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Drafting With Olivier – Zendikar #1

The StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open Series Comes to Nashville!
Monday, October 26th – 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) Gatekeeper of Malakir
2) Journey to Nowhere
3) Roil Elemental
4) Glazing Gladeheart
Roil Elemental may be great in Sealed it’s a little slow in draft. No misunderstanding it’s still a good card but in such a fast format it’s more a 4 to 6th pick. Glazing Gladeheart is great but it’s Green the color I like the least by far in this expansion. The final two cards are about as good but Black has my preference.

Pack 1 pick 2:
















My Pick:

1) Umara Raptor
2) Kazandu Blademaster
The Blademaster is the best card by far here but there is no way it ends up in the same deck as my first pick.

Pack 1 pick 3:















My Pick:

1) Highland Berserker
2) Sky Ruin Drake
3) Adventuring Gear
The best card for a Blue Black deck is obviously the 2/5. However I haven’t seen any relevant Black card in this pack nor in the previous one so I’m still considering the possibility to switch. Berserker would be great for that as two drops are necessary in the format and as it is pretty good with Umara Raptor. But the 2/5 would definitely be another good pick here. Adventuring Gear is very good in White decks and good in Red decks but I don’t ike it much in the three other colors.

Pack 1 pick 4:














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Pack 1 pick 5:













My Pick:

Quite a bad pack here. I went for the ally but with two “Nekrataal” type guys already I should have considered the Discovery.

Pack 1 pick 6:












My Pick:

Bad pick for a bad pack.

Pack 1 pick 7:











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Pack 1 pick 8:










My Pick:

1) Giant Scorpion
2) Reckless Scholar
The looter is okay but Scorpion is definitely one of the most underrated cards in the set. The 1/3 is a very good card and this pick is not very close.

Pack 1 pick 9:









My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 10:








My Pick:

1) Jwar Isle Refuge
2) Bog Tatters
3) Cancel
I’m probably going to be Black based so Cancel won’t make it. Bog Tatters would be a great sideboard card but the Refuge will help fixing the mana and improve my chance to cast Gatekeeper on turn 3.

Pack 1 pick 11:







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Pack 2 pick 1:

















My Pick:

1) Umara Raptor
2) Vampire Lacerator
3) Blazing Torch
Usually I like the 2/2 over the flyer but with two allies already including another Raptor I’d make an exception here.

Pack 2 pick 2:
















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Pack 2 pick 6:












My Pick:

Same pick as earlier on but harder decision as I’m a little short in playables. I still decide to go with the land.

Pack 2 pick 7:











My Pick:

1) Aether Figment
2) Whiplash Trap
3) Kraken Hatchling
Hatchling is the card I like the most but I’m too Black based for it to be very efficient. Aether Figment is actually the card I want the least but also the card I can play easiest.

Pack 2 pick 8:










My Pick:

A card I could possibly splash post board thanks to Misty Rainforest.

Pack 2 pick 9:









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Pack 3 pick 3:















My Pick:

1) Hideous End
2) Mind Sludge
3) Into the Roil
The pick here is quite obvious but what if it wasn’t there? Then Mind Sludge would be the right decision. The card is slow in a fast format but it’s fantastic against any non aggro or any Green deck which means pretty much half the dekcs in the format.

Pack 3 pick 4:














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Pack 3 pick 6:












My Pick:

Should be pretty good with double Gatekeeper and a Mosquito even as a splash.

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12 Swamp
3 Island
2 Jwar Isle Refuge
1 Misty Rainforest

2 Vampire Lacerator
1 Blood Seeker
1 Surrakar Marauder
2 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 ther Figment
1 Umara Raptor
2 Giant Scorpion
1 Nimana Sell-Sword
1 Crypt Ripper
2 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Seascape Aerialist

1 Grim Discovery
1 Quest for the Gravelord
1 Soul Stair Expedition
2 Hideous End
1 Lethargy Trap
1 Whiplash Trap

Sideboard
1 Zendikar Farguide
1 Desecrated Earth
2 Vampire’s Bite
1 Spire Barrage
1 Trapmaker’s Snare
1 Slaughter Cry
1 Highland Berserker
1 Lullmage Mentor
1 Plains
1 Tajuru Archer
2 Shieldmate’s Blessing
1 Swamp
1 Primal Bellow
1 Plains
1 Piranha Marsh
1 Island
1 Trapfinder’s Trick
1 Kazandu Refuge
1 Ravenous Trap

My first round opponent opens with a mistake that makes me think I’m going to have an easy time reaching the semis: he plays a turn 3 Soul Stair Expedition after he has played a land. I can open with double Gatekeeper but that won’t be necessary as I kill him before he can play a second guy. Game 2 is worse as my mulligan and the fact I’m unable to find a second Black mana keep me from developing as fast as he does. I end up conceding that game pretty quickly. In the third I take an early lead with Surrakar Marauder and Gatekeeper of Malakir. He tries to react by casting Torch Slinger but I bounce both of my guys in response and his goblin has to commit suicide. He concedes on the next turn as he’s now too low on life to come back from that.

As often this week Magic Online kicks me out right when my second round starts except that this time it takes 30 minutes to get me back in even though I tried on two different computers. Unfortunately that’s a little bit too late to be able to play…

Until Wednesday…

Oli