bad, or if I should have listened harder to the signals. Just tired
of being Rakdos, so I tried forcing something else.
First round, got crushed by the Selesnya/blue deck that eventually won
the whole thing.
Second Round, mirror against Golgari with enough splashed white to
kind of ruin everything for me. Every time I got a guy decent, he'd
get launch partied, or Trostani's Judgment, or Arrest.
Third Round got the bye. Moral of the story is to always stick around
in the Swiss, you might be giving up a free pack if you don't.
Doesn't help that I ended every game with 10+ lands in some
combination of the hand and battlefield. Really starting to think 17
lands is just too many. Or do I really need to mull hands that have 4
lands, 2 drop, 3 drop, 4 drop?
Hi Acidrakken,
ReplyDeleteHere are some comments on your picks. I'll just comment on the first picks of the first pack as if you were totally open. Then, on the subsequent packs as though you are already down the Golgari path.
P1P1: I think that Voidweilder could be considered first-pickable in this pack, in addition to Launch Party. If GW is really the deck to beat, do you want to be fighting for it based on a first pick Common Bond?
P1P2: agree
P1P3: had you taken the Voidweilder, then the Frostburn Weird would be a strong consideration. It's a groan-tester for sure, and playable even as UU.
P1P4: agree
P1P11: shadow can be a long-game plan. Considering you were in black by this point, I would have taken him instead of Swift Justice.
Now, assuming you're Golgari...
P2P2: maybe the Rig. If you are running scavenge guys, you have less to lose than your opponent. It dying also may wipe the board vs Selesnya.
P2P3: agree
P2P4: how about a 2/2 unleash for just B?
P3P1: was the Shaman a rare draft? It's not worth too much, and a 2nd Stab Wound would have greatly increased the power of your deck.
P3P2: would have taken the Avenging Arrow, considering you have a Selesnya Guildgate and two Gatecreeper Vines for fixing.
P3P3: agree
P3P4: I think the beetle would have been the more aggressive pick. Plus, it appears you were short on creatures.
P3P5: again, if you considered splashing white, then the Centaur Healer seems strong here.
Deckbuilding: based on what you did draft, my only suggestion would be to put in the Centaur's Heralds, possibly taking out the Horncaller's Chant and Axebane Stag. In your games, did you get up to the 7 and 8 mana to cast those?
Hope this helps, and I appreciate the story of sticking through it to the end to get the 1 pack. The same thing happened to me: lost first two rounds of swiss but didn't drop and I got a free pack 'cuz the other 0-2 player rage dropped out of the tournament.
- Chris
You make some good points. p3p1 was a bit of a raredraft, although I did think it's a legit pick, too. If it sticks, can gain a bunch of life, and/or some dmg with stuff in the yards.
ReplyDeleteAs it turns out, I did board in the heralds both matches, pulling out a single land, (16/41) post board. Still hit eight lands even after boarding pretty easily. After another draft without any fixing, 17 seemed right. I suspect I may be able to cut lands by half the number of creeper vines I run. The big problem with the deck is that I was generally so far behind by turn 8 that even topdecking the stag or horncaller was not enough to stabilize.
Also, appreciate your comment on voidwielder being first pickable in this first pack. You are probably right about not fighting for selesnya off a first pick common bond.