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.

This was my pre-release kit. This contains all the cards I need to build a 40 card deck. Photo taken by me. 

In a pre-release, there are “promo” cards. The cards are randomized with each promo being foiled and listing the date of the pre-release on the card. As I opened my kit, I’m looking at what my “pulls” are. The pulls are the unwrapped cards from the booster packs. From there, I’m expected to put the cards together in 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 bad-ass black creatures, so I created a black / green deck with emphasis on graveyard retrieval along with powerful planeswalkers.

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

I’m on cloud nine 🙂 🙂 

As I mentioned, I won three games. I accomplished this by playing more aggressively than I had played in the past. I used several planeswalker cards to trigger abilities which included destroying my opponent’s creatures and dealing damage to my opponent directly. My favorite cards I used 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 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. Hopefully this post wasn’t too detailed, but I felt it was necessary to sum up my pre-release weekend. If you play Magic the Gathering, let me know what you pulled in this pre-release.