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Any regular visitor to this site may have noticed something: there haven't been any articles from this Malaysian kid for the past several months, or any interesting achievement since the 2005 Magic Invitational. As you may know, I started college. Assignments kicked in, and my social circle naturally expanded. Suddenly I found that I no longer played five hours of Magic per day.
To be frank, I lacked enthusiasm. This factor is very important. Even with a good deck at the Pro Tour, you can't compete without desire. If you go 7-0 on day 1 of a Grand Prix, you might end up missing Top 8 simply because you're not tight enough to get up early in the morning. These things are clearly frustrating, and I hated myself for being so stupid. A day later, I had cleared the anger and learnt a valuable lesson. Consistency is vital. No matter how intelligent you are, or how well you did in the past, success will elude you without a fair share of work.
Life's a funny thing. It's not like you or I don't know the importance of consistency, but at times we relax too much. Sometimes, the word “consistency” doesn't exist in our dictionaries, unless we are consistently doing a great job in every aspect of our lives.
Now, however, I have awakened from my sleep. Once again, I will try my level best to win every Magic game I play.
But enough about me.
This weekend, Guildpact boosters will be opened in the hands of multicolor lovers at Prereleases across the globe. In the past, I avoided Prereleases — my ego had expanded my head — but I'm starting anew, setting everything to zero, in order to regain my play skill and psychological edge.
I browsed the spoiler and started to do a little research into Guildpact. I created my own textbook of pick-orders, but I'm not discussing it today as it is only a prediction and I barely have the confidence to support it. However, I have a tip or two for players that are looking to gain an advantage at their Prerelease tournament.
Without further ado, here they are:
Draw First
This is definitely not the first article you'll read that advocates drawing first, but I will state my case regardless. Historically, Sealed games tend to be slow, and early creatures trade one-for-one unless you've a number of good rares and uncommons. This creates an unfair game for your opponent, but in most games, you can't expect to draw your bombs at will. In Ravnica Sealed, the games are even slower than usual. I would expect most of the Sealed Decks at the Prerelease to be three, or even four, colors, so drawing the extra card is essential. I will elaborate on color concerns later in this article.
In Sealed, it is very annoying to mulligan when playing first. You start with six cards, while your opponent starts with eight. However, if you're drawing first and need to mulligan, you still start with seven cards. Drawing a sufficient amount of appropriate colored lands is very important, as everyone will be running three or more colors. This is especially true at the Prerelease, as people tend to try new interactions and combinations of cards. So again, every card you draw matters.
Play Three, or even Four, Colors
There is always the risk of being color screwed if you're greedy and play a rainbow multicolored deck. But let's face it... you've got no choice. In Draft, you can stay focused on one of the four Guilds, simply because you have the power to decide on the cards in your pile. You have no such privilege in Sealed. Fortunately, the classic jokes show us there is always good news tagged along with bad news. The good news is you get to work with seventy-five cards, instead of the forty-five of Draft, which means you have more options to consider.
As I mentioned earlier, Ravnica is slow. You'll be able to play with three or four of the strong colors in your pool. I've tried time after time to build a simple two-color deck, but it is near impossible. I always ended up splashing something, or the deck was simply underpowered. My opponents often have a shaky mana base, but they also play with more powerful cards in their deck, carrying them to victory. Hence, I reached the obvious conclusion: “if you can't beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
This is a fairly easy rule to follow, as multicolor cards are generally better than “normal” cards. Guildpact adds R/G, U/R and B/W to the mix; you should not have a problem connecting the missing pieces in your Sealed build. For example, a R/G/U deck is strictly worse then a U/B/R or R/G/W deck, because the latter gives you more gold cards to play with. Remember, the more gold cards you have, the better your deck should be. Of course, I'm not advising you to throw every gold card you have into your deck, but again, gold cards are generally superior to mono-colored cards. By focusing on connected Guilds, your three-color deck will have the advantage over more mundane offerings.
Sideboard In Your 4th Color
If you find your three-color deck to be sup-par and weakened with a few mediocre cards, and if your opponent's deck is pretty slow regardless of its raw power, I would suggest you to splash the fourth color for games two and three. I always believe that card superiority will win a battle of attrition. However, don't get too greedy. Don't bring in more than three or four of the “fourth-color cards,” or else you'll struggle to draw your appropriate basic lands in time.
Of course, if your three-color deck is a strong one, all is good. Stick with it, as it should be good enough to win games. Just remember that the possibility of that sideboarded color is always available...
If you're feeling frisky, try some trickiness. Ask a judge to fetch several basic lands, and toss them (and a few cards from your sideboard) into your deck. Shuffle it up and remove whatever you please, as your opponent looks on!
Ah, mind games... my favorite.
Read the spoilers before you head to the Prerelease. It won't take much time, but it will cost you games if you're unaware of the instants in the new set. Check out all instant tricks that are now available in each color, and note the mana required to cast them. I understand that you can't memorize all of them, but try to remember the few which will definitely see play. Of course, the good common cards are important here.
Your games will be different if you have a clear understanding of the new format. I know it's a Prerelease, and as such it should be fun and casual, but it's no fun at all when your Galvanic Arc fizzles through an unknown rules issue.
Talk To People
When a new set comes out everyone is tries new ideas, be they brilliant or stupid. Don't be afraid to spread the wealth. Speak to people, get those ideas flowing! You can't know everything, especially regarding a new set. By sharing ideas, you'll form opinions based on discussion and debate, reaching consensus with the guidance of others.
Don't Be A Jerk
It's a Prerelease. Have a good time with your buddies and talk about silly combos and card interaction. Being a rules-lawyer, and calling a judge on your fifteen-year-old opponent for every unintentional error, will ruin the day for everyone involved. At a Pro Tour, with money and honor at stake, the lines are a little more blurred... but at the Prerelease, people will hate you if you make the kids cry. Enjoy those two extra packs in your winnings, buster.
Have fun this weekend. That's what the Prerelease is for, after all.
Note: I would like to respond to Anton's latest article. In it, Anton spoke with honesty and candor, and the article is worth every cent. Dimir is indeed the best archetype to draft in triple Ravnica, with the worst being Golgari.
I talked to Anton about Limited at the World Championships. He taught me about the archetypes, and revealed some pick orders. I was skeptical at first when he told me Dimir was the strongest, but I decided to have faith in my friend. I posted a 5-0-1 record in the Draft portion of the tournament.
Thanks Anton, you Limited monster.
