AVR draft!
When I first took a look at the full spoiler of Avacyn Restored, I knew in my bones that Blue/Green would be the best color combination. It wasn’t hard to figure out; I’ve aggressively drafted UG in every draft format I have ever played, even when it isn’t good. Every constructed deck that I’ve ever taken to a tourney has been UG. Essentially UG : Oraymw :: RW : Paul Rietzl. Avacyn Restored is sort of a mixed blessing. UG is awesome, but it is also a little bit overdrafted. I’m better at putting together a UG deck than most people, but the pieces might not always show up. But, it is with great pleasure that I get to bring you this draft as my first for the blog during the AVR season.
My main questions on the draft:
1. Do you think it was correct to move into Blue with P1P4 Into the Void?
2. Which is the better pick of P1P8 Flowering Lumberknot vs. Nettle Swine?
3. What do you think of Conjurer’s Closet (P3P5)?
For deck-building, I decided not to go with the Flowering Lumberknot package. Playing it would have probably meant cutting Bladed Bracers, Mass Appeal, and Conjurer’s Closet, but I just don’t think the upside was really there. If I put the package in, then I get one Lumberknot, but I have to have two Escorts. Although they seem fine in this deck, it seems like I can get a little more value out of the Bracers, Appeal, Closet package. The other big debate for me was between Abundant Growth, Fleeting Distraction, and Mass Appeal for the 23rd slot. I like all three cards, and I originally had the Growth, but I felt like the Appeal was going to be 2 or 3 cards often enough with 9 humans that it deserved the nudge here.
So, the main questions from deck-building are as follows:
1. Do you think I should have gone after the Lumberknot deck more aggressively, just like I did, or passed it for the Nettle Swine?
2. Do you put in Mass Appeal for the 23rd card? Or something else?
Onto the Matches!
M1G1 – I went T2 Timberland Guide, T3 Timerland Guide + Bracers, T4 Mist Raven, T5 Geist Trappers, T6 Into the Void. He just played a few black creatures that all got bounced to his hand.
M1G2 – T3 Borderland Ranger, T4 Mist Raven, T5 Conjurer’s Closet. Everything after that was just a formality.
M2G1 – This was probably the best game of all. I play some Wandering Wolves early, and he gets down a Demonic Taskmaster, which I take down with Crippling Chill. I get a down a Timberland Guide, pumping up a wolf, and the next turn I lay out a Crippling Chill on his Taskmaster. He’s forced to Death Wind his own guy, but I’m stuck on three. He gets out a Gang of Devils and a Hound of Griselbrand and rips a Lightning Wrath to deal with my 4/3 Wandering Wolf (two guides). I get my fourth land, and get down a Mist Raven, and he’s forced to start holding guys back to block. He then drops an Exquisite Blood with a bunch of large creatures, and I have to start chumping his Hound of Griselbrand, since I can’t race it with my Mist Raven. I get Deadeye Navigator down and paired with Mist Raven without mana to spare, and his attack gets me to 14. I drop a Galvanic Alchemist, and get him to 1, but the Exquisite Blood means that if any creature connects, I’m in trouble. I bounce a bunch of guys, none of his get through, and then he drops a Demonlord of Ashmouth, sacrificing Gang of Devils to get my Navigator to lethal and deal one to me, which puts him at 2. He only has the Demonlord back for blocks, while I’ve got a Mist Crow and a Galvanic Alchemist. I rip a Bladed Bracers, equip it to the Alchemist, and attack for the win.
M2G2 – T3 Borderland Ranger, T4 Trusted Forcemage and Bladed Bracers. He then drops an Undead Executioner. I equip the Ranger and attack with both. He blocks the forcemage, the Executioner dies, and he puts the -2/-2 on the Forcemage, but I respond with Ghostly Flicker, saving my guy and getting a land out of the deal. He drops a Dread Slaver that seems like it should stabilize him, but I rip a Blessings of Nature, and miracle it for 1 mana. I attack, put him to 2, and he draws a card and concedes.
M3G1 – T2 Wandering Wolf, T3 Borderland Ranger. He drops a Searchlight Geist, and I get down a Forcemage paired with the wolf. He trades with the Ranger. He plays a Mist Raven, bouncing my Forcemage. I then get a Forcemage and a Timberland Guide, which gets the Wandering Wolf to 4/3. He puts a Tormentor’s Trident on his Mist Raven, so that it can block. Crippling Chill locks down the raven, followed by an Alchemist. Mass Appeal drawing three the next turn puts him out of the game.
M3G2 – I get stuck at two mana with a bunch of three drops in hand…
M3G3 – T2 Wandering Wolf, T3 Borderland Ranger, T4 Mist Raven, T5 Into the Void, T6 Deadeye Navigator. Everything else is just a formality.
This deck ended up being ridiculously good. There was one close game, and one game that I lost to mana screw. Besides that, they were pretty much all blowouts. This is the exact kind of deck that shows how incredibly good Mist Raven is in this format. It was also a lot of fun to do all the flickering shenanigans with my Ravens and whatnot. UG is really, really good in this format.
P1P2 - Evernight Shade is better than Righteous Blow or Holy Justiciar?
ReplyDeleteP1P4 - I definitely stick to my guns here and take the guide because in my experience, limited (hahaha) though it may be, blue is very powerful when it comes together, but it is not as strong as green. GR aggro is the deck we're gonna be scared of whenever we have another deck. Into the Void is like getting a Silent Departure late early in ISD drafting. It's just not a signal because other people are still bad drafters.
P1P7 - I take Ghoulflesh here, but hey, I'm greedy.
P3P5 - Is Conjourer's closet better than another wolfy? I guess it is with double mist raven!
P1P2 - Yes, I think that Evernight Shade is better than both of those. Righteous Blow isn't even really all that good. It's worse than Defang, for example. It would be a pretty good deck that didn't play Righteous Blow, but it's not something that you are super excited about playing. Holy Justiciar is another card that is fine, but the format is often fast enough that I don't want to mess around with that kind of stuff. Which isn't to say that they are bad cards, but Evernight Shade is actually really strong.
ReplyDeleteP1P4 - I think Blue is the best color. I understand what you're saying; blue doesn't have as many creatures, so you can run out of playables easily. But every color in this set is short on playables. Also, I think that Into the Void is actually a bit stronger than Silent Departure in this format, since there is so little removal. I think that Into the Void is just one of the best uncommons in the set.
P1P7 - Yeah, I figured that I don't really want to splash for the Ghoulflesh. It's just not high enough impact.
P3P5 - In this deck, Conjurer's Closet kind of does the same work that a Nephalia Smuggler would do, except it requires no colored mana, and it only requires an upfront 5 mana investment, instead of 4 every time, and it works on the first turn you cast it. I think that Conjurer's Closet is actually pretty underrated right now. In my deck, it was one of the best cards in the deck.
P1P2: While I really like Guise, I don't know if I'd pick it here. Sure, you might have shipped some Black, but both Splinters and Shade are powerful enough to take over Guise here speculatively, I think.
ReplyDeleteP1P3: It's actually really close between Forcemage and the Pilgrim for me; Two-drops are much rarer than 3-drops, the Lifelink is really good, and I might prefer W/R to R/G. I think Forcemage might still be the pick, but it's by no means given.
P1P4: I'm... Not sure I'd pick Into the Void here, but probably. Red looks kind of dry and it is a really good card and possibly a signal. And U/G can be terrifying.
P1P7: I like this pick with what you have so far; two 2-drops, Forcemage and a tempo play (discounting the red). The more pressure you can put on, the more value you get from the -1/-0 (because of forcing subpar blocks).
P1P8: I take the Swine here, it's great and reliable. The cards that make Lumberknot good (Forcemage, Wurm, Wingcrafter) also make the boar better, and the downside is lower.
P2P7: Again, I'd play it safe and take the Apprentice, he's been nothing but good in my decks.
P3P1: I like picking the Captain to try him out, but really, the Wolf might be better here, as aggressive as you are. Not sure.
P3P5: Again, I like trying out the rare here, but I think the Wolf might be better.
P3P7: I understand this, but I actually think the Presence is playable.
P3P8: I might like the Snare more, it's great in an aggressive tempo deck as yours.
With regards to deckbuilding, I like leaving out Lumberknot and Mass Appeal. Your deck is good enough to not play swingy cards like these.
Good job, Matthew! Keep it up :)
I agree with Lobster that Boar > Lumberknot. I feel like I'd only want to spend picks on the treefolk if I already have a pile of soulbonders, and the 5/5 body isn't better enough than the 4/3 to make it worth the effort. Remember, the key toughness threshold is between 2 & 3, so getting 5 toughness is fairly inconsequential. Otherwise, hell of a deck. How did so many people let Mist Ravens through so late?
ReplyDelete