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By: IYankemDDS, Jeff Nowacki
May 27 2014 12:00pm
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Hello and welcome back to Drafting with IYankemDDS! I have been on a bit of a hiatus for a few weeks, but I am back just in time to journey into Journey into Nyx! I have enjoyed this format, with some mixed results, so let's see how it goes today. You'll see that this was something of an odd draft. I felt like my deck was functional, but it just seemed like an uphill battle almost the whole time. Let's see what I'm talking about.

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:


I open up the first pack and a couple of cards jump out. First is the rare: Pheres-Band Warchief. I've always liked Captains and this is a good one. I've enjoyed drafting Green all Block long, and I usually load up on as many Centaurs as I can get. The other card I'm looking at is Grim Guardian. If you can get a few of these guys, along with some other enchantment cards, you can really put together an effective grindy deck, although I haven't been able to try that yet. I am actually going to go with the Warchief here and see where that takes me.

  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:


I open the next pack and I'm immediately punished for not going with the Guardian, as I open up another one. Still, Oakheart Dryads is a good card in this format, so I'll be happy to take that. Bladetusk Boar and Pheres-Band Thunderhoof are good cards as well. I'm not ready to move into Red for the Boar yet, and I'd prefer to get the Thunderhoof on the wheel. I take the Dryads, but have my eye on Colossal Heroics as well as the other cards mentioned. Maybe something makes it back.

  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:


The next pack doesn't have much in Green except for Market Festival. That card is fine if I want to get greedy, but I don't, so I'll pass on it. I start looking at a second color and I think Hubris and Akroan Mastiff are both good cards. I'll take the Hubris and start nudging toward Green/Blue. Revel of the Fallen God is a powerful card, and I would probably take it on the wheel, but not ready to commit to that here.

  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:


The next pack is, again, light on Green. I see another Hubris which would help get me into Blue, but a couple of good Red cards as well. I take the Forgeborn Oreads over the Flurry of Horns, hoping both the Revel and maybe even the Flurry can make it back.

  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:


I open the next pack and see a powerful Green common: Ravenous Leucrocota. I don't really see anything else here, so I will happily take this. I am thinking about G/R at this point, but have not abandoned Blue completely.

  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:


I open the next pack and see what I view as a really late Supply-Line Cranes. There are really no Green cards for me here, and I take this as a bit of a signal that White may be open. I'm not ready to dismiss Red or even Blue completely, though.

  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


Here I'm going to take an 8th pick Ajani's Presence. I've really had this card do some great things in the format (mostly against me), so I'll take it here, really starting to lean toward G/W if the Red cards don't come back.

  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:


I open the wheel pack and the Humbler of Mortals came back. I feel that Green is reasonably open for me, so I'll take it and I am pretty sure that Green will be my base color.

  Pack 1 pick 10:

  My Pick:


I get the next pack and it looks like Colossal Heroics made it back to me. I think that this is a good trick, so I'll gladly take it 10th. Now that I have a few tricks, I'm going to hope to pick up some Heroes.

  Pack 1 pick 11:

  My Pick:


One last pack to view from JOU. I narrow this down to (Nature's Panopoly) and Pensive Minotaur. I decide on the Panopoly, since the Revel didn't come back around. Again, I am not going to rule out Red, but I am probably feeling a little better about G/W right now.

  Pack 2 pick 1:

  My Pick:


I open the BNG pack and I see my old friend Heroes' Podium. The Green is not very impressive, other than Kiora's Follower, but I am not G/U. (Oresko's Sun Guide) is a reasonable card, but don't want to P1 that. I decide to go with (Fall of Hammer) in case I do move back toward Red.

  Pack 2 pick 2:

  My Pick:


I receive the next pack and Ornitharch jumps out at me right away. This definitely pulls me back toward G/W. There really isn't any other good option here, but maybe Setessan Starbreaker will wheel for the sideboard.

  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:


The next pack has a Swordwise Centaur and I am happy to take that. I'll grab as many of those guys as I can get. There is also another Sun Guide in here, but I'd much rather have the Centaur.

  Pack 2 pick 5:

  My Pick:


Looks like I can get another Swordwise Centaur 5th pick. Vanguard of Brimaz is an option too, but that would really do a number on the manabase, so I'll take the Centaur.

  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:


I finally open the Theros pack and the Firedrinker Satyr at Rare is not very impressive. There is a Heliod's Emissary, though, so I'll take Elmer and be happy about it. I'd like to wheel either the Nessian Courser or the Sedge Scorpion, if I can.

  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:


With the 4th pick in Theros I am rewarded for cutting green with a Nessian Asp. I will probably top out at 5, and this guy is a great way to do it. Maybe I can luck out and the Agent of Horizons will come back?

  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:


The next pack has a card that fits perfectly - Chronicler of Heroes. I will take that, no question. The only other options are Traveling Philosopher and Cavalry Pegasus, but the Centaur is a lot better for this deck. I'm not sure how often I'll get the bonus, but even the 3/3 Centaur for 3 is something that I am happy with.

  Pack 3 pick 9:

  My Pick:


I get to the wheel pack and both the Nessian Courser and the Sedge Scorpion make it back. I go with the Scorpion because I want a way to clog up the ground. I'd be perfectly happy with the Courser, though.

  Pack 3 pick 12:

  My Pick:


The last pick that I will look at comes 12th pick and the Agent came back! There's also an Akroan Hoplite in the pack which makes me believe that R/W was open in this draft.



Alright! I think the deck came together fairly well. The best curve is going to be Swordwise Centaur into Chronicler of Heroes into Pheres-Band Warchief. That would let me swing for 8 on Turn 4. I am going with 10 Forests and 7 Plains because I want to hit 2 Forests on T2 so that I can play either the Centaur or the Bassara Tower Archer. I only got one Aspect of Hydra, and it would have been nice to get more. I don't need to worry about double White until the 5-drop slot, and I feel that everything at the 5 is pretty good. Unfortunately, I only ended up with two Heroes, which doesn't necessarily play well with all of the tricks. The biggest weakness of the deck is probably the lack of removal, but hopefully some of the tricks will stand in for that. Let's go!

Match 1 Game 1

We're into Round 1 and our opponents mulls to 5 right off the bat. It looks like he is on Green/Black. I get my Centaurs going and he never sees much of anything, so I finish him off with Colossal Heroics and move to Game 2.

Match 1 Game 2 (Leads 1-0)

This time I mull down to 6. It looks like he sided in Hunt the Hunter, which he was able to get value out of. I play my Nessian Asp to get stable but both life totals are getting low. He plays Swarmborn Giant, which I try to kill with a flyer but he blows me out with Defend the Hearth. I am ultimately able to get some damage through and kill it, but before I can untap for the win, he pulls a Cavern Lampad off the top, bestows onto his guy and swings in for the win. Onto Game 3!

Match 1 Game 3
The last game ran pretty long so my opponent's clock is starting to run low. I am able to play an Akroan Skyguard and bestow Observant Alseid, along with Ornitharch. I have a stable board with 20 life and he's only got about a minute or so left on his clock, so he concedes and I will take Round 1.

Match 2 Game 1

Right off the bat, I mull down to 5, but start off with Oakheart Dryads. Meanwhile, opponent has played Nylea's Presence and Opaline Unicorn, and it is clear that he is on more than two colors. I would later learn that he is on five colors! He plays a Nessian Asp to stabilize, and I attack my Dryads into it. He blocks and I cast Feral Invocation on the Dryads to kill the Asp!

 

We trade off some creatures and I get him down to 9 life. He plays Revel of the Fallen God. So that's where it went!

 

From there, he just pulls ahead and I've got nothing. Let's move to Game 2.


Match 2 Game 2 (Trails 0-1)

We start Game 2 and his first four land drops are Island, Mountain, Forest, Swamp. On my side, I play an Akroan Skyguard and Chronicler of Heroes. He plays a Nessian Asp and I attack into it with four open mana, and he plays around the Divine Verdict which I don't even have in the deck!

I get him down to ten and swing in with my two Heroes. To my delight he declares no blocks and he's tapped out. I pay five to Colossal Heroics and hit him for exacties. I am in for a surprise in Game 3.

Match 2 Game 3

I actually feel pretty good with my start, as I play my patented Swordwise Centaur into Chronicler of Heroes into Pheres-Band Warchief. Little do I know, he's able to stabilize and he's got both Phenax and a Stormbreath Dragon in his deck! No wonder he is playing 5-colors. I get him all the way down to 2 life, and he even has to use the Dragon to block Sedge Scorpion, but the Phenax clock was just too fast. I'll fall to 1-1 and prepare for Round 3. Curses!

Match 3 Game 1

In the last round opponent is on Blue/Black. I think he is the one who took all of the Grim Guardians. He plays a lot of low power-high toughness guys, like Omenspeaker and Rotted Hulk. I come out of the gates with Centaurs and bash him. In the mid-game I play Heliod's Emissary and Supply-Line Cranes and he concedes.

Match 3 Game 2 (Leads 1-0)

In the second game I start off with a mull to 5. I'm kind of on my backfoot the rest of the way. He plays a Wavecrash Triton to get further ahead on Tempo and Bestows Crystalline Nautilus onto him to tap down a Centaur. I Bestow my Observant Alseid onto the Wavecrash to kill it and get my 2/2 Vigilance. That play was cute, but I still go on to lose the game.

Match 3 Game 3

I mull down to 6 this time, and get a hand with a 2-drop Centaur. We go back and forth and then he plays Master of Waves. He was already ahead on board and that was enough to finish me off.

Final Record: 1-2

Well, I certainly thought this deck was better than a 1-2. Go up against some of the strongest cards in the format didn't help, but sometimes you will just have drafts like that. It was not ideal to be so wishy-washy on my second color, although in the end, I feel that I made the right choice, even though White may not have been particularly open. I suppose I could have splashed Fall of the Hammer, but without any fixing, I wanted to keep a more consistent manabase.

That's all for this week! See you next time.

IYankemDDS (MTGO) / Jeff_LR1 (Twitter)

1 Comments

UG Maybe? by tcgaa at Wed, 05/28/2014 - 19:33
tcgaa's picture

I seem to be forced into GW a lot lately - I think your deck was reasonable. After reading the Ars Arcanum article http://puremtgo.com/articles/ars-arcanum-journey-nyx-draft-overview - I probably would have gone UG with what I saw here, but I don't think you made any really bad choices. (I like Thunderhoof over Oakheart Dryads in most cases). Better luck next time and thanks for the well written article.