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Drafting With LSV – Shards of Alara #19

Draft with Luis Scott-Vargas every day... At StaCityGames.com!
Thursday, January 15th – Luis Scott-Vargas continues his daily Draft series, sharing each pick from a draft in the Magic Online 8-4 queue. He talks us through the difficult decisions in the forums… do you agree with his choices?

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1 Gift of the Gargantuan
1 Knight-Captain of Eos
1 Rakeclaw Gargantuan
1 Bull Cerodon
1 Magma Spray
1 Welkin Guide
1 Naya Battlemage
2 Qasali Ambusher
1 Naya Charm
1 Yoked Plowbeast
1 Mosstodon
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Topan Ascetic
1 Cavern Thoctar
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Excommunicate
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Druid of the Anima
1 Resounding Thunder
1 Akrasan Squire
1 Jungle Weaver
8 Forest
6 Plains
4 Mountain

Sideboard
1 Plains
1 Soul’s Grace
1 Obelisk of Grixis
1 Soul’s Might
1 Plains
1 Marble Chalice
1 Mountain
1 Mountain
1 Angel’s Herald
1 Swerve
1 Sigil Blessing
1 Kederekt Creeper
1 Lightning Talons
1 Sunseed Nurturer
1 Island
1 Onyx Goblet
1 Bloodpyre Elemental
1 Island
1 Incurable Ogre
1 Spell Snip
1 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Esper Panorama
1 Obelisk of Bant

P1p1 Knight-Captain is pretty easy to cast and good value so it beats out Citadel by a fair margin.
P1p2 Bull is insane and the only removal I would consider taking over him is Oblivion Ring so Branching Bolt gets shipped.
P2p2 Predator Dragon rarely gets cast in the real world and Naya Charm is still really powerful so this pick wasn’t too close (but undoubtedly would have been asked about so I figured I would head that off here).
P3p1 I don’t value Stinger as highly once I know I am solidly in Naya as I find him to be solid but not insane when your plan is beatdown with big guys. I usually take Thunder or even Nacatl over him just because of how the games usually play out with big Naya. I want my Red cards (which are usually more of a splash than G or W) to have immediate effect and Thunder is definitely better on that front than Stinger.

Rd1 versus 5c Obelisk
G1 He has the fairly awkward mana combination of Infest Agony Warp Stoic Angel Kederekt Creeper and Sedris in his deck but they all get cast eventually. My Mosstodon and Knight-Captain may have been easier to cast but they were certainly not enough to do it this game.
G2 Again we have a fairly long and drawn out war of attrition but the handy combination of Bull Cerodon plus Welkin Guide end up doing quite a bit of damage in a very short time.
G3 This game essentially ended on a devastating turn 4 when he played a Fire-Field Ogre and attacked with a Dragon Fodder token. He had seen two Qasali Ambushers in game 2 and sure enough one of them ate the token. I then Magma Sprayed his Ogre at the end of turn completing the blowout. He didn’t have a fifth land and thanks to the events of the previous turn I had something like three guys out already putting him much too far behind to mount a comeback.

Rd2 versus 5c Obelisk
G1 This game started oddly with us both stuck on two lands. He doesn’t kill my Druid right away with Executioner’s Capsule but as soon as I Gift of the Gargantua on turn 3 and miss on lands he wastes no time doing so. After some anemic turns of draw-go we both draw lands about the same time but my spells are a bit more efficient and guys plus removal get the job done.
G2 He has some pretty awkward mana playing the full five colors (Executioner’s Capsule Rhox War Monk Resounding Thunder) without much fixing so it is of no surprise to me when my turn 1 Akrasan Squire and turn 3 Naya Battlemage get the job done without much resistance.

Rd3 versus Naya
G1 I curve out with Topan plus Qasali Ambusher plus Rakeclaw and keep the pressure on with a Welkin
Guide. The game ends with my Naya Charm tapping down his guys after he stabilizes the board.
G2 I curve out well again and end up attacking on turn 6 with Topan Ascetic Mosstodon and Bull Cerodon but a combat with Sigil Blessing and many blockers kills my Mosstodon and Bull. I go for the kill with Naya Charm but he has Branching Bolt as his last card to go to 1. Next turn I try to kill him again but his Soul’s Fire of the top leaves the board as his Carrion Thrash and Court Archers versus my Naya Battlemage with him on one and me on 16. I peel Welkin Guide and force his Archers to chump then he scoops on his turn.

Until tomorrow…

LSV