Some sort of UR control seems possible if you get the right cards, but I don't really want my UR decks to be grinding out card advantage with Archaeomancer in M14. I want them to hit people in the face with giant unblockable monsters.
Very much this. Archaeomancer returning Shock is five mana for 2 damage.
Also, it's worth bearing in mind that Red's creature base is pretty terrible in M14. This is not an easy archetype to draft and we need to pick decent creatures at every opportunity or we'll end up short of ways to win.
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(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>
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
Predatory Sliver. We don't want any of the "on color" options. This is also a bit late for a Predatory Sliver, and it's appearing alongside an Advocate of the Beast which shouldn't go too much later than this.
Looks like we were right about that green signal. Usual disclaimers about "anything can happen" apply, but if the packs continue along these lines I suspect we'll end up abandoning two of our earlier picks and playing UG or RG.
Blur Sliver. I feel like even if we wound up with some battle slivers in pack 2 we wont see a lot of green again until pack 3. Like if predatory sliver was not in this pack the pick would be blur without hesitation which makes taking pred feel more like a mid pack hate pick than hedging our bets on getting enough green in pack 3 to abandon blue or red here.
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"A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect? And he will probably ask himself two more: 1. Could I put it more shortly? 2. Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?"
I think Blur Sliver here. Might end up kicking ourselves later, but the 2/2 haste for 3 isn't awful, especially with our 2 Shocks and condor (which can give it flying when it's coming onto the field all hasty) to back it up.
Predatory Sliver and Advocate of the Beast are pretty massive signals, but i know when I get all wishy-washy and can't commit early I end up with a bad deck...
Perhaps other player/drafters are able to do this and make it work, but I cannot.
Now I like the G card. Predatory Sliver is much stronger, and this is the point in the draft where you sacrifice a pick or two because much stronger cards are coming in a different color. We're not giving up much (Blur Slivers seem to go late) and we're potentially gaining a lot.
My guess is GR.
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My helpy helpdesk of helpfulness.
My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Predatory Sliver. Blur sliver is the kind of card that we only actively want in a deck that wants Predatory Sliver a lot more. Yes, we are passing up on a card that we could potentially play in UR, but seeing as shock is such a splashable card I'm all for taking the strongest card with a bias towards blue and a small bias towards red. There are no blue cards at all and we don't want to be red so much more than green that I'm willing to take a card like Blur Sliver over a card like Predatory sliver.
Since it's so close, I'd take Predatory Sliver as well. This is just the fifth pick, we aren't required to be in UR because of our first four picks.
Agreed. This is the point of the draft where we can reliably start to read signals, and Predatory Sliver is a real one. Yes we've passed a lot of green, but that's not going to be as relevant as the signal we're reading for 25 of our next 40 picks. I'm especially worried that there are NO blue cards in this pack. It might just be a pack that was always short of blue, but it's also realistic that 3 of the 4 drafters upstream of us are in blue.
If I had to guess, I'd say that blue is the color we'll be dropping. It's pick 5, and what blue cards have we seen since our second-pick trained condor? (Not a signal p1p2)
The best cards in the packs since then have all been red, green, or black. RG seems likely. Not my favorite color combination in M14, but above all else, we want to be in colors that are open on our right.
Tome Scour. Not a great pick but nothing else here helps you.... at least if you grab another which is possible.. you can run a control-mill deck. Blood Bairn would be ideal but is a waste this early and commiting to 4 colors this early with no mana fixers in format screams 0-for This pack is bad and you really are not going anywhere with this first 6 picks. The removal is great but no creatures is starting to hurt you. I would be curious to what your first pack Rare was.
Very much this. Archaeomancer returning Shock is five mana for 2 damage.
Also, it's worth bearing in mind that Red's creature base is pretty terrible in M14. This is not an easy archetype to draft and we need to pick decent creatures at every opportunity or we'll end up short of ways to win.
(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>
Got knocked out by an allergic reaction yesterday, and now I'm at work Next pick will be when I get back home. That'll be in at least 4 hours.
BURPerfectly Suited to Mindless Carnage, ThraximundarRUB
URBOckham's Mindrazer = Nekusar the MindrazerBRU
UBRMarchsea makes all the Men do Stupid ThingsRBU
GWBThe Best Offense is Defense, Doran 2.0BWG
XRDaretti, Artifact ShenanigansRX
RKrenko the Don of the Goblin MobR
GFreyalise and Elves have pet HydrasG
WArmy of the Heavens, Lead by the Angel of HopeW
BDrana, The Removal BloodchiefB
UAzami, Knowledge is PowerU
WBDaxos is Enchanting Enchantments to Enchant more EnchantsBW
GRI got 99 Permanents but Primal Surge ain't One, Ruric TharRG
GBNel Thot's Sacrificial SwarmBG
WRWifey's Wrath - Gisela Blade of GoldnightRW
WUPillowfort Tron - BrunaUW
XXThe TriadXX
Do you have what it takes to survive?
It's obvious which card wins the head-to-head.
When in doubt, right?
1 Trained Condor
2 Shock
P1P5:
Mark your pick by either bolding it or putting it in Quote tags.
Next pick will be tomorrow (unless there is clear consensus, in which case I might post the next pick earlier). Have fun!
BURPerfectly Suited to Mindless Carnage, ThraximundarRUB
URBOckham's Mindrazer = Nekusar the MindrazerBRU
UBRMarchsea makes all the Men do Stupid ThingsRBU
GWBThe Best Offense is Defense, Doran 2.0BWG
XRDaretti, Artifact ShenanigansRX
RKrenko the Don of the Goblin MobR
GFreyalise and Elves have pet HydrasG
WArmy of the Heavens, Lead by the Angel of HopeW
BDrana, The Removal BloodchiefB
UAzami, Knowledge is PowerU
WBDaxos is Enchanting Enchantments to Enchant more EnchantsBW
GRI got 99 Permanents but Primal Surge ain't One, Ruric TharRG
GBNel Thot's Sacrificial SwarmBG
WRWifey's Wrath - Gisela Blade of GoldnightRW
WUPillowfort Tron - BrunaUW
XXThe TriadXX
Do you have what it takes to survive?
Looks like we were right about that green signal. Usual disclaimers about "anything can happen" apply, but if the packs continue along these lines I suspect we'll end up abandoning two of our earlier picks and playing UG or RG.
Mogis, God of Slaughter
Daxos of Meletis
Predatory Sliver and Advocate of the Beast are pretty massive signals, but i know when I get all wishy-washy and can't commit early I end up with a bad deck...
Perhaps other player/drafters are able to do this and make it work, but I cannot.
My guess is GR.
My Decks:
EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn
Modern: Polytokes
IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
Just a friendly reminder that I will drive this car off a bridge
Draft it on Cubetutor!
Agreed. This is the point of the draft where we can reliably start to read signals, and Predatory Sliver is a real one. Yes we've passed a lot of green, but that's not going to be as relevant as the signal we're reading for 25 of our next 40 picks. I'm especially worried that there are NO blue cards in this pack. It might just be a pack that was always short of blue, but it's also realistic that 3 of the 4 drafters upstream of us are in blue.
The best cards in the packs since then have all been red, green, or black. RG seems likely. Not my favorite color combination in M14, but above all else, we want to be in colors that are open on our right.
1 Trained Condor
2 Shock
1 Predatory Sliver
P1P6:
Mark your pick by either bolding it or putting it in Quote tags.
Next pick will be tomorrow (unless there is clear consensus, in which case I might post the next pick earlier). Have fun!
Cubetutor Link
Let's go Blood Bairn over the 9 unplayables in this pack.