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By: TugaChampion, Guilherme Carmona Alexandrino
Feb 21 2009 12:49pm
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Hi! I'm Guilherme Alexandrino and this is my first article here! Just a small introdution: I'm Portuguese and I've been playing since Guildpact was released and I have improved over the years. I have 3 PTQ top8s (all in limited and 2 in Shards limited). I have yet to win one but I'm hoping this year I'll finally be able to qualify to a Pro Tour either by winning a PTQ or top16ing a GP (I'm going to Hannover and Barcelona). On to the draft!

Pack 1

Pick 1

4 first pickable cards and several more solid cards. Blood Cultist is very good in both shards it fits. Skeletonize and Oblivion Ring are solid removal but Sharuum is a bomb and bombs win games by themselves. Sharuum in a good Esper deck is better than Broodmate Dragon because returning a 4/4 gargoyle or even a 2/3 gargoyle that also returns something else to hand is pretty powerful.

Sharuum the Hegemon

Pick 2

Several good cards after that first pick Sharuum. Bone Splinters is nice but in Esper it isn't as good as it can be in Grixis or Jund. It's between Esper Battlemage, Sanctum Gargoyle and Courier's Capsule. I picked the Gargoyle because it can be more abused than the Battlemage and usually Courier's Capsule passes later.

Sanctum Gargoyle

Pick 3

Neither the Darke or Metallurgeon are as good as the Gargoyle and they usually are later picks.

Sanctum Gargoyle

Pick 4

Nothing I really want. I don't like counterspells in limited because you have to pass with mana open, which sometimes will be a waste of tempo as your opponent didn't have a play or is saving the mana for a removal spell to play on your turn. Since all my cards right now are white I took the Paladin as it is a nice drop even if it's my only exalted.

Sigiled Paladin

Pick 5

Nothing exciting but Resounding Silence is nice.

Resounding Silence

Pick 6

 

Esper Charm is the best card for Esper here.

Esper Charm

Pick 7

I don't really like Obelisks but if I was playing one in this deck it would have to be Esper or Bant to help with Resounding Silence. Welkin Guide and Jhessian are not likely to fit in the final deck. I ended up taking what I consider the best card, and one I could play in case things went very wrong.

Welkin Guide

Pick 8

Again nothing I wanted to play but maybe I should have taken Angelsong

Bant Battlemage

Pick 9

I could play Skeletal or even Glaze Fiend if I could get several but Skeletal is better in Jund or Grixis and Necrogenesis is always a good cards and it would be pretty good against my Sharuum and my 2 Gargoyles so I just hated it.

Necrogenesis

Pick 10

Coma Veil is the only possible card for us here and it's nice if you're lacking removal or even as a sideboard option against decks with many bombs/fatties.

Coma Veil

Pick 11

Should have taken the archer but I think I didn't even see it. It was a bit late for the Glaze Fiend plan.

Glaze Fiend

Pick 12

Cancel

The last 3 picks were irrelevant.

Pack 2

Pick 1

Again several good cards for me. Tezzeret could get me one of the 2/3 gargoyles or even a 4/4 if I could pick one, increasing the odds of drawing any artifact costing 4 or less. It could also be used to grant pseudo vigilance and maybe finishing off. Esper Battlemage is a pinger and that's important in this format. And this one actually doesn't die to other pingers. Strix is also a card I really like. But lacking removal and having an Oblivion Ring in the pack I couldn't pass it and it ended up being very important round 1.

Oblivion Ring

Pick 2

A weak pack. Took the Drake.

Cloudheath Drake

Pick 3

Between the fantastic removal Agony Warp and the uncommon bomb 4/4 flier I prefer the big monster.

Tower Gargoyle

Pick 4

Nothing too exciting but the Battlemage is always nice. If I don't want to be playing a counter for 1UU I won't even consider playing one for WUUB. Deft Duelist is nice but it's not what the deck wants to do. Resounding Wave is weaker than the Battlemage.

Grixis Battlemage

Pick 5

Viscera Dragger, Etherium Sculptor and Esper Panorama are nice but the Capsule is better specially with 2 Sanctum Gargoyle.

Executioner's Capsule

Pick 6

An obvious pick.

Kathari Screecher

Pick 7

 

I wasn't sure if I should pick the Panorama or the Drake but I ended up taking the Panorama because I didn't have any fixing yet. The next 2 picks made me regret this decision but I think it was correct at the time.

Grixis Panorama

Pick 8

Grixis Panorama

Pick 9

After taking 2 Panorama I think I needed the Drake more than Esper Panorama.

Cloudheath Drake

Pick 10

I took the Obelisk because the mage is pretty weak turn 3 (a 2/2 lifelink) and late game it's not that great. This is the best Obelisk for my deck because it helps to cycle Resounding Silence.

Obelisk of Bant

Pick 11

Steelclad Serpent

The last 4 picks had nothing worth showing.

Pack 3

Pick1

It's easy to see the best card for me here is the tri-land.

Seaside Citadel

Pick 2

I think I didn't see Fatestitcher here. I took Strix but the tapper is probably better.

Tidehollow Strix

Pick 3

Again I'm faced with a Esper Panorama vs Drake but since I already have 2 Drakes I took the Panorama.

Esper Panorama

Pick 4

Easy pick

(Katharu Screecher)

Pick 5

 

A nice present in the form of a 6/4 beatstick that can be played 2 or 3 times in each game depending on how long it goes.

Salvage Titan

Pick 6

Yoked Plowbeast isn't great but it's nice. Too bad it isn't an artifact and can't be returned with Sharuum or Sanctum Gargoyle.

Yoked Plowbeast

Pick 7

I don't really need more fixing so it's an easy pick.

(Katharu Screecher)

Pick 8

Here I choose to hate a SB card against me instead of taking a cycling spell that I don't really like anyway. I already have the superior Yoked Plowbeast.

Volcanic Submersion

Pick 9

The deck needed one Etherium Sculptor and here is one.

Etherium Sculptor

Pick 10

Excommunicate is better in more aggressive decks so I took the Serpent.

Steelclad Serpent

Pick 11

Steelclad Serpent

Pick 12

Dispeller's Capsule

And the last 3 picks had nothing again.

Here's the final deck:

Match 1

Game 1

I choose to play first and keep a nice hand:

This shows the first auctions of the game. I liked this trade because my creature could still be unhearthed, I couldn't kill Strix with Capsule and it would trade with better creatures like the Drake.

On the 4th turn I unhearth my Kathari since there's nothing else I can do and he plays the 2/1. I drop my Drake and he proceeds to Skeletonize it.

I topdeck a land and play the Serpent. He plays Vein Drinker which I remove to oblivion with the Ring and hit him for 4.

He hits me for 2 and passes. I play the Titan but he has Bone Splinters for it.

I draw a Kathari Screecher, play the Charm to draw 2 lands and play the Screecher. He plays a Dregscape Zombie and passes. I draw another land and go in for 2. He seems to be flooded too. I draw another land and mirror my last turn. He plays a Cloudheath Drake which I kill with the Capsule. I draw Grixis Battlemage, play it and attack. He does nothing again. I draw an Esper Panorama, get and Island and use the Battlemage. I finally get Sharuum, attack for 2 and play it getting Cloudheath Drake back. He concedes.

Game 2

I get a hand that is quite good and not that risky. Even on the play I'd probably keep it.

My 2nd draw is an Island so I play Etherium Sculptor turn 2 and my opponent plays Exuberant Firestoker. I attack for 1 and play the fresh drawn Seaside Citadel. On his turn he simply plays a land and attacks. I cycle the Beast at the end of turn. I play a Grixis Panorama and with no good plays I attack and pass. He plays a turn 5 Vein Drinker but I already have the Ring ready for it.

He plays a Undead Leotau. I draw an Executioner's Capsule, play it and Tower Gargoyle. He attacks, I don't block and he uses the +1/-1 once and than plays Skeletal Kathari. Now this is when I started taking some risks that I probably shouldn't have. I attack with the Gargoyle dropping him to 13 and play a Serpent. He has Volcanic Submersion for it and attacks for 7 putting me on 8. If I had not attacked with the Gargoyle I would have only taken 3 from Kathari as he would probably kill the Gargoyle and go in for 3 as he couldn't pump the 3/4 to 6 power. After that I could play Sanctum Gargoyle and return Tower Gargoyle and probably winning the game.

But after this I wasn't done taking risks. I played the other Serpent and attacked with both the Gargoyle and the 1/2! I wanted to leave him at 8 so 2 Gargoyle attacks would kill him. On his draw phase I decide to kill his Firestoker because if he had Bone Splinters he would be able to kill me this turn. In response he plays Soul's Fire on me for 3 tapping the Firestoker and his 2 Mountains. He plays Dregscape Zombie and uses Bone Splinters to take out the Serpent and attack for the win. He didn't even need to play his Soul's Fire but now I was aware of it for game 3 and this time I played much safer (learned my lesson).

Game 3

I keep a risky hand and he mulligans to 6.

On my first draw I get a much needed Swamp and play Etherium Sculptor. His first 2 lands are tri-lands. I play one Screecher and go in for 1. He has a Screecher of his own and when I attack he trades. I play the other but miss a land drop. He has Firestoker and passes. I attack for 3 and play the Capsule still without a 4th land. Once again he has a turn 5 Vein Drinker and I have no Oblivion Ring. I'm hoping to draw a land so I can use Resounding Silence in case he attacks but I get something even better: Oblivion Ring!

 

We trade attacks and he drops Undead Leotau. I draw Esper Charm, play it and finally get the 4th land. I attack for 2 and pass. He takes me from 19 to 12 with the Undead pumped to 5 power and an unhearthed Screecher. His Screecher last cry was being sacrificed to Bone Splinters and kill his brother on my side. I just pass the turn and use Resounding Silence to get rid of the Undead for good.

He has a Dregscape Zombie after his attack. I draw my fifth land and play Tower Gargoyle. He attacks with the zombie, I block with Gargoyle and he finishes it off with Skeletonize. I get another land and play Sharuum getting the Gargoyle back. He has Volcanic Submersion for Sharuum but I next turn I get it back with Sanctum Gargoyle and go in for 4. He unhearths the 2/1 zombie, I block with the 2/3 and he stops anymore recurring sickness with Magma Spray but the damage is done and I already have a huge advantage. I just kill the Firestoker with the Capsule so I have a target for Sharuum. He was at 7 and I could have killed him with Tower Gargoyle and the 2 unhearted Screechers but I played it safe and dropped Sharuum for a very likely win next turn. He concedes.

Match 2

Game 1

My opponent plays first and I keep this:

He has a turn 2 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer and a turn 4 Sanctum Gargoyle. At the end of his turn I get a Swamp with the Esper Panorama and play Tower Gargoyle on my turn. He has Excommunicate and a Druid of the Anima and gets me down to 13.

I play a land and replay the Gargoyle. He plays a Gift of the Gargantuan and gets Rakeclaw Gargantuan but no land. I draw and Island, play the Screecher and leave mana open for an eot Esper Charm but I should have just made him discard 2 since he had only 2 in hand and one was the Gargantuan.

He drops the 5/3 monster and I draw 2 from the Charm. I play another land and pass still without attacking since the late game is surely mine. He attacks with the 5/3 and I remove it with Resounding Silence.

I finally start attacking with the Gargoyle and he attacks back with is own Gargoyle which I make sure never untaps again by enchanting it with Coma Veil. He concedes here.

Game 2

 I go to Paris as keeping this hand would require quite some luck to get there:

And I keep a not very good hand but I'm on the draw and going to 5 isn't very likely to win me any game. If I could draw a black source on turn 3 or even 4 it was quite good.

He has turn 2 Druid of the Anima, turn 3 Woolly Thoctar and turn 4 Rhox Charger. While I have a turn 3 Screecher and still not black mana.

I draw a land and just pass the turn. He attacks and plays Mosstodon. I draw Oblivion Ring but don't play it because he didn't see it game 1.

Game 3

I keep a risky hand but one that let's me play turn 2 Strix and if I draw a land I have the Obelisk and all my colors.

My first draw is another Screecher and the second one an Esper Panorama. So I play turn 2 Strix and turn 3 Screecher. He plays Druid of the Anima turn 2 and Excommunicate turn 3.

Things still look good as I seem to be on a race that is hard to beat and just replay my Screecher and take him to 16. He has turn 4 Rakeclaw Gargantuan, I hit him for 4 and play another Screecher. Here's when things get ugly. I'm thinking I'll just chump with the Screecher, unhearth and hit for 4, chump with the other Screecher and finally unhearth and win. However he has a sick turn: Woolly Thoctar and another Excommunicate. He hits me with the 5/3 and I'm at 14 while he's at 12.

I hit him for 4 and replay the Screecher. I think I still have a chance but he shows me I don't by playing Cavern Thoctar. Like always I kept playing hoping for a misclick or a misplay but it didn't happen.

I felt that I was so close to winning even though I just played 3 spells while he played 6 and also that just one missing part of his puzzle, either the druid, the 5/3, one of the Excommunicate and even the last Thoctar and I would have been able to win.

All in all it was a fun draft, too bad I didn't get any packs since it was a 8-4. I hope you like it and help me improve the next articles!

15 Comments

Great Article with good by TheMiseDotCom at Sat, 02/21/2009 - 13:09
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Great Article with good insights about the game and the draft.

I see no reason to play the by Anonymous (not verified) at Sat, 02/21/2009 - 18:20
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I see no reason to play the Grixis panoramas in this deck. Your mana is not that bad and they only get two colors.

I honestly watched you just by Bosh_the_Ironman at Sat, 02/21/2009 - 18:45
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I honestly watched you just pass Tezzeret and Punish Ignorance, for bad cards.... Mind you, O-Ring is not Bad, but, Tezzeret is mythic, and a card any Esper Deck pines for. I think you made some pretty bad picks.

You literally got passed the nuttiest Esper deck I have ever seen, and yet you somehow failed to see that... You even made picks, and then stated after that "you did not see, another, better card"... This is definitely not the draft I would have chosen to write an article about, no offense.

You take fixing quite highly by Anonymous (not verified) at Sat, 02/21/2009 - 18:43
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You take fixing quite highly and you draft quite defensively, so I think you ended up with a consistent but weak deck. It's just my personal preference but I don't like playing 3 steelclad serpents when I could be playing even more fliers.

I would've taken tezzeret for sure, O-ring is certainly first pick if you're playing white 99% of the time, but he's worth a few tix and he's actually a bomb in esper.

I don't see why you wouldn't by Bjbrains (not verified) at Sat, 02/21/2009 - 21:46
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I don't see why you wouldn't go for Tezzeret in an Esper deck. His +1 ability has amazing interactions with tapping artifacts, can give your fatties vigilance, can tutor removal, and his final ability is a total bomb. 5-6 artifacts in play gives you a nearly automatic win.

you guys are nuts by tezzeretsux (not verified) at Sun, 02/22/2009 - 04:56
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Tezzeret is never better than Oblivion ring, no matter what your deck is. i might even take tidehollow strix over tezzeret in most cases. i just drafted at a local store and had tezzeret in two esper drafts. he was at best a second tower gargoyle for 5. you take the oblivion ring every time over that! i want you to show me a draft deck where tezzeret is the bomb. oblivion ring is 100% good in any draft deck, not some.

This just isn't true at by Anonymous (not verified) at Sun, 02/22/2009 - 08:58
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This just isn't true at all

1) he's worth at least 5 tix. I'm going to take him in most packs just for this
2) he's extremely versatile. You can tutor your tower gargoyle and put it into play that turn, or you can wait 1 turn and turn all of your fliers into tower gargoyles. This threatens to end the game very quickly.
3) he tutors into other bombs, effectively giving you double of each of your bombs
4) if nothing else he's a better filigree sages, comboing with esper battlemage or giving your fliers vigilance

dropping tezzeret in esper is just as devastating as dropping ajani

About Tezzeret and Punish Ignorance by TugaChampion at Sun, 02/22/2009 - 16:12
TugaChampion's picture

I didn't know Tezzeret was worth 4 or 5 tix. I thought it was like 1 or 2. But that's not really relevant for an article. Let's forget about tix and concentrate on what each card does for the deck. Oblivion Ring is always good. Even more important if you're lacking removal. Tezzeret might be a bomb or it might be underwhelming even in Esper. At this point it would give 2 of my guys pseudo vigilance or get 1 of the 2 Sanctum Gargoyles. I could very well end up not getting Tower Gargoyle. I think I have made the correct pick. However I have never played with Tezzeret. It's really hard to know how good it can be. Ajani I know it's always good if you can play it. Tezzeret you need to be in Esper so you usually don't get to play it even when you open or get it passed to you. Being a Mythic doesn't help either. And the first time I'm in Esper and see it, it's right next to the all mighty Oblivion Ring. I just took the card that I knew to be good and the one that didn't care about the rest of the picks. And thinking it was worth less actually made be think it or at least something else from the pack was coming back for me. But Tezzeret, battlemage and Strix were gone :(

On Punish Ignorance: Again another card I don't like but I've seen some people use. It's not that it's bad but counterspells make you not want to tap out on your turn and that's not good unless you have creatures with flash. Shards isn't Lorwyn with all those flashy faeries. Also I didn't have any tri-lands to help me play it. On top of that the pack also had a card I actually like more than most people (I think it's still a bit underrated) so I took Grixis Battlemage.

where's the two drops? by solebush at Sun, 02/22/2009 - 17:15
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I liked the article but I disagreed with almost every pick that involved taking a card over a two drop in pack 2. I don't think you can expect to win in this format with such a top-heavy curve unless maybe the overall quality of your late drops are very high (definitely not the case here). Your first two drop was picked in pack 3, and you even said you thought you should have picked the fatestitcher instead! In a vaccuum, the cards you picked (or wanted to pick) were of higher quality, but at some point you need to take a better look at what your deck is missing. I think your deck is 10 times better with 2x Deft Duelist, regardless of whether you think it is the ideal 2-drop in an esper deck.

Did you really mean to hate draft a sb card in pack 3 pick 8 instead of a solid early drop in akrasan squire? Especially when at the point you only had one creature that can be played for less than 3 mana, I hope that was an oversight.

I'm also not a big fan of your final build. I know you mentioned you're not a fan of cancel, but you can't possibly be a fan of playing 3x Serpents in an already top-heavy deck either. You didn't have access to many other choices, but I would have definitely at least played 2 of cancel, bant battlemage, dispeller's capsule or risked splashing necrogenesis (even though it doesn't fit to well), instead of 2 of the serpents. Probably three of them with no serpents.

I think the draft was fine. by Mellamopobrede (not verified) at Sun, 02/22/2009 - 17:44
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I think the draft was fine. The thing with drafting esper in shards is that it is the weakest shard, so your deck is usually going to be worse than an average naya deck (see round 2). The curve was definitely too high (3 steelclad serpents is too much) but i thought you were in the right colors and there wasnt a lot of other quality cards.

Tezzeret vs. Oring: Oring is definitely the right pick. 5 mana for summoning a tower gargoyle is not a bomb card. Oring is the best removal in the set as it deals with almost everything (case and point vein drinker in round 1 that you would have lost to without oring). The untapping of artifacts is ok, but tezz is a really slow planeswalker that really doesn't affect the board as much as his brethren. And the final ability is not a bomb as if you have enough artifacts to make it worth it, you are probably going to win that game anyway. Also im pretty sure tezz is only worth like 2 tix, i could be wrong though.

Punish Ignorance: Counterspells are generally bad in limited, especially ones with very restrictive mana costs.

Very good, More plz by joao ferreira (not verified) at Mon, 02/23/2009 - 09:03
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Very good, More plz

Very good, More plz by joao ferreira (not verified) at Mon, 02/23/2009 - 09:04
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Very good, More plz

So...why dont you like the by Metalman (not verified) at Mon, 02/23/2009 - 11:38
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So...why dont you like the Windwright Mage's? They swing the mid game to your favor so often...They are superior to the Steelclad Serpent, Yoked Plowbeast, and Coma Veil. Have you never played them? Its like saying the Screechers are bad cause they are only 2-power flyers for 3. But these flyers gain life and can be returned with Sanctum Gargoyle. Clearly that makes them good, doesnt it?

Also you took Yoked Plowbeast over Call to Heel when you have 2x Sanctum Gargoyle and Sharuum. That is clearly the wrong pick. Drawing a card, returning another artifact, and potentially killing one of his guys or countering a removal spell...Also clearly good in this deck.

You dont take Deft Duelist cause this "isnt the type of deck for it". Deft Duelist is a card that gets you through the early game weenie rush of the RGx type decks, which you otherwise lose to. Hes not an aggro card in this shard, like when you run him in Bant, but he still serves a clear role in Esper: Hold off the early ground weenie rush of RGx decks so that you can win in the air.

The Excommunicates are also good in Esper if you have an aggressive version. If you had picked a version with Kiss of Ameneshia and Couriers Capsule then dont run the Excommunicate. However, if youve got the Kalrathi Screecher, Cloudhearth Drake type Esper (which you did) then they become quite good.

Finally, you passed on hate drafting the 2x Jungle Weaver in the last four picks, taking instead Steelclad Serpents. Guess you had to to fill out the deck with them...?

I'd have to agree that you could have ended up with a much better deck overall.

-M

TugaChampion's picture

I'll have to agree that Deft Duelist would be good at holding the ground. The deck wouldn't become much better but maybe it would have been a bit better. The thing I don't like about Excommunicate is that if you're winning it's great but if you're losing or if the board is very even it doesn't do much.

Windwright Mage for a triple colored card does too little. On top of that it needs an artifact in the graveyard to have flying. Usually if you can't drop it turn 3. Maybe it's better than I think but it's just that the experience I have with it, it wasn't a good card.

Anyway I have 3 goals with these articles: help other people improve their game, get some mtgo stuff and also improve my own game. I want you to learn with me and I also want to learn from you so feel free to state your opinions and justify them. I may not agree but an healthy discussion is always good for both sides.

I really like it, but some by Davidi at Wed, 02/25/2009 - 18:00
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I really like it, but some pics are very close, so my pics in that draft would be different in 3-4 cards. That said i hope you make more articles =) with this quality. Next time try to draft other shards to see how it looks =P.