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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017
While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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I received a number of responses to last week’s article on the different types of team players, so I’ll use the same motif today for an examination of the personalities you’re likely to encounter at a preview event. You should be able to find you and your friends in one of the descriptions below.
The Collector
People who like to put together full sets of cards often also like to be the first ones on the block with a complete set. A preview tournament offers one of the best possible places to accomplish such a task. Where else are you going to find dozens of people who have opened up hundreds of fresh packs . . . the exact packs of cards you’ll need for your set? Go to a Constructed tournament a few weeks after the preview and the crowd there probably won’t be as large. How many of them are going to have pristine, mint-condition cards? How many of those cards are going to be from the set you need? Furthermore, only a small percentage of players even bring their trade stock to tournaments.
The Rare Drafter
If there is a Booster Draft going on at the preview, The Rare Drafter is in it. His seven year-old kid brother, who can do little but tell the difference between white, silver,  and gold, is probably at the table next to him. The Rare Drafter is an annoyance to the rest of the table, as the set is brand-new and everyone would like a chance at getting a few “Constructed-worthy-but-not-so-good-in-Draft” rares late in the picks. However, The Rare Drafter cuts them off like the Hoover Dam. You hope The Rare Drafter is your first round opponent, as his deck has no curve and is probably light on characters. The Rare Drafter may not even be playing with any of the eighteen or more rares that he drafted. They went right into his binder, hopefully so he can trade or sell them to The Collector. By the end of the weekend, The Rare Drafter will play in anywhere from eight to ten drafts, dropping out of each one after a first round loss to join another draft. He’s probably going to come away from the weekend with a nice looking binder of cards, but his rating will have taken a nose-dive after losing to so many random scrubs. Note that some Rare Drafters might think they are Collectors, but a true Collector has no time for playing. There are too many trades to execute and only ten hours in which to complete them.
 The Metagamer
This player has paid careful attention to all of the previews, the predictions, and knows the metagame prior to the new set’s release like the back of her hand. She’s the girl hanging around with The Collector, looking at each of the new cards, reading them carefully and immediately recognizing their metagame implications. The Rare Drafter loves this girl! The Metagamer trades one rare card for three copies of Unmasked. And that’s just a silly uncommon! The Metagamer also tries to play with the “older” team cards in the set during the Sealed event just to see them in action. She wants to get the jump on the rest of the local players when it comes to modifying the older team decks.
The Fanboy
His favorite comic book character just happens finally to have been printed in this release, so his goal for the day is single-minded pursuit. Chances are very high that he’s playing that character’s team, whether or not it was the best team he could have played. Or, The Fanboy plays with the  best team and still splashes in his favorite character. Between rounds, The Fanboy hounds each player at least three times for any copies of that character. If you are unlucky enough to have that character in play when he walks by your game, be prepared to swat his hand away from it as he tries to trade you for it right then and there. By the end of the day, he’s got six nine-pocket pages full of his favorite character—and around eight foil versions as well.
The Victim
You can tell by his “deer caught in the headlights” look and inability to keep food down that this guy is headed for rough water. He doesn’t play in serious events, as his frail constitution could never handle the pressure. This event is supposed to be a fun time, but for him, he’s so nervous that he might as well be getting the third degree from some hard-boiled cops. Unfortunately, since he doesn’t get out to play much, he also doesn’t have a great grasp on the rules. His deck will be built on some faulty assumptions. Of course, his deck won’t “do what it’s supposed to do” until the third round of the tournament anyway, where his opponent will casually inform him, “That card doesn’t work like that.” Chances are good that he’ll drop out of the event and play with his Gameboy until Mom comes to pick him up at 6 pm.
 The Player
This girl shows up to play. She probably plays with more than one team, as she wants to use all of her best cards. She isn’t overly concerned with winning, but wants to make a good showing and come away with a few extra packs for her trouble. She’ll probably let you take back a move on turn 4 that would have surely cost you the game. She’ll read each card when an opponent plays it and make a comment about what sort of Constructed deck that card would be good in. Fortunately, this is the typical player at a preview tournament. Most players are just there to have a good time. With people like these at the event, the chances are good that everyone is going to have a good time.
Questions or comments can be sent to mhyra@metagame.com.
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