Tips for DTK Prerelease?

[AstroGeek327]

This is going to be my second prerelease, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing at the FRF....do you guys have any tips, as far as strategies and such go? I'm pretty sure I will be playing green/white (: thank you in advance!!!

[Dsx Cherno]

Go 40 cards, and don't be afraid to step outside your dragon's archetype. I did well during FRF prerelease by dropping {brutal hordechief} into my Abzan deck, and using small creatures with low cmc and used instant speed bolster to pump up my unblocked creatures (at least as far as Bolster would allow me)

[LinkCelestrial]

Last prerelease I got flooded every game except for the last one.

If you're playing blue don't be afraid to bluff counters. It has won me games. If you're playing against blue you need to draw out counters with your weaker threats.

Generally a powerful deck is better than a synergetic one.

[Dsx Cherno]

Generally a powerful deck is better than a synergetic one.

This is a great point. It's very hard to build proper synergy in prerelease. Throw some heavy hitters in, throw in what combos you can, and expect to win the game by pinging them to death. I won a game by using a pair of {archers parapet} to slowly drain my opponent to death. A win is a win, no matter how you get it

[Cender]

I suppose I'll say the most important thing not yet mentioned. Have fun! And don't let any a-holes try and make you feel stupid for being inexperienced.

Outside of that, when evaluating cards, keep the vanilla test in mind for creatures. Reading LSV's limited reviews on channelfireball.com and listen to the limited resources set review podcast. Both do a very good job of breaking down not only why cards are good/bad but also when a good card can be bad and vice versa.

[Ekann1]

Go LR, yay cender!

Yeah mostly just have fun, play good cards, and don't be afraid to try to build around off color bombs.

[Dsx Cherno]

I suppose I'll say the most important thing not yet mentioned. Have fun! And don't let any a-holes try and make you feel stupid for being inexperienced.

Almost every shop or event has these guys. I hate them. During FRF, my deck starting out was at 52 cards. The dude I played was talking all kinds of bs, trying to tell me how I should have played out my combos. When I beat him (barely), he spent the rest of the night talking about how he lost to "a deck that was way too big and run my a newb" like I was a carnival spectacle. The only thing that made me feel better about it was that I got a better overall record than him (he finished 0-4, I finished 3/1)

[Ekann1]

Anyone 0-4 and still being that annoying should just leave . Good job.

[Dsx Cherno]

Anyone 0-4 and still being that annoying should just leave . Good job.

Right? Thank you

[Ekann1]

I have absolutely nothing against new players but 0-4 is not a good position to call someone a noob.

Anyway. Back to DTK.

[Cender]

Go LR, yay cender!

Yeah mostly just have fun, play good cards, and don't be afraid to try to build around off color bombs.

I suppose I'll espouse the other LR mantra: the Quadrant Theory. When evaluating individual cards, try and think of how they perform in each of the four potential game states:

Development: usually the early stages of the game while both players are establishing their board presence.

When you're ahead

When you're behind

When the board is at parity (also known as board stalls)

A card that is useful in all those states is usually a bomb or a really strong card. Great cards are good in 3/4 of those and anything less are filler cards and unplayables.