My first five picks, in order, were Consul's Lieutenant, Alhammarret High Arbiter, Fiery Impulse, Thunderclap Wyvern, and Angel's Tomb, and then the draft was cancelled. That deck looked like it was going to turn out pretty nice, but maybe it would have been a train wreck. I'm not sure.
Anyway, this was the REAL draft:
Pack 1 pick 1:
I scoured all of the Pack 1 Pick 1s with Huey on CFB to see if any of them had an Embermaw Hellion in it, so I could know whether or not this was a first pickable rare. My other two considerations were Reave Soul (just solid insane common removal) or Willbreaker (cutesy high risk high reward draft strat). After deciding not to get fancy, I had to decide between rare or insane removal and just went with rare. Besides, I like Act of Treason decks in this format. Not sure if this pick is actually good or not.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 2:
This pack kinda suuuucks. The only cards in it I like are Separatist Voidmage and Suppression Bonds. I decided Voidmage would go better with my rare if I want to end up with U/R act of treason tempo. I like this pick.
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Pack 1 pick 3:
Another stinky pack with only one great card in it. I could take Boggart Brute and stay "on color" for a crappy card, but I think Unholy Hunger's power level is quite high. There are some green cards as well but they kinda suck.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 4:
Chandra's Fury is pretty nice with my rare, but it's not really a standout red card, whereas I think Ringwarden Owl is an above average blue card, so I reason that I'm more likely to be fed blue than red and take the Owl. At this point I probably have to abandon my first pick.
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Pack 1 pick 5:
Easy pick for me. 2 drops are awesome and this one is awesome.
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Pack 1 pick 6:
I love Possessed Skaab and it was at this point that I decided I'd probably be in U/B.
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Pack 1 pick 7:
And here's a good red card to challenge that assumption. I still want to be U/B at this point but these cards all suck and this card leaves a door open for me, kinda.
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Pack 1 pick 8:
Ask anyone in my local draft group and they will tell you that I love this card. I love the booty. When the set was first released I had a lot of success drafting mopey U/X control decks featuring multiple copies of this card and Nivix Barrier because I found that without any landwalk or anything most people just couldn't get through it. Fury and Grasp and Nightsnare are all playable, but the way my deck is going, I want to be U/B control and I want at least one copy of this card.
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Pack 1 pick 9:
Wow, it wheeled. Guess I can try for some shenans after all.
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Pack 1 pick 10:
I have a lot of 5 drops already, and I could potentially dabble in the breaking of some wills.
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Pack 1 pick 11:
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Pack 1 pick 12:
I like having access to a Macabre Waltz (even if I don't usually end up using it) but I made this pick with Willbreaker in mind.
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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:
Omg perfect. This card is elite.
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Pack 2 pick 2:
Another slammer. It was actually tough not to take Jesse's Thief but Whirler Rogue gives you sooo much for 4 mana: 4 power, wide defense, and a way to break through stalls.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
I think Owl is better but I didn't take it because my 5 slot was getting crazy clogged. Watercourser is slept on, however - trades up with a lot of stuff (sort of) and blocks a lot of stuff, especially a lot of 2s.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
So many owls. I love the butt on Centaur but especially now that I have a Guardians my plan is becoming more clear - gum up the ground and fly over with 5 drops.
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Pack 2 pick 5:
Apparently I should have taken Sphinx's Tutelage. I didn't realize this card was so elite, especially in this archetype, but it came directly from PT Origins 10th place finisher Tommy Ashton, so alas. I took the 3 drop because he's also reasonable at playing offense or defense and can kind of clock people on some boards.
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Pack 2 pick 6:
I FOUND YOU MS NEW BOOTY
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Pack 2 pick 7:
Pleasantly surprised to see this card here. Fine rate for this body and some x/1s are super pesky to remove (Akroan Jailer I'm looking at you). Also I've fallen for the "wow this is a dumb attack I just eat his 2/2 with my 3/3 right?" trick sooooo many times.
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Pack 2 pick 8:
Nothing that interests me so I just cut the card most likely to cause me problems.
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Pack 2 pick 9:
Love this card, especially in defense decks. If you have some 0/6s in place you can just sit and slowly attack with an Owl or whatever and then just counter anything that's actually threatening for some EXTREEEEME val.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
Lots of Chandra's Furys in this draft. Thank goodness I'm not playing tokens or elves or whatever.
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Pack 2 pick 11:
Almost rare drafted but I really didn't want my owl brigade to be dismantled for such a mana trade-up.
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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:
I really wanted the Titan, but I was low on removal and looking at my deck I saw sooooo many UU cards that I thought it would be too hard to get into play. Also just really happy to have more great removal.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
Omg another skaab. Aether is also great and so is voidmage. Can't pass up Reave Soul though, just kills soooo many things and fits nicely into lots of curves.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
Wow! I'm a little worried that this card might be counterproductive since the only things I have that survive it are my precious 0/6es, but it's not like there's anything else good anyway.
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Pack 3 pick 4:
Owl is better but I was thinking about my curve. Side note, Angel's Tomb is very very good and slept on quite a bit, but I was worried about my ability to produce a stream of creatures.
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Pack 3 pick 5:
Would have liked another 3/1, but this is a defense deck after all, and I wanted the 2 drop more. Anything that stops the rush of Topan Freeblades (which I'm sure everyone has a million of since I've seen 0).
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Pack 3 pick 6:
Tough pick actually - Skaab Goliath is nice and I'm sure with my creature count I could reliably cast it, but I just went with Owl since it's a safer pick and air offense is more reliable than trample + big butt anyway. My opponents are likely to want to trade off their ground creatures if they can't attack through my defenses anyway.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
Omg another skaab. I have soooo many 5s though and Fetid Imp is a 2 drop that trades up quite a bit of the time. Not super happy about this pick but I think it is correct.
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Pack 3 pick 8:
Another 4 drop would have been nice, but I'm kind of lacking removal, and even shitty removal is still removal.
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Pack 3 pick 9:
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Pack 3 pick 10:
Man :/ again, I was trying to be very very mindful of my curve.
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Pack 3 pick 11:
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Pack 3 pick 12:
This pick is for Vishu. I wanted that meteorite sooooooo bad.
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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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I had so many double colors and such an intense need to get to 5 mana that I just played 18 lands with a 9/9 split. I only started one of my awesome walls with intent to board the second one on the draw, or if they were particularly aggressive, or whatever. I didn't really like this deck that much.
R1
My quarterfinals opponent was my only loss in the swiss - we both had high synergy U/R decks with cool rares. My opponent even expressed a preference for U/R in draft, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to me that they would probably try to force it in the top 8 draft. I'm not quite sure if it was a good version of it or not.
I lost game 1. I had difficulty getting two blue mana for the two Owls in my opening hand, and my opponent had a turn 3 Jhessian Thief and connected with it way way too many times.
In game 2, I had a beatdown-ish draw with two Watercoursers, a Voidmage and two Owls. I tried to ride my tempo as much as possible. My opponent made quite a sweat out of it with a War Horn and a bunch of haste thopters via Thopter Engineer, but I was able to fade everything and the Owls took it home with me at 2 life.
Game 3 wasn't much of a game - my opponent kept a 2 lander and missed for several turns in a row. I got stuck on 3 lands, but it didn't matter because I was playing a steady stream of 3 drops and beating down over and over.
R2
My opponent was U/W. In game 1 I drew the voidmage and went beatdown again, curving Fetid Imp into 3/1 into Voidmage into Owl. My opponent made it interesting with a Hixus, Prison Warden, but I drew a Skaab for the Voidmage I traded off and released my prisoners and kept on beating down. After creating some breathing room with an awesome 0/6 and dealing with my opponent's only flyer (an Owl, obviously since there were DI in the draft), eventually I had enough of an army to shove for lethal.
Game 2, my opponent had a nice curve of T2 Hangarback Walker, T3 Possessed Skaab, T4 1/3 renown flyer. I Weighted the Walker before it got out of hand and my opponent played another creature after being stuck on 3 mana, which played very conveniently into my Languish. It wasn't much of a contest from there - the only challenge was a 4/6 unbeatable Sentinels which I was lucky enough to have Unholy Hunger in hand ready for. All of my opponent's good cards were milled by Possessed Skaab (another 4/6 and a Mage Ring Responder).
R3
My finals opponent was R/G. I won the roll and went extreme beatdown with triple Watercourser. My opponent had T2 Undercity Troll and T3 Abbot of Kher Keep, but just never found a profitable block and took way too much damage early on before clearing the board. The board did clear eventually, with a Chandra's Ignition from my opponent, but I was still at 18 and had a trusty 0/6 to hold down the fort. From there it was as easy as drawing one of my zillion Owls and bringing it home.
G2 was a one-sided affair. My opponent curved Undercity Troll (which I immediately answered with Reave Soul), Goblin 3/2 Menace, and Zendikar X/4 guy, which played very neatly into my T4 Languish. From there it was super easy to set up the 0/6 + Owl squadron and have Hunger & Bone to Ash ready for anything that could actually be threatening.
So there you have it - I had been having a lot of success early on drafting doofy U/x control decks with big butt walls, and I stuck to the plan (more or less) and found the ultimate success with it.
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