Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
This pack comes down to if we want to pick a red card (Lightning Bolt since it’s just better than Pyroclasm) or Brittle Effigy. Bolt is a bit more powerful than the Effigy while the rest of the cards in the pack are at best on par with Effigy (Reassembling Skeleton Sylvan Ranger etc.). If red were a really good color in M11 I’d most likely pick the Bolt here but since it isn’t I’d rather keep my options open and pick the Effigy.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
A pretty easy pick the only other card that comes close to Pacifism in power is Water Servant and while I like blue I’d much rather have a great removal spell.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Llanowar Elves Mind Rot Sign in Blood and Cloud Crusader are all reasonable picks here but only one of them is in a color that I’ve already drafted (and it’s probably the strongest card too) making the Crusader an easy pick. I’ve heard opinions that Merfolk Sovereign is a really good card but I’m not convinced. In general I don’t like to pick cards like it before having several Merfolk to go with it.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
More reasonable cards in different colors (Assassinate Sylvan Ranger Redirect) but nothing is really that much better than the Wild Griffin that is on-color.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Excommunicate is just a really good card in white (better than Inspired Charge almost always) and good enough that we do not need to consider the green cards in the pack.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
And as always green is wide open. It’s easy to see how everyone in front of me just passed along all the green in this pack hoping everyone else would go green but that usually means that the next person will do the same thing. And since there’s a perfectly reasonable pick for me here in the Pridemate I’ll do the same. My hope here is that whoever is on my left picked Llanowar Elves Sylvan Ranger and Spined Wurm before this pack – and maybe even the guy after him picked some green meaning my setup for pack 2 would be great.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
I’ve talked before about Celestial Purge and while I don’t dislike this cycle of cards (Deathmark Flashfreeze etc.) I think that the Purge is definitely among the weaker ones and not something I’d usually want to maindeck. Inspired Charge is also looking like it could be an excellent card in our deck.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Nothing playable in white and Lava Axe is the sort of card I might end up splashing in a deck like this one.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Although I might end up splashing blue (over red) I don’t like Negate that much in a deck like this one. Negate is in my opinion better suited at protecting key cards in a defensive deck than in a deck focused on attacking and getting through. Also the minimal blue splash in a white deck (which is the most likely scenario if I do end up blue) is usually awkward since the card you want the most is Aether Adept which is double blue. Red however has several splashable cards that fit well into the theme of white and Volcanic Strength is actually excellent in this kind of deck against any opponent playing Mountains.
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Fireball is the strongest card in the pack and although the pack contains a lot of good cards none of them are white making this decision pretty easy. Right now it seems very likely that we’ll end up with a white deck splashing a few red cards.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Very strange that none of these packs have had white cards in them. If there were a reasonable white card here (even something like a Silvercoat Lion) I’d probably pick it over the Outrage since double red is a bit of a stretch for the deck I’m intending to draft.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Ahh here come the white cards. If I pick the White Knight here and white dries up I’ll probably regret it since War Priest is just so much easier to cast. In the end I decide to risk it because it feels like those first three picks in pack 2 were an anomaly – not a sign of things to come. Also I got many good white cards in pack 1 meaning it should be open from the right. Of course if I lose to a bunch of Pacifisms or Mind Controls I might regret it too but I think that against an average opponent the Knight will serve me better.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
I already have several 2/2s for two at this point and having a way to force them through is more important than getting another one.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Almost 100% sure that I won’t be playing Siege Mastodon in this deck so I just pick the card that interrupts my strategy the most (the Companion can block my bears even if I have Infantry Veteran in play or it may even just race me).
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Same reasoning as in the previous pack; I won’t be playing Tireless Missionaries.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
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:
The choices here are Silvercoat Lion Whispersilk Cloak and Terramorphic Expanse. While I like Cloak it just feels like another Lion will give my deck redundancy and more of a “Constructed” feeling. The Expanse is also a fine pick I guess but I value it less in a deck that has a multitide of one-drops and two-drops.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
I don’t think the power of Mind Control is worth the cost of giving up the Fireball and Lightning Bolt I already have in my pile. It’s actually close to the point where I should just hate draft it though. In the end I figure there’s a decent chance I’ll play two Inspired Charges and that my deck may not necessarily get crushed by Mind Control.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Nothing for my deck so I just pick the card that hurts me the most.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
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:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
1 Ajani’s Pridemate
1 Berserkers of Blood Ridge
1 Cloud Crusader
1 Elite Vanguard
3 Infantry Veteran
1 Pacifism
3 Silvercoat Lion
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 White Knight
1 Wild Griffin
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Chandra’s Outrage
1 Condemn
2 Excommunicate
1 Fireball
1 Inspired Charge
1 Lava Axe
1 Lightning Bolt
10 Plains
6 Mountain
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Sideboard
1 Aether Adept
1 Earth Servant
1 Volcanic Strength
1 Garruk’s Companion
2 Solemn Offering
1 Angel’s Feather
1 Forest
1 Incite
1 Inspired Charge
1 Merfolk Spy
1 Thunder Strike
1 Maritime Guard
1 Bloodcrazed Goblin
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Holy Strength
1 Goblin Tunneler
1 Whispersilk Cloak
As a whole I was pretty excited by this deck. It had a great early curve with three Veterans and a bunch of two-drops as well as several ways to keep
getting through. I did however have a lot of trouble deciding the last few cards in the deck and I think I made a mistake including Condemn in the
maindeck.
Condemn is an excellent card but only against other really aggressive decks would it help me much since if I’m casting Condemn against a slow
deck I’m probably losing anyway. The Condemn should’ve been another Inspired Charge or Whispersilk Cloak.
Quarters:
Game one:
I lose the roll and keep two Plains Ajani Pridemate Silvercoat Lion Wild Griffin Excommunicate and Lava Axe on the draw.
I draw and play Brittle Effigy on turn 1 while my opponent plays turn 1 Viscera Seer turn 2 Nantuko Shade turn 3 Liliana’s Specter. Viscera Seer lets
him sacrifice the Shade when I try to remove it with Effigy and Disentomb brings it back. He stalls on three lands for a few turns but he’s
still ahead in the race and I keep drawing pPlains and red spells. He draws land finally and Whispersilk Cloak on the Shade ends the game while I’m
holding Chandra’s Outrage and Berserkers of Blood Ridge with no Mountains in play.
I sideboard nothing. This is the kind of matchup where Condemn seems like it would actually be good for me.
Game two:
I choose to play (obviously) and keep two Plains Terramorphic Expanse Elite Vanguard Condemn Lightning Bolt and Fireball. My opponent mulligans to
six and plays an Island on turn 2 to go with his Swamp. In game 1 he only showed black mana and I’d figured he was mono-black — guess he
only needed half his deck to beat me.
This game however his first play is a turn 3 Sign in Blood and a turn 4 Water Servant. At this point he’s already at twelve life facing down
the Vanguard and a Wild Griffin with me still holding Lightning Bolt and Fireball. He tries to make a comeback with Unsummon Cancel and Liliana’s
Specter while I decline to use my Condemn on his Water Servant since I don’t want him to gain life. In the end I Fireball him for four to take the
game.
Game three:
I keep three Plains Terramorphic Expanse Infantry Veteran Cloud Crusader and Chandra’s Outrage on the draw. Not the greatest of hands but better
than a six-card hand I think. Also against a black deck I’m more likely to keep seven since even bad cards can be discarded to Mind Rot or
Liliana’s Specter.
I draw another Infantry Veteran and a timely Pacifism for my opponent’s turn 3 Scroll Thief. My two Veterans mean he can’t block profitably (even
with Azure Drake) so he tries to race with his two creatures and a Sleep. He even has Cancel for my Inspired Charge and Mana Leak for Excommunicate
but I have still only drawn four lands and my opponent is neither ahead on life nor on cards and when I cast my other Excommunicate he concedes.
Semis:
Game one:
I win the roll and keep Plains 2 Mountains Terramorphic Expanse two Infantry Veterans and Cloud Crusader. My turn 1 Veteran gets matched by Serra
Ascendant; they trade on my next attack. This theme continues over the next turns with creatures trading for removal spells and both of us drawing a
large amount of lands.
I seem to have the upper hand though getting some damage in before creatures trade off and he makes a weird chump block with Viscera Seer against my
Elite Vanguard/Veteran combo. Then he draws a Corrupt that clears the board and brings him back up to fifteen life.
At this point my hand is Inspired Charge Condemn and two lands that I’m holding for any Mind Rots or Specters that may be coming. He only has
one card in hand and I draw and play White Knight. On his turn he draws and plays Stone Golem and passes it back.
This is where I made a mistake. For some reason I just attack with my Knight thinking he probably doesn’t have anything and will block letting
me use Inspired Charge to kill his Golem. This is just reckless though since he has twelve lands in play; at this point it’s actually very
likely that he’s holding a trick of some sort. Instead I should just pass the turn back and (assuming he attacks with Golem) block and force the
trade there. If he has a trick then I can just use Condemn.
But I stupidly attack and of course he has an Inspired Charge of his own. I’m then forced to Condemn the Golem on his turn anyway and although
I draw Fireball I can’t put any pressure on the board. I soon am forced to Fireball three of his creatures which isn’t that awesome when he just
draws more creatures and I draw more lands. Looking back at the game it seems like I could’ve brought him down low enough with White Knight to
make Fireball lethal if I hadn’t made that mistake. Of course this assumes that he attacks on his turn with the Golem but I think that he probably
would.
I board out Condemn for Whispersilk Cloak since it feels more likely that he’ll be behind and trying to stabilize than there actually being a
race.
Game two:
I keep Plains two Mountains Silvercoat Lion Stormfront Pegasus Whispersilk Cloak and Inspired Charge on the play. My opponent has a turn 1 Effigy
and a turn 2 Black Knight that gains him some tempo. I stall on three lands forcing me to use Fireball on the Knight. He also stalls on three lands
but has Duress and Doom Blade to still keep some momentum up.
I do have Whispersilk Cloak in play though and when we both draw a couple of lands it feels like I am best able to capitalize. And one turn he
doesn’t even attack with his Stormfront Pegasus (when my only creature is Silvercoat Lion and I can equip Whispersilk Cloak to it with no cards in
hand) which actually puts me ahead in the race. He immediately draws another flier though (Wild Griffin) and over the next four draw steps I only
manage to draw one spell which could’ve been enough if it weren’t a measly Infantry Veteran. I die to his two fliers with him at two life facing
down a cloaked Lion.
Once again I lose to a B/W deck. I think it’s actually the archetype that I have the highest losing percentage against. I guess my decks just
don’t match up well against a mixed bag of fliers and black removal. Then again I guess that you don’t really end up B/W unless you have a really good
reason to. Also it obviously doesn’t help when you make mistakes like the one I made in game 1.
That’s it for this time as always questions and comments are welcome.