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By: ricklongo, Rick Longo
Dec 12 2011 3:39am
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I started playing during Tempest block (man, I feel old), but I wouldn't really start attending/caring about tournaments until Invasion block was well under way. This means that, from Tempest until Apocalypse, all that mattered to me when it came to Magic was cracking packs, doing fine in the meetings of very loose playgroups, and (most importantly) beating my cousin Daniel on a regular basis. He always crushed me, but that's neither here nor there.

I'm sure most of you know Urza's block featured three of the most broken Magic sets ever released and, to make up for that, Masques block was pretty much a joke power-wise. Fact is, I didn't realize any of this back then. I wasn't interested in tournament decks or making it to Nationals, and didn't even know what was a Pro Tour or a Grand Prix. Degenerate stuff like Tolarian Academy flew right over my head (it didn't even fit in any of my decks, since none of them had that many artifacts!). For me, all of those sets were pretty much the same: chock full of interesting cards, kickass flavor text and storylines, and amazing art.

I often catch myself thinking back on those oh so innocent times. All of those sets hold dear places in my heart, because literally every one of them had at least one card that I would play in my decks and just LOVE it - from Tempest's Living Death to Destiny's False Prophet to Masques' Tidal Kraken. Even Prophecy, which is quite likely the worst set released since Homelands, had Mageta the Lion - one of my favorite cards to this day.

This is why I have been jumping at old draft formats the minute they become available on Magic Online. And yes, this is why I am one of the three of four people who were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mercadian Masques block drafts.

I played on two release draft events (sorry, I refuse to join the overcosted online prereleases), and this is how they went.

DRAFT #1

Drafting / deckbuilding

 

Round 1

 

Rounds 2 & 3

 

DRAFT #2

Drafting / deckbuilding

 

Round 1

 

Round 2

 

Round 3

 

Some comments are in order. First of all, yes, I made a few ugly mistakes in these drafts, even though I did well in both of them. I attribute this to a mixture of lack of attention and not being familiar with those cards anymore after so many years. I even thought about not posting these videos because of painful stuff like playing a Waterfront Bouncer into Barbed Field and messing up with Puffer Extract, but I figured what the hell - I did well in both events, and this was more of a casual experience anyway. I still think I did fine in my card evaluations and pick choices.

Secondly, yes, the vast majority of these cards suck, especially to eyes accustomed to the recent creature power creep. I mean, really - even my Cho-Arrim Bruiser, one of the better cards in my first deck, would be a 5/5 or something nowadays. However, getting to play with those cards again was priceless to me. I even talked about some of my memories in the video commentary, but there were a whole lot more that went unsaid. Nostalgia really is a powerful thing.

And finally, I thank Wizards for not printing cards like Waterfront Bouncer and Troubled Healer at common anymore. Both of these cards have extremely swingy and cheap repeatable abilities that should definitely be relegated to higher rarities. Which is to say, if you want to play in one of these drafts, take those (and similar stuff like Undertaker) high!

I hope you enjoyed this little trip into memory lane. See you next time!

5 Comments

God forbid me... by robsonsmith at Mon, 12/12/2011 - 14:46
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God forbid me to play Mercadia again. Seriously, I found myself wanting to mulligan to zero only to not see any of the cards in the draft. That was the only time i felt happy to get a mana flood...

But nice article. Just find some time for us to crush some 8-4 Innistrad drafts.

Rock on brother. Try not to by greyes3 at Mon, 12/12/2011 - 15:37
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Rock on brother.

Try not to get into this "these cards suck" mindset, in any format. That type of thinking is for losers. A card's value is strictly related to the context of the format it is in, and the other cards that are present in said given format.

That's a really good point. by Paul Leicht at Mon, 12/12/2011 - 15:44
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That's a really good point. Negativity is a trap indeed.

right on!! by apaulogy at Mon, 12/12/2011 - 23:23
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This is so true. Good call Greyes.

Nice job, Rick!!

wisdom by BOBBAKAKE at Mon, 12/12/2011 - 22:55
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tru what they said, neg kills me sometimes and i forget i have grasp of phantoms to flashback... anyway, i like isd way to much to draft this stuff (and its not redeemable) but if i did i noticed alot of LD. has anyone used this that u all know of like as a dek style? i would just cuz ld makes people always quit so logic says ld for keeps right? i would make a puper ld dek but i dont want 2012, i want isd! draft more isd rick, i will watch them all and enjoy all the while. GOOD NITE AMERICA!