My first M15 draft

Well I finally got around to drafting M15. I was pretty excited. I think the core sets offer a better experience than the expert sets. Basically Wizards is working with pieces they understand so they can craft a superior format. M14 was great and I hope M15 will be just as good. Let's Go!

My prep for the draft consisted of listening the Limited Resources and one article off of channelFireball. So I had the names of some good commons in my head and some basic rules of thumb. White weenie is the best. Blue is awkward and no one really knows what to do with green if it's not paired with white. So we sit down to draft and my buddy Stache draws the seat to my left.

Soap Box #1: It was really strange. I tried to not care that my friend was next to me, but I would find myself facing a pick where there was the card I should take for my deck but I would have to pass a better card to get it. The better card was not in my colors and not splashable. Because my friend was next to me it was a lot easier for me to pass a powerful card. I felt pretty conflicted about. I stand by my decision to draft the card that fits my deck before I hate draft. But the fact that the decision was a lot easier to make because I didn't mind my friend getting a good card still bothers me.

And then in pack three I came to a dilemma. I was low on two drops do I decided to prioritize them. I opened a weak pack but it had a couple two drops for my deck and a lightning strike. I knew Stache was in red. I tried to be as objective as possible but I still couldn't shake it.

Anyways so the draft is going fine. I get good blue early so I've settled on that. Then about 7 picks in I get passed a gravedigger.

I don't know but I feel like that digger shouldn't make it that far. I took it as a sign to move into black. And I was handsomely rewarded. All in all i put together a fun deck. In the end I wound up splashing red for

 

Guess I shoulda taken that Lightning Strike. I also had a Caustic Tar.

So my game plan was simple. I had a bunch of 2/3 and 0/7 and 1/3 for 3 stuff. Gum up the early game. Play some divniation and then get to my big finishers and roll to victory. And that plan worked for rounds 1 and 2. Three of the four games that I won I never had to attack. The tar takes em down quick.



However in the finals I got absolutely steam rolled by a guy who was playing monowhite.

Soap Box #2: Whenever someone gets a monocolor deck in draft some sneaky shit went down. I don't know what happened but clearly some people screwed up the draft. The guy I faced in the finals sat two seats to my right. So I'm really not to blame for his deck. I should also mention that white wasn't particularly flowing in pack 2. But the real point of the soap box is this...

Don't talk during the draft. Four of the dudes in the pod were all, "Whoa this is weird. This draft is strange. I can't decide on my colors" I hate everything about this. First of all, shut up. They don't know what they're talking about. But what really makes me mad is that I know they are doing it wrong and I didn't see an awesome deck go by. Therefore someone else at the table is just getting the hookup and there's no way I can beat them. Gross. Just gross.

Anyways so I lose in the final to the absolute beast of a monowhite aggrro deck. Absolutely nothing I could do about it. It also didn't help that I had to mull to 5 in both games. Not even decisions either. Were talking like no land or all land stuff. What really cheeses me is that I didn't get outplayed int he finals, they weren't games at all. And I don't really feel out drafted. It was just a bunch of people who didn't know what they were doing and I wasn't in the fortunate seat to benefit from it. Overall the draft was fun. But the last round left a sour taste in my mouth.