Adam played a 128 man pre-release tourney and bagged a top 8!
Here’s Adam’s top 8 deck:
(It turns out that 40 cards in a deck is standard for pre-release tourneys like this one, I had no idea!)
As Adam was sharing screenshots of his wins in round 1 and round 2, I wondered about what a pre-release tourney ‘is’, so of course I asked!
Here’s what Adam said about some important rules the tourney set:
For this single elimination event they randomly assigned the school you got, instead of you choosing. They did however allow a 2 minute window for swapping schools, without opening or seeing what was inside. This prerelease used a 5 booster pack box with a seeded 6th booster pack with cards related and beneficial for the “house” you were given. Only new set cards (only from Secrets of Strixhaven).
Thank you for that clarity Adam! Were there 1 or 2 cards that you feel gave you a big advantage?
Best cards were Thunderdrum Soloist and Tablet of Discovery. A very close 3rd would be Elemental Mascot. Thunderdrum Soloist is very well stated and blocks well in the early game, and then Lightning Bolts when you ramp into the big 5 mana or bigger Prismari spells. I think I had a game where one did 9 damage by itself. The tablet is card advantage with the secondary ability to let you cast the big Prismari spells, or take advantage of the prepared cards. I’d really say the winner is the Elemental Mascot. It was a huge blocker and a source of card advantage when playing the big spells.
Thunderdrum Soloist and Tablet of Discovery can be seen below as screenshots from MTG Arena:
Elemental Mascot can be seen below as a screenshot from MTG Arena:
Super valuable, thanks Adam!
Here are Adam’s results, round 1 through round 4 (with round 4 being a bye):
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4 (bye round)
It turns out that there’s a thing called a bye round. Here’s Adam outlining what a bye round is:
It’s a round that you automatically win with full points, but no extra tiebreakers, because of an uneven number of players at the tourney.
Heuristics for Piloting This Prismari Pre-Release Deck
If you like advantages towards winning, you’ll find Adam’s heuristics for piloting this Prismari pre-release deck below:
Be very careful against the Quandrix players after turn 4, because they gain access to an uncommon bounce accelerator, Proctors Gaze. Let them do it on a prepared creature that hopefully you’ve already used instead of playing as normal on curve. Also, as a general rule try to use your prepared triggers before playing any spells from hand. This lets you chain things together when they run out of removal or threats. Evasion is your friend in limited, as per usual, but don’t be afraid to use your life as a resource. There are a LOT of pump spells/effects, so be mindful of blocking with a larger creature of your own. Make sure to take down creatures 6 toughness or bigger quickly, but if not, know you can end the game with the burn effects from Thunderdrum Soloist. Also, ensure you have a plan for the early game, like enough removal, and blockers.
