Shadowmoor, Game By Game.

Edit: I know the links don't work, but I'm too lazy to go sort them out.

Now that I’ve sat down a bit and thought about the prerelease, I must say that some of the cards are truly absurdly overpowered. It’s weird because every pack I opened pretty much shepherded me even further down the blue/black path. I’ve never ever had that kind of sheer blinding luck at a prerelease before.

Anyway, how I went.

Game 1: Red-Green Aggro

She started strong with Tattermunge Maniac, second turn Juvenille Gloomwidow and a third turn Presence of Gond, and started churning out tokens every turn. Very fast, very aggressive. I chump blocked with Fairie Macabre and a regenerating Cinderbones. Oona and Scuzzback Marauders hit the table, and it was a close race to the finish.

Next game started much the same, and I won with Oona smashing and milling at the same time. Memory Sulice conspired off two 1/1 Oona-spawned fairies sealed the deal.

Game 2: Red/Green Big Beats

He started with Tattermunge and Ram Gang. I chump blocked with Oona's Gatewarden. He won the damage race with Craggenwick Cremator and a Firespout that took out all my blockers. I took the next game with a Helm of the Ghastlord enchanted Gravegill Duo and a 7/7 Loch Korrigan. Last game ran out of time, so we agreed on a draw.

Again, the deck has proved too slow against aggro, dropping too low on life before taking control of the game. I put in one more Gloomlance and a Corrupt to deal with threats.

Game 3: Red/Green/Black

Got smashed by trampling creatures and a rampaging Deus of Calamity. He gets mana screwed next game, and gets killed by Midnight Banshee. It's pretty even next game, but he starts drawing a bunch of lands and conceedes when Oona hits the board. I feel sorry for the poor dude.

Game 4: Scarecrows(!!!)

He manages a turn four Reaper King (!!!) powered out by multiple Manamorphoses and somehow hits me for fourteen next turn. I topdeck Gloomlance and kill the Reaper just as he was launching into a bad rendition of Blue Oyster Cult's 'Don't Fear the Reaper'. I survive the war of attrition with Cinderbones holding the ground and two small flyers hitting him for three every turn.

Next game I throw out a Painter's Servant set to black, and start milling him for 6 every turn with Oona, churning out a massive 1/1 token army. He concedes once I cast a 16/16 (!!!) Crowd of Cinders.

Game 5: Red/Green Big Beats

I lose to Deus of Calamity and assorted trampling creatures. Twice.

Game 6: White/Green Beatdown

He hits me on the ground, I hit him in the air and with fear creatures, and we trade damage until Wound Reflection hits the table. My small fliers do the rest. A Helm of the Ghastlord enchanted Ghastlord of the Fugue takes the second game.

Game 7: Red/Green/Black Aggro

He concedes after I Memory Suliced him down to three cards in the library. Next game's touch and go, and I'm killed by Flame Javellin after Kulrath Knight and Gnarled Effigy closes down all my creatures. He gets mana screwed next game and I get mana flooded. He concedes after four turns with only two lands.

Game 8: White/Blue Control

This bloke actually really irritated me before the game even started, so I pulled out all the stops with him. Took the first game with Ghastlord of the Fugue, 4/4 Crowd of Cinders and a 6/6 Loch Korrigan (overkill, I know).

He tries to cheat a lot second game, so instead of calling the judges on him, I proceed to mill the crap out of him. He Aethertows two of my creatures, locks down Ghastlord of the Fugue with Prison Term, and taps Oona with Curse of Chains. He then starts pumping out creatures and is sitting happy on 40 life, dealing about 14 damage per turn. I start milling with Oona (who doesn't tap to use her ability) and chump blocking with the 1/1 tokens. He hits me down to 7, I Corrupt him for 8, he brings me down to 1... And I've dragged the game out long enough that Oona mills him to one card. I then gleefully say 'done'.

Oona, Queen of the Fae is the single best card in Shadowmoor. She goes well in any black or blue deck, and is so versatile (albeit mana intensive) its scary - she's like a one card combo! I'll bet she'll see a lot of play in constructed formats once the set launches for real.

Red and green were probably the easiest decks to pull off, but they've got no serious midrange threats in the four to five mana slots, and they tend to run out of steam in the long run. White and blue is absurdly tricky and very hard to get around, green and white is just pure beatdown. Black and red's a bit iffy for me.

The mechanics are nice, but the same old truths about playing prerelease always ring true. Evasion, creature removal, and big threats will invariably win you the day.