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Drafting With Rich – TPF #22

Draft With Rich Hoaen every day... at StarCityGames.com!
You all know the drill by now… 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 analyzed in the article, the forums, and beyond. Come join in the fun!


Draft:

Pack 1:










Think Twice, Ashcoat Bear, Urborg Syphon-Mage, Cloudchaser Kestrel, Thallid Germinator, Terramorphic Expanse, Greenseeker, Foriysian Interceptor, Basal Sliver, Drifter il-Dal, Basalt Gargoyle, Celestial Crusader, Spirit Loop, Gemstone Caverns, Conspiracy

Pick: Thallid Germinator

Pack 2:










Penumbra Spider, Pentarch Ward, Assassinate, Thallid Germinator, Zealot il-Vec, Ironclaw Buzzardiers, Thallid Shell-Dweller, Bewilder, Call to the Netherworld, Cyclopean Giant, Vampiric Sliver, Paradise Plume, Lotus Bloom, Darkness

Pick: Penumbra Spider

Pack 3:










Slipstream Serpent, Nantuko Shaman, Castle Raptors, Gorgon Recluse, Scarwood Treefolk, D’Avenant Healer, Wormwood Dryad, Mystical Teachings, Two-Headed Sliver, Spell Burst, Dementia Sliver, Cavalry Master, Sengir Autocrat

Pick: Nantuko Shaman

Pack 4:







Temporal Eddy, Tendrils of Corruption, Mogg War Marshal, Temporal Isolation, Brass Gnat, Savage Thallid, Screeching Sliver, Momentary Blink, Ancient Grudge, Spell Burst, Mangara of Corondor, Tormod’s Crypt

Pick: Tendrils of Corruption

Pack 5:







Snapback, Pentarch Ward, Dark Withering, Subterranean Shambler, Mindlash Sliver, Havenwood Wurm, Chameleon Blur, Flickering Spirit, Premature Burial, Tectonic Fiend, Dandan

Pick: Dark Withering

Pack 6:







Coal Stoker, Deathspore Thallid, Tolarian Sentinel, Watcher Sliver, Thrill of the Hunt, Plunder, Skulking Knight, Brass Gnat, Molten Slagheap, Pendelhaven Elder

Pick: Deathspore Thallid

Pack 7:







Mana Skimmer, Sidewinder Sliver, Viscid Lemures, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Primal Forcemage, Gustcloak Cavalier, Scryb Ranger, Voidmage Prodigy, Blazing Blade Askari

Pick: Scryb Ranger

Pack 8:




Chromatic Star, Herd Gnarr, Blazing Blade Askari, Shadow Sliver, Ophidian Eye, Ignite Memories, Skittering Monstrosity, Forest

Pick: Herd Gnarr

Pack 9:




Ashcoat Bear, Greenseeker, Foriysian Interceptor, Drifter il-Dal, Spirit Loop, Gemstone Caverns, Conspiracy

Pick: Greenseeker

Pack 10:




Thallid Shell-Dweller, Bewilder, Call to the Netherworld, Cyclopean Giant, Paradise Plume, Darkness

Pick: Thallid Shell-Dweller

Pack 11:




Scarwood Treefolk, Wormwood Dryad, Mystical Teachings, Two-Headed Sliver, Spell Burst

Pick: Wormwood Dryad

Pack 12:

Temporal Eddy, Brass Gnat, Savage Thallid, Ancient Grudge

Pick: Savage Thallid

Pack 13:

Havenwood Wurm, Chameleon Blur, Tectonic Fiend

Pick: Havenwood Wurm

Pack 14:

Plunder, Brass Gnat

Pick: Brass Gnat

Pack 15:

Gustcloak Cavalier

Pick: Gustcloak Cavalier

Pack 16:










Shaper Parasite, Cradle to Grave, Giant Dustwasp, Stingscourger, Deadly Grub, Citanul Woodreaders, Brain Gorgers, Keldon Marauders, Rathi Trapper, Fa’adiyah Seer, Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Hammerheim Deadeye, Sophic Centaur, Groundbreaker, Benalish Commander

Pick: Rathi Trapper

Pack 17:










Synchronous Sliver, Utopia Vow, Dawn Charm, Spitting Sliver, Mire Boa, Ghost Tactician, Wistful Thinking, Dash Hopes, Sunlance, Mana Tithe, Prodigal Pyromancer, Dormant Sliver, Sulfur Elemental, Blood Knight

Pick: Mire Boa

Pack 18:










Reflex Sliver, Dreamscape Artist, Poultice Sliver, Ridged Kusite, Dust Corona, Blightspeaker, Sunlance, Prodigal Pyromancer, Melancholy, Treacherous Urge, Aether Membrane, Ovinize, Spitting Sliver

Pick: Blightspeaker

Pack 19:







Giant Dustwasp, Dead / Gone, Dreamscape Artist, Ridged Kusite, Fury Charm, Evolution Charm, Reality Acid, Skirk Shaman, Healing Leaves, Revered Dead, Dismal Failure, Riptide Pilferer

Pick: Giant Dustwasp

Pack 20:







Erratic Mutation, Midnight Charm, Needlepeak Spider, Shade of Trokair, Uktabi Drake, Ghost Tactician, Firefright Mage, Gossamer Phantasm, Pongify, Waning Wurm, Riptide Pilferer

Pick: Midnight Charm

Pack 21:







Battering Sliver, Aven Riftwatcher, Reality Acid, Pallid Mycoderm, Keldon Marauders, Simian Spirit Guide, Merfolk Thaumaturgist, Healing Leaves, Venarian Glimmer, Spellshift

Pick: Pallid Mycoderm

Pack 22:







Battering Sliver, Reflex Sliver, Evolution Charm, Pallid Mycoderm, Brain Gorgers, Piracy Charm, Primal Plasma, Seal of Primordium, Kavu Predator

Pick: Evolution Charm

Pack 23:




Vitaspore Thallid, Dash Hopes, Healing Leaves, Simian Spirit Guide, Muck Drubb, Tidewalker, Keen Sense, Melancholy

Pick: Melancholy

Pack 24:




Cradle to Grave, Deadly Grub, Brain Gorgers, Keldon Marauders, Fa’adiyah Seer, Sophic Centaur, Benalish Commander

Pick: Cradle to Grave

Pack 25:




Synchronous Sliver, Dawn Charm, Ghost Tactician, Wistful Thinking, Dash Hopes, Mana Tithe

Pick: Mana Tithe

Pack 26:




Reflex Sliver, Poultice Sliver, Ridged Kusite, Dust Corona, Melancholy

Pick: Melancholy

Pack 27:

Ridged Kusite, Reality Acid, Healing Leaves, Revered Dead

Pick: Healing Leaves

Pack 28:

Ghost Tactician, Firefright Mage, Gossamer Phantasm

Pick: Gossamer Phantasm

Pack 29:

Healing Leaves, Venarian Glimmer

Pick: Healing Leaves

Pack 30:

Reflex Sliver

Pick: Reflex Sliver

Pack 31:










Grave Peril, Wrap in Vigor, Samite Censer-Bearer, Infiltrator il-Kor, Grave Scrabbler, Henchfiend of Ukor, Whip-Spine Drake, Lymph Sliver, Homing Sliver, Sporoloth Ancient, Goldmeadow Lookout, Narcomoeba, Yixlid Jailer, Epochrasite, Shah of Naar Isle

Pick: Sporoloth Ancient

Pack 32:










Aven Augur, Cutthroat il-Dal, Gift of Granite, Quiet Disrepair, Foresee, Patrician’s Scorn, Sarcomite Myr, Henchfiend of Ukor, Thornweald Archer, Death Rattle, Yixlid Jailer, Boldwyr Intimidator, Centaur Omenreader, Angel of Salvation

Pick: Death Rattle

Pack 33:










Sprout Swarm, Samite Censer-Bearer, Aven Augur, Bogardan Lancer, Knight of Sursi, Patrician’s Scorn, Logic Knot, Nessian Courser, Witch’s Mist, Emblem of the Warmind, Phosphorescent Feast, Magus of the Vineyard, Saltskitter

Pick: Sprout Swarm

Pack 34:







Rift Elemental, Llanowar Empath, Marshaling Cry, Unblinking Bleb, Lost Hours, Grave Scrabbler, Lumithread Field, Mesmeric Sliver, Deepcavern Imp, Flowstone Embrace, Boldwyr Intimidator, Centaur Omenreader

Pick: Centaur Omenreader

Pack 35:







Petrified Plating, Bogardan Lancer, Venser’s Diffusion, Oblivion Crown, Saltskitter, Lumithread Field, Grinning Ignus, Edge of Autumn, Deepcavern Imp, Bloodshot Trainee, Spellwild Ouphe

Pick: Deepcavern Imp

Pack 36:







Cutthroat il-Dal, Llanowar Augur, Augur of Skulls, Logic Knot, Vedalken Aethermage, Virulent Sliver, Frenzy Sliver, Mistmeadow Skulk, Zoetic Cavern, Bonded Fetch

Pick: Augur of Skulls

Pack 37:







Kavu Primarch, Oblivion Crown, Emberwilde Augur, Mass of Ghouls, Thornweald Archer, Frenzy Sliver, Phosphorescent Feast, Narcomoeba, Cutthroat il-Dal

Pick: Kavu Primarch

Pack 38:




Emberwilde Augur, Putrid Cyclops, Augur il-Vec, Mesmeric Sliver, Patrician’s Scorn, Sarcomite Myr, Henchfiend of Ukor, Arcanum Wings

Pick: Henchfiend of Ukor

Pack 39:




Grave Peril, Wrap in Vigor, Samite Censer-Bearer, Grave Scrabbler, Henchfiend of Ukor, Lymph Sliver, Yixlid Jailer

Pick: Grave Scrabbler

Pack 40:




Cutthroat il-Dal, Gift of Granite, Quiet Disrepair, Patrician’s Scorn, Henchfiend of Ukor, Yixlid Jailer

Pick: Yixlid Jailer

Pack 41:




Samite Censer-Bearer, Bogardan Lancer, Patrician’s Scorn, Emblem of the Warmind, Phosphorescent Feast

Pick: Phosphorescent Feast

Pack 42:

Rift Elemental, Llanowar Empath, Unblinking Bleb, Lost Hours

Pick: Llanowar Empath

Pack 43:

Petrified Plating, Oblivion Crown, Spellwild Ouphe

Pick: Petrified Plating

Pack 44:

Llanowar Augur, Virulent Sliver

Pick: Llanowar Augur

Pack 45:

Oblivion Crown

Pick: Oblivion Crown

Final Decklist:

Maindeck:

1 Greenseeker
1 Blightspeaker
1 Cradle to Grave
1 Deathspore Thallid
1 Evolution Charm
1 Mire Boa
1 Rathi Trapper
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Sprout Swarm
1 Thallid Shell-Dweller
1 Deepcavern Imp
1 Nantuko Shaman
1 Thallid Germinator
1 Centaur Omenreader
1 Herd Gnarr
1 Kavu Primarch
1 Llanowar Empath
1 Penumbra Spider
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Giant Dustwasp
1 Sporoloth Ancient
1 Dark Withering
1 Death Rattle
10 Forest
7 Swamp

Sideboard:

1 Augur of Skulls
1 Brass Gnat
1 Gossamer Phantasm
1 Grave Scrabbler
1 Gustcloak Cavalier
1 Havenwood Wurm
2 Healing Leaves
1 Henchfiend of Ukor
1 Llanowar Augur
1 Mana Tithe
1 Melancholy
1 Melancholy [FOIL]
1 Midnight Charm
1 Oblivion Crown
1 Pallid Mycoderm
1 Petrified Plating
1 Phosphorescent Feast
1 Reflex Sliver
1 Savage Thallid
1 Wormwood Dryad
1 Yixlid Jailer


With such a mediocre pack to take my first pick from it came down to color preference. Since I like Green cards I took the Germinator, and fortunately Green was wide open. I decided to go for the Thallid deck with the late Deathspore, and the Shell-Dweller conveniently made a lap. Pack 2 went pretty well, then I got a couple of gifts in pack 3, like the third pick Sprout Swarm and the Llanowar Empath twelfth.


Round 1 I played against solid Green/White deck. In the first game he had Griffin Guide for his Benalish Cavalry on turn 4 after missing a land drop. Fortunately I was able to Death Rattle it right away, then make tons of guys with Sprout Swarm to get past his Stuffy Doll. Game 2 he flooded, and I was able to make more guys with my Sprout Swarm than usual because I’d spent the early turns playing creatures while he didn’t have much action. A couple turns of attacking with all my guys and he was dead.


Round 2 I played against a Black/Red deck with Sedge Sliver, Scourge of Kher Ridges, Sulfurous Blast and lots of bad creatures. He got me to ten with a Frenzy Sliver and Skirk Shaman before I was able to find a blocker for the Sliver and a Tendrils for the Shaman. After that I played lots of creatures bigger than his, and had Dark Withering for his Scourge of Kher Ridges. I had Deathspore Thallid on turn 2 and Thallid Germinator on turn 3, but he had Sulfurous Blast, then a bunch of 3/3s while I was stuck on three lands. I put up a fight, and stabilised at two, but he drew Orcish Cannonade a couple turns before I could kill him. Game 3 I got ahead early, but I was stuck on four lands again, and he played a quick Scourge. Fortunately he didn’t use the Tumble ability when I searched out a Deepcavern Imp at the end of his turn so that I could Dark Withering the Dragon on mine. After that he was left without much action and I had Rathi Trapper for his Aether Membrane which let me kill him a couple of turns later.


I split the finals with a friend.


Until tomorrow,


Rich

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