I cannot seem to do anything right nowadays. Drafting is not exactly my strongest format in Magic, but I’ll jump at the chance to get some practice in. Of course, I was selected to help test Coldsnap on Beta, and the Coldsnap queues were going to give me a great chance to familiarize myself with the cards.
Enough of the introduction, I’m running out of cigarettes to smoke, and I’m not buying anymore after this pack. Here is the first pick of my draft.
Pack 1 Pick 1
Bull Aurochs; Martyr of Bones; Martyr of Ashes; Thermal Flux; Sun’s Bounty; Thermopod; Surging Aether; Boreal Centaur; Gutless Ghoul; Snow-Covered Swamp; Drelnoch; Wall of Shards; Mouth of Ronom; Stromgald Crusader; Ohran Viper.
I have a pretty good pack here, with one of the few chase rares in the set staring back at me. The pack includes a nice piece of removal in the Mouth. I love Surging Aether, but am not ready to commit to having to draft every copy I see just to take maximum effect every time I cast it. I settle for the Snake, but more then likely I should have taken the land here.
My Pick: Ohran Viper
Second thoughts pick: Mouth of Ronom
Pack 1 Pick 2
Boreal Griffin; Ronom Serpent; Boreal Druid; Rimescale Dead; Snow-Covered Plains; Martyr of Ashes; Surging Dementia; Ronom Unicorn; Survivor of the Unseen; Krovikan Whispers; Wilderness Elemental; Steam Spitter; Scrying Sheets.
I only see three real picks here: the Griffin, the Elf, and the Whispers. I want to try to stay away from the Red, as it has proven to be overdrafted, and I think Martyr of Ashes is overrated in draft. I dismiss the enchantment, and take the Griffin, which I think is the correct pick. Although early in the draft, I have a feeling I am going to try Green/White, and evasion is something I want a lot of.
My Pick: Boreal Griffin
Second thoughts pick: Scrying Sheets. It’s nice to be able to gain card advantage in this format.
Pack 1 Pick 3
Boreal Griffin; Boreal Druid; Ronom Serpent; Rimescale Dead; Snow-Covered Plains; Grim Harvest; Krovikan Mist; Swift Maneuver; Martyr of Spores; Thermopod; Wilderness Elemental; Phyrexian Ironfoot; Kjeldoran Gargoyle.
So far I have taken a Green and a White card, and nothing outside of those colors strike me here. I’m interested in the Griffin, because I know evasion is at a premium… but watch me take the wrong card. Ironfoot is fantastic, and the Gargoyle is a bomb — well, at least as much of one that you can get in the format. The life swing is great, the first strike is great… and of course, I overlook both cards.
My Pick: Boreal Griffin
Second thoughts pick: Kjeldoran Gargoyle
Pack 1 Pick 4
Goblin Furrier; Rimescale Dead; Snow-Covered Island; Surging Might; Aurochs Herd; Karplusan Wolverine; Surging Dementia; Thermal Flux; Ronom Unicorn; Frostweb Spider; Balduvian Warlord; Freyalise’s Radiance.
I see Might, Unicorn, and Spider as possible. I overlook Herd – I guess I have been preaching too much about evasion, so maybe I just told myself that a six mana 4/4 that brings another man into your hand is just not good enough. I take the Might, and convince myself it is the right pick. I mean, I can get more of those commons later on, right?
My Pick: Surging Might
Pack 1 Pick 5
Goblin Furrier; Rimescale Dead; Snow-Covered Swamp; Surging might; Karplusan Wolverine; Kjeldoran War Cry; Bull Aurochs; Martyr of Ashes; Phyrexian Snowcrusher; Krovikan Rot; Lightning Storm
Hey cool, it’s another Surging Might. I’ll take it!
My Pick: Surging Might
Pack 1 Pick 6
Krovikan Scoundrel; Rune Snag; Martyr of Sands; Bull Aurochs; Icefall; Ronom Hulk; Kjeldoran Javelineer; Frozen Solid; Orcish Bloodpainter; Perilous Research
I still have a solid pick in Green or White, and it happens to be one of the best commons that Green has to offer. I click on the Ronom Hulk and pass.
My Pick: Ronom Hulk
Pack 1 Pick 7
Into the North; Rite of Flame; Martyr of Frost; Kjeldoran War Cry; Kjeldoran Javelineer; Orcish Bloodpainter; Balduvian Warlord; Steam Spitter; Cover of Winter
Hmm… a big spider, or a Rampant Growth? I know I have no snow lands (I should have two of them now) but I’ll take it. I’m sure to grab some snow lands later on.
My Pick: Into the North
Pack 1 Pick 8
Icefall; Survivor of the Unseen; Into the North; Martyr of Sands; Thermopod; Snow-Covered Swamp; Drelnoch; Flashfreeze
Yep, I’ll take another Rampant Growth (I know they are not the same, but the comparison will have to do.)
My Pick: Into the North
Pack 1 Pick 9
Martyr of Ashes; Martyr of Bones; Thermal Flux; Sun’s Bounty; Thermopod; Drelnoch; Wall of Shards
So the Martyr came back around the table to my own surprise, I grabbed it, maybe thinking I am going into the wrong colors.
My Pick: Martyr of Ashes
Pack 1 Pick 10
Martyr of Ashes; Surging Dementia; Rimebound Dead; Ronom Serpent Survivor of the Unseen; Scrying Sheets
So the Scrying Sheets came back to me. You’d think that you know after making the mistake of passing it the first time around I would gleefully pick it up. By thinking that, you are assuming I am good at Magic.
My Pick: Martyr of Ashes
Pack 1 Pick 11
Thermopod; Rimebound Dead; Swift Maneuver; Martyr of Spores; Wilderness Elemental
Why did I not take the Maneuver? At least it was in the colors that I thought I was going to play.
My Pick: Thermopod
Pack 1 Pick 12
Goblin Furrier; Karplusan Wolverine; Thermal Flux; Freyalise’s Radiance
My Pick: Goblin Furrier
To round out this pack I end up with a third Martyr of Ashes, a Martyr of Sands, and a Rite of Flame.
The rest of the pack was trash, but it looked like I had a solid Green/White base going, and if I could pick up the lands, it would have a nice Red splash with the Earthquake men [Splashable? — Craig, unsure]. I’ve made too many mistakes in this first pack. Not taking the Gargoyle was hurtful, and Mouth was something I should have grabbed without thinking.
Pack 2 Pick 1
Skred; Boreal Centaur; Rune Snag; Sun’s bounty; Simian Brawler; Martyr of Spores; Ohran Yeti; Frozen Solid; Chill to the Bone; Sound the Call; Ronom Serpent; Rimehorn Aurochs; Ursine Fylgia; Counterbalance; Sunscour.
Maybe I am good at Magic, or at least opening packs. Wrath effects are powerful, I read that somewhere.
My Pick: Sunscour
Pack 2 Pick 2
Bull Aurochs; Icefall; Grim Harvest; Krovikan Mist; Swift Maneuver; Martyr of Spores; Ohran Yeti; Frozen Solid; Chill to the Bone; Sound the Call; Ronom Serpent; Wall of Shards; Krovikan whispers; Balduvian Fallen
I love Sound the Call. For some reason it reminds me of Call of the Herd. I’m not exactly sure why.
My Pick: Sound the Call
Pack 2 Pick 3
Rite of Flame; Feast of Flesh; Into the North; Frost Raptor; Swift Maneuver; Surging Sentinels; Martyr of Frost; Disciple of Tevesh Szat; Snow-Covered Forest; Goblin Rimerunner; Kjeldoran Outrider; Balduvian Frostwaker; Earthen Goo
I might be in Red, I might be in Green, I might be in White. The best cards in this pack in those colors are Outrider, Into the North, and Earthen Goo. Of course, I should be taking one of those cards, but I goof-grab and take the Frostwaker. See, to write this article I had to repeatedly use Print Screen, and copy that into Paint. I was sure the draft viewer would not work. I would have taken the Forest, actually – I need to make those land searchers worth something eventually.
My Pick: Frostwaker
Second thoughts pick: Snow-Covered Forest
Pack 2 Pick 4
Kjeldoran Outrider; Chilling Shade; Boreal Centaur; Surging Flames; Snow-Covered Swamp; Icefall; Krovikan Scoundrel; Survivor of the Unseen; Martyr of Sands; Jotun Owl Keeper; Controvert; Karplusan Minotaur
Surging Flames is nice, but I was sure the Red was going to be a splash and nothing more (and it’s not splashable?! — Craig, confused]. I like the Owl Keeper – probably too much – so I took him.
My Pick: Jotun Owl Keeper
Pack 2 Pick 5
Martyr of Spores; Karplusan Wolverine; Krovikan Mist; Kjeldoran War Cry; Surging Sentinels; Frost Raptor; Snow-Covered Forest; Goblin Rimerunner; Stalking Yeti; Vanish Into Memory; Panglacial Wurm
Excuse me, I think the Red just became more than just a splash. Boo creepy foot doctor, hooray Yeti!
My Pick: Stalking Yeti
Pack 2 Pick 6
Into the North; Thermopod; Gelid Shackles; Chilling Shade; Goblin Furrier; Rite of Flame; Grim Harvest; Martyr of Frost; Kjeldoran War Cry; Luminescence
I took the enchantment because it became clear to me that I would possibly not be playing many snow lands.
My Pick: Gelid Shackles
Second thoughts pick: Into the North
Pack 2 Pick 7
Snow-Covered Forest; Chilling Shade; Skred; Goblin Furrier; Rune Snag; Bull Aurochs; Martyr of Sands; Icefall; Balduvian Fallen
I keep getting chances to get the snow lands, and I’m about to click it, when I see Skred? Why is this card still in the pack? I thought it was first pick quality. I know it is defiantly seventh pick quality, so I took it.
My Pick: Skred
Second thoughts pick: Snow-Covered Forest
Pack 2 Pick 8
Kjeldoran Outrider; Chilling Shade; Surging Dementia; Boreal Centaur; Survivor of the Unseen; Skred; Luminescence; Lightning Serpent
No seriously, I wanted out of Red… why is another Skred here at pick 8? Also, why is Ball Lightning in this pack? I could not help myself. I told myself I was firmly in Red now.
My Pick: Lightning Serpent
Pack 2 Pick 9
Sun’s Bounty; Simian Brawler; Martyr of Spores; Ohran Yeti; Skred; Ronom Serpent; Counterbalance
Okay, I’ll fall for it… someone else has taken all the fantastic Red cards, and I’m getting tricked here.
My Pick: Skred
Pack 2 Pick 10
Icefall; Grim Harvest; Swift Maneuver; Martyr of Spores; Ronom Serpent; Wall of Shards
Nothing better here. I think I should have taken the Grim Harvest, just so someone else could not have it.
My Pick: Swift Maneuver
Pack 2 Pick 11
Rite of Flame; Martyr of Frost; Into the North; Kjeldoran Outrider; Goblin Rimerunner
Seeing as I am in Red now, I figured I needed to actually take a Red dude. Three Skreds – and needing snow lands as picks in the third pack – never crossed my mind, so Into the North was ignored.
My Pick: Goblin Rimerunner
Pack 2 Pick 12
Chilling Shade; Survivor of the Unseen; Icefall; Controvert
My Pick: Chilling Shade
The rest of the pack gave me a Chilling Shade, an Icefall, and Kjeldoran War Cry.
Pack 3 Pick 1
Surging Sentinels; Boreal Druid; Disciple of Tevesh Szat; Ohran Yeti; Snow-Covered Mountain; Simian Brawler; Rite of Flame; Feast of Flesh; Martyr of Frost; Swift Maneuver; Into the North; Earthen Goo; Sheltering Ancient; Phyrexian Ironfoot; Zur the Enchanter
This pack has the following playable cards: Earthen Goo, Ironfoot, Into the North, Mountain, Yeti, Druid, Brawler. I took the last one. Not sure why. Any one of the other cards would have been better, and it should have been the Mountain.
My Pick: Simian Brawler
Pack 3 Pick 2
Karplusan Wolverine; Surging Dementia; Thermal Flux; Ronom Unicorn Frostweb Spider; Kjeldoran Javelineer; Drelnoch; Gutless Ghoul; Ronom Hulk; Snow-Covered Island; Gelid Shackles; Perilous Research; Tresserhorn Sinks; Phyrexian Etchings
Seemed like the best card here.
My Pick: Ronom Hulk
Pack 3 Pick 3
Boreal Griffin; Surging Aether; Zombie Musher; Orcish Bloodpainter; Snow-Covered Plains; Sound the Call; Martyr of Bones; Krovikan Mist; Sun’s Bounty; Thermopod; Simian Brawler; Freyalise’s Radiance; Kjeldoran Gargoyle
I get a chance to make up for the first pack mishap, and make the same mistake. This draft has officially gone downhill. However, I notice I am making the wrong decisions, so at least I am learning something.
My Pick: Boreal Griffin
Pack 3 Pick 4
Swift Maneuver; Icefall; Krovikan Scoundrel; Survivor of the Unseen; Martyr of Sands; Snow-Covered Mountain; Chill to the Bone; Goblin Rimerunner; Surging Might; Rimewind Cryomancer; Deathmark; Arcuum Dagsson
I can add a third Might, or the first snow land. Might as well make those Into the North cards a little more useless.
My Pick: Surging Might
Pack 3 Pick 5
Frostweb Spider; Martyr of Ashes; Surging Dementia; Survivor of the Unseen; Ronom Unicorn; Snow-Covered Mountain; Goblin Rimerunner; Steam Spitter; Glacial Platting; Flashfreeze; Thrumming Stone
Again with the making Into the North worthless. Sadly, I am not even taking good cards over it.
My Pick: Goblin Rimerunner
Pack 3 Pick 6
Surging Aether; Orcish Bloodpainter; Skred; Martyr of Bones; Sun’s Bounty; Rune Snag; Simian Brawler; Jotun Grunt; Controvert; Deathmark
I have a gameplan now: I’ll just draw all the Skreds, and every snow-man in the deck, in every game I play.
My Pick: Skred
Pack 3 Pick 7
Aurochs Herd; Skred; Krovikan Scoundrel; Rune Snag; Martyr of Sands; Kjeldoran Javelineer; Drelnoch; Juniper Order Ranger; Mishra’s Bauble
Wow, Juniper Order Ranger, late. He’s nuts right? So I take Skred.
My Pick: Skred
Pack 3 Pick 8
Surging Sentinels; Boreal Druid; Ohran Yeti; Martyr of Frost; Rite of Flame; Frostweb Spider; Martyr of Ashes; Jokulmorder
I took the Druid, since my land searchers were dead or close to it now, I needed some kind of acceleration.
My Pick: Boreal Druid
Pack 3 Pick 9
Boreal Druid; Snow-Covered Mountain; Rite of Flame; Martyr of Frost; Swift Maneuver; Into the North; Sheltering Ancient
Remember what I said last pick, about how my land searchers were almost dead? Instead of staying with that theory, I take the snow land. Having two cards to search for one card is never a bad thing, right?
My Pick: Snow-Covered Mountain
Pack 3 Pick 10
Karplusan Wolverine; Surging Dementia; Thermal Flux; Ronom Unicorn; Drelnoch; Phyrexian Etchings
My Pick: Karplusan Wolverine
Pack 3 Pick 11
Surging Aether; Martyr of Bones; Sun’s Bounty; Thermopod; Freyalise’s Radiance
My Pick: Thermopod
At this point I have no idea what else I took. The Print Screen function was going too slow now, so I just took randomly. Pretty much like I did all draft.
I have three options for my deck. I can go Red/White, Red/Green, or Green/White (with a splash for Skred.) I wanted consistency, so the splash was out. I decided I did not want to play the flyers I drafted in White, so I went with Green/Red, and here is what I played. I also lost in the first round. I was never in any of the games… Adarkar Valkyrie did me in game 1, and land screw was my downfall in game 2. These are not excuses; I messed up something fierce, and I learned a lot from this draft.
Red/Green Coldsnap Draft Deck
7 Forest
8 Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Skred
3 Martyr of Ashes
1 Boreal Druid
1 Karplusan Wolverine
1 Into the North
3 Surging Might
1 Ohran Viper
1 Frostweb Spider
2 Goblin Rimerunner
1 Simian Brawler
1 Stalking Yeti
2 Ronom Hulk
2 Thermopod
1 Lightning Serpent.
Yep, that deck was not a winner. This is what I should have played:
Green/White/Red Coldsnap Draft Deck
3 Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
7 Plains
6 Forest
1 Boreal Druid
1 Gelid Shackles
4 Skred
3 Surging Might
1 Ohran Viper
1 Frostweb Spider
1 Simian Brawler
2 Ronom Hulk
3 Boreal Griffin
1 Jotun Owl Keeper
1 Sunscour
1 Lightning Serpent
3 Martyr of Ashes
I think that deck looks a lot better.
Tune in next time to see if I’ve actually learnt anything. Please leave comments in the forums – if there is anything that I did not address, I will try to make up for it then!
Until next time,
JXC