Draft Blog #1: Alara Block
So this is not my first Alara Block draft, but it's the first one I've recorded. Right off the bat, I receive strange signals from almost every pick, and by the end of Shards, I have decent cards...of EVERY COLOR. Now, I hate drafting 5 color, because it seems like you have to pay more attention to your manabase than you do your creatures and spells, the meat and potatoes of a draft. Why fiddle around fixing mana if you can just win by curving out with decent dudes? But this draft gave me no other choice but to go 5 Color, so I picked cards accordingly.
During deck construction, I was getting worried that I didn't have enough creatures to support my mana-fixing spells. I ended up with 9 or 10 creatures, but most of them were quality dudes like Lorescale Coatl and Worldheart Phoenix, which I could easily recur.
The first game in the first round (I'm doing Swiss, so that I'm almost guaranteed product if my deck doesn't completely blow) doesn't go as planned, with his Jund deck running over my 5 color manabase when his Goblin Mountaineer becomes equipped with a Quietus Spike, and goes to town on my Mountain, and me. But in games 2 and 3, I pull it together long enough to establish a manabase and wreck him with my superior card quality. Vengeful Rebirth and Slave of Bolas were allstars in this round, the latter stealing a Sprouting Thrinax and netting me some tokens in the process. I was worried about my manabase and fixers, but after this round I was confident I could win at least another round with this deck.
The second round...didn't go as planned. I played another Jund deck, but this one splashed White for Leonin Armorguard and some other stuff. In both games, he ran me over with really quick dudes like Jund Hackblade, Shambling Remains, Matca Rioters, and topped off with a Leonin Armorguard. I tried to set up defenses with removal and creatures, but my mana couldn't handle it, and neither could I. This deck, along with a Bant exalted aggro deck, were my worst matchups, and I'm just glad it was over.
Sadly, it wasn't meant to be in the third round either. I played against a very solid Naya deck, whose creatures were pretty insane. I threw up removal after removal, even Slave of Bolas-ing twice after Vengeful Rebirthing it. Didn't stop him. And really, what else am I supposed to do in that situation?
Even though it was disappointing, this happens all too often: Alara presents difficult and confusing signals, those signals are expanded upon in Conflux, and I look to Reborn to salvage my deck. In hindsight, I shoulda added more creatures to the deck, even though my spells were solid.
I hate 5 color, by the way.
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