Wizards Draft Sim: M10#3

[Forgotten One]

This thread is to discuss the weekly Draft Simulator that can be found here. This draft is for the week of 8/9-8/15/2009.

Pack 1

Pick 1
Bogardan Hellkite Howling Banshee Ornithopter Wall of Frost Emerald Onyx Unholy Strength Palace Guard Sage Owl Lightning Elemental Borderland Ranger Excommunicate Essence Scatter Canyon Minotaur Dread Warlock Forest

This first pick is interesting because the draft can really be decided right here. Bogardan Hellkite is awesome, but only if you plan on getting to 8 mana which almost assuredly means pairing it with green (and hopefully picking up Rampant Growths and Borderland Rangers). Holwing Banshee on the other hand means a solid commitment to black and hoping to get there. Excommunicate or Borderland Ranger both probably keep my options open, and if I take the Hellkite I hope the Ranger tables (which it could; Banshee, Warlock, Essence Scatter, Lightning Elemental, Excommunicate, Canyon Minotaur, and Sage Owl could go before it...) but its a risk either way.

I think that taking the Banshee is probably the best pick here, but I can't bear to pass up the Hellkite.

Pick - Bogardan Hellkite

Pick 2
Mirror of Fate Bogg Wraith Levitation Negate Kindled Fury Acolyte of Xathrid Soul Warden Cancel Oakenform Child of Night Griffin Sentinel Llanowar Elves

If I had taken the Howling Banshee last pick, then I would gladly pick up Bog Wraith. As it stands, Bog Wraith is still a perfectly fine pick here seeing that it can be splashed relatively easy, but I think I want to take the Llanowar Elves and stick to a RG acceleration plan

Pick - Llanowar Elves

Pick 3
Liliana Vess Awakener Druid Mind Rot Disorient Firebreathing Emerald Onyx Child of Night Panic Attack Stampeding Rhino Stormfront Pegasus Berserkers of Blood Ridge Sign in Blood Forest

Well crap... if I had gone black I would gladly take the planeswalker here, but I've sent all sortsof bad signals already and there is a solid pick in Stampeding Rhino that I know I'll play. It's tempting to take LilianaVess, but I stick to my guns (and make a mental note to do this draft again with taking Banshee pick 1...)

Pick - Stampeding Rhino

Pick 4
Telepathy White Knight Prodigal Pyromancer Zombie Goliath Lifelink Runeclaw Bear Burst of Speed Berserkers of Blood Ridge Looming Shade Centaur Courser Coral Merfolk Mountain

Being in black means taking Looming Shade here, but for my RG deck its between Prodigal Pyromancer and Centaur Courser with the pinger taking the slot.

Pick - ProdigalPyromancer

Pick 5
Wall of Bone Shatter Emerald Onyx Disentomb Palace Guard Zephyr Sprite Gravedigger Fiery Hellhound Giant Spider Swamp

I'm tempted to take Gravedigger here, as I think the cardis awesome but I feel that Giant Spider is the right pick. I always find myself loading up on the 2/4 arachnids mostly for their formidable defense against white and blue fliers which is the bane of a RG deck.

Pick - Giant Spider

Pick 6
Regenerate Soul Bleed Soul Warden Burst of Speed Horned Turtle Ice Cage Sparkmage Apprentice Ponder Gravedigger Swamp

Not a very deep pack, with only Sparkmage Apprentice in my colors. Again, I am tempted to take the Gravedigger here but I go with the sparky. He is good at taking out must-remove opposing X/1's like Soul Warden and Merfolk Looter, and he'll fill the role of early defense nicely.

Pick - Sparkmage Apprentice

Pick 7
Goblin Cheiftain Trumpet Blast Safe Passage Weakness Burning Inquiry Sage Owl Elvish Visionary Silvercoat Lion Plains

Well, since there are only 5 goblins in M10 (Seige-gang Commander andGoblin Cheiftan at rare, Goblin Artillery at uncommon, and Goblin Pikerand Ragin goblinat common), playing into the Goblin tribe isn't as profitable as it was in 10th Edition (where there wer 9 in red and 1 in black) so it only makes sense to go with the Visionary as a way to draw into more of my deck and provide some cump block fodder in the early game.

Pick - Elvish Visionary

Pick 8
Ornithopter Burst of Speed Bountiful Harvest Acolyte of Xathrid Lifelink Llanowar Elves Elvish Visionary Plains

Pick - Llanowar Elves

Pick 9
Bogardan Hellkite Howling Banshee Ornithopter Wall of Frost Emerald Onyx Unholy Strength [s]Palace Guard[s/] Sage Owl [s]Lightning Elemental[s/] Borderland Ranger Excommunicate Essence Scatter Canyon Minotaur Dread Warlock Forest

I'm surprised that Borderland Ranger and Dread Warlock wheeled, but I'll definitely take the Ranger...

Pick - Bordeland Ranger

Pick 10
Mirror of Fate Bog Wraith Levitation Negate Kindled Fury Acolyte of Xathrid Soul Warden Cancel Oakenform Child of Night Griffin Sentinel Llanowar Elves

Interesting that a blue drafter would take Levitation over Negate... Thjere is nothing for me here so I hatedraft the best card in Negate.

Pick - Negate

Pick 11 - Emerald Oryx
Pick 12 - Lifelink
Pick 13 - Shatter
Pick 14 - Burst of Speed
Pick 15 - Plains!!!!

Pack 2

Pick 1
Kalonian Behemoth Deathmark Harm's Way Sleep Negate Mist Leopard Acolyte of Xathrid Yawning Fissure Pacifism Jackal Familiar Tendrils of Corruption Griffin Sntinel Elvish Visionary Child of Night Mountain

Deathmark, Tendrils and Sleep are all very good, but noneofthem are playable with my current deck configuration. Pacifism is surely a possibility as it is definitely worth the splash, but I also have Mist Leopard and the Visionary in my colors and another high CC bomb in Kalonian Behemoth. I guess if 1 bomb is worth accelerating into, then maybe two is better...

Pick - Kalonian Behemoth

Pick 2
Miror of Fate Acidic Slime Angel's Feather Armored Ascension Safe Passage Weakness Burning Inquiry Sage Owl Wall of Faith Illusionary Servant Canyon Minotaur Razorfoot Griffin Ice Cage Mountain

I think its between Canyon Minotaur and Acidic Slime, with the green Creeping Mold on steroids takes the slot. I like having Acidic Slime in my deck somewhere to take care of opposing Pacifisms, Ice Cages, etc. without having to worry about boarding in Naturalize.

Pick - Acidic Slime

Pick 3
Wall of Bone Air Elemental Time Scour Yawning Fissure Bountiful Harvest Soul Bleed Angel's Mercy Craw Wurm Essence Scatter Lightning Elemental Vampire Aristocrat Giant Growth

That would be a nice Air Elemental to grab if I could possibly play it, but I can't. I do have other options in Craw Wurm, Lightning Elemental, and Giant Growth. I don't think the Elemental is what I need, and its kind of a toss up between the other two. Giant Growth can double as removal with my early dorks to help buy time, but Craw Wurm gives me a 3rd creature to accelrate into. I really haven't hit the accelration jackpot like I wa hoping, but I have faith that some is coming, so I grab the fatty.

Pick - Craw Wurm

Pick 4
Indestructibility Nature's Spiral Bramble Creeper Mind Rot Jump Entangling Vines Razorfoot Griffin Essence Scatter Lightning Elemental Vampire Aritocrat Giant Growth

Again, I don't think lightning elemtnal is what I need here and Bramble Creeper is of the same vein. The "removal" of Entangling Vines is tempting, but I liek the versatility of Giant Growth. At 1/4 the cost, it is probably better "removal" anyway...

Pick - Giant Growth

Pick 5
Lurking Predators Spellbook Runeclaw Bear Zombie Goliath Angel's Mercy Kindled Fury Cancel Stormfront Pegasus Jackal Familiar Sign in Blood Plains

I contemplate taking Lurking Predators in the hope of dropping Hellkite of Behemoth into play fer fre, but that just seems silly to inest 6 mana into it. My only other real option is Runeclaw Bear, which probably won't make the cut. In the end, I decide to take the rare that I probably won't play.

Pick - Lurking Predators

Pick 6
Flashfreeze Spellbook Zombie Goliath Yawning Fissure Runeclaw Bear Time Scour Bountiful Harvest Excommunicate Deadly Recluse Mountain

Excommunicte would be worth the splash, but Deadly Recluse is in color and is removal himself with the Deathtouch ability as well as another early drop.

Pick - Deadly Recluse

Pick 7
Megrim Demon's Horn Prized Unicorn Horned Turtle Angel's Mercy Burst of Speed Bountiful Hrvest Acolyte of Xathrid Island

Pick - Prized Unicorn

Pick 8
Kraken's Eye Safe Passage Burning Inquiry Sage Owl Wall of Faith Coral Merfolk Silvercoat Lion Mountain

Pick - Wall of Faith

Pick 9
Kalonian Behemoth Deathmark Harm's Way Sleep Negate Mist Leopard Acolyte of Xathrid Yawning Fissure Pacifism Jackal Familiar Tendrils of Corruption [s]Griffin Sntinel[s/] Elvish Visionary Child of Night Mountain

Pick - Elvish Visionary

Pick 10
Miror of Fate Acidic Slime Angel's Feather Armored Ascension Safe Passage Weakness Burning Inquiry Sage Owl Wall of Faith Illusionary Servant Canyon Minotaur Razorfoot Griffin Ice Cage Mountain

Pick - Wall of Faith

Pick 11 - Yawning Fissure
Pick 12 - Indestructibility
Pick 13 - Spellbook
Pick 14 - Yawning Fissure
Pick 15 - Island

Looking over my pool so far, I have 16 solid playables so I'm in great shape. I'll play either 17or 18 lands, so I only ned a few good cards to fill out my deck.

Pack 3

Pick 1
Twincast Deathmark Harm's Way Kraken's Eye SoulWarden Convincing Mirage Regenerate Negate Merfolk Looter Pacifism Coral Merfolk Centaur Courser Sign in Blood Lightning Bolt Mountain

I don't think anything compare to Lightning Bolt here.

Pick - Lightning Bolt

Pick 2
Windstorm Ornithopter Consume Spirit Burst of Speed Duress Convincing Mirage Mist Leopard Soul Bleed Elvish Visionary Snapping Drake Merfolk Looter Tendrils of Corruption Panic Attack Plains

Windstorm is no Hurricane, and I've found it is barely playable except as a SB card versus U and/or W. It's kind of a tossup betwen the Visionary and the Leaopard here, but since my curve is way low for most of my critters, I can take the 4-drop.

Pick - Mist Leopard

And becuase I'm tired of typing.....

Pick 3 - Sparkmage Apprentice
Pick 4 - Rampant Growth (phew!)
Pick 5 - Dragon Whelp (nice!)
Pick 6 - Mist Leopard
Pick 7 - Lanowr Elves
Pick 8 - Rampant Growth (yeah!)
Pick 9 - Deathmark
Pick 10 - Panic Attack
Pick 11 - Lava Axe
Pick 12 - Shatter
Pick 13 - Regenerate
Pick 14 - Lifelink
Pick 15 -Plains

Final Deck
2x Llanowar Elves 2x Sparkmage Apprentice 2x Elvish Visionary 1x Deadly Recluse 1x Borderland Ranger 1x Prodigal Pyromancer 1x Giant Spider 1x Prized Unicorn 2x Mist Leopard 1x Dragon Whelp 1x Stampeding Rhino 1x Acidic Slime 1x Craw Wurm 1x Kalonian Behemoth 1x Bogardan Hellkite	1x Giant Growth 1x Lightning Bolt 2x Rampant Growth 12x Forest 5x Mountain

Overall, the deck ended up being pretty good. The goal would be to just survive long enough to get to play your high casting cost fatties and overpower whatever defenses they have. As long as you save your removal for fliers, you should be able to clog the ground long enough to do so.