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Entering the Era of Darksteel
Well, here we are, roughly 24 hours before Darksteel
goes on sale to the public. This means that it will
be the talk of the town and be dominating discussions
on the internet for the next few weeks. That's to be
expected though. That's all that's going to be on
anyone's minds.
I personally got my first real chance to draft using
the new Darksteel cards. It was interesting. I have
heard some players griping that the colored cards
don't carry enough weight when coupled with Mirrodin.
I didn't find this to be so. We sat down in a draft
with myself and seven respectable players from my
store and drafted after hours.
The draft itself was pretty awkward. On myself of the
table both myself and the players to either side of me
were playing green. This made some picks a bit
difficult on our side of the table. In the end, my
deck ended up being green and white. Unfortunately, I
had drafted a Spikeshot Goblin and a Fireball that I
couldn't use. The player to my right ended up playing
Red/Green and that hurt me just a bit. Funny as it
is, even with all the difficulty on my side of the
table, I ended up winning the draft. I think part of
the reason was that I was able take advantage of some
card picks that I knew others would pass up.
Early on in the draft I took a Skyhunter Cub and a
Leonin Den-Guard. This looked like a great start on
White, but I failed to get any equipment to go with
them. I had already had to abandon red, so things
weren't looking good. What I ended up doing was
taking some of the decent in-between green spells. I
just acceptable that my deck was going to be a little
more difficult to play. I started to take cards like
Battle Growth and Predator's Strike. I also got a
Fangren Hunter and a Tel-Jilad Chosen. I also got a
Tel-Jilad Archers at some point. This lead me to
believe later that there were some amazing first and
second picks in green that I was going to be facing
down later. I did also become aware that some players
overvalue cards like Turn to Dust. Even though I had
very few cards to get rid of artifacts, I just made it
a point to pass those on. I knew there were very few
equipment cards, because I was looking for them for my
white creatures. It ended up being a non-issue.
My removal was light as well, with me getting a
singular Soul Nova. Fortunately for me, I had done
some reading of the Darksteel card list, so I knew
that there were some neat tricks available in white in
the last pack. There were some good middle line green
cards to be had. The pack provided me with: Loxodon
Mystic, Oxidize, Purge, Stir the Pride, Tangle Spider,
and Test of Faith. I also got a couple of Metal
Fatigue which also ended up being useful against one
of my opponents with blue that was artifact heavy.
The trick I think is that with Darksteel being
introduced, you shouldn't worry so much about the
quality of each pick. Think more about the synergy of
your picks and the general usefulness. I was able to
take a deck with very few superstar creatures and pull
out some wins, because of cards that would help my
creatures do battle on a level playing field. Now,
that beings aid, I did have to have some interesting
plays. My games weren't any easier, but there was a
tournament win nonetheless. Darksteel hasn't seemed
to hurt the draft at all in my eyes. I think too
often players are worried about what other players are
drafting and that doesn't help either. You really
have to bear down and concentrate on what you're
doing. Focus on yourself more.
Anyway, enough talking about myself for one week.
Let's talk a little more about what the potential
environment could look like with new cards and new
decks once Darksteel hits the scene.
With all the talk going on about White Weenie, I
figured I would throw an interesting version into the
hat.
White Weenie
4 Auriok Glaivemaster
4 Auriok Steelshaper 4 Leonin Shikari 4 Savannah Lions 4 Silver Knight 4 White Knight 4 Bonesplitter 3 Sword of Fire and Ice 4 Raise the Alarm 4 Skullclamp 2 Worship 19 Plains
I like this version, because it has a LOT of
creatures. This can generally be a huge pain for your
opponent, which is what you want. The other thing to
note is that it has the typical mark of white weenie,
which is EXTREMELY cheap an efficient creatures.
Everyone one of these creatures has a great ability.
Now, I'll let it be said that I, like Jonathan Pechon
Yesterday am completely unsure if this is even an
optimal version. It just seems to have all of the
cards that could be problematic to a lot of decks.
Also, if you dole your beats out steadily without
overcommitting, you shouldn't have a huge issue with
board sweepers. I do agree with a lot of internet
writers that Darksteel did a lot to make cause White
Weenie to show up in more tournaments. Now that being
said, I don't think that White Weenie is unplayable
NOW. I think that Darksteel makes it possible for
some builds that are just generally more obvious.
Here's a Goblin Deck with new cards:
4 Goblin Sledder
4 Skirk Prospector 4 Goblin Piledriver 4 Goblin Warchief 3 Goblin Sharpshooter 4 Seige-Gang Commander 4 Petriarch's Bidding 3 Clickslither
2 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Skullclamp 4 Bloodstained Mires 3 City of Brass 14 Mountain 3 Swamp
OK, so maybe there aren't
a lot of new cards in this build. Honestly, there is
probably something better to add in here and I just
missed it. The only "obvious" card to me was
Skullclamp. With so many cheap creatures and the fact
that you're playing Patriarch's Bidding, you can get
some crazy combo oriented plays off. This version
just helps the goblins search for their key card late
to help put the game away. This version should play
like most old versions for the most part.
Let's see, what other
notes to I have? Here's something along the lines of
Affinity.
3 Broodstar
4 Frogmite 4 Myr Enforcer 1 Machinate 3 Aether Spellbomb 4 Assert Authority 3 Override 4 Pyrite Spellbomb 4 Talisman of Progress 3 Thirst for Knowledge 4 Thoughtcast 3 Welding Jar 4 Ancient Den 4 Glimmervoid 4 Great Furnace 2 Island 2 Tree of Tales 4 Seat of the Synod
What does Affinity get
out of the new set...well, Machinate. That's about
it. Even then, I only included one. I think that if
I was going to play affinity based blue decks, I would
find a way to add in a few more creatures. Maybe
something along the lines of Lodestone Myr. Also, you
sideboard has to have things like Pyroclasm to give
you a shot against WW, Elves, Goblins and the like.
This deck is annoying to a lot of people though. It's
definitely interesting and tough. A good discussion
has surfaced recently with the questions of whether or
not Darksteel Forge belongs in the deck. It does cost
nine mana to cast. However, with a few changes in the
deck, you can easily get your mana production up high
enough to play it. This would keep the deck from
fearing Akroma's Vengeance so much. Who knows? It's
a neat idea though.
Well, those are three of
the popular decks you'll be running into without a
doubt. Don't kid yourself though, these aren't the
only good decks out there. We know that White/Blue
control has been making a comeback. We know that
Red/Green got some good options with the inclusion of
Darksteel. Even Zombies have the potential to make a
comeback. Nothing is predetermined by far.
Well, I've been rambling
for a while here and I still have some regular weekly
business to complete. Let's start with the strategy
tip of the week.
This tip is a bit shady.
also, let me preface this by saying that I do not
usually openly endorse nor encourage shady play or
tactics. This one is perfectly fair and legal. There
have been time sin tournaments that I've played
opponent's and know that I have a huge advantage in
the deck matchup. We blaze through he first game and
I win easily. In between games, I don't reach for my
sideboard. I can initiate conversation. I'll talk
about my ride to the tournament. I'll talk about how
tough the room is. I'll talk about the weather and
the temperature. I make it point to not mention any
particular cards or decks in the discussion. I
shuffle for about a minute or so and then present my
deck to my opponent. A large percentage of the time,
they present their deck, you both cut and play.
During this time neither of us have sideboarded, which
still leaves me with the advantage. The problem with
this is that once you present your deck to be cut, you
can't take it back. I had a guy try to lure me in
like this. I wasn't sure if he was laying bait or if
he was just neglecting to sideboard. When he
presented his deck, I cut it and then went to my
sideboard. He attempted to sideboard and then I had
to call of a judge who made him leave his deck how it
was and he got a warning. He was a bit upset, but
thems the breaks.
My card of the week is
Skullclamp:
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