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Last weekend saw the Zendikar prerelease. I played one prerelease in Paris, and one in my hometown of Lille. Both of them were very instructive, taking place a mere nine days prior to one of my biggest Magic trips.

I’m not sure whether I’ll attend Grand Prix: Minneapolis yet, but the Melbourne-Austin-Tampa-Kitakyushu-Paris jaunt will take me about 160 hours of travel, meaning I’ll spend around a full week out of the next month in planes and airports for transit. Considering the investment, playtesting as much as possible before next Friday was an absolute necessity. From this weekend of prereleases and the few drafts I played afterwards, I’ve had time to try some experiments.

First, there was my prerelease event in Paris. There were 311 players, featuring Rémi Fortier, my brother Antoine, his new roommate Manuel Bucher, and a Phyrexian Dreadnought. By the way, I’d like to sincerely congratulate WOTC. Adding one card to every 1500 packs or so almost doesn’t cost them anything, but it makes people talk about their product and want to buy more. Quite a brilliant marketing idea! Every player now looks to the last card of the pack when opening, to search for an unlikely treasure which may not even be worth as much as the top rare of the expansion. Man, I wouldn’t like to be the player who opens a Lich… hehe!

My first Zendikar Sealed deck was not very interesting as far as building was concerned, and as I got my ass kicked (while in the meantime, Antoine and Manu ID the final round for the win), I signed up for my first draft in the format. As I was thinking of the different possible strategies, there were two I wanted to try: a WR landfall deck, and a U/something Ally deck, as I had the feeling Umara Raptor was the key card of the strategy. And the very first pack gave me Kazuul Warlord, making it quite clear which archetype I would go on to play. As I received a surprising 6th pick Murasa Pyromancer, it was rather obvious the archetype was open. When pack 2 revealed a Sea Gate Loremaster, it became clear that not going 3-0 would be a terrible failure, both for me and for the draft strategy.

From then on, I passed nearly no Allies, as I would only pick removal spells over the not-so-good guys (such as Tuktuk Grunts when my curve was already quite high). Here’s the deck I ended up with. By the way, I can’t wait to learn the set a little better, so I won’t have to search for the English translation of every single card…

2 Teetering Peaks
8 Mountain
8 Island
1 Highland Berserker
2 Plated Geopede
1 Welkin Tern
2 Torch Slinger
2 Stonework Puma
1 Umara Raptor
1 Reckless Scholar
1 Windrider Eel
1 Kazuul Warlord
1 Tuktuk Grunts
1 Geyser Rider
1 Sea Gate Loremaster
1 Murasa Pyromancer

1 Blazing Torch
1 Burst Lightning
1 Punishing Fire
1 Into the Roil
1 Inferno Trap
1 Whiplash Trap

I went 3-0 and lost only one game, but the skill level of the drafters at the table (people who had dropped after three rounds of a prerelease) and the bombs I opened obviously played a big role. But I still learnt a few things from that draft.

- Playing first seems great in the format. I mean, I play first in over 95% of my draft games, but it’s usually to manufacture a 55/45 winning chance. I’ve witnessed a turn 3 kill in Zendikar draft, and heard about a second, and Landfall and Ally decks seem very hard to stop when on the draw. I won my final match 2-1, but I’d have won the game I lost if I was on the play, and I would have lost at least one of the two games I won if I had been on the draw.

- Punishing Fire is great against Grazing Gladeheart (particularly when people don’t know gaining life is optional).

- A good Ally draw is nearly unstoppable. It has so much power than it doesn’t even need to play all of its guys. My round 2 opponent was stuck on four lands, so he had lots of spells in hand. On turn 7, he played Day of Judgment, and my following two turns were Puma plus Raptor and then Tuktuk Grunts, so that he was already half dead one turn after cleaning the board.

- The Harrow/Landfall combo is nuts. Yes, I am aware everyone must have figured about that one already, but just in case…

After a night of work, I woke up at 6:30am to grab a train to my hometown and attend another prerelease there. This time, I’m much luckier as my pool is pretty good. Here it is:

White

2 Ondu Cleric
2 Cliff Threader
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Makindi Shieldmate
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Caravan Hurda
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Brave the Elements
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Narrow Escape
1 Bold Defense
2 Arrow Volley Trap
1 Celestial Mantle

Lots of cards, mostly playables, but also many rares and removal spells. I’d be surprised not to play White.

Blue

1 Kraken Hatchling
1 Welkin Tern
1 Umara Raptor
1 Merfolk Wayfinder
1 Merfolk Seastalkers
1 Sky Ruin Drake
2 Shoal Serpent
1 Into the Roil
1 Trapmaker's Snare
1 Trapfinder's Trick
1 Mindbreak Trap

Only thirteen cards, including several unplayables. Not an option.

Black

1 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Blood Seeker
1 Mindless Null
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Disfigure
1 Vampire's Bite
1 Mire Blight
1 Soul Stair Expedition
2 Feast of Blood
1 Quest for the Gravelord
2 Grim Discovery
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Hideous End

Some excellent cards, but they’re all double Black except for Disfigure. I’d love to run those cards, but it will be hard unless I manage to stick to two colors.

Red

1 Highland Berserker
1 Torch Slinger
1 Hellfire Mongrel
2 Molten Ravager
1 Ruinous Minotaur
1 Shatterskull Giant
1 Geyser Rider
1 Murasa Pyromancer
2 Goblin War Paint
1 Zektar Shrine Expedition
1 Magma Rift
1 Spire Barrage

Lots of playables, but they are globally weak. Nothing really splashable here, as the good cards cost several Red mana to cast.

Green

1 Scythe Tiger
1 Nissa's Chosen
2 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Turntimber Basilisk
1 Oran-Rief Recluse
1 Mold Shambler
2 Timbermaw Larva
1 Vastwood Gorger
1 Quest for the Gemblades
1 Beast Hunt
1 Relic Crush
1 Baloth Cage Trap
2 Cobra Trap

Not shiny, but it has guys and playables.

Artifacts

1 Spidersilk Net
2 Expedition Map
1 Explorer's Scope
1 Stonework Puma

Double Map and possibly Scope encourage me to go for three colors.

Lands

1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Graypelt Refuge
1 Turntimber Grove
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Teetering Peaks

Two White lands, which is good news as it’s the only color I’m certain to play. Let’s now see if I can build a WB deck or a WG deck, or if I’ll have to go for a more dangerous WGB deck.

WB is, in theory, an option, but in order to build that deck, I’ll have to play about six cards I don’t feel like playing, meaning my deck will almost always rely on its bombs. This is no M10, so let’s check out the next option. It’s funny how happy it makes me feel to write those lines… “This is no m10.”

WG is definitely an option, as it has lots of playables and a good curve. Its only problem is its lack of removal. Therefore I’ll try and go for the WGB build to see if I can come up with something good. It quickly becomes clear that my only way to have a decent curve is to play WG with a Black splash. Splashing for double Black cards? Usually I would not, but it makes a lot of sense if I manage to build a slow deck around it.

I experiment with several hands with the deck I’ve just built, and as I’m satisfied with the mana, I decide to play it. It does seem a lot more impressive than the other two versions.

5 Forest
5 Plains
4 Swamp
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Graypelt Refuge
2 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Cliff Threader
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Turntimber Basilisk
1 Oran-Rief Recluse
1 Mold Shambler
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Malakir Bloodwitch
1 Baloth Cage Trap
1 Vastwood Gorger
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Expedition Map
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Disfigure
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Hideous End
2 Arrow Volley Trap
1 Celestial Mantle

Cards that almost made it:

- Cobra Trap: I ended up having one slot for an expensive spell, and I decided that the 5/6 seemed better to me. I did bring both in against a guy who had both a 2/3 Disenchant guy and several one-toughness creatures.

- Explorer's Scope/Quest for the Gemblades/Brave the Elements: Three cards I like, particularly the Green enchantment, but the thing was I trusted my deck to win any long game, so all I needed to do was focus on my game plan: playing guys/removal in the early game to trade with their resources, then play bombs and win. None of these cards are really good from this perspective, as it would mean I’d have to cut an early guy or Vastwood Gorger, which I really want to play as my games should be so long that it will be able to shine.

- Timbermaw Larva: These are the reason why I actually considered going plain WG, but they are not interesting in a five-Forest deck.

- Turntimber Grove: This wasn’t actually close to making the cut, but I wanted to explain why. My deck is not into beating down at all. And even if it was, I still think I’d like a Forest over a card which will allow me to deal my opponent a little damage once in a while, but will also often slow me down. I think the ability is not worth the bother.

I posted a 6/1 result after playing several very interesting games, and the only round I lost was to double land screw. But you know these things usually happen at least once in every tournament, so it’s no big deal.

My first round was pretty cool. I had total control of the game from the outset, until he played Hedron Crab, Rite of Replication with kicker on his 0/2, and an Island. I only had seventeen cards in my library. In game 2 I boarded in Narrow Escape so he wouldn’t copy any of my rares, but I hadn’t drawn it when he made 5 copies of my Felidar Sovereign. I managed somehow to take back the momentum as I was holding Journey to Nowhere and quickly drew Kor Skyfisher. I was on 77 life when he played Archive Trap, but I still managed to win this one with one card left in my library. On game 3 I sideboarded again, and added a pair of Grim Discovery. He played his trap when I fetched on turn 3, allowing me to return my second Black mana and Heartstabber Mosquito, with which I ended up winning the game, one minute before the end of the round and after I had countered his Rites with the well-named Narrow Escape.

Round 1 of my prerealease had been more skillful than the last three months of M10, and that felt really good.

After the prerelease, I played another two drafts, which were both quite interesting too. In the first, I tried to force Five-Color Allies, which was not such a good idea. For the deck to work, I think you need the following:

- Fixers
- Lots of good Allies
- Removal spells
- Expensive spells to compensate for the ton of lands you’re searching for all the time.

My deck had the fixers (1 Dual, 3 Harrows, Khalni Gem), good Allies (Murasa Pyromancer, 2 Umara Raptor), and removal (Pyromancer, Disfigure, Hideous End, 2 Torch Slingers, Heartstabber Mosquito).

However, the deck’s two Grazing Gladehart and the Pyromancer were a little lightweight when I reached eight mana in every single game, and playing a 3/3 Ally for two mana isn’t so good when your opponent casts five-mana 4/4s in the meantime.

I went 2/1, but if this had been a Pro Tour draft, it would most definitely have been a 1/2 deck.

My following draft was a lot better. I opened the excellent Vampire Nighthawk, and received the choice of Windrider Eel or Plated Geopede from the next pack. RB Aggro seems definitely playable in this format, but I’m more of a Blue mage so I went for the 2/2. Every single pack from then on had one good Blue card and one good Red card. I choose to go safe and pick the Blue card each time. In pack 2, there’s a similar situation, as I open Disfigure, receive Hideous End, and then see nothing but Blue cards. As I get a second Eel, I pick the Ior Ruin Expeditions I am passed in pretty high spots, as I want my deck to be as synergic as possible. Pack 3 gives me Rites of Replication and a third Eel, and my deck looks pretty strong :

11 Island
7 Swamp
1 Kraken Hatchling - surprisingly good in this very fast format. Won me a game with the Explorer’s Scope combo.
1 Giant Scorpion
1 Reckless Scholar - one of the bad surprises so far. A three-mana Looter would be excellent in most formats, but it seems a little slow in Zendikar.
1 Gomazoa
1 Vampire Nighthawk - just as good as it seems; it wins games on its own.
3 Windrider Eel
1 Merfolk Seastalkers - fits the 18 lands, 3 Heel, 3 Expedition strategy pretty well.
2 Skywind Drake
1 Explorer’s Scope
1 Disfigure
3 Ior Ruin Expedition - not a card I think is very good, but in this very deck it was actually great.
1 Into the Roil
2 Cancel - it fits the deck pretty well too.
1 Hideous End
1 Paralyzing Grasp
1 Rite of Replication - the perfect rare for a deck aiming at drawing 20 cards and therefore playing 9 lands a game.

That deck went 2/1, but I should have gone 3/0. Rite of Replication is unreal, and I only lost to a topdecked Burst Lightning in game 2, and Archive Trap in game 3. It may be because I like to play control decks, but I’ve been killed by that Trap already twice in five tournaments, so it may be pretty good.

Those two drafts confirmed my first impressions on playing first in the format. I won 2/1 in round 3, while I’d have been beaten by the same score if I had lost the dice roll. Except for the “playing first is unbalanced” problem, I like Zendikar a lot so far. The games are fun, the drafts seem to be skillful, and the “playable in theory” archetypes are numerous.

I’ll need to practice a lot more before GP: Melbourne, but that won’t be possible considering I’ll be working for the next four days and flying on Tuesday. At least it makes me feel a little better that Zendikar draft seems to be a draft format in which improvising is important.

Olivier Ruel