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By: JXClaytor, Joshua Claytor
Aug 12 2007 9:41pm
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Welcome back, and I'm glad you have joined me in the latest edition of Draft with a Donkey.  I've started to see some moderate success in the 4-3-2-2 drafts (Yes, I am well aware that success in that draft room does not translate into success in the 8-4 or even real life.) and my confidence about drafting is skyrocketing. 

My rating has went up to a nice 1673 (Again, not that impressive.) and I have a draft set plus an extra pack of Future Sight to my name.  Since I have that draft set, I figure it would be an absolute waste to let it sit in my virtual binder, so I jumped back into a queue, and waited. 

I waited some more.  Seeing as I was there with ten people in the room, I was not one of the random lucky eight, so I got to hang out in there for a while.  Turns out it was more than twenty minutes, but I wanted to draft, and nothing was going to stop me. 

Everyone should know the drill by now, I show you my packs, what I picked, and give an explanation why I took that card. 

Pack 1:

Grapeshot, Scarwood Treefolk, Slipstream Serpent, Gaze of Justice, Strangling Soot, Fathom Seer, Viscid Lemures, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Two-Headed Sliver, Blazing Blade Askari, Truth or Tale, Smallpox, Fledgling Mawcor, Serra Avenger, Pendelhaven

Pick: Serra Avenger

In my mind there are four worthy first pick cards here.  We have the Strangling Soot, which is easily splashable removal.  Fathom Seer is a great card drawing spell.  Feldgling Mawcor is a fantastic blue spell that has a cheap morph cost, evasion and a very good ability.  Rounding this pack up is the Avenger, which is a cheaper beatdown creature, that does not come into play until turn four, but at least gets to attack and block, which makes her a very good in combat. 

I took the Avenger.  It gave me an early flyer, and would set the pace for what I wanted to do later on in the draft.  I wanted to draft a deck heavy full of flyers, and this would give me a good start.

The second thoughts draft pick:  Seeing as there were no other really good blue cards in the pack, I would have shipped the Serra Avenger, and taken the Mawcor.  Blue is very powerful in the format, and I've had the most success so far with some combination of Blue. 

Pack 2:

Bonesplitter Sliver, Viscerid Deepwalker, Ashcoat Bear, Amrou Seekers, Search for Tomorrow, Sprout, Aetherflame Wall, Pit Keeper, Sage of Epityr, Thunder Totem, Sporesower Thallid, Skittering Monstrosity, Candles of Leng, Feldon's Cane

Pick: Sporesower Thallid

There were three potential picks for me in this pack.  I could have stayed in White and selected the Seekers, which would have been fine, because it would show a sign that White was my area.  However, there was a fatty green monster that looked like it could have made a good home in my deck.  Thallid is a huge guy in the four drop area, only getting trumped by a few cards.  Deepwalker would have been good as well, but I wanted to avoid blue in this draft. 

The second thoughts draft pick:  I think I made the correct choice here, Thallid is too good, and gets to play well with other solid cards in Planar Chaos and Future Sight. 

Pack 3:

Orcish Cannonade, Errant Ephemeron, Gemhide Sliver, Mindstab, Ground Rift, Dream Stalker, Wormwood Dryad, Clockspinning, Firewake Sliver, Fury Sliver, Thelonite Hermit, Squire, Sulfurous Blast

Pick: Thelonite Hermit

I have no idea why the Hermit, the Ephemeron, and Blast are still in this pack.  You can not convince me that there were two better cards here then any of these three cards.  I ignored the Blast, because I did not want to have to fit for red later on in the draft.  I also ignored the flyer and I can not tell you a good enough reason why.  If you are getting Ephemerons third pick, than it should be clear that blue is open.  However, I did take the Hermit, he's very good.  Having this guy also locks me into green.  There is still too many good cards in the color to just take these two, and ignore it for the rest of the draft.  I may have been tricked into taking the rare here.  You know, that is one of my worst habits.  I need to stop getting blinded by the rares that in some packs.  I feel that taking this guy may have actually forced my mind into thinking, "Okay, you're in green, now you have to force it no matter what."

Second thoughts draft pick:  Looking back on this draft, I think I should have taken the Errant Ephemeron.  I am pretty sure that the Hermit was the correct pick, and it did lock me into green. 

Pack 4:

Gaze of Justice, Ivory Giant, Deathspore Thallid, Bogardan Rager, Sangrophage, D'Avenant Healer, Wormwood Dryad, Pull from Eternity, Aspect of Mongoose, Restore Balance, Hunting Moa, Mountain

Pick: Hunting Moa

Ivory Giant was tempting, but I was sure he was going to come back around.  Moa makes your two drop bigger, blocks, and makes another guy bigger, which is hard for your opponent to deal with. 

The second thoughts draft pick:  No doubts here, this seemed to be the correct pick. 

Pack 5:

Herd Gnarr, Trespasser il-Vec, Amrou Scout, Mystical Teachings, Two-Headed Sliver, Prismatic Lens, Clockspinning, Sidewinder Sliver, Conflagrate, Assembly-Worker, Pit Keeper

Pick: Amrou Scout

Herd Gnarr was more than likely the correct pick here.  The Scout is nice, but in reality I was not likely to get a very good rebel chain.  There are a few good rebels in Planar Chaos (Saltfield Recluse, Aven Riftwatcher, and Blightspeaker leap to mind.) but with one foot firmly in Green, I can not see myself going into a heavy rebel chain.

The second thoughts draft pick: Herd Gnarr

Pack 6:

Cancel, Divine Congregation, Thallid Shell-Dweller, Jhoira's Timebug, Jedit's Dragoons, Premature Burial, Plated Pegasus, Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician, Uncle Istvan, Mountain

Pick: Thallid Shell-Dweller

I took the thallid because well, he is thallid, which means he gets to benefit from Sporesower, Germinator, and Mycoderm later in packs.  There was nothing else I wanted in this pack. 

Pack 7:

Thallid Germinator, Snapback, Flickering Spirit, Ghitu Firebreathing, Bewilder, Detainment Spell, Celestial Crusader, Harmonic Sliver

Pick: Thallid Germinator

Do you know how awesome I would be if I were Blue right now?  I'd have a gigantic Errant and Mawcor to go along with Snapback, but the entire draft would have been a trainwreck.  Germinator is the pick here.

Pack 8:

Think Twice, Errant Doomsayers, Aether Web, Savage Thallid, Ancient Grudge, Flickering Spirit, Call to the Netherworld, Celestial Dawn

Pick: Errant Doomsayers

Doomsayers is a really good rebel, which I can search up with my Scout, and he can lock down some annoying creatures like Outrider en-Kor, Looter il-Kor, and Poultice Sliver.  I did not take the Spirit, because I figured I would get enough flyers later on. 

Pack 9:

Scarwood Treefolk, Slipstream Serpent, Gaze of Justice, Viscid Lemures, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Blazing Blade Askari, Truth or Tale

Pick: Mwonvuli Acid-Moss

Pack 10:

Ashcoat Bear, Amrou Seekers, Sprout, Pit Keeper, Sage of Epityr, Feldon's Cane

Pick: Amrou Seekers

Sure, I'll gladly take a late pick Seekers.  He's making my rebel chain a little bit better, and he is essentially unblockable by most of my opponents. 

Pack 11:

Ground Rift, Wormwood Dryad, Clockspinning, Firewake Sliver, Squire

Pick: Squire

Pack 12:

Mystical Teachings, Clockspinning, Assembly-Worker, Kher Keep

Pick: Kher Keep

Pack 13:

Sangrophage, Pull from Eternity, Aspect of Mongoose

Pick: Pull from Eternity

Pack 14:

Divine Congregation, Mountain

Pick: Mountain

Pack 15:

Bewilder

Pick: Bewilder

Pack Recap:  I might have gotten blinded by rares here, but I am feeling pretty good about this potential Green White deck.  I know I am lacking some of the better combat tricks, like Thrill of the Hunt and some of the mana fixing that Green is known for, but I do have some giant monsters, and a couple of really good rares in my pile. 

Pack 16:

Mire Boa, Battering Sliver, Aven Riftwatcher, Erratic Mutation, Pallid Mycoderm, Brain Gorgers, Dust Corona, Piracy Charm, Seal of Primordium, Sinew Sliver, Jodah's Avenger, Waning Wurm, Malach of the Dawn, Teneb, the Harvester, Muck Drubb

Pick: Teneb, the Harvester

It might have turned out that being in Green White worked out for the best.  Teneb is a huge monster and I can play him comfortably with a small splash.  Without hesistation, I click on this guy and he makes into my pile. 

I still wish there was a windmill slam option on MTGO, I'd love to see my Avatar do that. 

Back to the subject at hand, if the dragon was not in the deck, I would have looked at the Sinew Sliver, Aven Riftwatcher, Mire Boa, and the Mycoderm.  I more than likely would have picked the Malach of the Dawn.  I know it has a heavy white activation cost, however, when those plains get on the board, this guy is really hard to stop.   

Pack 17:

Synchronous Sliver, Utopia Vow, Dawn Charm, Spitting Sliver, Uktabi Drake, Blightspeaker, Aquamorph Entity, Mana Tithe, Rathi Trapper, Brute Force, Cautery Sliver, Mantle of Leadership, Dunerider Outlaw, Magus of the Tabernacle

Pick: Magus of the Tabernacle

Utopia Vow may have been the better pick in the end, but Magus of the Tabernacle was my pick.  You might ask why, into which I would have to explain, it slows my opponent down to a trickle as they either pay for their early drops, and miss their late drops, or get rid of their early drops in order to cast their more expensive monsters. 

Pack 18:

Mire Boa, Aven Riftwatcher, Cradle to Grave, Vitaspore Thallid, Brain Gorgers, Fury Charm, Sunlance, Gossamer Phantasm, Kavu Predator, Necrotic Sliver, Mycologist, Life and Limb, Fa'adiyah Seer

Pick: Sunlance

I am always going to take the removal over a flyer that stays around for a few turns. 

Pack 19:

Ridged Kusite, Erratic Mutation, Battering Sliver, Reflex Sliver, Shade of Trokair, Uktabi Drake, Ghost Tactician, Firefright Mage, Brute Force, Revered Dead, Serra's Boon, Timebender

Pick: Shade of Trokair

I made the wrong pick here.  Reflex Sliver works well with Sinew, while Shade demands a heavy white commitment. 

The second thoughts draft pick: Reflex Sliver.  It actually turns out that I would get both of the cards that I mentioned from this pack.  Lucky me right?

Pack 20:

Reflex Sliver, Dreamscape Artist, Poultice Sliver, Vitaspore Thallid, Dash Hopes, Melancholy, Gossamer Phantasm, Fa'adiyah Seer, Kavu Predator, Dichotomancy, Hammerheim Deadeye

Pick: Kavu Predator

I did indeed manage to make the wrong pick.  There is a very slim chance that I will be able to get something good to go along with my Kavu, (Fiery Justice is not in my picks, and even if I open Grove of the Burnwillows was in my pack, there would be a good chance that I would pass it up.)

In short, Kavu actually does nothing but trample, and he is a tiny trampler at that.  Poultice would have played well with the previously grabbed Sinew and Reflex. 

The second thoughts draft pick: Poultice Sliver.

Pack 21:

Midnight Charm, Saltfield Recluse, Synchronous Sliver, Wistful Thinking, Keldon Marauders, Dash Hopes, Vampiric Link, Piracy Charm, Essence Warden, Magus of the Coffers

Pick: Saltfield Recluse

I'm very happy to have actually gotten a Recluse.  I know that they often go late, but I had yet to see one in any other pack, so I was a bit worried. 

 

Pack 22:

 

Reflex Sliver, Poultice Sliver, Veiling Oddity, Wistful Thinking, Firefright Mage, Primal Plasma, Mana Tithe, Venarian Glimmer, Dust Elemental

Pick: Dust Elemental

Looking back I was sure I was creature heavy enough to make this work.  Playing this on turn five after some of my smell men have been forced into bad block, this guy rescues them all, and makes a huge body the left overs from that combat phase.  He's good against Damnation, he's great against Sulfurous Blast, and he is down right nutty against the decks that have no way to block this dude. 

Pack 23:

Midnight Charm, Needlepeak Spider, Brain Gorgers, Dust Corona, Vitaspore Thallid, Dash Hopes, Brute Force, Piracy Charm

Pick: Brute Force

The Brute Force was one less combat trick that I had to deal with. 

Pack 24:

Aven Riftwatcher, Pallid Mycoderm, Brain Gorgers, Dust Corona, Piracy Charm, Seal of Primordium, Waning Wurm

Pick: Pallid Mycoderm

At this point, I could have taken either white creature and been fine.  Both of them would have been fine choices, and they both played well with one of the multiple sub themes that I had going on in the deck.  I ended up taking the Mycoderm because there was a better chance of getting some of the lesser played Thallids in Future Sight. 

Pack 25:

Synchronous Sliver, Dawn Charm, Uktabi Drake, Mana Tithe, Cautery Sliver, Mantle of Leadership

Pick: Mana Tithe

Pack 26:

Vitaspore Thallid, Fury Charm, Gossamer Phantasm, Mycologist, Fa'adiyah Seer

Pick: Vitaspore Thallid

Pack 27:

Reflex Sliver, Ghost Tactician, Firefright Mage, Serra's Boon

Pick: Reflex Sliver

Pack 28:

Wistful Thinking, Dash Hopes, Lavacore Elemental

Pick: Lavacore Elemental

Pack 29:

Vitaspore Thallid, Dash Hopes

Pick: Vitaspore Thallid

Pack 30:

Mana Tithe

Pick: Mana Tithe

After pack two we are solidly in Green White with a small splash of black.  I've got a lot of bombs in the deck, but it looks like it is going to be slow to develop without any real early game plays.  Dust Elemental may not be the blow out that I want it to be because of this, and may end up being left in my hand with no real plays. 

Pack 31:

Saltskitter, Unblinking Bleb, Llanowar Augur, Riddle of Lightning, Venser's Diffusion, Judge Unworthy, Henchfiend of Ukor, Lymph Sliver, Homing Sliver, Sporoloth Ancient, Utopia Mycon, Goldmeadow Lookout, Second Wind, Magus of the Future, Judge Unworthy

Pick: Judge Unworthy

The two best cards for me here are a giant five drop monster, or a peice of removal.  Because I already so many large men, taking the saproling over a peice of removal just seemed really bad here.  

Pack 32:

Keeping up with the trend of DraftCap absolutly hating me, I course lost a pack between the draft and writing this.  It was a very uneventful pack, and it saw me getting distracted by a crying child, which made sense, because I bet he was either wet, or hungry.  So while this pack was going on, I was doing my fatherly duty to make sure that he was comfortable.  Of course, I do not move with superhuman speed, so I had to take a goof grab this pack. 

It was quite possibly the worst card in the pack even. 

Vedalken AEthermage

Well, I think it could have been worse.   

Pack 33:

Venser's Diffusion, Sprout Swarm, Oblivion Crown, Saltskitter, Infiltrator il-Kor, Lucent Liminid, Thornweald Archer, Mesmeric Sliver, Patrician's Scorn, Spellwild Ouphe, Aven Mindcensor, Zoetic Cavern, Angel of Salvation

Pick: Angel of Salvation

I honestly think that I made a mistake in this pack by taking the angel.  I already a lot of high casting cost spells, and the angel would be the most expensive in the deck.  She takes forever to get in play, and she might not even have a very good effect on the board when she does.  Yes she is a five powered flyer, but at eight mana, I think I want something a little bit better.  With that being said, I think I could have stuck to something that was a little bit lower on the curve.  Mindcensor is okay, but a little small.  I am pretty sure I could have picked the Liminid and been fine shipping the angel, especially since I already had a dragon and the elemental. 

The second thoughts draft pick:  Lucent Liminid.

Pack 34:

Cutthroat il-Dal, Gathan Raiders, Llanowar Augur, Augur of Skulls, Sprout Swarm, Samite Censer-Bearer, Sarcomite Myr, Henchfiend of Ukor, Thornweald Archer, Blind Phantasm, Spin into Myth, Witch's Mist

Pick: Sprout Swarm

I never expected to have to make a choice this hard in the third pack of this draft.  Granted, it is hard enough at times to pick betweem Raiders and the Swarm in pack thirty one, but in pack thirty two, having to deal with this is insane.  Raiders gets played by every deck, and is a solid card.  Sprout Swarm can win the game if it goes unanswered and has the added bonus of working well with my Saprolings and Hermit.  I had to take the Swarm here.  It made too much sense not too. 

Pack 35:

 

Emberwilde Augur, Putrid Cyclops, Augur il-Vec, Petrified Plating, Bogardan Lancer, Sporoloth Ancient, Grinning Ignus, Whip-Spine Drake, Mass of Ghouls, Second Wind, Street Wraith

Pick: Whip-Spine Drake

The Ancient was a tempting thought, because of the swarm and other Saprolings, but I was too worried about the number of mana hungry spells.  I ended up taking the Drake, because I could play him face down and flip him, it seemed like it might not make the main deck, but it could be a very good twenty third card. 

Pack 36:

Petrified Plating, Judge Unworthy, Leaden Fists, Quiet Disrepair, Fomori Nomad, Patrician's Scorn, Logic Knot, Nessian Courser, Grave Scrabbler, Minions' Murmurs,

Pick: Judge Unworthy

More removal is always a great thing to have.  An added benefit of having so many large casting cost spells in the draft pile is this.  If you ever miss killing a man with the instant, you have to be the most unlucky magic player in the world. 

Pack 37:

Grave Peril, Marshaling Cry, Kavu Primarch, Foresee, Blind Phantasm, Virulent Sliver, Vedalken Aethermage, Emblem of the Warmind, Ramosian Revivalist,

Pick: Kavu Primarch

Primarch seemed to be the best guy here.  With the convoke keyword he could come out large although I may have to skip an attack step to make him gigantic.  Skipping an attack step is okay, because this guy as I said before is gigantic, and makes life a bit harder for the opponent. 

Pack 38:

Gift of Granite, Quiet Disrepair, Foresee, Augur il-Vec, Sarcomite Myr, Homing Sliver, Arcanum Wings, Rites of Flourishing

Pick: Foresee

Foresee was nothing more than a hate draft.  However, I overlooked how insane Rites of Flourishing could have been for me.  Drawing extra cards is always a good thing, and we get to play extra lands a turn, which would have powered out my large beasts a bit quicker. 

The second thoughts draft pick: Rites of Flourishing

Pack 39:

Kavu Primarch, Oblivion Crown, Emberwilde Augur, Grave Scrabbler, Lumithread Field, Mesmeric Sliver, Fleshwrither,

Pick: Lumithread Field

WIth Gathan Raiders being such a late pick earlier in the draft, I wanted to show to my opponent that I may have had one of my own.  I think you have to play like Raiders is the morph in this format, because he justs eats 2/2 creatures all day long.  This guy can do the same thing, but at least you are not discarding a card, and he has a postive effect on the rest of your field. 

Pack 40:

Saltskitter, Unblinking Bleb, Llanowar Augur, Venser's Diffusion, Utopia Mycon, Goldmeadow Lookout

Pick: Goldmeadow Lookout

No idea why this guy was so late.  I might value him a little higher than most, as I have him in the third to fifth pick range for white.  I might have been one of the few white drafters at the table, but you can not tell me that this guy is better than Lymph Sliver (Which was also in the pack.) in any other deck besides the sliver deck. 

Pack 41:

Cutthroat il-Dal, Samite Censer-Bearer, Sarcomite Myr, Spin into Myth, Witch's Mist,

Pick: Spin into Myth

Pack 42:

Venser's Diffusion, Oblivion Crown, Saltskitter, Mesmeric Sliver,

Pick: Mesmeric Sliver

Pack 43:

Emberwilde Augur, Putrid Cyclops, Augur il-Vec,

Pick: Augur il-Vec

Pack 44:

Petrified Plating, Quiet Disrepair,

Pick: Petrified Plating

Pack 45:

Quiet Disrepair

Pick: Quiet Disrepair

I think I made a few mistakes during the draft, but I was able to salvage it with a rare filled deck.  This is the most rares I have ever drafted on MTGO, and I've been guilty of rare drafting before.  I was pretty happy with the deck, but I had reservations.  I knew it was going to be a slow lumbering pile, and it could have been a lot better, had I actually made the second chance picks over the real picks. 

Regardless here is the deck that I played. 

Green Cards

1 Sprout Swarm
1 Hunting Moa
1 Kavu Predator
1 Kavu Primarch
1 Sporesower Thallid
1 Thallid Germinator
1 Thelonite Hermit

White Cards

1 Sunlance
2 Judge Unworthy
1 Luminthread Field
1 Amrou Scout 
1 Amrou Seekers
1 Saltfield Recluse
1 Angel of Salvation 
1 Dust Elemental
1 Errant Doomsayers
1 Goldmeadow Lookout
1 Magus of the Tabernacle
1 Pallid Mycoderm
1 Serra Avenger

Blue Cards

1 Whip-Spine Drake

Gold Cards

1 Teneb, the Harvester

Lands

8 Plains
7 Forest
2 Swamp

Whip-Spine Drake

Tricky Tricky Morph. 

Now this deck by no means was the best pile I have ever played, but it certainly was fair from the worst.  I was able to dominate my first round opponent, I hit my curve starting on turn two, and played a man pretty much every turn until turn seven, when I got the concession with a freshly cast Teneb.  The second game was more of the same, but Angel of Salvation came into play, and I actually got to blow someone out with Dust Elemental. 

The second round was against a deck that has started to spring up a lot in the format, and that was the Black White Rebel deck.  He had a lot of tiny creatures that were just no match for my men.

Of course going into the finals with what I felt was a subpar deck did a lot for me, and I was prepared to do a little bit better than my last draft, however, I was up against a ridiculous Green White Blue Sliver deck.  Might Sliver made his men just as big as mine, and when I thought I could start to dominate with my flying creatures, he had a trump card in Pulmonic Sliver. 

So I got blown out in the finals.  That was fine with me.  I did not even really expect to make it out of the second round, because I did feel like the deck was poor.  Like how awesome would this deck been with the synergy of Sprout Swarm and Herd Gnarr?  Herd Gnarr becomes a giant almost every turn. 

In conclusion, I got a couple more ratings points, inching me ever closer to the 1700 goal that I have made for myself.  I ended up at 1679 after the draft, and I was able to replace the draft set that I used here with the three that I won.  So I was back to a draft set plus a pack of Future Sight in the collection. 

At least I got a lot of rares to make my trade binder look a little bit sweeter.  (No, I hardly ever trade on MTGO.)

With my goal being closer and closer, I logged off for the night, laid down next to my wife, and felt oddly content. With that, I'll leave this to the forums, let me know what you guys thought in there or on MTGO.  I appreciate any feedback, and if you all want to let me know what I am doing wrong or right, please let me know.  Also let me know if there are any other draft formats that you want me to look at.  I know Tenth is coming out soon (August 6th.) on MTGO, and I could really use a change of pace.  I've heard nothing but great things about the limited aspects of Tenth Edition. 

Thanks for reading!

 

9 Comments

HAY GUYS by JXClaytor at Fri, 08/17/2007 - 15:08
JXClaytor's picture

First of all I want to apologize for being a little late with responding to the forum posts here. I've been really busy, school started on the 13th, and I learned that I am having surgery on the 22nd, so I've been trying really hard to play catch up for stuff that has not even happened in school yet. 

Anyway, I'll hit some general points real quick. 

I'm getting to teh 8-4s I promise.  One of my weak points, and something that I think has been keeping me from getting back on to the pro tour is I have not learned enough.  I want to learn as much as I can now before I get to the less unforgiving 8-4 room. 

I took the Drake over the thallid producer because I often times feel that I need to take fliers higher than synergy. 

by JXClaytor at Fri, 08/17/2007 - 15:11
JXClaytor's picture

I wish I could open money rares, that would be neat. 

I think that the best advice I could offer to new drafters, at a basic level is take removal at a premium, and follow that up with creatures that have evasion. 

That's pretty much basic drafting. 

Jeff Cunningham wrote some excellant articles over at the mothership, magicthegathering.com in his magic academy series that dealt with advanced drafting like signals and such, I feel uncomfortable offering advice there, because well, as we can see I still need to learn a lot on that way.

by JohnnyHardcore at Wed, 08/15/2007 - 17:00
JohnnyHardcore's picture

Here's my first 8 picks because it's really hard to tell what would have happened with your draft it you'd made my picks.

Pick 1: Fledgling Mawcor by a mile. Lots of things can kill or hold off a 3/3 flier. Those same things will kill a 2/2 flier obv, but with Mawcor you can remove small creatures, ping your opp to death on a stalled board, and you can also splash it.

Pick 2: Sporesower obv.  Best card in the pack, and we're only pick 2 so color doesn't matter.

Pick 3: Hard pick.  I would probably go to time bewteen the Ephemeron and the Blast.  IMO both are more powerful than the Hermit, even though he has synergy with the Sporesower.  Thing is, Hermit gives that +1/+1 your your saps even if the opponent plays him.  I would probably grab the Ephemeron here at the wire, blue is obv open, and maybe your table was just so horribly bad that no one realizes that Blast is awesome and it'll table lol.  I also like U/G better than R/G, but that doesn't really matter.

Pick 4: Hunting Moa is ass.  Snag the Deathspore Thallid, as it is absolutely insane game winning combo if you can get a Sprout Swarm in FS and a few more Thallids (which you will).

Pick 5: Lens.  Poof, there's your best fixer for handling the double G of the Sporesower as well as helping to splash for the Deathspore. 

Pick 6: I'm not a HUGE fan of the Shell-Dweller, but in this deck that already looks to be shaping up, you'll either hold the ground and kill with fliers or kill with Thallids.  He does both, and is a good pick for once instead of being the 23rd man in.

Pick 7: Toss up between Germinator and Snapback.  It appears at this point that your neighbors are drafting orange and purple, because there should not be cards like this this late.  I'd probably just snag the Germinator for over the top OMG SAPS DEATH.

Pick 8: Think Twice rounds out the first 8 with some nice card drawing to assemble your Thallid army of death.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO YOUR NEXT DRAFT IN AN 8-4.

THE CARDS LEFT IN THESE PACKS MAKE MY EYES BLEED.

ESP PACK 3 OMGWTFBBQ

retry by Anonymous (Unregistered) 195.241.104.64 (not verified) at Tue, 08/14/2007 - 07:35
Anonymous (Unregistered) 195.241.104.64's picture

I had written a very long comment yesterday about lots of picks but somehow it wouldnt post :(

I agree with the guy that commented after that, except for the lens issue.

You can get evolution charm in pc and edge of autumn in fs for fixing and/or acceleration 

I think overal I would have gone more for the Thalid theme than the rebels, cause with rebels you really want to go WB for blighspeakers, trappers and such stuff.

 

Why did you think the Giant would table? there were 5 cards far worse than the giant in that pack.

You shouldn't expect stuff to table unless the pack is extraordinary good with lots of playables 

 Reflex vs Shade, seriously, relfex is not that great.

Sure you want him in a dedicated sliver deck, but at that point, you didnt have any and the chance of seeing sinews after that is slim. also having 1 poultice and 1 sinew wouldnt want to make me play the reflex.

Aangel in 33 is the obvious right pick but if it wasnt there I think sprout swarm is 10000xxxxx better than luminid.

It's a fine guy, dont get me wrong but it simply doesnt win you games like swarm does

pack 35, whip spine over ancient? Like I said, i;d have gone for a more thallid themed deck but taking whip spine cause it;s less mana just doesnt work for me,. it costs 6 total to play and unmoprh, which is more than ancient.

 

Obviously you have a wewak spot for 5 mana 3/3 flyers, which is fine cause they are great, but having synergy in your deck shouldnt be underestimated. 

 

gl next draft 

Don't question your good picks. :) by Isotope (Unregistered) 74.39.232.97 (not verified) at Mon, 08/13/2007 - 12:58
Isotope (Unregistered) 74.39.232.97's picture

Pick 3 is a nightmare for any drafter.  I think my head would have exploded right there.  Hermit is definitely awesome by himself and in combination with Sprout Swarm, but a pick 3 Ephemeron is a clear signal that Blue is open, and Sulfurous Blast is insanely good.  Hermit is a great pick and it's on-color, but I probably would have taken Ephemeron for WU or Blast for RG here.  In the end, it looks like your color combination was flowing best, so the Hermit worked out well.

Pick 4: Scout is a great pick here, especially with the Moa.  As you noted later, your WG deck got stuffed with fat, and the Scout is a great complement to that.  It can summon up little dorks to hold the early game while you wait for the mana to cast your fat.

Pick 11: I think Dryad was the right pick here, even if it doesn't make your maindeck.

Pick 17: I agree with your assessment that Vow would have been a better pick.  You already have Thallids and Rebels, so Magus will probably hurt you more than your opponent.

Pick 19: I think Shade was the right pick here.  I don't think Reflex Sliver is that good...

Pick 24: Dawn Charm all the way!  Fog is ok.  But Fog OR save your best guy OR prevent a game-winning burn spell is just sick.  I will almost always play 1 Dawn Charm if I have them.  Its won me several games.

Pick 33: I see no reason to question this pick.  Angel of Salvation is every bit as good as Hellkite, and possibly better [in limited].  Convoke means it comes out when you need it, and it always does sick things when it does.  You can Convoke it out before blockers, prevent damage to itself, and kill their best flyer, or Convoke it out after blockers, save your dudes, and start swinging.  In my FS release event, I had a 4-1 worthy pool that went 2-3 because I faced two pools with Angel.  My record in those matches when Angel was absent: 2-0.  And when it showed up?  0-4.  Hellkite may be better in constructed for its instant-win-of-awesomeness, but Angel rules the skies in limited.  If I'm in White, I'll take it over almost anything else.

Interesting to read by PureFirePower at Sun, 08/12/2007 - 22:05
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I always enjoyed reading your articles. And I was curious and tried a TFP draft and got beat first match. ehh

I tried to make a blue/black deck, and at the end I was overwhelmed by big red/black creatures. Does black and blue not work too well for this set? I seem to think that way for this set because his red cards far outweightted the usefulness of my blue spells.

Or maybe it was cause the person next to me already took all the good black/red creatures(korlash/raider/ and etc)

Any extra advice for new drafters?

(and I didn't actually lose anything from that draft since I got damnation and Urborg and other rares :D) 

by khirareq at Mon, 08/13/2007 - 09:58
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I've got some questions:

Pack 1 Pick - I'm okay with taking the scout here, as it is an efficient beater in the worst case and a form of card advantage in the best.  My quesion is more about the value of the Lens.  It seems like a very good pick that should at least be considered here, certainly over Herd Gnarr.  I mean, there isn't that much fixing in PLC or FUT, and you're not likely to have much passed to you at this point in TSP.  The artifact accellerates and fixes, and makes Teneb a much easier pick, to say nothing about making it easier to splash power later on and use higher casting cost creatures.  Why is it not even considered here?

Pack 1 Pick 11 - You took the squire over the Dryad, even though you were in green.  Is the dryad really THAT bad?  I mean, it's a 3 power 3 drop that might have evasion.

Pack 3 Pick 1 - You've taken a mana tithe and a Shade of Troikair over an Uktabi Drake, but now you are seriously considering Aven Mindsensor, which has the same P/T.  Is the Drake that bad?  I would think it's ability to play nice with the dust elemental would help, and at worst it's a quick flyer that messes up combat math.

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