M10 Drafting Tips from Magic Pro LSV
August 5, 2009
LSV did a bunch of team drafts and shares what he learned from the experience.
A lot of people were puzzled at the lack of Safe Passage in his first pass at M10 pick orders. However, he came to the light and now ranks Safe Passage as the 3rd best white card out of the commons and uncommons.
Safe Passage is insane, and I didn’t give it the respect it deserved initially. It destroys Fireball, Earthquake, and Overrun, and is at the worst a solid 1 for 1, although usually better. I would play 2 or 3 in most decks without thinking about it, and would pick it over most commons that don’t fly or Pacify.
It’s interesting to note that he believes control is the way to go because there are so many good defensive cards.
There are so many cards that make aggro decks look like a joke, and you aren’t realistically going to close games with a bunch of 2/2s or even 2/3s for two mana.
Drudge Skeletons, Wall of Bone, Horned Turtle, Giant Spider, Palace Guard, and any creature with three toughness negate most offenses by themselves, which is why evasion is so crucial. It is perfectly viable to draft a beatdown deck, but it has to have a ton of removal, evasion or finishers (like Overrun) to be successful. I saw so many “sick” White decks with great curves and good creatures that just bombed because of some of the forementioned show-stoppers. Fliers work great, and if you have something like that Overrun, then maybe you can win some matches. If not, prepare to 1-2 or 0-3, possibly 2-1 with good draws. Centaur Courser may look good, but come turn 11 he is pretty putrid.
I thought that aggro would be better than control, but LSV has convinced me to aim for the control deck. I still think it’s good to be aggro in M10 sealed since that format is bomb driven. You want to kill them quickly before they draw their bombs or get to use them effectively.
Check out his whole article, which includes the colors he thinks are strong and a new pick order for all the commons.
Also, don’t miss this comment with has an interesting drafting strategy.
2 Responses to “M10 Drafting Tips from Magic Pro LSV”
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I’m not a fan of limited M10. At GP Boston last weekend, doing well relied so much on many random factors. Card pool is so important. A lot of luck seems to be involved. If you rip your big cards, like overrun, you win. Too many cards that just win.
Yeah, I think M10 sealed is too random, but M10 draft seems balanced. I’ve only done one draft and it definitely felt more skill intensive than sealed.