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By: TugaChampion, Guilherme Carmona Alexandrino
Jan 16 2015 1:00pm
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This time I'm doing a Holiday Cube Draft. This Cube, at least for me, it's harder to have an edge as big as non powered Cube. I think that's because there's usually at least one broken deck in any draft and that makes solid fair decks win less. But there are also risks when drafting unfair decks. If a red deck is missing Goblin Guide and Sulfuric Vortex, it's not as good but the deck still functions. A control deck that's missing Counterspell has something like Mana Leak instead. If you have Time Vault and no way to untap it or a good Storm shell but no actual storm card, the deck simply doesn't work. Not all cards show up in a given draft and even if they do sometimes people cut. Even with these risks I usually try to do something cool and crazy in these because it's more fun this way. Let's go to the draft:

  Pack 1 pick 1:

There are some good cards here, especially Vendilion and Strip Mine that I could easily first pick but Mana Drain is really powerful because sometimes it just gives you free wins.


  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 2:

Another pack with some good cards but with one that is above everything else and sometimes just gives you free wins: Mind Twist. It also works very well with Mana Drain. Just countering their 2 or 3 mana spell allowing you to discard their whole hand the following turn is really powerful.


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  Pack 1 pick 3:

When I already have 2 powerful cards in my first 2 picks, especially with something like Mind Twist that the earlier you draw it the better, taking Vampiric Tutor here is easy.


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  Pack 1 pick 4:

There are some choices here. Chrome Mox can be good in the right deck but it gets really bad when you start to mulligan and it could wheel. Garruk wouldn't be horrible but these decks tend to be Grixis so the green mana could create some manabase problems. If I wanted to play green, I'd take Oath here and try to do something with it. And theres the two blue cards and I think Preordain is better than Venser because if all goes well, I shouldn't care that much about what they're doing and finding the things I need is more important. I think the pick is between Oath and Preordain but given I already have very powerful cards I decided to take Preordain.


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  Pack 1 pick 5:

Disappointing pack but at least there's a UR land and it feels good to not have to take it over any spell.


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  Pack 1 pick 6:

Another weak pack. I'm not a fan of Brain Maggot and Mesmeric Fiend but since there's nothing else I want it I took the Maggot because it can be a decent sideboard card.


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  Pack 1 pick 7:

After two weak packs it's nice to take a Mulldrifter.


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  Pack 1 pick 8:

I still don't have artifact mana but I still want to take Burning of Xinye here because those are some of the main red cards I would want in my deck. The BR land would be nice but Burning has much more potential.


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  Pack 1 pick 9:

Both Chandra and Kozilek are decent picks and I opted for Chandra since I still had no acceleration.


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  Pack 1 pick 10:

I didn't think much of Ashiok at first but even in Legacy Cube it can be pretty good against control. In this Cube, there are less aggro decks and more combo decks so it gets better. It's not very fast but exiling 3 cards every turn can sometimes remove certain specific cards that make it much harder or even impossible for the opponent to win. At the very least, I don't want to face this card and even if I don't play it in the maindeck, it can be a good sideboard option.


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  Pack 1 pick 11:

Tombstalker is probably a more common choice here but I think Olivia can be better in certain match ups.


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  Pack 2 pick 1:

I had some options here. Sneak Attack and Kiki-Jiki can both be winning conditions if I can support them. There's Basalt Monolith which I don't love especially in this Cube with so many better options. There's Cryptic Command which isn't really a combo card but it's a solid one although not the easiest to cast. And there's also Phyrexian Metamorph which is always playable. I took Cryptic because it kept me open for a control deck since most my cards could be played in a control deck as well. I'm not the biggest fan of Sneak Attack and Kiki-Jiki's triple red is much harder than Cryptic's triple blue.


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  Pack 2 pick 2:

This time I took Timetwister. It's a clear combo card but it's a very good one and there's nothing else I really want from this pack.


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  Pack 2 pick 3:

There's a Wildfire but Burning of Xinye came late so I decided to gamble on it wheeling. Mana Leak and Crucible would be fine picks but for those I'd rather have Wildfire. Simic Signet only has one of my colors but I still think it's the pick because I really need artifact mana.


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  Pack 2 pick 4:

Here I took Tezzeret hoping for a Time Vault later. Underground Sea would be a good addition to the manabase but Tezzeret's upside is huge and even if I just have some artifact mana it's not bad.


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  Pack 2 pick 6:

I already have Timetwister so I don't think I need Time Spiral. And if I'm playing 3 colors I do need some fixing.


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  Pack 2 pick 7:

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  Pack 2 pick 8:

Another Signet with just one of my colors but I need it.


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  Pack 2 pick 9:

Sneak Attack came back so I took it and probably not play it but still keep an eye in any big creature.


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  Pack 2 pick 11:

Wildfire came back so now I have a good direction for my deck.


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  Pack 3 pick 1:

I wanted both Glen Elendra Archmage and Ral Zarek. Ral Zarek being 2 colors is more likely to wheel and I've seen it wheel so I took Glen.


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  Pack 3 pick 2:

Izzet Signet would be great in the deck Time Walk is insane especially with 3 planeswalkers already.


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  Pack 3 pick 3:

Another pack with 2 cards I really want. Coalition Relic would be fantastic but Bribery wins games. This was a really strong pack with several other good cards for me so I'm hoping I get something else from it.


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  Pack 3 pick 4:

This time I easily took the Signet, although a much worse one for me.


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  Pack 3 pick 5:

Mox Diamond is a bit awkward with Mulligans much like Chrome Mox but it's better at fixing and I do think my deck needs it. There's nothing else for me anyway.


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  Pack 3 pick 6:

Another Signet, sadly again with just one of my colors.


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  Pack 3 pick 8:

This was very good for me. I didn't have any real winning conditions besides Bribery so in the last possible new pack getting Nicol Bolas makes my deck much better.


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  Pack 3 pick 9:

If I have enough red to play double red spells, Siege-Gang is not a bad choice.


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Here's what I submitted:

I ended up cutting Tezzeret because I don't think it would do enough. I think the deck is good although with some cards that aren't that great. It's basically a Wildfire Control deck with some very powerful cards like Mind Twist, Mana Drain and Bribery and Vampiric Tutor to double as anything I need.

M1G1:

 

He had a really slow start missing some land drops. I played turn 3 Ashiok, turn 4 Mulldrifter and turn 5 Olivia killing his mana creature. I got to see a bit of his deck thanks to Ashiok and when I was about to ultimate it he conceded.

M1G2:

 

He had a turn 1 Goblin Welder and I had a sick start with land, Mox Diamond and Signet which would allow me to play a turn 3 Bribery. However he had the perfect card for my draw: Ancient Grudge. He also played a Sol Ring and Batterskull while I wasn't playing anything. But I got to 5 mana and played Bribery for Ulamog.

He played Indrik Stomphowler killing one of his artifacts just to try to race but my Mulldrifter and Siege-Gang made sure he didn't have a chance.

M2G1:

 

I was on the draw and I decided to play a turn 2 Time Walk just so I would get to Cryptic and Glen Elendra earlier. I even drew a Signet on my extra turn making it even better. His turn 3 play was Tangle Wire so having those extra permanents on the board was very relevant. Eventually I played Glen with blue mana untapped but I didn't think about FoW. He had FoW and I had left an Island untapped instead of Underground River because I didn't want to Play Vampiric on his end step anyway by tapping out when I have Glen Elendra in play. But it was bad because one damage is very unlikely to matter here and FoW exists in Cube. He played Ral Zarek and upped it. The following turn he tried to play Jace, Architect of Thought but I used Cryptic to counter it and bounce Ral Zarek. On his end step I used Vampiric to get Mind Twist and take out his whole hand on my turn. He drew and played Prophetic Flamespeaker and I went for Bribery because that should win me the game.

But he didn't really have anything that powerful and I ended up getting Avalanche Riders. He had Thundermaw Hellkite but at the time I thought I didn't want to take that because it would get killed by his Shrine and at least Riders destroys a land. The problem is that I was gonna Wildfire anyway so that land doesn't matter and it would force him to spend the Shrine on the Dragon. I played Wildfire and followed that by Siege-Gang and Olivia. I tapped out wrong and he was able to kill Siege-Gang with Magma Jet without me sacrificing it. He killed Olivia with Shrine but I drew Ashiok and he conceded probably because he didn't want to show me anything else.

M2G2:

 

I sided in some burn spells because he had the Splinter Twin combo and it worked out great because he started with Rakdos Cackler and I killed it. He had a Shrine on turn 2 and I had a Signet. I had Incinerate in hand but playing Olivia here is a huge upside that I risked losing to him having Pestermite/Deceiver on my end step and Splinter Twin. If I wait on Olivia he can kill her with Shrine. He didn't have a forth land so I got to untap with Olivia, drew Mana Drain and killed Pestermite. He drew a land and played Jace, the Mind Sculptor and I obviously countered. I decided that the extra mana that Mana Drain provided me was the perfect turn to play Timetwister and I found Mind Twist leaving him with just one card. I'm pretty sure Timetwister into Mind Twist in the same turn is an achievement unlocked! He played land and Avalanche Riders and I played a couple Signets, killed his creature and attacked leaving him at 3 life. He killed Olivia with Shrine and I Wildfired. He drew a land and passed. I drew Mana Drain and passed as well. He drew and played Goblin Vandal so I played my other Wildfire leaving him with 0 permanents and 0 cards in hand. I drew Mulldrifter and played it and he conceded.

M3G1:

 

I kept a mediocre hand with 5 lands, Signet and Chandra. My draws were land and Mox Diamond but at least he hadn't played anything yet. I played Mox Diamond, Chandra and used the 0 ability. My logic was that if I had a land on top, at least I would get value that way. Later I thought more about this actually I don't think that's correct. I have no use for a land. So, if having an extra land in hand doesn't do anything for me here, what I'm doing is basically exiling the top card of my library. If it's a land or a spell I don't need (a Signet for something like that), it's good for me, if it's a good spell, it's bad for me. It ended up being a land but I think it was the wrong play. He had Maelstrom Pulse so I was in trouble now but I topdecked Mulldrifter into Time Walk and Mind Twist. He played Courser but I had him discard his whole hand. Next turn I played Nicol Bolas stealing Courser and he conceded.

M3G2:

 

My hand was a bit slow and didn't have black mana but I think it's a keep. He started by playing Library of Alexandria which meant I was in trouble. I drew Arid Mesa and he suspended Search for Tomorrow. He had Strip Mine and destroyed my Island. The following turn he resolved Search and played Crucible of Worlds replaying Strip Mine. My only out was to play Timetwister to make him shuffle back Stripe Mine so I played Vampiric for a Signet to allow me to get to 3 mana. I was able to resolve Timetwister so we had a game again. He played Mana Vault, Joraga Treespeaker and leveled it. I drew Mana Drain so I passed the turn. He tried a Sundering Titan and I obviously countered that. He also played Orzhov Signet putting him to 5 cards and that way he wouldn't be able to use Library the following turn. I played Preordain finding Vampiric Tutor, played another Signet and Nicol Bolas stealing Treespeaker. He played the worst Craterhoof Behemoth ever. It was just a 6/6 haste creature but it was enough to kill Nicol Bolas. On my upkeep I got Mind Twist and took out his whole hand. I played Olivia, chumpblocked his 5/5 with Treespeaker and eventually stole it with Olivia. He also played a Sculler that I killed and just to ensure the victory I drew Bribery getting Myr Battlesphere.

3-0 in rounds and 6-0 in games with a cool deck that I had fun playing. I was pretty lucky on several spots and I think this last game was crazy. Being able to beat someone with Library, Crucible and Strip Mine is not easy! I hope you enjoyed this.