6-0

Here's what I opened from three packs of M12 and three of Avacyn Restored, as we sat down to do a Sealed 'tournament':

Artifacts
Haunted Guardian
Wurm's Tooth
2 Angel's Feather (really? Yeesh)

Land
Dragonskull Summit

Green
Timberland Guide
Druid's Familiar
Elvish Archdruid
Bountiful Harvest
Trollhide
Llanowar Elves
Runeclaw Bear
Naturalize

Blue
2 Stern Mentor
2 Havengul Skaab
2 Aven Fleetwing
Galvanic Alchemist
Peel From Realit
Gryff Vanguard
Favorable Winds
Fettergeist
Merfolk Looter
Skywinder Drake
Djinn of Wishes
Mist Raven
Alchemist's Apprentice
Chasm Drake

Red
Rite of Ruin
Dangerous Wager
Riot Ringleader
Volcanic Dragon
Act of Treason
Goblin Fireslinger
2 Manic Vandal
Gorehorn Minotaurs

White
Devout Chaplain
Holy Justiciar
2 Peregrine Griffin
Guardian's Pledge
Angelic Wall
Call to Serve

Gideon's Lawkeeper
Griffin Sentinel
Righteous Blow
Farbog Explorer
Timely Reinforcements
Spectral Gateguards
Stormfront Pegasus
Stonehorn Dignitary
Pacifism
Moonlight Geist
Elite Vanguard
Herald of War
Cloudshift


Black
Human Frailty
2 Essence Harvest
Warpath Ghoul
Soulcage Fiend
2 Devouring Swarm
Zombie Infestation
Gloom Surgeon

Bone Splinters
Drifting Shsade
Driver of the Dead
Duskhunter Bat
Distress
Crypt Creeper
Mind Rot
Reassembling Skeleton
Death Wind
Smallpox

Sitting down with a bunch of guys and beer, with no prize on the line, it's hard to call it a tournament but...whatever.

What I played:
8 Swamp
8 Plains

Bone Splinters
Drifting Shade
Driver of the Dead
Duskhunter Bat
Distress
Crypt Creeper
Mind Rot
Reassembling Skeleton
Death Wind
Devouring Swarm
Smallpox
The black was a selection of removal and discard with flying creatures. My experience has told me that limited formats hate discard so if it can be run, it's frequently brutal.
Cloudshift
Gideon's Lawkeeper
Griffin Sentinel
Righteous Blow
Farbog Explorer
Timely Reinforcements
Spectral Gateguards
Stormfront Pegasus
Stonehorn Dignitary
Pacifism
Moonlight Geist
Elite Vanguard
Herald of War
Peregrine Griffin
The white had a lot of early beats, with plenty of evasive creatures and some removal. I've been told time and again how great Timely Reinforcements is in Limited so when I saw that, it was a real pull into that color.

It was hard to cut down to 41 cards but I did OK on mana all night, which was good. All of my games were close, or at least they felt close, and I was often eking out wins at the last minute.

One particularly lucky play had me with 4 Plains, a Swamp and a Smallpox in hand, confronted with a creature I couldn't block due to not having any black creatures and his being enchanted with Predator's Gambit.

He dropped a Demonlord of Ashmouth and I was pretty sure I was in for a bad time, until I peeled a Swamp off the top. One Smallpox later, he's got nothing and I'm attacking with a Drifting Shade. SUPERLUCK!

Speaking of: the Drifting Shade was my MVP. In my second matchup, a pumped Shade was what helped me get past a Kruin Striker with Angelic Armaments. I am really surprised how good a Shade is in Sealed although I shouldn't be: a scalable creature that has evasion? That's going to be solid. Still, I put it in more because it would be a flyer and am very happy with how things turned out.

In the last game of my third matchup, I had just been hit by an Archwing Dragon when I peeled off a Distress, cast it and saw the Dragon and a Angelic Armaments. I swear that card is stalking me. I chose the Armaments and here's why: the Dragon has to be cast every turn. Since I can't kill it, if any of his other creatures get flying I'm boned. I had a Bone Shards in hand but that couldn't stop the Dragon-it could take out another creature but it can't destroy the artifact. On top of that: since the Dragon has to be re-cast, that means that he's going to spend 4 mana on that and not on something that might help create an advantage for him. I can keep pumping my Drifting Shade, cast other creatures as needed and maintain the edge.

Turns out: that was the correct choice. I was able to increase my pressure on him while he kept trying to race with the Dragon and in the end, it wasn't enough. So huzza, Armaments, you need to abide by the Court Order.

Most asked question of the night: Can I double pair Soulbond?
A: No.

Also, Soulbond is now to be known as Vegas Wedding, due to the duration and frequency of it.

Weekend

While others are probably going to engage in the release events, I'm going to a friend's place to do sealed and drink beer.

It's a complicated life, I know.

That said, the article at Gathering Magic on AR sealed does seem to have some neat thought experiments about what could be done. I know I won't be able to count on as strong a white pool because the format is Innistrad block + M12 sealed and I'm planning on getting some M12 to go with my Avacyn Restored.

That said; things that do bad stuff to White-specifically in Red and Black-will hold a little more weight for me. If I get a Combust, for example, I might prize the red a little more than I ought to.

One of the reasons I like Sealed, however, is that I have to evaluate cards differently. I may not open a Combust: What then? My opponents may be a bit more psyched about the glory of cool things, giving me an opportunity to take advantage of a less seen path. Heck, I may get a whole lot of good Blue/Green.

Stop laughing! It could totally happen.
/it totally can't

Still, the important thing is to look at what you have, not what you wish you had or what is good in this sweet Angels deck you've been building for seven years or how dominant Tamiyo will be my deck that doesn't have any other removal.

For me, this usually means some kind of aggro and I like that. I'd like to pull away from it a bit: I have seen some control-ish builds that have knocked me flat, I just never seem to get the cards I need to feel comfortable building that kind of deck in Sealed. But we shall see. Decklists and 'cool plays, bro' on Tuesday!

Ten Things I Like About Avacyn Restored

I don't want to be a ranting, ornery player. I have had many unkind things to say about this entire block so I'm going to flip this and take ten things I like about this set.

1) Tibalt, the Fiend-Blooded
Man I like this card. The artwork is fantastic, the character is dead on in theme with the rest of the block, and the abilities are interesting enough that it is playable but not broken, though if you pull off the ultimate, it's still amazing! That's cool.

2) Descendants' Path's artwork.
It shows the passage of time using the moon-a key element of the set- as well as multiple images to evoke a connection to the past and future. Absolutely fantastic.

3) Misthollow Griffin.
For the first time I can think of, there is a creature that can be cast from exile. There's an answer, finally, to Swords to Plowshares!

It's blue, of course so grrr...BUT this is a cool ability that is fairly costed. It's the kind of mythic people will mostly ignore which is one of the reasons I dig it.

4) The Powerpuff Girls
The claim is that the internet saw this. I don't buy that: the artwork on the three legendary multicolored angels is even arranged like them, with the green one looking grouchy and facing to the right. WotC people are too savvy to NOT at least hint at that.

I also don't care. It's fucking rad.

5) Unhallowed Pact
The original card was False Demise a blue card that should never have been blue. It's in the right color now and that's not only good for the game mechanically, it's good from a flavor position too because now one can really engage in the kind of dark shenannigans that Black would be involved with.

6) Hound of Griselbrand
A creature that does 4 damage for 4 mana, with an upgrade to do 6? Works for me.

7) Soulbound
I talked about this a little bit last time but now that the full set is out and I'm diligently reading each card, it's worth mentioning again. Soulbound cards trigger on any creature entering the battlefield, if the Soulbound creature is unpaired. That's huge! It means that the card is good is so many more situations and gives the mechanic that much more weight. The best card with this mechanic is Elgaud Shieldmate. Which is blue but I am going to continue to resist ranting about that.

8) Flavor text
I really, really like the flavor text in this set. Terrifying Presence, Gang of Devils, Mental Agony, Nephalia Smuggler and Cursebreak are all fine examples of things I really like. Sometimes funny, sometimes pointed but very much entrenched in the world of Innistrad and revolving around the events therein.

9) Gallows at Willow Hill
It's not a great artifact-as a matter of fact, it's terrible-but I like the way it functions. Vigilante justice punished by a haunting. It feels right under circumstances where how it feels can override how good the card is.

10) Harvester of Souls vs Soul of the Harvest.
What can I say? These kinds of things appeal to me.

Now, this is what I like without having played the set. There's still the joy of getting to play with this stuff and discover what's awesome!

Quit making me hate flavor

Just read this.

Maybe you'll ask yourself, what "famed Nephalian astronomancer Jenrik" are they talking about? The one mentioned once, on this card and nowhere else?

Which makes me ask all kinds of questions. For example: If he's so famous, why isn't he mentioned more? It's not like the moon doesn't matter in this set.

If a planeswalker has been there the whole time, why hasn't there been a hint of that? You'd think it would be a big enough deal to mention, right?

WotC wants to show me a gun in Act 3 that didn't exist before that moment. That's stupid.

I don't object to this card: it's a solid card. I object to the execution of this card, which is abhorrent, given how tightly they've been keeping the theme prior to this. A theme that I think they did really well with in every manner but mechanical. To throw this out there without any support for it? To have a reveal like this but not give hints out? Because I would have accepted this if they'd mentioned it before, just given the abilities of planeswalkers!

It's just...it's bad and they should feel bad.

Avacyn Restored initial impressions

Let me begin with an actual link so readers can reference what the hell I'm talking about, another link to the mothership specifically on mechanics, then leap right down the throat of the marquee card, Avacyn herself.

Ugh. What a boring, boring card. Undercosted by at least 3, she exists to be reanimated or cheated into play somehow, whereupon your opponent has to live in Magical Chrismasland in order to survive. It can be done, yes. But it won't and games will devolve into solitaire because this card is so linear.

Worse is the art: in what universe does anyone not look at that and think, 'wow, that's a dark picture.'? So why isn't there any black in her mana cost? Sorin is black or black/white and in the story, Avacyn is his creation. She's also just gotten out of the worst prison since Snake escaped New York. Why isn't she white-black?

There was an opportunity to show how being imprisoned changed her! But no. No, we get this and it's disappointing on so many levels. If the art was different, at least we'd have a consistent flavor. If the abilities were different at least the card would be a little fairer. Instead it's just dull.

Now let's get a little broader. Undying is coming back. To that I say: Huzza! I like that mechanic and I always wish they'd done more with Persist, back in the day. Hell, I'd like to see Persist come back.

Next up is Soulbond. Somehow, I have a feeling that we're going to get a story about how this mechanic was inspired by Banding-which was probably the most confusing mechanic from Magic's early days. I hope not, because that would mean that there's still water in the well but it seems awfully likely.

That said, I dig it. While it doesn't seem too powerful, the mechanic has been hinted at multiple times in Magic's history. Those cards weren't amazing but getting cards to work together is a very white theme, something this set is meant to emphasize and it'll be fun strategically; a pretty sharp limited mechanic as well as being something that makes cheap, weaker creatures better in the late game. Drawing a 1/1 for U isn't so bad on turn 7 when it can give itself and your Wurmcoil Engine flying. Giving players a chance to come back from bad situations is good for the game.

Which leads me to my next sticky wicket.

"So," stonethorn writes on my Facebook page, "topdecking is a mechanic now."

I want to love this mechanic. I really do. Because there are few things as awesome as needing just that next card and getting it, allowing you to turn a losing situation into a winning one (or even parity!) That feels cool and the name of the mechanic, 'Miracle' helps reflect this. This mechanic is based on -and will be loved/hated on- how it feels. Just as with Double-Faced cards.

But-and it pains me to say this-they did it wrong. First, there are no miracles in Black. From a flavor standpoint that makes sense because this set is about an Angel coming back to set things right but mechanically, it's an awful idea because the color that should've been ignored is Blue.

Here's why: First, from a flavor perspective, Blue is about research and 'science'. There are no miracles, it's all about how damn smart you are!

More importantly, from a gameplay perspective, Blue is the color that is most able to manipulate what card they are going to draw, on top of being the strongest color overall. In Standard maybe nobody will care-even though they should, with U/W Delver being the current best deck. Make 3/2 flyer AND take an extra turn for 2? Sign me up, right? It isn't until you think about how unfun it will be to be on the other side of that that one realizes there might be a problem.

For anyone who plays an Eternal format, though-which includes the insanely popular Commander-this mechanic is broken in half and that's why this is badly executed.

Miracle synergizes so well with what Blue already wants to do, giving it a miracle that functions as a Time Walk, a card that is banned or restricted in every format it could be played in, or really any miracle at all, is a huge problem, mechanically. This is because Blue doesn't have to do any work (diluting the mana base, most relevantly) in order to get something awesome and stupidly cheap. It can just do what it always does and the Blue player doesn't miss a beat. No other color gets this kind of advantage over the others.

And maybe you don't care about that now, because you're a new player to the game or a newly returning player and who gives a shit about an eternal format? The thing is, if you play the game long enough the odds are extremely high that you will play an Eternal format. Very, very few Magic players ditch their collection seasonally and no casual players I know of do this. They either bail on the game altogether (to their regret a few years later) or hold onto their cards for some vague reason, unsure of why they're carrying around all this crap until...bing! and they're back in the thick of it.

Eventually, if you play the game long enough-and with Legacy, Commander and Modern's popularity, it suggests that you will play the game long enough-these miracles will weigh on you, even as a casual player.

Not all mechanics should be designed with the larger game in mind. That's a huge limitation, especially with a game that is 20 years old and always on the march for a new mechanic or twist. However, flavor just shouldn't trump playability, (as I've suggested before-warning, wall of text) and sometimes, whether the machine works or not really needs to be the overriding concern. People don't play a flavor, they play a game.

There's already a deck built around the interaction between Sensei's Divining Top and Counterbalance and it works because of all the ways blue has to manipulate the top few cards of their library, if they don't like what they see, first and foremost being Brainstorm. Temporal Mastery is the kind of card that could push the Top to a $40 card. An uncommon at forty dollars. Jebus.

So what this suggests is that either Brainstorm, a card that is much loved in Legacy, enabling a great many decks and helping keep that format diverse (although also empowering Blue overmuch, so there is a downside) could be banned or Temporal Mastery and other miracles are likely to be banned, in order to keep the format healthy. But WotC has repeatedly pointed out that banning a card before people get to play with it creates ill will from the players. There is no win here and that's a pretty bad place to be in, as a player and a company..

The buzz on the internet is about how the Miracle mechanic could create a rules issue, opening up an avenue for cheating. I don't see it though: the card either is or is not the one you drew and anyone paying attention should be able to keep track of that. It's merely a triggered ability, like one that happens during Upkeep, the only difference is that the trigger doesn't happen publicly, at first. Clearly anyone who shuffles the card into their hand and then tries to play this spell is in for a bad time but aside from that, I don't think it's going to open up the boondoggle people are concerned about.

The final two themes, flickering and loners, are worth taking note of because they could represent 'missing link' cards that could mesh well with other decks but can't really be the foundation of a deck by themselves. Potentially something to keep in the back of my brain while designing.