Cards I'm considering: Galvanic Juggernaut, Darkthicket Wolf
I guess, maybe I should be considering the screeching bat too. I did notice it, at least.
Anyhow, I actually gave this pick some thought. Galvanic Juggernaut has everything I like in a first pick: it's powerful, cheap, aggressive, and it lets me stay open. On the other hand, Darkthicket Wolf is the only green card in the pack, and it is really really strong, a lot stronger than it looks. I think double DTW decks are serious contenders in this format, just because of how much damage they get in early. This is not something that would have been intuitive to me.
I end up going with the Juggernaut since I'm not comfortable enough with this draft format to make a fancy pick like the wolf over it. After these drafts and some serious format study, however, if you asked me I would say that it's at least defensible.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 2:
Cards I'm considering: Elite Inquisitor
Now we're talking. The guy to my right took a common (or a foil), and I don't think there are any white commons I'd take over inquisitor (the only one I can think of that might come close is Avacynian Priest). Combined with how deceptively strong Inquisitor is in this format (being able to simultaneously attack and defend so early with first strike AND protection from a ton of creatures in this format is actually bonkers) and I think this is an easy pick and a good reason to move in on white.
Other notable cards in the pack for me are Vampire Interloper and Forbidden Alchemy, but I don't think they even come close to the power level of this guy.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 3:
Cards I'm considering: Rage Thrower, Stitched Drake
I was pretty optimistic about those last two picks, but this pack is not all that good. It doesn't have any serious white, green or black cards (grasp and smite are not good enough to be taken this early IMO), and only one blue card I like, the Drake. I look at Rage Thrower since I think that card is stronger than he looks, especially in the right deck, but after so many drafts I would rather not be red in this format, and I'd certainly rather not be R/W. That leaves the drake.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 4:
Cards I'm considering: Stitcher's Apprentice, Battleground Geist
I still can't get over Stitcher's Apprentice. I'm a big fan of all the cool stuff you can do with it in this format (and hey there's even a Parallel Lives I could table), but I've learned so far that it's not all that powerful, and I end up choosing the Geist because I think it's higher powered.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 5:
Cards I'm considering: Spectral Rider
Jeez, there's a lot of good (well, "good") aggro red guys streaming this way. Nevertheless, based on my picks I'm shooting for U/W, and if I'm willing to support the inquisitor I'll happily bring Spectral Knight along for the ride.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
Cards I'm considering: Moment of Heroism, Urgent Exorcism
I've heard more than once that I haven't been valuing Moment of Heroism high enough. I agree, mostly because I've had this card played against me a couple times and it's been pretty effective each time, I just haven't found a good time to comfortably take it myself. Since there's not much else going on in this pack, and I'm not thrilled about taking a sideboard-ish card so early, I feel like now's the time.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
Cards I'm considering: Village Cannibals, Typhoid Rats, Unruly Mob
Here I'm starting to question blue. It's not like these black cards are spectacular, but I've seen a decent one in every pack so far, so it might be worth jumping into because it's so open. I'm not thrilled about Unruly Mob in my deck, so I decide to hedge and take Village Cannibals.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
Cards I'm considering: Isolated Chapel
I think Moment of Heroism is probably the pro tour pick here, but I got distracted by the rare, and switching to B/W was fresh on my mind after last pick.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
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Pack 1 pick 11:
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Pack 1 pick 12:
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Pack 1 pick 13:
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Pack 1 pick 14:
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Pack 1 pick 15:
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Pack 2 pick 1:
Cards I'm considering: Snapcaster Mage, Slayer of the Wicked
I got pretty excited at the prospect of another freeroll, but I checked the classifieds and Snapcaster is only worth 7 tix. If it was Liliana or Garruk, a card that I could trade for another draft+, I'd take the rare. If the alternative to Snapcaster was a lower impact card like it was last time I seriously rare drafted (P2P1 Midnight Haunting in draft #9), I'd take the rare. This time around, Slayer is so freaking good it's not worth it to me to pass it for 7 tix.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 2:
Cards I'm considering: Mentor of the Meek
I've underestimated this card. I haven't got to play with it yet or anything, but since I passed it for Fiend Hunter in the draft I did earlier (draft #3), I've heard and read lots of compelling arguments for it. If I had to do that pick over again, I might have taken mentor. In this pack especially, my only real alternative is Silverchase Fox, and it doesn't come close in power level.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
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Pack 2 pick 4:
Cards I'm considering: Spare from Evil, Spectral Flight
I actually consider Spare from Evil here. I think this is a decent card, but I hardly ever see it played against me (and I never seem to take it). I end up taking Spectral Flight, because I feel like it'll give my dorky loser deck a little more reach, but perhaps it's wrong because Spare can do pretty similar things as far as pushing damage through.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 5:
Cards I'm considering: Selfless Cathar, Walking Corpse
I think this is the pick where I finally make my mind up about not playing black.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
Cards I'm considering: Rebuke, Silver-Inlaid Dagger
I don't really respect Rebuke enough. I find that it almost never fits in with my gameplan for this format. It feels more of like a "sorry you ran out of gas" consolation prize. I also go back to not respecting Moment of Heroism enough since I don't really consider it over the Rebuke or the Dagger. I end up finally getting to take a Dagger because I decide it'll be very good with my two WW 2 drops. I also have a spectral flight and a curiosity, so if I get a stalker, HOOOO BOY
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
Cards I'm considering: Feeling of Dread
I love this card and I'm happy to see it.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
Cards I'm considering: Battleground Geist
I'd be happy with Spare in my deck or another 3 drop (even if he is not very aggressive), but Geist is the easy most powerful card in the pack. Besides, he can power up his twin brother and my Midnight Haunting tokens.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
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Pack 2 pick 10:
Wow, I honestly don't remember this pick, or seeing Spectral Flight OR Sharpened Pitchfork in this pack. Either of those would have been better. I must have goof grabbed, or was distracted or something.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
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Pack 2 pick 12:
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Pack 2 pick 13:
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Pack 2 pick 14:
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Pack 2 pick 15:
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Pack 3 pick 1:
Cards I'm considering: Invisible Stalker
My dreams from earlier have come true
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
Cards I'm considering: Lantern Spirit, Bloodline Keeper, Silverchase Fox
I'm not sure of this pick. I'd be OK with a fox or a lantern spirit in my deck, but Bloodline Keeper is infuriating to play against. The only real defense I have against it is a single Claustrophobia.
I went into the tank on this one and decided that in these drafts I've done, most of the time I've passed a rare I ended up playing against it and losing to it, and so this time around I valued defending myself against this card more than adding another non-stellar card to my deck. I'm curious to hear opinions on this pick.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
Cards I'm considering: Abbey Griffin, Sensory Deprivation, Shimmering Grotto
I'll be honest, this pack had me thinking maybe blue was a mistake. I gave grotto some consideration because I had the chapel and could splash black if I needed to, but then I realized that I didn't have any good black to splash, and I probably wouldn't be getting any (the only thing I could think of worthy of splashing was Dead Weight, and I doubt I'll see any of those from here out). After that it came down to mediocre guy vs. mediocre "removal." I took the deprivation because I felt like my 4 slot was clogging up a bit too much.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
Cards I'm considering: Claustrophobia
Happy to see this card.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
Cards I'm considering: Unruly Mob, Curiosity
Here's another poopy pack that didn't thrill me. I'm not even close to being able to play the best card in it, Travel Preparations, so I have to decide between a crappy guy I probably won't play and shoving a little too hard on my one invisible stalker. I decide that the guy is a more realistic prospect, although I'm not optimistic about either of them. Maybe I should have just cut travel prep.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
Cards I'm considering: Armored Skaab
He's not an all star engine card in my deck, but I need 3s, and he could draw me half of a feeling of dread or fuel my stitched drake (or even give me a card off Mentor!)
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
Cards I'm considering: Cloistered Youth, One-Eyed Scarecrow
I actually almost take the scarecrow because I like that card more than I probably should, but I did a double take and notice that Cloistered Youth fits into my gameplan, and it's not dominated by some other good white creature like Elder Cathar. I think this pick is super easy but I'm not used to noticing the youth in a pack, so I felt compelled to write about it.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
Cards I'm considering: Village Bell-Ringer, Mask of Avacyn
I don't feel like my guys are worthy enough of the mana investment needed for mask.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
Cards I'm considering: Purify the Grave, Markov Patrician
Is it better to d up mediocre main deck cards, or take crappy sideboard cards?
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Pack 3 pick 10:
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Pack 3 pick 11:
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Pack 3 pick 12:
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Pack 3 pick 13:
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Pack 3 pick 14:
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Pack 3 pick 15:
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On first pass, I only had 19 cards for my main deck. The last 4 cards I added were Selfless Cathar, Abbey Griffin, Curiosity, and Moment of Heroism. Looking back on it, maybe a second bell ringer is just better than Armored Skaab, since my need/use for a full graveyard is very minimal.
R1
Game 1, I keep a hand that doesn't have blue mana, but it has T1 Cathar T2 Elite Inquisitor on the draw. His first plays are T2 Reckless Waif, then T3 Lantern Spirit. I draw the Dagger to go with my Inquisitor and bash in for 6, but he chumps my 5/2 with his spirit and trades his 1/1 waif for my cathar. The reason for that is clear next turn when he Harvest Pyres his yard to get rid of my inquisitor, but I follow up with Abbey Griffin and Battleground Geist the turns after. The only cards he plays for the rest of the game are goofy ground losers, and I have Galvanic Juggernaut to simultaneously abyss them and stay on defense while assaulting in the air, and he never draws anything else and dies.
Game 2, I keep an awk-ish hand on the draw of UUW, Slayer, Claustrophobia, Curiosity, and Mentor. His first play is Ludevic's Test Subject, while I draw a Cloistered Youth and encounter a non-obvious decision: do I play it immediately, or wait until turn 4 when I can get more value out of it? In most other draft formats, I would definitely have waited, but I feel like this format is way too fast and aggressive to be able to afford waiting, so I played it. It didn't matter too much because he missed a drop and played Stitcher's APprentice and passed, while I instantly flipped my guy and drew a Dagger to make it a huge threat right away. He chumps, and his next play is no land, Mindshrieker. I draw and decide that Curiosity on my flipped youth is good value here, since he either loses a guy or lets me draw a card, so I go for it and he chumps with Test Subject. I deploy mentor and pass. He doesn't have a land or anything else still, so he just passes. I untap and bash with the 5/3, and he goes to try and spike with mindshrieker (targeting me) before blocks. He hit Abbey Griffin, which was almost as good as he could get (since my deck's most expensive card is Battleground Geist), but apparently it wasn't good enough, because he just let it through and let me draw a card. I play a 5th land and use my opponent's good will to play the Stitched Drake I just drew, as well as the Cathar + a card off Mentor, and he draws and scoops.
R2
Game 1, I basically have the nut hand on the play of WWUU Inquisitor Haunting Geist. His first play is T2 Ironsmith, so I can't sandbag my haunting like I wanted to (well I could, but if he has something for my inquisitor it would be awk). Turns out he had Claustrophobia, so I'm awesome and took 0 instead of 3.
Game 2 is a super long drawn out affair. I keep WUU Inquisitor Claustrophobia Haunting Moment on the draw, don't draw a second plains for a while, and my first play is T3 Haunting. His first play was T1 Delver and he had a T3 Scarecrow before I could even haunt. My T4 was Thraben Sentry, and I missed a drop on turn 5 but had an Armored Skaab to fuel up for the Stitched Drake I drew. He's not playing anything, but I know he hasn't been drawing spells because he would have flipped Delver, so he's likely flooded. He finally plays a Murder of Crows on his turn 7, but I play a Smite the Monstrous for it before it gets out of hand (and conveniently draw a second plains that turn too). He untaps with an 8th land, a Slayer for my drake, and a Harvest Pyre for my Sentry while the transform trigger is on the stack. Not bad. He only has one card left, and I can sort-of monitor his draw steps via Delver, so I'm in a pretty strong position since my hand is still inquisitor + claustrophobia + moment + feeling of dread. I untap, draw a Curiosity, play my Inquisitor and pass. He has a land, no Delver flip, and passes. I draw a Slayer of my own (for later) and crack with my inquisitor. He instantly blocks with scarecrow, and I trade the moment for it (and some life!). I see no reason to play any of my other cards and pass. On his turn, he flips Delver with Geistflame and immediately takes out my two spirit tokens (which just got their power back). No use in sandbagging it I guess. He cracks for 3 with his insect and passes. I draw an island and decide now is the best time for my curiosity, since it'll either get his slayer or a card, and it ends up getting his slayer. I wait on claustrophobia for the insect and pass. His next play is Rolling Temblor, which sucks because I lsoe my inquisitor and have to play around a second one for the rest of the game. He also has a village ironsmith and passes. I draw Mentor of the Meek, and decide to play both that and Claustrophobia on his insect now since he has no cards in hand (and I'm OK with temblor for my mentor + his villagers). He instantly draws Silent Departure for his claustrophobic delver, which sucks because now there's 2 graveyard cards I have to worry about. I draw a blank, crack for 2 with mentor and pass. (The scores here are 15 me, 16 him by the way.) He flips his wolf on his next turn (because I drew another island) and decides to pull the trigger on his other departure on my Skaab (which I'm fine with since I'll get to draw another card) to get in for 4, but I blow one half of my Feeling of Dread. I draw a plains (big surprise) and play my Skaab and draw another card, which is a Battleground Geist. I crakc for 2 more with mentor then pass. He has land pass. I draw another land and play Geist and pass. I draw land, crack for 3 with geist, pass. He plays another land and Claustrophobia for geist, and passes. I draw ANOTHER land (between lands in my yard from skaab and ones I've drawn, there are 4 left in my deck which only has 8 cards in it) and pass. He flips Delver again with a second Departure (yuck), cracks me down to 12, and passes. (I'm sooooo happy he didn't depart my skaab here and crack with both, because I can't replay it or else I'd likely deck.) I draw Invisible Stalker and decide now's the time for my slayer, so I slay his ironfang and get in for 3. On his turn, his next order of business is to flash back temblor and bash me down to 9. I draw another land, play my (now safe) stalker and pass. He bashes me down to 6 and passes. I peel Spectral Flight for my stalker and bash him down to 5.
At this point, reviewing the life totals and remembering my Feeling of Dread in the yard, I'll win the race if he has exactly nothing else (besides one more creature). He bashes me to 3, then plays Forbidden Alchemy (which he can actually flash back because of a shimmering grotto), but the best he can muster is a Reckless Waif. I draw another land (yawn), bash him to 2 and pass. He untaps, flips his waif, moves to combat, I tap his guys with my other dread, and then he starts to scramble. He flashes back alchemy, plays a think twice, plays a land, flashes back think twice, and then scoops.
Whew.
Sorry for the long and detailed recap, but this game was a huge sweat for me and I wanted to try and capture it as best I could. Plus, I'm absolutely thrilled to make the finals for the second time in a row, which I immediately split. I'm not against playing the finals out, but since I'm still kind of developing my grasp of the format I'd rather just try and get in as many drafts as possible.
Anyhow, I'm pleased with my deck's performance. It played better than it looked, although I did have some pretty strong cards in it. I was impressed with Moment of Heroism and Cloistered Youth, and I'll be considering those cards a little more in the future.
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