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PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2015 12:58 pm 
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I draft a lot but don't wanna make a new thread for each one. We've done this before, seems reasonable to do it again.

Just drafted this exciting concoction:

Creatures (18)
4 x Bonded Construct
1 x Goblin Glory Chaser
2 x Dragon Fodder
2 x Dwynen's Elite
1 x Elvish Visionary
1 x Subterranean Scout
1 x Bounding Krasis
1 x Chief of the Foundry
2 x Ramroller
1 x Reclusive Artificer
1 x Firefiend Elemental
1 x Whirler Rogue

Other Spells (5)
3 x War Horn
1 x Anchor to the Aether
1 x Lightning Javelin

Lands (17)
1 x Foundry of the Consuls
2 x Evolving Wilds
3 x Island
5 x Forest
6 x Mountain

Sideboard
1 x Caustic Caterpillar
1 x Aerial Volley
2 x Smash to Smithereens
1 x Demolish
1 x Flameshadow Conjuring
1 x Guardian Automaton


First pick I last minute switched to Dwynen's Elite after convincing myself not to take Day's Undoing. Not sure what else was there. Whirler Rogue game next, then Chief of the Foundry, and then I just started taking War Horns and cards that worked with them. White was open the entire time and I tried switching into it, but I was a little too late and valued taking good artifacts over good white cards, which lead me to this. It's SUPER AGGRESSIVE. Just look at that curve of Construct into Fodder into Horn. Beautiful. Not sure how good it is. (Destroyed my round 1 opponent in game 1 with a 5th turn kill, game 2 grinded out a win with fliers.) But I like it!

EDIT: Threw away a game round 2 and stumbled on mana in another. Cast a War Horn instead of a Ramroller on accident and made a bad block when I knew my opponent was on Eyeblight Assassin. Bah!

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 31, 2015 4:15 pm 
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I missed pre-re (I usually do for core sets) but drafted on launch night and am drafting for the second time tonight.

That first draft, 1-1 I saw Languish so I had to take it. Took a few more black things with my following picks and then added green when the first no-decent-black-card pick hit me - then I went on a run of Elves. By the end of pack 1 I was clearly in elves so when pack 2-1 opened me an Eyeblight Massacre I took that and shipped a Yavimaya Coast. Pack 3 opened to show me my second Shaman of the Pack and while I didn't think anyone at the table was about to take it to play it I was concerned it might not table because someone might take it for value (top uncommon in the set, was over $2 at the time).

So I would up with 2 or 3 each of:
Thornbow Archer
Gnarlroot Trapper
Deadbridge Shaman
Shaman of the Pack
Eyeblight Assassin
Reave Soul

plus singletons of:
Eyeblight Massacre
Languish
Llanowar Empath
Elvish Visionary
Unholy Hunger

I think I filled out the deck with a couple Catacomb Slugs with the plan to have them be able to survive Languish. I don't think I ever drew them.


I felt like it was one of the strongest draft decks I ever had and there were many opponents it just rolled over. But the deck's weakness was the inability to deal with an attacking fatty once it landed - most prominently the opponent that had both a Skysnare Spider and a Skaab Goliath. One Unholy Hunger just wasn't enough and all my other removal couldn't take down things that tough. The Gnarlroot Trappers could give my _attacking_ elves deathtouch, but what I really needed was the ability to kill with blockers, and that I just didn't have.

So I 2-1d. Hoping to do better tonight - my last crack at the promo Path to Exile.


I actually gave some thought to running monoblack (I drafted enough playable nonelf black cards that I could have), but decided to do an 11-5 B-G mana split. That never bit me - I always had both colors by the time I needed them.

Guy to my right wasn't even playing black but took Liliana, Heretical Healer and a foil Demonic Pact that were going clockwise, and guy to my left wasn't playing BG either but took a Languish that was going counterclockwise (as well as a Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen that would have gone clockwise has he not taken it, so wasn't likely to get to me anyway). Playing BG between two guys that took 5 black-or-green rares-or-mythics (OK, one was an Infinite Obliteration that I shipped!) I wouldn't have expected to still get a strong BG deck, but I did.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 01, 2015 10:32 pm 
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Drafted last night in a 10-pod. Opened Thopter Spy Network Pack one. Thopters it is! I expected I'd do the usual blue+red Thopter deck... but the red never came, and the blue just kept coming. I kept looking for openings to add a second color - I took a hard look at a Bounding Krasis but opted against, and I actually took a Thunderclap Wyvern and followed with a few playable white cards... but at the end of the day, the gains of a second color didn't outweigh the risk of a colored mana screw and I played it as a mono-blue deck.

The script for most games in the evening was the same... I'd suffer some early hits and usually be the first to lose 10 life, but eventually stabilize and ultimately overwhelm. Won match 1 2-0. Won match 2 2-1. Then I came up against a strange black red artifacts deck - and I found out why I never saw the red Thopter support in draft - the guy two seats counterclockwise from me was taking em. I took game 1 by my usual rope-a-dope way, lost game 2 by not being able to stabilize in time... and then when the whole evening came down to one game... mana flood. Just couldn't overcome when, after opting to keep a land-heavy hand, almost every draw in earlygame was an island. By the time I started drawing relevant cards I was too far gone.

My opponent claimed the #1 in pod and the promo Path to Exile, and my loss took me down to #4 (I didn't think it was mathematically possible for me to be lower than #3 with 2 wins followed by a loss to the 3-0 champ, but there must have been a way...)


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PostPosted: Sun Aug 02, 2015 12:20 pm 
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I first picked a Thopter Spy Network Friday night. Ended up playing 5 red cards and the white giant uncommon as my non-blue stuff. Had triple of the tapping enchantment.
Stomped round 1, round two opponent had a super solid red-white deck. Consul, two of the red-white double strikers, 3 or 4 removal spells. All three games were super long and drawn out, but his stuff was just too tough to trade with if I didn't have my removal enchantment so he pulled it out. They were good games though. Also got a foil Abbot of Kher Keep.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:21 am 
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Sword of the Animist is an almost-bomb in this format. And the best thing is, you don't have to build about it at all, it fits any deck you would normally draft except for UB control. The amount of mana acceleration/thinning it provides is incredible, and playing Magic with ten mana available against an opponent with five mana at their disposal is just not a fair game. You get to draw more spells, and you can play all of them. And not the least important, the +1/+1 bonus, while seemingly small, can really change combat, making some blocks impossible, enabling attacks, pushing damage through. Don't pass this one if you open it.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 2:53 pm 
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Quote:
Drafted last night in a 10-pod. Opened Thopter Spy Network Pack one. Thopters it is! I expected I'd do the usual blue+red Thopter deck... but the red never came, and the blue just kept coming. I kept looking for openings to add a second color - I took a hard look at a Bounding Krasis but opted against, and I actually took a Thunderclap Wyvern and followed with a few playable white cards... but at the end of the day, the gains of a second color didn't outweigh the risk of a colored mana screw and I played it as a mono-blue deck.


I think you should look to pair Spy network with white rather than red. No one passes the Red thopter gens, but you are the only deck that can play thunderclap wyvern - plus the pump sorcery. Chief goes in both. Thopters + Joraga Invocation is GG.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:24 pm 
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Piloted this to 2-1, losing in the finals to the guy with triple Thunderclap Wyvern. Stupid ten-man pods.

3 x elvish visionary
1 x dwynen's elite
2 x boggart brute
1 x ghirapur gearcrafter
1 x akroan sergeant
1 x orchard spirit
1 x yeva's forcemage
1 x nissa, vastwood seer
1 x enthralling victor
1 x zendikar incarnate
1 x dwynen, gilt-leaf daen
1 x llanowar empath
1 x conclave naturalists
1 x rhox maulers
1 x volcanic rambler

1 x evolutionary leap

1 x war horn

1 x fiery impulse
1 x lightning javelin
1 x wild instincts

9 x forest
8 x mountain


sideboard

1 x titan's strength
1 x aerial volley
1 x hitchclaw recluse
1 x caustic caterpillar


went 2-0 against UB mill... having multiple of those non-elf sweepers felt pretty awful for my opponent, so he didn't bother casting them. almost lost to my own visionaries and drawing dudes with leap.

went 2-1 against bw enchantments with that 5-drop 2/2 dude that poops out a 5/5 demon. close games, but again being able to draw cards, go wide, play a lord, etc. was pretty sweet.

went 1-2 against uw flyers. won game one off him flooding out while my deck performed optimally, mulled game 2 and just was crushed, game 3 i stalled out while he just played wyvern after wyvern and multiple foundries and... yeah. he didn't trot out the second wyvern until game three, so he managed to make me waste removal by flashing the second one in :/

anyway, ten man pods are weird. the format's fun though!

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 3:45 am 
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I'm playing a UG almost-disaster against UB control with Fleshbag Marauder, Cruel Revival, Macabre Waltz, Revenant. For game three on the draw, I board out some early defense in favor of counterspells, and keep Scrapskin Drake, Separatist Voidmage, Llanowar Empath, Skysnare Spider, Forest, Island, Plains. His first play is a turn-three Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. Finally, his deck makes sense. I drop my Drake, draw an Island, he loots, discard a Deep-sea Terror, misses a land drop, plays Shadows of the Past. I play the Empath, and look at Island and my p1p1. I know I want the land, but another six-drop? On the other hand, it's the best card in my deck, so I keep it on top. A few turns later, I have three critters against his Jace and am feeling good, when he finally gets to five lands, and drops the Willbreaker I passed him in favor of a Watercourser in pack three. He has four cards in the yard, so all he needs to do is loot, flip Jace, and start stealing a critter a turn. The Voidmage can buy me a turn, and I use it to bounce Jace and attack with Scrapskin and Watercourser. Next turn, he steals my Drake with a Voidmage, which then chumps my Watercourser. Then he attacks me with Drake, drops Guardians of Meletis, and replays Jace.

I sigh, offer a prayer, burn some cards at the digital altar, and topdeck-a Forest. I laugh like a maniac, and play the Joraga Invocation I kept on top with the Empath scry. My three droks eat his combo!

Instead of conceding, he drops a 6/6 Revenant. But my prayers were answered, and I topdeck my one white card, Suppression Bonds. A Negate on his Macabre Waltz prevent a comeback, and my 2/2s finally kill him. I never played the Spider.

If you want to see just how good my draws were, here is the deck:

UG almost-disaster

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:05 pm 
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Yesterday was an odd little draft. My son, 2 seats to the right cracks Chandra (face up of course). I open a pack with Willbreaker, Seismic Elemental and Wild Instincts. I get cute and use the info that there is a red guy 2 seats up stream and take Wild Instincts.

Opponent to direct right passes me Skysnare Spider and Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen. I decide that the 4 drop is going to be more useful than the 6 and take the elf lord (this is probably correct).
Pick 4 or 5 I have a choice of LLanowar Wastes and Eyeblight Assassin. I take the land, which is pretty close (it's also $2). (Funny story: Either here or pack 3 I pass a Demonic Pact... that thing is $7 tcgmid. I had NO idea)

I did end up with a red card or two, including Zendikar Incarnate, but I have a couple decent black cards.
I had a pick 10 or 11 pucker moment when I took Eyeblight Assassin (perhaps it wheeled?) over Nantuko Husk (which is terrrible in a vacuum), and was immediately passed the RB hellhound!

Pack 2 pack is redonkulous. For someone else. Chandra's Parents, Sentinel of the Eternal Watch, Ravaging Blaze, Fiery Impulse, Claustrophobia. Nothing interesting for me. I take the Sentinel because it's the one reasonable splash in the set (did not play it). I almost disowned my son when he said he took Ravaging Blaze over Pia and Kiran... where did I go wrong!!!

I did end up with an Eyeblight Massacre, Unholy Hunger and a Shaman of the Pack plus other cards.
Pack 3 I crack Gilt-Leaf Winnower and my deck is looking very solid... except for the noticable lack of good 2 drops.

I belive I took the following cards early over good 2s: Joraga Invocation (P1P3), Concave Naturalists (P1P4), and Somberwaldwald Alpha -- over 2 Timberpack Wolf and something else. Not an elite. Maybe a Shambling Ghoul? Guy 3 seats to my right took all the green 2 drops, cutting out me and my son (who was RG with only 2 2 drops), and of course, won the draft.

Pod ended up:
Seat 1 (Me): BG Elves
Seat 2: UR
Seat 3: RB
Seat 4: UWr (guy from France)
Seat 5: RB
Seat 6: UG 2 drops - winner
Seat 7: RG my son
Seat 8: WB (glad I cut the Sentinels) - finals

2 x Thornbow Archer
1 x Gnarlroot Trapper
1 x Fetid Imp
2 x Elvish Visionary
2 x Yeva's Forcemage
1 x Eyeblight Assassin
1 x Graveblade Maruader
1 x Shaman of the Pack
1 x Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen
1 x Somberwald Alpha
1 x Pharika's Disciple
1 x Conclave Naturalists
1 x Gilt-Leaf Winnower

1 x Titanic Growth
1 x Read the Bones
2 x Wild Instincts
1 x Eyeblight Massacre
1 x Unholy Hunger
1 x Joraga Invocation

1 x Llanowar Wastes
1 x Rogue's Passage
8 x Swamp
7 x Forest

//Side
1 x Weight of the Underworld
1 x Aerial Volley
1 x Consecrated by Blood
1 x Vastwood Gorger


Last card was 2 of Weight, Read the Bones, Titanic Growth. I liked Growth game 1, but often borded in Weight for either Growth or Read the bones. I almost brought in Gorger vs. RG match 3 but it was hard to cut an elf.

Deck was fine, but not great. Archer and Trapper are really awful magic cards, but I literally had nothing else to play besides a 6 drop. Trapper I never drew, but boarded out once.

Match 1 was pretty easy vs. RB (she mulled to 5 game 1 and then I 3-for-1'd her with Massacre).

Match 2 I got to face down all the 2 drops I passed. Game 1 was a about lost value. I cast Naturalists 3 times with no target, and Winnower vs. a board of 3/3s. I lost to the 2nd disperse and a hand full of 4s and 5s. Game 2 was a game of magic, techically. We both mulled to 6, he got stuck on 2 and I flooded having an Imp and an Archer vs. 2/2s (again). I did not play this well, I should have traded the imp for a bear much earlier, ended up taking about 6 from it.

Match 3 vs. my kid's. His deck was like mine in that the mid-game 3-5 slot was awesome but no 2s. Game 1 I massacred 2x Gearcrafters and their buddies and one pretty easy. Game 2, he goes T3 Chandra. I play a 4th land and decide not to massacre chandra. I felt sorry for the boy, he hadn't gotten to play with his card. If you care about winning a game, for god's sake, kill chandra. I played a forcemage and hit for 3. He goes "tap chandra, impusle your forcemage, swing for 2, flip chandra +1, take 5". Chandra kills me a few turns later.

Game 3 he gets a later chandra against my 3 guys (he made a sweet play where I massacred a couple guys and he killed my graveblade maurader with impluse), I have an assassin (tapped) and a forcemage out, 4 lands, and Unholy Hunger, Elvish Visionary, and Pharika's Disciple. I figure if he can't flip chandra I will have to kill it with hunger, so I play Visionary and draw 5th land instead of the more mana efficient Disciple (possibly this was somberwald alpha instead?)

He goes - ping, enthralling victor, take your forcemage, attack for 4, play titan's strength, ping, flip chandra +1. I take 11 from 17 to 9 and he has a planewalker with 5 loyalty. I unholy hunger his victor (only blocker) and kill chandra and go on to win from there (he was at 7).

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"Something that does not look good when your opponent does nothing is not a thing" -- me


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 5:45 pm 
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From last wed, another terrific RW deck, another sad finals.

1 x Anointer of Champions
2 x Mage-Ring Bully
2 x Cleric of the Forward Order
1 x Rune Servitor
1 x Consul's Lieutenant
1 x Blessed Spirits
1 x Knight of the Pligrim's Road
1 x Stalwart Aven
1 x Boggart Brute
2 x Skyraker Giant
1 x Charging Griffin
1 x Seismic Elemental
1 x Hixus, Prison Warden

2 x Grasp of the Hieromancer
1 x Swift Reckoning
2 x Suppression Bonds
1 x Lightning Javelin
1 x Tragic Arrogance

1 x Battlefield Forge
7 x Mountain
9 x Plains

//Side
1 x Celestial Flare
1 x Runed Servitor
1 x Totem-Guide Hartebeest
1 x Enlightened Ascetic
1 x Gold-Forged Sentinel
1 x Akroan Jailer

I often swapped out the 2nd Grasp, but I liked it for sure on the play.
Basically just beat down match 1 and 2, although I had to work to kill Mr. 4x Dark Dabbling and lost a game to the other red deck (he had the Elementals and Prickleboars.
Finals - I played a RGb deck splashing for Cruel Revival and Fetid Imp. Yes, fetid imp. Oh and 3x Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen and 2 Zendikar Incarnate . He was also running 2x Alchemist Vial so you can see he was short of playables. I had a not great hand on the draw and lost game 1.
Game 2 with me on the play I curve out but he plays Leaf Gilder into Dwynen and we stall out. I have Seismic Elemental and we both have like 5 guys. Two of mine are unrenown. My other cards in hand are lands, and he's at 20 with a 7/4 Zendikar Incarnate and has hit me once. I can either Falter in for 14 or try to fade a couple turns to get 20 power on the board for the instant win. I think for a while and decide that if I hit him for 14, he can't really attack me back for lethal without multiple tricks, and if I brick and start having to chump or double block I am going to lose. I knock him to 6 and eventually squeak though enough damage.

Oh, this is a rare redraft and the table cracked a Jace ($32 tcg mid) and a Lilliana ($23)

Game 3, I mull to 6 and have Consul's Lieutenant, Grasp of the Hieromancer, 2 plains, Boggart Brute, Mage-Ring Bully, and Seismic Elemental. Lieutenant into Grasp is so good that I end up drawing plains, plains, white 2 drop, mountain but by the time I am swinnging with Brute he's a 3. He stabilizes somewhat with Incarnate, Gorger, Gaea's Revenge (which had to stay back to block). All I need is to draw any of my 7 red lands, the javelin, the wrath, hixus, or running removal spells. I end up taking 6 from Gorger and play my Swift Reckoning at sorcery speed. I brick 4 times and lose.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:35 am 
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Drafted a nice WR deck today with a P1P1 Foil Exquisite Firecraft. I placed 2nd and went 3-1 including one auto-win on match 1 because we were drafting at 11 people.

The only game I lost was to a nasty UG deck that was mostly green with lots of ramp into at least 2 Rhox Maulers and 1 Skysnare Spider, all of this covered by counterspells. Although I mostly lost because I got totally mana screwed the first game and flooded like crazy on the second, but still it was a very hard deck to win against and the guy placed 1st in the end.

Other games were against a UR Thopter deck including some Screeching Skaabs and a Skaab Goliath as a subtheme and a BG Elf deck that was pretty solid with 2 Shaman of the Pack despite its bigger creature being a Conclave Naturalists. I won pretty handily over those two going 2-0 in each match. Prickleboar, Sentinel of the Eternal Watch and more surprisingly Ampryn Tactician and Charging Griffin did some very good work. The 3 Cleric of the Forward Order also deserve a mention as they helped a lot in the early game and in one game even made me go to 32 life.

Hangarback Walker didn't particularly shine except in one game, still it was good enough just for making people crazy at the simple sight of it. I was pretty excited about Mage-Ring Responder but didn't get to actually play it. :(

1 x Hangarback Walker
1 x Mage-Ring Responder
1 x Akroan Sergeant
1 x Ampryn Tactician
1 x Boggart Brute
1 x Charging Griffin
3 x Cleric of the Forward Order
1 x Cobblebrute
1 x Knight of the Pilgrim's Road
1 x Knight of the White Orchid
1 x Prickleboar
1 x Sentinel of the Eternal Watch
1 x Stalwart Aven
1 x Topan Freeblade

1 x Grasp of the Hieromancer
1 x Celestial Flare
1 x Enshrouding Mist
1 x Titan's Strength
1 x Exquisite Firecraft
2 x Lightning Javelin

8 x Mountain
9 x Plains


Sideboard

1 x Aerial Volley
1 x Bellows Lizard
1 x Enlightened Ascetic
1 x Eyeblight Assassin
1 x Healing Hands
1 x Infectious Bloodlust
1 x Jayemdae Tome
1 x Kytheon's Tactics
1 x Lightning Javelin
1 x Mage-Ring Network
1 x Mantle of Webs
1 x Mighty Leap
1 x Prism Ring
1 x Pyromancer's Goggles
1 x Shivan Reef
1 x Smash to Smithereens
1 x Totem-Guide Hartebeest
2 x Yoked Ox

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 3:43 pm 
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I played sealed at home with the Wife last night and opened a disgusting (in a good sense) pool.

My deck:
Spoiler


Sideboard:
Spoiler


I may have gotten greedy with the white splash, but I thought it was worth it. Never even drew any of them.

My Wife’s deck:
Spoiler


Her Sideboard:
Spoiler


I think I would have gone U/G with a splash of W and banked on Spy Network and Enchantment stuff.

I stomped game 1 with Hydra followed by the Demon and the Beast. Game 2 I got off to a slower start and she got a turn four Giant. Zendikar kept me in the game until I got my bombs and turned it around.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:32 pm 
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Dat mana base.
I would never:
1) splash for topan freeblade
2) play mage-ring network ESPECIALLY in a 3 color deck
3) play sigil of valor (in your deck their are at least 5 G or B cards i would play over it, especially Might of the Masses.

Your wife needs to play more creatures.
I would literally run all of these:
2 x Timberpack Wolf
1 x Skysnare Spider
1 x Shadows of the Past
1 x Fleshbag Marauder (not a huge fan of this but it's OK)
1 x Read the Bones
1 x Nightsnare (OK, this is worse than Macabre Waltz)
1 x Weight of the Underworld
1 x Chief of the Foundry
1 x Guardian Automaton
1 x Gold-Forged Sentinel

Over sigil, the sidearms, war horn (which is terrible in her deck), vine snare, mantle of webs, pilgrimage and waltz. Her blue looks thin but she has 8 decent red cards, not sure that's better than G or B.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:01 pm 
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Yeah, I told her almost the exact same thing, except with my added "Thopter Spy Network is the best ever" jab. I was also not aware she was over 40 cards. She's pretty rusty at this point, having played for a year total and not having played for the last 10 months.

I think Mage Ring is addable in any deck, especially one with two 6 drops and Roil. It also ended up having nice synergy with the Foundry. The white splash was dumb, but the deck seemed powerful enough to support a long-shot Renown synergy splash. I will continue to admit it was dumb though...consistency was a better option. I wasn't splashing for freeblade though, I was splashing for Stalwart Aven, which (in the two games I've seen it in) was awesome,I just decided another two drop was probably better than an iffy 5/6 drop or an ok discard spell. Given Mage-Ring...I think the two white cards could have easily been the Gorgers.

Might seems pretty weak, but I did often have 4 guys on field at once...facing down deathtouch was a bit iffy though.

We re-distributed the cards tonight and Might barely got cut...curious how it will play out now.

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:12 pm 
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Tale of 2 sealed decks. Another dad runs a kid's magic club and they are getting pretty decent. They usually do some kind of "standard" pauper but yesterday they did origins sealed.

My pool was pretty solid, got 2 decks out of it. I was pretty sure the RW was better but playing against 11 year olds I thought I would at least start with Esper. Esper went like 1-2 and RW went 3-1, only losing to pretty ridiculous RW deck in finals.

The RW deck
Spoiler

This deck was fine, although its curve was a little wonky with 8 3s. One odd decision was I exited combat killing opponents Runed Servitor and Deadbridge Shaman. I am pretty far ahead, I have 4 mountains and a plains out, and after drawing for the servitor I have to discard from my hand of: Sentinel of the Eternal Watch, Prickleboar, Totem-Guide Hartebeest and Charging Griffin. I can't discard the hartebeest, it's _2_ cards (I can get either Valor or Bonds). I discarded Griffin and played Prickleboar. I think that was right and even though I drew exactly Enshrouding Mist the following turn I think it was right.

The more interesting deck:
Spoiler


This deck just did not perform well. It's one win it did just grind out a game but removing all there dudes and then playing some. I played an extra game and actually milled myself out.

In retrospect, I wonder if I should have cut the black creatures and just played the white, splashing black for removal and Skaab.. but even this is probably just worse than the RW.

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"Something that does not look good when your opponent does nothing is not a thing" -- me


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 1:09 pm 
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Went back to the old store because they will let you bring packs + $5 for prizes.
I badly misread the signals here although I am not anyone short of a master could have escaped.

P1P1 Priest of the Blood Rite
P1P2 Unholy Hunger OVER Thopter Spy Network
P2P3 Unholy Hunger over Valeron Wardens

I should explain both of these picks. Spy Network is insane not only a heavy blue committment but artifact committment as well. The kid to my right (solid player) would have only taken Sentinel of the Eternal Watch (or maybe Whirler rogue?) over it (it's $5 as well).

The next pick was very tough. My first two picks are pretty controlly, and GB is not good controlling. There are no black renown cards. I think this pick was probably wrong, but not very wrong. If I can cut black very hard then I can pick 2nd color (note: this did not happen)

After that I think I took a voidmage, 3 red cards, a disperse, another couple mediocre blue or black cards. Probably green was very open, there were a zillion Wild Instincts... but nothing compelling and I was already in 3 colors with heavy black requirements. I think I am mentally leaning towards UB control which is a pretty frustrating archetype in this format.

Pack 2 went totally sideways. I think I P1 a (foil) Reave Soul over ANOTHER Thopter Spy Network. Then I get passed Sentinel of the Eternal Watch which I basically snap pick, not really in love with any 2nd color -- and then Tragic Arrogance (remember the guy to my right is almost certainly in white. I take the arrogance, which is a pretty arrogant pick. Of course, I never see another white card, but I do get a Eyeblight Massacre, Sigiled Starfish and a few Deadbridge Shamans. I think I pick up a Meteorite somewhere in here too.

Pack 3 I have to take a Shambling Ghoul for curve over the 2nd Eyeblight Massacre, get ANOTHER starfish and a 3rd Unholy Hunger. I pick Evolving WIlds late over Nantuko Husk deciding to splash for the Sentinel.

So it turns out the the kid to my left was in GW - he might have taken foil Hangerback Walker over the sentinel. No idea why he would pass the arrogance. Kid to my right was in White BLUE. He wheeled the first Spy Network, and took the one I cracked, and had 2 Chief of the Foundry and a Whirler Rogue! (to go with his Sentinel P1P1). Needless to say he won the draft, despite being a little low on playables because for some reason I went into blue.

THE DECK
Spoiler


The only sideboard change I made was a couple times I brought in the construct over a disperse (this is probably not even ever right). I probably should have cut a shaman for the guard vs. dragon fodder.dec (match 3).

Match 1 I got completely crushed by the GB deck I passed. Turns out my deck had a big trouble with stupid Throwing Knife. He just curved out and pounded me. To be fair, in game 1 I milled my sentinel which could have stabilized and game 2 he top decked Cruel Revival to kill my sentinel after 1 turn. This guy lost in finals to thopter spynetwork.dec.

Match 2 I ground out a 2-0 vs. a not very impressive RW deck. Game 2 I had 2 starfish out by turn 4 and sentinel in hand. I literally scryed through 85% of my deck before I finally found Meteorite. The bottom 4 cards of my library were: Meteorite, Deadbridge Shaman, Evolving Wilds, Plains!
I did have to actually keep a few non white sources on stop to keep the board stable.

I also cast Priest twice in this game, once getting the demon supression bonded (and then he inexplicably blocked the priest), then I got it back with skaab and he killed the demon with Javelin + Impulse... I had to actually Unholy Hunger the priest the second time!

Match 3 was vs. Mardu goblin fodder + enchantments. Turns out this deck sucks vs. bounce. Who knew?. My "favorite" play was using Skaab to get back reave soul ... to kill a thopter token. Sometimes you just gotta preserve your life total.

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"Everything looks good when your opponent passes 4 turns in a row" -- rstnme
"Something that does not look good when your opponent does nothing is not a thing" -- me


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 2:35 pm 
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1 x Cleric of the Forward Order
2 x Topan Freeblade
2 x Knight of the Pilgrimage
2 x Stalwart Aven
1 x Acolyte of the Inferno
2 x Akroan Sergeant
1 x Ampryn Tactician
1 x Avaricious Dragon
2 x Guardian Automaton
1 x Heavy Infantry
1 x Hixus, Prison Warden

2 x Infectious Bloodlust
1 x Fiery Conclusion
1 x Grasp of the Hero
2 x Lightning Javelin
1 x Suppression Bonds

9 x Plains
8 x Mountain


Tried to go low-curve, and even have 2 bellows lizard and a bonded construct, but really didn't feel it with this deck, so I made it mid-range-y.

Match One was against BW. I lost 1-2, my first game loss basically coming off of flashing in Hixus after combat damage (Derp) and my second game loss coming off game three mulling to 5 and just being unable to keep up.

Match Two was also against BW. I won 2-1. Not much to say; we traded resources, he had some cute thing with that enchantment that gives your creatures +1/+1 when a creature ETBs and that Angel's Tomb to swing in the air for four early on. I lost. I boarded in Demolish as an answer, and ended up nuking his only white source game 2 and then I ground him out after a well-timed Hixus. Game three he didn't play a swamp while I curved out, and then I guess after he cast Knightly Valor on my Akroan Sergeant he ragequit and the match went to me. Oops.

Match Three was more or less against Mono G. I lost 0-2. Game 1 I lost to mana issues and him curving out. Game 2 I lost because I have to meet my wife's brother and was super distracted by trying to multi task. I missed attacking Nissa to kill her twice, and both times I could've "fixed" my mistake my opponent drew an out. Sloppy play. I should've kicked his butt. But I'm motivated to drink now.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 5:02 pm 
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Needs moar bearz.

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"Something that does not look good when your opponent does nothing is not a thing" -- me


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 29, 2015 9:27 pm 
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1-2 with this, again losing in the finals to mono-green d00ds.

2 x disperse
2 x send to sleep
1 x evolutionary leap
1 x anchor to aether
1 x claustrophobia

2 x leaf gilder
1 x undercity troll
1 x sigiled starfish
1 x screeching skaab
1 x mizzium meddler
1 x scrapskin drake
1 x orchard spirit
2 x bounding krasos
1 x pharika's disciple
1 x guardian automaton
1 x willbreaker
1 x rhoax maulers
1 x skaab goliath
1 x gaea's revenge

8 x island
8 x forest
1 x evolving wilds


sb

1 x titanic growth
2 x mantle of the web
2 x nivix barrier
1 x send to sleep


Match 1 I 2-0'd a bad Wg deck with that enchantment that poops out angels.

Match 2 I 1-2'd against a great RW deck. Game 1 he rolled me, game 2 I rolled him, game 3 I was pulling ahead and then I proceeded to flood out while he played his deck. Sucks because my topdecks are so much better than his, but he had a throwing knife he could toss on attackers and then blockers, so I couldn't attack into him with my maulers without losing major board position. Maybe I should have attacked, I dunno.

Match 3 GB I've mulled to 5 3 times in the last 6 matches at this point, which is annoying. That's how I start this match. He curves out, getting a stupid 6/6 outlander giant whatever dude on the battlefield while I stall on 3 lands and draw the top of my curve. Magic is a skill-based game sometimes. I think I stabilize with my troll, then he plays gaea's revenge, and I scoop. Game 2 I keep a one lander because I have a low curve and at this point I think I've mulled half my games so screw this. I miss two land drops and hit a gilder, then he fleshbags it away. We somehow even out our board states, but then he plays throwing knife and starts attacking into me. When he plays three creatures in one turn I know it's over, and he basically hits his land drops and plays creatures every turn, finally making me scoop to a mage ring responder.

I'm very bummed. I misclicked a couple times, which is annoying, but having to mull 6-7 times across 6 matches sucks, not hitting land drops sucks, watching opponents play decks while you sit there and hope to draw an out sucks. Cato would ask me what I learned, and what I've learned is that I shouldn't tilt because of mana, but man sometimes a bobus night is a bobus night. I don't even think the deck is bad; getting that willbender dude out with the sleep instants and evolutionary leap felt amazing. Womp :(

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 3:53 am 
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Zenbitz wrote:
I should explain both of these picks. Spy Network is insane not only a heavy blue committment but artifact committment as well. The kid to my right (solid player) would have only taken Sentinel of the Eternal Watch (or maybe Whirler rogue?) over it (it's $5 as well).


I just drafted one yesterday, and you made me check. 0.2 tickets online.

I had a cute thing going with Sphinx's Tutelage, Thopter Spy Network, Jhessian Thief, Elvish Visionary; unfortunately, the rest of the deck was green ramp, so it didn't work out (got Tutelage really late, too late to switch gears after being in GB pack one and going to GU with Network in pack two).

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