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Drafting With Olivier – Zendikar #8

Draft with Olivier Ruel... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, November 16th – 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:

The card is stupid in sealed but seems a little too slow for draft. I can probably make it a bomb if I build a slow deck around it. But there is nothing as tough as making a control deck work in this format.

Pack 1 pick 2:
















My Pick:

Punishing Fire is about as good but it’s a little less black.

Pack 1 pick 3:















My Pick:

1) Summoner’s Bane
2) Kor Hookmaster
3) Bog Tatters
4) Territorial Baloth
5) Hellfire Mongrel
This pack is very confusing. It doesn’t have any good black card and the best card is by far the Hookmaster. I don’t like WB as far as synergy and mana are concerned and even though the archetype can have good draws in an aggro deck I think a Black control deck would rather be mono Black or UB possibly RB or GB but in no way WB. White cards are just not made for that.

Then and as far as my desire to go control is concerned I don’t like Hellfire Mongrel in that deck and I don’t really feel like going Green when I’m likely to be Black based. It would result in not being able to take advantage of one of Green’s top cards: Nissa’s Chosen.

Then what do I have left? Tatters and Bane. As I could be interested in the Blue Expedition if it was to wheel and as I’m likely to go Blue anyway I pick the countermagic spell at the last second. I would probably still have picked Hookmaster over Tatters though as there are just too many classes of difference between both cards.

Pack 1 pick 4:














My Pick:

The last temptation to avoid UB with that Lavaball Trap but I don’t feel like picking it and passing a Boar making my left neighbor understand Red is open.

Pack 1 pick 5:













My Pick:

Not exactly the fifth pick I was dreaming of but it still helps any ally creature I could get and blocks the very annoying Bladetusk Boar.

Pack 1 pick 6:












My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 7:











My Pick:

The more creatures you play the better it is. Therefore it shouldn’t be as good in my deck as it would be in a RB or GB deck. Maybe I should just have taken the mediocre but likely to be better in the deck Sky Ruin Drake.

Pack 1 pick 8:










My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 9:









My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 10:








My Pick:

If I can get early guys I’d like to play the Scope in that deck while Seacliff shouldn’t do so much in my deck.

Pack 1 pick 11:







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Pack 1 pick 12:






My Pick:

The Marsh is decent but it’s not a card I’ll play unless I’m very aggro while Seismic Shudder is a pretty good sideboard card.

Pack 1 pick 13:





My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 14:




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Pack 1 pick 15:



My Pick:

After one pack the deck is far from good enough but after passing so much Red but nothing significant in Blue or Black I should have a good return in the next 14 picks.

Pack 2 pick 1:

















My Pick:

Now that I have two “auto-win” late game cards I can afford to have a super defensive game plan.

Pack 2 pick 2:
















My Pick:

The card is in theory by far the best in this pack for a UB deck. But in fact my deck is too slow for me to rely on it to win and I am still short in removal. Therefore Blazing Torch was also a decent pick here even though the card is a little less good in general.

Pack 2 pick 3:















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Pack 2 pick 4:














My Pick:

The Eel doesn’t fit the concept of the deck as well as the Leviathan does.

Pack 2 pick 5:













My Pick:

Not great in the deck but no other relevant pick here. I mean I love the card but in an aggro deck.

Pack 2 pick 6:












My Pick:

A third Ripper wouldn’t make it to the deck. I just need removal spells a lot more now even if it is not a very good example.

Pack 2 pick 7:











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Pack 2 pick 8:










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Pack 2 pick 9:









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Pack 2 pick 10:








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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:

With two Scorpions and two Hatchlings my early game has become much stronger but it is nothing like what I was expecting to receive… this deck is probably going to end up pretty bad.

Pack 3 pick 1:

















My Pick:

In a more aggro deck I’d pick the Raptor but this kind of deck suits the Mosquito perfectly.

Pack 3 pick 2:
















My Pick:

1) Disfigure
2) Vampire Hexmage
I love the Hexmage but when it comes to dealing with early guys I like having a removal spell over a guy I’m not even sure to be able to play on turn 2. Also it’s not great with my two Hatchlings as I will not be able to play them on turn 1 and 2.

Pack 3 pick 3:















My Pick:

1) Mind Sludge
2) Surrakar Marauder
Surrakar Marauder is a better card than Mind Sludge. It’s not even close. However my deck is bad at the moment and Mind Sludge is a card possibly able to win me games on its own for “only” five mana. Also I strictly die to Mind Sludge while I can deal with the 2/1 pretty easily.

Pack 3 pick 4:














My Pick:

I am not playing any of these so I’d rather pick the most annoying card. Having quite a slow deck Spire Barrage is a lot better against me than it is against most people.

Pack 3 pick 5:













My Pick:

1) Into the Roil
2) Aether Pigment
I like the unblockable guy in UW aggro but the more I go control the less I like it. Here the bounce is simply better for a matter of tempo.

Pack 3 pick 6:












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Pack 3 pick 7:











My Pick:

I don’t have so many guys who’ll trade in combat so the card isn’t as good as it usually is but with 2 Heartstabber Mosquito I should still be able to make a good use of it.

Pack 3 pick 8:










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Pack 3 pick 11:







My Pick:

Almost picked the Map here in order to help me splash my Seismic Shudders after SB versus Red decks but Spreading Seas is a card that I’m willing to play.

Pack 3 pick 12:






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Pack 3 pick 15:



My Pick:

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8 Island
10 Swamp
2 Kraken Hatchling
1 Reckless Scholar
2 Giant Scorpion
2 Heartstabber Mosquito
2 Crypt Ripper
1 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Kalitas Bloodchief of Ghet

1 Disfigure
1 Soul Stair Expedition
2 Into the Roil
2 Paralyzing Grasp
1 Cancel
1 Hideous End
1 Summoner’s Bane
1 Rite of Replication
1 Mind Sludge

Sideboard
3 Seismic Shudder
1 Akoum Refuge
1 Shoal Serpent
1 Whiplash Trap
1 Vampire’s Bite
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spire Barrage
1 Spreading Seas
1 Island
1 Blood Seeker
2 Trapfinder’s Trick
1 Forest
1 Vastwood Gorger
1 Quest for the Gravelord
1 Island
1 Explorer’s Scope
1 Piranha Marsh
1 Feast of Blood
1 Swamp
1 Stonework Puma
1 Carnage Altar

In the first round I’m paired against Blue Red and the plan goes exactly as hoped. Both games he doesn’t draw super badly but he still draws slow allowing me to reach turn 10 on 10 life or more. In such cases my deck is not supposed to lose because at this point I draw more expensive and therefore stronger (as far as late game is concerned) cards. In the first a pair of Mosquitoes clean the way for Crypt Ripper to finish him while in game 2 I’ve turn 10 Kalitas protected by Cancel thanks to Reckless Scholar which helps me not miss a land drop.

The second round though looks like an example of why this kind of archetype shouldn’t be drafted in ZZZ. In the first game on the draw I draw one Swamp for three Islands nothing dramatic in any aggro deck but enough to keep me from playing a pair of spells and not leave me any chance to stop his RW team. In the second I am on the play I draw better and I’m able to deal with a good draw from him but at what cost! On turn 6 his team is stopped but I’m on three life. On the turn I eventually tap out (turn 9 to cast Kalitas) he seizes the opportunity to kick Burst Lightning and kill me.

And that’s why I probably won’t try this kind of archetype again. The problem with it is the same as the problem with three-color decks in the Zendikar Sealed format. Even if their mana seems stable any bad draw will be punished instantly. If some sealed deck pools don’t really leave you with any other choice draft should. Next time I open Kalitas I won’t mind picking it but I’ll try and force mono Black as I think it’s the best control archetype in this format.

Until Wednesday…

Oli