4-1

Not a bad showing at league again; being able to go to three colors was critical in my consistency. Things have evolved on the evaluation of the opening hand, though. The shift has gone from about having mana (any mana) to; what is your gameplan in the game? Do I have turn 2 or 3 plays?

These choices became a lot more interesting, because I can't count on my opponents having slower starts, anymore. Decks have become more refined and better at setting the pace of a game, including the pictured game which was against an opponent who had tweaked her deck to go aggro. I lost the match in a critical decision in game two, when she swung with the whole team and I decided I had to block in case she had a trick.

She didn't and it left me unable to recover. I don't think she had a trick, either. Kudos.

Still, the rest of the time I did well; plenty of removal, mana was almost never a problem and I was able to pull out some convincing wins. Next pack!

Journey Into Nyx 

Returned Reveler
Cruel Feeding 

Pull from the Deep
Sigiled Starfish
Countermand 

Moral Obstinacy
Harvestguard Alseids 

Golden Hind
Strength from the Fallen
Desecration Plague 

Mogis's Warhound
Bladetusk Boar
Magma Spray 

Temple of Epiphany

You have got to be kidding. My rare again is completely useless. Temple of Epiphany? Damnit.

Mogis's Warhound might be a solid early play with a pretty big upside in the later game. Magma Spray is worth including too. The black doesn't add anything but Desecration Plague might be a solid sideboard card. Golden Hind has some potential too: Mana ramp doesn't suck. Still, I don't see much to help and GOD does that rare suck.

I am grumpy about that rare.

Journey Into Nyx (trailer)

Man...look at this.

So, my first issue is that it takes way too long know who is speaking. The god of death, Erebos is strongly hinted at but confusion is no place for a hype trailer. I've watched it 4 times now so yeah, it's most certainly erebos but this breaks with the previous two trailers, which highlighted NEW gods (Helios and Xenagos, respectively).

Second, why is this talking about a "Hero's journey beginning"? This is the last block in the set and if Erebos is the narrator of this scheme, shouldn't it be about the ending? Look at this as an issue that compounds the first problem.

Next, why is the line "A champion risks everything for the greater good" accompanied by images of people bonding? There's no reason for this schism.

Nor for the next scene at :58, where we are supposed to take comfort at what looks like a child in terror. What?

Finally, this trailer is disconnected from the other two, which were about the plane of Theros and its problems, to be solved by a champion, but this trailer is all about the champion alone. We have no idea what's become or to come of the plane, the war, the conflict!

Ugh.