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Drafting With Olivier – M10 #3

Make plans to join us at SCG 5K Dallas!
Thursday, August 20th – Hall of Famer Olivier Ruel takes us through an 8-4 draft queue on Magic Online. He shares some comprehensive thoughts about both the picks and the games, and talks us through each step of the way! If you’re looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article series for you!

Pack 1 pick 1:

















My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 2:
















My Pick:

1) Might of Oaks
2) Giant Spider
3) Seismic Strike

Might of Oaks is quite a great finisher in particular in a deck which should play multiple flyers. Giant Spider and Seismic Strike are a level below but I like the 2/4 better for two reasons.

A – As a 2/4 reach creature it stops 90% of the non Green commons and uncommon in the format and resists the Red removal.
B – Black has the most playables in M10. Then it’s Green then White and eventually Blue and Red.

Therefore even though the aggro guys/flyers/blast spells synergy has some potential going UR is quite risky and if it’s not clearly open you’ll end up short on playables.

Pack 1 pick 3:















My Pick:

Windstorm is a pretty good sideboard card but it can’t compete with the Rhino in particular in a deck that is Blue and should therefore use flying creatures.

Pack 1 pick 4:














My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 5:













My Pick:

1) Wind Drake
2) Llanowar Elves
3) Flashfreeze

When I go UG in order to compensate for my lack of removal I like to have flyers which can make the difference. Llanowar Elves may be great if it accelerates into Centaur Courser but whenever you draw it past turn 1 or when you don’t have a three-drop in hand he’s just a fragile 1/1 guy.

Concerning Flashfreeze I like the card a lot in sealed deck in which close to 90% decks run at least Green or Red but it is a lot less efficient in draft in which I rate it about as high as Negate.

Pack 1 pick 6:












My Pick:

1) Centaur Courser
2) Howl of the Night Pack

To be honest I don’t think that pick made a lot of sense. I have just been a bit disappointed by Howl of the Night Pack lately while in the meantime I’ve been extremely annoyed by the 3/3 every time I’ve faced it. Therefore I go for the 3/3 to give it another try but this pick is probably wrong.

Pack 1 pick 7:











My Pick:

1) Borderland Ranger
2) Deadly Recluse
3) Ice Cage
4) Elvish Visionary

As a two-drop in a deck which tries to be aggro Deadly Recluse is very tempting. However even though the card is quite interesting a one-power creature rarely fits an aggro deck. On the other hand the Ranger even though he’s not so much into beatdown stabilizes the mana and gives a precious card advantage. Also now that I’ve both the 2/2 and Rampant Growth I’ll be able to splash any Fireball or Doom Blade I open or am passed in the next two packs. Ice cage is a nice card but its effect is quite random after boarding so even though I like the card a lot I will still pick many cards over it. Elvish Visionary eventually doesn’t shine much if you’re not running Overrun which I don’t have yet.

Pack 1 pick 8:










My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 9:









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Pack 1 pick 10:








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Pack 1 pick 11:







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Pack 1 pick 13:





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Pack 1 pick 15:



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Pack 2 pick 1:

















My Pick:

1) Djinn of Wishes
2) Howl of the Night Pack

Once again I pass the excellent How of the Night Pack but this time the pick can hardly be contested.

Pack 2 pick 2:
















My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 3:















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Pack 2 pick 4:














My Pick:

1) Llanowar Elves

2) Essence Scatter
3) Craw Wurm

With so many great cards I now need more good early drops. Essence Scatter is a great one but I now have so many cards I want to accelerate into that the Elves is clearly the right option. I would play Craw Wurm if I had it in my draft but I’ve many late drops already which are all better than the 6/4 so I can’t really pick it now.

Pack 2 pick 5:













My Pick:

1) Borderland Ranger
2) Giant Spider
3) Gorgon Flail

Even though my three-mana curve is pretty full at the moment I probably don’t want to run over two Spiders and the Ranger seems a little better anyway even though it will now be hard to splash anything.

Maybe the equipment deserves a little better but I don’t like it as much here as I would in a White deck (early drops) or in a Red deck (first strikers pingers).

Pack 2 pick 6:












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Pack 2 pick 7:











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Pack 2 pick 8:










My Pick:

1) Runeclaw Bear
2) Cancel
3) Regenerate

Even though the Llano/Bear opening hand is not very good as far as mana is concerned I need spells to fill the curve. Cancel is quite a good card but it will be sideboard against the best expensive spells as Blue is not my best color. Regenerate is a quite good sideboard card as well as it destroys Illusionary Servant Ice Cage and it counters the Red and Black removal.

Pack 2 pick 9:









My Pick:

Well I did get it!

Pack 2 pick 10:








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Pack 2 pick 11:







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Pack 3 pick 1:

















My Pick:

1) Stampeding Rhino
2) Gargoyle Castle

Tough pick but I don’t need a six mana 3/4 flyer as much as I need a cheaper and bigger guy at the moment. Then of course the Castle is flyer but it would force me to run an 18th land to improve my chance to cast my 3/4.

Pack 3 pick 2:
















My Pick:

Quite easy to splash in my deck.

Pack 3 pick 3:















My Pick:

1) Giant Growth
2) Ice Cage
3) Stampeding Rhino

If you ask me about the pure strength of the card I’d say 1)Rinho 2)Cage 3)Growth. Now when I’ve quite an aggressive deck with a nice curve and enough annoying guys to force my opponent to block at the first opportunity but also finishers such as Fireball Overrun and Might of Oaks I really like the pump spell. Then I’d pick the Cage because I don’t really need guys anymore.

Pack 3 pick 4:














My Pick:

If I hadn’t picked Fireball I would have gone for Pacifism here.

Pack 3 pick 5:













My Pick:

I’ve enough fixers already; I’d rather like to draw cards in my deck so I can find my bombs.

Pack 3 pick 6:












My Pick:

One of my favorite card in Sealed is also quite good in draft. It’s more a pick 2-3 than a pick 6.

Pack 3 pick 7:











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Pack 3 pick 9:









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Pack 3 pick 11:







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Pack 3 pick 14:




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Pack 3 pick 15:



My Pick:

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10 Forest
6 Island

2 Llanowar Elves
2 Runeclaw Bear
2 Elvish Visionary
2 Borderland Ranger
2 Centaur Courser
1 Wind Drake
2 Giant Spider
2 Stampeding Rhino
1 Djinn of Wishes
1 Air Elemental

1 Giant Growth
1 Ice Cage
1 Oakenform
1 Might of Oaks
1 Sleep
1 Overrun
1 Howl of the Night Pack

Sideboard
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 Fog
2 Rampant Growth
1 Runeclaw Bear
1 Fireball
2 Swamp
1 Levitation
1 Disorient
1 Griffin Sentinel
1 Regenerate
2 Cancel
1 Acidic Slime
1 Plains
1 Dragon’s Claw
1 Island
1 Kraken’s Eye
1 Bramble Creeper
1 Telepathy

The big question about that build was Fireball or not? I do have enough fixers to splash the Red bomb no worries about that. But I still decided not to run it. Why so?

A – I don’t want to play Rampant Growth which fits the curve really badly.
B – With only 6 Island Sleep Djinn Air Elemental and even Overrun I think I’ll have better things to do than search for a Mountain in the early game.
C – My deck should be good enough to beat any other deck if my mana is good and it seems to be good if I stick to UG.

My first opponent was playing UR. He bashed me pretty easily in the first game as he had a Jackal/Raging Goblin draw while I was drawing slow and he finished me with a Fireball for 5 when I had eventually stopped the beating. In game 2 we both drew well but that Blue Red deck is not a deck that wants to go second. I stop his team a little higher on life and as he can’t Fireball me out this time we go to the third in which I bring one Rampant Growth one Mountain and one Fireball. As a result I open with 2 Island 2 Forest 2 Giant Spider and Fireball. Even though this hand is slow I consider I should be able to draw an early drop in mt first 3 draws and as I also haven’t seen any guy big enough to kill one of my spiders in a one-on-one fight I choose to keep. He plays Ice Cage on the first one while my first 4 draws are non-Mountain lands. The match is already over.

Until tomorrow…

Oli