‘Journey Into Nyx’ Fat Pack Challenge preview

Thursday, May 1st, 2014

The “Journey Into Nyx” prerelease has come and gone. With that we learned about the God Packs that Wizards of the Coast snuck in and, once again, caused a stir all over social media. I even wrote about it. You can check it out here! (Shameless plug)

If you loved playing in the prerelease, then you should come try the Fat Pack Challenge that’s going on this Friday, May 2, at both Battleground Games & Hobbies locations. What’s a Fat Pack Challenge you ask? Well get ready, because that’s what I’ll be covering this week.

The Fat Pack Challenge will be taking the place of other formats at this Friday’s FNM. For an entrance fee of $40.00, players will receive one sealed “Journey Into Nyx” Fat Pack. If you’ve never purchased a Fat Pack before, here is a list of what you’ll get:

• 9 “Journey Into Nyx” booster packs
• 2 Deck-sized card boxes
• 1 pack of 70-“Journey Into Nyx” basic land
• 1 “Journey Into Nyx” life counter

That’s right, you’re getting nine “Journey Into Nyx” boosters! That’s where this fun format separates itself from Sealed Deck events. For some people, this is a lot of fun. The reason being is that in an official Sealed Deck event, you would normally get 2 “Theros” packs, 2 “Born of the Gods” packs, and 2 “Journey Into Nyx” packs. This is also where things can be difficult for some people. Without access to cards from the other two sets, some strategies become disrupted.

So, back to the Fat Pack challenge. The rules state that you’re only allowed to build with the contents of the Fat Pack. With the added God packs and the fact that they are only found in “Journey Into Nyx” packs, the question, now is, how many God packs may be opened at the challenge? Also, would this help you or be detrimental to your deck building? It all depends on what your other packs contain. Remember, “Journey Into Nyx” is a much smaller set than “Theros.” This means that there will be a lot fewer options for cards, but it also means there is a higher chance you’ll see a lot of the same cards.

Let’s talk strategy

As the headline states, let’s talk some strategy. I know when it came to Theros Sealed, I loved to go Green and just build big. I loved to try to ramp up and toss out the biggest and fattest creatures I could. I’m talking about creatures like “Nemesis of Mortals” and “Nessian Asp.” Unfortunately, I won’t have access to those creatures.

I still really like the color green in this set. Creatures like “Hydra Broodmaster,” “”Heroe’s Bane,”  and “Humbler of Mortals” are sure to give some grief to your opponent. Green also gives you access to “Ajani, Mentor of Heroes.” While he doesn’t spell the end of the game for your opponent, it will definitely help push things along.

My second favorite color would have to be black. There is a lot of removal in black. Even the creatures have abilities that remove creatures from the game such as “King Macar, the Gold-Cursed.” He may only be a 2/3 for 4 mana, but his inspired ability may make him worth the effort. However, cards like “Brain Maggot,” “Dictate of Erebos,” and “Feat of Dreams” will really help to control the game and allow you to go all the way.

If you can manage to find the right balance between the two colors, you may have a winning combination at your grasp. Don’t forget you’ll have access to the new temple as well as the newest playable God, “Phrika, God of Affliction.”

The weakest color out of the bunch, in my opinion would have to be blue. I’ve always found it really difficult to build a true control deck in a Limited format like Sealed. Add the fact that we’ll be playing with the third set of the “Theros” block, and it gets even harder. Remember, we’re dealing with fewer cards in this set. If this was the “Theros” Fat Pack challenge, it might have been a different story because we’d have more options, more cards to deal with, but we don’t.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid blue all together. If you get the right combination, blue is still a worthy color. Cards like “Sigiled Starfish” and “Dakra Mystic” help to manipulate the game in your favor. Creatures like “Hypnotic Siren” and “Scourge of Fleets” are ones, as an opponent,  people will need to watch out for as they can turn the tide of a game in a moment’s notice.

Blue will also give player access to “Keranos, God of Storms” and “Fleetfeather Cockatrice” which will definitely give opposing players a headache.

If you get a God pack

If you’re one of the lucky ones to be blessed by the Gods of Theros, there are a few things you can do. One thing you could do is pick up your things and go home. You’ve already one without playing a single game. I don’t like to talk about prices here because this is a game that should be played because it’s fun and not because you could make money, but some of those Gods carry a hefty price. I don’t think anyone would fault you if you did.

Another piece of advice I have would be to find a way to play all 15 Gods in your sealed deck. I’m not guaranteeing that you’ll win, but I’m fairly certain you’ll have a really good time, if you don’t mind losing some. I mean, can you imagine the face on your opponent if they see you start to play God after God after God!? It might things worth it in the end.

You could be as happy as this guy!

Well that’s it for now. As of right now, I will be at the Fat Pack challenge in Abington. If any of you out there attend AND I’ve never met you, then come say hello. Otherwise, I’ll expect some kind of hug; I’m looking at you Nick Lowe!

About the author

Simeon is an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

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Tags: Card Games, Fat Pack Challenge, Magic the Gathering, MTG, Simeon Cortezano, Wizards of the Coast
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