I hadn't really read up much on the Khans set before I got the box, mainly to preserve the sense of mystery in the new cards when I opened them, but I had read about Wizards of the Coast changing how Standard was going to work with fair warning before Khans was released so I knew what to expect there. As I play a mixture of different formats, the changes to Standard didn't seem so bad to me, and keeping it fresh every 18 months seems like a step in the right direction. It's not like I lose the use of the cards when they rotate out, I have other formats I can play them in.
I collected the box from Nebula Custom Gaming and sat down for a while to start cracking boosters, as I had a little time to kill, and was too excited to wait (despite being a grown man I retain my childlike excitement at new toys it seems). My excitement was sustained by opening my first two packs and pulling a foil rare and then a foil mythic (for a total of 4 rares and mythics from 2 packs).
Narset, Enlightened Master in foil rather complemented Jeskai Ascendancy in foil rather well I thought, and certainly made me want to crack more open. After cracking a few more open, and discussing with Lee the prospect of some swaps (I would have loved to have gotten hold of Sorin, Solemn Visitor off of him but it was promised to someone else) I had gotten a couple of rare fetchlands (which are very much this set's cash cards) but needed to go and collect my brother, so had to delay opening the rest.
Later on, as I was opening the remaining two thirds of the box, I was a little disappointed. I had gotten a mythic and a foil rare in the opening two but with 8 packs left to go had failed to open any other mythics. Sure I had grabbed a total of 5 fetchlands, and had gotten some really interesting looking cards, but come on, everyone loves a mythic! I need not have worried it seems, the last 8 packs yielded 5 more mythics rares, including a Sorin, Solemn Visitor of my own to my great pleasure. I also grabbed a Wingmate Roc, a very strong looking Mythic that looks like it will be good fun to play.
With all of my boosters opened and with some cards already earmarked for resale (read: fetchlands) I set about considering the set as a whole. It has a strong 3 colour scheme and this was something I hadn't come across before. I had invested quite heavily in the Return to Ravnica block, especially Dragon's Maze so had experienced a multi-colour focused block before but three colours was a new thing. I have been considering what i should play and what I should build from these cards, and was immediately drawn towards Abzan based on a number of the cards I had pulled (including Sorin). Also there were some really fun looking cards that were Blue/Green (not colours I normally play) so there may well be something for Sultai and Temur brewing away in the back of my mind. The fact that I then acquired a playset of Sagu Mauler may also have boosted these colours for me too ;)
All in all I am looking forward to getting my teeth into building a new Standard deck focusing on Khans or Tarkir. I certainly have some cards that I am not using from the Theros block that could slip nicely into an Abzan deck, and I am very much looking forward to brewing something up and seeing how it does. I'll hopefully get a decklist up in the next week or so.
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