Draft:
Pack 1:
Castle Raptors, Gorgon Recluse, Spiketail Drakeling, Orcish Cannonade, Plunder, Eternity Snare, Molder, Venser’s Sliver, Children of Korlis, Locket of Yesterdays, Evil Eye of Urborg, Cavalry Master, Ixidron, Vhati il-Dal, Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
Pick: Vhati il-Dal
Pack 2:
Ashcoat Bear, Amrou Seekers, Search for Tomorrow, Corpulent Corpse, Cancel, Screeching Sliver, Psychotic Episode, Jedit’s Dragoons, Sprout, Foriysian Interceptor, Phthisis, Knight of the Holy Nimbus, Harmonic Sliver, Lotus Bloom
Pick: Search for Tomorrow
Pack 3:
Deathspore Thallid, Tolarian Sentinel, Benalish Cavalry, Orcish Cannonade, Prismatic Lens, Ground Rift, Eternity Snare, Skulking Knight, Smallpox, Fool’s Demise, Weatherseed Totem, Kher Keep, Celestial Dawn
Pick: Prismatic Lens
Pack 4:
Temporal Eddy, Mogg War Marshal, Terramorphic Expanse, Drudge Reavers, Momentary Blink, Ancient Grudge, Greenseeker, Foriysian Interceptor, Wipe Away, Undying Rage, Gustcloak Cavalier, Psionic Sliver
Pick: Psionic Sliver
Pack 5:
Zealot il-Vec, Aether Web, Detainment Spell, Psychotic Episode, Sprout, Aetherflame Wall, Pit Keeper, Vampiric Sliver, Dementia Sliver, Liege of the Pit, Orcish Librarian
Pick: Liege of the Pit
Pack 6:
Scarwood Treefolk, Venser’s Sliver, Clockspinning, Bogardan Rager, Sangrophage, D’Avenant Healer, Molten Slagheap, Krosan Grip, Voidmage Husher, Funeral Charm
Pick: Funeral Charm
Pack 7:
Mogg War Marshal, Drifter il-Dal, Havenwood Wurm, Basal Sliver, Sage of Epityr, Opaline Sliver, Voidmage Husher, Trickbind, Spined Sliver
Pick: Havenwood Wurm
Pack 8:
Flamecore Elemental, Nantuko Shaman, Blazing Blade Askari, Shadow Sliver, Ophidian Eye, Spirit Loop, Calciform Pools, Mountain
Pick: Nantuko Shaman
Pack 9:
Plunder, Eternity Snare, Molder, Venser’s Sliver, Children of Korlis, Locket of Yesterdays, Evil Eye of Urborg
Pick: Evil Eye of Urborg
Pack 10:
Ashcoat Bear, Screeching Sliver, Psychotic Episode, Sprout, Foriysian Interceptor, Harmonic Sliver
Pick: Ashcoat Bear
Pack 11:
Ground Rift, Eternity Snare, Smallpox, Fool’s Demise, Celestial Dawn
Pick: Smallpox
Pack 12:
Ancient Grudge, Greenseeker, Foriysian Interceptor, Gustcloak Cavalier
Pick: Greenseeker
Pack 13:
Psychotic Episode, Sprout, Orcish Librarian
Pick: Psychotic Episode
Pack 14:
Pick: Sangrophage
Pack 15:
Pick: Sage of Epityr
Pack 16:
Empty the Warrens, Strength in Numbers, Errant Doomsayers, Corpulent Corpse, Viscerid Deepwalker, Drifter il-Dal, Subterranean Shambler, Mindlash Sliver, Havenwood Wurm, Riftwing Cloudskate, Might of Old Krosa, Tectonic Fiend, Wheel of Fate, Pendelhaven Elder, Firewake Sliver
Pick: Corpulent Corpse
Pack 17:
Empty the Warrens, Icatian Crier, Bonesplitter Sliver, Tendrils of Corruption, Think Twice, Penumbra Spider, Aetherflame Wall, Detainment Spell, Thallid Shell-Dweller, Bewilder, Sudden Death, Careful Consideration, Pull from Eternity, Squire
Pick: Sudden Death
Pack 18:
Keldon Halberdier, Mana Skimmer, Durkwood Baloth, Fathom Seer, Chromatic Star, Sangrophage, Viashino Bladescout, Mystical Teachings, Thrill of the Hunt, Barbed Shocker, Stormcloud Djinn, Duskrider Peregrine, Hunting Moa
Pick: Durkwood Baloth
Pack 19:
Drudge Reavers, Goblin Skycutter, Cancel, Penumbra Spider, Divine Congregation, Mindlash Sliver, Thallid Shell-Dweller, Jhoira’s Timebug, Vampiric Sliver, Pull from Eternity, Pandemonium, Swamp
Pick: Penumbra Spider
Pack 20:
Gaze of Justice, Strangling Soot, Gemhide Sliver, Feebleness, Wormwood Dryad, Mystical Teachings, Two-Headed Sliver, Smallpox, Return to Dust, Sudden Death, Arena
Pick: Strangling Soot
Pack 21:
Ashcoat Bear, Thallid Germinator, Terramorphic Expanse, Ghitu Firebreathing, Momentary Blink, Greenseeker, Pit Keeper, Divine Congregation, Ghostflame Sliver, Chronatog Totem
Pick: Terramorphic Expanse
Pack 22:
Gemhide Sliver, Mindstab, Gaze of Justice, Sidewinder Sliver, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Molder, Pendelhaven Elder, Saltcrusted Steppe, Magus of the Mirror
Pick: Gemhide Sliver
Pack 23:
Feebleness, Thrill of the Hunt, Plunder, Brass Gnat, Barbed Shocker, Chronatog Totem, Unstable Mutation, Mountain
Pick: Feebleness
Pack 24:
Drifter il-Dal, Subterranean Shambler, Mindlash Sliver, Havenwood Wurm, Wheel of Fate, Pendelhaven Elder, Firewake Sliver
Pick: Pendelhaven Elder
Pack 25:
Aetherflame Wall, Detainment Spell, Thallid Shell-Dweller, Bewilder, Pull from Eternity, Squire
Pick: Thallid Shell-Dweller
Pack 26:
Sangrophage, Viashino Bladescout, Mystical Teachings, Thrill of the Hunt, Barbed Shocker
Pick: Thrill of the Hunt
Pack 27:
Divine Congregation, Mindlash Sliver, Jhoira’s Timebug, Pull from Eternity
Pick: Jhoira’s Timebug
Pack 28:
Wormwood Dryad, Mystical Teachings, Return to Dust
Pick: Wormwood Dryad
Pack 29:
Ghitu Firebreathing, Divine Congregation
Pick: Divine Congregation
Pack 30:
Pick: Molder
Pack 31:
Snapback, Rift Bolt, Pentarch Ward, Bonesplitter Sliver, Dark Withering, Viscerid Deepwalker, Jhoira’s Timebug, Chameleon Blur, Subterranean Shambler, Cyclopean Giant, Opaline Sliver, Wipe Away, Evil Eye of Urborg, Draining Whelk, Psionic Blast
Pick: Psionic Blast
Pack 32:
Errant Doomsayers, Rift Bolt, Aether Web, Assassinate, Call to the Netherworld, Cyclopean Giant, Brass Gnat, Savage Thallid, Screeching Sliver, Scryb Ranger, Sulfurous Blast, Yavimaya Dryad, Gemstone Caverns, Hunting Moa
Pick: Rift Bolt
Pack 33:
Ironclaw Buzzardiers, Search for Tomorrow, Icatian Crier, Dark Withering, Goblin Skycutter, Chameleon Blur, Flickering Spirit, Ghitu Firebreathing, Bewilder, Thunder Totem, Gustcloak Cavalier, Sarpadian Empires, Vol. VII, Craw Giant
Pick: Dark Withering
Pack 34:
Keldon Halberdier, Ivory Giant, Grapeshot, Mindstab, Slipstream Serpent, Nantuko Shaman, Blazing Blade Askari, Glass Asp, Traitor’s Clutch, Durkwood Tracker, Truth or Tale, Stupor
Pick: Nantuko Shaman
Pack 35:
Ivory Giant, Deathspore Thallid, Flowstone Channeler, Herd Gnarr, Ground Rift, Dream Stalker, Wormwood Dryad, Tectonic Fiend, Fallen Ideal, Dodecapod, Dralnu, Lich Lord
Pick: Dodecapod
Pack 36:
Looter il-Kor, Fortify, Bogardan Rager, Traitor’s Clutch, D’Avenant Healer, Glass Asp, Fungal Reaches, Krosan Grip, Urza’s Factory, Uncle Istvan
Pick: Fortify
Pack 37:
Pentarch Ward, Zealot il-Vec, Ironclaw Buzzardiers, Jedit’s Dragoons, Savage Thallid, Ancient Grudge, Call to the Netherworld, Thunder Totem, Sindbad
Pick: Savage Thallid
Pack 38:
Tolarian Sentinel, Clockspinning, Viscid Lemures, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, Two-Headed Sliver, Volcanic Awakening, Faceless Devourer, Darkness
Pick: Faceless Devourer
Pack 39:
Pentarch Ward, Jhoira’s Timebug, Chameleon Blur, Subterranean Shambler, Cyclopean Giant, Opaline Sliver, Wipe Away
Pick: Subterranean Shambler
Pack 40:
Aether Web, Call to the Netherworld, Brass Gnat, Savage Thallid, Screeching Sliver, Gemstone Caverns
Pick: Gemstone Caverns
Pack 41:
Ironclaw Buzzardiers, Chameleon Blur, Ghitu Firebreathing, Bewilder, Gustcloak Cavalier
Pick: Ironclaw Buzzardiers
Pack 42:
Mindstab, Glass Asp, Traitor’s Clutch, Truth or Tale
Pick: Mindstab
Pack 43:
Deathspore Thallid, Ground Rift, Fallen Ideal
Pick: Deathspore Thallid
Pack 44:
Pick: Traitor’s Clutch
Pack 45:
Pick: Ancient Grudge
Final Decklist:
7 Forest
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Pendelhaven
1 Psionic Blast
5 Swamp
1 Vhati il-Dal
1 Ashcoat Bear
1 Corpulent Corpse
1 Dark Withering
1 Durkwood Baloth
1 Faceless Devourer
1 Feebleness
1 Gemhide Sliver
1 Greenseeker
1 Havenwood Wurm
1 Liege of the Pit
2 Nantuko Shaman
1 Penumbra Spider
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Rift Bolt
1 Savage Thallid
1 Search for Tomorrow
1 Strangling Soot
1 Sudden Death
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Thallid Shell-Dweller
1 Funeral Charm
1 Dodecapod
Sideboard
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Deathspore Thallid
1 Divine Congregation
1 Evil Eye of Urborg
1 Fortify
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Ironclaw Buzzardiers
1 Jhoira’s Timebug
1 Mindstab
1 Molder
1 Psionic Sliver
1 Psychotic Episode
1 Sage of Epityr
1 Sangrophage
1 Smallpox
1 Subterranean Shambler
1 Thrill of the Hunt
1 Traitor’s Clutch
1 Wormwood Dryad
The short story is, I played a Greenseeker and I lost round 1. Real “cautionary tale” stuff. The longer version will take some time to tell. Since the draft was fairly “interesting” this time, I’ll discuss several of the picks here instead of waiting for inevitable questions in the forums. As always, if there’s something I don’t address, feel free to ask/criticize.
Pack 1: Vhati il-Dal is the most powerful card in the pack, but it’s sort of a color preference deal. Since Green allows you to splash colors easily, it wasn’t like I was trapping myself into two specific colors right off the bat. I’m actually not a huge fan of Ixidron, so in my opinion, the “correct” pick was either Vhati or Castle Raptors.
Pack 2: The pick here is between Phthisis and Search for Tomorrow. I don’t care too much for Phthisis in draft (even though it’s a bona fide bomb in sealed), but it’s still fine. The consideration here was whether I wanted to commit all-out to Black/Green, (or Black/x SPLASHING Green *shudder*), or if I wanted to test the waters and see what was coming. I think Search is the safer play, as it would easily let me splash Vhati if I don’t end up with Black as a main color.
Pack 3: This was another “safe” pick. Prismatic Lens is better at accelerating than Weatherseed Totem, plus it enables splashes. Later in the draft, if I know I’m a simple G/X deck, or if I’m G/X with just a touch of a third color, I’ll opt for the Weatherseed Totem.
Pack 4: This was a weak pack, and based on my previous picks, I’d be able to play some sort of GWU Watcher Sliver concoction splashing Vhati. I even might have been able to abandon Vhati entirely (not an attractive option) and go G/W/U Slivers straight up. Ironically, the Sliver keeps my options open more than the Terramorphic Expanse. I can completely understand taking the land there, though; I was just trying to increase the potential power level of my deck at every turn.
Pack 31: This was a raredraft. Ya got me. Even though my mana fixing enabled me to play it, it’s still better to take a comparable card in a color that I was already planning on splashing (I was going to play a Mountain for the Soot). I probably would have taken the Rift Bolt; Ben Lundquist says he would have gone with the Dark Withering.
Pack 32: Sulfurous Blast is a little greedy. You have to draw the line somewhere.
As I said, I finally lost one. I hope you’re happy. I know I am. In the first game, my opening hand was Savage Thallid, Durkwood Baloth, Sudden Death, Nantuko Shaman, Forest, Swamp, Terramorphic Expanse. My opponent, on the play, started off with a Sidewinder Sliver and a Thick-Skinned Goblin. I topdecked a Gemhide Sliver for turn 3, which traded with his Thick-Skinned Goblin (the Sidewinder Sliver actually decided to stay home that turn). Post-combat, he Coal Stoked into a Two-Headed Sliver. On my fourth turn, a suspended Search for Tomorrow resolved, and I dropped my Savage Thallid. My opponent played his last card, a Fury Sliver, and I traded for his Coal Stoker when he attacked, leaving me at 12. On the following turn, I Sudden Deathed his Fury Sliver and dropped my awesome Greenseeker. My opponent topdecked a Plains for his Thunder Totem and hit me to 8. My Baloth unsuspended, and I hit him with it before suspending Nantuko Shaman (my last card). I was hoping to draw into a little action to turn the race in my favor; I couldn’t really hold the fort on the ground and lose to his Totem. On his turn, my opponent topdecked a Bonesplitter Sliver, and the rest was academic.
The next game started off a little better. I Searched into a turn 3 Penumbra Spider, while my opponent suspended a Peregrine and played a Two-Headed Sliver and a Coal Stoker (burning for 3). I failed to find a fifth land, and I had no black sources in play but 3 black cards in hand. When my Search had unsuspended, my hand was Island, Spider, Savage Thallid, Soot, and Rift Bolt. Since I had 5 Swamps in my deck but only 1 Mountain, and since I already had a Red card in my hand (plus a sided-in Shambler in my deck that I’d want to be able to cast), I went for the Mountain (and then drew two consecutive Black cards). On turn 6, my suspended Rift Bolt hit his Peregrine, and I drew and played a Gemhide Sliver, which he Sudden Shocked. My opponent’s turn 6 netted him a Pardic Dragon, and he hit me to 14 with his Two-Headed Sliver. Still on 4 land, I drew and suspended Nantuko Shaman, and then my opponent played a Bonesplitter Sliver and hit me down to 7. I drew Prismatic Lens off the Shaman (and land for the turn), leaving my board as the Spider, the Shaman, five lands (three untapped), and the Lens, and my hand as Savage Thallid, Corpulent Corpse, Funeral Charm, and Strangling Soot. My opponent drew and played a Mountain, leaving him empty-handed. He attacked with all five of his guys (Two-Headed, Bonesplitter, Dragon, Stoker, and a Thick-Skinned Goblin). I Sooted his Bonesplitter, traded Shaman for Stoker, and chumped his dragon, giving me a Spider token. I played a Swamp and shipped the turn. He attacked with his three remaining guys. I flashed Soot back on his Sliver, and I blocked his Dragon with my Spider and Funeral Charmed it to 4/3. With my Baloth coming off suspend the next turn, I thought I’d be in pretty good shape as long as he didn’t draw a burn spell or a flier for a couple of turns. However, the card he drew that turn was Momentary Blink, so his Dragon lived, and I died the next turn.
Until tomorrow,
Draft recording done by Blargware‘s MTGO DraftCap. Support Blargware!