This Saturday was a first for me. A group of us from work participated in a Magic the Gathering pre-release sealed tournament. It was my very first and the experience was overall very positive. Yes, I’ve been playing Magic the Gathering on and off since 4th edition and have not gone to a pre-release before but that will change as I don’t intend to miss another if I can help it.

For any who don’t know, a pre-release is a Magic the Gathering event that allows you to play with (and keep) cards from a set that has not been released yet, evening out the playing field as no one has any experience with said cards. This time around, the set was Conflux, the first of two expansions in the Shards of Alara block.

Although the card spoiler was made public, it’s hard to really get an overvue of how good or bad a card is by staring at a spoiler. In the end, playing with and against certain cards really is the way to go. Here are my impressions on a few cards that I was either impressed with or disappointed in from the Conflux set.

My first sealed game I had to face off against someone who played one of these on his 4th turn. Not only did it have a big enough body to stop my attackers for quite some time which stopped me from attacking, my opponent was able to gain between 2-3 life consistently over the next few turns … when he played a second one. I had already used most of my removal early on to allow my weenies some early-game damage and had some flyers in hand I was hoping to finish him off with. Instead, he assembled a sleet of flyers himself, used his removal on mine, and defeated while gaining a consistent 8-10 life per turn. A long and painful game for me, Wall of Reverence should not be underestimated.

Sadly, I was also on the receiving end of this monstrosity. In first glance, the card’s drawback seems unsurmountable, but combined with a Faerie Machinist or a Sanctum Gargoyle, this card becomes near unstoppable.  I did end up winning against my opponent but only because I top-decked filigree fracture early on before my opponent was able to use the Esperzoa to its full potential. Even combined with an executioner’s capsule or another 1 drop artifact, Esperzoa is still a strong card in the format.

Yet another card I had to deal with that I would have rather have opened myself. Nyxathid hit the table on turn 4 as a 5/5 1 turn after I was hit with a blightning. I traded 2 creatures to get rid of it by the negative card disadvantage saw me losing that game and sadly the entire round shortly thereafter.

Finally, a card that I had opened and used to great success: Goblin Razerunners. Not only is it a 3/4 for 4, which is not too bad on it’s own, but it’s also a direct damage machine on crack. This time around, the crack being a (usually unplayable) Soul’s Might. All I had to do was sit but and enjoy watching my opponent take 5 damage per turn since I had sacked 1 land to the Razerunners of course.

In the same round, I had also played this little baby. It’s such a great feeling to use your Dark Temper to clear the way for it so that it deals at least 1 damage to the opponent, so that you can return the dark temper to your hand and repeat the process on the next turn. This card is full of win!

At one point, I actually had 2 of these in play at the same time. It was insane seeing my opponent’s hand get bigger with cheap, small flyers and even moreso when my opponent had to actually use some potent removal on my cheap 1 drop to avoid discarding and to allow him to play his flyers eventually. I’ve hear people refer to these as Faerie killers but I can vouch that they kill Artifact Birds pretty well too.

In between round, I played my friend Matthew for practice and had to face off against this broken card. Not only did this guy grow each turn, but he also helped Matt thin out his deck, held the fort with his body, and color-fixed for the Titanic Ultimatum that sealed the deal. Yup, broken with a capital B.

Every participant got a copy of this card that we were not allowed to use in the sealed. One of my opponents opened one that he was allowed to use … and quickly regretted using. It’s great to have a 6/6 flying for 6 but when it empties your hand in the process, it’s not always a good thing. Especially if your opponent (me) is holding an Oblivion Ring. Sure, I lost 3 creatures that I had to sac, but I still had 3 cards in my hand after using the O-Ring while my opponent had nothing on the board and nothing in hand. Granted, it would have been a victory for my opponent if I didn’t have any removal able to deal with Malfegor, which makes him a volatile and risky card to play unless you have an empty hand already. In which case, a 6/6 flying for 6 is a great deal.

Although I didn’t play with or against a Nicol Bolas during the tourney, my friend Sebastien opened one in the 1 conflux booster he won (talk about a lucky guy). I did play him at work today and he did bring out old Nicky B and the entire table was hushed … and then quickly ganged up on poor Sebastien till Nicky was no more. All in all, the abilities are broken but I just don’t see Nicol Bolas lasting long against a well contructed deck. Still, a great card and one I hope to eventually add to my ever-growing collection.

Well those were my impressions. I’m well aware I missed some cards but these were the ones I played with that left the biggest impact on me. Let me know whether you agree or disagree with any of the above as usual.

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