After EDH limited (both draft and sealed) has always been one of my favorite formats and pre-release events especially ones at my LGS (shout out to the Cardhouse) with a mix good friends and new players have always been one of the MTG highlights of the year for me.
The original Zendikar block was great fun in sealed and had 3 very enjoyable draft formats (3xZEN, ZEN/ZEN/WW and 3xRotE) with the triple Rise of the Eldrazi drafts to this day rating as one of my top 3 favorite draft formats. And while the 2nd Zendikar block never lived up to the same level it still had solid limited formats in its own right. Add to that my enjoyment of the setting which combined Dungeons and Dragons / RPG style adventure with Cthulu-esque cosmic horror and it's fair to say that my hype for this particular set and pre-release was pretty high.
My pre-release pack was one of the better ones i've had in a while, because while I usually go well at pre-release events that's mainly due to good deal building with the power of my deck coming from the commons/uncommons and maybe a single rare. However this time around I was lucky enough to get 3 Mythics with 2 (Jace and Tazri) being good for limited. The pool was very solid with arguments to be made for playing any of the 5 colours. In the end though lured in by Tazri I built an Abzan Party deck (with Base Camps and Roiling Regrowth allowing for an UR splash for easier use of Tazri's activated ability).
Round 1 I lost 0-2 against another Party deck (Jeskai splash BG).
Game 1 was a game where some small mana issues coupled with drawing the majority of my more midrange cards meant that I couldn't deal with my opponent curving out well, I did manage to play Tazri but even that couldn't dig me out of the hole I was in.
Game 2 was a lot of fun, I curved out well and quick, with weenie rush plus Sea Gate Banneret putting my opponent in a dangerous position, unfortunately for me though they were able too stabilize the game with a combination of well targeted removal and large bodies like Sea Gate Colossus stalling my weenie horde. Even my Nirmana Skydancer having one of the best ever random 2 card mills (hitting his Linvala and Scourge) was not enough with Blood Beckoning + Tazeem Roilmage powered recursion coupled with drawing 3 lands in a row sealing my fate.
Round 2 I won 2-1 against a WB Clerics deck (featuriing Orah)
Game 1 was a relatively fast game with a decent curve out coupled with drawing most of my removal resulting in my victory.
Game 2 on the other hand saw me seeing next to no removal and going down to evasive threats.
Game 3 was the big one with both of us gaining significant amounts of life (me from Kor Celebrant + Makindi Healers and her from Shepherd of Heroes' + Attended Healer + Malakir Blood Priests). A large stale mate resulted but after getting Tazri out and the continuous card advantage I was turning things around slowly. If she had played it more safely we would have drawn but when we were on turns on her final turn she made a massive alpha strike against me and by surviving that attack, Smiting a large Felidar and flashing in Skydancer I was able to swing back for exactly damage needed to win the game on my last turn. I'm pretty sure both of us were blown away but how exact it ended up being (I know I was).
My last alpha strike (with double Sea gate Banneret pump) 30 damage from the rest after the 3 biggest creatures were blocked.
Round 3 1-1 draw against UGb kicker.
Game 1 was a super long (35+ minutes) game with her stalling my attack with a deathtouch and a high toughness creature while gaining good advantage from a kicked Jace, I finally broke through and dealt with Jace but the Murasa Sproutling got him back for her and a Lullmage's Domination on my Tazri sealed my fate.
Game 2 on the other hand was super fast, we both had color issues (she was only drawing islands and I wasn't drawing any swamps) but I curved out super well with Banneret, 2 drop, Paired Tactician, 4 drop, and then just kept swinging away with Banneret pumps for the victory, she stalled me well with Roost of Drakes kicker shenanigans but it wasn't enough. I never drew a swamp and had 4 black cards in hand the whole game.
Game 3 was timed out resulting in a draw.
Round 4 I won 2-0 against GB +1/+1 counters
Game 1 after the super long game in round 3 I thought a longer game couldn't happen but this game proved me wrong by ending just before the 5 minutes remaining call. We both land flooded and the board was a stalemate with his Graxmaw and Iridescent Hornbeetle made tokens making it impossible for me to swing and my deathtouch rogues making a swing against me equally meaningless. The Tazri I finally got out was killed off after 2 activations but my eventual savior was Sea Gate Banneret who turned my earlier mana flood into a constant +2/+2 anthem and allowed me to beat through to win the game.
Game 2 I don't think either of us thought we could realistically finish a game in the remaining 5 minutes but my opponent unfortunately got stuck on 2 lands for 4 turns while I curved Roiling Regrowth into Tazri with WUBRG lands and beat down just quick enough for a win.
Overall I ended up with a satisfactory 2-1-1 result, I feel like I built the deck the right way for the pool I was given and I really enjoyed Tazri and the new party mechanic (i'm dubious about it for constructed but it was a lot of fun in Limited and i'm planning to give a Tazri EDH deck a try sometime). I ended up just inside the top 8 and in 2 prize pack territory.
My prize packs were a little unimpressive, although I really like Charix (I played a snow + crabs tribal deck called Santa Claws for our LGS's regular end of year tribal event in 2019).
Overall my impressions of the set are high, it's not on the level of the original Zendikar block but I think it's superior to the 2nd. The party mechanic is fun, the dual faced X or Land cards are great for the ability to hit your land drops without sacrificing spots to extra basic lands, kicker is always nice, landfall is strong (particularly the +1/+1 counter types) but it's balanced out since the ability to get multiple landfall triggers in a turn has been neutered heavily (no fetches, Roiling Regrowth instead of Harrow, Scale the Heights instead of Explore etc.). Overall lots of fun, can't wait for my second pre-release event and for the draft event next week.
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