Pretty sure a lot of people will disagree with this pick, and Glimmerpoint Stag is obviously not the most powerful card in the abstract. Ezuri’s Brigade is bigger and has a bigger effect for the same cost, and a card like Darkslick Drake would be a higher pick in most formats too. We don’t draft in the abstract world though, and the way my drafts have shaped up on Magic Online so far, white has been flowing. Also, Glimmerpoint Stag is a deceptively powerful card, where you can often get a card’s worth out of the “enters the battlefield” effect. Either just resetting a Tumble Magnet or removing -1/-1 counters from one of your creatures or removing Arrests or similar.
Ezuri’s Brigade on the other hand, seems like it will often be a trap card. The Brigade puts you in a situation where you want to draft green metalcraft, which isn’t an easy thing to do. Many of the good green cards don’t fit well in decks that don’t try to poison, which puts a lot of pressure on your other colors and artifacts to fill out your deck.
This pick actually reminds me a lot of M11 drafts. In M11 you’d often choose early on between two similarly powerful cards and the rest of your draft would be dictated by that choice. In Scars, this happens less often since we can pick artifacts, and it isn’t uncommon to go back and forth between colors depending on what cards we open in later packs. This time however, picking the Glimmerpoint Stag makes Razor Hippogriff a pretty easy pick. I rate the whole cycle of uncommons that give card advantage really highly, and the Hippo is no different. If we’d picked Ezuri’s Brigade, I think our pick here is Copper Myr, which kind of illustrates my problem with the Brigade. I’m always wary of cards that make me want to pick less powerful cards later on.
Necrotic Ooze and Acid Web Spider are both more powerful than the Skyguard, but I want to steer clear of green if I can after passing the Brigade, and Ooze isn’t good enough to branch out. Black is also a color that is very hard to pair with white without having really bad mana, and again (like with green), most of the good black cards don’t do much outside poison decks.
I’ve had good success so far drafting the white equipment deck in my online drafts. Cards like Sunspear Shikari seem to be underrated, and getting equipments to go with it has not been that hard. First strike is just incredibly strong in a world of infect, and once again I don’t feel like the other cards in the pack (like Turn to Slag) are good enough for me to branch out. I did consider taking Infiltration Lens here, but I’m still not sold on that card outside of some specific decks, and in those decks I think Sunspear Shikari is more important. This might change if people start valuing equipments higher, but I don’t really think they’re undervalued right now so that probably won’t happen.
A pretty weak pack and while Arbalest is slow and clunky, it does win games sometimes. Besides, the only other playable cards in the pack are black, and like I said earlier, I’d rather not go there.
Barbed Battlegear seems pretty awesome with the cards we have so far. If you can draft a deck with a good amount of fliers that don’t have one toughness or of course Shikaris, then the Battlegear is very nice, and that’s precisely what we have so far. Snapsail Glider isn’t that exciting either, and Darksteel Myr even less so.
Another really weak pack. Seize the Initiative is one of those cards that you figure will be fine in your deck, but in the end you never find room for it. For that reason I almost took Turn Aside here, which feels like a more powerful sideboard card, but in the end I figured if we end up low on playables I’d rather have the Initiative.
I really am torn when it comes to Halt Order. I love ways to get a two-for-one (who doesn’t?), but often it’s just awkward to sit there with mana up and hope they play an artifact. In this case, I figured that the option to splash blue for it was better than a 1/5 that shouldn’t make the cut. I’m happy to pass on Carapace Forger since that could likely cement my neighbor in Green Metalcraft which doesn’t overlap that much with what I’m trying to draft.
Invisimancer could actually turn out pretty good if I end up with more blue cards, although likely it will get cut to make the mana better. Still the other cards are all in the wrong color or much worse.
Nothing here so I just pick the card I can see myself losing to.
Withstand Death is actually a pretty good sideboard card. Maybe I should’ve picked Hellion though, since I’m much more likely to end up red than green. Although in most cases that still means I won’t play the 5/4 haste.
It’s a funny format where a card like the Wurm goes this late. It might actually be okay in the deck with Ezuri’s Brigade though, and I’m pretty sure me hate-drafting it won’t change the mind of whoever is drafting that deck.
Technically I don’t have a second color yet, but Kuldotha Phoenix doesn’t seem like the card that I want to move in on red for. Triple red is just a lot, and I don’t have a very high artifact count either. Also there’s a perfectly fine pick for me in Revoke Existence.
The choice here is between Myrsmith and Silver Myr. Like I said, I don’t have a lot of artifacts so far, making the Smith less exciting. Still, I want to draft more artifacts, and I’m not really in desperate need of mana Myr yet.
Looking back at the first round of packs, I didn’t see any good red cards, and I probably won’t see many in pack 3 either after passing the Phoenix. Still, if I had a deck where Embersmith was the nuts, I’d pick it here and try to just splash it in my white deck. My artifact count is low though, so I just went with the Silver Myr to help that problem instead.
A fourth pick Volition Reins is actually not even that crazy in this format. Blue is a pretty weak color, and the commitment needed to play Reins is big. I don’t mind making this commitment though, when I already have a few blue cards including a Silver Myr.
Glint Hawk Idol is just an excellent card, and it helps my Myrsmith and Hippogriff become better. I’d rather pick an aggressive card for this type of deck than a defensive one, which is why I don’t pick Tower of Calamities or Rust Tick.
An easy pick. Perilous Myr often shuts down your opponent’s attack step, and it can even be good aggressively.
Necrogen Censer is decent with Glimmerpoint Stag and with any Glint Hawks I might pick up later.
I love it when a plan comes together.
I almost always play an Accorder’s Shield in my white decks. Ideally I guess you’d want better cheap equipment but costing zero is sometimes huge with Glint Hawks.
Disperse is another of those cards that I never really find the space for in my decks. I might be undervaluing it but ever since stacking damage disappeared I’m not a huge fan of bounce.
A nice late gift here, if we get a Tumble Magnet or two this will definitely get played.
I really dislike the Sunchaser. Having a glass jaw whenever metalcraft disappears, coupled with the fact that it’s just really hard to find three artifacts are the main reasons. Still, the other cards won’t get played so might as well pick it.
I’m not sure if Chimeric Mass is better than Palladium Myr, but felt that the Myr can’t really accelerate that well in this deck. I probably won’t have three Islands for Volition Reins by turn 4 anyway. Also, Mass gives me another zero-cost artifact for Glint Hawk.
Darksteel Axe is just exactly what we want for our deck, and these other cards aren’t.
Have to wonder what the red mage on my right picked over Scrapmelter. Trinket Mage makes me seem like a genius for picking Chimeric Mass.
Man I wish I could pick Genesis Wave. I don’t understand how you can be green and not pick it; it’s just so much fun! An off-color Myr is better than the second Accorder’s Shield, and I don’t have enough artifacts for the Certarch.
Not that excited about getting another Myr, but it’s better than nothing.
I’m a little low on artifacts for Chrome Steed, but I’d still rather play it than the second Invisimancer. Hopefully it won’t come to that though.
That’s better. Bladed Pinions isn’t the kind of equipment we want; although Twisted Image can be cool it’s obviously not better than the Skyguard in this deck.
Another Glint Hawk is great news.
Not a big fan of Edgewright, but this time I’d rather play it than something like Chrome Steed.
Another Disperse that I probably won’t find room for.
Another example of just how weird this format is. 3/3 fliers eleventh pick?
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1 Accorder’s Shield
1 Copper Myr
1 Glimmerpoint Stag
2 Glint Hawk
1 Iron Myr
2 Kemba’s Skyguard
1 Myrsmith
1 Perilous Myr
1 Razor Hippogriff
1 Silver Myr
1 Sky-Eel School
1 Sunspear Shikari
1 Trinket Mage
1 Barbed Battlegear
1 Chimeric Mass
1 Darksteel Axe
1 Glint Hawk Idol
1 Halt Order
1 Heavy Arbalest
1 Necrogen Censer
1 Revoke Existence
1 Volition Reins
Sideboard
1 Neurok Invisimancer
2 Vault Skyward
1 Chrome Steed
2 Disperse
1 Auriok Edgewright
1 Flameborn Hellion
1 Seize the Initiative
1 Auriok Sunchaser
1 Thrummingbird
1 Loxodon Wayfarer
1 Relic Putrescence
1 Vulshok Heartstoker
1 Withstand Death
1 Ferrovore
1 Bellowing Tanglewurm
1 Alpha Tyrranax
Pretty happy with how my deck turned out. That eleventh-pick Sky-Eel School let me leave both Chrome Steed and Auriok Edgewright in the board. The mana
isn’t great with Volition Reins demanding more Islands than I’d want to play without it, but a card that powerful is easily worth the sacrifice. I
thought about not playing Halt Order figuring I often would have equipment and wouldn’t be able to leave mana up, but decided to play it anyway.
Quarters:
Game one:
I win the roll and choose to play first. I keep two Plains, Island, Accorder’s Shield, Perilous Myr, Silver Myr, and Razor Hippogriff. I draw Glint
Hawk Idol on turn 2 and play that over the Silver Myr, since I want to get damage through, and I don’t really need to accelerate into anything. My
opponent has Swamp and Mountain and a turn 2 Leaden Myr, and on turn 3 he kills my Silver Myr with Fume Spitter and plays a Necropede. He uses Bladed
Pinions to trade Necropede for Glint Hawk Idol, but I use Hippogriff to get it back, and he can’t find any creatures other than Insect tokens from
Trigon of Infestation to equip the Pinions to. My fliers kill him in a couple of turns.
I decline to sideboard anything. Some of the artifacts in my deck are not great and could be boarded out for Disperse or even a 1/5 to stall the
ground, but I don’t want to risk having Glint Hawks stranded in my hand against a deck that might remove many of my artifacts.
Game two:
He chooses to play first and keeps his seven while I mulligan four Islands, Chimeric Mass, Sky-Eel School, and Razor Hippogriff. This hand just leaves
me with too many bad draws (any of the double white cards, more Islands, etc), and it’s also very slow against a deck featuring creatures with infect.
I happily keep Island, Plains, Iron Myr, Perilous Myr, Heavy Arbalest, and Sky-Eel School.
He only has a turn 1 Horizon Spellbomb and a turn 2 Bladed Pinions while I draw and cast Glint Hawk Idol. Also, one of his lands is a Plains, meaning
he is three colors. It all gets much worse though when he has a second Mountain on turn 3 and Spikeshot Elder, leaving the Iron Myr stranded in my
hand. I’ve also failed to draw any land and stall on two while playing Perilous Myr and getting in for two damage with the Idol.
He fetches a Swamp and on turn 4 plays Oxidda Scrapmelter to kill the Idol. The Perilous Myr halts his attacks since he doesn’t want to give up the
Elder. I draw a Sunspear Shikari and eventually a couple of lands which will let me kill his Elder with the Arbalest. Except he gets Argentum Armor
down on the same turn meaning I can kill the Elder, but I can’t stop him from putting Armor on his Scrapmelter. I have a few turns to draw Revoke
Existence but fail to find it before I die.
During the second game I’d been holding Halt Order but obviously never had the mana to cast it. I realize that Disperse is probably a better card in my
deck (at least in this matchup) and sideboard it in.
Game three:
I keep three Plains, Accorder’s Shield, Glint Hawk, Sunspear Shikari, and Iron Myr on the play, while he mulligans to six. By turn 3 he has only
managed to play and activate a Horizon Spellbomb and play a Bladed Pinions. My turn 4 attack brings him down to nine life, and I even have a Razor
Hippogriff in reserve. He stalls on three land and plays a Necropede that saves him some damage and lets him kill the Iron Myr, but the Hippogriff
brings it back. He does topdeck a fourth land enabling Skinrender which gives him a glimmer of hope, but Barbed Battlegear on Sunspear Shikari forces
him to chump-block, and the turn after Glint Hawk attacks for lethal in the air.
Semis:
Game one:
My opponent chooses to play and mulligans while I keep two Plains, Island, Chimeric Mass, Halt Order, Barbed Battlegear, and Volition Reins. Not a
great hand obviously but three lands and both colors mean most draws should be good. He ends up mulliganing all the way down to four cards.
My first draw step gives me a Glint Hawk Idol that I play on turn 2 against his board of two Plains. A third Plains lets him cast Snapsail Glider while
I make a 3/3 Chimeric Mass. He tries to get back in the race with a Tumble Magnet, but I’m still ahead, and he doesn’t have many cards. On my turn 5 I
don’t have any good plays so I just activate and attack with my guys and leave mana up for Halt Order, thinking I’ll counter any artifact he plays. He
has Necrogen Censer which isn’t exactly exciting, but I just want to draw a card and maybe get the third blue for Volition Reins.
It ends up not mattering since he just runs out of steam and when the counters run out on Tumble Magnet and I Revoke the Existence of his Snapail
Glider, he scoops.
I think about boarding in Disperse again for the Halt Order, but it seems like he has many artifacts, and Halt Order could be quite good.
Game two:
He plays first and keeps his seven while I keep three Plains, Kemba’s Skyguard, Trinket Mage, Necrogen Censer, and Volition Reins. Looking back at it
this seems sketchy at best, but I guess it isn’t an awful keep on the draw. My first draw step is an Island making the sketchy decision much better.
He has a turn 2 Silver Myr while I draw and play Perilous Myr. On turn 3 he plays Rusted Relic while I summon the Skyguard. I’m not that afraid of the
Relic when I have Perilous in play, since it should take some time before he can attack profitably with it. His turn 4 is only a Glimmerpoint Stag too,
meaning he only has two artifacts in play.
I’ve drawn Trinket Mage here and another Island and am feeling great about my chances this game. I Trinket for Darksteel Axe, thinking I’ll use the
Glimmerpoint Stag in my hand to Trinket again next turn for Chimeric Mass. He has a Snapsail Glider to turn on Rusted Relic and attacks with Relic and
Glimmerpoint Stag. I just block the Relic with Perilous and kill his Myr. On my turn I draw Iron Myr and decide to cast that and equip Darksteel Axe to
the Skyguard and attack.
For some reason it felt like I had good cards to race, but I’m pretty sure that was a mistake. He plays Gold Myr and attacks with Stag, Snapail
Glider, and Rusted Relic. I don’t really have any good blocks and take ten going to nine. After combat he plays Glint Hawk, bouncing the Myr back to
his hand.
I see this as a great opening to Glimmerpoint his Glint Hawk, since he only has four lands in play, and Snapail and Rusted Relic are his only
artifacts. I once again attack him with Skyguard and get him down to ten. I follow up with Necrogen Censer, and he bounces the Glider when the Hawk
comes back in play. Sadly he has Glint Hawk Idol to go with his Gold Myr in hand which once again turns on Rusted Relic.
I trade Glimmerpoint Stags but go down to four from the Relic attack. I do draw Silver Myr which lets me Volition Reins the turn after, but after I
trade my Skyguard for Glint Hawk Idol, he still has Snapsail Glider. I topdeck Glint Hawk which together with Relic should win the race for me, but
when I attack with Relic and my Myr, he has metalcrafted Dispense Justice for the blowout. Glint Hawk has to trade with Snapsail Glider, and even
though I reset my Necrogen Censer, it can only bring him to two. Next turn he drops Wurmcoil Engine, and when I can’t find an answer on my next draw
step I die.
This was a very long game, and it’s very possible that I made more mistakes than just the decision to be aggressive with the Skyguard. Still, when I
check the replay I understand my own reasoning, but his draws just matched up really well with the decisions I made. Once again, I sideboard nothing.
Game three:
I choose to play first and mulligan Island, two Glint Hawks, Iron Myr, Halt Order, Sky-Eel School, and Volition Reins. He keeps at seven, and I keep
two Plains, Island, Myrsmith, Revoke Existence, and Heavy Arbalest.
My Myrsmith gets matched by Perilous Myr, but I draw Darksteel Axe which gives me a Myr and Trinket Mage that fetches Chimeric Mass. He plays Copper
Myr, Tumble Magnet, and then a Forest (showing his third color) for a metalcrafted Carapace Forger. I’m stuck on three lands, but he isn’t using the
Tumble Magnet, and I can just chump the Forger with Myrs I get from the Myrsmith.
Kemba Skyguard trades with a Lumengrid Drake that bounced my Myrsmith, and I draw Perilous Myr that blocks the Forger and kills a Snapsail Glider. He’s
running out of steam though, and I’ve drawn my fourth land. He only has three artifacts, and when he attacks with Copper Myr and Carapace Forger I
trade away a Myr and Myrsmith to kill them both. He adds another Perilous Myr, but I’m still on fifteen life, and my hand is full of gas. He resets
Tumble Magnet with Glint Hawk, but I match him with my own Hawk and a Sky-Eel School.
He drops Wurmcoil Engine, and although I haven’t drawn mana to cast Volition Reins yet, I still have the Revoke Existence to kill it. At this point his
extra lands are really catching up to him. He’s got eight lands in play to my five and another Glint Hawk to once again reset Tumble Magnet, Trigon of
Mending to gain life, and Dispense Justice just delay the inevitable. Razor Hippogriff does his thing, bringing back a huge Chimeric Mass, and I win
with Volition Reins still in my hand.
Finals:
Game one:
He wins the roll and keeps his seven. I keep Plains, Iron Myr, Myrsmith, Sunspear Shikari, Revoke Silence, Chimeric Mass, and Volition Reins. One land
is obviously not great, but plenty of two mana spells and a Myr on the draw make it a keep in my book.
He drops a Forest while I draw Glint Hawk, which I play using the Chimeric Mass. He has Swamp and Throne of Geth on turn 2 while I stall on land and
just attack with Glint Hawk. Turn 3 he plays Cystbearer, and I topdeck Plains and play Myrsmith. I could play Iron Myr here, but if I don’t draw land
next turn, I still can’t do anything better than cast Myrsmith or Sunspear Shikari, and if I do draw land, I’d rather play Myr and use the extra mana
to get a Myr token. I debate holding back with Glint Hawk but can’t see double-blocking next turn since that just means I’m dead to Untamed Might.
He drops a fourth land and plays Blackcleave Goblin, getting in for four poison counters. I fail to draw land on my turn and just cast a 1/1 Chimeric
Mass making a Myr. He attacks with both his creatures, and now I can’t afford to play around Untamed Might, since it would put me at nine poison with a
Throne of Geth in play. I block Cystbearer with Glint Hawk and Myrsmith, and my Myr trades with his Blackcleave Goblin. Thankfully he doesn’t have
Might, but plays a Corpse Cur bringing back Cystbearer.
I draw another Plains and cast Iron Myr, getting a bonus Myr from Myrsmith. I trade my Myrsmith for his Corpse Cur, since I probably won’t have mana
left over to create Myr the next few turns, and he summons Tel-Jilad Fallen. I draw yet another Plains and play Sunspear Shikari and Heavy Arbalest. He
elects to not attack with his Fallen, not willing to trade with my Shikari and casts Sylvok Replica, to insure against my Arbalest. I draw and play
Kemba’s Skyguard and pass the turn back. For some reason he doesn’t destroy the Arbalest with the Replica, and next turn he taps out for two
Cystbearers. I take the opportunity to Revoke his Replica, which gives me my fifth poison counter through his Throne.
He swings with the Cystbearers, and I trade Skyguard for one of them (double-block with a Myr token) and chump the other with my 1/1 Chimeric Mass. He
follows up with Contagion Nim. I simply equip the Arbalest to my Shikari and pass the turn back, which shuts off his attacks. Next turn, I play Razor
Hippogriff, bringing the Mass back, and when he draws for his turn, presumably finding another land, he just scoops.
Obviously the game wasn’t over at this point, but this is Magic Online and not a Pro Tour. Some people probably have better things to do with their
time than try to win games that look this bad. I don’t.
I board in Disperse for Halt Order. He doesn’t really have many artifacts, and Disperse is a good counter for Untamed Might.
Game two:
He chooses to play first and keeps seven while I mulligan three Plains, Island, Accorder’s Shield, Darksteel Axe, and Necrogen Censer. Talk about a
hand that doesn’t do anything. I keep two Plains, Island, Accorder’s Shield, Trinket Mage, and Volition Reins.
He has turn 1 Sylvok Lifestaff, turn 2 [Myr], turn 3 Carrion Call, and uses a Fume Spitter and Instill Infection to kill my Trinket Mage and get
through for two poison. I play the Chimeric Mass I fetched as a 3/3, and he declines to attack into it with his Insects. He casts Cystbearer and gives
it the Lifestaff, and I Revoke the Staff on my turn.
He still attacks with Cystbearer into Mass, and I block, making my Mass a 1/1. My only other creature is a lowly Iron Myr that gets both Accorder’s
Shield and Barbed Battlegear. It gets through for five one turn and is keeping his Insects back, but Throne of Geth lets him chump with Copper Myr and
effectively kill my Chimeric Mass.
I’m just drawing Plains at this point with two Islands in play and Volition Reins in hand. He plays Ichorclaw Myr, and when he attacks with all three
infect creatures against my big Myr, I pretty much know that it’s over. I block one of them, and he plays Untamed Might for six, putting me at eleven
poison counters.
Game three:
I choose to play and keep two Islands, two Plains, Accorder’s Shield, Kemba’s Skyguard, and Volition Reins.
On turn 2 I draw Glint Hawk and play it returning the Shield. He has Ichorclaw Myr while I play my Skyguard and attack with the Hawk. He plays and
equips Sylvok Lifestaff and swings, giving me two poison counters. I play and equip Accorder’s Shield and attack him down to fourteen. At this point
I’ve only drawn Glint Hawk and lands from my opening hand.
He casts Blackcleave Goblin and attacks with both, and I block the Goblin going up to four poison, leaving me with a 0/3 Skyguard. I draw and play
Copper Myr and once again attack with Glint Hawk. The Skyguard chumps Ichorclaw Myr, and he adds Contagion Nim and Copper Myr to his board. I steal
Contagion Nim with Volition Reins and attack again. He plays a precombat Corpse Cur, bringing back Blackcleave Goblin, and then attacks with Ichorclaw
Myr. I block with my stolen Nim, and his poison Myr dies at end of turn, bringing him up to thirteen life.
I draw Silver Myr, equip Accorder’s Shield to Glint Hawk and attack. He plays a Necropede and equips it with the Lifestaff, choosing not to attack. I
draw and play Kemba’s Skyguard, and attack him to nine with the Glint Hawk, and after combat re-equip my Shield to the Skyguard.
On his next turn he decides to attack with all his infects, and I block them all, trading my two Myrs and Kemba’s Skyguard for Necropede, Blackcleave
Goblin, and Untamed Might. His Necropede shrinks my Glint Hawk to a 1/1. I draw Revoke Existence and use it to remove the Corpse Cur. After this
follows five turns of me just attacking with my one-power Glint Hawk and him doing nothing except casting a Fume Spitter and giving it the Lifestaff.
He could have used the Spitter to stop the insane beats but decided not to (not sure why). I’m the first one to draw an actual spell, Sky-Eel School,
which draws me into Disperse, Glint Hawk, and Arbalest. He buys some time with the Lifestaff and a Sylvok Replica, but at around turn 18, my Sky-Eel
finally kills him.
This draft had many long games, and I tried my best to describe the key points in all of them. Hopefully most of it made sense. If not, ask in the
forums, and I’ll try to clarify.