It seems like every release cycle I get locked into two colors. I fondly remember the days of M12 and playing Red/Black vampires and blood thirst. This cycle however I was forced into playing my least favorite colors for the entirety of the events. The bright side of it, though, was that I gained a new appreciation for the pair. For all three release week events I was playing variations on Blue/Red.

For the draft my Pack One Pick One was yet another Devastation Tide. I tried my best to draft Izzet beats like the deck I had at the pre-release, but instead I was forced into strong Izzet evasion. I drafted powerful cards like Wingcrafter, Scrapskin Drake, Fettergeist, and a pair of Heirs of Stromkirk. Unfortunately, I was competing with several other people in my Draft Pod for good blue and red cards, and my deck ended up a bit of a mess. Nevertheless, I forged onward.

For my first round I was up against an opponent that had drafted one of the new major archetypes in Avacyn Restored: Blink.deck. Fueled by Nephalia Smugglers, Cloudshift, and various other blink effects, his army of Gryff Vanguards and Mist Ravens were more than able to best my hodgepodge of a deck. If his blink effects didn’t work his backup play was a Stern Mentor paired up with Galvanic Alchemist.

While I got stomped by my opponent’s blinky deck I really loved the way it played. It was Blue/White and tricksy. It wasn’t that the deck could answer your stuff, but rather I could answer your answers. It was extremely entertaining to play against and watch run. It really showed me that if you get just one or two Enter the Battlefield effect cards it’s always worth swinging for a Nephalia Smuggler. The only real downside to the archetype is that you have to be dedicated to it to make it hum. It seemed best to go all in with the Blink effects or just splash the Smuggler. It doesn’t pay to just dabble with theme. Though running a Cloudshift is never a bad thing.

The rest of the Midnight Draft was relatively uneventful. Everyone still enjoyed themselves. Two Tamiyo’s were opened, one foil. Free pizza was eaten, prizes were given out. Everyone left with something. It was a great night. I’m really starting to look forward to these midnight drafts; they end up being just a blast, even if I end up wiped the next day. Thankfully I had a day to recover before the Release Party.

The Saturday after the release, we at the GP-BT host a release weekend sealed tournament. It’s normally a good deal smaller than the pre-release, but the upshot is that it lasts all afternoon rather than all day. For Avacyn, we had about 28 for the tournament. The Release Party is always a bit more laid back and subdued than the Pre-Release. I tend to prefer it; it’s just a lot more casual. And I was extremely pleased with it this time around.

I was forced Izzet again, but that was OK, seeing as I opened the one card in the set I was hoping for: Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. In contrast to my other Blue/Red decks this one wasn’t at all creature heavy. It lacked any bomby creatures and hoped to grind out a nice, slow control game. And by golly it could do that and do it well. The deck was really driven by the dual pairs of Tandem Lookouts and Scalding Devils. These cards allowed me to not only ping my opponent but draw cards for doing so. (ProTip: Tandem Lookout doesn’t say “combat damage.”) All of these cards were just there to prolong the game until I managed to draw my Burn at the Stake or, better yet, Spirit Away. And I had ample opportunity to draw them with my truly obscene amount of card draw, not only Tamiyo, but also Mad Prophet, Gryff Vanguard, and Desolate Lighthouse. This card draw was boosted with a couple of solid Miracle cards: Vanishment and Thunderous Wrath.

After this weekend I’ve really warmed up to Miracles. Once the Miracle count is equalized amongst both players in a match they start feeling a lot more fair. Sure, I would still get blown out by a Miracle but now I could respond with solid Miracles myself. Basically the card type is a lot more balanced in Draft and Constructed than in sealed, so I find it highly unlikely that they’ll become much of a problem.

I very rarely play control-heavy decks, so the release tournament was a real joy for me. I managed to set the pace of most of the games I played. Once I was even able to Spirit Away Avacyn, Angel of Hope from my opponent. That was a true joy, though my best match of the day ended in a draw.

It was near mirror match. We were both running blue control, but while I had splashed Red he had splashed White. I had only Tamiyo and Spirit away, but he not only a Tamiyo himself but also a Bruna, Light of Alabaster. They were hard fought games. Both of them went long. He took the first game after I stalled out drawing lands. The second game threatened to be a blowout but halfway through the tide turned. I had killed his Tamiyo and had planted my own, but time was called for the round. I was at three life and he was at twenty eight, but we calculated that in my three extra turns after time I would be able to best him. Rather than waste everyone’s time we shook hands and called it a draw. It was some of the best Magic I have ever played.

I ended up having two wins, two losses, and a draw on the day, but I left proud. Not only because of my Tamiyo but the quality of play that day from everyone was quite high. It was a great tournament.

I can’t wait until the next release. I hope to see you all there as well!

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The spring release season has sprung into high gear, and as always I’m here to guide you through to the best of my meager abilities. This spring’s Magic release is Avacyn Restored: a standalone large set that continues the story of Innistrad and Dark Ascension but with a somewhat lighter tone.  The Archangel Avacyn has been released from her moon-silver prison and along with her human allies is once again pushing back against the things that go “bump” in the night. After two sets of seeing the humans on the ropes, and two other blocks with less than happy endings, we’re fighting back and winning against the forces of evil. Good times.

To help sell this theme, several new mechanics have been introduced, most notably Soulbond (Banding 2.0) and Miracle. Soulbond is a spiritual successor to banding.  If you are unfamiliar with banding…good. It along with Bands with Other is one of the clunkiest mechanics in Magic. For those interested, this is the official rules text of Banding: Banding (Any creatures with banding, and up to one without, can attack in a band. Bands are blocked as a group. If any creatures with banding you control are blocking or being blocked by a creature, you divide that creature’s combat damage, not its controller, among any of the creatures it’s being blocked by or is blocking.) See? It’s simple, really. Yeah…nuts to that. The idea behind banding is nifty; creatures work together to attack you opponent. It is great in theory, and this time around R&D managed to take that idea and make it work with Soulbond.

Soulbond lets players “pair” two creatures up to give them both some sort of bonus. It’s a little complex the first time someone sees it, but it quickly becomes intuitive and easy to use. And very easy to use to great effect. My pre-release deck was Red/Blue Soulbond and it was a blast to play with…when I wasn’t having mana issues.

• Wingcrafter x 1
• Somberwald Vigilante x 1
• Lightning Mauler x 1
• Kruin Striker x 1
• Haunted Guardian x 1
• Latch Seeker x 1
• Scrapskin Drake x 1
• Riot Ringleader x 2
• Hanweir Lancer x 1
• Fervent Cathar x 1
• Kessig Malcontents x 1
• Elgaud Shieldmate x 1
• Havengul Vampire x 1
• Heirs of Stromkirk x 1
• Deadeye Navigator x 1
• Pillar of Flame x 1
• Bladed Bracers x 1
• Thunderbolt x 1
• Tormentor’s Trident x 1
• Mass Appeal x 1
• Crippling Chill x 1
• Devastation Tide x 1
• Burn at the Stake x 1
• Island x 7
• Mountain x 9

You’ll notice if you go through my deck on gatherer.wizards.com that I have one other extremely interesting card in there. It’s called “Devastation Tide.” The first thing you’ll likely notice is its funky card frame. Shortly followed by this nifty little word: “Miracle.” This is the second thematic mechanic of the set. The mechanic represents the last minute save of Innistrad at the hands of Miss. Avacyn. While I’m absolutely in love with Soulbond, I am still on the fence about Miracle. What it allows you to do is play the card instantly and at a cheaper cost if it’s the first card you draw on a turn. Now, I may be a little biased since during the pre-release I was the on receiving end of Miracles and was not once able to cast mine for its reduced cost, but while I think they are nifty and flavorful cards I think they fail in one important respect.

It seems like Miracles fail the “net fun” test. This is one of the tests used and touted by Magic’s R&D and Mark Rosewater, lead designer of Magic. The card has to raise the Net Fun of the players. It can’t make one player miserable and one player extremely happy. These would be things like heavy counter decks, or white aura lock down decks packed full with Pacifisms and Arrests. One side has all of the fun while the other is left to languish. And that was my experience with Miracles at the prerelease; I was blown out by them more often than I ever got any effectiveness out of mine. This could just be an artifact of Sealed tournaments, and the problem will resolve itself in constructed and draft environments.  I hope it does. I have big hopes for the Miracle mechanic. I can’t wait to add like a billion Miracle cards to my EDH/Commander decks, but if they continue to feel unfair and one-sided I may have to rethink them.  I’ll keep an eye on Miracle-based blowouts throughout this release season to see how they measure up in the long run.

Mechanics aside, the pre-release was a great event. Not only did we hit our hard cap of 108 players but everyone seemed to enjoy the set and have a lot of fun with it. This was compounded by the addition of the special Helvaults.  We received two of these super-secret promotions, so our store was able to give out tons of other free goodies in addition to our usual spectacular prize support. Our little silver boxes held a number of wonders, including silver spindown lifecounters, oversized cards of the Avacyn Restored’s legendary creatures, and a unique angel/demon double-sided token card. Everyone enjoyed getting a chance to pop open the Helvaults’ seals and share the sweet plunder nested inside. Overall it was one of our most successful prereleases yet.  I can only hope the Midnight Draft and the Release Party go as well. Until then.

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After a long winter’s hiatus,  DKC and Alex are back with their unwanted opinions. Now remember how this works. You have until Midnight of the end of the month to get a comment logged to have a chance to win the demo copy we used! So, get to commenting.

Alex:

First, a little history lesson: Dogfights originated at the very beginning of WW I where even the aircraft weren’t as yet armed. It’s believed the victor for the first dogfight was a  South African Lt. Norman Spratt. The amazing thing is he did it without firing a shot! He simply kept flying his aircraft, a Sopwith Tabloid, forcing his opponent down. The pilots of that era soon began carrying a sidearm up with them taking pot-shots at one another. Eventually, of course, the evolution of air combat developed into the imagine-grabbing epic feat that we all know.

Lt. Norman Spratt

Axis & Allies Air Force Miniatures – Angels 20, is a collectible pre-painted air combat miniatures game where two or more players pit their air forces up against one-another. The scale for these ship are unique to say the least. With a wingspan of 4 or more inches, the planes are a sight to see.  In the starter box,  comes everything you need to play a game with two players. Uniquely, the starter will have all the stat-cards for the set of planes. When you purchase a booster, all you’ll get are the planes.

The clear plastic hex bases are designed as the altitude counters where each side of the hex is marked with number 1 through 6; 1 is the lowest altitude while 6 is the highest. As you climb or dive turn the base so that your plane is pointed toward the appropriate altitude number. Altitude is one of several aspects that come into play when determining combat successes. Unfortunately, these clear bases don’t lend themselves well to be easy to read. I’ve seen other players in the store that have dry-brushed paint over the raised molded numbers to make them more distinctive.

Two spitfires come around to pummel a BF110 while a lone BF109 fends them off!

If you’ve ever played the A&A minis games War at Sea  you’ll quickly recognize a great deal of the system used here. Six-sided dice based, roll to hit a modified target numbers based on many factors; pilot skills, facing of attacker to defender, position of target(turning, diving, etc.). Sixes are still count as double hits—like the War at Sea minis game.

The two scenarios we played seemed lacking but that’s pretty typical in my experiences in other flying games. Usually, for me, these games turn into just line up on the opposite side of the map and shoot each other down.

Which brings me to the maps in this game. They’re great for getting your feet wet but for playing the game… find something else. The hexes on the printed map are nearly 4 and a half inches across. If you can find a viable substitute, get it—preferably something that would cover more than 30” x 40”. At a standard speed of 2 – 3 hexes while high speed is 5 – 6, it’s extremely easy to cover that small area in a turn or two.

British vs. German

All-in-all I liked the game. I own a 2-player starter and a booster. I could see myself buying another booster or two-there are some really good looking planes in the collection!  However, I didn’t love it. It has it’s flaws most notably the small maps and the odd scenarios. But, then again, I’m a sucker when it comes to aviation games. If it has flying in it, I can guarantee you that I’ll at least give it a once over.

My Score: 2.5 out of 5.

DKC:

Having never been the biggest fan of aviation games like Wings of War, I had mixed expectations going in to Axis and Allies: Angles 20. On the one hand, I didn’t expect to like what I found: more hexes, more insufficient methods of tracking altitude, etc. On the other, I was hoping this game would surprise me. After all, its been very popular since its release and I’ve been hearing positive buzz about the game. So Alex and I cracked it open and set out to learn.

The stat cards for each aircraft

The components are cool, I thought the map and planes were of a high quality, the sort of thing I wouldn’t mind looking at over and over as I played. We set the map up, figured we’d start with the first scenario in the book. He divvied up the planes, figured out who was an evil Nazi and started trying to figure things out. I was getting pretty excited at this point.

Then it all crashed and burned. As soon as we started immersing ourselves in the mechanics of the game the hits just kept coming. The movement is clunky and the shooting is too heavily luck based. Don’t even get me started on the rule that states that if one of your planes would move off the hex map it is destroyed. Sometimes moving off of that map is unavoidable, heaven forefend you fail a maneuver check while facing the edge of the hex map. Rolled snake-eyes? Too bad, get that plane out of here!

Let’s go back to the clunky movement, because that is the part of the game I found the most egregious. In an air combat game movement and maneuverability are the most important aspects of the game. This isn’t a game like Warhammer 40k, where there is cover to hide behind, vehicles to screen your troops with (or vice versa), and, overall, a lot of stuff on the board that effects the game. An air combat game typically has nothing of the sort. There are no buildings to hide behind. No flank charges to set up. No vehicle wreckage to hide inside. There’s just you, the enemy and a big hex map full of nothing.

With that being the case, the onus falls to the movement system to keep the game exciting and tactically satisfying. This game’s movement system accomplishes neither. Anything beyond moving straight forward and turning 45 degrees requires a maneuver test. Typically you have roughly a 50% chance of success on one of these rolls. Maybe a little more if your plane is good at a particular maneuver. Fail that roll and you just move one little hex straight forward. This applies to thing that sound like they should be easy tasks like increasing or decreasing your altitude. I felt constantly constrained by the movement system, fighting against it to try and find a way to use my ships against my opponent.

Example of size of each hex on the map

The scenarios were horribly balanced as well, so those two scenarios we played felt like jokes, like they were written by someone who didn’t know how the rules of the game worked. I could go on but as I type this I realize that I have practically nothing positive to say about this game. Unless you are an avid WWII air combat fan, I cannot think of any reason to recommend this game to anyone. It was a disappointment nearly across the board.

DKC score: 1.5 out of 5.

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As everyone who reads this should know by now, I am terrible at standard Magic. So, it should come to no surprise that my least favorite event of the release season is the dreaded Game Day. However, I always manage to suck it up and stick it out, and our Dark Ascension Game Day was no different.

Thankfully, the MTG Event Decks for this Game Day were both quite fun, if not extremely effective in today’s standard environment. I choose to go with the Birth Pod deck “Spiraling Doom,” forsaking the other deck’s twin Inkmoth Nexuses. As per the norm, I souped up the little sucker with some Mythical power. My final deck looked like this:

Main Deck

• Young Wolf x 4
• Hex Parasite x 1
• Strangleroot Geist x 4
• Viridian Emissary x 4
• Phyrexian Rager x 1
• Predator Ooze x 1
• Viridian Corrupter x 1
• Wakedancer x 1
• Skinrender x 3
• Solemn Simulacrum x 1
• Morkrut Banshee x 1
• Acidic Slime x1
• Bloodgift Demon x 1
• Vorapede x 1
• Grave Titan x 1
• Reaper from the Abyss x 1
• Moldgraf Monstrosity x 1
• Doomblade x 3
• Diabolic Tutor x 2
• Birthing Pod x 2
• Forest x 14
• Swamp x 8
• Evolving Wilds x 2
• Grim Backwoods x 1

Side Board

• Distress x x 4
• Autumn’s Veil x 3
• Despise x 1
• Beast Within x 1
• Dismember x 1
• Perilous Myr x 1
• Wakedancer x 1
• Gravedigger x 1
• Entomber Exarch x 1
• Acid Web Spider x 1

I didn’t mess with the side board much. I found that it was fairly useless as it was, and I, being both lazy and poor at side boarding, didn’t make an effort to make it more effective. Every match I would side board in the Distresses and Despise, but, as if to add insult to injury, I didn’t draw the cards even once throughout the day.

It was a small mercy that the day was rather short. Much to the store’s chagrin we only had about 16 people attend the event. Roughly half as many as had come out for the Innistrad Game Day. Nevertheless, we (and by that I mean I) proudly soldiered on.

It turns out that Green Black Pod is not the best archetype in today’s environment. In round one I was thoroughly stomped in two games by the Spirit Deck that is making the rounds. It was simply too fast with too many fliers. He didn’t even have to side board against me. I had a bit of a clever play in the second game sacking my Dungeon Geisted Vorapede, unlocking him, and fetching my Reaper. However, he simply Vapor Snagged him, crushing my hopes and my dreams.

Then, in the second match, I was against a Mono-Red deck. I won in three games. It wasn’t very eventful. I lost the second game due to keeping a greedy hand and getting burned out. But I came back in the third. It was my only victory of the day.

In game three I was against and awkward flashback Séance deck. It did not end well for me. The main reason? Phantasmal Image. That card synergizes with Undying in a very annoying way. When you clone an Undying creature with Image and the Image dies, it hits the graveyard, gets the +1/+1 counter, then comes back, but when it comes back it gets to copy a new creature. It’s very bothersome to be beaten with cloned Strangleroot Geists and Vorapedes. I tried my best but his creatures were more persistent than my own. As it turns out recursion with Blade Splicers is good. Oh well, life is pain as I often say.

I had no hope of winning my last match of the day. I was against a perfectly curving Human deck. Two words: Mirran Crusader. Yeah, nothing my deck could do about that guy. I tried putting in my Distresses and Despise, but Thalia quickly put an end to that plan. I lost in two extremely short games.

My take away from the day is that Green/Black Undying Pod, while outrageously fun to play, is pretty ineffectual in the current format. It could have just been my list, or for that fact me, but I feel like the archetype just can’t deal with bouncing clones, Mirran Crusaders, and Sword of Feast and Famine. Either way, despite how it may sound, I had a great time. Pods are extremely fun to run since you have access to a whole kit full of creatures that you can bring out seemingly at will. I would highly recommend the deck to anyone looking for a fun casual experience.

To round out today’s forlorn article I shall bestow upon you the top two decks from the tournament, neither which have Delver of Secrets strangely enough.

First Place Daniel Recupido

Main Deck

• Chandra’s Phoenix x 4
• Grim Lavamancer x 4
• Stromkirk Noble x 4
• Stormblood Berserker x 4
• Spikeshot Elder x 1
• Shrine of Burning Rage x 4
• Incinerate x 4
• Faithless Looting x 3
• Gut Shot x 3
• Brimstone Valley x 3
• Arc Trail x 3
• Devil’s Play x 1
• Mountain x 22

Side Board

• Volt Charge x 4
• Phyrexian Metamorph x 3
• Reckless Waif x 3
• Forge Devil x 2
• Tunnel Ignus x 1
• Runechanter’s Pike x 1
• Spikeshot Elder x 1

Second Place Ryan Ziegler

Main Deck

• Doomed Traveler x 4
• Champion of the Parish x 4
• Fiend Hunter x 4
• Gideon’s Lawkeeper x 3
• Leonin Relic-warder x 3
• Thalia, Gaurdian of Threben x 3
• Geist of Saint Traft x 3
• Mirran Crusader x 3
• Hero of Bladehold x 2
• Honor of the Pure x 4
• Oblivion Ring x 3
• Sword of War and Peace x 1
• Plains x 10
• Seachrome Coast x 4
• Glacial Fortress x 4
• Moorland Haunt x 4
• Island x 1

Side Board

• Corrosive Gale x 4
• Timely Reinforcements x 3
• Angelic Destiny x 2
• Mana Leak x 2
• Dismember x 1
• Celestial Purge x 1
• Ratchet Bomb x 1
• Phyrexian Metamorph x 1

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By now I’m sure most of my readers are aware of our Magical Release Cycle. Therefore you know that today’s article will be talking about the Midnight Draft and likely the Launch Party. Our Midnight Draft was a roaring success, I’m pleased to announce. 32 folks braved the late-night horrors for a chance to draft triple Dark Ascension. We only offer the chance to draft triple small sets twice: the Midnight Draft and the FNM the day after. People who like to experience this…unique…format only have a few chances, and we, at The Game Preserve, are happy to oblige.

To prepare for the night I had practiced drafting triple Dark Ascension online. It was not a friendly format. Outside of maybe Spirits, it seemed to me that any combination with Green was bound to do well. I, however, knew I couldn’t go Green when the person on my right opened a Huntsman of the Fells pack one. After a few picks I quickly realized I was going to have to go Zombies. Oh well, there are worst archetypes.

• Black Cat x 5
• Diregraf Captain x 1
• Headless Skaab x 1
• Stormbound Geist x 1
• Sightless Ghoul x 2
• Nephalia Seakite x 1
• Relentless Skaabs x 2
• Deadly Allure x 1
• Tragic Slip x 1
• Thought Scour x 1
• Avacyn’s Collar x 1
• Reap the Seagraf x 4
• Altar of the Lost x 1
• Death’s Caress x 1
• Island x 8
• Swamp x 8
• Evolving Wilds x 1

The deck wasn’t bad, but its mana curve was a little off. I had hopes, even if they weren’t that high. They were quickly shattered.

In round one I was up against someone who had drafted Mono-Green, a type of deck I felt was very strong in the bizarre format. He not only had four Young Wolves, but also multiple Rootbound Geists. He played creatures at a pace I simply could not match. He beat me in two outrageously quick games. I neither had the removal nor the quick creatures to put up a fight. It was nearly an unwinnable matchup for my deck.

I continued playing him and his deck throughout the night when we both had time. I think my final record against his deck was something like 3-12. Mono-Green was simply beastly.

The rest of the evening was largely uneventful. I had a bye followed by a round against a three-color flyer deck. Unfortunately most of the flyers in Dark Ascension tend to be a bit on the small side so I won in three games. Honestly, the most interesting thing of the night was the deck that won my pod. It was four-color flashback. Basically, he had three or four Griptides, an outrageously powerful card, and several Mystic Retrievals. He could easily lock you out of the game by constant Griptides and then let his Nephelia Seakites clean up. It was interesting, if annoying. I played him in a causal game between rounds. Nothing is worse than getting your Skaabs Grip-locked.

Over all, triple Dark Ascension is nowhere near as fun as triple Innistrad or even triple New Phyrexia. It was a bit depressing. However, what the format lacks in the triple form, it makes up in its true draft form: one Dark Ascension, two Innistrad. This small set, more so than others in recent history, wants to be played along with its big brother. The set is an extremely good supplement to Innistrad. While I could complain that its triple format is no fun, I really can’t. The set simply wasn’t designed that way. Dark Ascension has wonderful utility cards, and fantastic synergies with Innistrad. So while I wouldn’t recommend the Dark Ascension to people who don’t have any Innistrad, for those who do, the set is a excellent supplement.

Thankfully the sealed release tournament wasn’t six packs of Dark Ascension. We had 35 folks show up for the event. All were eager to open their packs in search of the notorious Sorin. We decided to have the sealed pool made up of three packs of Innistrad and three packs of Dark Ascension. Everyone liked the idea. It allowed for more of the new cards and more cohesive decks. While I didn’t open anything super exciting, I managed to open what wins sealed events: solid commons, good uncommons, and bomby rares.

• Deranged Assistant x 2
• Shriekgeist x 1
• Mindshrieker x 1
• Loyal Cathar x 1
• Headless Skaab x 1
• Stormbound Geist x 1
• Niblis of the Mists x 1
• Drogskol Captain x 1
• Warden of the Walls x 1
• Tower Geist x 1
• Nephalia Seakite x 1
• Mausoleum Guard x 1
• Relentless Skaabs x 1
• Murder of Crows x 1
• Silverclaw Griffin x 1
• Manor Gargoyle x 1
• Requiem Angel x 1
• Artful Dodge x 1
• Mask of Avacyn x 1
• Midnight Haunting x 1
• Bone to Ash x 1
• Griptide x 1
• Island x 8
• Plains x 8
• Evolving Wilds x 1

Nothing feels better than a pool full of flyers. The event itself was extremely well-run and ended at not midnight. My games that day were either hard fought or quick. It was the best kind of Magic. I got in quick good games and long hard battles. The only completely un-fun match was my only loss that day.

That loss wasn’t what kept it from being enjoyable, but it was the way in which it was lost. It was an annoying combo deck that combined Falkenrath Noble and Curse of Death’s Hold. As I mentioned before, many flyers in this block are quite small; this is especially true with spirits. With the Curse on the field my flyers became even smaller, and with the Noble out I could neither attack nor block without losing life. You can also notice that removal was not one of the things my deck excelled at. Once my opponent’s combo was in play, Magic ceased being played. I could do nothing but wait and watch as he attacked or spot-removed my creature to slowly whittle away at my life total. I had literally no recourse. I forfeited both games quickly after seeing the combo. It was extremely un-interactive.

My last game of the day was the exact opposite of that loss. It went to time in game two. For half the game I was stuck with only one Island and a hand full of great Blue cards. I was getting beat up by his creatures, and if I managed to land one of my white flyers it was quickly dispatched by his solid removal. I was down to five life when I finally drew my second Island. It was then that I began orchestrating the comeback of all comebacks. I quickly landed my own Blue flyers and powerful scabs. This finally prevented him from just attacking me to death. I got him down to five life as well, but he responded by playing his Gather the Townsfolk, as well as a Butcher’s Cleaver. He had five blockers to which he could give lifelink. It was miserable. But I overcame. His life total started bouncing wildly as he attacked or blocked. I kept drawing more and more creatures and he, more and more lands. It was a true battle of attrition. I, thankfully, had out my Requiem Angel so whenever my undying creatures died I traded up and gained a flyer. In the end I was able to swing all whipping his board and leaving him with 2 life. He could have won it if he had drawn his second Fires of Undeath, but instead he drew a mountain. I took one of the best games of Magic I’ve ever played.

All of this leads me to the same conclusion I had at the pre-release. Innistrad-era limited is some of the best limited Magic ever. There is room for just about any archetype, be it combo or tribal. The format is as healthy as can be. I can’t recommend enough getting some Dark Ascension and Innistrad packs and doing a draft at home with your friends, or if you don’t have enough Magic playing friends, come on in and play at our Friday Night Magic Events. If you are a fan of limited Magic come in and try out this format before Avacyn Restored changes the format completely in May.

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We have another write-up from the Bloomington store’s Magic Jon:

It is release season once again at the GP-BT. When last we met the proud humans of Innistrad, they were in a pretty bad place… and now it’s even worse.  The assault from unruly ghosts, zombies, vampires, and werewolves continues. The humans, without Avacyn’s magic, are not in the best of positions.  This might be bad if you lived in Innistrad, however, if you’re merely playing with cards you are likely pretty psyched about the idea.  Hexproof spirits?  Fast striking vampires?  Killer Zombies?  Unchanging werewolves?  Bring ‘em on!

And on they came at our Dark Ascension pre-release.

The event lasted much later than usual, but that didn’t stop our patrons.  They thought it fitting that the event would last into the dead of night.  People started opening their sealed packs for the tournament around 3 p.m.  Shortly thereafter, people started hearing the exited exhalations of people opening the new planeswalker, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. I wasn’t so lucky, although I did open a Havengul Lich.

My sealed pool was quite nice. It had the making of a good Green/Black morbid deck. I had done some practice for the deck construction online, but most of the cards I had opened online were nearly unplayable. However, this was the real thing, and I had a surprising number of great cards. I had a good mana curve topping out at five mana for my numerous bombs, and, if need be, I could extend to six for a sick 8/8 trampling Wurm. I, of course, splashed a smidgen of blue for my sick Havengul Lich.

• Typhoid Rats x 1
• Strangleroot Geist x 2
• Scorned Villager x 1
• Somberwald Dryad x 1
• Disciple of Griselbrand x 1
• Walking Corpse x 1
• Highborn Ghoul x 1
• Ulvenwald Bear x 1
• Splinterfright x 1
• Lambholt Elder x 1
• Warden of the Wall x 1
• Grizzled Outcasts x 1
• Bloodgift Demon x 1
• Fiend of the Shadows x 1
• Morkrut Banshee x 1
• Havengul Lich x 1
• Gravetiller Wurm x 1
• Pray Upon x 1
• Undying Evil x 1
• Dead Weight x 1
• Mask of Avacyn x 1
• Death’s Caress x 1
• Swamp x 8
• Forest x 7
• Island x 1
• Shimmering Grotto x 1

The deck proved very effective. I won four out of the seven rounds of the tournament.  I ran into some issues with fliers and perfectly curving Sorin decks.  The rounds I lost were also against some of the better drafters at our store, who were no strangers to the limited format.  All of my matches were fun and thought provoking, and really that’s all I ever ask for when I play Magic.  I would take a loss and a great game over going 7-0 due to land screw.

So far, I am just amazed at how good the Innistrad bock limited environment is.  Thoughts may differ, but I’m a huge fan of this environment’s play style.  It feels very question-answer.  There are threats at every turn (literally) and if you don’t answer the right card at the right time you can set yourself up for failure.  These already tough questions are now complicated further with the Undying mechanic.  Even if you answer a card, with undying you now have to answer the same card, only bigger.

This also becomes apparent during the combat phase.  The combat phase in the Innistrad environment is a great deal more interesting than it was in the Scars of Mirrodin era.  Do you block and trade and possibly turn on Morbid?  Do I cast Undying Evil here?  How about this creature with flash? Do I have anything in the graveyard that will help me?  Or perhaps I just take the 5 damage?  The combat phase feels like it has become the meat and potatoes of the format. I know that limited is always about creatures and removal, but it seems like since there are dangerous creatures at all mana costs it is more than simply answering four or five mana cost bombs.  This is the up tempo aggressive play I really enjoy.  The format is just extremely interactive. The best part is that it is interactive with creatures rather than just with spells.  When I have a creature killed rather than just countered it feels like I’ve at least done something.  Basically, this play style reminds me a lot of the Legend of Five Rings TCG (which we also carry *wink wink*) which, to me, is a good thing.  However, if it’s not for you, I’m sure the format will swing the other way when the new block comes out and spells with be a’fly’n.

I highly encourage you not to just pick up some boosters to supplement your casual, commander, or standard deck, but to also come in and try out drafting this set while you can.  If you don’t know, you only have a few months of this format, since Avacyn Restored won’t be drafted alongside Dark Ascension and Innistrad.  You can check our Event Calendar on this website to see when The Game Preserve closest to you has draft nights.  So come in and draft this extremely exciting set while you can. I’ll at least be participating in our Triple Dark Ascension Midnight Draft later this week, and I hope you will be as well!

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We apologize for the inconvenience but our event calendar for the chain is currently unavailable. We will have it up and running as soon as possible. If you need to check times for any of our events, feel free to contact us. Thank you.

We should be up and running correctly now. Thank you for your patience.

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This year’s Essen International Gaming Fair has come and gone. But The Game Preserve and it’s customers have had an opportunity presented to us that cannot be passed up!  We have an extremely limited quantity of 7 Wonder Catan Wonder Boards! Get yours while supplies last!

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After the turkey is eaten, before the snow falls, it’s become an American tradition to go forth after Thanksgiving and look for the best deals retailers have to offer. The Game Preserve has a  few offers of its own. Time is of the essence on these select items. Come in early to make the best of what we have.

These select items on sale

45% off until 10:00 AM

40% off until 12:00 PM

35% off until 2:00 PM

30% off until 4:00 PM

25% off until 9:00 PM

Dreadfleet Regular Price $114.95

M12 Battle Packs Regular Price: $9.95

Star Trek Fleet Captains Regular Price: $99.95

Note: Offer good while supplies last. No special orders and no transfers will be honored.

Also, Each store will be offering store-specific sales. Please visit your local Game Preserve and see what we have to offer.

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The Holidays are nearly upon us and as always, The Game Preserve develops a list of recommended games to get that are hot and new. Each year’s recommendations are always different, after all, there are new games coming out weekly. We try to make it just that much easier for you.

Trigger

Players: 3 – 8

Ages: 8 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

Made by Blue Orange Games, the same folks who brought us Spot  it, one of last year’s recommendations; trigger is a speed game where you race against other players to touch a trigger marker in the center of table answering only true or false questions. Just remember left hand is false and right hand is true.

Morphology

Morphology is the game of charades turned on its head. Draw a card, use any or all the available props provided to get your teammate to say the correct answer.

Players: 4 or more!

Ages: 13 or up

Time:  30 minutes

Faux-cabulary

Ever play that new classic, Apples to Apples? Like “apples” this game, from Out of the Box, has all the players except a judge to make up their own words to definitions.

Players: 3 – 7

Ages: 13 or up

Time: 20 – 30 minutes

Dabble

Dabble is a simple scrabble-like game where you take lettered tiles and must make a two, three, four, five and six letter word. You get points for each accomplishment. Scrabble fans and wordsmiths will love this game.

Players: 2 – 4

Ages: 10 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

Konexi

Also a game for the wordsmiths out there, Konexi has each player take one letter and connect it to another letter hoping to make a word all the while building a tower of letters! It’s jenga meets scrabble.

Players: 2 – 6

Ages: 10 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

The Man Game

As the name implies, this a man-centric party game. Not only are there questions of style like, do the color of your shoes have to match the belt your belt? But also, play a hand of poker, or paper football or golf.  Be the best man and prove it.

Players: 3 – 6 players

Ages: “For men of all ages and women who think they’re man enough!”

Time: 30 minutes

Gubs

A card game for kids, having each player collect and protect as many “gub” card as they can before time runs out. Play other cards that allow other players to steal, or remove other player’s gubs.

Players: 2 – 7 players

Ages: 10 or up

Time: 15 – 30 minutes

Thanks A lot!

Ever get a really bad gift? Think you can do better? This is your chance to shine. Pass out a gift to each player you think that he/she would best like, then find out when they rank them from highest to lowest.

Players: 3 – 6

Ages: 12 or up

Time: 20 – 30 minutes

For a list of last year’s great Holiday Suggestions, please go here.

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