Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Close pick with Topan Ascetic but I like Black decks better than Green in this format.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Foil bro. Wow. Has any of you ever been passed a foil version of your brother in a pack? Man what a pain that it seems much worse than the Gargoyle considering my first pick. Also Etherium Astrolabe is probably wheeling.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Perfect even though the Battlemage would have been great as well but at least I’m open on both Esper and 5CC.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Nothing for Esper but it’s a removal spell.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Obelisk of Naya could be interesting too but Metallurgeon is better in Esper than the Obelisk is in 5cc.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Fatesticher may be a better card but as far as synergy is concerned (Gargoyle Titan Infest) the artifact is just better.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
Pretty good with Salvage Titan as well.
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:
Seaside Citadel could be good too but my deck will be a very slow and controlling one so I’ll probably go Esper with RG splash making Resounding Silence a very good card.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Scourglass is the only reason I’d pick Agony warp over Oblivion Ring. As I was talking to Manu Bucher on msn messenger at the same time I checked with him.
“when you have Scourglass do you pick Ring or Agony Warp?”
“Warp. I hate the interaction of Glass and Ring… it always kills me.”
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
Nothing good for me so either Nacatl or Rhox has to be hate drafted.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
I only like Scavenger Drake when there is a lot of strategy based around it in the deck. Here only Bloodpyre Elemental and the Panorama are options. As a Red card would be useless if I didn’t have the mana to support it I pick the fixer.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Obelisk of Bant is a better pick if I want to have a chance to play Resounding Silence even though I have no other Green card and two Obelisks already.
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 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Not a great first pick but no card can match it in this pack except maybe for a Wrenched Banquet which is going to wheel anyway.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Drag Down is a better card that’s not even close but I need creatures very badly right now.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Slavedriver is good too but I’d rather draft as many artifact guys as I can for Metallurgeon Sanctum Gargoyle Etherium Astrolabe Salvage Titan and possible Faerie Mechanists.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
As my deck is a little slow I need cards to improve my tempo.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Vectis Agent would make sense too but I’ve so few creatures in my deck that Banquet should really be a one-mana removal spell.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
See Pack 3 Pick 8.
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:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!
5 Island
5 Swamp
3 Plains
Mountain
2 Esper Panorama
Grixis Panorama
Metallurgeon
2 Sedraxis Alchemist
Sanctum Gargoyle
Faerie Mechanist
Esper Cormorants
Cloudheath Drake
Salvage Titan
3 Wretched Banquet
Executioner’s Capsule
2 Courier’s Capsule
Agony Warp
Etherium Astrolabe
Obelisk of Esper
Obelisk of Grixis
Infest
2 Cancel
Dark Temper
Grixis Charm
Scourglass
ROUND 1: Esper (Limited rating: 1665)
My start is a little slow as I don’t have a land or a white mana source on turn 4 despite sacrificing a Courier’s Capsule but his first bunch of guys isn’t very impressive. Against me Esper Battlemage isn’t much better than a Gray Ogre and Dawnray Archers is only a three-mana 1/1. However my start is so slow that I’ve to play Infest to kill them both. He then plays Tezzeret which I can’t attack as I am not drawing any guys. Luckily he forgets to use it a couple of times but when I am envetually about to attack it he removes all of his counters to fetch Sharuum returning Tidehollow Sculler (taking Agony Warp away). He then plays Vectis Agent and passes. The situation is quite complicated but not dramatic yet as I can bounce and counter his 5/5 on the following turn thanks to the Alchemist/Cancel combo. I am now on 9 life and I must draw a solution to kill his 2/2. As I’ve 23 cards left and I know the bottom three are lands (thanks to Mechanist) I have a lot of outs. Furthermore I have many more creatures than him and he has no cards left in hand and I have 5 outs and Courier’s Capsule left in my deck. He untaps and draws Quietus Spike killing me in two turns.
In the second game he’s running 42 cards. Even though I often play 41 I think 42 is totally stupid even more so than running 43. When you build your manabase you build it for a 40 card deck. Sometimes when you don’t have much time left or think every single card in your deck is worth making the cut running 41 is not an aberration. However if you add one more spell then you also have to add a land to make the mana coherent. That’s why I say I’d rather play 43 than 42 cards in Limited.
Once again he has his three basic lands on turn 3 once again he has Sharuum but this time the Salvage Titan/Metallurgeon combo in attack and the Metallurgeon/flyer combo in defense makes the game difficult. Things would have been a little more difficult if he didn’t forget to prevent damage with Esper Battlemage on one of my attacks.
To be clear my deck seems better than his but his best card destroys me while mine (Scourglass) is nearly useless.
In the third game his 42 cards give him his three colors a turn 2/3/4 guy a turn 5 Tezzeret which he forgets to use once again but it doesn’t matter as despite playing Infest (and keeping a 3/3) and thinking I have the game he untaps and plays Sharuum. Four turns later when he takes the game he is still stuck on six lands.
It makes me a little sad as I think my deck could definitely go 3/0 but bombs that can produce card advantage (Sharuum Broodmate Dragon Martial Coup) are the best for a reason; even when you try and deal with them removal or double blocks are often not enough. Scourglass could deal with almost anything but not with the Sphinx which was the worst card for my deck to face… even moreso considering that it can be played despite my two Cancels if Tezzeret resolves.
Until Friday…
Oli