Had a funny interaction the other day in a DII draft. I am beating down the other guy, when he casts Cackling Counterpart on his Soul Seizer - unaware of how tokens and transform interact. So I kill the original Soul Seizer, and he swings with the token, and I let it through - and he says yes to the effect. This attaches his Soul Seizer to one of my dudes, but doesn't transform it - since tokens can't transform. So I now have a creature with another creature attached. He then kills my guy a few turns later, causing the Soul Seizer to fall off and be a creature under *my* control. It also has 1/3 P/T despire him having a Scarecrow out (meaning it should really be 0/3). I'm pretty sure it's a bug that control of Soul Seizer doesn't revert to him when my creature dies - but I didn't know that a creature could be attached legally to another creature. Fun times. Sorry I didn't get a screenshot, but it was kind of funny killing him with his own Soul Seizer token (I would've won without it, but he was a bit peeved still).
Doesn't look like I'm on the member list though, did something happen?
~W
Sometimes I make an oversight and miss someone's request. The rule for joining Limited is two posts in a thread, preferably with some limited related content. If I somehow forget to add someone, PM me.
I'll go ahead and count this as your second post and add you, but try to post something with draft/sealed content soonish.
Speaking of limited, anyone watched Conley's DKA sealed #2? It's like watching someone play MODO for the first time... "Whoops F2'd through attack. Whoops, did it again!"
That guy is completely unable to focus on MODO and commentary at the same time. It's really frustrating to watch someone die to a drosgol reaver with a tapper in play...
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I'll be sad if people don't start calling The Chain Veil "Fleetwood Mac."
Had a funny interaction the other day in a DII draft. I am beating down the other guy, when he casts Cackling Counterpart on his Soul Seizer - unaware of how tokens and transform interact. So I kill the original Soul Seizer, and he swings with the token, and I let it through - and he says yes to the effect. This attaches his Soul Seizer to one of my dudes, but doesn't transform it - since tokens can't transform. So I now have a creature with another creature attached. He then kills my guy a few turns later, causing the Soul Seizer to fall off and be a creature under *my* control. It also has 1/3 P/T despire him having a Scarecrow out (meaning it should really be 0/3). I'm pretty sure it's a bug that control of Soul Seizer doesn't revert to him when my creature dies - but I didn't know that a creature could be attached legally to another creature. Fun times. Sorry I didn't get a screenshot, but it was kind of funny killing him with his own Soul Seizer token (I would've won without it, but he was a bit peeved still).
That is hilarious. Each week I see in the blog all these bugs they fix and I always wonder why I never run into any of them. That one you described has got to be one of the best I've heard so far. LSV + TSG did a show about top 8 MTGO bugs recently. That should have made the list :).
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Top MTGO Limited Rating: 1968
2nd place behind Paulo after round 3 of Pro Tour M15
(finished 8-8, but beat Alexander Hayne and Ben Stark)
That's brilliant! I count at least two bugs there, but I do have some sympathy for the MtGO team not testing this interaction!
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<Limited Clan>
Sometimes I make an oversight and miss someone's request. The rule for joining Limited is two posts in a thread, preferably with some limited related content. If I somehow forget to add someone, PM me.
I'll go ahead and count this as your second post and add you, but try to post something with draft/sealed content soonish.
Understood, will definitely be going to a Draft this weekend so expect something soon.
~W
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Warlord has retuned! (Not really...)
No money for Magic at the moment. Still on here for the community.
Had a funny interaction the other day in a DII draft. I am beating down the other guy, when he casts Cackling Counterpart on his Soul Seizer - unaware of how tokens and transform interact. So I kill the original Soul Seizer, and he swings with the token, and I let it through - and he says yes to the effect. This attaches his Soul Seizer to one of my dudes, but doesn't transform it - since tokens can't transform. So I now have a creature with another creature attached. He then kills my guy a few turns later, causing the Soul Seizer to fall off and be a creature under *my* control. It also has 1/3 P/T despire him having a Scarecrow out (meaning it should really be 0/3). I'm pretty sure it's a bug that control of Soul Seizer doesn't revert to him when my creature dies - but I didn't know that a creature could be attached legally to another creature. Fun times. Sorry I didn't get a screenshot, but it was kind of funny killing him with his own Soul Seizer token (I would've won without it, but he was a bit peeved still).
That's quite funny. Creatues can't attach to creatures though, so that was already a bug. So him clicking 'yes' to the token Soul Seizer should do nothing I think - it can't transform, and it can't attach.
In other news, I'm playing some Magic again. I did 13 Modo drafts over the last couple of weeks, and I'm having a great run so far: 4 wins, 1 split, 4 finals losses, 3 semis losses and a single first round exit. And it's not because I'm avoiding the funky stuff: multiple super greedy Grixis decks and four colour decks. And a five colour mill deck may or may not have happened. I also opened a Liliana and a Sorin during those drafts so my tix count is shooting up. And I booked my flight to Manchester.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
The bug where the Seizer attaches without flipping is pretty weird but easy to see how it could happen. The bug where you have control of the Seizer token, ever, whether before or after your guy dies, is quite a bit more incredible, though. Why would the programming for that card ever include a change of control at all? And the fact that it wasn't affected by your opponent's Scarecrow would seem to suggest that the game was still seeing it (at least partially) as under his control, which makes it even weirder. Does the game give partial, invisible control of Auras to the controller of the enchanted permanent for some reason?
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
I did 13 Modo drafts over the last couple of weeks, and I'm having a great run so far: 4 wins, 1 split, 4 finals losses, 3 semis losses and a single first round exit.
:o:o:o
I just don't understand how this is even possible. At least one draft in three I go out to something stupid like never drawing a third land then my opponent having some insane tempo draw or some bomb I fail to answer. Was this just really lucky, or am I missing something fundamental about how to play Magic?!
Does the game give partial, invisible control of Auras to the controller of the enchanted permanent for some reason?
I'm guessing it has to do with the nature of attachment. Attachment works for Equipment (artifacts) and Auras (enchantments), but there's no need for the code to check the type since by the time the attach routine is called the thing must be one of those types already (or it wouldn't have the relevant ability). So the attach code runs, but part of attachment is moving the permanent under or above the thing it's attached to. So the creature crosses the table.
When the creature it's attached to dies, the "cause this to drop off" code runs, but that doesn't have a case applying to creatures, so nothing much happens. The Scarecrow doesn't apply, though, because PederP isn't really the controller at all. The creature is just on his side of the table.
All of this is just a reflection of a simple fact: MtGO is entirely written with a really terrible programming style which WotC can never change because they need to retain compatibility with their existing card code.
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<Limited Clan>
I just don't understand how this is even possible. At least one draft in three I go out to something stupid like never drawing a third land then my opponent having some insane tempo draw or some bomb I fail to answer. Was this just really lucky, or am I missing something fundamental about how to play Magic?!
Just running good. I don't expect to keep up these numbers. Sometimes I have bad runs, and then I also wonder how it's possible to get a winning streak when it seems like every other game you get screwed somehow. But now it's a good run, with not too much bad luck, and above average rares, so I'll just enjoy it while it lasts. Of course, those things still happen; I remember one of the games I drew all 17 of my lands with 12 spells left in my deck. Or my opponent goes turn 2 Mindshrieker, boosts it every turn and just gets there as I fail to find an answer. These things still happen of course, just not too frequently.
I did play quite tight during most of those games I think. The third draft I did is the one where I lost in the quarters. I made a ridiculously glaring error, and of course noticed right when it was too late. I was so angry with myself, I went like "wtf am I even doing if I play like this" and I guess that crisis moment helped me focus afterwards.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
I made a ridiculously glaring error, and of course noticed right when it was too late. I was so angry with myself, I went like "wtf am I even doing if I play like this" and I guess that crisis moment helped me focus afterwards.
Heh - I know that feeling (except for the "what am I even doing" part)...
I had a match a few days back where my opponent was so skilled he cast Gather the Townsfolk on turn two and then chumped my T2 Darkthicket Wolf on my turns 3 and 4. But then he won game two c/o Mikaeus the Lunarch. So, it's game three and obviously he has the Mikaeus I can't answer again, but this time I've been racing like crazy and the net result is I have four 3+ power attackers and he has only three blockers and so I'm going to deal at least 3 damage, puttting him to 6 from where he cannot avoid losing to my two Pitchburn Devils.
It's only just after I declare my alpha strike that I realise that whilst my sums are correct he can let through both devils and block the other two creatures and I lose on his counterattack provided he activates Mikaeus after blockers.
He then conceded before declaring blockers, but in principle it was a horrible horrible punt!
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<Limited Clan>
Trust me, mine was not nearly as complicated. It didn't involve combat math at all.
My opponent's board: flipped Ludevic's, a 2/2 flying.
Me: at 7 life from Ludo's first attack, drawing and playing a seventh land. I had the 2 damage flashback spell in the graveyard, and Tragic Slip in hand.
I flashbacked a Faithless Looting and then considered quitting Magic.
[ Now that I remember that draft - I actually disconnected the first five picks of pack two (was just some sort of Modo crash, nothng happened to my internet, and I got refunded). So technically that one quarterfinals exit doesn't count. (Although the way I gave it away, it should probably count for more than one loss. ) ]
As for "win with a bad play", I did that too, in a real life draft recently. It was late in the game, and the board was my opponent's Snapcaster Mage and the 3/2 Werewolf that destroys an artifact when he flips, against my 3/2 flying first strike (for some reason I still don't have the names of DKA cards memorised). I was at 13, he was at 20. I had Grimoire of the Dead (yes I still think it's a very good card) in hand, and Burning Oil. So I attacked with my flier and played Grimoire.
Now, against a really bad player, this is fine, because you know they'll just walk into it. But I played against a solid player, and as soon as I did it I knew it was terrible. He had even seen a Village Bell-Ringer in the first game (in fact my deck had 2 Bell-Ringers, Rebuke, and the Burning Oil, but he had only seen one VBR - but that's still enough). So I was convinced he would simply pass, destroying my Grimoire, which made my play terrible. To my surprise he did walk straight into it and I won with the Grimoire.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
Now, against a really bad player, this is fine, because you know they'll just walk into it. But I played against a solid player, and as soon as I did it I knew it was terrible. He had even seen a Village Bell-Ringer in the first game (in fact my deck had 2 Bell-Ringers, Rebuke, and the Burning Oil, but he had only seen one VBR - but that's still enough).
Heh - I do like those situations where someone can play around a card they haven't seen inadvertantly by playing around one they have.
One of the biggest problems I have with the format is working out when it's correct to attack into a potential Ambush Viper after the opponent has a slow start. It's particularly horrible in the case where you get the dream T4 Travel Prep and one or both of your creatures is non-evasive but the opponent played nothing on turns 2 or 3 and now has WWG open.
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<Limited Clan>
You should generally always attack into Ambush Viper, because not attacking into it doesn't help. If you don't attack, he can still play it, and block any time you do attack. So you're probably only giving him more options by not attacking. Of course in some situations you want to be aware of it (not attack some critical guy you can't afford to lose into it; alpha strike for the win) but those are quite rare situations.
The white cards are different; playing around Rebuke is sometimes correct because it wastes their mana; while Bell-Ringer has a large impact under certain conditions. Still, you should only play around those cards if the opponent can get some critical value out of it.
Today my first four turns in a game were Island, Island, Island, Island. And still my opponent's Avacynian Priest attacked into it (and no he didn't have pump or removal). Now that's the critical value I was speaking of.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
You should generally always attack into Ambush Viper, because not attacking into it doesn't help.
If non-evasive attack is your only path to victory that's certainly true, but I often find myself in a position where I can hold the ground and win gradually in the air (plus via Intimidate) or attack on the ground for a more aggressive but riskier win.
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<Limited Clan>
Did I build this deck correctly? I haven't been playing very much at all lately and am afraid I must be losing my touch.
Just finished round 1 and lost, badly. I should have mulliganed my opening hand both games (1st game: Swamp, Swamp, Plains, Plains, Island, Battleground Geist, Voiceless Spirit - lose on turn 7 to a vampire deck after drawing 5 lands and Unburial Rites. 2nd game: Plains, Plains, Doomed Traveller, Lingering Souls, Midnight Guard, Dead Weight, Chosen of Markov - lose after missing land drops turn 3 and 4 (and 6) and falling super behind).
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
Did I build this deck correctly? I haven't been playing very much at all lately and am afraid I must be losing my touch.
Just finished round 1 and lost, badly. I should have mulliganed my opening hand both games (1st game: Swamp, Swamp, Plains, Plains, Island, Battleground Geist, Voiceless Spirit - lose on turn 7 to a vampire deck after drawing 5 lands and Unburial Rites. 2nd game: Plains, Plains, Doomed Traveller, Lingering Souls, Midnight Guard, Dead Weight, Chosen of Markov - lose after missing land drops turn 3 and 4 (and 6) and falling super behind).
I wouldn't say those are bad keeps. Your deck is quite terrible though.
- Why are you splashing blue for a couple of mediocre cards?
- Curve is super important, and you don't have one. You need to focus on that while drafting. Typhoid Rats is an early drop that should almost always make it in.
- Geistcatcher's Rig is a very strong card, if you have no other sixes it always makes the deck.
- Divine Reckoning isn't unplayable but it's pretty bad. You kind of need a deck that has synergy with it to want it (for example, it's quite good with Lumberknot). Playing it (twice!) in a deck where not a single creature on your side will be stronger than whatever they keep is actively bad. I wonder how high you picked these, and over what?
It's clearly not just the deckbuilding that's flawed here. I could change the deck but it'll still be bad. There's no so I'd say you need to pay more attention to your curve while drafting. But there's also no card quality; why are you even in those colours? It really looks like you opened Lingering Souls and just forced WB. But you only got like six good cards in those colours in the whole draft. Surely you should have noticed that?
Sorry if I sound harsh, but it's my honest appraisal of that deck. I would expect it to go 1-2, regardless of your bad draws.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
I'd be interested to see the walkthrough, if you kept it?
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<Limited Clan>
Sure. I wasn't really trying very hard, but I didn't think think I had drafted actively badly. That said, this marks the first time I've actually drafted since DKA came out, so I'm not shocked to learn that I made a bad job of it.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Swamp
Gravepurge
Soul Seizer
Kessig Recluse
Blood Feud
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Nephalia Seakite
Gavony Ironwright
Vengeful Vampire
Break of Day (FOIL)
--> Increasing Ambition
Sanctuary Cat
Fling
Kessig Recluse and Soul Seizer seem like good cards, but not to such an extent that I'm happy with three colors out of my first two picks, especially with them both being 2CC.
The only other real pick I see here is Quiver, and I might have made the wrong pick, but I don't feel like it was terrible. Of course, later I got a Midnight Guard and regretted not picking it up...
Pack 1 pick 4:
Mountain
Highborn Ghoul
Chosen of Markov
Headless Skaab
Faithless Looting
Tracker's Instincts
Mystic Retrieval
Chant of the Skifsang
Talons of Falkenrath
Sudden Disappearance
Silverclaw Griffin
--> Gather the Townsfolk
Nothing particularly exciting here, the Highborn Ghoul is interesting but if I'm W/B one thing I really don't want is a bunch of CC creatures that ruin my curve. So I take the card that's easier on the mana.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Plains
Secrets of the Dead
--> Chosen of Markov
Wrack with Madness
Somberwald Dryad
Haunted Fengraf
Alpha Brawl
Thought Scour
Gruesome Discovery
Bone to Ash
Skillful Lunge
I consider taking the Wrack with Madness as a splash card, but I remember it sucking really badly at the prerelease and decide I don't much like the idea.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Island
Black Cat
Hunger of the Howlpack
Heavy Mattock
Screeching Skaab
Gravetiller Wurm
Evolving Wilds
--> Falkenrath Torturer
Break of Day
Heckling Fiends
I think Torturer seems like a really good card in general, and I'm very happy to take it this late, especially if I'm going to end up with a lot of white humans, as seems likely.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Forest
Curse of Exhaustion
Hunger of the Howlpack
--> Screeching Skaab
Shattered Perception (FOIL)
Mystic Retrieval
Favor of the Woods
Break of Day
Young Wolf
Nothing interesting here; I pick up the card I'm likeliest to play if my draft direction starts looking untenable.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Swamp
Russet Wolves
Executioner's Hood
Hinterland Hermit
Evolving Wilds
Talons of Falkenrath
Bar the Door
--> Midnight Guard
Coulda taken the Gravepurge, but it probably won't make the deck anyway and this is worth a bit. Note the Elk still in the pack, not sure what to make of it, since I thought it would go fairly early.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Swamp
--> Gravepurge
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Break of Day (FOIL)
Sanctuary Cat
Pack 2 pick 1:
Harvest Pyre
Cobbled Wings
Stitched Drake
Woodland Sleuth
Reckless Waif
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Curiosity
Gallows Warden
Brimstone Volley
Silverchase Fox
Curse of Oblivion
--> Divine Reckoning
Plains
Paraselene
Manor Skeleton
I always thought Divine Reckoning was first pickable, if not hugely so. I mean, Brimstone Volley is great, but if I'm choosing between an expensive removal spell that's on-color and an expensive removal spell that's off-color, it seems like a no brainer to me. (Of course, in the first match, if this had ended up being Volley, I could have killed his Bloodline Keeper and probably stayed in the game for a few more turns. Assuming I had a way to deal with his Stromkirk Captain and Rakish Heir and assuming I would have drawn red mana while being mana screwed, of course.:p)
Pack 2 pick 2:
Ghoulcaller's Chant
Cellar Door
Cloistered Youth
--> Midnight Haunting
Inquisitor's Flail
Elder Cathar
Village Bell-Ringer
Night Revelers
Wooden Stake
Spectral Flight
Brain Weevil
Doomed Traveler
Lost in the Mist
Island
Pack 2 pick 4:
Ghoulraiser
Trepanation Blade
Moon Heron
Makeshift Mauler
--> Moan of the Unhallowed
Spare from Evil
Spectral Flight
Brain Weevil
Rotting Fensnake
Geistflame
Mountain
Parallel Lives
Pack 2 pick 5:
Delver of Secrets (FOIL)
Stromkirk Patrol
Thraben Purebloods
Brain Weevil
--> Grasp of Phantoms
Dream Twist
Shimmering Grotto
Corpse Lunge
Swamp
Geistflame
Bitterheart Witch
Tahn said this was mediocre, I've always been really impressed with it. Amazed to see it go this late; has it fallen in value in the new format for some reason?
Pack 2 pick 6:
Harvest Pyre
Cobbled Wings
Woodland Sleuth
--> Diregraf Ghoul
Scourge of Geier Reach
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Silverchase Fox
Curse of Oblivion
Island
Manor Skeleton
Pack 2 pick 7:
Curse of the Nightly Hunt
Bramblecrush
Fortress Crab
Ancient Grudge
Feeling of Dread
Corpse Lunge
Island
--> Night Terrors
Typhoid Rats
I like to have a Night Terrors in my board for dealing with people who have the nuts in their otherwise mediocre deck and want to lucksack wins. I suppose I could have taken the Rats here, and I would have, if I'd already had a Terrors.
Pack 2 pick 8:
Stitcher's Apprentice
Woodland Sleuth
Purify the Grave
Curse of Oblivion
--> Lantern Spirit
Burning Vengeance
Mountain
Curse of the Pierced Heart (FOIL)
Speculative splash option, although it isn't really good for that.
Pack 2 pick 9:
Woodland Sleuth
Curiosity
--> Silverchase Fox
Curse of Oblivion
Plains
Paraselene
Manor Skeleton
Nice card to pick up late.
Pack 2 pick 10:
Cellar Door
Inquisitor's Flail
Village Bell-Ringer
Brain Weevil
--> Doomed Traveler
Island
Curve reasons, and because I love the idea of this guy with Falkenrath Torturer.
Pack 3 pick 1:
Ghostly Possession
Deranged Assistant
Moon Heron
Blazing Torch
Grizzled Outcasts
Markov Patrician
Nevermore
--> Unburial Rites
Moan of the Unhallowed
Furor of the Bitten
Orchard Spirit
Battleground Geist
Dream Twist
Forest
One-Eyed Scarecrow
Kind of a tough pick, although not in the way you want first picks to be tough. I have no special targets for Rites and no expectation of seeing any, but it's still CA. Markov Patrician is unlikely to table in this pack and makes those late pick Chosen of Markovs from the first pack a lot better and is a good card in a pack with not many good vampires. And Blazing Torch is decent removal. So I dunno. I took the CA spell because I'm a sucker for that, but I'd probably have been better off with either of the others.
Pack 3 pick 2:
Feral Ridgewolf
Riot Devils
Village Ironsmith
Rage Thrower
Altar's Reap
Kindercatch
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Brimstone Volley
Selhoff Occultist
--> Geistcatcher's Rig
Undead Alchemist
Spidery Grasp
Island
Gruesome Deformity
I'd have taken the Volley if I had drafted the first Volley from before, but since I already want to splash blue for Grasp, I'm not anxious to double splash. So I take the Rig instead.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Ghoulraiser
Victim of Night
Ulvenwald Mystics
Curse of the Nightly Hunt
Kindercatch
Bramblecrush
Crossway Vampire
Hamlet Captain
Abbey Griffin
Claustrophobia
--> Voiceless Spirit
Mountain
Ranger's Guile
Should have been Patrician. The Mob might have tabled. I was just very anxious to keep my curve low.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Ghost Quarter
Spectral Rider
Ambush Viper
Bump in the Night
Moment of Heroism
Selhoff Occultist
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Spidery Grasp
--> Divine Reckoning
Mountain
Manor Skeleton
Probably should have been Spectral Rider? Tahn is right that two of these are completely pointless and I never wanted the second one.
Pack 3 pick 6:
Harvest Pyre
Into the Maw of Hell (FOIL)
Skeletal Grimace
Naturalize
Plains
Gruesome Deformity
Vampiric Fury
Paraselene
Typhoid Rats
--> Village Cannibals
Very happy to get one of these, seems like it should be awesome here. (And it was.)
Pack 3 pick 9:
Ghostly Possession
Nevermore
Furor of the Bitten
--> Battleground Geist
Dream Twist
Forest
One-Eyed Scarecrow
I have a pretty good number of spirits, and I already plan to splash blue, so why not?
Pack 3 pick 10:
--> Feral Ridgewolf
Rage Thrower
Kindercatch
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Island
Gruesome Deformity
Pack 3 pick 11:
Curse of the Nightly Hunt
Bramblecrush
Crossway Vampire
--> Abbey Griffin
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 12:
--> Ghoulcaller's Chant
Ghostly Possession
Scourge of Geier Reach
Island
Pack 3 pick 13:
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Mountain
--> Manor Skeleton
Pack 3 pick 14:
Plains
--> Gruesome Deformity
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Swamp
So anyway, I already told you how my first match went. My second match was against G/U mill yourself and I won with VCOUSs (Village Cannibals of Ridiculous Size), and Grasping his Stitched Drake twice in the 2nd game. The third match I just curved out well and won pretty easily; he got draws about as bad as mine were in the first match. Unfortunately, games don't tend to be all that interesting in Swiss unless you're in contention to win the draft; the decks in the losers bracket have a tendency to not put up much of a fight a lot of the time.
I definitely screwed up putting Increasing Ambition in the deck. It was totally out of place. I drew it a couple times but I never had anything to get with it that was worth spending tons of mana for. I cast it once to get Divine Reckoning but I lost anyway, and once to get a Plains (lost that game too, somehow). Would replace that with Geistcatcher's Rig if I could go back, for sure.
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
...and likely ended up W/G after U turned out not to be open.
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<Limited Clan>
Holy potatoes is Reid Duke's sealed deck for day 1 of Grand Prix Nashville a monstrosity. From the feature match I watched, he has Vault of the Archangel, Elite Inquisitor, Sorin, Lingering Souls, Curse of Death's Hold, and a bunch of good midrange stuff and removal to fill out the 40. In the hands of a bad player, this deck could carry someone to day 2, and instead it's in the hands of the MOCS champ. Sheesh!
Signalling is like farting: it's a natural thing that helps people avoid being where you are, and if you try to do it deliberately, things turn to crap fast.
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I hereby found the American Chapter of the Zealots of Semantics. All glory to The Curmudgeon.
Wit's End is the PERFECT answer to your opponent's Monomania however.
Just hold on to your Wit's End when they Monomania, so you can Wit's End them on your next turn!!!
I think this is fairly reminiscent of the "Jace Battles" we have seen in past standards.. My guess is we will soon witness the great Monomania-Wit's End battles.
Holy potatoes is Reid Duke's sealed deck for day 1 of Grand Prix Nashville a monstrosity. From the feature match I watched, he has Vault of the Archangel, Elite Inquisitor, Sorin, Lingering Souls, Curse of Death's Hold, and a bunch of good midrange stuff and removal to fill out the 40. In the hands of a bad player, this deck could carry someone to day 2, and instead it's in the hands of the MOCS champ. Sheesh!
Edit: apparently, he has TWO Vaults! One is foil!
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing while watching those matches. Hard to ask for a better pool, really... no wonder he's 9-0 and in first place after day 1.
Lingering Souls is a real card, by the way... I initially had Briarpack Alpha over it, but now I'm not so sure. Lingering Souls is so good.
Edit - random comment about an Innistrad card that has become significantly worse with DKA: Tribute to Hunger. I already wasn't a fan, but with undying, Black Cat, Lingering Souls, Gather the Townsfolk, Loyal Cathar, blah blah blah, it is now a card I actively don't want to play in my deck.
In the draft you describe, wouldn't Lingering Souls still be the better card for the final deck than Drogskol Captain?
Which final deck? Not the one I'm hoping for when speculatively first-picking a Captain, that's for sure.
The point about that pick is that it's an archetype call. Lingering Souls is easily the better card, but only if you're in W/B, which is unlikely to be open. By contrast W/U is much easier to draft and a W/U deck with Captain is really the #1 thing I want to draft.
I honestly think first picking Lingering Souls is the #1 cause of failed drafts in this format. "Take the best card" is only a good plan if you can make a deck with the card in.
Gavony Ironwright also seems kind of terrible to me. Why is that worth a second pick?
The only reason I think it's great is because I've played with it.
Joking apart, it's possible Seaskite is the better card but for both curve reasons and colour reasons I'd rather have the Ironwright. As for the rest:
Soul Seizer - Isn't actually good, it turns out.
Kessig Recluse - Quite good, but not enough to switch to Green.
Blood Feud - Not good in anything I might be drafting.
Vengeful Vampire - Too slow.
Increasing Ambition - Too slow. (And bad with no targets!)
I like Ironwright mainly because it frequently steals games from both the Vampire deck and the Werewolf deck if they find themselves unable to win from 6. You need something to deal with ground-vs-air races or you'll just lose them.
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<Limited Clan>
Lingering Souls is a great first pick, but Increasing Ambition is just terrible. A 6 mana tutor? You'd better be fishing Cruel Ultimatum...
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"In a world where money talks, silence is horrifying."
Hmm... I don't know about "easy" - I don't think I'd have taken Souls there simply because W/B so seldom works out. I'd have started like this:
P1P1: Drogskol Captain
I disagree. WB is not harder or easier to get to work than other combinations. The thing with first-picking Lingering Souls is that it doesn't put you in WB necessarily. You should be ready to splash either colour; if you do end up WB, all the better.
Of course for me it's even easier because I draft 4 or 5 colours every other draft.
You really just need to embrace the rage. I keep a small colony of hamsters next to my computer and every time I lose a match to mana screw I throw one against the wall.
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Pie and ice cream was brought in for breakfast. Yum!
...yeah, today is going to be a three-a-day work out I think. Elliptical, Cardio Yoga, and Running should cancel out pie, right? Maybe?
Setting down the fork now.
Sometimes I make an oversight and miss someone's request. The rule for joining Limited is two posts in a thread, preferably with some limited related content. If I somehow forget to add someone, PM me.
I'll go ahead and count this as your second post and add you, but try to post something with draft/sealed content soonish.
Speaking of limited, anyone watched Conley's DKA sealed #2? It's like watching someone play MODO for the first time... "Whoops F2'd through attack. Whoops, did it again!"
That guy is completely unable to focus on MODO and commentary at the same time. It's really frustrating to watch someone die to a drosgol reaver with a tapper in play...
That is hilarious. Each week I see in the blog all these bugs they fix and I always wonder why I never run into any of them. That one you described has got to be one of the best I've heard so far. LSV + TSG did a show about top 8 MTGO bugs recently. That should have made the list :).
2nd place behind Paulo after round 3 of Pro Tour M15
(finished 8-8, but beat Alexander Hayne and Ben Stark)
That's brilliant! I count at least two bugs there, but I do have some sympathy for the MtGO team not testing this interaction!
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
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<Limited Clan>
Understood, will definitely be going to a Draft this weekend so expect something soon.
~W
No money for Magic at the moment. Still on here for the community.
That's quite funny. Creatues can't attach to creatures though, so that was already a bug. So him clicking 'yes' to the token Soul Seizer should do nothing I think - it can't transform, and it can't attach.
In other news, I'm playing some Magic again. I did 13 Modo drafts over the last couple of weeks, and I'm having a great run so far: 4 wins, 1 split, 4 finals losses, 3 semis losses and a single first round exit. And it's not because I'm avoiding the funky stuff: multiple super greedy Grixis decks and four colour decks. And a five colour mill deck may or may not have happened. I also opened a Liliana and a Sorin during those drafts so my tix count is shooting up. And I booked my flight to Manchester.
Hilarious, anyway.
:o:o:o
I just don't understand how this is even possible. At least one draft in three I go out to something stupid like never drawing a third land then my opponent having some insane tempo draw or some bomb I fail to answer. Was this just really lucky, or am I missing something fundamental about how to play Magic?!
I'm guessing it has to do with the nature of attachment. Attachment works for Equipment (artifacts) and Auras (enchantments), but there's no need for the code to check the type since by the time the attach routine is called the thing must be one of those types already (or it wouldn't have the relevant ability). So the attach code runs, but part of attachment is moving the permanent under or above the thing it's attached to. So the creature crosses the table.
When the creature it's attached to dies, the "cause this to drop off" code runs, but that doesn't have a case applying to creatures, so nothing much happens. The Scarecrow doesn't apply, though, because PederP isn't really the controller at all. The creature is just on his side of the table.
All of this is just a reflection of a simple fact: MtGO is entirely written with a really terrible programming style which WotC can never change because they need to retain compatibility with their existing card code.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
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<Limited Clan>
Just running good. I don't expect to keep up these numbers. Sometimes I have bad runs, and then I also wonder how it's possible to get a winning streak when it seems like every other game you get screwed somehow. But now it's a good run, with not too much bad luck, and above average rares, so I'll just enjoy it while it lasts. Of course, those things still happen; I remember one of the games I drew all 17 of my lands with 12 spells left in my deck. Or my opponent goes turn 2 Mindshrieker, boosts it every turn and just gets there as I fail to find an answer. These things still happen of course, just not too frequently.
I did play quite tight during most of those games I think. The third draft I did is the one where I lost in the quarters. I made a ridiculously glaring error, and of course noticed right when it was too late. I was so angry with myself, I went like "wtf am I even doing if I play like this" and I guess that crisis moment helped me focus afterwards.
Heh - I know that feeling (except for the "what am I even doing" part)...
I had a match a few days back where my opponent was so skilled he cast Gather the Townsfolk on turn two and then chumped my T2 Darkthicket Wolf on my turns 3 and 4. But then he won game two c/o Mikaeus the Lunarch. So, it's game three and obviously he has the Mikaeus I can't answer again, but this time I've been racing like crazy and the net result is I have four 3+ power attackers and he has only three blockers and so I'm going to deal at least 3 damage, puttting him to 6 from where he cannot avoid losing to my two Pitchburn Devils.
It's only just after I declare my alpha strike that I realise that whilst my sums are correct he can let through both devils and block the other two creatures and I lose on his counterattack provided he activates Mikaeus after blockers.
He then conceded before declaring blockers, but in principle it was a horrible horrible punt!
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
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<Limited Clan>
My opponent's board: flipped Ludevic's, a 2/2 flying.
Me: at 7 life from Ludo's first attack, drawing and playing a seventh land. I had the 2 damage flashback spell in the graveyard, and Tragic Slip in hand.
I flashbacked a Faithless Looting and then considered quitting Magic.
[ Now that I remember that draft - I actually disconnected the first five picks of pack two (was just some sort of Modo crash, nothng happened to my internet, and I got refunded). So technically that one quarterfinals exit doesn't count. (Although the way I gave it away, it should probably count for more than one loss. ) ]
As for "win with a bad play", I did that too, in a real life draft recently. It was late in the game, and the board was my opponent's Snapcaster Mage and the 3/2 Werewolf that destroys an artifact when he flips, against my 3/2 flying first strike (for some reason I still don't have the names of DKA cards memorised). I was at 13, he was at 20. I had Grimoire of the Dead (yes I still think it's a very good card) in hand, and Burning Oil. So I attacked with my flier and played Grimoire.
Now, against a really bad player, this is fine, because you know they'll just walk into it. But I played against a solid player, and as soon as I did it I knew it was terrible. He had even seen a Village Bell-Ringer in the first game (in fact my deck had 2 Bell-Ringers, Rebuke, and the Burning Oil, but he had only seen one VBR - but that's still enough). So I was convinced he would simply pass, destroying my Grimoire, which made my play terrible. To my surprise he did walk straight into it and I won with the Grimoire.
Heh - I do like those situations where someone can play around a card they haven't seen inadvertantly by playing around one they have.
One of the biggest problems I have with the format is working out when it's correct to attack into a potential Ambush Viper after the opponent has a slow start. It's particularly horrible in the case where you get the dream T4 Travel Prep and one or both of your creatures is non-evasive but the opponent played nothing on turns 2 or 3 and now has WWG open.
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<Limited Clan>
The white cards are different; playing around Rebuke is sometimes correct because it wastes their mana; while Bell-Ringer has a large impact under certain conditions. Still, you should only play around those cards if the opponent can get some critical value out of it.
Today my first four turns in a game were Island, Island, Island, Island. And still my opponent's Avacynian Priest attacked into it (and no he didn't have pump or removal). Now that's the critical value I was speaking of.
If non-evasive attack is your only path to victory that's certainly true, but I often find myself in a position where I can hold the ground and win gradually in the air (plus via Intimidate) or attack on the ground for a more aggressive but riskier win.
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<Limited Clan>
Just finished round 1 and lost, badly. I should have mulliganed my opening hand both games (1st game: Swamp, Swamp, Plains, Plains, Island, Battleground Geist, Voiceless Spirit - lose on turn 7 to a vampire deck after drawing 5 lands and Unburial Rites. 2nd game: Plains, Plains, Doomed Traveller, Lingering Souls, Midnight Guard, Dead Weight, Chosen of Markov - lose after missing land drops turn 3 and 4 (and 6) and falling super behind).
I wouldn't say those are bad keeps. Your deck is quite terrible though.
- Why are you splashing blue for a couple of mediocre cards?
- Curve is super important, and you don't have one. You need to focus on that while drafting. Typhoid Rats is an early drop that should almost always make it in.
- Geistcatcher's Rig is a very strong card, if you have no other sixes it always makes the deck.
- Divine Reckoning isn't unplayable but it's pretty bad. You kind of need a deck that has synergy with it to want it (for example, it's quite good with Lumberknot). Playing it (twice!) in a deck where not a single creature on your side will be stronger than whatever they keep is actively bad. I wonder how high you picked these, and over what?
It's clearly not just the deckbuilding that's flawed here. I could change the deck but it'll still be bad. There's no so I'd say you need to pay more attention to your curve while drafting. But there's also no card quality; why are you even in those colours? It really looks like you opened Lingering Souls and just forced WB. But you only got like six good cards in those colours in the whole draft. Surely you should have noticed that?
Sorry if I sound harsh, but it's my honest appraisal of that deck. I would expect it to go 1-2, regardless of your bad draws.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
Swamp
Gravepurge
Dawntreader Elk
Lambholt Elder
Torch Fiend
Blood Feud
Reap the Seagraf
Drogskol Captain
Wild Hunger
Nephalia Seakite
--> Lingering Souls
Scorch the Fields
Divination
Skillful Lunge
Grafdigger's Cage
Pretty easy first pick, as Tahn intuited.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Swamp
Gravepurge
Soul Seizer
Kessig Recluse
Blood Feud
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Nephalia Seakite
Gavony Ironwright
Vengeful Vampire
Break of Day (FOIL)
--> Increasing Ambition
Sanctuary Cat
Fling
Kessig Recluse and Soul Seizer seem like good cards, but not to such an extent that I'm happy with three colors out of my first two picks, especially with them both being 2CC.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Swamp
Highborn Ghoul
Screeching Skaab
--> Elgaud Inquisitor
Saving Grasp
Wolfhunter's Quiver
Erdwal Ripper
Afflicted Deserter
Deadly Allure
Gruesome Discovery
Crushing Vines
Nearheath Stalker
Grim Backwoods
The only other real pick I see here is Quiver, and I might have made the wrong pick, but I don't feel like it was terrible. Of course, later I got a Midnight Guard and regretted not picking it up...
Pack 1 pick 4:
Mountain
Highborn Ghoul
Chosen of Markov
Headless Skaab
Faithless Looting
Tracker's Instincts
Mystic Retrieval
Chant of the Skifsang
Talons of Falkenrath
Sudden Disappearance
Silverclaw Griffin
--> Gather the Townsfolk
Nothing particularly exciting here, the Highborn Ghoul is interesting but if I'm W/B one thing I really don't want is a bunch of CC creatures that ruin my curve. So I take the card that's easier on the mana.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Plains
Secrets of the Dead
--> Chosen of Markov
Wrack with Madness
Somberwald Dryad
Haunted Fengraf
Alpha Brawl
Thought Scour
Gruesome Discovery
Bone to Ash
Skillful Lunge
I consider taking the Wrack with Madness as a splash card, but I remember it sucking really badly at the prerelease and decide I don't much like the idea.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Island
Black Cat
Hunger of the Howlpack
Heavy Mattock
Screeching Skaab
Gravetiller Wurm
Evolving Wilds
--> Falkenrath Torturer
Break of Day
Heckling Fiends
I think Torturer seems like a really good card in general, and I'm very happy to take it this late, especially if I'm going to end up with a lot of white humans, as seems likely.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Forest
Curse of Exhaustion
Hunger of the Howlpack
--> Screeching Skaab
Shattered Perception (FOIL)
Mystic Retrieval
Favor of the Woods
Break of Day
Young Wolf
Nothing interesting here; I pick up the card I'm likeliest to play if my draft direction starts looking untenable.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Swamp
Russet Wolves
Executioner's Hood
Hinterland Hermit
Evolving Wilds
Talons of Falkenrath
Bar the Door
--> Midnight Guard
Pack 1 pick 9:
Swamp
Gravepurge
Dawntreader Elk
Torch Fiend
Scorch the Fields
Skillful Lunge
--> Grafdigger's Cage
Coulda taken the Gravepurge, but it probably won't make the deck anyway and this is worth a bit. Note the Elk still in the pack, not sure what to make of it, since I thought it would go fairly early.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Swamp
--> Gravepurge
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Break of Day (FOIL)
Sanctuary Cat
Meh.
Pack 1 pick 11:
Swamp
Screeching Skaab
Saving Grasp
Deadly Allure
--> Gruesome Discovery
Pack 1 pick 12:
Mountain
--> Chosen of Markov
Talons of Falkenrath
Silverclaw Griffin
For curve reasons and because 5 mana for 2 toughness is too frequently a bargain for the opponent.
Pack 1 pick 13:
Plains
Haunted Fengraf
--> Gruesome Discovery
Pack 1 pick 14:
Island
--> Heckling Fiends
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Forest
------ ISD ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Harvest Pyre
Cobbled Wings
Stitched Drake
Woodland Sleuth
Reckless Waif
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Curiosity
Gallows Warden
Brimstone Volley
Silverchase Fox
Curse of Oblivion
--> Divine Reckoning
Plains
Paraselene
Manor Skeleton
I always thought Divine Reckoning was first pickable, if not hugely so. I mean, Brimstone Volley is great, but if I'm choosing between an expensive removal spell that's on-color and an expensive removal spell that's off-color, it seems like a no brainer to me. (Of course, in the first match, if this had ended up being Volley, I could have killed his Bloodline Keeper and probably stayed in the game for a few more turns. Assuming I had a way to deal with his Stromkirk Captain and Rakish Heir and assuming I would have drawn red mana while being mana screwed, of course.:p)
Pack 2 pick 2:
Ghoulcaller's Chant
Cellar Door
Cloistered Youth
--> Midnight Haunting
Inquisitor's Flail
Elder Cathar
Village Bell-Ringer
Night Revelers
Wooden Stake
Spectral Flight
Brain Weevil
Doomed Traveler
Lost in the Mist
Island
Seems like an easy pick.
Pack 2 pick 3:
Ghoulcaller's Chant
Ghost Quarter
Unruly Mob
--> Dead Weight
Skirsdag Cultist
Woodland Sleuth
Mask of Avacyn
Sensory Deprivation
Stromkirk Patrol
Ashmouth Hound
Brain Weevil
Shimmering Grotto
Island
Pack 2 pick 4:
Ghoulraiser
Trepanation Blade
Moon Heron
Makeshift Mauler
--> Moan of the Unhallowed
Spare from Evil
Spectral Flight
Brain Weevil
Rotting Fensnake
Geistflame
Mountain
Parallel Lives
Pack 2 pick 5:
Delver of Secrets (FOIL)
Stromkirk Patrol
Thraben Purebloods
Brain Weevil
--> Grasp of Phantoms
Dream Twist
Shimmering Grotto
Corpse Lunge
Swamp
Geistflame
Bitterheart Witch
Tahn said this was mediocre, I've always been really impressed with it. Amazed to see it go this late; has it fallen in value in the new format for some reason?
Pack 2 pick 6:
Harvest Pyre
Cobbled Wings
Woodland Sleuth
--> Diregraf Ghoul
Scourge of Geier Reach
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Silverchase Fox
Curse of Oblivion
Island
Manor Skeleton
Pack 2 pick 7:
Curse of the Nightly Hunt
Bramblecrush
Fortress Crab
Ancient Grudge
Feeling of Dread
Corpse Lunge
Island
--> Night Terrors
Typhoid Rats
I like to have a Night Terrors in my board for dealing with people who have the nuts in their otherwise mediocre deck and want to lucksack wins. I suppose I could have taken the Rats here, and I would have, if I'd already had a Terrors.
Pack 2 pick 8:
Stitcher's Apprentice
Woodland Sleuth
Purify the Grave
Curse of Oblivion
--> Lantern Spirit
Burning Vengeance
Mountain
Curse of the Pierced Heart (FOIL)
Speculative splash option, although it isn't really good for that.
Pack 2 pick 9:
Woodland Sleuth
Curiosity
--> Silverchase Fox
Curse of Oblivion
Plains
Paraselene
Manor Skeleton
Nice card to pick up late.
Pack 2 pick 10:
Cellar Door
Inquisitor's Flail
Village Bell-Ringer
Brain Weevil
--> Doomed Traveler
Island
Curve reasons, and because I love the idea of this guy with Falkenrath Torturer.
Pack 2 pick 11:
--> Ghoulcaller's Chant
Ghost Quarter
Stromkirk Patrol
Brain Weevil
Island
Pack 2 pick 12:
Spare from Evil
--> Brain Weevil
Rotting Fensnake
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 13:
Thraben Purebloods
Swamp
--> Bitterheart Witch
Pack 2 pick 14:
Island
--> Manor Skeleton
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Island
------ ISD ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Ghostly Possession
Deranged Assistant
Moon Heron
Blazing Torch
Grizzled Outcasts
Markov Patrician
Nevermore
--> Unburial Rites
Moan of the Unhallowed
Furor of the Bitten
Orchard Spirit
Battleground Geist
Dream Twist
Forest
One-Eyed Scarecrow
Kind of a tough pick, although not in the way you want first picks to be tough. I have no special targets for Rites and no expectation of seeing any, but it's still CA. Markov Patrician is unlikely to table in this pack and makes those late pick Chosen of Markovs from the first pack a lot better and is a good card in a pack with not many good vampires. And Blazing Torch is decent removal. So I dunno. I took the CA spell because I'm a sucker for that, but I'd probably have been better off with either of the others.
Pack 3 pick 2:
Feral Ridgewolf
Riot Devils
Village Ironsmith
Rage Thrower
Altar's Reap
Kindercatch
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Brimstone Volley
Selhoff Occultist
--> Geistcatcher's Rig
Undead Alchemist
Spidery Grasp
Island
Gruesome Deformity
I'd have taken the Volley if I had drafted the first Volley from before, but since I already want to splash blue for Grasp, I'm not anxious to double splash. So I take the Rig instead.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Ghoulraiser
Victim of Night
Ulvenwald Mystics
Curse of the Nightly Hunt
Kindercatch
Bramblecrush
Crossway Vampire
Hamlet Captain
Abbey Griffin
Claustrophobia
--> Voiceless Spirit
Mountain
Ranger's Guile
Pack 3 pick 4:
Ghoulcaller's Chant
Ghostly Possession
--> Unruly Mob
Stitcher's Apprentice
Cloistered Youth
Markov Patrician
Scourge of Geier Reach
Traitorous Blood
Desperate Ravings
Island
Rebuke
Typhoid Rats
Should have been Patrician. The Mob might have tabled. I was just very anxious to keep my curve low.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Ghost Quarter
Spectral Rider
Ambush Viper
Bump in the Night
Moment of Heroism
Selhoff Occultist
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Spidery Grasp
--> Divine Reckoning
Mountain
Manor Skeleton
Probably should have been Spectral Rider? Tahn is right that two of these are completely pointless and I never wanted the second one.
Pack 3 pick 6:
Harvest Pyre
Into the Maw of Hell (FOIL)
Skeletal Grimace
Naturalize
Plains
Gruesome Deformity
Vampiric Fury
Paraselene
Typhoid Rats
--> Village Cannibals
Very happy to get one of these, seems like it should be awesome here. (And it was.)
Pack 3 pick 7:
Feral Ridgewolf
Ghostly Possession
Creepy Doll
Selfless Cathar
Purify the Grave
Traitorous Blood
Curse of Oblivion
Swamp
--> Typhoid Rats
Pack 3 pick 8:
Smite the Monstrous
Midnight Haunting
Altar's Reap
Rakish Heir
Mulch
Somberwald Spider
--> Mausoleum Guard
Swamp
Pack 3 pick 9:
Ghostly Possession
Nevermore
Furor of the Bitten
--> Battleground Geist
Dream Twist
Forest
One-Eyed Scarecrow
I have a pretty good number of spirits, and I already plan to splash blue, so why not?
Pack 3 pick 10:
--> Feral Ridgewolf
Rage Thrower
Kindercatch
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Island
Gruesome Deformity
Pack 3 pick 11:
Curse of the Nightly Hunt
Bramblecrush
Crossway Vampire
--> Abbey Griffin
Mountain
Pack 3 pick 12:
--> Ghoulcaller's Chant
Ghostly Possession
Scourge of Geier Reach
Island
Pack 3 pick 13:
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Mountain
--> Manor Skeleton
Pack 3 pick 14:
Plains
--> Gruesome Deformity
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Swamp
So anyway, I already told you how my first match went. My second match was against G/U mill yourself and I won with VCOUSs (Village Cannibals of Ridiculous Size), and Grasping his Stitched Drake twice in the 2nd game. The third match I just curved out well and won pretty easily; he got draws about as bad as mine were in the first match. Unfortunately, games don't tend to be all that interesting in Swiss unless you're in contention to win the draft; the decks in the losers bracket have a tendency to not put up much of a fight a lot of the time.
I definitely screwed up putting Increasing Ambition in the deck. It was totally out of place. I drew it a couple times but I never had anything to get with it that was worth spending tons of mana for. I cast it once to get Divine Reckoning but I lost anyway, and once to get a Plains (lost that game too, somehow). Would replace that with Geistcatcher's Rig if I could go back, for sure.
P1P1: Drogskol Captain
P1P2: Gavony Ironwright
P1P3: Wolfhunter's Quiver
P1P4: Gather the Townsfolk
P1P5: Somberwald Dryad
...and likely ended up W/G after U turned out not to be open.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
Edit: apparently, he has TWO Vaults! One is foil!
:dance:Fact or Fiction of the [Limited] Clan:dance:
In the draft you describe, wouldn't Lingering Souls still be the better card for the final deck than Drogskol Captain?
Gavony Ironwright also seems kind of terrible to me. Why is that worth a second pick?
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing while watching those matches. Hard to ask for a better pool, really... no wonder he's 9-0 and in first place after day 1.
Lingering Souls is a real card, by the way... I initially had Briarpack Alpha over it, but now I'm not so sure. Lingering Souls is so good.
Edit - random comment about an Innistrad card that has become significantly worse with DKA: Tribute to Hunger. I already wasn't a fan, but with undying, Black Cat, Lingering Souls, Gather the Townsfolk, Loyal Cathar, blah blah blah, it is now a card I actively don't want to play in my deck.
Which final deck? Not the one I'm hoping for when speculatively first-picking a Captain, that's for sure.
The point about that pick is that it's an archetype call. Lingering Souls is easily the better card, but only if you're in W/B, which is unlikely to be open. By contrast W/U is much easier to draft and a W/U deck with Captain is really the #1 thing I want to draft.
I honestly think first picking Lingering Souls is the #1 cause of failed drafts in this format. "Take the best card" is only a good plan if you can make a deck with the card in.
The only reason I think it's great is because I've played with it.
Joking apart, it's possible Seaskite is the better card but for both curve reasons and colour reasons I'd rather have the Ironwright. As for the rest:
Soul Seizer - Isn't actually good, it turns out.
Kessig Recluse - Quite good, but not enough to switch to Green.
Blood Feud - Not good in anything I might be drafting.
Vengeful Vampire - Too slow.
Increasing Ambition - Too slow. (And bad with no targets!)
I like Ironwright mainly because it frequently steals games from both the Vampire deck and the Werewolf deck if they find themselves unable to win from 6. You need something to deal with ground-vs-air races or you'll just lose them.
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
"In a world where money talks, silence is horrifying."
Ashcoat Bear of Limited
I disagree. WB is not harder or easier to get to work than other combinations. The thing with first-picking Lingering Souls is that it doesn't put you in WB necessarily. You should be ready to splash either colour; if you do end up WB, all the better.
Of course for me it's even easier because I draft 4 or 5 colours every other draft.