Tournament Report: M11 Draft!

by Babbs

For FNM, I went down to the local card shop for some M11 limited, a format I would prefer to gain a better understanding of before I make the trip down to Grand Prix Portland in September. The last time I drafted this format, I actually split for first place with a Black/Red deck that featured Royal Assassin, Hoarding Dragon, and a few Nightwing Shades along with far too much removal to be believed. This time, for learning purposes, I wanted to draft a different archetype to see what was out there.

Pick 1: Royal Assassin. Well, sometimes you just go with what works...

But just because I didn't vary my colors much (I did draft two blinding mages early, but White was not an option so I was forced into Red/Black again) doesn't mean the decks were the same. My previous deck used removal, evasion, and card advantage to tempo people out of the game. My toughest matchup with thatdeck was a Blue/Green tempo deck that used bounce and evasion to put me on the defensive, and counterspells to lock me out when I was down.

This week, I went for the Act of Treason deck. If you are unfamiliar, allow me to explain. Since Act of Treason has been moved to common, it is now possible to draft a deck around it looking to abuse it with sacrifice effects like Bloodthrone Vampire and Fling (also commons). The deck can just plain win with nothing, which makes it very potent and difficult to play against properly. Here is the list I ended up running.

Royal Assassin x 1

Quag Sickness x 1

Nightwing Shade x 1

Rise from the Grave x 2

Nether Horror x 1

Gravedigger x 1

Sign in Blood x 2

Viscera Seer x 1

Brittle Effigy x 1

Fireball x 1

Fling x 3

Act of Treason x 3

Ember Hauler x 1

Fiery Hellhound x 1

Chandra's Outrage x 1

Magma Phoenix x 1

Vulshock Berserker x 1

Two things I would like to point out about the deck that I noticed when I built it. The creatures are mostly terrible, and the removal (not counting Act of Treason) is spotty. Even counting the Act of Treason as removal is situational. Still, when I saw this deck I thought I would do pretty well with it, since it would pretty much ruin anybody trying to play huge dorks, which is one of the major strategies I have seen in this format so far.

When I had finished my deck, I began chatting with a guy who had been at my table named Nathan, who had a Black Lotus tattooed on his arm. He was actually pretty cool, and after some KoL jokes he showed me his deck. I don't remember much of it, since our playtest was interrupted, but it went something like this....

Mana Acceleration + 5 Acidic Slimes + Destructive Force = You have no land.

I am very glad I never had to play him.

ROUND ONE: Vince, playing B/R Act of Treason deck.

Game One: I lose the die roll.

Vince and I spend turns one two and three playing identical Swamps and Mountains, sharing a laugh. He has no fourth land but does drop a Bloodthrone Vampire. For occult reasons known only to my subconscious this raises no red flags for me, and I use my turn playing a land and a Nether Horror, figuring my 4/2 is a slightly more impressive four drop than his 1/1.

Unfortunately, he agrees with my thought process, and casts Act of Treason on the horror during his turn, bashes me for five, and politely wings it into my graveyard before passing back to me, having sacrificed it with his Bloodthrone Vampire after combat. That being said, I figure my loss isn't too terrible as I spend turn five on a Gravedigger to return it to my hand (rather than running out my Nightwing Shade, lest he have more removal. He does have some removal in the form of an end of turn Lightning Bolt on my creature. He attacks for another damage on his turn and passes back. Me: 14, Him: 20

On my turn, I recast the Horror and pass, but this time he murders it with a Chandra's Outrage before attacking me again down to eleven. At this point, I figure I need a powerful critter out or I am going to die too quickly for my liking, so I play Nightwing Shade and, with only one mana available anyways, I drop Brittle Effigy and pass. This was a mistake. My opponent had only played one creature all game, and my own creatures had actually resulted in far more damage to me. I should have spent removal on the vampire many turns ago.

My opponent makes me pay for my error with another Act of Treason for my Shade, attacks me with his team down to 8, plays a Jinxed Idol after combat and sacrifices my creature to it to pass it to me before my turn. What a turn! I am now on a very fast clock, and will likely have to make awful creature trades to avoid dying to the Idol. On my upkeep the Idol dings me down to six, and I cast Act of Treason on the Bloodthrone Vampire to get rid of it (my opponent of course sacrificed it in response) having finally realized it's importance. My opponent reveals and Fireball on his turn, and it's off to game two!

I bring in two Stabbing Pains from my sideboard in exchange for some creatures. I know now the Vampire must die on sight.

Game Two

I keep my hand and lead with Swamp, Viscera Seer. Two can play this game! Vince also has a Swamp, but no turn one vampire. I play a land and attack on my turn, having finally damaged my opponent! His turn two play is, of course, a Bloodthrone Vampire. I waste no time in flashing my own Act of Treason for it, which has the desired effect of ridding the world of one Vampire, before attacking again with my own critter. Unfazed, Vince stoically drops Vampire number two and passes back to me.

On my turn, I attack with my Seer and the two vampires trade in combat. I hadn't expected my opponent to do this, as I assumed he would hold on to his deck engine. Because of this, I play a less than stellar post combat Vulshock Berserker and pass back to my opponent a little sheepishly. He untaps and casts a Lilliana's Specter. This card is the second most important non-rare black card you can draft. It is a great aggressive flyer with inherent card advantage stapled on, and I am pretty sure I never saw one at my table. If you were wondering, the most important non-rare black card is, of course, Doom Blade. If you get Doom Blades and Lilliana's Specters, you will probably do pretty well. At my last draft, I managed to force my opponent to discard a Vengefull Archon with my Specter, then used Rise from the Grave to claim it for my own. I won that game. This week, however, I'm staring one down and am forced to discard.

I, however, have a beautiful discard... Magma Phoenix. There are a few appreciative laughs from people watching the game, and even Vince had to smile when he saw it. On my turn I lay a land and pass back content to wait for my opponent to act this game, having learned my lesson from last game. Also, I want to leave open mana to get the Phoenix back, and there was no sense trading my Berserkers for the Specter at this point, I would have been happy to race my opponent. On his turn, my opponent attacks me for two and plays a Chandra's Outrage on my creature afterwords. I happily Fling it at his flyer in response, content to have burned his removal and still killed his creature.

On my turn, I use Rise from the Grave to nab his Specter and burn another card from his hand. I forget what he discarded, but at this point he was down to a card in hand and I pretty much destroy him with his Specter and my Phoenix beating him down into Fireball range before he draws an answer. I am happy my gameplan of slowrolling my aggression worked out, although my opponent having no Act of Treason's definitely helped. Killing the Vampires on sight was a good plan too.

Game Three

I stall on three Swamps and play no spells. What can you do? After the match, I move Pyroclasm into the deck and remove one of the Sign in Bloods. The idea was that both cards have the same intended effect: card advantage. What Pyroclasm does is double as removal, which I sorely needed. The reason I kept it out initially is that two damage kills almost every creature in my deck, but I was convinced by friends that continuing to slowroll my creatures was the way to play. Crystall Ball also moved into the deck, and I forget if I added a land or took out something for it.

At this point, my friend Jason begins to pester me to drop from the tournament so we can draft his freshly constructed Cube. I decline, hoping to better my record.

ROUND TWO: Ronnie, playing Blue/Green fatties with counterspells

Ronnie was a fairly new player who was here with his teenaged nephew Caleb who had a pretty ridiculous deck and was doing fairly well in the tournament (I believe he made top 8). He lamented his first round being against Caleb, who had doinked him with a Platinum Angel several times before using Clone to copy it, prompting a concession.

Game One: I lose the die roll.

Ronnie opens on a Forest into a Llanowar Elves, and I sense this time around I may get to make some serious use of my Act of Treasons. I have a Mountain for my turn and pass. The Elves doink me for one and Ronnie drops an Island, which gives me pause. I play a land, but have no action, which is depressing because Ronnie has a gorgeous turn three Water Servant. It is at this time I begin to wonder how screwed I am. My turn three is a relatively unexciting Crystal Ball. Water Servant knocks me to twelve on his attack, and I opt not to scry before my draw because I may need the mana to kill the Water Servant. I miss land, and when my removal spell gets Canceled on my next turn I concede.

Let's draw land, please?

Game Two

The Mana Gods are clearly punishing me, as I throw away my first three hands before keeping on one land, three spells. I am pretty sure my tournament is over, but I play my land and my Viscera Seer gamely and pass into another turn one Llanowar Elves from Ronnie. At this point, I believe in whatever Mana God has taken pity on me as I draw a running lands for two turns and bash for one each time. Ronnie plays a turn two Cultivate (Curses, he has the favor of the Mana Gods!), and simply counterattacks once.

I draw for my turn four and curse the fickle Mana Gods, as they have once more forsaken me (it wasn't a land.) I attack for one and pass. Ronnie has access to six mana on his turn, but taps out his blue sources to cast and Aether Adept on my Seer... clearly a suboptimal play which my opponent was frustrated with himself for when, on my next turn, I play it and a topdecked Brittle Effigy. Still no fourth land.

He stares at the artifact with frustration before attacking me down to 15 and playing a Sacred Wolf, which is a card that terrifies me because it has troll shroud. I draw for my turn and windmill slam it onto the battlefield: Crystal Ball! The ability to filter my draws should get me out of mana screw. My opponent swings with his Wolf and his Adept on his turn, and my Viscera Seer is only too happy to trade with the Wolf. I am at 13.

I elect not to scry before my draw because I want to be sure of my play; Act of Treason on the Aether Adept. I attack my opponent for two before eating it with my seer, spying a glorious land on top of my library! After a few turns of scrying by me, my opponent has a play in a Harbor Serpent, which delightedly smashes me to three life with the help of a few Llanowar Elves. I finally draw an Act of Treason, which I use to steal the Serpent, abuse my opponent with it, and fling it at one of the Elves. The remaining Elf drops me to two on Ronnie's next turn, but he has no additions to the board, which is a saving grace.

I play a Nightwing Shade on my next turn, but my opponent has an Ice Cage for it to drop me to one with Llanowar Elf beatdown. After combat he plays a Greater Basilisk, which is too big to let live so I exile it with Brittle Effigy and play a Fiery Hellhound. My opponent has no further meaningful plays this game, and with the help of super deck manipulation I manage to draw answers to all of his random creatures. I win... after a mulligan to four. At one life.

After the game, Jason is furious with me for being the only person who would ever even bother to play out a hand like that when I could have dropped from the tournament and done a Cube instead.

Game Three

Ronnie opens on turn one Llanowar Elves YET AGAIN and I quietly curse the Mana Gods yet again. I have a new religion, and that religion is the Order of the Crystal Ball. This game is actually really anticlimactic as my opponent plays nothing but Runeclaw Bears and basically rolls over once I get Magma Phoenix online. My opponent drew no Blue sources this game and became really frustrated when I ran out a Royal Assassin, showing me a hand full of countermagic. I sympathized with him, but pointed out that mana had not exactly been kind to me this match either.

ROUND THREE: Nick, playing Red/Green beatsticks.

Game One: I win the die roll!

I open on a Swamp to Nick's Forest. This also is how turn two goes down. I feel pretty good about my turn three Royal Assassin, until Nick plays a Mountain. This turn, at least, he has nothing too threatening as he drops a Gargoyle Sentinel. I quip that this is shaping up to be a slow game. I play a Viscera Seer, but he has a Giant Spider. I sit on my creatures, waiting for an Act of Treason, but he Pyroclasms my team and bashes me on his next turn. I kill his sentinel on my next turn, but opt not to fireball his giant spider. This proves to be a huge mistake as it picks up a Shiv's Embrace and politely crushes me for two turns before Nick uses Fling to kill me. I was holding a Fling, and waiting for land to cast my Act of Treason and it in the same turn. Oh well, mana is unkind. Perhaps Jason will get his wish!

Game Two

I open with a Brittle Effigy, and my opponent plays nothing but land as I run out a turn three Assassin (fat good it did me last game) and turn four Vulshock Berserker and attack him to sixteen. He, of course, Pyroclasms. I rebuild with Viscera Seer, but I feel obliged to throw it in front of an incoming Arc Runner. I scry before damage, since the Runner will die anyway, and like what I see. I play a fourth land on my turn, and my opponent untaps into a 7/7 Protean Hydra, which I refuse to let live despite the Act of Treason and Fling in my hand, unsure of my next draw. I exile it with the Effigy on my turn and pass. His follow up Ancient Hellkite is also scary, until I draw land and Act of Treason/Fling it at his face. He concedes.

Game Three

I really don't do much this game but stall on mana long enough to get obliterated by a turn six Inferno Titan.

Jason is certain now that I will drop to draft with him, but I reason with him that I paid to play this

format today. With some free time, I playtest with Caleb, my previous opponent Ronnie's nephew. I mentioned before that his deck was pretty ridiculous, and I meant it. Ronnie had two Clone's and a Platinum Angel, as well as some combat tricks and bounce effects. I have no notes of the game, but at one point Caleb had both Clone's in play, one of which was a copy of my Magma Phoenix and the other was a copy of his Platinum Angel, which was on my side of the board existing as a Zombie Angel.

I tried to Fling my Angel at his, and he countered it, so I was forced to Fling my Phoenix at his Wall of Frost, doing three damage to everything in the process. This, of course, killed Caleb's Clone of my Phoenix and did an additional three damage to everything. In response, Caleb used Unsummon on his Clone. The end result was an empty field and the life totals becoming Me: 3, Caleb: 6. At this point I completely punted, playing a Vulshock Berserker and attacking Caleb down to 3, tapping myself out for the Clone I knew he had in hand to become a 3/2 hasty Berserker copy and kill me. Fun game nonetheless!

ROUND FOUR: Matt, playing Blue/Black ??? Deck

My opponent this round is Matt, who informs me upon shaking my hand (I like to greet my opponents this way) that he is extremely new to playing Limited Magic, and hasn't played Magic very long at all. I mention that he's doing as well as I am, and I have played tons of Magic (not enough, however).

Game One: I lose the roll.

My opponent keeps a one land hand.

Game Two

Matt chooses to mulligan this time, saying he learned his lesson last game. His first play is a Kraken's Eye, then a Jace's Erasure. His next play is an Alluring Siren. Then a Maritime Guard. I play Magma Phoenix and Nightwing Shade in quick succession. I win.

After this game, I look at the standings and see that I am in fourteenth with six points. Ninth place has nine points.

I drop, and draft Jason's Cube.

I wish I had notes of those games, but I do recall one game ended when I cast Wrath of God with tons of creatures on both sides of the board. Oh, right, but I had Eldrazi Monument. Another multiplayer game ended when an opponent cast Martial Coup for nine, then untapped on his next turn and dropped Beastmaster Ascenscion. Another game was won on a Comet Storm for 18, and the other game had 6 board wipes.

YAY CUBE.

Despite my poor performance in the tournament, I did learn from the experience. My deck faltered many times during the tournament, and while I did have some unfortunate luck with lands, many times I feel like my deck failed because I really had no good plays before about turn five. My first round opponent, who drafted the same deck archetype, was much more successful because he valued Bloodthrone Vampire much more highly than I did, I passed two of them in the draft for cards which were, in a vacuum, more powerful but ultimately less important to my deck. Vince, on the other hand, read articles online about the archetype and knew what to prioritize, and his draft rewarded him.

The lesson here is that if you are going to try to draft a particular deck strategy, you should probably understand how to draft it. I'm not saying you have to follow a particular pick order or that running unusual decks is a bad idea. I am no advocate of the status quo in magic, which is why constructed bothers me so much... too many times I have seen identical decklists in professional Top 8s. What I am saying is that if you know somebody has had success with a deck similar to the one you are building, it would be foolish not to acquaint yourself with that deck and why it succeeded, what it struggled with, and what caused it to at some point (probably) fail.

Oh, and do you remember that guy Nathan I mentioned at the beginning of the article? The guy with all the Acidic Slimes? He ended up splitting for first. Tell me his deck wasn't a bit of a rogue strategy. I think a major difference maker was the Destructive Force, I kept hearing people mentioning it in awe after being blown out by it. I also don't think the deck was intended to be as rogue as it seems. When I asked him why he took five Acidic Slimes, Nathan simply replied "They are pretty good."

So there you have it. I think I will remember that advice too.

Don't think so much.

Draft good cards because they are good cards.

Result: 2-2-0 Drop

Five Color Aggro Is Totally Fine, Really.

by Babbs

Hello again! Welcome to my third random draft in as many days, such is the luxury of having a Magic-inclined roommate and some free time!

This time around I started out drafting a red, black, and blue midrange deck, but found myself getting cut on those colors and had to abandon them for a Zoo strategy. In the end, because of a Harrow and a Cultivate, I elected to play a strange five color deck using the best cards I drafted. Go Team Five Color Zoo?

Dan, on the other hand, had a much simpler time drafting my red, blue, and black deck. His, however, was much more streamlined as a sort of Superfriends strategy featuring four planeswalkers and a suite of cards designed to keep himself alive long enough to ask his buddies for help.

Enough chatter, let's get to the smashing!

Game One

I lose the roll. Dan opens on a Mountain. We play land go until my turn three, where I run out a Bloodhall Ooze. Dan replies with a Guul Draz Specter. I have no play on my turn other than land, and Dan bolsters his air attack squad with a Hoarding Dragon, which became my Slave of Bolas on my turn as I counterattacked Dan to 15, netting him a Mindslaver for his trouble.

Dan casts See Beyond on his turn and thinks awhile before shuffling and attacking me again down to 16, and less one card in hand. I discard a Feral Hydra, but have a haymaker in an Obelisk of Alara on my turn. Dan runs out a Tidehollow Strix on his turn and attacks, ripping a Marsh Flats from my hand. On my turn I use the obelisk to put and end to his specter once and for all, and Cultivate some more lands. Then Dan and I trade critters in worthy combat, my ooze for his strix.

Dan finally drops his Mindslaver, as well as a Mutavault, and passes. I draw and play a Naturalize on the Mindslaver (YAY) and run out a Sun Titan, returning Bloodhall Ooze to play before passing. Dan plays an Arrogant Bloodlord on his turn and passes. I attack on my turn return Marsh Flats to play, but Dan gets tricky using Snakeform on my titan and blocking with an activated Mutavault. I simply use the Obelisk of Alara to kill it before damage and smirk.

Dan attacks me with the Bloodlord again on his turn, I refuse to block with my 6/6 titan because I sense a trick, but he simply grins as he uses Call to Heel on it postcombat (to draw, I presume) replays it and ends the turn with a Terminate for my Sun Titan. I attack into his Arrogant Bloodlord on my turn anyways, with the obelisk’s presence making it impossible for the Arrogant Bloodlord to block safely, but I elect not to pump in favor of leaving mana up and playing a Kor Firewalker instead. Me: 9, Dan: 12

Dan attacks for four again on his turn, but I gain five life with the obelisk in response, so I end the turn at 10 life. Dan passes with a card in hand, and I am thinking I have him beat when I turn my team sideways on my turn with some tricks up my sleeve. Dan flashes in a Wydwren, the Biting Gale during the declare attackers step, but before blockers are declared I cast Inferno, wiping everything but my firewalker from the board and dropping Dan to 7 and myself to 6 (after gaining one off of the firewalker). Then I pump the firewalker to 6/6 and knock Dan to one.

Dan doesn’t draw and answer to the obelisk and concedes on his turn.

Game Two

Dan opens on an Island, while I run out a Seaside Citadel. Dan continues the fixing trend with an Armillary Sphere, but I draw and play a Naturalize on it during my turn…in the spirit of friendship. Unperturbed, Dan drops a turn three Jace Beleren and starts drawing cards like a hero. I play and use Marsh Flats for my single swamp before using my Cultivate to grab the remainder of my five colors. Dan continues to draw cards and starts playing unfairly with a Fatespinner. Guess I won’t be attacking for a while.

I draw for my turn and play a Marisi’s Twinclaws, hoping Dan will let me draw off of Jace. I do get my wish, but Dan has other plans running out a Lilliana Vess and starting a bad trend of making me discard cards. Fortunately, I have a Sedraxis Specter I don’t mind binning, and on my turn I tomb hex the fatespinner and crush Jace’s face before dropping Kor Firewalker. Dan simply plays a Black Knight and forces me to discard some more, this time I choose to bin a land.

On my turn, I cast Bituminous Blast on the Black Knight, which Dan returns to hand with call to heel, netting a free 2/2 Wild Nacatl. The way now clear, I bash Vess down to one loyalty counter and pass, feeling confident that she is not long for this world. Dan shatters this feeling by forcing me to discard (Inferno), playing black knight, and then playing Time Warp.

Good feeling gone. I am going to die now.

On his extra turn, Dan gets my last card with Vess (Obelisk of Alara, owch) and plays a Hoarding Dragon. My next draw is land, so I am pretty much powerless to do anything as Dan plays a Mindslaver and passes to me, ticking vess up on loyalty because it makes him feel special. I draw land, and pass. Dan plays Sorin Markov and I concede in the face of two Mindslaver effects and no board presence. Sure, I could rip a Planar Cleansing, but that would require it being in my deck.

Game Three

I open (finally) on Savage Lands. Dan plays a Swamp and passes. I run out an Elvish Visionary with an Island, and Dan counters with another Swamp into Black Knight. I play a land and Bloodhall Ooze on my turn, and Dan seems to have no answer in hand as he spends his turn on a Pilgrim’s Eye searching up an island before passing with no attack, presumably to stave off the ooze.

I have no fourth land sadly, and cannot do much on my turn but tick up the ooze. Dan drops Jace Beleren on his turn and starts doing that thing again. The card drawing thing. This time he attacks for two, which I take gladly. On my turn I fail to draw land, but manage to trade Elvish Visionary for Pilgrim’s Eye in combat and run out a Beastbreaker of Bala Ged. Dan drops Lilliana Vess again and has us both draw before making me discard. Fortunately this found me a land, so no complaints for the Kor firewalker I had to discard for it.

On my turn I play the Seaside Citadel Jace gifted me, use Tomb Hex to kill off Black Knight and clear the way for my 2/2 beastbreaker and my now 4/4 ooze to crush Lilliana. On his turn Dan uses Jace to make himself draw, digging for answers and giving up poor Jace for dead. He digs further with a See Beyond, and it is during this time I realize he is missing a red source. I guess mana screw works both ways sometimes. Dan passes to me.

On my turn I drop a fifth land and attack, the ooze at Jace and the beastbreaker at Dan. He surprises me again with Wydwren, the Biting Gale flashing into play to eat my beastbreaker, but Jace bites the dust and I take advantage of Dan being tapped out to drop Uril, the Miststalker. Yay legendary fight! On his turn, Dan drops an impressive Extractor Demon and passes with an Island untapped.

I draw for my turn, cast Slave of Bolas on the demon, and bash for sixteen! Dan chumps the ooze with his faerie (milling two from the demon trigger) and drops to ten. I happily sacrifice the demon and pass. Dan draws and plays a massive Heat Ray for my ooze, finally sending it to the place all good oozes go… the graveyard. Then he passes with an untapped Swamp showing.

On my turn I drop Dan to five with another Uril attack and slam Obelisk of Alara into play…unfortunately short the mana to use it this turn but beggars can’t be choosers. Dan thinks for a while before tapping out for Merfolk Seastalkers and Magma Phoenix. On my turn I attack with Uril, prompting a double block from dan. I assign lethal damage to the phoenix, trading it for Uril and triggering the fiery bird’s graveyard ability dealing three to everything, and then follow up with a lethal poke from Obelisk of Alara.

Super Fun Game Four!

Dan convinces me that his deck can do better, so we decide on a fourth game before calling it quits. I refuse, however, to grant his request that we play a game five should he prove victorious this time around.

Dan opens on Swamp, while I open on Forest and Wild Nacatl. Dan drops an Island an passes, allowing me to run out a Mountain and bash for two before dropping a Beastbreaker of Bala Ged. At this point I am feeling pretty skippy until Dan drops Fatespinner on his turn and passes, forcing me to skip my next combat step for the sake of my better play… drawing into a third land with which to cast Cultivate, fetching white and black sources. Dan does nothing but run out a Armillary Sphere on his turn, and I make short work of his Fatespinner my next turn with a Vendetta before attacking with a leveled beastbreaker and superpowered Wild Nacatl for seven. Me: 18 Dan: 11

Dan fetches Mountains with the Armillary Sphere on my end step, drops one on his turn, and passes with no play. I attack with both critters again, but he casts Terminate on the beastbreaker and Snakeform on the nacatl, dropping to ten and drawing a card. I have no play and pass. On his turn he plays Chandra Nalaar (so many planeswalkers!) and removes three loyalty counters to off my poor Wild Nacatl.

I play a Marisi’s Twinclaws, whose high toughness is really awesome considering the Chandra, but Dan’s follow up play is to ping me with Chandra and cast Nemesis of Reason…. I am now dead in roughly two turns unless I draw a removal spell. When I draw no answers I concede, showing Dan my hand full of Esper Charm and Power Sink… with no blue source.

So there you have it! Dan was right in claiming his deck was better than it had played thus far, although I have to point out that not once did I draw my own planeswalker... Sarkhan Vol. Next up on my Noggin Whack agenda should be a recap of a M11 draft I intend to compete in at my local card shop for FNM, so a change of pace is coming and the write up should be more strategy focused than these silly cube articles!

Another Midnight Draft!

by Babbs

Alright, another draft! Same style as last time, so feel free to read "A Boy and His Cube" if you are lost!

Unfortunately I have no list of my deck this time around, but you’ll get the gist of it, I promise you!

Game One

Dan is running a hyper-aggressive Naya deck featuring some brutal anti-control cards (Glowrider, Spellbreaker Behemoth, Ajani Vengeant). I drafted Grixis mill/control featuring a flurry of high casting cost cards that will end the game (Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Cruel Ultimatum, Nicol Bolas).

I win the die roll. I play Swamp…Go. Dan responds with a Goblin Guide who bashes me for two after revealing both a Graven Cairns and the fact that I am in big trouble. I Narcolepsy his goblin and pass to Dan, who fixes with Kazandu Refuge and passes Me: 18, Dan: 21

I mill Dan for ten with Mind Funeral and pass, very happy! Dan plays Vulshock Sorcerer, which pings me as I play a land and pass. Dan then drops Lord of Shatterskull Pass, prompting an incredulous “What?!” from me before he passes. I Flame Javelin it on his end step, and go to sixteen from the sorcerer as I play land, Go again. Dan has no play, and I run out Loxodon Warhammer and go to fifteen from the Sorcerer again.

Dan drops Kumano, Master Yamabushi on his turn,which I absolutely must deal with. I Banefire it on my turn, and pass with seven mana. I go to fourteen from the darned sorceror. Dan has no Plains so far this game, seemingly from the Mind Funeral. I drop to thirteen as I pass again, but Dan has no further plays, apparently screwed for white. I rip a Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief on my turn and run her out, dropping to twelve. Dan again has no play…. I use Drana to finally kill the sorceror and drop Dan to sixteen, and with Dan still showing no white I attack again the next turn for four after killing his Kazandu Tuskaller on his endstep.

Dan draws and plays a Plains, then tanks for a bit before using Naya Charm to get back the Ajani Vengeant I milled earlier and passing, but I have a backbreaker in a hardcast Archive Trap for his library on his endstep.

Game Two

We both have no plays until Dan runs out a turn three Druid of the Anima, apparently with no third mana source, so I kill it with a Disfigure on my turn. Dan drops Quasali Pridemage on his turn and passes, still on two land. I think for a bit on my turn, with no fourth land, but drop a Goblin Assault to see if I can race. Dan rips a forest on his turn, catching up in land, before running out Glowrider and passing with no attack.

I rip a Swamp and pay an extra mana to run out Loxodon Warhammer, which will probably eat a pridemage but whatever. Dan tries to drop Ajani Vengeant on his turn, before I pointed out that his glowrider prevented this, so instead he dropped Spellbreaker Behemoth before bashing me for three. I have no better play than to suit up my goblin and attack into the five-five, gaining four and losing the poor goblin. Dan crushes me for nine on his next turn and blows up the hammer with the pridemage before passing. Me: 12, Dan: 21.

I bash for one and cast Fleshbag Marauder, still missing a fifth land, causing Dan to lose his Glowrider and me to lose a goblin, and my marauder later as Dan uses Naya Charm on it during my endstep. Dan then drops the Ajani Vengeant and passes with no attack, tapping down my Mountain. I finally rip a land, but have no better play than to cast a Sword of Vengeance and send my poor goblin on a suicide run. Dan then drops Mycoid Shepherd, taps down my island, and bashes me to 7 with his fatty.

I draw no land, but run out a Grim Lavamancer and suit up a goblin to die in battle. Dan keeps up the pressure and when I draw no more answers I concede. I sideboard in some white walls and removal in between games, taking out both equipments and the Goblin Assault, as they seemed pretty awful last game. I fortunately have an Arcane Sanctum and a Mystic Gate with which to cast my Swords to Plowshares, Wall of Reverence, and Wall of Denial.

Game Three
I keep my hand and open on a Mountain. Dan again has Goblin Guide, but I do get a land in hand in exchange for my two life. I simply play an Island and pass, to which Dan plays Jungle Shrine and bashes, revealing Telemin Performance. I have no play other than another Mountain on my turn, whereas Dan has a Quasali Pridemage, bashing me down to thirteen and revealing Resounding Thunder.

I play another Island and burn the pridemage, missing black mana sorely. Dan drops Glowrider and bashes with the goblin again, finally giving me a swamp. I tap out to Flame Javelin the Glowrider on my turn. Dan simply bashes me to nine on his turn, revealing an uncastable Swords to Plowshares.

I cast Telemin performance on my turn, milling quite a few green sources that Dan seemed to need (from his reaction) and netting myself a Mycoid Shepherd on my side to stave off the lifeloss, but Dan has a bigger stick in the form of Kumano, Master Yamabushi. I count Dan’s lands before casting Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief on my turn and playing an Arcane Sanctum, my first white source. Dan sends in his team on his turn, netting me a Mountain and trading his Yamabushi with Mycoid Shepherd. Sadly, I gain no life from the shepherd because of Yamabushi’s ability, which is approximately the third time it has been relevant in a game, by my recollection. I go to six as a result of the Goblin Guide attack and a Yamabushi ping, before Dan drops a hazardous (for me) Vulshock Sorcerer and passes.

I drain the sorcerer on my turn, dropping to five in response before passing, opting not to burn removal on the Goblin. Dan drops Kazandu Refuge and passes, the life totals becoming Me: 5, Dan: 21. I drop a Wall of Denial on my turn, bash with the Drana, and drop a Sphinx of Jwar Isle. Upon peeking at the top card of my library several times in response to anything I could think of (Thraximundar), I pass the turn. At this point only a wrath effect or some brutal burn can cause me to lose this game. Dan runs out a Spellbreaker Behemoth and a Plated Geopede, but passes with no reasonable attack.

I Swords to Plowshares his behemoth, drop Thraximundar, bash for a ton eating the geopede with Thraxi's ability and get no blocks from y Dan, who I suppose is hoping for something that will make his Goblin Guide bypass my wall and finally finish me (perhaps Soul's Fire in hand, another burn spell off the top?), and pass with the life totals Me: 5, Dan: 6. Dan has no plays on his turn and concedes.

There you have it, another silly midnight draft! I promise you bigger and better things in the future, as well as additional opponents! I never did get to cast either my Cruel Ultimatum or my Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker on Dan. When I expressed that this was sad, he simply said “Not for me!” and went to bed.

Night all!

A Boy and His Cube

Draft Recap: One-on-One-Middle-of-the-Night Winston Cube Draft

by Babbs


My name is Babbs, and I love great games of magic. Because of this, I love my cube.

If you are unfamiliar, a cube is a custom draft set. There are various styles of cube, but most of them are geared towards getting a group of extremely powerful cards together in one room and letting intrepid cardboard-slinging planeswalkers (such as you and I) battle to the death with them in blazes of glory and, frequently, doing things which would be just plain absurd in any other limited format. Cubes can vary in sizes, rarity limitations, and other things, but the important part of a cube is that it does what it is designed to do: Make for fun games of Magic.

My cube is the product of many helping hands and collections, and numerous less than ideal trades on my part. About ten people are responsible for the current state of it, and those people are always welcome to enjoy it. It started out as an Alara-block-only cube, but for various reasons has exploded into a monstrous amalgamation of the best cards my friends and I could get our hands on, regardless of set. We have kept the cube down to just 360 cards (enough for an eight person draft) by process of careful review, and the occasional “This card sucks, get you binder and let’s replace it before the round starts”. I cannot express how wonderful a cube can be, as it brings people together for some wacky and frequently enlightening moments of pure magic fun (as well as some intermittent, usually blue-related dickery).

One of the most convenient things about having a cube constructed and residing in my apartment, full of cards loaned to it from generous friends and cube enthusiasts, is that when my roommate and I wake up in the middle of the night and feel like playing magic, we can shuffle it up and rumble with either sealed or Winston drafts of our beloved cube between the two of us.

For those of you not familiar with Winston drafting, it is a form of drafting that is geared more toward fewer drafters, and works perfectly well (with idiosyncrasies, of course) with as few as two players. I prefer not to Winston draft with more than four players, but I presume it would not be a horrible experience. You can find the full rules on the official site, but the basic rundown is this.

1. Make a stack of cards by adding 45 cards per participant and shuffle them all together. In all honesty, it could be more cards than this, or less. It’s up to you what cards you use and how many you use, but I recommend 45 per person because it at least gives all players a reasonable chance to get enough cards to make a deck, but not so many that the decks will be overpowered (as sometimes happens with sealed).
2. Begin the draft with the stack in the center of the table, and deal one face down card from the stack into three separate piles all drafters can access. The piles are like packs in Winston draft.
3. In turn order, each player picks up the first pile (use some form of designation, I like to go by proximity to the stack in a row) looks at it, and decides whether to draft it or not. If that player drafts it, they must deal a face down card from the stack to replace it. If a player does not wish to draft a pile he or she returns it, adds a face down card from the stack on top of the pile, and moves to the next pile. This process repeats for the next two piles. If a player does not choose to draft the final (third) pile, that player will instead draft a card (blindly) off of the top of the stack after adding the last card to the pile.
4. This process repeats until the stack runs out.

As you can see, this form of drafting contains far less information than other forms, where you get to see which cards make it around, and probably see close to 80% of the cards everybody has to choose from, short of what people grab early. There is also an element of suspense in passing mediocre cards for the chance to see something better… because after a while even a pile full of random enabling spells or manafixing can become pretty appetizing if there are five or more cards in it. Also, and I cannot stress this enough, drafting random cards off the stack is exhilarating when they are bombs and soul crushing when they are grizzly bears.

On this particular evening, I was watching television around 2 in the morning when Dan, my roommate, walked into the kitchen from his bedroom looking as though he was having trouble sleeping. After expressing concern for his wellbeing, my soul lit up with glorious fanfare and a cherubic smile graced my face as I asked him a common question amongst our close circle of friends…

“…Cube?”

He agreed, and away we went. I neglected to take notes on the cards I passed for the most part, so here is an abridged version of the draft.

THE DRAFT

Pick one: Bloodbraid Elf. AWESOME

Pick Two: Random Savage Lands off the top. No complaints. Dan generally does not draft red or green, so I will be looking to build a nice agro deck in jund colors.

Three: Last Gasp. Gotta kill some stuff, besides I hate to give cheap removal to the control player.

Four: Whoop! Maelstrom Pulse!!!! I AM A GOD.

Five: Comet Storm and Soul’s Majesty in one pack. That seems fair.

Six: Random White Knight… could be worse… that card kind of hoses me.

Seven: Sarkhan Vol sounds like a perfect fit…. Should probably draft creatures though.

Eight: Ignore my last statement. Mana fixing comes first. Dragonskull summit sounds tasty.

Nine: I refuse to pass a Nemesis of Reason to Dan and give him a win condition.

Ten: Bituminous Blast is pretty good with Bloodbraid Elf… and just about anything else really.

Eleven: Sphinx of Steel Wind seems like game over for this deck. Better take it.

Twelve: Gruul Draz Spectre and Lilliana’s Spectre. Two specters is awesome, though could be rough on my mana.

Thirteen: Magma Phoenix and Oracle of Mul Daya . There. Mana fixed, recurring flyer/burn. Good pick.

Fourteen: Murmuring Bosk and Merfolk Seastalkers. The bosk I picked to try it out, but the seastalkers are really annoying and I would rather be allowed to bash to my heart’s content…. Could use some critters though.

Fifteen; Wild Nacatl, Plumeveil, and Volcanic Fallout. Fallout is a board card versus annoying token creation strategies, Plumeveil is a hate card from Dan, and the Nacatl is the first real agro creature I have picked up to accommodate Bloodbraid Elf.

Sixteen: Marsh Flats and Vexing Shusher. A fixer and deck tech against dan, and the numerous counterspells I have passed him.

Seventeen: Defiler of Souls and Elvish Visionary. Defiler is game over for decks not designed for him, and the elf is a solid card which will smooth out my draws and occasionally work well with Sarkhan.

Eighteen: Passed a Jenara, Asura of War for a Vampire Nighthawk. I felt really bad, but hopefully Dan won’t be in green. Jenara is worth splashing for, however… not for me.

Nineteen: Tuktuk the Explorer. I have no idea how good he will be but he sounds fun!

Twenty: Goblin Guide. Go team goblins.

Twenty-One: Cultivate and Hada Spy Patrol. Could care less about spying, that cultivate should solve any awkward mana issues I may have.

Twenty-Two: Scute Mob and Vedalken Outlander. Finally, another big threat agro creature.

Twenty-Three: Power Sink, Sedraxis Specter, and Kor Firewalker. Because I would hate to play against all of those cards.

Twenty-Four: Kor Sanctifiers, Mutavault, Marisi’s Twinclaws, and Seismic Assault. The sanctifiers I could claim to be tech off of a splash, but I took this pack for the twinclaws. Double strike is awesome. Mutavault will probably make the deck, and the assault is a decent way to make lands useful late game.

Twenty-Five: Dauntless Escort seems like a decent splash off of bosk if Dan has a wrath effect.

Twenty-Six: Rafiq of the Many last pick… sweet

I built the deck as Jund with a white splash for Dauntless Escort and to power up the Nacatl. Would have liked a Ranger of Eos with all these one drops, but the deck looks alright as is. The problem is I’m pretty sure I passed Dan a gross blue white deck, even if I ganked some of his better cards, like the Sphinx of Steel Wind because my deck can literally not win against it. The Mumuring Bosk Is actually pretty sweet here fixing for all of its colors, too bad the only fetch I have isn’t green. We shall see.

Game One: I win the roll and play first.

I lead on Savage Lands to Dan’s Island. My hand after my draw is pretty nutty. I play Elvish Visionary and pass with no action for next turn. Dan plays Swamp and Prophetic Prism. Yay cantrips! I play Dragonskull Summit tapped, bash for one with the elf, and pass. Dan plays Bant Panorama and passes… in true blue deck style. He fetches on my turn for a plains. I play Mountain, Oracle of Mul Daya revealing Vexing Shusher, and bash for another damage. Go Elf! Dan plays the villain and plays plains, Magus of the Disk, pass.

I untap, draw, reveal Murmuring Bosk and play it, revealing a Mountain which I play revealing a Vampire Nighthawk which I cascade into off of the Bituminous Blast I cast on his magus. Bash for three. Seemed like a sweet turn, until Dan replies with Persuasion on my vampire… SAD. I get no free land on my turn and simply run out the shusher and a Gruul Draz Specter. Dan has a potential backbreaker in Sorin Markhov, now that Maelstrom Pulse in my hand will probably have to hit him instead of Persuasion. He drains my specter and passes.

On my turn I do some math, pulse the Persuasion, play my topdecked Tuktuk and bash Sorin for six. YAY. Dan is, again, a jerk and plays Luminarch Ascension on his turn with no backup, which gives me pause. He has mana open so I figure there is a trick, until he mentions he missed a land drop. I untap and bash with my army, which triggers a Pitfall Trap on my Oracle of Mul Daya… damn. I follow up with a Scute Mob and Marisi’s Twinclaws, setting myself up for a Wrath of God if he has it, but oh well you can’t play around it if you don’t know it’s there. The life totals stand at Me: 22, Dan: 12.

Dan looks frustrated as he casts See Beyond digging for answers on his next turn. He finds one in a Swamp apparently, before he plays Mnemonic Wall for Pitfall Trap. I untap, play Goblin Guide, and bash for lethal because Scute Mob got hugeasuarus rex on my upkeep.

I sideboard nothing. Go team aggro!

Game Two

Dan likes his hand and opens on Arcane Sanctum. I rip out Forest, Wild Nacatl. Dan plays Island…go to which I respond with a Savage Lands setting up a big turn four. Dan continues to fix with a Bant Panorama, and I counter with a Mountain into a Cultivate, superpowering my nacatl and bashing for three. Dan fetches another Island with the panorama… which makes me sad as that can only mean Cryptic Command in my world. Dan actually plays a Crumbling Necropolis and Fatespinner, which is possibly even worse… I choose not to draw, run out Bloodbraid Elf into Goblin Guide and bash Dan for eight!!! It is now Me: 20, Dan: 8

Dan runs out a twice kicked Quag Vampires on his turn and passes. I skip draw again, cast Sarkhan Vol, threaten his vampires, and bash for lethal again. We decide to play another game for funsies.

Game Three

I notice to myself that I have yet to use Murmuring Bosk as anything but a forest, which is alright I suppose. The games have been awfully short.

Dan opens again on Arcane Sanctum. I open on Mutavault because my mana is awkward. Dan has no such issue untapping with Reflecting Pool. I play Marsh Flats and pass, needing to draw into black, but crack it in response to his Cosi’s trickster… damn. I play a Mountain and pass back, wary of removal for my creature land. Dan attacks me on his turn, so I bite and activate/block it. No tricks however, free removal!!!! I am still missing green as I run out a Plains and pass with a handful of unplayable spells… bummer. Dan fetches with a panorama and takes his turn playing a Sejiri refuge and Halimar Wavewatch… I am in trouble… Still no Forest turn five, and now I am seriously regretting not just giving him Grizzly Bear with that fetch since there was a Savage Lands on top… he runs out Magus of the Disk and passes to me with two Arcane Sanctums open…

I finally draw green, but Dan is ready with Counterspell for my Scute Mob. I pass back a little frustrated. He taps out for Sorin again on his turn and that’s probably the game as he halves my life and bashes with the magus… ow. It is now Me: 8, Dan: 21

I rip another forest and play Bloodbraid Elf into Wild Nacatl, then bash with Bloodbraid and Mutavault at Sorin. Sorin dies. On his turn Dan casts Into the Roil on his wavewatch and plays the land he drew, preparing to wipe me on my turn with his magus. I cast Soul’s Majesty to force him to wipe the field, which he does, and pass. In retrospect, the card draw was probably worth committing another creature to the board, but I can’t remember now if I had a playable one. Dan plays Stirring Wildwood and Prophetic Prism on his turn, which is bad news for me (the land…) before seeing beyond again and passing after dumping an Executioner’s Capsule. NICE TURN.

I bait him to crack his capsule by attacking with Mutavault, he bites, and I run out Marisi’s Twinclaws postcombat. Dan responds with a leveled Halimar Wavewatch. I use my Last Gasp to kill it after it blocks my Twinclaws, but Dan pacifies them next turn and bashes me with his wildwood. I am at five.

I tank for a bit on my turn and pass back to Dan. He attacks again, but I have Comet Storm to kill his woods and burn him down to 17. He passes to me. I draw a second black and try to Liliiana’s Specter his last card, but it’s an Essence Scatter. Dan topdecks land fortunately, so I think I can beat him. I play Goblin Guide and Gruul Draz Specter, but my attack reveals Persuasion. Dan steals my Specter on his turn and it is Me: 5, Dan: 15.

I Maelstrom Pulse the Persuasion and bash for two, netting Dan a free land. Dan has no play on his turn, sandbagging cards for the specter. I bash him down to nine, but curse again as he reveals Jenara, Asura of War to the guide. He discards land and I dump Vampire Nighthawk and Seismic Assault onto the board. Dan draws and plays Induce Despair revealing Jenara to kill my specter, then runs out Jenara. My nighthawk cannot attack.

I draw and play Oracle of Mul Daya, putting myself in the awkward situation of not using her ability in order to draw the lands to power up seismic assault. I pass. Dan runs out a Fatespinner and charges up Jenara, before I discard a Dragonskull Summit to kill off the spinner. I am drawing land a ton if the top card of my library is any indication, as I draw a Forest only to see a Swamp back on top. I pass, and Dan simply passes the turn back to me, which scares me. Jenara gets huge on my turn as I stockpile another land for an alpha strike. I possibly should have attacked that turn to either kill his Jenara or win, but I try it the next turn and Dan had Pitfall Trap for my oracle, and blocks the Goblin Guide, dropping to seven each, because of the nighthawk, with a 15/15 Jenara on his side and me with no blockers. I stare miserably at the three lands in my hand, before torching Dan to one with Seismic Assault and conceding.
That’s that! Had I waited for the Magma Phoenix the Oracle of Mul Daya revealed on top of my deck, Dan still would have untapped into Crystallization for my Vampire Nighthawk and the win. Perhaps I should have played lands with the oracle instead of waiting to draw them. Oh well, the deck ran well enough to win the game, and even dying to a 15/15 Jenara was pretty sweet. After checking our Dan’s deck I noticed an Iona and a Triskelion I was fairly glad I never ran into, as well as a Rite of Replication. The only cards I never got a chance to use were Defiler of Souls, Dauntless Escort, and the Magma Phoenix.

Well, hope you all liked this! I hope this convinces those of you without cube’s to build them!