I’m trying to get things back in order and get back into a routine of writing for you guys. It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and done much in the way of writing, but I have been tinkering with some decks some more and have some ideas that I am prepared to share with you guys, however not today. Today I’m going to bust open another pack of Khans and see what we get because this weekend I’m actually going to get a chance to draft some of this stuff. I’m pretty excited and hope that my preparation (such as writing here on Three Kings Loot) and watching a number of other guys stream their draft videos will help me to a decent record in my upcoming events. Let’s open up our pack and see what we find.
Well, this pack has a number of solid commons, a high profile Rare, and bunch of lousy uncommons so it makes for a number of interesting selections. Let’s start with the Rare. Crater’s Claws is a pretty awesome ‘Fireball’ that is just really versatile. It’s even better if you can trip the Ferocious trigger on this little treat that makes this a shock at worst, and just insane from there on. Seeing as this can serve as removal if you need it, or as a form of inevitability to just burn out an opponent to the ‘dome’ this makes for a pretty excellent spell to pick and one that your opponent is unlikely to play around or expect. This is a nice spell and will be a high priority in this pack for me.
Seek the Horizon and Goblinslide are spells that I don’t much care for. Seek the Horizon is a pretty marginal ramp spell that can be useful if you need the fixing, but it eats up a slot at 3 mana on your curve. You know what else takes 3 mana on your curve? Only every Morph in the format is what. You would rather be playing a Morph at 3 mana and not durdling for more land. So, Seek the Horizon is likely to be cut in favor of creatures and spells that have more impact. Goblinslide takes a fair amount of set up and then you STILL need to pay for it. I can imagine a Jeskai sort of deck with lots of non-creature spells that would be interested in this, but honestly, if you WANT to run this card it is because you want the comedic value of trying to bury your opponent under a pile of Goblins. However, I am generally not that motivated by this one either because I would rather be doing some other things with my mana.
Watcher of the Roost is the other uncommon in this pack and I’m pretty okay with it, but I would not be taking this early. Sure, it comes down as a Morph and can flip essentially for free if you reveal a White spell, gives you two life and even has flying. These are all relevant things to do. However, a 2/1 with Flying is…how to put this…slightly disappointing. I will happily play this but I won’t be taking it early because I maintain that there are better things and select.
Moving on the commons there are some very reasonable spells and creatures to weigh. The first one that gets my attention is Alabaster Kirin. It’s a 2/3 with flying and vigilance which makes it a pretty solid attacker that can also play defence. The 3 toughness makes it a very reliable blocker to handle all those Mardu aggro creatures or Warrior tokens. It isn’t flashy but very effective. It is also nice because it dodges stuff like Suspension Field and Smite the Monstrous making it a surprisingly difficult to creature to handle.
Abomination of Gudul is another very solid Morph and among the best of the Gold common cycle of Morphs because it packs flying and lets you ‘Loot” once you get through for damage. It dodges Smite the Monstrous which is also a thing, but sadly still gets caught by Suspension Field. I like this one too, but it falls behind the Kirin for me because the mana requirements are pretty tough to meet.
Mystic of the Hidden Way is another very reliable Morph that provides good inevitability because you can’t just block it. It’s a very solid, Morphs for cheap and is just a stud to wreck an opponent. The part I like best about this card is that it isn’t as broken as Invisible Stalker was, but it is still a tricky creature to contain because of the evasion it has. It’s a pretty solid mid-round pick up.
Mardu Hateblade is a solid 1 drop that can pack deathtouch. If you are Abzan, or Mardu, or even the Warrior deck you want this guy because he is just a reliable creature that is major deterrent to your opponent because nobody wants to have the feel bad of having your better creature die on a 1/1 deathtoucher. He’s a nice pickup, but Ruthless Ripper and Heir of the Wilds are better choices because you don’t have to activate the deathtouch ability. Sadly, they are both uncommons and you are far more likely to find this guy in your pack than either of those.
Kin-tree Warden is yet another solid Morph that is a resilient defender that helps a Abzan deck get to the late game by regenerating for the ridiculously cheap cost of 2 mana. Honestly, I miss the days of cheap regeneration cost and this guy is as close as you are likely to get. I like it and would be prepared to grab this as a mid round pick.
Rugged Highlands is pretty solid because the common Refuge lands are lynch pins in any multi colour deck and even MORE crucial if you are rocking the 5 colour Morph deck with all the flashy spells you can grab. It isn’t an exciting pick, but in this format, with a lack of obvious pick you grab a land and fix your mana to do something more powerful than you would otherwise do in a regular 2 colour deck.
Rotting Mastodon is a big dumb wall. 5 mana 2/8’s or huge to fight through and make solid ways to get your shields up while you Outlast your Abzan dudes. I’m not a huge fan but can see the role this fatty can play.
Cancel is acceptable counter magic that is an insurance policy. If you play Blue, you’ll want one of these just to be sure you can counter their biggest threat or that key piece they are looking for, but otherwise you don’t really want this too highly.
Barrage of Boulders is not something I want. It doesn’t do enough for me and to trigger the “unable to block” feature means you need to have the Ferocious online. I don’t know…I might give it a try this weekend to see if I can make this lead to a blow out, but I’m not big on this guy at this point.
Lastly, Summit Prowler is a just another dude in your deck. You aren’t excited about this guy at all.
First pick is pretty easy this week. Crater’s Claws is most obviously the first pick in this pack but there are a number of very solid creatures and Morphs available. The hope is that you can wheel at least one of them when the pack comes back, but the relative depth of this pack is pretty low meaning that you might get this pack back with nothing but junk left in it. That’s a shame. However, Crater’s Claws offers you, like I said, a bad shock at worst, or a way to close out a game out of nowhere. The potential ceiling on this card is extremely high and you will absolutely grab this and make a point of playing it. Not to mention, you will not be sad to draw this at just about any point in your match. It may not be worth all that much on the secondary market, but the relative impact this can have in a game is huge and well worth the risk.
Thanks very for taking the time to join me this week as we go through yet another pack. Things are looking pretty spicy and the format looks like a lot of fun with a ton of variance meaning that there are a number of successful archetypes and strategies to win with. I hoping to be able to return next week, after my weekend of getting a number of drafts in, and be able to pass along a little more to you guys.
Thanks again and until next week may you open nothing but Mythic bombs.
By Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters
@bgray8791 on Twitter
It feels like it has been a long time since I’ve sat down and played much in the way of Magic recently. There are times when playing Magic is largely inconsequential and events in the world around us put things in perspective. For those of you who don’t know I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and our community was recently touched by a tragic act of violence. I won’t recap what happened because you can find all that relevant information online if you’re interested. However, as a result of the events on October 22nd , 2014 we have been trying to put things back to normal and get things back to the way they were. However, when events like what happened in Ottawa take place it makes playing Magic seem very trivial. What really matters is ensuring that your friends and family are all safe and that you value your time with all of them. If you haven’t done so recently, pick up your phone and call your friends and family and just have a chat with them and be sure to tell them how much they mean to you.
From my end, I am teacher. The events of Oct 22nd were extra scary because I was organizing a soccer tournament. We had 300 plus 9 and 10 year olds out playing soccer and had to stop our tournament on account of what happened and find some place safe to go and shelter until we got the signal that things were all clear. It was a very stressful day for all the coaches and students but everyone handled the situation very well. However, as the guy who is organizing the tournament I have spent much of my time since trying to organize a chance to re-play our tournament, on short notice, before the snow flies. Needless to say, I have been busy.
But today I wanted to take some time and go back to Magic, crack a pack, and allow Magic to be the diversion that it is, even if only for a little while. Let’s bust open a pack and see what we’ve got!
So…Siege Rhino? As my rare? Well, that is a snap first pick if I’ve ever seen one. 4/5 for 4 mana? Sweet enter the battlefield trigger? Trample? Hell YEAH ! This wins on every metric I can find. The card is efficiently costed, a huge beater, comes with a sweet upside in terms of an enter the battlefield trigger and is even worth a pretty penny on the secondary market. This is a slam dunk.
Swiftwater Cliffs actually gets my attention because in draft 5 colour Morph decks are a thing. You need all the fixing you can find to pull it off, but the potential power level is through the roof. I’ve watched a number of players draft the 5 colour morph deck and it looks sweet and very potent (and surprisingly reliable). I would be seriously eye-balling this card.
Sultai Scavenger is a pretty nice 3/3 flier. The Delve on this is what makes it very viable because it makes this so much cheaper to play. The single Black mana in the casting cost makes it very splashable, but the real treat is a 3/3 flier. Flying is crazy relevant in this format because fliers are hard to come by and the evasion allows you to bust up a board stall really quickly. This is a super solid common and something that really gets my attention and a solid push to play Black.
Sultai Flayer is still a solid 3/4 for 4 mana and comes with a solid upside. I wrote about this card a couple of weeks back and I’m still a fan. I think it brings enough presence and pressure to the board, has a relevant upside to help your position and is just an efficient creature to slide in your deck. I’m on board.
Scaldkin is another creature that gets my attention, but I’m not really sold on it yet. It’s a little pricey for a flying 2/2, but the flying really helps restore this creature. The fact that it can also be used as a Shock to handle those pesky Morphs is useful and relevant and makes this a nice mid-round pick.
Dragon Grip is kind of spicy, but the issue I have with it is that it doesn’t add any toughness to my creature. Think about it, Hammerhand and Titan’s Strength at least pump your creature a little in the toughness department so that it can rumble a little more effectively than it could before. Inferno Fist, another recent enchantment, allows you to clear the path with a “Shock” and remove something. This simply gets used as a pricey combat trick to pile on the damage, but then leaves your creature no better able to stave off dying because the toughness hasn’t taken a boost (and leaves you open to a 2 for 1 later). Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE me some flash, but I’ll likely take this mid to late round because I’m not big on it.
Shambling Attendants. These guys are everywhere in these packs. They are solid, but unexciting and expensive. I’ve spoken about this in previous weeks…go check them out here on Three Kings Loot to read my thoughts.
Glacial Stalker and Canyon Lurker are both nice Morph cards that I’m likely to prioritize. They can be played in any deck and if you can Morph them back then you get to seriously ambush your opponent and smash face. I’m a fan…and I’m increasingly a fan of the 5 colour Morph deck so I might prioritize these higher than some other cards.
Salt Road Patrol is another nice card that is relatively inexpensive and outlasts nicely. Unexciting and a tad clunky, but if you can get a +1/+1 counter on it you are likely laughing because fighting through a 3/6 (or better) is really tough..
Tusked Colossodon is another curve topper and is a pretty healthy fatty to play. I would put this down near the bottom of my selection pile, but can still be serviceable. I usually figure that for the 7 mana I spend on this guy that I would rather do a number of more impactful things, but if you need a big body, this fella will do nicely.
Alpine Grizzly is another reasonable 4/2 for 3 mana. I’m not excited for it, but I won’t be sad to see this either because it trigger Ferocious…plus 4 power is nothing to sneeze at.
Awaken the bear…umm…no thanks…
So, once again this week, it is really a non-issue. My first pick is quite clearly Siege Rhino because it outclasses everything else in this pack by a fair margin. Efficient and devastating is nice…and the Enter the Battlefield trigger is a nice addition as well. It’s hard to argue with this card and when it sees extensive play in Constructed formats you know it has to be good.
The other cards on this list are other efficient critters or provide useful upside…and Swiftwater Cliffs enables a whole ton of interesting deck options if you go down the 5 colour deck road. One of the interesting pieces I’ve started to see in these decks is that when there are no really good choices for you to draft and you can opt to take a land card, you’ll grab the land. If this becomes an early strategy in Pack 1 you have opened the door for a deck where the upwards power level is extremely high because you can honestly select the most powerful you see at every pick from there on afterwards, making a very reliable strategy. Now, this will likely dry up as more people get on board this and get wise to the ploy, but at this relatively early stage of things it feels like a perfectly viable strategy and route to success.
Well, there we go. We have another pretty diverse Khans pack and a nice new Siege Rhino to rumble with. Sweet! I’ll keep crossing my fingers for a few other sweet treats to come my way, but on the whole this was a nice pack and well worth the time to sit down and have look at it.
Until next week, may you open nothing but Mythic Rares…have a great one ladies and gents!
By Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791 on Twitter
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters
Fresh of my weekend of playing entirely too much Magic at an event, and getting a bonus chance to draft the Khans format, I was all excited this week to sit down and crack a pack and see what we find. The format is super fun and I can’t wait to get another crack at it, but in the meantime this will need to suffice for me. Let’s crack open our pack and see what we find this week!
Wow, just my luck. This is a tough pack to work with because there are so few creatures. There are only two creatures to look at in this pack and neither of them are super noteworthy. Are they bad creatures? No. But you certainly aren’t going to First pick either of them. So, you are going to prioritize things slightly different in this pack.
Our rare today is How of the Horde. I’ve been kind of down on this card for a while now because it just feels like a bad Fork spell. I got spoiled by Fork as a young player…and Reverberate was very similar. Both of those were 2 mana (granted double Red) and at Instant speed. This is 3 mana and a sorcery meaning it is significantly less versatile and much slower. Now, it could combo off something crazy with some Jeskai Prowess triggers (unless I have misunderstood how this copy effect works) but I would like to look at it in the context of this pack. This COULD copy such things as the Take Up Arms and net you 6 tokens. Or it could copy the Rush of Battle or Swift Kick you some added value. All of these cards could wheel and might make this a valuable pick, but I’m not overly fond of going this route because it takes a lot of set up to make this card good. I’m more likely to pass on it and move to something else.
The card that actually drew my attention first was Nomad Outpost. The reason it got my attention is because I learned from my experience, and watching a few other drafters play on Twitch, that mana fixing is huge in this format and that prioritizing land early in the draft is fairly key. This Nomad Outpost enables you to go the Mardu route, but it also enables Jeskai as well, meaning that it could be a very useful addition in this pack. Besides, you have the remaining 3 full packs to try and find spells to cast and if this pack is a bit on the weak side it might be the best play just to grab the land and work on building the consistency of the deck.
Debilitating Injury grabs my attention next because of what it offers. It is inexpensive, reliable, removal that just crushes Morph cards. It may as well read “Morph Hate” on the text line. With the high number of Morphs circulating around in the format it is a good idea to have a couple of these handy to take them out before they flip and really cause trouble. It can also shrink down something much large down to a manageable size so you can block it more profitably. This isn’t idea, but may be your only way of dealing with something big like an Abzan Guide or something.
Stubborn Denial is a super-efficient counter spell that will most likely become relevant in some sort of Constructed format because it costs 1 mana. Spell Pierce was the same some way and has become a staple in Modern. However, you are much less likely to have the 4 power creature on board to trigger the Ferocious on this to counter something out-right in your draft deck making this somewhat conditional, but still very good.
I haven’t given up on Take Up Arms. I know it isn’t Raise the Alarm or Triplicate Spirits, but I have hope that any card that produces three tokens is a strong addition to a deck. It could synergize nicely with some of the other tribal Warrior cards. It might be a trap because it might be too slow to be overly relevant, but if Hordling Outburst can be good, I feel like this could be good too.
Leaping Master is a “Bear” that can gain flying if you get stuck. He’s a little underwhelming but could be tricky to cope with if you can make him a little bigger and then pay to make his fly each turn. Flying isn’t overly prevalent in this set and the fact that this card gets some measure of evasion really makes this guy’s stock climb.
Disdainful Stroke lets you counter their most relevant spells for a mere two mana. You KNOW this is Constructed worthy because it pretty well hits every Planeswalker currently in Standard and most of the most relevant spells. Now, an Aggro or Burn deck can make this useless quite readily, but in Limited the logic still applies. Most of the biggest bombs your opponent wants to play are 4+ mana and the ability to set them back for a mere 2 mana is very appealing.
Rush of Battle could be kind of funny if you can grab the Take Up Arms early, and then find this late to capitalize on the synergy between the warrior tokens and this spell. It is still kind of slow and clunky at 4 mana and Sorcery speed, but you might not care.
Sagu Archer is a very reasonable creature that is actually quite valuable because it also packs Morph. That makes it very versatile and a very real play to make on turn 3 to build your board presence. The Reach is relevant as well once it flips but is otherwise fairly vanilla.
Swift Kick is Instant speed removal…sort of…and I still don’t like it. It’s 4 mana and the fact that it doesn’t boost the toughness of your creature makes it kind of unappealing. I would look at this very late in the round.
Naturalize is 100% a sideboard card. Enough said.
Jungle Hollow and Tranquil Cove are both very appealing for the same sort of reasons as the Nomad Outpost. Access to the correct combination of mana is hugely important and has started to push the relative value of these cards in Draft quite a bit higher. The fact that there are two in this pack alone shows just how prevalent these lands are, and consequently how relevant they are to your deck. Don’t overlook these guys.
Jeskai Banner. Pass. Slow. Not good enough. End of discussion.
So, this pack has lead me to an interesting choice where the Rare doesn’t really figure in the equation. Do I want the cheap and efficient Morph Killer, or the land to build options and consistency? I feel like I want the land for the sake of consistency and the options it affords. Injury is a good card but I can assure you I’ll see a few more copies of that before the draft is over so I had better grab the land and make use of it to ease the mana burden on the deck and build in some inherent consistency. These sorts of packs always make for the most difficult choices because I could conceivable go a number of different directions quite happily but I feel like the Outpost is the safest, most reliable options afforded out of this pack.
Well there we have another pack of Khans and another very tough choice. What are you guys finding? Is drafting the lands as crucial as I seem to think or do you routinely stumble into the cards and mana you need on your own as the draft progresses? Would you have grabbed the Rare in this pack? Would you have picked something else entirely? Shoot me a tweet and let me know so we can all help each other start to sort out this very tricky draft format.
Thanks very much for reading again this week…and until next time may you open nothing but mythic bomb rares.
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791 on Twitter
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters
Well, happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my friends here North of the 49th! May you have eaten too much turkey, pumpkin pie, and other delicious foods and enjoyed every moment with your friends and family. To my friends in the United States and elsewhere, you may need to wait a few more weeks, but I have no doubt it will be just as awesome for you as it was for us up here in chilly Canada.
As some of you might be aware, I recently wrote about being invited to my Local Game Store’s quarterly invitational. By virtue of having placed second at the M15 pre-release with my brother we had an automatic entry and we had both decided to seize the opportunity and play out this event. The format was a 5 rounds of Standard with a cut to the top 24. The top 24 would then play 3 rounds of Draft with a cut to top 8…and a boat load of prizes. It was a who’s-who of MTG players in and around Ottawa and the event was pretty high caliber.
My brother and I knew we were both in tough as we sat at a nearby restaurant registering our decks. I’m very much a Casual player, or at best a Limited player, but this was something completely different. My brother is more into Modern or our Casual stuff as well, so he also felt a little out of place. The fact that the caliber of the other players was much higher than normal was also slightly disconcerting and something we certainly had to keep in mind.
One of the most important features of these sorts of events is in monitoring the goals you set for yourself. In our place we had it pretty easy because we had a free entry and just had to show up and play. In essence we were playing with house money! But this could have been a super difficult day if we had not set for ourselves realistic goals to help define what constituted success. My brother sat there and said that winning two rounds and going 2-3 on the 5 rounds of constructed would be perfectly reasonable. He knew this was unlikely to give him a place in the top 24, and that was fine by him. This was a modest goal and really helped set the tone for his day. On my end I just wanted a single match win. I very much was running a home brew and wanted to land 1 win and anything else beyond that was gravy. Again, modest goals so as to assure that I didn’t disappoint…which may have been selling myself short…but giving myself lots of opportunities to meet that modest goal.
For those curious, I ran an Abzan deck very similar to the deck I posted here on Three Kings Loot last week (Ed’s note: We had issues with the blog causing certain delays). There were a few little tweaks, but you get the idea of the idea. My day started and I played against a very tough Mardu deck. My brother was running a similar build with Rabblemasters, Butcher of the Horde, and Stormbreath Dragon and then plenty of hate. In game 1 I got my opponent pretty handily with the Fleecemane Lion/ Rakshasa Deathdealer beat down plan and we moved to game 2 pretty quickly. Post sideboard I was in trouble. Multiple Thoughtseizes crippled my hand and the Rabblemaster tokens being sacked to the Butcher pretty much made short work of me. Game 3 was close but again, too many Butchers on his side…and not enough removal on my end. I was 0-1 but feeling like I had been in that match and had a chance to beat it if I were to see it again later in the day.
Round 2 had me get the Bye. Yup…the Bye. I’ll take the free win ensuring that, at least on paper, I got a win. It isn’t the same as ACTUALLY winning a game, but I’ll take it considering the environment.
Round 3 saw me paired with a U/G devotion deck that went SOOOOO far over the top with the mana that I didn’t have a chance. When a deck can Genesis Hydra for 17(!) and tutor up a Hornet Queen you KNOW you’re in big trouble. It was over very quickly (Thank goodness) and I moved on with life. I was 1-2 at this point and feeling kind of lousy.
Round 4 I was up against a Jeskai deck of some sort. I’m not sure quite what type of deck it was because my opponent stumbled on his white land in both games and I never really saw much of it. I, on the other hand, was well on the road to beating down with Fleecemane Lions and Siege Rhinos. I was done with 32 minutes remaining on the game clock and was back a very respectable 2-2 and had my first true match win.
Prior to round 5 they posted the standings and I was just outside of the top 24 and it likely meant that win and I was in. With that thought in mind I sat down to face my opponent and was ready for just about anything. What transpired was NOT what I expected. My opponent was on a Jund-y walkers deck of some sorts. Lots of Sarkhan, Chandra, Lilianna, and Xenagos, the Reveler, but I didn’t see a Nissa or Garruk…or much else really apart from a bunch of Coursers of Kruphix. In Game 1 I got a win off Elspeth and her ridiculous Soldier token production. Game 2 was long and grindy, but I came out on the wrong side of that exchange. In game three I was back on the Fleecemane and Siege Rhino beat down plan and found myself securing a win. I was 3-2! And sure enough, I was in 23rd place!
So, at this point I was already tired and had been at this a long time on Saturday. However, being given a chance to draft Khans first hand, for FREE, was just too good to turn up. So, I sat down in my pod and started the draft. For those of you who have never drafted in a competitive setting before (i.e. with time limits, everyone drafting at EXACTLY the same time, and registering what you pull) I’m glad that isn’t how many of my drafts go. It was tense! I also feel like I was rushed to make some of my selections and would have preferred a little more time. To make matters better one guy full on rare drafted. Anything rare, foiled, or mildly of valuable this guy snapped up with no regard for building any sort of deck. After we were done he stood up and told the judge that he was dropping right then and there. The other 7 of us in our pod were pretty upset because we all got stiffed on a couple of good cards for our decks. Sure, we ALL got stiffed in the same sort of ways and there are no rules preventing him from doing that, but it still doesn’t make you feel very good.
My draft started with a Necropolis Fiend but I ended up in Mardu and running the Fiend just because I could. It was hardly a work of art, but it felt reasonable, if somewhat underpowered. I won the first round and was really pleased with life and thought I had an outside chance at finishing top 16 and perhaps grabbing one of the prizes. However, between rounds 1 and 2 the judge asked to see my deck. Apparently I forgot to register one of my lands (my Wind-Scarred Crag) and on paper was running a 39 card deck. I apologized profusely and made the correction. I then in turned asked what were the consequences (thinking this would be a warning or something relatively minor). The judge informed me that I was taking a game loss to start the next round…meaning I had to win BOTH games if I wanted to stay undefeated at the Draft portion. I’m not one to complain much about referees and judges because I’ve refereed high end competitive hockey for 20 years and know that even mistakes ought to be punished, but this one felt stiff. It was an honest mistake and was easily corrected and a little leniency perhaps would have been appreciated. However, I didn’t complain, took my penalty and sat down for my next match…where I was promptly blown out. Round3 didn’t go much better and I ended up 4-4 on my day and in 20th spot.
If you had told me at the start of the day that I was going to finish 20th out of 60 odd players I would have told you to lay off the Vodka that early in the morning. However, by the end of the day, where I had a chance to hit top 16 if I secured 1 more win and let it slip away was pretty tough to watch. I was still pretty pleased with myself and glad that I attended the event, but it was a crazy long day. To be good for that long and to be mentally alert for every game is tough and makes it all the more impressive to watch the guys at the pro tour do it time and time again.
The Abzan midrange decks that ran all the mana dorks struggled in our event on the weekend (despite seeing Ari Lax win out with the deck at the Pro-Tour). The number of mana dorks clogged up the deck and couldn’t really help combat things like Butcher of the Horde, Stormbreath Dragon, or even the Rabblemasters out there. The more aggressive Abzan builds full of Fleecemane Lions and Rakshasa Deathdealers fared better because they could come out of the gate faster. They relied less on the ramp because the Abzan deck relies on resolving efficient beaters over and over again and forcing an opponent to be on the defensive. By having mana dorks, particularly in the late game, you often just draw dead cards and don’t have enough to do with all that mana.
Utter End, while very versatile, just costs too darn much. I had a pair in my sideboard and didn’t once even contemplate siding them in because there are SOOO many other things I’d rather do with 4 mana. You know what deals with threats just as well? Thoughtseize/Despise because it just makes the card vanish and not cost you 4 mana later in the game.
Judge Calls: yes, I had a run in with the judge (and didn’t much like the ruling) but all day long the same players kept having to call the judge over to have him sort out issues. I managed to play 7 rounds and have 0 judge calls apart from a deck registering issue. The moral of the story here is speak clearly and clearly identify to your opponent what you are doing. Take your time…you end up wasting far more of it by having to call over a judge. And above all, just think clearly about what you are doing before you do it. When mistakes get made is when judges seemed to get called over most frequently…and typically for very minor things that are 100% avoidable if you think it through step by step.
In the draft format I learned that Khans provides a very complex environment. The versatility of the Morph cards makes it very difficult to assess what is the best choice, and it also makes it tricky to determine when to play your Morph. I generally got the sense that more Morphs was better than fewer, but that really is about the extent on the Morph issue. I will need a few more cracks at it to really get a sense which direction it ought to be.
Tormenting Voice is a bust. I picked it because I was looking for a way to dig for cards and thought in the later stages I would want to pitch a land and dig for answers with it. In the 6 games I played I drew it numerous times…and only cast it once. I was hardly impressed and would have rather had something…almost anything… in my deck.
Necropolis Fiend is the real deal. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to hit enough mana to cast it, but with the Delve mechanic I was able to get there a number of times, even in a Mardu deck. However, every opponent I played was terrified of it and before I could untap with it I found the Fiend being removed (usually by suspension field).
2 vs 3 colour decks. I would have been better off playing a 2 colour deck and feel like 2 colour decks offer a lot of consistency. I should have dropped the Red from my deck and just played a B/W deck and passed on the Red. I really wanted to try and push the Ponyback Brigade and the Hordling Outburst (both of which were very good for me) but the rest of my red was poor and not really worth it. So, don’t force yourself to play a third colour…it isn’t a requirement despite it being a Wedge set and sometimes consistency is better than more power.
Suspension field. This is premium removal and is every where! It’s 2 mana and hits just about everything…and certainly everything relevant in the draft format. I grabbed a pair on back to back picks mid-draft and was by no means disappointed. This just did work, shut out my opponent, and was just what the doctor ordered. Here’s my Draft deck
Well, that’s my recap and some of my impressions on the Draft and Constructed environments as we head into life with Khans. There are lots of good things to come and I can’t wait to get another crack at the draft format again because it feels super cool. I can’t complain with the results of my day and generally how it went except that I wish I had fared a little better to wrap up the day. Oh well…for a day with a free invitation I can’t complain much.
Thanks for reading this week. I’m prepping a Crack a pack that I hope to put the finishing touches on it later this week, but things are starting to pick up in the world of Khans and the possibilities are increasingly endless. Oh, and I’ve got a pair of Casual budget brews for our next Hobo night that I’m looking to share.
Until next time, keep it safe, keep it fun…keep it casual.
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791 on Twitter
The Khan is here! The Khan is here! Ok…maybe not quite…but that’s what I wanted to yell when I finally had a chance to crack some Khans and play with the new shiny toys. Oh boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy! I’ll spare you waxing poetically about Khans and let’s get to the good stuff.
So, my initial reaction to this pack is BOOOO…nothing crazy sweet in this pack, but it is pretty reasonable and offers some interesting choices for cards and a tough first pick. Having not had a ton of limited experience with this set I’m working a bit in a vacuum, but I still have an idea about where I would go.
Let’s start with the rare and while the Deflecting Palm has proven to be very good in Jeskai tempo decks in Constructed, it is by no means a slam dunk for Draft. It will very likely sit dead in your hand in many games, if you draw it, and even once you do it does little to impact the board. Now, there will absolutely be situations where it is the best card you could have hoped to pull, but most of the time will be unless you’re on the Jeskai game plan and can trigger a load of Prowess triggers. I won’t discount this card from this pack, but it isn’t an automatic slam first pick.
Amongst the uncommons we have a couple of really interesting cards. Let’s start with the Charm because these are all very powerful. All three modes of this are borderline bananas and the sheer versatility of this card makes me want to jump on board. Yes, it is 3 different mana symbols to cast it, but the options this can present are remarkable. Also, with the wide range of mana fixing in this set like the common Refuge cycle, Banners, and Tri-lands (and forget about those fetches) you could easily pull this off.
Sultai Flayer is a 3/4 for 4 mana and is very versatile. While the name claims it is a Sultai creature, it can also synergize very nicely with the Temur clan because of all the 4 toughness creatures it seems to have kicking around. Gaining 4 life is pretty significant and big creatures tend to have a bit of a bulls-eye on them, so you may as well reap a little benefit from it. The 3/4 for 4 mana is also pretty efficient and gives you something to exert some good board presence.
Goblinslide is not something I’m really keen on because I don’t really want to play that has no impact on the board when I cast it, needs other pieces to trigger it (like non-creature spells) and then STILL pay 1 mana to get the Goblin token. It has its applications, but I’m not lining up for this one.
Shambling Attendants gets my attention because a 3/5 with Deathtouch is pretty solid. The casting cost on this one is not ideal, and even with the Delve it makes for a tough sell, but something this large with deathtouch basically shuts down your opponent because they will be unlikely to be keen to trade with the attendant. A little pricey, but will get a good solid look based on the impact it can have on the board.
Archer’s Parapet gets my attention pretty quickly because it is a way to help bust a board stall situation. Two mana for 0/5 is totally doable and gives you a solid barrier to hide behind while you set up your board. The fact that you can use it to deal damage in the later game is a nice bonus. The black activation is not a big drawback due to all the fixing in this set, but it is something to keep in mind as you move through your draft.
Rite of the Serpent. Well, Well…6 mana removal is back. You’ll play this and it will likely get drafted mid-round because removal is always at a premium. The thing that I like most about this card is that you get a sweet bonus of a Snake token if you take out a creature with a +/1+1 counter on it. That’s some nice value, even if it is conditional.
Weave Fate is the Divination for this set, but might be slightly better because it is at instant speed. Blue decks will want this and will be happy to grab it and play it on their opponent’s end step all game long.
Tusked Colossodon is a massive Green fatty for 6 mana. I remember when Craw Wurm was the big dumb Green fatty for 6…this guy is a significant upgrade. You won’t want this guy early but to grab him later in the round as a big defender or just a way to trigger Ferocious will earn this guy his stripes.
Mardu Banner and Swiftwater Cliffs sort of serve the same role of enabling the fixing in this set with so many demands on your mana base. The fact that these are readily available in just about every pack is good news and may mean that both of these are available later in the round. However, don’t be surprised to see these guys start disappearing earlier and earlier as people fight over the mana they want/need.
Swift Kick is an interesting take on the Green “fight” style of removal. Instant speed, and getting +1/+0 could mean you take out their creature, but you are likely working out a trade at best and leaving you down a card because they lose their creature…and you just traded your creature and a spell to do it. Also, 4 mana for this sort of effect is pretty expensive, particularly when Savage Punch is in this same set at 2 mana. This is acceptable and does see play, but it isn’t high on my list of priorities.
Rush of Battle has all the trappings of being just like Sanctified Charge except Charge is an Instant and grants First Strike and not Lifelink. The key is the Instant speed and First strike because they tip the scales and make Sanctified Charge terrific as your whole team just runs over your opponent. Rush of Battle is a sorcery, so needs to be played before combat is declared in order to even have effect, but the LifeLink doesn’t guarantee that your boys win in combat the way that Charge almost certainly ensured it. You will rarely run this and only if you are desperate for playables or ways to trigger Prowess.
Cancel is a perfectly reasonable counter spell in most formats and this set is no different. The problem becomes where do you prioritize it? I would argue that it is a mid-round pick for me, and mostly as insurance to make sure that I am packing some counter magic, but I may find that it slides further down the pick order as the format evolves.
My first pick out of this pack is quite seriously the Sultai Charm because I like the versatility of the spell and all three modes are very strong. The casting cost is a little prohibitive, but there is loads of fixing in every pack and by selecting it first you can craft your deck to support all three colours if that is the route you intend to take. However, even if you don’t play Sultai because the colours aren’t overly open, you are at least assured that you won’t have to face this down as you move through your rounds. I had considered Deflecting Palm and opted for the Charm because it is just more useful in more situations than Deflecting Palm, which is really only good in a couple of situations.
Well, there we have it as we move into the new world that is Khans draft limited and things look sweet. Even with this pack, which is pretty marginal, has a bunch of really interesting options to consider when evaluating the cards in the pack. I’m really excited for what Khans is going to offer the draft environment and help freshen up the Limited environment. I can’t wait to get my first crack at the format and see what the draft feels like to play first hand.
Thanks very much for once again reading this week and I can’t wait to see what Khans offers us as the draft and constructed formats continue to evolve and emerge. Thanks very much and may you open nothing but Mythic rares.
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791 on Twitter
So, I’m back and all bleary eyed from my Khans of Tarkir prerelease experience. Wow…what a time! Let’s get out in front of this…I didn’t do very well. I played in the Two-Headed Giant prerelease on the Sunday evening and it was packed! We ended up in the pizza joint next door for deck construction as overflow and it was nuts. With that many players it was bound to be a tough hill to climb and it was exactly as I expected. My brother, who is my usual partner, and I had a record of 2 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw. We ended up way down the standings, but had tons of fun and really didn’t feel like our record was indicative of the strength of our decks.
In the first game we were a little slow off the mark but were starting to make some headway and stabilize the board. It wasn’t helping matters that I drew land for 6 consecutive turns forcing my partner to handle the load of the work. However, just as we were turning the corner and getting things set up to really get in the match we got hit with a HUGE Icy Blast that tapped us down for 2 full turns. Needless to say, we didn’t last long because that sort of tempo play is just backbreaking. We took it on the chin and were 0-1 to start.
In game two our opponents got out to a quick start and built up some solid board presence. However, they got tentative and tried to slow roll us as they set up their kill stroke. However, when both our decks roared to life at the same time, and yet another HUGE Icy Blast later, we had them dead and kicking themselves for playing so slowly. We moved on in a very respectable 1-1.
Game 3 was a situation where we came out and dictated play reasonably well. We had strong board presence, had preserved our life total reasonably well, and generally were in good shape…until they hit us with…you guessed it…Icy Blast. Well, that was the game and we were 1-2. You may have noticed that we were just getting crushed by Icy Blast and it was doing some work. Essentially, whoever resolved Icy Blast typically won out and it proved to be a ridiculous bomb.
Game 4 we were on the beatdown plan pretty hard. We had them on the ropes pretty good and were laying waste to them pretty hard when out of nowhere came End Hostilities clearing the board. Since they knew it was coming they could follow up with some explosive creatures and very quickly we found ourselves in a hole. We just never recovered from the Board Wipe and they quickly mopped up the rest of the damage to leave us 1-3 and feeling pretty sorry for ourselves because we felt we deserved a better fate,
Game 5 was one of those games that everything went our way. We dodged all their big spells, countered or killed all the most relevant threats and generally had the run of things. However, they scrounged and wouldn’t give up and we ended up going to extra turns. In the end we drew, but it should have been a win for us…with our life total being at a ridiculous 49 life to their 2 points and all the threats in the world. We just couldn’t quite seal the deal leaving us in a draw. This sort of game leaves a bad taste in your mouth because we had the win…we could see it…we just didn’t quite get it in time. Sweet…everyone loves to be 1-3 and a draw.
It was at this point that we dropped the actual event, but we did sit down with some buddies of ours who came with us to play. They had fared much the same way we had and were way down in the standings, so they dropped too and we played them in a sort of exhibition game with our Limited decks. It was pretty fun but we pretty much ran them over quite quickly. I’ll call this a win for us, even though it doesn’t appear in the standings. 2-3 and a draw…not ideal, but fairly reasonable.
Here’s my deck:
Overall, my impression of the format was that it felt very slow. With so many tapped lands entering play to enable the wide array of colours, early pressure was super important and usually left your opponent reeling. The good news was that it was easy as pie to meet your mana requirements in terms of colours. I found that all evening I was able to cast my spells and never in need of looking for double black or double white to cast my spells…I always had it. The “Refuge” land cycle was hugely important because it was occupying a common slot in just about each booster pack and was readily available to provide the fixing that was needed. Also, casting costs seemed to be generally pretty high and did not have a ton of easy to cast 1-2 and 3 drops. The argument on the flip side was that Morph could enable a quicker play, but a 2/2 for 3 is pretty poor considering what else we can get. I’m not sure I saw Morph get used to its fullest abilities in this first go around, but it definitely looked powerful and could do some very neat things. I liked the Limited play in general, but deck construction proved very challenging as I had to balance a number of colour requirements, a reasonable curve, and generally manage the demands of straining my mana that little bit further than normal.
Icy Blast- This was a devastating card all night long. Every time it resolved it pretty assured that a winner was going to be declared soon. For limited this is a ridiculous bomb and automatic include in your deck. If you see this in a Draft, grab it, even if you aren’t in blue just to ensure you don’t need to face it down.
End Hostilities- Another disgusting bomb that messed things up. Not as scary as Icy Blast, but still very good and pretty uncool to try and face down. At least now you have the option of countering it, but it is still pretty crushing if you can hit it.
High Sentinels of Arashin- This is a disgusting bomb. A 3/4 flier for 4 mana is pretty good, but it is the additional abilities that makes it just busted. It gets +1/+1 for each creature you control with a counter on it. Cool…but in Abzan that’s EVERYTHING. This was routinely a 8/9 creature for me, and with the “Sliver-esque” feel to the Abzan it could get first strike, trample, Lifelink, or anything else really. It’s pretty crazy to say the least.
Abzan “lords”- As I said, the “Sliver-esque” ability of the Abzan to grant each other abilities can make for a devastating combination if left unchecked. It resulted in gross amounts of life gain through the Lifelink granted by Abzan Battle Priest and coupled with the High Sentinels I had a full team of disgusting, Lifelinking monsters to terrorize my opponents. I liked them and they all synergized well together.
On the whole, I liked the Outlast mechanic, but I found it very slow. Some of the other abilities, like Prowess or Ferocious ended up being easier to trigger and it was a bit of a challenge about when to spend the mana on the Outlast counter and tap the creature down versus when to keep it up to block.
Feed the Clan. Normally I would never run a card like this. Pure, unadulterated life gain is just not something I like to play, but we kept getting blown out on Icy Blast and such. So, both my brother and I main decked one of these with the express intent of firing one off to save our bacon and let us buy another turn in order to staff out getting knocked out of the match. Believe it or not, it worked. It bought us considerable time in one match and was not a dead card in another game we played. I could hardly believe it was playable. I’m still not convinced based on my small sample size, but I will be keeping an eye on it.
My MVP was Armament Corps. My opponents would always allow this to resolve thinking that it was just a 4/4, but it could target itself and be a nasty 6/6 to cope with it. However, the real benefit was in dumping the +1/+1 counters on other creatures (without utilizing their Outlast mechanic) to gain the benefits of the Abzan “lord” cards or to trigger the High Sentinels. It proved to be a terrific barrier to shut out an aggressive ground game and a great way to enable powerful plays through the synergy with other Abzan cards. This was a quiet star and one I was always glad to see turn up.
Honestly, while it was useful a couple of times, Take up Arms largely disappointed. This is not M15 limited where Triplicate Spirits and the like are defining cards. This is an expensive card that spews out some counters that could be neat if you are all aboard the Warrior-tribal theme…but I think will usually be an under performing card. 1/1 tokens just aren’t relevant enough because they don’t really trade profitably with much unless you double (or usually triple!) block a creature. I would have rather played something more powerful at 5 mana than this.
I really enjoyed the Prerelease and wished I could have played a few more over the weekend, but needless to say that wasn’t possible based on my schedule. It was a ton of fun, but it was just a glimpse of the Limited format that is going to shape up now that Khans is hitting the stores. This format seems light years more complicated and nuanced than M15 which felt very narrow and stifled, but Khans is crazy diverse and a breath of fresh air. The next several months are bound to be fun.
Well, there we have it, thanks for reading this week. I’ll be back to my usual affairs of putting together a crack a pack and I’ve got some other irons in the fire in order to brew up some new decks and some other fun things. So, stay tuned as we start to ramp up some of the brewing and news now that Khans is here.
Until next time, keep it fun, keep it safe…and most importantly keep it is Casual.
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791 on Twitter
Ok, we’ve started to see Khans roll out for us and things look spicy. M15, while cool and still the game in town is pretty tame in comparison. So, with that in mind, I thought today I’d go back in the “Way Back” machine and crack open a pack of Gatecrash. I really enjoyed Gatecrash draft and it was really my introduction to drafting and Limited play. I found the format hyper aggressive and if you stumbled even slightly you would find yourself with back against the wall and in real danger of being blown out. It was explosive, powerful, and tons of fun, so the chance to open up a pack brings back a little nostalgia and fond memories. Let’s see what we’ve opened!
This pack is pretty spicy on account of it having 2 rare cards! Everyone loves foil rares…and it is even better when they are playable like Front Line Medic. Frontline Medic is a 3/3 for 3 mana and if you can trigger the battalion can make your whole team indestructible. INDESTRUCTIBLE! In Gatecrash draft getting this to trigger was pretty easy, so this is a first pick bomb. Add in the fact that a foil is usually worth a little bit of value in terms of trade or selling it makes it a pretty appealing first choice.
Glaring Spotlight is a fun little rare that makes Hexproof creatures legal targets for spells and abilities again evening out the playing field. That alone is nice, but let’s be real, nobody is too worried about a ton of Hexproof creatures in a draft enviroment. No, this card is a sweet bomb because you can sacrifice it to make your whole team unblockable. Guaranteed blow out if you end up in a board stall situation and was worth it’s weight in gold for me in multiple drafts during Gatecrash Limited.
The Zameck Guildmage is a solid card because any of the guildmages in Return to Ravnica block are good. The fact that this one can reward you for putting counters on stuff by turning those counters into cards is pretty amazing. The fact that there is a Forced Adaptation in this pack might be the big payoff as well if you can wangle getting both.
Aetherize is a brutal way to tempo out your opponent completely. There is nothing quite like sending their whole team back to their hand and clearing the board. It reminds me very much of Aetherspouts in M15, but a little bit cheaper.
Grisly Spectacle is reasonable unconditional removal that also has a mill effect attached to it. This makes it very solid and something to consider as we move through the pack. The drawback that it is 4 mana and double black meaning you need to be pretty heavy into Black in order to really benefit from it. It’s worth the pick usually, but a tad tough to cast in this format. I’ll have you note that M15 makes it even WORSE because Flesh to Dust is 5 mana, double black, and STILL sees play in every deck playing Black. Just saying.
Spire Tracer is a nice little 1/1 with Evasion in that it has a quasi flying ability. Play this turn 1, slap Forced Adaptation on it turn 2, and you are off to the races to lay a disgusting beat down in short order. This routinely did good work me in the early part of the game and routine started pressuring my opponent’s life total.
Forced Adaptation is just the sort of aura you want to play early. It’s cheap, pumps your creature every turn, and can synergize nicely with the Zameck Guildmage and can get out of control quickly. If you are in a Green strategy this is also an auto include as a mid-round pick.
Sage’s Row Denizen and Nav Squad Commando’s are serviceable creatures that play a key role depending on your strategy. You are unlikely to prioritize these guys super highly, but they do give you solid bodies, useful abilities, and just help plug up the ground for you. They may not be flashy, but not every card in Limited is.
Purge the Profane is not something I value overly. I like making my opponent discard cards, and it is cheaper than the Skull Rend that we saw in the RTR pack a week or two ago, but for 4 mana there are other things I would rather do with my mana. The way to evaluate this card is to ask “in what situations do I want to resolve this?” When I’m behind the answer is a dead no…it doesn’t help me get back in the game in any way. When I’m developing my board I’m not keen on spending my mana on making them discard because I’d rather cast spells that help my position in front of me, not take out their hand. At parity I might be interested depending on what the situation looks like. When I’m ahead I might be more interested to ensure I force them to get rid of that potential answer in their hand. So, with me only interested in casting this card sometimes I would be unlikely to be super keen to pick this up and even less likely to play it.
Shadow Slice and Scatter Arc are both marginal spells that might be relevant if I’m short playable cards, but would not be the usual thing that interests me. The fact that Scatter Arc is limited to Noncreature cards and is 4 mana is frustrating because if I’m playing Blue I don’t want that sort of price tag or restriction on my counter spell. Shadow Slice is a fine direct damage Black spell and comes with Cipher to allow it to recur, but it doesn’t drain life and give it to my total the way Black normally deals direct damage. That makes it less appealing and something I’m more likely to pass on as well.
Finally, Aerial Maneuver is just a bad combat trick. If you have to use it to start killing stuff things have gone sideways because the upgrade is so marginal with this card that it is hardly worth the card slot in your 40 card deck. You’d almost be better off playing another land to ensure that your deck runs smoothly and without a hitch. Pass this and force it on someone because it is highly unlikely you actually want this.
First pick this week is easy. The foil rare card is a no brainer and the fact that it is actually quite a good card actually helps too. I’m all in on the Frontline Medic and will be looking to be pretty aggressive to maximize my Battalion trigger. The good news is that White pairs well with a number of colours and there are plenty of solid creatures in the format so I should be in pretty good shape. Sounds good to me!
So, there we have week 11 of our Crack a pack MTG. I always enjoyed Gatecrash because it was so hyper aggressive. Things moved fast and good deck builders and drafters were rewarded with easy wins, while control players or guys who stumbled on their mana usually ended up pretty dead fast. All in all, it was a fun format and something I would happily go back and draft again.
Thanks for reading again this week. Let me know what you would have picked out this pack by sending me a Tweet. Would you have grabbed the Foil? The Spotlight? Something else? Let me know and let’s compare notes and start the discussion to try and help us all get a little bit better. Next week I’ll be taking on final look at M15 before we start getting ready for Khans and having the draft format get turned on its head pretty quick.
Thanks for reading again this week and until next time may open nothing but Mythic bomb rares!
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters
@bgray8791 on Twitter
Welcome back to yet another Crack a Pack MTG with Bruce. Believe it or not, this is our 10th Crack a Pack! I can hardly believe it because that means we’ve been at this for 10 weeks now! We’ve seen everything from all three sets from Theros block, some Conspiracy, a little Return to Ravnica, and of course plenty of M15. It’s been fun and I can hardly wait to get started on the next 10 weeks! A big thank you goes out to the readers who take the time to stop and take a quick read at what I’ve written. Thanks very much and I hope to keep it up for all of you in the coming weeks and months. So, without further delay, let’s see what we’ve got in this pack!
On the whole, I’m pretty excited about this pack because there are a number of quality cards in this pack. There are also some HUGE duds, but I think the premium cards in this pack outweigh the bad ones by a fair margin.
Let’s start with our Rare, Life’s Legacy. This is an interesting card that might have some interesting ramifications because it can enable mass card draw in Green, meaning it could be useful. However, I need to ask myself, in exactly what scenario do I want to play this card? If i’m losing? No…because I’m likely needing to sacrifice one of my blockers, and that won’t help me win the war. If I’m just starting the game? No…not likely…because the creature is likely to be smallish, and I would rather get off to fast start than try to draw a few extra cards by sacrificing a creature. What if we’re in a stalled board state or one with no clear leader? Doubtful, although I won’t rule it out. I might like the extra cards if the blocker that is holding them back is reasonably safe and I can spare a creature to sacrifice in order to eek out a little more advantage. However, sacrificing my creature is likely going to set me back in real terms on the board and run the risk of me breaking the board stall…but in the wrong direction meaning I’ll soundly get thrashed. Lastly, if I’m leading, this might be a reasonable card so that I don’t run out of gas. Basically, it is a bad card in a number of scenarios, and marginally playable in a number more meaning that I probably don’t want to take this first. If it comes around the table, and in this pack it just might because the relative strength of the pack, THEN I might take a chance on it, otherwise I’ll go in a different direction for my first pick.
Kird Chieftain grabs my attention as being a very solid creature. If you are prepared to play Red/Green this is a can’t miss BOMB. A 4/4 for 4 mana is already very good, but the extra activated ability makes this guy a real menace. The sheer strength of this card makes it very appealing and can make your team tough to deal with. In most packs this is a slam dunk, but there are a number of other interesting cards in this pack.
Triplicate Spirits is in this pack and you can’t overlook it. Draft results are showing that Triplicate Spirits just crushes games because the three fliers just break open almost any board state. The synergy with Selfless Cathar or Sanctified Charge is unmistakable and the net result is an absolute beat down of pretty significant proportions. This was routinely picked first at the Pro Tour and with good reason, and so I would need to look at it. The drawback with this card is that I get the sense that White is over drafted because EVERYONE wants in on the Triplicate Spirits/Sanctified Charge game plan and so you might be in competition for the same cards. However, to pass the Spirits means you are FOR SURE going to see it played against you, so you might be well served just to grab it and try to make White happen, but be 100% prepared to switch colours in you sense that you are being cut from White pretty hard.
Sanctified Charge is the other half of the combo, and it is also in this pack. It isn’t a first pick, but I’d love to grab both cards out of this pack and ensure that I’m on the game plan.
A few weeks ago I raved about Quickling, and I’m still a big fan. Flying “bears” are awesome threats, and if I can recur something, ANYTHING, by bringing it back to my hand, well, I’m pretty sold on this card. It isn’t the flashiest of cards but it is reliable, packs evasion, and is efficient for my mana investment. This is a first pick in some packs, but not this one, although it would get some serious attention.
Caustic Tar seems like a lousy card because it enchants a land for 6 mana. However, it is a great way to break a stalemate by ensuring you have a safe and sure method of delivering 3 damage a turn. That puts your opponent on a relatively quick clock and can help you to salt away those grindy games that seem to have no obvious way to wind up.
Blastfire Bolt is super expensive removal, but later in the round you will need removal and this just might be something you have to grab. You won’t be excited, but you’ll do it and you’ll be thankful you did when you can BBQ some threat on your opponent’s side of the board.
Zof Shade, Glacial Crasher, and Soulmender are reasonable creatures, but none of them get me excited. They are role players and interchangeable so I won’t be overly concerned if I grab one much later.
Invisibility, Clear a Path, and Hunter’s Ambush are all very narrow cards and not overly useful. These would be the last cards in this pack that I’d be looking at and would be hoping an opponent would mistakenly grab one of these useless cards in this pack allowing me a second chance at something better once it wheels around.
In the end, it comes down to 2 cards, namely Kird Chieftain and Triplicate Spirits. In this instance I am going to have to side with Ben Stark who first picked this at the Pro Tour over a number of very good cards. The reason is simple: I can’t let my opponent get a hold of this. I don’t want to spend first pick hate drafting, but the fact remains this card is exceptionally powerful and if you can grab a Sanctified Charge to pair along with it you are going to steal a number of games. Now, IF I can make White work, I’ll be very happy and my first pick is not just about hate drafting, but the competition for White is often stiff so I will need to be prepared to move colours quickly if I’m cut off from White. If I move colours I will not be sad to have the Spirits in my pile ensuring that I will not need to face it down the road in the deck of one of my opponents. I would very much like to be in White and then pair it with something else, but if I can’t I won’t force it too much. I’ll be sad to let the Chieftain go because it is a bomb, but I almost feel like it is easier to cope with even though it is much larger…it dies to a single removal spell…while the Spirits become a nightmare once the spell resolves.
There we have it…week 10 in the books! What do you think? Should I have rolled the dice on the Life’s Legacy? The Chieftain? The Quickling? Or am I well served grabbing the Spirits and moving on? Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear all about it.
Next week I’m not sure what I’ll open…M15 is cool and all, but it feels like it is starting to get a little stale. Maybe I’ll get back in my “Way Back” machine and see if I can find a retro pack of some sort, just to liven things up a little. I don’t know…let me think on it and I’ll let you know.
Once again, thanks for reading and until next time, may you open nothing by Mythic bombs.
by Bruce Gray – Casual Encounters @bgray8791 on Twitter
