Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
It sucks both the second and the third best card in the pack are Red as well (Burst Lightning and Inferno Trap) but Hellkite Charger is still a million times better than any non-Red card in this pack.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Not a pick I’m enchanted with but I don’t much like my other options here. Whiplash Trap is very situational and it’s Blue the color I like the least in this expansion while Mold Shambler is only decent. On the other hand Mark of Mutiny may be a little weaker than the 3/3 but it can still be very good in the right deck and I’d better not pass any good Red cards if I ever hope for feedback considering what I’ve been passing pack 1.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
This time there is just too much difference between the Red card and the Scorpion. Also no one will ever see Slaughter Cry as a signal.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Shatterskull Giant is good in any Red deck but in a mono Red deck Spire Barrage is probably the best common in the format. Will I be mono Red? That’s not certain but I’ve only one non-Red card so far and I don’t feel like black is open at all so I should at least be Red dominant.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
With some early drops I would have picked the War Paint but it doesn’t seem to fit the deck yet.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Okay now I’ll definitely do my best to be mono Red. The number of Expedition Maps I get will determine how much I’ll build my deck around it.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Every time I’ve played mono Red it was aggro. Even though the deck isn’t turning this way at the moment it should at some point and then Goblin Bushwhacker will be a good card. The same comment applies to Mark of Mutiny.
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
In a deck in which Hedron Scrabbler would be an option Mark of Mutiny should be better even though I already have one.
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:
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
I think it’s too late to make any non mono Red deck work. I just have to stay strong and try to make it work.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
This should help!
Pack 2 pick 4:
Blessing
” “ZEN”);’>
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Lavaball Trap should be better in a control deck but I already have two cards which require lots of lands to work and I’d rather have early blockers to give them the time to be useful.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Now with virtually 3 Valakut I can build my deck around it and put the other winning conditions aside. I’m not trying to go aggro anymore.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Wrong pick here. I shouldn’t be playing it. I should have stopped that Mind Sludge.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 12:
Blessing
” “ZEN”);’>
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:
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
It’s good to have two of them as they’ll help me win without Valakut and as they can block some of the creatures my lands won’t allow me to kill.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Hellfire Mongrel is a slightly better card but it is not what I need here. A two-drop will be a lot more helpful.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
I’m not playing Magma Rft in a Spire Barrage double Valakut deck.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
With now 2 Barrage my deck should definitely be able to win without the lands.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Make that 4 Valakut…
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!
19 Mountain
2 Valakut the Molten Pinnacle
1 Goblin Shortcutter
1 Highland Berserker
1 Stonework Puma
1 Molten Ravager
1 Torch Slinger
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
2 Ruinous Minotaur
2 Bladetusk Boar
2 Shatterskull Giant
1 Hellkite Charger
1 Burst Lightning
2 Expedition Map
1 Seismic Shudder
2 Spire Barrage
Sideboard
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Bold Defense
2 Mark of Mutiny
1 Slaughter Cry
2 Demolish
1 Island
1 Surrakar Marauder
1 Crypt Ripper
1 Shieldmate’s Blessing
1 Relic Crush
1 Brave the Elements
1 Forest
1 Savage Silhouette
1 Giant Scorpion
1 Narrow Escape
1 Goblin War Paint
1 Teetering Peaks
1 Plains
1 Desecrated Earth
1 Tanglesap
1 Hedron Scrabbler
While building the deck which has a lot of bad cards (as you may have noticed) I ask myself either I should play 19 or – for the first time in my life – 20 lands in a Limited deck. Yes 20 lands plus 2 Expedition Map. I asked my friend Guillaume Matignon on messenger if he thought it was too much to run 20 + 2 considering my deck will have trouble winning without Valakut. His answer overwhelmed my expectations:
“Why don’t you play 21?”
Fair enough 21 it is. After all with virtually Valakut I’m supposed to get in in the first 6 turns most of the time I should just now ensure I’ll be able to play a Mountain a turn while waiting for it. Every other card is mainly here to defend and those 2 Ruinous Minotaurs are unlikely to attack.
I win the first game of my quarters destroying one of my opponent’s only two lands with Goblin Ruinblaster on turn 4. Two turns later despite his double Welkin Tern start he dies from not drawing a third one.
In the second game he isn’t very aggressive while I’ve two Valakut active on turn 8.
In round 2 my opponent plays a spell in each of the first three turns (Expedition Map Welkin Tern Hedron Crab) but nothing good enough to race while being on the draw. He plays his first blocker on turn 4 but it’s already too late against any decent draw which my Shortcutter Minotaur Shatterskull Giant is. As soon as he blocks the Minotaur I can just play Spire Barrage and ensure game 1. In the second he opens with Windrider Eel on… turn 5! His next two turns are Roil Elemental and Kalitas so I understand why he chose to keep this hand in a slower format but also that he gave me the game here.
In game 1 of the finals my opponent makes double Oran-Rief Survivalist double Kazandu Blademaster and Ondu Cleric. I’m still able to survive until turn 8 but I don’t find one of my Spire Barrages for the win. The second looks pretty good as I kill his first man with Seismic Shudder then play a couple of blockers and can activate Valakut on turn 7. However he plays mostly big guys from then on (Baloth Woodcrasher Territorial Baloth Vastwood Gorger) and even though I manage to deal with two of them I end up losing to the Woodcrasher.
Until Monday…
Oli