Nuts & Bolts: A Magic Blog: AAA#4

I drafted this right after losing in the first round of AAA#3. I went in pretty determined to force one of the "good" shards, either Naya or Jund. I'm looking to start GR as a base and then flow into white or black depending on the cards.

Pack 1 pick 1:

I don't particularly like taking a tri-color first pick that's not a certified bomb, but with my sights set on Jund or Naya, and with no other card in the pack that comes close in power except for the other Naya card (the Battlemage), this was a pretty easy pick.

Pack 1 pick 2:

Second-pick Thunder is a hopeful sign; there's a common missing, which could mean O-Ring.

Pack 1 pick 3:

The rare is interesting and mighht be pretty good, but double red and better for Jund. I'll stick with self-pumper.

Pack 1 pick 4:

I should have sucked it up and taken the Squire or one of the cyclers, I think. I can't see myself moving into black even though it's early, so I effectively spent this pick cutting the Infest. Passing the Infest would have sent a good signal.

Pack 1 pick 5:

I like this card, but it doesn't play very well with Exalted.

Pack 1 pick 6:

Pack 1 pick 7:

Torn between this and Naturalize.

Pack 1 pick 8:

The best Naya card, but I'm a little scattered over the three Naya colors. Unless you are specifically going five-color good stuff, you want to be XXx in your AAA drafts.

Pack 1 pick 9:

The relative weakness of the low end of AAA commons starts to show up in picks like this.

Pack 1 pick 10:

Pack 1 pick 11:

Pack 1 pick 12:

Pack 1 pick 13:

Pack 1 pick 14:

Pack 1 pick 15:

Pack 2 pick 1: