Seacoast Drake, I never played with the Cyclops and I hope I never will.
It's not so bad. Certainly not great, but 3 power evasion is a card and there are enough auras going around to make it worth a slot in most decks that need a high-end. That said, it's not the pick. We have plenty of time to grab this guy.
Drake, I guess. Ugh.
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My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
I guess we could end up back in blue if we're still in a confusing spot at the end of this pack, and we get hooked up with blue in a really big way in pack 2. In that case we might be happy to have the drake as a low-quality playable.
I'm gonna go ahead and stick to my guns, though, and have faith in my impression of the signals we've received. Naturalize. This format is rife with great naturalize targets, and I've sometimes found myself really wishing I had one or two in my sideboard.
I think I like coral merfolk over seacoast drake here. 2 shocks and a claustrophobia and a trained condor all speak toward getting in hits early and often and in most games seacoast winds up being a pseudo defender.
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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'm gonna go ahead and stick to my guns, though, and have faith in my impression of the signals we've received. Naturalize. This format is rife with great naturalize targets, and I've sometimes found myself really wishing I had one or two in my sideboard.
Not sure what signals you're referring to. Naturalize isn't a bad card to have, but we should be able to pick it up in the second or third pack when you have an idea of what colors we're in. For now, I'd rather get the card that might make our maindeck.
Consider every good card we've been passed from pick 3 on (I ignore pick 2 for signalling unless it's something genuinely ridiculous, or an uncommon was taken over a good rare, or something like that). They have all been in three colors: red, green, and black. Looking at blue specifically, the only playable cards we've been passed after pick 2 are a pair of Seacoast Drakes (including this one) and the Coral Merfolk that's in this pack alongside Drake #2.
The most important signal we've received is "Get the hell out of blue, you won't see any more of it in packs 1 or 3." Is it possible that the signal was sent accidentally by the most freakishly blue-deficient series of packs I've ever seen? Possibly. Is it possible pack 2 will be so stacked with blue cards that, combined with our first two picks, we'll want to stick with it? Maybe.
But playing the odds here, I want to draft some combination of RGB. Given what we have so far, RG seems likeliest. I'm willing to revisit blue if we open Jace or something.
Ah. I thought you were suggesting that we were getting a green signal, which I don't really see. But yeah, we might be getting cut out of blue. Still, with us being undecided on colors, I really do not want to take a sideboard card right now. I think it's the wrong choice. I suggest sticking with Drake for this pick. Besides, I'm not so sure we don't have a green neighbor. Maybe they're going for U/G.
Honestly, if I were going to take a blue card here, it would probably be the Merfolk anyway. I'm not sure which of the two is better in UG, but Merfolk fits much, much better with the UR gameplan than Drake does.
1/3 fliers just stop a lot. Especially if you get a great enchantment like lighting talons on them. At the point it's gg. Which you could do turn 4 leave 1 mana up for shock.
The way this deck is looking, we're gonna need the Wild Guess.
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My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
I tend to like Lightning Talons the best of the red cards available here (and we are certainly taking a red card). I usually don't mind playing one Lava Axe in most red decks, either, but Lightning Talons has a lot more upside, albeit with greater risk.
Lava Axe here. I like Wild Guess some of the time, but right now I think the huge chunk of burn would work better with how Pack 1 has been treating us.
I vote Lightning Talons, letting my poor decision making keep me from taking wild guess. These packs have been terrible and I'd be halfway to the door by now.
"If fetch lands are reprinted I really believe they will be in allied colors (aka Onslaught fetches). If the fetch lands are reprinted you better believe that we'll all be fetching up basics. This would lead me to believe that the set after THS may have a reprint as the temples can't be fetched but it's pure speculation." - posted 03/22/2014 proved correct during Khans spoiler season.
"The set releases for fall 2015 (Blood, Sweat and Tears) and fall 2016 (Lock, Stock and Barrel). One or both of those 2 blocks (I'm betting) are going to contain either Fetch reprints or (more likely) Filter reprints. Filter lands still need a reprint. They are getting pretty high up there and it's been longer than ZEN so it makes a little more sense that Filter lands would see print earlier that fetches." - posted 03/22/2014 proved incorrect about filters coming earlier than fetches, still pending on filters in Origins block.
I don't like playing many auras if I can help it but talons does enough, both for blue flyers and high power red ground creatures like ragathan firecat and marauding maulhorn.
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I was playing a draft the second week up avacyn being out and i was constructing my deck when the guy across from me spilled his cherry kool-aid all over mine and his cards, he had a griselbrand and I had a cavern of souls.
Lightning talons definitely. Lava axe is a 23rd card not a pick here for now. Lightning just always overlooked and it's an amazing card. Dunno why people think wild guess is good. It's too randomized. Limited doesn't need anymore luck involved. We need consistency.
Lightning talons definitely. Lava axe is a 23rd card not a pick here for now. Lightning just always overlooked and it's an amazing card. Dunno why people think wild guess is good. It's too randomized. Limited doesn't need anymore luck involved. We need consistency.
This is an argument for Wild Guess. If you're looking for more consistency in your deck, card draw is one of the best ways to get it.
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My Decks: EDH: Sygg, River Cutthroat , Road to Scion
Grimgrin, Corpseborn Modern: Polytokes IRL: Progenitus Polymorph , Goblins
I find when I want more cards I don't want to discard. But sometimes yes I have a worthless land with no fireball effects. I still much prefer divination over wild guess. The double cost in my opinion is also a real risk. And lightning talons forces people to deal with a card. It's just an absolute must. Especially on for example the drake we just drafted.
Lightning Talons is really good, I ended up drafting two or three of them in my last M14 draft and they didn't let me down in the least. I picked up some (Regethan? Can't remember the spelling) Firecats alongside them and they put in work, either dealing serious damage or acting as a threatening blocker.
Lava Axe isn't bad, but I find its uses much more limited and situational than the Talons. It's a pretty good card, I can't deny that, but realistically you're just drawing it and burning for five to the face, it doesn't give you any kind of board advantage and a lot of the time it'll just sit in your hand waiting for you to want to cast it.
It's not so bad. Certainly not great, but 3 power evasion is a card and there are enough auras going around to make it worth a slot in most decks that need a high-end. That said, it's not the pick. We have plenty of time to grab this guy.
Drake, I guess. Ugh.
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
I'm gonna go ahead and stick to my guns, though, and have faith in my impression of the signals we've received. Naturalize. This format is rife with great naturalize targets, and I've sometimes found myself really wishing I had one or two in my sideboard.
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?
Not sure what signals you're referring to. Naturalize isn't a bad card to have, but we should be able to pick it up in the second or third pack when you have an idea of what colors we're in. For now, I'd rather get the card that might make our maindeck.
Consider every good card we've been passed from pick 3 on (I ignore pick 2 for signalling unless it's something genuinely ridiculous, or an uncommon was taken over a good rare, or something like that). They have all been in three colors: red, green, and black. Looking at blue specifically, the only playable cards we've been passed after pick 2 are a pair of Seacoast Drakes (including this one) and the Coral Merfolk that's in this pack alongside Drake #2.
The most important signal we've received is "Get the hell out of blue, you won't see any more of it in packs 1 or 3." Is it possible that the signal was sent accidentally by the most freakishly blue-deficient series of packs I've ever seen? Possibly. Is it possible pack 2 will be so stacked with blue cards that, combined with our first two picks, we'll want to stick with it? Maybe.
But playing the odds here, I want to draft some combination of RGB. Given what we have so far, RG seems likeliest. I'm willing to revisit blue if we open Jace or something.
1 Trained Condor
2 Shock
1 Predatory Sliver
1 Rod of Ruin
1 Seacoast Drake
P1P8:
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!
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
I don't like Wild Guess at all.
Mogis, God of Slaughter
Daxos of Meletis
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"The set releases for fall 2015 (Blood, Sweat and Tears) and fall 2016 (Lock, Stock and Barrel). One or both of those 2 blocks (I'm betting) are going to contain either Fetch reprints or (more likely) Filter reprints. Filter lands still need a reprint. They are getting pretty high up there and it's been longer than ZEN so it makes a little more sense that Filter lands would see print earlier that fetches." - posted 03/22/2014 proved incorrect about filters coming earlier than fetches, still pending on filters in Origins block.
I don't like playing many auras if I can help it but talons does enough, both for blue flyers and high power red ground creatures like ragathan firecat and marauding maulhorn.
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?
Highest DCI Limited Rating: 2022
This is an argument for Wild Guess. If you're looking for more consistency in your deck, card draw is one of the best ways to get it.
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
Lava Axe isn't bad, but I find its uses much more limited and situational than the Talons. It's a pretty good card, I can't deny that, but realistically you're just drawing it and burning for five to the face, it doesn't give you any kind of board advantage and a lot of the time it'll just sit in your hand waiting for you to want to cast it.