MTG: Sealed/Draft advise and info.

[Shino]

The charity event was a huge success!
But I'll get to that in the appropriate topic.

So... 1 Rav Deck and 2 GP Boosters.

Match wise... I was 2-1-1
Game wise... I was 5-3-1
So I did pretty well. The guy who beat me in draft on Monday is the first person I played last night. He beat my ass again. He was my loss... 0-2. His name is Adam

Here's what I came up with...

1x Battering Wurm
1x Blind Hunter
1x Courier Hawk
1x Dimir House Guard
1x Droning Bureaucrats
1x Dryad Sophisticate
1x Goliath Spider
1x Ghor-Clan Savage (Turned out to be the best I had)
1x Greater Mossdog
1x Silhana Starfletcher (I love this card!)
1x Souls of the Faultless
1x Stinkweed Imp
1x Veteran Armorer
1x Watchwolf

1x Boros Fury-Shield
1x Brainspoil
1x Gather Courage
1x Cry of Contrition
1x Disembowel
2x Douse in Gloom
1x Withstand
1x Wojek Siren

1x Orzhov Signet
1x Peregrine Mask
1x Selesnya Signet

5x Forest
5x Swamp
4x Plains
1x Selesnya Sanctuary

The first thing I'm expecting to hear is "Peregrine Mask?"
The reason that's in there is b/c of Souls of the Faultless. People hate that card already. Imagine how scared they are to attack you when that sucker is flying. I got this combo off 3 times last night and I won all 3 of those games. Another thing I thought was interesting is that I did well (3rd place) with NO RARES! All of my rares were unfit for the deck, but when you get the Hunter and Souls... didn't 2 of your colors just get chosen for you!?!?

Ghor-Clan Savage is one of the most incredible cards ever in draft! I learned that yesterday.
Besides the first match where I played Adam... I got him out every game and only one game was it without bloodthirst! I got out the spider 3 times. Scared the crap out of them to the point where it died with the next removal they found. So he's big and expensive... but he helped.

Stinkweed Imp got out almost every game. As did the Savage and the Wurm. Dimir Houseguard was quite helpful too in some games, and when he wasn't around doing his job... The Sophisticate was picking up the slack.

Overall I think it went well. There is one card I know you guys will say should have been in there... mainly b/c 2 others said it already.

The rest...

1x Absolver Thrull
1x Boros Recruit
1x Chorus of the Conclave (I'm starting to hate this card)
2x Crystal Seer
1x Dark Confidant
1x Drake Familiar
1x Flame-Kin Zealot
1x Infectious Host
2x Izzet Chronarch
1x Poisonbelly Ogre (Foil)
1x Sandsower (Should have been in there apparently)
1x Sabertooth Alley Cat
2x Skyrider Trainee
1x Steamcore Weird
1x Streetbreaker Wurm
1x Stone-Seeder Hierophant
1x Terraformer
1x Tidewater Minion
1x Vedalken Dismisser
1x Wild Cantor
1x Witch-Maw Nephilim
1x Wojek Apothecary

2x Beastmaster's Magemark
1x Consult the Necrosages
1x Cryptwailing
1x Festival of the Guildpact
1x Flicker Form
1x Incite Hysteria (Foil)
1x Leave No Trace (After last night, I'm putting this in there)
1x Mark of Eviction
1x Quickchange
1x Rain of Embers
1x Rolling Spoil
1x Schismotivate
1x Shred Memory
1x Stasis Cell
1x Twisted Justice

1x Boros Signet
1x Dimir Signet
1x Izzet Signet

1x STOMPING GROUND! (My cards pretty much paid for themselves!)

There you have it.

As I said the cards paid for themselves...

17.50 Stomping Ground
9.00 Dark Confidant

Total cost of the Tourney was $22... I made some cash! The other 3 rares are worth $1, but I have some really good uncommons too!

YAY!

[Shino]

OK... prerelease night...

Here's what I played.

1x Assault Zeppelid
1x Azorius First-Wing
1x Beacon Hawk
1x Blazing Archon (just in case)
1x Centaur Safeguard
1x Freewind Equenaut
1x Protean Hulk (Foil)
1x Silkwing Scout
1x Simic Initiate
1x Sporeback Troll
1x Surveilling Sprite
1x Veteran Armorer
1x Watchwolf

1x Bathe in Light
1x Boros Fury-Shield
1x Congregation at Dawn
1x Copy Enchantment
1x Minister of Impediments
1x Halcyon Glaze
1x Polllenbright Wings
1x Scatter the Seeds
1x Supply || Demand
1x Utopia Sprawl
1x Voidslime
1x Vision Skeins

1x Azorius Signet
1x Boros Signet (For Boros Fury Shield)
1x Selesnya Signet
1x Skullmead Cauldron

4x Island
5x Plains
5x Forest
1x Azorius Chancery
1x Selesnya Sanctuary
1x Simic Growth Chamber
1x Prahv, Spires of Order
1x Novijen, Heart of Progress

Yeah, I played a heavy deck. 48 cards, but it worked out pretty well.

Here's what I didn't play...

1x Aurora Eidolon
1x Boros Recruit
1x Dimir House Guard
1x Enemy of the Guildpact
1x Entropic Eidolon
1x Indentured Oaf
1x Infectious Host
1x Kill-Suit Cultist
1x Mortipede
1x Moroii
1x Root-Kin Ally
1x Sadistic Augermage
1x Sell-Sword Brute
1x Simic Ragworm
1x Slaughterhouse Bouncer
2x Squealing Devil
1x Stone-Seeder Hierophant
1x Tattered Drake
1x Terraformer
1x Thoughtpicker Witch
1x Tidewater Minion
1x Vigean Hydropon
1x War-Torch Goblin
1x Whiptail Moloch

1x Brainspoil
1x Cackling Flames
1x Consult the Necrosages
1x Disembowel
1x Dogpile
1x Macabre Waltz
1x Mnemonic Nexus
1x Perilous Forays (Probably should have played this and ran less land)
1x Plumes of Peace (Probably should have played this)
1x Rain of Embers
1x Riot Spikes
1x Seal of Fire
1x Searing Meditation
1x Seismic Spike
1x Steeling Stance
1x Street Savvy
1x Taste for Mayhem
1x Trial || Error
1x Twinstrike
1x Weight of Spires
1x Writ of Passage

1x Dimir Signet
1x Golgari Signet
1x Rakdos Signet

1x Boros Garrison
1x Pillar of the Paruns

Wow that's a lot of cards.

What do you guys thing? Did I choose the right combo? Should I have done something different?

[Ultrawolf]

I think the only thing I regret is not keeping those Enemy of the Guildpacts in. They would have worked wonders in the last match, alas, as much as I wanted to keep them I took a gamble.
Here's my Decklist:

Chumps
Utvara Scalper
Squealing Devil
Goblin Spelunkers
Sparkmage Apprentice
Sandstorm Eidolon
Rakdos Guildmage
Gobhobbler Rats
Infectious Host
Golgari Guildmage
Verdant Eidolon
Aquastrand Spider
Civic Wayfinder

Beef
Cytospawn Shambler
Simic Ragworm
Bramble Elemental
Hammerfist Giant


Enhancements
Taste for Mayhem
Gather Courage
Might of the Nephilim

Tech
Elemental Resonance
Macabre Waltz

Removal Suite
x2 Wrecking Ball
Seal of Doom
Last Gasp
Cackling Flames
Galvanic Arc
Gaze of the Gorgon
Bond of Agony
Stomp and Howl

Land au Natural
6xForest
6xSwamp
6xMountain

Unused Portions:
Hide/Seek

2xPsychotic Fury
Cleansing Beam
Coalhauler Swine

Pain Magnification
Riot Spikes

Delirium Skeins
Necromantic Thirst
Brain Pry
2x Enemy of the Guildpact
Carrion Howler
Vesper Ghoul
Dark Confidant

Dimir Infiltrator
Psychic Drain

Dizzy Spell
Convolute
Drift of Phantasms
Vedalkin Enforcer
Peel from Reality
Flight of Fancy
Tunnel Vision

Shielding Plax
Vigean Hydropon
Biomantic Mastery

Elves of Deep Shadow
Dryad's Caress
Elvish Skysweeper
Patagia Viper
Dowsing Shaman
Thrive

Selesnya Evangel
Pollenbright Wings
Congregation at Dawn

Rally the Righteous
Thundersong Trumpeter

Guardian of the Guildpact
Sandsower
Steeling Stance
Conclave's Blessing
Dromad Purebred
Wojek Siren
Votary of the Conclave
Benevolent Ancestor
Veteran Armorer
Nightguard Patrol
Haazda Exonerator
Freewing Equenaut
Beacon Hawk

Overrule
Trygon Predator

Glass Golem
Azorius Signet
Simic Signet

Azorius Chancery
Simic Chancery
Dimir Aqueduct
Vitu-Ghazi, The City Tree

[Ming]

So like I mentioned in the Dissension thread, I did 2 drafts at the prerelease. Both decks were Rakdos. The first deck just happened to turn out Rakdos, and the second one I forced a Rakdos deck. Normally I don't like to force a deck, but it turned out very well. Like the other thread, comments will follow cards to save space.

DRAFT 1:
2x Kill-Suit Cultist (I can't say enough about this card. EXCELLENT one drop for Rakdos)
3x Gobhobler Rats (I actually drafted 4, but just couldn't make room)
1x Drekavac (I really wish that this was Gobhobler #4.)
1x Rakdos Guildmage (This is probably one of the two best Guildmages, period. Both abilities are EXTREMELY relevant and can be game breaking.)
1x Jagged Poppet (I love this creature...but I think he's better suited for Contructed play. He's a bit of a risk in Limited.)
2x Rakdos Ickspitter (I don't think I need to explain here. Combos extremely well with Kill-Suit Cultist.)
2x Entropic Eidolon (I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I like this guy.)
2x Hellhole Rats (One of my favorite creatures in the set. First time I cast him, he nailed a 3cc card, then swung for 2. Incredible.)
1x Enemy of the Guildpact (I don't really know what to think of this card yet, as he really didn't do anything relevant.)

1x Riot Spikes (Every time I used this card, it was to kill something. It's actually a pretty versatile removal card.)
1x Seal of Fire (No explanation needed, I would hope...)
2x Ignorant Bliss (This is a GREAT card! Let's you hit Hellbent without dropping your hand, and is an instant-speed red draw spell for only 2! Now THAT'S versatility!)
1x Rise/Fall (Just the Fall side...this card is basically Hymn to Tourach, the best discard spell ever printed. Every time I played it, I nailed 2 cards.)
1x Kindle the Carnage (Someone in my draft claimed that this was the best uncommon in the set. I agree wholeheartedly. It's Wrath of God, but red, and for 1 less.)
1x Seal of Doom (Again, I don't think this needs an explanation.)
2x Wrecking Ball (See above.)
1x Anthem of Rakdos (I like this card, I really do. But I don't think I should have had it in my deck. Every time I had it in my hand, I ended up wasting my time trying to get Hellbent to play it, rather than trying to win. It was a distraction.)

2x Rakdos Signet
1x Rix Maadi, the Dungeon Palace (I really like this.)
6x Mountain
6x Swamp


And here's the other deck:

DRAFT 2:
1x Kill-Suit Cultist
1x Gobhobler Rats
1x Utvara Scalper (Not a bad card)
1x Rakdos Augermage (Every time I played him, he was promptly killed. I guess he's kinda scary...)
4x Demon's Jester (I kept passing this up until I actually read it. In Limited, a 2/2 flier for 4 is pretty decent. But a 4/3 for 4? Sign me up!)
2x Entropic Eidolon
2x Sandstorm Eidolon (This would have been more Entropics if I had more...)
1x Transguild Courier (This is a very solid creature.)
1x Unliving Psychopath (Again, everytime I played him, he was promptly killed. I wonder why???)
1x Enemy of the Guildpact

1x Riot Spikes (It keeps growing on me. Although I REALLY wish it was a Rakdos Ritual)
1x Seal of Fire
1x Psychotic Fury (Not a bad spell. Although Ignorant Bliss is better.)
1x Hit/Run (Hit side only. This is a very solid piece of removal, especially early on.)
2x Seal of Doom (I have no idea how I managed to get 2...)
1x Cackling Flames (I never played it, so I don't have anything to say about it.)
1x Twinstrike (This saved my ass on MANY occasions. And that's WITHOUT Hellbent. EXCELLENT piece of removal.)

2x Rakdos Signet
7x Swamp
7x Mountain


All in all, I was pleased with both decks. I was a bit worried about the second deck, because I knew, based on what I was seeing in the packs, that most of the table was playing Rakdos. My first round, I played a Rados deck, and kicked the crap out of it. The second round, I had a really good match against a Rakdos deck, piloted by a very cool guy. But unfortunately I lost. Oh well. I picked up A LOT of cool R/B stuff to have fun with.

*laughs maniacally*

[Shino]

Did a coldsnap draft last night.

I went in hoping to play with a splash of something else.

It didn't turn out that way. None of the green was getting passed. However I did see a lot of Black coming my way so I went with a spash of .

Heres what I ended up with.
1x Blizzard Specter
1x Frost Raptor
1x Goblin Rimerunner
1x Gristle Grinner
2x Gutless Ghoul
1x Herald of Leshrac
1x Krovikan Scoundrel
1x Martyr of Ashes
1x Martyr of Bones
1x Rimebound Dead
1x Thermopod
2x Zombie Musher

1x Balduvian Rage
2x Chill to the Bone
2x Feast of Flesh
1x Krovikan Rot
1x Skred (First pick)
2x Surging Flame

1x Mouth of Ronom
1x Snow Covered Forest (The only snow land I got to draft, while I still wanted green)
7x Swamp
6x Mountain
2x Island

The deck did pretty well the first match. I won 2-0, but the guy I was playing got mana screwed both games. The second match, I got beat by a guy running . I got incredibly mana flooded. Gelid Shackles and Kjeldoran Outrider pretty much did me in single handedly.

Here's what I didn't play...

1x Aurocks Herd
1x Boreal Centaur
2x Goblin Rimerunner
1x Gristle Grinner
2x Martyr of Bones
2x Ohran Yetti
3x Orchish Bloodpainter
1x Simian Brawler
1x Ursine Fylgja

1x Chill to the Bone
1x Grim Harvest
1x Into the North
1x Mystic Melting
1x Rite of flame
1x Thermal Flux

Did I go the right direction?
I wish things would have gone more my way. I don't like black that much, but it's nice to have a 1/1 for 1 that regens and the only Snow Land walk in the game. Even if the Snow land walk did me no good at all since the first match, the guy didn't have any snow land, and the second match, then never came out.

Thoughts?

[Ming]

Overall, it looks like you did a pretty good job! You have a lot of solid picks in there. There are a couple of things that I, personally, would have done a bit differently.

For creatures, I would cut the Martyr of Bones and add both Ohran Yeti's, as your creature count is sort of low. He's not as good as his stalking cousin, but he's about as solid as you can get, while the Martyr of Bones is only really decent in certain matchups, and is better off as a sideboard card.

Next, I would cut the 2 Feast of Flesh that you have and add in your 3rd Chill to the Bone. Regardless of what your opponent is playing, there will generally always be something that Chill can kill. Feast of Flesh is nice, but its very limited in what it can kill, and its too reliant of having those additional copies, and you do have Krovikan Rot which essentially kills the same creatures. If you had 4+ it would be a different story.

So in general, you're upping your creature count by 1 and lowering your spell count by 1. 17 lands looks good to me, particularly because you want to be able to get to 7 to cast the Herald. I would probably cut either a Swamp or Mountain in order to add another Island, but that's just me being paranoid and overcautious. Kudos on Mouth of Ronom. That card is EXCELLENT.

Speaking of the Herald, I'm not quite sure I'm sold on him yet. He's very expensive, but he will almost likely win you the game when he comes out, so I'm torn. How did he work out for you?

Otherwise, I think you did a really good job. The only draft advice I would give you would be that in a build like this, next time you probably want to make more of a conscious effort to take more snow-covered lands. It helps smooth out the deck and use great abilities like the ones found on Rimebound Dead, Zombie Musher, and Mouth of Ronom.

[Shino]

Thanks Ming.

The Martyrs were there mainly to be 1 drops. I'm noticing that 1 drops are not as important in this format though

I kind of wish I would have run the other Chill to the Bone now.

The Herald worked... ok I guess. I got him out 3 times. But in the 2nd match it was too little too late as his mass of outriders was overrunning me.

[Shino]

So yesterday we had our charity tourney.

I didn't feel I pulled anything that great... Until I realized ... I DEFINATLY should have played blue! I didn't b/c all of the cards I had were "control 4 or more snow perms." When I realized how quickly I was getting snow stuff out in general... I was hating that I didn't play blue. I would have done much better.

Here's what I got.

Creatures
1x Allosaurus Rider
1x Boreal Centaur
2x Boreal Druid
2x Boreal Griffin
2x Frostweb Spider
2x Kjeldoran Outrider
1x Martyr of Ashes
2x Ohran Yeti
1x Simian Brawler
2x Thermopod

Spells
2x Into the North
1x Skred
1x Sun's Bounty
2x Surging Flame
1x Swift Maneuver

Artifacts
1x Coldsteel Heart

Land
6x Forest
3x Mountain
2x Plains
2x Highland Weald
2x Snow-Covered Mountain
2x Snow-Covered Plains


Sideboard

Creatures
2x Chilling Shade
2x Disciple of Tevesh Szat
1x Gristle Grinner
1x Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
1x Rimebound Dead
1x Stromgald Crusader
1x Zombie Musher

1x Adarkar Windform
1x Drelnoch (Foil)
1x Heidar, Rimewind Master
1x Martyr of Frost
1x Rimewind Crymancer
2x Rimewind Taskmage
1x Ronom Serpent
2x Survivor of the Unseen

1x Blizzard Specter
1x Jotun Grunt
1x Kjeldoran Javelineer
1x Martyr of Sands
1x Orcish Bloodpainter
1x Ronom Unicorn
1x Steam Spitter
1x Wooly Razorback

Spells
1x Feast of Flesh
2x Surging Dementia

1x Surging AEther
1x Thermal Flux
1x Commandeer
1x Counterbalance
1x Frozen Solid

1x Luminesce
1x Glacial Plating
1x Kjeldoran War Cry
1x Mystic Melting
1x Sound the Call
1x Rite of Flame

Land
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
1x Snow-Covered Swamp (Foil) ($5 for a foil snow-covered?)
1x Tresserhorn Sinks

So yea, now I'm really wishing I played like or even . I feel I would have done better. Either way, I ended up 2-2.

My first match was a SUPER CLOSE ONE with Rollergirl. We actually went into our last 5 turns after the time limit and I barely beat her. I got lucky draws at the end.

Then I played the guy that won the whole thing. He had a great set of pulls. 2 Aurok Herds and ARCTIC NISHOBA!
I had him at 4 and he got them all out at once. There was nothing I could do at that point.

The second guy I lost to was actually one of my Wins at the Dissension prerelease. Teenager. Good player and a good kid. He killed me both times by rippling Surging Might and finding a second. He was swinging with a 5/5 on the 3rd turn in the first game... then an 8/8 in like the 5th on the second game. Nothing I could do.

Then I got my God draws against Blackmage. To end up 2-2.

Hoth and Godwyn came in 3rd and 4th and both got $10 in store credit. The total prize was $130... Jim (The owner) took $50 of that and handed it right to the ACS, the other $80 was divided $40, $20, $10, $10. So it worked out pretty well. More about that in the thread.

[Ming]

After winning my second Limited Time Spiral Friday Night Magic in a row, I have a word of advice for you guys playing Time Spiral limited...Flanking wins drafts. Seriously, the ability is nuts.

In my deck last week, I had:

2 x Sidewinder Sliver
1 x Benalish Cavalry
2 x Outrider en-Kor
2 x Suq'ata Lancer

This week I had:

1 x Benalish Cavalry
1 x Outrider en-Kor
1 x Blazing Blade Askari
1 x Cavalry Master
1 x Pentarch Paladin

On top of good removal and other assorted good white/red creatures, I highly recommend this strategy if you can pull it off.

[Tobias]

yes...the flanking is quite good...especially when you drop a turn 2 Benalish Lancer, followed by a turn 3 outrider en-Kor or Blazing-blade askari, and then follow it with a turn 4 Cavalry Master.

I also found that in drafts, Grapeshot is a very useful card. Not only does it usually get stormed up easily, but it can easily deal with most 2 toughness creatures. It also works very nicely with Rift bolt, as a suspended one comes into play the next turn and ups the storm-count to 2, giving you a headstart on either nuking the opponent's board, or sending an easy 5 to the opponent's dome. Good stuff indeed.

Also, Pardic Dragon is quite the creature when it comes to playing Red. The big hint (and rev can tell you this) is to NOT suspend it. It is waaaaaay to easy to slow it down early with spells and delaying it's entrance-time.

Another wonderful card i used in my last draft was Candles of Leng. In a draft deck, you usualy are running "One-ofs", which pretty much negates its only drawback of having a copy of the revealed card in the graveyard. Al in all, it becomes "End of your turn, i'll tap 4, reveal the top card of my library, and then put it into my hand," which essentially reads, "End of your turn, i draw a card."

A note on Ming's strategy of flank-knights: It is very easy to put that together. There are plenty of different flank-knights out there that are easily aquireable. It's the red or black accompaniment that may beharder. On the red side, you have more flank-knights, as well as direct damage. On the black side, you have flank-knights (worse, in my opinion) and powerful removal. All in all, it's a decision based on what you see first. But hte strategy is good, nonetheless