2020-01-10: last Throne of Eldraine draft ... I hoped for a mono-Blue deck, but decided to employ Red as a secondary color. During the rounds, I always played my first pack first pick Midnight Clock and mostly also my The Magic Mirror. I drawed the first match 1-1 against UB Mill, i.e. Mill vs Mill, then I won 2-0 against UG, and finally I lost 1-2 against a low-curve WU Flyers deck, having encountered all other Blue based bicolor decks. Considering I've only been playing every other Friday, never again will I make the mistake of skipping the prereleases. Looking forward to next weekend's Theros Beyond Death events !
Last Saturday 2020-01-18 and Sunday 2020-01-19 it was that time of the year again, actually multiple times a year: prerelease ... ! Just can't get enough of these events, where new cards and new mechanics can be explored, all in a friendly context (hallmark of Demo-Spel Leuven). Theros Beyond Death indeed was very fun to play, with a tendency towards long games because of the graveyard recursion mechanics. It will be even more fun during its (full box) Super Sealed and of course draft season. Green seemed like the most solid color, and I haven't played Blue nor Red, yet. Apparently, 8 out of my 9 opponents played Blue and 6 played Black (as did I), so that might be another clue towards an early colors ranking.
Saturday before noon, I played a WG deck, resulting in a 1-1 draw vs BG (losing my 2nd game during the last turn in called time), a 2-0 win against UG, and a 1-2 loss against WUB (unfortunately facing the almost unbeatable Dream Trawler). Not so bad, after my Throne of Eldraine debacle ...
On Sunday (AM), I went for a BG self-mill deck, first losing 0-2 against UB, but then winning 2-0 against semi-mirror UBG and 2-1 against UBR, despite my deck not being very special. It must have been Green's solidity ...
On Sunday (PM), I again played a BG deck, but stronger this time. Nevertheless, I lost 0-2 against UG, but then won 2-0 against a UR beginning player, and finally won 2-0 against another semi-mirror UBG. A positive and promising result overall, I'd say ...
2020-01-24: Theros Beyond Death release draft. I almost played mono-Black, but splashed Blue (having passed some attractive Green cards in the hopes of rather cutting Black, which in retrospect seemed the wrong decision). Perhaps slightly expected, I (closely) lost twice to BG decks (1-2) which seems to be the best archetype for this set. In fact, I also played this color combination twice during the prerelease events. Last round, I won 2-0 against BR. There's a GP in Brussels next weekend, so I might go there (actually never having participated in one of those), but my objective would be to only play limited (Sealed Deck, and if time permits Booster Draft), despite the relatively high entry fee and steep pay-out curve, compared to regular FNM shop play.
On Saturday 2020-02-01 I went to MagicFest Brussels, the first time I actually went to a GP. Being a limited player, I was only interested in the side events. Those events are approximately 1.5 times more expensive than FNM and/or prerelease events, but the price support for at least 2 wins out of 3 rounds is very sigificant. I participated in the 10:00 Sealed Deck event, playing a mediocre UB deck, which I switched to BG right before the 2nd round, due to un underwhelming 0-2 loss against BG. The 2nd round I lost 0-2 against a WUG deck, first taking a mulligan to 5, and then facing the more or less unbeatable Dream Trawler. Last round, I won 2-0 against WB.
I participated in 1 on-demand (knock-out) Theros Beyond Death Booster draft, drafting mono-Black with 3 mini-splashes in White, Blue, and Red. Alas, I got paired against a fast card-drawing UR deck, resulting in a 0-2 loss, and therefore exit.
I had higher hopes during the 18:00 Sealed Deck, where I concocted a very controlling UBw deck with tons of removal, yes, because of my own Dream Trawler. Unfortunately, the only time I saw my bomb during the first 2 rounds was when I milled it away. That meant twice a 0-2 loss against UBG and BGR, respectively. I also lost my 3rd round match (1-2) against UG because, after my 1st game win, I saw my 2nd Plains on top of my deck only while (unnecessarily, I know) rabbit hunting after I just had been killed in the 2nd game. My 3rd game went to time, and (despite her overwhelming board presence) my opponent made a mistake during the very last turn so that this game would in principle have been a draw (implying no payout), hence I conceded. She worked hard enough for it, and after a full day of Magic, it's understandable that these kinds of mistakes happen (at least at our non-competitive play level). In retrospect, I had a lot of fun, and I learned a couple of things on the way. If I would have brought my own food, I would have lost less time, which would have allowed me to squeeze in the 14:00 Sealed Deck (i.e. non-stop Sealed Deck from 10:00 to 22:00). Nevertheless, it was a great experience, and (Brussels just being a 15 minutes drive for me, with parking right at the venue entrance) I would happily do it all again next time ! The only slightly disappointing item was the very limited presence of artists, certainly compared to my GenCon days from way back (around 20 years ago). However, I did purchase a small token of affection for my better half :-).
On 2020-02-07, I almost drafted mono-Black again, this time big-splashing Red for some more removal. Unfortunately, the current format doesn't seem to lend itself very well to 14 creatures + 9 hard removal + 17 lands decks. I did get flooded during the rounds, but that was partly due to my limited Scry capability. Result: 1-1 draw against WB, 0-2 loss against UG (yes, facing Kiora Bests the Sea God twice ...), and 0-2 loss against BRG. I'll probably need to watch BenS_MTG a lot more to get a deeper grasp of the metagame ...
Having had to abandon live play due to the worldwide pandemic, i.e. after barely any Theros Beyond Death drafts plus unfortunately having completely missed Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths, FNM just-in-time restarted for the face-to-face Core Set 2021 prereleases. It could have been worse ... As an initial feel for the new set, well, I do like the non-core Magic sets a lot more (because of the more interesting new mechanics). Nevertheless, let's give Core Set 2021 a try.
My 1st Core Set 2021 Sealed Deck prerelease was on 2020-06-26. I played a mediocre RG deck, drawing 1-1 against a beginner playing a stronger WR 'go wide' deck, losing 0-2 against a strong WB lifelink deck, and winning 2-0 against a beginner playing a mediocre BG deck. Doesn't indicate much, yet, so let's go for the next prerelease event(s).
My 2nd Core Set 2021 Sealed Deck prerelease was on 2020-06-28. I played a mediocre WB deck (i.e. containing only a small amount of life gain), winning 2-1 during the last called round of time against a RG deck, but losing twice 0-2 against a WU Flyers and WB mirror deck, respectively. Still doesn't indicate much, either, so let's go for the next prerelease event(s) again. Let's hope there's no emergent pattern, here ...
My 3rd Core Set 2021 Sealed Deck prerelease was on 2020-06-30. I played an average+ WGr deck, winning 2-0 against UG, winning 2-1 against BGr, and drawing 1-1 against the WG mirror (which I would have lost if it were not for called time). Well, it has been a long time, but I did win this 7 players prerelease ...
My 4th Core Set 2021 Sealed Deck prerelease was on 2020-07-01. I again played a solid WGr deck, this time containing Garruk, Unleashed. I lost 0-2 against a WR deck, but I won twice 2-0 against a WGb and a URbg deck, respectively. I'm already curious about the upcoming booster draft experiences ...
At the Core Set 2021 release draft on 2020-07-03, I played a WGr deck again. My pack 1 pick 1 was Garruk, Unleashed. My pack 2 pick 1 was Baneslayer Angel. My other picks were very decent as well. I won 2-0 against the WG mirror, lost 0-2 against WU Flyers, and again won 2-0 against mono-B. This core set definitely generates more fun than anticipated, but I should not forget to draft and play Blue sometime ...
On 2020-07-10, I (again) drafted a WGu deck, losing 0-2 against BG, and winning 2-0 against BR and WR beginners, respectively.
Because there weren't enough drafters on 2020-07-17, I played a couple of 1-on-1 sealed decks. My WUb build from the 1st pool lost 1-2 against WR, even containing the dreaded Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. My WB build from the 2nd pool won 2-0 against UR. Unfortunately, the worldwide pandemic is wreaking havoc everywhere. Hence, chances are next time, out of necessity, I might again be playing a 1-on-1 sealed deck instead of, more interestingly, a draft. We'll see ...
Same story on 2020-07-24: not enough drafters, hence an informal round-robin 4 persons sealed deck. Again, my (kind of inferior) card pool led me to my favorite color combination: WG. However, after losing 1-2 against the higher-end WG mirror, I did win 2-0 twice, against a WU and a UR deck, respectively. During the last game, on a hopeless board, with just 1 small remaining creature against 2 big ground creatures (having attacked last turn) plus 1 untapped big flyer, I topdecked my Run Afoul (from my sideboard), and could hit for lethal, due to my only card in hand (a pump spell, which I had included in my deck because of lack of playables). Admittedly, we both had tried some bluffs that game, but in Magic one has to always keep focus to the very last instant (literally and figuratively) ...
A couple of 1-on-1 sealed decks were up again on 2020-07-31, unfortunately both presenting moderate card pools to me ... My 1st WGr brew lost 1-2 to UGw Teferi, Master of Time. My WB concoction thereafter lost 0-2 to WU. Yes, you guessed right, again against Teferi, Master of Time.
Same story on 2020-08-07: a couple of 1-on-1 sealed decks. My 1st WG brew lost 1-2 to UG, despite my Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. My WB concoction thereafter lost 1-2 to BUg.
Again, due to the pandemic, only 1 other Magic player showed up at Demo-Spel on 2020-08-14. Hence, another 2 sealed deck matches ... My WR deck lost 0-2 against WG (due to a couple of inferior plays), and my UR deck lost 1-2 against WUG. At least, I didn't play W and/or G for a change.
2020-08-22: 2 sealed decks (again). My mediocre WG deck against WB: 0-2 loss. My reasonable UB deck against WBR: 1-2 loss. Apparently, I've been losing all last 8 (same opponent) 1-on-1 sealed deck matches until now. That's really an unfortunate pattern ...
2020-09-03: probably the last 2 M21 sealed decks ... My 1st card pool resulted in a very mediocre BGu deck, losing 0-2 against RGw. Finally, my 2nd card pool got me a strong WG deck (including Garruk, Unleashed), at last winning 2-1 against my opponent('s WB deck) !
At first sight, Zendikar Rising doesn't look very simple. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, almost no people showed up for the prerelease events, hence many 1-on-1 Sealed Deck matches again ...
Friday 2020-09-18 (prerelease card pool #1): BR vs. WB: 0-2. Same evening (prerelease card pool #2): WG vs. UB: 2-0.
Saturday 2020-09-19 (forenoon prerelease card pool): WB vs. BRw: 1-2.
Saturday 2020-09-19 (afternoon prerelease card pool): a full table of players ! Unfortunately, I did not write down the color pair I played, and I wrote this small summary already more than a week after the event. Anyway, I drew 1-1 against WBR, lost 0-2 against URG, and won 2-1 against BR. That's all I remember ...
Friday 2020-09-25 (prerelease card pool #1): WGr vs. WBg: 1-2. Same evening (prerelease card pool #2): WR Warriors vs. WGr: 2-1. We actually purchased a couple more prerelease packs including prize support, in order to continue the coming week(s).
On Friday 2020-10-02, we played a 4-players 'late' prerelease (i.e using the package including promo card). I put a BR deck together, winning 2-1 against UBr, winning 2-0 against RGu, and finally losing 1-2 against Wbg.
Friday 2020-10-09: back to playing against my weekly single opponent. I played BGr with lots of removal, winning against UB.