Scourge pre-release was on Sunday, 18th May. Here's my report of the day. (and yes, no layout design for magic reports)
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Session 1 Deck-Building
Session 1 Games
Session 1 Results
Session 2 Deck-Building
Session 2 Games
Session 2 Results
Complete Results
Rares Collected
I slept at 11pm, which is earlier than I normally sleep these days, hoping to be awake early so I could be there in time for 8:30am registration. Sleeping early seems to have worked - I woke up while it was still dark. I walked to the clock in the living room - there's no time-keeping gadget in my room... even my door lock is broken - and the clock showed 4:30am. What??!! "Why am I awake at this unearthly hour?" I thought to myself. *shrug* happens a lot to me, so I prayed a little, then tried to go back to sleep - and failed miserably. So I finally climbed out of bed at 7am, read a few pages of "Weasel's Luck", a DragonLance book I had recently purchased from Pay Less Books for RM6, then got ready. Luckily, my mother wasn't awake so she couldn't make me eggs :D
I left at 7:30am, arrived at Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel 8:00am, registered at 8:30, then went to eat. i ate roti canai, which is much better than eggs. it seemed that the 9:00am starting time was just to make people go early, because the notices they posted showed a 10:00am starting time, which showed that it was pre-mediated :<. so we sat around, and they gave us our life counters, which was extremely disappointing. the life counters I had seen before were rectangular metal things about palm sized that could record life totals for both yourself and opponent, but these were just circular things where the top thing could be rotated to reveal the required life below. not good
For those who don't know the drill, you are given a bunch of cards that you paid for. You make a 40-card minimum deck with some of those cards and any lands you like. Let me list the cards I got: (if you have no idea what these cards are, you may wish to skip to Match Reports)
White
Onslaught
Commons: Daunting Defender, Daru Cavalier, Daru Healer, Defensive Maneuvers (bad), Demystify (SB), Glory Seeker, Gustcloak Harrier, Pacifism
Uncommon: Chain of Silence
Rare: Exalted Angel!!! WOOHOO!!
Scourge
Commons: Astral Steel, Aven Farseer, Frontline Strategist, 2 Guilty Conscience, Zealous Inquisitor
Blue
Onslaught
Commons: Crown of Ascension, Imagecrafter, Mistform Dreamer, Mistform Mask, Mistform Wall, Screaming Seahawk (bad)
Uncommons: Essence Fracture, Riptide chronologist (bad)
Rare: Voidmage Prodigy (sacrifice any wizard to counter spell)
Scourge
Commons: Coast Watcher, Frozen Solid, foil Hindering Touch, Mercurial Kite, Raven Guild Initiate, Scornful Egotist, Shoreline Ranger
Uncommons: Long-Term Plans, Riptide Survivor, Thundercloud Elemental
Black
Onslaught
Commons: Anurid Murkdiver (SB), Dirge of Dread, Disciple of Malice, Profane Prayers (SB), Wretched Anurid
Uncommons: Boneknitter, Headhunter
Scourge
Commons: Carrion Feeder, Clutch of Undeath, Death's-Head Buzzard, Dragon Shadow, 2 Skulltap, 2 Vengeful Dead
Rare: Consumptive Goo
Red
Onslaught
Commons: Battering Craghorn, Brightstone Ritual (bad), Fever Charm (SB). Goblin Sledder, Skirk Commando, Spurred Wolverine (bad)
Uncommons: Commando Raid, Lightning Rift
Rare: foil Tephraderm!!!
Scourge
Commons: 2 Chartooth Cougar, Goblin Brigand (bad), Goblin War Strike (bad), Misguided Rage (bad), Uncontrolled Infestation (SB)
Uncommons: Carbonize, Pyrostatic Pillar (bad)
Rare: Siege-Gang Commander
Green
Onslaught
Commons: Crown of Vigor, Elvish Guidance (SB), Elvish Warrior, Snarling Undorak, Spitting Gourna, Symbiotic Elf
Uncommons: Run Wild, Symbiotic Beast
Scourge
Commons: Accelerated Mutation, Divergent Growth, Dragon Fangs, Fierce Empath, Wirewood Guardian, Woodcloaker
Uncommons: Hunting Pack, 2 Krosan Warchief, One with Nature
Rare: Root Elemental
Lands
Onslaught
Common: Barren Moor
Uncommon: Starlit Sanctum
It was very difficult for me to choose my colors, even with the bad and so-so cards cut out. I finally managed to get rid of blue, and after some thought, removed black too (although i'm not sure that was the right choice, but I was blinded by exalted angel in white). Here's my deck:
16 Creatures (in order of decreasing goodness):
Exalted Angel, Siege-Gang Commander, Tephraderm, 2 Krosan Warchief, Skirk Commando, Hunting Pack (instant that produces creature tokens), Snarling Undorak, Root Elemental, Symbiotic Beast, Battering Craghorn. Goblin Sledder, Frontline Strategist, Elvish Warrior, Spitting Gourna, Fierce Empath
4 mana fixing spells/creatures:
One with Nature, 2 Chartooth Cougar, Wirewood Guardian
4 creature removal spells:
Pacifism, Carbonize, 2 Guilty Conscience
17 Lands:
3 Plains
5 Mountain
9 Forest
Round 1: Chris Martens
In the first game, I couldn't get enough lands. I started OK with an Elvish Warrior, but he unmorphed a Zombie Cuthroat to kill it when I attacked. We each managed to attack each other somewhat, but because he had flying creatures, he could get more of them through. I managed to kill a Screeching Buzzard with my Spitting Gourna, and after all was said and done, he was at 7 life and I was at 2. He had 3 flyers and I could block only one, so I died.
In the second game, I didn't draw a single one of my 9 forests and proceeded to lose the game while holding a bunch of green spells.
0-1 (0-2)
Round 2: Cheong Foo
Cheong Foo wasn't a very experienced player. First game I got out a Krosan Warchief on turn 3 and a Tephraderm on turn 4 (Krosan Warchief makes beast spells cost 1 less to play, so my 4R Tephraderm became 3R and could come out on turn 4). Next turn I could attack fearlessly with the Tephraderm because I could regenerate it because of krosan warchief. Plus he couldn't block even with his big critters because tephraderm would deal damage right back because of its ability and kill the big critters while i could regenerate. krosan warchief is broken. i finally killed him by playing siege-gang commander and dealing 4 damage by sacrificing 2 goblins.
Second game he got out a wellwisher (gain 1 life for each elf), but he never used it. This time I used warchief to power out a symbiotic beast. He had symbiotic elf, plus an enchantment that gave it +2/+2 for each other elf, plus a 1/1 counter, making it a 5/5. so i couldn't attack, and neither could he because my beasts regenerate and could easily block. For some reason, he attacked with his elf, so i could easily attack back with symbiotic beast and block with krosan warchief. finally i took him to 3 life. I had a goblin sledder and a goblin that was face down (morph) and he had a sparksmith. I attacked with a krosan tusker (6/5), he blocked and tried to deal two damage with sparksmith. i unmorphed skirk commando (a goblin) so now his sparksmith would deal 3 damage which would be enough to kill him.
1-1 (2-0)
Round 3: Alvin Frostberg
Just my luck... Oh well, since I was sponsoring him, and he didn't want any cards, it didn't matter who won, so I took a 2-1 win in the end. But we played two games and I won one and he won one
First game, I got out a Krosan Warchief, I Pacifism'ed his Eternal Dragon (Eternal Dragon can keep coming back from the graveyard, so instead of killing it, just leave it there useless). Krosan warchief was enough for the win because I could attack without fear as I could regenerate my beasts that were blocked, and I held back the warchief so I could block with it, so he couldn't do much.
Second game was closer, we both got to 8 life. He had Consumptive Goo, and it was killing my creatures and getting +1/+1 counters until it was a 7/7. I had Tephraderm with a One with Nature enchanting it (whenever enchanted creature deals combat damage to a player, search for basic land and put it into play tapped. Then he cast Dragon Shadow on his goo and he attacked past my non-black non-artifact creatures to win.
2-1 win: 2-1 (4-3)
Round 4: Azmady Abdul Aziz
I killed his creature with an unblocked Skirk Commando, then I played Tephraderm and used that to attack and attack until he was almost dead, then I used Siege-Gang Commander to deal another 4 damage to him by sacrificing 3 goblins. I ended the game with 20 life.
In the second game, he managed to stabilize with dragon mage, but in one attack phase, I attacked with face down battering craghorn and skirk commando. He had cast Lingering Death on the face down craghorn so it was going to die anyway. He blocked Craghorn with something and skirk commando with dragon mage. I killed the dragon by dealing another 3 damage with Carbonize. I finally won, again thanks to Siege-gang commander dealing the final six damage
Final score: 3-1 (6-3)
I won 4 boosters. I will tell you at the end what I got.
No time for lunch. On to session 2. In this session, we were told to register the cards that we opened, then we swapped with other people. after all the swapping chaos, I ended up with these cards:
White
Onslaught
Commons: Daru Lancer, Glory Seeker, Grassland Crusader, Gravel Slinger, Gustcloak Runner, Pacifism, Piety Charm
Uncommons: Crude Rampart, Whipcorder
Legions
Commons: Aven Liberator, Dragon Scales, Frontline Strategist, Noble Templar, Recuperate, Wipe Clean (SB), Zealous Inquisitor
Uncommons: Daru Warchief, Reward the Faithful
Blue
Onslaught
Commons: Backslide, Imagecrafter, Information Dealer, Sage Aven, Sea's Claim (SB)
Uncommons: Aven Fateshaper, Graxiplon
Legions
Commons: Coastal Watcher, Dispersal Shield, Dragon Wings, Hindering Touch, Temporal Fissure, Rush of Knowledge
Uncommons: Aphetto Runecaster, Pemmin's Aura, Riptide Survivor
Black
Onslaught
Commons: Anurid Murkdiver (SB), Crown of Suspicion, Cruel Revival, Dirge of Dread, Nantuko Husk, Shepherd of Rot, Syphon Soul (bad), Wretched Anurid
Uncommon: Withering Hex (bad)
Legions
Commons: Death's-Head Buzzard, Reaping the Graves, 2 Twisted Abomination, Zombie Cutthroat
Red
Onslaught
Commons: Battering Craghorn, Brightstone Ritual (bad), Lay Waste (SB), Wave of Indifference
Uncommons: Reckless One, Thunder of Hooves
Rare: Goblin Sharpshooter!!! (WOOHOO)
Legions
Commons: Chartooth Cougar, Dragon Breath, Misguided Rage, Spark Spray, Torrent of Fire, 2 Uncontrolled Infestation (SB)
Uncommons: Dragonspeaker Shaman, Rock Jockey, Skirk Volcanist
Rare: foil Siege-Gang Commander (second foil rare in two sessions!!!)
Green
Onslaught
Commons: Krosan Tusker, Leery Fogbeast, Snarling Undorak, Symbiotic Elf, Wirewood Elf, Wirewood Savage
Uncommons: Centaur Glade, Elvish Pioneer, Explosive Vegetation
Rare: Biorhythm
Legions
Commons: Accelerated Mutation, Divergent Growth, Dragon Fangs, Krosan Drover, Sprouting Vines, Wirewood Guardian, Woodcloaker
Uncommons: Aplha Status, Elvish Aberration
Rares: Decree of Savagery, Primitive Etchings
Artifacts
Onslaught
Rare: Riptide Replicator
Lands
Onslaught:
Commons: Forgotten Cave, foil Island
Uncommon: Seaside Haven
Again, difficult to choose, I should have stuck with RG, because two colors is better, but I went bRG. Here's my deck:
10 Creatures/Creature Generators:
Centaur Glade, Riptide Replicator, Nantuko Husk, Snarling Undorak, Zombie Cutthroat, Battering Craghorn, Wirewood Savage, Wretched Anurid, Krosan Drover, Reckless One (mistake - goblins always die)
8 mana fixers:
Explosive Vegetation, Sprouting Vines, Elvish Aberration, Krosan Tusker, Wirewood Elf, Chartooth Cougar, Wirewood Guardian, Elvish Pioneer
5 creature removal:
Goblin Sharpshooter, Siege-Gang Commander, Cruel Revival, Torrent of Fire, Skirk Volcanist (mistake - not enough mountains and i have to sac 2 mountains to unmorph)
1 other spell:
Decree of Savagery
17 Lands:
Forgotten Cave, 3 Swamp, 5 Mountain, 8 Forest
Round 1: Seng Yeap
I was slowly dying to a screeching buzzard (2/2 flying): 20-18-16-14-12-10-8. He was at a healthy 17 life (2 attacks from elvish pioneer and 1 shot from a goblin sharpshooter). Then he decided that he could kill me. He attacked. I had been waiting for that, and had been building my mana to get 9 lands. I pumped my creatures with Decree of Savager. Krosan Tusker became 10/9, elvish pioneer 5/5, 3 morphed creatures each 6/6. I killed his creatures, then attacked back next turn to for 11 damage (tusker and morph was blocked, pioneer and another morph got through), then I torrent of fire'ed him for 7 damage thanks to krosan tusker.
Second game again, screeching buzzard got me down to 6, but I finally got siege-gang commander. I proceeded to mow-down his forces with my goblins, and attacked with an anurid murkdiver (4/3 swampwalk) that I had sided in. he played doom cannon and killed my murkdiver, but i had destroyed his forces. I played krosan tusker and he gave up while on 8 life.
1-0 (2-0)
Round 2: Foo Chyuan
Every round there's a lucky draw and 10 people have the chance of winning a booster. For the first time today, I WON!!! Ok then, on to the match
First game I got a very fast curve, playing elvish pioneer, nantuko hust, snarling undorak and wretched anurid on consecutive turns. I even managed to cast my sprouting vines to search for 3 lands. My poor opponent died. At the end he had seven life left. I had undorak, husk and anurid. whatever he blocked with his one, i could pump the undorak or the anurid to 5/5 and the husk was 2/2 so i could kill him.
I started the second game with a no-creature hand. This time it was his turn to pump out the punishment and i died to his tiny creatures none of which had power greater than 2. The third game was just as bad. *sigh*
1-1 (3-2)
Round 3: Nali
I won lucky draw this round too!!!! and the guy in front of me thought he won, except he realized he was in the wrong seat (lucky draws are given to the seats), so he didn't win!!! ha ha ha, except that when he went to his correct seat, he won lucky draw there! lucky guy
Nali must be the first girl I played competitive magic against, but she hasn't been playing for some time. I had a hand of two mountains and elvish pioneer. luckily i topdecked a forest and started out on a strong curve again. she played a severed legion that i killed by unmorphing a zombie cutthroat (costing me 5 life) and blocking - worth the 5 life to kill a creature that can't be blocked except by black creatures and artifact creatures. then i just rushed over with my snarling undorak and zombie cutthroat. i ended the game with a torrent of fire.
Second game, i got centaur glade out and proceeded to kill with centaurs and wretched anurid. This time she managed to get me to 5 life, but I kept producing centaurs (which hurt me because wretched anurid made me lose 1 life for each creature coming into play), and finally had enough to rush over for the victory
2-1 (5-2)
Round 4: Chee Meng
These people were annoying. they wanted to get a t-shirt (which was being given to people with 3 wins and 4 wins). We agreed that we would share the prize this way: I would get 5 boosters and the they a booster and a t-shirt. I say they because there was another person with him who was helping him. I should have called the judge. We decided to play for the win, but agreed on the share before.
First game, I got an early sharpshooter that killed everthing he had. he got a symbiotic wurm (7/7, when it goes to graveyard, put 7 1/1 insect tokens into play), but i mowed them down, and whatever else he played, with sharpshooter. i killed the wurm with cruel revival. i slowly poked at his life with weenie critters until he died.
Next game, his friend helped him. I don't remember what happened and conceded without thinking. Ok, my opponent himself was fine, but his friend was extremely annoying. they said they would give me the win, but we modified the prize to him getting 2 boosters and the shirt and me getting 4. However, when we went for the prize, i realized they would get 3 boosters. that was unfair. the shirt was worth 4, plus their three made it 7, while i got only 4. I asked them for one of the boosters to make to more even, but they would still have more because they allowed me to win, but they refused. this was the only bad thing on the day.
3-1 (7-3). I won 4 boostes
Overall it was a good day. I won 8 boosters from playing, 2 boosters from lucky draw, and alvin won 7 boosters altogether too... plus the 4 tournament packs and 12 booster packs. here's a list of what I won:
