Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
Nothing major in this pack, it’s either comfort in the Iguanar or power in the Rhox War Monk. With all of my recent Jund drafting in triple reborn I was instinctively looking to go Jund here, but my personal preference to go for power over ease first pick took over. Also, I have never drafted or cast Rhox War Monk in my life in any context. (I’ve really only drafted about 12 times with Shards involved, usually leaning Jund/Naya, and have never opened him in sealed.)
My Pick:
“But he’s a DRAGON. A hasty, awesome DRAGON!”
A bad pick. Besides not matching P1P1, triple red is just so oppressive in a three-plus-color format. My reasoning was that there wasn’t much else that fit with my first pick anyway, but really if that’s my logic I should have taken the Thrinax. That's not even correct, though, as the Kathari Screecher, Cloudheath Drake, and Esper Panorama would all have been better picks than this tough-to-cast dragon.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Shut up, OK? Just shut up. In my mind I was being “flexible,” and I had recently read Sadin’s article about picking fixing early and the first-pick value of the trilands, so I picked it despite it not having much relevance to my draft to that point. Mosstadon, Knight of the Skyward Eye, or Kathari Screecher would be preferable here. I’d take Knight of the Skyward Eye if I could do it over again.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
OK, so now I finally decide to embrace my first pick. I considered the Leviathan, but while he can obviously be good in the right spot, a lot of the time he’s a reset button that doesn’t really give you a huge advantage. I’m more interested in working the aggro Bant angle, anyway, and the Deft Duelist is an underrated card, even without a ton of exalted.
My Pick:
A bit of a rare draft, even though it's not worth much. I'm not a fan of the Kiss, but Roar is solid and maybe should have been the pick, or even the dorky bear. Welkin Guide is better for Naya but also a consideration.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
More kisses. No thanks, I’ll take the aggressive spell--Bant is a shard that needs tricks, too.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
I considered the Court Archers, which I like just fine, but Infiltrators is an underrated card that can go late because it only really fits in Bant. Also, cheap multicolored drops go up in value now with Blades in pack three looking to get turned on.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
Bleh. Man, Shards dries up so quickly…
Pack 1 pick 10:
My Pick:
I don't like playing Obelisks, and this guy is actually OK in Bant. With my playable count at this point, he is quite likely to make the cut.
Pack 1 pick 11:
My Pick:
Sweet! Unfortunately, the last relevant card in the first pack.
Pack 2 pick 1:
My Pick:
What a yucky pack to open. Really? This is my best option? Sigh, it is.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
That's more like it. I hear Icy Manipulator is good in limited. Too bad I have to pass the Cormorants.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
I don't know. I thought I could splash red here to get a pretty powerful effect, and didn't think the other options were all that strong. In retrospect, Filigree Fracture, Armillary Sphere, or even Skyward Eye Prophets would have been better. Unsummon will probably table, and if not, there will be others late.
I realize my pick was a mistake right after making it, and I really start to feel depressed about the draft. My deck feels bombless and weak.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
That's a late Volcanic Fallout, yikes. As it is, I have to take fixing or the pro bear and remember that a Fallout is floating around. I go with fixing.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Man, now an Ember Weaver teasing me about the Naya deck that might have been. Still Gleam is just fine.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Another pump spell is perfect in this spot. I can never seem to take the Rhox Bodyguard, it just feels bad. Cumberstone is a possibility, but it's really a board card, and I need main deck material right now.
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Why don't I like Nacatl Hunt-Pride? Maybe because it has never really beaten me. Sticking with low-curve options, I take the Brackwater Elemental. How am I going to win with this deck? I'm not sure yet.
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
More foresaking of Hunt-Prides, but winning on tempo is a good way I have to win this.
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
Another bad pick. I can't really be excited about playing this for three, meaning the Nacatl Savage or Controlled Instincts had a better shot at seeing play at some point.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
Whatever.
Pack 2 pick 11:
My Pick:
OK, I'll take a second. Lapse of Certainty is a similar card, but costs three times as much. Easy to leave a single blue up. That's all that mattered for this pack.
Pack 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
After groaning about the Bituminous Blast, I almost grabbed the Esper Stormblade out of "take blades highly" triple-Reborn habit. When I thought about it, though, I wasn't sure I had the density of multicolored spells for it to be a 3/2 flyer reliably. With time running down I took the solid Ethercaste Knight, but I should have gone with the blade. Maybe it won't be 3/2 flying with the consistency it is in RRR, but it should be most of the time.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Easy Sureblade. Every one of my creature picks is going to be multicolored...I so should have taken the Stormblade P1.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Well hello there, gorgeous! Have I mentioned I should have taken the Stormblade P1? I hear 6/5 flyers for 2 mana are above the curve.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
I wanted to try the Coatl, but not at the cost of adding another Sureblade. I would be happy to run five of these guys, especially with a Knight of New Alara in my pile.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
I'm not sure why I got stubborn here and counterdrafted the pump spell over taking the Sigiled Behemoth. Maybe my abundance of awesome playables convinced me I had the wiggle room. Maybe I was just sick to my stomach over continuing to pass such great Jund down the line.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Happy to have a clear spot to take a Borderpost.
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
It's kinda like a third Bant Sureblade! I hope.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
I don't hate this pick, but I think the Pale Recluse was more correct. Part of my reasoning for taking the Boon was that I actually had a deck where this could help me go alpha, whereas in a lot of UW decks, the key killers already have flying.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
This card seems too situational to be anything more than mediocre on average--I knew at the time that the "correct" pick was, again, the landcycler--but I wanted to give it a try and see if it could surprise me.
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
Would love the Pale Recluse back...
Pack 3 pick 11:
My Pick:
Will almost certainly make my deck. Not great, but hopefully helps hold the ground while I dig for Knight of New Alara.
Pack 3 pick 12:
My Pick:
I gift someone the late borderpost and take the crap rare, which is another pretty major mistake. I was closing this out short on playables, and I should have at least given myself the option of a red splash of the by taking the borderpost over a card that is probably worth less than a borderpost anyway.
(I just looked it up, as of this writing, Firewild Borderpost is $0.08, and Cloven Casting is $.10. Borderpost definitely would have given two cents in value by having that option in my pile.)
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Here's a recreation of roughly what I came up with:
Well, it has a low curve and good tempo/aggro spells in the pump and double Unsummon. I'm going to need to draw my better cards and get off to fast starts, because long games don't seem like they will favor me unless I can stick a Knight of New Alara.
My first opponent is polite, gracious, and chatty from the get go, so I immediately peg him as a member of the Tireless Tribe. I lose the roll, keep a solid hand, and get a good start in Bant Sureblade and Deft Duelist. He chumps fairly early, confirming my tribal read.
I spend turn three cycling for land, and on turn four I have the Knight of New Alara play, but he has left five mana up, including RB.
When backed into a corner, I like the conventional wisdom that you should figure out what would need to happen for you to come back and win, and play as though that is going to happen. Conversely, when you apparently have a firm grip on a game, you should figure out how you could lose and play around it.
Accordingly, I decide not to play the Knight of New Alara in the turn below because I passed a Bituminous Blast and don’t want to attack into a blowout when I can play a Rioters after combat and leave Unsummon mana up.
Turns out he had Breath, and that’s fine.
It was over pretty quickly after that.
R1G2
This is an easy keep; I could conceivably win this game with the three castable cards alone.
My first three draws are another Sureblade, Brackwater Elemental, and Sylvan Bounty. I drop the Sureblades to get my O on. His first play is a Pestilent Kathari, and he leaves the mana up. I’ll trade my two mana for his six anytime, as I’ll be able to follow next turn with another multicolored play whether I hit a land or not.
He fails to draw a land in the next couple of turns and concedes.
R2G1
I lose the roll and look at these on the draw:
Any land curves me out two through four. No blue but an easy keep regardless.
He stumbles a bit on mana, getting out a T2 Puppet Conjurer and and a T3 Courier's Capsule before missinng his fourth land drop despite popping the capsule. I swing with my 2/1 Sureblade on T3, and then my 3/2 first-striking Pureblade when I cascade into Jhessian Infiltrator on turn four. Turn five deals five more damage, he fails to find a land source on turn six and gives it up
.
R2G2
On the draw again, Grog ships me seven for inspection:
This is one of those hands that looks like it could be trouble, and I certainly could get shut out of green mana if I keep. However, I have 8 ways to get green in the 33 cards, and three pulls to do it. Even if I end up not pulling green, there are 9 spells I can draw that can be cast with the three mana available to me--11 if I get an additional ble or white source in the first four draws.
What looks like a worriesome starter is actually pretty unlikely to be inactive on turn three, here. Plus, the hand contains my bomb.
The decision seems sound, what about the result? How about both Bant Sureblades and a Sylvan Bounty in the first three draws? Way to make me look good, deck:
He finds a swamp and bounces a Sureblade with Sedraxis Alchemist. I draw a Plains and replay the Sureblade, adding the Sighted-Caste Sorcer to swing for an exalted 4 with the unbounced Sureblade. He drops an Esper Cormorants and passes. I already get to swing with two 3/2 first strikers, but a Forest would be a glorious rip, here.
The shuffler is broken...for you. Living the dream, baby!
Note my bad mana tapping, though. Being confident in my win, I thoughtlessly tapped my Island when it represented sorcerer-shrouding mana. I can't think of a card he could have drawn to turn it around, and if he did, it wasn't going to target the Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, but tapping mana correctly in these spots is like running out ground balls: it's proper discipline, and every once in a blue moon, it will make a difference.
In this case, he concedes to the attack. Go KONA!
R3G1
I win the roll and on the play find these seven:
Man, another tough one. All my mana, but too much of it. A nice T2 play that really starts the clock on an opponent without removal, or, I get them to use removal on a 2/2 for 2. I can play anything I draw and I feel this is narrowly better than a random six, so I keep.
My first three draws are Plains, Gleam of Resistance, and then a T4 Rhox War Monk, while my opponent has Trace of Abundance to accelerate into a T3 Hill Giant.
That’s a good board for me, with Unsummon at the ready and a Gleam online next turn.
He swings in with the Canyon Minotaur next turn, and I decline to block, although with the Unsummon I could have. Instead, he decides, before combat damage is on the stack, to Soul’s Fire the Infiltrator. What a gift! I Unsummon his Minotaur for the crippling play. Remember kids: use Soul’s Fire carefully.
I draw a land, swing him down to 11, and pass. On his turn, he attempts to Drag Down the Infiltrator. I consider letting him die, but to what end? This will use up another of his turns, another piece of his removal, and hell be down to 6 after the next attack facing a War Monk and an unblockable 2/2. I save the Infiltrator with the Gleam of Resistance, draw into Scepter of Dominance, and this one is over shortly after.
R3G2
He keeps his seven and I look at this:
My initial “yay, mix of land and spells!” was replaced by the realization that two of the spells were effectively more land, and one of the spells is an experimental one that doesn't excite me. I keep some risky hands, but usually when I at least have an early, aggressive play. This I ship back.
I didn’t snag my 6-card, but it sucked. Here’s my five:
This hand or the original 7-carder? I think I like this one, really. Two shots at any land to bail me out with three great spells? Let's do it.
He uses a Pano and Traces up a land, while I draw a second Plains and a Sylvan Bounty and cycle for a forest at the end of his turn. So, it’s my T3 and I have two plains and a forest with another
I play the Blade. I will be able to cycle and have Roar mana up next turn, and if I don’t need to use the Roar, I will be able to cast RWM with Roar mana up on T5. Having mulled to five, protecting my key creature by playing it with pump mana up seems correct.
I get a perfect T4 rip in my second Blade, which will allow me to pump the first blade and leave up Roar mana if needed, or cycle mana if not. Awesome.
I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself until he has Enlisted Wurm on T5, who cascades in additional help in the form of Jund Sojourners. Man, permanents/removal spells with cascade can simply turn games around. I fetch my
I draw Jhessian Infiltrator and decide to swing with my Sureblades, which telegraphs my pump, but I still feel like I’m racing here with the Rhox War Monk and now Infiltrator. He declines to block, goes to 11, and I drop my Monk and pass with Roar mana up.
His T6 brings a choice. He Soul’s Fires my War Monk for five. Do I save the Monk with the Roar?
He’s got one card left in hand. I decide that it’s more important to bait an attack and keep the race on. I’m in a MUCH more powerful position to swing into him next turn with 3/2 first strikers and Roar, and then drop an unblockable 2/2. That is a plan that will win me the game, whereas saving my War Monk is just going to create a stall where he has the biggest guy and I have no tools to defeat it. I let War Monk die, and hope it convinces him I don’t have pump.
He swings with the Wurm and Sojourners, dropping me to 12, but I’m still feeling good. I untap, draw a Brackwater Elemental, and swing with the blades into his Minotaur and four untapped mana. Do you see my mistake?
I missed the screen shot, but he Terminates one of the blades, making the other one a 2/1 heading into a 3/3. If I had played out the Infiltrator precombat, I would have been immune to the 2:1. Now, I have to use Roar to save my blade, which was definitely not the plan. That roar was a vital part of my victory plan, and I squandered needlessly.
I play out the Brackwater Elemental, now needing something to scare off his Sojourners, at least. It works and he just swings with the wurm. I drop to 7, untap, draw Grizzled Leotau, dump my hand, and keep the race going. He chumps and pings me to 6.
Then he untaps and decides, hey, how about I go ahead and rip a killer Infest?
I’m flustered, frankly, I felt like I was on the verge of winning, and then I walk into an avoidable Terminate trap and lose two key men to Infest. This tilt carries over to next turn, and I make a hasty play, screwing up my mana use again, this time when it really matters.
I draw Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, and I hastily played it out using “blue” because of my tilt and the psychological connection the card has with blue. Wow. So bad. I should be attacking with a 5/5 Brackwater Elemental that he either has to trade with or take and drop to 3. Instead…I’m passing…
A game of inches, folks.
So he untaps for T9 and swings in with his 5/5, you are at 6. Do you chump or take it?
I decide I have to take it. I have a lot of draws that allow me to double-block and trade with his 5/5, and I have to play as though one of those is going to happen.
I untap, draw Stormcaller’s Boon. Boon or unearth the 4/4 here?
I want to keep the race on, and bring the 4/4 with intentions to swing him to 3, and see if he even has the guts to attack. Instead, he has the Drag Down for the Brackwater with exalted on the stack.
I have to chump his next attack with the 1/1, as I still have outs to holding off the wurm with the Leotau. He drops Monstrous Carabid and Stun Sniper to make it moot, though. He has been ripping gas for four turns, and I succumb, even drawing an out for holding off the wurm.
This is a much different game without my two mistakes.
R3G3
I play and see these 7:
Not as speedy as I’d like, but I have to keep this. I draw an Island T2 and cycle for the plains. Another Plains on the draw, and I drop Ethercaste Knight. He cycles a Carabid before his turn, plays out a second Mountain alongside his Swamp, and passes.
I draw into Rhox War Monk, drop a second
His unspent mana is fishy, but an unanswered Rhox War Monk/Ethercaste Knight will wreck him. I go with the Monk, and he has the Terminate. Can I be confident enough about his chance of having Terminate to warrant Captured Sunlight in that spot?
He drops a
He swings for three, casts a Jund Sojourners and passes. I draw more land and swing with the Deft Duelist for an exalted 3, sitting back on Gleam and Flurry.
He untaps, casts a Rip-Clan Crasher and swings with the team. Do you Gleam or Flurry?
I decide to play the Flurry and take it all to set up an even more effective Gleam. Should I have put the Knight and one bird on the Crasher? It doesn’t seem worth two life to put such a potentially-devastating Gleam at risk.
He passes, I draw an unexciting
What a sequence. In the aftermath, he’s at 4 life to my 11. Note that he chose to wait until my attack to pop the Volcanic Fallout. If he had overcome the “last minute” instinct and remembered my Gleam, it would have been his 3/3 to my empty board, about to draw a land. The possible gains from waiting until my attack are too remote to outweigh the very real possibility of Gleam. His turn for a game-changing mistake.
He untaps and passes, back on defense with one card in hand. I untap and draw more land, and make an ill-advised attack with everything when I should have sat tight. I should only attack here if I win on an unchanged board, which I don’t. I somehow attack thinking I’m going to hit with a bird and the duelist, and instead drop him to 2 and he takes out the 2/1.
He draws and passes, I draw another plains and pass. He finds a Canyon Minotaur and I respond with the Brackwater Elemental.
I’m feeling pretty good about that, I can bash in twice with Brackwater and win if he doesn’t draw something.
He draws something.
He attacks with the Bloodbraid, and I take it. I draw another land, pass, and take another 3 from his Bloodbraid to go to 5. I think he should have attacked with pro-white bear as well, it would force me to go to 3 or lose my big blocker. Man, does my mistaken Duelist attack look awful now. These are the mistakes the best in the world don’t make, at least not very often, and not when they are winning tournaments.
I draw Grizzled Leotau, which after all that land feels like casting Akroma.
The big-assed cat makes attacking difficult for him. He plays a Pano so I know he has no gas right now. I untap searching for an out, and find one:
He breaks his Pano, untaps, and casts a Stun Sniper one turn too late and makes me block correctly with an all-out attack before finally succumbing.
What a finish!
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