So hurricane Ivan decided to descend upon the city of Pittsburgh this weekend, and it was pretty crazy. Roads were closed, yards were flooded, and you get the idea. I know this isn’t a big deal to anybody who lives on the coast and experiences these things regularly, but it was the most rain in Pittsburgh ever recorded and therefore worth mentioning. The best part about it was how terribly people respond to disaster situations and some of the funny stuff that happens when half of the city has a panic attack. But I’ll spare you the details so we can get on to more important things.
While I know most of you are psyched about the new set from the prerelease, I still want to take a few weeks to get a feel for the set before I start writing about it. This week I decided to do one last MD5 Walkthrough since the format will still be up and running on Magic Online for quite some time. This time I used a different approach to the draft though, since some people have been claiming that I’m”handpicking” drafts that are too powerful or something. For this draft, I decided that it’d be more of a”Live” draft, since I’m just sitting down on MTGO, covering the draft, and then writing about it. I’m not doing the usual 10-15 drafts and then picking the one that I feel would make the best article like I’ve done in the past. So in a way, it’s kinda like a home movie where anything could happen and some of the things should probably not be tried at home.
Got it?
Good.
But before we start, I do have an interesting deck from a week or so ago where I went 3-1 in a draft. For your viewing pleasure, here is possibly one of the worst decks ever constructed :
Steel Wall
Chromatic Sphere
Leonin Bola
Serum Visions
Coretapper
Leaden Myr
Pentad Prism
Darksteel Pendant
Neurok Familiar
Vedalken Engineer
Vedalken Mastermind
Viridian Shaman
Arrest
Battered Golem
Nuisance Engine
Darksteel Ingot
Darksteel Reactor
Gemstone Array
March of the Machines
Arcane Spyglass
Door to Nothingness
Skyreach Manta
Composite Golem
Altar of Shadows
7 Island
3 Forest
3 Plains
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
Yeahh. As you can see, there are many combos within this god-awful deck, but it was pretty fun to play. I did manage to get the Door off twice, apply some beats with Arcane Spyglass and Gemstone Array via March of the Machines, and also get deathly close to activating the Reactor (11 counters.. yeah, Nick, real friggin’ close).
The Draft
Mirrodin
Pack 1
Electrostatic Bolt, Seat of the Synod, Goblin Replica, Cobalt Golem, Auriok Transfixer, Tooth of Chiss-Goria, Leaden Myr, Serum Tank, Bloodscent, Mask of Memory, Serum Tank, Reiver Demon
Oook, so where do we begin. This pack basically offers the simple choice of Mask of Memory vs. Electrostatic Bolt. Probably 90% of you would take the Mask without thinking here, and I’d have to agree.
One thing that’s been bothering me of late though is that the Mask doesn’t always seem to do enough. Okay, maybe that came out wrong. What I’m saying is that sometimes it’s near impossible to get a guy through in certain matchups and the Mask has proved less than stellar for me on a number of occasions. When it does work though, it’s awesome. The general rule being that if your opponent gets hit twice with it, he’s probably dead.
Bolt, on the other hand, is never a disappointment. Such is life though, as the Mask is still the better card.
My Pick : Mask of Memory
Pack 2
Copper Myr, Nim Replica, Krark-Clan Grunt, Annul, Vulshok Gauntlets, Necrogen Spellbomb, Clockwork Vorrac, Psychic Membrane, Duskworker, Spellweaver Helix
Wow this pack is the absolute nut low. Honestly, is there any card that is even close to as good as Copper Myr? I think not. If he wasn’t here I’d probably be making the awful second pick of Clockwork Vorrac or Krark-Clan Grunt.
My Pick : Copper Myr
Pack 3
Leaden Myr, Elf Replica, Deconstruct, Scale of Chiss-Goria, Irradiate, Raise the Alarm, Clockwork Condor, Isochron Scepter, Synod Sanctum, Creeping Mold, Culling Scales
Okay, here we go. Maybe somebody just mixed up the packs and moved all of the good cards from the second pack into this one. Yeah right, like that would actually happen.
So here we’ve got Leaden Myr, Deconstruct, Condor, Scepter, and Culling Scales all to choose from.
Scepter is really too dependent on getting other cards later in the draft to make it worthwhile, and it really isn’t that great, because even when you get it going, it usually just gets blown up. Culling Scales is hugely underrated but clearly not viable for this pick, since there are also a Myr and a Deconstruct present in the pack, both of which are better for the foundation of any deck. Condor, yadda yadda, no way I’m picking it this early.
So the choice is really between the Myr and the Deconstruct, and you can probably find equal support on either side. I ended up going with the Deconstruct for a couple of reasons. First off, I don’t like having a lack of removal in this block as there are simply too many annoying artifacts that will just crush you if you have no way of dealing with them. Also, I just picked a Copper Myr, so at the very least I’ll be able to splash the Deconstruct with ease.
My Pick : Deconstruct
Pack 4
Vault of Whispers, Nim Replica, Annul, Nim Shrieker, Wurmskin Forger, Viridian Joiner, Mindstorm Crown, Forge[/author] Armor”][author name="Forge"]Forge[/author] Armor
Is it just me or are these packs completely awful? When in doubt, take the Artifact Land!
Okay I guess I should offer some more explanation than that, eh?
Nim Replica is a fine body for any deck, but I can always pick up plenty of those later. Nim Shrieker has never really sat well with me, as it’s just too fragile with one toughness for four mana. I also don’t like the fact that it’s reliant heavily upon the rest of your deck and is very capable of coming out on turn 4 as a 0/1. You’ll almost never catch me playing this guy unless I’m really skimping on the playables. Forger is fine, but not this early, and who says I’m playing Green anyway?
Artifact Lands are a valuable commodity when you have a high tendency to draft 5c decks, so why not pick up one when there’s really no other options in the pack?
My Pick : Vault of Whispers
Pack 5
Moriok Scavenger, Disciple of the Vault, Lifespark Spellbomb, Silver Myr, Rust Elemental, Synod Sanctum
I’ve basically given up on seeing any good Mirrodin cards at this point, since the packs have been very shallow the entire draft.
At least there’s another Myr here though, so I’ll be set up well for the next few sets since I’ll already have a nice base of mana acceleration for whatever else fills out my deck. Only other comment I have for this pack is that Rust Elemental is actually pretty decent if you have a ton of Artifacts or some way to give him haste (Lightning Greaves, Helm of Kaldra, Hysteria, etc).
My Pick : Silver Myr
Pack 6
Scale of Chiss-Goria, Nim Lasher, Tel-Jilad Archers, Sunbeam Spellbomb, Viridian Joiner, Brown Ouphe, Talisman of Domination
Well, this would be one of the problems with just doing a draft and going with it, finding packs that have only one good card in them, and therefore, not much decision making for the reader. Anyway we’ll just have to make due. The only relevant cards here are the Talisman and Archers, and I think you all know how I feel about Archers by now. Some people were questioning when I took it over Leaden Myr in the 5C walkthrough I did, but honestly – if you play with the Archer enough you come to realize how important he is at what he does. Usually when I play it, my opponent just cannot get through it for a few turns, giving me time to set up whatever plan I may have.
My Pick : Tel-Jilad Archers
Pack 7
Tel-Jilad Exile, Wizard Replica, Titanium Golem, Wail of the Nim, Slith Strider, Myr Prototype
Here is a pretty late Wizard Replica along with the cumbersome Tel-Jilad Exile. This is good though, because we really needed the Replica for our Mask of Memory and hopefully the guy to our left is headed into a base Green deck since, we did pass him some packs where the only good cards left were Green.
My Pick : Wizard Replica
Pack 8
Neurok Familiar, Great Furnace, Scrabbling Claws, Regress
Woot. More artifact lands are never a bad thing, even though we don’t have anything to use them with yet. Only other possible pick here would be the Neurok Familiar since we do need evasion for the Mask, and I think it’s actually much closer than I’m making it out to be, but I do love my Artifact Lands, and for good reason.
My Pick : Great Furnace
On the way back I grab a Seat of the Synod, Culling Scales (no clue how it tabled), Cobalt Golem and not much else.
So far the deck is looking pretty mediocre, with Mask, Deconstruct, two Myr, Archers, Cobalt Golem, and Wizard Replica being the only actual cards we picked up.
Darksteel
Pack 1
Barbed Lightning, Pteron Ghost, Vulshok Morningstar, Chittering Rats, Oxidda Golem, Scavenging Scarab, Drill-Skimmer, Tangle Spider, Death-Mask Duplicant, Oxidize, Forge[/author]“]Darksteel [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]
Well now, I finally have something to talk about.
This pack is very solid, and offers three primary candidates for my first pick here in Darksteel. The first is obviously Oxidize, which goes well with the other Green cards I already have, not to mention that it’s a one-mana kill spell for the majority of the format at Instant speed. Next up is the powerful burn spell Barbed Lightning. I really shouldn’t hafta explain why this card is good. Finally, Vulshok Morningstar, the best power boosting Equipment in the block.
So what it really comes down to is a matter of what we are looking for in this particular deck. The Morningstar looks pretty good for our Myr in the late game, but if I take it I end up with the problem of having too much Equipment and other spells and not enough actual creatures and action. While the Star would certainly give us some late game punch with the Myr and also be very good on the Wizard Replica, I think I’m gonna have to pass in favor of one of the two removal spells.
This pick has been hotly debated for some time, and I’m still not sure there’s a definite answer as to which card is the better overall pick if you’re capable of supporting either one. Barbed Lightning offers much more flexibility in that it can go to the face as well as kill non-artifact guys, and can also do both if you pay the cheap Entwine on it. Oxidize is the sleeker of the two though, sneaking under the radar at only one mana, and also stopping regeneration, which can be relevant from time to time. If you are able to support either of them (which we currently are), it tends to be a very difficult pick and I’d probably go with the Barbed Lightning most of the time if you already have some other kind of Artifact Kill.
This time though, we’re mainly Green so far, and while it probably won’t end up being our”main” color, it will definitely have a good presence in the deck. For that reason, I went with the Oxidize.
My Pick : Oxidize
Pack 2
Echoing Courage, Dross Golem, Tel-Jilad Outrider, Echoing Decay, Leonin Bola, Arcbound Bruiser, Krark-Clan Stoker, Echoing Truth, Leonin Battlemage, Arcbound Lancer, Screams from Within
The guy feeding me here took a Rare for his first pick.
And he left behind a real monstrosity of a pack for us in the meantime. I don’t really have much information to sort through though, since there is a Bola in the pack and Bola is simply unfair.
I would like to mention that Leonin Battlemage is an excellent splash card, especially in Blue or Green, since you are more likely to have a lot of instants in those colors. If the Bola weren’t in the pack, I’d probably end up taking the Decay though, since I already have Vault of Whispers ready to assist the splash if necessary.
My Pick : Leonin Bola
Pack 3
Auriok Glaivemaster, Neurok Prodigy, Drill Skimmer, Darksteel Citadel, Wirefly Hive, Dross Golem, Essence Drain, Wand of the Elements
Since when did a Wand ever create creatures? Wands are supposed to be used to cast magical spells and shoot lightning bolts at people. Sheesh, Wizards, get it right.
This Wand, however, is extremely potent in the Limited environment, generally winning the game if left unchecked for three or more turns. Now that we have it, we may also be looking to pick up some Red stuff since Mountains are always good to have when you need 3/3’s in the late game.
This pack also has a potential splash for me in Essence Drain, and a mediocre flier in the Prodigy, but I’m certainly going with the Wand here.
My Pick : Wand of the Elements
Pack 4
Loxodon Mystic, Oxidda Golem, Arcbound Worker, Tel-Jilad Outrider, Grimclaw Bats, Echoing Courage, Stir the Pride, Vulshok War Boar
Finally a tough pick.
At this point, we’re mostly Green, but as always I’m looking for a way to get into Blue with my Artifact Lands and Bola and whatnot, but this pack is having none of that. The choices here are War Boar, Stir the Pride, Arcbound Worker, or Tel-Jilad Outrider.
I’m gonna go ahead and rule out the Outrider right now because there’s no way in hell I’m taking him this early. Stir the Pride, while powerful, is usually better with Entwine, which we can’t presently achieve in this deck so I’m gonna pass that along as well. Another thing about the Stir is that I’ve already got a ton of spells and I really need to start picking up some creatures to smooth out this deck.
So that brings the decision down to Arcbound Worker and Vulshok War Boar.
I know what you’re thinking, how in the world could this possibly be a difficult decision right? Well it is! Since we have absolutely nothing in Red at the moment (save Great Furnace), it will be a little hard to just jump right in for our friend here the Boar. The Worker on the other hand is a decent little one-drop that always makes the cut but is nowhere near as close to as powerful as the Boar.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided to hop right into Red for the War Boar since I do already have three Artifact Lands to support him and I don’t really have a second color yet. I figured in the worst case scenario I would just abandon him if no more Red came and not lose too much on the pick since the other card I was considering was just a lowly Worker.
My Pick : Vulshok War Boar
Pack 5
Darksteel Ingot, Quicksilver Behemoth, Tangle Golem, Echoing Calm, Darksteel Brute, Shield of Kaldra
So which would you rather be?
A 5/4 or a 4/5?
Is the glass half empty or half full?
Well if you’re like me and don’t feel like answering stupid questions we can just move on the actual pick at hand. Okay? Okay.
The choice is between the Tangle of Tanglers and the Behemoth. At this point my deck looks like a real hodgepodge after just taking that War Boar, and right now I’m thinking something like G/R/u. At this point in the draft, the Behemoth is looking better than the Tangle Golem simply because I have the Lands and the two Myr to help power it out. It’s a pretty close decision though, and if you’re not up for doing the whole splash thing you can safely take the Tangle Golem here and be fine.
Personally I like the Behemoth better because it can’t be Shattered and often costs like two or three mana while being able to play both offense and defense because of its return ability.
My Pick : Quicksilver Behemoth
Pack 6
Quicksilver Behemoth, Scavenging Scarab, Tangle Golem, Tel-Jilad Wolf, Darksteel Citadel, Hallow, Shunt
Umm… Hello!
There’s not much to talk about in this pack as I’m just happy to be picking up the second copy of the 4/5er which will also let me build my deck around getting them out faster while at the same time helping out the War Boar if I end up running it.
My Pick : Quicksilver Behemoth
Pack 7
Spire Golem, Hallow, Darksteel Pendant, Neurok Transmuter, Mephitic Ooze
Now this is an odd pack. Somehow both Transmuter and Spire Golem are still rock’n and roll’n come seventh pick. The Ooze is also pretty solid and is among the other stragglers here that haven’t found a home in someone’s pile yet.
The pick here isn’t as difficult as it may seem upon initial examination because we’re most likely only going to be splashing Blue if we end up playing the War Boar. The other factor that comes into play here is that I have Oxidize and Deconstruct already, and the Transmuter is visibly drooling at the sound of that. Spire Golem will be nowhere near maximum effectiveness on the splash and I’d like to use my Oxidize as a Terror every now and then so I’m going with the Neurok.
My Pick : Neurok Transmuter
Pack 8
Arcbound Bruiser, Darksteel Ingot, Tel-Jilad Outrider, Arcane Spyglass, Psychic Overload
Still a good bit of playables here as well, which is odd since Darksteel has a lot of blank pieces of cardboard that tend to make the packs dry up much earlier than normal. Overload is really a powerhouse and I’m surprised to get it this late. Obviously Bruiser is fine also, and Ingot is a decent fixer, but with the cards we already have we aren’t looking for a fixer of that type. I’m going with the Overload here though I don’t think it would be unreasonable to take the Bruiser given our heavy Artifact theme.
My Pick : Psychic Overload
On the lap I grabbed a Darksteel Citadel, Drill-Skimmer, and Tel-Jilad Outrider.
The deck is looking a little better now than after Mirrodin since I grabbed the pair of Behemoths, Bola, Oxidize, and a few other goodies. Right now I’m looking at a U/G build, though if I do manage to get some Red in Fifth Dawn, the War Boar could come into play.
Fifth Dawn
Pack 1
Ferocious Charge, Cackling Imp, Trinket Mage, Thought Courier, Stasis Cocoon, Anodet Lurker, Composite Golem, Blasting Station, All Suns’ Dawn
Well, looks like we’re certainly playing Blue.
I haven’t had much experience with All Suns’ Dawn but I imagine it’s pretty potent if you have a deck with lots of different colored removal spells to return with it. I opened exactly what I was looking for in Trinket Mage though, and that’s all there is to say about that.
My Pick : Trinket Mage
Pack 2
Baton of Courage, Skyreach Manta, Condescend, Cackling Imp, Conjurer’s Bauble, Horned Helm, Skyhunter Prowler, Raksha Golden Cub
Raksha, YES!
Um. No.
So I have to choose between Skyreach Manta and Condescend, which isn’t really a tough pick since Condescend (while excellent at what it does) is pretty situational and I’d rather have a flier with potential to be 3/3 or 4/4 regularly. I like picking up the Condescends a little later in the draft, since they don’t seem to go that highly anyway. It’s possible that I’m wrong here but I really like the Manta and I have two off-color Artifact Lands that I’m certainly running for my Behemoths already, so he should be able to power up easily.
My Pick : Skyreach Manta
Pack 3
Thermal Navigator, Fill with Fright, Vulshok Sorcerer, Skyhunter Prowler, Lose Hope, Tyrannax, Pentad Prism, Steelshaper’s Gift, Granulate
Ugh. Vulshok Sorcerer what are you trying to do to me.
I think it’s far too late to consider going back to the War Boar plan, since I haven’t seen an ounce of Red in any of these packs. I could take the Prism here to help with the Behemoths and get out the Skyreach Manta earlier, but I think having the Myr is plenty and that the Prism would just be overkill. So really the only thing I can reasonably take here is the Tyrannax. I mean, I could take Fill with Fright and splash it off of the Vault and maybe one Swamp, but that seems kind of marginal to me. T-Rex it is.
My Pick : Tyrannax
Pack 4
Neurok Stealthsuit, Serum Visions, Battered Golem, Anodet Lurker, Fill with Fright, Baton of Courage, Plasma Elemental, Ebon Drake, Spectral Shift
So many Fill with Frights going around. Such a strong card too. But yeah, the pick here seems to be Serum Visions by a mile, with Plasma Elemental lagging behind by quite a bit.
My Pick : Serum Visions
Pack 5
Serum Visions, Pentad Prism, Wayfarer’s Bauble, Tyrannax, Krark-Clan Engineer, Healer’s Headdress, Skullcage, Opaline Bracers
Wow somehow nobody took the Bauble in the first four picks! Usually they get snapped up by third at the very latest, as anybody can run them and they are in my opinion better than Myr (as long as you don’t get too many of them). Unfortunately I have to pass another Visions, Prism, and Headdress.
My Pick : Wayfarer’s Bauble
Pack 6
Advanced Hoverguard, Sawtooth Thresher, Anodet Lurker, Krark-Clan Ogre, Blasting Station, Summoner’s Egg
Summoner’s Egg stories? Anyone?
The best one I have is that I once hatched out a Black Bringer and then used it to tutor up Eater of Days and Screaming Fury over the next couple turns. Pathetic, I know.
But there’s really not much in this pack for the deck except for the Thresher and Advanced Hoverguard. Since I already have the T-rex and some other fatties I’m gonna go with the Advanced one here since, he can be deployed on turn 3 via the Myr and Bauble. He’s not so hot, but I don’t exactly have a choice.
My Pick : Advanced Hoverguard
Pack 7
Dawn’s Reflection, Advanced Hoverguard, Rain of Rust, Suntouched Myr, Ferropede, Iron-Barb Hellion
Hey now…
Iron-Barb Hellion?? This guy is nuts for the cost and somehow no one has taken him yet. Unreal. There’s also Ferropede, who’s underrated and especially good with Mask of Memory and other Equipment. I think the best play here though is to take the Hellion, which I can power out with all of my accelerants and also run one Mountain (tutor for it with Bauble) in addition to the Great Furnace. There’s also a Suntouched Myr that warrants mention, but the way the deck is built so far is such that a bigger, more powerful threat is a better addition than a random three-drop.
My Pick : Iron-Barb Hellion
Pack 8
Myr Quadropod, Suntouched Myr, Sawtooth Thresher, Krark-Clan Ogre
Soo, Quads? I took him over the Thresher because of manacurve requirements. Don’t think that I undervalue the Thresher though, because he really is a solid creature when you are lacking in fatties and can get him to 5/5 reliably.
My Pick : Myr Quadropod
On the way back I grabbed a Thresher, Thought Courier (!?), and the other Serum Visions thirteenth! All of which ended up making the cut which was ideal.
Have a look-see…
Serum Visions
Serum Visions
Leonin Bola
Oxidize
Wayfarer’s Bauble
Mask of Memory
Silver Myr
Copper Myr
Thought Courier
Wizard Replica
Trinket Mage
Neurok Transmuter
Deconstruct
Myr Quadropod
Cobalt Golem
Advanced Hoverguard
Wand of the Elements
Psychic Overload
Tel-Jilad Archer
Iron-Barb Hellion
Sawtooth Thresher
Tyrannax
Quicksilver Behemoth
Quicksilver Behemoth
Vault of Whispers
Great Furnace
Mountain
Seat of the Synod
7 Island
5 Forest
So the deck turned out pretty well, though nothing amazing. I didn’t really have much room to wiggle on the build, since basically all of the good cards went in.
I ended up thrashing my opponent in the first round by getting Mask active and then killing his side with Transmuter + Artifact kill. Round two didn’t go nearly as well though, as my opponent’s deck was nuts, containing two Vulshok Sorcerers, Spikeshot Goblin, Arc-Slogger, and a plethora of artifact kill. I ended up being a little light on land in game one and he helped me along with that by blowing up the Artifact Lands I did eventually draw. Game two ended up being a complete slaughter as he dropped two pingers early and then Slogger and bashed my face in.
All in all, I feel that the draft went well, though I didn’t really get any opportunities to pick up any huge game-breaking spells and my deck ended up solid but not spectacular. Anything you think I could have done to changed the outcome?
While you’re thinking about that, I’ll leave you with my Top 5 Worst MDF Combos..
5) Solarion and Horned Helm
Yeah yeah, I know, this one is kinda obvious. Regardless, it did allow me to win an entire draft in which my deck was horrendous simply because this guy gets up to 200/200 rather quickly and trample is pretty damn good at that point. Hell, Primal Frenzy would even work here.
4) Oblivion Stone and Dismantle
Okay obviously this one requires some explanation. This happened about a month ago in a draft at CMU over the summer. Basically, in order to win the game I had to put a fate counter on my opponent’s Neurok Hoversail (which was currently doing absolutely nothing to affect the state of the game) and then Dismantle the Hoversail giving my Clockwork Condor another +1/+1 so that he could go the distance.
Worst Dragon Blood ever? I think so.
3) March of the Machines and Mycosynth Lattice (or if you’re feeling extra frisky, Forge[/author]“]Darksteel [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author])
Yeah this blows up all lands and leaves you with a 6/6 along with whatever else the March is helping to animate. Armageddon is really good when your opponent doesn’t even think it exists in the format, trust me.
2) Door to Nothingness and Gemstone Array
I know, I know, I’ve talked about this a thousand times. But it still deserves mention, as it’s the best way to get the door off short of some tricks with Composite Golem and the Bringer of the White Dawn. But anyway, Door is insanely fun to win with – you should try it.
1) Eater of Days and Screaming Fury
Anyone who knows me knows that Eater of Days is like my pet card, and whenever there is one in a draft, you can be pretty sure that it made its way into my deck. This is simply the most hilarious way to win with the Eater, as Screaming Fury is just terrible in every possible way. Clearly Greaves and Helm of Kaldra work better here, but c’mon, the Fury is just a little too funny.
That’s all I’ve got for this week. Have fun exploring the world of CoK – I know I will.
Nick Eisel
[email protected]
Soooooo & ThatsGameBoys on MODO