-Bryan Dowse

I mixed it up last night and played a 4-3-2-2 online Shards of Alara draft last night. The first pack didn’t have anything too exciting so I took a Hissing Iguanar to leave me open for grixis, naya, and jund. A second pick Branching Bolt set me up for a nice naya or jund deck with a third pick Vithian Stinger solidifying the picks.

But it got interesting when I got a 4th pick Grixis Charm. When dealing with shards, the general rule of thumb is when you see a late pick charm, that’s a good signal that the shard is open. I pick up the charm, since my only green was a Branching Bolt. Pick five I get a second Hissing Iguanar and pick six I get a Magma Spray, very late for such a great card.

I was planning on building a red deck with a splash of grix and jund. It didn’t exactly turn out that way though.

So after getting the Grixis Charm 5th, I get a late Agony Warp 7th pick. This pack however is still packed full of goodies, a 7th pick Tower Gargoyle? A Crumbling Necropolis? Someone opened the nuts here. It must have been something like, a foil bomb rare, regular bomb rare, a charm, an Oblivion Ring, and two other strong removal cards to get cards like these this late.

Overall Pack one was very good to me. I have 2 Grixis cards, 1 Jund/Naya card, and the rest are red. I can be pretty greedy with my colors in the upcoming packs.

With the two Hissing Iguanars I am planning on leaning towards Grixis agro and direct burn to the face as a style of deck, but I can play pretty much anything. I only have 3 creatures, so I will be looking out to get a few in the following packs.

Pick one I take the Volcanic Fallout. It’s a great card and it works well with my Hissing Iguanars. Pick two I take a Armillary Sphere over an Absorb Vis or a Goblin Outlander. I am a huge fan of this card. It lets me be even more greedy with my picks as I get fixing for 2 colors (watching the replays below, there were two hands I would have mulliganed if I didn’t have a sphere in my hand). A pick 3 Armillary Sphere just gives me more of a card I already love. Pick 3 also had the same common print run as the second.

Pick 4 was a bit of a tough choice. Do I go more burn to the face, or play the Sedraxis Alchemist or the Vedalken Outlander? I decide to go for the Exploding Borders since at this pint I’m ramping up to go primary red, splash 3-4 colors. Pick 5 didn’t really have anything too interesting. The Kaleidostone is a decent filler card, but I decide to go with even more burn to the face and pick up a card I usually don’t play, Quenchable Fire (This ended up in the sideboard). Pick 6 I want to take the Aven Trailblazer, but I also want to stay in 4 colors, I pick up the Might of Alara as a nice combat trick instead. Pick 7 I get another Exploding Borders. I could have taken the Fleshformer or the Canyon Minotaur but with as much burn to the face that I already have, I decide this is the right choice. Pick 8 there’s a double black Scepter of Fugue and a Aven Trailblazer. I decide screw it, I’m going to splash for the 2/5 flyer for 3. Pick 9 through 11 I pick up Kranioceros just because I need more creatures. I end up not playing any of them, but if I wasn’t able to pick up any beef in the final pack, some of them would have made the cut.

Pack 3 first pick I get a Deathbringer Thoctar. This guy is awesome in every sense of the word. If you get one counter on him, he can take out an army of 1/1 tokens and he’s a huge threat if not dealt with. No question on picking him over Terminate for my deck. Pick two I could have taken the Crystallization but decide I need cheap dudes so I take the Naya Hushblade. Pick 3 I take Esper Stormblade because 3/2 flyers for two are always good. Pick 4 I could take the Mistvein Borderpost as another fixer, but decide the removal is better so I take the Crystallization.

Pick 5 I take the Igneous Pouncer as a 5/1 haster that can give me a land if I need it. Pick 6 I take the Sangrite Backlash over the Kathari Bomber. I like cheap removal and my 3 drops were already pretty full, plus this is very late removal. Pick 7, nothing much to see here but a Messenger Falcons works well for my 4 drops. It’s a creature, it cantrips, and it works with my curve. A Stun Sniper at pick 8? Ok, that’s fine. I guess there aren’t many naya players. I get a 9th pick Mistvein Borderpost and a 10th pick Gorger Wurm. I’d much rather play the wurm over my current 5 drop Kranioceross. Plus the wurm works with my Hissing Iguanars if I need to squeek that final few points of damage through. At 11th pick I get a Gloryscale Viashino. I end up main decking him, but after pretty much every match side him out for a 17th mana.

Matches Part 1


Matches Part 2

Hindsight is 20/20, but I have made a concerted effort *not* to look at Bryan’s results in writing this commentary.  Starting only from the first pick without looking ahead, I’m going to redraft this myself.  To start with though, Bryan makes the good point that when you first-pick Jund Charm, you don’t exactly commit yourself as hard as some people think…in fact, you really still have three or four plans theoretically open because Naya Splash Black and, to a lesser extent, Grixis Splash Green, are options too.  Jund-based 5-color control and Jund-based control decks can both be quite strong.  So can Jund Aggro.  The 5-color control draft archetype often uses rather underdrafted Jund-based cards like Pestilent Kathari, to stall the opponent until it can start to play big beaters, and Black and Red have the most removal options in every set in the format.  Black-Red is a good base for 5-color control, and having green if Bryan does play all three of these colors heavily allows access to Druid of the Anima and Trace of Abundance.

But I wouldn’t have taken the Jund Charm.  This is a matter of preference, not a matter of power, but let me tell you why.

I am a huge Blue fan, and that can include Esper or Grixis.  I don’t prefer Bant, but I don’t fear it.  So pack 1 pick 1, I would take Couriers Capsule.  What happens then?

P1P1: Couriers Capsule over Jund Charm, Scavenger Drake, Akrasan Squire

P1P2: Sanctum Gargoyle over Vithian Stinger, Tidehollow Strix, Qasali Ambusher, Wild Nacatl
I am at this point trying to put the player to my left into Red.  I could take the Stinger but that stretches me to Grixis; may as well take the card that combos with my first pick.  At this point my lean would be W-U heavy Esper.  I could be fully 3-color Esper, depending on what comes.

P1P3: Fleshbag Marauder over Ranger of Eos, Topan Ascetic, Knight of the Skyward Eye
I have surrendered Red already and basically done so with Green, so taking a card that’s best in a W/G deck (the Ranger) seems very wrong.  I don’t want to be Bant, so it’s not Ascetic or Skyward Eye.  There might be some guy a couple picks past me that gets Squire, Nacatl, then Ranger, but that’s not my problem.  In my deck Ranger will just be a 3/2.  Fleshbag doesn’t commit me to black but it gives me something.

P1P4: Obelisk of Esper over Naya Panorama, Mosstodon, Scourge Devil
I like Mosstodon better than Scourge Devil in Bryan’s Jund build anyway, but that’s not the point.  For me this is a signal play.  I might not always play an Obelisk in an Esper deck, but it gives me a chance to send more Red-Green to my left.

P1P5: Crumbling Necropolis over Call to Heel, Dregscape Zombie, Guardians of Akrasa
The tri-land is obvious, but Call to Heel and Guardians of Akrasa are both good in Esper decks with flyers.   Call to Heel would be better, but Guardians is especially underrated here: stop a medium-sized ground creature while pumping Darklit Gargoyle.  Dregscape Zombie in my opinion is never the right pick; there are so many (like 8!) common 2-drops you want in later packs that it shouldn’t make an Esper deck.

P1P6: Bant Panorama over Algae Gharial
Bryan gets a total gift here; Gharial is menacing and just won’t die, but it won’t make my deck.  Bant Panorama *could* if absolutely necessary.

P1P7: Kathari Screecher over Windwright Mage, Grixis Panorama
At the last Pro Tour, a drafter who favored Esper notably first picked one of these.  I don’t do that often but Pick 7 is very late for this guy who basically always gets in for 6.

P1P8: Tidehollow Strix
This guy is so good to come so late.

P1P9: Volcanic Submersion
I might have this played against me.  I’m surprised Bryan took Lichs Mirror over this, because it is playable.

P1P10: Grixis Battlemage
I could play this looter in a pinch anyway.  The fact I have a Crumbling Necropolis makes me slightly happy here because the red “can’t block” ability is totally useful against an Ember Weaver or whatever a green deck might have to defend against my aerial men.

P1P11: Cancel
Cancel makes this deck somewhat often: get 4 power of flyers down, wait.

P1P12: Shore Snapper
I rarely even side this guy in against blue, but sometimes I should.

At this point I have the following playables:

2-drop: Couriers Capsule, Tidehollow Strix
3-drop: Kathari Screecher, Grix Battlemage, Fleshbag Marauder , Cancel
4-drop: Sanctum Gargoyle

Land: Crumbling Necropolis, Bant Panorama
Fixer: Obelisk of Esper

I like having some fixers this early; you want to be able to draft Blades over Borderposts in Esper decks.  It’s hard to look at Pack 2 since I was intentionally shipping what Bryan was taking in almost every case, but we can be fairly sure at least that I’d get (we can assume pretty well that if White or Blue cards made it to Bryan who was passing them, they’d get to me)

P2P1: Martial Coup.  This is less awkward for me than for Bryan, but luck is luck. Martial Coup is an absolute shining bomb, and probably the best single card in the limited format.

P2P2: Gleam of Resistance.  I love this card in Esper: it’s a mass-removal hoser that fixes with the landcycling AND often gets in the last 3 points of damage.  It also turns your always-tapped flyers into a powerful and surprising defensive force in the damage race.  It’s super good in this deck.  Esper decks benefit heavily from their *flexibility* in addition to their relentless flying attack. Tidehollow Strix is a 2-damage flying aggro dude and a kind of removal spell. Gleam of Resistance has 4 uses, all of which are game-changing. Sanctum Gargoyle can keep you on offense by getting back a Strix (any Strix will do), get you more cards with a Couriers Capsule, or recycle a bomb. Call to Heel can net you explosive card advantage with a Gargoyle, bounce that last blocker, or nullify a combat trick. Flexibility is the most underrated thing about the Esper deck, and Gleam of Resistance fits very nicely.

P2P3: Faerie Mechanist.

P2P4: Wretched Banquet or Traumatic Visions.

P2P5: Parasitic Strix.

P2P6: Drag Down (if it still gets to us) or Unsummon.  Unsummon is good with Sanctum and Strix and Alchemist.  It’s also like a Time Walk for your opponent sometimes.  Even with the new rules it’s fine.
etc., etc., on Pack 2. It’s hard to see the last few picks as valid since the player to my left may have been color-forced by our choices.

Pack 3 would probably look roughly the same.

P3P1: Sewn-Eye Drake.  Bituminous Blast is insane, obviously, but I want to be able to play it soon rather than wait for the mana to cast it off of a fixer.  I don’t like to overcomplicate my Esper decks.

P3P2: Glassdust Hulk.  With a a fair number of artifacts in the deck, he’s an unblockable 4-power that acts as the curve-topper for Esper.

P3P3: Crystallization.  One reason I like being in White is that these tend to come fairly late and fill the removal hole that White decks often have.

P3P4: Deny Reality.  A good play: bounce your Pale Recluse, swing for 5.

P3P5: Shield of the Righteous.  An artifact that I might play; it’s good in decks with 2/3 flyers.

P3P6: Thopter Foundry.  Thanks guys! This card comes frequently and makes Esper even more flexible. It’s a Devouring Greed in some cases, and turns your opponent’s removal spells into bad permanent Humbles.

P3P7: Ethercaste Knight.  I have no idea what that Glory of Warfare is still doing in the pack, but you have to build your own deck. Ethercaste blocks some 2-drops and pumps some fliers.

P3P8: Ethersworn Shieldmage.  So late!

P3P9: The Sewn-Eye Drake tables in Bryan’s draft, mocking me.

P3P10: I am wondering whether the Deny Reality should table, but I’ll play 2.

P3P11: Esper Sojourners.  Twiddle-draw is a totally valid 3-mana trick.

P3P12: My Deny Reality tables too?  Guess I should’ve taken the Ardent Plea or something? Nah.

I don’t like my deck better than Bryan’s, necessarily, but I do like my deck, especially with a few more cards from Conflux in my colors (which would have been there).  Many drafts, especially in Alara block where color combinations are so key, could have been 2 or 3 drafts, all of which could have been good.  I could have first-picked the Akrasan Squire and had a pretty good G/W aggro deck.

Neither of us really makes a bad choice with our first pick.  Throughout this format he’s tended to prefer black-red while I’ve tended to prefer blue-based decks.  There is a comfort-level situation to this.  Drafting an archetype you’re comfortable with makes you more likely to *play* correctly: what to bounce, what to block, what to kill before it does 8 damage over 4 turns, whether you’re going to outrace.  I’ll draft anything, but your preferences do have actual value beyond subjectivity.  You’re going to pick up more undervalued cards in colors you play more often because you understand them better.  And again, you’re also going to play better with decks you’ve played before, just like in constructed.

The other thing that’s worth mentioning is that so much of what archetypes or colors are the best, or what decks you draft that are the strongest of all, is totally luck-based.  Whatever happened in this draft, we were going to open a Martial Coup.  We were going to get passed what we got passed because of our right-sided drafters’ abilities, deficiencies, and preferences.  My Esper deck tends to be better set up mana-wise for a Coup than Bryan’s, but that isn’t a good decision on my part.  Just lucky.  His deck is ready for the Bituminous Blast and I have to take a way worse card, but that’s not a bad decision.  Just unlucky.

Some people will say picking up a Jund Charm too early puts you into a color commitment early, but I see jund charm as one of the exceptions to the rule. Jund Charm lets me either go Jund, or 5 color control. 5 color likes mass removal, especially instant mass removal. The following picks put me into a strong red black deck, with 2 grix fixers.

Then I open Martial Coup It was a difficult choice picking it over the Dark Temper, but with 2 grix fixers, I made the decision to go 5 color and pick up as many fixers and ways to abuse all 5 colors as possible, such as Dragonsoul Knight. The 6 pick Drag Down was a gift.

Bituminous Blast, awesome removal, nuff said. When drafting 5 color it’s important to try to stay in 2 colors as much as possible, and at this point my primary colors were red black, so this was right on. Glory of Warfare won me a couple of games, it’s good in the right deck if you can retain tempo or are an agro deck. It makes tokens dumb.

I made it to the finals with this deck and ended up getting second. Game two of the finals went pretty crappy. Wretched Banquet kills my Aven Trailblazer, and a cycled Jund Sojournes kills my Pestilent Kathari. He has Naya Hushblade and Knight of the Skyward Eye on the board and I have a Fleshformer with 5 colors on the board. He hits me a bit more plays a Paleoloth and a Nactl Hunt-Pride. I play a Carrion Thrash which he Bituminous Blasts for the win.

This pack went very well for me. A first pick Caldera Hellion followed by two Oblivion Ring set me up very well for a naya build. When I got the 4th pick Realm Razer I was very happy. Some people don’t like this guy, but throughout the draft he won me 2 games flat out. I used instant removal on their turn, played him on my turn, and that was that, GG. The 14th pick Dragon Fodder was a gift, although looking at the pack (pick 6) all those cards are playable on some deck, and if you aren’t in red, you may as well pick up the black goodness.

I wasn’t thrilled with my first pick Celestial Purge here, I ended up sideboarding it (my first two opponents were white blue agro, and esper) My second pick, Cliffrunner Behemoth, is what I’m talking about. Combo it with Souls Fire, this card is all around perfect in a naya build. 4 casting cost, lifelink, AND haste?! Yes please. Ember Weaver is another great card in any green red deck, 3 power reach creatures for 3 are awesome, tack on first strike and they can hold off until you get to your late game when you’re dropping 5 power dudes.

Giant Ambush Beetle is a great card, it’s a decent first pick. Either kill something small, trade with something medium, or if you have some 5/7 on your end, swing with it and leave the beetle back. I’m a huge fan of Mycoid Shepherd which also goes in any Naya build. Life gain on creatures is great, as it lets you get to your lategame beef.

Game Results:

My first round opponent was white blue agro, lots of exhalted, lots of weeny creatures. I had good draws and better cards. I beat him 2-0

My second round opponent was esper. He was a bit tougher, but most his creatures died to a Sangrite Backlash. He did manage to tap out for a Sharding Sphinx which I Giant Ambush Beetle‘ed followed by a Caldera Hellion I beat him 2-0 as well.

My third round opponent was a bit tougher. I had an explosive start with an early Cliffrunner Behemoth and a Veinfire Borderpost as a red permanent. He cast Oblivion Ring on my Cliffrunner Behemoth, so I Oblivion Ringed his oring and swung with lifelink and haste. A few more cards and he was down to 6 with an executioners capsule and me with my Cliffrunner Behemoth. He foolishly waited for me to untap to use the capsul and in response I souls fired him down to 1. My hand now consisted of Oblivion Ring and Realm Razor with 6 mana on the board and he played Knight of Alara which I removed with my oring, I wanted to remove the board as much as possible before playing the Razor. But I got greedy. Next turn he played an Apocalypse Hydra as a 10/10 and I play my razor to stay alive. We go back and forth and I get a creature down first, but he plays an Elvish Visionary and we stall until ultimately he gets more creatures and I draw more lands. The second game a similar event happened, we traded back and forth, he played the Hydra, I didn’t have a response and he won. Overall I could have been less greedy and probably won the first game, but our decks were the same color and equally bomby.