Yesterday, I talked about the drafting portion of a recent drafting shindig. As you may recall, the format was four-pack Ravnica booster draft. To recap: Marc and I drafted Boros, Dami drafted the most obscene Golgari deck ever, Frank ran Dimir, Dan went Selesnya, and Drew drafted a four-color-Green deck, lacking only in Red as a color.
Here’s my final pool of cards.
Playables in Boros:
Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
Thundersong Trumpeter x3
Skyknight Legionnaire
Dogpile
Galvanic Arc x3
Screeching Griffin
Fiery Conclusion x2
Brightflame
Veteran Armorer x2
Terrarion
Sabertooth Alley Cat x3
Rally the Righteous
Oathsworn Giant
Sunhome Enforcer
Boros Signet
Boros Swiftblade
Conclave Equenaut x2
Excruciator
War-Torch Goblin x2
Viashino Slasher
Wojek Embermage
Viashino Fangtail
Wojek Siren
Selesnya Guildmage
Grifter’s Blade
Selesnya Signet
Feasibly playable cards that I probably won’t touch:
Peregrine Mask
Rain of Embers
Dromad Purebred
Stoneshaker Shaman
Gate Hound
Wojek Apothecary
Leave no Trace x2
Smash
Not-so-useful stuff:
Consult the Necrosages x2
Moroii
Clinging Darkness
Brainspoil
Empty the Catacombs
Thoughtpicker Witch
Zephyr Spirit x3
Terraformer
Golgari Rot Farm
Leashling
Elves of Deep Shadow
Dryad’s Caress
After some brief deliberation, I decided on the following build:
Kitchen Table Draft: Boros, by njx
//Creatures: 16
1 War-Torch Goblin
3 Thundersong Trumpeter
2 Veteran Armorer
1 Selesnya Guildmage
1 Boros Swiftblade
2 Sabertooth Alley Cat
1 Skyknight Legionnaire
1 Sunhome Enforcer
1 Viashino Fangtail
1 Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran
2 Conclave Equenaut
//Spells: 8
3 Galvanic Arc
2 Fiery Conclusion
1 Brightflame
1 Grifter’s Blade
1 Rally the Righteous
//Mana: 16
1 Boros Signet
7 Plains
8 Mountain
I only ran fifteen lands, which was probably a mistake. I should have cut one Fiery Conclusion in favor of an eighth Plains. My reasoning was this: Although I had two Conclave Equenaut at six mana apiece, I thought their high mana cost would not be a problem due to their convoke ability. The majority of my spells cost either two or three mana, with only the Enforcer, Agrus Kos, Brightflame and Viashino Fangtail requiring more. I figured my mana base would be fine, since the Brightflame would best be used in the late game and wouldn’t clog my hand. Still, I had a good deck and shouldn’t have skimped on lands so much. I didn’t need to risk losing to mana screw.
You may wonder why I didn’t include the second War-Torch Goblin in my main deck. I feel he’s a really bad Shock. One is okay, but I don’t like running more than one. He feels like a bad combat trick — one that will be useful in limited circumstances. Of course, this was my first Ravnica Booster Draft (although not my first limited game with the set), so I could be wildly off the mark on the Goblin.
Match 1: Boros Mirror Match against Marc
Game 1: I start with a War-Torch Goblin, which is answered by a Boros Recruit. I follow with a Thundersong Trumpeter only to lose him to a Sparkmage Apprentice.
I didn’t respect the Apprentice during the draft, but this play made me realize that this creature might be worth a second evaluation. There are a lot of troublesome one-toughness creatures in Ravnica — especially in the Boros mirror-match — and the Apprentice has a lot of usefulness as a mini-Flametongue Kavu.
Anyhow, I lay down a Veteran Armorer, which is met by a Trumpeter of Marc’s own. I enchant my Armorer with Galvanic Arc, killing his 2/1 creature. Unfortunately, Marc has Faith’s Fetters (of which I never saw a single one in this draft), which he uses to pacify my Armorer (and ruin my momentum.) With the board stalemated, I summon Agrus Kos, Wojek Veteran. My plan next turn is to lay down a Skyknight Legionnaire and swing for nine. This was not to be; Marc plays his second Fetters of the game, and follows it with his second Trumpeter. Sullenly, I played out my Legionnaire, attack for two, and pass the turn.
Things go from bad to worse as Marc drops Hammerfist Giant. When I attempt to make some dent in his life total, Marc gains another three life by killing my flyer with Lightning Helix. Adding insult to injury, Marc drops an (unexpected) Forest and enchants his Giant with Pollenbright Wings.
Wow, what a savage beating. The Giant is now capable of keeping the board clear, while not killing itself. Not that it needed to clear the board — a few swings of the Giant and a horde of Saprolings later, and I’m dead.
I sideboard out Rally the Righteous (it will help him just as much as it will help me) for a Leave No Trace (since I saw multiple Faith’s Fetters and the Pollenbright Wings.)
Game 2: Although I play first, Marc drops Boros Recruit before I can play any creatures. I follow with Thundersong Trumpeter. He answers with Thundersong Trumpeter. I play Veteran Armorer — he plays a Veteran Armorer of his own. I cast Boros Swiftblade, and he plays Boros Signet.
I enchant my Veteran Armorer with Galvanic Arc, and attempt to kill his Trumpeter. This doesn’t work so well, as he with Festival of the Guildpact for two (Which is cheating, since Festival of the Guildpact can only target players — Ben.)
On his turn he plays Sunforger, and equips it to his Recruit. I use my Trumpeter to keep his now-4/1 first strike creature at bay, but I know that the Sunforger will become an issue. Sure enough, my next-turn Agrus Kos is met with a Sunforger-tutored Lightning Helix.
Marc continues mounting pressure with a Skyknight Legionnaire, Viashino Fangtail, and Boros Guildmage. I’m forced to tap my Armorer to convoke an Equenaut into play, since I only have one Plains in play.
The tide begins to turn in the game when I foil Marc’s Galvanic Arc by saving my Equenaut with Grifter’s Blade. He plays Hammerfist Giant, and kills my Equenaut with Fiery Conclusion when I attempt to attack. I expect him to beat me down with his guys and then blow up the Hammerfist Giant. Instead, he plays Sunhome Enforcer, grants it haste, and swings with his team.
I’m dead the next turn unless I draw a Plains… But like a good player, I do. This enables me to cast Brightflame for four, which wipes out the board and gains me a whopping forty-four life. I drop Selesnya Guildmage, which in and of itself ends the game in a hurry.
Between games, Marc tells me that he thinks my deck was much better than his, but I disagree with him. After all, he’s the guy with Sunforger, Lightning Helix and Hammerfist Giant — aside from Brightflame (which is potentially too slow in the mirror), I have no bombs to his three.
Unfortunately, we are unable to play out the third game, as my wife calls and tells me that I have to come home to watch our daughter. Real life comes first, so I pack up my deck and get ready to leave.
I take a quick survey of the other players before I leave, and it appears that Dan The Drafting Newbie got crushed by Dami (no surprise there, Dami’s deck was absolutely nuts.) Drew floored Frank, which is not surprising given that Frank seems to enjoy his self-fulfilling prophecy of losing. Later in the week I’m told that Dami destroyed Drew, with the following monster of a deck:
Kitchen Table Draft: Golgari, by Dami
4 Elves of Deep Shadow
4 Shambling Shell
4 Greater Mossdog
3 Stinkweed Imp
1 Grave-Shell Scarab
1 Primordial Sage
1 Vulturous Zombie
5 Last Gasp
3 Gather Courage
2 Golgari Rot Farm
Forests
Swamps
I’m not sure about the exact land count, since Dami played more than forty cards. He was afraid of decking himself with dredge… But with a deck like that, does it even really matter? You’re going to win no matter what — it’s practically a constructed deck!
Anyway, you’ve been great so far this week. Join me tomorrow for more of your daily dose of Nathan J Xaxson on StarCityGames.com.
Cheers!
-Nathan J