12/20 Draft and Match Recap

Gamma Ray Games, once again in Pod 2. 10 person pod, two of them under the age of 12. So this is probably going to be a fiasco.

Pack 1

Pick 1

   

Pretty straightforward pack 1. Master of Pearls is the clear pick being not only a quadrant all-star, working in multiple decks, but qualifies as a genuine game-winner.


Pick 2

 

Tougher call in pick 2. A very solid outlast chieftan or a narrow, extremely powerful card. I went with the sheer power of flying crane but not an easy call.

Pick 3

 

Fuck you! Probably the best charm in the game and a really solid white body. I take the Hordemate and maybe thinking warrior deck?

Pick 4

  

GODSDAMMIT. What are these doing available down in pick _4_? Surely Abzan isn't *that* open? is it? The secret plans is worth a ponder but I haven't seen a lot of mana-fixing go by so I don't think the 4-5 color is open. I take the guide.

Pick 5

 

THIS IS SPARTA!! Villainous Wealth available as a 5th pick? Screw it, I'm taking it and seriously looking at Sultai. There is no way that card should slide more than one or two.

Lo and behold, the rest of the picks bear that out. 

There's a lot of really good cards that went shockingly late. One piece of mana fixing so that's a priority going forward.

Pack 2

Pick 1

  

But isn't $20 *also* a priority? I admit it, I'm weak. I take the fetch land.

Pack 2

 

Apparently god doesn't want me to take manafixing. I can't resist the Sidisi, nor should I.

Pick 3

  

The Kin Tree Invocation tempts me sorely but I go with the more reliable power of Treasure Cruise. Especially since I have a Bitter Revelation and Sidisi to reliable power it.

Pick 6

  

The choice isn't that hard (sagu Archer, I needed bodies), but could there possibly be a more wide-open signal that Sultai is completely open? That's the third Treasure Cruise to go around by the way.

Pick 7

 

Hurts to send around the Secret Plans but I don't have the morph to support it really.

I am feeling pretty snooty at the end of pack 2. I love my spell base and some great morphs (I love Glacial Stalker. Tussles with everything short of a Snowhorn Rider)

Pack 3

Pick 1

  

Nothing too inspiring. Could always use a solid morph but I opt to rare-draft the $5 bill of Anafenza.

Pick 2

 

I felt like this was the most interesting choice I had to make in the entire draft. Wide power differential obviously, but my low-end is absolutely dire with only two playable two-drops. A fast warrior/mardu deck could easily steamroll me. But I still need finishers and air-defenses, so I take the Aerialists. Also my fear of my deck pod was not high; an on-curve aggressive deck is pretty hard to put together in Khans. So I'll play for the mid game.

Pick 3

 

Similar quandary written a little smaller. I stick to my plan of being able to win the mid-game and take the Soothsayer.

The third pack also included a delightful Death Frenzy, a criminally late Pine Walker (can people not read) and my Krumar Bond-Kin actually wheeled. Strange.


So let's take a look at the final deck

Creatures: Disowned Ancestor, Archers' Parapet, Wetland Sanbar, Glacial Stalker x3 (!), Pine walker, Sagu Archer, Krumar Bond-Kin, Hooting Mandrils, Sidisi, Brood Tyrant, Sultai Scavenger, Sultai Soothsayer x2 (!), Shambling Attendants, Riverwheel Aerialists

Spells: Treasure Cruise, Villainous Wealth, Sultai Charm, Bitter Revelation, Debilitating Injury x2

Mana Base: Sandsteppe Citadel, Opulent Palace, Dismal Backwater , 4 Swamp, 5 Island, 6 Forest (Black: 7, Green: 8, Blue 7)

Honestly, I'm super happy with this deck. Great uses of Delve along with powerhouse enablers. I'd go into depth on the match recap but I pretty much just brutalized everyone, include the 9 and 11 year olds I played. Several times I played Sidisi on curve which powers out a ton of additional pressure. If I didn't Sidisi then I Villainous Wealth and played their best cards out of their deck. The Glacial Stalkers are absolute beasts, might be my new favorite morph. About the only game I got whittled down to single digit life was due to an Ashcloud Phoenix. Even then the Sagu Archer took care of business rather handily.

MVP

No brainer here. It just does *so much*.

Biggest surprise:

I probably shouldn't be, but throwing down a huge roadblock and picking out your favorite card coming up with the cantrip is saucy.