basher
2 Swat
1 Profane Prayers
1 Blackmail
1 Aphetto Dredging
1 Misery Charm

Land (17)
1 Barren Moor
8 Swamp
8 Plains

First, a comment on a few of the cards: The Whipcorders and Healers were incredible. They held people off until I could get my beaters going and they were incredible for combat tricks.

Two Swats - a slap in the face to face-down creatures everywhere and were great at removing blockers to bring in my big boys. Nantuko Husk is always a threat. Wretched Anurid must be played very carefully; he did so much damage to his controller every time he hit the table that it was scary.

And Improvised Armor - my Lord, what a card! Okay, so we all know that enchant creatures are card disadvantage... But this card was great all day long. Can anyone tell me how you improvise armor and get +2/+5? Yeah, I just found this Abrams A1 battle tank and I'm gonna wear it as armor. Sheesh.

And the girl in the picture looks like she's just wearing wicker again, but I guess they don't make improvised wicker bras because she is certainly showing off.

As for the morph ability? I love it. It allows each card in your deck to be a combat trick and really keeps your opponent guessing. It also allows you to add some seriously overcosted creatures to your deck without feeling too guilty about your mana curve. It was a very fun ability to play with.

Round 1 vs. My Beautiful Wife. (U/G)
There were only 64 people in our flight - so of course we get matched up in round one. I knew she had a few bombs like Arcanis the Draw-Lots-Of-Cards and Kai the Prodigy. Some elves and wizards rounded it out.

I won game one with the Nantuko Husk and Aven Soulgazer. That ability on the Soulgazer - 2W, look at target face down creature - helped me immensely in this match. It is very good to know what is face down on the other side of the board before you send in the men.

In Game two I took massive damage from a horde of elves before the Grinning Demon showed up with two white flyers to win the war.

Match 1-0 Games 2-0

Round 2 vs. Ken (G/W)
Ken was a funny guy. His shirt was slightly worn; by that, I mean it was in tatters. There were shoulders and ribs poking out everywhere - but I respect a man's favorite shirt. My brother and I call them Marathon shirts (a la Self), and we wear them with pride.

Ken wore his with pride, but Ken was only playing with 39 cards. I pile shuffled his deck again and then mentioned it to him. He grinned and then realized the gravity of the situation and began hemming and hawing and searching for"that other card that must have been in there." I let it go, not wanting to be a jerk, and Ken seemed like a nice guy; just a bit scattered.

In Game 1, I took a lot of early damage from a Nova Cleric and an Elvish Pioneer but then my Whipcorders showed up and eventually the Aven Soulgazer came to finish it.

Game two found me keeping a hand with three black mana, some morph white creatures and a Disciple of Malice. At one point I had five facedown morph creatures (and no plans to morph any of them!), a cleric, and a beast versus his three elves, three brutal clerics that were preventing damage right and left, and a 4/4 beast. He then draws and casts Harsh Mercy (Each player chooses a creature type and all other creature types are destroyed).

Big time ouch.

He chooses Elves and I think a bit and choose Chickens. All my unmorphed creatures were gone anyway, and either of my other two creatures were dwarfed by his side of the board. And I think chickens are under appreciated. People need to give chickens a break.

Needless to say, multiple elves hammered my face and I died soon after.

Game 3 is a little more my style. I get a Dive Bomber and an Aven out that take to the skies and destroy Ken while clerics hold the ground; all the while, he is plotting revenge with his"bomb": Biorhythm. Like I said, Ken was cool but a little weird.

Match 2-0 Games 4-1

Round 3 vs. Justin Smith (B/W/u?)
This was showtime. Going 2-0 can easily be chalked up to pairings luck but now I was playing with the big boys. He came out strong with a Daru Lancer and Screeching Buzzard. I prevented some damage with my Daru Healer, and then the old Grinning Demon decided to go undercover. He showed his grinning face for six damage and was promptly sent packing with Cruel Revival.

The next turn I pounded in with an Ironfist Crusher with Improvised Armor, Whipcorder, and friends. Justin took damage and was down to two. I was confused as to why he didn't block but on his turn I understood. He attacks with everything and then taps his land and casts Akroma's Vengeance (destroy all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments). The table is clear. I have two cards in hand: one spell and one land. I read the spell - Misery Charm - and I wonder which cleric I should bring back from my graveyard!

I drew a swamp - and the fact that I didn't draw a creature probably saved me, since I had to really think about what to do. I read the Charm again and the last part says win the game. (Technically it said"... or, target player loses two life"). Yeah. I should probably cast it. I do, and Justin is amazed at my topdecking skills.

I confess that I'm actually just too dumb to win when I should. Good thing I can read.

Game 2 sees early Whipcorders on my side of the board and Justin takes some pain from his Wretched Anurid. An Improvised Armor (this card was super!) on my Spined Basher spelled the end for Justin. Never did find out what his islands were for.

Match 3-0 Games 6-1

Justin was a very gracious opponent. He played very well, and after the match he congratulated me on having a great deck.

It was time to grab lunch and I was flying high. 3-0 is all I could ask for. My wife was 2-1 and Gerard was 3-0 too! Our practice seemed to be paying off.

Round 4 vs. The Mighty Gerard Rodriguez (R/W)
Gerard, the guy we came with, was also 3-0 on the day and we were paired up for this round. I was kind of sorry one of us would have to lose... But I knew it would be fun. Gerard is a great guy to play against. I knew some of his cards, since we had discussed our games over lunch. He would play a red pinger and a few 3/1 first-strike Craghorns and be virtually unstoppable. He also had the Blistering Firecat, so I was very wary of his face-downs.

Game 1, I get a Dive Bomber with Improvised Armor on it and my clerics prevent damage. Gerard couldn't draw enough red damage and the Bomber takes him down.

Game 2 Gerard's foil Grand Coliseum (a $16 cash cow) does more damage to him than I do. I take hits from everything he has and my creatures are all just chump blockers. When I finally got out a flying threat, he smiles and casts Pinpoint Avalanche.

I tap two healers to save my creature and he points out the fact that that damage cannot be prevented. Nice card.

He wins with ease.

Game 3 was a great game. It was back and forth for a while, and then my Demon buddy crashes the party. He must have drank too much because he got stolen with Threaten, punched me in the face for six, and then got Sandblasted Skin and just hung around to suck two life from me each turn. I eventually drew into my Dive Bomber and Whipcorder and threw a few morphers face-down and won at six life - all of my damage came from my drunken Demon. He is quite a dangerous ally.

Match 4-0 Games 8-2

During this match someone walked by, saw me, and said,"How's the mad beater deck doing?" I was getting noticed. It was cool.

Round 5 vs. Rick Beck (B/W)
This was the final 4 and the game was a complete mirror match. We seriously had identical decks - but his bomb, Jareth, never came out to play. He came out strong in game one and a morphed Haunted Cadaver snuck through and hammered my hand for three cards. There was much exclaiming. Someone at another table rushed over,"Who mised? Who mised?" and gives Rick the high five.

We reminisced about the old Mindstab Thrull and the good old days.

Rick's Gustcloak Harrier goes the distance. My armored Husk could only watch in dismay.

In game two I unmorphed a Spined Basher and Rick says,"Stab me?""Stab you for three," I reply, meaning three damage. Rick was under the impression that the card was a Haunted Cadaver and was referring to the Mindstab Thrull effect regarding three cards. He dutifully begins discarding and I wonder what the hell he is doing. Finally we get it sorted out and I apologize for the misunderstanding. It didn't really matter, since he was very manascrewed and had to discard anyway. Grinning Demon finished the job.

Game 3 was crazy. We went back and forth for a while - both of us matching the other, spell-for-spell. Rick's one problem was that he had cast a turn 2 Wretched Anurid that I wasn't about to kill. He took eleven damage from that monster - and then as I'm at four life, I turn a face-down creature sideways and he has no blocks. Up pops"I'm a f*%#ing demon" and I am victorious!

Playing Rick was probably the most fun I'd had all day. He was an excellent player and his deck was great. He had a good sense of humor and when he attacked you really knew it. He turned his creatures sideways with a vengeance. He was really just having a good time. More people should be like Rick. He came in second overall.

Match 5-0 Games 10-3

Round 6 vs. Jason Okerson (R/G)
This was for all the marbles and a box of Onslaught. I hadn't seen a R/G deck all day and I knew his was pretty good - you don't go 5-0 by being a slouch. Jason was a nice guy and had a good attitude, but all his good cards seemed to be hiding.

The first game found me beating down with a company of creatures and an elf on his side gaining him lots of life. My deck wouldn't cough up a Swat, so I had to find other means. He seemed a little distracted and drew lots of land while I drew lots of creatures and won.

The second game was just like the first, but without the elf - and just like that I was the winner.

First out of a flight of 64? Ain't world champ, but it sure does feel good!

Match 6-0 Games 12-3

As we left with our box of cards and joy in our hearts, Gerard topped the night off perfectly. He did some masterful trading and we left with an 8'x4' wall-sized poster of my man himself: The Grinning Demon. It was beautiful.