I was excited when the announcement came out that CZE would be holding a sneak preview of the newest set Twilight of the Dragons. It did not take much for me to convince the other Las Vegas players that we should go for a quick day trip and check out the new set.  The initial group of Las Vegas players going was ten.  Over the weeks leading up to the even that number dwindled down to the five of us that ended up going.

Friday

The five who made the trip to California included: Kirk Buckendorf, Robert Swarowski, Niles Rowland, Brian Gates, and myself. My new car is nice, but it is not the most spacious. Luckily for the guys in the back, Niles was able to catch a ride down to California with his girlfriend.  The drive was smooth, we did not stop and quickly made it to Irvine in just under four hours.  

As soon as I got into town, I picked up my phone and called some local friends. The plan was in motion and we met up with them at Yard House for a quick bite and some drinks. A whole lot of food and drinks were consumed.  If you have seen our group, you have probably assumed that already, but when the bill came it was evident.  After seeing the bill, one of the California crew looked at me and said, “Credit Card game boys? Who is in?”

For those of you who do not know what the Credit Card game is please allow me to explain.  Everyone who wants to play puts their credit card into the middle.  All the cards are shuffled and one is chosen randomly.  The card that is chosen is the loser, and that card’s owner pays the entire bill.

Having only ate appetizers (I do not drink), I gladly put in my $15 dollars and declined joining the game.  That’s when the goading came in.  No one really seemed interested aside from the lone Californian and people were putting their cash in and passing around the bill.  The lone Californian looks Rob straight in his eyes (well he tried to, but Rob’s lazy eye acts up when he is drunk) and says, “Come on Scrubby, don’t puss out on me.”  Rob being a real man and from Las Vegas was not able to back down from a challenge. In fact he suggested to up the stakes. Rob proposed that they make this a real bet.  Not only would the loser of the credit card game pay the entire bill, but he would not get the cash from the other people.  The winner of the bet would get all the cash instead. It took all of one second for him to agree to this bet.  They played the game heads up.  

The waiter comes over and both cards are given to him.  He shuffled the two cards behind his back. The persons card who is put down on the table is the winner.  The shuffling seemed to take hours even though in reality it took only seconds.  Rob’s card was put on the table.  I heard a yelp come from Californian. I looked over and I saw Rob standing doing the Robot.  At first I could not believe my eyes, but then again Rob was drunk so this was standard.

The excitement for the night was over.  The last thing I remember seeing before my eyes closed for the night was Rob holding all his newly found winnings in hands while he laid in the bed opposite of me.  

Saturday

 We woke up around 8:00am with plans to get breakfast and get to the event early.  There were a good 40 people there we arrived.  With about two hours to kill we quickly got a little side draft together.  I drafted a marginal Alliance Druid deck.  We played the first round, which I won before the main event started.

This is the pool I opened:

Death Knight
1 [Favor of Undeath]
1 [Glacial Strike]
2 [Necrotic Strike]

Druid
1 [Fierce Cat Form]
1 [Living Roots]
2 [Tears of Aessina]
1 [Wild Growth]

Hunter
1 [Disengage]
1 [Explosive Hunt]

Mage
3 [Blazing Debris]
1 [Favor of the Arcane]
1 [Fireball]
1 [Glaciate]
1 [Ring of the Frost]

Paladin
1 [Blessing of Might]
1 [Favor of the Light]
1 [Hand of Protection]
1 [Twisted Light]

Priest
1 [Favor of Spirit]
1 [Power Word: Absorb]

Rogue
1 [Break Steel]
1 [Smoke Bomb]
2 [Swindle]
2 [Vicious Strike]

Shaman
1 [Cleanse Spirit]
1 [Primal Strike]

Warlock
3 [Favor of the Nether]
1 [Fel Immolation]
1 [Incinerate]

Warrior
2 [Demoralizing Strike]
1 [Favor of Steel]
1 [Heroic Leap]
1 [Twisted Rampage]

Alliance Allies
2 [Kelsa Wildfire]
1 [Haratha Hammerflame]
1 [Knight Karia]
2 [Javeer]
1 [Jerrak Krandle]
2 [Alrak Stonecrack]
1 [Maurice Steelson]
2 [Stargazer Ronal]
1 [Stacia Markton]
2 [Abbie Whizzleblade]
1 [Prince Andium Wyrnn]

Horde Allies
1 [Zor'dul the Deathbinder]
1 [Gollom Skybang]
1 [Yazli Earthspark]
1 [Blood Knight Adrenna]
2 [Kyroth Steelspite]
1 [Rakala Deathsmash]
1 [Azizi Daggerflick]
1 [Banok Sunrock]
2 [Sahama Brighthorn]
1 [Gordash Firetooth]
2 [High Guard Braxx]
1 [Flamebringer Gaxix]
2 [Wildweaver Masa'zun]

Neutral Allies
1 [Obsidian Drudge]
1 [Obsidia]
2 [Obsidian Drakonid]
1 [Twilight Drake]
1 [Twilight Emissary]
2 [Obsidian Enforcer]
1 [Obsidian Skyterror]
1 [Sinestra]
1 [Twilight Wyrmkiller]

Equipment
1 [Blade of the Witching Hour]
1 [Claw of Torement]
1 [Double Attack Handguards]
1 [Flame Pillar Leggings]
2 [Obsidium Executioner]
1 [Proto-Handler's Gauntlets]
1 [Volatile Thunderstick]

Quests
1 [A Fiery Reunion]
1 [Blackout]
1 [Devoured]
2 [Enter the Dragon Queen]
1 [Far from the Nest]
2 [Fire the Cannon]
1 [Last of Her Kind]
1 [Mercy for the Bound]
3 [The Maw of Iso'rath]

Locations
1 [Twilight Citadel]

This was the deck I decided to play.  

Hero: [Flame Keeper Rizzli]

Allies
1 [Zor'dul the Deathbinder]
1 [Gollom Skybang]
1 [Yazli Earthspark]
1 [Blood Knight Adrenna]
1 [Obsidian Drudge]
2 [Kyroth Steelspite]
1 [Banok Sunrock]
1 [Obsidia]
1 [Obsidian Drakonid]
1 [Twilight Drake]
1 [Twilight Emissary]
2 [Obsidian Enforcer]
1 [Obsidian Skyterror]
1 [Flamebringer Gaxix]
1 [Sinestra]

Abilities
1 [Glaciate]
1 [Fireball]
3 [Blazing Debris]

Equipment
1 [Flame Pillar Leggings]
1 [Blade of the Witching Hour]

Quests/Location
1 [A Fiery Reunion]
1 [Blackout]
2 [Fire the Cannon]
1 [Last of Her Kind]
1 [Twilight Citadel]

Before Round 1, players were given a free meal courtesy of CZE.  After devouring food, Miranda was nice enough to give us a tour or the facilities.  I am legally not allowed to talk about what I saw inside the offices, but I can tell you, that you should be very jealous if you did not go.


Round 1

1-0

Round 2



1-1

Round 3

2-1

Round 4

3-1

Round 5


3-2

The rounds were all one game matches. I do not have my notes, but I know that I lost to Ian in Round 2 and my last Round opponent.  My deck has real problems with 8/8 allies and they both played some on me.  

I ended up beating Matt Whaite in the semi finals of our side draft, and losing to Silas Reinagel in the finals.  

The drive home was miserable for those in the back seat.  Niles was added to the mix and they were all squished.  There were many complaints of their butts falling asleep. I guess next time we will plan out our trip better.

After Thoughts

Having spent the last day scanning cards for the spoiler, which can be found here, I think that this set looks pretty good.  There are plenty of cards I am ready to add my decks, and some cards that beg to built around.  

For those of you looking for singles I am happy to announce that Daily Metagame will now be opening an online store which can be found here. For now we are taking preorders on Twilight of the Dragon singles.  Some of items you can look forward to seeing in the future are older singles, playmats, deckboxes, sleeves, and loot cards.  

As always we will continue to buy loot cards and a new singles buylist will be up shortly.  Please bear with us while we continue to stock our store over the next couple weeks.  

-Tim Rivera