Timewaster's Guide Archive

Games => CCGs => Topic started by: Prometheus on May 07, 2004, 10:15:50 AM

Title: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 07, 2004, 10:15:50 AM
The Fifth Dawn Prerelease is coming up on May 22nd. They've already started the card previews on magicthegathering.com as well, and some of the new cards look pretty neat.

Anyway, just wanted to announce it. I'll be going...is anyone else hoping to come?
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on May 07, 2004, 10:18:45 AM
I hope the card set is better than the book. Ugh. No, don't expect a review, I couldn't get through it.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Spriggan on May 07, 2004, 10:20:12 AM
I'll probaly be sitting this one out.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock on May 07, 2004, 10:40:47 AM
Why won't they take a 5-7 year breather with this game... so some of us could catch up. Jerks.  :P
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on May 07, 2004, 10:42:52 AM
i sense a whiner...
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: GorgonlaVacaTremendo on May 07, 2004, 09:10:36 PM
You mean a wiener  :P
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 11, 2004, 04:52:19 PM
I'd love to go, but I can't afford it. I haven't even paid Sprig back for the last one.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Spriggan on May 11, 2004, 08:14:06 PM
lol I completely forgot about that, you shouldn't have said anything. ;D  Of course, I'll be willing to forgive the dept if, say, I got the new edition of Beyond the Supernatural when it comes out.  ;)
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 11, 2004, 10:01:54 PM
Hm, I think that can be arranged. Now if only I had something to offer in exchange for Fifth Dawn...
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Spriggan on May 11, 2004, 10:43:07 PM
hehe.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 12, 2004, 01:45:55 AM
I'll take a press account for World of Warcraft.  :)

Besides, just think. If you go to Fifth Dawn, you'll have the last piece of the Kaldra equipment set.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Spriggan on May 12, 2004, 07:52:53 AM
Why don't we try for something more realsitic...like say Fell selling his soul to us.  I'm sure EUOL or SE would offer at least $30 for it.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on May 12, 2004, 09:35:22 AM
actually, the market is flooded. Best I can offer for souls right now is twenty bones.
(no, not dollars, bones)
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: JP Dogberry on May 12, 2004, 09:46:32 AM
I'd give you a nicke...err.. knuckle. It'd have to be your own knuckle though.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Spriggan on May 12, 2004, 09:48:51 AM
I can offer pencile shaveings.  They're legal tender at Bubs.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 12, 2004, 03:46:46 PM
I've often thought that the "only four per deck" rule was ripe for being broken, and I'm pleased to see that they've finally done it--and with rats, no less! Huzzah!

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgcom/daily/as14
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 12, 2004, 06:06:29 PM
The rat tribe was waiting for something like Relentless Rats for sure. Swarm of Rats is a little more tribal in focusing on the whole rat tribe, but they wouldn't mind seeing some Relentless Rats around at all. Chittering Rats, Carrion Rats, and Ravenous Rats would be great in a solid rat deck as well...would you dare include any other kinds of cards? The deck could still use some card drawing if nothing else.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 12, 2004, 11:28:31 PM
The article with the preview in it mentions Nantuko Shrine, which is really funny. And there's that whole series of echoing cards from Mirrodin that key off of card name, but I think echoing courage is the only one that would really work, and it's kind of boring (just s cheap Overrun). I think the best way to build a Relentless Rat deck  is to stock it with stuff you need to clear the way for your swarm--disnechants and spot removal and maybe some counters. After all, if you're attacking with five 6/6 creatures, then six 7/7 creatures, etc. etc., you don't need much else.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 13, 2004, 01:18:50 PM
I've been taking a look at the Fifth Dawn spoiler on www.mtgnews.com, and I'm finding quite a number of things I'm getting eager to try out. Some samples:

White:
Retaliate - destroys all creatures that damaged you that turn.
Steelshaper's Gift - cheap tutoring for equipment. Should be powerful at the Prerelease.
Vanquish - destroys a blocking creature. Odd for white.

Blue:
Eyes of the Watcher - I've liked Unifying Theory and the Opt effect for some time. This isn't quite both, but it's close.
Serum Visions - This is Opt. On steroids.

Black:
Mephidross Vampire - Makes all your creatures vampires. Now I've got to make an angel/vampire deck or something. Very cool flavor.
Night's Whisper - I've been looking for a good source of black card drawing for a while. Skulltap didn't quite cut it, but this looks good.

Red:
Ion Storm - a great offense for a charge counter or Arcbound deck. Turning counters into Shock is cool.
Magma Jet - Shock gets Scry for one colorless mana. I like it.

Green:
Eternal Witness - Elven Cache at a cheaper price and with a 2/1 body. No complaints there.

Artifact:
Clearwater Goblet - repeatable life gain is always welcome, and Sunburst is a great mechanic for it.
Myr Servitor - this is classic. A creature that cooperates with itself to stay in play.
Paradise Mantle - Who else wants to be a Birds of Paradise?
Summoner's Egg - Another card I'm not sure should have seen print. This makes reanimation far too easy. On the other hand, I hope I get one.
Wayfarer's Bauble - yet another landgrabbing instrument. Great for any nongreen deck. In green, it'd need some kind of repeatable recursion effect to outdo Rampant Growth. Good thing it's common, though. I may need a lot of these.

I got too lazy to mention the neat little cycle of semi-color dependent equipment cards that can be attatched at instant speed with the right mana. Can't argue with that, espeically since I'd been waiting for a good equipment that gives first strike. (Yes the trident from Darksteel is there, but it's second effect boosted the cost too much. This is nicer.)
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 13, 2004, 03:24:38 PM
Destroying a blocking creature seems very normal for white. White has a ton of effects, many of them removal, that only work against attacking or blocking characters.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 13, 2004, 03:45:09 PM
I don't remember seeing anything similar to that outside of the damaging effects. Destroying attacking creatures is common in white, but it usually isn't so aggressive in its 'destroy' effects in my experience.

Just out of curiousity, I did a search on white spells with the terms 'destroy' and 'blocker' in them with moxdiamond's search engine, and came up with only one hit, Infinite Authority, which was printed only in Legends.

Admittedly, there are a good number of effects that can deal damage to blockers, but a 1-sided destroy effect that helps only on offense seems out of white's normal bounds. Not that it's a bad thing, just odd.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 14, 2004, 12:01:04 AM
Well, what I'm saying is that white has plenty of otherwise off-color effects but can only use them during combat. It's had the ability to destroying attacking creatures before, so destroying blocking creatures seems pretty normal. True, it's something they haven't done exactly before, but it strikes me as in teh right flavor.

A lot of the new effects and cards seem very cool. I'm interested to see the set as a whole.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 14, 2004, 11:24:40 AM
I really like the look of the Mana Geyser card mtgnews posted recently. It requires the opponent to have more than 5 lands tapped before you can get any kind of total mana advantage out of it, but that could be a great late-game mana rush.

I'm also still excited about those Myr Servitor cards. Their ability could make for some very interesting plays. Equip one with a Loxodon Warhammer or other equipment each turn, for instance, and attack with it, then repeat the next turn when it comes back. Add more equipment to handle larger enemy targets.

Although I mentioned the Sparring Collar in conjunction with my desire for first strike equipment earlier, I think the Helm of Kaldra won that argument by a considerable margin.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 17, 2004, 02:10:32 PM
I took a look at things a bit more, and if you want to go to the Prerelease I can probably spot you, Fell.

I know I've been streaky about my article releases, but I cooked up a new Wall-based deck today and I'm going to try to get that out as well as another last-minute commons review before the Prerelease Tournament. So far black and red aren't looking too great in the commons positions, but the other colors are pretty decent.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 17, 2004, 04:02:55 PM
Thanks, Prometheus, though I hope you don't feel obligated or anything. It might be a few months before I can pay you back, if that's a problem.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 17, 2004, 04:44:08 PM
Not really. I started working again and so I've got money coming in again. I'm not super-rich or anything, but I can help out with an amount like that easily enough. Besides, it'd be a shame if you attended the first two and missed out on Fifth Dawn.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 18, 2004, 09:59:32 PM
Hm. Turns out that day is my father-in-law's birthday, which is both good and bad. It doesn't sound like anything's going on in the morning, and I'll still be able to get to the birthday dinner on time, so that's no problem...the trick will be figuring out how to get to the prerelease on time with my whole family in tow (since they will have to come, drop me off, and then continue on to Provo. And then you'd drive me back to Provo afterward).
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 19, 2004, 01:18:41 PM
Going to Provo I can do. Unless some other people are planning to come as well, I'll kind of just be driving. Do you know what time you'd want/need to be back in Provo? Hopefully the flight won't take quite so long this time as last time, but that's a lot to hope for.

We should probably also coordinate our expected arrival time, so that we could enter the flight together and be ready to leave at the same time. I was thinking of getting in line sometime after 8 AM this time, as we were discussing earlier, but those birthday issues might add complications. Let me know.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on May 20, 2004, 12:10:30 AM
Kristy, Chris, J.T. and I will all be going.  We will probably carpool with the four of us though.  But just in case anyone really really needs a ride...
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 20, 2004, 01:05:25 AM
I'm in! I've talked to all the pertinent family members and arranged all the necessary rides and favors, so I'll meet you guys there...7:30? And yes, Prometheus, I will need a ride back to Provo after we're done.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 20, 2004, 01:29:36 PM
Like I said...I'll be heading that way, so that part isn't a problem. 7:30 was a little earlier than I was hoping, but that's fine as well.

The spoiler on mtgnews.com is still pretty shaky on the full outlay of commons, but I'll try to get an article done tonight to review the ones we know and go over everything I can come up with about Fifth Dawn Prerelease strategy.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 21, 2004, 02:53:39 AM
I've got a new Prerelease Tactics article in the works. I'll try to get it out as soon as possible, but I've got to get some sleep. It'll be ready sometime tomorrow morning if I can manage that at all.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on May 21, 2004, 09:07:19 AM
hey, the sooner the better. We're shy on articles right now.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 21, 2004, 10:43:21 AM
Done. Isn't last-minute material great? Prerelease articles will always be like this, though...I can't get the necessary information any sooner.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on May 21, 2004, 11:32:58 AM
is the prelease tomorrow? In which case I'll go ahead and run two articles today. Otherwise I'll run it Monday.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 21, 2004, 11:38:17 AM
Yeah it's tomorrow. I'll try to get you something else for future updates. There's a pair of decks that have been bouncing around in my head for a while, and there'll be at least one or two Prerelease reports as well.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on May 21, 2004, 12:00:20 PM
cool. I formatted and posted the prerelease article. Everyone's just so lucky they get two articles of TWG goodness today. Double dose! If I'd remembered the prerelease was tomorrow, I would have held off on the other article I ran. Oh well. Look forward to the rest of the articles!
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 21, 2004, 12:02:35 PM
Thanks. Hehe, it feels funny giving people advice on tournament Magic, as I don't consider myself a tournament player at all, but I've small gotten prizes at every single Prerelease tournament I've gone to. Maybe that counts for something.

We'll see if I can keep that up tomorrow. Wish us luck.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 21, 2004, 12:50:00 PM
*Cringes at the early arrival time*

Are you sure you want 7:30, Fell? We'll end up sitting with the tournament players again.  :P

On the other hand, if the 7:30 arrival time is due to your scheduling with your family, just ignore my whining.

Addition:

Alert for those trying to glean something useful out of my Prerelease Tactics article: www.mtgnews.com recently changed one of the black cards on their site, Fleshgrafter, to be common, which actually brings black up to par with the other colors on commons count. The problem that arises is that now their count of commons is one to many, and the impostor common is very likely in White. It won't make a huge difference in your game, but the article is faulty due to incomplete information in that respect at least.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Fellfrosch on May 21, 2004, 08:50:28 PM
Despite that minor numbers glitch, I thought your article was great. I also know exactly what I want to open tomorrow--Energy Chamber is freakishly, insanely cool.

You're right about the tournament players thing. I don't mind getting there at 8, now that I think about it.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 21, 2004, 09:46:53 PM
8 AM it is.

Hehe. Just think about a Constructed deck: 4 Energy Chambers & 4 Coretappers. And dare we say...4 Power Conduits? In an Arcbound deck?

What do you want to charge today?

As for me, I'll be happy with just a Serum Visions, really. Or maybe an Eternal Witness...something like that. If we're talking top pick, though, I think I'm looking for a Mephidross Vampire over anything else...not necessarily for the game, but for Constructed play later on. For the game itself, I want Skullcage. Nothing else you'll see more than once on the field will do that much damage to the enemy player's game.

Oh, I just checked the spoiler again, and Loxodon Stalwart was the unlucky card to get bumped up to uncommon, so don't count on those. Not that the current information is 100% either, but it's what we've got.

Bring some trades, as well. If nothing else, I might want to try and trade you for some stuff you've got. Trades, and a lunch. Those things run way too long.
Title: Re: Fifth Dawn
Post by: Prometheus on May 27, 2004, 11:20:48 AM
I've almost got the Prerelease report done. I'll try to have it in for tomorrow morning.