Off at the Gamma Ray, and while I couldn’t squeeze in the official Kizuki ramen, I was able to meet with original co-host Pete for some coffee and we could crack some packs old-school. I opened some white power with no backup, and ended up in a UG no-Elementals control-ish thing.

Decidedly average. Some removal, some power, some filler. Felt very typical of a sealed deck: running some counterspells, some high-cost cards without the ramp. Games were not fast, so you definitely have time. Finished 2-1 in the finals, once again losing to Rob, who is rapidly becoming my white whale.

As good as promised. 3-mana draw a card with upside is good, and triggering it again (especially with the Cloud-Kin Seer) just feels godlike.

It looks weird and it has a lot of text, so it suffers from the exhaustion that breaks out reading a text block. But it plays very smooth: counter any blue or black spell and draw a card. Yes yes, it doesn’t TECHNICALLY counter creatures or combat tricks, but I used it to prevent a Mind Rot that won me the game. I would side it in against any opponent running either color.

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Powerhouse cards are good. Especially if you have a good count of instants or activated abilities, sitting behind the Ambusher just allows it to keep spitting out 3/3s. The Gargos is a huge Vigilance creature, so it stabilizes against anything not-flying. And when you add in it’s fight-in-response ability, it’s just gross. Since it’s ANY player, you can cast Rabid Bite on it AND get a fight trigger to go with your bite! Very good and worth warping your deck around (the GGG cost is real)