To be born of the gods, you must have knowledge of the gods.

Here we are going to talk about some the mechanics that you will see during this weekend.  You should be familiar with the abilities from Theros: Bestow, Monstrosity, and Heroic.  Within Born of the Gods, there are two new mechanics that I feel that need to be explained so that you can play for effective: Inspired and Tribute. So lets begin.

Inspired

Inspired is a new triggered ability that creatures will have in it's card text which contains the words "When *creature* becomes untapped." For example, Pain Seer has the ability Inspired, and when it becomes untapped, you reveal the top card of your deck, lose life to the card's converted mana cost (aka: total cost of the card) and then put that card into your hand.

The ruling that WotC( Wizards of the Coast), the company who created Magic: The Gathering,  has put into place is probably one that will be asked most often. At the beginning of my turn, when do I get to use the ability of inspired?

And the answer is.....at the beginning of your turn, during the untap step, you untap your creatures, if they do possess the Inspired ability, the trigger or triggers off of Inspired will go on the stack at the beginning of upkeep.  If there are multiple triggers of Inspired, you chose which ones go onto the stack first.

This ruling that WotC has put into place does makes sense.  In the game of Magic, at the beginning of the turn, you would first have your "Untap Step".  During this step, the only thing that will happen will be untapping all permanents you control, unless stated otherwise. Thats it!  Nobody gets the right to do anything, get priority, or do some other shenanigans.  The game will recognize the Inspired trigger at the beginning of the next step which we call "Upkeep."  After that is all said and done and both players pass priority, then follow what the text says.

So, just by looking at this ability, you're asking yourself, so the only way to try and get the value of this ability is by attacking right? Yes and no. Sure, the most common way for trying to trigger Inspired is by attacking.But, there are different ways to tap creatures. for example there is a reprint card in this card called Springleaf Drum.  This card states that you can tap an untapped creature to add one mana of any color to your mana pool.  This is just one of many ways to get value of your Inspired abilities without attacking  with the creature.

Tribute

Tribute is a new ability that goes along with the flavor of this set.  This ability states "Tribute X(As this creature enters the battlefield, an opponent of your choice may place X +1/+1 Counters on it.)"  Well, why would WotC give us a card that says that an opponent may place  +1/+1 counters
on my creature? It doesn't make sense at all!  Well read the rest of the card that has this ability on it.

If the opponent you chose can't or don't want to pay the Tribute to that said creatures, some bad things can happen to them for example: Pharagax Giant states that if tribue wasn't paid, deal 5 damage to each opponent.  That can be a big deal!  Like I said, BAD THINGS CAN HAPPEN!  So, be aware of this.  If you can play around it, great, if not, hopefully you don't get to punished and play it out.

These are the new mechanics that are being introduced in Born of the Gods, hopefully by now you have all the knowledge that we have passed down to you to become the champion of your Born of the Gods Prerelease events.

What are some other topics that you want us to talk about or some videos you want to see happen. You can contact us at mtgplaymatt@gmail.com and be sure to follow us on Twitter @mtgPlayMatt and our PlayMatt Facebook site.

Standard Deck Tech: Naya Midrange

Hello everyone! This is my first ever article so I'll give you a little bit of background about myself. I have been playing Magic for about 11 years now, with a couple months of downtime somewhere in there. For the most part, I play MTGO, a.k.a. Magic The Gathering Online, under the name goldfire07. Last year I decided I wanted to become a better player and interact with a ton of people so I started online streaming under the name Ghostlyflow *shameless plug*. Since then, I have traveled to quite a few PTQs in the Midwest, attempting to qualify for a Pro Tour. I am surrounded by some of the best players in the region and hopefully with them continuing to push me, or should i say crush me, I will eventually make it to the big time. That's enough about me, let's just jump right in to what you all came here for, Naya Midrange!!! Here's the list:

Lands - 25

4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Temple Garden
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
1 Plains
2 Mountain
1 Forest

Spells - 35

4 Chained to the Rocks
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Magma Jet
3 Selesnya Charm
4 Voice of Resurgence
2 Selesnya Keyrune
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Advent of the Wurm
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Assemble the Legion
3 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Sideboard - 15

3 Last Breath
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Assemble the Legion
2 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
2 Destructive Revelry

To get this out of the way, this deck was not designed by me. In fact, it is a mash-up of two different Naya list. I took what I liked best from each list and tuned it until I arrived at what you see above. I know a few of the numbers look a little weird such as only 3 Dragons and 3 Mortars, or the 2 seemingly random Magma Jets, but this is what has been working pretty well for me. Originally, there were 4 Mortars, 3 Angers, and 2 Warleader's Helix main, but after a lot of testing(going 1-2-1 drop in a PTQ due to 3 control matches), I concluded that I had too much removal and not enough threats.

This deck is designed to beat Mono Black, R/W Devotion, and various aggro decks. The control match-ups can be a little rough, but they get much better after sideboard where the creature removal is turned into more threats. Mono Blue is also a problem before side-boarding because even though there is quite a bit of removal main deck, we don't have much that actually kills them. Speaking of sideboards, here is how I sideboard in various match-ups:

Mono Black
-3 Stormbreath Dragon, -1 Magma Jet
+2 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, +2 Assemble the Legion

I feel this is our best match-up. We are already set up really well to deal with the Mono Black menace with the main deck and we get a little bit better after board. The key cards in this match up are the removal spells and most importantly, Assemble the Legion. Until Born of the Gods comes out, Mono Black has no way to deal with this card outside of Thoughtseize and Duress.

Mono Blue
-2 Assemble the Legion, -3 Xenagos, the Reveler, -1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
+3 Last Breath, +3 Mistcutter Hydra

Mono Blue is pretty rough for us. Our early threats are green, which makes them perfect targets for Tidebinder Mage. Thassa, God of the Sea and Master of Waves are both major threats and sadly, we can not rely that heavily on Chained to the Rocks due to the presence of Cyclonic Rift. In this match up, we are the control deck. Keep their devotion as low as possible and try to sneak in heavy hitters when you think the path is clear.

Control

-2 Magma Jet, -4 Chained to the Rocks, -2 Selesnya Charm, -1 Mizzium Mortars
+2 Destructive Revelry, +3 Mistcutter Hydra, +2 Assemble the Legion, +2 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed

I am lumping all Blue based control decks together here to make it easier to get the general idea of how to board versus them. Depending on what I see, I sometimes don't cut mortars to be able to handle things like opposing Assemble the Legion or Archangel of Thune. Against these decks, you want to keep pressure on, but not overextend. One of the best cards in these match ups has actually been Destructive Revelry. Being able to get back a Xenagos, the Reveler or another threat at the end of their turn has won me quite a few games.

R/W Devotion
-2 Xenagos, the Reveler, -2 Assemble the Legion, -4 Voice of Resurgence
+3 Last Breath, +3 Anger of the Gods, +2 Destructive Revelry

Against R/W Devotion, we are a control deck. R/W can not do much without devotion and if you can stop it, the match-up is a breeze. It is perfectly fine to Anger of the Gods whenever you see a Boros Reckoner, since it is such an important piece to their deck.

G/R Devotion or GR Monsters

I am 100% sure what we want in these match-ups. Anger of the Gods is really good against both decks as it removes their mana ramp. Last Breath is fine against G/R Devotion, but does nothing against the GR Monsters list since their ramp is usually Sylvan Caryatid. I have not played enough against these decks to have a set plan, but I feel that's a good place to start.

Aggro Decks

-2 Assemble the Legion,  - 4 Voice of Resurgence
+3 Last Breath, +3 Anger of the Gods

I am lumping all aggro decks into this sideboard plan. The plan is to stop their early game and then just win. Our creatures and Planeswalkers are a lot more powerful then anything most of these decks are doing and if you can get to those, the game is most likely over for them.


With Born of the Gods right around the corner, at least in the paper Magic world, there are a couple of cards I'm looking to test in this deck, the most obvious of those being Brimaz, King of Oreskos. This card seems like the perfect fit for this list. It lives through Anger of the Gods and provides constant pressure. I am also looking into adding Xenagos, God of Revels to the list, but I believe that would force me to change the deck significantly to get the most out of him. Lastly, I want to look at Searing Blood over Magma Jet. Magma jet's purpose in this deck is not only early removal, but card filtering with Scry 2. It may be the case that the 3 damage to the creature's controller is just better but who knows, maybe Magma Jet is just what this deck needs!

I hope you enjoyed the article and feel free to tell me what liked/disliked about the article, your feelings about the deck, and just Magic in general! I should have videos of the deck in action up on the blog soon, so look out for those! Your feedback is important to me and I plan to respond and interact with you guys as much as possible.

What are some other topics that you want us to talk about or some videos you want to see happen.  You can contact us at mtgplaymatt@gmail.com and be sure to follow us on Twitter @mtgPlayMatt and our PlayMatt Facebook site.

Struggling with sealed during prerelease. We are here to help!

As I mentioned in my earlier post about prerelease this weekend, the format of this weekend is sealed.  What is sealed you ask well, lets ask my past self what it is.

"Sealed is a format in which you will be given the product to play in these events. The rules of sealed is that whatever you open in your packs can be used in your deck.  A sealed deck should contain 40 cards, 22-24 non-land cards and 16-18 lands, depending on your deck." - Matt Britten of 24 hours ago

*Phew!* That was hard to get that kid back here to describe what sealed is.  Even though you know "what" sealed is doesn't mean you full understand the concept of it. So buckle up and get ready, we are going to explore the format so that you are ready for this weekend.

So in the previous article, you are going to get your seeded prerelease pack from your event location.  The seeded pack comes with: one custom pack which is depended on what color you chose, two Born of the Gods booster packs, three Theros booster packs, and many goodies.

Depending on what colors, you could do different strategies.  I would recommend going with a strategy that you are most comfortable with: aggro -> mid range -> control. Aggro or "Aggressive" decks want to win with value creatures and destroy your opponent fast. Mid range decks can withstand agro decks to a point where they just run out of gas and you take over the game.  Control decks have cards that we call "permission" cards, this means you are playing cards that tell your opponent what they can or can not do, so in sense, they have to ask permission to play Magic.  The colors that are ordered from aggro to control are as follows and the promo rare that comes with that pack to help you decide:

• Red
• ForgeStoker Dragon
• White
• Silent Sentinel
• Green
• Nessian Wilds Ravager
• Black
• Eater of Hope
• Blue
• Arbiter of the Ideal

So pick the BASE color of what you want to play, then take into consideration what will be your complement color.  Your complement color or colors should be ones that help you along your strategy: aggro -> mid range -> control.  **Be Warned.**  The seeded pack is based off of your original color. There is probably three different seeded packs per color so there are 15 different packs. Some of those packs maybe great, some could be just garbage.  If you do get one of those garbage packs, you will be basically building your deck off of five packs instead of six and probably switch to a strategy that you are not comfortable with.  **End Of Warning** 

After you pick your color and your event organizer says open your packs and start building, it becomes crunch time. So, when you open your packs, organize your cards to six different piles, these piles will represent the five colors of the color wheel: white, blue, black, red, green, and the sixth pile will be multi-color and artifact cards since there are so few of them.

Then, after you spread out your piles, lets take a look at these cards, we need to figure out what cards are bombs, to playables, or just garbage and we can just throw them right in the trash can. NO!! Please don't do that I was joking. :)  If you pull a god out of your packs, congratulations, take a lap around the tables and high-five your friends!

What is considered unplayable?  Cards that cost to much for what you want them to do, or cards that their abilities that will not help you advance the state of the game to help you win.  For example, Nyxborn Shieldmate, a one mana 1/2, yes you can bestow it to give a creature +1/+2 but that is pretty much it, it will most likely be used to "be thrown under the bus"

When actually assembling the 40 card deck, it is very important to have a good curve. A curve is the theory of when you want to play cards based off of the converted mana cost of card.  This is also connected to the synergy of the deck, or how cards interact with each other.  For the hyper aggressive lists that you want to play the highest costing card should cost four mana, control decks can have higher casting spells because they are going to play a lot more lands.  They can not miss a land drop at all.

Couple of the big BOMB rares and mythic rares that you should keep your eye out for, except for the gods: Brimaz, King of Oreskos, an excellent three mana creature that just bring the BEATS on your opponent.  Felhide Spiritbinder, a four mana that just allows you to put copies of any creature you control, even itself! So you are saying for 2 mana, "if it becomes untapped", i get another 3/4? YES SIR!  With the speed of this format, you will be attacking with this card all, day, long.  Also, if you are running a deck with a lot of burn spells, Satyr Firedance is a pretty good card, but can be easily taken care of.  Scourge of Skola Vale, a three mana creature that just gets bigger over time and tramples over.  Herald of Torment, also another three mana 3/3 evasion that can actually help you lock the game in by bestowing it on a creature giving it flying.  Ok the last color bomb is blue and I want to say is just ok but may be considered a board-wipe would be Whelming Wave.

One thing to keep in mind when playing with Born of the Gods, the removal in this set is OFF THE CHAIN!!  Black has removal that is great in sealed and in constructed when playing at home or when you go to an event.  Drown in Sorrow is functional reprint of Infest but with the upside of scry. Red as another sweet card, Searing Blood, a card that you use as removal or trying play it so that there one creature just can't block. Also this card makes combat difficult to calculate for your opponent.  THEY GAVE US A REPRINT THAT I AM JUST WAY TOO OVER EXCITED FOR BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT IT ANYWAYS!  Revoke Existence!  This card is perfect for this set and the entire block.  I'm officially calling the card "The cheap godkiller."  Any white deck will be playing this card mainboard, guaranteed!  With this block having a lot of creatures that are enchantment and having cards that are great equipment, this card will see lots of play both in sealed and constructed Magic.

Well, we went over a lot of information for you to go over before your weekend.  If you have read the previous post about the guide about playing in the tournaments and keep in mind the tips and tricks you learned from this article, you will go far and become the prerelease champion!

What are some other topics that you want us to talk about or some videos you want to see happen.  You can contact us at mtgplaymatt@gmail.com and be sure to follow us on Twitter @mtgPlayMatt and our PlayMatt Facebook site.

Hope to see you around. This is MTGPlayMatt - Bringing the information of Magic to you so that you can enter the battlefield prepared.

Ready or not prerelease, here we come!

As you all know, this weekend is the big prerelease for Born of the Gods, the next set in the Theros Block.  I hope you are all excited as much as I am.  Even though it will be an epic time to play cards, there are some things that you should be aware of.

The format for these events will be sealed, meaning that you will be given the product to play in these events. The rules of sealed is that whatever you open in your packs can be used in you deck.  A sealed deck should contain 40 cards, 22-24 non-land cards and 16-18 lands, depending on your deck.

For this type of event, you will be given one of five different sealed seeded packs. What this means is that you will be given a choice about what color do you want to play off of the Magic wheel: white, blue, black, red, green. These packs contain one pack based off of your color, two Born of the Gods booster packs, three Theros booster packs, one life counter, and many other goodies.

Best way to play - there are many different ideas that go along with this topic, so pay attention.

1. Know what the cards are. - The spoiler for the whole set is online so it would be wise to be aware what is in Born of the Gods.
2. Different strategies. - There are many different ways to play these cards. For some colors you might be able to have a great aggressive deck or a control deck.  To break it down for you, do you want to win fast with small creatures and other spells, or do you want to take control of the game with counter-magic and make sure you only want your opponent doing certain lines of play.
3. Stay alive! - Get plenty of rest and stay hydrated.  This is going to be a long and fun weekend of playing Magic and you need to stay on top of your game.
4. Know where to play. - There are a lot of gaming stores that will support the prerelease events, so go where ever you feel comfortable playing with a group of people and your friends.
5. Have Fun! - This is what playing Magic and all these events are all about.  Keep your spirits up and play the game that you love.

This is just barely touching the surface. Maybe you can learn a thing or two with your friends and get back to me on what you think about these events!  For more information, contact your local venue on the different times and prices of these events.  I am way excited for this weekend and I hope you are too. Hope to see you around. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @mtgPlayMatt and our PlayMatt Facebook site.

Hey Everybody!

Welcome to PlayMatt, a great source for all your Magic: The Gathering needs. This blog is supposed to be used for Digital Advertising, but I feel that this blog is the beginning of something bigger.  This blog will contain different post about the game, videos from myself and other players around you, interviews, and so on.

This is a great way to get the information out there about the game.  Even though that I have described what this blog will contain, here are some of the posts/articles that will be posted here very soon.

• Junk In Standard. Written by: Jake Larson
• Kiki-Pod In Modern. Written by Louis Kaplan
• MTGO playtesting streams and videos by Alex Sawyer
• and many more.

This game is my passion, I wouldn't be creating this blog if I thought that I had nothing to contribute to the Magic community within the mid-west and if not all over the world.  This collaboration of information about this topic I feel will make us better players overall and also become even more outside the game.

Well this is just the beginning of something great. Stay tuned for great content and possibly getting your own word out.

This is PlayMatt, giving you information so that you can enter the battlefield prepared.