Two Very Different Drafts
I have ben drafting M11 when I can. I have gotten a few drafts and a sealed or two in, despite spending a ton of time at GenCon, and then recovering from Gencon. Many of these drafts go to form - for example, a UW fliers deck does what UW fliers decks are supposed to do. However, sometimes things are more interesting, or require different approaches. I want to talk about that a bit.
The first draft took place at the local store. We had 36 players for FNM, which lead to one of those unfortunate happenings of the paper world - big draft pods. I was in a ten man pod. That is always suboptimal, since signals get weird and you cannot split in the finals, since there will always be three undefeated players at that point. Worse yet, I opened a bad pack. It came down to basically three cards. Which would you take.
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really - Mind Rot was probably the best black card. The pack also had lesser cards in green and white, IIRC, like Palace Guard and Giant Spider, but most of the pack was Pyretic Ritual and Armored Cancrix. I was not that excited, but I did have two main picks. For me, my choices were either Acidic Slime, which would put me in green, or Roc Egg, which I had not played much, and which could put me in blue-white fliers.
The other advantage of paper drafting is that you can look over your upstream opponents - but that did not help much. They were not a bunch of kids and new players who would first pick Craw Wurms. They could all be in any color, depending on what they opened.
I took the Roc Egg. Pack two I saw a Cudgel Troll, making me wish I had stayed in green, but I also saw a Chandra's Outrage, which is very solid removal. Pack three had a Spined Wurm and a Stormfront Pegasus. And so on. The first five packs all had amazing green fat, and I passed it all. I picked up some good defensive creatures, and a few fliers, and a bit of removal. I was building the basis for a very good fliers plus walls and removal deck, but I never got the cards to fill that out. I did get some nice auras, but the few times I got passed a really good flier, like an Assault Griffin, it was in the same pack as an Outrage or Lighting Bolt.
In the end, my draft wasn't exactly a train wreck, but it was not something I was happy about. Here's the list.
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
2 Armored Ascension
1 War Priest of Thune
1 Condemn
1 (Warlord’s Axe)
1 (Shiv’s Embrace)
1 Roc Egg
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Pyroclasm
1 Knight Exemplar
1 Reverberate
1 Overwhelming Stampede
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Manic Vandal
2 (Chandra’s Outrage)
2 Squadron Hawk
2 Infantry Veteran
3 Mighty Leap
1 Act of Treason
1 Pacifism
1 Fiery Hellhound
1 Blinding Mage
1 Wild Griffin
1 Excommunicate
1 Volcanic Strength
1 Solemn Offering
3 Stormfront Pegasus
3 Siege Mastodon
1 Palace Guard
1 Bloodcrazed Goblin
1 Giant Spider
1 Armored Cancrix
1 Inspired Charge
I knew that I had passed a deck full of green fat and Acid Slimes. (A note - I generally don't hate draft, but third pick in the final draft, I was passed the new Overrun in a pack with nothing much for me. I hate drafted that. I was not about to give that to Mr. Green Mage.) I also heard people talking about opening a Primeval Titan - and a FOIL Primeval Titan. People were discussing other bombs, and in a ten man pod, there would probably be two Mind Controls and so forth.
I had some work to do.
The traditional build for this sort of RW deck is to play the Siege Mastodons and Palace Guards to hold the ground, and maybe end up wearing Armored Ascension or the like, while the fliers killed the opponent. That's a fine plan, but I don't have much in the way of fliers, and they are generally small. Aura's are less exciting, since sooner or later, I am going to face a blue Mage with Aether Adept and Unsummon, and then I get an ugly two-for-one or two-for-none. Not appealing. I was also less than enthused by my chances against Spined Wurms, Cudgel Trolls and larger, defending with just a few Siege Mastadons. A Giant Spider or two could also mess me up pretty badly.
I have broken down the pool a bit. See what you think.
I looked at this a bunch, and thought about my ways of winning. I would have killed for a Fireball or the like, but I don't have one.
In general, I could see this deck winning if the opponent stumbled, but any long game looked really sketchy. Likewise, I could not see myself beating enemy bombs - and I was sure to see some unless I stayed in the 0-x bracket.
Eventually, I decided my only path to victory was smashing through before my opponents could get established. I had to be faster than they were - so I built my deck accordingly. That meant that obvious includes in most decks like this - things like Palace Guard and Siege Mastadon, were out. I only wanted fast, aggressive creatures. Everything had to have a power greater than casting cost, and it had to be cheap. I even decided to run the two Squadron Hawks. I'm not sure that any other decks would want a 1/1 flier that fetches just one friend, but I needed anything I could find to be a quick beater.
I also decided to cut the Condemn. Condemn is a great piece of removal, but I figured that if I was ever worried about what my opponent was attacking with, I had already lost. At least, that's how I saw it. My card pool had forced me to build a RW super aggro deck. ON the plus side, it made the Mighty Leaps look pretty good.
My other big decision was whether to play any of the auras - and if so, which ones. I had two Armored Ascensions, Shiv's Embrace and Volcanic Strength. I figured I would side in Strength against red decks, but that I would just play the one Shiv's Embrace. I figured that the deck was rarely going to get more than four lands, and that they would, hopefully, be a split of Mountains and Plains. In that case, Shiv's Embrace is better than Ascension. I'm still not sure that was the right call - I may have just been seduced by the new card. I have also never much liked Armored Ascension.
Here's what I played.
I decided to stay where I was to build my deck. It was just FNM, and I didn't mind if people scouted me. My neighbor decided to do the same, and I was curious to see whether he was the green mage. He wasn't. He had drafted black, and had SIX copies of Quag Sickness. That truly is Quag SICKNESS. He also had a couple Specters and so forth. No Doom Blades, at least none that he showed me.
The green mage was two tables over. His deck was pretty sick - and would have been insane if he had taken more Cultivates. He ended up losing to Mind Control and fliers. The table did have a Baneslayer (I never was paired against this guy) and some other insanity.
The other problem with store drafts is that you cannot easily replay the games. I'll just provide some example plays. I faced two red players and the guy with the Quag Sicknesses.
Round one I was on the play, and opened with Plains, Infantry Veteran, then beat, Mountain, Stormfront Pegasus, and turn three was beat for three and Wild Griffin. My opponent had no one drop and a Goblin Piker for a two drop. My turn three involved another Pegasus and a second Veteran, while his involved a Chandra's Spitfire. However, the Infantry Veteran allowed my to keep swinging with the Pegasi - if he blocked, Infantry Veteran would pump my guy and my 3/2 Pegasus would off the 1/3 Spirtfire. He finally dropped a 2/3 first striking flier, but I killed it with Outrage and then killed him. Turn six.
Game two my Fiery Hellhound got Volcanic Strength and went the distance. His dude also got Volcanic Strength, which just made Chandra outraged.
I had to mulligan a few slow hands, but the deck got there.
Round two I was too fast for Quag Sickness to matter.
Round three I was facing another RW deck. Both of my wins came down to Might Leap saving the day. Game one, I attacked with a Fiery Hellhound, and Mighty Leaped him to jump blockers. My opponent Bolted him in response, but I had a second Mighty Leap, and the hellhound took a seven point bite out of his life total. Game two, I stalled, and my opponent dropped Angelic Arbiter, then Vengeful Archon. Game three, my opponent was at eight life, and tapped out for the Archon. I had three 2/x fliers on the board. I swung, he blocked one, and I Mighty Leaped both of the others for the win. Turn seven.
I'm not really recommending this, but if you have to, you can build a speed deck. Having evasion and removal is key, though, and I am really glad I didn't face anyone multiple Cloud Elementals and/or Azure Drakes. A 2/3 or 2/4 that could block my Pegasi would have required one of my four removal spells - and the odds are that any good blue mage will have more than four fliers.
Okay, time to move onto a second, very different deck. This was an online draft, so I can recreate the packs, and even the games. Here we go.
Pack 1 pick 1:
I doubt this is very surprising. I'm taking a money rare and board sweeper. If I take it, though, I am committing myself to a ramp deck, and play plenty of lands.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 2:
This pick comes down to the Pyroclasm or the Blinding Mage. I don't want to commit to RW, and Pyroclasm kills the Blinding Mage. It is also a fine early sweeper, to keep me around until I can cast the big sweeper.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 3:
This is the first interesting choice. I can either take the Earth Servant, which will likely survive Destructive Force, or move into GR and start taking ramp spells. I want to make sure I'm GR, and I want the land fetchers.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 4:
I could argue for the Whispersilk Cloak or even the Berserkers, here, but I still need a curve, even if I plan on casting Wildfire. Garruk's Companion is a fine beater, at a good spot on the curve, if I can make the mana work.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 5:
I kinda want the Gravedigger, here, but I stay true to my colors and take the Wurm. Craw Wurm + Trample = good.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
I'm not completely sold on my pick, here. The right pick may well be Lawnmower Elf, but like the evasion, and I like the idea of making my Yavimaya Wurm both fly and survive Destructive Force. This may well be what Limited Resources folks call best case mentality, but it's what i took.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
Meh. I have plenty of Urza's Legacy Voltaic Keys, and the rest of this stuff is bad.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
My Pick:
and lands
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
seems good. It is a reasonable creature, and it survives (Devastating Force).
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
<grin>. I like this. Fast, powerful, hard to stop. Now I just need some more mana acceleration.
Pack 2 pick 3:
This is interesting. A third pick Air Servant. So, one person took the rare, and another was not blue, but it is still surprising. I might bea able to splash this thing. A 4/3 flier for five mana is good, even if I cannot activate the ability more than once or twice a turn.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Maybe this is way too greedy, or maybe I can wind up UG. Either way,I cannot pass this.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Uhm - okay? Too bad this is pack two. I would love to be fed by these people twice in the draft. My only serious question was this or Foresee, but given the rest of the pack and the strange signals, maybe the Foresee will table. I know that sounds stupid, but so is this pack.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
mana fixing. I need it now, more than ever.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
I am going to be either UG or URG. This is better than Giant Spider.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Best of a mediocre lot - and still thinking UG.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
I hope I would not be playing Runeclaw Bear in the ramp deck. Stabbing Pain is annoying. Armored Cancrix is unplayable, unless you are playing fliers and need a really expensive wall.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Now I want to splash black. I can tell that this is still early days - this draft is weird.
Pack 2 - what I got from the rest of the pack:
(YAY!)
Pack 3 pick 1:
The pick here is obvious, if you are green. Overrun was insane. Overwhelming Stampede is better - and easier to cast. Given that my deck is base green, with some cool evasive guys, it is a no brainer. However, let's assume it was not there - then what's the pick?
If I stay heavy green, then the pick is probably the Packmaster. It is a very solid card that can hold the ground until my fliers win it, or I resolve Devastating Force. It is just better than the other green cards - Sacred Wolf is only good if I stick the Shiv's Embrace on it, and that is a whole lot of best case mentality. Llanowar Elves are okay, but I want land fetchers, since I plan to blow up a lot of those lands.
I could make a case for the Vandal, if I wanted a red card. I did pass a Whispersilk Cloak, before, and Cloak often is bad times.
The best blue card is the Azure Drake. It is really, really good at holding off all the common fliers, and it is splashable. It isn't as good as Overwhelming Stampede, of course, but it is good.
That said, I probably should explain my pick. The problem was the last pick last round. I did a stupid thing - something you should never do. I tried to click on the land. When it is the only card left, don't click it. Let the program give it to you. The problem is - and what happened here - was that sometimes the program lags, and your click ends up picking the first card in the next pack, instead of the land. In this case, the upper left card was the Elf.
Sigh.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Preordain is good, but I really like to have at least one combat tirck, and to play it early in game one. Then I can side it out, but they will still play around it. In this deck, however, the Giant Growth may well allow one of my fatties to live through Devastating Force.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Probably should hae been Berserkers, but I was curious about the Elixir - and I thought about mill decks. I think I out-thought myself, here.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
meh
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
more mana fixing and acceleration. Too bad the Foresees did not come back.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick from here on out:
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The gameplan is pretty simple - accelerate into some fatties, smash, reset the board if necessary.
Here's the deck.
This deck played very, very differently than the speed deck. This deck simply ramped up and dropped fatties and made people deal with them. In most cases, they didn't. In the few cases where they could begin to stabilize, the deck aimed to blow up the world, then drop more fatties.
Unfortunately, I can't find the games on MTGO - and since they were so long and involved, and since I played a fair number of games afterwards - they all seem to blur together.
I do remember one game in which I had trouble - I dropped Conundrum Sphinx and my opponent played Crystal Ball. Ugly - now he was drawing at least as many cards off the Sphinx as I was. However, my Sphinx was smashing in, and he was taking damage. Eventually, he Condemned it, but by then I could bait counters, then resolve Devastating Force. He managed to recover one game, but not in the other two, despite Mind Controlling my creatures.
Conclusions
The two drafts are interesting mainly in that they both took very different directions, both in the draft and the build. The RW deck was forced to move towards a very low curve, and very low lands. It relied on speed and spot removal, and never even considered siding in Pyroclasm.
The GRU deck went another direction. It played five land search cards, and managed consistently to play cards with GG, UU and RR in the casting cost. It wanted to cast Pyroclasm early, and Destructive Force a bit later.
I am not really recommending either of these as a draft archetype. UW is still the best archetype, and what I would draft if I could. These two decks are simply examples of making the cards you can get work together.
PRJ
"one million words" in the queues
