Drafting With Olivier – Shards/Shards/Conflux #20

Pack 1 pick 1:

















My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 2:
















My Pick:

When I open a bomb I like going five-color as it is the archetype that produces the longest games so I would not necessarily pick a good Red Green or Black card after a Broodmate.

Pack 1 pick 3:















My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 4:














My Pick:

I’m tempted to take the Citadel but I would only pick it over a worse piece of removal (like Bloodpyre Elemental) or in the second pack if I didn’t have fixers. I still have plenty of time to get Panoramas Obelisks and Landcyclers.

Pack 1 pick 5:













My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 6:












My Pick:

I will probably have no combo for Bone Splinters and I’m not playing such fragile creatures as Blood Cultist which I only consider a good sideboard card in this deck.

Pack 1 pick 7:











My Pick:

Puppet Conjurer could be a fine early game blocker too but I need creatures that can win games.

Pack 1 pick 8:










My Pick:

I should take a fixer and not a four-mana two-toughness creature but Fatestitcher is such a great card that I’ll make an exception.

Pack 1 pick 9:









My Pick:

The cycler is really good as well but I’m concerned that I almost don’t have any fixers at this point.

Pack 1 pick 10:








My Pick:

One of the most underrated card in the format.

Pack 1 pick 11:







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Pack 1 pick 12:






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Pack 1 pick 13:





My Pick:

I could pick a rare and pass a clear signal but I don’t want to face the 3/1 on turn 2.

Pack 1 pick 14:




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Pack 1 pick 15:



My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 1:

















My Pick:

Branching Bolt and Bant Charm are two great options as well but I need ways to kill in my deck. Furthermore considering the number of removal spells I should be playing Sedris should do a great job. He’s a pretty cool combo with Broodmate and Jungle Weaver too.

Pack 2 pick 2:
















My Pick:

Capsule is a little better than Thunder but I should be able to cycle the Red removal in my deck meaning he can kill the same guys as Capsule in the late game.

Pack 2 pick 3:















My Pick:

It hurts that I have to pick it so high but I need fixers and there is not much I want here.

Pack 2 pick 4:














My Pick:

Over Panorama without a doubt. Seven life card advantage and getting two cards closer to my Dragon is just great.

Pack 2 pick 5:













My Pick:

The Necrogenesis/Grixis Charm pick is a close one. I believe the removal would be slightly better in my deck but I’ll just die instantly if I face the enchantment and do not have my dragon.

Pack 2 pick 6:












My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 7:











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Pack 2 pick 8:










My Pick:

I don’t feel like running four Obelisks and I’m not passing a second copy of a card that destroys me.

Pack 2 pick 9:









My Pick:

Squire has absolutely no place being in the pack this late but I’ll focus more on my deck and take Cancel a card that I could play and that I certainly don’t feel like facing.

Pack 2 pick 10:








My Pick:

Astrolabe would be a good counterdraft (I did pass two Conjurers after all) but Kederekt Creeper could help.

Pack 2 pick 11:







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Pack 2 pick 12:






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Pack 2 pick 13:





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Pack 2 pick 14:




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Pack 2 pick 15:



My Pick:

My deck is pretty good now if I could just get a pair of removal spells and mana fixers (If possible Rupture Spire and Armillary Sphere) my deck should be just fine.

Pack 3 pick 1:

















My Pick:

Fusion Elemental and Volcanic Fallout definitely are fine options too. Even Matca Rioters aren’t bad. But the 5/5 is just a game breaker that fits my deck very well while the Fusion Elemental is surprisingly unpopular on Magic Online and could wheel.

Pack 3 pick 2:
















My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 3:















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Pack 3 pick 4:














My Pick:

I didn’t think of it at the time but Dark Temper could actually have been a reason to consider picking Executioner’s Capsule over Resounding Thunder.

Pack 3 pick 5:













My Pick:

Fleshformer and Skyward Eye Prophets would be good too but the first one is too fragile while the second is too expensive. On the other hand Drag Down is always great.

Pack 3 pick 6:












My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 7:











My Pick:

I’ve enough playables so I must take the best sideboard card and Controlled Instincts seem better to me than Pestilent Kathari or Countersquall.

Pack 3 pick 8:










My Pick:

Kaleidostone is not really a fixer and it won’t make the cut in the end while Zombie Outlander is a great sideboard card.

Pack 3 pick 9:









My Pick:

As often happens the 8/8 wheels.

Pack 3 pick 10:








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Pack 3 pick 11:







My Pick:

I’ve way too many playables to play the Stone so I just hate draft the card I don’t want to face.

Pack 3 pick 12:






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Pack 3 pick 13:





My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 14:




My Pick:

It’s good to have one of these as there is always one deck at the tble that it’s great against.

Pack 3 pick 15:



My Pick:

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4 Mountain
5 Swamp
4 Island
Plains
2 Forest
Grixis Panorama
Rupture Spire
Kederekt Creeper
Fleshformer
Fatestitcher
Fire-Field Ogre
Fusion Elemental
Broodmate Dragon
Sedris the Traitor King
Magister Sphinx
Executioner’s Capsule
Courier’s Capsule
Agony Warp
Necrogenesis
Obelisk of Esper
Obelisk of Grixis
Obelisk of Naya
Blightning
Dark Temper
2 Drag Down
Resounding Thunder
Oblivion Ring
Skeletonize
Kiss of the Amesha

Usually I love playing Cycle guys when I have Sedris and Cancel when I’ve lots of removal. But as I will pretty much never be able to hardcast the 5/6 as I don’t have enough fixers I’d rather leave the counter in my sideboard to make my draws more consistent.

ROUND 1: Naya (Limited rating: 1716)

He plays first and makes turn 1 Akrasan Squire turn 2 Knight of the Skyward Eye… exactly what I don’t want to face. Luckily he can’t find a third land or play spells until turn 5 when he plays Forest and a rather unexpected Obelisk of Jund.

In the meantime I think my Thunder on his 2/2 and Fire-Field Ogre totally stop his beating team. That’s until he taps his four mana and plays Ranger of Eos. So bro what have we got? Wild Nacatl and Akrasan Squire number 2. Annoying but not dramatic as I built my mana up and play Necrogenesis. Then I play a removal spell almost every time he attacked or chumpblocked with a token once in a while not allowing him to deal me another point of damage. We he ran out of creatures and I played Sedris he conceded.

Game 2 is pretty funny. Well it is for me at least. He misses his land drop on turn 3 again but plays Path to Exile on the Fatestitcher I was intending to tap lands with. As a result I am now able to play Magister Sphinx on turn 5.

He may have Naturalize but with the hand I am holding (double Drag Down Resounding Thunder Oblivion Ring) I can sit and wait for a game breaker. I draw Necrogenesis but I am missing my Green. My next draw is Fusion Elemental which I am again not able to cast. But these aren’t even bad draws as my hand offers me enough time to eventually draw my Forest and kill him with the two cards. Well actually I was about to kill him with them but I drew Broodmate so it’s the 4/4s who actually took the game and the match.

ROUND 2: Five-Color Jund (1668)

This time it’s my turn to be land screwed. Fortunately for the first few turns he plays nothing but cards that don’t have much to do in the same deck: Dreadcape Zombie Kaleidostone Druid of the Anima. It is only when I start playing spells on my own (first non land/non Obelisk spell on turn 6) myself that he shows me what his deck is capable of by dealing both with Sedris (Bone Splinters) and Broodmate Dragon (Flesh Marauder + Cultist/Thunder). But when my deck faces another control deck with many removal spells I have a card that guarantees I cannot lose: Necrogenesis.

I’m winning with this card while I hesitated picking it over Grixis Charm. The reason was actually that I had if I am correct only three removal spells that would put a creature in a graveyard at that point (Agony Warp / Skeletonize / Resounding Thunder) and I couldn’t really predict I’d finish with as many as seven (or eight if I count Blightning) making it the second or third best card in my deck after Broodmate Dragon and maybe Magister’s Sphinx.

Game 2 he opens with turn 2 Scepter of Fugue which would truly be annoying if I didn’t have Oblivion Ring. His turn 4 and 5 are just perfect for me as he cycles Ridge Ranner on turn 4 and plays Incurable Ogre on turn 5. Considering I have played a turn 4 Negrogenesis with two mana opened I couldn’t ask for much more.

When he eventually plays a solution to my permanents (Ring Necrogenesis and now Executioner’s Capsule) in Dispeller’s Capsule he can’t sacrifice it immediately.

On the next turn I try to make his “which card to Disenchant riddle” easier by playing Magister Sphinx. Even though he chooses to destroy Necrogenesis it is not a huge surprise to see that as every single time I’ve played it in this draft my 5/5 doesn’t pass the turn (Bone Splinters sacrificing his 5/1). But the Sphinx put him down to ten and my two saproling tokens helped by Resounding Thunder finish the match two turns and 10 minutes later as my lovely opponent decided it would be well-deserved / funny / only fair to keep me waiting for 10 minutes just before I killed him. Well at least it helped me in taking notes on the game before the final began.

ROUND 3: Naya (1715)

The first game is fast as I mulligan and only draw Blue and Black lands. I kill his turn 1 Hierarch immediately but receive twenty damage from the fearsome Wandering Goblins and Nacatl Savage before I can do a thing.

I take out Blightning for Controlled Instincts and Fleshformer for Zombie Outlander.

Game two looks very similar with the mulligan bad mana draw again. Luckily his start is rather slow and I am able to draw my lands at some point while he is flooded. At some point he decides to play Soul’s Majesty on his 3/3 Wandering Goblins when I have four mana and Executioner’s Caspsule which is a contestable play… When I eventually get my fifth color I play Fusion Elemental and take the second game.

The third one looked very similar again as I’ve to stop his creature with only four lands and three colors for the first 10 turns. Thankfully many of his spells don’t have much of an impact on the game (Exploding Borders when he has his three colors Volcanic Submersion on Obelisk of Grixis) and I am able to kill all of his guys until I eventually draw Obelisk of Naya and play Oblivion Ring on one of his two guys (the other one being enchanted by Controlled Instincts). On that very turn and for the first time in this game if he has Soul’s Majesty I won’t be able to kill his guy in response. He just plays another creature while I draw land number five and play Broodmate Dragon. This wins the game and the draft.

It may seem like I drew Broodmate a lot but it is not (only) a matter of luck. If I had just went for Jund Naya with a black splash or any other aggro combination every game would have been 4 or 5 turns shorter meaning I would have drawn about five about cards less (considering I’m running card draw) and I probably would have found myself able to play the Dragon one or two times less than I did. That’s why whenever I open an expensive bomb I try and run five-color so I optimize my chance to draw it.

It was not an aberration that I won this draft but it was as much the result of the relatively low level of the table as of my deck’s power. The mana problems I had in rounds 2 and 3 would have seen me lose against any good deck.

Until Wednesday…

Oli