Feedback appreciated. This was my second VMA draft.
I split the finals after defeating an ok red/blue splash black storm deck that brain frezzed me on turn 5. Then I had to defeat a goblin burn mono red deck.
Feedback: Generally opening on-color rares and having every other player stay out of green and pass you bombs seems good. Nice draft pool!!
Congrats on the split!
As for your deck, your curve has a lot of 5s and seems a little slow to get there if you dont have Sol Ring, Fyndhorn Elves, Nature's Lore or Sylvan Library in your opener. Yeah, I get you want to maximize fatties, but you also want early plays when you don't get lucky draws. Maybe maindeck Fastbond to help ramp? Or the Death Buzzard to hold off weenies?
P2P6 -- I think Grizzly Fate is a better 5-drop than Jungle Wurm. IMO Jungle Wurm is pretty mediocre.
P2P11 -- Do you see yourself playing Tangle much? Dauthi Mercenary is a fine 3-drop, you don't have many 3-drops, etc.
P2P12 -- It's unlikely you're splashing red at this point, and if Fires is going around that late (and if people are passing you such good green cards), there's probably no one playing RG. No reason to hate this. Meanwhile Tribute to the Wild is a solid sideboard card against Astral Slide.dec, something aggro typically struggles with. Fledgling Djinn is not amazing in your strategy but is still an early drop and gives you some way to interact with flyers. Either seem like decent sideboard cards.
P3P2 -- I'd have been pretty tempted to grab the Edric and splash blue with Krosan Tuskers. Normally I'd say Roar of the Wurm, but I guess you didn't have any discard outlets yet at that point.
P3P3 -- Reanimate! Card is good, even better in GB decks with fatties, even better if you can nab any Wild Mongrels or Putrid Imps later. (apparently it wheeled anyway!)
Feedback: Generally opening on-color rares and having every other player stay out of green and pass you bombs seems good. Nice draft pool!!
Congrats on the split!
Yea this draft was pretty lucky. Green was wide open, but I had only every seen green paired with blue. I did not see any blue coming so I paniked on what to do. This format has some powerful synergy decks. I attack.
As for your deck, your curve has a lot of 5s and seems a little slow to get there if you dont have Sol Ring, Fyndhorn Elves, Nature's Lore or Sylvan Library in your opener. Yeah, I get you want to maximize fatties, but you also want early plays when you don't get lucky draws. Maybe maindeck Fastbond to help ramp? Or the Death Buzzard to hold off weenies?
Fastbond came in every game usually siding out hymm. Death Buzzard won me a game against goblins. I usually sided out one jungle wurm and the predatory nightstalker.
P2P6 -- I think Grizzly Fate is a better 5-drop than Jungle Wurm. IMO Jungle Wurm is pretty mediocre.
I actually thought about that play alot. Why i chose the wurm had to do with the fact that I could reanimate or eureka the wurm and not the grizzly fate
P2P11 -- Do you see yourself playing Tangle much? Dauthi Mercenary is a fine 3-drop, you don't have many 3-drops, etc.
I wanted a creature that could block. The shadow turned me off. I did side in tangle against the goblins deck. He would build up an army and cast falter to alpha strike me.
P2P12 -- It's unlikely you're splashing red at this point, and if Fires is going around that late (and if people are passing you such good green cards), there's probably no one playing RG. No reason to hate this. Meanwhile Tribute to the Wild is a solid sideboard card against Astral Slide.dec, something aggro typically struggles with. Fledgling Djinn is not amazing in your strategy but is still an early drop and gives you some way to interact with flyers. Either seem like decent sideboard cards.
I did not think about an answer for slide. I was afraid of the deck too. I started gettign scared that black was drying up and should I be red instead of black, but that was just my jitters not a defensible pick
P3P2 -- I'd have been pretty tempted to grab the Edric and splash blue with Krosan Tuskers. Normally I'd say Roar of the Wurm, but I guess you didn't have any discard outlets yet at that point.
I really wanted the roar. I really thought I would see a mongrel by now. I started thinking that my plan was dead in the water. No discard outlets reanimater FTW.
P3P3 -- Reanimate! Card is good, even better in GB decks with fatties, even better if you can nab any Wild Mongrels or Putrid Imps later. (apparently it wheeled anyway!)
I did not think that I would be able to get the fatties into the yard.
You don't really need discard effects to make reanimation playable. You need them to make reanimation + guys you can't reasonably cast playable. You're going to play creatures. If by midgame you don't have something good to reanimate naturally, you're almost certainly winning the game anyway.
You don't really need discard effects to make reanimation playable. You need them to make reanimation + guys you can't reasonably cast playable. You're going to play creatures. If by midgame you don't have something good to reanimate naturally, you're almost certainly winning the game anyway.
I'd say that's true for Animate Dead. The problem with Reanimate is that by mid-game, when there's enough variety of creatures in the graveyard, you might be down to 8-13 ish life. At that stage, reanimating any 4-drop or bigger puts you pretty low in life. This format has a TON of burn and reach, so dropping low in life can be a quick way to get blown out out of nowhere. So it has to be worth it. Even getting back Predatory Nightstalker or Flametongue Kavu to kill something is a gamble for 4-5 life if you're trying to stabilize. If you're getting back a 3-drop or smaller, you might as well have just run a 3-drop in that slot instead of Reanimate.
Why does it matter when you're spending 4 life if you're spending 4 life for the same effect? You wouldn't drop yourself to 2 to reanimate something unless it was going to end the game in a turn or two, but that just means reanimate isn't a fantastic "it's late game and I'm losing" topdeck every time. What cards are? Even Elspeth is a bad topdeck if you're at 3 and they have a 3/3 flyer you can't block or remove.
It matters not because of value of the card trade but because of the value of hidden information (or lack thereof) in strategic decision making. I'm not talking about games where you're getting totally stomped. I'm talking about midgames where you've fallen slightly behind, you have several lines of action, plenty of cards could save you, but reanimating something too big could accidentally kill you immediately.
For example, if I'm at 12 life and opponent has 2 more creatures than me and I need to stabilize (not a huge losing situation like you bring up, just falling behind), I might think it wise to reanimate Predatory Nightstalker for the 2-for-1 (losing 5 life to 7) instead of a bear. The nightstalker would bring me to parity whereas the bear would put me behind one creature, which means damage is getting through as things trade up. With available information, Nightstalker seems like a better choice than the bear. However, if opponent is sitting on Fireblast + Chain Lightning, Kaervek's Torch, Death's Grasp, or double Tyrant's Choice, then Nightstalker is a terrible choice because I just get burned out immediately. I've been burned out from 7+ life in several VMA games already, from all of those combinations. There's a lot of reach in this format, moreso than in most Limited formats. There's also stuff like Falter, Rites, etc. to make creatures bust through out of nowhere. But if they don't have the reach to kill you, you probably want the 2-for-1 now.
If I was at 18 life, the chance of getting burned out after Reanimating something is much much much lower, so I can focus on the impact on board state without having to evaluate corner case risks of losing immediately.
Reanimate forces you to make the decision on how low you can let your life go while the opponent sits on hidden information and can respond accordingly to your choice. In other words, it creates a strategic disadvantage because it forces you to commit to a strategy first (protect life or advance board state) and the opponent gets the luxury to be the one to make his move after. He's automatically working with more information and you're stuck making worse decisions, seems bad.
This argument is for VMA in particular. Unlike most limited formats, there's a lot of cheap explosive reach, there are a lot of Nekrataal-type creatures that have high cc but generate card advantage (i.e. appealing but risky Reanimate targets), and games are generally either grindy or you're playing on the heels of aggro.
Benalish Trapper
Counterspell
Skirk Prospector
Fyndhorn Elves
Predatory Nightstalker
Aftershock
Radiant's Judgment
Krovikan Sorcerer
Giant Strength
Afterlife
Fires of Yavimaya
Famine
Salt Flats
--> Sol Ring
Goblin General (FOIL)
Pack 1 pick 2:
Gustcloak Harrier
Frantic Search
Spark Spray
--> Fyndhorn Elves
Dark Ritual
Skywing Aven
Solar Blast
Radiant's Judgment
Ophidian
Giant Strength
Kezzerdrix
Pine Barrens
Power Sink
Tyrant's Choice (FOIL)
Pack 1 pick 3:
Mistmoon Griffin
Counterspell
Goblin Commando
Krosan Vorine
Paralyze
Tribute to the Wild
Death's-Head Buzzard
Elephant Guide
Fallen Askari
Armor of Thorns
--> Animate Dead
Burning of Xinye
Kindle (FOIL)
Pack 1 pick 4:
Mistmoon Griffin
Counterspell
Goblin Commando
--> Krosan Vorine
Skirge Familiar
Claws of Wirewood
Putrid Imp
Provoke
Mesmeric Fiend
Rocky Tar Pit
Gaea's Embrace
Reckless Charge (FOIL)
Pack 1 pick 5:
Teroh's Faithful
Killer Whale
Skirk Drill Sergeant
Skirge Familiar
Keeneye Aven
Gilded Light
Skywing Aven
Tranquil Thicket
Thopter Squadron
--> Penumbra Wurm
Nightscape Familiar (FOIL)
Pack 1 pick 6:
Obsessive Search
Chartooth Cougar
Benevolent Bodyguard
Choking Tethers
Beetleback Chief
--> Jungle Wurm
Addle
Aftershock
Krovikan Sorcerer
Pillaging Horde
Pack 1 pick 7:
Killer Whale
Goblin Matron
Paralyze
Fallen Askari
Armor of Thorns
Sudden Strength
Blazing Specter
--> Fastbond
Gustcloak Harrier (FOIL)
Pack 1 pick 8:
Skirk Prospector
Urborg Uprising
Renewed Faith
Skyshroud Forest
Grasslands
--> Symbiotic Wurm
Karn, Silver Golem
Skirge Familiar (FOIL)
Pack 1 pick 9:
Skirk Prospector
--> Aftershock
Krovikan Sorcerer
Giant Strength
Afterlife
Fires of Yavimaya
Salt Flats
Pack 1 pick 10:
Spark Spray
Dark Ritual
Radiant's Judgment
Giant Strength
Kezzerdrix
--> Pine Barrens
Pack 1 pick 11:
Krosan Vorine
--> Paralyze
Tribute to the Wild
Death's-Head Buzzard
Armor of Thorns
Pack 1 pick 12:
Skirge Familiar
Claws of Wirewood
Putrid Imp
--> Provoke
Pack 1 pick 13:
--> Skirge Familiar
Gilded Light
Tranquil Thicket
Pack 1 pick 14:
--> Addle
Pillaging Horde
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Armor of Thorns
------ VMA ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Choking Tethers
Goblin Matron
Phantom Nomad
Circular Logic
Goblin Patrol
Basking Rootwalla
Urborg Uprising
Falter
Brilliant Halo
Krovikan Sorcerer
Dreampod Druid
Reanimate
Mountain Valley
--> Berserk
Afterlife (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 2:
Benalish Trapper
Counterspell
Skirk Prospector
--> Predatory Nightstalker
Elephant Guide
Carnophage
Claws of Wirewood
Fledgling Djinn
Tribute to the Wild
Fires of Yavimaya
Akroma's Blessing
Gaea's Embrace
Burning Wish
Falter (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 3:
Hulking Goblin
Noble Templar
Rescind
Beetleback Chief
Urborg Uprising
Mesmeric Fiend
Tangle
Dauthi Mercenary
--> Nature's Lore
Goblin Trenches
Turnabout
Cruel Bargain
Secluded Steppe (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 4:
Obsessive Search
Spark Spray
Claws of Wirewood
Fledgling Djinn
Tribute to the Wild
Lonely Sandbar
Fallen Askari
Fires of Yavimaya
Empyrial Armor
--> Hymn to Tourach
Shivan Wurm
Death's-Head Buzzard (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 5:
Goblin General
Krosan Vorine
Spinal Graft
Exile
Aquamoeba
Reckless Charge
Shelter
Owl Familiar
Skyshroud Forest
--> Eureka
Fledgling Djinn (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 6:
Soltari Trooper
Goblin Patrol
--> Jungle Wurm
Dark Ritual
Wall of Diffusion
Barren Moor
Seal of Cleansing
Solar Blast
Grizzly Fate
Renewed Faith (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 7:
Spark Spray
Elvish Aberration
--> Chainer's Edict
Scrivener
Tranquil Thicket
Reckless Charge
Reviving Vapors
Animate Dead
Salt Flats
Pack 2 pick 8:
Chartooth Cougar
Gustcloak Harrier
--> Krosan Tusker
Scrivener
Kindle
Seal of Cleansing
Goblin Goon
Goblin Patrol (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 9:
Goblin Patrol
Urborg Uprising
Falter
Brilliant Halo
Krovikan Sorcerer
--> Dreampod Druid
Mountain Valley
Pack 2 pick 10:
Skirk Prospector
--> Claws of Wirewood
Fledgling Djinn
Tribute to the Wild
Fires of Yavimaya
Falter (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 11:
Hulking Goblin
Urborg Uprising
--> Tangle
Dauthi Mercenary
Cruel Bargain
Pack 2 pick 12:
Spark Spray
Fledgling Djinn
Tribute to the Wild
--> Fires of Yavimaya
Pack 2 pick 13:
--> Spinal Graft
Reckless Charge
Shelter
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Goblin Patrol
Seal of Cleansing
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Reckless Charge
------ VMA ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Benevolent Bodyguard
Choking Tethers
Beetleback Chief
Arrogant Wurm
Tyrant's Choice
Falter
Barren Moor
Renewed Faith
Keeneye Aven
Chain Lightning
Sarcomancy
Prophetic Bolt
Flood Plain
--> Deranged Hermit
Tranquil Thicket (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 2:
Teroh's Faithful
Temporal Fissure
Orcish Lumberjack
--> Simian Grunts
Choking Sands
Gilded Light
Scrivener
Seal of Cleansing
Man-o'-War
Deathreap Ritual
Pine Barrens
Roar of the Wurm
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Killer Whale (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 3:
Deftblade Elite
Obsessive Search
Chartooth Cougar
Jungle Wurm
Urborg Uprising
Sudden Strength
Claws of Wirewood
Putrid Imp
--> Provoke
Cloud Djinn
Reanimate
Smokestack
Waterfront Bouncer (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 4:
Soltari Emissary
Repel
Orcish Lumberjack
Giant Mantis
Secluded Steppe
--> Death's-Head Buzzard
Claws of Wirewood
Nightscape Familiar
Tribute to the Wild
Serendib Efreet
Bad River
Wall of Diffusion (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 5:
Mistmoon Griffin
Goblin Commando
--> Wild Mongrel
Paralyze
Gilded Light
Skywing Aven
Tranquil Thicket
Aftershock
Radiant's Judgment
Ivory Tower
Stoic Champion
Pack 3 pick 6:
Rescind
Chartooth Cougar
Gustcloak Harrier
Choking Tethers
Giant Mantis
--> Paralyze
Forgotten Cave
Aftershock
Ivory Tower
Goblin Commando (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 7:
Brindle Shoat
Putrid Imp
Provoke
Lonely Sandbar
Nature's Lore
Blazing Specter
Devout Witness
--> Sylvan Library
Rescind (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 8:
Temporal Fissure
Orcish Lumberjack
Elvish Aberration
Ophidian
Wall of Diffusion
Mana Prism
Thopter Squadron
--> Norwood Priestess
Pack 3 pick 9:
Benevolent Bodyguard
Choking Tethers
Beetleback Chief
Falter
Renewed Faith
Sarcomancy
--> Tranquil Thicket (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 10:
Temporal Fissure
Orcish Lumberjack
Choking Sands
Seal of Cleansing
Deathreap Ritual
--> Pine Barrens
Pack 3 pick 11:
Jungle Wurm
Urborg Uprising
Claws of Wirewood
Putrid Imp
--> Reanimate
Pack 3 pick 12:
Orcish Lumberjack
--> Giant Mantis
Claws of Wirewood
Tribute to the Wild
Pack 3 pick 13:
Goblin Commando
Gilded Light
--> Tranquil Thicket
Pack 3 pick 14:
Chartooth Cougar
--> Ivory Tower
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Provoke
LANDS
CREATURES
SPELLS
Feedback appreciated. This was my second VMA draft.
I split the finals after defeating an ok red/blue splash black storm deck that brain frezzed me on turn 5. Then I had to defeat a goblin burn mono red deck.
Congrats on the split!
As for your deck, your curve has a lot of 5s and seems a little slow to get there if you dont have Sol Ring, Fyndhorn Elves, Nature's Lore or Sylvan Library in your opener. Yeah, I get you want to maximize fatties, but you also want early plays when you don't get lucky draws. Maybe maindeck Fastbond to help ramp? Or the Death Buzzard to hold off weenies?
P2P6 -- I think Grizzly Fate is a better 5-drop than Jungle Wurm. IMO Jungle Wurm is pretty mediocre.
P2P11 -- Do you see yourself playing Tangle much? Dauthi Mercenary is a fine 3-drop, you don't have many 3-drops, etc.
P2P12 -- It's unlikely you're splashing red at this point, and if Fires is going around that late (and if people are passing you such good green cards), there's probably no one playing RG. No reason to hate this. Meanwhile Tribute to the Wild is a solid sideboard card against Astral Slide.dec, something aggro typically struggles with. Fledgling Djinn is not amazing in your strategy but is still an early drop and gives you some way to interact with flyers. Either seem like decent sideboard cards.
P3P2 -- I'd have been pretty tempted to grab the Edric and splash blue with Krosan Tuskers. Normally I'd say Roar of the Wurm, but I guess you didn't have any discard outlets yet at that point.
P3P3 -- Reanimate! Card is good, even better in GB decks with fatties, even better if you can nab any Wild Mongrels or Putrid Imps later. (apparently it wheeled anyway!)
Yea this draft was pretty lucky. Green was wide open, but I had only every seen green paired with blue. I did not see any blue coming so I paniked on what to do. This format has some powerful synergy decks. I attack.
Fastbond came in every game usually siding out hymm. Death Buzzard won me a game against goblins. I usually sided out one jungle wurm and the predatory nightstalker.
I actually thought about that play alot. Why i chose the wurm had to do with the fact that I could reanimate or eureka the wurm and not the grizzly fate
I wanted a creature that could block. The shadow turned me off. I did side in tangle against the goblins deck. He would build up an army and cast falter to alpha strike me.
I did not think about an answer for slide. I was afraid of the deck too. I started gettign scared that black was drying up and should I be red instead of black, but that was just my jitters not a defensible pick
I really wanted the roar. I really thought I would see a mongrel by now. I started thinking that my plan was dead in the water. No discard outlets reanimater FTW.
I did not think that I would be able to get the fatties into the yard.
I'd say that's true for Animate Dead. The problem with Reanimate is that by mid-game, when there's enough variety of creatures in the graveyard, you might be down to 8-13 ish life. At that stage, reanimating any 4-drop or bigger puts you pretty low in life. This format has a TON of burn and reach, so dropping low in life can be a quick way to get blown out out of nowhere. So it has to be worth it. Even getting back Predatory Nightstalker or Flametongue Kavu to kill something is a gamble for 4-5 life if you're trying to stabilize. If you're getting back a 3-drop or smaller, you might as well have just run a 3-drop in that slot instead of Reanimate.
For example, if I'm at 12 life and opponent has 2 more creatures than me and I need to stabilize (not a huge losing situation like you bring up, just falling behind), I might think it wise to reanimate Predatory Nightstalker for the 2-for-1 (losing 5 life to 7) instead of a bear. The nightstalker would bring me to parity whereas the bear would put me behind one creature, which means damage is getting through as things trade up. With available information, Nightstalker seems like a better choice than the bear. However, if opponent is sitting on Fireblast + Chain Lightning, Kaervek's Torch, Death's Grasp, or double Tyrant's Choice, then Nightstalker is a terrible choice because I just get burned out immediately. I've been burned out from 7+ life in several VMA games already, from all of those combinations. There's a lot of reach in this format, moreso than in most Limited formats. There's also stuff like Falter, Rites, etc. to make creatures bust through out of nowhere. But if they don't have the reach to kill you, you probably want the 2-for-1 now.
If I was at 18 life, the chance of getting burned out after Reanimating something is much much much lower, so I can focus on the impact on board state without having to evaluate corner case risks of losing immediately.
Reanimate forces you to make the decision on how low you can let your life go while the opponent sits on hidden information and can respond accordingly to your choice. In other words, it creates a strategic disadvantage because it forces you to commit to a strategy first (protect life or advance board state) and the opponent gets the luxury to be the one to make his move after. He's automatically working with more information and you're stuck making worse decisions, seems bad.
This argument is for VMA in particular. Unlike most limited formats, there's a lot of cheap explosive reach, there are a lot of Nekrataal-type creatures that have high cc but generate card advantage (i.e. appealing but risky Reanimate targets), and games are generally either grindy or you're playing on the heels of aggro.
Am I missing something here? Seems like a really good pick after sol ring and elves.
An obvious good build around rare for a mana ramp deck?