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By: TugaChampion, Guilherme Carmona Alexandrino
Mar 16 2009 12:15pm
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Hi again!

So this is one of those drafts that the packs just were weak but in the end I was able to lead this deck to the final. The draft was a 4-3-2-2.

Pack1

Pick1

 

Not the pack anyone wants to open. None of the spells/creatures are powerful enough for a first pick except Rakeclaw Gargantuan which is also not powerful enough for a 3 colors card first pick. The tri-land was the card I was most likely to play so that was the pick.

Seaside Citadel

Pick2

 

The pack is missing the rare so I don't really know what he might have picked. It was between the knight and the ambusher. I really like the knight but the ambusher can be so devastating in both tempo and card advantage that's really hard to pass up.

(Qasili Ambusher)

Pick3

It's between Naya Panorama and Steward of Valeron. I don't think there's any reason to take the Panorama here specially when I already have a tri-land.

Steward of Valeron

Pick4

 

Here I thought that if I picked Stinger I could stay a bit more open if I had to change to Jund or Grixis. I knew I wanted to be in red since I was seeing this late Stinger but green and white could start getting cut from me. It would also be easier to play even if I stayed in Naya and pingers are so powerful in this format.

Vithian Stinger

Pick5

 

Easy pick.

(Tropan Ascetic)

Pick6

 

So after the Stinger I haven't seen any red so if I was to pick any of the cyclers it would be the white one. But the Guardians offer both a great defence on the ground as well as help attacking with exalted.

Guardians of Akrasa

Pick7

 

I could have hated Blightning but Sighted-Caste Sorcerer could come in handy if the draft didn't end up like I hoped.

Sighted-Caste Sorcerer

Pick8

 

(Welking Guide)

Pick9

 

Angelsong

Pick10

 

Again I might need playables more than I need an SB card against Esper.

Rip-Clan Crasher

Pick11

 

Lightning Talons

Pick12:

 

Incurable Ogre

Nothing else relevant for the last 3 picks.

Pack2

Pick1

 

This made me cry. Why couldn't this be the first pack? At least there were good cards for me. Vein Drinker was pretty much out of question unless I wanted to start the 2nd pack with just 1 playable besides the bomb. So again Oblivion Ring vs Naya Charm. At this point I know I'll be GW for sure. If the Stinger vs Charm was in this pack I would have taken the Charm, but not being sure I want to be in red and since the Ring can take care of almost anything, I decided to take it. If I faced Vein Drinker or something like that the Charm wouldn't do much while Oblivion Ring would be great.

Oblivion Ring

Pick 2

 

Skeletonize or Resounding Thunder. The Thunder is the best card specially if I'm not in black.

Resounding Thunder

Pick3

 

I was lacking big creatures so the Gargantuan was an easy pick.

Rakeclaw Gargantuan

Pick4

 

2nd Ambusher. Nice!

(Qasili Ambusher)

Pick5

 

Manaplasm can be very powerful while Jund Charm doesn't even give me all my colors.

Manaplasm

Pick6

 

Again I think I need to get playables more than hate a blightning.

Cylian Elf

Pick7

 

Sanctum Gargoyle this late? There were a few options here. Rockslide Elemental is nice but I already have many 3drops. So I either hate the Gargoyle or take one of the two 2drops. Green being the heaviest color I had, playing both is about the same so without anything to abuse tokens, the 2/2 was better. Still I probably should have taken the Gargoyle since I would more likely play Cylian Elf than Crasher.

Rip-Clan Crasher

Pick8

 

Hated the Duelist as it stops all my 2 drops.

Deft Duelist

Pick9

 

Esper Panorama

Pick10

 

Cylian Elf

Pick11

 

Spell Snip

Pick12

 

Cylian Elf

No playables in the least 3 picks.

Pack3

I'm still a little lost in Conflux so some picks might not be correct.

Pick1

 

And it starts out nicely with several options and I used almost all the time available to make my pick. Dark Temper would be a 3 mana shock that doesn't go to the dome so I ruled it out. Vagrant Plowbeasts, Aven Squire, Exploding Borders, Goblin Razerunners, Spore Burst, Bloodhall Ooze and Valeron Outlander seemed like the options. The Ooze would only benefit from green creatures and I don't think it would have been worth it. Valeron Outlander is nice but I already had several other 2drops. Exploding Borders is cool but red is the splash color and it was more likely I would be missing red than white. Spore Burst just didn't seem that good at the time although I'll have to try it sometime as it looks devastating in the right deck even just making 3 or 4 guys. So I was left with the 6/6 monster, Aven Squire and the rare foil goblin. Aven is also a 2drop but probably better than any I had right now, easy to play and significantly different from those 2/2 for two. I was lacking late game cards but costing 7 I thought it wouldn't really fit the deck. So I picked the goblin but in the end I regret it as it has double red and it's abilitie was never relevant. I'm sure it's a nice creature in a deck with more red but it the wrong pick, although I'm still not sure which is the right one.

Goblin Razerunners

Pick2

 

There's Kranioceros, Nacatl Hunt-Pride and Armillary Sphere. As good as the Sphere is my deck needed power more than consistency. I took Kranioceros because once I untapped with it, it would be hard to lose any ground fight and it costs 1 less.

Kranioceros

Pick3

 

Gleam of Resistence usually goes very late and if I wanted power, I couldn't ask anything better in a common.

Wild Leotau

Pick4

 

Another chance to take Nacatl Hunt-Pride and this time I'm not passing it.

Nacatl Hunt-Pride

Pick5

 

Ember Weaver is clearly the best card in the pack. I knew it was good but I didn't know how good it was. It's actually amazing! And I noticed this in a deck with not that many red creatures! Clearly better than Might of Alara and Rhox.

Ember Weaver

Pick6

 

Here I probably mispicked. I should have taken Gleam of Resistence but for some reason I don't recall I took Might of Alara. I might have not seen Gleam.

Might of Alara

Pick7

 

Here I could take Matca Rioters but a 3/3 for 2 that could end up being 2/2 sometimes in the 3drop slot which I had enough playables I thought I would just hate Drag Down. It seems really late for a good removal card.

Drag Down

Pick8

 

So there's Kranioceros, Might of Alara and Gleam of Resistence in this pack. I took Gleam as I needed some fixers and already had a few big guys.

Pick9

 

Sylvan Bounty is weaker than Gleam so I took the pro-black bear. I also seems like Spore Burst just isn't that good or people are underrating it.

Valeron Outlander

Pick10

 

Here I hated Fleshformer. For some reason these guys belong to the group of cards that when they're played against me they're always amazing but when I play them, they're crappy. I tried them out in beta and could never get the mana for 1 activating while my opponents seem to have mana for it around turn 6 or 7 usually.

Fleshformer

Pick11

 

I was really happy to see Gleam of Resistence this late.

(Gleam of Resistence)

Nothing else worth mentioning.

Here's the final deck:

Match1

Game1

I play and mulligan this hand:

 

I decide to keep this hand because I don't wanna go to 5 and if I draw a plains I'm in good shape:

 

He has turn2 Dragon Fodder while I play Cylian Elf on turn3, still with no other lands. He plays Court Archers and starts attacking for 2. On turn 4 he plays Exploding Borders, gets a Plains and takes me to 13. I draw another Cylian Elf and decide to trade with one goblin token to try to stay alive. He plays Drumhunter and Wild Nacatl on turn5. He attacks with Nacatl and I use Resounding Thunder on it so I don't take 4. He plays a land and Vagrant Plowbeast.

 

I finally draw a Plains and remove the beast with Oblivion Ring. He attacks with Court Archers, I play Ambusher for free but I just block with Ambusher so he doesn't wreck me with any trick. After combat he has a Ring of his own to bring back his beast.

 

I cycle Gleam, get a Plains and play Guardians of Akrasa. He attacks with the beast and I chump with the 2/2. I attack for 3 with Ambusher and play Wild Leotau. My plan is to try to get him low enough so I can play Welkin Guide and kill him. He has a Welkin Guide of his own and takes me to 4. I attack for 6 with Leotau and get him down to 11. I play Manaplasm. He attacks with everything I block to stay at 1 life but he has Might of Alara to finish me off.

 

Game2

Looking at the sideboard I realized I could play 1 swamp so I could cycle Thunder and play Drag Down. I took out a Forest and the pro-black bear. I sideboarded like this every game with one exception I'll mention at the time.

I keep this hand:

 

He plays Nacatl Outlander turn2. I play Manaplasm turn3. He plays Court Archers and attacks with Outlander. I play Ambusher, Manaplasm gets +3/+3 and block Outlander.

 

I play Cylian Elf and attack with both creatures. He doesn't block. He play Dragon Fodder and attacks for 2. I play Rakeclaw Gargantuan and attack with Ambusher, Manaplasm and Cylian Elf. Manaplasm gets chumped. He plays Rhox Bodyguard. I draw a land, play Kranioceros and attack with Manaplasm and the Gargantuan. Manaplasm gets chumped once again.

 

He cycles Ridge Rannet and plays Wild Nacatl. I attack with both 5power creatures and he blocks like this:

 

I give both first strike and kill Rhox. He concedes on his turn.

Game3

I keep this hand:

 

I cycle Gleam to get a Swamp since I draw a Mountain on my second turn. I play Ember Weaver on turn 3 and he plays Exploding Borders getting a swamp and dealing 4 to me. I play Stinger and attack for 3 with Might of Alara in my hand, always trying to keep green mana open. He plays Rakka Mar, makes a token and attacks with it. I attack for 3, ping the token and play Oblivion Ring on Rakka Mar. I could have played Resounding Thunder but I didn't want him to save his Rakka Mar with Might of Alara. I miss a land drop this turn.

 

He plays Bloodpyre Elemental, tries to kill Ember Weaver but I save it with Might of Alara. I draw Guardians of Akrasa, play it and attack for 4. He plays Nacatl Outlander and Soul's Fire my Stinger. I attack for 3 and pass still without a land but now with an Ambusher in hand. He plays Macta Rioters and Dragon Fodder. I finally draw a land and play Welkin Guide on Weaver to get him to 1 life. He plays in Welking Guide on Outlander, attacks with it and Macta Rioters. I play Ambusher and block one of his guys just to prevent anything crazy, although even with Might of Alara I would stay at 1 life. I unhearth Stinger and ping him for the win!

 

Match2

Game1

I play and keep a nice hand:

 

I go turn2 Cylian Elf, turn3 Tropan Ascetic, turn4 Stinger, while his first play is a turn3 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer which he uses to chump clock Tropan Ascetic on turn4. He misses his 4th land drop but has Guardians of Akrasa. I hardcast Qasili Ambusher and attack with Tropan. He doesn't block and I hit him for 4. He has Oblivion Ring for Tropan but still no 4th land. I attack with the elf and and the Ambusher and he blocks one. I play Ember Weaver and pass. He plays Frontline Sage which I ping. I attack with everything but the pinger, he blocks the Weaver and I finish it off which prompts a concession.

 

Game2

I keep this not very good hand but I should be fine since I'm on the draw:

 

He has turn2 Vedalken Outlander and turn 3 Rhox War Monk, while I have turn2 Cylian Elf and turn3 Tropan Ascetic. On turn4 I can only play a Cylian Elf without a landdrop and pass, while he has Elvish Visionary and passes. I still don't draw a land while he plays another land and passes. I finally get a Plains and play Guardians of Akrasa. He plays another land and drops Vagrant Plowbeast. I cycle Gleam to get a Swamp and play it. He plays another land and Empyrial Archangel.

 

I play a Plains and Nacatl Hunt-Pride. He attacks for 5, plays Jhessian Balmgiver and passes. Now this turn I have a lot of options and I ended up doing one of the worst. I attack with Nacatl Hunt-Pride and Tropan Ascetic after playing Goblin Razerunners. He blocks Ascetic with Outlander and Hunt-Pride with Plowbeast. I play Drag Down on the Plowbeast and he just regenerates it in response and to make things worth I forget to tap one guy to give +1/+1 to Ascetic. I take another 5 from Archangel and in the following turn he kills me with Archangel and an unblockable 6/6 with Jhessian Balmgiver's second ability. I probably would have lost this game anyway but I could have played much better.

 

Game3

I kept this hand:

 

He has turn2 Vedalkan Outlander and turn3 Guardians of Akrasa and I have turn3 Stinger and on his attack I play Ambusher for free but can't block because of exalted. I just play a land on turn4 while he has Knight of the Skyward but no land. I cycle Gleam to get the second green source and play Rakeclaw Gargantuan. He has a land as well as a Ring for the 5/3 and gets me down to 11 while he's still at 18. I play Wild Leotau and pass. He finally draws a green source and passes the turn.

 

Since he has green mana now I Oblivion Ring his Knight and attack for 5. He plays Court Archers and takes me down to 7. I draw Tropan Ascetic, play it and attack for 5 again. He stops attacking and I ping him to 5. I attack with the 5/4 and he removes it with Resounding Silence. I play Manaplasm and pass. He plays another land and passes. He has 7 mana and 2 cards in hand. I fear he has Archangel in hand. I tap out for Nacatl Hunt-Pride and attack with Manaplasm and Tropan. He blocks both. The Archer on Manaplasm and the Guardians on Tropan. I tap the Ambusher and Hunt-Pride to make Tropan 4/4 and kill the Guardians. He plays Frontline Sage and Sighted-Caste Sorcerer. I ping the Sage at the eot. I play Kranioceros to make Manaplasm big and he concedes right there.

 

Match3

Game1

I play and keep this:

 

He plays turn1 Mana Cylix and I have a turn2 Valeron Outlander. He has a turn3 Dragonsoul Knight and I play Wild Leotau on turn4. He plays Sedraxis Specter. I attack for 5 and play Tropan Ascetic. At this time Tropan was the only spell I managed to draw. He play Tidehollow Strix. I attack with with Leotau and Tropan, he doesn't block and I tap Valeron to make Tropan a 3/3. He kills Leotau with Dark Temper.

 

He attacks with both fliers, I play Ambusher for free but I prefer not trading with nay of them because as things are my only hope is to win the race. He plays Skeletal Kathari and passes. I play Stinger, attack with Tropan and make it a 4/4 leaving only the Ambusher untapped. The game is pretty much lost so my only hope is either for him to forget that he can activate the Knight or think I have a Magma Spray and not take the risk. But he kills Ambusher with Bone Splinters, activates the knight and kills me.

 

Game2

I lost the video I made about this game at the time and there's no replay for this game. Sorry for this. I remember we both had some creatures but he was winning the race with fliers and I make a huge mistake one turn that made me lose the game right away. I would have probably lost anyway but I attacked and didn't realize he could kill me just with what he had in the board if he used the Capsule on my lone blocker.

So this wasn't the deck I was hoping for but it was enough to get me to the final. I hope you liked it!

21 Comments

Conflux pack by Anonymous (not verified) at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 15:40
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I don't know what kind of boosters you're opening that have 2 rares in them, but send some my way! =)

You can clearly see the foil by TheMiseDotCom at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 16:28
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You can clearly see the foil goblin

Aggressive GW by Metalman (not verified) at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 16:18
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Typically going into pack three with an aggressive GW deck, which is basically what you got to this point, Im looking for mana fixing which will allow the Domain cards to be great. You will almost always be able to pick up one or two Might of Alara's and a Macta Rider mid to late. With a way to get full domain then those cards are awesome in GW aggro. Also, grabbing the mana fixing makes it easy to grab the on-color 5c-activation guys like the Dragonsoul Knight (or the white version).

The Kraniocerous looks good on paper but hes decidely mediocre, especially in GW aggressive. You dont want to leave mana open to activate him and that 2-defense for a 5-drop is not good.

My picks for pack 3 that are different than yours would be Aven Squire pick one, Armillary Sphere pick two, and Dragonsoul Knight pick 8. Id run the Drag Down main with one swamp to make the Might of Alara better and potentially activate the Knight.

FYI, nacatl hunt-pride is by Anonymous (not verified) at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 17:16
Anonymous's picture

FYI, nacatl hunt-pride is high-pick material. you simply own combat w/ one on the table, and two or more is just ridiculous. Plus it combos nice with gleam.

But its still mana intensive by TheMiseDotCom at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 17:29
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But its still mana intensive both playing and using. Can also ruin a combat step vs any removal.The 5/2 its a more solid choice

you can't first pick by dude (not verified) at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 23:19
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you can't first pick kranioceros :(

Nice draft, with comments and by TheMiseDotCom at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 17:17
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5

Nice draft, with comments and thoughts on the picks. That Might seemed like the only mistake.

The only pick that I disagree by bjbrains at Mon, 03/16/2009 - 17:29
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The only pick that I disagree with (besides the mentioned gleam vs Might pick) is going for Kraniceros. The Hunt-pride and the Armillary sphere are both better picks because Kraniceros tends to go very late.

thanks by Guilherme Alexandrino (not verified) at Tue, 03/17/2009 - 09:25
Guilherme Alexandrino's picture

Thanks for your comments. I'm still no very confortable with conflux and mispicks from cards that I haven't used much already will probably happen once in a while. I still feel that Kraniceros is going a bit later than it should. I thought it would be picked earlier but with this in mind I'll probably also pick it later because there are good chances it will come back.

What about the P3P1? What would be the pick here?

In Pack 3, Pick 1 I would by Blazelix at Tue, 03/17/2009 - 16:15
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In Pack 3, Pick 1 I would have also taken the Goblin Razerunners.

The creature is very red intensive but provides free ping and can get larger late game. Razerunners is better in a Jund style deck with cards that place +1/+1 counters on it. However, it is still a decent sized creature that can grow when needed.

was not logged in by TugaChampion at Tue, 03/17/2009 - 09:33
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Sorry I wasn't logged in.

I would have picked either by TheMiseDotCom at Tue, 03/17/2009 - 11:48
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I would have picked either the squire or the plowbeasts. As you said double R was hard to cast in your deck. The Aven is a great aggro card while the plowbeast provides late game gas and a great creature. Dark temper in naya is only a last resort.The spore bust could have an argument if you picked that rockslide elemental earlier.I would have gone with the Plowbeast imo.

Still Confused .... by Exodus at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 01:51
Exodus's picture

Hello,

What is so entertaining about 4-3-2-2 drafts? The player base as well as picks don't teach anything .... the packs that you have reviewed show ridiculously late picks and if people were meant to atleast learn from your drafting then they won't be seeing anything like this in a 'normal' draft.

8-4 rules!

Thanks

4-3-2-2 drafts by TugaChampion at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 07:41
TugaChampion's picture

I prefer 8-4 too specially when I'm already experienced with the set and/or when testing for an important event. However I'm still not confortable with Conflux as I haven't done many drafts (been busy with Extended). Also when I played this 8-4 had 0 players waiting.

Also these guides are mostly for MTGO play not for irl MTG. It's important to have guides for both 4-3-2-2 and 8-4 drafts in the site because when people read this and go play their 4-3-2-2 or 8-4, they'll know what to expect.

I really like your deck. by Pie~~ (not verified) at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 09:33
Pie~~'s picture

I really like your deck. Would have taken Savage Lands pack 1 / pick 2 though, but thats my preference.

Nothing to add here besides the fact that you could have taken Vein Drinker and pretty much restart your draft =)

(Vithan Stinger)
Vein Drinker
Resounding Silence
Rockslide Elemental
Bone splinters
Scavenger Drake
Dregscape Zombie
Dragon Fodder
Skeletal Kathari
Cylian Elf
Goblin Razerunners
Hellspark Elemental
Goblinb Outlander
Tukatongue Thallid
Ember Weaver
Exploding Borders
Dragdown
Dragonsoul Knight
Exploding Borders
Fleshformer
Goblin Outlander

[Topan Ascetic]

lol, playable but your deck was better XD

Resounding Silence -> by Pie~~ (not verified) at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 09:34
Pie~~'s picture

Resounding Silence -> Thunder....

I would have taken Vein by TugaChampion at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 11:08
TugaChampion's picture

I would have taken Vein Drinker if my deck had like 4 or 5 red card and maybe a few green cards. But most cards were just GW so it was impossible to change plans.

About P1P2 I could take the tri land but Ambusher is pretty good and is on color with the first picked tri land.

Draft by Anonymous (not verified) at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 15:44
Anonymous's picture

If you'd have taken the Savage Lands second pick, you'd be in a great position to play 5-color. Plus, your deck would have been amazing, as nobody else at the table was drafting it.

I actually don't like by TugaChampion at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 16:42
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I actually don't like drafting 5c and try to avoid it unless I have no other options.

Reasonable .... by Exodus at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 16:38
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Hello,

Your response was fairly reasonable from my view, yet I suggested to TheMiseDotCom that both of you are covering the same format and in all honesty Magic Online drafts should be very close to real life incidents hence why I disagree with 4-3-2-2 drafts in general. You 2 are just competing against one another rather than covering numerous options.

Thanks

I know him IRL but I don't by TugaChampion at Wed, 03/18/2009 - 16:47
TugaChampion's picture

I know him IRL but I don't know what drafts he'll cover. My other draft was a 8-4 (still in AAA) and I have sent another 4-3-2-2 yesterday. I prefer playing 8-4 but it's just that 8-4 haven't been firing that much, at least when I'm on and 4-3-2-2 will help me get a better feeling of conflux. Also in the beta the AAC drafts were there not for very long so I didn't get to try it as much as I used too. IRL I have only drafted AAC once because we're in extended season.

But I'll try getting some 8-4 when I get the chance.