DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

-Greg

Sunday went much better this week.

Brenna and I were seated in the same pod, with her to my right, and Phil to hers, and so I told myself to draft Grixis right of the bat. Glad I didn't now, because Sean somehow picked four Blightnings, a foil Cruel Ultimatum, and I think he had a Violent Ultimatum in there somewhere. At any rate, black and black-hate was crazy enough that I switched almost immediately to GW to grab massive fatties, several Druids, tri-lands, plenty of white removal, and this handy card. I was also using a new strategy based off Bread, but tailored for AAC:

1. Is there anything in this pack that's a fucking enormous creature, preferrably with perks?
2. Is there anything in this pack that will help me fetch lands or fix mana?
3. Is there any removal in this pack?
4. Are there any really versatile cards in this pack?
5. Are there any cards in this pack that let me dig into my deck for what I need?



Turns out, I was on to something.
Rockcaster Platoon turned out to be a really reliable card for me, because a 5/7 is an awesome blocker in a world of 5/5s. The added perk of killing little deathtouch fliers was just icing. Yoked Plowbeast isn't necessarily a bargain, but even if you only play it 1/4 times you draw it, you're still cycling 75% of the time into the right lands or removal spells for the game you're in. I grabbed Sunseed Nurturer for similar reasons, as mana acceleration even at turn three is good, and only increases my already good chances of having a big nasty green thing on the board by turn four or five. Some might laugh at two life a turn, but after watching Phil and Brenna hacking it out with three goblets in play, I was reassured that it was a decent move, strategically. My Leviathan proved to be totally worthless, as I was always digging for that elusive second island, or worse, being met head on by a Wretched Banquet. I snatched up Exotic Orchard as a first pick, which worked out well, since everyone was rushing to drop a tri-land or rupture spire.

My third best pick of the night was a common: Beacon Behemoth. Giving all my big guys vigilance was a winning tactic more than once, allowing me to walk all over my opponents' creatures and still be able to answer their attacks with creatures of five, six, or seven toughness.

Second best pick was Thornling, which is known to make grown men cry. You might have to do a little crafty playing to draw out counterspells, but if you can get this guy to resolve with one G open, then the game is probably yours.

Best pick? Sharding Sphinx, a fifty-cent crap rare. You hit with this guy first, hopefully with a pumping instant, then you've got a little army of little flying chump blockers. Next turn, you swing in again, and every time Spinx or a thopter does damage, your little army doubles in size. I only got this thing on the board once, and was met with an almost immediate scoop.

crape rare FTW

Anyway, drafting this way nestled me quite comfortably into second place, my highest showing yet. I can't wait til next week!

Ugh.

-Greg

Sunday went HORIBBLY.

First pack, I opened a Sharding Sphinx, and was off to a good start. Sadly, no esper, or even interesting blue cards came my way, so I ended up drafting mostly Naya. Later, I found out that Brenna and Phil had both been grabbing Naya cards, watering all three of our decks down. First pack dropped this hilarious card, and it was all downhill from there. Second pack, I open a Scepter, and grab it over a some BR goodies, and told myself I was probably dumb for not going Grixis. Steve, the guy who owns the Lich's Lair, who I had previously thought was a pretty great guy, hate-drafted a monster that was coming my way during pick two or three, and it's the speed of my downhill tumble increases. Thankfully, I grabbed a Life Gainer 5000, which turns out to be about the only good thing to happen to me all night.

Game 1:
I pair up with Miguel, who I had grossly underrated as a noob. Our round went almost to time, as I was busy explaining a lot of the rules and intricacies of the game to him. Sadly, the oppurtunity to be a tutor to the kid is this match's only highlight, as Miguel grabs just the right cards at just the right time. Miguel sweeps me.
Match: 0-2, Overall: 0-1

Game 2:
The two Iveys are paired up, and it's the ultimate matrimonial match! Brenna's deck was hilariously similar to mine, and we go two embarassing games. Ghariels on both side build up a dozen or so tokens each, and Brenna's slamming down green fatties, but my Wall of Reverence keeps gaining me life of my lions while I throw Paragon of Amesha at her for five a turn. I sweep in two close games, and we make out in the bathroom for a while.
Match: 2-0, Overall: 1-1

Game 3:
I'm paired up with Phil in game 3, wishing I'd drafted something else. He lays down bird after bird, but I continue to pump Amesha, gain 5 from the lifelink, gain five from Wall of Reverence. He wittles me down by 1 point a turn, but I can't draw any answers. Game one ends with almost twenty creatures on the board, and Phil and I can only laugh at how we just filled up an entire scorecard with my life numbers. Game two Phil really impresses me with some interesting draft choices. He keeps making Spearbreaker unblockable, another fattie indestructible, and hits me with fliers for the win.
Match: 2-0, Overall: 1-2

Conclusion:
I think I am getting better at drafting, and I can definitely tell I'm getting better at playing a draft deck. Unfortunately, I was plagued by bad draws, and got generally weak draft choices, but I'm feeling even more confident about next week. Brenna's doing better and better every time, too, and I can't wait to see what she pulls out of her hat.



Non-Draft:
I will also be taking part in Friday Night Magic this week, playing Standard constructed. I'll be running a Black/Red Goblin control deck, relying pretty heavily on burning out creatures, using Blightning and Raven's Crime to thin hands out, and finishing with either Siege-Gang Commander, or my one copy Voracious Dragon. I've got two Nicols (a card I originally thought was unplayable) sitting in my sideboard, because I've found that some of match-ups (surprisingly) go long enough to have seven lands and an Obelisk of Grixis sitting on the board.

I think Brenna might go, too. If so, she'll be running Naya, which is really unrepresented in our meta game. The thing is surprisingly quick on its feet, able to drop Thornlings on turn four, or Ajani'ing away your mana on turn three.


Anyway, good luck to all, and hope to see you this weekend!

Prepping for Sunday's Draft

-Greg

Let me start this by saying that I am the worst drafter. I'm a consistent bottom-half finisher, and have never placed higher than 6th out of 15. My lovely wife, Brenna is definitely a better drafter than I am (although this might have something to do with the Alara block's synergy with her play style), and my old roomie Kimball (the only other non-wife person I play casual magic with) puts us both to shame in limited formats. Kimball had a perfect run at the Conflux prerelease, despite having an almost laughable losing streak to me from earlier in the week, which further piqued my curiousity at my own lack of abilities.

So what's my problem? No clue. I do well enough in constructed, which leads me to think that maybe my strengths there lie in how well I know the deck. I probably do more than adequate playtesting, and I tend to agonize over card choices until I'm sick of looking at the decklist, luxuries I'm not afforded in limited. Another, more embarassing fact about me, is I have a hard time picking out "bombs." This all goes back to Ice Age, when I looked at Necropotence and said, "What, life for cards? NO WAY, JOSE."

So how do you solve a problem like this? PROFOUND AMOUNTS OF DATA ANALYSIS. Also, you look at Conflux spoilers online during slow days at work.

Sunday's Overall Strategy:

Fuck one drops. If there's anything I've learned in my few weeks of drafting, it's that drafting for speed is a waste of time. I'm looking at Aven Squire to be the bare minimum in what to expect from a creature. Rhox Meditant should be an extension of this philosophy of mid-game shoring-up.


Removal + Heavy Hitters. Shards and Conflux are cheap with removal, and I'll draft said removal second only to big, nasty creatures. Martial Coup would be the perfect intersection of the two, but considering I'll have somewhere around a 3% or 4% chance of opening this in one of my packs, I won't hold my breath. Nacatl Hunt-Pride, on the other hand, will probably come up, and I will grab it with great vengeance. I'll try to resist the urge to greed draft Path to Exile, but I can't promise how much luck I'll have with that.


Hatedraft Leviathans, Resisting Urge to Set Aflame.
If Dave plops an Inkwell in front of me again, I'm going to vom.

Don't Fear a Steep Mana Curve. I'll be paying more attention to the heavy cost cards that also have basic landscycling, like Fiery Fall. Between these and the everpresent Cylix and slew of mana-fixing uncommon lands and artifacts, I should have plenty of resources.

Face It, You're Going Five Colors.
Even though I've been conditioned by years of MTG that five colors is a noobmove, I've come to understand that while Shards made it tempting to draft a rainbow, Flux made it almost irresistable. I'll be snatching up every Fusion Elemental I see, as well as Paragon of Amesha, Dragonsoul Knight, and anything else that has WUBRG anywhere on it's face. I haven't seen anyone pull a Maelstrom yet, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Don't Draft Bonesaw.
I have swept three unlucky souls in a Flux draft, and all played Bonesaw. WTF.








Anyway, I'll be taking notes during the draft to report back Monday. Everyone have a good weekend, and good luck at the tables!

Your Micro-Economy is Bullshit

-Greg

I was going to write a long-winded, swear-laden tirade about the cost of buying Figure of Destiny from card shops or eBay sellers, but after doing Teh Math, I can't really be so mad about it:

The facts:
Eventide has 180 cards, 59 of which are "rare." You will find one randomly chosen rare in each booster pack, which makes your chances of pulling one specific rare 1.7%.
An internet-savvy deal seeker can buy a pack for $2.25.
The total cost of every rare from the cheapest price listed on magiccards.info is about $138, for an average of $2.35 a rare.
Figure of Destiny will cost you no less than $20.

Using these numbers, let's take the total cost of a playset of Figures, $80, and buy packs with the cash. At $2.25, we will get 35 packs in the mail, with a little left over for a soda. At the rarity of 1.7%, you have a 60% chance of getting ONE Figure this way. For the sake of argument, let's say we get lucky and pull one Figure, sell off all those other rares for their average price of $2.35, and reinvest in new boosters. If you can manage to get the prices card dealers charge you, you'll net 79.90, and get 35 more boosters and another coke. Fat chance, of course, so let's say, conservatively, that you can get 40% of their value (and you'd be lucky to do that). Now you can afford 14 new packs, which brings your total chance of wrapping your sticky fingers around another sweet, soothing Figure of Destiny to around 25%. These numbers are even more grim when you consider that your local store will have to charge you closer to 3.50 a pack to make enough money to give you a table to draft at.