Updates and Gatecrash Prerelease

Gatecrash is upon us.  I originally was going to attend a prerelease at Xanadu, but due to some miscommunication, missed the start time and went to Gotham Comics instead.

It turned out that the event was full from pre-registration, so I was put on the waiting list and would get to participate if someone did not show up.  It turns out that ONE person was a no-show, so I got in and played the only guild box left, Orzhov.

So, I ended up winning after five rounds, to the dismay of others.  I did have some very nice tea from the cafe next door.

Nightveil Specter was amazing in limited.  It let me 1) not miss land drops and 2) draw their own threats to play against them. (by tapping their land).  Other than that, I did not really have any bomb rares.  (Another Orzhov player got Obzedat and a Gruul player got Domri Rade)

I found Extort to be quite good, extorting for 3 or 4 some turns felt like cheating.  Also, Cipher is pretty strong, despite every spell seeming to be overcosted...

All in all, the things I am most excited for in Gatecrash are the lands.   We now have the full suite of shocklands at our disposal in Standard.  The creatures/spells/mechanics do not seem to be a good fit for constructed standard. Extort and Cipher seem to be very slow.
I am on the fence about evolve, I certainly do not want to drop a 1/1 on turn 4 and hope for the best.
Bloodrush seems a Limited only mechanic, as long as people continue to play instant-speed removal.
Battallion seems like it actually might see some standard play, especially in Boros decks with Frontline Medic and "Lightning-Helix" Firemane Avenger.  But I feel like I would rather be dropping Falkenrath Aristocrat or Hellrider on turn 4 as opposed to Firemane Avenger.

The Primordials are interesting and will definitely see some play in Commander (especially in my cube).
No cards really stick out as "absolutely powerful" although there are some very obvious "haterade" cards.  Frontline medic seems to be designed to be a nice hard counter to Sphinx's Revelation, Bonfire of the Damned, Rakdos's Return, Syncopate, and Entreat the Angels(?).

"Merciless Eviction" seems to be the answer to all of the "indestructible" effects that seem to have permeated this Block, but it does cost 4WB...and Terminus can also get the job done.

Well, enough about Gatecrash.

I have finalized the card color combinations for my Commander cube.  The Cube currently has 1000 cards (not including Generals) and is broken down as follows:

110 of each of the 5 mono-colors (550 total)
5 each of the 5 shards and 5 wedges (50 total)
20 each of the 10 guilds (200 total)
5 5-color (5 total)
140 colorless cards (140 total)
55 lands (55 total)

I almost have all of the cards collected.  The two thousand sleeves are on order as no shop had two thousand of any one sleeve color in stock. (1000 for the cards, 1000 more for basic land).
So, my plan is to playtest the cube and see if some cards need to be added or need to go.

My hope is that I can find a place to post the 1000 card list that is both readable and easy to navigate so that I can get input on the contents.  I will work on this.

Until next time...