This weekend was the War of the Spark pre-release for Magic: the Gathering. As each set releases, there’s always a pre-release where players can play the set before the release date. I previously attended one pre-release where I didn’t win a single game. However, I was pleasantly surprised to say I won 3 games. YAY, I’M STILL SO EXCITED AND PROUD OF MYSELF 😀 😀 😀 I wanted to summarize the deck I built and my general experience of the pre-release.

As I opened my kit, I was looking at what my pulls were. The pulls are the unwrapped cards from the booster packs. From there, I’m expected to build a 40-card minimum deck. This is my favorite part of a pre-release. Every player is on an even playing field. A skilled player could put together a mediocre deck or a novice player like myself could make a powerful deck. I pulled some badass black creatures, so I created a black/green deck with an emphasis on graveyard retrieval.

Let’s discuss planeswalkers. Planeswalkers aren’t creatures, but they serve a purpose. They grant abilities to creatures, allow for card draws, and more. This is one of the few Magic: the Gathering sets which prominently feature Planeswalkers.

As I mentioned, I won three games. I accomplished this by playing more aggressively than I had played in the past. I used several Planeswalkers to trigger abilities including destroying my opponent’s creatures and dealing damage to my opponent directly. My favorite cards were Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted, and Massacre Girl. I also liked the Price of Betrayal and Ob Nixilis Cruelty.

Ultimately, I felt a boost of confidence in my ability to play Magic: the Gathering. I had been feeling insecure for a long time about my skill in the game, but this assured me that I have the potential to improve as a player. My next goal in a pre-release is to win a match which is the best two out of three against an opponent. If you play Magic: the Gathering, let me know what you pulled in this pre-release.