I placed third at my local M10 prerelease tournament. Magic 2010 is a very exciting set for a Limited format environment. I played a black red deck with only a few bombs, and after four rounds of meticulous play, my deck finally quit on me in the top four; being one sleeve short with none available for purchase, I had to play sleeveless and that always makes shuffling more difficult as the night goes on.

I knew after opening my packs that black was going to be my primary color; between Vinny, Doom Blade, Tendrils of Agony, Consume Spirit, and Rise from the Grave, my most effective removal was there. I didn’t open any real midrange power creatures, so I looked at complementary strategy. The best cards I opened in white were Harm’s Way and White Knight; there were some minor tricks with Glorious Charge and Safe Passage, but I couldn’t commit. In blue, I had Ice Cage, a couple Serpant of the Endless Sea with one Convincing Mirage to go with, and an Illusionary Servant; again, not steller. Green provided a Llanowar Elf, a Stampeding Rhino, and an Entagling Vines. With no Borderland Rangers or Rampant Growth, I didn’t feel comfortable playing the Lurking Predators I opened since I couldn’t get it into play quickly, nor did I have enough good threats to abuse it; ditto on the Elvish Piper I opened. I settled on red since Shivan Dragon is a big, strong threat and I also opened a Lighting Bolt and Goblin Artillery. So off to round one with this list:

"M10 Prerelease"

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Land (16) 9 Swamp 7 Mountain Creatures (14) 1 Black Knight 1 Child of Night 2 Dread Warlock 1 Drudge Skeletons 1 Looming Shade 1 Royal Assassin 1 Berserkers of Blood Ridge 1 Canyon Minotaur 1 Goblin Artillery 1 Goblin Piker 1 Shivan Dragon 1 Viashino Spearhunter 1 Wall of Fire Other Spells (10) 1 Consume Spirit 1 Disentomb 1 Doom Blade 1 Rise from the Grave 1 Tendrils of Corruption 1 Lightning Bolt 1 Panic Attack 1 Trumpet Blast 1 Rod of Ruin 1 Whispersilk Cloak

If I rebuilt my deck, I would have dropped the Disentomb for another land, probably a Mountain and dropped the Consume Spirit for another dude, like the Warpath Ghoul I opened. The rest of the deck played beautifully. One of the greatest synergies was Child of Night wearing a Whispersilk Cloak and Goblin Artillery. Royal Assassin was the MVP, totally making my Dread Warlocks and Black Knight take it home. I managed to mise my Doom Blade everytime I needed it, ripping it off the top not once or twice but THREE times to kill an Armored Ascended Gaurdian Seraph, a Serra Angel, and an Oakenformed Silvercoat Lion.

If you haven’t played with M10 yet, you should get out there and play. Its a fantastic set and a lot of fun!