So this is a LR listener who went to a PTQ and is wanting help on his sealed pool.
I have the pool as a .dek file, so go ahead and download it... load it into your MTGO and then take a screenshot and post it in the comments :).
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ore21j
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Acidrakken's RTR Draft #3
Another week, another draft. This time I listened to the signals and
did what I should have done last time. Also, having an absolutely
absurd pack 3 was quite helpful.
As far as the actual games went, I probably need to slow down a
little. Biggest sin I committed a few times was forgetting to
activate Lobber Crew. I find myself already playing through the next
turn in my head and forget to activate it on villain's end step.
Also, I punted a play in Match 1, could have killed a turn earlier,
but tried to get too clever with Voidwielder. Opponent was at 4 life
with one untapped blocker. I had RM guildmage, Arrested; also a
Rakdos Cackler with 3 counters on it. In retrospect, I should have
just VWed the blocker and swung, but I decided to instead pull the
guildmage out from under the Arrest. Didn't cost me the game, but it
was a bad play.
Otherwise, ran pretty good - didn't flood out at all this time.
Round 1, vs Azorius touching Red.
Guy played fine, but I just had the answers. Relatively proud of
myself for playing around the guy's Explosive Impact. He repeatedly
swung into my Desecration Demon with a couple of 1/X flyers. So,
eventually demon just took over the games.
Round 2, Golgari
Didn't see enough of this guy's play to say a lot - he was a fellow
L_R clan member though. I mainly just powered through his stuff and
had the right proportions of threats and removal to make it happen.
Round 3, kinda nervous going into R3, was either going to be a
Selesnya deck or an Izzet one, as that was the other matchup on the
top of the bracket in R2. Ended up playing against the Izzet deck,
and took it down 2-1. This is where I punted a couple of lobber crew
activations, but thankfully it wasn't so close that those two points
of damage would have been super relevant.
did what I should have done last time. Also, having an absolutely
absurd pack 3 was quite helpful.
As far as the actual games went, I probably need to slow down a
little. Biggest sin I committed a few times was forgetting to
activate Lobber Crew. I find myself already playing through the next
turn in my head and forget to activate it on villain's end step.
Also, I punted a play in Match 1, could have killed a turn earlier,
but tried to get too clever with Voidwielder. Opponent was at 4 life
with one untapped blocker. I had RM guildmage, Arrested; also a
Rakdos Cackler with 3 counters on it. In retrospect, I should have
just VWed the blocker and swung, but I decided to instead pull the
guildmage out from under the Arrest. Didn't cost me the game, but it
was a bad play.
Otherwise, ran pretty good - didn't flood out at all this time.
Round 1, vs Azorius touching Red.
Guy played fine, but I just had the answers. Relatively proud of
myself for playing around the guy's Explosive Impact. He repeatedly
swung into my Desecration Demon with a couple of 1/X flyers. So,
eventually demon just took over the games.
Round 2, Golgari
Didn't see enough of this guy's play to say a lot - he was a fellow
L_R clan member though. I mainly just powered through his stuff and
had the right proportions of threats and removal to make it happen.
Round 3, kinda nervous going into R3, was either going to be a
Selesnya deck or an Izzet one, as that was the other matchup on the
top of the bracket in R2. Ended up playing against the Izzet deck,
and took it down 2-1. This is where I punted a couple of lobber crew
activations, but thankfully it wasn't so close that those two points
of damage would have been super relevant.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Acidrakken's RTR Draft #2
A draft where I did badly, and not sure if the deck I drafted was just
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?
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?
Monday, November 5, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Zvazda's RTR Draft #1
Hey Guys. The blog has been pretty quiet as of late for a few reasons. On my end of things I've been using the Beta client, so I haven't gotten draft logs to upload to raredraft.
I also haven't had Marshall pimp the blog since RTR came out (mostly because they've been recording on Wednesdays and I normally would remind him on Thursdays).
Anyway, I did a draft in the old client and so I uploaded it. It was a very interesting draft and I'd love to hear thoughts on it.
Deck Construction:
Questions:
1. Is it worth splashing for blue?
2. If it is, do you play rogues passage (like a greedy bastard)?
3. Do you play Caracal, Avenging Arrow or Seller of Songbirds?
4. If so, which 4 drop do you remove?
Thanks guys. And keep those drafts coming. I'm still here, even though I've been BETA drafting and not posting any :):).
-Z
I also haven't had Marshall pimp the blog since RTR came out (mostly because they've been recording on Wednesdays and I normally would remind him on Thursdays).
Anyway, I did a draft in the old client and so I uploaded it. It was a very interesting draft and I'd love to hear thoughts on it.
Deck Construction:
Questions:
1. Is it worth splashing for blue?
2. If it is, do you play rogues passage (like a greedy bastard)?
3. Do you play Caracal, Avenging Arrow or Seller of Songbirds?
4. If so, which 4 drop do you remove?
Thanks guys. And keep those drafts coming. I'm still here, even though I've been BETA drafting and not posting any :):).
-Z
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Asturiel's M13 Drafts #3-5
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3f3bt
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3f2k4
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3evmb
Three drafts I did at the games club at school. Would like thoughts on these drafts, first one was a mess but I won so things work out? :P Also I had two or three more drafts but no draft recorder for v4 :(
For the first one how would you have maneuvered that draft? Because I don't think I got many good signals and had to work with what I got basically.
For the second one I believe I made the right calls, any opinions?
For the third I think green was a better idea but my friend talked me into Muckwader, thoughts?
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3f2k4
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3evmb
Three drafts I did at the games club at school. Would like thoughts on these drafts, first one was a mess but I won so things work out? :P Also I had two or three more drafts but no draft recorder for v4 :(
For the first one how would you have maneuvered that draft? Because I don't think I got many good signals and had to work with what I got basically.
For the second one I believe I made the right calls, any opinions?
For the third I think green was a better idea but my friend talked me into Muckwader, thoughts?
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Zvazda's M13 draft #1
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3dlbf
Do you splash? If you do are you playing rummaging goblin over bond beetle?
I ended up 1-2ing, which I was very disappointed in. I've been having a lot of problems with this format where I keep mulliganing a lot, which isn't serving me, or I don't draw well.
If anyone has any advice for facing down Talrand (who I faced in R2) I would love to hear it. Talrand keeps following me around and then my removal always gets negated and my creatures to kill her always get essence scattered. I'm not sure how to beat Talrand!
Anyway, I've been having not a ton of luck in M13 and I'm hoping you guys can get me back on the right track.
I ended up 1-2ing, which I was very disappointed in. I've been having a lot of problems with this format where I keep mulliganing a lot, which isn't serving me, or I don't draw well.
If anyone has any advice for facing down Talrand (who I faced in R2) I would love to hear it. Talrand keeps following me around and then my removal always gets negated and my creatures to kill her always get essence scattered. I'm not sure how to beat Talrand!
Anyway, I've been having not a ton of luck in M13 and I'm hoping you guys can get me back on the right track.
cjm_mtgo's AVR draft #1
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3djrt
As I put in the RareDraft description, I'm trying to separate out draft pick errors versus poor play to figure out which part I need to work on most. If your users can help me analyze the draft portion, that will help greatly.
I went 1-2; won the 1st round, lost the 2nd round to a fast W/R deck (he ended up winning the tourney), and lost the 3rd round to another W/R deck. The 3rd round was closer. I felt I played very tight, and my opponent misplayed a lot (wasn't playing aggressively even though he had the advantage). I stabilized at 1 life in game 2, using Captain of the Mist primarily to keep his attackers tapped down for 5+ turns. I could have won but neglected to attack with one of my creatures and lost (major punt). I always ended up siding out the Vorstclaw for my second Abundant Growth. In most of the games, I felt mana flooded, so in the 3rd round I cut down to 16 lands.
As I put in the RareDraft description, I'm trying to separate out draft pick errors versus poor play to figure out which part I need to work on most. If your users can help me analyze the draft portion, that will help greatly.
I went 1-2; won the 1st round, lost the 2nd round to a fast W/R deck (he ended up winning the tourney), and lost the 3rd round to another W/R deck. The 3rd round was closer. I felt I played very tight, and my opponent misplayed a lot (wasn't playing aggressively even though he had the advantage). I stabilized at 1 life in game 2, using Captain of the Mist primarily to keep his attackers tapped down for 5+ turns. I could have won but neglected to attack with one of my creatures and lost (major punt). I always ended up siding out the Vorstclaw for my second Abundant Growth. In most of the games, I felt mana flooded, so in the 3rd round I cut down to 16 lands.
Asturiel's M13 #2
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3cnep
Another draft
This one I was actually able to win some games. Pretty uninteresting except for one in which I delt 20 damage with 2 cards. Krenkos Command and Volanic Geyser. Guess how much each dealt!
Another draft
This one I was actually able to win some games. Pretty uninteresting except for one in which I delt 20 damage with 2 cards. Krenkos Command and Volanic Geyser. Guess how much each dealt!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Asturiel's M13 Draft #1
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3coxv
Heres a pic of the deck to actually go with it :P
I thought this deck was sweet, and I felt like I was in all the games I was playing, which either means that I just came short, the deck wasn't as good as I thought, or I screwed up enough to lose those. I'm not certain what it was but I felt like I could have 3-0d with this deck.
Any thoughts?
Heres a pic of the deck to actually go with it :P
I thought this deck was sweet, and I felt like I was in all the games I was playing, which either means that I just came short, the deck wasn't as good as I thought, or I screwed up enough to lose those. I'm not certain what it was but I felt like I could have 3-0d with this deck.
Any thoughts?
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Lobster667's M13 #1
Hey guys, guess who's back and ready with his first (ever) M13 draft? It's-a me!
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3co5u
... There are several interesting decisions in this draft, and I'd be glad to hear comments on any of the picks, but I am particularly interested in your opinions on the following...
P1P1: Is the Crusader the right card to kick off with?
P1P2: ... And how do you follow up that pick here?
P1P6: Servant or Duty-Bound?
P3P1: Is the Ring the right pick here? It feels powerful, but perhaps I am being a bit ROTty.
P3P2: Do I just take the Guardians and forget the Gorgon? Or it is powerful enough to pick up here?
I ended up building the deck as follows:
A few cards I would like to touch upon; The second Crippling Blight feels like it should be in the maindeck, but I ended up cutting it for creature count concerns. The Healer should probably be in there, but I felt like she was too far along the curve and that she would be unexciting as a 4-mana 2/3. In the games where she was boarded in, though, she did a ton of work.
I probably should have cut the Vampire, even if she is good with triple Rats, and I am actually considering whether keeping in the Sign in Blood - which was one of the only ways I could gain card advantage - was right. I boarded it out a few games.
The cards that impressed me the most were the Bats and the Ring - I never got to play the Gorgon - and to a lesser extent, the Crusader and the Blight(s). On the other hand, Bloodthrone Vampire underperformed and was cut in boarding in some matches.
My first match was against an aggressive W/R deck; In game 1, he went to 4 cards to my 6, going first, but actually managed to pressure me after playing a Bladetusk Boar I could not remove and then eating two creatures with a single Flames of the Firebrand. I kept up with him by playing a couple of Bloodhunter Bats, which got him low enough to be Essence Drained out later. He went first again in game two, where we both kept our starting seven - I had boarded out my Bloodthrone Vampire for a second Blight since he played a lot of weenie creatures and token generators. Despite that, I had no answer for his Goblin Looter which he got a ton of value out of, but I managed to win with my Ring of Xathrid. He played the Mindclaw Shaman I saw in the draft when I was holding one card - Pacifism, which I had been holding on to and finally got to use on a Serra Angel that would otherwise have spelled trouble.
In my second match, I faced a B/R deck that seemed pretty aggressive. In the first game, he started out with a Duty-Bound Dead and played a pumped Crimson Muckwader which put a lot of pressure on me, attacking for 4 on turn 3. We both played out a Liliana's Shade, and I managed to turn the game by casting Crippling Blight on his Shade, which he erroneously (since it cannot block) pumped once, bringing him below regen mana for his Muckwader which I had saved an Essence Drain I only just had mana to play for. After that, I overwhelmed him. In game two, he mulled to six and put down Fervor on turn three, so I had a few cards more than him, and I had the Pacifism for his Turn 2 Muckwader this time. On turn 4 (after I had put down a Servant of Nefarox to pressure him instead of a Scorpion since he had no creatures), he played a Knight of Infamy and a Walking Corpse and attacked in only with the knight, which I happily traded with (I don't think he had considered I would block even though Servant is a great blocker) since it had protection from some of my deck and I was ahead on cards. I got to deploy my Ring of Xathrid and ground him out in a game he could not turn around.
The third match started out really bad; I mulled to a four-card hand of three lands (two Swamps and a Plains) and an Aven Squire, but my opponent played a Talrand's Invocation and followed it up with a Griffin Protector, and though I could stymie the bleed a bit with a Cower in Fear, I really did not have a chance in that game. He showed me Intrepid Hero, so I boarded in a second Blight - but misboarded by bringing out Sign in Blood (which I'd need against his blue CA) instead of the Vampire by accident. I still won game two by racing two Welkin Terns with my boarded-in Healer of the Pride and a couple of Bats. Game three was super-tight, again a race against two Terns but this time with a blue Ring they could use. I had an Essence Drain that I could have killed one of them with (it was 4/3), but he moved the ring from it and onto the other one, and I talked myself into saving it and doing something else with my mana, leaving up the option to try and burn him out. His Intrepid Hero made my Bloodthrone Vampire and my Pump spell a lot worse, but I declined to burn it, too, and ended up losing my Essence Drain to a really well-played Clone that he made ETB as a copy of my Rats to take my only card which would have otherwise let me burn him out after my next attack. I topdecked a Battleflight Eagle and went into the tank, but had no winning attack as far as I could see. I still tried, but an Intrepid Hero stopped my attack short by killing a "jumped" Healer of the Pride and he chumped my Vampire, surviving at something like 4 life and swinging back for the win. It was an exilerating game and I congratulated him on the victory and his great play - not a bad start for this format!
I'm looking forward to your feedback, guys! Cheers, Lobster667.
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3co5u
... There are several interesting decisions in this draft, and I'd be glad to hear comments on any of the picks, but I am particularly interested in your opinions on the following...
P1P1: Is the Crusader the right card to kick off with?
P1P2: ... And how do you follow up that pick here?
P1P6: Servant or Duty-Bound?
P3P1: Is the Ring the right pick here? It feels powerful, but perhaps I am being a bit ROTty.
P3P2: Do I just take the Guardians and forget the Gorgon? Or it is powerful enough to pick up here?
I ended up building the deck as follows:
A few cards I would like to touch upon; The second Crippling Blight feels like it should be in the maindeck, but I ended up cutting it for creature count concerns. The Healer should probably be in there, but I felt like she was too far along the curve and that she would be unexciting as a 4-mana 2/3. In the games where she was boarded in, though, she did a ton of work.
I probably should have cut the Vampire, even if she is good with triple Rats, and I am actually considering whether keeping in the Sign in Blood - which was one of the only ways I could gain card advantage - was right. I boarded it out a few games.
The cards that impressed me the most were the Bats and the Ring - I never got to play the Gorgon - and to a lesser extent, the Crusader and the Blight(s). On the other hand, Bloodthrone Vampire underperformed and was cut in boarding in some matches.
My first match was against an aggressive W/R deck; In game 1, he went to 4 cards to my 6, going first, but actually managed to pressure me after playing a Bladetusk Boar I could not remove and then eating two creatures with a single Flames of the Firebrand. I kept up with him by playing a couple of Bloodhunter Bats, which got him low enough to be Essence Drained out later. He went first again in game two, where we both kept our starting seven - I had boarded out my Bloodthrone Vampire for a second Blight since he played a lot of weenie creatures and token generators. Despite that, I had no answer for his Goblin Looter which he got a ton of value out of, but I managed to win with my Ring of Xathrid. He played the Mindclaw Shaman I saw in the draft when I was holding one card - Pacifism, which I had been holding on to and finally got to use on a Serra Angel that would otherwise have spelled trouble.
In my second match, I faced a B/R deck that seemed pretty aggressive. In the first game, he started out with a Duty-Bound Dead and played a pumped Crimson Muckwader which put a lot of pressure on me, attacking for 4 on turn 3. We both played out a Liliana's Shade, and I managed to turn the game by casting Crippling Blight on his Shade, which he erroneously (since it cannot block) pumped once, bringing him below regen mana for his Muckwader which I had saved an Essence Drain I only just had mana to play for. After that, I overwhelmed him. In game two, he mulled to six and put down Fervor on turn three, so I had a few cards more than him, and I had the Pacifism for his Turn 2 Muckwader this time. On turn 4 (after I had put down a Servant of Nefarox to pressure him instead of a Scorpion since he had no creatures), he played a Knight of Infamy and a Walking Corpse and attacked in only with the knight, which I happily traded with (I don't think he had considered I would block even though Servant is a great blocker) since it had protection from some of my deck and I was ahead on cards. I got to deploy my Ring of Xathrid and ground him out in a game he could not turn around.
The third match started out really bad; I mulled to a four-card hand of three lands (two Swamps and a Plains) and an Aven Squire, but my opponent played a Talrand's Invocation and followed it up with a Griffin Protector, and though I could stymie the bleed a bit with a Cower in Fear, I really did not have a chance in that game. He showed me Intrepid Hero, so I boarded in a second Blight - but misboarded by bringing out Sign in Blood (which I'd need against his blue CA) instead of the Vampire by accident. I still won game two by racing two Welkin Terns with my boarded-in Healer of the Pride and a couple of Bats. Game three was super-tight, again a race against two Terns but this time with a blue Ring they could use. I had an Essence Drain that I could have killed one of them with (it was 4/3), but he moved the ring from it and onto the other one, and I talked myself into saving it and doing something else with my mana, leaving up the option to try and burn him out. His Intrepid Hero made my Bloodthrone Vampire and my Pump spell a lot worse, but I declined to burn it, too, and ended up losing my Essence Drain to a really well-played Clone that he made ETB as a copy of my Rats to take my only card which would have otherwise let me burn him out after my next attack. I topdecked a Battleflight Eagle and went into the tank, but had no winning attack as far as I could see. I still tried, but an Intrepid Hero stopped my attack short by killing a "jumped" Healer of the Pride and he chumped my Vampire, surviving at something like 4 life and swinging back for the win. It was an exilerating game and I congratulated him on the victory and his great play - not a bad start for this format!
I'm looking forward to your feedback, guys! Cheers, Lobster667.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Deranged Hermit's AVR #2
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3af5j
One word pretty much sums up this draft.... Conjurer's Closet. Okay, so that's two words, but one card that when paired successfully with a second relevant card, creates pure value. How about this line of play... turn 4 Mist Raven into turn 5 closet into perpetual vigilance/bounce.
I like it.
It won me two games on that line alone. But it was the overall power in the air that piloted this deck to a split in the finals.
One word pretty much sums up this draft.... Conjurer's Closet. Okay, so that's two words, but one card that when paired successfully with a second relevant card, creates pure value. How about this line of play... turn 4 Mist Raven into turn 5 closet into perpetual vigilance/bounce.
I like it.
It won me two games on that line alone. But it was the overall power in the air that piloted this deck to a split in the finals.
Sjuppi's Cube Draft #1
Hi!
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3bon5#all
So this was my second cube draft with the MTGO cube, and I'm wondering
what you think.
P1P1: I was considering Ajani, but I've never played with him. I felt
that Coalition Relic would keep me open, and would be good in any
deck.
P1P2: Here I probably should have taken the Coldsteel heart. It's not
as powerful as the Oracle, but it keeps me open. Any way, it turned
out OK since I ended up with a ramp deck.
P1P4: I'm not sure how to evaluate lads this early in the draft. They
are high pick, and Tropical Island is a premium land. I went with the
Plow Under any way, also over Control Magic, but this pick could have
gone in any direction.
P1P9: Here I think I made a mistake, I think Willbender is just better
than Derange Hermit, and I did not even play it. But I wanted
something to ramp into, and the Hermit was the first I picked up.
P2P4: This one was a hard pick. I ended up taking a Cultivate over
Balance and Strip Mine, witch I regretted.Both Strip Mine and Balance
is so good cards, and I don't think it's correct to pass them. Any
ways, they both tabled, and I ended up taking Strip Mine.
P2P6: This pick was between Nobel Hierarch and Breeding Pool. Paralax
Wave was also under consideration.
P2P7: I picked up the Drogskol Reaver, but it should probably just
have been the Polluted Delta or Sorin.
P2P9: Is Edric good? I wanted to take him, but I went whit the safe
pick with a card I've played with before.
P3P7: I probably should have taken the elf over Explore, due to both
Cradle and Natural Order.
I ended up playing this list:
Taiga
Verdant Catacombs
Tropical Island
Savannah
Rootbound Crag
Strip Mine
Gaea's Cradle
Flooded Strand
4 Forest
1 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Island
Llanowar Elves
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Enclave Cryptologist
Noble Hierarch
Tarmogoyf
Palladium Myr
Oracle of Mul Daya
Obstinate Baloth
Broodmate Dragon
Woodfall Primus
Terastodon
Grim Monolith
Explore
Coalition Relic
Cultivate
Bant Charm
Natural Order
Parallax Wave
Faith's Fetters
Garruk Wildspeaker
Venser, the Sojourner
Mirari's Wake
Plow Under
Devil's Play
Sideboard:
Mystic Snake
Deranged Hermit
Trygon Predator
Genju of the Spires
Channel
Drogskol Reaver
Deep Analysis
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Worn Powerstone
Xiahou Dun, the One-Eyed
Crucible of Worlds
Krosan Grip
Rishadan Port
Some changes I would have made to the main deck:
Out:
Mirari's Wake
Enclave Cryptologist
In:
Channel
Trygon Predator
What do you think?
Krbmeister's AVR draft #4
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3b6wg
P1P2: After first picking Wolfir Silverheart, is the next pick automatically Triumph of Ferocity? I think I death wind pick 2 enough to be looking at black? How do you order this pack? I think the safest thing is Borderland Ranger early in case I need some help with mana, and it also makes it easy to play the Silverheart.
P1P3: Is Riders good enough here? I haven’t picked a second color yet but I’m hesitant to try GW. I take Falkenrath Exterminator here as a 2 drop that demands action if played early. GR isn’t the worst right?
P1P5: I pretty much take Nightshade Peddler to hopefully pair with Falkenrath Exterminator. Even without that crazy combo, this card can be aggressive early or defensive late. But there's a ton of great black cards here. Are any of them worth cutting red and looking GB?
P2P4: Riot Ringleader vs Howlgeist. I don’t have many humans but I already have a couple big creatures. I think if I needed a curve topper I would have taken the Howlgeist but I’d rather have the 3cc riot ringleader here.
P2P7: Kessig Malcontents: In the human deck I’d easily Kessig Malcontents but I feel like Fervent Cathar could put some nasty beatings down especially when you’re looking to sneak in with the exterminator or something of the sort. I’m pretty happy with the Cathar here.
P3P1: Riders of Galvony #2! I think even if someone told me I’d see two riders in this draft I still wouldn’t have picked them, even though I like the card. I still don’t have that many humans anyway. For me it was between Kruin Striker and guise of fire. I really like the trample potential and I’m playing a pretty creature heavy strategy so I think it’s the right way to go.
P3P2: Very similar to P1P2, but now I think Triumph is worthwhile. Not enough humans to make Vigilante Justice great, though another Borderland Ranger is tempting. I’m hoping to see another one.
P3P3: Pillar of Flame vs. Havengul Vampire. Pillar may be premium removal in this set but Havengul is a plan. Playing creature heavy I see myself trading enough for him to grow quickly. Also I have yet to pick a 4 drop. He’ll work.
P3P5: Nettle swine here because I’d like more 4 drops and Nettle Swine is safer from the weak removal in the set and can trade up. Hanweir Lancer is quite tempting though.
Deck Construction:
I feel like I ended up with a pretty aggressive deck with a couple nice combos and a decent curve topped out well. I can either play aggressive with the three riot ringleaders and 10 humans, or sit back and wait to hit some of my bigger cards. Looking back I think I’d take out the Wildwood Geist for a second Pathbreaker Wurm. I liked my sideboard too (mostly shown on the right of the sideboard). If I was playing someone aggressive I’d throw in the devil. I was interested to try lair Delve and I think it’s decent for a creature heavy deck. I’d take it out if I needed answers to flying creatures. Against a slower deck I’d throw the Pathbreaker Wurm in with the Geist. 2 Borderland Rangers worked great, I may have been happy with a third. Three Riot Ringleaders did work.
I posted video of (most) my draft and matches (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBE210D8034EED350). I managed to lose one game. Of particular interest, I’d like some feedback on Match 2 Game 3 (http://youtu.be/jGoccTfBLNI). I messed up the live video so I recorded the replay. Right about 3 minutes is where the interesting choices come up. Looking back I can see some choices I didn’t see. I kept saying I wanted to protect my Havengul Vampire from the Undead Executioner. But having a joint assault in hand was probably all the “protection” I needed. When the Executioner dies, does the vampire get the +1/+1 counter before the -2/-2 from the executioner resolves? Moving on from that, was it fair to protect my second riot ringleader in hopes to attack for an extra 6 points of damage? Had I played the vampire, he wouldn't have had the mana for both deathwind and the devils to block. At 5:50 I think I should have just attacked with everything regardless of what he had in hand. Even if my vampire died I would have hit for 6 putting him to 2 with devils in hand. I feel like that was my biggest mistake. Even after the silly Essence of Harvest play, on my turn I could have attacked with everyone, having the vampire blocked, then get the last two damage in with devil and won.
Who knows how it really all would have turned out? He had some extra cards in hand so he may have had answers the whole time. But I think it’s worthwhile in tricky situations to reevaluate key plays.
Thanks for all the help everyone!
I started using twitch tv to post videos. The 4 pack sealed is up there in one big video, then the big phantom draft in a bunch of videos, and last is this latest tournament. Feel free to check them out here: http://www.twitch.tv/krbmeister
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Krbmeister's AVR Draft #3
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3af5g
This is my first time drafting mono black. I was able to get a ton of removal so I was happy. I typically play a more aggressive style which I think made my deck torn on how to work. There's a great article about the control/aggro mono black deck (http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/li/196) which I wish I had thought about more while drafting. Now I know for next time!
I was pretty happy with my deck. Ended up going 1-2 though. I have to credit some of this to miss plays. There were definitely some tricks I missed. M2G3 with a dead heat and I was just one turn too slow.
I didn't see a single butcher's ghoul or blood artist which was a bummer too.
P1P3: Black seems good here. It's not typically my first choice but there are three great cards for black and not much else. What's the pick here?
P1P5: Grave exchange just seems so slow. Is the creature better here?
P2P1: Slaver over Mist Raven? Raven would have definitely pushed me to BU but mono black was just looking so good.
P2P2: Splinters vs Death wind?
P3P1: Amass vs Appetite?
P3P4: What's better? Second Seclusion or Second Taskmaster?
P3P5: Grave Exchange is the better pick here going more control. By this point I shouldn't have been looking for cheap stuff.
Deck Construction: Looking back now, I should have been thinking about more control. Set up board states to effectively utilize my double barter in blood. Take out the hunted ghoul and crypt creeper for the grave exchange and predator's gambit (probably should have had more grave exchanges anyway instead of those cards). Is the moonsilver spear worth playing? It may be slow but 4/4 flying angles are great! I paired this with the bloodflow connoisseur and homicidal seclusion and just got a +1/+1 counter with every attack for a win.
Is it worth it to splash blue? What about with a mist raven too? I just think it's so much nicer to not have to worry about the mana base here.
Thanks for all the help everyone!
This is my first time drafting mono black. I was able to get a ton of removal so I was happy. I typically play a more aggressive style which I think made my deck torn on how to work. There's a great article about the control/aggro mono black deck (http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/li/196) which I wish I had thought about more while drafting. Now I know for next time!
I was pretty happy with my deck. Ended up going 1-2 though. I have to credit some of this to miss plays. There were definitely some tricks I missed. M2G3 with a dead heat and I was just one turn too slow.
I didn't see a single butcher's ghoul or blood artist which was a bummer too.
P1P3: Black seems good here. It's not typically my first choice but there are three great cards for black and not much else. What's the pick here?
P1P5: Grave exchange just seems so slow. Is the creature better here?
P2P1: Slaver over Mist Raven? Raven would have definitely pushed me to BU but mono black was just looking so good.
P2P2: Splinters vs Death wind?
P3P1: Amass vs Appetite?
P3P4: What's better? Second Seclusion or Second Taskmaster?
P3P5: Grave Exchange is the better pick here going more control. By this point I shouldn't have been looking for cheap stuff.
Deck Construction: Looking back now, I should have been thinking about more control. Set up board states to effectively utilize my double barter in blood. Take out the hunted ghoul and crypt creeper for the grave exchange and predator's gambit (probably should have had more grave exchanges anyway instead of those cards). Is the moonsilver spear worth playing? It may be slow but 4/4 flying angles are great! I paired this with the bloodflow connoisseur and homicidal seclusion and just got a +1/+1 counter with every attack for a win.
Is it worth it to splash blue? What about with a mist raven too? I just think it's so much nicer to not have to worry about the mana base here.
Thanks for all the help everyone!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Oraymw's AVR limited overview part 2
Seriously guys (and gals!), what are you still doing here. Click the hyperlink already.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Christian's AVR Draft #1
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3a4d9
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?
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?
Krbmeister's AVR Draft #2
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3ac2e
Here's my second AVR draft. It wasn't quite as exciting as the first. I went 0-2 plus a win from a bye. I got sucked into white from my first two picks and never quite found what I wanted the deck to do. Got some of the cool human cards but I think the deck was just split trying to do two different things but wasn't good enough at either one. Definitely could use some help figuring out how to have done this better.
What's better? Lightning prowess or Guies of Fire?
Is Burn at the Stake playable? What about Angel of Jubilation? Defy Death?
Here's my second AVR draft. It wasn't quite as exciting as the first. I went 0-2 plus a win from a bye. I got sucked into white from my first two picks and never quite found what I wanted the deck to do. Got some of the cool human cards but I think the deck was just split trying to do two different things but wasn't good enough at either one. Definitely could use some help figuring out how to have done this better.
What's better? Lightning prowess or Guies of Fire?
Is Burn at the Stake playable? What about Angel of Jubilation? Defy Death?
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Oraymw's AVR Draft #2
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=3a6nv
I ended up in UG again, no surprises there, but it's definitely where I want to be. The draft portion went really well. I could have picked up some strong Red and White cards in pack 2, but passing them on seemed pretty good, since I really got hooked up in pack three.
My questions are as follows:
1. P1P9 seems like it shouldn't matter much, but I'm interested in what people think about taking the sideboard card over the distraction.
2. Should I have jumped into Red or White in pack two, or was I right to keep passing it down the line?
3. This is the big one. P3P3... do you take Mist Raven or Soul of the Harvest?
As for deckbuilding, I decided to cut the Deathwind / Abundant Growth package. Keeping it would have meant cutting both Spectral Prisons, which just doesn't seem right. However, there are plenty of matchups where Spectral Prison sucks, and in those matchups, I'd be perfectly happy to cut the Prisons for the Death Wind package. I also decided to leave out the Pathbreaker Wurm in favor of a second Nettle Swine.
So, my questions for this one are:
1. Do you put in the Deathwind package, or keep the two Prisons?
2. Do you put in the Wurm over the Nettle Swine?
As for the games:
M1G1 – I go up against BR. He gets down an early Scalding devil, but I rip two Islands in a row, and get down Fettergeist, and then Mist Raven on a Hanweir Lancer. Tandem Lookout + Mist Raven was a pretty severe beating. He managed to get a really big Havengul Vampire after playing Thatcher Revolt. But Crippling Chill + Trusted Forcemage closed out the game.
M1G2 – T3 Fettergeist, T4 Mist Raven, T5 Druid’s Familiar is a pretty severe beating. I accidentally let my Fettergeist die, but filled my board with Borderland Ranger and Scrapskin Drake. Into the Void + Peel from Reality + Crippling Chill finishes him off.
Match 2 – My opponent was WB. The replays didn’t work here, so I can’t recount the games, but he mulled to five in the first, and I crushed him. Game 2, I got Fettergeist into Trusted Forcemage and crushed him again.
M3 was against clanmate Duerstine. His deck was a pretty good RG build. In the first game, I got off to a pretty good early start, and had him up against the wall, but then he dropped both Ulvenwald Tracker and Zealous Conscripts in the same game for a huge tempo swing. The next turn, he started picking off my guys. I had him at two life with a Scrapskin Drake, but he killed that. I managed to rip a Mist Raven, bounce the Tracker and survive the backswing. He didn’t have removal, so I won.
Game 2 was over pretty quickly. He drew all lands, I drew all creatures and tempo spells.
Let me know what you think.
I ended up in UG again, no surprises there, but it's definitely where I want to be. The draft portion went really well. I could have picked up some strong Red and White cards in pack 2, but passing them on seemed pretty good, since I really got hooked up in pack three.
My questions are as follows:
1. P1P9 seems like it shouldn't matter much, but I'm interested in what people think about taking the sideboard card over the distraction.
2. Should I have jumped into Red or White in pack two, or was I right to keep passing it down the line?
3. This is the big one. P3P3... do you take Mist Raven or Soul of the Harvest?
As for deckbuilding, I decided to cut the Deathwind / Abundant Growth package. Keeping it would have meant cutting both Spectral Prisons, which just doesn't seem right. However, there are plenty of matchups where Spectral Prison sucks, and in those matchups, I'd be perfectly happy to cut the Prisons for the Death Wind package. I also decided to leave out the Pathbreaker Wurm in favor of a second Nettle Swine.
So, my questions for this one are:
1. Do you put in the Deathwind package, or keep the two Prisons?
2. Do you put in the Wurm over the Nettle Swine?
As for the games:
M1G1 – I go up against BR. He gets down an early Scalding devil, but I rip two Islands in a row, and get down Fettergeist, and then Mist Raven on a Hanweir Lancer. Tandem Lookout + Mist Raven was a pretty severe beating. He managed to get a really big Havengul Vampire after playing Thatcher Revolt. But Crippling Chill + Trusted Forcemage closed out the game.
M1G2 – T3 Fettergeist, T4 Mist Raven, T5 Druid’s Familiar is a pretty severe beating. I accidentally let my Fettergeist die, but filled my board with Borderland Ranger and Scrapskin Drake. Into the Void + Peel from Reality + Crippling Chill finishes him off.
Match 2 – My opponent was WB. The replays didn’t work here, so I can’t recount the games, but he mulled to five in the first, and I crushed him. Game 2, I got Fettergeist into Trusted Forcemage and crushed him again.
M3 was against clanmate Duerstine. His deck was a pretty good RG build. In the first game, I got off to a pretty good early start, and had him up against the wall, but then he dropped both Ulvenwald Tracker and Zealous Conscripts in the same game for a huge tempo swing. The next turn, he started picking off my guys. I had him at two life with a Scrapskin Drake, but he killed that. I managed to rip a Mist Raven, bounce the Tracker and survive the backswing. He didn’t have removal, so I won.
Game 2 was over pretty quickly. He drew all lands, I drew all creatures and tempo spells.
Let me know what you think.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Deranged Hermit's AVR #1
http://www.raredraft.com/watch?d=39yy8
Just wanted to pass you along this draft from the other night, the only real archetype i've gotten excited about. UR humans splashing white for righteous blow removal. Went 2-1 beating two watered down UG decks, losing to a super efficient BG deck that ended sweeping the draft (i actually gave him his only game loss, i got a cookie for that).
Draft Analysis:
I dont think anyone in this draft knew that they were all supposed to be drafting Green, self included. And in it's wake, 3 of my opponents seemingly were picking up each others scraps in trying to take the open green cards being passed around the table. Blue was also somewhat heavily drafted, as it should be, and I was left without many of the critical cards you want to see in U... like Into the Void, Crippling Chill, Latch Seeker, Gryph Vanguards, and no multiples of Wingcrafter or Mist Raven.
But what I did end up with was a very aggressive URw humans build (13 humans + thatcher revolt), with several bounce and blink options. Zealous Conscripts was my bomb, and top end of my curve. 11 creatures early in the curve, not includeing a Thatcher Revolt. The interaction between the various blink effects and Kessig Malcontents won me several games. And then in the last game, I was finally able to play my conscripts late in the game (with a very comfortable board position), and just for kicks I flickered the conscripts and the creature i already stole (which permanently steals him, while stealing a 2nd permanent for the turn). Most would say that's a solid turn.
Also, I have become more impressed with the Nephalia Smuggler. He's a poor man's Deadeye Navigator, and he's just pure value. For four mana and a 2nd relavent creature, you have a permanent blocker (which eliminates un-fun things like lifelink), and gets you an additional trigger on your 187 ability. This is awesome with cards like Mist Raven, Malcontents, Gryph Vanguard (if I had any), the Conscripts (if I played him more than once in the draft) and other soulbonding necessities.
I'll be looking to draft U heavy decks in the future, pairing with G or R for all the reason listen above.
Just wanted to pass you along this draft from the other night, the only real archetype i've gotten excited about. UR humans splashing white for righteous blow removal. Went 2-1 beating two watered down UG decks, losing to a super efficient BG deck that ended sweeping the draft (i actually gave him his only game loss, i got a cookie for that).
Draft Analysis:
I dont think anyone in this draft knew that they were all supposed to be drafting Green, self included. And in it's wake, 3 of my opponents seemingly were picking up each others scraps in trying to take the open green cards being passed around the table. Blue was also somewhat heavily drafted, as it should be, and I was left without many of the critical cards you want to see in U... like Into the Void, Crippling Chill, Latch Seeker, Gryph Vanguards, and no multiples of Wingcrafter or Mist Raven.
But what I did end up with was a very aggressive URw humans build (13 humans + thatcher revolt), with several bounce and blink options. Zealous Conscripts was my bomb, and top end of my curve. 11 creatures early in the curve, not includeing a Thatcher Revolt. The interaction between the various blink effects and Kessig Malcontents won me several games. And then in the last game, I was finally able to play my conscripts late in the game (with a very comfortable board position), and just for kicks I flickered the conscripts and the creature i already stole (which permanently steals him, while stealing a 2nd permanent for the turn). Most would say that's a solid turn.
Also, I have become more impressed with the Nephalia Smuggler. He's a poor man's Deadeye Navigator, and he's just pure value. For four mana and a 2nd relavent creature, you have a permanent blocker (which eliminates un-fun things like lifelink), and gets you an additional trigger on your 187 ability. This is awesome with cards like Mist Raven, Malcontents, Gryph Vanguard (if I had any), the Conscripts (if I played him more than once in the draft) and other soulbonding necessities.
I'll be looking to draft U heavy decks in the future, pairing with G or R for all the reason listen above.
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