So, we managed an impressive six players for this in the end and I got to play against Salvation people in all three rounds, which was awesome! Thanks to everyone who turned up! (And apologies to Sene, who thought it was yesterday.)
I'll add pick comments tomorrow, since it's late now...
Pack 3 pick 3:
Hunted Ghoul
Midnight Duelist
Guise of Fire
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Essence Harvest
Driver of the Dead
Galvanic Alchemist
Timberland Guide
Aggravate
Marrow Bats
--> Harvester of Souls
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 4:
Outwit
--> Thraben Valiant
Bloodflow Connoisseur
Wildwood Geist
Battle Hymn
Unhallowed Pact
Heirs of Stromkirk
Crippling Chill
Snare the Skies
Into the Void
Fettergeist
Swamp
Match 1 - Semantics Game 1
We both mulligan and I get stuck on Plains, Plains whilst he has Swamp, Swamp, Swamp. This is sort of amusing until he draws a 4th Swamp and resolves Evernight Shade, then finds a Forest and then a Mountain... by turn seven I'm still on two Plains. Bother.
Game 2
His Butcher Ghoul is super horrible for my deck. The good news is I resolve Holy Justiciar. The bad news is that he has Barter in Blood to leave himself with a 2/2 and me with nothing. Then next he has Moonsilver Spear. That's basically game. (I resolve Harvester of Souls, which he hits with Bone Splinters, but it wouldn't have done enough anyway.)
Match 2 - urafever Game 1
I have a turn three Emancipation Angel, sadly returning a land, but this is a lot better than his turn three Lair Delve for Vorstclaw discarding a second Lair Delve! Unfortunately for me that's about it for threats from my deck as he fills the board with good stuff.
I have one last chance, though. He's on only 8 life. If I can reach 9 mana I can Killing Wave for 8 and win! Unfortunately I'm still on 8 mana when he plays Archangel and I have to go for it because he's threatening to knock me below 8 life myself. My sadly-not-a-land topdeck was Moonlit Geist, which can hopefully hold off his Archangel... a plan which looks good right up until he removes it.
(I'm still not sure if I should have cast Killing Wave for 7 instead of 4 in order to make it easier to finish him with Essence Harvest if I happened to draw it. Or for 6 so that my two flyers could swarm around his Angel. Or for 5 in case I can somehow get the Emancipation Angel through...)
Game 2
I mulligan to five (two 1-land hands were never going anywhere). I put up a decent show with Thraben Valiant into double Moonlit Geist, but whilst I figure this is moderately hard for him to defend he actually plays Silverblade Paladin into Riders of Gavony and races me since almost all my blockers are Humans!
Match 3 - Laydowncracker Game 1
This is going well for me thanks to Angelic Armaments until he threatens to race thanks to Pathbreaker Wurm. He follows up with Ulvenwald Tracker, which threatens to get really messy, so I quickly kill the Wurm with Death Wind. The Soulbond rules work in my favour here. He has a Nightshade Peddler on the board, but cannot abuse his combo unless he draws new creatures. While I prepare to press my advantage with Maalfield Twins into Harvester of Souls, he draws land. I swing for the win.
Game 2
Quite a similar game. I'm slowly getting there through the air, but the ground battle again becomes worrying thanks to Pathbreaker Wurm. I'm forced to try and hold it off with Angelic Armaments on Moorland Inquisitor with mana up... but a Thundering Wrath (cast the hard way) leaves me defenceless and then dead in short order.
Game 3
I keep a sketchy hand of Swamp, Swamp, Swamp, Ghoulflesh, Righteous Blow, Angelic Armaments, Thraben Valiant. I need an early Plains for this to be playable, but I think that's about as good as it gets with this deck. Fortunately I get exactly that and his potentially terrifying Stonecutter into Wandering Wolf opening is instead rendered relatively harmless. I nervously Righteous Blow his Heirs of Stromkirk since I probably lose if he has a trick to save them, but I get away with it. He again assembles the Tracker/Deathtouch combo in the endgame and leaves me with a tricky decision as to what to play around in the endgame. I decide to me cautious, but he didn't have a trick anyway and I fly over for the win with Moonlight Geist and Archangel.
So that's 1-2... same as my first two drafts in this format, making it my worst format opening ever! But as you can see from the above draftcap, I really don't know what I'm doing, so this isn't all that surprising!
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<Limited Clan>
Just one question to begin with. Why would you not splash blue for the Bruna you could have had P3P1? You were already BW and Bruna is pretty powerful even just as a 5/5 vigilant flier. Am I missing something important here or is it simply a matter of preference/needing removal?
Pack 1 pick 2: Moorland Inquisitor over Archangel (I think that every deck wants two drops more than 7 drops)
Pack 1 pick 4: Thatcher Revolt over Death Wind (archetype vs card power)
Pack 1 pick 5: Angelic Wall over Undead Executioner over Killing Wave (killing wave is a punisher card. and they are almost always bad)
Pack 1 pick 6: Heirs of Stromkirk in red, Barter in Blood in black over Defang
Pack 1 pick 8: Scalding Devil/Human Frailty over Spectral Gateguards
Pack 1 pick 9: Midvast Protector over Maalfeld Twins
So I would have gone into WR humans, which I think is a stronger archetype than anything WB. I can't work out whether you want to be aggro or control, because the control deck wants both Barter in Blood and Archangel, and the aggro deck wants neither. And you took one but not the other. I'll draft as WB from here.
Pack 2 pick 1: Archangel over Triumph of Ferocity (??)
Pack 2 pick 3: Moonlight Geist over Angelic Wall
Pack 2 pick 8: Leap of Faith over Triumph of Cruelty
Pack 2 pick 10: Cathedral Sanctifier over Exquisite Blood
Pack 3 pick 1: Evernight Shade over Righteous Blow (Bruna is REALLY tempting too, but I'm not sure that this is a format you can splash into a BWu deck, and would err on the side of caution when it comes to the manabase)
Pack 3 pick 2: Zealous Strike over Druid's Familiar (was this a hate draft? Because if you wanted to splash a third colour, I would have taken Bruna earlier)
Pack 3 pick 5: Nearheath Pilgrim over Ghoulflesh
I think I would have run Renegade Demon and Angelic Wall over Killing Wave and Essence Harvest.
Were you happy with your final deck? Did you feel that you were aggro or controlling?
Just one question to begin with. Why would you not splash blue for the Bruna you could have had P3P1?
Two reasons. First, splashing is almost completely unsupported in this format unless you're Green, so it would make my mana horrible. Second, I'm not looking for more expensive finishers by that point - it's my midgame that's in trouble. (Plus, of course, my pick could just have been wrong. That's just my reasoning at the time.)
Also, Bruna's not especially good if she's hard to cast (she basically just plays like an Archangel).
Pack 2 pick 1: Archangel over Triumph of Ferocity (??)
I was considering a move into Green here and since I already had an Archangel I didn't really want another one. (And Triumph of Ferocity is massively powerful, but you probably know that already.)
Pack 3 pick 2: Zealous Strike over Druid's Familiar (was this a hate draft? Because if you wanted to splash a third colour, I would have taken Bruna earlier)
No, it wasn't a hatedraft - I had a couple of good Green cards and might have splashed if someone passed me a Vessel.
Out of interest, how sure are you? I realise it's the better card in general, but my deck at this point is a bunch of White 2-drops and no removal or midgame!
I think I would have run Renegade Demon and Angelic Wall over Killing Wave and Essence Harvest.
The reason I didn't is because I don't think this deck can ever win unless it's the aggressor. It has far too few answers to anything. Indeed, when playing the Killing Wave felt like my best card a lot of the time.
Were you happy with your final deck? Did you feel that you were aggro or controlling?
No, the deck was utter poop. My initial concept for the deck was to run a White core and use Black to exert just enough control to make the Angels plan fast enough. The trouble was, I saw a really bad White mix involving super-expensive finishers plus too many 2-drops. My previous AVR decks have always had great midgames and a shortage of early drops, so I felt like things were gong well until halfway through pack two when I began to become aware of the problem.
The deck has to follow an aggro plan and is incapable of exerting control of any kind, but that's not to say I think it's really an aggro deck. I believe the technical term is "a pile".
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<Limited Clan>
That's insane that you went 0-3 with that deck. Could definitely use a Pillar or two but it seems so strong. What do you think it needed? Or was the card pool in this draft just that insane?
Bear in mind his last round opponent was crazy awesome at Magic!
Joking apart, what seemed to go wrong with the deck in practice was that it's a bunch of small threats (albeit high quality ones) and never does anything really unfair. So, for example, when the deck flooded a bit in one game it was basically done for.
In my (admittedly very limited) experience, good decks in this format need to do seriously unfair things.
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<Limited Clan>
Pack 1 pick 1:
Natural End
Fleeting Distraction
Moorland Inquisitor
Searchlight Geist
Malicious Intent
Pathbreaker Wurm
Riot Ringleader
--> Seraph of Dawn
Grave Exchange
Dreadwaters
Blood Artist
Devout Chaplain
Archangel
Demonlord of Ashmouth
Forest
This was a very tough pick. Seraph is significantly worse than Demonlord, but I try to avoid black whenever possible in this format.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Banners Raised
Rotcrown Ghoul
Thraben Valiant
Guise of Fire
Trusted Forcemage
Searchlight Geist
Cursebreak
Pillar of Flame
Joint Assault
Ghostform
Into the Void
Angel's Tomb
--> Angel of Jubilation
Swamp
Trusted Forcemage is excellent, probably better than the Angel because it doesn't have an insanly restrictive mana cost, but we're already in white.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Grounded
Dreadwaters
Bone Splinters
Essence Harvest
Alchemist's Apprentice
--> Moonlight Geist
Death Wind
Angel's Mercy
Thatcher Revolt
Corpse Traders
Angel's Tomb
Bower Passage
Island
This is between Moonlight Geist and Death Wind; again I decide to stay in white and not pick the more powerful card, perhaps mistakenly, as there's a large difference in power level between Death Wind and the Geist.
Farbog Explorer is a solid man with upside. The Trident is ok, but not great and it's not worth changing colors for the other cards here.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Dreadwaters
--> Kruin Striker
Abundant Growth
Necrobite
Zealous Strike
Heirs of Stromkirk
Sheltering Word
Defang
Barter in Blood
Wild Defiance
Mountain
??????? Yeah, I don't know what was going on here either. I do think that two drops are incredibly important in this format, but Barter is several thousand times better (and if I didn't want to move into black I could just pick the strike)
Protector and Devil are both decent; Protector is stronger, but two drops are hard to find and four drops aren't. That said, two drops with only 1 power are not all that useful.
This is guy is no Darkthicket Wolf, but he's still a solid man and is much more useful than the Chaplain.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Rotcrown Ghoul
--> Guise of Fire
Cursebreak
Ghostform
Angel's Tomb
Swamp
(Mon)guise of Fire is mediocre, but eminently playable.
Pack 1 pick 11:
Grounded
Dreadwaters
--> Angel's Mercy
Bower Passage
Island
I like Inquistor and Valiant, but the Dragon is good if you aren't getting completely destroyed (granted that isn't so easy in this format).
Pack 2 pick 2:
Guise of Fire
Trusted Forcemage
Searchlight Geist
Pathbreaker Wurm
Gryff Vanguard
Dangerous Wager
Spectral Prison
--> Defang
Snare the Skies
Mental Agony
Mass Appeal
Archangel
Desolate Lighthouse
Mountain
Defang deals with troublesome early blockers (sort of) and is great against late game fatties. I don't like 7 drops in this color combination.
Passing a Druid's Familiar and an ulvenwald is a very bad feeling, but there's not much we can do at this point. I'm not too sad about picking Fervent Cathar though- it's a strong card and is definitely better than Malcontents or Cloudshift.
Pack 3 pick 2:
Hunted Ghoul
Midnight Duelist
Guise of Fire
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Essence Harvest
Driver of the Dead
Galvanic Alchemist
Timberland Guide
Aggravate
Marrow Bats
--> Falkenrath Exterminator
Harvester of Souls
Mountain
Exterminator is very strong (though sometimes mediocre) and plays nicely with the Fervent Cathar we just picked.
Pack 3 pick 3:
--> Moorland Inquisitor
Outwit
Thraben Valiant
Bloodflow Connoisseur
Wildwood Geist
Battle Hymn
Unhallowed Pact
Heirs of Stromkirk
Crippling Chill
Snare the Skies
Into the Void
Fettergeist
Swamp
I like Heirs quite a bit, but two drops are crucial in this format.
Oh sweet, a Nearheath Pilgr... !!!! Slayer's Stronghold is a great card and fits our deck perfectly, the easy pick here.
Apparently the excitement of this was a little too much for my computer to take, as my internet went out and it didn't come back until pick 7.
Pack 3 pick 7:
Fleeting Distraction
Uncanny Speed
Cathedral Sanctifier
Lair Delve
--> Voice of the Provinces
Narstad Scrapper
Holy Justiciar
Rain of Thorns
Plains
Justiciar is too low impact to pick over Voice of the Provinces, even if it's sweet against the sick black deck we passed.
Pack 3 pick 8:
--> Scroll of Avacyn
Terrifying Presence
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Essence Harvest
Galvanic Alchemist
Bower Passage
Island
Pack 3 pick 9:
Lair Delve (FOIL)
Raging Poltergeist
--> Zealous Strike
Sheltering Word
Spectral Prison
Aggravate
Forest
All in all, a very poor draft, but we did get an awesome card in our exact colors in pack 3.
Unfortunately, I don't remember too much about the games, as they don't seem to be there when I look and I've probably done about 10 drafts on MTGO since the release, so my memory of individual games isn't too clear. I beat urafever in a couple close games, lost to one of the randoms (Druid's Familiar :() round 2 and beat Semantics round two when I drew 10 or so lands to his 13-15, which let me overcome multiple misplays and misclicks.
@whiteweenieruler - Interesting draft! I'm going to come back and reread that one in a month or so once I have some understanding of the format.
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<Limited Clan>
p1p3 Thraben Valiant over Trusted Forcemage made me gag.
I am looking for ANY excuse to draft green in this format. I picked Somberwald Sage over Death Wind p1p1 yesterday, pretty much forced UG despite knowing I was getting cut by the seat to my right (who I ended up playing in round 2 - his deck was substantially better than mine), but I still 3-0'd the draft. Gx, particularly UG, is *that* good.
Pick THREE Forcemage is completely bonkers and you should have moved in immediately.
Pick THREE Forcemage is completely bonkers and you should have moved in immediately.
Duly noted. My first draft deck in the format had triple Forcemage and wasn't getting the job done, so I concluded they were overrated. However, it's more likely I just didn't understand properly why that deck was failing.
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<Limited Clan>
p1p3 Thraben Valiant over Trusted Forcemage made me gag.
I am looking for ANY excuse to draft green in this format. I picked Somberwald Sage over Death Wind p1p1 yesterday, pretty much forced UG despite knowing I was getting cut by the seat to my right (who I ended up playing in round 2 - his deck was substantially better than mine), but I still 3-0'd the draft. Gx, particularly UG, is *that* good.
Pick THREE Forcemage is completely bonkers and you should have moved in immediately.
Sage is easily the pick over death wind to me. I don't even think that pick is close.
Really? Interesting. I'm not a huge fan of somberwald sage - this format isnt exactly about 5- and 6-drops. She can be part of an exciting nut draw, but too often you're either going to draw her on turn 9 and have be completely irrelevant or you're going to draw all the 5- and 6-drops you included to make that nut draw possible and stare at them while you miss land drops with no sage to be had.
If black wasn't turrible I'd pick removal over her in a heartbeat. I'd take a Wandering Wolf over her p1p1 tbh, to kind of illustrate where I think she falls power level wise.
I see a lot of people drafting defang way too high here. The card is actually terrible in this format, maybe a 10th pick at best.
That's a comment that's going to require a bit of defending. Maybe in W/R it's that bad, but I would have thought it was a bit better in W/G and waaay better in W/U. Or if not, why not?
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<Limited Clan>
That's a comment that's going to require a bit of defending. Maybe in W/R it's that bad, but I would have thought it was a bit better in W/G and waaay better in W/U. Or if not, why not?
Just from play experience (8 drafts) so far. It just doesn't actually kill anything and they can chump block all day. If it was a different colour it would be better, but white has cloudshift, righteous blow, zealous strike and any of the common 2 drop creatures that are better than it, thus a 10th pick.
Just from play experience (8 drafts) so far. It just doesn't actually kill anything and they can chump block all day. If it was a different colour it would be better, but white has cloudshift, righteous blow, zealous strike and any of the common 2 drop creatures that are better than it, thus a 10th pick.
I was considering a move into Green here and since I already had an Archangel I didn't really want another one. (And Triumph of Ferocity is massively powerful, but you probably know that already.) Yeah, you don't want too much high end in the controlling deck. I guess you can take a flyer on green. I don't know how viable three colour decks are that aren't built around a green core however. I suspect that the answer is 'not very'. In which case you shouldn't be drafting these green cards...
Out of interest, how sure are you? I realise it's the better card in general, but my deck at this point is a bunch of White 2-drops and no removal or midgame! Well, it comes back to what your gameplan is. I think that the default decks that can be drafted in this format are: UG Soulbond Humans aggro monoB You are not drafting the monoB or UG deck, ergo you are drafting Wx human aggro. To me. The 'trick' of drafting good aggro decks is that you have to highly pick really ****ty two drops so that you can curve out with them every game. I'm not omnipotent and can't tell you which one is definitely better, but *if* you are trying to draft an aggro deck I think that the 2/1 is definitely a better fit in your deck.
The reason I didn't is because I don't think this deck can ever win unless it's the aggressor. It has far too few answers to anything. Indeed, when playing the Killing Wave felt like my best card a lot of the time. Again, this feels like an arguement for drafting a 2/1 beater rather than a -1 toughness removal spell. I still think that Mass of Ghouls would give you a moderately respectable way to attack through their midrange blocker.
No, the deck was utter poop. My initial concept for the deck was to run a White core and use Black to exert just enough control to make the Angels plan fast enough. The trouble was, I saw a really bad White mix involving super-expensive finishers plus too many 2-drops. My previous AVR decks have always had great midgames and a shortage of early drops, so I felt like things were gong well until halfway through pack two when I began to become aware of the problem. Fair enough. What do you think you could have done differently? I see th following options: 1. Write it off as 'one of those things'. That might be the case, and if so, there's nothing more to be learned from this draft 2. Review the draft from an archetypal perspective and see if there would have been better payoff to locking into an archetype earlier rather than vaccilating between aggro and control. At what point should you have 'locked in' to your colours? At what point should you have 'locked in' to your achetype?
The deck has to follow an aggro plan and is incapable of exerting control of any kind, but that's not to say I think it's really an aggro deck. I believe the technical term is "a pile".
That's a comment that's going to require a bit of defending. Maybe in W/R it's that bad, but I would have thought it was a bit better in W/G and waaay better in W/U. Or if not, why not?
Actually, I think he's right. Defang is as good as it 'looks' (i.e. like a Pacifism variant) only really in the UW flyers deck. It's more of a Ghostly Posession than a Pacifism.
And while the UW flyers is eternally good, it's not the default best deck in this format (or even one of the decks you should be trying to draft) like it has been in some others. I would be wanting to be drafting a Rx Human aggro or Gx Soulbond deck before I would be tempted by UW flyers.
I'll add pick comments tomorrow, since it's late now...
Event #: 3895754
Time: 5/24/2012 8:10:37 PM
Players:
--> bateleur
SethS
essenia
urafever
MegaPirateNinja
Enjambment
skytree
zwierz666
------ AVR ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Flowering Lumberknot
Nettle Swine
Gryff Vanguard
Banners Raised
Scroll of Griselbrand
Undead Executioner
Midvast Protector
Scalding Devil
Wandering Wolf
Borderland Ranger
Gang of Devils
--> Emancipation Angel
Maalfeld Twins
Reforge the Soul
Plains
Pack 1 pick 2:
Natural End
Fleeting Distraction
Moorland Inquisitor
Searchlight Geist
Malicious Intent
Pathbreaker Wurm
Riot Ringleader
Grave Exchange
Dreadwaters
Blood Artist
Devout Chaplain
--> Archangel
Demonlord of Ashmouth
Forest
Pack 1 pick 3:
Banners Raised
Rotcrown Ghoul
--> Thraben Valiant
Guise of Fire
Trusted Forcemage
Searchlight Geist
Cursebreak
Pillar of Flame
Joint Assault
Ghostform
Into the Void
Angel's Tomb
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 4:
Grounded
Dreadwaters
Bone Splinters
Essence Harvest
Alchemist's Apprentice
--> Death Wind
Angel's Mercy
Thatcher Revolt
Corpse Traders
Angel's Tomb
Bower Passage
Island
Pack 1 pick 5:
Rotcrown Ghoul
Angelic Wall
Natural End
Diregraf Escort
Seraph Sanctuary
Undead Executioner
Scrapskin Drake
Bladed Bracers
Tormentor's Trident
--> Killing Wave
Plains
Pack 1 pick 6:
Dreadwaters
Abundant Growth
Necrobite
Zealous Strike
Heirs of Stromkirk
Sheltering Word
--> Defang
Barter in Blood
Wild Defiance
Mountain
Pack 1 pick 7:
Ghoulflesh
Ghostly Flicker
--> Moonlight Geist
Polluted Dead
Bladed Bracers
Vorstclaw
Ghostly Touch
Appetite for Brains
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 8:
--> Spectral Gateguards
Terrifying Presence
Scalding Devil
Essence Harvest
Alchemist's Apprentice
Human Frailty
Appetite for Brains
Plains
Pack 1 pick 9:
Nettle Swine
Banners Raised
Scroll of Griselbrand
Midvast Protector
--> Maalfeld Twins
Reforge the Soul
Plains
Pack 1 pick 10:
--> Searchlight Geist
Malicious Intent
Grave Exchange
Dreadwaters
Devout Chaplain
Forest
Pack 1 pick 11:
Rotcrown Ghoul
Cursebreak
Ghostform
--> Angel's Tomb
Swamp
Pack 1 pick 12:
Grounded
--> Dreadwaters
Bower Passage
Island
Pack 1 pick 13:
Diregraf Escort
--> Seraph Sanctuary
Plains
Pack 1 pick 14:
--> Dreadwaters
Mountain
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Polluted Dead
------ AVR ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Guise of Fire
Trusted Forcemage
Searchlight Geist
Pathbreaker Wurm
Gryff Vanguard
Dangerous Wager
Spectral Prison
Defang
Snare the Skies
Mental Agony
Mass Appeal
Archangel
--> Triumph of Ferocity
Desolate Lighthouse
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 2:
Bloodflow Connoisseur
Fleeting Distraction
Uncanny Speed
Cathedral Sanctifier
Farbog Explorer
Homicidal Seclusion (FOIL)
Thatcher Revolt
Midvast Protector
Polluted Dead
Wingcrafter
--> Nearheath Pilgrim
Eaten by Spiders
Exquisite Blood
Forest
Pack 2 pick 3:
--> Angelic Wall
Natural End
Mist Raven
Thunderbolt
Moonlight Geist
Angel's Mercy
Thatcher Revolt
Diregraf Escort
Seraph Sanctuary
Second Guess
Ghostly Touch
Lunar Mystic
Island
Pack 2 pick 4:
Dangerous Wager
Outwit
Hunted Ghoul
Thunderbolt
Unhallowed Pact
Spectral Prison
Joint Assault
Call to Serve
--> Angelic Armaments
Rain of Thorns
Tyrant of Discord
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 5:
Soulcage Fiend
Banners Raised
Rotcrown Ghoul
--> Thraben Valiant
Polluted Dead
Wingcrafter
Renegade Demon
Galvanic Alchemist
Somberwald Vigilante
Demonic Taskmaster
Island
Pack 2 pick 6:
Wildwood Geist
Battle Hymn
Natural End
Fleeting Distraction
--> Moorland Inquisitor
Zealous Strike
Sheltering Word
Vessel of Endless Rest
Commander's Authority
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 7:
Cathedral Sanctifier
Flowering Lumberknot
Malicious Intent
Forest (FOIL)
--> Undead Executioner
Scrapskin Drake
Bladed Bracers
Farbog Explorer
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 8:
Banners Raised
Outwit
Demolish
Leap of Faith
Diregraf Escort
Vanguard's Shield
--> Triumph of Cruelty
Plains
Pack 2 pick 9:
Dangerous Wager
Spectral Prison
Snare the Skies
Mental Agony
Mass Appeal
--> Desolate Lighthouse
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 10:
Fleeting Distraction
Uncanny Speed
Cathedral Sanctifier
Polluted Dead
--> Exquisite Blood
Forest
Pack 2 pick 11:
Angel's Mercy
--> Seraph Sanctuary
Second Guess
Ghostly Touch
Island
Pack 2 pick 12:
Dangerous Wager
Outwit
--> Hunted Ghoul
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 13:
Banners Raised
Polluted Dead
--> Island
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Battle Hymn
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Swamp
------ AVR ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Amass the Components
--> Righteous Blow
Scroll of Avacyn
Terrifying Presence
Wandering Wolf
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Essence Harvest
Vorstclaw (FOIL)
Galvanic Alchemist
Yew Spirit
Evernight Shade
Bower Passage
Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Island
Pack 3 pick 2:
Lair Delve (FOIL)
Terrifying Presence
Cloudshift
Raging Poltergeist
Zealous Strike
Mad Prophet
Sheltering Word
Crippling Chill
Spectral Prison
Aggravate
--> Druid's Familiar
Kessig Malcontents
Ulvenwald Tracker
Forest
Pack 3 pick 3:
Hunted Ghoul
Midnight Duelist
Guise of Fire
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Essence Harvest
Driver of the Dead
Galvanic Alchemist
Timberland Guide
Aggravate
Marrow Bats
--> Harvester of Souls
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 4:
Outwit
--> Thraben Valiant
Bloodflow Connoisseur
Wildwood Geist
Battle Hymn
Unhallowed Pact
Heirs of Stromkirk
Crippling Chill
Snare the Skies
Into the Void
Fettergeist
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 5:
Pathbreaker Wurm
Dangerous Wager
Havengul Skaab
Soulcage Fiend
Uncanny Speed
Predator's Gambit
--> Ghoulflesh
Cloudshift
Nearheath Pilgrim
Rush of Blood
Forest
Pack 3 pick 6:
Lair Delve
Renegade Demon
Geist Snatch (FOIL)
Galvanic Alchemist
Somberwald Vigilante
--> Moonlight Geist
Nightshade Peddler
Mass Appeal
Builder's Blessing
Plains
Pack 3 pick 7:
Elgaud Shieldmate
Diregraf Escort
Vanguard's Shield
Scalding Devil
Renegade Demon
--> Driver of the Dead
Yew Spirit
Conjurer's Closet
Plains
Pack 3 pick 8:
Fleeting Distraction
Uncanny Speed
Cathedral Sanctifier
Lair Delve
Narstad Scrapper
--> Holy Justiciar
Rain of Thorns
Plains
Pack 3 pick 9:
Terrifying Presence
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
--> Essence Harvest
Galvanic Alchemist
Bower Passage
Island
Pack 3 pick 10:
Lair Delve (FOIL)
Raging Poltergeist
Sheltering Word
Spectral Prison
--> Aggravate
Forest
Pack 3 pick 11:
Hunted Ghoul
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
--> Aggravate
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 12:
Outwit
Battle Hymn
--> Unhallowed Pact
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 13:
Uncanny Speed
--> Predator's Gambit
Forest
Pack 3 pick 14:
--> Builder's Blessing
Plains
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Renegade Demon
8 Swamp
3 Thraben Valiant
1 Nearheath Pilgrim
1 Moorland Inquisitor
2 Moonlight Geist
1 Searchlight Geist
1 Emancipation Angel
1 Undead Executioner
1 Driver of the Dead
1 Holy Justiciar
1 Harvester of Souls
1 Maalfeld Twins
1 Archangel
1 Ghoulflesh
1 Defang
1 Angelic Armaments
1 Angel's Tomb
1 Essence Harvest
1 Death Wind
1 Killing Wave
1 Triumph of Cruelty
1 Renegade Demon
1 Exquisite Blood
1 Spectral Gateguards
1 Predator's Gambit
1 Angelic Wall
1 Unhallowed Pact
Match 1 - Semantics
Game 1
We both mulligan and I get stuck on Plains, Plains whilst he has Swamp, Swamp, Swamp. This is sort of amusing until he draws a 4th Swamp and resolves Evernight Shade, then finds a Forest and then a Mountain... by turn seven I'm still on two Plains. Bother.
Game 2
His Butcher Ghoul is super horrible for my deck. The good news is I resolve Holy Justiciar. The bad news is that he has Barter in Blood to leave himself with a 2/2 and me with nothing. Then next he has Moonsilver Spear. That's basically game. (I resolve Harvester of Souls, which he hits with Bone Splinters, but it wouldn't have done enough anyway.)
Match 2 - urafever
Game 1
I have a turn three Emancipation Angel, sadly returning a land, but this is a lot better than his turn three Lair Delve for Vorstclaw discarding a second Lair Delve! Unfortunately for me that's about it for threats from my deck as he fills the board with good stuff.
I have one last chance, though. He's on only 8 life. If I can reach 9 mana I can Killing Wave for 8 and win! Unfortunately I'm still on 8 mana when he plays Archangel and I have to go for it because he's threatening to knock me below 8 life myself. My sadly-not-a-land topdeck was Moonlit Geist, which can hopefully hold off his Archangel... a plan which looks good right up until he removes it.
(I'm still not sure if I should have cast Killing Wave for 7 instead of 4 in order to make it easier to finish him with Essence Harvest if I happened to draw it. Or for 6 so that my two flyers could swarm around his Angel. Or for 5 in case I can somehow get the Emancipation Angel through...)
Game 2
I mulligan to five (two 1-land hands were never going anywhere). I put up a decent show with Thraben Valiant into double Moonlit Geist, but whilst I figure this is moderately hard for him to defend he actually plays Silverblade Paladin into Riders of Gavony and races me since almost all my blockers are Humans!
Match 3 - Laydowncracker
Game 1
This is going well for me thanks to Angelic Armaments until he threatens to race thanks to Pathbreaker Wurm. He follows up with Ulvenwald Tracker, which threatens to get really messy, so I quickly kill the Wurm with Death Wind. The Soulbond rules work in my favour here. He has a Nightshade Peddler on the board, but cannot abuse his combo unless he draws new creatures. While I prepare to press my advantage with Maalfield Twins into Harvester of Souls, he draws land. I swing for the win.
Game 2
Quite a similar game. I'm slowly getting there through the air, but the ground battle again becomes worrying thanks to Pathbreaker Wurm. I'm forced to try and hold it off with Angelic Armaments on Moorland Inquisitor with mana up... but a Thundering Wrath (cast the hard way) leaves me defenceless and then dead in short order.
Game 3
I keep a sketchy hand of Swamp, Swamp, Swamp, Ghoulflesh, Righteous Blow, Angelic Armaments, Thraben Valiant. I need an early Plains for this to be playable, but I think that's about as good as it gets with this deck. Fortunately I get exactly that and his potentially terrifying Stonecutter into Wandering Wolf opening is instead rendered relatively harmless. I nervously Righteous Blow his Heirs of Stromkirk since I probably lose if he has a trick to save them, but I get away with it. He again assembles the Tracker/Deathtouch combo in the endgame and leaves me with a tricky decision as to what to play around in the endgame. I decide to me cautious, but he didn't have a trick anyway and I fly over for the win with Moonlight Geist and Archangel.
So that's 1-2... same as my first two drafts in this format, making it my worst format opening ever! But as you can see from the above draftcap, I really don't know what I'm doing, so this isn't all that surprising!
(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>
Pack 1 pick 4: Thatcher Revolt over Death Wind (archetype vs card power)
Pack 1 pick 5: Angelic Wall over Undead Executioner over Killing Wave (killing wave is a punisher card. and they are almost always bad)
Pack 1 pick 6: Heirs of Stromkirk in red, Barter in Blood in black over Defang
Pack 1 pick 8: Scalding Devil/Human Frailty over Spectral Gateguards
Pack 1 pick 9: Midvast Protector over Maalfeld Twins
So I would have gone into WR humans, which I think is a stronger archetype than anything WB. I can't work out whether you want to be aggro or control, because the control deck wants both Barter in Blood and Archangel, and the aggro deck wants neither. And you took one but not the other. I'll draft as WB from here.
Pack 2 pick 1: Archangel over Triumph of Ferocity (??)
Pack 2 pick 3: Moonlight Geist over Angelic Wall
Pack 2 pick 8: Leap of Faith over Triumph of Cruelty
Pack 2 pick 10: Cathedral Sanctifier over Exquisite Blood
Pack 3 pick 1: Evernight Shade over Righteous Blow (Bruna is REALLY tempting too, but I'm not sure that this is a format you can splash into a BWu deck, and would err on the side of caution when it comes to the manabase)
Pack 3 pick 2: Zealous Strike over Druid's Familiar (was this a hate draft? Because if you wanted to splash a third colour, I would have taken Bruna earlier)
Pack 3 pick 5: Nearheath Pilgrim over Ghoulflesh
I think I would have run Renegade Demon and Angelic Wall over Killing Wave and Essence Harvest.
Were you happy with your final deck? Did you feel that you were aggro or controlling?
Two reasons. First, splashing is almost completely unsupported in this format unless you're Green, so it would make my mana horrible. Second, I'm not looking for more expensive finishers by that point - it's my midgame that's in trouble. (Plus, of course, my pick could just have been wrong. That's just my reasoning at the time.)
Also, Bruna's not especially good if she's hard to cast (she basically just plays like an Archangel).
Human Frailty was definitely the right pick here in retrospect.
I don't understand the format well enough to respond to most of your other comments, but thanks!
I was considering a move into Green here and since I already had an Archangel I didn't really want another one. (And Triumph of Ferocity is massively powerful, but you probably know that already.)
No, it wasn't a hatedraft - I had a couple of good Green cards and might have splashed if someone passed me a Vessel.
Out of interest, how sure are you? I realise it's the better card in general, but my deck at this point is a bunch of White 2-drops and no removal or midgame!
The reason I didn't is because I don't think this deck can ever win unless it's the aggressor. It has far too few answers to anything. Indeed, when playing the Killing Wave felt like my best card a lot of the time.
No, the deck was utter poop. My initial concept for the deck was to run a White core and use Black to exert just enough control to make the Angels plan fast enough. The trouble was, I saw a really bad White mix involving super-expensive finishers plus too many 2-drops. My previous AVR decks have always had great midgames and a shortage of early drops, so I felt like things were gong well until halfway through pack two when I began to become aware of the problem.
The deck has to follow an aggro plan and is incapable of exerting control of any kind, but that's not to say I think it's really an aggro deck. I believe the technical term is "a pile".
(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>
Bear in mind his last round opponent was crazy awesome at Magic!
Joking apart, what seemed to go wrong with the deck in practice was that it's a bunch of small threats (albeit high quality ones) and never does anything really unfair. So, for example, when the deck flooded a bit in one game it was basically done for.
In my (admittedly very limited) experience, good decks in this format need to do seriously unfair things.
(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>
Time: 5/24/2012 3:11:01 PM
Players:
bateleur
SethS
--> essenia
urafever
MegaPirateNinja
Enjambment
skytree
zwierz666
------ AVR ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Natural End
Fleeting Distraction
Moorland Inquisitor
Searchlight Geist
Malicious Intent
Pathbreaker Wurm
Riot Ringleader
--> Seraph of Dawn
Grave Exchange
Dreadwaters
Blood Artist
Devout Chaplain
Archangel
Demonlord of Ashmouth
Forest
This was a very tough pick. Seraph is significantly worse than Demonlord, but I try to avoid black whenever possible in this format.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Banners Raised
Rotcrown Ghoul
Thraben Valiant
Guise of Fire
Trusted Forcemage
Searchlight Geist
Cursebreak
Pillar of Flame
Joint Assault
Ghostform
Into the Void
Angel's Tomb
--> Angel of Jubilation
Swamp
Trusted Forcemage is excellent, probably better than the Angel because it doesn't have an insanly restrictive mana cost, but we're already in white.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Grounded
Dreadwaters
Bone Splinters
Essence Harvest
Alchemist's Apprentice
--> Moonlight Geist
Death Wind
Angel's Mercy
Thatcher Revolt
Corpse Traders
Angel's Tomb
Bower Passage
Island
This is between Moonlight Geist and Death Wind; again I decide to stay in white and not pick the more powerful card, perhaps mistakenly, as there's a large difference in power level between Death Wind and the Geist.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Rotcrown Ghoul
Angelic Wall
Natural End
Diregraf Escort
Seraph Sanctuary
Undead Executioner
Scrapskin Drake
Bladed Bracers
--> Farbog Explorer
Tormentor's Trident
Killing Wave
Plains
Farbog Explorer is a solid man with upside. The Trident is ok, but not great and it's not worth changing colors for the other cards here.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Dreadwaters
--> Kruin Striker
Abundant Growth
Necrobite
Zealous Strike
Heirs of Stromkirk
Sheltering Word
Defang
Barter in Blood
Wild Defiance
Mountain
??????? Yeah, I don't know what was going on here either. I do think that two drops are incredibly important in this format, but Barter is several thousand times better (and if I didn't want to move into black I could just pick the strike)
Pack 1 pick 6:
Ghoulflesh
--> Kruin Striker
Ghostly Flicker
Moonlight Geist
Polluted Dead
Bladed Bracers
Vorstclaw
Ghostly Touch
Appetite for Brains
Swamp
We're all in!
Pack 1 pick 7:
Spectral Gateguards
Terrifying Presence
--> Midvast Protector
Scalding Devil
Essence Harvest
Alchemist's Apprentice
Human Frailty
Appetite for Brains
Plains
Protector and Devil are both decent; Protector is stronger, but two drops are hard to find and four drops aren't. That said, two drops with only 1 power are not all that useful.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Nettle Swine
Banners Raised
Scroll of Griselbrand
Midvast Protector
--> Scalding Devil
Maalfeld Twins
Reforge the Soul
Plains
Same choice, going to switch it up here.
Pack 1 pick 9:
--> Moorland Inquisitor
Searchlight Geist
Malicious Intent
Grave Exchange
Dreadwaters
Devout Chaplain
Forest
This is guy is no Darkthicket Wolf, but he's still a solid man and is much more useful than the Chaplain.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Rotcrown Ghoul
--> Guise of Fire
Cursebreak
Ghostform
Angel's Tomb
Swamp
(Mon)guise of Fire is mediocre, but eminently playable.
Pack 1 pick 11:
Grounded
Dreadwaters
--> Angel's Mercy
Bower Passage
Island
Pack 1 pick 12:
--> Angelic Wall
Diregraf Escort
Seraph Sanctuary
Plains
Pack 1 pick 13:
Dreadwaters
--> Necrobite
Mountain
Pack 1 pick 14:
Polluted Dead
--> Swamp
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Plains
------ AVR ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Banners Raised
Moorland Inquisitor
Outwit
Thraben Valiant
Wingcrafter
Death Wind
Demolish
Leap of Faith
Diregraf Escort
Vanguard's Shield
Vorstclaw
Vigilante Justice
Triumph of Cruelty
--> Archwing Dragon
Plains
I like Inquistor and Valiant, but the Dragon is good if you aren't getting completely destroyed (granted that isn't so easy in this format).
Pack 2 pick 2:
Guise of Fire
Trusted Forcemage
Searchlight Geist
Pathbreaker Wurm
Gryff Vanguard
Dangerous Wager
Spectral Prison
--> Defang
Snare the Skies
Mental Agony
Mass Appeal
Archangel
Desolate Lighthouse
Mountain
Defang deals with troublesome early blockers (sort of) and is great against late game fatties. I don't like 7 drops in this color combination.
Pack 2 pick 3:
Bloodflow Connoisseur
Fleeting Distraction
Uncanny Speed
Cathedral Sanctifier
--> Farbog Explorer
Homicidal Seclusion (FOIL)
Thatcher Revolt
Midvast Protector
Polluted Dead
Wingcrafter
Eaten by Spiders
Exquisite Blood
Forest
Farbog Explorer is slightly better than Midvast Protector I'd say, though there's not too much of a difference.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Natural End
Mist Raven
Thunderbolt
--> Moonlight Geist
Angel's Mercy
Thatcher Revolt
Diregraf Escort
Seraph Sanctuary
Second Guess
Ghostly Touch
Lunar Mystic
Island
Cheap flyer that blocks well, not too much else to ask for.
Pack 2 pick 5:
Dangerous Wager
Outwit
Hunted Ghoul
--> Thunderbolt
Unhallowed Pact
Spectral Prison
Joint Assault
Call to Serve
Rain of Thorns
Tyrant of Discord
Swamp
Thunderbolt is a very solid and maindeckable card and there's nothing else we want anyway.
Pack 2 pick 6:
Soulcage Fiend
Banners Raised
Rotcrown Ghoul
Polluted Dead
Wingcrafter
Renegade Demon
Galvanic Alchemist
--> Somberwald Vigilante
Demonic Taskmaster
Island
Vigilante might be playable if we got passed 4 Riot Ringleaders. Hating Wingcrafter just didn't seem high EV enough.
Pack 2 pick 7:
Wildwood Geist
Battle Hymn
Natural End
Fleeting Distraction
--> Zealous Strike
Sheltering Word
Vessel of Endless Rest
Commander's Authority
Swamp
Zealous Strike is a good combat trick and is certainly better than Vessel of Endless Rest.
Pack 2 pick 8:
Cathedral Sanctifier
Flowering Lumberknot
Malicious Intent
Forest (FOIL)
Scrapskin Drake
Bladed Bracers
--> Farbog Explorer
Swamp
Explorers is quite a bit better than Cathedral Sanctifiers (and Bracers) Good blue cards are going late.
Pack 2 pick 9:
--> Banners Raised
Outwit
Demolish
Leap of Faith
Diregraf Escort
Vanguard's Shield
Plains
We'll pick the on color junk.
Pack 2 pick 10:
--> Dangerous Wager
Spectral Prison
Snare the Skies
Mental Agony
Mass Appeal
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 11:
Fleeting Distraction
Uncanny Speed
--> Cathedral Sanctifier
Polluted Dead
Forest
Pack 2 pick 12:
Angel's Mercy
Second Guess
--> Ghostly Touch
Island
Pack 2 pick 13:
Dangerous Wager
--> Outwit
Swamp
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Banners Raised
Polluted Dead
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Swamp
------ AVR ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Lair Delve (FOIL)
Terrifying Presence
--> Fervent Cathar
Cloudshift
Raging Poltergeist
Zealous Strike
Mad Prophet
Sheltering Word
Crippling Chill
Spectral Prison
Aggravate
Druid's Familiar
Kessig Malcontents
Ulvenwald Tracker
Forest
Passing a Druid's Familiar and an ulvenwald is a very bad feeling, but there's not much we can do at this point. I'm not too sad about picking Fervent Cathar though- it's a strong card and is definitely better than Malcontents or Cloudshift.
Pack 3 pick 2:
Hunted Ghoul
Midnight Duelist
Guise of Fire
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Essence Harvest
Driver of the Dead
Galvanic Alchemist
Timberland Guide
Aggravate
Marrow Bats
--> Falkenrath Exterminator
Harvester of Souls
Mountain
Exterminator is very strong (though sometimes mediocre) and plays nicely with the Fervent Cathar we just picked.
Pack 3 pick 3:
--> Moorland Inquisitor
Outwit
Thraben Valiant
Bloodflow Connoisseur
Wildwood Geist
Battle Hymn
Unhallowed Pact
Heirs of Stromkirk
Crippling Chill
Snare the Skies
Into the Void
Fettergeist
Swamp
I like Heirs quite a bit, but two drops are crucial in this format.
Pack 3 pick 4:
Pathbreaker Wurm
Dangerous Wager
Havengul Skaab
Soulcage Fiend
Uncanny Speed
Predator's Gambit
Ghoulflesh
Cloudshift
Nearheath Pilgrim
Rush of Blood
--> Slayers' Stronghold
Forest
Oh sweet, a Nearheath Pilgr... !!!! Slayer's Stronghold is a great card and fits our deck perfectly, the easy pick here.
Apparently the excitement of this was a little too much for my computer to take, as my internet went out and it didn't come back until pick 7.
Pack 3 pick 7:
Fleeting Distraction
Uncanny Speed
Cathedral Sanctifier
Lair Delve
--> Voice of the Provinces
Narstad Scrapper
Holy Justiciar
Rain of Thorns
Plains
Justiciar is too low impact to pick over Voice of the Provinces, even if it's sweet against the sick black deck we passed.
Pack 3 pick 8:
--> Scroll of Avacyn
Terrifying Presence
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Essence Harvest
Galvanic Alchemist
Bower Passage
Island
Pack 3 pick 9:
Lair Delve (FOIL)
Raging Poltergeist
--> Zealous Strike
Sheltering Word
Spectral Prison
Aggravate
Forest
Pack 3 pick 10:
Hunted Ghoul
--> Midnight Duelist
Leap of Faith
Somberwald Vigilante
Aggravate
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 11:
Outwit
Battle Hymn
Unhallowed Pact
--> Crippling Chill
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 12:
Uncanny Speed
Predator's Gambit
--> Rush of Blood
Forest
Pack 3 pick 13:
--> Somberwald Vigilante
Builder's Blessing
Plains
Pack 3 pick 14:
Renegade Demon
--> Plains
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Plains
All in all, a very poor draft, but we did get an awesome card in our exact colors in pack 3.
Unfortunately, I don't remember too much about the games, as they don't seem to be there when I look and I've probably done about 10 drafts on MTGO since the release, so my memory of individual games isn't too clear. I beat urafever in a couple close games, lost to one of the randoms (Druid's Familiar :() round 2 and beat Semantics round two when I drew 10 or so lands to his 13-15, which let me overcome multiple misplays and misclicks.
(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>
I am looking for ANY excuse to draft green in this format. I picked Somberwald Sage over Death Wind p1p1 yesterday, pretty much forced UG despite knowing I was getting cut by the seat to my right (who I ended up playing in round 2 - his deck was substantially better than mine), but I still 3-0'd the draft. Gx, particularly UG, is *that* good.
Pick THREE Forcemage is completely bonkers and you should have moved in immediately.
Duly noted. My first draft deck in the format had triple Forcemage and wasn't getting the job done, so I concluded they were overrated. However, it's more likely I just didn't understand properly why that deck was failing.
(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>
Sage is easily the pick over death wind to me. I don't even think that pick is close.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
If black wasn't turrible I'd pick removal over her in a heartbeat. I'd take a Wandering Wolf over her p1p1 tbh, to kind of illustrate where I think she falls power level wise.
That's a comment that's going to require a bit of defending. Maybe in W/R it's that bad, but I would have thought it was a bit better in W/G and waaay better in W/U. Or if not, why not?
(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>
Just from play experience (8 drafts) so far. It just doesn't actually kill anything and they can chump block all day. If it was a different colour it would be better, but white has cloudshift, righteous blow, zealous strike and any of the common 2 drop creatures that are better than it, thus a 10th pick.
Yeah, it's a good sideboard card/filler.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
Actually, I think he's right. Defang is as good as it 'looks' (i.e. like a Pacifism variant) only really in the UW flyers deck. It's more of a Ghostly Posession than a Pacifism.
And while the UW flyers is eternally good, it's not the default best deck in this format (or even one of the decks you should be trying to draft) like it has been in some others. I would be wanting to be drafting a Rx Human aggro or Gx Soulbond deck before I would be tempted by UW flyers.