Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Sanctum Gargoyle may be the right pick here. However it is much easier to draft aggro than control and I want to get used to drafting five-color control in the new format as soon as possible to see if the archetype is still worth a look.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Magma Spray kills a lot more guys now and it is a more stable and reliable card than Naya Charm in the archetype.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
One bomb and one mass removal spell after three picks… Quite a good start.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Not an easy one here. Rhox War Monk will be extremely precious even though it’s very unlikely to be a turn 3 play.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Esper Battlemage is tempting but I have to start picking fixers.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
I tend to pick Obelisks as high as Panoramas as you won’t get nearly as many in ACR than in AAA or in AAC. And as I’ve already picked two fetch lands…
Pack 1 pick 8:
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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 12:
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Pack 1 pick 13:
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Pack 1 pick 14:
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Pack 1 pick 15:
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Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
I’ve never played the card but it seems excellent. I’ll have to pay even more attention to my mana than predicted.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Thornling may be very tempting but I don’t feel like running it along with Malfegor and Sovereign. However with now three mass removal spells my “Red” five-color deck deck seems pretty strong.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
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Pack 2 pick 5:
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Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Rhox Bodyguard is a little too White so it’s either Stone or Frame I must pick here. I end up picking the artifact without much conviction.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
A very nice early blocker against most decks. Survives Jund Charm.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Close with Brackwater Elemental but dealing with non-flying guys shouldn’t be much of a problem anyway. I’d rather pick a card that can help me deal with flyers.
Pack 2 pick 9:
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Pack 2 pick 15:
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Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Excellent versus Esper and pretty good against other decks anyway. Every single other card seems at least one level below.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Two of the best three uncommons in the format. The Elf is often going to reveal a mana artifact which is worse than what the big Regrowth will do most of the time.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
With two Wrath effects Renegades and now Minotaur Esper shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
A two-drop that survives Charm and Fallout can only be good.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
I wanted to take the Brute to stall the board more efficiently but I need to pick fixers to cast my key cards (Charm Fallout Sphinx Malfegor) more easily. Also it’s pretty great with Rebirth and a possible Soul Manipulation.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
I now have a third bomb in my deck.
Pack 3 pick 8:
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Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
The deck will probably be Jund based but this can still help from the sideboard and it is a card I absolutely don’t want to face.
Pack 3 pick 11:
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Pack 3 pick 12:
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Pack 3 pick 14:
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Pack 3 pick 15:
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1 Plains
2 Swamp
5 Mountain
4 Forest
1 Island
1 Rupture Spire
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Esper Panorama
1 Zombie Outlander
1 Putrid Leech
1 Vithian Renegades
1 Rhox War Monk
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Worldheart Phoenix
1 Deadshot Minotaur
1 Jhessian Zombies
1 Igneous Pouncer
1 Malfegor
1 Sphinx Sovereign
1 Wretched Banquet
1 Magma Spray
1 Yoke of the Damned
1 Jund Charm
1 Mistvein Borderpost
1 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Obelisk of Bant
1 Obelisk of Jund
1 Brainbite
1 Suicidal Charge
1 Maelstrom Nexus
1 Vengeful Rebirth
Sideboard
1 Cumber Stone
1 Wandering Goblins
1 Demonic Dread
1 Welkin Guide
1 Mountain
1 Sphinx’s Herald
2 Swamp
1 Goblin Mountaineer
1 Rhox Bodyguard
3 Forest
1 Offering to Asha
1 Lightning Talons
1 Scepter of Fugue
1 Violent Outburst
2 Island
1 Island
1 Drastic Revelation
1 Behemoth’s Herald
The only decision about the deck concerned the 40th card: Cumber Stone or Suicidal Charge? As I didn’t see myself splashing for the Artifact I thought the Charge would be a little more efficient.
ROUND 1: Esper
In the first game I open with turn 4 Deadshot Minotaur on Sewn-Eye Drake and turn 5 Maelstrom Nexus. 4 turns and 4 Cascades later he concedes.
Before I complain about my draws in the next game it would be fair to say one of my plays in game 1 justified my crap draws in the next two. I played Wreched Banquet on Puppet Conjurer. Smarter than I my opponent made a token and his 1/2 survived.
So where was I? Oh yes complaining. I lost the next two games without having much of a chance to fight as I missed two colors for most of game 2 and got them all but none of my good spells in game 3.
However and even though his deck was excellent and he had Island Plains and Swamp with no fixers on turn 3 each game I have the feeling there is something wrong with five-color control in ACR. In most of my ACR drafts so far I’ve been drafting the archetype. My first one was the best five-color control I’ve had in AAA AAC and ACR combined and went 2/1 in a FNM losing to Manu B and his crazy UW aggro deck. I came to the conclusion I was just missing a mass removal spell.
I’ve played another three online drafts. In the first I had lots of removal including a Jund Charm and went 2/1 again but only because people seemed to be playing their first draft in the format and all my opponents had crap decks. In the next two (including this one) I had good mana mass removal spells and several bombs. I would have expected to make it to the finals with two decks of same quality in AAC but I’ve lost twice in the quarters including once to a pretty bad deck. One explanation could be that even with good fixers it takes some times to gather the right mana while your opponent develops his army. As the format got faster it is much harder to put up a fight against an aggro draw when not drawing especially well.
I am now not sure what to think anymore. Is five-color control still good enough? Am I drafting it the right way? Have I just been unlucky lately? It’s hard to tell in such a short period. I’m sure to have different experiences in the next few weeks and I’ll share with you my impressions on the subject hoping I get an answer before Pro Tour: Honolulu.
Until Wednesday…
Oli