Me
Nick Walters
Justin Simpson
Gene Berrill
Morgan Douglass
Jacob Burns
so, once again, I was passing to Nick in packs 1 and 3. We randomed the teams afterwards as usual and it ended up being me, Nick and Jacob vs. Morgan, Gene and Justin.
Pack 1 pick 1:
Cards I'm considering: Markov Warlord, Scorned Villager
The warlord feels like a really powerful, swingy effect, but I'm still not sure of red in this format (although it seems like it got better) so I also consider the mana werewolf. I decide to go for the card that has more raw power since I'm still trying to feel out the format.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 2:
Cards I'm considering: Forge Devil, Headless Skaab
Headless Skaab is also one of my favorite new cards. For the price, you get a super crab on defense that has enough power to get an offense going. I think I want to take it pretty high in general, but since I have a good red card, I don't want to deviate yet. Besides, the Forge Devil seems nice, since there's usually a good 1 toughness target.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 3:
Cards I'm considering: Undying Evil, Torch Fiend
Ugh. This pack is bad. The only on-color card is one that will probably table, and there's no other effects that are powerful/interesting enough without being too color dominant (Loyal Cathar, specifically). Since the cards I have so far seem to suggest a R/B aggro deck would be good, I go with Undying Evil, since it's a good trick to help keep the pressure on. I don't know about this pick.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 4:
Cards I'm considering: Forge Devil, Russet Wolves, Mystic Retrieval
My sealed deck was U/R, which is a color combo that I like more with Dark Ascension, so I look at Mystic Retrieval. I don't have any good targets for it yet though, so I don't want to use an early pick on it. I end up going with the Devil since the wolves are kinda slow, even if they do have decent stats.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 5:
Cards I'm considering: Faithless Looting, Headless Skaab
Argh. These are my two favorite DKA cards so far, so it was tough to choose between them. I don't have much in the wya of creatures yet, so I really wanted skaab, but I still couldn't bring myself to deviate from red yet, so I went with looting.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
Cards I'm considering: Torch Fiend, Divination
I looked at Divination since I still had U/R on my mind, but I still didn't know which direction I'd end up in, and I'd probably play Torch Fiend (well, if I had to) in either a U/R deck or a B/R deck.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
Cards I'm considering: Torch Fiend, Haunted Fengraf
I had a fengraf in my sealed deck. It's a neat card, but I don't know how far out of my way I should go to take it, or which decks want it more than others. I know that I probably wouldn't play it if my color requirements were too tough.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
Cards I'm considering: Secrets of the Dead, Divination
Well, with these blue cards tabling, I start to think more about U/R. I agree that secrets is worse than burning vengeance, but if I did have a good vengeance deck, I'd probably still play secrets, so I decide to take it with hopes of living that dream.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
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Pack 1 pick 10:
I'm super happy this tabled. If I can get a brimstone volley, I think this card will be really strong.
My Pick:
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 2 pick 1:
Cards I'm considering: Brimstone Volley
Well, looks like I got my wish. I guess I could have taken high priest here, but I didn't really see much black in pack 1, so I didn't consider it at the time (and especially since I was already excited about this potential U/R deck).
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 2:
Cards I'm considering: Skirsdag Cultist
This card still isn't as good as it looks, but I'll always play it I think. I feel like it'll be more useful in my deck than Blazing Torch.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
Cards I'm considering: Selhoff Occultist
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
Cards I'm considering: Harvest Pyre, Runic Repetition
Runic Repetition and Mystic Retrieval is an awesome combo, so I think about just locking it up right here and now, but I really only have the retrieval so far and I'd rather try and table it and take a guaranteed decent card for my deck.
Also, wish I were in green. What a pack.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 5:
Cards I'm considering: Prey Upon, Memory's Journey
I could play one half of journey I guess, but I think that's pretty bad since I don't have a self-mill deck so I just cut the card in this pack that would be the best against me.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
Cards I'm considering: Moon Heron, Rolling Temblor
I do still need guys, but especially with retrieval, Rolling Temblor is the exact kind of effect I want in my deck.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
Cards I'm considering: Delver of Secrets
This guy will definitely get in since it's looking like I'll have a spell heavy deck.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
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Pack 2 pick 10:
YES IT TABLED
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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 3 pick 1:
Cards I'm considering: Civilized Scholar
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
Cards I'm considering: Silent Departure
Not much to say about either of these picks. They're both great effects that my deck wants pretty bad.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
Cards I'm considering: Stitched Drake, Harvest Pyre, Fortress Crab
It won't be easy to cast the drake in my deck, but he's good for it on both attack and defense. I really wanted the crab here too.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
Cards I'm considering: Brimstone Volley
YOWZA
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
Cards I'm considering: Claustrophobia
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
Cards I'm considering: Falkenrath Marauders
Pretty late to be seeing this card.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
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Pack 3 pick 8:
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Pack 3 pick 9:
I didn't want a third harvest pyre, and even though I don't really like neonate, he could get in as an early removal spell (since people almost always panic and insta block him with whatever they have).
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
Kinda late for this card and the rider.
My Pick:
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:
My Pick:
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The deck:
The sideboard:
As I was shuffling for my first game, I only had 39, and after counting I realized I only had 22 spells, so the second Battleground Geist got called off the bench.
My first match was vs. Justin. His deck was a U/B mill deck with lots of creatures but not many good spells besides 2 of the new Exclude which caught me off guard. Most of game 1 was spent by us playing draw-land-go, and answering the few threats that were played as best we could. Once I realized that he was going pretty deep into his deck with Forbidden Alchemy and the new undying 5/5 mill 5 rare guy from DKA (which I answered with Claustrophobia) without being very proactive otherwise, I remembered that the Lab Maniac from one of the Innistrad packs didn't table, so I started to prepare for it by always making sure I passed the turn with Brimstone Volley in hand and mana to play it, in case he had Think Twice to try and combo win. As it turned out, he didn't have think twice, but Gravepurge, which I was able to stop with volley. Even if he passed and waited for me to blink with it, I had Rolling Temblor in the graveyard so I could flash it back to kill the maniac, then volley in response to a draw spell. I couldn't have beaten 2 draw spells though.
In the second game, I got out a quick Battleground Geist and was able to clear the way for it over and over with Brimstone Volley, Silent Departure, and Markov Warlord.
My next match was vs. Morgan. His deck was B/G/W, and green felt like a dominant color, but I don't remember which of his other 2 colors was main or splash. Neither of the games were very interesting, since he drew a lot of lands and didn't have a good answer for my Falkenrath Marauders in either game.
My last match was vs. Gene. He had a pretty good aggressive R/B deck. The first game was mostly a race that I barely won, despite being threatened by a transformed Screeching Bat, on the back of a key delver flip and a Brimstone Volley. We never played a second game because they had lost the draft by this point and we all wanted to go eat since it was getting pretty late. I'm not sure if I would have won the match, but I liked my deck, and I was up a game.
Pretty good start for me in DII. I haven't lost a match yet (technically) and my team won in both of the drafts. Although I can't be too proud since a lot of my games weren't really games, just more mana issues (which I feel dominate a lot of games in this format, for some reason).
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