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Drafting With Olivier – Tempest / Stronghold / Exodus #2

The StarCityGames.com Open Series returns to Dallas/Fort Worth!
Monday, January 4th – Hall of Famer Olivier Ruel takes us through an 8-4 draft queue on Magic Online. He shares some comprehensive thoughts about both the picks and the games, and talks us through each step of the way! If you’re looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article series for you!

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Pack 1 pick 1:

















My Pick:

1) Fireslinger
2) Legacy’s Allure
3) Staunch Defenders
Probably the best common in the format. Staunch Defenders are constantly good while Legacy’s Allure is mainly a good card in your opening hand but the blue enchantment is so awesome even then that it makes it a better pick than the 3/4. Also the formart is so slow that you should almost always be able to do something good with it.

Pack 1 pick 2:
















My Pick:

1) Gravedigger
2) Flowstone Salamander
3) Canyon Wildcat
4) Mirri’s Guile
First let’s talk about Muscle Sliver. Back in TTT draft the card was awesome but now there are just too few Slivers for it to be an option here. If I were to pick Green I’d go for the Guile. Then the two Red guys are pretty close but I’ve had an awfully hard time dealing with the Salamander the only time I’ve faced it so I’d be willing to give it a shot here. However I really want to pick Gravedigger which is awesome in such a slow format and with the numerous good reanimate spells.

Pack 1 pick 3:















My Pick:

1) Diabolic Edict
2) Dismiss
2) Flowstone Giant
I love Dismiss so much that I considered a switch here but not for long as there are still pretty good cards in the pack mostly Diabolic Edict.

Pack 1 pick 4:














My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 5:













My Pick:

I won’t run Jackal Pup or Blood Frenzy so I just pick one of the annonying cards instead.

Pack 1 pick 6:












My Pick:

I picked the Imp as I only had one Red card but Manakin was probably still a better choice as it will be better in a balanced RB deck or any other two color deck and nearly as good in a black-dominant one.

Pack 1 pick 7:











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Pack 1 pick 8:










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Pack 1 pick 9:









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Pack 1 pick 10:








My Pick:

Funny to find it here after almost second picking it. I didn’t really have the feeling Red was very open.

Pack 1 pick 11:







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Pack 2 pick 1:

















My Pick:

Ensnaring Bridge may be good; this card is an absolute bomb.

Pack 2 pick 2:
















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Pack 2 pick 4:














My Pick:

A card whose power totally depends on how Red I am. So far I am not very Red but the card could end up being as good as another removal spell. There’s not much I want here anyway as Brush With Dead is both too expensive and too slow.

Pack 2 pick 5:













My Pick:

One hell of an annoying card for a Red deck while gettign cards on the level of Serpent Warrior shouldn’t be so hard.

Pack 2 pick 6:












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Pack 2 pick 9:









My Pick:

When you have a strong deck and many removal spells there aren’t many things as scary as card drawing.

Pack 2 pick 10:








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Pack 3 pick 1:

















My Pick:

It’s sad to counterdraft in the first pick but I feel like I’ve much better chance considering how the draft is going now to lose at some point to the Whale than to win thanks to Cursed Flesh.

Pack 3 pick 2:
















My Pick:

A card which destroys some decks on its own.

Pack 3 pick 3:















My Pick:

Even though damage doesn’t go on the stack anymore the Assassin is still a card which can win games on its own.

Pack 3 pick 4:














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Pack 3 pick 5:













My Pick:

Even though I like the card a lot maybe I should have considered Anarchist. Even though I don’t have that many combos yet I’m still likely to be passed Death’s Duet and the format is slow enough for the Duet/Gravedigger/Anarchist combo to show up at least once in three rounds.

Pack 3 pick 6:












My Pick:

Excellent versus Green decks and buyback spells.

Pack 3 pick 7:











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Pack 3 pick 15:



My Pick:

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8 Mountain
10 Swamp

1 Fireslinger
1 Acidic Sliver
1 Canyon Wildcat
1 Dauthi Horror
1 Thrull Surgeon
1 Scalding Salamander
1 Serpent Warrior
2 Mogg Assassin
1 Grollub
1 Dungeon Shade
1 Marsh Lurker
1 Gravedigger

1 Flowstone Blade
1 Cursed Flesh
1 Death Stroke
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Nausea
2 Death’s Duet
1 Fugue
1 Fanning the Flames

Sideboard
1 Cloudchaser Eagle
1 Conviction
1 Furnace Spirit
1 Skyshroud Troopers
1 Sadistic Glee
1 Pit Imp
1 Cannibalize
1 Furnace Spirit
1 Maniacal Rage
1 Killer Whale
1 Brush with Death
1 Flowstone Blade
1 Robe of Mirrors
1 Morgue Thrull
1 Rootwater Mystic
1 Circle of Protection: Black
2 Blood Frenzy
1 Curiosity
1 Thalakos Dreamsower
1 Skyshroud Ranger
1 Rootbreaker Wurm
1 Sift

I win the first game in a little over twenty minutes. Even though my opponent and I battle for a while the situation is quickly stuck as I kill most of his guys while I don’t have that many of my own to benefit from this advantage and finish him off. At some point I draw Fanning the Flames kill all of his guys and eventually take the first game.

In the second game my computer started lagging pretty badly and he started catchign up at the clock. He opened with turn 2 Warmth which does an amazing job as I’m quickly able to buyback Fanning the Flames once again. After killing all his troops it seems like I’ll be able to win. He’s now on 50 life but I can Fireball for 7 with buyback every turn and I have guys while he does not. When he’s at 40 life he draws Constant Mists guaranteeing my guys won’t be able to touch him anymore. I can’t lose the game… the only question is whether I can win it in time.

When I’ve two mintues left on the clock somebody opens a trade with me. Then another. I cast a couple of Fireballs and I’m now two Fireballs and 50 secodns from winning when the same unknown person opens a trade with me again. Too bad for my lagging PC I end up around 10 to 15 seconds short of killing him. All I could do was email the support staff and ask them to check whether my opponent and the guy who opened trades with me were somehow connected as a triple-trade for no reason (I had obviously not posted anything in the trade room) at this exact time seems to be a little too much of a coincidence.

Until Wednesday…

Oli