A Box of Innistrad

It was my friend Neil's birthday. His present/party to himself was having three of his friends come over for a private sealed deck tournament. It was a blast.

He bought a box of Innistrad and we each got six packs. He gave us the option to pay $15 to keep the packs or play for free as long as we gave what we opened back to him. That left 12 packs for prizes split 6-3-2-1 which he let us keep even if we played for free. We each got three matches in a round robin.

Sitting around the kitchen table eating donuts, drinking coffee, and opening fresh booster packs is an excellent way to start a Saturday.

My pool didn't have any super bombs that I had to play so I began eliminating my weakest colors. I ended up in white and blue. Here's my deck (reconstructed from memory by the way - which took me about half an hour).

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	3 Stitched Drake 1 Invisible Stalker 2 Silver-Inlaid Dagger 1 Avacynian Priest 1 Cackling Counterpart 1 Champion of the Parish 2 Civilized Scholar 1 Deranged Assistant 1 Doomed Traveler 1 Forbidden Alchemy	1 Murder of Crows 1 Rebuke 1 Selhoff Occultist 1 Spectral Rider 1 Think Twice 1 Voiceless Spirit 1 Manor Gargoyle 2 Bonds of Faith 2 Shimmering Grotto 6 Plains 9 Island

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White provides the removal in the form of two Bonds of Faith and a Rebuke. The main offense is three Stitched Drakes which are backed up by a variety ways to get creatures into the graveyard: two Civilized Scholars, Deranged Assistant, Forbidden Alchemy and Selhoff Occultist. I learned the power of the Silver-Inlaid Dagger in the pre-release last month so I ran both of mine. One Invisible Stalker hopes to equip the dagger and steal some games.

I ended up winning first place by the skin of my teeth. My last match was vs Kris. We were both 2-0 (all the matches were very close) and this one was for all the marbles. Game one was going ok until Olivia Voldaren shows up. She dismantled my team and smashed my face. I reflect as I shuffle up for the next game. I think my deck is a little better than his, but winning two in a row is going to be difficult. Hopefully we don't see Olivia again. All I can do is focus on the next game. Game two: Turn one Silver-Inlaid Dagger, turn two Invisible Stalker, turn three equip. He had one card in his deck which could stop that, Tribute to Hunger. I played another creature the next turn and it was over. Final game. I'm looking pretty good with a two or three fliers in play. Then guess who? Olivia the Terrible. She wipes my board and gets huge. I'm going to lose. Then I draw the only card in my deck that can save me: Rebuke. She swings, she dies. I draw some Stitched Drakes, make a few copies with Cackling Counterpart and seal the deal.

I traded all the good stuff in my prize packs for some classic loot: a 4th edition Wrath of God and a beautiful revised Sol Ring.

It's not if we're going to this again, but when. Next time maybe I'll host. I highly recommend splitting a box with a few friends for your own Kitchen Table Invitational.