Okay guys, so, I have a new idea. This came to me while playing a Mirrodin (not scars, but old school Mirrodin) draft and getting crushed.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could go onto salvation, and go "hm, what was X format about, what strategies worked" and find one big comprehensive Postmortem for the set?
So here is what I'm asking. To those people who did several ROE drafts and felt like they were reasonably successful, would you be willing to answer a few short questions?
If this goes well, we'll do one about M11, and so on, so that new users can do a quick search for "Postmortem" and find a ton of concise information about old draft sets.
Thank you.
--
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'll be sad if people don't start calling The Chain Veil "Fleetwood Mac."
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
I basically had 2: U/B/r or U/R/b Control, and 4-Color Control (usually something like u/b/R/G). It was all about removalspells, fixing, and being as greedy as possible.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Emrakul's Hatcher started out as a good common, but after a while it became a premium common and a centerpiece in all of my decks, even if I didn't have anything to ramp into.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Frostwind Invoker seemed pretty insane, but wasn't really that spectacular after all. I cut it quite often.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue was the strongest, white the weakest.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Actually, not much changed. I think I was pretty quick to understand the format reasonably well. It really fit my style!
Edit: Well, I guess something changed: I was reluctant to moving into green in the beginning, since it was so overdrafted, and I thought many of the green dudes were quite terrible, such as Stomper Cub and Sporecap Spider. But after a while people stopped forcing it, and I got good green cards like Kozilek's Predator and Growth Spasm.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Awesome format, sitting in a RoE queue at this very moment, playing 4-Color Control
2) Eldrazi Spawn w/ Broodwarden. Obviously, it involves you having a couple of Broodwardens, but also cards such as Pennon Blade and Might of the Masses. It seemed like there were better things to do with Spawn in the set than beat face with them.
3) Mnemonic Wall. It is married to one of my other favorite commons - Induce Despair. Also, Regress - bouncing permanents was VERY powerful in the level-up Limited format.
4) Vent Sentinel. I thought the Wall deck would be viable, but it really wasn't.
5) Blue by a long shot was the strongest... Awesome removal, great creatures, worked well with level-up, and Regress - Very versatile and worked with just about any color. Could even be made to work with Green. The worst... White. Although cards like Mammoth Umbra were powerful, White's best removal was Guard Duty, which doesn't help with utility creatures... and White doesn't have a lot of win conditions on its own, with the exception of the occasionally game-ending Dawnglare Invoker.
6) I tended to stay away from G/R Ramp as the set went on. Although it has the potential to be powerful, I felt like it needed to be hitting on all cylinders more so than U/W did. It seemed like G/R Ramp games needed to go a certain way for it to work, while U/W, or U/B, had multiple ways to win. This is not 100% accurate, just a general sense I got - but I just felt like U/W or U/B had all the answers and multiple paths to victory, where I felt G/R was more narrow.
7) What a set. It was a real pleasure to draft it, and I'm glad that the level-up mechanic worked out so well. Level-up led to many head-scratching strategic decisions (Do I put my mana into this creature, or save the mana for my trick?). A very pleasant strategic injection after the mind-numbing, zombie-horde march to 20 damage-fest that ZZW was.
1) My favorite archetype, though it was not always available to draft, was Kiln Fiend with Distortion Strike. The basic idea is that just one Distortion Strike paired with Kiln Fiend = 10 unblockable damage by Turn 4 which is pretty nuts. Of course you need other cards in your deck, so focus on removal and bounce (both pump Fiend and remove blockers), and other ways to make Kiln Fiend unblockable like Goblin Tunneler or Wrap in Flames. You have to get lucky with the packs to get enough Fiends to make it viable but it's tough to beat when it comes together.
2) I never had much success with UW Levelers. It seemed my opponent could always remove or neutralize my guys. Sure you can get Venerated Teacher blowouts but that's just one common. How many copies can you rely on? It's an archetype that's really good at going 2-1 and has a hard time going 3-0 because it has few ways to interact with what your opponent is doing.
3) Halimar Wavewatch. This dude tabled when the set launched. Any 0/6 creature is going to be decent early in the game preventing an aggro rush. Turning your 0/6 into a 6/6 that is possibly unblockable, in very manageable increments of 2, is huge upside. I think this is the one Leveler that people didn't really understand until they saw it in play.
4) I'll say Gloomhunter just because it's a square peg looking for a round hole. You see 2/1 Flying for 3 mana and it seems perfectly playable but it just has zero synergy with what Black is doing. Black can play a lot of different roles: ramp, something that takes advantage of Spawn, traditional control, etc. but none of them really wants a 2/1 Flying. Put this guy in most other sets and he's a higher pick. Honorable mention to Smite which looks great but is surprisingly hard to use.
5) Strongest was probably Green which is no surprise in a set that rewards ramp strategies. Weakest was definitely White. Again, not a huge surprise since White usually wins with small-creature-aggro and this set was designed for control and big beastly Eldrazi gods.
6) More than any other set, Rise rewards you for building a big combo deck. You need synergy in your pile. 23_good_cards.dec is a loser. You have to pick a strategy relatively early and stick to it or you're in trouble.
7) I really enjoyed RoE. It rewarded strategic deck building more than most sets. There was only one archetype prone to explosive "I couldn't possibly beat that" openings and that was Levelers. (And after a couple weeks, people learned the key cards you had to hate out of the pool late in the packs to prevent the nuts Leveler deck.) There was only one card that made me want to set myself on fire once it got online: Dawnglare Invoker. It was basically an easier to kill Platinum Angel at common which was not a good design choice but in a way, it helped salvage White from being a complete disaster by giving it one silver bullet.
I kept a record of my 8-man winning decks from MTGO so I'll post those once I find a spare hour or so to type them up.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
No questions - UB/x Control. Worked very simply, in that it took good removal and manipulation, and generally ramped up levelers and big critters in the endgame. Utter insanity frequently, and had the tools to deal with everything. You simply splashed whatever the hell you needed.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
UW Levelers - god I thought it would be good. No.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why? Emrakul's Hatcher. I honestly thought he was fair to middling at first pass. No. He's anything but.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected
Knight of Cliffhaven see UW levelers. He was alright, but frequently just didn't give you what it takes.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue Strongest, white weakest. No arguments from many, I think.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why? Started valuing blue cards higher and higher. I just was never happy to play a deck without blue in it, as they never quite seemed 'good enough.'
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Excellent draft format.
If this forum had Greasers, Phoenix, Commons and Semantics would be the leaders of the gang and every time they commented on something they would do a synchronized finger snap then smoke a cigarette.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
G/r/b (also splashed blue if r or b wasn't available). Great fixing and ramp. Could play every piece of removal drafted. Induce despair works great in this archetype (ramping to fatties)
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
UW Levelers was great if the draft went completely your way, but required too strict of a critical mass before being great.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Overgrown Battlement -> great ramp. If I got passed this 4th pick or later, I jumped into green.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected
Pennon Blade/Ogre's Cleaver -> Too expensive, just draft a fattie.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
In order of decreasing power
G/U -> great as main colors. U is good as a splash as well.
B/R -> good as main or splash
W -> needed key uncommons/chase commons to be good
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Started drafting Ux control less and G/x/x ramp more.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Was a very fun and interactive format
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
U/B or U/W levelers, Many levelers get significantly stronger with the enablers like venerated teacher and training grounds. Levelers can get pretty insane under the potential explosive starts.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
defender.dec
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Halimar Wavewatch; initially it tabled alot and I could easily pull 3-4 of them in a draft. It's initially a 0/3 wall that easily becomes a near unkillable wall. Late game it turns into a 3 turn clock because alot of people played blue.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
the umbras. They're ok but not as good as an actual threat.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue was by far the strongest; white was the weakest.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Mostly pick orders.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
fun to draft but hard to understand (at first) with all the intricacies.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Even if the author is silenced, the performance is stopped, the story will not end.
Whether it's a comedy or a tragedy, if there is cheering, the story will continue on.
Just like the many lives.
For the us who are still in it and still in the journey, send warm blessings.
- We will continue to walk down this path until eternity.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
I think U/B/r control was my favorite. Removal, recur removal and finish with whatever you got. Throw in a few choice levelers in the colors so you have something to sink mana into while you keep removal up. Was good times.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
WG auras. It was an archetype that needed a few choice cards, primarily aura gnarlid. If you could get a few of them and a few auras this archetype could crush people. But from my experience it was very hard to get this going and have it work really well. White had a little removal but none of it great, and green had none. Removal was very important in ROE.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Halimar Wavewatch. It was one of those cards that when the set first came out I thought, seems pretty good, a good early wall doesn't cost that much to level up. But at the same time, it was a wall. It seemed like a decent card. By the end it was probably my favorite creature in the set. It was so cheap to level up a little each turn. You basically had a creature immune to most forms of removal and since blue was king in the set, it was also often an unblockable creature by the time it was fully leveled.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Smite. When I first saw smite I expected it to be great removal. You could block an eldrazi with a spawn token and kill it. Seemed like an amazing card. ROE turned out to be largely about evasion. It is important in all limited sets, but I felt like flying became the predominant win con in a lot of my games. More often then not I found no use for smite.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue was the strongest. White was the weakest.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I think what changed most for me was the way I valued levelers. I always loved them, I thought a leveler was the best damn card ever, and I always wanted to grab them over most other cards. I very rarely ended up in U/W and I almost never ended up with venerated teachers. Without enablers levelers in mass can actually work against you. If you have 4 levelers on the field you can only really level one or two at a time, and without leveling they are usually just overcosted creatures. I think it took me awhile to start looking at other cards above certain levelers depending on what my deck already consisted of.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
I loved ROE. I started in M10 so I don't have a lot of experience with older sets. ROE is definetly my favorite set to draft as of right now. You had so many options and it was just fun as all hell.
1) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
Whilst in theory I liked Surreal Memoir Control, in practice it was never open in 8-4s after the first couple of weeks.
So my favourite archetype ended up being G/U/x control. The basic idea is to present enough midgame threats that your opponent has to use their removal up, then you win the late game because you make Eldrazi before they do and then have counters.
2) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
U/B Levellers. It's just brilliant at stealing wins, so if you're having trouble reaching a 40% win rate, this could be the deck for you. That aside, it's just bad because the Black levellers are expensive to level and the synergy is awful.
3) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Dread Drone. That was a 23rd card for me to begin with, then slowly rose and rose to the point where it was a moderately high pick.
4) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Last Kiss. It looked like solid removal. Actually it wouldn't even be playable if it weren't an Instant.
5) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue is strongest, White weakest. I honestly don't think either is remotely debateable.
6) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I stopped losing :cool:. But seriously - at the start of the season I was doing really badly because I misunderstood what the good archetypes were. Once I started paying attention to how Sene was winning drafts, I did a lot better.
7) Closing statements about ROE?
One of the best draft formats ever. Second only to RGD in my affections. Should have been a full block.
PS. Instant tip to double your win rate: draft Totem-Guide Hartebeest when you're not in White and splash for it!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
--
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
Jund-colored ramp. Pretty much you ran any amalgamation of those colors (splashed or main) with one of two goals in mind pending your split of colors. Play lots of 4-drops (Wildeart Invoker gets honorable mention here as an amazing 4-drop AND an amazing late game finisher) and 5-drops and have too many threats for your opponent to stop or rush up to 8/9 mana while removing your opponent's threats and throw down an eldrazi before your opponent can get out any similarly-sized threats.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
U/W levelers, it seemed so amazing early on, but as the set progressed it seemed solid, but not as ridiculous as before because if you didn't have venerated teachers in every game, you didn't have the early explosiveness to beat the ramp decks and control decks.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why? Totem-Guide Hartebeest I initially thought it was filler, but it made decks with the quality auras in the set ridiculously consistent. Imagine being able to get out Eldrazi Conscription every game if you were lucky enough to open it.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected? Time of Heroes. I saw it as a ridiculous leveling-enabler early, but eventually came to the conclusion it was much more of a win-more card as unless you have a good number of levelers already leveled, it's useless and if you have that, you will generally win unless your opponent has a board-clear.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue and Green tied for strongest in my eyes. Blue was the strongest in a vacuum, but Green allowed you to run 4-color and 5-color consistently which means your average card quality should be higher than most other decks. White was without a doubt the weakest color.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I became a lot more patient with signals for archetypes and paid more attention to that than colors, it was my first set and I was very prone to forcing G/r/b every draft at the start, which lead to quite a few very weak decks where I had some solid green, red and black cards, but really didn't fit into an archetype.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Amazing draft set. Sadly, very few cards in it are competitive in eternal formats, so it won't be as popular from a money standpoint, but it's still an amazing set to draft and I will draft it whenever I can.
I don't know what you think this game's purpose is, but I play it because I figure it's the best way to learn how to hex everyone I don't like and summon dragons to do my bidding.
It hasn't worked yet, but I have high hopes for my future abilities as an occult practitioner.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
anything with white. i thought UW levelers would be really sweet but it white was so bad for me all the time. its removal just didn't work properly so you were left trying to get the job done with a Knight of Cliffhaven and almost nothing else.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Lavafume Invoker. At first I thought of it as just a body that was less dead in the late game. Towards the end I began to think of it as a build-around me win condition in its own right. Red decks with Invokers are totally different (and better) than red decks without them.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Shared Discovery. i thought it would be pretty sweet to play in a UR or UB deck with a bunch of spawn guys, but blue itself completely lacking spawn generators made those archetypes pretty damn awkward. UR non-spawn was good, but UR spawn doesn't work. I thought cards like Shared Discovery could make it work, but it wasn't good enough.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Strongest = black, i realize most think blue was better. close call, but black was in my favorite archetype so it gets the pick from me.
Weakest = white
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
i didnt make any dramatic changes. alot of people started out by trying to get cute and draft fast attacking decks to "beat the slow format" with. i kinda always got that this was not going to work well and tried to find the best decks for the slow format.
i think what changed the most for me was that at first i was trying mostly to use spawn to cast actual Eldrazi but later I started trying to use spawn to do other powerful things instead.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
best limited format i've played since Ravnica. i feel really upset that it didn't last for very long, and in particular that it didn't coincide well with my schedule. im not an MTGO guy, i play at LGS in the flesh so i have to have some free time to be able to draft often. i had very little during RoE season and missed quite a bit of it. SO GOOD THOUGH. im thinking of buying a box or two just to draft it with friends at a later time.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
The mnemonic wall deck. Grixis colors, recur your removal, kill your opponent with an Umalog's Crusher or whatever fattie you can get. Wasn't really open past the first month of the set, though. I probably had more success towards the end with Jund colored ramp.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
The aura gnarlid deck, or GW auras, whatever you want to call it. It relied too much on getting a few specific green commons, in multiples.
(I never liked UW levellers. Even the nuts opening of champion's drake, leveller, venerated teacher would lose to one staggershock.)
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why? Lust for War. It's almost like having an active Valakut. I thought it was unplayable at the start of ROE, but it quickly became a high pick.
Edit: D'oh! I picked an uncommon. Hm... then Overgrown Battlement. It went from being a mid-pack pick to a first pick over removal.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected? Makindi Griffin. Never has a 2/4 flier for 4 felt so underwhelming. The card is fine, but man, it just wasn't part of any deck, and in ROE, that is a big problem.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
As much as I liked blue, I feel like green was the deepest, if not the strongest. White was the weakest.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I got tired of fighting over blue cards with the leveler deck, so my grixis control decks turned into Jund Ramp. I also had a lot of success with just straight up black/green.
I also took removal fairly low in this set. I'd take a Pelakka Wurm or a Wildheart Invoker over induce despair.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
If I could give one piece of advice, it would be "take the best card for your deck, always." ROE was not a set about just getting good cards, and very few cards are so strong that you'll take them over an archetype card. (Keening Stone and Eldrazi Conscription being the two main exceptions.)
On the whole though, you'll always take that bloodthrone vampire over the slightly better card in a vacuum, because you're building the B/R tokens deck, etc.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
Jund tokens/ramp, Green and some combination of Red and Black or both.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
Mnemonic Wall Grixis colored control. Maybe I never got the right cards to make it work but the times I tried it, it didn't live up to the hype it got.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Emrakul's Hatcher. First I thought it was good. Then I thought it was really good. Then I realized I'll take a 4th one and be happy with my 3-0.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Skywatcher Adept. It's solid but not the powerhouse I thought it was. So many Staggershocks :/
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Green has the best mix of ramp, powerful creatures, and mana fixing to get paired with almost any other color. White was the weaker half of U/W levelers and didn't do much else.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
This was the set that I started to read signals and learn how to actually, uh, draft. I had only been playing for a few months when Rise came out and I had some skewed views on how limited worked during ZZZ/ZZW ("this week I feel like doing R/B, I hope I get some good cards in those colors!").
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Drana may be double black with a double black activation cost, but take her anyway. Here are your prize packs.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
I really enjoyed Raid Bombardment. The general premise was to make a bunch of otherwise mediocre creature/tokens and use Raid Bombardment as a Glorious Anthem. The GRb builds mainly won with Spawn Tokens and pushed through extra damage via Lavaflume Invoker, Might of the Masses, and Broodwarden and had a plan B of making a giant Eldrazi early with Brood Birthing. The RB builds played a lot of cards like Goblin Arsonist and just used the extra damage from early attacks to make up the difference along with the possibilty of Tunneler shenanigans. Usually you wanted 3+ of the namesake card. I had 4 once and shipped a 5th, but afterwards regretted it.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
The ramp and make a giant dude strategy. Bad in limited for the same reason it was bad in constructed.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Raid Bombardment obviously, but also Might of the Masses. Tempo efficient tricks that also can just end the game are very strong.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Hand of Emrakul went way down really fast. It was actually undersized and living the dream was just as easy as playing another Eldrazi with the 4 mana.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Red was the best as it supported so many archetypes. Black was probably the weakest color as its cards didn't really support a linear deck. White was less compatible, but supported the strongest archetype.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I originally assumed the linear archetypes were best (true) but didn't notice some or assumed they were bad. Over time I started noticing that certain archetypes actually worked and that picking/playing generically good cards over strong archetype cards was often just wrong. I definitely cut Nirkana Cutthroat from several 3-0 decks.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
The format was like an average comedy movie. Fun until you know all the punchlines and can recite them all from memory. That said, even with this in mind it is still #3 on my all time limited format list behind RGD and Shadowmoor.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone
To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why? Lavafume Invoker, never thought it was relevant until I tried to make the token deck without one. Really vital for the decks it belonged in. Honorable mention to Lust for War at uncommon.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected? Gloomhunter, for sure. Didn't do enough in this format of giant goons.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue, White
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Everybody wanted the U/W deck, and nobody seemed to like the Raid Bombardment list that was always on the table. Kiln Fiend also tended to have the pieces running around, but nobody with the gall to try and make it work.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Really enjoyed how balanced things were, was an awesome change of pace from "attack attack attack attack" we had to deal with in ZZZ/W. Drafting a number of realistic archetypes was enjoyable. #4 for me behind RGD, TPF, and MD5.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
U/X control. It worked out very well. I'll have to look over my game history over the summer but I won many matches where I was U/X stall winning with a fliers/unblockables.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
Levelers. I tried drafting it and failed, and lost only to the nut draws of those who had drafted. It requires luck to not only get the cards for it in draft, but to draw the right ones at match time.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Halimar Wavewatch. I knew blue was good, but not so good that if your opponent wasn't playing it main they were probably splashing for it. In fact this card made me scared to splash blue. I lost matches because I splashed blue. I ended my ROE drafting run first picking this guy above a lot of cards.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Skywatcher Adept. I expected this one to be an easy first pick but had no problems passing it along for cards in other colors. Expensive to level up and it has a 2 butt at best. If it actually gets to 4 power you find yourself needing it to block a guy with the time spent leveling it. Without a Venerated Teacher cheating out the last 2 Level Ups he was very underwhelming. Despite costing more to Level Up I liked Zulaport Enforcer WAY better.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue was the strongest (Before I started I thought it'd be Green). White was the weakest, and I felt that before I started.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Knowing what cards were worth spending your removal/trick to get rid of. The format was slow, and with the Eldrazi running around you needed to have a backup or a death wish to just trick away the best threat.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Definitely my best draft format since RRG. Averaged ~ 1840 rating on MTGO going straight on ROE [/horntoot] over a few months. I really enjoyed it because it was quite a change of pace of how I'm used to playing, and especially after ZZZ and ZZW where the game can effectively be decided by turn 4 fairly often.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Waiting patiently for MTGO Leagues to become a priority again. It's been 4 years :sick:.
Drop by my Helpdesk if you have any questions/concerns on the Limited forum.
Excited for M13 Limited? What do you think the format will look like? Head over to the limited forum and let us know what you think.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could go onto salvation, and go "hm, what was X format about, what strategies worked" and find one big comprehensive Postmortem for the set?
So here is what I'm asking. To those people who did several ROE drafts and felt like they were reasonably successful, would you be willing to answer a few short questions?
If this goes well, we'll do one about M11, and so on, so that new users can do a quick search for "Postmortem" and find a ton of concise information about old draft sets.
Thank you.
--
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
I basically had 2: U/B/r or U/R/b Control, and 4-Color Control (usually something like u/b/R/G). It was all about removalspells, fixing, and being as greedy as possible.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
The Kiln Fiend deck.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Emrakul's Hatcher started out as a good common, but after a while it became a premium common and a centerpiece in all of my decks, even if I didn't have anything to ramp into.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Frostwind Invoker seemed pretty insane, but wasn't really that spectacular after all. I cut it quite often.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue was the strongest, white the weakest.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Actually, not much changed. I think I was pretty quick to understand the format reasonably well. It really fit my style!
Edit: Well, I guess something changed: I was reluctant to moving into green in the beginning, since it was so overdrafted, and I thought many of the green dudes were quite terrible, such as Stomper Cub and Sporecap Spider. But after a while people stopped forcing it, and I got good green cards like Kozilek's Predator and Growth Spasm.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Awesome format, sitting in a RoE queue at this very moment, playing 4-Color Control
1) U/W Levelers. Generally speaking, this archetype involved common Levelers (Knight of Cliffhaven, Halimar Wavewatch, Skywatcher Adept, Caravan Escort) and synergistic cards such as Champion's Drake and Venerated Teacher. It could involve something that made the deck more... bomby, like a Time of Heroes or a Training Grounds.
2) Eldrazi Spawn w/ Broodwarden. Obviously, it involves you having a couple of Broodwardens, but also cards such as Pennon Blade and Might of the Masses. It seemed like there were better things to do with Spawn in the set than beat face with them.
3) Mnemonic Wall. It is married to one of my other favorite commons - Induce Despair. Also, Regress - bouncing permanents was VERY powerful in the level-up Limited format.
4) Vent Sentinel. I thought the Wall deck would be viable, but it really wasn't.
5) Blue by a long shot was the strongest... Awesome removal, great creatures, worked well with level-up, and Regress - Very versatile and worked with just about any color. Could even be made to work with Green. The worst... White. Although cards like Mammoth Umbra were powerful, White's best removal was Guard Duty, which doesn't help with utility creatures... and White doesn't have a lot of win conditions on its own, with the exception of the occasionally game-ending Dawnglare Invoker.
6) I tended to stay away from G/R Ramp as the set went on. Although it has the potential to be powerful, I felt like it needed to be hitting on all cylinders more so than U/W did. It seemed like G/R Ramp games needed to go a certain way for it to work, while U/W, or U/B, had multiple ways to win. This is not 100% accurate, just a general sense I got - but I just felt like U/W or U/B had all the answers and multiple paths to victory, where I felt G/R was more narrow.
7) What a set. It was a real pleasure to draft it, and I'm glad that the level-up mechanic worked out so well. Level-up led to many head-scratching strategic decisions (Do I put my mana into this creature, or save the mana for my trick?). A very pleasant strategic injection after the mind-numbing, zombie-horde march to 20 damage-fest that ZZW was.
2) I never had much success with UW Levelers. It seemed my opponent could always remove or neutralize my guys. Sure you can get Venerated Teacher blowouts but that's just one common. How many copies can you rely on? It's an archetype that's really good at going 2-1 and has a hard time going 3-0 because it has few ways to interact with what your opponent is doing.
3) Halimar Wavewatch. This dude tabled when the set launched. Any 0/6 creature is going to be decent early in the game preventing an aggro rush. Turning your 0/6 into a 6/6 that is possibly unblockable, in very manageable increments of 2, is huge upside. I think this is the one Leveler that people didn't really understand until they saw it in play.
4) I'll say Gloomhunter just because it's a square peg looking for a round hole. You see 2/1 Flying for 3 mana and it seems perfectly playable but it just has zero synergy with what Black is doing. Black can play a lot of different roles: ramp, something that takes advantage of Spawn, traditional control, etc. but none of them really wants a 2/1 Flying. Put this guy in most other sets and he's a higher pick. Honorable mention to Smite which looks great but is surprisingly hard to use.
5) Strongest was probably Green which is no surprise in a set that rewards ramp strategies. Weakest was definitely White. Again, not a huge surprise since White usually wins with small-creature-aggro and this set was designed for control and big beastly Eldrazi gods.
6) More than any other set, Rise rewards you for building a big combo deck. You need synergy in your pile. 23_good_cards.dec is a loser. You have to pick a strategy relatively early and stick to it or you're in trouble.
7) I really enjoyed RoE. It rewarded strategic deck building more than most sets. There was only one archetype prone to explosive "I couldn't possibly beat that" openings and that was Levelers. (And after a couple weeks, people learned the key cards you had to hate out of the pool late in the packs to prevent the nuts Leveler deck.) There was only one card that made me want to set myself on fire once it got online: Dawnglare Invoker. It was basically an easier to kill Platinum Angel at common which was not a good design choice but in a way, it helped salvage White from being a complete disaster by giving it one silver bullet.
I kept a record of my 8-man winning decks from MTGO so I'll post those once I find a spare hour or so to type them up.
No questions - UB/x Control. Worked very simply, in that it took good removal and manipulation, and generally ramped up levelers and big critters in the endgame. Utter insanity frequently, and had the tools to deal with everything. You simply splashed whatever the hell you needed.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
UW Levelers - god I thought it would be good. No.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Emrakul's Hatcher. I honestly thought he was fair to middling at first pass. No. He's anything but.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected
Knight of Cliffhaven see UW levelers. He was alright, but frequently just didn't give you what it takes.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue Strongest, white weakest. No arguments from many, I think.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why? Started valuing blue cards higher and higher. I just was never happy to play a deck without blue in it, as they never quite seemed 'good enough.'
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Excellent draft format.
G/r/b (also splashed blue if r or b wasn't available). Great fixing and ramp. Could play every piece of removal drafted. Induce despair works great in this archetype (ramping to fatties)
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
UW Levelers was great if the draft went completely your way, but required too strict of a critical mass before being great.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Overgrown Battlement -> great ramp. If I got passed this 4th pick or later, I jumped into green.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected
Pennon Blade/Ogre's Cleaver -> Too expensive, just draft a fattie.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
In order of decreasing power
G/U -> great as main colors. U is good as a splash as well.
B/R -> good as main or splash
W -> needed key uncommons/chase commons to be good
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Started drafting Ux control less and G/x/x ramp more.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Was a very fun and interactive format
U/B or U/W levelers, Many levelers get significantly stronger with the enablers like venerated teacher and training grounds. Levelers can get pretty insane under the potential explosive starts.
fun to draft but hard to understand (at first) with all the intricacies.
Whether it's a comedy or a tragedy, if there is cheering, the story will continue on.
Just like the many lives.
For the us who are still in it and still in the journey, send warm blessings.
- We will continue to walk down this path until eternity.
I think U/B/r control was my favorite. Removal, recur removal and finish with whatever you got. Throw in a few choice levelers in the colors so you have something to sink mana into while you keep removal up. Was good times.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
WG auras. It was an archetype that needed a few choice cards, primarily aura gnarlid. If you could get a few of them and a few auras this archetype could crush people. But from my experience it was very hard to get this going and have it work really well. White had a little removal but none of it great, and green had none. Removal was very important in ROE.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Halimar Wavewatch. It was one of those cards that when the set first came out I thought, seems pretty good, a good early wall doesn't cost that much to level up. But at the same time, it was a wall. It seemed like a decent card. By the end it was probably my favorite creature in the set. It was so cheap to level up a little each turn. You basically had a creature immune to most forms of removal and since blue was king in the set, it was also often an unblockable creature by the time it was fully leveled.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Smite. When I first saw smite I expected it to be great removal. You could block an eldrazi with a spawn token and kill it. Seemed like an amazing card. ROE turned out to be largely about evasion. It is important in all limited sets, but I felt like flying became the predominant win con in a lot of my games. More often then not I found no use for smite.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue was the strongest. White was the weakest.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I think what changed most for me was the way I valued levelers. I always loved them, I thought a leveler was the best damn card ever, and I always wanted to grab them over most other cards. I very rarely ended up in U/W and I almost never ended up with venerated teachers. Without enablers levelers in mass can actually work against you. If you have 4 levelers on the field you can only really level one or two at a time, and without leveling they are usually just overcosted creatures. I think it took me awhile to start looking at other cards above certain levelers depending on what my deck already consisted of.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
I loved ROE. I started in M10 so I don't have a lot of experience with older sets. ROE is definetly my favorite set to draft as of right now. You had so many options and it was just fun as all hell.
Whilst in theory I liked Surreal Memoir Control, in practice it was never open in 8-4s after the first couple of weeks.
So my favourite archetype ended up being G/U/x control. The basic idea is to present enough midgame threats that your opponent has to use their removal up, then you win the late game because you make Eldrazi before they do and then have counters.
2) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
U/B Levellers. It's just brilliant at stealing wins, so if you're having trouble reaching a 40% win rate, this could be the deck for you. That aside, it's just bad because the Black levellers are expensive to level and the synergy is awful.
3) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Dread Drone. That was a 23rd card for me to begin with, then slowly rose and rose to the point where it was a moderately high pick.
4) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Last Kiss. It looked like solid removal. Actually it wouldn't even be playable if it weren't an Instant.
5) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue is strongest, White weakest. I honestly don't think either is remotely debateable.
6) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I stopped losing :cool:. But seriously - at the start of the season I was doing really badly because I misunderstood what the good archetypes were. Once I started paying attention to how Sene was winning drafts, I did a lot better.
7) Closing statements about ROE?
One of the best draft formats ever. Second only to RGD in my affections. Should have been a full block.
PS. Instant tip to double your win rate: draft Totem-Guide Hartebeest when you're not in White and splash for it!
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
Jund-colored ramp. Pretty much you ran any amalgamation of those colors (splashed or main) with one of two goals in mind pending your split of colors. Play lots of 4-drops (Wildeart Invoker gets honorable mention here as an amazing 4-drop AND an amazing late game finisher) and 5-drops and have too many threats for your opponent to stop or rush up to 8/9 mana while removing your opponent's threats and throw down an eldrazi before your opponent can get out any similarly-sized threats.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
U/W levelers, it seemed so amazing early on, but as the set progressed it seemed solid, but not as ridiculous as before because if you didn't have venerated teachers in every game, you didn't have the early explosiveness to beat the ramp decks and control decks.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Totem-Guide Hartebeest I initially thought it was filler, but it made decks with the quality auras in the set ridiculously consistent. Imagine being able to get out Eldrazi Conscription every game if you were lucky enough to open it.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Time of Heroes. I saw it as a ridiculous leveling-enabler early, but eventually came to the conclusion it was much more of a win-more card as unless you have a good number of levelers already leveled, it's useless and if you have that, you will generally win unless your opponent has a board-clear.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue and Green tied for strongest in my eyes. Blue was the strongest in a vacuum, but Green allowed you to run 4-color and 5-color consistently which means your average card quality should be higher than most other decks. White was without a doubt the weakest color.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I became a lot more patient with signals for archetypes and paid more attention to that than colors, it was my first set and I was very prone to forcing G/r/b every draft at the start, which lead to quite a few very weak decks where I had some solid green, red and black cards, but really didn't fit into an archetype.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Amazing draft set. Sadly, very few cards in it are competitive in eternal formats, so it won't be as popular from a money standpoint, but it's still an amazing set to draft and I will draft it whenever I can.
anything with white. i thought UW levelers would be really sweet but it white was so bad for me all the time. its removal just didn't work properly so you were left trying to get the job done with a Knight of Cliffhaven and almost nothing else.
Lavafume Invoker. At first I thought of it as just a body that was less dead in the late game. Towards the end I began to think of it as a build-around me win condition in its own right. Red decks with Invokers are totally different (and better) than red decks without them.
Shared Discovery. i thought it would be pretty sweet to play in a UR or UB deck with a bunch of spawn guys, but blue itself completely lacking spawn generators made those archetypes pretty damn awkward. UR non-spawn was good, but UR spawn doesn't work. I thought cards like Shared Discovery could make it work, but it wasn't good enough.
Strongest = black, i realize most think blue was better. close call, but black was in my favorite archetype so it gets the pick from me.
Weakest = white
i didnt make any dramatic changes. alot of people started out by trying to get cute and draft fast attacking decks to "beat the slow format" with. i kinda always got that this was not going to work well and tried to find the best decks for the slow format.
i think what changed the most for me was that at first i was trying mostly to use spawn to cast actual Eldrazi but later I started trying to use spawn to do other powerful things instead.
best limited format i've played since Ravnica. i feel really upset that it didn't last for very long, and in particular that it didn't coincide well with my schedule. im not an MTGO guy, i play at LGS in the flesh so i have to have some free time to be able to draft often. i had very little during RoE season and missed quite a bit of it. SO GOOD THOUGH. im thinking of buying a box or two just to draft it with friends at a later time.
1.) What was your favorite archetype in ROE? How did it work?
The mnemonic wall deck. Grixis colors, recur your removal, kill your opponent with an Umalog's Crusher or whatever fattie you can get. Wasn't really open past the first month of the set, though. I probably had more success towards the end with Jund colored ramp.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
The aura gnarlid deck, or GW auras, whatever you want to call it. It relied too much on getting a few specific green commons, in multiples.
(I never liked UW levellers. Even the nuts opening of champion's drake, leveller, venerated teacher would lose to one staggershock.)
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Lust for War. It's almost like having an active Valakut. I thought it was unplayable at the start of ROE, but it quickly became a high pick.
Edit: D'oh! I picked an uncommon. Hm... then Overgrown Battlement. It went from being a mid-pack pick to a first pick over removal.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Makindi Griffin. Never has a 2/4 flier for 4 felt so underwhelming. The card is fine, but man, it just wasn't part of any deck, and in ROE, that is a big problem.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
As much as I liked blue, I feel like green was the deepest, if not the strongest. White was the weakest.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I got tired of fighting over blue cards with the leveler deck, so my grixis control decks turned into Jund Ramp. I also had a lot of success with just straight up black/green.
I also took removal fairly low in this set. I'd take a Pelakka Wurm or a Wildheart Invoker over induce despair.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
If I could give one piece of advice, it would be "take the best card for your deck, always." ROE was not a set about just getting good cards, and very few cards are so strong that you'll take them over an archetype card. (Keening Stone and Eldrazi Conscription being the two main exceptions.)
On the whole though, you'll always take that bloodthrone vampire over the slightly better card in a vacuum, because you're building the B/R tokens deck, etc.
Jund tokens/ramp, Green and some combination of Red and Black or both.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
Mnemonic Wall Grixis colored control. Maybe I never got the right cards to make it work but the times I tried it, it didn't live up to the hype it got.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Emrakul's Hatcher. First I thought it was good. Then I thought it was really good. Then I realized I'll take a 4th one and be happy with my 3-0.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Skywatcher Adept. It's solid but not the powerhouse I thought it was. So many Staggershocks :/
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Green has the best mix of ramp, powerful creatures, and mana fixing to get paired with almost any other color. White was the weaker half of U/W levelers and didn't do much else.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
This was the set that I started to read signals and learn how to actually, uh, draft. I had only been playing for a few months when Rise came out and I had some skewed views on how limited worked during ZZZ/ZZW ("this week I feel like doing R/B, I hope I get some good cards in those colors!").
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Drana may be double black with a double black activation cost, but take her anyway. Here are your prize packs.
Lover of EDH, hater of whiny EDH players.
I really enjoyed Raid Bombardment. The general premise was to make a bunch of otherwise mediocre creature/tokens and use Raid Bombardment as a Glorious Anthem. The GRb builds mainly won with Spawn Tokens and pushed through extra damage via Lavaflume Invoker, Might of the Masses, and Broodwarden and had a plan B of making a giant Eldrazi early with Brood Birthing. The RB builds played a lot of cards like Goblin Arsonist and just used the extra damage from early attacks to make up the difference along with the possibilty of Tunneler shenanigans. Usually you wanted 3+ of the namesake card. I had 4 once and shipped a 5th, but afterwards regretted it.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
The ramp and make a giant dude strategy. Bad in limited for the same reason it was bad in constructed.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Raid Bombardment obviously, but also Might of the Masses. Tempo efficient tricks that also can just end the game are very strong.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Hand of Emrakul went way down really fast. It was actually undersized and living the dream was just as easy as playing another Eldrazi with the 4 mana.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Red was the best as it supported so many archetypes. Black was probably the weakest color as its cards didn't really support a linear deck. White was less compatible, but supported the strongest archetype.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
I originally assumed the linear archetypes were best (true) but didn't notice some or assumed they were bad. Over time I started noticing that certain archetypes actually worked and that picking/playing generically good cards over strong archetype cards was often just wrong. I definitely cut Nirkana Cutthroat from several 3-0 decks.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
The format was like an average comedy movie. Fun until you know all the punchlines and can recite them all from memory. That said, even with this in mind it is still #3 on my all time limited format list behind RGD and Shadowmoor.
U/W Levelers, if you had both an appropriate amount of levelers and
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
R/G spawn beats. Only managed to make it work with 2x Broodwarden 2x Awakening Zone 4x Emrakul's Hatcher.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Lavafume Invoker, never thought it was relevant until I tried to make the token deck without one. Really vital for the decks it belonged in. Honorable mention to Lust for War at uncommon.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Gloomhunter, for sure. Didn't do enough in this format of giant goons.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue, White
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Everybody wanted the U/W deck, and nobody seemed to like the Raid Bombardment list that was always on the table. Kiln Fiend also tended to have the pieces running around, but nobody with the gall to try and make it work.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Really enjoyed how balanced things were, was an awesome change of pace from "attack attack attack attack" we had to deal with in ZZZ/W. Drafting a number of realistic archetypes was enjoyable. #4 for me behind RGD, TPF, and MD5.
U/X control. It worked out very well. I'll have to look over my game history over the summer but I won many matches where I was U/X stall winning with a fliers/unblockables.
2.) What archetype wasn't as good as you expected?
Levelers. I tried drafting it and failed, and lost only to the nut draws of those who had drafted. It requires luck to not only get the cards for it in draft, but to draw the right ones at match time.
3.) What common rose in value most for you as the set went on? Why?
Halimar Wavewatch. I knew blue was good, but not so good that if your opponent wasn't playing it main they were probably splashing for it. In fact this card made me scared to splash blue. I lost matches because I splashed blue. I ended my ROE drafting run first picking this guy above a lot of cards.
4.) What common wasn't as good as you expected?
Skywatcher Adept. I expected this one to be an easy first pick but had no problems passing it along for cards in other colors. Expensive to level up and it has a 2 butt at best. If it actually gets to 4 power you find yourself needing it to block a guy with the time spent leveling it. Without a Venerated Teacher cheating out the last 2 Level Ups he was very underwhelming. Despite costing more to Level Up I liked Zulaport Enforcer WAY better.
5.) What color do you feel was the strongest? The weakest?
Blue was the strongest (Before I started I thought it'd be Green). White was the weakest, and I felt that before I started.
6.) What changed the most about the way you drafted ROE as the set went on? Why?
Knowing what cards were worth spending your removal/trick to get rid of. The format was slow, and with the Eldrazi running around you needed to have a backup or a death wish to just trick away the best threat.
7.) Closing statements about ROE?
Definitely my best draft format since RRG. Averaged ~ 1840 rating on MTGO going straight on ROE [/horntoot] over a few months. I really enjoyed it because it was quite a change of pace of how I'm used to playing, and especially after ZZZ and ZZW where the game can effectively be decided by turn 4 fairly often.
Drop by my Helpdesk if you have any questions/concerns on the Limited forum.
Excited for M13 Limited? What do you think the format will look like? Head over to the limited forum and let us know what you think.
Fleeting Distraction - 75 (second most drafted card)
Shared Discovery - 72 (third most drafted card)
Emrakul’s Hatcher - 71 (fourth most drafted card, most drafted red card)
Deprive - 68 (fifth most drafted card, fourth most drafted blue card)
Perish the Thought - 67 (most drafted black card)
Lay Bare - 62 (fifth most drafted blue card)
Induce Despair - 62 (second most drafted black card)
Flame Slash - 62 (second most drafted red card)
Prophetic Prism - 61 (most/second most drafted colorless card)
Evolving Wilds - 61 (most/second most drafted colorless card)
See Beyond - 58
Shrivel - 58 (third most drafted black card)
Halimar Wavewatch - 57
Narcolepsy - 56
Sea Gate Oracle - 55
Regress - 54
Bala Ged Scorpion - 49 (fourth most drafted black card)
Vendetta - 48 (fifth most drafted black card)
Ulamog’s Crusher - 47 (third most drafted colorless card)
Bloodthrone Vampire - 46
Zof Shade - 46
Heat Ray - 46 (third/fourth most drafted red card)
Ogre Sentry - 46 (third/fourth most drafted red card)
Last Kiss - 43
Leaf Arrow - 43 (most drafted white card)
Spawning Breath - 42 (fifth most drafted red card)
Aura Finesse - 41
Ancient Stirrings - 41 (second most drafted green card)
Surreal Memoir - 40 (most drafted uncommon)
Eel Umbra - 39
Totem-Guide Hartebeest - 38 (most drafted white card)
Staggershock - 38
Wrap in Flames - 38
Lagac Lizard - 37
Fissure Vent - 36
Lavafume Invoker - 36
Dread Drone - 35
Cadaver Imp - 34
Enclave Cryptologist - 33 (second/third most drafted uncommon)
Jwari Scuttler - 33
Nighthaze - 33
Naturalize - 33 (third most drafted green card)
Dreamstone Hedron - 33 (second/third most drafted uncommon)
Champion’s Drake - 32
Frostwind Invoker - 32
Bloodrite Invoker - 32
Grotag Siege-Runner - 30
Nest Invader - 30 (fourth/fifth most drafted green card)
Ondu Giant - 30 (fourth/fifth most drafted green card)
Guard Duty - 29 (second most drafted white card)
Hand of Emrakul - 28
Demystify - 28 (third most drafted white card)
Domestication - 28 (fourth most drafted uncommon)
Essence Feed - 28
Growth Spasm - 28
Might of the Masses - 28
Guard Gomazoa - 27 (fifth most drafted uncommon)
Haze Frog - 27
Kozilek’s Predator - 26
Snake Umbra - 26
Nema Siltlurker - 25
Wildheart Invoker - 25
Artisan of Kozilek - 24
Makindi Griffin - 24 (fourth most drafted white card)
Null Champion - 24
Zulaport Enforcer - 24
Akoum Boulderfoot - 24
Overgrown Battlement - 24
Gloomhunter - 23
Warmonger’s Chariot - 23
Caravan Escort - 22 (fifth most drafted white card)
Dawnglare Invoker - 22 (fifth most drafted white card)
Skywatcher Adept - 22
Venerated Teacher - 22
Battle-Rattle Shaman - 22
Explosive Revelation - 22
Goblin Tunneler - 22
Rapacious One - 22
Reinforced Bulwark - 22
Raid Bombardment - 21
Jaddi Lifestrider - 21
Pennon Blade - 21
Lone Missionary - 20
Soulbound Guardians - 20
Merfolk Observer - 20
Merfolk Skyscout - 20
Vent Sentinel - 20
Daggerback Basilisk - 20
Not of This World - 19
Hyena Umbra - 19
Time of Heroes - 19
Distortion Strike - 19 (least drafted blue common)
Pawn of Ulamog - 19
Knight of Cliffhaven - 18
Aura Gnarlid - 18
Living Destiny - 18
Kor Line-Slinger - 17
Corpsehatch - 17
Demonic Appetite - 17
Battle Rampart - 17
Goblin Arsonist - 17
Kiln Fiend - 17
Lust for War - 17
Valakut Fireboar - 17
Bramblesnap - 17
Stomper Cub - 17
Puncturing Light - 16
Soul’s Attendant - 16
Recurring Insight - 16 (most drafted rare)
Skeletal Wurm - 16
Joraga Treespeaker - 16
Eland Umbra - 15
Mammoth Umbra - 15
Gravitational Shift - 15 (second most drafted rare)
Unified Will - 15
Brimstone Mage - 15
Pelakka Wurm - 15
Drake Umbra - 14
Repay in Kind - 14 (third most drafted rare)
Brood Birthing - 14 (least drafted red common)
Forked Bolt - 14
Skittering Invasion - 13
Ikiral Outrider - 13
Repel the Darkness - 13
Arrogant Bloodlord - 13
Death Cultist - 13
Suffer the Past - 13
Traitorous Instinct - 13
Irresistible Prey - 13
Glory Seeker - 12
Oust - 12
Smite - 12
Crab Umbra - 12
Baneful Omen - 12 (fourth most drafted rare)
Nirkana Cutthroat - 12
Conquering Manticore - 12 (fourth most drafted rare)
Magmaw - 12 (fourth most drafted rare)
Boar Umbra - 12
Ogre’s Cleaver - 12
Survival Cache - 11
Reality Spasm - 11
Contaminated Ground - 11 (least drafted black common)
Escaped Null - 11
Hellion Eruption - 11
Harmless Assault - 10 (least drafted white common)
Kabira Vindicator - 10
Stalwart Shield-Bearers - 10 (least drafted white common)
Sphinx of Magosi - 10
Mortician Beetle - 10
Disaster Radius - 10
Broodwarden - 10
Sporecap Spider - 10
Enatu Golem - 10
Runed Servitor - 10
Emerge Unscathed - 9
Wall of Omens - 9
Coralhelm Commander - 9
Echo Mage - 9
Hada Spy Patrol - 9
Phantasmal Abomination - 9
Virulent Swipe - 9
Rage Nimbus - 9
Dormant Gomazoa - 8
Curse of Wizardry - 8
Inquisition of Kozilek - 8
Prey’s Vengeance - 8
Eldrazi Conscription - 7
Affa Guard Hound - 7
Umbra Mystic - 7
Gelatinous Genesis - 7
Realms Uncharted - 7
Angelheart Vial - 7
Spawnsire of Ulamog - 6
Hedron-Field Purists - 6
Luminous Wake - 6
Surrakar Spellblade - 6
Pestilence Demon - 6
Thought Gorger - 6
Soulsurge Elemental - 6
Keening Stone - 6
Sphinx-Bone Wand - 6
Eldrazi Temple - 6
Lightmine Field - 5
Near-Death Experience - 5
Renegade Doppelganger - 5
World at War - 5
Gigantomancer - 5
Spider Umbra - 5 (least drafted common)
Tajuru Preserver - 5
Deathless Angel - 4
Gideon Jura - 4
Student of Warfare - 4
Cast Through Time - 4
Devastating Summons - 4
Lord of Shatterskull Pass - 4
Tuktuk the Explorer - 4
Awakening Zone - 4
Hedron Matrix - 4
It That Betrays - 3
Pathrazer of Ulamog - 3
Nomads’ Assembly - 3
Consume the Meek - 3
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief - 3
Guul Draz Assassin - 3
Bear Umbra - 3
Kazandu Tuskcaller - 3
Vengevine - 3
All Is Dust - 2
Kor Spiritdancer - 2
Consuming Vapors - 2
Splinter Twin - 2
Beastbreaker of Bala Ged - 2 (least drafted nonrare card)
Gravity Well - 2 (least drafted nonrare card)
Mul Daya Channelers - 2
Sarkhan the Mad - 2
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn - 1
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth - 1
Training Grounds - 1
Nirkana Revenant - 1
Momentous Fall - 1
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre - 0
Linvala, Keeper of Silence - 0
Transcendent Master - 0
Lighthouse Chronologist - 0
Hellcarver Demon - 0
Kargan Dragonlord - 0
Khalni Hydra - 0
Moneyrares don't really count in this statistic, as I've either traded them away when I've drafted them, or I've traded them from bots.
Also, I've done a few sealeds, so the statistics aren't 100% based on drafts, but at least 90+.
That's totally fine. The idea is just for a big bundle of knowledge to be available for people by searching "Postmortem."
Your card pool does a pretty good job of showing how the grixis removal deck works.