Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Another pretty uninteresting first pack. Once again Fireball is just too powerful to pass up even if red is one of the weaker colors. Also even though red isn’t the best in M11 it still complements all the other colors well. Out of this pack the Ingenuity and Quag Sickness (or maybe Wild Griffin/War Priest but probably not) should get picked behind us.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
I’m not going to choose another color by picking Assassinate or Llanowar Elves when Juggernaut is just as good or better than those cards. Red is also the best color for a card like Juggernaut since you’re more likely able to clear the way for him.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Once again the third pick is a more interesting one. If I hadn’t just passed black cards in the previous two packs I’d definitely pick a black card (probably Reassembling Skeleton opening up the possibility of drafting the Act of Treason/Bloodthrone Vampire deck) because it’s now painfully obvious that those passing to us aren’t in black. But I passed Quag Sickness and Assassinate so the pick is in my opinion much harder. I really took my time here and in the end went for the White Knight thinking I could just setup for a very good pack 2. Part of the decision is also that I like white more than I like black. Looking back at it though I think this pick was a (small) mistake. Since it’s still early in pack 1 it’s probably just better to pick the color that I know is coming than take a risk drafting a color that I’ve no idea whether it’s open or not. Sure taking a black card in my pack 2 should be weaker but the potential upside for the rest of pack 1 and all of pack 3 makes up for this. It’s a close pick and I’m sure many others would have made the same pick I did.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Lightning Bolt is by far the best card in the pack and it goes much better in a W/R deck than Condemn does. It does lock us into red more but with the cards I have red seems like the one color I know for sure I’ll play.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Crystal Ball seems like a very nice addition to the cards I have so far. Also the other options in this pack are just horrendous.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Casting spells that cost nine mana better win me the game outright and the Demon surely doesn’t. Fling is pretty much just the best card here on pure value and it also makes future Act of Treasons better picks.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
This pack was obviously very good to start out since it still has many cards that I’ve personally first picked. Not really a hard pick for me though since Fire Servant is excellent with the cards I have so far. At this point it’s more and more looking like I’ll be drafting heavy red and the White Knight is probably ending up in the sideboard.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
A nice late Act of Treason. If I already had an Act of Treason and no Fling I’d pick Fling here.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Four black cards disappeared out of this pack so it’s not likely that we’ll end up with many black cards but if we get several Act of Treasons we could be playing some black.
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
At least no one else is drafting red as more than a splash. Another Fling is better than Lava Axe again making future Act of Treasons better picks.
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Chandra’s Outrage is too strong a card for me to even consider Conundrum Sphinx here.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
If I didn’t already have a Crystal Ball I might’ve picked it here but I really don’t want two since they don’t stack well. Also the Spitfire is an excellent card both defensively and offensively in this deck. Maybe some of you think I should give some consideration to Serra Angel but in my opinion it isn’t nearly good enough to destroy my mana and commit myself to a second color that in pack 1 didn’t seem to be open. And the only other white card that I have so far (White Knight) is even more awkward on the mana.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Whispersilk Cloak is maybe at its best in a deck like this one. I have several high power creatures with low toughness and getting them through should end the game very fast combined with cards like Fling or Fireball.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pretty sure that I could’ve hate drafted something here and picked up Lava Axe on the wheel but the other cards are just not good enough to risk that.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Another Act of Treason is much more important to this deck than a Gargoyle Sentinel a card that never impressed me anyway.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Earth Servant is a huge creature that could make the maindeck or just be a very good sideboard card against some decks (green decks for example have a hard time dealing with 4/10 creatures) while Arc Runner is a Lava Axe except when you need it to be one.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Not sure what kind of deck you have when you pick Thunder Strike over Lava Axe but someone did. I don’t mind though; I wouldn’t be surprised if this deck ends up playing two.
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Another interesting pick if only because the pack is so empty. At this point I have sixteen red/artifact cards that I don’t mind playing so mono-red is definitely an option. However Canyon Minotaur is just one of my least favorite cards and Arc Runner is just awful too. Also my red creatures all cost three or more so I go for the Vampire that may get played together with the one I already have to make my Act of Treasons better. It’s a little bit awkward to splash for stuff that costs two but I figure I can easily play six Swamps and still have enough Mountains to make Fiery Hellhounds good.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
While Magma Phoenix may not be a bomb it still is one of those cards that some decks or some draws simply can’t beat. Foresee is a good card and all but I’d rather keep my option of playing black open.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Another Lightning Bolt is a pretty lucky pick for me. I also make a mental note of the Redirect that’s in the pack.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Getting another two-drop is much more important than another expensive spell that only conditionally does something (Rise from the Grave). Child of Night will either let me get some early damage through so that my burn can finish the opponent off or serve as excellent early defense before I can take over with my big spells.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
I don’t really want a third Bloodthrone Vampire and Combust edges out Deathmark because I’m more afraid of playing against a blue deck than a green one with my Act of Treasons. Also the Combust will be easier to cast.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Nothing that I care enough about to hate-draft; maybe a Canyon Minotaur will get played.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
A second one won’t though and I don’t want my opponents to gain three life.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
I also don’t want them to gain four life.
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Can’t Act of Treason/Fling Phantom Beasts.
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
I can actually see boarding in Temple Bell against really slow decks. With the amount of burn in my deck I probably have inevitability against them anyway. Or maybe that’s just an excuse to pick the rare.
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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2 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Chandra’s Spitfire
1 Child of Night
2 Fiery Hellhound
2 Fire Servant
1 Juggernaut
1 Magma Phoenix
2 Act of Treason
2 Chandra’s Outrage
1 Crystal Ball
1 Fireball
2 Fling
1 Lava Axe
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Whispersilk Cloak
Sideboard
1 Manic Vandal
1 Ornithopter
1 Volcanic Strength
1 Lava Axe
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 Earth Servant
1 Solemn Offering
1 White Knight
1 Autumn’s Veil
1 Phantom Beast
1 Hunters’ Feast
1 Safe Passage
1 Viscera Seer
1 Combust
1 Dryad’s Favor
1 Brindle Boar
1 Goblin Tunneler
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Tireless Missionaries
1 Temple Bell
I think this is one of the better decks I’ve drafted so far in this series. It just has so many powerful cards and it should win many games “out of
nowhere.” Multiple Flings and Act of Treasons as well as Bloodthrone Vampires should mean that we can assemble the combo quite often and the rest of
my cards should put me in a situation where that wins the game.
I ended up not maindecking the Combust since I already had 22 cards that I really wanted to play.
The black splash is a little weird but it feels better than running the not-so-awesome cards from the sideboard. Also it’s not like I’m
giving up that much consistency and I’m gaining a lot in power.
Of course this would’ve been much better if I’d taken the Reassembling Skeleton early in the draft; while I do think that I made a mistake there it’s
also easy to become too results-oriented.
If it had turned out that white was wide open and no black came I hope I’d still recognize my mistake but I’m not so sure. This for me is one of the
big reasons that Magic is such a complex game. Most of the time we find ourselves making decisions that are maybe a few percentage points better or
worse than the alternative. Then you need to analyze this decision afterwards even when in isolated cases making the “wrong” decision can and often
will lead to a better outcome.
Quarters:
Game 1:
My opponent wins the roll and chooses to play second. I keep a hand of two Mountains Swamp Bloodthrone Vampire Fling Act of Treason and Chandra’s
Outrage.
My turn 2 Bloodthrone Vampire gets matched by Maritime Guard and since I’ve just drawn my second Act of Treason I play it immediately to kill the
Guard and get some damage through.
The Vampire dies to Assassinate and he follows up with a Nantuko Shade that I kill with Chandra’s Outrage. I draw and play Fire Servant and when I go
to equip it with Whispersilk Cloak he plays Doom Blade. At this point he’s at fifteen life and my hand is Lightning Bolt Fling and Act of Treason.
I decide to Lightning Bolt him down to nine thinking he’ll have a hard time killing me before I draw enough burn to finish him off. I’d get wrecked by
Mind Rot here but if he has it in his hand he would’ve played it so I figure it’s worth the risk.
Next turn he plays Sign in Blood and then Rise from the Grave on my Fire Servant so I just untap and kill him.
I debate boarding in Temple Bell and the second Lava Axe but in the end thought it was more cute than good. I sideboard nothing.
Game 2:
Again he lets me go first and I keep three Mountains Swamp Fling Act of Treason and Fiery Hellhound.
My Hellhound gets killed by Quag Sickness but I rip Crystal Ball and play it on turn 4.
This is one of those occasions where Crystal Ball is at its best. My opponent has no pressure on the table and I can just put all my lands on the
bottom of the deck. Also my deck is filled with cards that let me trade one-for-one with his.
Turns out that I don’t need to put many lands on the bottom though since I’m already drawing Magma Phoenix and Lightning Bolt and such. He makes a
feeble attempt at dealing with the Phoenix by killing it and playing Rise from the Grave but I just kill it again and there just isn’t much he can
do. If he had two Corrupts maybe he could’ve won but he had none.
I end up killing him with Fireball and Act of Treason/Fling only because it’s faster than recurring the Phoenix.
Semis:
Game 1:
I lose the roll and keep two Mountains two Swamps Act of Treason Chandra’s Spitfire and Fiery Hellhound on the draw. Not a great hand but it has
lands and spells.
My opponent plays a turn 2 Alluring Siren and turn 3 Scroll Thief that I can only match with Chandra’s Spitfire. The Spitfire gets Ice Caged and Fiery
Hellhound gets Mana Leaked.
The turn where I played Hellhound I got a bit greedy; I’d just drawn Fireball so I should’ve just Fireballed the Siren for one and my Spitfire for
one. This way Mana Leak doesn’t really do anything.
I end up doing this the next turn anyway after drawing Lightning Bolt to also kill off the Scroll Thief; then he has Excommunicate for my Spitfire.
This clears the board and I play Crystal Ball while he plays his seventh land and a Harbor Serpent. I match it with Juggernaut intending to trade if
he attacks. He declines to attack on his turn and then plays Stormtide Leviathan post-combat. Apparently he had clicked “OK” one time too many by
accident.
I frantically search for a Fling or Bloodthrone Vampire with my Crystal Ball failing to find one the first turn. His attack brings me down to two
(meaning I would’ve been dead without the misclick) but next turn I find Bloodthrone Vampire to stabilize.
My hand is also still full of gas while he’s land-flooded and a Lava Axe forces him to Condemn my Spitfire and go to one. At this point I only have
one blocker and since I’m at five he can kill me with his Harbor Serpent if he can find a bounce spell.
He doesn’t though and I win a very close game 1.
I board in Combust for Child of Night which seems pretty bad against a deck of Maritime Guards and Scroll Thieves.
Game 2:
He goes first and I mulligan six lands and Chandra’s Spitfire into two Swamps two Mountains Bloodthrone Vampire and Chandra’s Spitfire which I
keep.
He plays a turn 2 Blinding Mage and Ice Cages my Spitfire. I’ve drawn two more lands and a Chandra’s Outrage at this point (my only spell in hand).
When I try to attack with my Bloodthrone Vampire he taps it leaving only one blue mana up.
If I really wanted the Mage dead I’d try to kill it now but since I don’t really have any pressure going I don’t mind holding my Outrage until his
turn – to either kill a bigger threat or to draw out a counterspell since I need to draw into something relevant anyway. He doesn’t cast anything
during his turn so I try to kill his Mage but he has Negate.
I draw a land next turn while he casts an Augury Owl. Next turn I draw Magma Phoenix that seems like it could just win me the game on its own but he
has Excommunicate to delay it for a turn and when I replay it he taps eight mana for Stormtide Leviathan. I can’t possibly race it and I can’t find
an Act of Treason to go with my Bloodthrone Vampire before I die.
Game 3:
I choose to play first and keep three Mountains Bloodthrone Vampire Fling Act of Treason and Chandra’s Outrage.
I fail to draw a Swamp or cheap spell by turn 3 while my opponent has a turn 2 Alluring Siren and turn 3 Jace Beleren letting us both draw a card. I
find a Swamp for turn 4 but can’t do anything but play my Vampire.
He adds Blinding Mage to the board and I still can’t kill Jace on my turn so I’m stuck playing Fire Servant. The Servant gets Excommunicated and
soon I’m buried in the card advantage he’s gained from Jace as well as a Scroll Thief that he plays.
Aether Adept Ice Cage and Excommunicate number two make sure I can’t recover.
It’s getting somewhat annoying to lose in the semis of these drafts. I do think that my deck this time around was excellent and was worthy of a better
fate. Then again I played against an excellent U/W deck in the semis and he probably would’ve beaten me in two games if it weren’t for that misclick.
More annoying is the fact that I feel like I’m making mistakes that I shouldn’t be making like not playing the Fireball on turn 4 in that first game
of the semis. I like to think that these are mistakes I wouldn’t make playing live at a big tournament but it would be much nicer if I could post more
3-0 drafts for this article series.
I guess I could just draft more and cherry-pick my drafts but if I drafted more I still would rather show the drafts that are interesting which
aren’t necessarily the ones that I 3-0.
Anyway you know the drill questions and opinions in the forum are always welcome.