Here’s a tale of two drafts, one which goes horribly wrong, the other that goes just right. Again, due to my learning curve, the drafts were in the Swiss queue.

ARC - 8th July - Swiss

  Pack 1 pick 1:



  My Pick:

It’s two early to pick Drumhunter, the land is unexciting, and if I were to compare the Thrinax and the Sphinx Sovereign, it’s not really much of a contest. I guess the downside of the Sovereign is that ARC is a fast format, so will I ever get a chance to cast it? (Magic 8-Ball says ‘Future Looks Doubtful’).



  Pack 1 pick 2:



  My Pick:

After Sphinx, it’s a choice between Courier’s Capsule, Grixis Charm and Agony Warp. I pick the two-for-one.



  Pack 1 pick 3:



  My Pick:

Not much in the way of Esper here, so I go the Grixis splash and take the removal.



  Pack 1 pick 4:



  My Pick:

So here’s where I start to come off the rails. Clearly Esper has dried up. I’m in four colours already. My brain starts suggesting I go the fifth colour and just pick the best card in each pack. Sure thing, brain, you are, after all, so smart!



  Pack 1 pick 5:



  My Pick:

An awkward to cast mana fixer? Taken!



  Pack 1 pick 6:



  My Pick:

I start to rate fixing highly now.



  Pack 1 pick 7:



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  Pack 1 pick 9:



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  Pack 1 pick 10:



  My Pick:

That’s a hugely late Battlemage. I couldn’t see it at the time, but clearly GW is open for the picking. If I had been smarter, I would of moved into it.



  Pack 1 pick 11:



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  Pack 2 pick 1:



  My Pick:

The one redeeming feature of this draft, scoring a Noble Hierarch.



  Pack 2 pick 2:



  My Pick:

Options include the Spire, the Aven Squire, or the Rioters. I go for what should be a 3 mana 5/5.



  Pack 2 pick 3:



  My Pick:

Recurring removal is good times.



  Pack 2 pick 4:



  My Pick:

Okay, this is a little cheeky. But if I can keep correcting my mana, I should be okay.



  Pack 2 pick 5:



  My Pick:

Should of picked the Dragonsoul Knight.



  Pack 2 pick 6:



  My Pick:

That’s the third Faerie Mechanist in a row. Someone out there is drafting a fine old dandy deck.



  Pack 2 pick 7:



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  Pack 3 pick 1:



  My Pick:

Leach is a good control card. But I’m sure by this point my brain had pretty much turned off.



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  My Pick:

The Borderpost may have been a better pick.



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So I build a slow, janky, control deck that needs all five colour to work, can never actually find the colours it needs, and dies a quick death over a couple of matched, after which I drop. Included a wonderful game where I had a Terminate and the win in hand if I could just draw a Red mana source, and never did.

By this time it’s almost midnight, I’m sick – hell, the whole family is sick – and I try to sleep. But between the coughing and the snorting I can’t rest, so I get up again and join another queue, if only to kill time. Here’s what I draft:


ARC - 9th July - Swiss

  Pack 1 pick 1:



  My Pick:

The Savage Lands are tempting, mainly due to the mana issues I had last game, as is the Pupper Conjurer, but it’s too early to know whether he’ll be usefull. But I’ve never drafted a Sedraxis Specter before, so go with the flyer.




  Pack 1 pick 2:



  My Pick:

What an excellent pack. Courier’s Capsule, Jund Charm, Esper Charm, Jund Battlemage, Resounding Thunder. I grab the easy-to-cast removal.



  Pack 1 pick 3:



  My Pick:

Another Courier’s Capsule, Esper Charm, and the Dragger. Determined to stay on-colour and on-theme, I grab the Dragger.



  Pack 1 pick 4:



  My Pick:

My thought process, upon seeing the Gargoyle, takes a switch. Clearly Esper is open. Gargoyle doesn’t get to fourth pick when Esper is open. With my current picks I could easily be Esper splashing Grixis. I grab the Gargoyle.



  Pack 1 pick 5:



  My Pick:

If I do go Esper splashing red, the panorama will be a great fixer.



  Pack 1 pick 6:



  My Pick:

So much fantastic stuff for sixth pick. Stinger, Executioner’s Capsule, Creeper, and yet another Courier’s Capsule. Thinking about where I’m currently headed, and remember the Draft prioritisations the Ruel brothers have been talking about on Starcitygames, I grab the Stinger.



  Pack 1 pick 7:



  My Pick:



An excellent sideboard card against the Esper deck I’m clearly not drafting.

  Pack 1 pick 8:



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  Pack 1 pick 9:



  My Pick:

The Conjurer wheeled. But the Deathraiders is still there. I get the impression that Red is far more open than white, so I make the decision to strictly keep to the Grixis plan and go the aggressive 3/1.



  Pack 1 pick 10:



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  Pack 2 pick 1:



  My Pick:

Dark Temper is clearly an excellent card in the deck. Worldheart Phoenix is also a great recurring threat. But the siren song of the foil Obelisk is too hard to ignore.



  Pack 2 pick 2:



  My Pick:

I rate the Goblin Outlanders very, very highly. Against Esper and Naya these guys can just win games by themselves.



  Pack 2 pick 3:



  My Pick:

My unearth theme continues well with this aggressive beater.



  Pack 2 pick 4:



  My Pick:

Not quite as good as the Goblin Outlander, the Zombie Outlander certainly can find a home somewhere.



  Pack 2 pick 5:



  My Pick:

Sweet.



  Pack 2 pick 6:



  My Pick:

The Wretched Banquet is tempting, but the flyer that comes with a 4-point life swing is better.



  Pack 2 pick 7:



  My Pick:

Wow, Esper is clearly wide open. Should I be kicking myself about now?



  Pack 2 pick 8:



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  Pack 2 pick 9:



  My Pick:

I don’t mind Brackwater. He can hold back and act as a wall that recurs for 4 damage later, or can take the aggressive route.



  Pack 2 pick 10:



  My Pick:

Fixer or Outlander? I go the Traumatic Visions.



  Pack 2 pick 11:



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  Pack 2 pick 12:

I won’t be playing it, but it can be quite a useful card against Naya or Jund.



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  Pack 3 pick 1:



  My Pick:

Again, I remember Oli Ruel on SCG getting his ass whooped by Unscythe, so I grab it.



  Pack 3 pick 2:



  My Pick:

Deny Reality is great, and the Wildfire Borderpost is excellent fixing. But the Stormblade is simply the best card for my deck.



  Pack 3 pick 3:



  My Pick:

Okay, I rare drafted, so shoot me.



  Pack 3 pick 4:



  My Pick:

Wow, Thopter Foundry coming across from my right. Unfortunately, not an option for me. I can grab the Grixis Grimblade or the Jund Hackblade. I take the one with the name of my shard in it.



  Pack 3 pick 5:



  My Pick:

The more I play with Sewn Eye Drake, the more I like it. Lich Lord of Unx is nice and all, but I can’t recall ever actually killing anyone with it. I do remember my Sewn Eye Drake kills though.

Also, what’s with the Glassdusk Hulk still around?



  Pack 3 pick 6:



  My Pick:

I grab the fixer and worry that some guys Esper deck is going to be stupid-good.



  Pack 3 pick 7:



  My Pick:

I’m not a big fan of the Carabid, despite the cycling. And Hemorrhage is a very pro-active card if you’re on the play. I take the rare.



  Pack 3 pick 8:



  My Pick:

Not a big fan of Vedalken Ghoul.



  Pack 3 pick 9:



  My Pick:

I like Breath as a sideboard card in Limited against those who bring in various Walls and other Defender types.



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My deck ends up looking like this:

1 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Grixis Grimblade
1 Yoke of the Damned
2 Goblin Outlander
1 Zombie Outlander
1 Esper Stormblade
1 Vithian Stinger

1 Parasitic Strix
2 Brackwater Elemental
1 Sedraxis Specter
1 Jhessian Zombies
1 Sedraxis Alchemist
1 Resounding Thunder
1 Shambling Remains

1 Sewn-Eye Drake
1 Viscera Dragger
1 Unscythe, Killer of Kings
1 Brainbite

2 Traumatic Visions

1 Obelisk of Alara

1 Veinfire Borderpost

6 Island
5 Mountain
5 Swamp

By this time it's 3am. Knowing how sick and tired I am, I resolve to double check every play to make sure I'm not doing anything stupid.

Mach 1: I’m facing Naya/Bant.
In Game 1 my Goblin Outlanders basically take the game home for me. I do get a nice play in one match where I yoke one of his creatures and use Vithian Stinger on his unbuffed Bant Sureblade. I also Traumatic Visions his Battlegrace Angel and swing next turn for the win.
In Game 2 I’m not sure what happened, other than he conceded against my Protection Bears just when I thought I'd never be able to burst through due to counter attack. After the concession I checked out what I would draw into - 6 straight lands. This is why you never concede, people.

Match 2: I’m facing mirror splashing for Charnelhoard Wurm.
In Game 1 he slows me down long enough to cast Charnelhoard Wurm. I then, unsurprisingly, die.
In Game 2 I beat him down quickly while he ramps up the mana. Just as he’s getting to seven mana I draw Thought Hemorrage in, which I sideboarded in to take out the Wurm before it becomes a problem. I cast it against him, naming Wurm, and – amazingly – he has it in hand. He drops to 1, discards the Wurm, and I win the next game.
In Game 3 I draw Unscythe and Protection Bears. He dies to my progressive sequence of 5/5 first-striking token generators.

Match 3: The guy I’ve been worried about, Mr Esper, shows up.
Game 1 he finds Thopter Foundry and it’s a total blowout. I just die to his ever present army of flyers.
Game 2 I go very aggressive and keep a hand of Goblin Outlanders, a Vithian Stinger, and a Breath of Maelfegor. The Pro-white dudes just tear him apart. By turn 6 he’s on 8 life. I swing in with my Protection Bear, swing for 1, and with damage on the stack nuke him with Breath. Easy as pie.
Game 3 is exactly like Game 2, with a single Protection Bear doing well over 10 damage over the course of the game, and my unearth guys backing him up and wearing my opponent down. I have the game in hand, the win in sight, when he casts…. Martial Coup for 5. My dudes die, he has an army and a Courier’s Capsule.
The score is [2/14]
Thinking long and hard, I play Esper Stormblade and Vithian Stinger, keeping a Sedraxis Spectre and Shambling Remains in hand, mainly to present the Stinger as the main threat and not giving away the Stormblade will be able to fly any minute.
He swings in with his dudes, takes out the Stinger with the Capsule, then plays Thopter Foundry. GAH. [2/9]
Thinking carefully, I play Sedraxis Spectre, then unearth the Stinger. Now my Stormblade flies. I declare combat and swing with the Stormblade. His only trick is to sac the Foundry to itself, producing a token to block the Stormblade and going to 3, but I sting it out of the sky and my Stormblade hits for exact damage. Phew!


So what have I learnt out of this?

1. Clearly, I need to improve my skills spotting signals. In the first draft G/W was signaling open, but I refused to acknowledge it appropriately. In the second draft I could have had a sweet, sweet Esper deck, but didn’t realize until too late. Something to improve.

2. Colour consistency is more important for me than splashy, unplayable bombs. In ARC, no point in my having an eight mana bomb if I’m never going to be around to cast it. Better to stay to either two or three colours, getting a fast, aggressive start, and get the kill that way.

3. So far my most successful drafts have been Grixis, Esper and Jund. I seem to rarely play Bant or Naya well. Something to consider when trying to force a shard.

4. Tight play really matters. My best games (such as Match 3, Game 2) came when I was calculating life loss three turns ahead and figuring exactly who was gonna hit and how for the win. The Thought Hemorrhage play worked because my opponent cracked his Jund Panorama for the Forest and I just knew he had the Wurm in hand. His sloppy play cost him dearly. On MtGO, where there is no penalty for slow-play, it never hurts to back-check what your play is going to be before you make it, just to ensure you’re not being a fool.

So there you go. Feedback, as always, welcome.