Shards of Alara Draft Walkthrough #3
December 17, 2008
This is from a triple Shards of Alara draft in the 4-3-2-2 queue on Magic Online.
Pack 1 pick 1:
Nothing really stood out so I picked the land. One of my favorite decks to draft is five color control. These decks definitely like having the uncommon lands.
Magma Spray is okay but it doesn’t kill the bigger creatures in the format. I would take Branching Bolt or Resounding Thunder over Seaside Citadel, but not Magma Spray.
Algae Gharial is a great card in the Jund token deck. However, it’s just solid in other decks. If this was pack two pick one and I had picked good cards for the Jund token deck, I would take it over the land.
Pack 1 pick 2:
The key with drafting five color control is picking a lot of quality removal. Grixis Charm is definitely quality removal. Also, five color control decks usually don’t have a lot of creatures, so Bone Splinters is not very good in the deck.
Pack 1 pick 3:
I like Knight of the Skyward Eye because it’s a good card in every phase of the game – whether early, middle, or late. Also, it’s a good defensive creature. These are important characteristics because five color control decks want the game to go long. The longer the game is, the better chance the control deck has of winning because it usually has more powerful spells than aggro decks.
I passed Quietus Spike for the same reason I passed Bone Splinters.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Grixis Battlemage is great in a control deck. It lets the control player draw his bombs and removal earlier. If I knew black was one of my main colors, I would’ve taken Infest.
Pack 1 pick 5:
Once I start drafting five color control, I usually take the land unless there is a removal spell or a bomb.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Five color control doesn’t usually have a lot of two-drops. It’s too busy cracking Panoramas on turn two. However, Blister Beetle is solid in the deck because it can kill many creatures and then chump block.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Having some fatties is important. Fatties are usually how I win when I play five color control. After I kill all my opponent’s creatures with removal, it’s good to have a quick clock.
I wanted to take Rockcaster Platoon but I only had one white card. It’s too risky to splash a card with two of the same mana symbols in its casting cost.
Pack 1 pick 8:
At this point, I had four black cards, two red cards, one green card, one white card, and one blue card. I took Blightning to solidify black and red as my two main colors. Having two main colors in five color control instead of three (or four!) is usually a good idea because it keeps you from stretching your mana base too far.
I could’ve taken Jungle Weaver but it’s hard to make black and green the main colors because they are not allied colors like black and red or green and white. All the fixers in Shards of Alara are based on allied colors.
Pack 1 pick 9:
I thought about the Obelisk but I think I can get those pretty late in other picks. Plus, Undead Leotau is actually solid in my deck since black and red are my two main colors.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Nothing much here so I take the land. It looked like I picked the right main colors as my two Panoramas (Jund and Grixis) both fix red and black.
Pack 1 pick 11:
Pack 1 pick 12:
Pack 1 pick 13:
Pack 1 pick 14:
Pack 1 pick 15:
Pack 2 pick 1:
Naya Charm and Resounding Thunder are both quality removal spells. Resounding Thunder is easier to cast in my deck even when I cycle it. Also, I think Resounding Thunder is better in five color control because the deck doesn’t have a lot of creatures to take advantage of Naya Charm’s tap all creatures mode.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Nothing really worth splashing so I took the best card in my two main colors.
Pack 2 pick 3:
Necrogenesis is a late game bomb that fits my control strategy.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Nothing super exciting in this pack so I took the land. I did praise Knight of the Skyward Eye in a previous pick but I don’t think it’s as good as the land.
Pack 2 pick 5:
Pingers are always solid in draft and I have Corpse Connoisseur to fetch it. Vithian Stinger is better than Blood Cultist because it can target players. Also, it has unearth.
Pack 2 pick 6:
Undead Leotau should be better in my deck because I have Corpse Connoisseur.
If green or white was one of my main colors, I would’ve picked Qasali Ambusher because it’s a great defensive card.
Pack 2 pick 7:
I didn’t take the land because I already had four land mana fixers. Once I have four land mana fixers, I don’t them highly anymore.
Rakeclaw Gargantuan and Waveskimmer Aven were both considerations. However, I don’t like to pick creatures (unless they are bombs) that require two of my splash colors. Quality removal is worth picking even if it requires two of your splash colors. For example, I would take Naya Charm if it was in the pack.
I went with Scourge Devil, a creature in one of my main colors. It also combos with Corpse Connoisseur.
Pack 2 pick 8:
I already had a Necrogenesis so I didn’t want a second one. It’s a awesome card but it doesn’t do much in the early game. Also, drawing two of them is pretty bad.
I took Carrion Thrash but I probably should’ve hated Wild Nacatl. Before this pick, I already had five spells that cost five or more mana. There was a good chance I wouldn’t play this second Carrion Thrash because I might find better expensive spells in a later pick. Also, the Wild Nacatl was pretty late and it’s pretty good against five color control.
Pack 2 pick 9:
I couldn’t take Undead Leotau since I already had two of them. I didn’t want my mana curve to be too top heavy. I don’t like to play Lightning Talons but it’s still playable.
Pack 2 pick 10:
This was mostly a hate draft but I could play it if I needed more playables.
Pack 2 pick 11:
Pack 2 pick 12:
Pack 2 pick 13:
Pack 2 pick 14:
Pack 2 pick 15:
Pack 3 pick 1:
Mycoloth is a bomb, plain and simple. I didn’t have a lot of creatures but a couple of them had unearth, which works well with Mycoloth. Also, I already had four green mana fixers. I figured one or two more green fixers would be enough to splash Mycoloth.
Pack 3 pick 2:
With black being a main color, I happily take the Infest.
Pack 3 pick 3:
Quality removal.
Pack 3 pick 4:
This was an interesting pick. Bant Charm is in all the three colors I’m splashing. However, I think it was worth it because I had five fixers and a chance to draft some more. Also, Bant Charm is really good removal because it deals with all the creatures in set except those with shroud.
Pack 3 pick 5:
I picked Sedraxis Specter because it’s a great creature and it combos with Corpse Connoisseur. But looking back, I definitely should’ve picked Resounding Silence. Resounding Silence would’ve fit my deck better because of its defensive nature while Sedraxis Specter is better in an aggro deck.
Resounding Silence stops most creatures. And since I had a lot of removal, I can often save it, wait until I reach eight mana, and then cycle it to gain card advantage.
Pack 3 pick 6:
I thought about Kederekt Creeper and Puppet Conjurer as they are both good defensive creatures. However, I picked the land to improve my mana base. Esper Panorama would help me cast my splashed removal cards more easily.
Pack 3 pick 7:
Pack 3 pick 8:
Pack 3 pick 9:
I don’t like playing more than two Obelisks so I took the sideboard card. Having three Obelisks seems to slow down your deck too much. I had a lot of mana fixing lands so I didn’t need the third Obelisk anyways.
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.
Here was the mana matrix:
13 black cards, 9 black sources
9 red cards, 7 red sources
6 green cards, 7 green sources
5 blue cards, 7 blue sources
2 white cards, 6 white sources
I was pretty happy with the deck. It had a bunch of powerful cards. The only thing I was concerned with was the top heavy mana curve. I had seven spells that cost five or more mana.
You may think 20 mana sources was too much. However, I had five Panoramas, which help against flooding. Also, I had ways to use the extra mana like unearthing guys, activating Knight of the Skyward Eye’s ability, using Necrogenesis, and cycling Resounding Thunder.
I’ve found that five control draft decks are similar to the five color constructed version in that they want a lot of mana.
Match 1
Game 1
I won the roll and chose to play last. My opponent was rated 1737. He kept his first seven and I kept this hand.
He started off with Druid of the Anima and Guardians of Akrasa. I drew Infest, fetched another Swamp with Grixis Panorama, and killed his mana creature with Infest. I did this because Druid of the Anima was his only source of red mana. His lands were one Forest and two Plains.
He played a Swamp and Executioners Capsule. I topdecked Sedraxis Specter and played it. He laid a Plains, cycled Yoked Plowbeast, and passed. I attacked him down to 17 and he discarded Blister Beetle.
He played Court Archers. EOT, I got a Forest with Jund Panorama. I attacked him down to 14 and discarded Blightning. I played Scourge Devil and passed. I think he made a mistake by not killing Scourge Devil EOT with Executioners Capsule. I played Scourge Devil first because I wanted that creature to die instead of the Jhessian Infiltrator in my hand. Also, I played Scourge Devil after attacking in case he had Qasali Ambusher to block, since I had Resounding Thunder in hand.
He played Bone Splinters, saccing Court Archers to kill my flier. He only had one card, so I unearthed Sedraxis Specter. I attacked with the 3/2 flier and Scourge Devil. He blocked Scourge Devil with Guardians of Akrasa, took three to go down to 11, and discarded his last card, Magma Spray. I finished off his 0/4 defender with Resounding Thunder. He again neglected to kill Scourge Devil EOT.
He drew Viscera Dragger and played it, leaving him with only a Swamp untapped. I drew Grixis Charm and used it to blow up his 3/3. I attacked him down to 8. He drew and passed.
I played Blightning and he went down to 5 and discarded a Forest. He finally killed my 3/3 during my combat phase. I played Jhessian Infiltrator. He drew a land, played it, and passed the turn. I killed him on my turn by unearthing Scourge Devil and attacking with everybody.
The MVP was definitely Sedraxis Specter. It’s black so it avoided Executioners Capsule and it gave me a lot of card advantage. I know I said I should’ve drafted Resounding Silence over Sedraxis Specter. I still stand by that pick. If I had Resounding Silence instead, I probably would’ve still won this game.
The truth is most games with five color control are not like this game where I played the beatdown role. Most games you play the control, or defensive, role and in those games, Resounding Silence is much better.
Game 2
He elected to play and mulliganed to six. I kept this seven.
Many people would mulligan this hand but I think it’s a borderline keep. My opponent is already down a card. I’m on the draw. I’ve got a Panorama to thin out a land in my deck. And my opponent didn’t seem to have a blazing fast aggro deck from what I saw in the first game.
He started off with Druid of the Anima, attacked once, and then missed his third land drop. I fetched an Island EOT with Esper Panorama. I played Grixis Battlemage. He fetched a Mountain EOT with Jund Panorama. He missed with third land drop again and played Feral Hydra for two. Ouch.
Memo to Shards drafters: If you need land, don’t crack your Panorama unless you absolutely need to.
I activated the first ability of Grixis Battlemage and laid down Obelisk of Jund. He drew a land, made Feral Hydra bigger, and attacked me down to 16. I drew Mycoloth and used Grixis Battlemage’s first ability again. Then, I played Mycoloth, eating my battlemage to make it a 6/6.
He attacked with Feral Hydra. I declined to block and he made it a 4/4. I went down to 12. He didn’t lay down his fourth land. I played Corpse Connoisseur, fetched Vithian Stinger, unearthed it, and pinged his mana creature to death. I attacked him down to 14.
I played Carrion Thrash and passed the turn. He cycled Yoked Plowbeast EOT. He played a land and Obelisk of Grixis. EOT, I fetched a Plains, so I could play Bant Charm.
I put his creature back to his library with Bant Charm. I attacked him with four 1/1 tokens, Corpse Connoisseur, Carrion Thrash, and a 6/6 Mycoloth for the win.
Match 2
Game 1
My opponent was rated 1746. He won the roll and chose to play. He didn’t mulligan. I mulliganed this hand.
I kept these six.
His first spell was Topan Ascetic. I drew runner-runner Island and Sedraxis Specter, so my first play was the 3/2 flyer. However, he had Resounding Silence when I attacked. Ouch. I probably could’ve played around that. I had Grixis Battlemage to get ahead if he wanted to keep leaving four mana untapped. The only problem with that strategy is Branching Bolt, a common removal spell. If he had that, I would’ve been blown out. So, I think my play was okay.
I summon Grixis Battlemage. He attacked into it and our 2/2s traded. He played Sigiled Paladin and I killed it with Grixis Charm.
He summoned Thorn-Thrash Viashino on an empty board. Nice for me, I thought. I answered with Corpse Connoisseur and put Vithian Stinger in my graveyard. He played Welkin Guide, gave his ground creature flying and +2/+2, and I went down to 16. I drew Blister Beetle and used it along with Vithian Stinger to kill his flyer. I attacked him down to 17.
He had Oblivion Ring for my 3/3 and then he attacked me down to 14. He ended his turn after playing Hissing Iguanar. I tapped out for Undead Leotau, still waiting on my second black source to play Infest.
He played a land and passed. I played Necrogenesis. He played another land and passed. I made two tokens EOT. I attacked with Undead Leotau and he went down to 14. I summoned Knight of the Skyward Eye.
He played Thunder-Thrash Elder and devoured his two creatures to make it a 7/7. I made two more tokens EOT. I untapped, played Bant Charm on his 7/7, and he conceded.
Game 2
He chose to play and kept his initial seven. I kept this hand.
He started off with Druid of the Anima and Sigiled Paladin. I had Obelisk of Jund and Carrion Thrash. However, he had Bloodpyre Elemental to kill my 4/4. I went down to 17.
I tapped out for Undead Leotau. He played Dragon Fodder and then attacked with an 3/3 exalted Sigiled Paladin. I blocked with Undead Leotau, but he had Souls Fire to kill it.
I tapped out for Scourge Devil and Jhessian Infiltrator. He played Bull Cerodon and I went down to 11. I played Blightning and got his whole hand, Excommunicate and Rakeclaw Gargantuan. Then, I emptied my hand by playing Sedraxis Specter. Unfortunately, he drew Oblivion Ring and removed my flyer. He attacked me down to 5.
I tried to chump block to stay alive but my next three draws (Swamp, Vithian Stinger, and Seaside Citadel) didn’t help me.
In this game, I would’ve had a better chance if Sedraxis Specter was Resounding Silence instead.
Game 3
I chose to draw and we both kept our initial hands. Here was my initial seven.
He had a turn one Wild Nacatl. Also, he had all three Naya basic lands by turn three along with Hissing Iguanar. I was at 15 before I made my first play, Vithian Stinger.
Unfortunately, he removed my creature with Oblivion Ring and attacked me down to 9. I played Grixis Battlemage. He attacked me down to 6 with his 3/3 Wild Nacatl and played Druid of the Anima.
I played Obelisk of Esper and left mana up for Grixis Charm. He played Bull Cerodon and attacked with everyone except Hissing Iguanar. I blocked Bull Cerodon and killed it with Grixis Charm. However, I was down to 1.
I used the first ability of Grixis Battlemage to dig for an answer. I didn’t find anything so I died when he attacked on his turn.
Changes in the Draft
If I was to do this draft over again, here are the changes I would’ve made.
Drafting
In P2P8, I take Wild Nacatl over Carrion Thrash.
In P3P5, I take Resounding Silence over Sedraxis Specter.
Deck Building
Other than playing Wild Nacatl and Resounding Silence, I would’ve done the following:
-1 Island
+1 Plains
-1 Jhessian Infiltrator
+1 Sigil Blessing
The Plains is for my extra white cards (Sigil Blessing and Resounding Silence) as well as Wild Nacatl.
I think Sigil Blessing is better than Jhessian Infiltrator. The pump spell can save my creatures while Jhessian Infiltrator is pretty bad as a defensive creature.
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