"Battle for Zendikar PR:How the Chance Passenger Became a Pilot"

"Wala nang isip isip! Attack!"

"Battle for Zendikar PR:How the Chance Passenger Became a Pilot"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.

My Battle for Zendikar Pre Release started with disappointment as I was not able to secure a PR kit for myself. The first time since the Khans of Tarkir expansion rolled out that I was not able to buy one for myself. The blame fell solely on me though because despite the hype of this latest block I assumed that there would still be some PR kits leftover. There was none and all were eager to crack open their packs the moment they got their hands on the new Deckbox container that contained them.I opted to be a chance passenger rather than secure a spot for myself earlier on. 

My Uncle, Gabay Forlales (A long time Magic player) had been eagerly waiting for a chance to open packs as well. He did so as I watched close by , I mean at least I could enjoy it when someone else gets a Zendikar Expedition land right? So after the 6th pack was opened and there was none of those sought after lands in sight my uncle said."Gusto ko lang magbukas ng packs. Laruin mo na lang yung card pool?"

I may not get to keep all of the cards but at least I could blow off some steam by playing. So I checked out the pool and there was a wonderful assortment of big creatures that I wanted to play with. Plated Crusher would be my main creature since I had two of them. Add 2 Brood Hunter Worms and 2 Territorial Baloths and I was set with my big critters. Oh and Woodland Wanderer! That guy could either come out as 3/3 or 5/5 , usually with the help of my singleton Lifespring Druid.I decided to go mono green but since I had some Black/Green pieces I decided to go Golgari(Not surprising).

"Sugod! Grrraaaah!"

As in other PR's the outcome of battles are quickly determined with how a player or deck would be able to respond with threats on the board. My 2 wins were decided pretty quickly since my opponents stalled in their mana production. One got stuck at 4 mana as all my beasts came out for the win and another simply had no answer to the Plated Crusher who patiently took down his creatures one by one with each attack.It was hard headed creatures attacking without control.

My memorable defeat came at the hands of a fellow doctor , Dr. Fiesta who I have managed to play against in Spiral Valenzuela before. The first round went to me as I was able to roll out my beast army pretty quickly and was even able to manage to have 5/5 Woodland Wandered thanks to Converge. The 2nd and 3rd games however were a different affair as I got stuck with a Defiant Bloodlord and 2 Plated Crusher in my hand after the numerous removal spells have decimated my mana producers. One of the spells that was painful was Grip of Desolation that always brought me down to 5 mana since it exiled a land and my always present Lifespring druid. Removing my mana base was really bad since I was not able to cast my big creatures. My deck was Black/Green but I only had a couple of removals like Bone Splinter and Scour from Existence(which never showed up in any of my games). Since the plan of the deck was to smash heads with other creatures until all of them died and there was no one to block I was stopped frozen in my tracks. Hats off to you Dr. Fiesta. 

"One Word: Aray"

2 wins and 2 nears wins later. I opened a single pack and still didn't get any of the major cards. Then again the laughter and the memories of glorious slaughter will remain with me. Oh and the cool Ulamog Divider too. I needed one of those. Maybe I would have better luck opening packs next week. And with each pack having a full art land(or at least every one that we opened so far) , each pack will be worth opening. I might even get any of the 3 planeswalkers that I had no chance acquiring this week. Most of the cards in my list are still unchecked so it is going to be a great week when BFZ finally rolls out into stores October 2.