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Drafting With Rich – Shards of Alara #4

Draft With Rich Hoaen every day... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, November 13th – Canadian Draft maestro Rich Hoaen returns to the pages of StarCityGames.com. Each day, he brings us a triple Shards of Alara draft from Magic Online, from pick 1 to pick 45, sharing his insight on the more difficult picks along the way. For more in-depth analysis, visit the forums!

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Waveskimmer Aven
Kathari Screecher
Deft Duelist
2 Akrasan Squire
Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
Cloudheath Drake
Knight-Captain of Eos
Sigiled Paladin
Angelic Benediction
2 Court Archers
Welkin Guide
Outrider of Jhess
Esper Battlemage
Stoic Angel
2 Bant Charm
Oblivion Ring
Knight of the Skyward Eye
Kiss of the Amesha
Excommunicate
Call to Heel
Esper Panorama
Arcane Sanctum
Seaside Citadel
4 Forest
6 Plains
4 Island

I took lands with the first two picks because they left me with the most options going forward. The third pick Blister Beetle was a bit disappointing but it was the best non-Red (the only color my lands didn’t produce) card in the pack although I’d have taken the Red card if it were better than Rockslide Elemental. I experimented with the Realm Razer but that didn’t seem to be going anywhere and the late Blue and White cards finally gave me a direction.

I’ve yet to play with or against Knight-Captain of Eos but it seemed like a good fit for this deck hopefully holding them off for a couple turns while my exalted guy bashes them.

Perhaps I should’ve taken Resounding Silence and Excommunicate over Court Archers to protect my manabase. I figured I could be a little adventurous and take the slightly more powerful cards because of the lands I’d taken early. That decision didn’t turn out well in the end.

I got rewarded for my patience in choosing colors in pack 3 with a Stoic Angel and two Bant Charms as well as a fourth pick Oblivion Ring (it’s better than Scourglass in this deck right?).

Round 1 I played against a decent Green Red deck and neither game was particularly close. Both games I drew quite well had a good curve and more spells than him in the late game.

Round 2 I played against a good Blue Black Red deck. Game 1 my draw was very good. I was attacking with a 5/5 Sigiled Paladin on turn 5 and had Excommunicate and Oblivion Ring for his blockers. Game 2 my Deft Duelist held him off for a very long time while I drew twelve lands to his five. Eventually he drew some three-toughness creatures to attack me with and all I could do was watch and play a land every turn. Game 3 I had a quick start but he recovered and I died with six Green cards in hand and no Green sources in play.

I was pretty happy with this deck but probably lost to some drafting and deckbuilding errors.

Until tomorrow…

Rich