They spoiled what looks like a new mechanic on the main website. If you liked Wither, you're going to love this:

INFECT: This creature deals damage to creatures in the form of -1/-1 counters and to players IN THE FORM OF POISON COUNTERS!!

The poisonous sliver was a bit scary, but this is potentially worse. Perhaps especially in EDH, where you would normally shrug off 10 damage, an instant speed spell that gave all your creatures Infect for a turn could be fun/scary brokenness.

For EDH, I only have one word: DIBS

Good time at the PR, opened some nice stuff. A few pointers for sealed:
Monocolored decks are a breeze, bcos half of your playables will be artifacts! I splashed three red cards in my green deck and my mana base was 10 forests and 6 mountains...that's a lot for a splash, but you don't necessarily even need a land in your main color until turn 4 or 5!

Poison is strong, but be careful...playing both damage and poison kind of means you cede your opponent an extra 10 life. In a sense it is like milling, in that damage and milling are not synergistic at all. It does suck to be on the poison plan and then have to go to damage. A guy got me with turn one equipment, turn 2 Plague Stinger, turn three-five 2 poison counters with each swing. But when I stabilized and he came at me with a non-poison 5/4, I realized I was still on 20 life, and absorbed the damage easily. Two things to bear in mind though: Putrefax and Tainted Strike are potentially devastating topdecks (altho in a sense Tainted Strike is like a damage preventer - if they aren't trying to poison you, then you can cast T.S. on their attacker and prevent damage to yourself - I'm sure that'll be relevant for someone), and proliferate can be a clock all by itself. I snuck through two Carrion Call tokens against an opponent with 3 poison counters and a far superior board position, cast the green Howl from Beyond for 4, and he scooped to my Contagion Clasp.
I think the only games I lost, Glinthawk Idol was involved; fliers (especially Razor Hippogriff), metalcraft fliers (including a white 3/3 flier for 1W), and artifacts that fly or make fliers more powerful make a very tough archetype, and three of the 4 guys I played against were R/W. Metalcraft in general is a doddle to achieve and sustain.
I opened Steel Hellkite and Molten-tail Masticore. Not surprisingly, the Hellkite was awesome - one of the best 6-drops ever printed, and possibly the best 6-drop dragon. I know that sounds like a bold statement, but when you consider the color hoops that the others require, you'll see what I mean. Plus, which of the Invasion/Planeshift dragons has a better triggered ability? I play 4 of the wedge dragons as generals, and I am uber-impressed with the Hellkite, even without considering the GORGEOUS art. Anyway, what surprised me was the weakness of the Masticore. I cast on or before turn 4 in 3 games, and it only had an appreciable benefit once. I think that everyone will have at least one way of dealing with an artifact creature in their pool, and if you play an artifact bomb too early, you might lose it - or at least, that was my experience. However, late game when you have the mana to drop, regenerate or blast someone, it can be a great topdeck. Not what you might expect from a powerful 4-drop, so be advised.

Overall, the set looks pretty good; I've opened 6 boosters and liked all my rares (altho the lands feel much crappier than the M10 lands). As with Mirrodin, the paradox is that while artifacts can theoretically go into any deck, the artifact-heavy theme means that many of the coolest cards will require new decks. I guess I need to find my old Guardian Beast!

BTW, Vaso is still in town folks! Post and play!

block constructed every wed @ hareyuya(1900) startin next week
200 yen 3-0 wins 1500

see ya there

Scars block I assume. Intriguing.