Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
I think Naya is the worst archetype in the format which is the reason I don’t even consider Bull Cerodon an option. Here I must choose between Feral Hydra Magma Spray and Agony Warp. I’ve been drafting Jund a lot lately and it’s an archetype I like but don’t love as you usually get good cards from pack 1 and great cards from pack 3 but it’s really hard to define two main colors and you usually end up with strong but unstable decks. Therefore I don’t mind drafting it but I’d rather prefer my deck not being Green. That’s the reason why I pick Agony Warp over Magma Spray.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Akrasan Squire is a slightly better card in both Esper and UW splash B which should both be UW based but this seems like a great time to try that UB deck Manu has told me so much about.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Tidehollow Strix is a little better in a pure UB deck but Esper Battlemage is a lot better in Esper. As nearly every time I tried to go UB I ended up Esper and as I’ve just passed Filigree Sages which should wheel the Battlemage seems much safer.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Cancel would be good if I was not planning on getting Deny Reality for the deck. The card is not that good in most decks and I get it passed in near 100% of my drafts. As I don’t like the Cascade/Countermagic synergy I’d rather pick the artifact guy. I’m probably not even playing it but at least my neighbors should understand the message if they don’t get passed a single decent artifact card.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Archdemon is way too slow for the format while Connoisseur will become pretty okay if I can get some Unearth guys. I’ve only two packs left to get one and a few packs to receive Slavedriver but it’s still better than the 6/6 as I’m not playing it anyway.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Call to Heel would be good I am absolutely planning to get cards such as Parasitic Strix and Sedraxis Alchemist but two-drops are very important to the deck and the Zombie suddenly makes Connoisseur good.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Considering pack 1 there is a pretty good chance I don’t need a splash and I’m definitely not splashing for Blightning which is not even good in my deck nor against me.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
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:
My birthday isn’t until next week… it’s a little early for presents.
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Drag Down is only a -2/-2 while Slavedriver is both a kill and an excellent card to search for with Connoisseur. It was quite lucky to get it as well as the Unearth guys pack 1 pick 7 and 8.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
The common + uncommon I want the most and as the rare is not here anymore this is not a difficult pick. I’m saying common + uncommon but I would probably have picked it over Obelisk of Alara and most rares here anyway.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
This is going really well. I’m not even passing annoying cards.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
With now triple alchemist I just need a few Blue two-drops for my deck to be perfect.
Pack 2 pick 6:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Amazing with my Strix and 3 Alchemists.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
The only trouble for my deck should be fast white Exalted decks; this could be a good sideboard weapon against them.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Darklit Gargole is a little annoying. Even though Infectious Horror is a card I could play two of in that archetype it is unlikely I do so I could have counterdrafted here.
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
The best two commons for my deck are here. One is a little more important for my deck at the moment because it’s a UB two-drop while the other (Deny Reality) has a great chance to wheel making this an easy pick.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
This pick is very greedy and bad as Grixis Grimblade would have been a lot better for the deck.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
I’ve a tempo deck which could use a little more removal. Slave of Bolas couldn’t fit better.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Now at least I can splash the Terminate.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Quite good even though I don’t have that many artifacts as it’s another UB two-drop.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
I’m not a big fan of the card but it should actually be very good in that deck.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
My deck is officially the nuts.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
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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8 Island
7 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Veinfire Borderpost
1 Zombie Outlander
1 Esper Stormblade
1 Grixis Grimblade
1 Dregscape Zombie
1 Blister Beetle
1 Kathari Screecher
3 Sedraxis Alchemist
1 Parasitic Strix
1 Esper Battlemage
1 Filigree Sages
1 Corpse Connoisseur
1 Grixis Slavedriver
1 Wretched Banquet
1 Executioner’s Capsule
1 Mask of Riddles
1 Terminate
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Agony Warp
1 Slave of Bolas
2 Deny Reality
Sideboard
1 Plains
1 Obelisk of Grixis
1 Singe-Mind Ogre
1 Cancel
1 Swamp
1 Swamp
1 Cloven Casting
1 Glaze Fiend
1 Yoke of the Damned
1 Forest
1 Steelclad Serpent
1 Skill Borrower
3 Infectious Horror
1 Onyx Goblet
1 Grixis Sojourners
1 Magefire Wings
1 Valeron Outlander (FOIL)
1 Esper Sojourners
1 Salvage Slasher
1 Suicidal Charge
Card Power: 8
No super bomb but all the best non-rare cards I could hope for in this archetype.
Curve: 9
Even if I don’t draw more than 3 lands I should be able to play one spell a turn for the whole game and most of the few spells that cost more than 3 mana are winning cards (Slavedriver Connoisseur and the 2 Deny Reality should be able to finish off any game).
Stability: 8
The only little problem with the deck; picking that Terminate was definitely stupid and if I just had Grixis Stormblade I’d have rated 9 or 10 for my stability.
Synergy: 10
The deck just seems like a preconstructed theme deck. Every single card is synergic with most of the deck meaning the synergy could hardly be any better. And neither could the deck.
ROUND 1: 5c Bant
His archetype may sound like nonsense but he is playing a pair of Paragon of the Amesha and many fixers so it is actually okay. However he is super short in removal and in early drops so he’s pretty much the easiest match up I can face.
I mulligan and then don’t draw a land before turn 6 but game 1 is still an easy win for two reasons. First on turn four he plays Captured Sunlight and reveals Feral Hydra totally destroying his tempo. Second my draw is still pretty fine as I open with Zombie Outlander Esper Stormblade Wretched Banquet on a turn 3 Paragorn then Mask of Riddles and Equip the 2/2. In the meantime he tries to defend but I’ve double Alchemist in hand and when I eventually find my third land he’s already on 7 life.
I manage to lose game 2 because he can attack and pump his two Paragon before I can get a fifth land to actually cast one of the two Deny Reality I’m holding when one of them would give me an instant win.
On the third game I can’t find a third land before my 13th card but it’s still quite an easy win again. My Grimblade/Mask of Riddles combo could possibly have been enough to deal him 20 damage on its own but I did draw my third land played Alchemist and bounced his only gutotals y (Jenara). Still stick on three lands two turns later I had to discard at end of turn but life were 22 to 6 and I had three guys while he had none and had to concede.
ROUND 2: Esper splash G
I mulligan and can’t get a better start than turn 3 Thopter Foundry while he starts off with Kaleidostone and Esperzoa. Luckily I’ve Banquet to deal with the 4/3 but his next play is Faerie Mechanist a guy I don’t really want to bounce. At least he reveals nothing which I guess must happen when you feel like splashing Green in Esper.
He follows with Algae Gharial but I eventually start playing spells as I’ve a Battlemage and Grimblade on the board. When he plays Vectis Agents it can’t make me happier and I steal it with Slave of Bolas and sac it after combat to make a token. I’m now taking slowly the pace of the game but the lands I’m drawing (6 Island 1 Swamp) keep me from developing and my Executioner’s Capsule/Alchemist hand can’t shine as much as it should. He keeps on with the race even though I’ve a small advantage in life and he makes a pair of pretty bad plays costing him almost all his chance to win the game. He has just played Darklit Gargoyle Etherium Sculptor and Talon Trooper. Instead of simply double blocking my blade he decides to chumpblock it with the 1/2 and then to try and trade it with his 2/3 which my Battlemage won’t allow. On the next turn he does what he should have done a while ago accept the 2 for 1 and double blocks. As a result he may have a huge 7/7 Gharial but he doesn’t have guys anymore while I eventually found my second Black and expanded on the board. An attack phase later game 1 is mine.
Game 2 is super fast. My turn 2 Outlander turn 3 Alchemist turn 4 Mask of Riddles when he has no artifact blocker was not something he could deal with. When he tried to play blockers I had Banquet and Deny Reality to clean the way.
After this second win two things I had already guessed out become more and more clear: Mask of Riddles may not be great in must decks but it is an MVP in this archetype and that Terminate should not be in my deck. I had it in hand and couldn’t play it the whole last game. I didn’t need it so I wasn’t penalized but at some point it may cost me a game.
Final: Jund
I play Terminate on Ember weaver on turn 3 (as Toxic Iguanar makes it a 3/3) and as he can’t find a land on turn 4 and passes I take control of the game. Corpse Connoisseur searches for a Slavedriver and then both guys swing into the Rhox Charger he has just cast. He takes and goes down to 13 then plays a Rhox Brute and attacks (11-13). I play Deny Reality into Sedraxis Alchemist bouncing both fatties and when he replays the 4/4 I’ve Slave of Bolas and win game 1.
I take Terminate out and replace it with Infectious Horror while Mountain is cut for Swamp.
His start is much stronger as he has turn 2 Putrid Leech turn 3 Ember Weaver and turn 4 Grixis Grimblade. Still my draw leaves him no chance at all. As I’ve opened with Borderpost and Esper Stormblade I race with the Leech while Agony Warp and Sedraxis Alchemist clean the way. My hand is still Alchemist Beetle Deny Reality Mask of Riddles when he must concede.
Until Friday…
Oli