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Drafting With Nick – Shards of Alara #1

Draft with Nick every day... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, October 27th – That’s right, folks… it’s back! While Canadian draft maestro Rich Hoaen battles it out at Pro Tour: Berlin, we have Nick Eisel bringing us a Shards of Alara 8-4 draft walkthrough each day, from pick 1 to pick 45. Nick supplies draft analysis in the forums! Rich Hoaen returns soon, to battle Nick head to head… watch this space!

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P2P1 – This pack was quite a dilemma. I really wanted to take Cerodon but Broodmate has won the game for me basically every time I’ve cast it.

P2P2 – Thoctar could be right here but I wanted to go with the more consistent pick.
P2P5 – I wasn’t sure about White yet for the Battlemage and I definitely wanted the Druid in this deck.

P3P3 – I considered the land here as well as Capsule but decided Firestoker was the best fit for the deck so far to keep the splash minimal.

Overall the draft was pretty standard with only a few places to really deviate. The main spot was pack 2 when I could have stayed GRW and taken Cerodon and Thoctar. I’m definitely interested in hearing some thoughts on that though I was happy with the final product even if it did come up a few cards short. I’d never played Savage Hunger before this draft but it seemed awesome in a deck full of Cavern Thoctars and Incurable Ogres.

1 Ridge Rannet
1 Jungle Weaver
1 Soul’s Might
1 Broodmate Dragon
1 Savage Hunger
1 Resounding Roar
1 Mosstodon
2 Cavern Thoctar
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Scavenger Drake
1 Obelisk of Naya
2 Exuberant Firestoker
1 Druid of the Anima
1 Resounding Thunder
1 Rockslide Elemental
1 Predator Dragon
2 Incurable Ogre
1 Gift of the Gargantuan
1 Feral Hydra
1 Volcanic Submersion
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Swamp
8 Mountain
7 Forest

Sideboard
1 Soul’s Grace
1 Plains
1 Outrider of Jhess
1 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
1 Mighty Emergence
1 Welkin Guide
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Tidehollow Strix
1 Steward of Valeron
1 Etherium Astrolabe
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Excommunicate
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Resounding Scream
1 Onyx Goblet
1 Knight of the Skyward Eye
1 Vicious Shadows
1 Vectis Silencers
1 Banewasp Affliction

Round 1 I played against my good friend Chris Fennell. Game 1 I mulliganed into a crappy hand that I had to keep and had to cycle my Submersion against his Artifact deck in an early game attempt to find Green mana. He ended up beating me pretty easily. Game 2 he conceded on turn 3 after missing a land drop and I started with Firestoker Incurable Ogre. Game 3 I Submersioned his Blue Battlemage but it wasn’t enough as he had slowrolled the Tower Drake and dowsed any hopes I had of winning by Excommunicating my Cavern Thoctar.

Until tomorrow…

Nick