I think this pick is pretty obvious. Bile Blight is awesome, cheap removal. The next best cards are probably Nyxborn Triton and Satyr Nyx Smith, with Stratus Walk and Setessan Oathsworn not that far behind.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 2:
Lots going on in this pack. The rare is missing, so not much to deduce. There's a fine card in every color.
On power level alone, I think Raised by Wolves is the best card, with Archetype of Imagination in 2nd. I hate green though, and I kind of want to try this "cut black and get all the Gray Merchants" strategy out so I opt for Servant.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 3:
Sticking with the plan, I take the decent bestow creature. I'd probably take Pheres Band Tromper if I took Raised by Wolves.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 4:
This was a really hard pick. Seeing both Bolt and Fall this late means that it's probably safe to jump into red, but I think Spiteful Returned is really strong and I've got a pretty good black deck going.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 5:
It's pretty hard seeing this pack with a good red pick and no black cards (and 3 fine green cards to rub it in even). On the plus side, it looks like blue might be open, and it goes pretty well with black. I took Sudden Storm because I felt like it might help me set up a board and control the game more effectively, but Divination could also just be better in this type of deck. I'm not really sure.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
Wow, sick pack. Asphyxiate is awesome, but Retraction Helix is possibly the best common in the set. It goes well with my Servant, so I think this is an easy pick (although it's hard to pass Asphyxiate, and Bolt for that matter). I don't like the 7 mana rare very much because I think you can't reliably get to 7 mana every game in this format.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
I love the Titan because he always goes so late, so if you're drafting black you can really move in on it and be rewarded for it. Astronomer is good but is much better in U/G or U/W heroic decks - as is, I don't really have much in the way of enchantments. Eye Gouge, Necrobite and Nullify are all at least reasonable but I feel like you can get them late if you really want them.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
This card is awesome, especially in this type of deck - a control deck that wants to defend the ground and play cheap Titans later on. It's also great with Servant and makes me wish I had more. This card doesn't look that impressive but I think it's actually a high pick for the black decks in this format.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
I don't really like Warchanter (and he goes super late anyway), and I don't feel like I'm heavy enough in blue to support Nullify yet. Pillar of War is actually an awesome defender since he trades with most early ground creatures that you worry about, and it's easy to make him a threat later in the game with something as simple as Nimbus Naiad or Aqueous Form.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
Excellent pack, but not really for my colors. Since my deck looks very controlling, Lash of the Whip is the best fit for it.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 2:
Wow, the decks in this draft are going to be awesome. There's only one card for me in the pack, but luckily it's exactly what I wanted. Hopefully I can wheel the Boon of Erebos.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
Super easy pick. Even if Born of the Gods slowed the format down (which I'm not entirely convinced of yet), it's still pretty tempo oriented, and this is one of the most effective cards for stopping things like ordeals on 1 and 2 drops.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
I'm less impressed with this pick, but it's a removal spell and it looks like my deck might have a chance to live long enough to use it, so I'll take it.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 5:
Wow, I wish I could take both of these. Griptide is excellent but Keepsake Gorgon is basically the perfect card for this deck - adds devotion, defends really really well, and can start attacking when the time is right.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
Man, people hate on Returned Centaur but I think he's actually reasonable in this new format. Maybe the black decks are different enough now that they want to play it more. Anyway, he blocks a lot of things and can occasionally mess up an opponent's scry. He also mills you to draw like 0.25 cards if you manage to have something like Whip or Pharika's Mender or whatever in your deck.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
Lots of nice late cards for me. Harpy is the best of them here since I'm not aggressive enough to want Vaporkin.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
Not a whole lot in this pack for me, but luckily enough the card I wanted most is in it.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
I chose Cure over Whip because I think this format is tempo oriented enough that I'd rather have cheaper removal than stronger removal.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
Urgh. I hate passing two Griptides, but Shipwreck Singer is another card that fits really well in this type of deck.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
I'm happy to play this card and the rest of the cards suck.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
More like SMELLhide minotaur, right?
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
I debated Dark Betrayal vs. Lampad. I went with Betrayal because I think Lampad is kinda overpriced, and I doubt I'd be interested in tapping out to bestow him. Betrayal is an awesome sideboard card for other black decks (if there are any), and it's also really effective against me.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
I'd have been happy to first pick this card so seeing it here is fantastic. Don't sleep on Mnemonic Wall though, I think this card got a lot better in this format somehow and I'd have been happy to take that card here too.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
I think this deck is really good. It has lots of cheap defensive cards as well as a few stronger, more expensive ones and a lot of great sideboard options. I wish it had an easier time closing out games though.
In round 1, my opponent had some 4 color jumble. It looked like he was drafting red/green, but also had white for Anax and Cymede, and an Island for who knows what. I won game 1 pretty easily with a huge Gray Merchant drain after quickly setting up Servant with Black Oak and using Boon of Erebos to take out Anax and Cymede in combat.
My opponent chose to draw game 2, and still got a really aggressive draw that I couldn't overcome.
Game 3 went quite long. I set up a great defense early, with Servant & Black Oak again. I never really drew any removal, so we ended up having a standoff for many turns. Eventually, my opponent drew a bunch of tricks and forced through my defenders, then closed the game out with a Nimbus Naiad that I couldn't deal with.
So, I lost. I was really disappointed to have lost (especially to that 4 color nonsense) because I thought this deck rocked, but on the plus side this draft hammered in the fact that you are just never safe. The cards are so cheap and strong that if you aren't making moves to close the game out, your opponent can stockpile tricks and completely change the board (if not outright kill you). I unfortunately don't have access to the replay any more, but there's a chance I could have played this game very differently by attacking more and offering some trades or getting damage in.
No comments:
Post a Comment