Volcanon I actually I forgot about the MOTL thread when I wrote my article about this draft, however, looking back we had a lot of similarities. Hopefully that means I'm getting better. Suggestions for things to make my next article better are still welcome so feel free to comment.
I did something similar in paper with Quickchange and Spreading Plague when Ravnica came out. All my creatures were artifacts, and I'd change their colors to match whatever my opponent was playing when they came into play. It was fun to play, but I'd like to see how your deck works.
Good Stuff! This site defiantly needs a regular draft column - whether or not this becomes it, the article certainly serves as a good model to build on. Also, LOVE that you were willing to point out drafting errors, and how you could have done better. Keep it up!
Good deck idea.
I actually use Spreading Plague in my Black/red Tribal Human deck. I combo off Norin the Wary and Distorting Lens. But Shifting Sky/Orchard is also a good way to go.
When you're trying to break a specific card, you rarely have room for budget concerns. As I said in step 3, the larger your card pool, the more chance you have to find a combination. To put it another way, if you limit your card pool, you will probably not find the combination your are looking for. I. e. if I didn't have access to Invasion block rares, I wouldn't have been able to make this deck, due to Spreading Plague. Also, especially for casual decks, you almost never need shocklands or vampiric tutors, you can easily replace them with budget cards i. e. basic lands or transmuters.
Also, on One with Nothing, just use Haakon, Stromgald Scourge.
I am with montan and AJ on this one, the article itself is very interessting. On the other hand, the deck is very hard to rebuild for people on a budget. I am pretty sure that I won't be able to even attempt to do that in this year. Not even sure if I will ever be able to build a personal version because of the manabase. Beside that, I would like to see more articles from you.
I was really expecting someone doing this, thanks! Now if you break One with Nothing you'll be my hero (not including it in a Rakdos deck that is :P). I really like the step by step breaking of the card, and if you can include a "budget" version would be cool, not everyone has 12 shocklands to play casual with fun decks.
Well, I do agree; this is an interesting concept. Making use of the "bad rares" that are always in every set. I, as well, look forward to reading future articles by you.
An interesting walkthrough of the 'deliberately break a card' method, a useful primer for Johnny wannabes. I look forward to seeing you show off your creativity in future articles.
Good one to be the first. What I would like to see next ones is a little more in-depth games if you can, take notes while you're playing and describe good/bad plays from you or your opponent, stuff like that. Keep it up, I'll be there to slap you for taking Holy Days anytime =)
The use of graphics and text to present your aticle is great. It really helps to bring your point across. Now I've known of these decktypes for a while now, so it's not really "new" to me but seeing the decklists and different card choices might give me the urge to dig up my old dredge deck and refresh it. :) I like the tech of ghost quarters with loam by the way. That is quite an excellent way to take out tron or the new cloudpost/vesuva tech that is commonly seen in extended.
No article about drafting is complete without some talks about signaling.
Your passed so much removal in black you should of taken that as a signal and drafted it. By passing all those black cards you were probably cut off from black by round 2.
Nice layout though, it was easy to understand the tone of the draft.
Cool man! Keep it up if you can :) I know the funds can end things short if you can't exactly go "infinite". I'm still having a hard time with limited but starting to break even so I'll be doing more drafts in the future. I love the layout, easy to follow, and looks clean. Good work.
Congratulations! You finally have it online. I know how hard you worked on it. Now consider this as a start and continue from here. A draft article was really something we needed here on puremtgo.com and you are filling a huge gap. My only comment is, as you also know, that it takes a while to load the article. A reader with a dial-up connection may have serious problems. Perhaps you will be able to find a solution to this in the future. And put that Hypnotic Specter into good use! :)))
I accidently saved over this article when trying to edit my future article. Not sure if Mitch or Heath can correct this error on my part but I appologize for the new "lack" of an article. I assure you, there used to be one here :)
Thank you all for the great feedback so far. @MysticLancer: I had the Soul Spike but if I didn't draw a Damnation next turn, you had me. I hope they upgrade our internet to fiber optics soon so that connection loss doesn't happen again >< @Lord Erman: Took your advice and added the Magus of the Mirror. It does come in handy especially against decks that have little to no removal.
Thanks again guys. I'll get some more testing in and let you guys know how it went :D
I played your deck today and it was quite fun to play against until you got disconnected. Mono Green Agro is a pretty even match up I think for your deck, and I really want to know if I would have pulled out the win or if you had a life gain spell in your hand. Either way GGs and nice deck!
I agree with Erman completely. This deck is very solid and specializes in putting opponents into lose/lose situations. From experiance I can tell you that remanding a soul spike and thinking you got away with it is completly wrong ;) I really like the rouge feel that this deck has and am looking forward to the test results. Keep up the good work!
First of all, the deck is very solid. I say this not because it seems solid, I say this because I have been beaten by it several times and I KNOW that it is solid! Only a humble suggestion would be to replace that lone Dark Banishing with one Magus of the Mirror. It may help in certain situations. The article's general layout is pretty neat and one can clearly see the difference between your first article and this one. Which leads me to think: The next will be awesome then! Your are most certainly raising my expectations as a reader. And finally about that "rough fight" you're expecting... Heh! What can I say; anytime :))).
This will be a great read for any players new to the tournament scene, because it teaches them the first lesson of tournaments without them having to scrub out and lose an entry fee.
Volcanon I actually I forgot about the MOTL thread when I wrote my article about this draft, however, looking back we had a lot of similarities. Hopefully that means I'm getting better. Suggestions for things to make my next article better are still welcome so feel free to comment.
Oh and no props to me for commenting on your draft?
Lol sorry if I was harsh on MOTL commenting on your draft. Nice Article. Mb ill write one.
I did something similar in paper with Quickchange and Spreading Plague when Ravnica came out. All my creatures were artifacts, and I'd change their colors to match whatever my opponent was playing when they came into play. It was fun to play, but I'd like to see how your deck works.
Good Stuff! This site defiantly needs a regular draft column - whether or not this becomes it, the article certainly serves as a good model to build on. Also, LOVE that you were willing to point out drafting errors, and how you could have done better. Keep it up!
Good deck idea.
I actually use Spreading Plague in my Black/red Tribal Human deck. I combo off Norin the Wary and Distorting Lens. But Shifting Sky/Orchard is also a good way to go.
Hey! good job buddy! great job.
NOW will you be my drafting tutor?
When you're trying to break a specific card, you rarely have room for budget concerns. As I said in step 3, the larger your card pool, the more chance you have to find a combination. To put it another way, if you limit your card pool, you will probably not find the combination your are looking for. I. e. if I didn't have access to Invasion block rares, I wouldn't have been able to make this deck, due to Spreading Plague. Also, especially for casual decks, you almost never need shocklands or vampiric tutors, you can easily replace them with budget cards i. e. basic lands or transmuters.
Also, on One with Nothing, just use Haakon, Stromgald Scourge.
He essentially made it a budget deck when he switched formats from classic to ext.
Just switch the lands out guys.
Good article ... more ... more.
I am with montan and AJ on this one, the article itself is very interessting. On the other hand, the deck is very hard to rebuild for people on a budget. I am pretty sure that I won't be able to even attempt to do that in this year. Not even sure if I will ever be able to build a personal version because of the manabase. Beside that, I would like to see more articles from you.
I was really expecting someone doing this, thanks! Now if you break One with Nothing you'll be my hero (not including it in a Rakdos deck that is :P). I really like the step by step breaking of the card, and if you can include a "budget" version would be cool, not everyone has 12 shocklands to play casual with fun decks.
Well, I do agree; this is an interesting concept. Making use of the "bad rares" that are always in every set. I, as well, look forward to reading future articles by you.
An interesting walkthrough of the 'deliberately break a card' method, a useful primer for Johnny wannabes. I look forward to seeing you show off your creativity in future articles.
Good one to be the first. What I would like to see next ones is a little more in-depth games if you can, take notes while you're playing and describe good/bad plays from you or your opponent, stuff like that. Keep it up, I'll be there to slap you for taking Holy Days anytime =)
The use of graphics and text to present your aticle is great. It really helps to bring your point across. Now I've known of these decktypes for a while now, so it's not really "new" to me but seeing the decklists and different card choices might give me the urge to dig up my old dredge deck and refresh it. :) I like the tech of ghost quarters with loam by the way. That is quite an excellent way to take out tron or the new cloudpost/vesuva tech that is commonly seen in extended.
No article about drafting is complete without some talks about signaling.
Your passed so much removal in black you should of taken that as a signal and drafted it. By passing all those black cards you were probably cut off from black by round 2.
Nice layout though, it was easy to understand the tone of the draft.
Cool man! Keep it up if you can :) I know the funds can end things short if you can't exactly go "infinite". I'm still having a hard time with limited but starting to break even so I'll be doing more drafts in the future. I love the layout, easy to follow, and looks clean. Good work.
Congratulations! You finally have it online. I know how hard you worked on it. Now consider this as a start and continue from here. A draft article was really something we needed here on puremtgo.com and you are filling a huge gap. My only comment is, as you also know, that it takes a while to load the article. A reader with a dial-up connection may have serious problems. Perhaps you will be able to find a solution to this in the future. And put that Hypnotic Specter into good use! :)))
I accidently saved over this article when trying to edit my future article. Not sure if Mitch or Heath can correct this error on my part but I appologize for the new "lack" of an article. I assure you, there used to be one here :)
Thank you all for the great feedback so far. @MysticLancer: I had the Soul Spike but if I didn't draw a Damnation next turn, you had me. I hope they upgrade our internet to fiber optics soon so that connection loss doesn't happen again >< @Lord Erman: Took your advice and added the Magus of the Mirror. It does come in handy especially against decks that have little to no removal.
Thanks again guys. I'll get some more testing in and let you guys know how it went :D
I played your deck today and it was quite fun to play against until you got disconnected. Mono Green Agro is a pretty even match up I think for your deck, and I really want to know if I would have pulled out the win or if you had a life gain spell in your hand. Either way GGs and nice deck!
I agree with Erman completely. This deck is very solid and specializes in putting opponents into lose/lose situations. From experiance I can tell you that remanding a soul spike and thinking you got away with it is completly wrong ;) I really like the rouge feel that this deck has and am looking forward to the test results. Keep up the good work!
-Rob
First of all, the deck is very solid. I say this not because it seems solid, I say this because I have been beaten by it several times and I KNOW that it is solid! Only a humble suggestion would be to replace that lone Dark Banishing with one Magus of the Mirror. It may help in certain situations. The article's general layout is pretty neat and one can clearly see the difference between your first article and this one. Which leads me to think: The next will be awesome then! Your are most certainly raising my expectations as a reader. And finally about that "rough fight" you're expecting... Heh! What can I say; anytime :))).
This will be a great read for any players new to the tournament scene, because it teaches them the first lesson of tournaments without them having to scrub out and lose an entry fee.
Great article.