Not a bad start, although the grammar does need attention. I really like the idea behind the theme as its not something that gets a lot of coverage. Would like to see a bit more in the way of playtesting. Overall, its a decent start and looking forward to the next one.
The content is good. The writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. No offense, but the number of rudimentary spelling and grammar errors is just mind-bogglingly awful.
Good start Lythand! I love fun decks and in fact I have one G/B Zombie deck which also uses Vulturous Zombie as the main attraction. Also, I played against Orb+Blessing combo several times and I know that it really hurts unless you somehow manage to get rid of the orb. Overall a nice start :).
Good article. Would love to see some recaps of your fu fu fu drafts. I agree with your card picks. I would also mention that if you are playing white the whiptail drake is bomb in your deck whether blue is your second color or not
Pete, a fine article as always (though a slightly higher number of typos than usual).
I've done a few FFF drafts over the last few days, and I have to say that Gathan Raiders has really not lived up to expectations. Without doubt it is one of the best Black commons in the set. But colors that have no Madness cards and no other reason to want Hellbent -- that is, Blue, White, Green, and even Red if you don't pick up a Keldon Megaliths -- can usually do a lot better than to spend two cards and three mana for a vanilla 3/3 -- especially Green, which has Nessian Courser. Going out of your way to make it 5/5 is (a) harder than it sounds and (b) actually at odds with some of the best cards in the set, notably Sprout Swarm and Foresee.
Speaking of Sprout Swarm, it is as insane as advertised. An easy first pick, and probably worth splashing. I strongly recommend having a plan for dealing with it. Discard or counterspells are ideal; Subterranean Shambler, not so much.
I generally agree with the "best commons" lists, although I might rank Blade of the Sixth Pride over Lucent Liminid -- at least in FFF, which seems low on playable one-drops. One Black card that deserves honorable mention is Grave Scrabbler; I've found that it's rarely difficult to find a way to play it with Madness.
Yeah, Gathan Raiders should be a complete powerhouse in PDC (Pete did mention that it was the best common in the set, period). Good article overall as well.
Well written as always... But Fomori Nomads > Gathan Raiders?! What the heck? I don't know where you got that idea from (I'm assuming you forgot Gathan Raiders is a common), but honestly Gathan Raiders is an amazing creature, so powerful, it belongs in color archetypes that don't run red.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but do I assume that their is a typo in the Myojin deck? If this is tribal shouldn't there be a req. of 4 a piece to meet standards?
Not that I necessarily think that Amrou Scout is better than Grapeshot, but I've got a strogn preferance for white as mono white is absolutely amazing and white based anything with rebels is always great.
Anyone who doesn't atleast mention Amrou Scout in the first pick has never seen it power out 4+ rebels and just flat out win the game because of card advantage.. I'd have taken that, with grapeshot being second...I don't like committing to the double cost when really it's not that good... p1p2, I don't understand how on earth baloth is not the best card in the pack, stoker being secnod... i'd have taken it and the second baloth a pack later, shipping the two amazing blue cards while sending a crystal clear signal...double thrill of the hunt woul dhave been disgusting...
Yeah, this was really hard to watch. But this is Time Spiral draft, so obv you got to the finals. Prolly beat someone like me round 1 too heh. I used to draft TTP a fair amount and you've reminded me why I stopped. Seeing my rating (and money) plummet to noobs was not much fun. But in all honesty, and not to flame or anything, but all this article seemed to do was demonstrate how bad you are at this format.
I am horribly biased because of my involvement with the revised picks (took a look over the draft and offered a few comments), but I think some of the criticism here is really unwarranted. Drifter il-Dal is pretty close to Thick-Skinned Goblin in power level, and I always like having one in draft; I'll usually run one. The Coal Stoker versus Baloth I can see going Baloth, but UR is a strong color combination and it's not completely ridiculous. In practice, you'd quite possibly have end up UR anyway, b/c at pack 3 I'd take Fathom Seer over Baloth #2 in a heartbeat. Seer is that good. From there, I think UR and GR end up at similar power levels. Soot over Cannonade is wrong at pick 4; you know you're UR, you have a very synergistic Stoker for the Cannonade, the power level is only slightly lower for cannonade, and consistency in colors cannot be discounted. Also, black is awful in TTP, especially as a splash. Dream Stalker versus Lord of Atlantis could go either way. Having no two-drops, and with them so rare in UR, Lord fills a hole. Stalker is fun with Seer but with nothing else so far, and Reality Acids should not get played with or without it. As it turns out, neither would probably make the deck.
Side note: the Orcish Cannonade in pack 12 was already picked in your revised picks at pick 4, so you'd only have one. I missed this when I looked over the picks the first time, sorry. Finally, I knew that Skirk Shaman over Stingscourer would be controversial. Scourer is of course far better in a vacuum, but I think this deck wants an evasive beater a bit more. Scourer isn't too curve-friendly here, and this isn't a pure tempo deck. Again, I wouldn't really fault either choice.
I would have gone GR with this draft. But here's some picks from the UR perspective.
Pick 1: I think that Grapeshot, Prismatic Lens and Sprite Noble are the three strongest cards here. I would go with the 2/2 flyer, just like your revised pick.
Pick 2: Coal Stoker is not nearly as strong as Baloth.
Pick 4: I would have taken the Cannonade and not looked at the soot. Let some other fool take the black cards.
Pick 10: Dream Stalker is much better than Lord of Atlantis, particularly since you already have a Fathom Seer and anticipate Reality Acid in the third pack.
I'll assume you are UR from here, and ignore picks that would be in other colours unless they are under consideration to be played in the UR deck.
Pick 19: Thick-Skinned Goblin is much better than Drifter il-Dal.
Pick 21: I think that Undying Rage is the 'better' card than Wildfire Emissary, but I think that the creature here is better because you already have 4 spells in yoru pile, and will likely get more (nad indeed, you hit a string of quality removal spells).
Pick 37: Stingscourger is much much much better than Skirk Shaman.
I have to agree with most of these sentiments. If you're serious about this drafting column, at the very least you need to do some research prior to drafting. The fact that you were passing high-level cards left and right was really just shooting yourself in the foot.
Yeah this was just plain bad i wanted to throw up. I guess i will help as best as i can but here we go.
P1P1:Really Grapshot or Noble are the best picks though i can see Scout if you love white or Lens because none of the cards are anything to go home about and fixers are really nice.
P1P2.Baloth by a mile though stokers is not a bad card just not quite the impact or power level as Baloth
P1P3:Baloth again. Though i think Seer is better then looter expect when you are play B/U But still you want to cut green and this will put the next 2 players into blue.
P1P4:This is just a joke. Soot is just plain better then cannonade even if you have Stoker. Even if you do not plan on playing black Soot is a great splash and it has that kinda power.
P1P5: if you wanted to go black the Mindstab is wayyyyy bet then Knight. The format go a lot more cheap spells and a lot more bodys that target bodys.
After pick 8 everything would changed due to the revisted picks so i will just help you currect the ones you did make considering you are play R/U
P1P10:Stalker is better it can bounce Acid if you get more Bounce it would be worth going for it other then that it has a fat ass.
P19: Thickskin is just better
P37:STINGER he is still useful bounce and a body why not. I think i would of rare drafted.
It's a good thing that you started TTP. I have to say though, that you really could have build a very powerful RG deck but it's not that important. I hope to read some more articles about drafts of this block, especially after Future Sight is online. And good luck in your new job.
Didn't mean to post a blank. I always enjoy your article Lancer. I'm a new player to the format and I love reading about your adventures (and missadventrures) in this article. I'm sorry to hear you may not be able to write every week as I always look forward to this article the most. While you may not be the best drafter in the world at least you are open about that and there is much to be learned just from seeing what you did and did not do.
I don't think any of these cards will have an impact on classic PDC lol. This set kind of sucks. Probably STD though.
I don't think any of these cards will have an impact on classic PDC lol. This set kind of sucks. Probably STD though.
Not a bad start, although the grammar does need attention. I really like the idea behind the theme as its not something that gets a lot of coverage. Would like to see a bit more in the way of playtesting. Overall, its a decent start and looking forward to the next one.
The content is good. The writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. No offense, but the number of rudimentary spelling and grammar errors is just mind-bogglingly awful.
Good start Lythand! I love fun decks and in fact I have one G/B Zombie deck which also uses Vulturous Zombie as the main attraction. Also, I played against Orb+Blessing combo several times and I know that it really hurts unless you somehow manage to get rid of the orb. Overall a nice start :).
imma make a fateseal deck!!!!!!!!!!
Good article. Would love to see some recaps of your fu fu fu drafts. I agree with your card picks. I would also mention that if you are playing white the whiptail drake is bomb in your deck whether blue is your second color or not
Pete, a fine article as always (though a slightly higher number of typos than usual).
I've done a few FFF drafts over the last few days, and I have to say that Gathan Raiders has really not lived up to expectations. Without doubt it is one of the best Black commons in the set. But colors that have no Madness cards and no other reason to want Hellbent -- that is, Blue, White, Green, and even Red if you don't pick up a Keldon Megaliths -- can usually do a lot better than to spend two cards and three mana for a vanilla 3/3 -- especially Green, which has Nessian Courser. Going out of your way to make it 5/5 is (a) harder than it sounds and (b) actually at odds with some of the best cards in the set, notably Sprout Swarm and Foresee.
Speaking of Sprout Swarm, it is as insane as advertised. An easy first pick, and probably worth splashing. I strongly recommend having a plan for dealing with it. Discard or counterspells are ideal; Subterranean Shambler, not so much.
I generally agree with the "best commons" lists, although I might rank Blade of the Sixth Pride over Lucent Liminid -- at least in FFF, which seems low on playable one-drops. One Black card that deserves honorable mention is Grave Scrabbler; I've found that it's rarely difficult to find a way to play it with Madness.
Mistmeadow Skulk has protection from cc 3 or GREATER.
Yeah, Gathan Raiders should be a complete powerhouse in PDC (Pete did mention that it was the best common in the set, period). Good article overall as well.
You missed the section where he named it the best common of the entire set.
Eh... I think Peter was just trying to say the top 3 red commons BESIDES Gathan Raiders
Well written as always... But Fomori Nomads > Gathan Raiders?! What the heck? I don't know where you got that idea from (I'm assuming you forgot Gathan Raiders is a common), but honestly Gathan Raiders is an amazing creature, so powerful, it belongs in color archetypes that don't run red.
Very well written and very informative too. Thank you.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but do I assume that their is a typo in the Myojin deck? If this is tribal shouldn't there be a req. of 4 a piece to meet standards?
(continued from below)
Not that I necessarily think that Amrou Scout is better than Grapeshot, but I've got a strogn preferance for white as mono white is absolutely amazing and white based anything with rebels is always great.
Anyone who doesn't atleast mention Amrou Scout in the first pick has never seen it power out 4+ rebels and just flat out win the game because of card advantage.. I'd have taken that, with grapeshot being second...I don't like committing to the double cost when really it's not that good... p1p2, I don't understand how on earth baloth is not the best card in the pack, stoker being secnod... i'd have taken it and the second baloth a pack later, shipping the two amazing blue cards while sending a crystal clear signal...double thrill of the hunt woul dhave been disgusting...
Yeah, this was really hard to watch. But this is Time Spiral draft, so obv you got to the finals. Prolly beat someone like me round 1 too heh. I used to draft TTP a fair amount and you've reminded me why I stopped. Seeing my rating (and money) plummet to noobs was not much fun. But in all honesty, and not to flame or anything, but all this article seemed to do was demonstrate how bad you are at this format.
I am horribly biased because of my involvement with the revised picks (took a look over the draft and offered a few comments), but I think some of the criticism here is really unwarranted. Drifter il-Dal is pretty close to Thick-Skinned Goblin in power level, and I always like having one in draft; I'll usually run one. The Coal Stoker versus Baloth I can see going Baloth, but UR is a strong color combination and it's not completely ridiculous. In practice, you'd quite possibly have end up UR anyway, b/c at pack 3 I'd take Fathom Seer over Baloth #2 in a heartbeat. Seer is that good. From there, I think UR and GR end up at similar power levels. Soot over Cannonade is wrong at pick 4; you know you're UR, you have a very synergistic Stoker for the Cannonade, the power level is only slightly lower for cannonade, and consistency in colors cannot be discounted. Also, black is awful in TTP, especially as a splash. Dream Stalker versus Lord of Atlantis could go either way. Having no two-drops, and with them so rare in UR, Lord fills a hole. Stalker is fun with Seer but with nothing else so far, and Reality Acids should not get played with or without it. As it turns out, neither would probably make the deck.
Side note: the Orcish Cannonade in pack 12 was already picked in your revised picks at pick 4, so you'd only have one. I missed this when I looked over the picks the first time, sorry. Finally, I knew that Skirk Shaman over Stingscourer would be controversial. Scourer is of course far better in a vacuum, but I think this deck wants an evasive beater a bit more. Scourer isn't too curve-friendly here, and this isn't a pure tempo deck. Again, I wouldn't really fault either choice.
I would have gone GR with this draft. But here's some picks from the UR perspective.
Pick 1: I think that Grapeshot, Prismatic Lens and Sprite Noble are the three strongest cards here. I would go with the 2/2 flyer, just like your revised pick.
Pick 2: Coal Stoker is not nearly as strong as Baloth.
Pick 4: I would have taken the Cannonade and not looked at the soot. Let some other fool take the black cards.
Pick 10: Dream Stalker is much better than Lord of Atlantis, particularly since you already have a Fathom Seer and anticipate Reality Acid in the third pack.
I'll assume you are UR from here, and ignore picks that would be in other colours unless they are under consideration to be played in the UR deck.
Pick 19: Thick-Skinned Goblin is much better than Drifter il-Dal.
Pick 21: I think that Undying Rage is the 'better' card than Wildfire Emissary, but I think that the creature here is better because you already have 4 spells in yoru pile, and will likely get more (nad indeed, you hit a string of quality removal spells).
Pick 37: Stingscourger is much much much better than Skirk Shaman.
Good job and nice article keep up the good work!
I have to agree with most of these sentiments. If you're serious about this drafting column, at the very least you need to do some research prior to drafting. The fact that you were passing high-level cards left and right was really just shooting yourself in the foot.
Yeah this was just plain bad i wanted to throw up. I guess i will help as best as i can but here we go.
P1P1:Really Grapshot or Noble are the best picks though i can see Scout if you love white or Lens because none of the cards are anything to go home about and fixers are really nice.
P1P2.Baloth by a mile though stokers is not a bad card just not quite the impact or power level as Baloth
P1P3:Baloth again. Though i think Seer is better then looter expect when you are play B/U But still you want to cut green and this will put the next 2 players into blue.
P1P4:This is just a joke. Soot is just plain better then cannonade even if you have Stoker. Even if you do not plan on playing black Soot is a great splash and it has that kinda power.
P1P5: if you wanted to go black the Mindstab is wayyyyy bet then Knight. The format go a lot more cheap spells and a lot more bodys that target bodys.
After pick 8 everything would changed due to the revisted picks so i will just help you currect the ones you did make considering you are play R/U
P1P10:Stalker is better it can bounce Acid if you get more Bounce it would be worth going for it other then that it has a fat ass.
P19: Thickskin is just better
P37:STINGER he is still useful bounce and a body why not. I think i would of rare drafted.
WOW just wow though.
It's a good thing that you started TTP. I have to say though, that you really could have build a very powerful RG deck but it's not that important. I hope to read some more articles about drafts of this block, especially after Future Sight is online. And good luck in your new job.
Didn't mean to post a blank. I always enjoy your article Lancer. I'm a new player to the format and I love reading about your adventures (and missadventrures) in this article. I'm sorry to hear you may not be able to write every week as I always look forward to this article the most. While you may not be the best drafter in the world at least you are open about that and there is much to be learned just from seeing what you did and did not do.