Last Saturday I attended my very second Magic the Gathering pre-release event. This time was actually a lot more fun than the last. I came in 6th overall with a record of 3-2-0 and received a foil Path to Exile card with a very nice alternate art and a booster that really didn’t have anything of value in it

I did open a Tezzerret the Seeker and a Meddling Mage so in 2 of my 6 sealed boosters so I was obviously very pleased overall!

Not to mention that I love the new expansion: Alara Reborn. Continuing with the fine tradition of posting card impression, please find following a list of cards that I was either impressed with or disappointed in from the new expansion.

I played against this card on my third draft round. The aptly named Wall of Denial stopped my aggressive assault short. I had no way to deal with it and it allowed my opponent to regrow his defenses and made me lose a lot of momentum. Thankfully, I had a direct damage finisher that allowed me to circumvent the wall, but this annoying contraption almost cost me the round single-handedly by always neutralizing my best attacker! Possibly the best uncommon I’ve encountered in the set.

Vengreful Rebirth was the above-mentioned direct damage card that allowed me to bypass the annoying Wall of Denial for the kill! A card that allows you to bring back a fatty while dealing damage either to kill a creature or directly to your opponents face! Somehow, this card reminds me of Grab the Reins from Mirrodin, although it is decidedly weaker.

An answer to pretty much any creature and it only costs 2 mana? What more can you ask for! I’m sure I’m not the only person who is happy this card was reprinted. I can’t count how many times people used this against my creatures. It’s too bad I didn’t open any in the sealed but I’m sure to get a few play sets of these for my constructed decks.

Deadshot Minotaur saved my butt on 3 specific occasions. The most important of which involved taking out an annoying Retaliator Griffin that prevented me from attacking since I had no way to block a flier. I didn’t feel like giving my opponent a huge attacking creature and couldn’t finish him off in one attack and so I was forced to sit backuntil I topdecked a Deadshot Minotaur! I got creature advantage and overall leverage in one fell swoop!

Speaking of the griffin, that’s one mean beast! Doesn’t do much late game, but if you play it early, it can easily lock an opponent who can’t yet block fliers. “I’ll attack you for 6 and give you an 8/8 flier which I can’t block … maybe I’ll hold off attacking for now.” I ended up losing that round because my opponent had the new version of the Armadillo Cloak ie: Behemoth Sledge and I hadn’t opened a single artifact hate card in my boosters.

I know I’m going to sound like a noob, but I love lifelink! Not lifegain cards that do nothing else, those are crap, I mean lifelink on a creature or a means of giving a creature lifelink. In limited, where most decks I’ve encountered try to hit hard and fast, lifelink often leads to a comeback. I played two opponents that had Behemoth Sledges and I lost both of those rounds and the Sledges definitely contributed in a big way. Even on a small creature this thing hurts. Put it on a chump blocker then move it on your attacker next turn, you can’t lose!

Pretty much any game I drew a Stun Sniper was a game I won. Against a weenie deck, it’s brutal. I used it to neutralize the biggest threat each turn, to kill all of my opponent’s weenies, to finish off some creatures after combat damage, and even to remove a crystallized creature from the game just to make sure he never comes back!

And now on to my favorite common in the set, the Winged Coatl. I was fortunate enough to open two copies of this little guy which almost guaranteed that I would draw one per game at least. The look on my opponents’ faces when I chump blocked their beefy behemoths with my flying poisonous snake is priceless! That screams DENIED even more than the Wall of Denial did! As an alternative, I even cast 2 of him at the end of a turn where my opponent tapped out and attacked with them to finish off my opponent’s remaining 2 life! EPIC!

So there you have it folks. Overall, I love this new expansion even more than Conflux and definitely more than Shards of Alara. Great commons and uncommons especially makes it fun in limited. Can’t wait to get my hands on a box of Reborn and see what I get! Until then, happy tapping.

Related posts:

1. Conflux First Impressions
2. Flash Game Recommendation: Elements
3. Akoha: The Card Game of Good Deeds.