I prepared for the Dragons of Tarkir Prerelease the entire week leading up to the event. Unlike my past prerelease sealed events, I wanted to win. My Spike level was through to roof when I walked into my LGS. (I spent the week reading up on sealed deck construction, card/pool evaluation, mana base construction and did a through analysis of the cards in the set.) So, unlike my previous sealed events, I knew what I was doing.
A brief summary of my how I did in in the tournament was 4/1/0 (8/5/0) and placing 4th out of 37. I got a large amount of packs and was happy with how I did.
Step 1: Pool/Color Analysis
Step 2: Card Selection/Evaluations
Step 3: Deck Selection
Step 4: Final Draft
Step 5: Time to Duel
Win (2/0/0) 4-Color Good Stuff
Lose (0/2/0) Green White Aggro
Win (2/1/0) Red Black Aggro
Win (2/1/0) White Green Aggro
Win (2/1/0) Red Green Aggro
Step 6: Reflection.
I think the easiest way to go about do this is to give my thoughts on each card and how I thought they performed in with the deck as a whole. Let's start from the bottom up. The two cards that I made the mistake of putting in my final draft were definitely Stormcrag Elemental and Kolaghan Aspirant. The only use I had for Stormcrag the entire tournament was a 2/2 morph creature. 100% of the time, I took him out game two and replaced him with Ultimate Price from my sideboard. All I have to say about Kolaghan Aspirant is these two words, "too small."
Now onto the next level of cards, Reach of Shadows, Summit Prowler, and Impact Tremors. Simply said, Reach of Shadows is a very diverse removal spell. The only time This spell ever let me down when I needed some removal was that good awful Scion of Ugin. On the other hand, if Impact Tremors comes out turn two, a lot of work can be done by that card. Dash is a great ability that synergies well with Impact Tremors. i.e Kolaghan Skirmisher and Screamreach Brawler. Anyway, the other card grouped in with this level is Summit Prowler, which quite frankly isn't the best card. But hey, a 4/3 body for 4 Mana is fine by me.
Now the next set of cards are even better and I'll be able to point out key synergies and strength about this deck. One of the things that stood out to me while I was competing in this tournament is that later in games, I tend to have quite a sizable hand while my opponent has dwindled to almost no gas. I'd like to attribute this to Kolaghan Skirmisher... okay and Screamreach Brawler. I managed to pull three Skirmishers in my pool and they are one heck of a card. Choices are always good when it comes to cards. I can always hard cast Skirmisher if my opponent was attempting to go hard right off the bat and if that isn't the case, then I am always happy to beat them down slowly in the late game. This allows me to keep a hand instead of leaving Skirmisher open to removal. Screamreach Brawler has all the great qualities of Kolaghan Skirmisher, but has the opposite plan. i.e. A 2/3 Body with haste for 2 Mana. So Brawler goes in early and if I have to hard cast him to have a blocker in late game, then he can do that! When I was analyzing the set before Prerelease, I didn't think Formidable was that that good. But I guess Sabertooth Outrider would say otherwise. Now, if I didn't have 8 power on board yet, I can always hard cast a Dash creature to up the total power on board. I mean a 4/2 First Strike Trample is pretty good. I would usually wait to drop him later in game so he isn't force to block something or die off before be becomes useful. Another card that does wonders late game is a blocker. i.e. Marang River Skeleton. For just 2 Mana to get out a body that will keep me going even long with his B: Regenerate and if if I need a bigger body at that point instead? Put him down as a morph! (Gotta spook your opponents.) Next card: Twin Bolt! What a fantastic card! Is your opponents field littered with slightly too power cards that aren't so tough? Twin Bolt'em. Need those last few points of damage to win? Twin Bolt'em. Don't like how that morph creature is looking at you? Twin Bolt'em. Twin Bolt is a very diverse removal and is quite awesome! The last card of this group is Vulturous Aven. Now, I didn't think exploit was that great of an ability either until I looked through my pool of cards at the beginning of the Prerelease. Simply put, I was wrong. Like not even a little bit wrong, but almost gravely mistaken. Now let's take about this neat like bird for 4 Mana. First off, it has flying. (This is really good vs. Dragons!) i.e. Vulturous Aven was basically my oh shit button. I get a Dragon blocker and if it is that point in time, I can always use the oh shit button it has. i.e. Sacrifice a creature and draw two lose two life. I had two of these bad boys main-board and they are truly a blessing. They also got a smoking hot body (2/3).
Okay, now we get to move onto the big boys. This level is full of bombs, Synergy, and a whole lot of M. V. P. 's. Let me welcome you to our first MVP. He so valuable, we got three of this guys main-board. I welcome to you, Hardened Berserker. Times three. Up until now, I haven't really said anything about the really good cards until now. This is because a lot of them synergies really well with all the other levels below MVP, i.e. I'm going to most likely reference almost all the cards in the deck now, because there are just gosh darn so many cool things these guys can do. So back on track now, turn three, Hardened Berserker is deployed. (He is only MVP material because this cost reduction triggers on his attack. This makes him not afraid to dive right in. You could say he has an almost hardened nature. Next turn comes around and we are now up one land and he swings, now what? There are many options. We will start with a simple one that I did frequently. More Hardened Berserker's. You will come to learn that this deck is not afraid of death. So for right now, we will move away from the this MVP and right onto the next one. Sultai Emissary is a scrawny 1/1 body for 2 Mana. Now, for some reason he seams to last quite awhile after he comes out. I take advantage of this an get is those few points of damage in the early game. Now, a key point about this scrawny zombie. When he dies, you have a pretty good chance of manifesting a creature from the top of your library. (This deck is 50% creatures game one.) I would also like to mention that if your opponent sees through your rouse right away, you can always kill him yourself with that thing called Exploit. Okay, next card, short and sweet. Deathbringer Regent. Wins games. Nothing much else to say. From here on out, I'll be short and sweet, and get in depth on the synergies after I've introduced the whole gang. Dutiful Attendant is my true love. Rakshasa Gravecaller generates massive board advantage. Swift Warkite is literally a key. The art may look like a dragon at first, but if you examine Warkite closely, you can see that it's a giant flying key. (It also kicks ass.) Al-rightly, what is this set called again? Oh yeah, Dragons of Tarkir. Simply said, Boltwing Marauder. He is the heart of the deck. (This actually totally debatable, because Dutiful Attendant could be considered a co-heart of the deck.)
Now everyone has been introduced, I'll tell how they love each other very much. Lets start off with the big macho man Boltwing Marauder. Lets list of some of the things that can happen with him on the board. It'll be a lot easier if I just list off the synergies. Here we go:
Boltwing Marauder
+
Rakshasa Gravecaller
and/or Sultai Emissary + Exploit i.e Any combination of these things.
When you Exploit Sultai Emissary with Marauder out, there is a guaranteed +4/+0 added to your power. Using Rakshasa Gravecaller to Exploit Emissary is completely bonkers. That is +2/+0, +2/+0, +2/+0, +2/+0, for just 5 Mana.
Also remember that Boltwing Marauder
+
Screamreach Brawler
is crazy. Boltwing Marauder
+
Kolaghan Skirmisher
is similar, but not too crazy. (These guys are being dash, if you had not already assumed.)
Now the thing about creatures is that they can die. What am I to do? MVP's are dying! Remember the key! (Also, a much more important part, the co-heart.) i.e. drumroll Dutiful Attendant
+
Swift Warkite
. These guys are crazy! Did you say that your MVP's are dying? Here is something that is pretty interesting. This little gang that I just mentioned, they laugh at death.
Also note, Boltwing Marauder
+
Swift Warkite
along with Warkite's pet that he gets to bring with him. That is +4/+0 right there.
Okay, so let's take a little break and talk about my love, Dutiful Attendant. He has that same problem Sultai Emissary has. Apparently, no one likes to kill him. (So... just do the same thing as Emissary, off him yourself.)
So we got all these creatures dying, blocking, ETB'ing, attacking, etc... Do you now understand the synergies? You think you do? Ha. Here are some more neat things.
It is also important to note that most of the time your spells will have reduced cost from our shining star, Hardened Berserker. Additional, all this talk about creatures and we should really remember that neat enchantment that we probably had cast early in game. Impact Tremors!!!
Now, just one other neat thing. Here we are late game, you got a minimal board state and your opponent is on the verge of victory. Then you draw that glorious bomb. Deathbringer Regent. Now please note, your creatures also count toward this total. So... just remember it is late in the game, you have probably got a full graveyard and you've been holding onto to your dear love. (Or your opponent doesn't want to kill Dutiful Attendant for some reason.) Anyway, long story short. Deathbringer Regent
+
Dutiful Attendant
i.e Bring back your wildest dreams.
