We’re trying something a little different today, as we bring you practical draft theory from two of the better drafters around. First on the menu today is the practical draft application section of Chad Ellis’s examination of Draft Archetypes, where Chad gives you a series of guidelines 99.9% guaranteed to improve your Limited game.
Also on the menu today is the latest from the Malaysian Sensation, Pro Tour: Nagoya semifinalist Terry Soh. In the past we’ve consistently featured articles that discuss taking cards that might be slightly lower in overall quality while passing your opponents multiples of cards in the same colors. Terry’s article today sets that theory on its head, as he explains exactly why you should always be taking the best card at the beginning of a draft. Once you’ve read both of the Premium articles today, tell us in the forums who you think got the better end of these two sometimes contradictory articles.
Drafting with Pugg this week has been a very good time for all parties involved and the forums have been crackling with energy and feedback about each walkthrough. Of course, most of us keep waiting for the other shoe to drop – for Pugg to draft a really sweet deck for all of us to glory in. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…
Aside from mono-Blue, mono-Red/Ponza and (maybe) White Weenie and MBC, every Standard Tier 1 deck is running Forests. That’s over half the field! It’s apparent that, right now, Green is the best color in Magic. Call Kermit the Frog, this is a real Muppet News Flash! Why, this kind of news could get Jamie Wakefield back into the game!
With today’s installment, Abe fills us in on the last of the cards in his grand scheme to do Wizards one better by creating a workable Core Set! Now that you have all the cards, you can debate his choices… and tomorrow, he’ll fill you in on his playtesting.
In any 250-card deck, the first issue is getting the mana. In real life 5-Color, dual lands and fetch lands make that easy. Online, the dual lands don’t exist and the fetchlands are out of my price range for now. I don’t own the Cities of Brass, Tendo Ice Bridges, and so forth to help. I will have to make do with commons. That means that I am going to have to play extra forests and play a lot of green mana fixers.
I am blown away by the improvements to Green since I have been gone. For you youngsters out there, Green was the color of sharing. Anything it got that might have been good was made horrible by the fact that it shared the benefit with your opponent. These days Green positively rocks.
JP chimes in with his thoughts on Interactivity, the changing applications of Force of Will and Mana Drain, plus some words of advice for those of you attending all these giant, rocking Vintage tournaments coming up.
The worst offense yesterday had to be in 303, where I took the Blademane Baku over Genju of the Falls. Forgive me for this transgression. Honestly, when I sat down and typed out that draft, even I felt like calling myself a moron in the forums. I came up with a lame excuse why I passed it, but hey, let’s just pretend I was on both crack and PCP when I did that. Except on June 3rd. That’s my court date.
If you play Magic Online, you are probably aware that the Vanguard release events are starting this week. But which avatars are the best and what decks do they belong in? Star Wars Kid’s got your back on this one, as he reviews the best of the avatars today as well as covering some of the major bugs you should be aware of before you participate in this new format.
Yes this event is real, and Scott Johns, editor of MagictheGathering.com, is here today to clear up some misconceptions about the event and to answer some of the more frequently asked questions he’s seen on the forums.
Today KK shares what he’s been thinking about the Magic world at large, Grand Prix: Detroit, and the concept of banning Umezawa’s Jitte. In Limited.
I-375 is an odd road. If you’re going to the Marriott Renaissance Center, where Grand Prix: Detroit was held, you don’t so much exit I-375 as it suddenly becomes a street in the middle of the city. There are many differences between a highway and a city street, and one should be prepared for these changes. My friend Jeff, who was driving the car we took from our Motel 6 to the site Saturday morning, was not prepared. As a result, we took the hard right turn at the end of I-375, not at the recommended, leisurely thirty-five miles-per, but at a highway-standard fifty-five to sixty. Some clever readers may already know what’s coming up next.
Abe gears up for the second part of his attempt to create a Base Set that he’s comfortable with by listing his uncommons… and we can almost guarantee that some of his choices for “good beginner cards that won’t overpower the format” (Rule of Law? Humble?) are sure to be controversial.
Today’s primary focus is the last deck I worked on before I called it a day: Five-color Green control, with White as the secondary color. The goal as I’ve said before is to get the most of the good cards in the format that you can and sling the big spells to the best of your ability. This is at the very least a noble attempt to achieve that objective.
