Friday, May 25, 2012
Modern Nerddom’s Quick and Dirty Guide to Avacyn Restored Game Day
Hey everyone, and welcome to this special Friday edition
of Modern Nerddom. This weekend is Avacyn Restored Game Day, and around Reddit,
I’ve been noticing plenty of threads and questions regarding this tournament.
Since our community is growing pretty rapidly (Over 1000 new people since the
last Game Day, if I don’t miss my mark), I figured that a quick primer wouldn’t
go amiss.
What is Game
Day?
Game Day is the first major store-level tournament after
a new set comes out. It is always Standard Constructed format, and the prize
structure is normally a little dfferent. For entering the tournament, you get a
special full-art promotional card from the newest set. In this case, that card
is Latch Seeker:
If you are one of the Top 8 players in the tournament,
you additionally receive a full-art promotional rare from the set. The Top 8
Promo for Avacyn Restored is Killing Wave:
Finally, as of Dark Ascension, Wizards has begun giving
out a playmat to the top player at Game Day. The playmat displays “Champion”
across the bottom, as well as the set that it was given out for. This Game Day,
the prize is an Avacyn, Angel of Hope playmat:
Is My Deck Good
Enough?
It doesn’t matter. I know people are going to tell you
that Game Day is a fairly casual tournament – and it is. Some people are going
to tell you that there will be someone running a Tier 1 deck and trying to win
the playmat – and there likely will be. However, at its heart, Game Day is
about having fun, so you should definitely stop by and support your local game
shop, and have a good afternoon slinging spells.
Alright, where
is Game Day?
Wizards has helpfully created an online web tool to help
you find local game shops. It can be found here:
What Kind of
Decks Will Other People Be Playing?
If you’ve never done a constructed tournament before, it
would be useful to you to have a basic idea of some of the other decks in
Standard right now. These will likely be the majority of decks that you’ll see.
Keep in mind that Magic is an extremely customizable game, and as a result,
this list is nowhere near exhaustive.
Delver:
Delver is a tempo
deck that relies on playing a threat early in the game, and then protecting
that threat. They also play powerful equipment that gives them a dangerous late
game presence.
Wolf Run Ramp:
Wolf Run Ramp is a deck that focuses on gaining an
advantage on mana by casting various spells to find more land. They use this advantage
to cast a large creature – usually Primeval Titan – which finds more lands, and
helps them end the game.
GR Aggro
Green/Red aggro is a powerful deck that relies on casting
efficient midrange creatures, backed up with red burn spells. It also runs
powerful equipment that can make it difficult to answer.
Naya
Naya decks tend to play mid-range creatures that give them progressive advantage both when they come into play, and over time. They have a high threat density and often can have very solid endgames. Some utilize Birthing Pod to make their creatures more dangerous at all points in the game.
Zombies
Zombies is a powerful aggressive deck that relies on a
number of creatures that just won’t die. With a strong early game, they can
quickly put the game into a situation that their opponent can’t dig out of.
Esper Control
Esper Control is a stall deck that attempts to make the
game last into the late stages by playing cards like Timely Reinforcements, Day
of Judgment, and Lingering Souls. Once they have enough mana, they will aim to
land a haymaker spell – often Elesh Norn or Sun Titan.
Is there
anything else I should know?
Make sure you check with your store about start times. If
you’ve never played in an event before, make sure to speak to the store owner
about getting a DCI Number – it takes 5 minutes tops, and is required for all
events. Bring your trade cards, and see if you can get anything you’re looking
for. Most of all, have fun! Game Day is a celebration of this game we all love,
and we’d all love to have you there.
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