Greg’s Thankgiving Draft Feast
(Just in case the folks are boring you to death this Thanksgiving, our good friend Greg has decided to provide you with write-ups of FOUR goddamn drafts for your reading pleasure. Have fun!)
Draft 1:
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Wow, what an exceptionally weak pack. Genesis Wave is just too slow for most decks, and will probably ride the board even if I do play green. There is no way I’m committing to white for Skyguard first pick. Myr is a fine safety, and will wind up in almost any deck I play.
Pack 1 pick 2:
This card is more worthy of a first pick. Metalcraft green isn’t my favorite, but the power level of Brigade is undeniable. Distant second is the white Spellbomb and another Myr.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
I do love me some Tumble Magnet. At the time, I was hoping to spin Forger, but that may have been a mistake. Brigade is a great reason to commit to metal Green, and perhaps I should have defended that pick.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Scudder is great, but I want to keep my second color open, and bump my artifact count.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
More meh cards. Myr it is.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Wall is fine, Exoskeleton is a bit fragile. I’ll take the underrated Vampires.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
I’m not committed to either of my colors, and Slag is the best card in the pack by a good margin. Another potential missed opportunity to defend green.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Nothing for me here. Hate the Asp from the mediocre poison decks, or hate the bonds, which can stop my green bomb. Forger did not table, and here is where I’m considering abandoning green, which leaves me with not a lot of great cards, but open to whatever follows in later packs.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Reasonable black creatures make it clear that non-infect black is open as usual.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Hand is a gift for infect players, I’m not one of them. Hippogriff is fantastic, but white was completely shut down in pack 1. Trigon and shatter remain, with Trigon being the better card in most decks, and certainly better in decks with swamps.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Myrsmith is amazing. I’m willing to take it and splash, or fight for a little white.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Spider or Forgemaster are the picks here, with Spitter a distant third. Spider is great, but I’m still not convinced I’m a green deck, and Forgemaster could lead to greatness.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Even though I’m strongly considering not being in green anymore, it’s the best card in the pack for me. It’s either that or hate the stinger, but there is too much infect in this pack for that to have impact.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Hating Might. Once again, this is the card to take away if you want to beat infect decks.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Here it’s the Myr or the Spellbomb. My waffling on colors led me to take the mana fixing card.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Replica is a reasonable card, but I like the Vampires better.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Unblockable against me, and a playable creature.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Both the Hellion and the Beast are pretty good to still be here, but trample is scarier. Green still an option.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Time to start hating from the r/b aggro deck.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Because the cards for that deck come around really late.
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
All the time.
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Well now we are talking! This pack is ON FIRE. Perilous, Phoenix, Arrest, Axe, and Myrsmith. Have I mentioned how good Myrsmith is lately?
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Not much for me, I take the removal.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
I don’t like passing Embersmith, but I can’t afford to hate much more, and Perilous is a great card in any deck. Can probably table the Vampire.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Card is fine, nothing to get excited about. Ups the artifact count.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Here I get to choose offense or defense. Justice is a good card, but with double Myrsmith and enough artifacts Painsmith can be fantastic.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
More upping the artifact count.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Tough pick. I like shield, and double Myrsmith agrees. Sentinel is fine if costly. I think I want the flying ability in my pile more though.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
A 3 power for 3 artifact is actually fine in any deck, and two of my Myr produce red.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Sentinel or Shield again, I don’t really need the late drop.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Bad removal for blue is still removal. I hate draft this card a lot.
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Vampire is no surprise, but sweet bouncing baby Jeebus what is that shatter still doing here? If the player to my left is in red, they are gonna pee themselves.
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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I think the deck turned out pretty well, considering the weak start. Low on disruption, but the powerful Myrsmith and Team Edward can certainly get there.
Round 1
Game one is pretty weak. Mulliganed to 6 cards, but my opponent stalled at 2 against double Myrsmith and a fist full of artifacts. 1-0
Game 2 looked solid for me, with natural Myr, Myrsmith, and Galvanizer making a dangerous board, but my opponent dropped True Conviction. Not only is this a bomb my deck has zero answers for, my game plan of overrunning with Myr and finishing with draining Vampires falls completely flat to that card. He gains life trading for my tokens until a flying Eel hits the table and finishes the job in two swings. 1-1
Game 3 I consider switching to red for the two Turn To Slag to at least deal with the flyers, but it isn’t really an answer to the problem. I just have to hope he doesn’t draw Conviction. He does. 1-2
Draft 2:
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
This pack is certainly more interesting then the last draft start. Putrefax is strong, but I’m not looking to jump on the infect train from pick one, and the Cur is a pretty bad signal for that plan. If there were no Cur here, I’d consider it. Arrest is one of the best removal spells, but Perilous isn’t that far behind, and it leaves me completely open.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
This pack is completely meh. Nothing I take here is going to make me happy at second pick. The myr is the traditional grab here, but I see an opportunity. I can take the berserkers and try to get into r/b aggro, tabling Exsanguinate from pack 1, and Hopper from this pack.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
I take the artifact ramp. Mental note: Watch out for the guy with Putrefax and two Curs.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Painman likes the aggro deck. Nothing else excites me.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Time to start getting aboard the Hoppy Train.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Woo Woooooo! All aboard! Harness is decent here too, but the aggro deck really wants as many of these as it can get.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Little red aggro jerk. Better then Censor.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Keep em comin.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Evil plot beginning to materialize.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Huh. Hoppy didn’t table. Good thing I already have 3. If I had some equipment picks, I’d grab the Gaveleer here, but I don’t.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Mass is a nice present for me. It fits into any opening in the curve, can be fast, or can be huge depending on when it shows.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Lots of cards to consider here. Angel, Slag, red Spellbomb, and red Replica. Once I convince myself not to hate the Angel, Replica becomes the clear, most aggressive pick.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
I was hoping for one of these. This is the cornerstone of the fast r/b deck, and the reason I want all the Hoppers I can throw in my pile. Turning every creature into 2, sacrifice: Deal 2 damage to whatevs is pretty good, and gets nutty with multiple Perilous Myr.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Nice.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Drake is very difficult for my deck to deal with, and nothing else thrills me. It’s this or hate Call from infect.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Grub is another pretty good guy to sacrifice.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Another Grub, or ‘The other Hopper’. Not quite as good, but sometimes that haste is relevant.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Real trouble for my deck if it gets online early.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
A fine man.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Could be interesting if my artifact count were higher. I don’t see it happening here.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Woo wooooo! All aboard!
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
This deck runs a lot of disruption that comes from abilities, not spells, so the lifegain might matter more.
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Another card I’m happy to not play against, it’s a good sideboard option against anything aggressive.
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Scudder or Shatter. Touch choice, go go aggroman! (This will make me wince later.)
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
One of the downsides to playing this archetype is when you spend early picks for stuff that you always see 10th. Sigh. If I was on the equip plan, I’d probably have hated the Spider here and tried to table the Reaver.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
This card kills me dead even more with this deck than the last. Flip this card the bird and put it in my pile.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Not quite as good in my deck as in aggro infect, but close.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Fast, cheap, aggressive, and built in sacrifice. What’s not to love?
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
My 2/1 army does not like to faceplant against this guy.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Speaking of my 2/1 army… if my artifact count were higher I’d be grabbing Edward again here.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Fast little guys is the name of the game today.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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16 Land seems fine for this deck. Without Mass and Exsanguinate I might even go 15. The double Celebration makes me pretty happy. I’d be more happy with a Blast or Arc in here, but the deck is solid. It can run over slow decks, and combo out against someone that stabilizes. Even sacing a guy to fly in with hoppy and hit for 4 for a couple turns can end games in a hurry.
Round 1
VS. Brad Nelson? This should be interesting…
Game 1
I come out of the gate, but so does he. He is playing the beefier version of r/b aggro. I get two Celebrations online and start to set uPRECURSOR GOLEM!
Uhh.. excuse me I was talkinPRECURSOR GOLEM SMASH YOU NOW. 0-1
Game 2
A less aggressive hand than I like, but I do get one Celebration online again. Brad has ramped to Vampires and swung the game making things interestinPRECURSOR GOLEM!
Again? DammiYES! PRECURSOR GOLEM SMASH YOU MORE NOW! 0-2
(Remember that Shatter I passed?)
I hear Brad is a great guy, but that Precursor Golem sure is a dick.
Draft 3:
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Now, Skinrender is a card I’m willing to commit to a color early for. Axe and Clasp are great, but Clasp is only really up to Skinrender’s level in an infect deck.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Huh, another clasp. That is actually scary. I’d like to take the Myrsmith here, but not only does clasp kill it, but someone that builds a deck based on picks 1 and 2 clasp is going to be really hard to deal with.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Blast says red is open, and Reigns is getting kind of late, but Tumbles is great, and has synergy with clasp.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
This pack still has some real spin on it. Idol, Revoke, Scudder, Paladium, and Replica are all reasonable picks. Scudder solidfies me in black.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Myr, Shield, or hate the might. I decide to pick up my first Myr.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
What is this still doing here. Gimmie.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Lets bolster that artifact count.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Battlegear is an odd card. A touch pricey, but if you assemble enough fliers that can survive wearing it, it becomes plenty scary. I grab it here and keep an eye out for good men to wear it.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
While less good than in the r/b aggro deck, it’s a fine card, and works with my Clasp. Grub is an also ran. Most of the time he falls out of the deck to make room for more artifacts.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
But when it’s the only card for you…
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
I see no reason to allow this guy to continue around the table.
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Could end up running it. I’m leery of metalcraft guys that don’t hold their own without metalcraft active. Sometimes it sucks, and sometimes it seems fine, and then suddenly sucks right in the middle of combat. I want an artifact count well above 14 before I’m remotely happy with this guy.
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Blast, Arrest, or Kemba. If you can get her online, she is a bomb, and when you can’t she is a 3 cost 2/4 in a world of smaller critters.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Not only do I like Scudder, this fits in fine with the Battlegear plan from pack 1.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Hawk or ramp. I think ramp is better for me.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Idol on the other hand is much better than the plain Hawk.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Relic and Justice are both good for me, I choose aggression.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Kemba runs off with the Lifestaff before I can decide.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
This time it’s Justice. Look how late this infect stuff is running about.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Not much for me, Call is pretty strong.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Best card left.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Ooze is not terrible. I grab it and make a note to keep an eye out for activated abilities.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
It is unreasonable for this card to still be here. Shame, I wanted the Replica.
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
He tables all day, and is fine.
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Giddyup.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Kemba tries to run off with the staff again. I yell at her and explain about the Hippogriff. She pouts.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Spellbomb is the better card for most decks, but Kemba is pulling on my shirt like a kid at the supermarket in the cereal isle shouting DADDADDADDADDADDAD!
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Perilous, Clasp, and Vampire, this pack still has plenty for me. Perilous is better in my pile, but Clasp in the hands of the guy to my left still terrifies me.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pretty late for a card of this quality. Not shocking considering Myrsmith in pack 1, but still. I rest a little easier knowing I have a card that can deal with the bombs that killed me in the last two drafts.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Arbalest is slow but powerful, and another toy for Kemba to play with.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Useful to board in against those infect decks.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Same.
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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I built this in much the same way I build sealed decks in this format. I built the artifacts, and added excellent cards until it was full. I pulled Myr 3 to squeeze in Fume Spitter because it works well with my equipment and Clasps.
Round 1
Kicking things off against a strong infect deck. I traded ground guys until my Relic was king. Rode him to victory. Sided out off color Myr for Soul Parry. 1-0
Mull to 6. Get flooded. Get Falcon Punched (Untamed Might). Sided in Healer for ground guy. 1-1
Found the healer in opening hand, dropped it on turn two to counteract his Stinger. Got Kemba online using Harness, keeping her out of Grasp range. Free kitties eat the snakes and bugs and my opponent.
Round 2
Molder Beast one dies to Justice. Molder Beast two, green Replica, green Replica. Ouch. Cut Myr again for Soul Parry. 0-1
Stall on mana. Stabilize with Myrsmith. Opponent plays two Censors, and then drops Contagion Engine, which grinds me down 4 life per turn before I can find my revoke. 0-2
Draft 4:
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Well, the MODO gods smile upon me! Not only is it the chase card in the set, guaranteeing I don’t have to buy-in next draft, it’s a pretty great card for limited. I note that I’m passing Axe, Grasp, and Justice.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Three infect cards and True Conviction. Two picks, two bombs. Lets see if I can stay in these colors, they both have very strong commitments.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Fine removal, protecting red.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Spellbomb, Replica, Skyguard, Myr. Looks like white is open, that is good news for my enchantment.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Ogre or Myr. I’m worried about grabbing too many high cost cards this early, so the ramp is the safe pick.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Nothing here for me. I keep someone from tabling their Vampire.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
More nothing, I don’t want my bombs countered.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pretty late for a Myr. Avoiding expensive cards again.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Doesn’t look like I’m going to have a deck that likes Furnace. Take the 3 drop.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
This guy is underrated. Bigger than most, and hasty messes up the combat math a lot. I make a note to myself that no one seems to be in blue. Also, where are my white cards?
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
These are not the white cards I am looking for.
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Cannon is entertaining if you can get a proliferate build going, but slow otherwise. Idol is the best card for me.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Hating Reigns. Strongly considering a jump to blue.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
This is a 5 drop I’m willing to invest in. Dies to all the artifact removal, but often ends games the turn after it hits.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
This is the moment I jump to blue. Spell bomb is nice, but there just isn’t enough white here, and Riddles will help me find my bombs.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Tower can take over games, but it’s too slow. I want that shield.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
And I can go get that shield. Missed a shot at the blue Spellbomb earlier, but that reminds me I have two of the metalcraft counterspells hidden, fueling my jump to blue even more.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
5/5 unblockable has good stats, but I really don’t like seven drops. Five is hard enough.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Soliton is a fine body, is an artifact, and combos with Arbalest if one shows up.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Other people don’t like Scudder as much as I do. C’mere Scudder, let me give you a hug. There there, now you can’t bite me.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
I see no reason to give this to the guy with Cannon.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Playable, but I already have 2 hard counters.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Defensive guy is fine. Often doesn’t make the pile to increase artifact count, but since I jumped into a color kind of late I’m more interested in marginal cards to make sure I have enough.
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Well, I’ve already won this draft. Probably won’t make the deck, but who cares?
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
This guy on the other hand I’m quite happy to see. Had to think a bit about him or the black Trigon. Both are excellent, Smith is more fragile, but gets online faster.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
There is that Arbalest. Too bad, Blast it is.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
I was expecting to see one or two of these with how open blue was, and it’s a good thing.. I need some fliers. Not thrilled to pass Asceticism though.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
A slow controlling card for a slow controlling deck.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Torn over on-color myr or Eel. Reigns eventually talks me into the non-land blue source. Koth approves.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Best guy left in the pack.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Did not expect this guy to table. With my Myr suite, running two in my deck will actually be pretty good.
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Let it kill black players. I’m not one of ‘em.
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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No real metalcraft going on here. I decide to get Bonds in over Heartstoker, which won’t do much in my deck. Those hate drafted counterspells are looking pretty good here.
Round 1
I curve out Myr, Ferrivore, Eel, Hellion, Koth. He plays Chrome Shell, trades for my Ferrivore revealing… Gold Myr. 1-0
He brings the early game with some r/w beats. I stabilize with Myr, Riddles, and Eel. Seastrider frees up Eel for offense. I steal his Glint Hawk and start getting business done. Ogre throws an artifact at the traitorous Hawk. He tries to Slag my Eel, but it gets countered. 2-0
Round 2
My opponent doesn’t show up. When MODO decides you deserve stuff, it doesn’t hold back.
Round 3
My opponent offers to split, but I want to play some Magic.
Our boards build and reach parity pretty quickly. Riddles searches me out more threats then he has. I steal his Eel wearing haste equipment, and that closes the deal. 1-0
He stalls at four mana, and despite multiple Spellbombs can’t seem to pull his way out. Ramp into Hellion convinces him to concede.
Well, now you’ve gotten to see an evening in the life of a draft addict, and it ends on a very high note. Twenty six tickets for Koth and Mox Opal, plus 8 packs for the win. When they say ‘must be nice’, well… it is.
I’m thinking these non-infect drafts can spark a little more discussion. I’m convinced I made some mistakes in these drafts, but I think you can see where being reactive and reading a table leads to building decks instead of just a pile of cards. What would you have done differently?
I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving, and get to spend it with good friends, food, and family.
Dunno if you ca fix it but draft 1 packs are missing lots of cards.
Draft 2 I think you missed a real chance at Flesh Allergy. It is a sac outlet by itself but more important is like the best lava axe ever. There’s lots of turn 6 wins in your deck that go 2, 2, 2 2 for 4 guys on turn 4 and Flesh for lethal on turn 6. Also I love Strider Harness in this deck and that makes Gavaleers better. Think RW in Kamigawa. (Allergy pwns Precursor)
Draft 3 I dislike but the deck turned out okay. -justice, -land, +2 sunchasers
Draft 4 ‘protect red’ by taking Slag is perverse. Vulshok Replica does it better and Koth is SO MUCH BETTER if you have 2 and 3-drops for him. The risk with Slag also is that you could end up with no more red and it becomes two wasted picks as opposed to 1 that is worth 20 tix.
I don’t know how you got for Opal but I think that card is underrated and will be great. I’dgladly invest in them if I had 10 bucks and the right sellers.
Happy Thanksgiving, Greg. I’ll be back in town someday soon!
No missing cards for me.
Vulshok Replica is not a red card. It often gets played by anyone with metalcraft.
Flesh Allergy is an interesting thought.
You like Sunchaser more than I do.
Awful.
1st draft I would have SNAP taken the 0/6 wall over vampires. Green metalcraft is a slow archtype for the most part and the wall is amazing at the 2 spot. You don’t really want more than 7-8 non-artifact cards anyway in a dedicated metalcraft, and the vampires aren’t really good enough to be one of the non-artifacts alongside removal and brigade/forgers.
pack 1 fixed.
I think I like Sunchaser LESS than you seeing as how I have 0. The fact is that you built a deck for him to shine and didn’t capitalize.
Vulshok Replica is better in red decks than Turn to Slag many times. And while someone might have snapped him up in a non-red deck (thus leaving no red cards,) it does not outweigh that the 3/1 is more valuable for your deck since it activates Brigade, defends Koth, and attacks with Koth.
You hate draft way too much when there are picks that would make your deck better!
@Berto
I like Replica. I wanted to pick it, I just felt that Slag is more likely to put someone in red than an artifact with a red activated ability.
Hey, negative comments… awesome! What specifically would you have done better? I made a few comments where I felt I could have defended green better in draft one, or picked Shatter in draft two. Where else did I go wrong?
Moriok Reaver was way overvalued imo. 3 for a 3/2 is fine in most formats, in Scars, it’s horrible if it’s not an artifact. Especially in this set, where your 3 and 4 drops should be doing something, you know? Like, Necrogen Censor will deal more damage to your opponent AND get your artifact count up, etc.
Reaver’s borderline unplayable.
way too much hate-drafting
Interesting to see different people’s biases in draft.
I wouldn’t call Corpse Cur a signal that infect is open, especially P1P2. The only time I find myself going infect is if I get a Pack 1 or 2, Pick 1 bomb of some sort: Hand, Skittles or Putrefax. Putrefax is the biggest bomb of the bunch. It demands mutliple blocking or else you get a land a ton of poison counters. You end up totaling their board if they do.
I don’t like the R/B aggro deck you ended up building. The power level was too low, and you committed to the little guys too soon, and ended up passing some bomby things (e.g. Phoenix).
No surprise you won with the RU deck. So many bombs there.
I agree that you hate draft way too much and with picks that you should be using to build your deck. The chances of playing the opponent who would have picked the cards you hated are small. You can use your hate picks late when there is nothing for your deck. Focus on building up your deck. Let the players lock into colors other than yours and hopefully they will pass you more good stuff for your deck.
Draft One: GW Metalcraft would have been a better way to go. You should have been thinking along those lines when you picked up Ezuri’s brigade, prob the best metalcraft guy at 8/8 trample for four. Or just solid green beaters with lots of tiny myr. the dinosaur and the molderbeast were things you passed that I probably wouldn’t have. Hopefully your two myrsmith give you a metalcraft lock to trigger your brigade, but the myr should make it easier to play some higher casting cost stuff like Hippogriff and Molderbeast a bit early. You’d have a number of red myr too so you might be able to splash the shatter you could have picked up early and the other shatter late in pack three. Those were just presents. Also dinosaurs with an infiltration lens is sick to play against. And the guy that makes gives other green creatures intim would work well with your deck.
Draft two, Putrefax is amazing especially with corpse cur. That is def a reason to go infect in pack one. And Infect is the strongest archetype in this drafting format.
Draft three, flesh allergy should have been picked up at some point. You need some good spells to finish a guy off and since your hoppers let you sac your whole team, you can flesh allergy for some serious damage if need be.
what i learned from these draft reports:
play infect
pack 2 pick 2…hating reigns? you are hating on a 2nd pick lol
You need to take necrogen censers higher in aggressive decks, especially when you can make use of their artifact-ness (metalcraft, or, in your case, daredevil + furnace). I also agree that BR furnace deck makes flesh allergy disgusting, and I always try to run at least 1.
Greg, these decks sucked. What happened?!?
I took a look at your first draft again and would like to share what I saw. I agree with a lot of your early picks.
Pack 1:
Iron Myr keeps you open.
Ezuri’s Brigade commits you to green.
Carapace Forger is slightly better to back up your green signal. Although Tumble Magnet is right up there. This is a matter of preference, but I’d take the Forger.
I’d take the Alpha Tyrannax here over the Galvanizer. Both need Myr to work properly but a 6/5 on turn four or five is more frightening imo than a bunch of 2/2 Myr on turn 4.
Iron Myr
Wall of Tanglecord. Cheap artifact that’s hard to kill (do you really want to waste a shatter/ revoke on a wall of tanglecord??) but very effective especially in green. It boosts the artifact count by hanging around.
Turn to Slag. What’s that still doing here? Molder Beast would be nice too and the leaden myr. But don’t hate TtS. Play TtS!
Nothing interesting in the rest of the pack…
Pack 2:
Shatter! I may be valuing it too highly from drafting Mirrodin, but shatter is a pretty great card in most decks. It often trades with a more expensive artifact and is great against metalcraft. Hippogriff would be next, but at this point you are more green red. Then trigon of corruption which is good but slow, and if you picked this way you wouldn’t have much to go with it yet.
Myrsmith. Is really good. You are correct in picking it.
Acid-web Spider. For more equip hate. Better than a third iron myr.
Bellowing Tanglewurm. Makes it harder to block your green horde.
Untamed might. Don’t hate it. Play it. It’s an excellent finisher in green red.
Leaden Myr
Gold Myr.
Panic Spellbomb. Works well with your big dudes.
Ogre Gear Grabber (for sideboard probably)
Molderbeast. Works great with spellbombs (and shatters)
Viridian Revel (I like this card prob more than I should. It may be more of a sideboard card but by the time you are done drafting you will have three shatters. Liq metal coating in the last pick would have been nice with it, too)
On to Pack three:
Arrest is prob better than myrsmith. But then again maybe not. It’s a tough call. I’d go arrest.
Infiltration lens does amazing things in this deck. Especially with Molderbeast and the dinosaur.
Shatter.
Turn to slag. Better than dispense justice i’d say.
Snapsail Glider.
Accorder’s shield.
Vulshok Replica.
Darksteel sentinel.
Junk.
Shatter!! At this point you have three shatters and a Viridian Revel. Plus acid web spider and molderbeast. Bellowing Tanglewurm. It’s not even necessary that your Ezuri’s brigade be 8/8 trample (though that would be nice). You can put a infilatration lens on your bad boys and let em go to work.
At this point the deck would look like
Panic Spellbomb
Infiltration Lens
Iron Myr x 2
Leaden Myr x 2
Gold Myr
Myrsmith
Wall of Tanglecord
Carapace Forger
Shatter x 2
Vulshok Replica
Arrest
Ezuri’s Brigade
Molder Beast x 2
Bellowing Tanglewurm
Turn to Slag x 2
Alpha Tyrannax
Darksteel Sentinel
Untamed Might
Plus 17 lands.
SB would have Shatter and Viridian Revel for a metalcraft heavy deck. Ogre Gear Grabber if they played a lot of good or one really good piece of equipment.
Those are my thoughts.
Matt. In no way, in any format, is putrfax better than skytherix or even hand of the praetors.
@ Kevin
The blue/red deck was decent, and so was the second white/black deck.
The first was a disaster, and at the end of the first pack I regretted not defending green. I think Andrew’s take on the first draft is better than what I ended up building.
The red/black aggro is better than people think. Precursor Golem is probably the best card outside of Contagion Engine for shutting it down. Still, even now reviewing what was passed to me, I just don’t see another deck there. The stuff I was passed was basically awful and inconsistent. Can anyone take a crack at the picks there? Maybe jumping to blue red looking at what was spinning in pack 2.
@ Zaphod.
I took a look at your second draft, and I would probably have taken the Putrefax and tried to force infect. This decision would have been risky, and it looks like infect would have dried up. Your choice was actually rewarded when you picked up the furnace celebrations. I don’t like the black/red sacrifice deck because I think it relies too much on setting up combos and you are forced to play a rather weak set of cards. Your dross hopper love is a little over the top… They get taken out by just about anything. In fact Myr tokens own about half your deck.
Having said that, if you were to choose Perilous Myr first pick with the intention of going black red sacrifice, I’d take:
Flesh Allergy. Combos well with Perilous Myr and also Necropede. Unfortunately there won’t be any more in this draft.
Bloodshot trainee. Heartstokers and Painsmiths make this guy a force to be reckoned with. Also you may pick up a darksteel axe or a strata scythe.
Painsmith
Nihil Spellbomb>Dross hopper. When you sac it you get to draw a card.
Dross Hopper. Although the equipment is tempting. Dross can help your flesh allergies be better finishers.
Heat Stroker.
Flameborn Hellion. I like this guy. Especially with bladed pinions or infiltration lens.
Exthinguinate.
Necrogen Censor.
Junk.
Pack 2:
Chimeric Mass.
Turn to Slag. Its just better than Vulshok Replica.
Furnace Celebration!
Another Furnace Celebration.
Saberclaw Golem
Moriok Replica. Sacking to draw cards is good. Two toughness is often good.
Flesh Allergy.
Clone Shell. Two sacs for the price of one. Hopefully you can get a Flameborn under there.
Moriok Reaver.
Kuldotha Rebirth
Necrogen Censor.
Kuldotha Rebirth.
Junk.
Pack 3:
Necrogen Scudder. I do like shatter, but you need to have at least one creature that can take the game home.
Moriok Reaver. I hate second picking this guy.
Moriok Replica. True conviction wrecks almost every deck. But let someone else take it. The chances of them playing you aren’t very good. Even if you make it to the finals, you are only going to play against 3 of the 7 other decks. And your chances of making it to the finals are not 100% either. So the likelihood of a single card you pass killing you is very low. So take the card that works for your deck.
Infiltration Lens.
Fume Spitter.
Ferravore. I like his sac artifact ability much more than the 2/1 guy. Plus 2 toughness. This deck is a little slower than the one you built, but it has more finishing power.
Bleak Coven Vampires.
Snapsail Glider
Vector Asp.
Goblin Gavaleer.
Junk.
This deck doesn’t have to get the combos out to be good. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work as well together as the one you drafted.
Ultimately the deck would look like:
Kuldoltha Rebirth
Infiltration Lens
Fumespitter
Perilous Myr
Painsmith
Dross Hopper
Ferravore
Heatstoker
Necrogen Scudder
Necrogen Censor x2
Furnace Celebration x 2
Moriok Replica x2
Flesh Allergy x2
Bloodshot Trainee
Clone Shell
Turn to Slag
Flameborn Hellion
Exthinguinate
Chimeric Mass
Plus 17 lands. Your deck was more set to over-run your opponents, but if they played a big wall, or a blocker in an early turn, your attacks would often fizzle. Then you’d need to draw Furnace Celebration. In this deck there is a fair amount of removal. And a few combo interactions to watch like with blood shot trainee and painsmith. Or Necrogen Censor and Kuldotha Rebirth. Furnace Celebration with a number of cards, notably Moriok Replica. Chimeric Mass or Flameborn Hellion and Infiltration Lens. Hopefully one of these combos could have won you some games. With so many combos in the deck you will hopefully get one or two of them out each game. You also have a good amount of finishers with Flesh Allergy and Exthinguinate. If you can keep your opponent on tilt and whittle down their life total enough, you could emerge victorious.
I took another look at Draft three. You did very well choosing cards this draft I’d say. There are just a few questionable picks. But the most questionable thing in my opinion is how much mana you chose to play. You have a great and very low curve. I’d play the off color myr and cut two land. You can play necrotic ooze or one of your sunchasers. You mentioned getting mana flooded in one of your games. Also I’d cut Arbalest. It’s too slow in your deck and you’d be better off with a sunchaser which should trigger often enough. I think I value this card too highly, but when you have enough artifacts it’s pretty good. So in short cut two lands and arbalest, add blue myr, necrotic ooze and sunchaser. Voila. And if I were you, I’d have tried harder to pick up the black replica, cuz he’s kind of awesome and it would be a good ability to pass on to your ooze.
Hey, Brad Nelson has uploaded the draft where he stomps your face in. Looks like he was passing to you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP5gdYoS1v8
makes me want to drink alchoholic beverages