Alara Reborn Draft Walkthrough #1
June 19, 2009
This is from a Shards of Alara – Conflux – Alara Reborn draft in the Swiss queue on Magic Online.
Pack 1 pick 1:
Not much here. I took the most powerful card. I thought about taking Cloudheath Drake since Esper is so good. However, Grixis Charm is so much better. Plus, I didn’t mind dumping my first pick if Grixis got cut off.
Pack 1 pick 2:
I like to stay open with my early picks and read signals to reap the rewards in Alara Reborn. Therefore, I took the best card even though it doesn’t play well with my first pick.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Again, I took the best card. It looked like I might be passed G/W aggro.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Hm, looked like a big signal to me.
Pack 1 pick 5:
More signals.
Pack 1 pick 6:
I took the mana fixer and accelerator. Druid of the Anima helps Naya achieve those fast big fatty draws, where you go turn two Druid, turn three Rhox Brute, and turn four Rakeclaw Gargantuan .
Pack 1 pick 7:
Removal in my colors.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Pack 1 pick 9:
I almost picked Cylian Elf but the flyer seemed to be the better pick. I can get early drops in later packs.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Pack 1 pick 11:
Pack 1 pick 12:
Pack 1 pick 13:
Pack 1 pick 14:
Pack 1 pick 15:
Pack 2 pick 1:
It’s always nice to open a money rare in your colors.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Stayed with the fatty plan. With Wild Leotau, Woolly Thoctar, Druid of the Anima, and Noble Hierarch, I have a good chance at some pretty busted draws.
Pack 2 pick 3:
I actually like these guys better than Dark Temper if I’m not playing black permanents.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Pack 2 pick 5:
I have a fair amount of cards in all the Naya colors so I took the fixer in one of my main colors.
I like to only have two main colors and one or two splash colors. This strategy makes my mana base more consistent and allows more aggressive starts.
I still didn’t know if white or red would be my second main color. White was definitely the top candidate since I had Akrasan Squire, Welkin Guide, and Knight of the Skyward Eye. Still, the Knight and the flyer are splashable if I got passed a lot of good red cards.
Pack 2 pick 6:
Armillary Sphere should be good in this deck since I need a lot of mana to play my fatties.
Pack 2 pick 7:
This spell should be removal most of the time. And with this pick, white was definitely my second main color.
Pack 2 pick 8:
Pack 2 pick 9:
Pack 2 pick 10:
Pack 2 pick 11:
Pack 2 pick 12:
Pack 2 pick 13:
Pack 2 pick 14:
Pack 2 pick 15:
Pack 3 pick 1:
Pack 3 pick 2:
Qasali Pridemage is so good because it wrecks Esper, which most top players consider to be the best shard. Plus, it’s just a good beater to go along with Akrasan Squire.
Pack 3 pick 3:
I wasn’t sure if the rare was worth much. I checked classifieds to see the price but I kept mispelling the card lol. Soon, it got close to time so I just picked it since I felt I had enough playables. I found out later it was worth 2 tix, which is good enough for me.
Pack 3 pick 4:
I took the 3/3 over the 5/4 to keep my curve low.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Pack 3 pick 6:
More fixing to make my mana more stable. Plus, I’ll more than likely be playing Valley Rannet instead of landcycling it, since I can hit six mana pretty easily with Noble Hierarch, Druid of the Anima, Armillary Sphere, and Sylvan Bounty.
And the 6/3 combos with Rakeclaw Gargantuan and Beacon Behemoth.
Pack 3 pick 7:
Tough pick. I went with consistency over splashing the G/R fatty since my deck is already pretty good. I don’t want to lose to color screw.
Pack 3 pick 8:
Pack 3 pick 9:
Pack 3 pick 10:
Pack 3 pick 11:
I was really glad to take Thought Hemorrhage since the card I would’ve picked, Rhox Brute, tabled.
Pack 3 pick 12:
Pack 3 pick 13:
Pack 3 pick 14:
Pack 3 pick 15:
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Here is the decklist I played:
| Naya Fatties | |||||||||||
Creatures (18) | Spells (5) Lands (17) Notable Sideboard Cards (4) |
| |||||||||
Match 1
G1: I went turn two Qasali Pridemage, turn three Noble Hierarch and Knight of the Skyward Eye, and turn four Beacon Behemoth. He conceded on turn five without playing a spell. I saw Arcane Sanctum, two Swamps, and one Mountain.
I sideboarded like this:
-1 Island
-1 Esper Cormorants
+1 Nacatl Savage
+1 Mountain
G2: I had another fast draw. I had two 2/2s including Qasali Pridemage while he only had Faerie Mechanist when I played Leonin Armorguard on turn four. He didn’t block which took him to 11 life.
On his next turn, he drew some cards with Couriers Capsule but that meant he couldn’t play any creatures that turn. I drew some fatties and Crystallization and eventually overwhelmed him.
Rating Change: +4 to 1651
Match 2
G1: He had removal for all my early guys but I eventually stick Beacon Behemoth. His board was Master of Etherium and 2 Court Homunculus. I finally drew a Mountain to kill Master of Etherium with Bloodpyre Elemental.
I waited to attack into his 2/2s because I had Rakeclaw Gargantuan in hand.
He couldn’t stop my first strikers.
I again sideboarded like this:
-1 Island
-1 Esper Cormorants
+1 Nacatl Savage
+1 Mountain
G2: He got stuck on three lands and I drew enough lands to overwhelm him with fatties.
Rating Change: +7 to 1658
Match 3
G1: I had a fast start with a turn two Druid of the Anima and a turn three Wild Leotau. I then get a two-for-one with Qasali Pridemage since he was playing artifact creatures.
He played some creatures but I had removal. Then, fatties finished him off.
I sideboarded like this:
-1 Island
-1 Esper Cormorants
-1 Celestial Purge (I didn’t see any targets.)
-1 Excommunicate
+1 Nacatl Savage
+1 Mountain
+1 Jund Sojourners
+1 Scattershot Archers
I saw two Darklit Gargoyle. That’s why I brought in Jund Sojourners and Scattershot Archers.
G2: I had Wild Leotau on turn four, but he is able to trade it for Messenger Falcons because of Ethersworn Shieldmage. That artifact creature is so good.
I played a fatty, but he cascaded into Stoic Angel with Deny Reality. Then, he played Scepter of Dominance to lock down my 4/5 reach creature, Pale Recluse.
A Tower Gargoyle on his side made my situation worse and I had to scoop to the flying beats.
I saw Tidehollow Sculler and Tower Gargoyle so I brought back Celestial Purge for Excommunicate.
G3: He had Path to Exile for my turn two Pridemage but that allowed me to play my big creatures sooner. I got a two-for-one when he double blocked a fatty. He played Vedalken Outlander to slow me down, but I just overloaded the board with creatures including Nacatl Savage.
He scooped because he couldn’t stop my Nacatl Savage + Akrasan Squire combo. All he had were artifacts on the board.
Rating Change: +6 to 1664
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