Draft at WMG 07 MAY 09

The draft last week was a bit weird. There were no Conflux packs and the majority went with SAA but they decided to mix it up a bit(I believe it was Wes who suggested this) and draft in ASA order. It was odd and I can't say that I was too much of a fan of the idea before, during or after. So I figure I will leave it at that.

Moving on to this week. Here are the picks in order...

Shards Pack
Agony Warp
Tower Gargoyle
Bant Charm
Tidehollow Strix
Metallurgeon
Excommunicate
Windwright Mage
Cloudheath Drake
Naturalize
Angelsong
Jhessian Lookout
Puppet Conjurer
Lush Growth
Immortal Coil
Plains

Conflux Pack
Thornling
Armillary Sphere
Dark Gargoyle
Parasitic Strix
Sedraxis Alchemist
Aven Squire
Parasitic Strix
Brackwater Elemental
Unsummon
Gleam of Resistance
Worldly Counsel
Aerie Mystics
Salvage Slasher
Sigil of the Empty Throne
Vectis Agents

Alara Reborn Pack
Wall of Denial
Zealous Persecution
Ethersworn Shieldmage
Architects of Will
Fieldmist Borderpost
Jhessian Zombie
Esper Stormblade
Ethercaste Knight
Architects of Will
Etherwrought Page
Jund Soourners
Thopter Foundry
Grixis Sojourner
Jhessian Zombie
Forest


And here is what I made out of it...

6 Plains
6 Island
5 Swamp
1 Agony Warp
1 Tower Gargoyle
1 Tidehollow Strix
1 Metallurgeon
1 Windwright Mage
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Dark Gargoyle

2 Parasitic Strix
1 Sedraxis Alchemist
1 Aven Squire
1 Brackwater Elemental
1 Unsummon
1 Gleam of Resistance
1 Vectis Agents
1 Wall of Denial
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Ethersworn Shieldmage
1 Architects of Will
1 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Jhessian Zombie
1 Esper Stormblade



I could have gone differently with this. I don't know if I should have tried harder to fit in the Thornling and Bant Charm. I think that I would have liked to have the other Architects in and I probably should have found room for the Puppet Conjurers. I am also on the fence about how to view the Borderposts. So far I think of them as about .5 land. If I have 2 of them I feel OK dropping a land but with one I couldn't do it. I ended up cutting the Knight for the 17th land.

Bates was on my right and passed me the Tower Gargoyle so I started picking up Esper but he picked up the second Tower Gargoyle and cut me off. Oh well.

Round 1

Kyle Dembinski

Game 1

I never get past 4 land this game so it was a bit hard for me to get my guys to stick and be able to play some tricks. I fight the good fight and get him down to 4 but his deck is too much for me.

Game 2

I mulligan to a hand with 2 lands and an Armillary Sphere, but I continue to draw land. I try to double block the 2/4 doublestriker to kill it by Warping it and the Court Archers, but he blanks that plan with a Magma Spray and that about wraps it up for me. I tell him that I fully expected the Jund Charm to +2/+2 the Doublestriker and he lets me know that play was coming down next turn.

Round 2

DANEFIRE!!

Game 1 and 2

In both games, Dane ramps up into lots of mana but doesn't see any high CC spells and I apply the pressure with the flyers.

Round 3

Joe Komer

Game 1

I didn't see much from him other than land this game. He dropped a Grixis Battlemage, Unsummoned one of my guys and cycled a Constricting Tendrils. Once more, Flyers FTW.

Game 2

I drop turn 3 Wall of Denial and that just seems like the nuts. It gives me so much time to set up and get out an active Metallurgeon to go with my flying artifact creatures.

Course he keeps me from going into overdrive by casting Blightning on turns 3 and 4. Tidehollow Strix takes care of a fair amount of his team before he drops a Suicidal Charge. He lets me play the Parasitic Strix and syphon him for 2 before he sacs the Charge pre-combat and kills my only Black permanent. I have to swing in now with my remaining two guys but I go ahead and put a regen shield around the Shieldmage while my Ominous Wall keeps me safe.

Somewhere in there I take three from one of his guys and he gets double Breath of Malfegor to bring me down to 3. I get so focused in on winning with my flyers that I probably give him at least one more draw than I should have by not alpha striking when he only had one black mana open. I saw the opportunity when he untapped and luckily for me he did not draw the 3rd Blightning to finish me off.

Round 4

Michael Mayes

Game 1

He starts off with a hand of 5 and I start with a hand of 6. I drop a Tower Gargoyle and keep a full hand to protect it and 5 swings later we are off to game 2.

Game 2

He mulls to 6 this time and I pull off the Dirty Turn 3 Wall. That pretty well shuts down most of his offense. The main play in this game that sealed the deal was the Gleam of Resistance which untapped my Tower gargoyle and wrecked his team or the Persecution that killed off 2 Goblins, a Deathraider and a Slaughtermaster that he cascaded off a Violent Outbrst.



Wall of Denial was an MVP and Agony warp is always fantastic, but I got to play with some new cards in the format. Zealous Persecution was so good for me everytime and the Shieldmage is just a beating in Esper. I didn't get in as much drafting with Conflux that I wanted to and it still confuses me, now I just have the added confusion of this all gold set. Still seems like I will have a fun time drafting while I try to figure things out.

Maybe next time, I will try not to draft in the same colours as the guy to my right. I'm not making any promises, though.



I still gotta figure out these Borderposts.

As Always,
DHT