Pack 1 pick 1:
A very interesting first pick between Howling Banshee and Sleep. Perhaps this shows my bias towards black, but either way I found these cards very hard to separate (both excellent, both heavy colour commitments). Whilst Sleep shines in creature heavy decks (GU) of course so does shape more strongly how your draft must go there's no better way to do this than from the get go. I don't usually pay too much attention to wheel considerations in pack 1 but given the 3 blue cards it will be interesting to see how many of them wheel (probably not that many since the quality of the other commons isn't high whilst all the blue are playable).
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Pack 1 pick 2:
Having picked sleep I am immediately attracted to GU and eye up the Spined Wurm. The crystal ball doesn't fit that well with the guys+sleep idea since we don't want to overload on non creature spells (ie ending up a removal heavy UB with sleep is not as good) but early in the draft keeping options open whilst getting a card you'll 100% play is great.
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Pack 1 pick 3:
Some green and black coming through here, but I take the only playable blue card to cut.
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Pack 1 pick 4:
A crucial pick. For me it is between Basilisk and Squadron Hawk. Having had success with previous hawk decks I'm happy to take hawk this early in the hopes of getting 1 (or more) more.
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Pack 1 pick 5:
Another tough pick between scroll thief and the wall. Neither fits that well with the sleep plan but the wall is just a beast against fast deck, which will give me time to dig for sleep or take control with ball.
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Pack 1 pick 6:
Yus!. Black looks like its flowing.
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Pack 1 pick 7:
I agonised over this pick but given that its looking like Im uw I am more concerned about coming up a little short on removal and need something. Infantry veteran gets better with the hawks I have been getting but you can usually pick one up later and I wouldn't want to run too many.
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Pack 1 pick 8:
Well there you go.
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Pack 1 pick 9:
I like the options Palace guard gives me vs aggressive decks. Though I am a little concerned by the power/toughness ratios of my guys atm
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Pack 1 pick 10:
Charge will be a nice trick with my squaddies
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Pack 1 pick 11:
I pick up another as there's nothing in the pack but I would need a very aggressive deck to play both.
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Pack 2 pick 1:
In a vaccuum Serra> B Mage> Pacifism.
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Pack 2 pick 2:
lol sleepaments. If there was a pacifism in this pack I'm not sure what I would have taken, its the choice of going all in on the sleeps and going very aggressive (not ness where my deck was heading) or taking the all round good card. Knowing my love for a gambol I probably would have taken the sleep (I'll be damned if someone else gets them and not me!)
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Pack 2 pick 3:
Again, not much of a decision because there's one nuts card in an otherwise average pack.
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Pack 2 pick 4:
Some nice red there. Anyway, time to pick up some d00ds.
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Pack 2 pick 5:
Mana leak.. never bad.
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Pack 2 pick 6:
This is probably the pick of the draft I am most happy about. I was low on 3 drops and had 2 sleeps and 2 charges are 4 potentially. Whilst ascension is nice to beef up a small guy (like a hawk) and in a vacuum more powerful than the flier I needed guys and more 3 drops so took the griffin, as I want to avoid a situation where I draw hands of tricks but not enough guys. I actually drew the flier in one of the games when I needed a guy so felt vindicated.
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Pack 2 pick 7:
Another solid guy. Drafting is easy when you don't have comparable cards in each pack :)
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Pack 2 pick 8:
Sage owl. I didn't end up playing this as my 2 drop filled out, but it is still correct over d-drafting the plummet at this stage.
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Pack 2 pick 9:
More guys. I like excomm more than most I think, but with 2 sleeps all Im thinking about is getting 6/8 power on the table.
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Pack 2 pick 10:
Mana fix is important with sleep and serra etc, I love a solemn offering though. Marine guard is redundant because I have the palace guards (and better 2 drops)
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Pack 2 pick 11:
Again I want guys over non creature spells and I'm happy to maindeck 1 mastadon at the moment (whereas diminish would start in the sb over cards like charge given I have lots of guys)
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Pack 3 pick 1:
clone>crusader.
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Pack 3 pick 2:
3rd squadron is nuts. For once there are a few other stellar cards in the pack such as water servant and cloud, but a 3rd squaddie makes them all exponentially better. Can I get a 4th...!??!
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Pack 3 pick 3:
3rd squadron is nuts. For once there are a few other stellar cards in the pack such as water servant and cloud, but a 3rd squaddie makes them all exponentially better. Can I get a 4th...!??!
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Pack 3 pick 4:
Another interesting pick. I have quite a few 2 drops now though and not that much at 3 so I take man owar. Stalling my opponent whilst I get more guys down is perfect.
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Pack 3 pick 5:
I was quite close to d-drafting the combust here but I still need a few guys, and whilst I don't rate the thiefs chances of connecting that high I still think it will currently make the 23.
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Pack 3 pick 6:
Foil excomm>excomm
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Pack 3 pick 7:
I very almost d-drafted the cultivate as I don't think Ill play the leap, but what changed my mind was the amount of ice cages I'd seen in the draft and I wanted some sideboard vs that.
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Pack 3 pick 8:
Very nice.
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Pack 3 pick 12:
4/4 for 5. nice.
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Pack 3 pick 15:
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I think white was drafted more than green at the table so the basilisk vs squaddie would have probably worked out either way, and with 3 squaddies a serra and pacifism I can't complain.
Round 1 I play MEHTOC with red green and he mulsl to 5 and stalls on 2 lands, I don't have much pressure but make phantom beast and serra. He chumps with brindle board on t5 (84?). After I pacify his only blocker a shivan embraced giant spider it's all over. Game 2 I have clone, stone golem, lion, thief and get ahead when he waits to my turn (?) to chandras outrage a thief and I leak. He shivan embraces his spined wurm and bashes me to 12 but I peel sleep off a scroll thief attack and sleep on 5 life after cloning his wurm. After swinging with the team I have him dead next turn but he peels a land and makes gaea's revenge (perhaps the only card that could save him) and kills me. Game 3 I have island, 2 plaind, sleep ice cage thief, but draw a phantom beast which manages to hold off his team of green guys. A stone golem follows and I draw the 2nd sleep so that's game.
Round 2 I play KArramarro-
Openign is lion, clone, island, 2xplains, sleep, thief. He bolts me and volanic strengths a chandra's spitfire to knock me to 11 and follows up with a nigthwing shade. I have to clone a thief and hope to draw well after I sleep his guys on 8 life with him on 12. I draw a squadron hawk and crystal ball (nice synergy btw if you're desperate) which allows me a string of chumpers and the tools to find a better answer. I just start making so many guys that it's not safe for him to attack. I draw a serra and an excommunicate and that's enough to pressure him with an almost all out attack setting up the win next turn.
Round 3 I play Erdae. He choose to draw "because my (his) deck isn't very good and he needs to draw his good cards. I disagree his deck is decent with a rb act of treason/bloodthrone vampire deck. Game 1 I get schooled with a proddie the turn after my phantom beast comes down and an act+sac on my serra. He has too much removal and my attempted block and inspired charge on a cloud crusader to kill his 3/3 gets ambushed and I am too far behind. Game 2 I have island, plaisn, 2x sleep, lion white knight, mastodon (sided in). I peel the plains to make t2 knight and curve out nicely and when I draw the 2nd island on t6 (with 2x sleep and some guys having stuck around past his removal) its all over. Im feeling confident for game 3. I keep 2xisland, plains, lion ,palace guard, sleep, wall of frost. I get a point in with the palace guard but he steals my freshly cast cloud crusader and gets in for more with the vampire. The game stalls out with him with prodigial pyromancer slowly killing me. I make squadron hawk and hold the other 2 waiting for removal. He can't attack and at me on 8 him on 16 I draw white knight and then crystal ball to edge back into the game. After drawing wild griffin on 6 life with sleep in hand I make it and the last 2 hawks with just about enough to sleep him to death. I clone a gravedigger to get back my cloud crusader and am looking all set after sleeping him with us both now on 6... and him dead next turn. He starts sacing guys to viscera seer and I wonder if he's just messing about but he think casts destructive force!! That leaves me with the wall an island 2 plains a crystal ball and a cloud crusader in hand and him with 1 card and 3 mountains and 2 swamps.
I peel a land and play the crusader.HE has nothing and I beat him to 4. He assasinates my guy I draw plains after putting 2 islands to teh bottom (d'oh!). I He passes and I make stone golem, threatening game next turn but he has chandras outrage to put us both to 4.
He peels manic vandals for my ball and I peel an ice cage but don't use it as I have the wall. He makes howling banshee and puts us both to 1 threatening game next turn. I draw excommunicate. If I ice cage the banshee I lose to a pump, so I excommunicate the banshee. This gives him the option of a draw if he wants it, so Im not 100% on this play (because if I draw a flier that then turns a win into a draw), but I don't like the risk, so I excomm the banshee and pass.
Mistake? I don't really account for my life total being 1 now (meaning a removal to the wall is lethal) so I should have ice caged the vandal. Though if I'm going to ice cage something I should perhaps go for the banshee and play for the win and excomm the vandal (of course by excomming the vandal if means if he just gets another dude I lose because unlike the banshee he can cast the vandal.
Erdae draws act of treason, takes my wall and kilsl me with the vandal. Great games. My next card was Serra followed by sleep. So if I ice cage and he makes vandal then I make serra and he acts that and flies over, so the other play would not have helped. Interesting situation though!
Mental game and what a way to end the streak.
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