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By: TheWolf, Shane Garvey
May 17 2018 12:00pm
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I'm having a blast playing Dominaria limited, but just recently I have found myself in a slump. I started out quite well, but have had a string of 1-2 and 0-2 draft results lately. I've drafted what I have thought were okay decks but, well, the results speak for themselves.

That's where you folks come in! I am going to post a draft below, walk you through my picks and my thought process behind them, then ask you to comment below what you thought of the draft. Unlike normal, I am not going to post my match results; instead, I will reveal them next week, giving you all a chance to review the draft without the knowledge of how it did. In fact, at the time of writing the article, I have not played any matches with the deck, so I am just as much in the dark as you!

 

Pack 1 pick 1:

My Pick:

We start out with a pretty decent pack here. Both Blessed Light and Settle the Score are good removal cards and likely the strongest picks in the pack. There is also a Two-Headed Giant which, as a 4/4 for four mana, is a good rate; however, I have not been overly impressed with it in the games I have had it, as I never seen to get the coin flips to work in my favour. There is also a Skittering Surveyor which I like quite a lot, but I ended up taking Settle the Score over Blessed Light. I've had more success with black in the format than white at this stage, so leaned towards that.



Pack 1 pick 2:

My Pick:

This pack is bad. The best cards are Blink of an Eye, Deathbloom Thallid and Skittering Surveyor, and they are not cards I really want to second pick. I ended up taking the Surveyor as it will go in any deck and doesn't lock me into any direction.



Pack 1 pick 3:

My Pick:

This pack is a bit more interesting. We have a Shivan Fire - which hasn't been as good as I first thought it would now that people have learnt that random 2/2s aren't good - and The Mending of Dominaria, which I have found has been great for those long, grindy games: something that happens with this set. I took the Saga.



Pack 1 pick 4:

My Pick:

This pack is pretty good, with Academy Journeymage, Shivan Fire and Memorial to Folly being the standouts. I wanted to take the Memorial here, but felt that Shivan Fire and the Journeymage were probably the stronger cards. In the end, I took Shivan Fire, based on the fact I had been passed one in the last pack as well. Maybe it was a sign red was open?



Pack 1 pick 5:

My Pick:

This pack has a lot of solid cards in it. Thallid Omnivore, Windgrace Acolyte, Mammoth Spider, Yavimaya Sapherd and Slimefoot, the Stowaway are all cards I'm happy to include in my deck. I'm not overly fond of taking gold cards at this stage, but given that I already had a black and a green card, I took Slimefoot, who I think is the strongest out of all these cards. It also plays into the grindy long game, which goes well with The Mending of Dominara.



Pack 1 pick 6:

My Pick:

And then we get this pack, which is awful. Divination was the best card here so I took it, in case I had to abandon the plan of black/green. 



Pack 1 pick 7:

My Pick:

Ancient Animus has performed okay for me so far. I have picked up a legend already, and if I am able to pick up a few more then this will get better. I find removal is quite important in this format and while this isn't great, it's better than nothing. Adventurous Impulse was a consideration but I would prefer the removal over it.



Pack 1 pick 8:

My Pick:

This pick was between Caligo Skin-Witch and Stronghold Confessor. While the menace on the Confessor is nice, the Skin-Witch coming down on turn two can blank any early offense from the opponent, and if it comes down on turn six and hits the last two cards in your opponent's hand... well, you will be very happy. The Skin-Witch was my choice as I like it's flexibility more, and it has more upside.



Pack 1 pick 9:

My Pick:

Well... there wasn't much here except for Rona, Disciple of Gix. And while I'm looking to play black/green, there is a chance (albeit slim) that I end up blue/black. Even then, black/green can be grindy and Rona is good in the late game; I've also got a Skittering Surveyor so it's possible that Rona may end up in the deck if it shapes up how I think it will.



Pack 1 pick 10:

My Pick:

There are no black or green cards in this pack, so I took Tolarian Scholar in case I end up in blue.



Pack 1 pick 11:

My Pick:

Syncopate is probably the best card here, but I like Krosan Druid. Getting to eight mana is not impossible in this format, especially considering black/green is looking to get to the late game. But even playing it as a vanilla 2/3 on turn three is okay.



Pack 1 pick 12:

My Pick:


Pack 1 pick 13:

My Pick:

I'm not unhappy to take another Krosan Druid at this point.



Pack 1 pick 14:

My Pick:


Pack 1 pick 15:

My Pick:

So after reviewing pack one, I'm looking to play black/green if possible. At this stage I'd like to pick up some more Saproling makers to synergise with Slimefoot, as well as some more removal. I'm also looking to pick up some sort of creature that can be used as a finisher; some Windgrace Acolytes or a Thorn Elemental would be nice. 



Pack 2 pick 1:

My Pick:

This is a weak pack, the strongest cards being Academy Drake and Fungal Infection. Fungal Infection was my pick; it's cheap interaction and goes well with my other black and green cards.

One thing I have noticed lately is that my second pack always seems to not provide a lot for my deck. Let's see how this goes.



Pack 2 pick 2:

My Pick:

On Serra's Wings is by far the most powerful card in this pack, but I am a long way off being able to play white at this point. Instead, the pick was between Stronghold Confessor and Krosan Druid. While I said earlier that removal is important and there is an Ancient Animus in this pack, it's not great removal; so I ignored it. I ended up taking the Druid; my thinking was that if I am looking to grind out the game, the Druid does a better job of this than the Confessor. 

I did think about Lich's Mastery here too. This card with a kicked Krosan Druid lets you draw ten (!) cards, but you'd probably end up decking yourself. I think the best home for it is in a black/green deck with a lot of Saprolings to sacrifice, especially if you have Slimefoot out allowing to gain life (and thus draw cards) every time you do. However, I did not have enough confidence I would have those Saprolings at this stage.



Pack 2 pick 3:

My Pick:

Deathbloom Thallid was an easy pick here. It synergises with everything I am trying to do.



Pack 2 pick 4:

My Pick:

Thallid Omnivore and Bloodtallow Candle were serious considerations here, and I'd like both of them in my deck. But like I said earlier I also needed to try and find a finisher, and Urgoros, the Empty One can be that card. There was another Lich's Mastery to tempt me as well.



Pack 2 pick 5:

My Pick:

I probably should have taken Pierce the Sky here, but instead went with Blessed Light. My reasoning was my removal was pretty poor at the moment, and I had a Skittering Surveyor to help splash it.



Pack 2 pick 6:

My Pick:

This was another pick I was torn on. Having just taken a white card, I'm then tempted with (Arvad the Cursed). I had two other legends as well. In the end I decided I was probably being greedy and took Broken Bond; this is a card that is main deckable, though whether I start with it or not will depend on what else I have.



Pack 2 pick 7:

My Pick:

I don't really want a second Broken Bond, but I don't really want Cabal Paladin either. At this stage I did a quick review and saw I was lowish on creatures, so took the Paladin, but I don't really want to play it.



Pack 2 pick 8:

My Pick:

This is the fourth Krosan Druid but, again, it's better than a second Broken Bond or a Rat Colony.



Pack 2 pick 9:

My Pick:

Nothing to see here...



Pack 2 pick 10:

My Pick:

Lich's Mastery is back again, but I still don't feel like I have the pieces needed to make it work. I took Blessing of Belzenlok instead.



Pack 2 pick 11:

My Pick:

This is not a great combat trick, but can come in out of the sideboard against flyers.



Pack 2 pick 12:

My Pick:

Alright, alright, I guess have to to take it now.



Pack 2 pick 13:

My Pick:


Pack 2 pick 14:

My Pick:


Pack 2 pick 15:

My Pick:

The deck feels like it's shaping up okay, but I would really like some Saproling Migrations or Yavimaya Sapherds now just to round it off.



Pack 3 pick 1:

My Pick:

There are three good cards for me in this pack: Settle the Score, Vicious Offering and Grow from the Ashes. I decided to take Settle the Score, as it deals with any threat and is good in a format where Memorial to Folly and Soul Salvage are played.



Pack 3 pick 2:

My Pick:

For me, this pick was out of Deathbloom Thallid and Fungal Infection, and I went with the Thallid. I was a bit light on for creatures at this point, and the Thallid is a good one, so it was an easy pick.



Pack 3 pick 3:

My Pick:

Grow from the Ashes was an easy pick here. It will allow me to splash either Rona or Blessed Light (or both) if I want to...



Pack 3 pick 4:

My Pick:

... and also this. Tatyova, Benthic Druid is a very powerful card, and there was no way I was not going to include it in my deck. The Mammoth Spider here would also be nice, but Tatyova is a fantastic card.



Pack 3 pick 5:

My Pick:

I don't want another Krosan Druid at this stage, even though I want creatures. Instead I took Fungal Infection, which gives me what I consider half a creature and half a removal spell/combat trick, and just enough to make it good.



Pack 3 pick 6:

My Pick:

Corrosive Ooze is not what I would consider a playable creature in the format. It was out of that or Short Sword, and I decided that Short Sword had more of a chance of making the deck. 



Pack 3 pick 7:

My Pick:

Wild Onslaught is quite a good card in this archetype normally. The problem is, I haven't been able to pick up any Saproling Migrations or Yavimaya Sapherds. I'm still going to take it and still going to run it, I think.



Pack 3 pick 8:

My Pick:

Fungal Infection is much better than Arbor Armament and Cabal Stronghold, so I picked it up.



Pack 3 pick 9:

My Pick:

This is not a card I will be playing, but it was the only on colour card.



Pack 3 pick 10:

My Pick:

This was a tough pick between Dark Bargain and Jousting Lance. On the one hand, Dark Bargain lets me find the cards I need much quicker, but on the other Jousting Lance makes my ground creatures much more difficult to deal with and I didn't have many ways to end the game at this point. I took the Lance for that reason.



Pack 3 pick 11:

My Pick:


Pack 3 pick 12:

My Pick:

This is a very late Mammoth Spider and I was quite happy to take it.



Pack 3 pick 13:

My Pick:


Pack 3 pick 14:

My Pick:


Pack 3 pick 15:

My Pick:

 

 

The deck feels bad. Again. It has some powerful cards with Slimefoot and Tatyova, and it feels like it will be able to grind quite nicely, but it has limited ways to really win (no beefy creatures) and many of the key cards for this archetype are missing (Saproling Migration, Yavimaya Sapherd, etc). This seems to be something that I find has happened to me quite frequently: I feel like my early picks are likely correct, but then the decks just don't really come together.

Next week, I'll play the games and report the results. But until then, I ask you to please criticise the draft and let me know what you would have done differently.