Blockbuster - 3RR
Enchantment (U) 1R,Sacrifice Blockbuster: Blockbuster waves all late fees and lets you rent movies for as long as you want!
Frenzied goblin and the embermage look savage in draft. Could you imagine having multiple embermages? One sided pyroclasm.
And I love the flavor of dogpile. It just looks great. Could a Dogpile/saproling/that rare sorcery that gives all permanents T: Ping target be a solid block deck?
I like it a lot and it always makes the cut. I usually pick it up around third or fourth pick. It looks like a defensive card, but it is actually quite strong on offense. Remove it from creature A, equip it to creature B, attack with A and B, and both are immune to combat damage this turn. Very nice.
The proper pick for pack one is Consuming Vortex, I believe. Wicked Akuba is a mid-range black common, that is highly replaceable, whereas in tight games consuming vortex will usually make the win.
Pack two is the most underwhelming pile of garbage. The kind of pack that makes you cry. I probably would've taken the Pull Under, simply for lack of a better card.
I agree 100% with your pack 3 pick.
Pack four, considering your heavy red commitment... Houndmaster isn't bad, but there's a Cage of Hands in pack four. Considering that all three prior taken cards are also commons, the only logical pick here is to take the Cage. Cage is the second best white common, so logically there's only one person behind you in white. Considering that you've shipped junk in every color, take the cage and pray for waxmanes.
Pack five, again you're going heavy red. But teller is a bomb and I have no idea what's going on. Take the teller.
Pack six - Mirror Mage for the red/blue deck. He's great in all archetypes, but even better in red/blue (hooray for Sokenzan Spellblades!). I have no problem with taking reciprocate here to go with that random late cage we got, but Mirror Mage is slightly better for the main colors I'm looking here.
Pack 7 - Definately the right pick
Pack 8 - River Kaijin in blue. Even not looking blue, Blessed Breath is a better pick than Lantern Kami.
So with this, pack one you'd be in blue, looking for either white or red (arguable which to go)
However, you were in red/white, so lets continue this looking at what you would play in those colors (because thanks to signaling, it's really close to impossible to say what you would've been passed pack 2)
Pick 1 - I agree with this choice.
Pick 2 - I believe Frostling is the better choice, but there is merits for either.
Pick 3 - Silverstorm Samurai is 100% awful. I would have picked the ice bridge, as a mana fixer for any cards to potentially splash.
Pick 7 - Ogre Marauder? What's that still doing there.
That's really all I have to say about pack 2. Pack 3 - picks 1 and 2 are solid:
Pick 3 - Ronin Cliffmaster is a dud. A big fat body that does nothing. Please take the ridiculously good kitsune loreweaver.
Pick 4 - Random green card? Miren the Moaning Well is a solid pick here; This card is very undervalued iin limited I find, but you can play it as the 17th land in any deck, and it's always there when needed.
Then you moved into... green for some reason. taking a late shinen and an okina nightwatch...
I hope this helps. Let me know if there's anything I can clarify.
You probably need more Kodama of the North Tree. In testing (B/G, mind you), I've found this card super hot. And I've found Isao, Enlightened Bushi to be anything but golden. Problem is that he dies to a single Jitte counter.
Maybe... I still see this having trouble with Gifts decks, which is why I thought that Flame should be Pithing Needle, but then it would probably have trouble with aggro decks thanks to a lack of targetted instant speed removal.
I'm thinking that you're pretty close to the optimal build. Personally, I would have run more of blue's card draw. Both sifts and the slight of hand, dropping crafty pathmage (3 mana 1/1 that makes a bad creature unblockable) and probably the Web.
I went 3-1-1, with my W/B/r (splashing for Anaba Shaman and Guerilla Tactics). Only cards of note were Sengir Vampire and Jade Statue (ridiculously good card). I opened Might of Oaks with mediocre white. Sacred Ground (Woot! Now I'm safe from flashfires ), and Evacuation (my blue had all of four creatures).
MVP of my pool was...(insert drumroll) Inspirit.
We did top 8 draft where I went; I opened Might of Oaks (which I mistakenly passed, because I valued the Pyroclasm more. I wouldn't have been able to go green anyways, but I don't really know if this is the right pick. No I don't remember what else was in the pack.) Second pack I opened Jade Statue (I'm opening the same cards as my sealed pool...) and Third pack I opened a Shivan Reef, which i raredrafted because my draft was going ridiculously bad. I ended up with a removal light Red/Black pool, one shock, one dark banishing, and one pyroclasm, and about 18 mediocre but agressive creatures. I scrubbed out in first round against a W/U deck that was infinitely better than mine.
First: I count 42 cards (18 lands, 24 spells) main. Is this correct?
That needs to be cut by two, big time. You definately do not need the black splash, IMO. Your removal in red/green is really good. (And includes Fumiko) And splashing for double black spells like Whisper is bad.
I would go:
-Whisper
-Bleeder
-Clutch
-3 Swamps
Brings us to 36
+2 Mountains
+1 Akki Avalanchers (1/1 that can occasionally trade for x/3s, or swing in for 3 damage late.)
+1 Kashi Tribe Elite (Bluff! I have Sosuke coming later!!! 2/3 for 3s are playable. Not great but playable)
The elite could possibly also be the shinka gatekeeper, depending on your preference.
Hardly. I played with it a couple times, and it has been nothing but lackluster.
When I played against it in a top 8 match, my opponent spent a lot of mana getting it out, just to see it get Mysticly restrained. And whn he managed to untap it, and use it as a big wall...well, Otherworldy Journey is not it's firned.
Hence why more often than not I equip it over creating the dragon.
There are a few cards I'd take over the dragon's fang. Flame isn't one of them. Glacial Ray, and Kabuto Moth immediately come to mind, but I don't think there's any below that I would take. Uncommonly, the white and red hondens, Nezumi Graverobber. Maybe Blind with Anger... there's a number of cards I'd be taking over the fang.
The problem I have with Fang is that it's slow. If you untap with it in play, you should win. But more often than not, I equip it over creating the dragon. 6/7 shinen of life's roar. That's scary.
HOWEVER! Passing Flame is not a bad signal. When reading signals, you need to look at what was taken, as well as what was passed. When the rare is missing, there are 55 different cards to consider (Stat I just made up: 50% of rares are unplayable). What rare cards should be taken over flame? Surely: Ryusei, Kiki-Jiki, Kumano, Soulblast. Long Forgotten Gohei. Hatchery. Oathkeeper. Etc.
Would've been nice if they gave us Delay, though.
I'm sorry... I don't see what the difference is other than the type of counters used. So I'm confused...
They send three times a year - January, May, and September. 'Next mailing' should have been January.
I haven't received anything yet though, nor do I know anyone who has. Hopefully, we'll get something in the next couple days.
Frenzied goblin and the embermage look savage in draft. Could you imagine having multiple embermages? One sided pyroclasm.
And I love the flavor of dogpile. It just looks great. Could a Dogpile/saproling/that rare sorcery that gives all permanents T: Ping target be a solid block deck?
Heh. I didn't even see the Plow Through Reito in the pack. Definately a stronger pick than Miren.
I don't really understand a lot of these packs. Was this draft done on ccgdecks.com?
Pack two is the most underwhelming pile of garbage. The kind of pack that makes you cry. I probably would've taken the Pull Under, simply for lack of a better card.
I agree 100% with your pack 3 pick.
Pack four, considering your heavy red commitment... Houndmaster isn't bad, but there's a Cage of Hands in pack four. Considering that all three prior taken cards are also commons, the only logical pick here is to take the Cage. Cage is the second best white common, so logically there's only one person behind you in white. Considering that you've shipped junk in every color, take the cage and pray for waxmanes.
Pack five, again you're going heavy red. But teller is a bomb and I have no idea what's going on. Take the teller.
Pack six - Mirror Mage for the red/blue deck. He's great in all archetypes, but even better in red/blue (hooray for Sokenzan Spellblades!). I have no problem with taking reciprocate here to go with that random late cage we got, but Mirror Mage is slightly better for the main colors I'm looking here.
Pack 7 - Definately the right pick
Pack 8 - River Kaijin in blue. Even not looking blue, Blessed Breath is a better pick than Lantern Kami.
So with this, pack one you'd be in blue, looking for either white or red (arguable which to go)
However, you were in red/white, so lets continue this looking at what you would play in those colors (because thanks to signaling, it's really close to impossible to say what you would've been passed pack 2)
Pick 1 - I agree with this choice.
Pick 2 - I believe Frostling is the better choice, but there is merits for either.
Pick 3 - Silverstorm Samurai is 100% awful. I would have picked the ice bridge, as a mana fixer for any cards to potentially splash.
Pick 7 - Ogre Marauder? What's that still doing there.
That's really all I have to say about pack 2. Pack 3 - picks 1 and 2 are solid:
Pick 3 - Ronin Cliffmaster is a dud. A big fat body that does nothing. Please take the ridiculously good kitsune loreweaver.
Pick 4 - Random green card? Miren the Moaning Well is a solid pick here; This card is very undervalued iin limited I find, but you can play it as the 17th land in any deck, and it's always there when needed.
Then you moved into... green for some reason. taking a late shinen and an okina nightwatch...
I hope this helps. Let me know if there's anything I can clarify.
Here's what I would run:
Creatures
x1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
x2 Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
x3 Kodama of the North Tree
x1 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
x1 Arashi, the Sky Asunder
x2 Sachi, Daughter of Seshiro
x4 Hearth Kami
x4 Sakura, Tribe Elder
x4 Orochi Sustainer
22
Others
x4 Kodama's Reach
x1 Umezawa's Jitte
x1 Tatsumasa, the Dragon's Fang
x3 Time of Need
x4 Thoughts of Ruin
x3 Yamabushi's Flame
16
Lands
x11 Forest
x11 Mountain
22
60
Maybe... I still see this having trouble with Gifts decks, which is why I thought that Flame should be Pithing Needle, but then it would probably have trouble with aggro decks thanks to a lack of targetted instant speed removal.
Thoughts?
MVP of my pool was...(insert drumroll) Inspirit.
We did top 8 draft where I went; I opened Might of Oaks (which I mistakenly passed, because I valued the Pyroclasm more. I wouldn't have been able to go green anyways, but I don't really know if this is the right pick. No I don't remember what else was in the pack.) Second pack I opened Jade Statue (I'm opening the same cards as my sealed pool...) and Third pack I opened a Shivan Reef, which i raredrafted because my draft was going ridiculously bad. I ended up with a removal light Red/Black pool, one shock, one dark banishing, and one pyroclasm, and about 18 mediocre but agressive creatures. I scrubbed out in first round against a W/U deck that was infinitely better than mine.
That needs to be cut by two, big time. You definately do not need the black splash, IMO. Your removal in red/green is really good. (And includes Fumiko) And splashing for double black spells like Whisper is bad.
I would go:
-Whisper
-Bleeder
-Clutch
-3 Swamps
Brings us to 36
+2 Mountains
+1 Akki Avalanchers (1/1 that can occasionally trade for x/3s, or swing in for 3 damage late.)
+1 Kashi Tribe Elite (Bluff! I have Sosuke coming later!!! 2/3 for 3s are playable. Not great but playable)
The elite could possibly also be the shinka gatekeeper, depending on your preference.
Hence why more often than not I equip it over creating the dragon.
The problem I have with Fang is that it's slow. If you untap with it in play, you should win. But more often than not, I equip it over creating the dragon. 6/7 shinen of life's roar. That's scary.
HOWEVER! Passing Flame is not a bad signal. When reading signals, you need to look at what was taken, as well as what was passed. When the rare is missing, there are 55 different cards to consider (Stat I just made up: 50% of rares are unplayable). What rare cards should be taken over flame? Surely: Ryusei, Kiki-Jiki, Kumano, Soulblast. Long Forgotten Gohei. Hatchery. Oathkeeper. Etc.