JXClaytor's picture
By: JXClaytor, Joshua Claytor
Aug 09 2012 9:43am
0
Login to post comments
2580 views


I've not really cared about Magic for a while now.  I guess I could say that I have taken a bit of a break from the game, but that is not entirely true either.  Since the summer semester started my hours at work were cut (I work for a university as a lab assistant, when there are less classes and students on campus there is less of a need for me.  My shifts so far have all involved a lot of Netflix.)  Because of this, I had to use my MTGO account as an ATM, selling bits and pieces off at a time without a chance to rebuild.  

Eventually that will change, but not until after Gen Con.  Because of the lack of constructed decks on my account I've taken up drafting more.  It's fun, (Well Avacyn Restored was not fun, and I hope one day WOTC gets off the Big, Small, then Big set that is drafted on it's own model.)  and I kinda get to rebuild my collection.  

Since AVR was not enjoyable to me I laid off until M13 finally came out which was about sixteen years after it was released in paper.  I kid, but thankfully Return to Ravnica will be released quicker!  

Here is my first M13 draft with commentary.  I ended up going Blue Black, but a couple of different picks would have shifted the deck.  I am not going to recap the games because they have been lost in time, but I ended up making the finals in this draft.  Turns out Murder, Public Execution and Harbor Bandits are good cards.   

Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

I always value mill to highly.  I have a crush on cards that can mill and could be seen forcing Curse of the Bloody Tomes when Innistrad was triple drafted.  To me first picking this and passing solid blue cards is not a horrible thing.  I'm going to hopefully cut Blue off in packs 1 and 3.  That will make in theory one other deck (the person I am passing to if they do not notice that blue is getting cut) very weak. 

Because I love mill I will always first pick this card.  I guess I've started to draft more for fun and less for the fabulous prizes!

Other cards that should have been considered are Rancor, Talrand's Invocation, Serra Angel and Faerie Invaders. 

I think I should have taken the Invocation. 

  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:

I married myself to the Mind Sculpt very early.  One could make the argument for the Sentinel Spider, but I value this guy higher than I should in a mill deck.  I think ideally the mill deck in m13 limited will be Blue Green, with plenty of control and slower board controlling creatures like the spider. 

I do not believe this pick to be wrong but I could see taking the spider over the invader. 

  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:

Essence Scatter is perfect in the mill deck, I'm not sure why I took the ring here. 

This pick I feel ended up being more correct than not.  I eventually dropped the mill plan (but kept the Mind Sculpt in my final deck)

  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:

I could go for the Forcemage here, but having a 3/3 unblockable guy is never a bad thing right? 

  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:


 A second copy of this guy is not the worst thing imaginable.  Recluse would have been the pick I think if I had a chance to do it again. 

  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:

I think I made the proper pick here and at this point in the draft I believe I shifted from mill to Blue Black (or green) aggro. 

  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:

I do not like Dark Favor, and having a vanilla two drop is better I think. 

There was really nothing else I wanted in this pack. 

  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


I think the pick here (and this is when I think throughout the draft I was still in mill) was the sign in blood.  Sign in blood helps me find the cards that mill, and Rebirth is a lot worse than I originally thought it was.  Seeing as it only removes creature cards (reading may not be my strongest suit after all.) I was valuing these too highly. 

  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:


I was gonna write a batman joke here but decided against it.  I love this guy and I think he is great.  Of course I also loved Highway Robber and this guy is easier to cast, flies and does the same thing!

  Pack 1 pick 10:

  My Pick:

I think Blood Reckoning is overhyped.

  Pack 1 pick 11:

  My Pick:

I hate Dark Favor so much that I'll take a Green card over it. 

  Pack 1 pick 12:

  My Pick:

Index, I wish that you were Sleight of Hand. 

  Pack 1 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:

After this pack I am pretty solid in Blue Black.  Maybe the Blue Green deck looks better, but that is only in hindsight. 

  Pack 2 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Lich is too hard to cast, the vampire is okay, but I went with the Flying Men that could potentially get better. Plus I still have two packs worth of Mind Sculpts right? 

  Pack 2 pick 2:

  My Pick:

Removal is good, and possibly going to pick up the Mill dork later on.  The spider again would have been a nice pick here.  There are a lot of really good spiders in this set right?  (and by a lot I guess I mean three.) 

  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:

Yeah the charade of me thinking about green is over.  Maybe I did a better job of cutting off black than I did cutting off blue? 

  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:

I picked the night because it plays better with my fliers.  Exalted is a neat mechanic when you have an air force! 

  Pack 2 pick 5:

  My Pick:

Wrong pick.  The Archaeomancer is the guy I needed to grab.  Would have worked well with all of my spells, and the second phantasm would end up getting boarded out a lot of the time. 

  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:

There is a lot of quality black coming my way in this pack. 

  Pack 2 pick 7:

  My Pick:

Negate should have been the pick here. 

  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:

Hooray Mill dork! 

  Pack 2 pick 9:

  My Pick:

The vampire I wanted from earlier came back around. 

  Pack 2 pick 10:

  My Pick:

Another exalted guy.  Also of note just because the guy is clearly jumping off of a building does not mean he has flying.  Not sure why jumping off of a building would give him haste. 

  Pack 2 pick 11:

  My Pick:

I like this guy, he's a black Kraken Hatchling with two relevant abilities. 

  Pack 2 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Nothing else really fit in the deck from this pack, and card draw and life gaining can be good to have. 

  Pack 3 pick 2:

  My Pick:

I love putting teams to sleep.  It's the blue overrun, well timed you're going to win the game, or it gives you breathing room to get back into the game. 

  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:

Nothing I wanted so I took what I felt was the best card in the pack.

  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:


I still believe the shade is overhyped.  I think the Blue Black deck wants disruption, and the rats helps that out a ton. 

  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:

This card is so good and I am surprised that it is still in the pack so late. 

  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:

I said go to Sleep!

  Pack 3 pick 7:

  My Pick:

lot a bad sideboard card to have. 

  Pack 3 pick 8:

  My Pick:

Should have taken the negate here.  At this point I think the deck is pretty solid and I should have been looking for good sideboard cards. 

  Pack 3 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!

The deck ended up looking something like this. 

Draft Deck
Lost in the finals.
Creatures
1 Wind Drake
1 Walking Corpse
2 Ravenous Rats
1 Zombie Goliath
1 Vedalken Entrancer
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Faerie Invaders
2 Harbor Bandit
1 Bloodhunter Bat
2 Jace's Phantasm
1 Knight of Infamy
1 Duskmantle Prowler
1 Duty-Bound Dead
1 Disciple of Bolas
17 cards

Other Spells
1 Mind Sculpt
2 Essence Drain
1 Murder
1 Public Execution
2 Sleep
7 cards
Lands
9 Swamp
8 Island
17 cards

Useful Sideboard
1 Kraken Hatchling
1 Duress
1 Essence Scatter
3 Vile Rebirth
3 cards
Ravenous Rats


I said earlier that I ended up losing in the finals with this deck, but even with the hindsight of going Green Blue I think I did a pretty good job of drafting this deck.  I saw that the mill was just not coming and adjusted and ended up getting some much needed packs out of the deal! 

I'm going to start writing more after Gen Con in a few weeks.  Return to Ravnica has me super excited about magic!  Thanks for reading and if you want to follow me on twitter you can at @JoshuaClaytor or you can catch my stream on twitch.tv!  I am on more often than not playing either magic or the WOW tcg!  

Thanks for reading and have a great week!