For whatever reason, once I volunteer/agree to do Drafting Withs, it’s like I forget the rudiments of drafting and start flailing around blindly. I guess I have some form of stage fright. Regardless, as I hinted at last time, I decided that for this walkthrough, I’d show a draft that actually went reasonably well. There have been plenty of failures since last time; I’m not trying to Eisel* you.
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
I’ll have you know that while this dragon did help give my draft direction, it never once hit the board in three rounds of play. The more expensive the bomb, the more likely an aggressive start is to hamper its effectiveness. Were there no enormous flying mythics with completely uncalled-for abilities in the pack, I’d have taken Prey Upon. Gallows Warden, Moon Heron, and Village Ironsmith aren’t far behind that.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Harvest Pyre is reasonable, but Elder of Laurels can completely take over a game. It’s extremely unlikely either of the players to my right took a green card over it; since it’s so powerful and since green is likely to keep coming, I’m pretty committed to red/green unless something strange happens. It’s unfortunate I passed those Prey Upons, but even if I knew the guy to my left would take them (hardly a sure thing), I’m not going to give up good picks in packs 1 and 3 just because pack 2 might get somewhat awkward.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Since it’s easy to pick up late-drops, and you don’t want too many, Outcasts wasn’t much of a consideration. Thus, I knew I was going to take one of the red three-drops. There are four common red three-drop creatures in Innistrad, and the order of their desirability is rather disputed. My feeling was that the order was generally Kessig Wolf, Crossway Vampire, Feral Ridgewolf, Riot Devils; but my associate Mr. Ford informs me that two-time 2011 Limited GP Top 8er Matt Costa has Riot Devils—the red Jwari Scuttler—at the top of the list. I’m not sure he’s wrong, or whether there’s even a right answer. Here, though, since I looked to be red-heavy already, the Vampire’s double red wasn’t an issue; and since the Wolf and Vampire are pretty close anyway, I used “potential to clear the way for my game-winning bomb” as a tiebreaker.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Removal is removal, and it’s nice to have answers to Ludevic’s Abomination, Murder of Crows, etc. While Village Ironsmith is solid, it’s relatively easy to get quality two-drops in red/green, so they don’t need to be prioritized highly.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Travel Preparations is a complete blowout in green/white, but marginal in every other combination. Again, I’m always reluctant to splash unless I’m desperate or unless it wouldn’t hurt my mana. Spider Spawning is just too erratic, and it’s difficult to reach a critical mass of creatures in your deck and/or graveyard to play it. (When you do, though, it’s a great feeling.)
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Black seems about as open as green, but fortunately, there’s a Geistflame to keep me from being tempted into derailing. Neither that nor Banshee should still be in the pack, probably even if the pack was amazing.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Nightbird’s Clutches is not my kind of card. Occasionally I’ll draft a janky black/red aggro deck in which I’d want to play it, but even in most aggressive decks, I’d prefer not to mess with it. Limited draws are erratic enough when your individual cards are essentially useful in any situation.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Even if I’d taken the Banshee, this would have gotten me back on track. What is this, amateur hour?
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
While I don’t enjoy spinning the Wheel of Variance, others do. I’m more likely to become vexed by this Delusion than want to board in a Grave Bramble, especially with how my mana is looking.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
This pack was good, but people were taking Grizzled Outcasts and Naturalize over Orchard Spirit, so I mean…
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Traitorous Blood may be a step or two above Nightbird’s Clutches, but it’s another card that exacerbates subpar draws.
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Considering that I already have a Cultist, though, I’m marginally more likely to play a Blood than a Moonmist.
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Like Back from the Brink, Creeping Renaissance is a strong source of late-game card advantage. It can be backbreaking, but against many decks, you won’t have an opportunity to tap out without affecting the board that turn. There are many times where you’d rather just have a Night Revelers or Kindercatch. All told, Renaissance is a fine curve-topper, but it’s not worth spending an early pick on.
I have four three-drops already and no two-drops, but Bloodcrazed Neonate is too hit-or-miss to consider it over the always-menacing Villagers.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Usually when I draft a Wolf Run, I have the choice between clumsily forcing it into a green/white deck (which I really can’t recommend unless one has several mana fixers) and leaving it on the sidelines. Occasionally, something goes my way.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
As you can see, I’m confident that I’ll be able to scrape together enough two-drops to fill out my curve later, especially with how well pack 1 went.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
For spite.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Most decks just don’t have space for a Dagger. It really shines in the various iterations of blue/white, with its Invisible Stalkers and Spirit tokens/other fliers. Obviously, I want the Pilgrim here.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Oh look, another excruciatingly late Travel Preparations. I think I may have lost as many matches to that card as to everything else combined. Unfortunately, one Pilgrim is not enough to splash it off, and I’m not playing Plains alongside Wolf Run and Crossway Vampires. Even though it taps for “colorless,” my deck could really use another Pilgrim anyway.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Sleuth is underwhelming, but I have more than enough three-drops already.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Earthquake was always good because it scaled and damaged players, and Pyroclasm was usually good because it hit all creatures. Rolling Temblor isn’t quite as bad as Whipflare, but it’s not the type of sweeper you can just cram into any deck. Temblor is better against me than for me, and I have no qualms about snatching up an unexciting two-drop over it.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Juggernaut is better than Darkthicket Wolf, but sometimes you have to take the latter due to curve concerns. Because I have a couple two-drops and the Pilgrims, I’m comfortable taking the Juggernaut here, but I think the Wolf would be a reasonable pick as well.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Either the rare was Devil’s Play, or this is, in fact, full-blown Clown Shoes Amateur Hour┢. There’s little I’d take over the Gang pick 1 pack 1, and I find it hard to believe no one to my right is red, though I suppose it’s possible.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
I have plenty of four-drops, and Geistflame is better than Mystics in a vacuum anyway.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
I think Villagers is better than Darkthicket Wolf even after adjusting for mana cost, but good two-drops are scarcer than good three-drops, so Wolf will be the pick over Villagers pretty much every time, thus paradoxically making Wolf the “better” card.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
It seems to me that Essence of the Wild isn’t appreciably better than Kindercatch. There will be games where you want a stream of vanilla 6/6s in the later turns, but I suspect these will be rare.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Now that I have two Pilgrims, I may splash the flashback off just those. It’s not like I need another random dude.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
This pick is somewhat arbitrary. I’m not going to play the Ridgewolf…but I’m not really that scared of Cloistered Youth because of my two Geistflames. I could have taken Mask of Avacyn too, but I can’t see myself maindecking it or even boarding it in.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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DECKLIST
2 Avacyn’s Pilgrim
Darkthicket Wolf
Hamlet Captain
Ambush Viper
Ashmouth Hound
Elder of Laurels
Villagers of Estwald
Orchard Spirit
Hanweir Watchkeep
Kessig Wolf
Festerhide Boar
Galvanic Juggernaut
Instigator Gang
Skirsdag Cultist
Grizzled Outcasts
Balefire Dragon
2 Geistflame
Prey Upon
Harvest Pyre
Travel Preparations
Into the Maw of Hell
8 Forest
8 Mountain
Kessig Wolf Run
At the start of the draft, it looked like I was going to be heavier red, but when I got the two Pilgrims, it became prudent to have a more balanced mana base. Thus, the Crossway Vampires got the axe. With seventeen lands and two Pilgrims, I’m a little mana heavy, but I need all sixteen of those colored sources; and the Wolf Run, Elder, Dragon, and Geistflames give me something to do with the extra mana.
ROUND ONE vs. BLUE/BLACK
Game 1: My opponent mulliganed, and we traded some early drops. I managed to Geistflame a Vampire Interloper and a Markov Patrician, but he had an Altar’s Reap for the latter. When I finally drew my fourth land, I played Juggernaut and a 5/5 Festerhide Boar, which his deck didn’t seem well-equipped to handle. He had to play Mirror-Mad Phantasm with no blue open, and it was easily dispatched by a flashed-back Geistflame, clearing the way for my monsters.
Game 2: He mulliganed again, and this game wasn’t particularly close. His first few plays were Laboratory Maniac and Forbidden Alchemy, and I had Juggernaut and other assorted beaters, plus a Geistflame for his Phantasm once again.
ROUND TWO vs. GREEN/BLUE/RED
Game 1: I led off with Hamlet Captain, then Orchard Spirit instead of Geistflaming his Deranged Assistant. He played a Daybreak Ranger (with no Mountains yet), and on my turn I played Instigator Gang post-combat because I’m a giant idiot. He hit a Mountain and played Fortress Crab, but when I Geistflamed his Assistant and played a 5/5 Boar, he decided he was too far behind and scooped ’em up.
Game 2: He played a Ghoulcaller’s Bell (in round 2, yes) and stalled on two lands.
ROUND THREE vs. BLUE/WHITE
My opponent offered the split, which I ordinarily would have accepted, but I figured I’d try to get a real match in for posterity.
Game 1: My opponent was on the play. Over the first several turns, he played a Doomed Traveler, two Avacynian Priests, and a Voiceless Spirit; I had Avacyn’s Pilgrim, Orchard Spirit, Hanweir Watchkeep, and a Geistflame for his Spirit. I let Watchkeep flip, and after he tapped out to play a Gallows Warden, I sent in with my team. He traded Traveler for Viper, and I played a 5/5 Boar post-combat. Unfortunately, he had a Fiend Hunter for the Boar, and he kept my squad (including a Juggernaut) mostly locked down while he went to work in the air. He even had Moment of Heroism to keep my Geistflame from finishing off Fiend Hunter when he blocked with it. The tappers were problematic, but I was still getting in for a few damage a turn; so when I topdecked Kessig Wolf Run the turn before I was going to die to his fliers, it was good enough for exactsies.
Having seen two tappers, I boarded out Travel Preparations for Nightbird’s Clutches. I figured my opponent wouldn’t expect the Clutches, and as such, it could potentially really throw off his race math.
Game 2: We both mulled, and he played Stitcher’s Apprentice and Geist of Saint Traft. I was stuck on all Mountains, but my Kessig Wolf kept his Geist at bay. I soon drew a Forest, enabling me to cast Watchkeep and use Prey Upon to shoot down his freshly cast Voiceless Spirit while he was tapped out. Soon, his board was Apprentice, Geist, a 2/2 token, Delver of Secrets, and Civilized Scholar against my 5/5 Werewolf, a Kessig Wolf, Hamlet Captain, and Elder of Laurels. I attacked with my 5/5 and 3/1, and he gang-blocked and cast Spare from Evil; choked on mana, I let both irrelevant creatures die so I could commit Instigator Gang to the table. Over the next few turns, he equipped Delver with Silver-Inlaid Dagger and flipped it with Moment of Heroism, which he cast to drain me for eight and keep Gang from flipping. I ended the game stuck on five land with Into the Maw of Hell and Balefire in hand.
Game 3: This was a strange affair in which we were both threat-light. He played Urgent Exorcism on my Orchard Spirit and Dissipate on my Skirsdag Cultist, but my Elder of Laurels stuck. When he blocked my Ambush Viper with a freshly cast tapper, I didn’t want to spend all my mana pumping just to have my guy Rebuked (or whatever), so I let them trade. My opponent was hitting me for one a turn with a Spirit token while he kept me from attacking for a few turns with Feeling of Dread, but eventually he ran out of defenses.
What’s the general consensus on the game walkthroughs nowadays? Should I give brief narratives like I’ve been doing, even shorter synopses, or more detailed descriptions? Would anyone read the longer descriptions, or is that not worth the effort now that people have grown accustomed to watching draft videos?
*For those who haven’t been playing more than five or so years, there are various definitions of “Eiseling,” but here I mean “only posting winning drafts in order to create the false illusion of mastery.”