Well How About That?

Frank and I went drafting. I went 3-0. My deck was the most bomb-tastic thing I've ever made in limited.

Critters(18):
1 Blitz Hellion
1 Carrion Thrash
1 Charnelhoard Wurm
1 Deadshot Minotaur
1 Deathbringer Thoctar
1 Ember Weaver
1 Gorger Wurm
1 Hissing Iguanar
1 Igneous Pouncer
1 Incurable Ogre
1 Jund Battlemage
1 Jungle Weaver
1 Madrush Cyclops
1 Naya Hushblade
1 Putrid Leech
1 Valley Rannet
1 Wild Leotau
1 Wild Nacatl

Non-Critter Spells(5):
1 Branching Bolt
1 Magma Spray
1 Might of New Alara
1 Sigil of Distinction
1 Yoke of the Damned

Lands(17):
7 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Swamp
1 Veinfire Borderpost

This deck was so full of good stuff, it would be hard to pick out an MVP. So instead I'll pick out the LVP:

Not impressed

This gal is my least favorite goldblade. I am not looking for shroud on a 3/2. I am looking for deathtouch or flying or first strike or haste or something useful. Shroud is for things that I actually care about enough to protect (i.e. Deathbringer Thoctar). Naya Hushblade is so expendable it hurts. She's only fooling herself.

You know what's not fooling itself? Sigil of Distinction. That is the sort of card that I want to see in my first pack. There are few cards indeed in Shards of Alara that I would pick over it, and the majority of them are planeswalkers. The Sigil is fantastic.

Round 1 (vs. Bant/Naya)
Game 1 my opponent play creatures. I play better creatures, drop a Sigil of Distinction, and beat him to death.
Game 2 I keep a bad hand, thinking my Branching Bolt can deal with anything. It can't deal with a turn three Wooly Thoctar. I never recover.
Game 3 goes much the same as the first. My creatures are more powerful than my opponents and I beat him to death (without a Sigil this time).

Round 2 (vs. Jund)
Game 1 Necrogenesis nets my opponent a lot of saprolings and he kills my Deathbringer Thoctar (the anti-saproling) before it can go off. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't draw any answers to my creatures and the saprolings can't hold them off forever.
Game 2 I get manascrewed. I almost recover, but almost doesn't cut it.
Game 3 He gets manascrewed. It's a bloodbath.

Round 3 (vs. Bant)
Game 1 my opponent drops a lot of fliers and an Algae Gharial that grows beyond the range I can deal with. Fliers are a problem. A terminal one, apparantly.
Game 2 he drops Gwafa Hazid and starts bribing my creatures. I draw more, including Madrush Cyclops, and he can't bribe them fast enough. Hazid seems like a good way to end a stalemate, but the game wasn't a stalemate. The game was me winning, and he didn't stop that.
Game 3 he gets a fast start with Aerie Mystics, Battlegrace Angel, Steward of Valeron, and Nacatl Savage. I topdeck a forest on turn five, just in time to land Yoke of the Damned and Branching Bolt, destroying everything except the Savage (he was tapped out and couldn't give his guys shroud). The game turns into a stalemate with me at 10 life and him at 28. I kill his 6/6 Algae Gharial by casting Might of Alara on my Gorger Wurm, drop Charnelhoard Wurm, and win.

I got a Friday Night Magic Mulldrifter. It's pretty nice.

Big Ol' Undefeated

Earlier today, Frank and I went to a Shards-Reborn-Reborn draft. This was the first time I've played with any Alara Reborn cards. I went 3-0, losing not a single game in the process.

My Deck:
Critters:
1 Architects of Will
1 Bloodpyre Elemental
1 Dregscape Zombie
1 Enigma Sphinx
1 Etherium Abomination
2 Grixis Grimblade
1 Grixis Sojourners
1 Igneous Pouncer
1 Kathari Bomber
1 Monstrous Carabid
1 Sewn-Eye Drake
1 Shore Snapper
1 Skeletal Kathari
1 Skyclaw Thrash

Non-Critter Spells:
1 Agony Warp
1 Demonic Dread
1 Grixis Charm
1 Magma Spray
1 Slave of Bolas
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Soul's Fire
1 Terminate

Lands:
1 Grixis Panorama
4 Island
5 Mountain
1 Plains
6 Swamp

Sideboard:
1 Architects of Will
1 Bant Sojourners
1 Dragon Appeasement
1 Druid of the Anima
1 Goblin Mountaineer
1 Grixis Sojourners
1 Jhessian Zombies
1 Jund Sojourners
1 Kathari Remnant
2 Magefire Wings
1 Resounding Wave
1 Sanctum Plowbeast
1 Singe-Mind Ogre
1 Soul Manipulation
1 Thopter Foundry

Why yes, I did run Enigma Sphinx with only one Plains and no mana fixing. The one game I actually played it, I cascaded into a Soul Manipulation (The worst result possible). Still, I won that game by using Slave of Bolas to steal my opponent's Akrasan Squire and swinging for exactly lethal with my now 6/5 flier. You don't always have to use your stolen creature to attack.

Slave of Bolas is so good!

You know what's not so good? Flurry of Wings. I didn't get it, but Frank had it in his deck and it was completely underwhelming. He never attacked with enough creatures or was attacked by enough creatures for it to be good. It was a little disappointing, especially after I'd got so excited about it. Frank went 1-2. I blame his four-color deck (says the guy playing a four-color deck). He played an obelisk and a borderpost (Bant and Mistvein, I believe) although he had two more that he could have. I don't like playing obelisks and borderposts. Mana fixing is nice, but the cycling cards just strike me as far better options. If you draw one early game, it fixes your mana. If you draw one late game, it might actually be relevant. I might even prefer Monstrous Carabid and its ilk to the artifact, but that's just me. If you get the chance to draft borderposts and cyclers, go for it. But if it comes down to a choice between those two, I greatly favor the cycling dudes. What do I know about drafting? It's not like I went undefeated or anything.

If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Austin, Texas, feel free to post a comment on the most recent Card of the Day. It would be my pleasure to meet, draft with, and ideally crush you. No hard feelings

So There's This Thing Called "Conflux"

Went to the prerelease. Good times. My sealed deck:

CRITTERS (15):
1 Jund Battlemage
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Nacatl Outlander
1 Rockslide Elemental
1 Vithian Stinger
1 Beacon Behemoth
1 Cylian Sunsinger
1 Rhox Bodyguard
1 Knight of the Skyward Eye
1 Bull Cerodon
1 Blood Cultist
1 Rhox Meditant
1 Hissing Iguanar
1 Sacellum Archers
1 Nacatl Hunt-Pride

NON-CRITTER SPELLS (8):
1 Magma Spray
1 Skeletonize
1 Resounding Silence
1 Obelisk of Esper
1 Fiery Fall
1 Dragon Fodder
1 Resounding Roar
1 Banefire

LANDS (17):
1 Grixis Panorama
1 Swamp
7 Mountains
5 Forests
3 Plains

SIDEBOARD (i.e. all the other cards in my sealed pool):
1 Naturalize
1 Scattershot Archer
1 Blightning
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Goblin Outlander
1 Sylvan Bounty
1 Viscera Dragger
1 Vein Drinker
1 Kaleidostone
1 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Gustrider Exuberant
1 Darklit Gargoyle
1 Court Homunculus
2 Wretched Banquet
1 Deathgreeter
1 Infectious Horror (I really want to see someone play this guy)
2 Fleshformer
1 Glaze Fiend
2 Rotting Rats
1 Esper Cormorants
1 Godtoucher
1 Viashino Skeleton
1 Bloodthorn Taunter
1 Corrupted Roots
1 Demon's Herald
1 Resounding Scream
1 Zombie Outlander
1 Protomatter Powder
1 Traumatic Visions
1 Resounding Wave
1 Vectis Silencers
1 Fusion Elemental
1 Aven Squire
1 Jhessian Lookout (foil)
1 Tortoise Formation
2 Controlled Instincts
1 Grixis Illusionist
1 Etherium Sculptor
1 Asha's Favor
1 Maniacal Rage
1 Onyx Goblet
1 Frontline Sage
1 Sedraxis Alchemist
1 Quenchable Fire
1 Parasitic Strix
1 Resounding Roar
2 Worldly Counsel
1 Fire-Field Ogre
1 Kiss of the Amesha
1 Countersquall
1 Kederekt Creeper
1 Obelisk of Grixis

I went 4-0. Sacellum Archers is a hoss.

"I kill you a little"















That's not to say, of course, that the other cards in this deck are bad. Not in the least. They just ain't as a-fucking-mazing.

Useful, but not sicknasty















I did play one game where Rockslide Elemental got up to a 15/15. But that's another story.