At the Kitchen Table

Today was (once again) spent at Superstars drafting.

It got off to a slow start, with the store opening an hour late. It was cool though.. there was a group of us waiting so we had a good talk.. comparing Shards drafting strategies and such. Eric came by near 11 and treated us at Starbucks while we waited for Jon to open the store. Then, to reward our dedication we got the first draft for half price (i.e. 1 ticket).

In draft 1, I drafted a WGr deck with a dual focus of exalted and big creatures, and good color fixing. I went 2-0, 0-2, and 2-1 for 2-1 overall… winning a ticket (the equivalent to 2 boosters… 1 per match win).

The second draft was time for something completely different: Gryxis, or more specifically uBr. Blightning rocks. Turn 3 & turn 4 blightnings totally rocks! My record was 2-1, 0-2, 2-1.. again for a 2-1 overall record… and another ticket.

The day had good value in addition to being fun and somewhat educational. I paid 3 tickets for two drafts, and won 2 tickets… plus picking up (between opening packs & trading) a half dozen rares for Nancy & I. So the day cost me $7, but I ended up with at least that in rares.

I spent today at Superstars again. A couple drafts and a few constructed games. In the first draft I ended up with a largely WG deck that was slanted toward an exalted theme. It didn’t do so well, going 1-2. The second draft resulted in a much better deck. Still no bombs, but much more solid, with more exalted creatures and a few fatties. The combination of the Rockcaster Platoon and Yoked Plowbeast with the Gustrider Exuberant was great… resulting in one final strike by 2 5/7 flying Rhinos.

Basic Lands (17) 11 Plains 6 Mountain Creatures (19) 3 Akrasan Squire 1 Goblin Mountaineer 3 Guardians of Akrasa 3 Gustrider Exuberant 2 Rockcaster Platoon 2 Welkin Guide 2 Yoked Plowbeast 3 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer Sorceries (2) 2 Excommunicate Instants (2) 1 Magma Spray 1 Souls Fire

Sunday saw me back at Superstars for the Shards of Alara release event: 2 flights of sealed, 4 rounds each.

I went 1-2-drop in the first flight… the deck wasn’t working so well.. and I needed to eat. Second flight went better at 2-2.

Lots of Magic… lots of fun.

My friend picked me up saturday morning and we spent the day at Superstars. First 4 round sealed, which I did moderately poorly in (2-2) followed after a while (we were the first 2 on the list for the next pod) by a 3 round draft. I went 1-2 in that. Not great… Yet! But it’s practice. At the moment that’s the primary goal.

Taking part in so many limited events is giving me a great opportunity to play with the different shards. At the prerelease I played primarily Naya colors. That worked out well. Saturday I gave Gryxis and Jund a try.

I’m really enjoying the new set.

Another day spent at Superstars and the Shards of Alara prerelease. I was in two flights today, an individual and a 3-man team event, both sealed deck… what awesome fun. I got to play with the new cards, collected up a handful of rares for my collection, including a few of the new mythic rares. To boot… I came out with 5 of the foil prerelease Ajani Vengeant card.

I learned a few things:

1. Big Green Monsters are very, very effective,
2. BUT.. you need white lockdown and/or black removal to manage the early game and clear the way for your monsters,
3. Having your lands removed from the game isn’t a pleasant feeling,
4. You can’t convince your opponent to add counters to your Feral Hydra.

So that was roughly 10am-8pm for two days. 20 hours of magic. Nice.

Next week is the release. Guess where I’ll be.

I write this as I wait for the train home after an incredible day of Magic.

I did poorly in the first flight: 0-4.

The second flight went better. I opened Ajani and decided to play him… setting colors to RGW. I then threw out any B or U cards and selected the best of what remained. That approach seemed to work ok as I proceeded to plow through 3 rounds dropping big monsters and flattening opponents. All (except in cases of mana screw) were awesome games. Once I even came back from 1 life to win.

I went 0-2 in the final round (2 incredible games) to finish 3-1, taking home boosters to cover Monday night’s draft.

I took part in the open dueling as well. Great fun and netting another booster and prerelease foil. Tomorrow will complete a playset of them.

Kudos to Superstars. They’re doing a great job.

I’m at the Shards of Alara prerelease and having great fun even though I haven’t won a game yet.

I spent the bulk of last weekend (the waking hours anyway) at Superstars. Superstars is a (some would say “the”) Magic the Gathering retailer in the South Bay area (if not beyond).

Here are some more pics from the weekend.

The space is awesome… huge… natural lighting from skylights… just fabulous. I love the banners from Magic over the years. It’s far more convenient for me to get to/from compared to the previous location. Between that and the fact that I want to get more serious about Magic (i.e. play a whole bunch more… I’m targeting 16+ hours a week of actual playing time, plus time reading and experimenting with cards), I expect I’ll be spending a fair bit of time there.

Great after-market activity too. I sold a handful of cards to the shop, and traded for a bunch that Nancy or I needed.

A good friend I got to know in Chicago was in town and dropped by for me to teach him how to play. We had a game of Elves vs. Goblins. He played Elves.. and had insanely good draws… I on the other hand got mediocre draws and had my ass kicked into next week. Ah… but what better way to learn. He was hooked and left with a couple of precon decks from 10th for he & his wife to learn/play. I gave them a box full of extra 10th (un)commons I had to give them a jump start.