Draft(s) at WMG 12 March 09

So there were a couple of drafts that evening, and here are my picks from the first draft....


Pack 1

Kiss of the Amesha
Cloudheath Drake
Bant Charm
Resounding Silence
Resounding Roar
Rockcaster Platoon
Angelic Benediction
Etherium Sculptor
Gather Specimens
Dawnray Archer
Skill Borrower
Vectis Silencers
Behemoth's Herald
Coma Veil
Forest

Pack 2

Kiss of the Amesha
Sphinx Sovereign
Steward of Valeron
Guardians of Akrasa
Obelisk of Bant
Welkin Guide
Deft Duelist
Bant Battlemage
Obelisk of Bant
Guardians of Akrasa
Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
Marble Chalice
Angel's Herald
Lush Growth

Pack 3

Martial Coup
Rhox Meditant
Skyward Eye Prophets
Celestial Purge
Frontline Sage
Gleam of Resistance
Worldly Counsel
Traumatic Visions
Unsummon
Brackwater Elemental
Jhessian Balmgiver
Elder Mastery
Vedalken Outlander
Grixis Illusionist
Forest

...and here is what I came up with...

5 Forest
5 Island
7 Plains
2 Obelisk of Bant
1 Angelic of Benediction
1 Bant Battlemage
2 Guardians of Akrasa
1 Resounding Silence
1 Rockcaster Platoon
1 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
1 Welkin Guide
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Bant Charm
1 Deft Duelist
1 Kiss of the Amesha
1 Steward of Valeron
1 Gleam of Resistance
1 Martial Coup
1 Rhox Meditant
1 Brackwater Elemental
1 Frontline Sage
1 Unsummon
1 Jhessian Balmgiver
1 Skyward Eye Prophets


Round 1

Josh Hastings

Game 1

Josh is playing Naya but doesn't get a quick start. I drop a couple of early Exalted guys and go to town with the Duelist. A timely Unsummon on an activated Knight buys me a little time before he drops some beef to slow things down but I have the Coup and wait long enough to wrath and swing back for the win in 2 turns.

Game 2

Josh gets a better start and Magma Sprays my Frontline Sage to slow down my searching. Soon enough, he gets an overwhelming force and we go to game 3.

Game 3

I think that I eventually drew the Coup again for the win.

Round 2

Josh Bayless

Game 1 and 2

Josh is in Esper and gets some ridiculously fast flying draws(Sculptor, Tower, P.Strix, Windmage) that wreck me before I can even get set up even though one game I was able to get the Amesha off(drawing 2 of the 12 land I drew that game).

Round 3

Ward Allen

Game 1

Ward is in Naya as well, and I am on the draw. I have mulliganed too much in the last two rounds and decide to keep dumb hands against him. For the first game I kept the 6 land Kiss of Amesha hand. I drew an early drop and an obelisk and ramped into the Kiss. I whittle him down 2 at a time to 10 and I go to 2 myself, all the while holding the Coup. I wait for him to empty his hand then Coup for 8. He gets a blocker down but two swings is all it takes.

Game 2

Here I keep a sub par hand again, but I get an early Steward to help ramp up. It is 17-13 in his favour when I drop the Rockcaster Platoon to gum up the ground. I activate once at 9 mana on his turn, drop a land on my turn and say go with the score 15-11(I forgot to activate the Balmgiver). He thinks for quite some time, trying to figure how to make an attack work out well for him. He thinks that I have the Coup(and I do) but drops a few more critters on board to hope to get an Alpha Strike on soon then says go. I figure that I have the win so I activate the Rockcaster twice, preventing 1 to me this time with the Balmgiver to bring us to 11-8. I swing in with the big Rhino, superflously tapping something with the Benediction before targeting him with the Balmgiver's second ability(Unblockable).

"So I take 5?" Ward asks.

"No, he's a 7/9 with the 2 Exalted triggers." I reply.

I wait a little bit while he does the math, then he scoops up his cards. Golliher had come in and was watching the second game so he saw my opening hand, so I started chatting with him about both of the awful openers loud enough so that Ward knew what I kept. I think it made him a little perturbed, because he seemed in a bit of a rush to make his picks and be on his way. I guess he didn't want to stay for the Midnight Draft.


That's right...Midnight Draft.

And it was a Friday Night Magic Event!(that is why we had to wait for midnight to start)

So it was a while in the making, but I had scheduled the FNM for special reasons. Not only to make the Hat Trick for Win More(3 FNM's on that Friday), but to celebrate something that I found out on the Ratings page.

This was my 1000th DCI Sanctioned Event!!!!!!
(or at least close enough, I think I was 3 over)
(that is as player, judge, organizer, scorekeeper, etc)

My wife was nice enough(because she is fantastic) to make cupcakes for me to bring to the shop. I also bring some chips and salsa for those not fans of the sweets. So people have something to snack on while we wait for the Witching Hour. People get some playtesting in and then I start taking sign ups. I wait for as long as I can before letting out the next bit of information about this special event.

This is a Free Draft.

That fact keeps a few people in that would have left and we keep trying to juggle a nice draft pod number. We thought it was going to split perfect but we had 3 more come in at the buzzer and brought the grand total up to 27 people for the Midnight Draft.

We go over a few things since I am changing up some of the normal rules. We opt for going 3 rounds and I end up making the 'Keep what you draft' call so that noone feels obligated to stay around and try to get better picks in a redraft. I let everyone in on why I wanted to put this event together and to the best of my knowledge everyone had a good time. It was a close one there when the girl with the Peanut Allergy bites into a cupcake not knowing that my wife had put a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in each one. Luckily it was not a severe allergy and she found it before eating it.

Many thanks to Josh Olson at Win More for staying open late and letting me hold the event at the store. Thanks to everyone who came out to help me celebrate.

As Always,
DHT

Draft at WMG 05 March 09

Sigh...

Lost the draft...in more ways than one. I had almost finished typing this up for the first time and I suddenly lost everything. Not sure which I am more upset about.

Here are my picks ...again....

Pack 1

Tower Gargoyle
Sanctum Gargoyle
Agony Warp
Bone Splinters
Esper Charm
Hissing Iguanar
Welkin Guide
Angelic Benediction
Deathgreeter
Welkin Guide
Cathartic Adept
Angel's Herald
Relic of Progenitus
Banewasp Affliction
Forest

Pack 2

Tower Gargoyle
Oblivion Ring
Viscera Dragger
Skeletal Kathari
Kiss of the Amesha
Obelisk of Esper
Tar Fiend
Steelclad Serpent
Yoked Plowbeast
Rip-Clan Crasher
Demon's Herald
Sunseed Nurturer
Dreg Reaver
Demon's Herald
Mountain

Pack 3

Yoke of the Damned
Drag Down
Parasitic Strix
Parasitic Strix
Brackwater Elemental
Parasitic Strix
Faerie Mechanist
Unsummon
Vectis Agents
Pestilent Kathari
Yoke of the Damned
Aven Trailblazer
Kranioceros
Scornful Aether-Lich
Plains

So it seemed like a reasonable Esper Draft, nothing too nutty but some solid guys with tricks. I passed by some Naya and Jund goodies but stayed the course. I still have not been able to get myself to draft the 5 Colour Special. I wanted to get a Panorama but was happy to get an Obelisk in the second pack, since I passed some in the first pack for removal.

Here is how I built the deck...

5 Island
6 Plains
6 Swamp
1 Obelisk of Esper
1 Oblivino Ring
1 Sanctum Gargoyle
1 Sunseed Nurturer
1 Welkin Guide
1 Yoked Plowbeast
1 Bone Splinters
1 Skeletal Kathari
1 Tar Fiend
1 Viscera Dragger
1 Agony Warp
1 Kiss of the Amesha
2 Tower Gargoyle
1 Aven Trailblazer
1 Brackwater Elemental
1 Faerie Mechanist
2 Parasitic Strix
1 Unsummon
1 Drag Down
1 Pestilent Kathari
1 Vectis Agents

I wanted to play at least one of the Yokes. I think that they are a good card, but I felt that I needed the instant speed on my side. I ended up playing only 2 of the Parasitic Strix, I think that I should have played the 3rd one over the Trailblazer since I wasn't playing Domain.


Round 1

Josh

Game 1

I race him with my flyer and he doesn't get greedy with either of his pump knights(Skyward or Dragonsouled) playing around the Agony Warp that I had in hand. I get a Tower Gargoyle to stick with the Warp mana up and that is game.

Game 2

I mull the 2 lander and keep a better 6. He gets early beats and drops me to 8 before I am able to stabilize with a Tower Gargoyle. The Kiss seals it up for me and he scoops.

Round 2

Dave Barker

Game 1

He has a bunch of Naya Beef but I am able to keep up with him at 11-12 for me. Then he drops a Spearbreaker and casts Soul's Majesty. I can draw an out with the ORing but the 2 of the 5 cards that he draws are Woolly Thoctars, which he plays and I pick up my cards.

I will have to yell at Bates who was on the other side of him, I didn't pass him any Thoctars.

Game 2

He goes turn 1 Nacatl, 2 Mountain, 3 Thoctar. He has me on the back foot and I just can't get anything together. He has the Magma Spray for my double block and a Volcanic Submersion for my Tower Gargoyle.

Round 3

DANEFIRE!!!!!

Game 1

I keep a hand missing Islands, but have an ORing and some 5 drops. I don't see an Island or a 5th land and he Hammers me.

Game 2

We both mull to 6 this game but he drew 2 from Esper Charm, 2 From Capsule, and 2 From Kiss. I got off a Kiss as well and was able to let the Tower Gargoyle go to work. I drop the second Tower Gargoyle before the Strix for the win just in case he has a bounce/removal spell for the first Gargoyle.

Game 3

We go back and forth on this game before I can get a Tower Gargoyle to stick. At the end he sees an opportunity to go for the win, so he Unearths his Kathari and swings for the fences. After blocks he tries to Sigil Blessing, but I have th agony Warp to couter the spell . We talk a bit and I think that he should have held back with it since I had gone on the offensive with the 4/4 flyer and he knew that I had Warp, Unsummon and Drag Down in the deck that I had not played that game. Still, it could have been his last chance for the win...maybe I am just too much of a reactionary/defensive player.

Anyway, I was a bit disappointed with the Faerie Mechanist(only hitting once in 6 tries) but I probably should have played more artifacts for him. Cards that I think that I should have tried to find room for were the Esper Charm and the Scornful Aether-Lich. I would have sided in the charm to deal with some enchantments, but with the tri-colour and my lack of fixing it just didn't seem as worth it like the Gargoyle's were.I would have traded in the Lich for the Agents against a Bant deck, but the Agents unblockability seemed better than the Fear.

Well I guess that I have to keep at it, but I will have to skip a week.

As Always,
DHThomas