Shards of Alara Draft Walkthrough #2

December 16, 2008 | Posted by Dee

Rakeclaw Gargantuan This is from a triple Shards of Alara draft in the 4-3-2-2 queue on Magic Online. I think I’m starting to understand this format.

Pack 1 pick 1:

Naya Charm is clearly the best pick. I stated in my last draft that I don’t like taking three color cards with my first pick. However, after a couple drafts, I realized that you can splash three color cards pretty easily as long as the cards don’t have two of the same mana symbols in the casting cost (like Hellkite Overlord or Cruel Ultimatum). You just have to take mana fixing pretty early.

Pack 1 pick 2:

This is pretty straightforward as Branching Bolt is one of the best common removal spells in the set. Plus, it’s in my colors.

Pack 1 pick 3:

Pingers are always solid in draft.

Pack 1 pick 4:

Mosstodon is solid and it’s better than Cavern Thoctar because it’s cheaper and has trample. Its trample ability is very relevant as it gives green a pseudo evasion ability to deal the last couple of points.

Pack 1 pick 5:

If I knew I was heavy white and green, I might take Steward of Valeron. It has a bigger body than Druid of the Anima. However, at this point, I only had one white card and Steward of Valeron is not worth splashing for.

Pack 1 pick 6:

Now here’s a card worth splashing for. I underrated Resounding Silence when I first started drafting but it’s actually pretty removal spell that stops most creatures.

Pack 1 pick 7:

Here’s another card worth splashing for. Necrogenesis is a late game bomb that also stops unearth and the recursive ability of Sanctum Gargoyle (at least on artifact creatures).

Pack 1 pick 8:

Scourge Devil is much better in Grixis or a Jund token deck. My deck is neither so I took the mana fixer.

Pack 1 pick 9:

Volcanic Submersion is a solid sideboard card against Esper artifact decks.

Pack 1 pick 10:

I don’t usually like to play this guy but he’s okay since I have a Mosstodon. Also, I could possibly see a Rakeclaw Gargantuan and a Soul’s Fire, two cards which also combo with the 5/1 ogre.

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 too bad I can’t take the Vein Drinker. That card is a serious bomb but I don’t want to strain my manabase to fit a double black casting cost creature. Grixis Charm would be great but I didn’t have any blue mana fixers. Fortunately, there was a removal spell in one of my main colors.

Pack 2 pick 2:

Easy enough pick. Oblivion Ring is one of the top common removal spells. Maybe the best one.

Pack 2 pick 3:

I take another Mosstodon as Blightning and Blood Cultist are not powerful enough to splash for.

Pack 2 pick 4:

I think Sprouting Thrinax is also okay with this pick, but I couldn’t pass up a solid removal spell/creature in my main colors. After this pick, I had 6 red cards, 6 green cards, 3 white cards, and 1 black card. My only fixers were Druid of the Anima and Obelisk of Jund. Since I didn’t have much fixers, I decided to just go heavy red/green and splash white/black. This would keep my mana consistent.

Pack 2 pick 5:

With two Mosstodon and one Incurable Ogre, Rakeclaw Gargantuan is definitely a good card to splash. I think the land is okay too, but with my strategy of having 2 main colors instead of three, I didn’t need too many mana fixers.

Pack 2 pick 6:

Nothing super exciting here other than Bant Charm, which I can’t take. I take the land over Resounding Roar. The pump spell is good in a creature heavy deck, but at this point, I only had 7 creatures.

Pack 2 pick 7:

br/>Rockcaster Platoon is not splashable with its double white casting cost. Necrogenesis is great as I’ve stated before, but having two of them seems bad especially if you draw both early. Cylian Elf is good in my deck because I can reasonably cast it on turn two since green is one of my main colors.

Pack 2 pick 8:

Another 2/2 elf. Welkin Guide is too weak to splash for.

Pack 2 pick 9:

Pack 2 pick 10:

A super late Corpse Connoisseur, but I take the land to solidify my manabase.

Pack 2 pick 11:

Pack 2 pick 12:

Pack 2 pick 13:

Pack 2 pick 14:

Pack 2 pick 15:

Pack 3 pick 1:

I was pretty happy to open Resounding Thunder. Now I had three of the top removal spells in the format. And I had a black splash, so I could cycle it.

Pack 3 pick 2:

I had four 5-power guys so Drumhunter could draw me a lot of cards if left unchecked.

Pack 3 pick 3:

Rockslide Elemental is better in a Jund token deck. However, it should still be a solid card in my deck since I have a lot of removal and Necrogenesis.

Pack 3 pick 4:

I think I should’ve taken Skeletal Kathari. I had three black sources, one black card, and only four 5-drops. And I had no flyers.

Pack 3 pick 5:

Jund Battlemage can dominate a board pretty quickly with its second ability.

Pack 3 pick 6:

Pack 3 pick 7:

Jund Charm is very good because of its flexibility.

Pack 3 pick 8:

Pack 3 pick 9:

Two Rockslide Elementals seems overkill since I don’t have a Jund token deck.

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 was pretty happy with the deck. I had a lot of removal, a card draw engine with Drumhunter, and a great late game with Resounding Thunder and Necrogenesis. However, I think I should’ve played Skeletal Kathari over Cylian Elf. I didn’t have many expensive spells and I didn’t have any flyers.

Match 1

Game 1

I lost the roll and he elected to play. He kept his first 7 and I kept this hand.

I played Elvish Visionary and he answered with Topan Ascetic. I had drawn Branching Bolt and blew up his 2/2. I played Court Archers and started beating down while he spent a turn to crack Naya Panorama. He played Blood Cultist, which I killed with Souls Fire.

A couple turns later, we were at a standstill. He had Oblivion Ring for my Vithian Stinger. I had Elvish Visionary, Court Archers, Cylian Elf, Rockslide Elemental, and Incurable Ogre on the board when I topdecked Drumhunter.

Drumhunter got me a couple cards including Mosstodon, which I played. He played Violent Ultimatum and targeted Rockslide Elemental, Drumhunter, and Mosstodon. At this point, he had Manaplasm. I responded with Resounding Thunder on Manaplasm. He tried to save it with Resounding Roar, but I removed it from the game with Resounding Silence when it attacked.

Two turns later, I got black mana with Obelisk of Jund. I attacked with Incurable Ogre. He blocked with Carrion Thrash but I removed his graveyard in response to the ability of Carrion Thrash. Here’s the screenshot of that play. You can click the image for a bigger picture.

Next turn, I attacked with everybody and took him down to 5 life. Then, I used my freshly drawn Naya Charm on his EOT to bring back Resounding Thunder. He conceded because I had enough mana to cycle Resounding Thunder on my turn to kill him.

My MVP this game was definitely Drumhunter. It gained me enough card advantage that his Violent Ultimatum didn’t devastate me.

Game 2

He chose to play last. I kept the following hand and he didn’t mulligan.

His first play was Exuberant Firestoker. I had a turn four Mosstodon but he had Branching Bolt for it on his turn. I played Necrogenesis. He summoned Predator Dragon but I responded with Branching Bolt on his Exuberant Firestoker. Still, the hasted dragon came into play and hit me for 4. On my turn, I killed his dragon with Bloodpyre Elemental.

He made Carrion Thrash. I played Rockslide Elemental but he killed it with Blister Beetle. I chumped Carrion Thrash with a Necrogenesis token. He played Ridge Rannet. I made more tokens EOT and then played Mosstodon on my turn.

He made a curious play by using Oblivion Ring on Necrogenesis instead of Mosstodon when there were no more creatures in the graveyards. Here’s the image of that play. You can click it to show a bigger image.

I topdecked Drumhunter, but he played Violent Ultimatum targeting a token, Mosstodon, and Drumhunter. However, he didn’t attack, which kinda surprised me.

I played Elvish Visionary, Court Archers, and Vithian Stinger. He attacked with Ridge Rannet and I chumped with a token. I topdecked Jund Battlemage and played it. He attacked again with Ridge Rannet and I chumped with my second to last token.

I drew a Forest and passed, still waiting on white mana for Rakeclaw Gargantuan and Resounding Silence. He played Topan Ascetic and attacked with Ridge Rannet. I made a token with the second ability of Jund Battlemage and chumped. These same events happened again on his turn as I drew another non-Plains. He also added Jungle Weaver.

I finally drew a white mana source, Druid of the Anima. He attacked with both Jungle Weaver and Ridge Rannet. I chumped both with tokens. I drew a Plains, which allowed me to play Rakeclaw Gargantuan and leave mana open for Resounding Silence.

He played Algae Gharial and we were at a standstill for a couple of turns. However, I started pinging him with Vithian Stinger and Jund Battlemage, so he had to break the standstill. Also, I had Oblivion Ring for Jungle Weaver.

He finally sent Carrion Thrash in the red zone. I blocked with Rakeclaw Gargantuan and killed it. He returned Blister Beetle and tried to kill Vithian Stinger, but I put two +1/+1 counters on my pinger with Jund Charm. A couple more pings later, he was down to 6 and I cycled Resounding Thunder for the win.

My MVP this game was Jund Battlemage. He allowed me stall with chump blockers until I got white mana to play Rakeclaw Gargantuan. And once I stabilized, he started pinging my opponent.

Match 2

Game 1

I won the roll and elected to draw. He didn’t mulligan and I kept these seven cards.

I actually think it’s usually better to draw in this format. I’ve seen 1800+ rated players choose to draw. You want that extra card to help you fix your mana. Also, that extra card helps you play your crucial expensive spells. And the format is slow enough because the aggro decks often stumble with mana screw or color screw, or they have to spend a turn cracking a Panorama instead of playing a creature.

The only time I would choose to play is whenever I’m facing a very aggressive deck like a Naya deck with multiple Wild Nacatl.

I made the first play with Cylian Elf. He countered with Kathari Screecher. I attacked and they traded. I laid down Vithian Stinger.

He played Fire-Field Ogre and I played Incurable Ogre. He attacked, I didn’t block, and I went down to 16. He ended his turn after playing Cloudheath Drake. I untapped and asked my deck for a Branching Bolt. I got Oblivion Ring. I removed Cloudheath Drake from the game and then chastised myself for missing a Vithian Stinger ping. I attacked with my 5/1 and he went down to 15.

He attacked me down to 12 and played Viscera Dragger. I pinged him EOT. He was at 14. I drew Souls Fire and blew up Fire-Field Ogre. He had his own Souls Fire on his turn for Incurable Ogre. I responded by pinging Viscera Dragger and then playing Jund Charm. I realized my mistake when he unearthed Viscera Dragger and attacked me. I should’ve played Jund Charm during his combat phase so he couldn’t unearth and attack me. I went down to 9.

I drew Resounding Silence. He played Dregscape Zombie, unearthed Fire-Field Ogre, and attacked. I went down to 5. I drew Branching Bolt and passed.

He unearthed Kathari Screecher and Dregscape Zombie. I blew them both up with Branching Bolt. I drew a land and passed. He unearthed Dregscape Zombie and attacked. I went down to 3. I ate the zombie and made a 4/4 Thorn-Thrash Viashino.

I drew another land. He attacked and I removed his 4/4 with Resounding Silence. I drew Bloodpyre Elemental and passed. Then, I realized my mistake. I should’ve just played it and tried to kill him as he had no creatures.

He drew and passed and this time I played Bloodpyre Elemental. He killed it with Infest. My next two draws were Rockslide Elemental and Rakeclaw Gargantuan. He played Blood Cultist. I tried to kill it by unearthing Vithian Stinger and pinging it. He replied by bouncing his creature with Grixis Charm. This seemed like a mistake. I would’ve killed Rakeclaw Gargantuan. Sure, I would get a 3/3 Rockslide Elemental but at least he doesn’t have to deal with a 5/3 first striker.

I attacked with Rakeclaw Gargantuan and brought him down to 8. I left Rockslide Elemental back to block just in case he drew Viscera Dragger. That card would kill me if I didn’t have a blocker. He could cycle it and then unearth it to deal the last 3 points.

He played Kederekt Creeper and Blood Cultist. I shot his 1/1 with Magma Spray and attacked with Rakeclaw Gargantuan. He went down to 3. I played Mosstodon and passed.

He attacked with Kederekt Creeper. I blocked with Mosstodon and Rockslide Elemental. I gave Mosstodon first strike and his guy died. He conceded.

Game 2

He chose to play and kept his first seven. I kept this hand.

I made the first play with Druid of the Anima. He played Blood Cultist but luckily I topdecked Souls Fire to kill it. He played Savage Lands and passed. I played Mosstodon.

He countered with Cloudheath Drake, but I had Branching Bolt. I attacked him down to 14 and played Vithian Stinger. He played Kederekt Creeper. I killed it with a topdecked Bloodpyre Elemental and attacked him down to 8.

He played Skeletal Kathari. I played Elvish Visionary, which drew me Court Archers. I played Court Archers and attacked with an exalted 6/4 Mosstodon. He chumped, I gave the Mosstodon trample, and he went down to 3. He drew his card and conceded.

Match 3

Game 1

He chose to play and kept his first seven. I mulliganed a no land hand and kept these six cards.

He made the first play with Glaze Fiend. I went down to 18 after he played Obelisk of Esper. At this point, I had a decision to make on my third turn. I just drew Resounding Thunder. I could play Vithian Stinger or Resounding Thunder. The following image shows the situation.

What would you have done?

I thought the right play was playing Vithian Stinger. However, he untapped, played a land, and then played Sigil of Distinction for 5 counters. He equipped Glaze Fiend and suddenly I couldn’t kill Glaze Fiend even with Resounding Thunder and Vithian Stinger. Glaze Fiend was a 4/5 on my turn and I didn’t draw my fifth land in time to kill it with Bloodpyre Elemental and Vithian Stinger. I soon died to his big flyer.

I think even if I played Resounding Thunder instead of Vithian Stinger, I still lose. He had Filigree Sages and Metallurgeon.

Game 2

I sided in Volcanic Submersion for Elvish Visionary and chose to play. I kept the following hand and he didn’t mulligan.

I opened with Glaze Fiend. I played Vithian Stinger over Naya Charm because I had Oblivion Ring in case he had the Sigil of Distinction. He brought me down to 18 after he played Obelisk of Grixis and attacked. I pinged Glaze Fiend to death and laid down Incurable Ogre.

He played Windwright Mage. I played Obelisk of Jund and killed his 2/2 with Naya Charm. I attacked him down to 15. He played Esper Battlemage. I removed it with Oblivion Ring, played Court Archers, and brought him down to 9 with my exalted Incurable Ogre. I realized that I missed a Vithian Stinger ping. Oops.

He drew his card and conceded.

Game 3

He chose to play. He didn’t mulligan and I kept this hand.

He opened with Glaze Fiend. Next, he played Windwright Mage and I had a choice. I could Magma Spray his 0/1 or 2/2. I chose the 2/2. He attacked and I went down to 18.

I played Court Archers. He played Etherium Sculptor and Obelisk of Esper and attacked. I went down to 14.

I played Rockslide Elemental. He played a land and passed. I played Incurable Ogre and passed. He played Viscera Dragger. I drew my fifth land and played it when this situation came up.

What would you have done?

I played Bloodpyre Elemental and sacced it to kill Viscera Dragger. Then, I attacked with a 6/2 exalted Incurable Ogre. He went down to 14. Unfortunately, he drew Sigil of Distinction, played it for 9 (with the help of Etherium Sculptor), and equipped Glaze Fiend. I couldn’t draw a white mana source for Resounding Silence and I soon lost.