The Battle For Zendikar pre-release on September 27, 2015 was my first constructed game.

Played at Bulletproof Comics, NYC

I went 1-3.

I lost one game due to extreme bad luck (or bad shuffling), getting 5~6 lands in a row (even after shuffling the deck away with my 1 copy of evolving wilds).

My printed foil was something with Converge, and I didn't have any Eldrazi spawners or Exilers (but tons of processors), so I built around an ally theme. In hindsight, I should've gone green - I had 4 (yes, 4) Tajuru Stalwarts. I wasn't too impressed by their ability, but I could've splashed for more counters, maybe?

The few times I won was because my Roil Shaper could make lands when I played non-creature spells, or my allies fired off. Skyrider Elf also put in a lot of work

I had an Aligned Hedron Network, but I never got to use it. It was a dead card, I should've sideboarded it.

Update, Nov 11 2025: Thinking about this experience after all these years, yeah - this was my first paper MTG game ever. I had watched many videos about prereleases, BREAD theory, and card evaluation to prepare, but the real thing couldn't compare, haha. Missing triggers, misunderstanding cards and combat, overvaluing cute synergies, and a weak pool.