StefanoBlack▒

Not sure how many MTG followers I have, but damn - today was the most fun I have EVER had playing Magic.

Despite thinking Selesnya or Azorius might be the appropriate Spike pick, I stuck to my guns playing Izzet and was blessed with the following backbreaker of a sealed deck:

Izzorius Control, 9/29/12

CREATURES - 13
2x Goblin Electromancer
1x Frostburn Weird
1x Doorkeeper
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Splatter Thug
1x Lobber Crew
1x Skymark Roc
1x Runewing
1x Mercurial Chemister
1x Hypersonic Dragon
1x Batterhorn
1x Skyline Predator

SPELLS - 10
1x Azorius Charm
1x Detention Sphere
1x Izzet Keyrune
1x Cancel
1x Inspiration
2x Pyroconvergence
1x Thoughtflare
2x Cyclonic Rift

LANDS - 17
2x Izzet Guildgate
6x Mountain
6x Island
3x Plains

ANTI-SELESNYA SIDEBOARD TECH
-1 Mountain
-1 Island
-2 any of Batterhorn, Lobber Crew, Splatter Thug or Cancel
+2 Plains
+2 Dramatic Rescue

Interesting side note- I originally ran Essence Backlash over Cyclonic Rift #2, failing to realize that Essence Backlash is too narrow and Cyclonic Rift is Cyclonic Rift.

I basically steamrolled all day, and the talk of the day was players watching my games just not believing card after card as they came out. Chemister hit the board in at least 6 games, drew me at least 20-30 cards total, and as far as I recall, never died once. Cyclonic Rift got me 2- and 3-for-1s without Overload, and with Overload just usually said “Wrath dat token board” and/and “You win the game.” Oh, and one time I Detention Sphered three (3) Vassal Souls.

Other notable heroes include Skymark Roc keeping me alive against hyper-Rakdos, and friggin’ Lobber Crew winning me at least two (2) otherwise unwinnable games. Azorius Charm, Rifts, and sideboarded Dramatic Rescues nuked all my worries about GW players getting a guaranteed Grove to populate. And double Goblin Electromancer saved my hide more than once, allowing me to get at least two (2!) surprise Rift 3-for-1s for one mana (ask me how), and at least twice (2x!) allowing me to topdeck a sixth land for a six-mana Overload win.

Oh, and double Pyroconvergence, which came out in pairs more than you’ll believe. GG. That said, I believe my one match loss came down to getting greedy with them in game one: both Pyro’s and Chemister in my hand with 5 mana on turn 5- so I thought I’d max out the long game by playing Pyro A on turn 5, Pyro B on turn 6, Chemister on t7. What I failed to realize was that a) I was staring down populated 3/3 tokens, so the hypothetical extra double-Pyro trigger wouldn’t even have been card advantage, and b) if you untap with Chemister alive, you win. He generates, you know, card advantage. And board control. And victory. At least two (222) opponents today thought they must have misread his very real first ability, and there’s just no damn removal in this set.

Super-duper-badass. I worry a little about Wizards printing such an extremely removal-light set (protip: best sub-rare removal is Arrest, next best might be Auger Spree), but so far I have a strong feeling they swung it out of the park on RTR.

Tomorrow I’m going Azorius, which I believe will be the generally dominating archetype in RTR sealed upon release. Hit me up and let me know how your prerelease went!