Hi all! Last night I didn't play but I came along to watch the draft. I figured I could make myself useful and watch Jim's picks, so without further ado, let's go:
Pack 1:
P1: Stoic Angel, Bull Cerodon, Tidehollow Strix and Drumhunter are possible picks. I see an Excommunicate and a Ridge Rannet in there too so I wholeheartedly agree with Jim's picking of the Bull Cerodon.
P2: Soul's Fire, Knight of the Skyward Eye, Bloodpyre Elemental, Archdemon of Unx and Resounding Roar fill up a strong pack and Jim looks between the first two, picking up the Knight of the Skyward Eye. I'm not 100% sure on this but both cards are very strong. I like picking up as much removal as I can though.
P3: Drumhunter is taken in a pack also containing Akrasan Squire, Rip Clan Crasher, Bant Panorama and Bone Splinters. Some good in-colour cards are having to be shipped, but power is being taken and I love the Drumhunter.
P4: Jungle Shrine looks great for the deck, but what are Tower Gargoyle and Executioner's Capsule still doing in there? Tower Gargoyle is the best uncommon/common in the set so I don't know how three rares got in that pack. Not good enough to switch away from what looks like a good deck that's open for Jim though.
P5: Bone Splinters is taken over Mosstodon, Jund Battlemage and Steward of Valeron. I really disagree with this as it is a whole extra colour but mostly because 5 power guys doesn't like to sac creatures.
P6: A boring pack here. Thorn-Thrash Viashino is taken over Goblin Deathraiders and ... Marble Chalice? I dunno, mise well take the in-colour card for signals.
P7: Naya Battlemage is great and we notice a Waveskimmer Aven and Bant Obelisk still in there, suggesting White Green is the more open side of Naya.
P8: Cylian Elf and Dregscape Zombie suggest people don't like taking playable creatures but Resounding Silence gives Jim some of the removal he was lacking.
P9: Pack 1 comes back to us, and the Drumhunter has wheeled... The Ridge Rannet, Excommunicate and a Naya Obelisk are also in there, but the Mana Accelerant and Card Drawing POWERHOUSE gets ripped out of the pack with a shake of the head.
P10: Jim takes a Cavern Thoctar and it's between that and the Resounding Roar - I guess getting the Fatties in now is a good idea as there is plenty of time for the intermediary creatures and this Thoctar is late in the packs.
P11-P15: Wild Leotau, Etherium Astrolabia, Savage Hunger, Godtoucher, Swamp *yawn*. I disagreed with the Godtoucher over the Prince of Thralls searchy guy because some people play those terrible things (3 for 1-ing yourself is not good) and they can be hard to deal with.
Pack 2:
P1: Manaplasm is staring back at us which is a card I love, but a Resounding Thunder is in there and is much needed. Also in there are Sprouting Thrinax, Sigiled Paladin, Knight of the Skyward Eye and Rakeclaw Gargantuan, so I think Jim would rather be playing Sealed.
P2: Woolly Thoctar, thanks very much. A Bloodpyre Elemental and Jungle Weaver were also in there.
P3: Foil Knight of the Skyward Eye, Wild Nacatl, Bone Splinters and Jungle Weaver are some of the few playables here. The Knight gets the nod, which is eminently correct having 2 Drumhunters in there already.
P4: Algae Gharial is a good pick with Jund Battlemage and Fleshbag Marauder also in the pack. I think at this point Jim needs to (and looks like he's chosen to) ignore the Black completely as there are too many good white cards in his pool.
P5: Magma Spray good, everything else in the pack bad.
P6: Rockcaster Platoon is a pet card of mine that gets picked up here. Also in are Excommunicate, Relic of Progenitus, Volcanic Submersion and a very late Fatestitcher.
P7: Welkin Guide gets the nod over Bant Obelisk and Grixis Panorama. We really need some manafixing, but Conflux is rich with it and Welkin Guide is solid at getting the big guys in for damage.
P8: Coma Veil or Windskimmer Aven? Aven gets picked but we're basically just taking cardboard now.
P9: Oh wait, Court Archers, Sigilied Paladin and Angelic Benediction are still in here. Is Jim just opening better cards than everyone else? Court Archers is a great pick as fatties can lack flying defence, even if you won't be attacking with just 1 guy a lot.
P10-15: Incurable Ogre, Relic of Progenitus, Cunning Lethemancer, Vectis Silencers, Shore Snapper, Forest.
Pack 3:
P1: Exploding Borders, Sacellum Archers, Manaforce Mace and oh, wait, Martial Coup? Sack!
P2: Inkwell Leviathan, Gluttonous Slime, Celestial Purge and Drag Down are all alright but Sylvan Bounty is taken and I nod sagely.
P3: Scarland Thrinax is cool, as is the very slow Manaforce Mace, but Nacatl Hunt-Pride is sick.
P4: Drag Down, Ignite Disorder (that'll table, thought I) and Might of Alara are all playables but Rupture Spire is needed.
P5: Aerie Mystics, Armilliary Sphere and Exploding Borders are present. Jim takes the Borders but I'm convinced the Sphere is better as you might get random domain cards and Matca Rioters fit the deck greatly with 5 basics out.
P6: Worldheart Phoenix is what I would take, having taken the Sphere in the last pick. Gluttonous Slime just doesn't do enough in this deck, so a second Exploding Borders is taken. We've filled out on good manafixing now, which is always nice. Note that the Borders is actually fine in the big guys deck because when you've hit 4 mana is when you want to Rampant Growth into the big stuff. Normally having a Rampant Growth attached to your Lava Axe is alright but not great but here the Rampant Growth does happen at the right time.
P7: Paragon of the Amesha is really good and punishes not taking the Sphere. Still gets taken over a Gleam of Resistance and Might of Alara.
P8: All the boosters start to look the same now, with Nacatl Savage, Lapse of Certainty and Sedraxis Alchemist. The Alchemist gets picked here - you don't want to face it and don't really need the Savage to beat Esper.
P9: See the previous pack, although there was an Aven Trailblazer in there which would have been great for the deck.
P10: Yoke of the Damned gets hated out. There was the terrible Mana Cylix and the pants Quenchable Fire that could have been board material. Yoke is definitely a card to take away from someone else though.
P11-15: Nacatl Savage, Ignite Disorder (tabled), Frontline Sage, Valiant Guard, Swamp.
Decklist:
2x Knight of the Skyward Eye
Naya Battlemage
Woolly Thoctar
Paragon of the Amesha
Court Archers
Incurable Ogre
2x Drumhunter
Algae Gharial
Welkin Guide
Bull Cerodon
Cavern Thoctar
Nacatl Hunt-Pride
Rockcaster Platoon
Magma Spray
Sylvan Bounty
Ignite Disorder
Resounding Thunder
Resounding Silence
2x Exploding Borders
Marital Poo
Jungle Shrine
Rupture Spire
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Forest
4 Mountain
5 Plains
*Ninja Edit* Jim won his pod, doing stick stuff like turn 3 Thoctar, turn 4 and 5 Drumhunters, draw loads and crush. I saw him win with Martial Coup still in hand a couple of times too, filthy.
I may well me hanging up my sleeves until June 10th as that is when the ratings are taken down for Nats qualification. I need to see exactly what my rating is when everything I've played in has processed to be sure. I will, however, continue to attend WNMs for fun and giggles, so if anyone would like a report done on their draft please let me know in advance and I'd love to jot down your picks and stuff :)
*Pirate Edit* I can't think of a good name for this column - any ideas?
*Zombie Caveman Robot Edit* Got one
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