Not the strongest of opening packs here. Outrage and Pyromancer are a cut above the other options in pack, so I select the one with the most flexibility even though I dislike Red as a colour. I'll be happy to let the pyromancer go if any other colour combination appears to be open.
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Pack 1 pick 2:
This has a few more talking points in it. Strong cards are Quag Sickness, Jace's Ingenuity, Gravedigger and to a slightly lesser extent Giant Spider and Juggernaut. It's got deep playables as well, although the white is notably poor. First picking the Pyromancer would make the Spitfire a decent second pick as they work very well together, but I have really been put off red lately and decide to look elsewhere. Juggernaut is a great card, but I would be wary about not committing to a color in such a powerful pack. Black is, in my opinion, harder to fight over than blue as it's not as deep, so I opt for the power of Jace's Ingenuity.
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Pack 1 pick 3:
Nice reward here with a 3rd pick Mind Control. Blinding Mage, all 3 uncommons and the rare still being present made me curious, but I later found out that one of the drafters took a Doom Blade FPFP passing on a Liliana in foil. I would make neither pick before either Blinding Mage or Mind Control and opt for, again, the powerful blue 5 drop.
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Pack 1 pick 4:
This was one of those ones where you want to force UW fliers, but lose your bottle a little bit. Scroll Thief is pretty decent in RU if that's what we end up as, and I've really started to rate him higher the more I draft. Wild Griffin was probably the pick, but this way at least I get to cut Blue. Also I make a mental note that the Plummet/Spider count is now at 2.
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Pack 1 pick 5:
Once again an opportunity to go into UW passes us by, as I opt for the powerful card draw that lets you keep counters up with value after turn 5.
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Pack 1 pick 6:
Well, as much as I like Negate, it's time to get into this a little bit since the UW deck seems to be flowing. We've passed 1 Blinding Mage, 1 Wild and 1 Assault Griffin, but not enough to make me think that it's unfeasible to just jump in and see if I can cut him off. If he took Blue in one of the early packs and backed it up with White (not that unfeasible since people love to force UW), then he'll be looking for Blue pack 2 as I have cut him in this pack. That should lead to me getting some White hopefully (or some Red, whatever)
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Pack 1 pick 7:
Good follow up to our plan. I think we're in better shape over the last 2 picks than if we had a Negate and a Manic Vandal.
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Pack 1 pick 8:
Plummet/Spider count #3. Nothing really for us so take the Act of Treason that can clear the way for Scroll Thief if our White plan goes bust. Still not commited enough to forcing to play Catbears.
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Pack 1 pick 9:
Don't mind this guy at all from what was an exceedingly blank pack. 4 average blue cards went so I guess we either cut the heck out of some guys, or we're on a lean pack 2.
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Pack 1 pick 10:
Happy to wheel the Mastodon. I prefer the man over the mediocre removal at this point as we have lots of power but noone to stall the board to let us get to cast it (not that Mastodon helps much in that regard).
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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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OK so after pack 1 we are pretty firmly in Blue, with strong options in White and weaker, but possibly more attainable options in Red. Will be looking tot get some all-star creatures here.
Pack 2 pick 1:
Mission accomplished. Serra is a great first pick although wheeling anything from this pack is pretty sketchy. Best hope I guess is a Palace Guard, which I hope I won't have to play in multiples.
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Pack 2 pick 2:
Guys are guys, and I love White Knight and everything, but sweet removal is sweet removal.
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Pack 2 pick 3:
Wait, what? I am happy to pick it and everything, but what did they open?!? Now an Expanse shoots a bit up the pick order and I'll be happy to board in the Pyromancer against any of the plethora of 2/1.decs that people seem to be so fond of. Wheeling the dual, the Hawk, the Cancel or the Inspired Charge would be nice, but not very realistic.
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Pack 2 pick 4:
Not too much for us here. I have all but given up on Red (3rd pick Fireball notwithstanding) and take the Negate.
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Pack 2 pick 5:
Looks like we could have had some decent red cards, but Inspired Charge is a massive card in a fliers deck, and one which seems to slip under a lot of people's radars (perhaps because LSV slammed it in his set review or something). Squadron Hawk is insane with this card.
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Pack 2 pick 6:
I like the combat trick over the sideboard card as I hope to pick one up later and I really like 1 Mighty Leap. Late Rise from the Grave.
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Pack 2 pick 7:
The Veteran is a great card in a fliers deck and I'm happy to have him.
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Pack 2 pick 8:
Ding ding Plummet/Spider #4. Squadron Hawk is the easy pick here especially since we have an outside chance of wheeling one in this pack, plus the whole next pack to pick up more.
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
Garbage pack is garbage. I could take the combat trick but *sometimes* the Tunneler can give people free wins, so I just remove him from the equation.
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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 13:
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Pack 2 pick 14:
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Pack 2 pick 15:
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It certainly wasn't a trainwreck but there's still a lot to be done in Pack 3. We need creatures, especially fast ones with flying. We also need an Expanse.
Pack 3 pick 1:
Happy to get him, although I must say I considered the TSG-esque raredraft on the Baloth. If he was worth a pack I might well have done so, to my shame.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 2:
Mana Leak would be sweet but we need men more. I wasn't sure about Hawk over Crusader. I was pretty heavy white after that last pack, and I love Crusader's defensive capabilities since I wasn't overly fast as it stood. If I had had two Hawks already I think I'd have picked the Hawk. Would be interested to hear opinions on this.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
I still like Sleep, although not so much in UW, but it's a powerful spell that can buy a turn or two in a tight race. I'd rather gave it fir me than agin' me.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 4:
Again I wanted to take the Leak, but the Hawk is needed to make my other Hawk playable. Can't afford to risk the other probably-not wheeling.
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Pack 3 pick 5:
Exactly what I wanted. I note that 2 Shiv's Embrace and 2 Ember Hauler have gone by, so there might be a semi-dangerous red deck floating about.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 6:
Both removal spells here are good against powerful enchantments ;) Augury Owl would have been a contender if I had had more removal by this point.
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Pack 3 pick 7:
I think I have *just* enough creatures to make this work.
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Pack 3 pick 8:
Woo! Just when it looked like that Fireball might not make the cut, we get the Expanse at the last possible moment.
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
This will be a sweet combat trick against the other UW deck(s). I really like this card as a 1-of.
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Pack 3 pick 10:
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Pack 3 pick 11:
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Pack 3 pick 12:
Dunno if I'll run 3, but clearly the card is undervalued.
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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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I'm really short on time right now but will upload some videos of matches later. I wasn't thrilled with the way the deck went but every round I played was pretty exciting with good close matches. Ended up hitting the finals and losing to the mirror, which is where I found out about the dubious Doomblade/Foil Liliana picks.
For my own deck, the biggest decision I had to make was in what volume to run my Inspired Charges. After cramming every decent man I decided that 2 was the number, but to be honest it should probably have been 1 as I only had 12 maindeck creatures.
Thanks for reading, videos to follow!
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