I’m gonna be brief today and spare you guys any kind of pathetic excuse for an introduction.
If you recall, a couple of weeks ago I did a drafting guide for the 5cG archetype in Champions/Betrayers/Saviors. This week I want to look at an actual Walkthrough with plenty of commentary that should help anyone trying to learn how to draft the deck better. This draft is from an 8-4 on MODO from last week.
The Draft: Champions
Pack 1
Soulless Revival, Serpent Skin, Nezumi Cutthroat, Kodama’s Might, Wicked Akuba, Nezumi Ronin, Dripping-Tongue Zubera, Bushi Tenderfoot, Pinecrest Ridge, Kami of Lunacy, Iname, Life Aspect
Well, the opening booster of the draft isn’t too difficult, as you can see. I have only a couple possible choices – and I think the main issue here is color preference.
Let’s talk about Nezumi Cutthroat first. This card has been on a proverbial rollercoaster the past year as the format has kept changing. When Champions first came out, it was touted as the best Black common. Once things settled down though, pretty much everyone realized that Scuttling Death was just a better card overall. At this point, Fear Rat was still good, but no longer on top of the world.
Then came the release of Betrayers.
As I’m sure you can recall, Betrayers was bad news for our friend the Rat since more people were drafting Black (negating his Fear), and there were also more ways to deal one point of damage.
Now that we’ve come full circle with all three sets, I’m happy to say that Fear Rat is back to being a good pick again since he will cause lots of problems for UG, UW, and other popular color combinations.
Anyway, this is supposed to be a draft walkthrough and I kinda started rambling off there, so I should get back to the point. Obviously, the decision here is between the Rat and the Kodama’s Might, and I think you can certainly justify taking either of the two. If you asked me back in CCB, I would say you were insane if you took the Rat – but with Saviors now involved, he has returned to being a very solid card.
If you read me regularly, you probably already know what I took from this pack and where my preferences lie.
The funny thing about this pack is that all of the other good cards are also in Black and Green, but none of them are as good as the Rat or the Might, so I really didn’t have too much of a hard time here.
My Pick: Kodama’s Might
Pack 2
Feral Deceiver, Peer Through Depths, Humble Budoka, Soratami Cloudskater, Uncontrollable Anger, Soratami Mirror-Guard, Scuttling Death, Indomitable Will, Burr Grafter, Sideswipe, Hisoka, Minamo Sensei
This booster also seems to present a fork in the road.
The best two cards here are easily Soratami Mirror-Guard and Scuttling Death. The notion of taking Burr Grafter second just because I first picked a Green card is just ludicrous at this point, and I already talked plenty last week about why I’m no longer a fan of the Feral Deceiver.
One of the driving points behind this pick was the fact that I just passed Nezumi Cutthroat, Soulless Revival, and Wicked Akuba in the previous booster. Because of this, it seems only logical to go with the Mirror-Guard. Something worth noting is that I do like to splash Scuttling Death, which makes it more attractive here – but it’s just too easy to take the flier and get into U/G, which has become a great archetype in this format. I think the cards are pretty close in power level and the fact that I just passed all of that Black in pack one makes it easy for me to take the Soratami.
My Pick: Soratami Mirror-Guard
Pack 3
Befoul, Orochi Leafcaller, Cursed Ronin, Psychic Puppetry, Lava Spike, Kami of the Waning Moon, Floating-Dream Zubera, Candles’ Glow, Hana Kami, Untaidake, the Cloud Keeper
The first thing I noticed was that there is a Orochi Leafcaller in the pack. Since it’s still early, there’s a very high chance that this guy will table – and this is a good thing to know if you are looking to get into a multi-color Green deck like the one I wrote about a few weeks back. So far we are on the right track for drafting 5cG as long as the packs work out.
As far as what I’m actually picking from this pack, I had no problem dismissing the Befoul for same reason as the Scuttling Death above. This time, though, Befoul isn’t even splashable and I have shipped even more Black after passing the Scutts. The other good cards here are Hana Kami, Candles’ Glow, and Waning Moon. Waning Moon is actually a decent splash in a U/G deck, but not something I want to be taking this early.
That leaves me with Hana Kami or Candles’ Glow as possible options. Glow is great in 5cG if you manage to get enough good Arcane to splice onto it, but Hana Kami is just the most flexible option here. I certainly will pick up enough Arcane to run it (you only need three or four), and it is guaranteed to make the deck since I’m definitely in Green. Hana Kami is also a very high pick in this format for any type of Green deck, and not just my wacky five color creations.
My Pick: Hana Kami
Pack 4
Kami of the Hunt, Reach Through Mists, Brutal Deceiver, Soul of Magma, Eye of Nowhere, Kami of Old Stone, Orochi Eggwatcher, Dampen Thought, Soulblast
This is something I’m not extremely happy about.
Going into this pack I was excited and ready to draft 5cG and this pack doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. Sure, I could take the Dampen Thought fourth pick when I’m not even sure it will make the cut. I could also check myself into the insane asylum, but you don’t see me rushing off to do that, do you?
Really, though, I’m just complaining because the minute I looked at the pack I knew I would have to take one of the Green men. I don’t like taking them this early, as I feel that they are mainly filler and easy to grab later or in the other sets. Most of you probably think that I’m an idiot for saying this is a “bad” thing, but I’d much rather pick up a mana fixer here or something of substance rather than a lame three drop.
And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine.
Complaining aside, Kami of the Hunt is slightly superior to the Eggwatcher in my book. Eggwatcher has certainly gone up in value recently, since a lot of stalemates break out and he’s actually not very hard to flip…. But most people don’t know this and he will usually table. I don’t think he’ll make the lap this time around because the pack just isn’t very deep, but that’s okay. My recommendation would be to take the Eggwatcher higher than you were in CCB, but don’t get crazy with it, as he’s still pretty easy to kill before he flips.
My Pick: Kami of the Hunt
Pack 5
Matsu-Tribe Decoy, Kami of the Waning Moon, Callous Deceiver, Yamabushi’s Storm, Unearthly Blizzard, Joyous Respite, Hinder, Rootrunner
What a mediocre set of boosters.
Pick five and there really isn’t anything spectacular in Green (which is usually the underdrafted color, as I normally get Kodama’s Reach or Sakura-Tribe Elder 4th or 5th pick!). Sure, we have Rootrunner, who has gone down quite a bit in value over time. He suffers from the same problem that the Feral Deceiver does; you just don’t have the time and mana available to make his ability effective until the late game. Usually he will have to come down on turn 4 and trade off for something or be burned away – but at least then you can be comforted by the fact that he has Soulshift, unlike the Deceiver. His ability is still quite good in the late game, however, as you can ensure that your opponent gets one dead draw if you can win with what’s on the board and in your hand.
We also have the Decoy here who has always been playable but not amazing. The other options are another Waning Moon, Hinder (which is mediocre in U/G), and Joyous Respite (which I know I will table since even after writing my 5cG article, still nobody takes it).
From this small set of choices, I think Rootrunner is easily the best pick, as it goes well with my Hunt and Hana Kami that I’ve already drafted. Looks at this point like I’m headed for U/G, or maybe base Green with a splash or two.
My Pick: Rootrunner
Pack 6
Kitsune Diviner, Scuttling Death, Kami of the Hunt, Pull Under, Ethereal Haze, Counsel of the Soratami, Squelch
Sad that I didn’t pick the first Scuttling Death, aren’t you?
Don’t be! This one is still perfectly splashable!
There are some of you who may think I’m silly for passing up a second Kami of the Hunt and going for consistency instead of power, but take a look at the specifics. At the moment I don’t have a solid second color, and both Mirror-Guard and Scutts are perfectly acceptable splashes. Scuttling Death is also great with the rest of my cards, as it creates a Soulshift chain with Rootrunner and Hana Kami to abuse whatever Arcane I pick up later.
In my opinion, taking the Kami of the Hunt here is just too defensive; if you want to have the best deck at the table, you should be willing to branch out and go for the much more powerful card with this pick. Live a little! Take the Scuttling Death.
My Pick: Scuttling Death
Pack 7
Kami of the Painted Road, Distress, Hisoka’s Defiance, Orochi Sustainer, Quiet Purity, Wear Away
Now this is more like it.
A seventh-pick Sustainer is what I’m used to getting nowadays, since most good players dislike Green. There really isn’t much else here for me, though I do have some other comments about the pack.
Distress is amazing, guys. It went from very few people liking it back in CCC to probably the best discard spell in the block now. Any heavy Black deck should scoop this up immediately in the middle picks of the draft, and I love playing multiples. Getting your opponent’s best card for two mana is just amazing. Also, Painted Road is still a very good White card, and in most cases I like it better than Kami of Tattered Shoji from Betrayers, even though they are close cousins.
My Pick: Orochi Sustainer
Pack 8
Hisoka’s Defiance, Venerable Kumo, Kami of the Painted Road, Akki Avalanchers, Silent-Chant Zubera, Sideswipe, Cleanfall
Another Painted Road here, and I don’t have much to do in the way of decision making.
I really have never liked Venerable Kumo in this block because it only has three toughness. I have no idea why it couldn’t be a 2/4 for five mana and at least be somewhat desirable. Think about it, Tel-Jilad Archers had a much better ability than Soulshift 4, and it was a good card without being completely overpowered. If the Venerable one ends up making my deck, you know I was a few cards short because I don’t like it at all.
Hisoka’s Defiance suffers from the same problem that Hinder has in U/G, you tap out pretty much every turn in the early game. U/G will almost always have a two-drop on turn 2 with Sustainer, Elder, Floodbringer and friends, Loam Dweller, or even a lowly Zubera – and Defiance will usually be forced to sit back and wait. This isn’t what you want to happen.
Defiance is great in a deck without many two-drops, since you can use it to steal the tempo back from your opponent by countering his first threat. It is still a good sideboard card, though, as a lot of the late-game bombs are Spirits and it will do its job well against them for only two mana.
Besides, what other choice do I have here? Venerable Kumo? I think not.
My Pick: Hisoka’s Defiance
I was very fortunate on the lap back and picked up the following playable cards: Soulless Revival, Psychic Puppetry, Joyous Respite, and Squelch. These are all great weapons for the 5cG mage, as I explained a few weeks back.
Going into Betrayers, I still don’t really know where I’m going to end up with this draft – but I do know that I’m Green and most likely splashing Revival, Scutts, and Mirror-Guard and the rest of my deck is pretty solid. The Revival was a great snag, actually, to go with my Hana Kami as I can now “go off” and cast Joyous Respite every turn if the board gets stalled.
Betrayers
Pack 1
Floodbringer, First Volley, Bile Urchin, Vital Surge, Quillmane Baku, Torrent of Stone, Kami of False Hope, Takenuma Bleeder, Sakura-Tribe Springcaller, Shimmering Glasskite, Cunning Bandit, Pus Kami, Tomorrow, Azami’s Familiar
So where do we go now?
My considerations here are Torrent of Stone, Springcaller, Shimmering Glasskite, Bleeder (if I go G/B), and Tomorrow, Azami’s Familiar. Let’s take a closer look at each.
First to go is the Bleeder, since I really don’t think now is a great time to be solidifying and declaring two base colors and only those two colors. There are a lot of strong options in this pack, and taking the Bleeder is a weak choice. The Springcaller is quickly discarded as well for the same reasons; while it is an above average Green card, it’s not as good as Glasskite, Torrent, and Tomorrow. Now that we’ve narrowed it down a little, we have a lot to talk about.
This pick is one that will cause a lot of inexperienced 5cG drafters to mess up, so pay attention.
The first rule of drafting the archetype is that you don’t have to draft all five colors.
Not only that, but you should be looking to keep your mana as consistent as possible while still taking a more powerful than average card from every pack (since you can play all five if necessary). The reason most of you without a lot of experience drafting the deck will mess up here is because you will correctly identify the Torrent of Stone as the best card, reason that it is splashable, and you are trying to draft 5cG, and take it without giving it a second thought. This is an expensive mistake and could easily end up costing you the draft if you compromise your mana base by making the wrong pick!
So why is this such a bad decision, you ask? You are merely doing what you’re supposed to do and taking the best card since you can splash it, right?
The reason is that the other two options the pack presents you are very close in power level to the Torrent and you are already planning on playing Blue for the Mirror-Guard. Why dip into another color when you can hold off and take an almost equal quality card while keeping your mana good?
The answer, of course, is that there is no reason to do so.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we can talk about the actual pick: the Glasskite or Tomorrow. Both of the cards are great in pretty much any deck, though the Glasskite is the better overall card since it’s a good attacker, great blocker, and also very hard to kill. If you were doing this draft and you told me that you took the Glasskite here, I really couldn’t fault you…. but I don’t think it’s the best overall pick.
Tomorrow is at its absolute best in a Green deck, since you have things like Sustainer, Springcaller, and other mana acceleration to get it into play. Once in play, it will be very hard to lose since you can find whatever engine your deck has (in this case, Hana Kami + Revival + Respite) rather quickly. Azami is also a fine blocker and don’t be too afraid to get her involved in combat unless you’re sure you will win if you start activating her.
For this pick, I think Tomorrow is your best choice as it combines best with my mana curve, existing cards, and where I’m looking to go with this deck (combo Arcane based).
My Pick: Tomorrow, Azami’s Familiar
Pack 2
Veil of Secrecy, Heart of Light, Petalmane Baku, Takenuma Bleeder, Sakura-Tribe Springcaller, Shimmering Glasskite, Goblin Cohort, Hundred-Talon Strike, Skullmane Baku, Genju of the Fields, Akki Raider (Rare Missing)
Well at least now I get the best of both worlds, as there is a Glasskite here and not much else in the way of options. Of course, this has no impact on my last pick, and even if there wasn’t a Glasskite in here I’d still be happy that I took Tomorrow from the previous booster.
As far as the rest of the pack goes, I know there are some of you out there wondering whether or not you should splash something like Genju of the Fields in a 5cG deck. My initial response is that you shouldn’t unless you have a heavy enough splash (four or five basic lands of the type) to do so. The reason is obviously that if it dies, you may not be able to recast it. Combine this with the existence of Floodbringer, Moonbow Illusionist, and ease of killing enchantments after game one, and I don’t think it’s a very good investment. If you do end up trying it though, please don’t splash any Genju except the White or Blue ones, as the Red one just doesn’t do anything in a non-Red deck.
There’s also another Springcaller in this pack, which I definitely want one of, but there’s clearly no guarantee it will make its way back around.
My Pick: Shimmering Glasskite
Pack 3
Child of Thorns, Matsu-Tribe Sniper, Ninja of the Deep Hours, Psychic Spear, Kami of Tattered Shoji, Skullsnatcher, Mending Hands, Phantom Wings, Ire of Kaminari, Kami of the Vanishing Touch, Forked-Branch Garami
Ah, the lengths I’m willing to go to in order to pick up a Sniper.
Sniper is so crucial in Green in CBS that I really can’t even explain it to you. All I can say is for you to take it and be happy you’re doing so.
It’s not that I don’t like Forked-Branch Garami anymore, because I certainly do – I still think he’s a high pick – it’s that I’d much rather have the utility creature than another random beater. (Albeit a random beater with Soulshift 4 squared, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice in this case.) I know some of you would go with the Garami with this pick, but I can’t stress enough how important the Sniper is if you want to win with Green in this format.
All of that talk about Sniper almost made me forget about the Ninja of the Deep Hours, which didn’t even cross my mind as an option here. Hopefully you can understand why both of the Green cards are better in this case, as I don’t have any cheap ways to Ninja it out – and even if I did, it’s only going to hit once since I don’t have Serpent Skin or a load of pump spells.
My Pick: Matsu-Tribe Sniper
Pack 4
Split-Tail Miko, Floodbringer, Psychic Spear, First Volley, Roar of the Jukai, Vital Surge, Mending Hands, Skullsnatcher, Soratami Mindsweeper, Mannichi, the Fevered Dream
The same thing seems to happen in every block.
I remember constantly ranting back in MDF that people kept passing me Betrayal of Flesh and I had no clue why they weren’t taking it. Soratami Mindsweeper is just as good, if not better than Betrayal was!
There’s really no way I should be getting this guy fourth, even though the pack does look like it was strong with a Miko still in it. That fact is cancelled out by the rare still being here, and I guarantee someone took something much worse than the 1/4 flying win condition.
If you want to win more drafts, I will again suggest taking this guy very early and splashing it.
My Pick: Soratami Mindsweeper
Pack 5
Ire of Kaminari, Silverstorm Samurai, Crawling Filth, Vital Surge, Phantom Wings, Ribbons of the Reikai, Frostling, Kami of Tattered Shoji, Child of Thorns, Kami of the Vanishing Touch, Mirror Gallery
Not too much to talk about here, though I did have to choose between a few cards.
I still like Child of Thorns, but it’s not high on my priority list usually. I do like Vanishing Touch, but usually not in U/G since my big men can handle the ground while I win in the air. The other choices are Phantom Wings and Ribbons, one of which will probably come back as there was also already a Wings in an earlier pack. It’s worth mentioning, too, that it doesn’t look like Wings is something I’m going to want in this deck, since it’s shaping up to be more defensive.
I end up taking the Vanishing Touch since it goes well with Tomorrow, Mindweeper, and what is shaping up to be a solid control deck.
My Pick: Kami of the Vanishing Touch
Pack 6
Mistblade Shinobi, Harbinger of Spring, Uproot, Roar of the Jukai, Veil of Secrecy, Call for Blood, In the Web of War
Bleh.
The last thing I want in this deck is a Mistblade Shinobi. As I talked about earlier with the Deep Hours, it’s just not good with the type of deck I’m going for. Not only that, but it’s also later in the draft now and I really don’t have any cheap ways to get it into play.
After reviewing the rest of the pack and considering hating up the Web of War, I decided to take the Shinobi as a sideboard option in combination with my Mirror-Guard and possible Phantom Wings on the lap if I happened to run into a deck that couldn’t deal with the Unsummon soft lock.
My Pick: Mistblade Shinobi
Pack 7
Terashi’s Grasp, Shinka Gatekeeper, Call for Blood, Floodbringer, Loam Dweller, Sosuke’s Summons, Toshiro Umezawa
This pack was either crazy good or some random people just took awful cards from it.
Toshiro seems to go high, though he hasn’t been extremely impressive for me in past drafts, and there are also still three good commons in my colors. A quick peek back at the cards I’ve already drafted reveals that the Summons won’t be that great in my deck, and Loam Dweller is vastly superior to Floodbringer.
Loam Dweller is actually one of my favorite cards as of late, since he is so good in combination with Elder Pine of Jukai. Turn 2 Dweller, turn 3 Pine is very hard to beat since you will usually be playing two lands a turn if that happens. It doesn’t take long to get a Scaled Hulk online in that situation.
It’s also kinda funny how good this simple Grizzly Bear is in this format in combination with Soulshift and Soratamis.
My Pick: Loam Dweller
Pack 8
Shinka Gatekeeper, Traproot Kami, Blademane Baku, Quillmane Baku, Minamo’s Meddling
Nothing much to say here as I’m obviously taking the Traproot Kami as a sideboard card against other Green decks or decks with lots of fliers, though it could make the maindeck if I end up running enough Forests. It’s worth noting that I think Blademane Baku has gotten a lot worse with the addition of the 3rd set as he usually just runs into a 1/4 and doesn’t get through for any real damage.
My Pick: Traproot Kami
The lap back is kind to me as I pick up Floodbringer, a second Kami of the Vanishing Touch, Vital Surge, and Ribbons of the Reikai. Overall, my deck is looking good going into Saviors as a U/G/b Arcane-based build.
Saviors
Pack 1
Plow Through Reito, Cut the Earthly Bond, Deathknell Kami, Dosan’s Oldest Chant, Akki Underling, Moonwing Moth, Kami of Empty Graves, Fiddlehead Kami, Hand of Cruelty, Sunder from Within, Manriki-Gusari, Sasaya, Orochi Ascendant
What a sad way to start off Saviors.
This pack has virtually nothing for me, though I’m not extremely disappointed to first pick Manriki-Gusari. The Equipment is largely underrated and actually one of the better Equipments we’ve seen for Limited in the past two blocks. One-mana equip for Holy Strength is quite good, and the extra ability helps every now and then.
The rest of the pack is pretty easy to go over, as Sasaya is basically a vanilla 2/3 that you’ll never want to flip in Limited (barring some Sway of the Stars nonsense that only I would think of doing). None of the other cards are even splashable so I have no problem moving on to the next pack.
Also, don’t even think about suggesting Kami of Empty Graves on the splash in the forums because that card doesn’t do anything!
My Pick: Manriki-Gusari
Pack 2
Ronin Cavekeeper, Kuro’s Taken, Plow Through Reito, Cut the Earthly Bond, Torii Watchward, Kami of Empty Graves, Akki Drillmaster, Elder Pine of Jukai, Cowed by Wisdom, Inner-Chamber Guard, Neverending Torment
Well, at least I have something to talk about now.
The choice is between Elder Pine and Neverending Torment here, as none of the other cards fit my deck. The Torment is actually very good in Limited, and I’ve seen many Black drafters passing it in favor of something like Empty Graves or Kuro’s Taken. This is just a mistake, as if you’re anywhere near a stable board position the Torment will end the game quickly. The best part about the card is that your first search will usually be for five if you’ve been setting it up, and you’ll be able to remove your opponent’s five best cards – which really cripples his chances of killing you before you deck him.
Despite how good the Torment is (and the fact that I could splash it in this deck if I felt I wanted to), I really need the Elder Pine here to give me a way to build up my lands for Joyous Respite. It helps that I have Soulshift to keep the Jukai coming back if he dies, and I also have the combo with Loam Dweller. Elder Pine is exactly what this deck needed.
My Pick: Elder Pine of Jukai
Pack 3
Glitterfang, Inner Calm,Outer Strength, Raving Oni-Slave, Torii Watchward, Rending Vines, Shinen of Flight’s Wings, Kemuri-Onna, Iron Crane Netsuke
This time I’m looking at Inner Calm, the Blue Shinen, and Kemuri-Onna.
Of all of the Onnas, I like the Black and Red ones least, and I really don’t want this guy in my deck on the splash. If it were the only option here, then sure, I’d take it, but there are two on-color cards for me.
I think you’d have to have three Shinen of Life’s Roar to ever consider taking the Calm over the Blue flier – and clearly that’s not the case with my deck. The Shinen is a great flier in addition to my Glasskite, Mindweeper, and Mirror-Guard, and ensures that I’ll be able to control the air long enough to win through it or with through the card selection generated by Tomorrow.
My Pick: Shinen of Flight’s Wings
Pack 4
Descendent of Soramaro, Shinen of Life’s Roar, Death Denied, Kuro’s Taken, Murmurs from Beyond, Shape Stealer, Wine of Blood and Iron
Now here’s a pick where I could have gone a different way than I did now that I’m looking back on it.
The options here are Descendent, Life’s Roar, and Shape Stealer, as I don’t want to be splashing Death Denied in a deck only splashing two other Black cards. The options are all pretty close, but I ended up going with the Shinen because I wanted another Spirit and also thought I may win through an alpha strike with it.
If I could do it again, I’d probably take the Descendent, since it helps with the combo portion of my deck and is also a good blocker. I don’t really think you can make a case for the Shape Stealer here, since I already have two copies of Kami of the Vanishing Touch, which serve essentially the same purpose. If I could do it over though, I’d most likely take the Descendent here even since this isn’t the best deck for a Life’s Roar.
My Pick: Shinen of Life’s Roar
Pack 5
Kagemaro’s Clutch, Descendent of Soramaro, Inner Calm, Outer Strength, Kitsune Lorebearer, Shinen of Fury’s Fire, Death of a Thousand Stings, Nikko-Onna, Rune-Tail, Kitsune Ascendant
This is another interesting pick for anyone out there aspiring to learn how to master this archetype.
The options here are the Kagemaro’s Clutch and Netsuke. I don’t think Descendent is really an option here, as it was in the last pick and I simply have two better cards to choose from.
The Clutch would be nice for me since I don’t have any actual removal at this point, while the Calm is Arcane and also combos well with my Kodama’s Might.
In the end, I almost ran out of time and took the Calm since it was on-color and Arcane – though I’m not sure I made the best pick, and ended up wishing I had the Clutch in one of the matchups I played. It could also be that I favored the Calm, since I had taken the Life’s Roar just a few picks earlier.
My Pick: Inner Calm, Outer Strength
Pack 6
Deathmask Nezumi, Nightsoil Kami, Fiddlehead Kami, Murmurs from Beyond, Cowed by Wisdom, Gnat Miser, Dosan’s Oldest Chant, Hidetsugu’s Second Rite
Nice to pick up the fatty Nightsoil Kami late in the draft, since I don’t really have much in the way of late game stuff besides Tomorrow.
Anyone wondering whether or not the Second Rite is playable in Limited, I’d lean towards “No” unless you had some specific reason like a ton of burn and also knew that your opponent wasn’t aware you had it. I would most likely board it out after it became common knowledge though just because it’s hard to do exactly ten damage reliably in Limited and a smart opponent will mana burn to make the card useless. If you side it out and he mana burns to play around it, you can only gain rather than draw a dead card.
My Pick: Nightsoil Kami
Pack 7
Ghost-Lit Warder, Death of a Thousand Stings, Ideas Unbound, Death Denied, Minamo Scrollkeeper, Araba Mothrider, Path of Anger’s Flame, Sakura-Tribe Scout, Reki, the History of Kamigawa
I didn’t mention it earlier, but I do really like the Death of a Thousand Stings in this archetype. It’s great with Soulless Revival or even just Vital Surge, and can double as a win condition if the board stalls out.
As far as Ghost-Lit Warder is concerned, I’m not a huge supporter of it. If you cast it, I really hope it’s with the intention of Ninjitsu or chump-blocking – because keeping four mana up for a Miscalculation that is on the board in plain view of your opponent is a losing strategy. The best way to evaluate the card is as a four-mana Counterspell that will usually be effective in getting the job done.
The problem here is that this isn’t really what most decks are looking for in this format. It’s fine as a sideboard card against bombs, a late game option, or in combination with a lot of Soulshift, but it’s not what I’m looking for from this booster.
What I am looking for is Ideas Unbound. This card has proven to be way better than my initial evaluation of it, and I usually like to have one in my deck. It gets you to your better cards faster and can even draw cards for you later in the game if you’ve emptied your hand. That combined with the fact that it’s cheap and Arcane, and also good in helping find my “combo,” and it’s nice to pick up at this point.
I do like the Minamo Scrollkeeper, usually but I already have that spot covered with the pair of Vanishing Touches.
My Pick: Ideas Unbound
Pack 8
Sink into Takenuma, Freed from the Reel, Rending Vines, Yuki-Onna, Eternal Dominion
Rending Vines is quite a good card in this format, and I think worth maindecking in some drafts. If you see a huge number of Genjus, Cages, Equipment, or whatever going around the table, you should strongly consider maindecking it (or its brother, Wear Away). You have to be careful, though, when putting it in your deck if you don’t intend to keep your hand size high, since you may draw it and be disappointed when you can’t cast it.
Most people forget that it actually counts hand size and just remember that it Disenchants and draws a card. Remember to hold those extra lands even more than usual when you have this somewhere in your deck.
My Pick: Rending Vines
A final trip around the table brings another Rending Vines, Shape Stealer, and Death of a Thousand Stings
Below is the decklist I played along with some discussion on why certain cards didn’t make it.
The Deck
Hana Kami
Shinen of Life’s Roar
Orochi Sustainer
Matsu-Tribe Sniper
Loam Dweller
Kami of the Vanishing Touch
Floodbringer
Kami of the Hunt
Elder Pine of Jukai
Soratami Mirror-Guard
Soratami Mindsweeper
Shimmering Glasskite
Rootrunner
Shinen of Flight’s Wings
Scuttling Death
Tomorrow, Azami’s Familiar
Nightsoil Kami
Kodama’s Might
Manriki-Gusari
Soulless Revival
Inner Calm, Outer Strength
Joyous Respite
Ribbons of the Reikai
2 Swamp
8 Forest
7 Island
Relevant Sideboard:
Some cards that didn’t make it were Rending Vines, Death of a Thousand Stings, Traproot Kami, Psychic Puppetry, a second Vanishing Touch, and a few others.
The only thing really worth explanation is the Sting, which just didn’t end up having enough synergy with the rest of the deck. Basically, not enough cheap Splice since it’s not that great with Kodama’s Might anyway. Vital Surge was also almost in the deck, and definitely would have been if I ran the Sting.
The important thing to realize here is that I dove in head first attempting to draft 5cG, and in the end I only played three colors since it created the best collection of cards I could get while also keeping my mana base stable. Remember that splashing additional colors is a benefit, not a requirement; don’t overuse it or make a bad pick because of it.
In the actual matches, I lost in the finals to an amazing deck with double-Ghost-Lit Raider and an army of Samurai and Nagao, Bound by Honor. I really could’ve used the Kagemaro’s Clutch in that matchup and I probably should’ve taken it over the ICOS.
Hopefully I’ll have some time in the coming weeks to set up my next Snapping Thragg Experiment, which I think could be the most interesting one yet.
Nick Eisel
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