fbpx

Drafting With Rich – TPF #2

That’s right, folks… he’s back! Rich Hoaen, Canada’s finest and grumpiest draft export, takes us by the hand and drags us through the rollercoaster ride of an 8-4 TPF Draft on Magic Online. From pick 1 to pick 45, Rich shares them all, and his final deck and draft performance are examined in the article, the forums, and beyond. Come join in the fun!


Draft:

Pack 1:










Mindstab, Gaze of Justice, Durkwood Baloth, Coral Trickster, Ivory Giant, Plunder, Eternity Snare, Molder, Venser’s Sliver, Harmonic Sliver, Pull from Eternity, Sulfurous Blast, Stonebrow, Krosan Hero, Sacred Mesa, Molder

Pick: Sulfurous Blast

Pack 2:










Dark Withering, Viscerid Deepwalker, Ashcoat Bear, Amrou Seekers, Search for Tomorrow, Corpulent Corpse, Greenseeker, Pit Keeper, Divine Congregation, Jhoira’s Timebug, Ghostflame Sliver, Volcanic Awakening, Lotus Bloom, Gaea’s Liege

Pick: Dark Withering

Pack 3:










Ironclaw Buzzardiers, Temporal Eddy, Tendrils of Corruption, Mogg War Marshal, Ancient Grudge, Flickering Spirit, Call to the Netherworld, Drifter il-Dal, Havenwood Wurm, Thunder Totem, Sporesower Thallid, Aspect of Mongoose, Hivestone

Pick: Tendrils of Corruption

Pack 4:







Chromatic Star, Gorgon Recluse, Herd Gnarr, Fortify, Wormwood Dryad, Mystical Teachings, Two-Headed Sliver, Fury Sliver, Aspect of Mongoose, Phyrexian Totem, Mirari, Sangrophage

Pick: Gorgon Recluse

Pack 5:







Deathspore Thallid, Flowstone Channeler, Herd Gnarr, Children of Korlis, Sangrophage, Viashino Bladescout, Mystical Teachings, Thrill of the Hunt, Skittering Monstrosity, Telekinetic Sliver, Leviathan

Pick: Flowstone Channeler

Pack 6:







Think Twice, Ashcoat Bear, Basal Sliver, Sage of Epityr, Ghitu Firebreathing, Momentary Blink, Assembly-Worker, Lim-Dul the Necromancer, Gaea’s Blessing, Ancient Grudge

Pick: Lim-Dul the Necromancer

Pack 7:







Clockspinning, Sidewinder Sliver, Viscid Lemures, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Two-Headed Sliver, Haunting Hymn, Dreadship Reef, Kher Keep, Scragnoth

Pick: Haunting Hymn

Pack 8:




Pentarch Ward, Havenwood Wurm, Basal Sliver, Sage of Epityr, Ghitu Firebreathing, Momentary Blink, Quilled Sliver, Ovinomancer

Pick: Basal Sliver

Pack 9:




Mindstab, Gaze of Justice, Plunder, Eternity Snare, Molder, Venser’s Sliver, Harmonic Sliver

Pick: Mindstab

Pack 10:




Ashcoat Bear, Greenseeker, Pit Keeper, Divine Congregation, Jhoira’s Timebug, Volcanic Awakening

Pick: Pit Keeper

Pack 11:




Ancient Grudge, Flickering Spirit, Drifter il-Dal, Aspect of Mongoose, Hivestone

Pick: Hivestone

Pack 12:

Wormwood Dryad, Mystical Teachings, Aspect of Mongoose, Sangrophage

Pick: Mystical Teachings

Pack 13:

Children of Korlis, Sangrophage, Leviathan

Pick: Leviathan

Pack 14:

Ghitu Firebreathing, Ancient Grudge

Pick: Ancient Grudge

Pack 15:

Clockspinning

Pick: Clockspinning

Pack 16:










Synchronous Sliver, Utopia Vow, Dawn Charm, Spitting Sliver, Mire Boa, Brain Gorgers, Fury Charm, Wistful Thinking, Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Gossamer Phantasm, Skirk Shaman, Psychotrope Thallid, Riftmarked Knight, Gaea’s Anthem, Temporal Extortion

Pick: Skirk Shaman

Pack 17:










Battering Sliver, Aven Riftwatcher, Erratic Mutation, Citanul Woodreaders, Firefright Mage, Pallid Mycoderm, Uktabi Drake, Deadly Grub, Sunlance, Fa’adiyah Seer, Bog Serpent, Mantle of Leadership, Blood Knight, Aeon Chronicler

Pick: Aeon Chronicler

Pack 18:










Midnight Charm, Saltfield Recluse, Synchronous Sliver, Needlepeak Spider, Mire Boa, Dust Corona, Reality Acid, Blightspeaker, Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Vampiric Link, Waning Wurm, Timecrafting, Frozen Aether

Pick: Blightspeaker

Pack 19:







Dreamscape Artist, Aven Riftwatcher, Cradle to Grave, Evolution Charm, Shade of Trokair, Fury Charm, Vitaspore Thallid, Deadly Grub, Brute Force, Fa’adiyah Seer, Dormant Sliver, Boom / Bust

Pick: Brute Force

Pack 20:







Dreamscape Artist, Poultice Sliver, Ridged Kusite, Brain Gorgers, Fury Charm, Wistful Thinking, Piracy Charm, Fa’adiyah Seer, Hunting Wilds, Blood Knight, Retether

Pick: Blood Knight

Pack 21:







Reflex Sliver, Spitting Sliver, Aquamorph Entity, Firefright Mage, Blightspeaker, Revered Dead, Brute Force, Mantle of Leadership, Phantasmagorian, Life and Limb

Pick: Brute Force

Pack 22:







Cradle to Grave, Giant Dustwasp, Wistful Thinking, Keldon Marauders, Dash Hopes, Vitaspore Thallid, Simian Spirit Guide, Melancholy, Tidewalker

Pick: Cradle to Grave

Pack 23:




Battering Sliver, Firefright Mage, Uktabi Drake, Deadly Grub, Bog Serpent, Essence Warden, Frenetic Sliver, Auramancer’s Guise

Pick: Battering Sliver

Pack 24:




Utopia Vow, Spitting Sliver, Brain Gorgers, Fury Charm, Wistful Thinking, Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Psychotrope Thallid

Pick: Utopia Vow

Pack 25:




Battering Sliver, Firefright Mage, Uktabi Drake, Deadly Grub, Bog Serpent, Mantle of Leadership

Pick: Bog Serpent

Pack 26:




Dust Corona, Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Vampiric Link, Waning Wurm, Timecrafting

Pick: Merfolk Thaumaturgist

Pack 27:

Fury Charm, Vitaspore Thallid, Deadly Grub, Dormant Sliver

Pick: Fury Charm

Pack 28:

Ridged Kusite, Fury Charm, Wistful Thinking

Pick: Fury Charm

Pack 29:

Revered Dead, Mantle of Leadership

Pick: Mantle of Leadership

Pack 30:

Dash Hopes

Pick: Dash Hopes

Pack 31:










Unblinking Bleb, Llanowar Augur, Riddle of Lightning, Venser’s Diffusion, Judge Unworthy, Kavu Primarch, Thornweald Archer, Death Rattle, Blind Phantasm, Lumithread Field, Grinning Ignus, Nacatl War-Pride, Ramosian Revivalist, Arcanum Wings, Rites of Flourishing

Pick: Death Rattle

Pack 32:










Judge Unworthy, Leaden Fists, Gathan Raiders, Quiet Disrepair, Saltskitter, Flowstone Embrace, Frenzy Sliver, Mesmeric Sliver, Patrician’s Scorn, Sarcomite Myr, Henchfiend of Ukor, Spin into Myth, Yixlid Jailer, Storm Entity

Pick: Gathan Raiders

Pack 33:










Ichor Slick, Bogardan Lancer, Grave Peril, Wrap in Vigor, Mesmeric Sliver, Deepcavern Imp, Nessian Courser, Blade of the Sixth Pride, Sarcomite Myr, Zoetic Cavern, Spin into Myth, Witch’s Mist, Jhoira of the Ghitu

Pick: Ichor Slick

Pack 34:







Llanowar Augur, Augur of Skulls, Samite Censer-Bearer, Aven Augur, Lymph Sliver, Homing Sliver, Sporoloth Ancient, Grave Scrabbler, Storm Entity, Spellwild Ouphe, Aven Mindcensor, Summoner’s Pact

Pick: Augur of Skulls

Pack 35:







Leaden Fists, Gift of Granite, Augur of Skulls, Lost Hours, Petrified Plating, Grinning Ignus, Mass of Ghouls, Lucent Liminid, Centaur Omenreader, Mistmeadow Skulk, Dryad Arbor

Pick: Mass of Ghouls

Pack 36:







Samite Censer-Bearer, Putrid Cyclops, Rift Elemental, Marshaling Cry, Death Rattle, Homing Sliver, Edge of Autumn, Blind Phantasm, Boldwyr Intimidator, Phosphorescent Feast

Pick: Death Rattle

Pack 37:







Unblinking Bleb, Lost Hours, Wrap in Vigor, Virulent Sliver, Mass of Ghouls, Vedalken Aethermage, Narcomoeba, Skizzik Surger, Intervention Pact

Pick: Skizzik Surger

Pack 38:




Oblivion Crown, Saltskitter, Cutthroat il-Dal, Patrician’s Scorn, Logic Knot, Henchfiend of Ukor, Ramosian Revivalist, Street Wraith

Pick: Henchfiend of Ukor

Pack 39:




Unblinking Bleb, Llanowar Augur, Kavu Primarch, Grinning Ignus, Ramosian Revivalist, Arcanum Wings, Rites of Flourishing

Pick: Rites of Flourishing

Pack 40:




*, *, *, *, *, *

Pick: *

Pack 41:




Grave Peril, Wrap in Vigor, Mesmeric Sliver, Sarcomite Myr, Witch’s Mist

Pick: Grave Peril

Pack 42:

Llanowar Augur, Samite Censer-Bearer, Homing Sliver, Spellwild Ouphe

Pick: Homing Sliver

Pack 43:

Gift of Granite, Lost Hours, Petrified Plating

Pick: Lost Hours

Pack 44:

Putrid Cyclops, Phosphorescent Feast

Pick: Putrid Cyclops

Pack 45:

Lost Hours

Pick: Lost Hours

Final Decklist:

Maindeck:

2 Brute Force
1 Augur of Skulls
1 Blood Knight
1 Cradle to Grave
1 Pit Keeper
1 Flowstone Channeler
1 Ichor Slick
1 Putrid Cyclops
1 Skirk Shaman
2 Henchfiend of Ukor
1 Sulfurous Blast
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Gathan Raiders
1 Gorgon Recluse
1 Mass of Ghouls
1 Dark Withering
2 Death Rattle
1 Mindstab
1 Skizzik Surger
1 Lim-Dul the Necromancer
8 Mountain
9 Swamp

Sideboard:

1 Aeon Chronicler
1 Ancient Grudge [FOIL]
1 Basal Sliver
1 Battering Sliver
1 Blightspeaker
1 Bog Serpent
1 Clockspinning
1 Dash Hopes
2 Fury Charm
1 Grave Peril
1 Haunting Hymn
1 Hivestone
1 Homing Sliver
1 Leviathan
2 Lost Hours
1 Mantle of Leadership
1 Merfolk Thaumaturgist
2 Mountain
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Rites of Flourishing
1 Utopia Vow


The most interesting pick of this draft was the first pick. It decided what direction I went for the rest of the draft. Sulfurous Blast is better than Stonebrow, so it comes down to Blast vs. Mesa, and that comes down to color preferences (although I think that Blast is the better card in a vacuum). Since I prefer Red to White, I took Blast. Then, with my second pick, despite my affection for Green I went with Dark Withering over Search for Tomorrow, because of the Stonebrow I passed. I immediately regretted this pick, since there was a Sporesower Thallid in the next pack, but since there was a Tendrils there too, there wasn’t much I could do. I didn’t see much Red this pack, but the Black kept flowing. Pack two was one of the most miserable Planar Chaos packs I’ve ever experienced. Black was bad as always, and there was almost no Red to be had, despite the fact that Stonebrow was the only Red card I passed in pack 1. Fortunately pack 3 saved me, giving me good removal in two Death Rattles, and an Ichor Slick, and good creatures in Henchfiend of Ukors.


Round 1 I played against a mono-White deck, splashing Pyrohemia. In the first game I was able to get in some damage early with Blood Knight and Flowstone Channeler, then finished him off with Skizzik Surger and Sulfurous Blast to kill his blockers. Game 2 was a race which was won by his Aven Riftwatcher. Game 3 we were both pretty flooded, and when it came down to it I drew Tendrils and Skizzik Surger while he drew lands. A match that definitely could have gone either way.


The first game of round 2 was pretty awkward. I managed to convince myself that his morph was Gatham Raiders so I never attacked into it, and this let him beat me with his superior late game cards while I flooded. Game 2 I had a fast start, and this time instead of flooding, as decks like mine so commonly do, I drew just enough spells to stay ahead. Game 3 we both had mana troubles, but I suspended Mindstab on turn 1 so he had no spells left when we both started drawing lands.


I split the finals so that I could draft again.


Until tomorrow,


Rich

Draft recording done by Blargware‘s MTGO DraftCap. Support Blargware!