Honestly I don't care that this thread exists. It's fun if not stupid in concept. Plus, when's the last time Rar posted something? (7/16/2012 is the answer)
Thanks! I missed posting! ...But I have been watching. Loss of job (layoff) in 2011 reduced my disposable income, and therefore my interest in Magic. New job in 2012 has brought my interest back, even though my new late night schedule prevents FNM drafting.
I'm confused...Are we supposed to be stating the thing that is obvious? Or the snarky / sarcastic thing that people complain about it that is not objectively true? I feel like we have two different threads overlapping here.
Quotes like this are what I intended the thread to be:
"Jace the Mind Sculptor is P1P1 material."
Light, fun, obvious stuff just for the sake of being fun. Or, quotes like this: "dont eat sticky foods when you draft" Helpful and obvious!
Spammy, whiny posts are not the spirit I was looking for, but I figured it was inevitable (as it is in almost all threads). I figured if it plagued this thread too much, the mods would appropriately can it.
On Massive Raid - While I see your point that could lead the card down the "win more" path, it certainly is great on a stalled board, and it can certainly be useful when you're behind (say, you're down 5 creatures to 3 or something... 3 damage pretty routinely drops something). The damage to the dome aspect has to be considered as well - on a stalled board it becomes a finisher. And instant speed, and common... I can see it occasionally being useless, but more often than not I think it will be strong.
Right, you corrected me on my terminology then... Agreed that damage-removal is conditional as well, but it's less conditional than "requires blocking" or "target must have dealt damage" or "sacrifice a creature, gain life". Massive Raid - While conditional, if you don't have enough creatures on the board to make use of it, you've probably got more problems than an inability to use Raid.
Bomber Corps is a 2-drop with a removal effect. A pair of these guys on the board is rather relevant. Certainly helps the early game, which is already a strength of Boros.
If you want to go down the multicolor aspect of Boros (edit - multicolor removal options for Red, I get that the card is Gruul), you also have to bring in Pit Fight, which is solid and Orzhov can't use - and it has the advantage of not being relegated to combat-creatures only).
I've been noticing a consensus developing that Orzhov is the strongest guild with the best removal... I disagree. I think the set's best removal is red.
Why is this? Red's removal is not conditional. In Orzhov we have Smite, Executioner's Swing, Killing Glare (borderline conditional, but expensive to bring down a fatty), Devour Flesh, and Death's Approach. They do have stronger removal in Angelic Removal (but it's a 5cc sorcery), Grisly Spectacle (nice, but it is a worse Murder), One Thousand Lashes and Orzhov Charm.
Meanwhile, in Red alone we see Bomber Corps (relevant at it's CC with the low toughness creatures in the format), Cinder Elemental, Homing Lightning, Mark for Death (whether that's removal can be debated, but I think it's fun), Massive Raid, and Mugging... and this is just the mono-color, let alone the hybrid/guilded cards.
I'm getting the sense that Boros has the best removal and a strong early game, while Gruul has very nice removal and a hardcore mid game.
Not to say that Orzhov isn't good... I just don't think it's the king's nuts.
On the above - Mogg Flunkies + Reckless Brute can turn into some serious early game punishment, by the way. "Oh, look, turn 2 Mogg Flunkies... lol, hi 3/3 statue. ...Turn 3... hastey 3 power guy? well then. shoulda stayed in bed."
Been over a year since I played due to a layoff at work... Drafted M13 on Friday, went green-red, and did the same on prerelease day... Took a 7-0 over the weekend.
I wasn't around for the olden days of Magic when Rancor was originally printed. You know what I learned? Rancor + creatures = good. I drew one when I had a Goblin Arsonist on the board... thought "bahaha, Arsonist with Rancor... how silly." Then I realized that it was Rancor, and Rancor rules.
Soon after, Arsonist found himself Rancor'ed... and eventually, Encrusted.
To summarize, Rancor, Rancor, and oh yeah... Rancor.
I hope you don't mind my criticism, because I find some of these picks to be outright bad... please pardon what may seem like my arrogance or whatever it may appear to be, but I would like to try to provide some insight:
P1P2 - I don't find Spirit Mantle to be a good choice here... Arachnus Web would have been a better choice.
P1P3 - This one is terrible. Combust is a sideboard card... you should never, ever take sideboard cards above maindeck cards. Especially in this instance - there are some powerful MD cards in the pack that need to be taken. Gravedigger, Onyx Mage, and Swiftfoot Boots are all fine choices. I would have opted for the Gravedigger.
P1P5 - Awful pick. Scepter is only good if you are looking for bloodthirst enablers, and there are better enablers than Scepter. Sengir Vampire is rather strong, and should go a mile ahead of Scepter.
P1P7 - Mesa Enchantress makes no sense. It's a speculative pick even if you have a few auras to work with... so far you have just the one (Spirit Mantle). Smallpox, Drifting Shade, and Stampeding Rhino all should go above Enchantress.
P2P1 - O-Ring vs. Archon... not an awful pick, but I think it should have been Archon.
It seems like you picked up some Bloodthirsters later, which made the earlier picks like Scepter better... but even though you did get the Thirsters, Sengir Vampire really is just a metric ton better than Scepter. That pick confuses me more than the others. Even if you had a pile of Bloodthirsters, Mr. Sengir is powerful and cost efficient.
P1P3 and P1P5 are the ones I hate the most in this draft.
Sorry if I came across crass at all, that was not my intent. Hopefully I provided some valuable feedback.
Sene - True that it does not apply to Limited strategy, but I think that in FNM-level play, this is a significant part of drafting, as I imagine I am not the only player who is a collector first and a "drafter" second, for lack of a better term. I know several people who automatically pick whatever card has a gold/orange symbol because that is what the player in question wants most.
Perhaps raredrafting is not relevant in this forum, but at least outside of casual-level events, it is something worth noting.
I'm not sure it goes with the purpose of the forum, but I would draft the Skittles in the original question. It would serve two purposes for me, in order of importance:
1) It would add Skittles to my collection, which is a card I'd really like to own.
2) Hatedraft.
I run into that problem a lot more when I draft - I am faced with a card I want as a collector as opposed to a card that will help my deck. I was drafting G/W and I had a pretty good flyer suite, when P3P1 came with a Sorin Markov and a Stormfront Pegasus. Correct pick = Pegasus... my pick = Sorin. I can't in good conscience pass a planeswalker! But, clearly, it is the incorrect pick.
Edit: Of course, to be fair, if I was drafting at Worlds... I'd make the "correct for my deck" pick. But I'll (almost definitely) never be drafting at Worlds.
Bateleur doesn't like this thread.
Thanks! I missed posting! ...But I have been watching.
Quotes like this are what I intended the thread to be:
"Jace the Mind Sculptor is P1P1 material."
Light, fun, obvious stuff just for the sake of being fun. Or, quotes like this: "dont eat sticky foods when you draft" Helpful and obvious!
Spammy, whiny posts are not the spirit I was looking for, but I figured it was inevitable (as it is in almost all threads). I figured if it plagued this thread too much, the mods would appropriately can it.
Sealed involves more luck than draft.
Red/Black Aggro is nuts in ZZW Draft.
Bomber Corps is a 2-drop with a removal effect. A pair of these guys on the board is rather relevant. Certainly helps the early game, which is already a strength of Boros.
If you want to go down the multicolor aspect of Boros (edit - multicolor removal options for Red, I get that the card is Gruul), you also have to bring in Pit Fight, which is solid and Orzhov can't use - and it has the advantage of not being relegated to combat-creatures only).
Why is this? Red's removal is not conditional. In Orzhov we have Smite, Executioner's Swing, Killing Glare (borderline conditional, but expensive to bring down a fatty), Devour Flesh, and Death's Approach. They do have stronger removal in Angelic Removal (but it's a 5cc sorcery), Grisly Spectacle (nice, but it is a worse Murder), One Thousand Lashes and Orzhov Charm.
Meanwhile, in Red alone we see Bomber Corps (relevant at it's CC with the low toughness creatures in the format), Cinder Elemental, Homing Lightning, Mark for Death (whether that's removal can be debated, but I think it's fun), Massive Raid, and Mugging... and this is just the mono-color, let alone the hybrid/guilded cards.
I'm getting the sense that Boros has the best removal and a strong early game, while Gruul has very nice removal and a hardcore mid game.
Not to say that Orzhov isn't good... I just don't think it's the king's nuts.
Thoughts?
I wasn't around for the olden days of Magic when Rancor was originally printed. You know what I learned? Rancor + creatures = good. I drew one when I had a Goblin Arsonist on the board... thought "bahaha, Arsonist with Rancor... how silly." Then I realized that it was Rancor, and Rancor rules.
Soon after, Arsonist found himself Rancor'ed... and eventually, Encrusted.
To summarize, Rancor, Rancor, and oh yeah... Rancor.
P1P2 - I don't find Spirit Mantle to be a good choice here... Arachnus Web would have been a better choice.
P1P3 - This one is terrible. Combust is a sideboard card... you should never, ever take sideboard cards above maindeck cards. Especially in this instance - there are some powerful MD cards in the pack that need to be taken. Gravedigger, Onyx Mage, and Swiftfoot Boots are all fine choices. I would have opted for the Gravedigger.
P1P5 - Awful pick. Scepter is only good if you are looking for bloodthirst enablers, and there are better enablers than Scepter. Sengir Vampire is rather strong, and should go a mile ahead of Scepter.
P1P7 - Mesa Enchantress makes no sense. It's a speculative pick even if you have a few auras to work with... so far you have just the one (Spirit Mantle). Smallpox, Drifting Shade, and Stampeding Rhino all should go above Enchantress.
P2P1 - O-Ring vs. Archon... not an awful pick, but I think it should have been Archon.
It seems like you picked up some Bloodthirsters later, which made the earlier picks like Scepter better... but even though you did get the Thirsters, Sengir Vampire really is just a metric ton better than Scepter. That pick confuses me more than the others. Even if you had a pile of Bloodthirsters, Mr. Sengir is powerful and cost efficient.
P1P3 and P1P5 are the ones I hate the most in this draft.
Sorry if I came across crass at all, that was not my intent. Hopefully I provided some valuable feedback.
Perhaps raredrafting is not relevant in this forum, but at least outside of casual-level events, it is something worth noting.
1) It would add Skittles to my collection, which is a card I'd really like to own.
2) Hatedraft.
I run into that problem a lot more when I draft - I am faced with a card I want as a collector as opposed to a card that will help my deck. I was drafting G/W and I had a pretty good flyer suite, when P3P1 came with a Sorin Markov and a Stormfront Pegasus. Correct pick = Pegasus... my pick = Sorin. I can't in good conscience pass a planeswalker! But, clearly, it is the incorrect pick.
Edit: Of course, to be fair, if I was drafting at Worlds... I'd make the "correct for my deck" pick. But I'll (almost definitely) never be drafting at Worlds.