Draft

Not a very interesting P1p1. Risen Reef vs Pacifism, Agonizing Syphon. Though gold, Risen Reef is just head and shoulders above. This DID lead to an interesting P1p2

Classic example of how “pick orders” change with context. Murder is clearly better than Rabid Bite in a vacuum. But my P1p1 is a powerful gold card with some green in it. That’s enough to tilt me towards trying to stay “on color” and take the R.B. If my P1p1 was some random good red card, I definitely would have taken the Murder since there was no previous picks that had any influence.

Pack 1 ends with me confident about green and very little else. Pack 2 I ruin the table but cutting HARD into red and get rewarded (probably unjustifiably) with a P3p1 Drakuseth! Well that’s clear enough I guess.

Draft Log

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Draft

Draft Log

Heyo! That’s a P1p1 bomb! Choice of TWO Chandras (sucks passing Baby Chandra though).

Signals: P1p6 Goblin Smuggler is a little late, which raised my hopes that red would be open. P1p9 Fathom-Fleet Cutthroat is nice going with my earlier black removal. I waffled between RB aggro and control, with the tail end of pack 3 putting me in aggro.

Interesting Picks

P3p2: Meteor Golem vs. Audacious Thief vs. Goblin Smugger (#2) This was tough. Meteor is the best card in the vacuum while both three-drops are powerful. I eventually went with the Golem only to have massive aggro cards slip through to me, including another two Smuggers in the middle of the pack. Right call at the time, but boy this deck would love a thief.

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Draft

Ugly opening with no power and no real clarity either. I took an Evolving Wilds over a Winged Words. Yeah. That bad.

I start veering wildly around and end up with some sort of Naya pile. Doesn’t feel great Bob! Looking back, I don’t see a lot I could have done differently. The mana is alright (lots of Naya lands were wheeling) but no real OOMPH.

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Draft

Draft Log

Well that was a strange draft. Veered into white in the middle of it since my read of the turn was that there were very few white drafters. That said, I certainly didn’t get paid off in any meaningful way! It didn’t cost me much (a Netcaster Spider, maybe an Overcome that this deck wouldn’t want) so it seemed a reasonable speculation with the massive angel in P2p1. But still, quite odd.

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Draft

Nothing beats drafting disappointed after disappointing with yet another 1-2 finish. I did not make good choices here. Though I do have a glorious track record of being despondent over decks that end up going 3-0. So maybe the jinx will work. (Note: it will never work if you’re counting on it)

P2p2: Do I take Shock over Spectral Sailor? In vacuum, the Sailor is way more powerful, but I’m already leaning aggro. Do I drop it?

P3p1: Scampering Scorcher vs. Cloudkin Seer

P3p6: I think I definitely should have gone Shock over Uncaged Fury. When you’re highest power is 2, the Fury might not be enough.

P3p8: I can’t defend picking a third-pack bow over Bird Grabber (which is a sad state of affairs for this deck)

CMU over on the Lords of Limited Discord had some great feedback on how I committed way too early to red.

Draft Log

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Draft

More streaming in written form. It’s like a draft video, except fewer “Ums” and more grammar errors.

Pack 1
Pretty clear Boreal Elemental in P1p1. In pick 2, there was a Hydra? Must have been one hell of a foil (all three uncommons are also in the pack) so not a signal per se, but ye gods. I’ll take it! Blue presented itself as a clear lane (though maybe I should have taken that Gift to help make the Hydra possible…). I wondered how far the white would wheel. The green was thoroughly cut, with rando black or white also looking open. In pack 2, I could look to move hard into green or solidify Esper.

Pack 2
Hey the Eagle! I think I take that over the winged words. Probably too greedy to try and wheel it. Some strong black though, so I push into there. Black wasn’t OPEN open, but it seemed a decent 2nd choice color in pack 1. Weird lack of blue in this pack.

Pack 3
Ew, the red certainly did open up in pack 3.

Review
Okay, looking back maybe the Shock at P1p6 was a signal. But man, red was just SO DRY after that. It is probably more disciplined drafting to take the Shock there over a C+ like Octoprophet, but that’s a tough in the moment.

Draft Log

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Draft

Engage stream of consciousness mode since I couldn’t get the video capture software up and running in time!

Pack 1: Not getting any clear signals, though the density of good red seemed clear, if not the Fantastic-Four of the mono-red. Might want to prioritize fixing to supplement the Treasure Dragon. Later on, there was some mediocre black, but nothing worth moving into. I kept taking medium red cards. It looked like RW is my lane, which is… bad.

In pack 2, I take Goblin Smugger P2p1 with the hope that I wheel the dual-land. Nothing really worth moving out of my lane. Interesting P2p3, between Chandra’s Spitfire & a second Mask of Immolation. I take the Spitfire. I guess wheeling the RW dual lands was greedy, but who the hell is taking those!?

I opened poop soup in pack 3. The Rugged Highlands if I splash green maybe? But finally the removal started to flow and I end up with the ‘mono-red splash white’ deck.

Draft Log

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Draft

Draft felt a little rough. No clear signals in pack 1, so I just veered all over. Pack 2 pick 3 I get seduced by a Master Splicer, when I probably should have just taken the fixing. I end up in a three-color monstrosity without even the bombs to make me feel better. As they say on Lords of Limited, “That’s a yikes.”

Draft Log

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Draft

Told to avoid white, I go straight into Loxodon and 2x Raise the Alarms. Red felt like it was getting cut and some late green. But the Raise the Alarms kept flowing so I went wide. I wish the green was a little better, but it seemed like a pretty clear lane.

Draft Log

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