Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Great in Naya but also in five color in which the Regrowth effect is almost better than the removal. I’m in favor of drafting Naya as it is very likely that another playable will wheel.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
The broken card in five-color (Necrogenesis) or the pretty good card in Naya (Magma Spray)? I’ll opt for the latter as it can fit in more decks.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
A pick that implies a lot of things. If I don’t get fatties fast I will have to play Naya aggro. And three-color aggro is something that just don’t work as you can’t waste time for fixing in the early turns because you need to play guys. It means I am probably going for a WG aggro deck with a splash for Red meaning I should take a minimum number of Red cards from now on.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
The 4/2 is pretty good as well but it is more situational while the Nacatl is really good all the time and cheapest.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
I’m not a huge fan of the Druid in an aggro deck; even though I need fixers it doesn’t accelerate into anything it just fixes. I would have picked it if I had a high curve but in the small curve WG deck I’m building the Knight just fits better.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
I’m still convinced the deck will have a WG basis so I think the fact it is gold shouldn’t actually give me problems.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
I am probably not playing it but between a sideboard card that disappointed me almost every time I’ve played it (Relic) and a pick that can prevent me from sending bad signals to my neighbors I chose the latter.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
I love Mosstodon but if the deck turns out the way I hope the Sigil will just be better.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
I’m not taking the Viashino as I’m considering Red as a splash and I have no synergy with it. I know I do pick Red but I rather like splashing for a good sideboard card.
Pack 1 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
What a tough pick! Drumhunter and Godsire would be fantastic if I had drafted fatties but they just don’t fit my deck right now. Between Thunder and Cerodon the call is close… but I go for the big guy.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
… For the exact same reason I took the first one.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Already four Red cards… I guess I will have to focus on the fixers more than I would have liked.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
I still think at the moment that Red will be my color number three. Maybe not a small splash anymore but you need dominant colors in an aggro deck or you are relying way too much on your mana draws.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Over Cylian Elf because I’ve more two-drops than three-drops and also because it is simply better. I don’t consider running Resounding Silence in this kind of deck.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Blessing number 3… the kind of pick that makes me think that A) leaving removal in the sideboard would not be such a big deal and B) I’ll draft mostly creatures from now on.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
I know I’ve been saying I need some sort of fixers but an Obelisk fits the curve so badly that I’d rather add a land than play it while Excommunicate is great here.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
With these last three picks it becomes clear some removal will have to stay in the sideboard so the deck remains square and the draws consistant.
Pack 2 pick 12:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Pretty good card made even better by my two Stewards and the fact that I currently have no four-drop in my deck.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
He is not fabulous in this archetype. Maybe it looks worse than Rhox or Archers here but with that many pumps spells I need evasive guys.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Once again a fixer in an aggro deck shouldn’t make you lose time. That is why I didn’t pick the Obelisk and that is why I am passing the Sphere as well. I stick to the plan and just pick the best WG guy.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Exactly the same thought process as for pick 3.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Not fantastic in this deck but heh a dude’s a dude. And it is good to have some creatures that can survive a Pyroclasm effect.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Gleam unfortunately didn’t wheel but the Nacatl/Pump spells combination should be extremely efficient against Esper decks.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pretty good in a very aggressive deck.
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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As predicted the deck is super tough to build. Magma Spray skeletonize Naya Charm and Bull Cerodon can’t all make the cut. They could if I was willing to play 18 lands with a 7/7/4 manabase but here I am thinking of a 16 or 17 land deck.
As I don’t care about being stuck on two lands as long they they are Plains and Forest and as a mulligan shouldn’t be much of a deal when I play one or two more spells than my opponents I’ll go for 16. Therefore I must cut two Red cards.
With three Sigil Blessing I must play at least one of the guys (if I consider Skeletonize a creature) and that will be Cerodon. God knows I love Skeletonize but it is not the same card outside a Black deck. Magma Spray won’t make it either as my pump should be able to help me deal with the low toughness guys. In case I face Vithian Stinger maybe I’ll bring it in. I regret it but I also can’t play Lapse as I need a maximum number of cards that do something immediately in this deck. I can’t afford to be reactive.
7 Forest
7 Plains
2 Mountain
Wild Nacatl
Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
2 Valeron Outlander
2 Steward of Valeron
Sigiled Paladin
Nacatl Savage
Knight of the Skyward-Eye
Wild Leotau
Resounding Roar
3 Sigil Blessing
2 Excommunicate
Naya Charm
ROUND 1: Esper (Limited rating: 1768)
Game 1 is rough for me. He has turn 3 Drag Down turn 4 Tower Gargoyle turn 5 Tower Gargoyle turn 6 Obelisk of Alara and turn 7 removal but I still manage to be three points from winning the game despite drawing half lands which don’t include the Mountain that would have had me cast my Charm for the win. How is that? It’s simply that in a guy-guy-guy-boost-guy-guy-boost deck a good draw is nearly unstoppable if the opponent doesn’t have mass removal.
In game 2 my draw is pretty similar: aggro draw but lots of Forests and Plains. Fortunately I am not the only one having trouble gathering my mana as he can’t find his white. As I draw a pair of Excommunicate and as my deck is more adapted than his to little mana inconviniences I manage to take that one.
Game 3 starts just great… mulligan then keep a one-lander with Outlander Savage and Dispeller’s Capsule and then miss land drops on turn 2 and only find my second color on turn 4. Luckily when I started drawing lands I drew a lot straight and even though he Dragged my first guy (an Ember Weaver) down. Saying he wasn’t very happy that my next three creatures were Nacatl Savage and double Steward Valeron would be an understatement.
Despite his draw being passable (he mulliganed as well but he had all three lands on turn 3 and Faerie Mechanist into Tower Gargoyle as well) I was now back in the game.
Two turs later he made a misplay that would turn out to be decisive. I attacked with my three guys and he decided to play Agony Warp on the 2/1. Double wrong… A) if he wanted to do it he should have played it during his turn as he knew I was going to attack anyway and as I now have the mana to pump and b) because he shouldn’t chose the same target for both part of the spells.
Let’s now assume that waiting for my turn before casting was correct. Who should he have targeted? Playing the way he did if I do have a Giant Growth effect my guy will survive anyway. If it is Sigil I will deal him (2+1) + (2+1) + (2+3-3) = 8 damage. If it is Roar we will have 2 + 2 + (2+3-3) = 6 damage but he saw 2 Sigils in the previous game. Furthermore if I have no trick he will take 4 damage this way while targeting two different guys would have spared him 2 life and simply be much better.
The end of the match was close as he topdecked a removal spell the turn before he died and if he had drawn a flyer or another removal spell the turn after the game and match would have been his. But he didn’t allowing me to advance to round 2.
ROUND 2: Naya (1653)
My deck eventually offers me the god draws. With a second Green I would even have won on turn 4 but I could only make his land land land Iguanar draw go down to three and concede before I kill him on turn 5. My draws: turn 1 Nacatl turn 2 Outlander turn 3 Trailblazer with two pump spells as backup.
In game 2 my deck only offers me Forests after my first mulligan and when all I have is a Cylian Elf on turn 3 with 5 white cards in hand while my opponent already has two guys I suppose I’m in high trouble. But one good thing about Magic: sometimes your opponent out-thinks himself away from a winning plan. He sacrifices his two guys to a freshly played Thunder-Thrash Elder and I draw my Plains to play Excommunicate.
“Nice Draw” he says. True. My army comes up next and he can’t do anything to stop it.
ROUND 3: Grixis (1693)
From turn 4 I have a plan for game 1. He is on 16 I have two 2/2s (immobilized by Brackwater Elemental) and my hand is Naya Charm and double Sigil Blessing. Whenever I draw a guy I will have lethal damage and he should probably tap out in the meantime as it is pretty hard to see it coming. Here are my next draws: Forest Plains Plains Mountain Forest. I now am almost dead but his big army except for a skeletal Kathari that put me down on 8 already is staying home affraid of a trick and of my Outlander.
But then he draws Voracious Dragon and makes it a 6/6. I now have to draw a guy and hope both his card in hand and his next draw are lands or Red removal spells he would try playing in response to my first Sigil. I draw Ember Weaver so I’ve done my part of the job. He untaps draws and start tapping mana… to play a guy! Did he really need a 7th guy to regenerate his Kathari? Probably not and I seized the opportunity to tap all his guys and move all in during my turn. Considering he went down to exactly zero life I suppose the last card he was holding was indeed a land.
Game 2 is a lot easier for me as I play one guy a turn from turn 2 while he starts playing spells on turn 5. I win it on turn 7.
Until Monday…
Oli