{"id":3939,"date":"2013-04-23T14:22:40","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T19:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theendgamesblog.com\/?p=3939"},"modified":"2013-04-23T18:40:29","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T23:40:29","slug":"what-guild-should-i-play-for-dragons-maze-prerelease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/theendgamesblog.com\/?p=3939","title":{"rendered":"What Guild Should I Play for Dragon\u2019s Maze Prerelease?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"feat242d_3_9v9b23l49i\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The prerelease is right around the corner, and a lot of you might be wondering what guild you should choose to play. Prereleases are about having fun and exploring the new cards, so you really should just choose the guild you enjoy the most and play with the cards that you think are the most fun. But if you\u2019re like me and want a competitive edge over your opponents, you might wonder what the best guild is, because I mean, winning is also fun, right?<\/p>\n

For the last two prereleases, I agonized over which guild to play. I was able to play at only one prerelease per set, so my choice was even more important. I ended up placing 2nd<\/sup> at my RTR prerelease and 7th<\/sup> at my GTC prerelease, and if I were to play those prereleases again to win, I would have likely chosen the same guilds. In the Dragon\u2019s Maze prerelease, you\u2019ll have to choose between twice as many guilds as before, so I\u2019ve been doing even more research to figure out what the optimal strategy is.<\/p>\n

Doing Your Research<\/h1>\n

For the Dragon\u2019s Maze prerelease, you choose one of the 10 guilds of Ravnica and you will be assigned a \u201csecret ally\u201d guild from the other set<\/i>. For example, if you choose Azorius, you would be assigned either Orzhov, Dimir, Boros, or Simic. Wizards probably did this to prevent people from choosing an overpowered combination of guilds, but we still have a lot of options to maximize our chance of winning. For my analysis, I used the contents that can be found in each guild pack here: http:\/\/mythicspoiler.com\/dgm\/guildpacks.html<\/a>. As normal, you will have 10 commons, three uncommons, one rare, and a Guildgate. This time, you won\u2019t have your guild promo, so that\u2019s a few less bombs you\u2019ll have to play around.<\/p>\n

However, the Guildpacks are not completely randomized. There are actually eight possible configurations for each pack. You can find an incomplete spreadsheet with all of the contents here: http:\/\/forums.mtgsalvation.com\/showthread.php?t=490176<\/a>. The contents of the RTR packs are not completely available but the exact contents of the Gatecrash packs can be summarized here: http:\/\/forums.mtgsalvation.com\/showpost.php?p=9656226&postcount=1<\/a>. It seems that Wizards did this to keep all of the Guildpacks as balanced as possible. For example, the uncommons that are paired with Obzedat are less playable than the uncommons that are paired with Immortal Servitude. Not only is this information useful for choosing the best guild to play, but it also gives us crucial information to what rares our opponents could be playing.<\/p>\n

Unlike the RTR and GTC prereleases where the guild packs and the booster packs have similar contents, all of the RTR and GTC cards that you will be playing against will come directly from the guild packs. That means if your opponent is playing a Vizkopa Guildmage, he definitely<\/i> has either Obzedat or Merciless Eviction. Based on the other commons and uncommons he is playing, you can always identify exactly what GTC rare he has in his deck. Now memorizing the configurations of all the Guildpacks is probably not worth the effort and would not give you that much of an edge over your opponents, but keeping track of key uncommons and commons such as Vizkopa Guildmage will definitely help. For example, you might want to save your instant speed removal for Obzedat if you have no other way to deal with him. Likewise, you might not want to overextend into the Merciless Eviction your opponent is likely to have if he has been confidently playing a land and passing each turn.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve identified certain bombs that are easier to play around and found the uncommon(s) that uniquely identify that rare. Here are the cards you should look out for in each guild:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Guild<\/strong><\/td>\nCard to Look Out For<\/strong><\/td>\nRare to Play Around<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Orzhov<\/strong><\/td>\nVizkopa Guildmage<\/td>\nObzedat or Merciless Eviction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dimir<\/strong><\/td>\nUndercity Informer<\/td>\nStolen Identity<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gruul<\/strong><\/td>\nSkarrg Guildmage<\/td>\nWrecking Ogre<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gruul<\/strong><\/td>\nViashino Shanktail or Gruul Keyrune<\/td>\nSkarrg Goliath<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boros<\/strong><\/td>\nBoros Elite<\/td>\nMolten Primordial<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Boros<\/strong><\/td>\nOrdruun Veteran<\/td>\nAurelia, the Warleader<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Simic<\/strong><\/td>\nUrban Evolution<\/td>\nBiomass Mutation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Azorius<\/strong><\/td>\nSkymark Roc<\/td>\nRighteous Authority<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Izzet<\/strong><\/td>\nIzzet Staticaster or Skyline Predator<\/td>\nCyclonic Rift<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The RTR guilds are of course, incomplete, but most of the rares are not really things you can play around. The important ones that are incomplete are Supreme Verdict and Mizzium Mortars. By inspection, Soulsworn Spirit is not found in any of the other Azoirus packs, so we can deduce that the pack with Supreme Verdict also contains Soulsworn Spirit. Two Izzet Guildpacks are still missing: one with Firemind\u2019s Foresight and one with Mizzium Mortars. One playable uncommon that is missing from the other Izzet Guildpacks is Nivix Guildmage, so look out for that card.<\/p>\n

These other cards listed above are all cards that can win the game on the spot, but it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. If your opponent is making strange attacks with mana open, maybe he wants to just get an unblocked creature through so he can bloodrush with his Wrecking Ogre for game. If he played Urban Evolution earlier, you might want to consider a large Biomass Mutation instead.<\/p>\n

\"feature210_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Choosing a guild<\/h1>\n

Now that we\u2019re all on the same page in terms of information, let\u2019s talk about certain things you should consider when choosing your guild. For this analysis, I won\u2019t be using the possible contents of the Dragon\u2019s Maze packs, since that is too random and unpredictable.<\/p>\n

Choosing Removal<\/h2>\n

One of the key differences between sealed and draft is that twice as many rares are opened. The decks may be less consistent but the cards are certainly more powerful, even more so at these prerelease events when you\u2019re guaranteed to open a rare that is in you colors. This leads to a lot of variance, as the game sometimes becomes a stalemate until whoever draws their bomb first wins the game on the spot. You can decrease this variance by simply having more answers than your opponent. Let\u2019s look at all of the removal each guild has.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Guild<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Removal at Common<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Removal at Uncommon<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Pseudo-Removal<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Azorius<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Paralyzing Grasp<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Avenging Arrow<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Syncopate<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Arrest<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Dramatic Rescue<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Void Wielder<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Azorius Charm<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Cancel<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Fall of the Gavel<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Orzhov<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Executioner\u2019s Swing<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Grisly Spectacle<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Death\u2019s Approach<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Angelic Edict<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Smite<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Orzhov Charm<\/span><\/li>\n
  • One Thousand Lashes<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Killing Glare<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Debtor\u2019s Pulpit<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Dimir<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Grisly Spectacle<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Death\u2019s Approach<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Dimir Charm<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Agoraphobia<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Killing Glare<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Hands of Binding<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Totally Lost<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Psychic Strike<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Spell Rupture<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Izzet<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Explosive Impact<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Annihilating Fire<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Paralyzing Grasp<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Izzet Charm<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Street Spasm<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Syncopate<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Void Wielder<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Essence Backlash<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Cancel<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Rakdos<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Auger Spree<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Explosive Impact<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Annihilating Fire<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Launch Party<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Stab Wound<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Ultimate Price<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Assassin\u2019s Strike<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Slum Reaper<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Golgari<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Aerial Predation<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Launch Party<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Stab Wound<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Ultimate Price<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Assassin\u2019s Strike<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Slum Reaper<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Gruul<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Pit Fight<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Mugging<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Gruul Charm<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Ground Assault<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Homing Lightning<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Cinder Elemental<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Boros<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Angelic Edict<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Smite<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Mugging<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Massive Raid<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Arrows of Justice<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Homing Lightning<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Cinder Elemental<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Selesnya<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
    \n
  • Aerial Predation<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Trostani\u2019s Judgement<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Avenging Arrow<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n
    \n
  • Selesnya Charm<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Arrest<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

Simic<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n\n
    \n
  • Agoraphobia<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Rapid Hybridization<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n