I disagree. WB is not harder or easier to get to work than other combinations.
It is in some empirical sense. When I reach the finals (with a deck that isn't W/U), my opponent is W/U themselves about half the time. Good W/B decks are so rare that I can't remember the last time I saw one.
Fair enough about not needing to be W/B. I essentially always assume I'm two colour throughout pack one since three colour aggro is horrible and my default approach is the opposite of yours! (I essentially never draft 4-colour control, because any time I try I end up with none of the cards it needs, which suggests to me that I'm terrible at reading signals for it.)
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<Limited Clan>
I actively hate WB as an archetype. I find the creature base is always a bunch of 2/2 guys, and without something like Lingering Souls, Sorin, Vault, Skirsdag Flayer, or other similar synergies, it just doesn't work. The fact that all of those synergy cards are in pack 1 doesn't help.
My good friend drafted WB on Friday, and his deck lacked any of those cards. He had good stuff for sure, but no real synergies that validate the archetype. He slunk in his chair when I played Chapel Geist, as it shut down most of his offense!
I know this is a singular case, but in a format in which creature quality is so important (hello, red being a terrible color!), I'm never impressed with what W/B decks tend to look like.
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Providing a plethora of pompous and pedantic postings here since 2009.
:dance:Fact or Fiction of the [Limited] Clan:dance:
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.
I've had pretty good results with B/W so far - granted, I've usually gone B/W because I've picked up Skirsdag Flayer/Lingering Souls/etc, and not really actively looked to go there, but those decks have been very good. There are some really strong synergies going on in B/W, so such decks that I've drafted have been overperforming (considering the average power level of each individual card).
By the way, I never got around to write a review of Dark Ascension. I was meaning to do it, but after I'd started I realized that I simply don't have the time to write comprehensive reviews like I used to. I did write the white review, though, so I'll post it here, just for fun. It was written prior to the prerelease, as usual... so: point an laugh where I was wrong!
Howdy! Over the next few days, I'm going to analyze each and every Dark Ascension card, and rate them based on their playability in draft and sealed. The catch is that since this is written several days before the prerelease, I haven't actually played with the cards yet. That's right, this is a pre-emptive set review of Dark Ascension in Limited, and everything I say is based on theory. I'm bound to be incorrect a few (or more!) of the cards, but I'm not to worried about that - my goal is to create a foundation of information about the new set that we can all build on during the upcoming weeks, as the new format gets explored. With that said... enjoy!
Keyword explanation!
For these articles, I'm going to use some categories to roughly describe the power level of each individual card.
This unreasonably expensive mythic is not what you want to be casting in your forty-card deck. Not only are eight mana cards generally quite uncastable, this doesn't really pack the punch you'd expect something this steep - instead of the Akroma you should be getting, all you're left with is actually just a worse Gnaw to the Bone in a color that doesn't contain any self mill at all! The Feldon's Cane part of the card could have been sort of useful in certain circumstances, but at eight mana it is out of the question.
Verdict: Stone unplayable
Similar to Hysterical Blindness in that it's primarily a combat trick that affects several creatures, and like with Blindness, it is not difficult to imagine scenarios where it's a total blowout in your favor. Unfortunately, these scenarios happen just about as frequently as Mana Clash kills your opponent in one shot. There are just so many things that have to go right - the board must be a stall, your forces must be somewhat evenly matched, there has to be a large attack where lots of creatures get blocked, and your opponent has to not play around it. More often than not, this will instead be a narrow, clunky card where you'll have to work hard to get your card back.
Verdict: Chaff
Glorious Charge isn't the worst card ever, but it is fairly narrow and low impact. As with Bar the Way, you and your opponent's creatures have to be of about equal size for it to work, and it is pretty easy to play around - all you have to do is add "buffers" to your blocks. For example, if your opponent is attacking with a Festerhide Boar into your Festerhide Boar and Villagers of Estwald, you can play around Break the Day by simply putting both creatures in the way. As a combat trick, it is usually inferior to most of the alternatives (Moment of Heroism and Skillful Lunge at the same mana cost), but if you're in the market for a trick, you do what you got to do. The fateful hour part of this card seems pretty weak, as if you're playing this card in your deck, and are solidly on your back foot, it probably means bad things are happening to you - you're not likely to have very many creatures in play at that point.
Verdict: Filler
At first glance, Burden of Guilt might look like a quality removal spell, but it is actually not that good. It's trying to trick you into believing it is a Claustrophobia, when in reality it is closer to Shard Volley! Having to keep investing mana into it after you've played it is a very significant disadvantage, and makes it a poor early play. Later in the game, when you've for the most part emptied your hand and have a surplus of lands in play, this'll come down and do a good job, but don't mistake this as an early pick - it is merely fine.
Verdict: Solid playable
Rule of Law was never a Limited powerhouse (or even playable), and making it only affect your opponent, while an improvement, does not fix its problems. You're investing four mana into an enchantment that does not impact the board, the hands, or even the life totals, and by the time this hits play, being restricted to one spell per turn should not be terribly painful. It might be slightly annoying from time to time, but it doesn't halt their development like expensive enchantments such as this one should.
Verdict: Stone unplayable
He might not be quite as good as his cousin Mausoleum Guard, I trust that he'll be a decent addition to most decks regardless. Best served as a defensive guy, but a four-point life swing on offense is not nothing, and he's very nice with equipment like Silver-Inlaid Dagger. Control decks should find him pretty annoying, and he'll be good in the semi-popular white-black Humans archetype.
Verdict: Solid playable
Emerge Unscathed-kind of cards are usually fine, and this has the somewhat unique distinction of being able to protect any permanent you control. Sure, you'll be protecting a creature 90% of the time, but every once in a while you'll be glad you have this to counter a Silverchase Fox-activation targeting your Claustrophobia or Bonds of Faith. Speaking of which, a sweet play you might be able to pull off from time to time, is when your opponent has a Bonds of Faith on your guy, and attacks with a white creature. Play this, and net yourself a lovely two-for-one!
Faith's Shield can't, unfortunately, target your opponent's permanents (unlike Stave Off), but the fateful hour upside is probably significant enough to make up for that. Note that it protects you as well, not only all your creatures, which can both act as a Fog, a Disenchant for any kind of Curses attached to you, and a counterspell for cards like Brimstone Volley and Tribute to Hunger. A versatile card, and I imagine you'd be happy to play one or two in most white-based decks.
Verdict: Solid playable
The value of this card should fluctuate up and down based on your deck and what you're playing against. If you have a couple of Travel Preparations, Gather the Townsfolk is quite good, and if you're facing a creature-light deck, it is even better. Generally, if the opponent doesn't have many blockers, dividing your threats into multiple smaller men is advantageous since they'll be more resistant to removal. However, against decks with lots of creatures, a couple of 1/1s are going to be very insignificant attackers, since they'll often just get munched for free by defending dudes. But even then, it should still be fine on defense, and the fateful hour part of the card is very nice, making it a relevant card even in the lategame.
Verdict: Solid playable
There are already plenty of Horned Turtle-kind of cards running around, and this is probably worse than the ones we already have (Armored Skaab and Village Bell-Ringer). It's not even like Bell-Ringer is that good, and that guy does at least have a great ambushing potential. Boosting your other guys when fateful hour ticks in is nice, but it should be easy to play around should it be necessary to do so, and it is not enough to salvage this mediocre card.
Verdict: Filler
This crafty, versatile ghost should be a welcome addition to any deck that can play him. Most of the time, it'll negate an attack step of your opponent's and proceed to start swinging for two, but often enough it'll also eat an opposing Spirit token or something in the process. Other sweet and plausible scenarios include blanking an opponent's combat trick by removing their creature from combat, or mess up a doubleblock by scaring away one of them. Don't let this card's potential value trick you into playing it incorrectly, though - more often than not, the right play is to slam him on turn four and start getting in there.
Verdict: Solid playable
This is like a better Moan of the Unhallowed that's going to absolutely crush any control deck - their hand of three removalspells and a couple of clumsy guys don't match up well to this. And even if they're able to repel the first wave of intruders, it is not unlikely that they won't be able to finish you off before you reach nine mana, and at that point, the game is essentially over. And don't get me wrong, this is also going to be great against more aggressive decks, even though the likelihood of reaching nine is decidedly smaller. Don't get fooled into playing Intangible Virtue, though, at least not unless you have quite a few more token-producing cards.
Verdict: Slam!
Another highly potent token-producer, and more rough times for control decks everywhere. If you play white and have this in your deck, you might as well play a swamp or two if your mana can sustain it, since flashing this back is going to be such a beating. And it's not like this isn't already a fine card if you can't flash it back, quite the contrary. I fully expect to be splashing for one or both halves of this card often enough.
Verdict: Early pick
2/2 and vigilance for WW isn't the worst to begin with, although nothing exciting, but the 2/1 body you get after it dies pushes it from "filler" to the "solid" category. Make no mistake, 2/1s that can't block are the benchmark of mediocrity, and will often get blanked mid-game, but if backed up with Travel Preps or equipment, 2/1s that can only attack certainly still hold some value. Note that this is yet another card that'll feast on removal-heavy control decks, so it might look like those kinds of decks will be tougher to pilot to a winning record with Dark Ascension in the mix.
Verdict: Solid playable
Effectively a 2/3 vigilant man a lot of the time, and your typical filler creature. Not bad, but nothing you're thrilled about playing. A cool feature about it is that if you attack with it, and then pass the turn with mana up, your opponent might be afraid of sending in guys, in case you have Midnight Haunting or Ambush Viper or something like that, in which case the Guard will devour their bear for free.
Verdict: Filler
One toughness is awkward, thanks to many new cards preying on weaklings like that, plus the amount of Spirit tokens everywhere, but this is still a fine aggressive creature. Slam him on turn 3, letting your cheap guys get a free hit in, while being a decent threat on his own. Its body is too fragile for it to be an early pick, but it's going to be decent in most decks, and should contribute to some really nice starts.
Verdict: Solid playable
This guy really hates sitting across from decks with Midnight Haunting, but most of the time it should be a really good aggressive creature - it's like a tapper that doesn't require mana and nugs them for one in the process. Sure, it doesn't tap on defense, but if they want to avoid having this fellow let through a bunch of ground pounders, they'll have to leave several blockers behind. Niblis of the Urn doesn't care too much about defending, so if beating down isn't your trade, I suggest looking elsewhere, but beatdown decks will want him.
Verdict: Early pick
While the Ray is quite obviously not a card you want to be caught having in your maindeck, it's a nice card to have access to for games two and three. In particular, this gets Curse of the Bloody Tome pretty good, as they'll eventually mill it for you and you get to Demystify it for free. It can also come in very handy against Burning Vengeance-decks, and U/W decks and the like that sport an array of Claustrophobias and Bonds of Faith. I'd look to pick it up very late in the pack, though (10th-11th sounds about right), and not board it in all that often, when it comes to it.
Verdict: Sideboard
This Angel is, as Angels always are, a high pick. 5/5 flying for six, and splashable to boot - that is a fine first pick if I've ever seen one. That said, Angels and Dragons seem to be worse in Innistrad limited than in most other formats. This can probably be attributed to the fact that it's quite tempo-oriented; there are a few cheap and efficient bounce-spells; and most decks are aggressive and don't seem to much fancy six-drops. Dearly Departed was a similar card in Innistrad, albeit not really splashable,
Verdict: Early pick
This is like Squire - only cheaper! I can appreciate the appeal of bringing Meow to battle, but sadly, vanilla 1/2s for one just won't do the trick. It doesn't attack or block particularly well - although it isn't the absolute worst at gangblocking - and it will very rarely net you back the card you invested. Since it's inferior to basically any creature, starting on turn two, I would be very upset if I ever had to play this.
Verdict: Chaff
Séance is another four mana enchantment that has very little impact on the board, and is arguably in the color least supportive of self-milling, which makes it pretty useless. When the stars align, it might hold off a few attackers or swing in for some points of damage, but that requires your deck to be unusually bad. Why would you ever want to play U/ or G/ self mill? The payoff for Mulching away with Séance in play isn't even that big, you have to pack some serious choom chooms in order to make this card even remotely worthwhile.
Verdict: Chaff
Five mana three power fliers are no longer the kings of Limited like they used to be, but they're still fine. The Griffin brawls well enough, and beats up on most other fliers. It is clunky and costly, though, and the low toughness means it, unlike the Innistrad Geists, drops dead to Blazing Torch, Fires of Undeath, and Dead Weight. Despite all this, it should find a home in most white decks, and probably perform well.
Verdict: Solid playable
A cheaper, and therefore most likely better, Slaughter Cry. To me, the most appealing thing about this card is how hard it is to play around. In Innistrad, you've got Moment of Heroism, a card you can play around by assigning extra blockers to the same creature; but this, coincidentally, plays right into Skillful Lunge. My point is that multiple tricks at the same mana cost makes them all slightly better, by being harder to play around. All that said, it is not actually that good of a trick, as it's only good in combat. Most other tricks are both good in combat and can save your creature from random burn spells and such. I'd certainly look to play Moment of Heroism before this, but if you need some shenanigans, you could do way worse than the Lunge here.
Verdict: Filler
There are some serious flavor issues with this card - "Sudden" Disappearance isn't even an instant! Apart from that, it is pretty much just the most expensive Falter I've ever seen in my life. It has some narrow sideboard applications, though - it kills off all tokens, it can remove nasty creature enchantments from your guys, and it removes Travel Preparations counters from their men. Not that impressive for a six mana spell, but those are still some interactions it's worth making notes of.
Verdict: Chaff
Thalia's ability is sure to be more relevant in Constructed than in Limited, but it can absolutely annoy opponents from time to time. What's important is that she's a 2/1 first striker for two mana, which is a pretty good deal. It's nothing special though, so be sure to take actual good cards over her, but she's a fine two-drop. Note the slight nonbo with Travel Preparations, however - usually in G/, you'll want to go two-drop, three-drop, Travel Prep, flashback; but with Thalia in play you'll be slowed down a little.
Verdict: Solid playable
This guy is obviously really strong, and provides tons of value, and if not dealt with quickly, he'll threaten to run away with the game. His Fateful Hour ability combos well with the tokens he creates - because of the potential double Anthem, the opponent is forced to alpha strike rather than fly over for a couple of points at a time, and the surplus of Soldiers makes it easy to chumpblock to stay at one to five life, and rumble back for a million. A sweet trick you can pull off with his fateful hour-ability is Brimstone Volley (for example) yourself as a combat trick, generating as a small Overrun-effect.
Verdict: Slam!
Bears with upsides are always welcome, and the Heretic's ability is very real in this format. You can use it to leave Stitched creatures stranded in your opponent's hand, you can blank Unburial Rites and Ghoulcaller's Chant, and you can reduce the effectiveness of cards like Gnaw to the Bone and Spider Spawning. And if not, you can always just attack for two. All-in-all a very versatile card, and a fine addition to any white-based deck.
Verdict: Solid playable
Conclusion
In total, white seems to have received the short end of the stick here. The only removal spell - Burden of Guilt - is uninspiring, the creatures are mostly average, and the tricks are mediocre. White used to be the best color in the format, but that might change with the release of Dark Ascension. However, that is also something you can take advantage of if you bide your time - since there are fewer cards that would tempt players into white in the first pack, white could easily be an underdrafted color, and you can jump in and reap the rewards in pack two and three.
Won on an 8-4 by siding in Witchbane Orb in the finals! He was playing a pretty focused mill deck with only one creature as far as I saw - Deranged Assistant. First game I got him to 2 before he cleared the board and got me locked down. Second game my GW aggro brutality got him down before he could manage to get going, and the last game I dropped Witchbane Orb, and well - that was game
Wasn't a very good deck I had - the biggest bomb was Butcher's Cleaver and a splashed Charmbreaker Devil which was somewhat out of place in an aggro shell - but Travel Preparations, Butcher's Cleaver and random dudes got me there, with a bit of help from Wild Hunger at times.
Whenever I draft a something which isn't UW or GW aggro I tend to lose out due to lack of consistency. Very annoying. My record with DII so far is really good, but I have been totally unable to get any of the (in my mind) sweet control decks I've drafted up and running. My worst loss was to a guy with random guys and Bump In the Night, he had an Instigator Gang but the rest was chaff. But he curved out, and then even stuff like Bump is scary. I'm finding it really hard to stabilize against even mediocre aggro in this format. Usually I like games getting into the mid and late game, as I greatly enjoy complicated board states and combat math, but without aggro (or a skies deck, which is also somewhat aggro I feel) I'm just not getting there. What experiences do the rest of you have? Do you field a lot of early drops in your control decks as well? I am also having trouble finding credible finishers for my control decks.
Oh, and I am so staying out of 4-3-2-2 for the rest of this draft season. Usually one can prey a bit on weaker players in there, but from the losses I've had, the level is everybit as cutthroat as 8-4, if not more, for a worse payout. And people getting passed the nuts happens a lot more. Swiss or 8-4 for me for the rest of the season. I know I should be doing that anyway, but during M12, 4-3-2-2 kept me pretty much infinite.
As for B/W I really love BWx in this format, usually BWr or BWg, but it's kind of a difficult deck to assemble. I've had the best results with human/token based BW, but I am really wary of going into this archetype, as I find it very easy to get cut out of playables for it. Usually I find it's better to fit B or W in as a splash color in a GWb or BGw deck. BRw is also very hard to get to work, and is a bit reliant on getting some bombs. I am loving Treacheous Blood + sac outlets. Nothing like winning by stealing the other guy's bomb, beating him in the head with it, and then saccing it for value
EDIT: Thanks for the set review! Something to read while I grab some lunch
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.
The final deck I mean is any deck you'd be actually likely to end up with. You say Lingering Souls is only better in W/B; I say Lingering Souls is better if your deck just isn't specifically W/U. You aren't forcing an archetype by taking Souls, but you are forcing by picking the 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.
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.
Well I always aim for the 5 colour flahsback monstrosity but since most people don't, I'll try to pretend I'm normal.
p1: Lingering Souls as said earlier.
p2: Ambition is probably fine. (Note that I'm totally going 5c after those two first picks. I've never actually seen Ambition though so I don't know for sure how to evaluate it.) Anyway this pack is quite bad so it doesn't matter a whole lot for the direction of the draft.
p3: Highborn Ghoul. You should never have to take a mediocre 4-drop at p1p3. Curve is everything in this format. 2-drops are scarce, good 2-drops are very high picks.
p4: Again Ghoul, clearly.
p5: I don't like the Chosen; you can take it here but it's a bit of a gamble. He's terrible if you don't have enough Vampires (there are way too many 3-drops in the format, so Gray Ogres are even worse than usual), and if you do end up with enough Vampires, he's not even that impressive, taking a turn to flip. So I'd take Wreck with Madness here.
p6: Since I'm not sure of my main colors yet, I'd take Evolving Wilds. Torturer is only good in BW, Fiends only in BR. Neither is that great that I'd want to go for it here.
p7: Yeah, Screeching Skaab.
p8: Hinterland Hermit. A good 2-drop is actually what pushes me towards a color.
p9: Torch Fiend (although Cage is probably a bit of money so that's fine)
p2p1: Yeah see earlier about Reckoning. It's only good if you use it; it's not simply 'removal'. Just look over your final deck: which of your guys will realistically be better than what the opponent is left with? People too easily put a card in a category ('mass removal') and value it as such, rather than at what the card actually does. Anyway, I'm picking Volley now of course.
It should be clear that my draft will at this point divert too much from yours; I'm going BRw. But my one advice would be: take 2-drops.
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.
Tahn, what kind of curve do you try to shoot for? Like I wrote, I'm having trouble with non-aggro decks - maybe because those tend to naturally have a lot of 1 and 2 drops. Finding early drops that I actually want in a control deck seems difficult. Could you post an example of one of your 5-color flashback decks?
Tahn, what kind of curve do you try to shoot for? Like I wrote, I'm having trouble with non-aggro decks - maybe because those tend to naturally have a lot of 1 and 2 drops. Finding early drops that I actually want in a control deck seems difficult. Could you post an example of one of your 5-color flashback decks?
Basically, if you have enough card advantage, any random 2-drop will do, since its function is just to trade with the opposing 2-drop. However, you don't want too many stupid bears in your deck of course, so 2-drops that provide value are ideal. Screeching Skaab and Deranged Assistant are obviously the best ones. Past that, you're looking at things like Silverchase Fox, Thraben Heretic - they can trade with the opposing 2-drop but have some utility. It all depends what your major colour is. Most often I'm base UR, but UW and UB bases are also possible. Any decent two-drop in a major colour is fine (as long as you don't have too many).
Here's my most recent 5c draft. I'll add some comments where needed.
Pack 1 pick 1:
Island
Tragic Slip
Lambholt Elder
Heavy Mattock
Somberwald Dryad
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
Faithless Looting
Tracker's Instincts
Pyreheart Wolf
Gravetiller Wurm (FOIL)
Altar of the Lost
Divination
--> Increasing Devotion
Pack 1 pick 2:
Island
Secrets of the Dead
Tragic Slip
Loyal Cathar
Ulvenwald Bear
Headless Skaab
Elgaud Inquisitor
Haunted Fengraf
Niblis of the Mist
--> Faithless Looting
Diregraf Captain
Gravetiller Wurm
Sightless Ghoul
Silverclaw Griffin
I could have gone for a normal draft and taken Loyal Cathar. But with Altar of the Lost in the first pack and Secrets of the Dead in this one, it was too tempting to go for my favourite deck. Faithless Looting is an awesome card, it fixes my draws and flashbacks for value.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Mountain
Black Cat
Highborn Ghoul
Hunger of the Howlpack
Thraben Heretic
Saving Grasp
Hinterland Hermit
Erdwal Ripper
--> Evolving Wilds
Break of Day
Talons of Falkenrath
Avacyn's Collar
Sudden Disappearance
Pack 1 pick 4:
Swamp
Black Cat
Chill of Foreboding
Hunger of the Howlpack
Russet Wolves
Somberwald Dryad
Wolfhunter's Quiver
--> Hinterland Hermit
Pyreheart Wolf
Scorch the Fields
Bone to Ash
Bar the Door
This pick illustrates my point about 2-drops. There's nothing I want in this pack, so I just take the decent 2-drop. Note that I'll only play it if red is a main color.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Mountain
Gravepurge
Heavy Mattock
Vengeful Vampire
Falkenrath Torturer
Break of Day
--> Burning Oil
Wakedancer
Gruesome Discovery
Talons of Falkenrath
Nearheath Stalker
Pack 1 pick 7:
Swamp
Shriekgeist
Chosen of Markov
Headless Skaab
--> Warden of the Wall
Spiteful Shadows
Sightless Ghoul
Relentless Skaabs
Hollowhenge Beast
I don't like this card, I'm not very likely to play it. There are plenty of 2/3 for three and coming into play tapped is a huge drawback. But there was nothing else I was interested in. (This deck typically has 7-8 guys so Skaabs are bad.)
Pack 1 pick 8:
Mountain
Kessig Recluse
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
--> Warden of the Wall
Favor of the Woods
Faith's Shield
Sanctuary Cat
Again nothing I care for. I figured 2 Wardens plus Altar could be decent if I ended up with multiple Alchemies in addition to my Increasing Devotion. (They didn't make my deck.)
Pack 1 pick 9:
Island
Heavy Mattock
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
Gravetiller Wurm (FOIL)
--> Altar of the Lost
Pack 1 pick 10:
Island
--> Secrets of the Dead
Headless Skaab
Haunted Fengraf
Sightless Ghoul
Silverclaw Griffin
Pack 1 pick 11:
Mountain
--> Black Cat
Saving Grasp
Erdwal Ripper
Talons of Falkenrath
Again the random 2-drop in case black becomes my main colour (although I don't have black cards yet, so it's not exactly likely).
Pack 1 pick 12:
Swamp
--> Chill of Foreboding
Russet Wolves
Scorch the Fields
Pack 1 pick 13:
Mountain
--> Gravepurge
Talons of Falkenrath
Pack 1 pick 14:
Forest
--> Spiteful Shadows
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Swamp
------ ISD ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Cellar Door
--> Dead Weight
Selfless Cathar
Splinterfright
Ashmouth Hound
Hamlet Captain
Somberwald Spider
Doomed Traveler
Hanweir Watchkeep
Armored Skaab
Spidery Grasp
Island
Manor Skeleton
Memory's Journey
One-Eyed Scarecrow
Pack 2 pick 2:
Feral Ridgewolf
Ghostly Possession
Trepanation Blade
Selfless Cathar
Tormented Pariah
Silver-Inlaid Dagger
--> Forbidden Alchemy
Scourge of Geier Reach
Curse of Oblivion
Clifftop Retreat
Gnaw to the Bone
Rebuke
Mountain
Typhoid Rats
Pack 2 pick 4:
Ghoulraiser
Travel Preparations
--> Avacynian Priest
Riot Devils
Civilized Scholar
Sensory Deprivation
Chapel Geist
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Hysterical Blindness
Somberwald Spider
Forest
Paraselene
Pack 2 pick 5:
Harvest Pyre
--> Slayer of the Wicked
Bonds of Faith
Make a Wish
Wooden Stake
Hysterical Blindness
Mulch
Naturalize
Vampiric Fury
Mountain
Rolling Temblor
Pack 3 pick 4:
Sensory Deprivation
Makeshift Mauler
Stromkirk Patrol
Moan of the Unhallowed
--> Runic Repetition
Orchard Spirit
Infernal Plunge
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Disciple of Griselbrand
Island
Maw of the Mire
Stony Silence
Pack 3 pick 5:
Ghoulraiser
Travel Preparations
Sensory Deprivation
Village Ironsmith
Inquisitor's Flail
Ancient Grudge
Feeling of Dread
Rally the Peasants
Corpse Lunge
--> Divine Reckoning (FOIL)
Forest
This is a deck in which Reckoning is excellent!
Pack 3 pick 6:
Ghoulraiser
--> Purify the Grave
Thraben Purebloods
Furor of the Bitten
Rakish Heir
Heartless Summoning
Mountain
Maw of the Mire
Bitterheart Witch
Ranger's Guile
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.
Basically, if you have enough card advantage, any random 2-drop will do, since its function is just to trade with the opposing 2-drop. However, you don't want too many stupid bears in your deck of course, so 2-drops that provide value are ideal. Screeching Skaab and Deranged Assistant are obviously the best ones. Past that, you're looking at things like Silverchase Fox, Thraben Heretic - they can trade with the opposing 2-drop but have some utility. It all depends what your major colour is. Most often I'm base UR, but UW and UB bases are also possible. Any decent two-drop in a major colour is fine (as long as you don't have too many).
Here's my most recent 5c draft. I'll add some comments where needed.
Pack 1 pick 1:
Island
Tragic Slip
Lambholt Elder
Heavy Mattock
Somberwald Dryad
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
Faithless Looting
Tracker's Instincts
Pyreheart Wolf
Gravetiller Wurm (FOIL)
Altar of the Lost
Divination
--> Increasing Devotion
Pack 1 pick 2:
Island
Secrets of the Dead
Tragic Slip
Loyal Cathar
Ulvenwald Bear
Headless Skaab
Elgaud Inquisitor
Haunted Fengraf
Niblis of the Mist
--> Faithless Looting
Diregraf Captain
Gravetiller Wurm
Sightless Ghoul
Silverclaw Griffin
I could have gone for a normal draft and taken Loyal Cathar. But with Altar of the Lost in the first pack and Secrets of the Dead in this one, it was too tempting to go for my favourite deck. Faithless Looting is an awesome card, it fixes my draws and flashbacks for value.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Mountain
Black Cat
Highborn Ghoul
Hunger of the Howlpack
Thraben Heretic
Saving Grasp
Hinterland Hermit
Erdwal Ripper
--> Evolving Wilds
Break of Day
Talons of Falkenrath
Avacyn's Collar
Sudden Disappearance
Pack 1 pick 4:
Swamp
Black Cat
Chill of Foreboding
Hunger of the Howlpack
Russet Wolves
Somberwald Dryad
Wolfhunter's Quiver
--> Hinterland Hermit
Pyreheart Wolf
Scorch the Fields
Bone to Ash
Bar the Door
This pick illustrates my point about 2-drops. There's nothing I want in this pack, so I just take the decent 2-drop. Note that I'll only play it if red is a main color.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Mountain
Gravepurge
Heavy Mattock
Vengeful Vampire
Falkenrath Torturer
Break of Day
--> Burning Oil
Wakedancer
Gruesome Discovery
Talons of Falkenrath
Nearheath Stalker
Pack 1 pick 7:
Swamp
Shriekgeist
Chosen of Markov
Headless Skaab
--> Warden of the Wall
Spiteful Shadows
Sightless Ghoul
Relentless Skaabs
Hollowhenge Beast
I don't like this card, I'm not very likely to play it. There are plenty of 2/3 for three and coming into play tapped is a huge drawback. But there was nothing else I was interested in. (This deck typically has 7-8 guys so Skaabs are bad.)
Pack 1 pick 8:
Mountain
Kessig Recluse
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
--> Warden of the Wall
Favor of the Woods
Faith's Shield
Sanctuary Cat
Again nothing I care for. I figured 2 Wardens plus Altar could be decent if I ended up with multiple Alchemies in addition to my Increasing Devotion. (They didn't make my deck.)
Pack 1 pick 9:
Island
Heavy Mattock
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
Gravetiller Wurm (FOIL)
--> Altar of the Lost
Pack 1 pick 10:
Island
--> Secrets of the Dead
Headless Skaab
Haunted Fengraf
Sightless Ghoul
Silverclaw Griffin
Pack 1 pick 11:
Mountain
--> Black Cat
Saving Grasp
Erdwal Ripper
Talons of Falkenrath
Again the random 2-drop in case black becomes my main colour (although I don't have black cards yet, so it's not exactly likely).
Pack 1 pick 12:
Swamp
--> Chill of Foreboding
Russet Wolves
Scorch the Fields
Pack 1 pick 13:
Mountain
--> Gravepurge
Talons of Falkenrath
Pack 1 pick 14:
Forest
--> Spiteful Shadows
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Swamp
------ ISD ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Cellar Door
--> Dead Weight
Selfless Cathar
Splinterfright
Ashmouth Hound
Hamlet Captain
Somberwald Spider
Doomed Traveler
Hanweir Watchkeep
Armored Skaab
Spidery Grasp
Island
Manor Skeleton
Memory's Journey
One-Eyed Scarecrow
Pack 2 pick 2:
Feral Ridgewolf
Ghostly Possession
Trepanation Blade
Selfless Cathar
Tormented Pariah
Silver-Inlaid Dagger
--> Forbidden Alchemy
Scourge of Geier Reach
Curse of Oblivion
Clifftop Retreat
Gnaw to the Bone
Rebuke
Mountain
Typhoid Rats
Pack 2 pick 4:
Ghoulraiser
Travel Preparations
--> Avacynian Priest
Riot Devils
Civilized Scholar
Sensory Deprivation
Chapel Geist
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Hysterical Blindness
Somberwald Spider
Forest
Paraselene
Pack 2 pick 5:
Harvest Pyre
--> Slayer of the Wicked
Bonds of Faith
Make a Wish
Wooden Stake
Hysterical Blindness
Mulch
Naturalize
Vampiric Fury
Mountain
Rolling Temblor
Pack 3 pick 4:
Sensory Deprivation
Makeshift Mauler
Stromkirk Patrol
Moan of the Unhallowed
--> Runic Repetition
Orchard Spirit
Infernal Plunge
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Disciple of Griselbrand
Island
Maw of the Mire
Stony Silence
Pack 3 pick 5:
Ghoulraiser
Travel Preparations
Sensory Deprivation
Village Ironsmith
Inquisitor's Flail
Ancient Grudge
Feeling of Dread
Rally the Peasants
Corpse Lunge
--> Divine Reckoning (FOIL)
Forest
This is a deck in which Reckoning is excellent!
Pack 3 pick 6:
Ghoulraiser
--> Purify the Grave
Thraben Purebloods
Furor of the Bitten
Rakish Heir
Heartless Summoning
Mountain
Maw of the Mire
Bitterheart Witch
Ranger's Guile
Pack 3 pick 12:
Stromkirk Patrol
Infernal Plunge
Island
--> Maw of the Mire
Pack 3 pick 13:
Inquisitor's Flail
--> Corpse Lunge
Forest
Pack 3 pick 14:
Mountain
--> Maw of the Mire
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Island
The manabase was 2 Evolving Wilds, 1 Clifftop Retreat, 1 Mountain, 1 Swamp, 1 Forest, 5 Plains, 6 Island. Splashed cards were Faithless Looting, Burning Oil, Dead Weight (and flashbacks of Alchemy and Memory's Journey).
What was your record? And was this an 8-4?
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"If you're Havengul problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems and a Lich ain't one." - FSM
"In a world where money talks, silence is horrifying."
MOCS was my 3rd top 8 of a big PE, but the last 2 times I don't remember missing any picks. This time as soon as the last match of round 11 finished MTGO froze. I waited for a minute hoping it would fix itself (and hoping that there was the customary 2 minutes between rounds, this was after playing almost 11 hours of very tough matches, so I forgot that there was not). I then started another session, killed the first one and logged into the second and instantly I was in the draft with 4 cards selected already and about 1 second on the clock. I didn't have time to pick anything and got an autopicked Curse of Thirst, so my first real pick was pick 6.
Very disappointing. I was 2 seats to the right of the eventual winner and looking at the draft viewer I passed him his 3rd Brimstone Volley in a row to start off pack 3. I picked a Slayer of the Wicked over it. Red did seem open from my seat but looking at the viewer now I believe I would have been WU. I would have started off White and would usually avoid WR at all costs.
I've been in a few as well, but it only happened once. The draft window came up with like four picks already made. Other people have brought this up as a problem before too. I'm pretty sure its just a bug with t8 drafts for some reason.
I only do 8-4s. Amusingly this last one I went out in the quarterfinals - although that was entirely due to my own misplays, the deck was very powerful. I won the first game easily, then the second game I had total control as well, I could do whatever I wanted with Journey/Repetition going and 15 Soldiers in play. But instead of simply killing him, I wanted to deck him with Selhoff Occultist + Divine Reckoning. He played Victim of Night on my Occultist in response which was embarassing. After that I needed to play Memory's Journey a couple more times, and my time was running low and so I messed up. At some point (the turn before I was going to win) I somehow ended up with my Journey in my graveyard and no cards in library. Since I had Secrets of the Dead in play (which is unfortunately not mandatory) I got decked. I only had 2 minutes on my clock for game three, which clearly wasn't enough. But I played it out just for the hell of it, and when my clock ran out I was still at 16ish, had just cast Increasing Devotion, and he only had two random small dorks, and I had 7 mana and a full grip. So I very easily would have won all three games I played, but still managed to lose the quarters. That was my first and last attempt at double-queueing.
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.
So I very easily would have won all three games I played
This is very interesting to read, because having only read the draft walkthrough I would have filed the resulting pile under "not a deck". Presumably a typical opening hand must involve taking at least 6-8 damage while you dig for something resembling a defence and praying you find one of your properly unfair cards before you get crushed?
Not that I'd want to face this deck, because if it draws Divine Offering it's going to be basically impossible to beat.
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<Limited Clan>
This is very interesting to read, because having only read the draft walkthrough I would have filed the resulting pile under "not a deck". Presumably a typical opening hand must involve taking at least 6-8 damage while you dig for something resembling a defence and praying you find one of your properly unfair cards before you get crushed?
Not that I'd want to face this deck, because if it draws Divine Offering it's going to be basically impossible to beat.
Not really. It's true that a good portion of the deck is essentially "do-nothings"; Think Twice, Alchemy, Memory's Journey, etc. However this is compensated by the curve (I'm feeling like a broken record but curve is so very important in this format). The deck has only three cards that cost more than three! And those three cards (Slayer, Reckoning, Devotion) all have a huge and immediate impact. I can't stress enough how important that is. It means that you can start casting two spells in one turn very soon. So you can play Looting + Claustrophobia, Think Twice + Rebuke, Alchemy + Burning Oil... etc. So very soon you start advancing both your board position and hand.
Of course it's easy to imagine the most awkward with Memory's Journey etc but even that is compensated by the sheer amount of cards you draw (it doesn't matter too much that you have a useless card if you have other things to do). And of course you can get overrun by a particularly strong aggressive start, but that's true of any deck.
Edit: to show my point about the curve, here's the decklist:
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.
It means that you can start casting two spells in one turn very soon.
Ah, yes, that's pretty much the aspect I was missing.
So do you mulligan 2-land hands more often with this kind of deck?
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<Limited Clan>
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.
Quote from Hardened »
I hereby found the American Chapter of the Zealots of Semantics. All glory to The Curmudgeon.
In related news, I used a ton of, cough, skill to open and build this.
Outsanding! I'm going to try this approach.
How did it do? Lost to a four-colour pile with maindeck Favor of the Woods?
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<Limited Clan>
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.
Quote from Hardened »
I hereby found the American Chapter of the Zealots of Semantics. All glory to The Curmudgeon.
--
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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>
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.
I really need to get the shop more. Let some of his skill/luck rub off on me. Damn was he on fire.
Lost 2 8-4 semis in a row to redguys.dec Both decks packed bump in the night and the neonate. I feel violated Both decks were basically just random red guys (didn't see any bombs), a bit of removal, maybge some geistflame, the red can't-block-flashback spell, and bad black creatures thrown in the mix.
Didn't have the best of luck, and maybe should've mulled tighter , but I still hate losing to Bump in the Night
Lost 2 8-4 semis in a row to redguys.dec Both decks packed bump in the night and the neonate. I feel violated Both decks were basically just random red guys (didn't see any bombs), a bit of removal, maybge some geistflame, the red can't-block-flashback spell, and bad black creatures thrown in the mix.
Didn't have the best of luck, and maybe should've mulled tighter , but I still hate losing to Bump in the Night
Losing to bomb rares always feels bad... until you run into a format like DII and remember what it's like to lose to commons. Bump in the Night for six has certainly earned more respect that I would've given it during triple innistrad, although I haven't personally had too much issue with the card.
Sometimes I do feel like I'm playing cube, though, with all this direct damage... you can have control of a game at 11 life, and then Bump, Volley, Bump, you're dead. Brimstone Volley feels so much like fireblast sometimes.
I will say, having thopter assembly at uncommon is pretty rough... died to that a couple times, that's for sure. Even when I go 2 drop, 3 drop, a limited deck just shouldn't be expected to have to answer four 1/1 fliers that early in the game. I had enough trouble killing 4 1/1 fliers in standard last season.
More like shrapnel blast but yeah. this format is strange. just makes Reid's lack of a loss and not even dropping a single game in the T8 even more amazing.
More like shrapnel blast but yeah. this format is strange. just makes Reid's lack of a loss and not even dropping a single game in the T8 even more amazing.
Ah, much more apt comparison. I've played more cube than mirrodin limited (although I have played some trips mirrodin), so I haven't had the pleasure of being blasted out quite yet.
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I'll be sad if people don't start calling The Chain Veil "Fleetwood Mac."
.. and my game 1 opponent has Into the Maw of Hell on T6 wrecking my vault and my biggest creature, running me over. Doh. He's also double-queuing and playing excruciantingly slow.
Argh! Most annoying loss ever. I flood a bit in game 2, and he beats me down after killing all my dudes with removal - and also nuking my land again. Was a nice deck, Thraben Doomsayer, Vault of the Archangel, Gavony Township, Mikeaus, 2xRebuke, Gather the dudes, Thraben Heretic, lots of 2-drops and even a filling of decent 1-drops. Oh well, that's the breaks sometimes. I'll be the lucky one next time I hope.
At least his deck was decent - R/G aggro with the good early drops, Immerwolf, lots of removal and Markov Warlord to finish off the party. /shake fist. He was so slow that if it had gone to a 3rd game I would pretty sure to win.
It is in some empirical sense. When I reach the finals (with a deck that isn't W/U), my opponent is W/U themselves about half the time. Good W/B decks are so rare that I can't remember the last time I saw one.
Fair enough about not needing to be W/B. I essentially always assume I'm two colour throughout pack one since three colour aggro is horrible and my default approach is the opposite of yours! (I essentially never draft 4-colour control, because any time I try I end up with none of the cards it needs, which suggests to me that I'm terrible at reading signals for it.)
(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
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<Limited Clan>
My good friend drafted WB on Friday, and his deck lacked any of those cards. He had good stuff for sure, but no real synergies that validate the archetype. He slunk in his chair when I played Chapel Geist, as it shut down most of his offense!
I know this is a singular case, but in a format in which creature quality is so important (hello, red being a terrible color!), I'm never impressed with what W/B decks tend to look like.
:dance:Fact or Fiction of the [Limited] Clan:dance:
By the way, I never got around to write a review of Dark Ascension. I was meaning to do it, but after I'd started I realized that I simply don't have the time to write comprehensive reviews like I used to. I did write the white review, though, so I'll post it here, just for fun. It was written prior to the prerelease, as usual... so: point an laugh where I was wrong!
For these articles, I'm going to use some categories to roughly describe the power level of each individual card.
Slam! - this would be your typical ridiculous rare bomb, Mind Control or Flametongue Kavu. Whenever you open this kind of card, you will take it and show everyone a smug grin.
Early pick - solid removalspells, efficient creatures. These will be picked aggressively. Brimstone Volley, Avacynian Priest, Gatstaf Shepherd.
Solid playable - you'd be pleased to pack some of these. Villagers of Estwald, Forbidden Alchemy, Skirsdag Cultist.
Filler - you'll often play these, but you're not necessarily thrilled about it. Smite the Monstrous, Stitcher's Apprentice, Grizzled Outcasts.
Chaff - it is unfortunate when you have to play one of these. Bloodcrazed Neonate, Frightful Delusion, Thraben Purebloods.
Sideboard - this sort of stuff doesn't belong in your maindeck, but be prepared to board it in when the time is right. Ancient Grudge, Paraselene, Witchbane Orb.
Stone unplayable - whenever someone plays this card in their Limited deck, a kitten dies... so don't. Infernal Plunge, Rooftop Storm, Heartless Summoning.
So let's get the review started!
This unreasonably expensive mythic is not what you want to be casting in your forty-card deck. Not only are eight mana cards generally quite uncastable, this doesn't really pack the punch you'd expect something this steep - instead of the Akroma you should be getting, all you're left with is actually just a worse Gnaw to the Bone in a color that doesn't contain any self mill at all! The Feldon's Cane part of the card could have been sort of useful in certain circumstances, but at eight mana it is out of the question.
Verdict: Stone unplayable
Similar to Hysterical Blindness in that it's primarily a combat trick that affects several creatures, and like with Blindness, it is not difficult to imagine scenarios where it's a total blowout in your favor. Unfortunately, these scenarios happen just about as frequently as Mana Clash kills your opponent in one shot. There are just so many things that have to go right - the board must be a stall, your forces must be somewhat evenly matched, there has to be a large attack where lots of creatures get blocked, and your opponent has to not play around it. More often than not, this will instead be a narrow, clunky card where you'll have to work hard to get your card back.
Verdict: Chaff
Glorious Charge isn't the worst card ever, but it is fairly narrow and low impact. As with Bar the Way, you and your opponent's creatures have to be of about equal size for it to work, and it is pretty easy to play around - all you have to do is add "buffers" to your blocks. For example, if your opponent is attacking with a Festerhide Boar into your Festerhide Boar and Villagers of Estwald, you can play around Break the Day by simply putting both creatures in the way. As a combat trick, it is usually inferior to most of the alternatives (Moment of Heroism and Skillful Lunge at the same mana cost), but if you're in the market for a trick, you do what you got to do. The fateful hour part of this card seems pretty weak, as if you're playing this card in your deck, and are solidly on your back foot, it probably means bad things are happening to you - you're not likely to have very many creatures in play at that point.
Verdict: Filler
At first glance, Burden of Guilt might look like a quality removal spell, but it is actually not that good. It's trying to trick you into believing it is a Claustrophobia, when in reality it is closer to Shard Volley! Having to keep investing mana into it after you've played it is a very significant disadvantage, and makes it a poor early play. Later in the game, when you've for the most part emptied your hand and have a surplus of lands in play, this'll come down and do a good job, but don't mistake this as an early pick - it is merely fine.
Verdict: Solid playable
Rule of Law was never a Limited powerhouse (or even playable), and making it only affect your opponent, while an improvement, does not fix its problems. You're investing four mana into an enchantment that does not impact the board, the hands, or even the life totals, and by the time this hits play, being restricted to one spell per turn should not be terribly painful. It might be slightly annoying from time to time, but it doesn't halt their development like expensive enchantments such as this one should.
Verdict: Stone unplayable
He might not be quite as good as his cousin Mausoleum Guard, I trust that he'll be a decent addition to most decks regardless. Best served as a defensive guy, but a four-point life swing on offense is not nothing, and he's very nice with equipment like Silver-Inlaid Dagger. Control decks should find him pretty annoying, and he'll be good in the semi-popular white-black Humans archetype.
Verdict: Solid playable
Emerge Unscathed-kind of cards are usually fine, and this has the somewhat unique distinction of being able to protect any permanent you control. Sure, you'll be protecting a creature 90% of the time, but every once in a while you'll be glad you have this to counter a Silverchase Fox-activation targeting your Claustrophobia or Bonds of Faith. Speaking of which, a sweet play you might be able to pull off from time to time, is when your opponent has a Bonds of Faith on your guy, and attacks with a white creature. Play this, and net yourself a lovely two-for-one!
Faith's Shield can't, unfortunately, target your opponent's permanents (unlike Stave Off), but the fateful hour upside is probably significant enough to make up for that. Note that it protects you as well, not only all your creatures, which can both act as a Fog, a Disenchant for any kind of Curses attached to you, and a counterspell for cards like Brimstone Volley and Tribute to Hunger. A versatile card, and I imagine you'd be happy to play one or two in most white-based decks.
Verdict: Solid playable
The value of this card should fluctuate up and down based on your deck and what you're playing against. If you have a couple of Travel Preparations, Gather the Townsfolk is quite good, and if you're facing a creature-light deck, it is even better. Generally, if the opponent doesn't have many blockers, dividing your threats into multiple smaller men is advantageous since they'll be more resistant to removal. However, against decks with lots of creatures, a couple of 1/1s are going to be very insignificant attackers, since they'll often just get munched for free by defending dudes. But even then, it should still be fine on defense, and the fateful hour part of the card is very nice, making it a relevant card even in the lategame.
Verdict: Solid playable
There are already plenty of Horned Turtle-kind of cards running around, and this is probably worse than the ones we already have (Armored Skaab and Village Bell-Ringer). It's not even like Bell-Ringer is that good, and that guy does at least have a great ambushing potential. Boosting your other guys when fateful hour ticks in is nice, but it should be easy to play around should it be necessary to do so, and it is not enough to salvage this mediocre card.
Verdict: Filler
This crafty, versatile ghost should be a welcome addition to any deck that can play him. Most of the time, it'll negate an attack step of your opponent's and proceed to start swinging for two, but often enough it'll also eat an opposing Spirit token or something in the process. Other sweet and plausible scenarios include blanking an opponent's combat trick by removing their creature from combat, or mess up a doubleblock by scaring away one of them. Don't let this card's potential value trick you into playing it incorrectly, though - more often than not, the right play is to slam him on turn four and start getting in there.
Verdict: Solid playable
This is like a better Moan of the Unhallowed that's going to absolutely crush any control deck - their hand of three removalspells and a couple of clumsy guys don't match up well to this. And even if they're able to repel the first wave of intruders, it is not unlikely that they won't be able to finish you off before you reach nine mana, and at that point, the game is essentially over. And don't get me wrong, this is also going to be great against more aggressive decks, even though the likelihood of reaching nine is decidedly smaller. Don't get fooled into playing Intangible Virtue, though, at least not unless you have quite a few more token-producing cards.
Verdict: Slam!
Another highly potent token-producer, and more rough times for control decks everywhere. If you play white and have this in your deck, you might as well play a swamp or two if your mana can sustain it, since flashing this back is going to be such a beating. And it's not like this isn't already a fine card if you can't flash it back, quite the contrary. I fully expect to be splashing for one or both halves of this card often enough.
Verdict: Early pick
2/2 and vigilance for WW isn't the worst to begin with, although nothing exciting, but the 2/1 body you get after it dies pushes it from "filler" to the "solid" category. Make no mistake, 2/1s that can't block are the benchmark of mediocrity, and will often get blanked mid-game, but if backed up with Travel Preps or equipment, 2/1s that can only attack certainly still hold some value. Note that this is yet another card that'll feast on removal-heavy control decks, so it might look like those kinds of decks will be tougher to pilot to a winning record with Dark Ascension in the mix.
Verdict: Solid playable
Effectively a 2/3 vigilant man a lot of the time, and your typical filler creature. Not bad, but nothing you're thrilled about playing. A cool feature about it is that if you attack with it, and then pass the turn with mana up, your opponent might be afraid of sending in guys, in case you have Midnight Haunting or Ambush Viper or something like that, in which case the Guard will devour their bear for free.
Verdict: Filler
One toughness is awkward, thanks to many new cards preying on weaklings like that, plus the amount of Spirit tokens everywhere, but this is still a fine aggressive creature. Slam him on turn 3, letting your cheap guys get a free hit in, while being a decent threat on his own. Its body is too fragile for it to be an early pick, but it's going to be decent in most decks, and should contribute to some really nice starts.
Verdict: Solid playable
This guy really hates sitting across from decks with Midnight Haunting, but most of the time it should be a really good aggressive creature - it's like a tapper that doesn't require mana and nugs them for one in the process. Sure, it doesn't tap on defense, but if they want to avoid having this fellow let through a bunch of ground pounders, they'll have to leave several blockers behind. Niblis of the Urn doesn't care too much about defending, so if beating down isn't your trade, I suggest looking elsewhere, but beatdown decks will want him.
Verdict: Early pick
While the Ray is quite obviously not a card you want to be caught having in your maindeck, it's a nice card to have access to for games two and three. In particular, this gets Curse of the Bloody Tome pretty good, as they'll eventually mill it for you and you get to Demystify it for free. It can also come in very handy against Burning Vengeance-decks, and U/W decks and the like that sport an array of Claustrophobias and Bonds of Faith. I'd look to pick it up very late in the pack, though (10th-11th sounds about right), and not board it in all that often, when it comes to it.
Verdict: Sideboard
This Angel is, as Angels always are, a high pick. 5/5 flying for six, and splashable to boot - that is a fine first pick if I've ever seen one. That said, Angels and Dragons seem to be worse in Innistrad limited than in most other formats. This can probably be attributed to the fact that it's quite tempo-oriented; there are a few cheap and efficient bounce-spells; and most decks are aggressive and don't seem to much fancy six-drops. Dearly Departed was a similar card in Innistrad, albeit not really splashable,
Verdict: Early pick
This is like Squire - only cheaper! I can appreciate the appeal of bringing Meow to battle, but sadly, vanilla 1/2s for one just won't do the trick. It doesn't attack or block particularly well - although it isn't the absolute worst at gangblocking - and it will very rarely net you back the card you invested. Since it's inferior to basically any creature, starting on turn two, I would be very upset if I ever had to play this.
Verdict: Chaff
Séance is another four mana enchantment that has very little impact on the board, and is arguably in the color least supportive of self-milling, which makes it pretty useless. When the stars align, it might hold off a few attackers or swing in for some points of damage, but that requires your deck to be unusually bad. Why would you ever want to play U/ or G/ self mill? The payoff for Mulching away with Séance in play isn't even that big, you have to pack some serious choom chooms in order to make this card even remotely worthwhile.
Verdict: Chaff
Five mana three power fliers are no longer the kings of Limited like they used to be, but they're still fine. The Griffin brawls well enough, and beats up on most other fliers. It is clunky and costly, though, and the low toughness means it, unlike the Innistrad Geists, drops dead to Blazing Torch, Fires of Undeath, and Dead Weight. Despite all this, it should find a home in most white decks, and probably perform well.
Verdict: Solid playable
A cheaper, and therefore most likely better, Slaughter Cry. To me, the most appealing thing about this card is how hard it is to play around. In Innistrad, you've got Moment of Heroism, a card you can play around by assigning extra blockers to the same creature; but this, coincidentally, plays right into Skillful Lunge. My point is that multiple tricks at the same mana cost makes them all slightly better, by being harder to play around. All that said, it is not actually that good of a trick, as it's only good in combat. Most other tricks are both good in combat and can save your creature from random burn spells and such. I'd certainly look to play Moment of Heroism before this, but if you need some shenanigans, you could do way worse than the Lunge here.
Verdict: Filler
There are some serious flavor issues with this card - "Sudden" Disappearance isn't even an instant! Apart from that, it is pretty much just the most expensive Falter I've ever seen in my life. It has some narrow sideboard applications, though - it kills off all tokens, it can remove nasty creature enchantments from your guys, and it removes Travel Preparations counters from their men. Not that impressive for a six mana spell, but those are still some interactions it's worth making notes of.
Verdict: Chaff
Thalia's ability is sure to be more relevant in Constructed than in Limited, but it can absolutely annoy opponents from time to time. What's important is that she's a 2/1 first striker for two mana, which is a pretty good deal. It's nothing special though, so be sure to take actual good cards over her, but she's a fine two-drop. Note the slight nonbo with Travel Preparations, however - usually in G/, you'll want to go two-drop, three-drop, Travel Prep, flashback; but with Thalia in play you'll be slowed down a little.
Verdict: Solid playable
This guy is obviously really strong, and provides tons of value, and if not dealt with quickly, he'll threaten to run away with the game. His Fateful Hour ability combos well with the tokens he creates - because of the potential double Anthem, the opponent is forced to alpha strike rather than fly over for a couple of points at a time, and the surplus of Soldiers makes it easy to chumpblock to stay at one to five life, and rumble back for a million. A sweet trick you can pull off with his fateful hour-ability is Brimstone Volley (for example) yourself as a combat trick, generating as a small Overrun-effect.
Verdict: Slam!
Bears with upsides are always welcome, and the Heretic's ability is very real in this format. You can use it to leave Stitched creatures stranded in your opponent's hand, you can blank Unburial Rites and Ghoulcaller's Chant, and you can reduce the effectiveness of cards like Gnaw to the Bone and Spider Spawning. And if not, you can always just attack for two. All-in-all a very versatile card, and a fine addition to any white-based deck.
Verdict: Solid playable
In total, white seems to have received the short end of the stick here. The only removal spell - Burden of Guilt - is uninspiring, the creatures are mostly average, and the tricks are mediocre. White used to be the best color in the format, but that might change with the release of Dark Ascension. However, that is also something you can take advantage of if you bide your time - since there are fewer cards that would tempt players into white in the first pack, white could easily be an underdrafted color, and you can jump in and reap the rewards in pack two and three.
Wasn't a very good deck I had - the biggest bomb was Butcher's Cleaver and a splashed Charmbreaker Devil which was somewhat out of place in an aggro shell - but Travel Preparations, Butcher's Cleaver and random dudes got me there, with a bit of help from Wild Hunger at times.
Whenever I draft a something which isn't UW or GW aggro I tend to lose out due to lack of consistency. Very annoying. My record with DII so far is really good, but I have been totally unable to get any of the (in my mind) sweet control decks I've drafted up and running. My worst loss was to a guy with random guys and Bump In the Night, he had an Instigator Gang but the rest was chaff. But he curved out, and then even stuff like Bump is scary. I'm finding it really hard to stabilize against even mediocre aggro in this format. Usually I like games getting into the mid and late game, as I greatly enjoy complicated board states and combat math, but without aggro (or a skies deck, which is also somewhat aggro I feel) I'm just not getting there. What experiences do the rest of you have? Do you field a lot of early drops in your control decks as well? I am also having trouble finding credible finishers for my control decks.
Oh, and I am so staying out of 4-3-2-2 for the rest of this draft season. Usually one can prey a bit on weaker players in there, but from the losses I've had, the level is everybit as cutthroat as 8-4, if not more, for a worse payout. And people getting passed the nuts happens a lot more. Swiss or 8-4 for me for the rest of the season. I know I should be doing that anyway, but during M12, 4-3-2-2 kept me pretty much infinite.
As for B/W I really love BWx in this format, usually BWr or BWg, but it's kind of a difficult deck to assemble. I've had the best results with human/token based BW, but I am really wary of going into this archetype, as I find it very easy to get cut out of playables for it. Usually I find it's better to fit B or W in as a splash color in a GWb or BGw deck. BRw is also very hard to get to work, and is a bit reliant on getting some bombs. I am loving Treacheous Blood + sac outlets. Nothing like winning by stealing the other guy's bomb, beating him in the head with it, and then saccing it for value
EDIT: Thanks for the set review! Something to read while I grab some lunch
The final deck I mean is any deck you'd be actually likely to end up with. You say Lingering Souls is only better in W/B; I say Lingering Souls is better if your deck just isn't specifically W/U. You aren't forcing an archetype by taking Souls, but you are forcing by picking the Captain.
I'm curious where you would have taken my draft?
Well I always aim for the 5 colour flahsback monstrosity but since most people don't, I'll try to pretend I'm normal.
p1: Lingering Souls as said earlier.
p2: Ambition is probably fine. (Note that I'm totally going 5c after those two first picks. I've never actually seen Ambition though so I don't know for sure how to evaluate it.) Anyway this pack is quite bad so it doesn't matter a whole lot for the direction of the draft.
p3: Highborn Ghoul. You should never have to take a mediocre 4-drop at p1p3. Curve is everything in this format. 2-drops are scarce, good 2-drops are very high picks.
p4: Again Ghoul, clearly.
p5: I don't like the Chosen; you can take it here but it's a bit of a gamble. He's terrible if you don't have enough Vampires (there are way too many 3-drops in the format, so Gray Ogres are even worse than usual), and if you do end up with enough Vampires, he's not even that impressive, taking a turn to flip. So I'd take Wreck with Madness here.
p6: Since I'm not sure of my main colors yet, I'd take Evolving Wilds. Torturer is only good in BW, Fiends only in BR. Neither is that great that I'd want to go for it here.
p7: Yeah, Screeching Skaab.
p8: Hinterland Hermit. A good 2-drop is actually what pushes me towards a color.
p9: Torch Fiend (although Cage is probably a bit of money so that's fine)
p2p1: Yeah see earlier about Reckoning. It's only good if you use it; it's not simply 'removal'. Just look over your final deck: which of your guys will realistically be better than what the opponent is left with? People too easily put a card in a category ('mass removal') and value it as such, rather than at what the card actually does. Anyway, I'm picking Volley now of course.
It should be clear that my draft will at this point divert too much from yours; I'm going BRw. But my one advice would be: take 2-drops.
Basically, if you have enough card advantage, any random 2-drop will do, since its function is just to trade with the opposing 2-drop. However, you don't want too many stupid bears in your deck of course, so 2-drops that provide value are ideal. Screeching Skaab and Deranged Assistant are obviously the best ones. Past that, you're looking at things like Silverchase Fox, Thraben Heretic - they can trade with the opposing 2-drop but have some utility. It all depends what your major colour is. Most often I'm base UR, but UW and UB bases are also possible. Any decent two-drop in a major colour is fine (as long as you don't have too many).
Here's my most recent 5c draft. I'll add some comments where needed.
Time: 3/16/2012 11:34:18 PM
Players:
mybudde
Hanjin
--> flabbergasted
Willioufouf
UnkleJ
telvin
MeditronS
Electron
------ DKA ------
Pack 1 pick 1:
Island
Tragic Slip
Lambholt Elder
Heavy Mattock
Somberwald Dryad
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
Faithless Looting
Tracker's Instincts
Pyreheart Wolf
Gravetiller Wurm (FOIL)
Altar of the Lost
Divination
--> Increasing Devotion
Pack 1 pick 2:
Island
Secrets of the Dead
Tragic Slip
Loyal Cathar
Ulvenwald Bear
Headless Skaab
Elgaud Inquisitor
Haunted Fengraf
Niblis of the Mist
--> Faithless Looting
Diregraf Captain
Gravetiller Wurm
Sightless Ghoul
Silverclaw Griffin
I could have gone for a normal draft and taken Loyal Cathar. But with Altar of the Lost in the first pack and Secrets of the Dead in this one, it was too tempting to go for my favourite deck. Faithless Looting is an awesome card, it fixes my draws and flashbacks for value.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Mountain
Black Cat
Highborn Ghoul
Hunger of the Howlpack
Thraben Heretic
Saving Grasp
Hinterland Hermit
Erdwal Ripper
--> Evolving Wilds
Break of Day
Talons of Falkenrath
Avacyn's Collar
Sudden Disappearance
Pack 1 pick 4:
Swamp
Black Cat
Chill of Foreboding
Hunger of the Howlpack
Russet Wolves
Somberwald Dryad
Wolfhunter's Quiver
--> Hinterland Hermit
Pyreheart Wolf
Scorch the Fields
Bone to Ash
Bar the Door
This pick illustrates my point about 2-drops. There's nothing I want in this pack, so I just take the decent 2-drop. Note that I'll only play it if red is a main color.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Mountain
Gravepurge
Heavy Mattock
Vengeful Vampire
Falkenrath Torturer
Break of Day
--> Burning Oil
Wakedancer
Gruesome Discovery
Talons of Falkenrath
Nearheath Stalker
Pack 1 pick 6:
Forest
Griptide
Erdwal Ripper
Spiteful Shadows
Gravetiller Wurm
--> Evolving Wilds
Heckling Fiends
Counterlash
Crushing Vines
Young Wolf
Pack 1 pick 7:
Swamp
Shriekgeist
Chosen of Markov
Headless Skaab
--> Warden of the Wall
Spiteful Shadows
Sightless Ghoul
Relentless Skaabs
Hollowhenge Beast
I don't like this card, I'm not very likely to play it. There are plenty of 2/3 for three and coming into play tapped is a huge drawback. But there was nothing else I was interested in. (This deck typically has 7-8 guys so Skaabs are bad.)
Pack 1 pick 8:
Mountain
Kessig Recluse
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
--> Warden of the Wall
Favor of the Woods
Faith's Shield
Sanctuary Cat
Again nothing I care for. I figured 2 Wardens plus Altar could be decent if I ended up with multiple Alchemies in addition to my Increasing Devotion. (They didn't make my deck.)
Pack 1 pick 9:
Island
Heavy Mattock
Ray of Revelation
Haunted Fengraf
Wild Hunger
Gravetiller Wurm (FOIL)
--> Altar of the Lost
Pack 1 pick 10:
Island
--> Secrets of the Dead
Headless Skaab
Haunted Fengraf
Sightless Ghoul
Silverclaw Griffin
Pack 1 pick 11:
Mountain
--> Black Cat
Saving Grasp
Erdwal Ripper
Talons of Falkenrath
Again the random 2-drop in case black becomes my main colour (although I don't have black cards yet, so it's not exactly likely).
Pack 1 pick 12:
Swamp
--> Chill of Foreboding
Russet Wolves
Scorch the Fields
Pack 1 pick 13:
Mountain
--> Gravepurge
Talons of Falkenrath
Pack 1 pick 14:
Forest
--> Spiteful Shadows
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Swamp
------ ISD ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Cellar Door
--> Dead Weight
Selfless Cathar
Splinterfright
Ashmouth Hound
Hamlet Captain
Somberwald Spider
Doomed Traveler
Hanweir Watchkeep
Armored Skaab
Spidery Grasp
Island
Manor Skeleton
Memory's Journey
One-Eyed Scarecrow
Pack 2 pick 2:
Feral Ridgewolf
Ghostly Possession
Trepanation Blade
Selfless Cathar
Tormented Pariah
Silver-Inlaid Dagger
--> Forbidden Alchemy
Scourge of Geier Reach
Curse of Oblivion
Clifftop Retreat
Gnaw to the Bone
Rebuke
Mountain
Typhoid Rats
Pack 2 pick 3:
Cobbled Wings
Woodland Sleuth
Moonmist
Wooden Stake
Hollowhenge Scavenger
Scourge of Geier Reach
Lumberknot (FOIL)
Curiosity
Crossway Vampire
Curse of Oblivion
--> Clifftop Retreat
Shimmering Grotto
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 4:
Ghoulraiser
Travel Preparations
--> Avacynian Priest
Riot Devils
Civilized Scholar
Sensory Deprivation
Chapel Geist
Curse of the Bloody Tome
Hysterical Blindness
Somberwald Spider
Forest
Paraselene
Pack 2 pick 5:
Harvest Pyre
--> Slayer of the Wicked
Bonds of Faith
Make a Wish
Wooden Stake
Hysterical Blindness
Mulch
Naturalize
Vampiric Fury
Mountain
Rolling Temblor
Pack 2 pick 6:
--> Avacynian Priest
Riot Devils
Pitchburn Devils
Villagers of Estwald
Village Bell-Ringer
Hysterical Blindness
Somberwald Spider
Battleground Geist
Armored Skaab (FOIL)
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 7:
Ghostly Possession
Delver of Secrets
Demonmail Hauberk
Spare from Evil
Traitorous Blood
Corpse Lunge
Forest
--> Rebuke
Typhoid Rats
Pack 2 pick 8:
Skeletal Grimace
Tormented Pariah
Vampire Interloper
--> Silverchase Fox
Lost in the Mist
Intangible Virtue
Swamp
Gnaw to the Bone
Pack 2 pick 9:
Cellar Door
Selfless Cathar
Splinterfright
Somberwald Spider
Island
Manor Skeleton
--> Memory's Journey
Pack 2 pick 10:
Feral Ridgewolf
--> Ghostly Possession
Trepanation Blade
Tormented Pariah
Curse of Oblivion
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 11:
Cobbled Wings
Woodland Sleuth
Wooden Stake
--> Curse of Oblivion
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 12:
--> Sensory Deprivation
Hysterical Blindness
Forest
Paraselene
Pack 2 pick 13:
Wooden Stake
--> Vampiric Fury
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 14:
--> Hysterical Blindness
Mountain
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Forest
------ ISD ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Victim of Night
Spectral Rider
Skeletal Grimace
Mask of Avacyn
Make a Wish
Villagers of Estwald
Vampire Interloper
Kindercatch
--> Mindshrieker
Crossway Vampire
Selhoff Occultist
Traitorous Blood
Claustrophobia
Forest
Voiceless Spirit
Pack 3 pick 2:
Frightful Delusion
Into the Maw of Hell
Skeletal Grimace
Thraben Sentry
Village Bell-Ringer
Lumberknot
Think Twice
Festerhide Boar
Endless Ranks of the Dead
Caravan Vigil
--> Claustrophobia
Infernal Plunge
Swamp
Gruesome Deformity
Pack 3 pick 3:
Civilized Scholar
Graveyard Shovel
--> Spider Spawning
Stromkirk Patrol
Thraben Purebloods
Curiosity
Furor of the Bitten
Caravan Vigil
Orchard Spirit
Ancient Grudge
Infernal Plunge
Plains
Ranger's Guile
Not sure why I took this, should've been Scholar.
Pack 3 pick 4:
Sensory Deprivation
Makeshift Mauler
Stromkirk Patrol
Moan of the Unhallowed
--> Runic Repetition
Orchard Spirit
Infernal Plunge
Ghoulcaller's Bell
Disciple of Griselbrand
Island
Maw of the Mire
Stony Silence
Pack 3 pick 5:
Ghoulraiser
Travel Preparations
Sensory Deprivation
Village Ironsmith
Inquisitor's Flail
Ancient Grudge
Feeling of Dread
Rally the Peasants
Corpse Lunge
--> Divine Reckoning (FOIL)
Forest
This is a deck in which Reckoning is excellent!
Pack 3 pick 6:
Ghoulraiser
--> Purify the Grave
Thraben Purebloods
Furor of the Bitten
Rakish Heir
Heartless Summoning
Mountain
Maw of the Mire
Bitterheart Witch
Ranger's Guile
Pack 3 pick 7:
Riot Devils (FOIL)
--> Think Twice
Fortress Crab
Caravan Vigil
Dissipate
Dream Twist
Island
Night Terrors
Moldgraf Monstrosity
Pack 3 pick 8:
Tormented Pariah
Stromkirk Patrol
Night Revelers
Spare from Evil
--> Lumberknot
Brain Weevil
Swamp
Night Terrors
Pack 3 pick 9:
Skeletal Grimace
Make a Wish
Vampire Interloper
Kindercatch
--> Selhoff Occultist
Traitorous Blood
Forest
Pack 3 pick 10:
Frightful Delusion
Skeletal Grimace
--> Think Twice
Infernal Plunge
Swamp
Gruesome Deformity
Pack 3 pick 11:
--> Graveyard Shovel
Stromkirk Patrol
Curiosity
Infernal Plunge
Plains
Pack 3 pick 12:
Stromkirk Patrol
Infernal Plunge
Island
--> Maw of the Mire
Pack 3 pick 13:
Inquisitor's Flail
--> Corpse Lunge
Forest
Pack 3 pick 14:
Mountain
--> Maw of the Mire
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Island
The manabase was 2 Evolving Wilds, 1 Clifftop Retreat, 1 Mountain, 1 Swamp, 1 Forest, 5 Plains, 6 Island. Splashed cards were Faithless Looting, Burning Oil, Dead Weight (and flashbacks of Alchemy and Memory's Journey).
What was your record? And was this an 8-4?
"In a world where money talks, silence is horrifying."
Ashcoat Bear of Limited
I've been in a few as well, but it only happened once. The draft window came up with like four picks already made. Other people have brought this up as a problem before too. I'm pretty sure its just a bug with t8 drafts for some reason.
*DCI Rules Advisor*
I only do 8-4s. Amusingly this last one I went out in the quarterfinals - although that was entirely due to my own misplays, the deck was very powerful. I won the first game easily, then the second game I had total control as well, I could do whatever I wanted with Journey/Repetition going and 15 Soldiers in play. But instead of simply killing him, I wanted to deck him with Selhoff Occultist + Divine Reckoning. He played Victim of Night on my Occultist in response which was embarassing. After that I needed to play Memory's Journey a couple more times, and my time was running low and so I messed up. At some point (the turn before I was going to win) I somehow ended up with my Journey in my graveyard and no cards in library. Since I had Secrets of the Dead in play (which is unfortunately not mandatory) I got decked. I only had 2 minutes on my clock for game three, which clearly wasn't enough. But I played it out just for the hell of it, and when my clock ran out I was still at 16ish, had just cast Increasing Devotion, and he only had two random small dorks, and I had 7 mana and a full grip. So I very easily would have won all three games I played, but still managed to lose the quarters. That was my first and last attempt at double-queueing.
This is very interesting to read, because having only read the draft walkthrough I would have filed the resulting pile under "not a deck". Presumably a typical opening hand must involve taking at least 6-8 damage while you dig for something resembling a defence and praying you find one of your properly unfair cards before you get crushed?
Not that I'd want to face this deck, because if it draws Divine Offering it's going to be basically impossible to beat.
(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>
Not really. It's true that a good portion of the deck is essentially "do-nothings"; Think Twice, Alchemy, Memory's Journey, etc. However this is compensated by the curve (I'm feeling like a broken record but curve is so very important in this format). The deck has only three cards that cost more than three! And those three cards (Slayer, Reckoning, Devotion) all have a huge and immediate impact. I can't stress enough how important that is. It means that you can start casting two spells in one turn very soon. So you can play Looting + Claustrophobia, Think Twice + Rebuke, Alchemy + Burning Oil... etc. So very soon you start advancing both your board position and hand.
Of course it's easy to imagine the most awkward with Memory's Journey etc but even that is compensated by the sheer amount of cards you draw (it doesn't matter too much that you have a useless card if you have other things to do). And of course you can get overrun by a particularly strong aggressive start, but that's true of any deck.
Edit: to show my point about the curve, here's the decklist:
1 Silverchase Fox
1 Mindshrieker
1 Selhoff Occultist
1 Slayer of the Wicked
1 Sensory Deprivation
1 Purify the Grave
1 Dead Weight
1 Faithless Looting
1 Burning Oil
2 Think Twice
1 Memory's Journey
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Chill of Foreboding
1 Secrets of the Dead
1 Altar of the Lost
1 Rebuke
1 Claustrophobia
1 Runic Repetition
1 Divine Reckoning
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Clifftop Retreat
5 Plains
6 Island
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp
Ah, yes, that's pretty much the aspect I was missing.
So do you mulligan 2-land hands more often with this kind of deck?
(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>
1 Swamp
7 Mountain
9 Forest
Spells
1 Tragic Slip
1 Dead Weight
1 Caravan Vigil
1 Devil's Play
1 Into the Maw of Hell
1 Faithless Looting
1 Blazing Torch
1 Prey Upon
1 Dawntreader Elf
1 Darkthicket Wolf
1 Torch Fiend
1 Deranged Outcast
1 Gatstaf Shepherd
1 Hinterland Hermit
1 Heckling Fiend
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Ulvenwald Bear
1 Festerhide Boar
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Pitchburn Devils
1 Hollowhenge Beast
1 Village Survivors
1 Charmbreaker Devils
It might be a bit greedy to splash the black, but I'd be really short on removal otherwise, and I'd have to play Riot Devils and another 6-drop.
In related news, I used a ton of, cough, skill to open and build this.
:dance:Fact or Fiction of the [Limited] Clan:dance:
Outsanding! I'm going to try this approach.
How did it do? Lost to a four-colour pile with maindeck Favor of the Woods?
(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>
1-2 drop. Mulliganed to 5 in four straight games after winning round 1 and game 1 of round 2. It was really, really frustrating.
:dance:Fact or Fiction of the [Limited] Clan:dance:
(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>
I really need to get the shop more. Let some of his skill/luck rub off on me. Damn was he on fire.
The Family
Didn't have the best of luck, and maybe should've mulled tighter , but I still hate losing to Bump in the Night
Losing to bomb rares always feels bad... until you run into a format like DII and remember what it's like to lose to commons. Bump in the Night for six has certainly earned more respect that I would've given it during triple innistrad, although I haven't personally had too much issue with the card.
Sometimes I do feel like I'm playing cube, though, with all this direct damage... you can have control of a game at 11 life, and then Bump, Volley, Bump, you're dead. Brimstone Volley feels so much like fireblast sometimes.
I will say, having thopter assembly at uncommon is pretty rough... died to that a couple times, that's for sure. Even when I go 2 drop, 3 drop, a limited deck just shouldn't be expected to have to answer four 1/1 fliers that early in the game. I had enough trouble killing 4 1/1 fliers in standard last season.
The Family
Ah, much more apt comparison. I've played more cube than mirrodin limited (although I have played some trips mirrodin), so I haven't had the pleasure of being blasted out quite yet.
.. and my game 1 opponent has Into the Maw of Hell on T6 wrecking my vault and my biggest creature, running me over. Doh. He's also double-queuing and playing excruciantingly slow.
Argh! Most annoying loss ever. I flood a bit in game 2, and he beats me down after killing all my dudes with removal - and also nuking my land again. Was a nice deck, Thraben Doomsayer, Vault of the Archangel, Gavony Township, Mikeaus, 2xRebuke, Gather the dudes, Thraben Heretic, lots of 2-drops and even a filling of decent 1-drops. Oh well, that's the breaks sometimes. I'll be the lucky one next time I hope.
At least his deck was decent - R/G aggro with the good early drops, Immerwolf, lots of removal and Markov Warlord to finish off the party. /shake fist. He was so slow that if it had gone to a 3rd game I would pretty sure to win.