Reality Fracture Pre-Release 0-3

At the two-headed giant format of Reality Fracture, Rebecca and I constructed RB and UG decks to play. The new format, which provides 4 less packs to make decks from, is...fine I guess? We were able to construct viable decks, which was good.

But our games fell into two camps and I don't know if it's because of the new restrictions, or because the set is kinda meh. 

As always, Red Castle Games put on a delightful event. 

Round 1 vs Ziegler/Tiffany (Sorry, I didn't catch your first names!)

Up against a UR and GB deck, we had a strong start, rapidly getting our opponents down to 9. We had a great sequence of play early on where I cast a Fulminous Forte with a Tomik out in an attempt to clear their board of x/2's. In response to the removal spell they cast, Rebecca had a Perfected Theory to make sure Tomik survived. We swung in hard and things looked good for a little bit.

However, after an Overwrite the Multiverse, they reset the board and we drew spells instead of creatures. They were able to mount a solid comeback and pull the game out.

They had MANY empower Jace spells and used them to help filter their cards and get back into the game. This was especially good with Vraska-and the sequence that broke the game open for them went: Play Vraska to destroy our best threat, and in response to the removal spell I cast on Vraska, they cast Ferocity of the Hunt. 

Great play on their part, and it sealed the game for them.

Rd 2 Mica & Jameson

Our opponents were running UW and GB decks. This game went to time; our opponents were using Flickering Hound and  Pia, Aether Ascetic to create value with Prepared cards and Way of the Wildspeaker. Even though our early game was solid, we couldn’t quite get them down past 12.

Once again, a lot of empower Jace cards helped them filter through their deck, creating very grindy gameplay.

Then it went to turns and nothing happened, though it didn't help that I drew three Swamps in a row.

Rd 3 Ryan & Kyle

We just got CRUSHED.

By turn 4 they had a Garruk, Veiled Buther in play, which effectively cleared our board with the -2, giving them a 4/4. Their cards played out on curve, with a Hapatra, the Desert Frost and Saheeli, Consul of Oversight joining the next turn followed by a Hapatra the Desert Fang! Rounds have 45 minutes to play. Our last game left us with 37 minutes on the clock. There wasn't any Jace empowerment, but it was unnecessary.

We left that one a little demoralized. 

I was hoping I was wrong about Reality Fracture in the set review and that the games would be fun or engaging. I certainly found Aeitherdrift to be better to play than I had thought, even if it wasn't the best set.

While Rebecca appreciated that in our first two games we got to do something and there was interaction between us and our opponents, I personally found it frustrating that we couldn't close out. Were there some lessons we learned? Could we have played better? Of course; there are always lessons and tighter gameplay to achieve. 

But learning those lessons wasn't fun for me. Our smart plays were not rewarded with wins, and I don't think we made any mistakes that were so bad that we should have lost...we just did, in games that were either very draggy, or incredibly busted.