Last week I talked about drafting green/white beatdown in Innistrad Limited. Green/white is one of the most popular draft archetypes for good reason. The deck has Travel Preparations backed up with multiple high-power early drops. The deck is a force to be reckoned with, no question about it. The deck also isn’t the most complicated thing to draft. Grab some removal, a few good creatures, and of course Travel Preparations, and you’ve found the formula to a fierce deck. This week I figured I should tackle something a bit tougher. Let’s get started with U/B!
Everyone thought that self-mill was the most interesting and powerful thing to draft early in the format. Why not? It is something new that has really never been done, and early 4/5s can be really good.
As time went on, the deck was drafted more often, and people would find themselves short of the cards that make the deck function. Part of the reason was that people thought they had to use a self-mill strategy in U/B. This is completely wrong.
Evaluating cards in blue and black is very important. So many cards differ in power level depending on what else you have. Grabbing the second Makeshift Mauler over a Moon Heron before you have any way to fill your graveyard in pack one is probably a mistake. This forces you down the rabbit hole further than you would prefer. The logic of, “I will just value graveyard-filling cards higher now” is often a trap.
The first thing to realize with this archetype is that black has zero cards that really need to interact with the graveyard. Of course you want more options for your Corpse Lunges, but it is not very important unless you are running too many of these cards to begin with. Take a look at all of the cards that benefit with more cards in the bin.
– Unburial Rites (This isn’t even a black card anymore)
Three of these cards are rare, and one is actually white. This leaves you with three cards that are more high impact when using actual game interactions instead of graveyard manipulation. Ghoulraiser seems like it should be great in self-mill, but it actually has low impact after so many turns spent “doing nothing.” Ghoulraiser tends to be the strongest on turn three following a Walking Corpse dying in combat.
You’ll often find self-mill strategies always a turn behind their opponent. This is because more time will be spent setting things up instead of playing guys and bashing. This tempo loss isn’t always going to lose you the game, but something power needs to happen to make up for the lost time.
Blue is the reason to move into this deck. Many of its cards help you get cards into the graveyard.
Blue also has the highest concentration of spells that gain value because of the graveyard.
– Skaab Ruinator (Remember that rabbit hole thing?)
These cards make up over half of the playable cards in the color. This means that most blue decks will tend to have some type of graveyard interaction. This doesn’t mean that every blue deck has to always or only interact with the graveyard to win games. This way of thinking causes many losses when trying to draft this deck.
So many drafts end up falling apart in this archetype because of how players value cards throughout the draft. It is very easy to get stuck in the mindset of taking the weaker card in the pack to overall make your previous and future picks better. This is a very risky way to draft and hasn’t held up in draft formats for the past few years.
You don’t have to draft all or none of the cards that interact with the graveyard. There is a nice balance to making a deck not only powerful, but always active.
I want to walk you guys through a draft I recently did that explains this perfectly.
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
This is the best way to start out a draft. Liliana is not only the most expensive card in the set, but it can be very powerful when drafted around. Does this mean we have to go self-mill? Of course not, but it does lend a hand to the strategy.
Pack 1 pick 2:
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Pack 1 pick 3:
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Pack 1 pick 4:
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Pack 1 pick 5:
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The pick is between Corpse Lunge and Walking Corpse. This is the first pick that leans us towards self-mill slightly. Corpse Lunge is also very good in most decks as long as there is only one copy and you have some three-power creatures that will die in combat or get milled to the yard.
I find that three is the perfect number. This number hits the highest percentage of fliers in the format. This also hits all of the Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies that your Victim of Night will not be able to take down.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Armored Skaab is really the only card in this pack to take. We will want to now value cards that interact with this a bit higher. We do not have to just go all-in however. Think Twice is the card that comes to mind now. Most of the time, I will almost always ignore a card like Think Twice, since it does not affect the board. This changes a bit since we have Liliana of the Veil, which makes it a great card to discard.
This card is also very bad if you do not interact with your graveyard. It works as a decent wall in U/W decks if you attack in the air but should not make the cut if you do nothing with the yard.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
This pack is absolutely garbage and a great chance to hate one of the best cards against this deck. Ambush Viper is a very effective card because it kills off Armored Skaabs that are good at holding most of G/W’s creatures at bay as well as jumps in front of Makeshift Maulers. The best removal spells for Ambush Viper are not instant-speed, making it very difficult to pull the trigger on one of your better removal spells. Corpse Lunge also rarely works, since you probably just removed the only creature in your graveyard for the Makeshift Mauler.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Deranged Assistant tends to be a trap if you count it as an enabler. This card acts as an accelerator first before it even does anything for the graveyard. Turn-three Makeshift Maulers come up from time to time, but don’t count on it. This will not solve all of your problems. It does not tie the room together.
Pack 1 pick 9:
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Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
I tend to take Curse of the Bloody Tome out of the late picks in pack one if I do not know how much I’ll end up milling myself. This card is a great sideboard card against you because you help them finish the job. I’ve found myself boarding in this card against U/B self-mill and winning because of it.
Pack 1 pick 11:
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Pack 1 pick 12:
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Pack 1 pick 13:
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Pack 1 pick 14:
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Pack 1 pick 15:
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Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Makeshift Mauler vs. Moon Heron is the pick I was talking about earlier. I want the Mauler now because I don’t have any of these cards yet. Now if I got this same pick next pack, I would take Moon Heron.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
I don’t know if I can speak for you guys, but last week I took the Alchemy here. Dead Weight is a do-something card, but Forbidden Alchemy fixes so many problems in the self-mill deck. This way of thinking is completely wrong. You want to be interacting with your opponent to find time to fill the graveyard. Not the other way around. Don’t think that Forbidden Alchemy will solve problems, since it is only four cards.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
This pick really decides how the rest of the draft turns out. Skaab Goliath is a very strong card that ends many games for the self-mill decks. It can also get stranded in your hand doing nothing. The trick to this card is to not draft too many creatures that need to exile guys from the graveyard. Having this card now makes me want to stop taking anything else that would make me do so.
Claustrophobia on the other hand is a decent removal spell that will always make the cut in any base-blue decks. I would not take Makeshift Mauler or Stitched Drake over this card right now because the removal spell is just stronger.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Nephalia Drownyard is not a card that I’ll always take, even in self-mill. It is very difficult to find time to activate this card before losing too much tempo. This is just the strongest card in the pack. Selhoff Occultist is a weak card no matter how you look at it, and it’s nice to have a potential win condition inside of a land.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Dead Weight is still more important that having a Forbidden Alchemy, even though we picked up more removal for the same reasons.
Pack 2 pick 8:
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Pack 2 pick 9:
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Pack 2 pick 10:
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Pack 2 pick 11:
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Pack 2 pick 12:
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Pack 2 pick 15:
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Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
This is the third time I’ve passed on Forbidden Alchemy. It is not like I think the card is weak. It’s just more important to value cards that do something in this deck. Falkenrath Noble is a very strong creature that fills many roles in a draft. He blocks fliers, helps kill players, and helps keep you alive through combat. It is very difficult to fall behind when you have two Dead Weights and a Falkenrath Noble compared to three Forbidden Alchemies.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
This pick is just to fill out the curve and fix holes in the deck. Vampire Interloper is a much stronger card, but I’m not concerned with dealing early damage. So many of my cards right now win with inevitability that the 2/3 body might be important. There is a higher chance I’ll need that more than a 2/1 attacker.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
My deck is nowhere near a dedicated mill deck. It is more of a control deck. Lantern Spirit does a great job at helping control combat as well as winning games. It is a much better card in a deck like this compared to Screeching Bat.
I like Screeching Bat more in a mill deck. You will find that there is less open mana because you are spending it on setting up your graveyard and then catching up. This makes it play out smoother.
Pack 3 pick 4:
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Pack 3 pick 5:
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Pack 3 pick 7:
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Pack 3 pick 8:
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Pack 3 pick 9:
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Pack 3 pick 10:
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Pack 3 pick 11:
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Pack 3 pick 12:
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Pack 3 pick 13:
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Pack 3 pick 14:
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Pack 3 pick 15:
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1 Typhoid Rats
1 Walking Corpse
1 Deranged Assistant
1 Ludevic’s Test Subject
1 Selhoff Occultist
2 Lantern Spirit
1 Armored Skaab
1 Makeshift Mauler
1 Moon Heron
1 Falkenrath Noble
1 Creepy Doll
1 Murder of Crows
1 Skaab Goliath
2 Dead Weight
2 Victim of Night
1 Think Twice
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Corpse Lunge
1 Moan of the Unhallowed
1 Nephalia Drownyard
9 Swamp
8 Island
This entire draft was done very cautiously. I was not concerned with finding graveyard interactions as much as I was finding good cards. Rotting Fensnake, Ghoulraiser, and Stitched Drake would have found their way into the deck to give my Forbidden Alchemies something to do. These cards are just worse than what actually made the cut.
So when should you move in on the strategy? I have just the draft for that!
Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Starting with a bomb is always nice.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
This pack is filled to the brim with not only blue and black cards, but great self-mill spells. There is only one card in this pack that is good and not in those two colors. The safest choice in this pack is the removal spell, since it is in our first pick’s color as well as not dependent on a graveyard. Easy pick in my eyes.
This pack tells me that the only way I want to be in blue is if it shows up heavily in this pack. Pack two looks like it will be hell to get many playables, so getting out of the way might be important.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
We get passed another great black card that is easily the pick. The other important thing about this pack is there aren’t any more playables in blue. This could help get the drafters to our left to move out of the way if need be.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
This is the first time in this article I’ve taken a Forbidden Alchemy early. The reason for this is that this pack is very weak. This is the best card in the pack, and there are no other black cards. I can concern myself with not taking it because of what I’ve passed, but what’s going through the head of the person to my right?
I was passed all of those cards to begin with. There is a good chance something was taken out of those colors on purpose. My guess is a Brimstone Volley or Bonds of Faith because a common is missing. Knowing this might help me move into this strategy since my right is ignoring it.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
At this point in the draft, I don’t know exactly what I’ll end up in. Rage Thrower and Doomed Traveler are the best cards but not in what we have been taking. These are also the strongest cards in the pack. Why not take one of them?
The reason not to is I want the people to my left to take those and abandon black. This will help me get powerful spells in this color while I figure out what I want to pair it with. Runechanter’s Pike is not an exciting card but can find its home in this deck. Not only will I have some number of instants and sorceries, but I could have a few Rats that love first strike.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
Chapel Geist this late is a scary thing. This card is one of the more powerful spells in a white deck, even if it has a Human theme. Grasp of Phantoms is also not the strongest card in the mill version of this deck. You want to be playing this card while attacking, and the mill deck does not really attack often or early. It is a card to flashback, so it might be good enough. It is definitely better than Think Twice.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
This is one of the biggest picks of the draft. Invisible Stalker and Walking Corpse are both great cards in beatdown decks that do not rely on milling. This pick is all about signaling and going all in. By not taking Unburial Rites, I tell the person to my left that the deck is probably open. Passing the creatures does not say that. It tells them that an aggressive U/W deck is open, which is probably what they’re in.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
This pack tells me everything I need to know. The drafters to my right are not in this strategy. I know this pack was very deep for this deck, making it likely some good cards would come back, but Forbidden Alchemy and Silent Departure mean mill is open. Screeching Bat was the card I thought would come back, so this is a good sign for things to come.
Pack 1 pick 11:
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Pack 1 pick 14:
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Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
Angel of Flight Alabaster may not end up having friends to bring back in a deck like this, but it is still a very big flier that costs only a single white mana. We already have a fixer and Unburial Rites as well as two Forbidden Alchemy to help find a Plains if needed.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Mirror-Mad Phantasm may help mill, but this card does not help win games. Combat damage does not stack anymore, making this a very weak card for decks like this. Using him as a win condition will not work, nor is he fast enough to be an enabler.
We already know how I feel about Skaab Goliath.
Pack 2 pick 4:
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Pack 3 pick 1:
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As you can see by the picks, we are firmly in a self-mill strategy without many of the powerful cards that tend to go in them. I’m going to be looking for a few cards that abuse the Forbidden Alchemies. However, I still won’t take them over good removal. Do something > might do nothing.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
The last two picks helped us find more bombs to close out games. There are a decent number of five-drops in the deck that makes me really want a better early game now. There has been little to no removal for us, so this is what is most important. I was even tempted by the Bonds of Faith, but Manor Gargoyle is just far too powerful of a card to not take.
Pack 3 pick 4:
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Pack 3 pick 15:
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2 Typhoid Rats
1 Deranged Assistant
1 Markov Patrician
1 Armored Skaab
2 Slayer of the Wicked
1 Angel of Flight Alabaster
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Sturmgeist
1 Manor Gargoyle
1 Skaab Goliath
2 Dead Weight
3 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Corpse Lunge
1 Moan of the Unhallowed
1 Grasp of Phantoms
2 Unburial Rites
1 Shimmering Grotto
7 Swamp
7 Island
3 Plains
This draft started the same way as the first one. First-pick bomb into a bit of removal, but the big difference was the first graveyard-based spell. I took Unburial Rites in pack one. Walking Corpse was a safe choice, but the draft looked like this archetype was open.
Black was going to be drafted on my left, just not the self-mill variety. This would mean that I would have to rely on scraps to build something. Removal and crappy guys work sometimes, but the real deal was self-mill.
There is one card in the archetype that is worth talking about, and that is Stitched Drake. This card’s best home is nowhere near a black deck. It is almost always impossible to get a card in the yard early enough to land him on turn three where he is most insane. The best home I have found for this card is in U/W and U/R aggressive decks.
Stitched Drake and Makeshift Mauler can easily be first pickable depending on the pack. This does not mean you are forced to pair them with black to get the best result. White and red creatures tend to attack fast and trade early, allowing you to land these guys on time without any real assistance.
Bloodcrazed Vampire is the best example of this. Players tend to want to get him off the board no matter what creature they have in play on turn two. This will allow for a turn-three Stitched Drake, ready to start taking huge chunks of life out of your opponent.
Mulch is another card that can help get this guy into play on time. U/G mill is still a deck I have not done well with so far, but I know there is a formula for success. I just need to find it. All I know is Mulch is the clear winner in this strategy because it not only gets cards in the yard, but it helps fix splashes as well.
The most important thing when drafting anything that has to do with the graveyard is to be careful. Subtle doses of these spells are the best way to draft them. Do not go too far overboard on the strategy because it tends to not work out. Play Makeshift Mauler because it is good, but don’t think you need to be fancy. This is Magic after all, and people will block your two-drops.