Sunday, July 10th M2012 Prerelease.

This past Sunday I had the opportunity to compete in the M2012 Prerelease. I am currently living abroad in Paris until December, and Magic is expensive here in comparison to the US. I wasn't happy to pay a whopping 25 Euros (roughly 37 US$) for the event and only one guaranteed booster when the day before I did a different Prerelease at a different store for only 20 Euros and two guaranteed boosters. Nevertheless I wanted to play and that store was the only one in the whole city that had a Sunday event, so I went.

My fears about not getting good value out of the event were seemingly confirmed when I opened my Sealed pool to find no chase rares or Mythics, but I did get a Grand Abolisher and a Birds Of Paradise. I was a bit surprised then when the TO told us all to "wrap our cards up like a present in our deck list" and submit them to be redistributed. Luckily, the real pool I got had a Chandra, The Firebrand in it, along with two Incinerates, and Act of Treason, and strong Blue and White. I ended up with a pretty nice UWr control deck.

I don't remember every match but here is how it all went down:
Match 1 vs. a Red/Black deck: Game 1 I drop Chandra on turn 4 or 5 and go to town destroying his x/1s while I swing with some small guys. My Chandra gets up to 10 counters before I kill him. He reveals his hand to show a Grave Titan which he did not play due to Chandra being able to kill all of them with her Ultimate. As it turns out, he had BOTH Inferno and Grave Titan. I didn't see either of them Game 2 and win a solid 2-0.

From there the guy and I talk about my deck and my pool, and we make two card changes, adding in a Divination and a Merfolk Looter. These cards end up saving my ass later in the tournament and I am eternally thankful that he made these suggestions.

Match 2: This one was a bit scary. My opponent is playing a fairly aggressive RG deck, and the critical turn occurs when I have a Djinn of Wishes and a merfolk Looter in play, and he has a red guy with Firebreathing and a Trollskin enchantment. I have 18 life and decide I can stand to take a hit, so I filter with the Looter and attack with my Djinn. Next turn he pumps his guy up to 9/9 and then Flings for the win. I felt like an idiot for not keeping the Djinn back to block. I had plenty of gas in my hand and would have taken control of the game next turn. Luckily he can't match my removal the next two games and I win a scary 2-1.

Match 3: Vs. A control deck. My opponent gets some early Goblin Arsonists out, and I have no choice but to waste an incinerate on one before it takes too much of my life and then kills my Merfolk Looter. The game drags out fairly long, he Mind Controls one of my fat fliers, and I Mind Control it right back the next turn. Eventually I play more threats than he can answer and I win the game. To give an impression of how long the game was, I had to ask my opponent who won the first game, because I had long forgotten. As it turns out, it /was/ the first game. Game 2 he gets a quick start with Goblin Arsonists, and I draw land after land. I end up with 11 land on the field and two in hand before I die with only a few minutes left in the round. Game 3 I work to a strong board position but an unable to finish him before extra turns is up. We tie.

Match 4: Played an opponent with tons of x/1s and some fat burn spells. He seemingly didn't balance his manabase well because he gets stuck on lands while Chandra keeps the board clean. I am madly in love with her by this point in the day. She is a great control card in limited and all day long I got tons of value from her. Game 2 goes much the same way.

Match 5-the last match of the day. This match was unusual, as he was also playing UWr control. We start the game, and our moves mirror one another as we play the same cards. I eventually get Chandra out and win on card advantage. I was shocked to see that he played nearly every card that I also had, and was completely floored in game 2 when he legend rules my Chandra...with his own Chandra. I stay ahead of him with card advantage and removal while my fat fliers beat face, and come out ahead.

I ended up 4-0-1 for the day, which is good enough for second place (one guy went undefeated) and a very nice 13 M2012 boosters which I am still trying to trade away.

After the tourny I stick around a bit to make some trades. I get a Solemn Simulacrum for a small stack of angels and support cards, and I also trade a NPH booster and a crap rare for a WG dual from M12.

I was very happy for the day, and was glad that my 25 Euro investment turned into a 60+ euro result!

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If you found yourself here, that probably means you are a Magic: The Gathering Player. If so, you have come to the right place. This blog is to chronicle my experiences and thoughts as I seek to build my collection and become the best MTG player I possibly can. I hope you take the time to look around, read some posts and enjoy!