As it happens there’s a lot of M15 framed stuff today. As in it’s all M15 stuff. Not sure how that happened exactly as unless this is the very first post of mine you’ve read then you’ll understand that I’m all about premodern era Theme Decks. And, reusing the same “well actually I do know how” type framing which I’m pretty sure I overuse consistently: the newer the cards the easier they are to find. What a revelation.
M15: Infernal Intervention
So in our local Premodern group chat we ended up having the obligatory “first deck” chat — someone had picked up complete Groundbreaker and Pummel decks as part of a small lot — and one of the others mentioned a black red intro pack from M15 as being his first and it’d be cool to still have it. As it happens I was only a half dozen cards off being able to build it myself, so when someone else in the “I’m putting a singles order through” group chat was buying from somewhere that had the $2 worth of cards I needed I got them to grab them for me. Haven’t run into my buddy at the store yet, but this one is his. I’ll have to add it back to my spreadsheet!
The deck itself… first M15 intro I’ve put together and it looks ok. It’s not super stand out or anything, but “BR Removal” is one of my favourite draft strategies and I remember 3-0ing a couple FNMs with it in M15. I didn’t often win a limited event — at least in the spikey LGS I went to back then — so doing so more than once in the same environment is something I remember. Vaguely: I don’t remember how the matches actually went, other than the one against the store’s “That Guy” where I just rode a single Borderline Ranger to victory in both games, Lightning Strike or Flesh To Dusting away every single blocker he played. Sadly no Borderland in Infernal, but Goblin Roughrider is close enough.
FRF: Grave Advantage
So speaking of taking good photos, clearly the backdrop has changed in these. I’d reorganised my office / nerd den / garage internal access and there was enough space to actually lay out a deck on my desk. But the light isn’t fantastic: it’s a weird little extension which connects the garage to the old front door. Anyway: I’m back to using the kitchen table again. (Which definitely is overdue to be sanded back and revarnished. It was going to be a summer job…)
Yeah. So: the deck. Fate Reforged set of enemy coloured decks are pretty solid. This was the final one I had left to finish, other than replacing a Masters reprint of Hordeling Outburst in the UR Jeskai Cunning Plan deck. In true Beats and Skies fashion the one card which has held me back with Advantage was an unexciting uncommon: Wall of Mulch.
SOI: Ghostly Tide
This deck falls firmly in the category of “have >90% of the deck from going through bulk so might as well hunt down the last few cards for it”. Which is my main strategy for putting together precons, at least from outside the old bordered and Innistrad to Tarkir eras where I played regularly. Or ones that another of the “precon personalities” has rated. In this case the Precon Decon video helped my decision making process. And it’s WU Skies so that’s hard to go past too!
ELD: Rowan, Fearless Sparkmage
So with this one: my LGS had the Planeswalker deck Rowan on their site for a dollar or so. Made sense to nab it, and so the rest of the deck got moved up the priority list. Throne was a pretty cool set, and from my bulk sorting is my go to answer for the “what set do you wish had a full set of precons the most”. Digging into the digital starter decks on Arena there’s To Adventure! which is built around the sets Adventure mechanic (strangely enough) and is certainly another strong candidate for me to build up in paper, but even so. A mini “what if” series with custom Throne of Eldraine Theme Decks is definitely on the Beats and Skies shortlist.
It’s weird for me, someone who was playing during the great Red White precon drought of 2000 to 2005, with how many Planeswalker decks there were of this combination. But this one is certainly pretty solid. Simple game plan with the knight tribal elements… perfect new player product for sure. But it’s interesting enough to old hands as well. I’ve had this in my arsenal for the last few fortnightly multiplayer evenings at my mate’s house but I’ve not ended up taking it out yet. Actually: Ghostly Tide has gone for a trip or two out of the house too, and same deal. Too many precons, not enough time to play them all! 😦
AKH: Liliana, Death Weilder
And I’ve mucked up the chronological order thing now, as well as my camera skills being pretty poor in terms of holding my phone parallel to the desk. But the rational behind this build was finding a copy of Liliana’s Infulence (the deck’s rare Liliana tutor) and most the other Planeswalker exclusive “buddy cards” in some bulk. My first deck from either Amonkhet or Hour. The “lol it’s Ancient Egypt World now” schtick isn’t all that exciting to me, but cool to have the opportunity to experience the set through this “museum piece” (to borrow from Ertai’s Lament terminology) in any case.
40K: ‘Nids Evolved
So not technically a precon here. But every single card here was printed in a precon; namely Tyranid Swarm. I did a whole post on this previously, although the deck above is not the deck at the bottom of that link. I’ve gone for more consistency and tweaked it with the power level and “meta” of my regular multiplayer group in mind.
As I’ve hinted at earlier in this post my prefered precon, or precon adjacent, level decks aren’t quite strong enough for these sessions. Of course there are Clash Packs, Event Decks and World Champion decks which are much more powerful, but they are also much more focused on 1 vs 1 gameplay which obviously can be tricky in a multiplayer context. Consequently I’ve been upgrading some of my old kitchen table decks, adapting fringe Premodern brews, or putting together set constructed decks around certain mechanics from newer sets: again, this is where the bulk comes in again, From about Brothers War on — given that I was seeking out cards from that set for another project — I’ve got playsets of most commons and even some uncommons now.
But I’m starting to very much get into that weird ramble-y zone which means I should try to bring things back and then wrap it up.
So I have taken ‘Nids out twice now and I’m pretty happy with how it has gone. It’s a bit weak to boardwipe tribal, which certainly is a thing for us, but it’s essentially a big dumb creature deck so that’s OK. Sometimes you just want big dumb creatures, and you can certainly get a lot of power on the board quickly to recover from a Massacre Girl appearance.
This Friday, actually, I did follow up that deck with The Plague. Which did effortlessly dominate the table, though Urza’s Armour costing 6 was certainly problematic given I wanted to be able to keep mana up for Expunge or Disenchant, or to activate Pestilence. And once the second copy of that had been dealt with (one ETB naturalise effect and one by killing my Voice of Grace) I basically was left hoping to top deck a third. My “We Have The Plague at Home” deck from that nuANCED review post is one of my rotation which is getting an upgrade though. Fountain Watch, Inheritance and Righteous War are some of the cards that I’ll be trying out.
Totally unplanned cry for engagement
It’s hard to get through in text form, but my sense of humour is very dry and flippant. If that helps.
So discounting my Tyranid deck, which of the other five speaks to you the most? White and Blue is not typically a colour combination that I will prioritise, but I think the Shadows Spirit deck looks fun to pilot and would have a good chance against the other 4 decks.
Has anyone played it, or any of the others, and have some thoughts about them?
And what do you think of how I’ve built up that 40k deck? (list here) Have I excluded something I should have, or should the numbers be tweaked a bit?
Actually, at risk of me waffling a bit too much about my kitchen table group again: a new player — one of the parents from my children’s school — is a Commander fan. The day has sadly come. Well: it’s not my favourite format, but it’s probably going to be fair to throw it in the mix. But my Commander collection consists of the five 2013 decks, which aren’t really up to current standards. Does anyone have any recommendations for a recent Commander precon which would suite somebody who wants a bit more focus and which would minimise the things that would need to be tracked? This is your chance to evangelise and try convert me this time around! 😉
Beats and Skies 
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