It seems like ever since the M12 launch Magic has been forcing me to play Vampires. Thankfully, the most resent Magic: the Gathering set, Innistrad, was built with these children of the night in mind. In Innistrad players are thrown into a Victorian Gothic setting filled with giant mutant lizards, transforming werewolves, holy warriors of the Church of Avacyn, and of course the “vampyre”. This set not only brings back the Flashback mechanic but also introduces the controversial Double-Faced Cards. These cards have no standard Magic back, but instead have two cards back to back much like the Kamigawa flip cards. Some people love them, some people hate them. But, on Pre-release weekend we all played with them.
Innistrad ended up being more highly anticipated then anyone at our store knew. We signed up eager participants for two hours, reaching our cap of 108 just moments before the event was due to begin. This was mainly because the set was extremely popular among the casual and EDH crowds. I love seeing the more noncompetitive players coming out to our events, and when they do it really makes a difference. The events feel more laid back and fun. Rather than a tournament, it makes the event feel more like a huge party hosted by bunch of people who have gathered just to enjoy a game.
Either way, in due time we were seated and started opening our six packs of Innistrad. I joked that I was going to open all rare lands. I was not wrong. Out of my six packs I opened seven rares (one was a rare werewolf) four of which were lands and one was a junk rare I ran just for first strike. My deck ended up looking something like this.
- Typhoid Rats x1
- Disciple of Griselbrand x1
- Bloodcrazed Neonate x2
- Markov Patrician x2
- Kessig Wolf x1
- Crossway Vampire x1
- Kruin Outlaw x1
- Tormented Pariah x1
- Morkrut Banshee x1
- Victim of the Night x1
- Vampiric Fury x1
- Nightbird’s Clutches x1
- Traitorous Blood x1
- Brimstone Volley x1
- Tribute to Hunger x1
- Unburial Rites x1
- Into the Maw of Hell x1
- Devil’s Play x1
- Runechanter’s Pike x1
- Mask of Avacyn x1
- Trepanation Blade x1
- Mountain x9
- Swamp x8
I thought first strike would be useful with so many 2/1’s and 3/1’s. The real stars of my deck were the uncommons, and of course Devil’s Play and Kruin Outlaw. My deck had a nice curve topping out at just one 5 mana creature. It also had a decent mix of evasion and removal. I hoped to go far, but I didn’t realize how far I would go.
For my first match I played a primarily Blue Black deck. It had not one, but two Evil Twins. They can be nasty little buggers. They clone your dudes and can then kill them outright. Thankfully I had a trick up my sleeve, well more of a mask really. It can be a lot harder to kill things that have Hexproof, and while it’s no Swiftfoot Boots, Mask of Avacyn at least boosts toughness. This meant that even if my opponent blocked what he had just cloned he couldn’t trade.
In this first match I also started noticing one of the breakout uncommons of the set. Codename: “Chainsaw,” its real name is Trepanation Blade. It was a devastating card. It would crew up my opponent’s deck while boosting the power of one of my dudes. It was sicknasty. Due to my equipment, I won the match in only two games. I was off to a decent start.
My second match was harder. I was against another Black Red agro deck. The major difference being he had flyers, curses, and two-ofs. He beat me handily in the first game. Not only did he plop down a Curse of Pierced Heart early game but followed it up with Vampire Interlopers. He quickly finished me off with a couple Bump in the Nights. That’s right, he had two Interlopers, two Pierced Hearts, and two Bumps. It was wicked. All I could do was hope to be faster and regain life efficiently with my Markov Partitions. I ground out game two after some lucky mana screw and good draws.
However, game three was a different matter altogether. I rushed out a Partition and my trusty Blade. I swung in against his one creature. He milled eight cards. My Markov Partition became an 11/1 lifelink. He had to block. He lost his only defense and I went up to 31, putting me out of reach. I went to 2-0.
Just when I thought I was done with Black Red Vamps, it was time for round three. It was another Vamp match up but this time with ever more tricks. I won game one with help from the usual suspects, Blade and some Devil’s Play action. In game two my opponent fielded a Curse of Pieced Heart and an annoying Creepy Doll. Then, late game, he got out a Bitterheart Witch. I removed it only to find he had a second Curse of Pierced Heart to fetch with it. He ground me down. Then things got interesting.
He swung in for lethal, but luckily I had my Disciple of Griselbrand out. Not only could I block his guys but gain life off of each of the creatures I would lose. We both got down to two life. It was my turn and I got a third mountain into play. There was something nagging me in the back of my mind about this. I knew there was something important about having three mountains, but I couldn’t remember what. So, I played a dude and equipped it up with Trepanation Blade. The next turn he flashed back Nightbird’s Clutches and killed me off. Then it hit me. Three red…that was the flashback cost of the Devil’s Play in the graveyard. I could have killed him off with a flashed back fireball for just two. Oh well, at least I wouldn’t make that mistake again. It was on to game three.
He played an early game creepy doll. Not again. I used my Tribute to Hunger to make him sac it. That was the end of that. I started working my mojo. However, it wasn’t but a few turns later that he used Unburial Rites on the Doll. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one with Nightbird’s Clutches. I got around the doll and managed to take the match. I thought that surely I was done with these tense matches.
Oh, how mistaken I was. Round four of the Innistrad prerelease tourney was most likely the most intense match of Magic I have ever played. In game one he played Cobbled Wings on the two. “Great,” I thought, “just what I need, more fliers.” On turn four he played a Geist of Saint Traft. “Annoying, but no biggy, at least I can block it,” I thought to myself. It was then that he equipped the wings to it. I lost game one. Game two however, I was ready. Once he fielded his Geist I make him Tribute it. I squeaked by game two with a deck that is absolutely horrid against fliers. It’s even worse when their hexproof. In game three I got out my Trepanation Blade. I swung and milled his Geist. I breathed a sigh of sweet relief. He sensed my comfort and decided to shatter my happy-place by playing a Geist of Saint Traft anyway. It was only then that I realized the horrible truth. The Geist I faced in the second game had been foil, while the Geist in game one hadn’t been. He had two of them! I nervously played around the Geist the best I could. I took six damage a few times while I wishing for my Tribute to Hunger. It was not forthcoming, but a third mountain was and this time I remembered was it was for. My Devil’s Play got there from the graveyard. I won in three impossible games.
Match five was equally intense. I was going into it undefeated. I had a winning record with no byes. Life was good. However, my next opponent was one of the best limited players in the store. He has won several of our pre-release events in the past and he was looking to do the same again that day. He was playing Red Green wolves. He beat me quickly in game one. It was close, but quick. His double Rakish Heirs tore through me. The second game was just as close. I had promised him before the round that my flashed-back Devil’s Play would kill him, and it did in game two. In game three I quickly gained board advantage, but he wiped it with a Blasphemous Act. After that he planted his Rakish Heirs once again. It was game over. I put up a heck of a fight, but he remains one of the best. He told me I had given him the most trouble up to that point. I was 4-1 with just one round left. I hoped to prove myself by going 5-1.
But it was not to be. Round six was rather uneventful, and quite disappointing. I was up against Blue and Black fliers. It was probably my worst match up. I had had trouble with fliers all day and Blue has some of the biggest. For the first match we both mulliganed down to six card hands. We each played two lands, and then we both got stuck. For four turns we both missed our land drops and had to discard. However, my opponent got his third land first and planted a Stitched Drake since he had primed his graveyard. He hit me for two turns as I dug for my land, and I scooped. Game two was just as bad. He quickly got out his Drakes and got me with some removal. There was nothing I could do. I lost quickly and pathetically. It put a major damper on the event for me.
That doesn’t mean it was bad day though. Everyone seemed to have a blast. The fellow that beat me in round five ended up going undefeated and took first place. That helped me take 19th. Our store also tried a method of different prize distribution. Instead of basing prizes on rank we gave prize based on record. This led to a more liberal distribution of the ample prize support. While this meant that 1st place got 12 packs, the majority of player got between 3 and 5 packs. It was a good day to be a more casual player. To top it off everyone walked away with a promo Mayer of Mayor of Avabruck/Howlpack Alpha. The prize rarely means much to me though. I just want to do well and have great matches. Thankfully this set seems to promote that.
Innistrad limited seems to be heavily creature based and focuses on making you make tough combat decisions. These decisions are complicated by a number of combat tricks, as well as “skaabs,” and the morbid mechanic both of which make you leery of “trades.” I would learn more of these dangers and decisions in the midnight draft.
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