Whenever a -1/-1 counter is placed on a creature, you may put a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token into play.
So if your Scarecrow or Leech Bonder comes into play with 2 -1/-1 counters, you get 2 elves. Wins the game if you build around. Also, if they have Scarecrows too... gravy.
I believ Knollspine Invocation is atleast a **** for limited. It turns everything you draw into burn. You can clean up a board, you can turn a 7cc spell into a game winning 7 damage, without the hassle of playing it! I played this in my sealed pool at the PreRelease in a RG build, and I won every game it hit the board, with most of my opponents complaining how broken it was in limited play. We love removal in limited, right???? This turns everything you draw into removal!!!!!!!! It makes burning your opponent out from turn 3 a very viable option, it makes room for your fatties to smack face and it stalls the board for them, too!!!! Anyone who doesn't take this card at pick 3 or 4 and is in Red at all or doesn't play it in their pool should quit playing limited. Now. I'm not joking.
im with trumpetman on the rage reflection. looking at some of the high end r/g hybrid beaters SHA gives you in limited Rage reflection would be game it seems. True it is probably a win more in most casesb= but the added insurance is awesome.
Smash to Smithereens: **, not *** in limited: It's a very good sideboard card, and fairly likely to be sided in, but generally shouldn't make the maindeck.
Power of Fire: ****, not *** in limited: It should never table, and is definitely a justifiable first pick because there is so little removal and its potential for abuse with Q abilities. There is better removal and bombs though.
Mudbrawler Cohort: **, not *** in limited: Too small to be viable in all but the most aggressive red decks in Limited.
Jaws of Stone: ****, not *** in limited: Like Power of Fire, it will not table and is a huge signal that Red is open. **** is probably too high for Construcuted. *** (Could see in the finals once) is probably about right.
Furystoke Giant: *****, not *** in limited. I can't see losing if you cast this with two or more creatures on the board, and it would have to be a pretty insane pack for this to go later than 3rd.
Flame Javelin: *****, not **** in limited. A bona fide first pick for any color combination.
Burn Trail: *****, not **** in limited. If you're not red, you splash it happily, and if you are red and conspire it, you are unlikely to lose.
i like to read the oppinion of other people about the new cards. i need not to agree but it is always helpful to see things from a different angle.
a little faux pas happened to you though. if you play a cremator and discard your flame javelin nothing will happen as it is written that only creature cards discarded deal damage to target player. if it would be that way the cremator should be a tier one card imho.
Compare knollspine invocation with stormscale anarch.
Stormscale anarch was a house in RGD, and it also required mana + discard, AND you didn't control what you discarded. This is harder to kill, and you have more control over it. Also, if you have mono-hybrids like flame javelin, this lets you take advantage of the high CMC. I could easily see burning someone out with this.
IMO the red reflection is the only playable one in limited and the few times I've played Shadowmoor with it, it has been a house. Double-striking creatures, especially in the GR archetype is pretty powerful. In addition, Inescapable brute has to be one of the worst cards in the entire set. I think its about as good as the rare rat card generator. It just costs too much mana and does nothing. This format is all about the fast beats, so if something costs 6 it better have a pretty relevant, aka the reflection. On a final note the 1/2 FS wither is somewhat janky unless it gets pumped. Sure its anoying... but thats about it. ANyways I agree with most of your points, just wanted to adress these few issues.
I liked your review, and the fact that you sorted the list based on your rankings. I also like the focus on limited, as a lot of MTGO play with any new set is in the limited space.
I disagree with your assessment for Wound Reflection. I agree that it's not an all-purpose card by any means. However, a lot of people drafting black are going to be in BR. This card can mean "game over" when your BR fear or trampler took your opponent from 8 life to 4, and you drop Wound Reflection post-combat. GG. Or if you have Fear going againt a non B deck. Definite sideboard material at least; I could see bumping it up a few spots (above Rite of Consumption?).
I was under the impression that Knacksaw Clique would even allow you to play their lands if that is what you revealed, that makes the mana to cast their spells a lot easier to come up with.... I may be wrong though
Thanks for a great walkthrough, Walker. I would have made a thousand more mistakes, with Shadowmoor being so new. You even pointed out where you went wrong in the article, so I don't see what people are freaking out about. It was a fun, thought-provoking draft. Thanks again.
I don't THINK it should be a problem, as while I guess it's slightly for profit, I could have just written about Classic, PDC, or something else. I wrote about this mostly because it seemed like a fun thing to look at for everyone, since people are doing Shadowmoor paper drafts already, and this would hopefully cause some discussion.
Speaking of riding the blue wave, that probably would have been fine too. However, the RB stuff that came that I missed was crazy too.
I would have gone with Repel Intruders p1p1 honestly and ride the blue wave. We're all still new to this so, there's alot of good debate. My opinion is RI is such a tempo changer but Dusk Urchins is pretty good too.
I like the artcicle, but I think the limited and constructed ratings and evaluations need to be separated. Trying do rate both formats in the same paragraph is detrimental to both evaluations. I would suggest either 2 separate articles or give 2 '*' ratings for each card.
Should you really be using your slot in the Shadowmoor beta test for personal profit on a non-affiliated website? I'm not sure what they make you sign in the newer betas, but it's been my impression beta testers are forbidden from personally profitting from the beta by testing for things like PT's. Does this article violate the NDA of the current beta? Did you ger permission to write this?
Sorry for raining on your parade, but it strikes me as weird I haven't even been to my local store's 'sneak peek' event and you are already drafting Shadowmoor online. To be honest, I'm a little jealous.
Pretty much very good. The only thing I disagree with you on is:
MerrowWavebreakers 4U Creature - Merfolk Soldier; 3/3 1U, oQ: Merrow Wavebreakers gains flying until end of turn. (oQ is the untap symbol.) Rating: *
For five mana in blue I expect my 3/3 creatures to already have flying.This card is just a poor attempt to showcase the untap mechanic.
On paper, that's correct. It looks bad. But when you play it, it's much better. Its abilities actually read more like:
Wavebreakers 4U
Flying Vigilance ~ May only block creatures without flying.
Since by the time you're attacking with him the amount of mana to untap him is not really an issue anymore. At least, that's been my experience so far...
Which is pretty good for a common, actually. It's probably not a "***" star card, but it's at least a "**", borderline three.
so seriously i think that people need to be a little bit more relaxed. how many times had you drafted shm before this walkthru walker if you say less then 5 i think that its fine this is a new set and on a free account so you feel like you can experiment more. anyways i think that people who just come out and harsh the vibe should just save thereselfs the 2 mins it took to respond. after all experimentaion is what its all about. and who knows maybe the helm deck will be a legitamate archtype once everything is settled. anyways my 2 cents. keep it up walker
After pick 5, I thought of checking out what others had to say in the comments. Apparently, there was only one yet. I have to agree with him. I know it took a lot of effort to put this walkthrough together but it seemed that you didn't know what you were doing. I'm sorry if this comes out harsh, it's just that recently I've noticed that a lot of people on the internet have been writing about stuff they have no idea about. I hope that drafting more gains you the necessary experience in card evaluation.
Well, while I agree with some of what you're saying, I did point out "I think had I noticed some of the Red cards that were open to me instead of trying to force (an albeit fun) Helm.dec, I would have had a much better result in round two. The best deck would have been BR/u I think." I did mention that I was just MISSING the Red, due to my infatuation with a deck I'd seen do well, and one that I wanted to force.
However, I do agree that I SHOULD have grabbed the Torrent over just about anything, and that was where my draft probably began to go downhill. Worse, I didn't cover how bomby the Torrent is(although I did mention it was a huge bomb). In penance for this lack of coverage on ToS, I'm going to try to do it justice here.
"This card is pretty much Overrun for your format. Tromp the Domains, Swell from Morningtide, etc. It will win close games, get back whatever ridiculous guy they had to spend two spells on to remove, whatever. Draft this card because you will win the game. I'm a donk for missing it."
I don't really know why I read draft summaries on PureMTGO. Maybe it's because I'm trying to view all the SHM drafts I can or maybe I'm a glutton for punishment... At least you knew to take the Redcap over everything else in the pack, but frankly, I don't think you really know what you're doing.
Why are you taking a 4cc creature enchantments that sometimes draws you cards if you're lucky and lets you 2-for-1 yourself over half the time? I mean... Scrapbasket? Really? When there's an incredibly bomby Torrent of Souls? I really hope you learned something this draft and this pile is a step on the way to becoming a better drafter.
I don't want to be all negative... I appreciate the time that you took to record and post your draft, but if you're going to sit around and play with pet cards, I don't think it's worth our time to read it. Like I said... I really don't know why I didn't just close the window and go read something else.
Sorry about the double-post; my first post missed the alternate G/x picks.
Once you make a different pick you can only go 7 more picks into the future until you start seeing packs affected by the changed picks. So for picks 2-9 I would have had: 2: Leaf Gilder 3: Changeling Titan (Yeah over Huntmaster, but it's close) 4: Leaf Gilder 5: Fertile Ground 6: Battlewand 7: Vanquisher 8: Nath's Elite 9: Fertile Ground
That's a solid start to a G/x deck especially with the Inversion, and you can easily take Mulldrifter 16th and splash here. Not sure if the deck would have been more powerful but I certainly wouldn't be complaining yet.
That's a solid start to a G/x deck especially with the Inversion, and you can easily take Mulldrifter 16th and splash here. Not sure if the deck would have been more powerful but I certainly wouldn't be complaining yet.
Back to the actual draft: 3: Even intending to go Elementals I'd happily snag Changeling Titan here. 19: I'm not sure here... I think Pilferers is fine here as Weed Strangle is definitely clunky removal, albeit effective. 31: I think you actually had a good chance to wheel Pyroclast Consul here given how late you got the Soulbright Flamekins in pack 2. It's definitely a defensible first pick though. 32: I hate Pack's Disdain because in any less than perfect tribal deck you need 3 creatures out just to consistently do -2/-2. I'd be fine with Shard Volley. I don't like Axe here as you only have about 3 Warriors so far. 39: Here however was the biggest mistake I saw. Thornbite Staff is INSANE in your deck, as your Elementals are almost all Shaman. Tar Pitcher is a Shaman also, though in this deck you didn't have enough Goblins/Changelings for that to matter. 40: Seething Pathblazer would have been fine here also.
Build: Despite having 3 pieces of acceleration (4 counting Harbinger) your deck is very top-heavy. You can streamline it quite a bit. -1 Roar of the Crowd (worst removal spell) -1 Mournwhelk (good enough to leave one in but pricey even with your acceleration) -1 Consuming Bonfire (2nd worst removal spell) +1 Caterwauling Boggart +1 Seething Pathblazer +1 Soulbright Flamekin
Those changes make your deck a lot more aggressive and tougher to stabilize against.
I stopped reading after you gave Barrenton Medic a 3 in both constructed and limited.
The correct answer is a 1 in both. Healers are often decent in limited, but only if they're cheap (2-3 mana, max). If they're cheap, you can drop them early when you have nothing better to do, and they can mess with combat or force your opponent to waste a removal spell on it. You're not going to want to spend your entire turn 5 to playing a guy who doesn't win the game, and can't protect your guys until turn 6. Wizards was obviously worried about combos with his untap ability and nerfed him into oblivion. He'll be a 15th pick in draft and will absolutely, positively, never, ever, ever, ever, ever get played in constructed. Ever. Ever.
Limited: 1. Constructed -1 (Ever)
Barrenton Medic is one of several examples of how Wizards has been hating White in recent sets, as its cards are often the worst out of 5-card cycles. Other examples would be Kithkin Rabble (Vigilace, when other colors get evasion and untargetability) and Spectral Procession (easily the worst of the 2/C hybrids).
Does that trigger Defense? Really? :/
RTFC
Whenever a -1/-1 counter is placed on a creature, you may put a 1/1 green Elf Warrior creature token into play.
So if your Scarecrow or Leech Bonder comes into play with 2 -1/-1 counters, you get 2 elves. Wins the game if you build around. Also, if they have Scarecrows too... gravy.
I believ Knollspine Invocation is atleast a **** for limited. It turns everything you draw into burn. You can clean up a board, you can turn a 7cc spell into a game winning 7 damage, without the hassle of playing it! I played this in my sealed pool at the PreRelease in a RG build, and I won every game it hit the board, with most of my opponents complaining how broken it was in limited play. We love removal in limited, right???? This turns everything you draw into removal!!!!!!!! It makes burning your opponent out from turn 3 a very viable option, it makes room for your fatties to smack face and it stalls the board for them, too!!!! Anyone who doesn't take this card at pick 3 or 4 and is in Red at all or doesn't play it in their pool should quit playing limited. Now. I'm not joking.
im with trumpetman on the rage reflection. looking at some of the high end r/g hybrid beaters SHA gives you in limited Rage reflection would be game it seems. True it is probably a win more in most casesb= but the added insurance is awesome.
Agreed with the brute comment.
Smash to Smithereens: **, not *** in limited: It's a very good sideboard card, and fairly likely to be sided in, but generally shouldn't make the maindeck.
Power of Fire: ****, not *** in limited: It should never table, and is definitely a justifiable first pick because there is so little removal and its potential for abuse with Q abilities. There is better removal and bombs though.
Mudbrawler Cohort: **, not *** in limited: Too small to be viable in all but the most aggressive red decks in Limited.
Jaws of Stone: ****, not *** in limited: Like Power of Fire, it will not table and is a huge signal that Red is open. **** is probably too high for Construcuted. *** (Could see in the finals once) is probably about right.
Furystoke Giant: *****, not *** in limited. I can't see losing if you cast this with two or more creatures on the board, and it would have to be a pretty insane pack for this to go later than 3rd.
Flame Javelin: *****, not **** in limited. A bona fide first pick for any color combination.
Burn Trail: *****, not **** in limited. If you're not red, you splash it happily, and if you are red and conspire it, you are unlikely to lose.
i like to read the oppinion of other people about the new cards. i need not to agree but it is always helpful to see things from a different angle.
a little faux pas happened to you though. if you play a cremator and discard your flame javelin nothing will happen as it is written that only creature cards discarded deal damage to target player. if it would be that way the cremator should be a tier one card imho.
Compare knollspine invocation with stormscale anarch.
Stormscale anarch was a house in RGD, and it also required mana + discard, AND you didn't control what you discarded. This is harder to kill, and you have more control over it. Also, if you have mono-hybrids like flame javelin, this lets you take advantage of the high CMC. I could easily see burning someone out with this.
IMO the red reflection is the only playable one in limited and the few times I've played Shadowmoor with it, it has been a house. Double-striking creatures, especially in the GR archetype is pretty powerful. In addition, Inescapable brute has to be one of the worst cards in the entire set. I think its about as good as the rare rat card generator. It just costs too much mana and does nothing. This format is all about the fast beats, so if something costs 6 it better have a pretty relevant, aka the reflection. On a final note the 1/2 FS wither is somewhat janky unless it gets pumped. Sure its anoying... but thats about it. ANyways I agree with most of your points, just wanted to adress these few issues.
"Oh and this guy has no positive interactions with Scarsale Ritual or Fate Transfer."
*goggle*
That is either a typo or a wondrous rules blind spot :)
I liked your review, and the fact that you sorted the list based on your rankings. I also like the focus on limited, as a lot of MTGO play with any new set is in the limited space.
I disagree with your assessment for Wound Reflection. I agree that it's not an all-purpose card by any means. However, a lot of people drafting black are going to be in BR. This card can mean "game over" when your BR fear or trampler took your opponent from 8 life to 4, and you drop Wound Reflection post-combat. GG. Or if you have Fear going againt a non B deck. Definite sideboard material at least; I could see bumping it up a few spots (above Rite of Consumption?).
I was under the impression that Knacksaw Clique would even allow you to play their lands if that is what you revealed, that makes the mana to cast their spells a lot easier to come up with.... I may be wrong though
Thanks for a great walkthrough, Walker. I would have made a thousand more mistakes, with Shadowmoor being so new. You even pointed out where you went wrong in the article, so I don't see what people are freaking out about. It was a fun, thought-provoking draft. Thanks again.
I don't THINK it should be a problem, as while I guess it's slightly for profit, I could have just written about Classic, PDC, or something else. I wrote about this mostly because it seemed like a fun thing to look at for everyone, since people are doing Shadowmoor paper drafts already, and this would hopefully cause some discussion.
Speaking of riding the blue wave, that probably would have been fine too. However, the RB stuff that came that I missed was crazy too.
I would have gone with Repel Intruders p1p1 honestly and ride the blue wave. We're all still new to this so, there's alot of good debate. My opinion is RI is such a tempo changer but Dusk Urchins is pretty good too.
I like the artcicle, but I think the limited and constructed ratings and evaluations need to be separated. Trying do rate both formats in the same paragraph is detrimental to both evaluations. I would suggest either 2 separate articles or give 2 '*' ratings for each card.
Should you really be using your slot in the Shadowmoor beta test for personal profit on a non-affiliated website? I'm not sure what they make you sign in the newer betas, but it's been my impression beta testers are forbidden from personally profitting from the beta by testing for things like PT's. Does this article violate the NDA of the current beta? Did you ger permission to write this?
Sorry for raining on your parade, but it strikes me as weird I haven't even been to my local store's 'sneak peek' event and you are already drafting Shadowmoor online. To be honest, I'm a little jealous.
Pretty much very good. The only thing I disagree with you on is:
Merrow Wavebreakers 4U
Creature - Merfolk Soldier; 3/3
1U, oQ: Merrow Wavebreakers gains flying until end of turn. (oQ is the untap symbol.)
Rating: *
For five mana in blue I expect my 3/3 creatures to already have flying. This card is just a poor attempt to showcase the untap mechanic.
On paper, that's correct. It looks bad. But when you play it, it's much better. Its abilities actually read more like:
Wavebreakers 4U
Flying
Vigilance
~ May only block creatures without flying.
Since by the time you're attacking with him the amount of mana to untap him is not really an issue anymore. At least, that's been my experience so far...
Which is pretty good for a common, actually. It's probably not a "***" star card, but it's at least a "**", borderline three.
so seriously i think that people need to be a little bit more relaxed. how many times had you drafted shm before this walkthru walker if you say less then 5 i think that its fine this is a new set and on a free account so you feel like you can experiment more. anyways i think that people who just come out and harsh the vibe should just save thereselfs the 2 mins it took to respond. after all experimentaion is what its all about. and who knows maybe the helm deck will be a legitamate archtype once everything is settled. anyways my 2 cents. keep it up walker
After pick 5, I thought of checking out what others had to say in the comments. Apparently, there was only one yet. I have to agree with him. I know it took a lot of effort to put this walkthrough together but it seemed that you didn't know what you were doing. I'm sorry if this comes out harsh, it's just that recently I've noticed that a lot of people on the internet have been writing about stuff they have no idea about. I hope that drafting more gains you the necessary experience in card evaluation.
Well, while I agree with some of what you're saying, I did point out "I think had I noticed some of the Red cards that were open to me instead of trying to force (an albeit fun) Helm.dec, I would have had a much better result in round two. The best deck would have been BR/u I think." I did mention that I was just MISSING the Red, due to my infatuation with a deck I'd seen do well, and one that I wanted to force.
However, I do agree that I SHOULD have grabbed the Torrent over just about anything, and that was where my draft probably began to go downhill. Worse, I didn't cover how bomby the Torrent is(although I did mention it was a huge bomb). In penance for this lack of coverage on ToS, I'm going to try to do it justice here.
"This card is pretty much Overrun for your format. Tromp the Domains, Swell from Morningtide, etc. It will win close games, get back whatever ridiculous guy they had to spend two spells on to remove, whatever. Draft this card because you will win the game. I'm a donk for missing it."
I don't really know why I read draft summaries on PureMTGO. Maybe it's because I'm trying to view all the SHM drafts I can or maybe I'm a glutton for punishment... At least you knew to take the Redcap over everything else in the pack, but frankly, I don't think you really know what you're doing.
Why are you taking a 4cc creature enchantments that sometimes draws you cards if you're lucky and lets you 2-for-1 yourself over half the time? I mean... Scrapbasket? Really? When there's an incredibly bomby Torrent of Souls? I really hope you learned something this draft and this pile is a step on the way to becoming a better drafter.
I don't want to be all negative... I appreciate the time that you took to record and post your draft, but if you're going to sit around and play with pet cards, I don't think it's worth our time to read it. Like I said... I really don't know why I didn't just close the window and go read something else.
Sorry about the double-post; my first post missed the alternate G/x picks.
Once you make a different pick you can only go 7 more picks into the future until you start seeing packs affected by the changed picks. So for picks 2-9 I would have had:
2: Leaf Gilder
3: Changeling Titan (Yeah over Huntmaster, but it's close)
4: Leaf Gilder
5: Fertile Ground
6: Battlewand
7: Vanquisher
8: Nath's Elite
9: Fertile Ground
That's a solid start to a G/x deck especially with the Inversion, and you can easily take Mulldrifter 16th and splash here. Not sure if the deck would have been more powerful but I certainly wouldn't be complaining yet.
That's a solid start to a G/x deck especially with the Inversion, and you can easily take Mulldrifter 16th and splash here. Not sure if the deck would have been more powerful but I certainly wouldn't be complaining yet.
Back to the actual draft:
3: Even intending to go Elementals I'd happily snag Changeling Titan here.
19: I'm not sure here... I think Pilferers is fine here as Weed Strangle is definitely clunky removal, albeit effective.
31: I think you actually had a good chance to wheel Pyroclast Consul here given how late you got the Soulbright Flamekins in pack 2. It's definitely a defensible first pick though.
32: I hate Pack's Disdain because in any less than perfect tribal deck you need 3 creatures out just to consistently do -2/-2. I'd be fine with Shard Volley. I don't like Axe here as you only have about 3 Warriors so far.
39: Here however was the biggest mistake I saw. Thornbite Staff is INSANE in your deck, as your Elementals are almost all Shaman. Tar Pitcher is a Shaman also, though in this deck you didn't have enough Goblins/Changelings for that to matter.
40: Seething Pathblazer would have been fine here also.
Build:
Despite having 3 pieces of acceleration (4 counting Harbinger) your deck is very top-heavy. You can streamline it quite a bit.
-1 Roar of the Crowd (worst removal spell)
-1 Mournwhelk (good enough to leave one in but pricey even with your acceleration)
-1 Consuming Bonfire (2nd worst removal spell)
+1 Caterwauling Boggart
+1 Seething Pathblazer
+1 Soulbright Flamekin
Those changes make your deck a lot more aggressive and tougher to stabilize against.
I stopped reading after you gave Barrenton Medic a 3 in both constructed and limited.
The correct answer is a 1 in both. Healers are often decent in limited, but only if they're cheap (2-3 mana, max). If they're cheap, you can drop them early when you have nothing better to do, and they can mess with combat or force your opponent to waste a removal spell on it. You're not going to want to spend your entire turn 5 to playing a guy who doesn't win the game, and can't protect your guys until turn 6. Wizards was obviously worried about combos with his untap ability and nerfed him into oblivion. He'll be a 15th pick in draft and will absolutely, positively, never, ever, ever, ever, ever get played in constructed. Ever. Ever.
Limited: 1. Constructed -1 (Ever)
Barrenton Medic is one of several examples of how Wizards has been hating White in recent sets, as its cards are often the worst out of 5-card cycles. Other examples would be Kithkin Rabble (Vigilace, when other colors get evasion and untargetability) and Spectral Procession (easily the worst of the 2/C hybrids).
>Side out your more expensive counters, like Cryptic Command, to turn a four mana >answer into a two mana answer.
Uh?