Hey all. Allow me to present my first AVR draft to go public. Brief background: I've played casually since 4th edition. I got into limited just as Mirrodin was ending and Champions was coming up (awful time to get started), and really got hooked during Ravnica. I've screwed around with limited ever since. This draft was my 5th AVR draft ever, so please be harsh and help me learn. Now on with the show.
I felt very uncomfortable after the first pack. I generally avoided black and white since I was getting green aggressive cards, and I'd rather be aggressive than not. Pack two looked a lot better. Still, even during deckbuilding, I felt like I had only a mediocre GR aggro deck. It sported an aggressive curve, but had few big plays outside of the Burn at the Stake and very little reach.
However, the deck performed much better in the games than it looked on paper. Joint Assault + Hanweir Lancer led to more than one blowout, and I drew Burn at the Stake in 5 of my 6 games. Three of those went to the dome, and twice I used it as removal to keep a giant flier from murdering me in my sleep. I drew my low drops early and often and never saw turn 9. Three of my games ended on turn 5. The scariest thing I saw on the other side of the board was T3 Triumph of Ferocity, T4 Mist Raven, T5 hardcast Blessings of Nature for a 6/6 flier. Even still, I had 5 guys on the board and killed him on turn 6 (though I needed the +1/+1 from Snare the Skies to get there). Ultimately, none of my opponents were doing anything quickly, and I either didn't stumble or recovered quickly.
Despite the success, I have a couple major questions to pose to you all.
1) P1P3: Ranger vs. Wolf vs. Ringleader - I think Ringleader is the most explosive, and Ranger is the safest pick. I was happy to have the Ranger in my pile as he found my 3rd mountain on more than one occasion, opening a game-ending witchunt. However, outside of 2RRR rares, is the Ringleader just better?
2) P2P1: Striker vs. Pillar - classic question. I believe the Striker is the choice, but am open to other ideas.
3) P2P6: Justice vs. Revolt - I believe Revolt was the pick here and I chose wrong. As much as I like the reach from Justice, what happens if its the last card in your hand? Eeww.
4) P3P3: Spider vs. Nightshade Ugly Man - I have no idea, though I suspect the answer is "they're both about equal."
5) Deckbuilding: Pathbreaker Wurm - I shouldn't be including him, right? I loved Joint Assault whenever I drew it, and I think the second one is just going to be better than a 6-drop. Alternatively, this could have been Scroll of Avacyn for more consistency.
6) Deckbuilding: I kept finding that Mad Prophet was underwhelming in the 4-slot. Having haste was nice to put another body into the red zone sooner, but whenever I sided in Eaten by Spiders, I usually took the second Prophet out. Thoughts?
P1P3: I think especially since you're early in your picks, Borderland Ranger is the best pick. Your deck has yet to show what it will become. This guy can do lots of things in lots of different decks.
ReplyDeleteP1P7: I've had good use with the bracers, especially with humans. While you are pretty sure you're going green at this point, it looks like you haven't established a second color. I think I like the growth better here. But neither choice is wrong.
P2P1: Again I don't think you can make a wrong decision with either card. Especially since you only have 1 two drop so far the striker is a great card.
P2P2: Last time I pulled the burn at the stake I never saw it. I might have gone with the lancer in hopes to pair with your just picked striker. But burn sure seems like a sweet card. Especially in an aggro deck as a curve topper.
P5P2: I have no idea what must have been in this pack for both malcontents and the commander to show up together. The pack must have had 3 mist ravens.
P2P6: You've already seen my live for vigilante Justice. I'm probably over rating it though. Up until now you only have 4 playable humans (not counting the vanguard). I think I take the revolt first.
P2P8: Wolf is good, especially if you're looking for two drops. Is Guise of fire even up for question though?
P3P1: So sad to see the navigator get passed but you made the right pick.
P3P3: You're probably right. I think I like the peddler to help with humans and soulbond/joint assault. In your aggro deck the fliers wont kill you fast enough.
Deckbuilding: I've never actually thought of the Mad Prophet as a 2/2 haste dude. I've more or less looked at him like an easy to kill artifact that helps me find my stuff. If you had more soulbond dudes I'd put in the extra joint assault but only getting +2/+2 seemingly a majority of the time seems less exciting. Having a couple curve toppers couldn't be a bad thing, especially giving something trample just to get those few last points of damage in when your aggressive guys run out of steam.
Looks good to me! 3-0 in an 8-4 is alright I guess =P
P1P3: I don't necessarily agree with the assesment that Ringleader is better than Ranger. In fact, I think it's the other way around. So, you made the right pick :)
ReplyDeleteP1P7: I've never actually played with the Bracers and only rarely against them, but I think I'd take the Growth here.
P2P1: Also, the way your deck looks, you REALLY need those two-drops and you have a kabillion pump-spells (which makes Kruin Striker really awesome later as well if you can drop a small creature to grow it and give it trample).
P2P2: Interesting (and powerful!) pack. I think Stake is too powerful to pass but I really like the Lancer too. Oh well, you might get another one.
P2P4: Are you hate-drafting by now? Because I think your deck might be able to play Speed.
P2P6: I might be a weirdo but I like the Peddler the best here. He's a 2-drop, a human, and just generally good. Neither Revolt nor Justice does a lot for you at the moment.
P2P7: how about the Growth? I know it's fun to test out Closet (and you have some synergy already), but deck thinning plus fixing is pretty sweet, too.
P3P3: Definitely Spider, here.
P3P12: Not raising any banners?
Deckbuilding: I like the look of that! Perhaps the Geist should come out for another Assault, but I'm not sure. I think the Prophets are fine (they're very good if you stall and need to find the Burn), but not amazing.
And congratulations on the 3-0.
@ Kirby - You may be right about Growth v Bracers. My issue is that the format uses fairly low p/t values, such that any pump is worth more than usual. Forcemage uses the same principle - it's not just a 3/3 that pumps your guy, but that those numbers are pretty big on the average board. Keeping bears from blocking your Wandering Wolves or Apprentices from trading for your Kruin Strikers is a pretty big deal, I think. Bracers are subtly not terrible in this format. And maybe you're right about the Prophets. I definitely used him to draw gas after slowing down in one of my games. Still, I'd rather just have another Ringleader.
ReplyDelete@ Lobster -
P1P3 - Maybe you're right. Smoothing out land drops is pretty good.
P1P7 - see above
P2P4 - I don't like Speed. Reckless Charge is good because it costs half the mana and can be used twice for a crazy kill from nowhere. Speed doesn't have that. Maybe it's worth playing one of these days as an experiment, but with so much bounce and flicker and broohaha running around, I'm pretty down on a bad lava spike. Besides, the Vanguard is not the worst splash in the world if I end up not drafting enough creatures.
P2P6 - I think you're right. Justice was wrong for me to play, and revolt would not have been as explosive for me as I'd want it to be.