Innistrad Pre-Release

This weekend comic book stores, game stores and card stores around the United States held Innistrad Pre-Release events. Some people going to the Mid-Night one's on Friday/Saturday, or throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. Luckily I was able to attend two events, back to back, and I have to admit, I had a load of fun. Besides my card pool be utter crap the second time around, I will preview my deck, what I played and just my over all thoughts about this set.

First off, I want to say that I played at a place that I would not usually go to on a regular basis. Sadly, my local comic book store went out of business last month because of the economy. The reason I don't usually go to this said store, are because of the players and how they conduct themselves. Some of them are loud, swear way too much, are jerks, and are just plain not fun to be around. They also try to trade you down like you don't know what you're doing. But that is another story for another time. I, on the other hand, had a great time and I am glad I got to participate in this pre-release.

To start off, my card pool was surprisingly good and I was able to put together a pretty solid green and white deck. My rare pool consisted of:

-Gavonly Township
-Moldgraf Monstrosity
-Geist-Honored Monk
-Stensia Bloodhall
-Cure of Death's Hold
-Rooftop Storm

Out of those six rares, I was able to use three of them, Gavonly Township, Modgraf Monistary, and Geist-Honored Monk. I was happy with the selection and the rares I was able to use came in handy. For my actual deck list, I ended up playing with:

Creatures
1x Hamlet Captain
1x Darkthicket Wolf
1x Villagers of Estwald (flip) Howlpack of Estwald
1x Ulvenwald Mystics (flip) Ulvenwald Primordials
1x Moldgraf Monstrosity
1x Ambush Viper
2x Mausoleum Gaurd
1x Village Bell-Ringer
2x Voiceless Spirit
1x Doomed Traveler
1x Chapel Geist
1x Thraben Sentry (flip) Thranben Milita

Isntants
2x Rebuke
1x Moment of Heroism

Sorcery's
3x Travel Preperations
1x Caravan Vigil

Artifacts
1x Inquisitor's flail
1x Traveler's Amulet
1x Cobbled Wings

Lands
1x Gavony Township
7x Forests
8x Plains

Total = 40 cards

After deck construction, I play tested with the person in front of me and it was drawing well and didn't seem to swamped with land or getting mana screwed. It seemed like this deck could possibly place me and I may win some packs. After about 10 min. the first pairings were up and I headed over to the table I was to play at.

The first match was basically a mirror match, green/white vs. green/white. From the people around me when building my deck, it seemed like I would be seeing a lot of the same thing throughout the night. First hand I saw, Plains, Forest, Travel Preparations, Travel Preparations, Doomed Traveler, Hamlet Captains, and Voiceless Spirit. This was probably on of the best hands I could have drawn and it was the best I had all night. Luckily my opponent got mana screwed right off the bat and it was an easy win for the first game. The second game was relatively as bad for him and I think he realized that he needed to work on his deck a little longer. So, after our match I helped him reconstruct his deck and help him out.

After the first round, I wasn't that sure about how my deck would play. Since I played someone who was new and didn't really know what was going on, I was excited to play someone who may give me a challenge. Second round I drew just as well, but my opponent was a very competitive Magic player and gave me a run for my money. He was playing a blue/black/red deck and it just seemed too slow for my deck. He splashed red for a burn spell or two, but luckily he didn't see them during any of the games I played against him. We ended up going to three games but I drew everything I needed and made him scoop on turn 5 during the third game. The best thing my deck had going for me was that it was quick and didn't have very many bombs. Although, I would have loved to have another big guy to back me up.

The third match didn't go so well for me. Going into it I had a lot of faith in my deck, but my opponents was just too fast. He ended up pulling a set of Avacyn's Pilgrim and that really helped him get two drops out faster than me and helped him pump up Darkthicket Wolf when needed. Needless to say, he smoked me in two games and had me packing. Afterwards, I wasn't expecting to see that much agro again and luckily I didn't.

This is a little off topic, but people who take forever to play cards, when it's the obvious play make me so frustrated. My forth round opponent seemed to try and slow roll every game. And every time he seemed to take forever and play a spell, it seemed like it didn't need that much preparation. Granted, if it is a tough choice and it may cost you the game, by all means, take your time. But when your deciding whether to play a forest or mountain, you need hurry up, crap like that pisses me off. Luckily, I ended up beating him in three games and not going to time. Although it was close, I got the win and I moved on to the fifth and final round.

At this point I haven't seen burn all day and it's not even on my mind right now. It seemed to not have a really big spot in this set and I wasn't worrying about it at all. But wouldn't you know it, my last opponent had a set of Brimstone Valley and his red pool seemed to be the best thing in the world. Everything I put out he burned or hit with Olivia Voldaren and had the mana to take my creatures. Long story short, he smoked me and I wasn't in a good mood. I didn't see red/black all night and the last round, it picked me apart and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

So, after five rounds, I ended up going 3-2 and I didn't pull anything worth keeping. After doing a second sealed after this one and still not getting a single thing, I am really hoping my box I pre-ordered isn't going to be like the packs I opened Saturday. I most likely will not be doing a draft or another sealed even of this set. It just isn't solid enough to make a strong deck and it really seems spotty on certain cards that go well together.

All in all, I enjoy this set. It seems like they really put a lot of hard work and effort into putting this set together. It's different and it will definitely get more new players into Magic which is a great thing. Hope you enjoyed it! There will be more to come!

Grant Casleton