MTG Salvation

Is there any time when you think to yourself, late in the DGM pack, "Boy, no more cluestone! I really wish I'd taken a slightly off color one earlier?" Me, never. No way I'm spending my 8th pick on an off-color cluestone.

p1p1: I saw turn/burn and thought "yes!", then I saw ready/willing. That card has won me soooooo many matches it's not funny. Turn/burn is a 2-for-1. Ready/willing is an X-for-1, with X sometimes being 4 or 5, sometimes X is "game". I'd like to know why you didn't pick it. Now, after this we're pretty much is exact opposite colors...
p1p2: gorgon. Maw has its proponent, but I prefer something that is sure to trade and will end assaults until I get my r/w taken above.
p1p3: fumes or boa? I think fumes is right, but I want bodies, so I take boa. I'm willing to accept heckling for not taking removal.
p1p4: ugh. snare-squad or drinker? I think snare-squad if only to easy how color requirements.
p1p5: steeple roc. Not happy, but nothing else in WGB.
p1p6: fatal fumes.
p1p7: warrior, wolf-rider or gatekeeper? I have no gate. I'll take wolf-rider to cut selesnya, but I hope I won't be short on two-drops... normally I should be able to get a lot of stuff in 3rd pack.
p1p8: behemoth. I should have taken warrior...
p1p9: torturer to cut black.
p1p10: maw came back!
p1p11: sentinel
p1p12: blackguard.

p2p1: skyjek.
p2p2: wasteland viper. Almost removal.
p2p3: croc, smite or griffin? Dang. I don't know.
p2p4: snapjaw. I think black is my splash right now.
p2p5: watcher.
p2p6: shambleshark.
p2p7: yeah, pet for me too!
p2p8: confessor or guard? I take guard for it's easier casting cost.
p2p9: enforcer?

p3p1: trostani's judgment over herald.
p3p2: stab wound, naturally.
p3p3: ugh. I would need to see my curve. Herald or ultimate price, probably price.
p3p4: golgari decoy.
p3p5: common bond.
p3p6: golgari guildgate.
p3p7: two judgment seems a lot. I guess preilous shadow? Maybe too black. Maybe judgement #2 after all.
p3p8: kightly valor, I think.
p3p9: centaur's herald, woo-hoo!
p3p10: rogue passage.
p3p11: krovod.

Obviously, since we didn't draft the same colors, my result is hard to judge.

Lyev decree.

Pilfered plan is not better than other mono-blue draw spell we might take in other packs. Also, if we've not been pulled toward Dimir before our 8th pick, we won't be afterward in this pack, so there is little point in picking it up now. I prefer cutting white entirely, and decree has been surprising me every times I've main-decked it. It might be because it has a Spanish, inquisitive flavor.

Easy species gorger. There are many combo pieces to go with it and we already have one. We can pick voidwielder any number of ETBF that makes tokens or has value.

p1p1: I'm a fan of armed/dangerous, so I approve.
p1p2: a/d with multiple cyclops in play used to be a powerhouse play in 3xDGM. I guess in DGR, there are not enough cyclops going around.
p1p3: while fixing is nice, I'm not sure here. bane is cheap removal in blue and maaka is almost giant growth with potential legs. I'd take bane to go with lawmage. I think flying + hexproof can end-up being a finisher with one good aura.
p1p4: gorgon + a/d can be great. Otherwise, I'd take glider and cut blue further. (Although I think torturer + morgue burst + gladiator + gorgon means jund is somehwat open. At least no one is cutting them hard.) So even though I said I'd take glider, the right pick might be something among those.
p1p7: I'd have not picked gate, so I'd take wolf-rider and try to keep green as a splash, but saruli is the right pick for you. I note we passed a cyclops and now a fluxcharger. Oh well.
p1p10: I note cyclops wheeled.

p2p6: I already had hunches before, but mugging + goblin + emissary means very few are drafting red. Arostocrats, too, (with latish syndic earlier) means few in orzhov too. At least azorius + selesnya will go the other way around so you might be Ok in 3rd pack?
p2p10,p12: yeah, no one in Boros... p11 tiger is at least playable.

p3p1: centaur's herald is probably too risky on the mana, too bad the griffin is double-white though.
p3p3: I'd rather take any of the white or GW cards (giant, courser, indrik) over a 4th color.
p3p4: a 2/2 flyer vs. dramatic rescue... I can't see your deck, so I guess you need to body more?
p3p6: I think hussar patrol is better for the curve (Then again, I'd have taken a maze glider earlier for the top end.)
p3p7: I remember justice being good. I do like cancel though, but we will probably be able to take a counter later.
p3p9: giant growth, yeah. At least you got an asnwer to auras.

So, the DGR format is: draft whatever, take bombs, mana just happens? Your comments and NinjaBob's two drafts are really depressing for me.

I've been playing 4 pack sealed with good sucess and sometimes think of going back drafting. Then I read your two threads and just give up. Pick card of random colors, get magic fixing in 3rd pack, 6-x the draft. I give up.

p1p6: I was following you until here. UB, RG... now UW?
p1p7: and now mono-black but you only have one gate and it's RG. I'd take saruli gatekeeper then.
p1p8; cluestone? Really? I'd rather have feral, a bad gatekeeper or debt at this point. (Well, debt would be crazy.)
p1p10: WU deputy... to go with your sphinx? I'd take rider or toil.

p2p1: this is where you finally decide to play green seriously?
p2p2: ... and now you've decided to go GB, so you take the easy green 2-drop? I'd take swine here and go GR. Or goblin.
p2p3: ah no, you're going gruul after all.
p2p5: thrull parasite?!? better than viper after taking many green and GR?
p2p6: gruul keyrune? thunderfist?
p2p8: no love for experiment one, called one of the best uncommon for green? Watcher over experiment?
p2p11: bomber corp for RG.

p3p1: I see you're looking for fixing, but beastmaster could be good too. Still, axebane is not a bad choice.
p3p2: a vitu-ghazi mage going, one.
p3p3: from here on, I lost track of your picks and goal, so, ...

Oh wait, you got multiple late gates and ended-up 6-0. Obviously, I'm clueless.

We don't have any gates and from the look of it, won't be getting any. So easy hallowed fountain. Money pick and correct pick, for once.

The one place where it was good was when in 3xDGM (can be pulled off in DGR too) is in conjunction with fluxmage and nivix cyclops, preferably in multiples. Flying 10/6 is worth it if they have no flying blockers. Army of flying 10/6, 7/4 and 12/4 could be lethal fast, when you play multiple phytoburst in the same turn.

Otherwise, unless you got hexproof tramplers, it's probably not worth it.

beetleform mage.

Courage is very easy to splash and arguably more relevant late-game once they no longer have removal. I don't think I want to leave double mage for a 7 drop and a splashable card. Beside, snare is an aggro card, summoner is not.

Edit: and I don't want to many snare squad. It's a 1/4, mostly support for other cards.

Edit #2: and let me LOL at bateleur and LLCoolDave for saying to take snare to stay pure GW, but then sayign they could go orzhov later (bateleur) or should have picked a WR 3 drop. Inconsistent logic much?

Edit #3: Okay, dave didnt mention going GW. I guess his comment means going boros.

Personally, I'd have gone Junk, WBG. I don't think red has enough pull except for the hellsteed and flesh/blood, while white gives you an aggro start, pseudo-removal and sure mana for courage. You also get more extort that way via orzhov. Maybe splash for both red rares?

Oh wow. Top-8 a PTQ, disconnnect. The guy next to him in the draft must have been so happy getting passed value.

p1p5: I agree that taking WB after taking RG is stretching it. I'd take saruli here.
p1p8: I'd take saruli again here. I'd want white or black to be a splash.
p1p9: i'm not a fan of the picker, but I gues if you can pick some bloodrush in p2 it gets a bit better. Animist is not much better anyway.
p1p10: I guess a third saruli would be crazy, your pick of a gate is better.
p1p15: I take it saruli are now considered not very good or were there no green drafters?

p2p1: not a single mention of martial glory? I agree about taking globin or walker, but since you took some white already, that's one good trick.
p2p2: power vs. consistency. I've been bitten by both sides, so I'm still not sure what is right.
p2p3: skullcrack? Really??? I'd take shambleshark and ember beast over that.
p2p4: if you' going to play white, I don't think burst over guard is correct.
p2p7: I think you chose not to pick some pure G/R when you could (Paladin above), so it's a bit your own doing. Getting a skinbrand 7th should make you happy anyway. Can you toally avoid W or B in the 3rd pack anyway?
p2p9: Scorch wheeled. Won't you look at that. (Martial glory too!) Looking back at p2p1, I see a lot of orzhov drafters I suppose.
p2p12: I'd hatedraft way of the thief. It's rarely good, but cruelly-so when it is.

p3p1, p3p2, p3p3: did you have that much vakue in white already to avoid black? Stab wound, dreadbore, etc...

From then on, choosing to eliminate black changes many picks, IMO.

Seems everyone 'knew' to go Boros, while I'd have cut green more in pack one and gone more RG and ended-up RGb.

I'm going to side with the first suggestions:

Haunter of nightveil is much better than fatal fumes. It weakens all other creatures. FF -x/-2 is not that strong and most of the times will only be effective in combat which opens you to 2-for-1 and requires 4 open mana.

Sin collector can be a 2-for-1 and will often get rid of a removal or draw spell which often turns out better that it first seems just loonig at his stats.