Starting to get the hang of the format a little bit and agree with the sentiments above that the format requires your deck to have a better curve and each card to really be able to hold its own. Screenshots of 3 of my 3-0 decks are below.
Rating before Round 1: 8 MVPs: Obviously Linvala / Baloth Null / Emeria Shepherd were very good, but Nissa's Judgment was such a strong tempo play over and over again. Underperformers: Natural Connection was pretty meh but was a necessary evil. Record: 6-1. All the games were very easy, only lost on a mull to 5 into land screw, which is of course part of magic. But the deck felt quite powerful, had a good mix of removal and power, and the manabase wasn't too horrible. I think I probably should of played a loam larva over one of the invokers.
First picks: Judgement, Linvala, Stasis Snare
Rating before Round 1: 8.5 MVPs: Endbringer and Hedron Crawler Underperformers: Spell Shrivel - Just think the change in format has made this card a little bit worse, just feels way worse on the draw. Record: 6-0. This deck also crushed, my opponent in the finals did have one mull to 4, but in the other games the deck felt great. It had 7 instants, so it was pretty common that I would put a threat down and then hold up counters and have something to do with my mana if I didn't want to counter their spell.
Endbringer is just an unreal card, I would first pick it over anything and pick up colourless sources highly. Drawing an extra card, pinging them, forcing a guy to not be able to attack or block is just amazing. All on the body of a 5/5 that untaps on their turn? Yeah this guy is legit. He was my first pick into Dread Defiler, followed by a lot of strong blue cards and I never looked back. Would of loved an evolving wilds in pack 3 but I never saw one. I think you want to try and get one waste if you can for this reason, as it makes Pilgrim's Eye and Wilds way better in the last pack than if you just had the Non-Basic Colourless sources. First picks: Endbringer, Dimensional Infiltrator, Complete Disregard
Rating before Round 1: 7 MVPs: Fall of the Titans, Embodiment of Fury and Deepfathom Skulker Underperformers: Umara Entangler and Akoum Stonewaker - these two drops were also necessary evils, but they felt bad everytime I cast them. Good 2 drops are valuable in this format. Record: 6-2. This deck was not as consistent or as strong as the other two, it has some powerful spells at the top end but lacked the synergy of the UB deck and the consistent card quality of the first deck. The double Embodiment, Fall, Serpentine Spike, and Skulker really carried the deck, but the fact that it did have so many powerful cards meant I usually saw one or two a game and that was enough for me to win the draft. First picks: Endbringer, Dimensional Infiltrator, Complete Disregard
Kinda jumped all over the place in this draft. Started out black, moved into near mono blue, got chandra and started trying to force red (because you just kinda have to), got passed a tonne of quality green cards so going to pack three I was undecided on U/G or U/R. I got passed an early from beyond so I was sure I was going U/G, then I got an akoum hellkite in a pack with no blue or green cards, and eventually just settled with the red. The most hilarious part of all of this is I could have had the mother of all G/B decks, that would have put this deck to shame. 2 Bearer of Silence, a Smothering Abomination, 2 Bone splinters, a Catacomb Sifter, and a couple other good scion producers, along with all the green cards in my board.
In any event, this deck basically just ran on the back of some absurd bombs. Just about every card in my deck worked about as well as I expected. Chandra was pretty much a Flame Wave every time I cast her, which was a little saddening as I didn't get to activate her much before I won. I guess the one card that did more than I was expecting was Roilmage's Trick, which let me push through some very aggressive attacks. Other than that, was just a pretty sweet deck.
This was a draft deck I constructed at Grand Prix Nagoya 2016 for a side event the weekend before. I made Day 2 but my draft decks were not as good (2-1 and 1-2)
(Sorry about the format, I took this from another page)
P1P1: Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim followed by Cliffhaven Vampire
P2P1: Grasp of Darkness
P3P1: Encircling Fissure (Drana's Emissary was third pick)
Notable things from the draft:
-I passed two Reflector Mages in a row during the second pack. I wanted to splash for them but decided not to and fortunately they were not used against me.
-There was a Kalastria Healer in my opening pack for BFZ, but I chose Encircling Fissure since I seemed light on removal. Thankfully it came back to me.
-Hedron Archive was pick 13th (!)
MVP
Vampire Envoy + Zulaport Chainmage is a nice way to grind out your opponent
Bloodbond Vampire + Steppe Glider is also a nice tech
Worst Card
Smite the Monstrous did not appear to have many targets, though I felt I had to use it in case a creature with high power came out
My matches were 2-1, 2-0 and 2-0
My third opponent wanted to split but I declined since I wanted to practice for day 2.
Most of my games just involved me slowly draining my opponent, and between Vampiric Rites, Malakir Soothsayer and Hedron Archive I usually had most of my deck on the battlefield by the end of the game.
I later showed my friend the deck at the hostel and he found it strong enough to grind out 3-0. Yuta Takahashi, who stayed next to me, overheard us talking (I think he only actually came out because he heard me use Japanese) and glanced at my deck and only said (in Japanese) "not 3-0" to which my friend responded (in English) "no he got 3-0 with this deck" and he just left without saying anything. My friend (he ended up making Top 8) thought it was a rude gesture but I just mentioned his pro status and he did not think much of it.
Was expedite worth the slot (congrats on your finish!)? It seems like all it is, is a surge enabler.
I ran expedite in the main because I thought a high removal deck could be strong against my deck, and was hoping to just cycle it and draw more fatties. I sideboarded it out for brute strength every time, and was quite happy to do so. The tricks often meant that I would trade the trick for their creature and 4 damage. Also, x/5's were a bit of a problem for the deck, so I needed a way to punch through them.
I was not very impressed with this deck, seemed to lack oomph, include a lot of bland filler, and also not have enough colorless sources. But I guess fliers and a solid curve works out. Turn 2 Dimensional Infiltrator, Turn 3 Eldrazi Skyspawner, Turn 4 Cloud Manta is a lot of fliers for a deck without reach to beat.
The final game of the final match was a reminder of how important it is to attack whenever you can. I was getting beaten down by a 4/5 trampler and way behind on life but still kept attacking with my 2 2-power fliers, eventually I managed to have a turn where I blocked his creatures and threw away my board to survive at 1 life, then kill him with an exactly lethal counterswing with just the surviving fliers.
Edit: Adding in another deck from just now, this one I was much more confident in and it lived up to my expectations. Lots of efficient creatures combined with some late game bombs meant that it could transition to aggro or control depending on what the matchup entailed. Beat a GW converge-ally deck, a UB Eldrazi ramp deck with Endbringer, Bane of Bala Ged, and Oblivion Sower, and a WB-flying ally deck. I think I got lucky two people were drafting allies - the first opponent had all of the Spawnbinder Mages + a Munda's Vanguard while the second had a lot of the aggressive fliers. If they had all been in the same deck I probably would have lost to it.
This deck was a serious blast and the Bone Saws were very very good, mostly for enabling very cheap Boulder Salvos, but there were several games where I was hoping against hope to Draw the Saw. I also had a Pathway Arrows in the board (which looks like a lot of fun with the Toll Collector), but I sadly never drew then in any post-board games.
Oh, and an interesting question: You have most of the R/W shell listed above pack 3, and you pick up Stasis Snare and Courier Griffin 1-2. Pick 3 presents you with Angel of Renewal and Retreat to Emeria. Whatchu got? (Obviously I got rewarded with a Munda to find my pretty Angel, but I'm curious if anyone thinks that's just wrong.)
Gut Rating Going into Round 1: 8 or so. This was my first draft with OGW, so I wasn't sure what to expect. MVP(s): Having three on-color bombs didn't hurt, but if we dig deeper Containment Membrane was great. Most aggressive decks don't have an answer to it, and it fits nicely into the 1 or 2 mana you occasionally have left in mid-game turns. Blighted Cataract was great for getting Blinding Drone and Thought-Knot Seer online early and then turning into "free" cards late. Underperformers:Cultivator Drone didn't do a ton. It's nice that it came down early enough and with a decent enough body to stop the most aggressive starts, but it can't deal with an active Snapping Gnarlid or a Zada's Commando that's equipped or supported. It also is at its weakest in my deck which doesn't have big colorless things to ramp into, so about the only thing it could really do was help play a Skyspawner + surge, or activate Blinding Drone. 1st picks:Thought-Knot Seer, Eldrazi Displacer, Emeria Shepherd
Here's my 3-0 deck that I drafted earlier today. I felt like I was in a really good spot at the table, I was getting quite late good green and white in packs so ended up with the below deck.
Rating before Round 1: about an 8/10 or so.
MVPs: Ondu War Cleric, Spawnbinder Mage, Saddleback Lagac, Munda's Vanguard (but this was expected)
Underperformers: Nothing really, everything fell like it performed how it was meant to. Even the filler allies did their job well enough.
Record: 6-1. I just crushed aggro in it's path. 4-0 combined against the RW aggro (finals) and RG aggro. The closer match was against a good U/B control deck, they were able to take it late every game against me and the games I won were mostly due to the combination between Ondu War Cleric, Spawnbinder Mage, Munda's Vanguard + other allies. The game I lost I got crushed by multiple fliers + multiple bounce spells + Roiling Waters
First Picks: Munda's Vanguard, Scion Summoner, Felidar Sovereign
I feel that some of the later picks were actually much more interesting. P2P3 I picked Ondu War Cleric over Zendikar Resurgent (had nothing over 5 at this stage) and think it's correct. I feel I mispicked P2P4 where I took a Seed Guardian over Joraga Auxillary (I hadn't actually drafted GW before and I already knew that Seed Guardian is a very good card) whereas P2P6 showed that Green AND White were very open, where I picked a Nissa's Judgment over an Isolation Zone.
Nissa certainly helps get a 3-0 but I didn't actually draw her until the final.
Match 1 vs Naya allies huge boardstalls but my superior removal allowed me to kill off his threats and push through with wallcaller, games 1-3 game 2 he out supported me.
Match 2 vs RG I crushed him pretty handily he never really got on the board, I looped Lagacs with Null.
Match 3 GW fliers, I lost game 1 to mana screw and fliers, game 2 Nissa, voice of zendikar, he couldn't put up a fight. Game 3 was closer but I actually had the removal for his flyiers this time and a much larger ground force.
Results: 6-1 Notable Sideboard Cards: A third Reality Hemorrhage came in every time for the Grip of the Roil. A second Ancient Crab and a second Oracle of Dust were also available. MVPs: The deck was basically built to try and survive until I cast Sphinx, and it managed to do that admirably. The Reality Hemorrhage's were also very good in every match. And Containment Membrane. Underpreformers: Afore-mentioned Grip was underwhelming in this deck, which I probably could have figured out ahead of time. All the guys with <> mana were underwhelming because I had few colorless land sources. First Picks: Sphinx of the Final Word; Oblivion Strike (Hated out of a really bad pack with dreams of splashing); Vile Aggregate
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Ambush Krotiq makes me laugh so much. I keep rereading the card and it keeps not having Flash. In what sense is this an ambush again? I just have visions of this huge Krotiq poorly concealed in some bushes, feeling slightly sad that his carefully planned ambushes never seem to work.
Notable Sideboard cards: Vines and 2nd Spider shut down fliers MVP: Uh. From Beyond I guess. Under Performers: Embodiment of Insight was somewhat out of place. In general all of these cards were very ordinary, but I guess sometimes you just win the game with a bunch of 2/3s.
This deck was actually kind of miserable. I never got shipped a Baloth Null, but I did get a bunch of good GB sac cards in pack 3.
Still, sad short of win cons, but hey if you can crank out 20 scions from from beyond you will still win... eventually. I had thought I picked up a colorless land to go with the Depleter, but alas it was not to be. I *think* I should have run Seer's Lantern. I passed a Swarm Surge and 2 Ruin Processors P3 that would have gone a long way.
6-2
Match 1 played an excellent player who trainwrecked (very rare for him) into Mardu. Game 1 I ground out a win (he missing a color for a while,, but it was still a game as I didn't put enough pressure on him), Game 2 he rolled me (I was mana hosed), and Game 3 I rolled him with a good curve.
Match 2 I had a 40 minute game one vs BR (note: ~20 scions + vampiric rites + catacomb sifter.. but what am I digging for?) I actually had to top deck the rites at 3 life to save me from his Essence Depleter (and he had 3 sources), then I found my own (with a zillion scions did stuff), and finally dug to Grasp to get in with a bunch of weenies. Game 2 he had a bad start and I had a curve and I won.
Match 3 vs. surge.dec. This was a pretty good match up for me, as I just ran him out of combat tricks and overwhelmed his board. I did lose game 2 to a T3 Bonesaw + Avenger T4 expedite + avenger T5 double combat trick.
U/B was just pretty open this draft. Had some really tough choices throughout the draft, like passing a blinding drone & mindmelter for my second oblivion strike. Pretty much every card in the deck preformed admirably, although I'll still give the mvp spot to that zany Sea Gate Wreckage.
Been a while since I've gotten a deck where murk strider is an actual card.
Results: 6-0, defeating RW, UR, and RG.
Notable sideboard cards: Had a number of options and used, but no major game-changers in the board
MVPs: Even though they were just 3/2s for 2, the Weapons trainers did good work for me putting on early pressure. They curved nicely into Shoulder to Shoulder as well.
Underperformer: Linvala. Don't get me wrong, Linvala's great, but in an aggressive deck like this, she's mainly a 5/5 flier for 6. I cast here 2-3 times and never triggered any of her abilities. The upside of that was that it was because I was always winning, and she helped close out games well.
Draft/match thoughts:
Not too much I recall from the draft...I didn't see much equipment, my only real opportunity came when a bonesaw appeared in the same pack as my 2nd Weapons Trainer, and I'm pretty confident the Trainer was the correct pick. Linvala was my Pack 2 pick 1. One pick I liked was early in pack 2, when I took Reality Hemorrhage over Immolating Glare. Glare's the stronger card, but I knew my deck was going to be aggressive, and I think Hemorrhage was the better card given the context.
Match 1 I was against another RW player, and they went really deep on equipment (i.e. Storeforge Acolyte and Strider harness, though Captain's Claws as well). He has picked up a resolute blademaster I would have happily had, but in general I think my gameplan was stronger and more streamlined.
Match 2 was against a UR surge deck featuring Jori En, Ruin Diver and 2x Stormchaser Mage. My opponent had mana issues the first game. THe second game they got Jori online early and drew quite a few cards, but their card quality was a little low, and I drew Linvala to win through the air.
Match 3 I was just able to outrace my opponent both games, my deck being a little faster and having a little more removal
Results: 6-0, defeating RW, UR, and RG.
Notable sideboard cards: Had a number of options and used, but no major game-changers in the board
MVPs: Even though they were just 3/2s for 2, the Weapons trainers did good work for me putting on early pressure. They curved nicely into Shoulder to Shoulder as well.
Underperformer: Linvala. Don't get me wrong, Linvala's great, but in an aggressive deck like this, she's mainly a 5/5 flier for 6. I cast here 2-3 times and never triggered any of her abilities. The upside of that was that it was because I was always winning, and she helped close out games well.
Draft/match thoughts:
Not too much I recall from the draft...I didn't see much equipment, my only real opportunity came when a bonesaw appeared in the same pack as my 2nd Weapons Trainer, and I'm pretty confident the Trainer was the correct pick. Linvala was my Pack 2 pick 1. One pick I liked was early in pack 2, when I took Reality Hemorrhage over Immolating Glare. Glare's the stronger card, but I knew my deck was going to be aggressive, and I think Hemorrhage was the better card given the context.
Match 1 I was against another RW player, and they went really deep on equipment (i.e. Storeforge Acolyte and Strider harness, though Captain's Claws as well). He has picked up a resolute blademaster I would have happily had, but in general I think my gameplan was stronger and more streamlined.
Match 2 was against a UR surge deck featuring Jori En, Ruin Diver and 2x Stormchaser Mage. My opponent had mana issues the first game. THe second game they got Jori online early and drew quite a few cards, but their card quality was a little low, and I drew Linvala to win through the air.
Match 3 I was just able to outrace my opponent both games, my deck being a little faster and having a little more removal
Congrats on the 3-0, but I'd love to see this draft cap. The deck is all over the place with near-zero synergy and many questionable inclusions if I'm being brutally honest. Weapons Trainer with no equipment. Nettle Drone with no colorless spells. Surge cards that can't come online until Turn 5 if you're lucky since tapping out on T4 to play a surged Bushwhacker could lead to massive blowouts. You would need to wait until turn 6 if you wanted Gideon's Reproach backup. Again, congratulations, but this deck looks forced and appears you were not supposed to be in these colors.
Unfortunately I don't have a draft cap for it, but it's an aggro deck, synergy is not what it's going for. One of the bi mistakes I see people making in this format coming off of BFZ is overvaluing synergies. a 3/2 for 2 and 3/1 for 3 that taps to deal a damage are both fine cards to play on their face, and ignoring them or forcing in bad cards to try to make synergies happen will often lose you more than it gains in OGW draft. Similarly, the idea that surging out a bushwhacker without a spell up is some reckless play doesn't make sense...obviously there will be some times when the play 2->3->2 + bushwhacker is a bad risk, but often your opponent is tapped out early, and such a play can apply a ton of pressure to your opponent's life total.
Unfortunately I don't have a draft cap for it, but it's an aggro deck, synergy is not what it's going for. One of the bi mistakes I see people making in this format coming off of BFZ is overvaluing synergies. a 3/2 for 2 and 3/1 for 3 that taps to deal a damage are both fine cards to play on their face, and ignoring them or forcing in bad cards to try to make synergies happen will often lose you more than it gains in OGW draft. Similarly, the idea that surging out a bushwhacker without a spell up is some reckless play doesn't make sense...obviously there will be some times when the play 2->3->2 + bushwhacker is a bad risk, but often your opponent is tapped out early, and such a play can apply a ton of pressure to your opponent's life total.
Agreed. Synergy in a deck like that is a nice bonus, but not necessary at all. A strong aggressive curve backed up by some removal/finishers is all of the "synergy" you usually need.
Unfortunately I don't have a draft cap for it, but it's an aggro deck, synergy is not what it's going for. One of the bi mistakes I see people making in this format coming off of BFZ is overvaluing synergies. a 3/2 for 2 and 3/1 for 3 that taps to deal a damage are both fine cards to play on their face, and ignoring them or forcing in bad cards to try to make synergies happen will often lose you more than it gains in OGW draft. Similarly, the idea that surging out a bushwhacker without a spell up is some reckless play doesn't make sense...obviously there will be some times when the play 2->3->2 + bushwhacker is a bad risk, but often your opponent is tapped out early, and such a play can apply a ton of pressure to your opponent's life total.
That's fair--I think I was focusing a bit too much on the whole double trainer/no equipment thing. But if you can keep the pressure up and kill them by turn 4 or 5 then, hey, whatever works.
Unfortunately I don't have a draft cap for it, but it's an aggro deck, synergy is not what it's going for. One of the bi mistakes I see people making in this format coming off of BFZ is overvaluing synergies. a 3/2 for 2 and 3/1 for 3 that taps to deal a damage are both fine cards to play on their face, and ignoring them or forcing in bad cards to try to make synergies happen will often lose you more than it gains in OGW draft. Similarly, the idea that surging out a bushwhacker without a spell up is some reckless play doesn't make sense...obviously there will be some times when the play 2->3->2 + bushwhacker is a bad risk, but often your opponent is tapped out early, and such a play can apply a ton of pressure to your opponent's life total.
That's fair--I think I was focusing a bit too much on the whole double trainer/no equipment thing. But if you can keep the pressure up and kill them by turn 4 or 5 then, hey, whatever works.
Think about it this way: Wouldn't you be happy playing a 3/2 for 2 with no abilities in an aggro deck?
Unfortunately I don't have a draft cap for it, but it's an aggro deck, synergy is not what it's going for. One of the bi mistakes I see people making in this format coming off of BFZ is overvaluing synergies. a 3/2 for 2 and 3/1 for 3 that taps to deal a damage are both fine cards to play on their face, and ignoring them or forcing in bad cards to try to make synergies happen will often lose you more than it gains in OGW draft. Similarly, the idea that surging out a bushwhacker without a spell up is some reckless play doesn't make sense...obviously there will be some times when the play 2->3->2 + bushwhacker is a bad risk, but often your opponent is tapped out early, and such a play can apply a ton of pressure to your opponent's life total.
That's fair--I think I was focusing a bit too much on the whole double trainer/no equipment thing. But if you can keep the pressure up and kill them by turn 4 or 5 then, hey, whatever works.
Think about it this way: Wouldn't you be happy playing a 3/2 for 2 with no abilities in an aggro deck?
Generally speaking, yes, but the card being multi-color does give me a little pause.
Yeah, I really like having a copy of Brute Strength in a deck like this...it's really strong when you're aggressive, both because of the its ability to push through damage, and because being aggressive makes you more likely to force your opponent into blocks where this also saves your creature.
On a very different note, I did a 10 person paper draft tonight at my local shop, and went 3-0-1 with a sweet UB deck. Technically not 3-0 I guess, but I split with the only other undefeated player in round 4, so I hope that's close enough:
Results: 2-1 2-0 2-0 (ID in round 4)
Notable SB cards: I didn't ever have a match-up where I thought negate was good, nor the discard spell, so I didn't end up sideboarding at all (which is unusual for me). I originally had Mire's Malice MB instead of the Chainmage, but after my first game decided that I wanted another creature to trade off, and awakening a land was a real cost in my deck.
MVPs: Kozilek, Essence Depleter. I cast Kozilek in 4 games, and each time he either produced a concession on the spot or a turn later. I know Kozilek isn't quite enough if you're way behind, but if you're at all close to stable, he shuts the door on the game very quickly. On time I cast him an drew into CMC 2,3,4 and 5, completely lockign my opponent out of the game. Essence Depleter was also a bomb in this deck, and one of my wins came off of casting that card and then draining for 3 per turn.
Underperformers: I only cast Endbringer once and it was traded off immediately in combat, but that was just luck of the draw: the card's great.
First Picks: Grasp of Darkness, Kozilek, Malakir Familiar.
I started off my draft picking Grasp of Darkness, Roiling Waters, Grasp of Darkness, Boulder Salvo. From there, black was clearly open, and I gradually settled into blue towards the end of the pack. When I opened Kozilek pack 2, I decided to just go for it. I'd picked up one holdout settlement in pack 1, and started highly prioritizing colorless sources, especially onces that ramps. I got the Endbringer 3rd pick in this pack, which just seems like a mistake on someone else's part. Another interesting pick was early in pack 3, when I took the Coralhelm Guide over a Breaker of Armies. I was a little torn, as breaker is another good finisher, but I was more worrier about dying early than having another way to close out the game.
Round 1 I faced a strong BR devoid aggro deck, which included 2 Flayer Drones and a Dust Stalker. Game 1 I got run over, then the next to game I was able to use removal and tempo plays to deploy the game long enough to cast Kozilek.
Round 2 was a relatively short affair. I was up against a black green deck that seemed to be having clunky draws.
Round 3 was against a UR "mini-modern" deck, featuring both Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. Again I relied heavily on removal and tempo plays to stall until I could win...via Kozilek the first game and Essence Depleter the second.
One question I have for you guys: what do you think of the mana base? It was pretty consistent for me, but I wonder if Unknown Shores would've been better than the third Holdout Settlement, just to give me more options for smoothing out my colors. thoughts?
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Rating before Round 1: 8
MVPs: Obviously Linvala / Baloth Null / Emeria Shepherd were very good, but Nissa's Judgment was such a strong tempo play over and over again.
Underperformers: Natural Connection was pretty meh but was a necessary evil.
Record: 6-1. All the games were very easy, only lost on a mull to 5 into land screw, which is of course part of magic. But the deck felt quite powerful, had a good mix of removal and power, and the manabase wasn't too horrible. I think I probably should of played a loam larva over one of the invokers.
First picks: Judgement, Linvala, Stasis Snare
Rating before Round 1: 8.5
MVPs: Endbringer and Hedron Crawler
Underperformers: Spell Shrivel - Just think the change in format has made this card a little bit worse, just feels way worse on the draw.
Record: 6-0. This deck also crushed, my opponent in the finals did have one mull to 4, but in the other games the deck felt great. It had 7 instants, so it was pretty common that I would put a threat down and then hold up counters and have something to do with my mana if I didn't want to counter their spell.
Endbringer is just an unreal card, I would first pick it over anything and pick up colourless sources highly. Drawing an extra card, pinging them, forcing a guy to not be able to attack or block is just amazing. All on the body of a 5/5 that untaps on their turn? Yeah this guy is legit. He was my first pick into Dread Defiler, followed by a lot of strong blue cards and I never looked back. Would of loved an evolving wilds in pack 3 but I never saw one. I think you want to try and get one waste if you can for this reason, as it makes Pilgrim's Eye and Wilds way better in the last pack than if you just had the Non-Basic Colourless sources.
First picks: Endbringer, Dimensional Infiltrator, Complete Disregard
Rating before Round 1: 7
MVPs: Fall of the Titans, Embodiment of Fury and Deepfathom Skulker
Underperformers: Umara Entangler and Akoum Stonewaker - these two drops were also necessary evils, but they felt bad everytime I cast them. Good 2 drops are valuable in this format.
Record: 6-2. This deck was not as consistent or as strong as the other two, it has some powerful spells at the top end but lacked the synergy of the UB deck and the consistent card quality of the first deck. The double Embodiment, Fall, Serpentine Spike, and Skulker really carried the deck, but the fact that it did have so many powerful cards meant I usually saw one or two a game and that was enough for me to win the draft.
First picks: Endbringer, Dimensional Infiltrator, Complete Disregard
P1P1: Reality Smasher (5th reality smasher out of 10 draft / sealed events ._.)
P2P1: Chandra Flamecaller
P3P1: Oblivion Sower
6-0
Kinda jumped all over the place in this draft. Started out black, moved into near mono blue, got chandra and started trying to force red (because you just kinda have to), got passed a tonne of quality green cards so going to pack three I was undecided on U/G or U/R. I got passed an early from beyond so I was sure I was going U/G, then I got an akoum hellkite in a pack with no blue or green cards, and eventually just settled with the red. The most hilarious part of all of this is I could have had the mother of all G/B decks, that would have put this deck to shame. 2 Bearer of Silence, a Smothering Abomination, 2 Bone splinters, a Catacomb Sifter, and a couple other good scion producers, along with all the green cards in my board.
In any event, this deck basically just ran on the back of some absurd bombs. Just about every card in my deck worked about as well as I expected. Chandra was pretty much a Flame Wave every time I cast her, which was a little saddening as I didn't get to activate her much before I won. I guess the one card that did more than I was expecting was Roilmage's Trick, which let me push through some very aggressive attacks. Other than that, was just a pretty sweet deck.
Main Deck Total40 Cards
2 Searing Light
1 Vampiric Rites
1 Unnatural Endurance
1 Grasp of Darkness
1 Encircling Fissure
1 Hedron Archive
1 Smite the Monstrous
2 Stone Haven Medic
1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
1 Kalastria Healer
2 Vampire Envoy
1 Drana's Emissary
1 Wall of Resurgence
1 Nirkana Assassin
2 Zulaport Chainmage
1 Cliffhaven Vampire
1 Bloodbond Vampire
1 Malakir Soothsayer
1 Steppe Glider
9 Swamp
8 Plains
(Sorry about the format, I took this from another page)
P1P1: Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim followed by Cliffhaven Vampire
P2P1: Grasp of Darkness
P3P1: Encircling Fissure (Drana's Emissary was third pick)
Notable things from the draft:
-I passed two Reflector Mages in a row during the second pack. I wanted to splash for them but decided not to and fortunately they were not used against me.
-There was a Kalastria Healer in my opening pack for BFZ, but I chose Encircling Fissure since I seemed light on removal. Thankfully it came back to me.
-Hedron Archive was pick 13th (!)
MVP
Vampire Envoy + Zulaport Chainmage is a nice way to grind out your opponent
Bloodbond Vampire + Steppe Glider is also a nice tech
Worst Card
Smite the Monstrous did not appear to have many targets, though I felt I had to use it in case a creature with high power came out
My matches were 2-1, 2-0 and 2-0
My third opponent wanted to split but I declined since I wanted to practice for day 2.
Most of my games just involved me slowly draining my opponent, and between Vampiric Rites, Malakir Soothsayer and Hedron Archive I usually had most of my deck on the battlefield by the end of the game.
I later showed my friend the deck at the hostel and he found it strong enough to grind out 3-0. Yuta Takahashi, who stayed next to me, overheard us talking (I think he only actually came out because he heard me use Japanese) and glanced at my deck and only said (in Japanese) "not 3-0" to which my friend responded (in English) "no he got 3-0 with this deck" and he just left without saying anything. My friend (he ended up making Top 8) thought it was a rude gesture but I just mentioned his pro status and he did not think much of it.
I ran expedite in the main because I thought a high removal deck could be strong against my deck, and was hoping to just cycle it and draw more fatties. I sideboarded it out for brute strength every time, and was quite happy to do so. The tricks often meant that I would trade the trick for their creature and 4 damage. Also, x/5's were a bit of a problem for the deck, so I needed a way to punch through them.
The final game of the final match was a reminder of how important it is to attack whenever you can. I was getting beaten down by a 4/5 trampler and way behind on life but still kept attacking with my 2 2-power fliers, eventually I managed to have a turn where I blocked his creatures and threw away my board to survive at 1 life, then kill him with an exactly lethal counterswing with just the surviving fliers.
Edit: Adding in another deck from just now, this one I was much more confident in and it lived up to my expectations. Lots of efficient creatures combined with some late game bombs meant that it could transition to aggro or control depending on what the matchup entailed. Beat a GW converge-ally deck, a UB Eldrazi ramp deck with Endbringer, Bane of Bala Ged, and Oblivion Sower, and a WB-flying ally deck. I think I got lucky two people were drafting allies - the first opponent had all of the Spawnbinder Mages + a Munda's Vanguard while the second had a lot of the aggressive fliers. If they had all been in the same deck I probably would have lost to it.
Q: What has 3 Bone Saws and rules?
A:
3 Bone Saw
Creatures: 15
2 Weapons Trainer
2 Ondu War Cleric
1 Stone Haven Outfitter
1 Felidar Cub
1 Zada's Commando
1 Akoum Flameseeker
1 Kazuul's Toll Collector
1 Shadow Glider
1 Munda, Ambush Leader
1 Courier Griffin
1 Goblin Freerunner
1 Steppe Glider
1 Angel of Renewal
1 Reality Hemorrhage
1 Stasis Snare
1 Allied Reinforcements
2 Boulder Salvo
Lands: 17
1 Looming Spires
7 Mountain
9 Plains
Rating: 3/3
Record: 6-0.
This deck was a serious blast and the Bone Saws were very very good, mostly for enabling very cheap Boulder Salvos, but there were several games where I was hoping against hope to Draw the Saw. I also had a Pathway Arrows in the board (which looks like a lot of fun with the Toll Collector), but I sadly never drew then in any post-board games.
Oh, and an interesting question: You have most of the R/W shell listed above pack 3, and you pick up Stasis Snare and Courier Griffin 1-2. Pick 3 presents you with Angel of Renewal and Retreat to Emeria. Whatchu got? (Obviously I got rewarded with a Munda to find my pretty Angel, but I'm curious if anyone thinks that's just wrong.)
Of course! A win's a win's a win.
1 Prophet of Distortion
1 Fortified Rampart
2 Blinding Drone
1 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Eldrazi Skyspawner
1 Reflector Mage
2 Cultivator Drone
1 Gravity Negator
1 Thought-Knot Seer
1 Incubator Drone
1 Jwar Isle Avenger
1 Ghostly Sentinel
1 Emeria Shepherd
1 Roil Spout
1 Sheer Drop
Enchantments: 4
2 Isolation Zone
2 Containment Membrane
Lands: 18
1 Blighted Cataract
2 Crumbling Vestige
1 Skyline Cascade
7 Island
7 Plains
Gut Rating Going into Round 1: 8 or so. This was my first draft with OGW, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
MVP(s): Having three on-color bombs didn't hurt, but if we dig deeper Containment Membrane was great. Most aggressive decks don't have an answer to it, and it fits nicely into the 1 or 2 mana you occasionally have left in mid-game turns. Blighted Cataract was great for getting Blinding Drone and Thought-Knot Seer online early and then turning into "free" cards late.
Underperformers: Cultivator Drone didn't do a ton. It's nice that it came down early enough and with a decent enough body to stop the most aggressive starts, but it can't deal with an active Snapping Gnarlid or a Zada's Commando that's equipped or supported. It also is at its weakest in my deck which doesn't have big colorless things to ramp into, so about the only thing it could really do was help play a Skyspawner + surge, or activate Blinding Drone.
1st picks: Thought-Knot Seer, Eldrazi Displacer, Emeria Shepherd
One of the most flawless 3-0 was with this deck and it was great to play.
UG was extremely open, and i got rather lucky with great cards being passed to me (Deepfathom Skulker, cyclone sire, Prophets)
First picks: Reality Smasher; P2 World Breaker; P3 Clutch of Currents
MVPs: Cyclone Sire, World Breaker (turned around and won 2 games)
Special Mention goes to Void Grafter, he can cause a huge blowout.
1 Stalking Drone
1 Hedron Crawler
1 Eldrazi Displacer
1 Netcaster Spider
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Incubator Drone
1 Thought Harvester
1 Gravity Negator
1 Warden of Geometries
1 Ulamog's Reclaimer
1 Kozilek's Pathfinder
1 Bane of Bala Ged
1 Warping Wail
1 Sweep Away
1 Infuse with the Elements
2 Coastal Discovery
1 Demon's Grasp
1 Nissa's Judgment
5 Forest
4 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Meandering River
1 Tranquil Expanse
1 Submerged Boneyard
1 Blighted Woodland
1 Crumbling Vestige
1 Unknown Shores
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
Results: While I absolutely love those funky manabase draw a lot of cards decks, they occasionally backfire horribly. This one worked like a charm, finishing 2-0 2-0 2-1.
Notable SB cards: 2 Cliffhaven Vampire (Wanted to go Allies at first. Realized I was getting cut early enough, so I could tranition into blue/<>), Giant Mantis, Pulse of Murasa, Make a Stand.
MVPs: Infuse with the Elements, Sea Gate Wreckage.
Underperformers: Ulamog's Reclaimer. Didn't draw him even once.
Firstpicks: Eldrazi Displacer, Devour in Flames, Coastal Discovery.
L1 Judge
1 Stalking Drone
1 Ondu War Cleric
1 Makindi Aeronaut
1 Makindi Patrol
1 Shadow Glider
2 Kor Sky Climber
2 Scion Summoner
1 Seed Guardian
2 Saddleback Lagac
1 Spawnbinder Mage
1 Tajuru Pathwarden
1 Munda's Vanguard
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Tajuru Beastmaster
1 Ondu Rising
1 Gideon's Reproach
1 Immolating Glare
1 Sheer Drop
1 Isolation Zone
1 Nissa's Judgment
Lands
9 Plains
8 Forest
1 Smite the Monstrous
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Plummet
1 Loam Larva
1 Lead by Example
2 Mighty Leap
1 Natural State
1 Dazzling Reflection
Rating before Round 1: about an 8/10 or so.
MVPs: Ondu War Cleric, Spawnbinder Mage, Saddleback Lagac, Munda's Vanguard (but this was expected)
Underperformers: Nothing really, everything fell like it performed how it was meant to. Even the filler allies did their job well enough.
Record: 6-1. I just crushed aggro in it's path. 4-0 combined against the RW aggro (finals) and RG aggro. The closer match was against a good U/B control deck, they were able to take it late every game against me and the games I won were mostly due to the combination between Ondu War Cleric, Spawnbinder Mage, Munda's Vanguard + other allies. The game I lost I got crushed by multiple fliers + multiple bounce spells + Roiling Waters
First Picks: Munda's Vanguard, Scion Summoner, Felidar Sovereign
I feel that some of the later picks were actually much more interesting. P2P3 I picked Ondu War Cleric over Zendikar Resurgent (had nothing over 5 at this stage) and think it's correct. I feel I mispicked P2P4 where I took a Seed Guardian over Joraga Auxillary (I hadn't actually drafted GW before and I already knew that Seed Guardian is a very good card) whereas P2P6 showed that Green AND White were very open, where I picked a Nissa's Judgment over an Isolation Zone.
2 hedron crawler
1 kalstira healer
1 Balroth pup
2 Nirkana assassin
1 Vampire envoy
2 Saddleback lagac
1 Havoc sower
1 Eyeless watcher
1 Bloodbond vampire
2 kozilek's translator
1 tarjuru pathfinder
1 tarjuru wallcaller
1 Balroth Null
1 Nissa, voice of zendikar
1 Grasp of darkness
1 Tar snare
2 oblivion strike
lands
1 morturay mire
9 Swamp
7 Forest
Results: 6-2
Notable Sideboard Cards: Kozilek's pathfinder, vines of the recluse
MVPs: Sadleback Lagac, tarjuru warcaller, timely oblivion strikes
Underperformers: Balroth pup, deck wasn't aggressive enough. hedron crawler, the deck was a little too colour intensive that I couldn't use these to ramp as much as I'd like.
First Picks: oblivion strike, Nissa, Voice of zendikar, tarjuru wallcaller
Nissa certainly helps get a 3-0 but I didn't actually draw her until the final.
Match 1 vs Naya allies huge boardstalls but my superior removal allowed me to kill off his threats and push through with wallcaller, games 1-3 game 2 he out supported me.
Match 2 vs RG I crushed him pretty handily he never really got on the board, I looped Lagacs with Null.
Match 3 GW fliers, I lost game 1 to mana screw and fliers, game 2 Nissa, voice of zendikar, he couldn't put up a fight. Game 3 was closer but I actually had the removal for his flyiers this time and a much larger ground force.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
1 Prophet of Distortion
1 Blinding Drone
1 Hedron Crawler
1 Tide Drifter
1 Ancient Crab
1 Cultivator Drone
1 Valakut Invoker
1 Vile Aggregate
1 Maw of Kozilek
2 Thought Harvester
1 Jwar Isle Avenger
1 Oracle of Dust
1 Ruin Processor
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Clutch of Currents
2 Reality Hemorrhage
2 Containment Membrane
1 Grip of the Roil
1 Seer's Lantern
1 Roiling Waters
Results: 6-1
Notable Sideboard Cards: A third Reality Hemorrhage came in every time for the Grip of the Roil. A second Ancient Crab and a second Oracle of Dust were also available.
MVPs: The deck was basically built to try and survive until I cast Sphinx, and it managed to do that admirably. The Reality Hemorrhage's were also very good in every match. And Containment Membrane.
Underpreformers: Afore-mentioned Grip was underwhelming in this deck, which I probably could have figured out ahead of time. All the guys with <> mana were underwhelming because I had few colorless land sources.
First Picks: Sphinx of the Final Word; Oblivion Strike (Hated out of a really bad pack with dreams of splashing); Vile Aggregate
1 Stalking Drone
1 Carrier Thrall
1 Malakir Familiar
1 Scion Summoner
1 Netcaster Spider
2 Catacomb Sifter
1 Essence Depeeter
2 Seed Guardian
1 Murasa Ranger
1 Null Caller
1 Kozilek’s Translator
1 Tajuru Pathwarden
1 Embodiment of Insight
1 Vampiric Rites
1 Bone Splinters
1 Tar Snare
1 Grasp of Darkness
1 From Beyond
Lands
9 Forest
9 Swamp
1 Vines of the Recluse
1 Netcaster Spider
1 Seer’s Lantern
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Dutiful Return
Notable Sideboard cards: Vines and 2nd Spider shut down fliers
MVP: Uh. From Beyond I guess.
Under Performers: Embodiment of Insight was somewhat out of place. In general all of these cards were very ordinary, but I guess sometimes you just win the game with a bunch of 2/3s.
This deck was actually kind of miserable. I never got shipped a Baloth Null, but I did get a bunch of good GB sac cards in pack 3.
Still, sad short of win cons, but hey if you can crank out 20 scions from from beyond you will still win... eventually. I had thought I picked up a colorless land to go with the Depleter, but alas it was not to be. I *think* I should have run Seer's Lantern. I passed a Swarm Surge and 2 Ruin Processors P3 that would have gone a long way.
6-2
Match 1 played an excellent player who trainwrecked (very rare for him) into Mardu. Game 1 I ground out a win (he missing a color for a while,, but it was still a game as I didn't put enough pressure on him), Game 2 he rolled me (I was mana hosed), and Game 3 I rolled him with a good curve.
Match 2 I had a 40 minute game one vs BR (note: ~20 scions + vampiric rites + catacomb sifter.. but what am I digging for?) I actually had to top deck the rites at 3 life to save me from his Essence Depleter (and he had 3 sources), then I found my own (with a zillion scions did stuff), and finally dug to Grasp to get in with a bunch of weenies. Game 2 he had a bad start and I had a curve and I won.
Match 3 vs. surge.dec. This was a pretty good match up for me, as I just ran him out of combat tricks and overwhelmed his board. I did lose game 2 to a T3 Bonesaw + Avenger T4 expedite + avenger T5 double combat trick.
P2P1: Thought Harvester
P3P1: Complete Disregard
U/B was just pretty open this draft. Had some really tough choices throughout the draft, like passing a blinding drone & mindmelter for my second oblivion strike. Pretty much every card in the deck preformed admirably, although I'll still give the mvp spot to that zany Sea Gate Wreckage.
Been a while since I've gotten a deck where murk strider is an actual card.
1 Chasm Guide
1 Cinder Hellion
1 Cliffside Lookout
1 Courier Griffin
1 Felidar Cub
1 Kazuul's Toll Collector
1 Kor Scythemaster
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Nettle Drone
1 Ondu Greathorn
2 Reckless Bushwhacker
2 Weapons Trainer
1 Zada's Commando
2 Boulder Salvo
1 Brute Strength
1 Devour in Flames
1 Gideon's Reproach
1 Isolation Zone
1 Reality Hemorrhage
1 Shoulder to Shoulder
Lands
9 Plains
8 Mountain
1 Dazzling Reflection
1 Eldrazi Aggressor
1 Kozilek's Pathfinder
1 Affa Protector
1 Mighty Leap
1 Roil's Retribution
1 Searing Light
1 Sparkmage's Gambit
1 Kazuul's Toll Collector
1 Makindi Aeronaut
Results: 6-0, defeating RW, UR, and RG.
Notable sideboard cards: Had a number of options and used, but no major game-changers in the board
MVPs: Even though they were just 3/2s for 2, the Weapons trainers did good work for me putting on early pressure. They curved nicely into Shoulder to Shoulder as well.
Underperformer: Linvala. Don't get me wrong, Linvala's great, but in an aggressive deck like this, she's mainly a 5/5 flier for 6. I cast here 2-3 times and never triggered any of her abilities. The upside of that was that it was because I was always winning, and she helped close out games well.
Draft/match thoughts:
Not too much I recall from the draft...I didn't see much equipment, my only real opportunity came when a bonesaw appeared in the same pack as my 2nd Weapons Trainer, and I'm pretty confident the Trainer was the correct pick. Linvala was my Pack 2 pick 1. One pick I liked was early in pack 2, when I took Reality Hemorrhage over Immolating Glare. Glare's the stronger card, but I knew my deck was going to be aggressive, and I think Hemorrhage was the better card given the context.
Match 1 I was against another RW player, and they went really deep on equipment (i.e. Storeforge Acolyte and Strider harness, though Captain's Claws as well). He has picked up a resolute blademaster I would have happily had, but in general I think my gameplan was stronger and more streamlined.
Match 2 was against a UR surge deck featuring Jori En, Ruin Diver and 2x Stormchaser Mage. My opponent had mana issues the first game. THe second game they got Jori online early and drew quite a few cards, but their card quality was a little low, and I drew Linvala to win through the air.
Match 3 I was just able to outrace my opponent both games, my deck being a little faster and having a little more removal
Congrats on the 3-0, but I'd love to see this draft cap. The deck is all over the place with near-zero synergy and many questionable inclusions if I'm being brutally honest. Weapons Trainer with no equipment. Nettle Drone with no colorless spells. Surge cards that can't come online until Turn 5 if you're lucky since tapping out on T4 to play a surged Bushwhacker could lead to massive blowouts. You would need to wait until turn 6 if you wanted Gideon's Reproach backup. Again, congratulations, but this deck looks forced and appears you were not supposed to be in these colors.
Signature courtesy of Rivenor and Miraculous Recovery
EDH Altered Cards by Galspanic (Seriously, this guy's awesome.)
My Pauper Cube
Tapped-Out Simulator
My Trade Thread
-Decks-
Commander:
GWR Rith, the Awakener RWG
U Kami of the Crescent Moon U (Flagship Deck)
BW Teysa, Orzhov Scion WB
Under Construction:
UBR Crosis, the Purger RBU
Cube:
WUBRGX Pauper XGRBUW
Agreed. Synergy in a deck like that is a nice bonus, but not necessary at all. A strong aggressive curve backed up by some removal/finishers is all of the "synergy" you usually need.
That's fair--I think I was focusing a bit too much on the whole double trainer/no equipment thing. But if you can keep the pressure up and kill them by turn 4 or 5 then, hey, whatever works.
Signature courtesy of Rivenor and Miraculous Recovery
EDH Altered Cards by Galspanic (Seriously, this guy's awesome.)
My Pauper Cube
Tapped-Out Simulator
My Trade Thread
-Decks-
Commander:
GWR Rith, the Awakener RWG
U Kami of the Crescent Moon U (Flagship Deck)
BW Teysa, Orzhov Scion WB
Under Construction:
UBR Crosis, the Purger RBU
Cube:
WUBRGX Pauper XGRBUW
Think about it this way: Wouldn't you be happy playing a 3/2 for 2 with no abilities in an aggro deck?
Generally speaking, yes, but the card being multi-color does give me a little pause.
Signature courtesy of Rivenor and Miraculous Recovery
EDH Altered Cards by Galspanic (Seriously, this guy's awesome.)
My Pauper Cube
Tapped-Out Simulator
My Trade Thread
-Decks-
Commander:
GWR Rith, the Awakener RWG
U Kami of the Crescent Moon U (Flagship Deck)
BW Teysa, Orzhov Scion WB
Under Construction:
UBR Crosis, the Purger RBU
Cube:
WUBRGX Pauper XGRBUW
1 Sludge Crawler
1 Carrier Thrall
1 Coralhelm Guide
1 Slaughter Drone
1 Cultivator Drone
1 Essence Depleter
1 Malakir Familiar
1 Incubator Drone
1 Silent Skimmer
1 Zulaport Chainmage
1 Kozilek's Channeler
1 Kozilek's Translator
1 Endbringer
1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
2 Grasp of Darkness
1 Containment Membrane
1 Seer's Lantern
1 Sweep Away
1 Tar Snare
1 Demon's Grasp
1 Roiling Waters
Land
9 Swamp
6 Island
3 Holdout Settlement
1 Mire's Malice
1 Witness the End
1 Negate
1 Void Shatter
2 Corpse Churn
1 Dutiful Return
1 Mist Intruder
1 Slip Through Space
1 Unknown Shores
1 Wastes
Results: 2-1 2-0 2-0 (ID in round 4)
Notable SB cards: I didn't ever have a match-up where I thought negate was good, nor the discard spell, so I didn't end up sideboarding at all (which is unusual for me). I originally had Mire's Malice MB instead of the Chainmage, but after my first game decided that I wanted another creature to trade off, and awakening a land was a real cost in my deck.
MVPs: Kozilek, Essence Depleter. I cast Kozilek in 4 games, and each time he either produced a concession on the spot or a turn later. I know Kozilek isn't quite enough if you're way behind, but if you're at all close to stable, he shuts the door on the game very quickly. On time I cast him an drew into CMC 2,3,4 and 5, completely lockign my opponent out of the game. Essence Depleter was also a bomb in this deck, and one of my wins came off of casting that card and then draining for 3 per turn.
Underperformers: I only cast Endbringer once and it was traded off immediately in combat, but that was just luck of the draw: the card's great.
First Picks: Grasp of Darkness, Kozilek, Malakir Familiar.
I started off my draft picking Grasp of Darkness, Roiling Waters, Grasp of Darkness, Boulder Salvo. From there, black was clearly open, and I gradually settled into blue towards the end of the pack. When I opened Kozilek pack 2, I decided to just go for it. I'd picked up one holdout settlement in pack 1, and started highly prioritizing colorless sources, especially onces that ramps. I got the Endbringer 3rd pick in this pack, which just seems like a mistake on someone else's part. Another interesting pick was early in pack 3, when I took the Coralhelm Guide over a Breaker of Armies. I was a little torn, as breaker is another good finisher, but I was more worrier about dying early than having another way to close out the game.
Round 1 I faced a strong BR devoid aggro deck, which included 2 Flayer Drones and a Dust Stalker. Game 1 I got run over, then the next to game I was able to use removal and tempo plays to deploy the game long enough to cast Kozilek.
Round 2 was a relatively short affair. I was up against a black green deck that seemed to be having clunky draws.
Round 3 was against a UR "mini-modern" deck, featuring both Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher. Again I relied heavily on removal and tempo plays to stall until I could win...via Kozilek the first game and Essence Depleter the second.
One question I have for you guys: what do you think of the mana base? It was pretty consistent for me, but I wonder if Unknown Shores would've been better than the third Holdout Settlement, just to give me more options for smoothing out my colors. thoughts?