Red has been getting a lot of hate in discussions amongst my playgroup lately. The general consensus seems to be that the removal is too splashable (except Outrage) and the common quality is too low. I'm still trying things out in this format, so I'm certainly willing to see where a 4/4 flier for 5 will take me, and whether he will have the support he needs or if I barely even get to cast him before I'm dead. Other considerations apart from the Dragon were the Outrage (which I admittedly do not love passing while trying to be red, but it seems underdrafted enough that I hope I'll be fine), the Cloud Elemental, the Specter, and Sleep. Elemental is strictly worse than the dragon despite being blue. Sleep isn't the blowout it was in M10, but is fairly solid and a card that a lot of people seem to still rate highly, so passing that will almost certainly put someone to my left in blue (as if they needed the help). Spider is a solid card, but you'd have to really want to not play red to pick it.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 2:
Canyon Minotaur is the only red card in the whole pack. He's not setting any worlds on fire, but he's a solid man and we won't mind picking him if we don't get a support colour option from this pack. Rise from the Grave and Armored Ascension are probably the strongest cards in the pack. Red/White could be quite an appealing combo if it were early white fliers backed up with burn and big red dudes, but Ascension doesn't fit into that well as it wants lots of plains and red has good enough enchantments if we want to run them. Rise is a pretty solid card but RB is lacking in quality commons and I've played it a few times already, so I just take the Minotaur and hopefully give whoever took the Outrage a good enough card to consider getting out of red.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 3:
Don't like a 3rd pick Piker so I gues I should look at other colours. Acidic Slime stands out in this pack as being slightly better than the other options (Disentomb, Excommunicate, Mighty Leap and Unsummon are all fine and Flashfreeze is a great board card) so I opt for that.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 4:
Following the Slime pick I possibly overvalue the Yavimaya Wurm. It seems like one of the best Green commons. Stone Golem and Fiery Hellhound are also sweet. Truth be told I felt like the Hound might lap, as it's not that good in a deck that isn't heavy red, and if the guy to our left took Outrage I could see him taking Stone Golem before this.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 5:
Not much to decide here. The Hound is a fine pick, certainly better than a Strongbox at this point, and if we lap the Tunneler we have a nice synergy should we require it.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 6:
More fat or a combat trick in Thunder Strike are our options here. I guess Wurm passing to us couldn't be considered a "signal" as such, so we have no guarantee that we'll be in Green at all, but I've seen the Strike wheel so many times that I feel fine taking the Wurm here.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
Canyon Minotaur #2 seems slightly worse than the Earth Servant, who can block anything and swings pretty well.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 8:
Brindle Boar gives us another option in Green and isn't horrible. If there was a stronger card in another colour I'd take it but the pack is pretty darn blank.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
Earth Servant #2 isn't ideal, but if we end up not playing the Wurms (looking likely since no good green has come since we picked them) then having them at the top of the curve is fine. Mind Rot is worth considering this late, but again cutting the only red in the pack will hopefully give us a better pack 2.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 10:
Nothing for us here, so I just take the card we'll have a hard time attacking through. In future I think I'll take the Hawk in this kind of pack.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 11:
Piker on the wheel I have no problem with.
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Pack 1 pick 12:
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Pack 1 pick 13:
Glad to pick up this guy, who I think is fine. He doesn't make every deck, but if I end up monored with multiple Hellhounds he might be worth a punt.
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 14:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 15:
My Pick:
Pretty average pack. We'll need to pick up an early green bomb (Garruk would be fine) or whiff completely on red if we're going to keep these Wurms in mind.
Pack 2 pick 1:
Not the pack we wanted to open. The best card in the pack is Corrupt, which we can't take. Could take the Ranger, which would give us another chance at playing the Wurms, but the Spitfire is a good blocker against UW and if we get some burn it'll be better than average.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 2:
Red Leyline seems kinda niche for Limited. Arc Runner is the kind of guy we want to be getting, and Warlord's Axe lets us make the most of our average creatures, but Shiv's Embrace is extremely tasty and should give us the chance to win games from nowhere. The pack on the whole is maybe just deep enough for us to wheel the Arc Runner if, like I hope, noone is in red anymore.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 3:
Goblin Tunneler #2 can be caught on the wheel. Pacifism is the obvious pick in a bad pack for us. We may end up splashing for it but it's unlikely.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
Doggie #2 is a nice one for our deck. Combust is a terrific sideboard card and we don't have removal, so I do consider taking it, but the Hellhound is one of the cards a monored deck wants the most I think.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 5:
Mono is mono, but Piker still isn't getting picked here. Gargoyle Sentinel gives us a nice out against flyers, is a solid blocker and could swing in for the win if the ground is clogged up by my Earth Servants.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
Awakener Druid would be a nice option if we were still in Green, but that ship has sailed and Act of Treason seems better than Thunder Strike. If we're quick enough, it's a good reply to a bomb creature, and if we see late Bloodthrone Vamps we could maybe splash for them if we get multiple Acts. It's fine on its own though.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
A high quality red uncommon that is actually just an overcosted Berserkers that can block in our deck as is, but certainly a solid body with an effect that could come in useful if at any point we can grab some burn.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
Woo! It's now all but certain that red is completely open so pack 3 is set up well. This is a great card to get this late. Yet another Flashfreeze goes by, which is worth noting.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
Blankety blank. Might as well take a ticket.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 10:
I take the Plummet because I'm not playing Balloon Brigade and I don't have many answers in my deck (not that many questions at this stage either tbh). Again, an unlikely splash, but I'd bring it in in the face of a Baneslayer or equivalent.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 11:
Brindle Boar is marginally better to take than an uncommon because it could gain our opp some life, but there's not much in it. If they're playing Hunter's Feast, fair play to them.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 12:
Could it see play? Doubtful, but maybe if I end up playing a mill deck or something?
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 13:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 14:
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Pack 2 pick 15:
My Pick:
Some nice uncommons and a bit of removal later and I'm feeling very confident about the color being open, slightly less confident about the deck's overall power in the grand scheme of things. Pack 3 should be set up perfectly for us to grab all the non-Fireball, non-Lightning Bolt goodness that we want - and we want a *lot*.
Pack 3 pick 1:
Stu, who I was drafting with, got very angry at me for this pick, but with the deck looking middling at this stage, a free pack seems better than a good man. Incidentally since that Chandra's Outrage passed through, we may even lap the Hauler if noone else can play him, although that's not too likely as this isn't the deepest of packs.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
Not gonna lie, it was a bit of a bail-out. Gladly snap up the Hauler here and hoping for the Berkserkers to come back.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
Not much justification needed here. Earth Servant #3 wouldn't even get played most probably, so I'm glad to see the Cyclops here and he's exactly what my deck needs - an answer and a question rolled into one.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
Could take another Sentinel to shore up my game against fliers, but the Berserker is pretty sweet in general and I'd rather just take him.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
Disappointed not to get more of these (or any Lava Axes whatsoever), but I'll happily settle for this one.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
Even with the chance of one wheeling later, I still want this Berserker over the Expanse, which would make splashing things like Plummet or Pacifism actually happen.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
Not in the slightest upset to get this potential bomb to beef up my 15-17 men.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
Of all the packs to get in 8th pick... The Outrage, the Fling and the Volcanic Strength are all really good cards for our deck at this point. The Outrage edges it because it's miles better than the other two.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
I'd rather have the trick over a second Tunneler (doubt I'd play 2). Thunder Strike can be a pretty nice surprise, and is also a way to take out guys with 5 toughness, which our deck currently struggles against.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
Glad it wheeled and glad to take it, Berkserkers may be the worst of the 5 drops in M11 since every other one apart from Spined Wurm blocks it indefinitely, and Rotting Legion outright kills it, but a 4/4 is a 4/4.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 12:
Pro tip: Jace's Erasure sells to the bots I use for more than uncommons do
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 13:
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Pack 3 pick 14:
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Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
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On the whole I wasn't too unhappy with this draft. Some synergystic monored cards (Hellhounds, Shivs Embraces, Earth Servants) coupled with some big dudes and a modicum of burn.
Hoarding Dragon
Canyon Minotaur
2 Fiery Hellhound
2 Earth Servant
2 Berserkers of Blood Ridge
2 Chandra's Outrage
Goblin Tunneler
Chandra's Spitfire
Goblin Piker
Gargoyle Sentinel
Fire Servant
Ember Hauler
Cyclops Gladiator
Arc Runner
Thunder Strike
Vulshok Berserker
Act of Treason
Demolish
Mountains
Was disappointed to be maindecking the Demolish, but what can you do. I guess I could have run the Pacifism with 3 Plains or something, but that wouldn't be very monored would it? I'm not going into detail on the games because they weren't interesting. First two rounds I rolled over my slow opponents with Tunneling Hellhounds and Shiv's Embrace'd Earth Servants. In the final I played against a BW fliers deck that I'd watched in the replays and looked really fast, but didn't seem to have any spells or removal. In my first game I stared down Doomblade x2, Pacifism, Stabbing Pain, Excommunicate, Mind Rot and died to an Assault Griffin. In game 2 I mulled to 5 on the play thanks to 2 nolanders, and he played fliers on each of his turns after the first, for 5 turns. I died on the 6th.
I wasn't too disappointed with the archetype at all to be honest. The only problem I can see with it is that you really need the bomb uncommons to do well. That being said, I'd like to see a Blue deck ripping it up without the aid of Mind Control, Sleep, Air Servant, Water Servant, et al. I'd certainly be happy to draft it again if the cards were there, but I still think it's an overall weak color and lacks something like Spire Barrage or Spitting Earth to really make it pay off. Thanks for reading :)
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