Feature Article – A Pro Tour Top 8 Draft Walkthrough

Last time out, we took a look at my journey to the Top 8. Today’s episode takes a deeper look at my Top 8 draft itself, and how I felt when I knew I got there. So, let’s get started!

While for most, a Top 8 berth would mean time for celebration, for us pessimists it was time to change flights. I had a deal with my roommates Ben Farkas and Joe Gagliardi that if any of us made the Top 8, we would pay to change the others’ flights so they could stay and cheer us on. Well, changing even one person’s flight proved rather difficult. Having three minutes left on Joe’s phone card, we called my dad who is usually good in matters regarding getting good deals. He called us back with the price.

$2500 per person.

Nope, try again. Five minutes later, he calls back.

$2600.

Apparently, prices of tickets go up $50 a minute or something, but even buying a new one shouldn’t cost that much. We continue on how ridiculous those prices are, and he finally tells me if that I’m so clever he can set up a three-way call where I can talk to the representative myself. Whatever. Joe tells me to run it Mafia style, where you don’t take no for an answer, and we’re off.

Me: I need to change my flight from Sunday morning to Monday.
Lady: That’ll be $1700.

Already an improvement, but about $1500 more than I want to pay.

Me: Hmm… eh… that’s kinda expensive. I don’t really wanna do that. Why don’t I just pay $200 and we’ll change it to the next day.
Lady: … okay…
Me: And also my two friends. $200 and we’ll rebook each of them.
Lady: … fine…

At this point I turn on the speaker in triumph, but the minutes on the three-way call are about to run out, so my dad starts panicking.

Dad: Book it, book it, BOOK IT, BOOKITBOOKITBOOKITBOO-

And what a shame, we disconnect. It all works out, but hearing my dad yell at the airport representative left our room in such laughter that it almost didn’t, since she was scared of him and pissed at us.

With that out of the way, the only thing separating me from the draft is another $40 breakfast. Yum.

Before we begin, I’m going to warn you that a lot of my picks in this draft are very unconventional. Your seat and the preferences of players around you often play a big influence on your draft strategy. You don’t have to agree with my picks, and I don’t think you will, but there is a lot to be learned from this draft and my reasons for taking certain cards. I really recommend that you follow along with the draft viewer here, and think about what you would do before each pick. I am sitting to Kenji Tsumura left, feeding Mike Hron and Jim Herold.

Pack 1

Pick 1

Ashcoat Bear; Cloudchaser Kestrel, Divine Congregation; Draining Whelk; Firewake Sliver; Might Sliver; Mindlash Sliver; Phyrexian totem; Sage of Epityr; Shadow Guildmage; Temporal Isolation; Thallid Germinator; Thallid Shell-Dweller; Think Twice; Urborg Syphon-Mage

Alright, so immediately we have a strong pack featuring Draining Whelk, Might Sliver, and Temporal Isolation. I don’t think anything else is in the same league as those cards, possibly with the exception of Shadow Guildmage, but I hate taking a two-color card first pick. Taking that also has the drawback in that I am on Kenji’s left, but I’m getting ahead of myself here.

Draining Whelk is the best card here; I could make a case for Might Sliver if I’m crazy and want to force slivers, but Whelk is the best card in terms of power level. So naturally, I take the third-best card in the pack.

WHAT?!

What is your goal when you are drafting? You want to win, and having a good deck gives you the best chances to do so. Obviously this is nothing you didn’t know before. So how do we end up with a good deck? Think about the times you had the nut deck and how many people were in your color. Not many, right? Now look at Kenji’s decks from Day 1 and Day 2.

After making Top 8, I did some studying by looking at the coverage from Friday and Saturday, as well going through the draft viewers to get a feel for the other players. In the four pods where you can see Kenji’s deck, how many times does he go White? Bingo.

Taking Isolation also has the bonus of pushing Hron into Blue with the Whelk, and Herold will be likely to take the Might Sliver and go Green. I would be in an excellent seat for W/B, as neither of the people on my left would want to pair Black with Blue or Green, since those archetypes tend to be weaker. I could cut White to get that pack 2 as well, and pack 3 could give me excellent W/B specific cards such as Blightspeaker.

Pick: Temporal Isolation

Pick 2

Benalish Cavalry; Blazing Blade Askari; Coral Trickster; Flamecore Elemental; Greater Gargadon; Mana Skimmer; Nantuko Shaman; Ophidian Eye; Phthisis; Prodigal Sorcerer; Quilled Sliver; Shadow Sliver; Spiketail Drakeling; Watcher Sliver

Another strong pack, sporting hits such as Prodigal Sorcerer, Phthisis, and Greater Gargadon. Again, I want to cut White. And not lightly. I know Hron won’t be taking Benalish Cavalry if I pass it here, but I don’t want any of the next four people on my left having it. It’s already likely I’m getting White from my right, and if I completely cut it I can wind up with an absurd deck. W/B is continuing to look favorable, since Hron can take Prodigal Sorcerer following up his likely Draining Whelk pick* from last pack. Whatever the case may be, no one on my left is likely to be White.

Pick: Benalish Cavalry

Pick 3

Aetherflame Wall; Corpulent Corpse; Crookclaw Transmuter; Detainment Spell; Empty the Warrens; Errant Doomsayers; Foriysian Interceptor; Ovinomancer; Strength in Numbers; Thallid Shell-Dweller; Unyaro Bees; Urza’s Factory; Yavimaya Dryad

Eww, no White cards. Errant Doomsayers is the only one and I’m not about to take it third. Crookclaw Transmuter is a sign that Blue is open, and I’m a big fan of the U/W deck. I take note of the Corpulent Corpse and Strength in Numbers as well, ready to adjust if more of those colors keep coming.

Pick: Crookclaw Transmuter

Pick 4

Amrou Seekers; Ancient Grudge; Ashcoat Bear; Bonesplitter Sliver; Flickering Spirit; Foriysian Totem; Gauntlet of Power; Jedit’s Dragoons; Pendelhaven Elder; Savage Thallid; Search for Tomorrow; Viscerid Deepwalker

We have a good White card in Amrou Seekers, a passable Blue card in Viscerid Deepwalker, and a good Green card in Search for Tomorrow. I want to continue cutting White, and Seekers is the best card in the pack, so the pick is pretty easy.

Pick: Amrou Seekers

Pick 5

Icatian Crier; Ignite Memories; Ironclaw Buzzardiers; Leviathan; Lotus Bloom; Ophidian Eye; Plunder; Saltcrusted Steppe; Search for Tomorrow; Thrill of the Hunt; Watcher Sliver

The packs are naturally getting weaker, but we have Search for Tomorrow, meaning it is likely Green is open. Easy pick, right?

Lets talk about the W/G deck. I see a lot of W/G decks that look amazing on paper, yet they can’t win a match. Multiple Penumbra Spiders, a Thallid Shell-Dwellers to hold the fort, maybe even Thallid Germinator and Sporesower Thallid to overwhelm your opponent with additional creatures. That W/G deck is garbage. When you’re W/G, you can’t kill anything your opponent plays so your only choice is to kill your opponent. The W/G deck doesn’t want powerful Green guys. It wants efficient White creatures with pumps like Thrill of the Hunt and Strength in Numbers to get around anything bigger. The W/G deck wants to kill on turn 6 and come out as fast as possible. Cards like Penumbra Spider that are amazing in archetypes such as U/G do little except mess up your manabase. This is the same reason I did not take Icatian Crier or Watcher Sliver; they are not aggressive enough. If I’m going to get a utility U/W deck where they are not as bad, I’ll worry about it when I get the sign.

Pick: Thrill of the Hunt

Pick 6

Aetherflame Wall; Detainment Spell; Fallen Ideal; Firewake Sliver; Nantuko Shaman; Psychotic Episode; Scarwood Treefolk; Spiketail Drakeling; Sprout; Wurmcalling

I consider Spiketail Drakeling and Wurmcalling to be roughly the same when paired with White, but I prefer W/U over W/G, so I went with the Drake. At this point, it seems both Blue and Green are underdrafted on my right.

Pick: Spiketail Drakeling

Pick 7

Ashcoat Bear; Bonesplitter Sliver; Curse of the Cabal; Dream Stalker; Fungal Reaches; Ground Rift; Gustcloak Cavalier; Venser’s Sliver; Wormwood Dryad

This pick has Dream Stalker, Ashcoat Bear, and Bonesplitter Sliver as the only real options. I see no reason to take the sliver as I have no Red cards, while Dream Stalker has good synergy with many cards in the W/U deck. Ashcoat Bear is also worth a lot of consideration as he is good in W/G, and I have not committed to a second color at this point. As Thrill is the only Green card I have, I don’t want to dive into it quite yet.

Pick: Dream Stalker

Pick 8

Children of Korlis; Gaze of Justice; Ground Rift; Jasmine Boreal; Molder; Scarwood Treefolk; Tectonic Fiend; Voidmage Husher

Nothing good except a 4/5 for five I may end up playing.

Pick: Jasmine Boreal

Pick 9

Ashcoat Bear; Divine Congregation; Firewake Sliver; Mindlash Sliver; Sage of Epityr; Thallid Germinator; Think Twice

Ashcoat Bear continues with the aggressive theme, although it is strange to have Thallid Germinator going this late as well.

Pick: Ashcoat Bear

Pick 10

Blazing Blade Askari; Flamecore Elemental; Mana Skimmer; Ophidian Eye; Quilled Sliver; Shadow Sliver

This is rather strong for the last six cards, but there is still no reason to take anything not in my colors. Quilled Sliver is excellent in W/U if you can get a lot of slivers, and it also makes it harder for your opponent to block in general.

Pick: Quilled Sliver

Pick 11

Aetherflame Wall; Detainment Spell; Foriysian Interceptor; Thallid Shell-Dweller; Unyaro Bees

I’d rather have it in my sideboard than have to attack into it.

Pick: Thallid Shell-Dweller

Pick 12

Ancient Grudge; Flickering Spirit; Jedit’s Dragoons; Savage Thallid

Blinking Spirit is a fine 23rd card to snag up this late.

Pick: Blinking Spirit

Pick 13

Leviathan; Ophidian Eye; Plunder

The only card I’ve ever seen played out of these three…

Pick: Ophidian Eye

Pick 14

Firewake Sliver; Sprout

Gotta hate that sliver.

Pick: Firewake Sliver

Pick 15

Ground Rift

YAUS! An absolute gift! This is splashable to get in those extra few points when you’re having trouble breaking through.**

Pick: Ground Rift

Pack 2

Pick 1

Castle Raptors; Children of Korlis; Crookclaw Transmuter; Drudge Reavers; Empty the Warrens; Errant Doomsayers; Firemaw Kavu; Fool’s Demise; Gustcloak Cavalier; Magus of the Jar; Molder; Strength in Numbers; Temporal Isolation; Undead Warchief; Venser’s Sliver

Firemaw Kavu is clearly the best card here, but there is no reason to mess around when my deck is shaping up well. At this point I’m not positive on my second color, so I want to delay the decision for as long as I can. It’s between Castle Raptors and Temporal Isolation, and I want to pick up some creatures with evasion.

Pick: Castle Raptors

Pick 2

Aetherflame Wall; Amrou Seekers; Chronatog Totem; Divine Congregation; Enduring Renewal; Errant Ephemeron; Flowstone Channeler; Herd Gnarr; Pit Keeper; Premature Burial; Sage of Epityr; Sprout; Trespasser Il-Vec; Volcanic Awakening

Before you read anything else, the Amrou Scout in the pack is incorrectly shown as Amrou Seekers. I discussed this pick for a long time with Matvey Linov, as Errant Ephemeron is clearly stronger but I am not completely committed to Blue yet. I’ve watched the way many people draft, and I notice the ones who have a lot of success often delay their second color for as long as they can in favor of cards they know will get played. I consider this pick very close, and I ended up choosing the White card as it gives me more flexibility for the rest of the draft.

Pick: Amrou Scout

Pick 3

Amrou Seekers; Drudge Reavers; Greenseeker; Jedit’s Dragoons; Jhoira’s Timebug; Mogg War Marshal; Phthisis; Pit Keeper; Temporal Eddy; Terramorphic Expanse; Thallid Shell-Dweller; Tribal Flames; Volcanic Awakening

There’s only one card for me here.

Pick: Amrou Seekers

Pick 4

Amrou Scout; Avalanche Riders; Eternity Snare; Gaze of Justice; Grapeshot; Ground Rift; Locket of Yesterdays; Prismatic Lens; Scarwood Treefolk; Sedge Sliver; Skulking Knight; Thunder Totem

I hate to pass all this Red, but I’m getting hooked up with the color I cut so hard in pack 1 so I can’t really complain.

Pick: Amrou Scout

Pick 5

Basalt Gargoyle; Craw Giant; Flamecore Elemental; Mana Skimmer; Nantuko Shaman; Phthisis; Plunder; Skittering Monstrosity; Skulking Knight; Thrill of the Hunt; Watcher Sliver

While I want to go Blue, I don’t want to completely abandon the Green plan if there is more of it in pack 3. In addition, since I will have mostly White cards I may be able to side in Green against Red decks, where the Thrills will prove very useful.

Pick: Thrill of the Hunt

Pick 6

Aetherflame Wall; Bewilder; Evil Eye of Orms-By-Gore; Foriysian Interceptor; Locket of Yesterdays; Mana Skimmer; Psychotic Episode; Sprout; Tectonic Fiend; Trickbind

I wish I took the Bewilder here since I haven’t played with Trickbind before and know nothing about it, but I was going to be disappointed if either of them made the cut anyway.

Pick: Trickbind

Pick 7

Detainment Spell; Jedit’s Dragoons; Keldon Halberdier; Mana Skimmer; Orcish Cannonade; Plated Pegasus; Scarwood Treefolk; Sprout; Undying Rage

Where is all of the White that I cut so hard? Since I still have mostly White cards, even Red is a possible option in the third pack, but I really don’t see that happening.

Pick: Undying Rage

Pick 8

Bogardan Rager; Gaze of Justice; Moonlace; Savage Thallid; Shadow Sliver; Thrill of the Hunt; Traitor’s Clutch; Zhalfirin Commander

Woot, a White card for me!

Pick: Zhalfirin Commander

Pick 9

Children of Korlis; Drudge Reavers; Errant Doomsayers; Fool’s Demise; Gustcloak Cavalier; Molder; Venser’s Sliver

Doomsayers is an excellent card this late, especially with a searcher.

Pick: Errant Doomsayers

Pick 10

Aetherflame Wall; Divine Congregation; Enduring Renewal; Sage of Epityr; Sprout; Volcanic Awakening

If you can’t play it, don’t play against it.

Pick: Aetherflame Wall

Pick 11

Drudge Reavers; Jedit’s Dragoons; Jhoira’s Timebug; Thallid Shell-Dweller; Volcanic Awakening

Same idea.

Pick: Thallid Shell-Dweller

Pick 12

Gaze of Justice; Ground Rift; Locket of Yesterdays; Scarwood Treefolk

Not a great card, but I could side it in if I get into standstills against my opponent’s deck.

Pick: Gaze of Justice

Pick 13

Craw Giant; Plunder; Skulking Knight

Again, the only one I’ve ever seen played.

Pick: Skulking Knight

Pick 14

Foriysian Interceptor; Locket of Yesterdays

I know Kenji needs the Locket for his latest Constructed deck, so I might as well hook him up***.

Pick: Foriysian Interceptor

Pick 15

Detainment Spell

Pick Detainment Spell

Pack 3

Pick 1

Battering Sliver; Crovax, Ascendant Hero; Darkheart Sliver; Dash Hopes; Erratic Mutation; Ghost Tactician; Mana Tithe; Midnight Charm; Primal Plasma; Reflex Sliver; Serra’s Boon; Shrouded Lore; Vampiric Link; Whitemane Lion; Wistful Thinking

If you watch the video again, you can see me running around the table and finishing off with a backflip.

Pick: Crovax, Ascendant Hero

Pick 2

Aquamorph Entity; Battering Sliver; Bog Serpent; Brain Gorgers; Circle of Affliction; Deadwood Treefolk, Dunerider Outlaw; Evolution Charm; Mana Tithe; Pallid Mycoderm; Prodigal Pyromancer; Ridged Kusite; Shaper Parasite; Spellshift

Into Blue we finally go, with what I consider to be the best common in Planar Chaos.

Pick: Shaper Parasite

Pick 3

Brute Force; Citanul Woodreaders; Dismal Failure; Erratic Mutation; Frozen Aether; Fury Charm; Midnight Charm; Needlepeak Spider; Saltblast; Sinew Sliver; Vampiric Link; Whitemane Lion; Wistful Thinking

I’m W/U, so I’m going to need some removal, although I hope I get at least one of these White cards back.

Pick: Erratic Mutation

Pick 4

Citanul Woodreaders; Dawn Charm; Deadly Grub; Fa’adiyah Seer; Giant Dustwasp; Phantasmagorian; Reality Acid; Skirk Shaman; Stingscourger; Sunlance; Synchronous Sliver; Whitemane Lion

My deck is starting to shape up really nicely, with the White finally coming in. I have enough creatures so right now I just want removal to clear the way for them.

Pick: Sunlance

Pick 5

Aven Riftwatcher; Cautery Sliver; Ghost Tactician; Keldon Marauders; Mantle of Leadership; Riptide Pilferer; Roiling Horror; Seal of Primordium; Sinew Sliver; Spitting Sliver; Wistful Thinking

The only cards here for me are Aven Riftwatcher and Sinew Sliver. Two-drops are nice, but I consider the Aven to be a better card and I already have two searchers.

Pick: Aven Riftwatcher

Pick 6

Aquamorph Entity; Dawn Charm; Deadly Grub; Fa’adiyah Seer; Firefright Mage; Keen Sense; Life and Limb; Merfolk Thaumaturgist; Vitaspore Thallid; Vitaspore Thallid

I have a lot of three-drops and am looking for more tricks, so this one is pretty easy.

Pick: Dawn Charm

Pick 7

Circle of Affliction; Dash Hopes; Dust Corona; Essence Warden; Gossamer Phantasm; Midnight Charm; Needlepeak Spider; Seal of Primordium; Vitaspore Thallid

The only creature in my colors is an evasive two-drop.

Pick: Gossamer Phantasm

Pick 8

Bog Serpent; Brain Gorgers; Darkheart Sliver; Fa’adiyah Seer; Hedge Troll; Shade of Trokair; Sunlance; Vitaspore Thallid

An absolute gift! A great removal spell eighth pick.

Pick: Sunlance

Pick 9

Darkheart Sliver; Dash Hopes; Ghost Tactician; Mana Tithe; Reflex Sliver; Shrouded Lore; Wistful Thinking

I’ve heard many mixed things on Mana Tithe, but I really don’t mind having it in my deck, especially when I have a rebel searcher out and it’s not suspicious that I leave mana up. I’m not looking to pick them up, but have no problem playing them either.

Pick: Mana Tithe

Pick 10

Bog Serpent; Brain Gorgers; Circle of Affliction; Mana Tithe; Pallid Mycoderm; Spellshift

Nothing has changed.

Pick: Mana Tithe

Pick 11

Dismal Failure; Frozen Aether; Saltblast; Vampiric Link; Wistful Thinking

Another removal spell eleventh! While Saltblast is not the greatest card ever, getting it this late is sick.

Pick: Saltblast

Pick 12

Dawn Charm; Fa’adiyah Seer; Phantasmagorian; Reality Acid

Another good trick. This pack went very well for me.

Pick: Dawn Charm

Pick 13

Ghost Tactician; Mantle of Leadership; Seal of Primordium

I’ve never played any of these cards.

Pick: Mantle of Leadership

Pick 14

Firefright Mage; Vitaspore Thallid

Pick: Vitaspore Thallid

Pick 15

Vitaspore Thallid

Pick: Vitaspore Thallid

It is interesting to point out that my deck could have ended up U/R or U/G if I drafted differently. I’m not saying that either of those would have been better or worse, but the options to consider are certainly interesting. As for this deck, I thought it turned out excellent and that I would crush any non-White deck, and even those I could beat if I drew my Amrou Scouts. Here is the list I played.

Quarterfinals versus Shingo Kurihara

Tim Willoughby does an excellent job covering this match here, but all I can say is that this was an extremely frustrating match. My opponent playing Mountain, Rough / Tumble to kill my board after I had seen only Islands and Plains was unreal, and the matchup itself did not make me the happiest. It’s a shame to lose in the quarters with such a good deck, but I can’t really complain about making Top 8 again. Now if only someone could hook me up with a Constructed deck for the next PT…

…

Geneva was a great city and I had a great time. I want to say thank you to all of my friends that supported me during the tournament, whether they were with me in Geneva or cheering me on from back home. It means a lot to me, and this game wouldn’t be fun if it wasn’t for you guys. Until next time,

Ervin Tormos
[email protected]

…

* I am aware Mike did not take the Draining Whelk. However, having limited information at the table, it is the most logical conclusion at the time.

** It’s embarrassing that I even have to say it, but I know there’s at least one person who won’t know I’m kidding.

*** Don’t know whether to believe me or not, do ya?