TugaChampion's picture
By: TugaChampion, Guilherme Carmona Alexandrino
Mar 23 2009 1:24pm
4.4
Login to post comments
3540 views


So after a sad 129th place in GP Hannover I'm back to another 4-3-2-2 draft.

Pack1

Pick1

Here the best cards are Bull Cerodon, Woolly Thoctar and Kresh. Esper Battlemage is also good but on a lower power level than both other cards. Bull and Thoctar put me on Naya while Kresh puts me on Jund. With this in mind I took Kresh because it's the better signal and Kresh can get out of hand easily with cards like Bone Splinters.

Kresh the Bloodbraided

Pick2

Rockslide Elemental goes well with Kresh. Both Beetle and Carvern Thoctar usually come up later.

Rockslide Elemental

Pick3

 

3 nice cards to follow up the first 2 picks. For me in terms of power level it's Capsule, followed closely by the Battlemage and than Marauder.

Executioner's Capsule

Pick4

Tropan Ascetic is clearly the best card.

(Tropan Ascetic)

Pick5

Grixis Battlemage is not really good when you're not playing blue.

Skeletal Kathari

Pick6

The Druid is good but I usually don't play it outside Naya so I took Undead Leotau

Undead Leotau

Pick7

Easy pick

Grixis Panorama

Pick8

It's a bit late for a Fire-Field Ogre and an Iguanar

Hissing Iguanar

Pick9

Angelsong

Pick10

Obelisk of Grixis

Pick11

Sangrite Surge

Pick12

Ad Nauseam

Nothing else in pack1.

Pack2

Pick1

Elspeth is the obvious pick because it's worth at least 14 tix. If this was a PTQ top8 it would be between Executioner's Capsule, Vithian Stinger and hating Elspeth. I wouldn't hate Elspeth because I prefer taking a good card for me instead of having someone else not getting an awsome card but sacrificing myself a good card and still leaving someone with the good card I would have picked. I like Stinger more than the Capsule so that would be the pick.

Elspeth, Knight-Errant

Pick2

Mosstodon, Viscera Dragger, Naya Battlemage and Scavenger Drake are the possible picks. Battlemage won't probably be very good as I'm not in white and I won't be able to use the tapping. I like the Drake but it's just less powerful than Mosstodon or Viscera. Mosstodon is bigger but Viscera cycles, comes back for one more attack and costs 4 which is usually the slot I'm lacking creatures.

Viscera Dragger

Pick3

Easy pick.

Jund Charm

Pick4

I hate passing Agony Warp specially this late but I don't want to branch into a 4th color and the pack also has Bloodpyre Elemental which is nice with Kresh and Rockslide Elemental.

Bloodpyre Elemental

Pick5

Bone Splinters

Pick6

I had no 2drops so I had to pick Rip-Clan Crasher.

Rip-Clan Crasher

Pick7

Another 2drop so I'm feeling better about the curve now although I don't have much green and I'm hoping to get other 2drops.

Rip-Clan Crasher

Pick8

It's late for a Strix. I'm guessing both Esper and Grixis were underdrafted at this table.

Carrion Thrash

Pick9

Goblin Deathraiders

Pick10

Either no one is playing Grixis or I'm just too used to 8-4 drafts but Kederekt Creeper shouldn't be here this late.

Kederekt Creeper

Pick11

Dragon's Herald

Pick12

Jund Panorama

Nothing else on pack2

Pack3

Pick1

I checked if the Knight was a pricy card but it's like 2 tix so I analyzed what I could get for my deck. I'm not really sure but I think Suicidal Charge is the pick here

Suicidal Charge

Pick2

Removal

Drag Down

Pick3

Wild Leotau

Pick4

I think Absorb Vis is the pick here. A fixer early game and a finisher late game.

Absorb Vis

Pick5

Wild Leotau

Pick6

Not really anything fantastic but Canyon Minotaur fits in the 4drop slot.

Canyon Minotaur

Pick7

I needed some more fixing specially after picking 2 creatures that have double green in their costs.

Rupture Spire

Pick8

Beacon Behemoth

Pick9

I needed a 2drop more than a 4drop.

Viashino Slaughtermaster

Pick10

I took the Archer as it could be a nice SB card.

Scattershot Archer

Match1

I won't do the usual play by play explanation because there nothing to learn from these 2 games. I trampled him G1 while he played Naya Battlemage, Godtoucher and Canyon Minotaur. G2 I'm screwed for a while but I'm still able to get back into the game and when it seems I'll win he topdecks Resounding Silence and the next turn Oblivion Ring and kills me. G3 never happens because of a bug and I lose right here.

I hope you liked it!

12 Comments

Would like to see a couple by Metalman (not verified) at Mon, 03/23/2009 - 16:03
Metalman's picture

Would like to see a couple things:

#1. Decklist
#2. Commenting more in hindsight about the picks and whether they were correct or not
#3. A screenshot or two of the games critical points

The decklist is the most critical. Without it the draft review is poor at best. Its pretty challenging to go through and write down all the picks you made and guess whether it became a good/average/great deck.

On the draft itself...Jund Battlemage is the best card in pick three, pack one IMO. He is the game breaker card in Jund since he enables ridiculous Devour tricks and makes tokens for Bone Splinters. The Capsule is good but not as game breaking. It also requires a heavier mana committment since you usually want to play it and use it on the same turn.

Without the Jund Battlemage pick three I would have taken the Souls Fire pick four. The Topan is good but there is more removal in AAC and you are frequently sitting there with no creatures in play. Topan = mediocre without buddies. Also, with the Capsule pick two you probably want to focus on BR as the main colors. Topan being an earlier drop and not pairing well with the Black pick you just made makes him the incorrect pick IMO.

Pick 6 pack one I take the mana elf. This format is about splashing for bombs and the elf not only allows you to splash for bombs but he gets you to the large amount of 5-drop+ 5-power green guys a turn earlier.
Then again, Im not a fan of Undead Lateau as Ive never seen him do anything significant in any of the games Ive ever played.

My philosophy in this format is the strongest decks are base two colors (one if possible) with a third/fourth/or fifth splash color. You drafted a mixed bag pack one (which makes it weaker going into pack two) but the early drops are red and green atm. That should influence later picks, especially in Jund since Jund dies to flying assaults unless its faster.

Suicidal Charge pick one I believe is the biggest mispick. Its good but you will almost always get one late and the Manaforged Mace is pretty nuts. Drop that turn 4 and turn 5 drop Rip Clan Crasher, equip, and swing for 5 seems pretty good. Having Unearth + the Mace on the table can earn a cheap win too. The Sylvan Bounty would also get some considerations since you wont see those as late as the Suicidal Charge.

The rest of the picks are not individually incorrect but as a whole you end up pretty evenly divided between the three colors. This is especially bad since you probably had to play some of the 2-drop 2-color guys without too much hope of getting them into play turn two.

Anyway, hope to see a few more drafts with a little more detail in the deckbuilding and playing areas.

Cheers,

-M

Forgot the decklist by TugaChampion at Mon, 03/23/2009 - 18:51
TugaChampion's picture

Sorry about the missing list. You can check it here: http://triton.imageshack.us/Himg510/scaled.php?server=510&filename=draft...

#2. Commenting more in hindsight about the picks and whether they were correct or not

I felt I commented enough. That's more or less what I commented in my 2 other drafts and most people liked it.

#3. A screenshot or two of the games critical points

Like I said Game1 he plays few cards and one of them a very bad card and I win easily. The other one I was screw for a long time, I manage to come back and he topdecks Resouding Silence and Oblivion Ring in a row to kill me. There's seriously no need for screenshots here.

I've noticed you always say by Anonymous (not verified) at Mon, 03/23/2009 - 22:06
Anonymous's picture

I've noticed you always say "Tropan Ascetic", when it should be "Topan Ascetic". Sorry, OC.

I didn't understand a few of by Anonymous (not verified) at Tue, 03/24/2009 - 05:45
Anonymous's picture

I didn't understand a few of your picks in this draft.

P1P6: I'm never happy to play this guy, especially without a lot of good unearth combos like bone splinters or corpse connoisseur. Druid on the other hand is great, since jund decks are usually quite slow and druid also fixes for a naya bomb.
P2P1: I can't really think of a time I'd pass elspeth. I'd definitely consider splashing white or making black a splash since you just picked up one of the biggest bombs in the set and naya is a lot stronger than jund imo. Sticking with jund is fine though.
P3P1: The suicidal charge is a sideboard card most of the time. On the other hand, there is an excellent 2 drop here in the viashino slaughtermaster. I've only played this guy twice but he was excellent both times. He's good without backup since he can eat other 2 drops, but with pump or exalted like court archers/rhox charger he's just nuts. You can't be happy playing 2 rip-clans...
P3P3: Double green is too ambitious when you have close to 0 fixing at this point. You're never going to get this guy out turn 4. Go with the rupture spire or gluttonous slime depending on your curve.

I don't know how your deck looks, but it seems like you just don't have the fixing to support wild leotaus. Idk, maybe you're just luckier than me?

That p3p1 its quite by TheMiseDotCom at Tue, 03/24/2009 - 13:53
TheMiseDotCom's picture
5

That p3p1 its quite confusing.You took a Rip Clan Clasher earlier stating that you lacked 2 drops over a Scourge Devil or Grixis Panorama and then took a Suicidal Charge over the Viashino. Im a big fan of Suicidal Charge but still the Viashino seemed the best choice there. Its a shame about the bug,also try to have an editor post ur decklist since most people wont read your comment and ask for it again.

thanks by TugaChampion at Tue, 03/24/2009 - 14:39
TugaChampion's picture

The reason I didn't take Viashino is that I have been seeing them very late. But Charge has been very late too so Viashino was probably the correct pick.

Some comments by LOurs at Tue, 03/24/2009 - 16:21
LOurs's picture
3

Mostly i agree about your choices, but :

P1P3 : i dont understand your choice. Yeah, capsule is a good removal, but its CMC is 3 and it doesnt work on black creatures. In the same pick there is also Marauder, which is almost the same effect than capsule with an identical CMC. But you have already had kresh and rockslide so Marauder seems a really more synergical (creature into a graveyard). That was the pick here to me. Then probably i would have choosed battlemage because it is a bomb in the format but only if you're running jund ... and you did :)

P2P1 : i would have choosed elspeth too, i am pretty sure, for the same reasons you mentioned. But if i was preventing myself from choosing elspeth, i think i would choose stinger. Again because its damage abitlity & its unearth ability seem to me more synergical with you deck.

P3P2 : i dont agree here. Slavedriver is a crazy good card, especially in a jund deck. Also more synergical in your deck. At this point, that was the best pick here to me.

I am dispointed for your draft bug, i hope you will have something back from wotc for that.
The article looks nice & good content ;)

re by TugaChampion at Tue, 03/24/2009 - 17:20
TugaChampion's picture

P1P3: I'm not really a fan of Marauder but even though the Marauder has nice synergy with the deck the capsule kills the creature I want while Marauder might kill a token or an elvish visionary. Also the capsule usually costs 2 because you play it turn1 or when you have spare mana and than crack it for 2. That's my experience with it anyway. As for Jund Battlemage I like it but at this point the Capsule just feels a better pick. If I end up in esper or grixis the capsule is just fine while jund battlemage only allows me in jund or naya. That's what made me pick the capsule which on power level they seem pretty even to me.

P2P1: maybe you understood me wrong but I meant that I would pick stinger if Elspeth wasn't there.

P3P2: Drag Down is a pretty good removal card and although Slavedriver is pretty nice (way better than Undead Leotau which some people dislike but I actually find it always useful as the 20th-23th card) it seems to come late. Slavedriver doesn't have a bomb status so I went for the removal.

Thanks. I did get the refund and I actually was pretty sure I would get it. I've heard some people complain that they don't get their refund many times but I've always got mine. Maybe some people just don't give enough information or are just wrong about it being refundable.

All these comments are why I by blandestk at Tue, 03/24/2009 - 18:15
blandestk's picture
4

All these comments are why I will never get into writing about drafts. Even if you explain fully your decisions, someone will come by and second guess. There's nothing inherently wrong with second-guessing, but Magic players do not stereotypically use the best tact or respect. While I might have made a few different picks, I thought your selections were good and your comments were helpful. Perhaps a decklist would be nice, but that's about it. Good work.

re by TugaChampion at Tue, 03/24/2009 - 18:55
TugaChampion's picture

While I agree on the part that everyone has its own style and that reflects on somewhat even picks, I can't agree that it should be the reason not to write these articles.

If people disagree with my picks and explain why, at the very least I'll read it, consider it and than disagree. But most likely I'll understand his point of view but still prefer my pick as it's just a different style. Or I can even learn something new and become a better player/drafter.

I think I explainned the picks enough. Some of them I didn't feel it was important as they were pretty obvious and those that I had an harder time or that I felt I needed to explain, I tried to explain the best I could.

The decklist was really a mistake as I had uploaded the image and than forgot to put it in the article. Once again sorry about that.

I am not sure to understand what you said by LOurs at Wed, 03/25/2009 - 06:15
LOurs's picture

@ blandestk :i only hope you dont consider all comments in the same way. An article without any comments (especially about draft) is uninteresting to me : the aim of a draft article is to share opinions with the writer to get multiple points of view (nobody is perfect, neither the reader nor the writer). It is the basis to improve skill & experience, especially if you dont agree with the writer on some choices.

About respect, firstly you have to remeber that all the players are not perfect english speaker (for example, my english skills are pretty weak, and i am never sure if what i wrote is correctly done or not). It could have an influence on way to write comments also.

Secondly, your comment sounds pretty disrespectful by putting in the same boat all comments writer, and i see no reasons, no interest, no constructive approach by doing that. If you are angry about a comment writer, just reply to him directly (click on "reply"). If you are angry about all comment writer, i dont understand why you are coming on a forum place.

Really sorry in advance if i didnt well understand what you meant (you would tell me). I am a mtg player, but i am also administrator in one of the biggest french community which is promoting online games. I am used to moderate forum and by the way, i always hate guys who are providing respect advice by spitting on others....

With all my respect

I really liked it! by Neon (not verified) at Thu, 03/26/2009 - 11:29
Neon's picture
5

I liked the comments on each pick and I liked the way you drafted. Too bad you forgot the decklist.