Shards of Alara Draft Walkthrough #1
December 9, 2008 | Posted by Dee
This is from a triple Shards of Alara draft in the 4-3-2-2 queue on Magic Online.
Pack 1 pick 1:
My drafting philosophy is to avoid picking three color cards with my first pick unless the card is super powerful like Cruel Ultimatum. Therefore, I didn’t go for Bant Charm or Grixis Battlemage. I ended up choosing between Bloodpyre Elemental and Skullmulcher. I’ve never actually played Skullmulcher and the few times I played against it, it didn’t seem too strong. I went with the red card because it’s good in all the shards with red. Skullmulcher, while a solid card, seems only really good in Jund and I wasn’t sure if Jund was open.
Pack 1 pick 2:
With no bombs in this pack, it made no sense to go after another color when I can stay in red with a solid removal spell.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Same reasoning as my previous pick. I thought about taking Scourge Devil but I like to keep my mana curve low. Plus, the two red cards seem close to the same power level.
Pack 1 pick 4:
I didn’t take Bant Charm. I found that it’s hard to splash a fourth color these days because many people are taking mana fixers with early picks. To stay within a shard with red, I could’ve taken Welkin Guide, Cylian Elf, or the land. Cylian Elf is mediocre and Welkin Guide is not a good enough card for me to go to Naya. At least the land keeps me open for Jund or Naya.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Topan Ascetic seemed like a signal to me. He was the best card in the pack and he left me open to Naya or Jund.
Pack 1 pick 6:
I probably should’ve taken the land. I hadn’t seen a lot of black so black wasn’t open. And Goblin Deathraiders is really only good in a heavy black deck because you want to play it on turn 2, which means you need a lot of black mana sources. Even if I end up in Jund, the land allows me to splash a white or blue card.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Guardians of Akrasa is solid and all the other playables were not in Naya or Jund. I don’t like playing Obelisks unless I absolutely have to.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Nothing here so I took the rare worth about one tix. If the rare was a crap rare, I would’ve taken Dispeller’s Capsule for my sideboard.
Pack 1 pick 9:
If I was in Bant, I would’ve taken the exalted guy. His shroud ability can actually be relevant.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Hate draft.
Pack 1 pick 11:
Gift of the Gargantuan is solid in Naya. It helps you hit your land drops to play your fatties and if you happen to open a bomb creature, it allows you to draw it more quickly.
Pack 1 pick 12:
Godtoucher is a pretty bad card but he can be playable if you have enough five power guys. I don’t like Lightning Talons in Naya. It’s better in a Jund token deck.
Pack 1 pick 13:
Pack 1 pick 14:
Pack 1 pick 15:
Pack 2 pick 1:
This pick seemed straightforward. Knight of the Skyward is the perfect two drop for a Naya deck. He’s easy to cast. He works well with cards like Drumhunter, Soul’s Fire, Mosstodon, and Rakeclaw Gargantuan.
Pack 2 pick 2:
I was hoping for something better in my colors for my second pick in pack two but the Giant Growth would have to do.
Pack 2 pick 3:
Resounding Silence seems better than Welkin Guide. I usually go for removal over a creature unless that creature is a bomb.
Pack 2 pick 4:
More removal.
Pack 2 pick 5:
Nothing else in my colors. Thorn-Thrash Viashino is mediocre in Naya unless you have a lot of Dragon Fodder or Elvish Visionary.
Pack 2 pick 6:
Dragon Fodder is easier to cast than Rip-Clan Crasher. If white was my splash color, I would’ve taken Rip-Clan Crasher. However, at this point I had about the same number of cards in red, green, and white.
Pack 2 pick 7:
This is the time when you want to get an Obelisk – when there is nothing else for you in the pack.
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:
Easy pick as Battlegrace Angel is a bomb.
Pack 3 pick 2:
Drumhunter is good in Naya. I hoped to get more five power creatures.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Removal is generally stronger than pump spells. Also, I already had two pump spells.
Pack 3 pick 4:
More removal.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Cavern Thoctar works well with Drumhunter and Soul’s Fire. Plus, I had a lot of early drops so I could’ve used more expensive spells.
Pack 3 pick 6:
I usually don’t like Incurable Ogre but he combos well with Soul’s Fire and Drumhunter.
Pack 3 pick 7:
Pack 3 pick 8:
Pack 3 pick 9:
Pack 3 pick 10:
Pack 3 pick 11:
Pack 3 pick 12:
Pack 3 pick 13:
Pack 3 pick 14:
Pack 3 pick 15:
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Here’s what I ran. Click the image for a bigger picture.
I wasn’t too happy with my deck. I like to have more fixers than two. I definitely could’ve used Bant Panorama in pack 1 pick 6. If I had Bant Panorama, I would’ve cut a forest, played with Qasali Ambusher, and cut Dragon Fodder. As it was, I only played four white cards to make my mana base more stable.
Match 1
Game 1
I won the roll and elected to play. I kept this hand.
I didn’t get a third land until my fifth turn. At this point, he was tapped out and had Jund Battlemage and Scavenger Drake. I had a choice between playing Soul’s Fire, Gift of the Gargantuan, and Hissing Iguanar. I played Gift of the Gargantuan when I probably should’ve just killed his flyer.
He played Dragon Fodder on his turn. I Soul’s Fired his Jund Battlemage and ran my Crasher into two Goblin tokens. This made his flyer a 5/5 but I had Resounding Silence. However, he played around Resounding Silence by only attacking with a 1/1 Goblin token.
He finally attacked with his big flyer, but by then, Viscera Dragger had joined his attacking team. I was at 3 life because he had also played Blightning.
I played Cavern Thoctar to stop his 3/3 and 1/1 from attacking. He made a misclick and killed his 1/1 EOT by playing Jund Charm with the Pyroclasm mode.
He passed and then I played Knight of the Skyward Eye. He passed again. I attacked with Cavern Thoctar to bring him to 9 life and played Hissing Iguanar. Then, I made a horrible misplay to lose the game.
He Skeletonized my Hissing Iguanar EOT as you can see below.
I don’t know what I was thinking. I Soul’s Fired him in response targeting my 5/5. He played Branching Bolt in response to kill my Knight of the Skyward Eye. What I should’ve done was just pass the turn and leave mana up to pump my knight.
Game 2
I start with 2 lands and Obelisk of Naya. However, I miss my third land drop again and pass my third turn doing nothing. He kills me quickly as he has the perfect draw of early creatures and removal.
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