Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
A pretty good card but not such good news when all the best cards (except for Azure Drake) are White. And still as Blue seems to be by far the best color to be associated with white passing the Drake is also pretty bad.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
1) Armored Ascenscion
2) Aether Adept
3) Lightning Bolt
4) Azure Drake
Being white I want to avoid drafting Black. Those colors just don’t have any synergy in common and too many Black cards require many Swamps when white should be a deck’s main color. Green and white can have good synergy but their association misses creature disruption. To me the three options you want to go with when you have Plains are either UW (classic flyer-based deck) White splash Red (for removal and possibly a few guys) and the simple but still efficient Mono White deck. In either Mono White or White splash Red Armored Ascension may be the strongest common or uncommon one could hope for (even stronger than Fireball). Aether Adept would be the best card for a UW deck. The card is nearly as good as Pacifism and the tempo advantage it gives is just unreal.
I really considered picking Lightning Bolt here even though I like it less than Adept or Ascension simply because there is so much White and Blue in these first two packs that switching to any combination of Green Red and Black should offer me a strong pack 2. But for now I’ll stick to the straightforward plan and try and go with a heavy White deck.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
I like the Ophidian a lot. The opponent has to keep one blocker in defense all the time if not two in order to keep you from a cantrip Pacifsm or Unsummon. And when they keep several guys home not only do you get a great tempo advantage cards like Armored Ascension and Sleep get your little guy all the way through.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
1) Cloud Elemental
2) Excommunicate / Unsummon
Excommunicate and Unsummon are both excellent in a UW aggro deck but as their goal is to give you control of the tempo while your flyers strike they shouldn’t be taken over an early flyer.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
I love Cancel but when racing is your goal (and it usually is when you’re UW) you don’t have time to waste keeping your mana open in the early game. On the other hand a Fog effect can happen to be pretty useful when it comes to racing. As for the spells you would need to counter Safe Passage deals with many annoying spells (Pyroclasm Fireball).
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
In the late draft I could pick Excommunicate but the card is never as strong as when you have opened with a turn 2 and a turn 3 drop. As for turn 2 drops the Lion will be my best.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Unsummon is globally better but the 1/1 has synergy with Scroll Thief (much harder to deal with a 2/4 than with a 1/3) and Inspired Charge.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Yes I am aware that greed is a sin.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
1) Stormfront Pegasus
2) White Knight
3) Foresee
4) Fireball
Fireball is a card any sealed deck or any control deck should splash. However in a pure aggro deck the stability matters as much as the quality of the cards. The deck is short in two-drops so White Knight would be pretty good but Stormfront Pegasus is even better. The card just wins most games in which you open with it if it is not dealt with immediately. The card is actually pretty close to Blinding Mage and Pacifism in this archetype and I could pick it over those two cards if only I already had a pair of Inspired Charges.
Foresee is much better in control than in aggro in which you don’t want to waste your turn 4 not playing a guy. Don’t misunderstand me the card is still pretty strong but I like a very good creature more.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
I’d rather cast a guy than a draw spell in a deck in which tempo matters so much.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Celestial Purge is not very good in this format as there are not nearly as many Red/Black permanents as in any of the other colors. On the other hand Sleep is almost as good as Mind Control in a good aggro deck.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
I’m not worrying at all about the number of playables I’ll get. Therefore I’d rather counterdraft than pick a sideboard card.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
The best guarantee to have a strong start also turns one or two land draws away in the mid/late game when drawing a land is often similar to skipping the turn.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Also makes draws better and eliminates unneeded lands.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
I’m not a fan of Diminish in an archetype which tries to avoid combat and has one-toughness guys.
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:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Now all I need to do is get a maximum number of guys. With a pair of Sleep and some draw spells to get them Inspired Charge shouldn’t even be necessary.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
A creature and a tempo provider. Exactly what my deck needs.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Wall of Frost would be good in more classic UW deck but with a couple of Sleep I want all my guys to be able to swing. Redirect won’t be a main deck card but it is an interesting sideboard option.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
More and more draw spells = more and more Sleeps with fewer mana problems. This deck is becoming great.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Better than Negate when you’re very aggressive.
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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1 Siege Mastodon
1 War Priest of Thune
1 Silvercoat Lion
2 Foresee
1 Augury Owl
1 Azure Drake
1 Infantry Veteran
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 ther Adept
2 Preordain
8 Plains
9 Island
2 Sleep
2 Scroll Thief
1 Maritime Guard
1 Cloud Elemental
1 Wild Griffin
1 Elite Vanguard
2 Unsummon
1 Sun Titan
Sideboard
1 Tome Scour
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Armored Ascension
1 Blood Tithe
1 Negate
1 Sign in Blood
1 Mind Rot
1 Stabbing Pain
1 Safe Passage
1 Plains
1 Hunters’ Feast
1 Harbor Serpent
1 Merfolk Spy
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Swamp
1 Assassinate
1 Forest
1 Runeclaw Bear
1 Holy Strength
1 Redirect
2 Excommunicate
Keeping Armored Ascension in the sideboard was a very difficult choice and not running a pair of Excommunicate was a bit frustrating too but all I needed were early drops to win with that deck. As far as winning spells were concerned with 2 Preordain 2 Foresee and an Augury Owl I was almost guaranteed I’d draw a Sleep each game.
I won’t tell you about my games in detail for it wouldn’t be interesting as each of them went the same way.
– Strong start (supported by Owl and Preordain) and tempo advantage.
– Either win with the first wave or play one Sleep (even though I did need two copies in one game) for the win
6 games 6 wins and something like 40 minutes total is what my deck gave me. It confirmed to me once again just how strong two cards were in this archetype: Scroll Thief and Unsummon. With good aggression and a solid card advantage engine Unsummon is as good as a removal spell. A guy on turn 2 Scroll Thief on turn 3 a guy plus Unsummon on turn 4 finishes pretty much any game. Concerning the Ophidian the opponent facing Island and Plains usually often thinks one blocker is enough. But with Pacifism Ice Cage Excommunicate and Unsummon there are just so many ways to get your 1/3 through. And in this very deck it was even worse as at the very moment they kept two blockers I’d cast Sleep and tap them both.
On the other hand Sun Titan was pretty disappointing. The card is obviously very good but in these games it was very far from an MVP. Maybe it was because I was drawing well enough not to need it but I’d have been glad to trade it for the Stormfront Pegasus I passes pack 1 pick 1. If I was to open it in pack 3 of a similar draft I think I’d pick one of the UW top commons (Pacifism Blinding Mage Aether Adept Stormfront Pegasus) over it.
Until next time…
Oli