I'm back, once again, with another Amonkhet draft! I've been able to get a few in over the past couple of weeks and am still enjoying the format, though the hyper aggressive decks are starting to get annoying to face. Anyway, on with this week's draft! As always, you can watch the video and see my picks in real time, or read the text version below.

THE DRAFT

Pack 1 pick 1:



My Pick:



I identified Lay Claim and Electrify as the best cards in the pack here; we had no creatures for the hyper aggressive decks, so had to look elsewhere. Lay Claim, if you can get to it, is a bomb, so I took it over the removal.



Pack 1 pick 2:



My Pick:



The best card in this pack is Nef-Crop Entangler and it's not even close. This was a pretty easy pick.



Pack 1 pick 3:



My Pick:



Here, we have a choice between Greater Sandwurm, Unwavering Initiate and Deem Worthy. The Initiate is good in the red-white deck with our last pick; the Sandwurm is a good card in a blue-green ramp deck; and Deem Worthy is a great removal spell. In the end, I stuck with a red card and took Deem Worthy.



Pack 1 pick 4:



My Pick:



The cards here are fairly medium, but Cursed Minotaur is probably the best of them. Everyone wants to attack in this format and it often means there is only one creature back as a blocker, making this card essentially unblockable in a lot of situations.



Pack 1 pick 5:



My Pick:



This was a close pick between Pathmaker Initiate, a second Cursed Minotaur or Bloodlust Inciter. I'm still not sure which was the correct pick, but in the end went with the second Minotaur.



Pack 1 pick 6:



My Pick:



Hooded Brawler is the best card in this pack and might have been the correct choice; instead, I was back and forth between Pathmaker Initiate and Blighted Bat. I took the Bat just due to the fact it flies.



Pack 1 pick 7:



My Pick:



This is a very good card but, unless we switch into white-red, we won't be playing it.



Pack 1 pick 8:



My Pick:



As it looked like I was moving into black-red aggro, I took Miasmic Mummy as a 2/2 for 2.



Pack 1 pick 9:



My Pick:



Supernatural Stamina is a decent combat trick, allowing you to often kill a creature and, of course, have yours survive.



Pack 1 pick 10:



My Pick:



Not likely to play two, but nothing else here.



Pack 1 pick 11:



My Pick:



If I end up with a critical mass of creatures I will be happy to play one copy of Pursue Glory; it can win a game out of nowhere and, when it's not good, you can cycle if for something better.



Pack 1 pick 12:



My Pick:



Not a great aggressive card, but we are into the dregs of the pack now.



Pack 1 pick 13:



My Pick:





Pack 1 pick 14:



My Pick:





Pack 1 pick 15:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 1:



My Pick:



I am firmly in black-red aggro at this point, and pack 2 gave me nothing. I ended up taking yet another Cursed Minotaur, picking it over Pitiless Vizier, Desert Cerodon and Wander in Death.



Pack 2 pick 2:



My Pick:



Another pack of nothing great, I took Watchers of the Dead as a 2 drop for 2. Wasteland Scorpion was the other card I looked at but it is a mana more expensive for the same stats, so went with the cheaper card in order to stay lower in the curve.



Pack 2 pick 3:



My Pick:



Onward to Victory is simply okay; not good, not bad. I am really getting nothing here.



Pack 2 pick 4:



My Pick:



Ugh, really getting nothing. I'm starting to worry at this point and am obviously being cut from this direction. In my mind, I'm wondering if it is wise to move into green, having seen Synchronized Strike here and the previous pack, but I stay the course...



Pack 2 pick 5:



My Pick:



...and still get nothing. Pack 2 has been horrible for me so far and it is not likely to get any better now, and the deck looks bad to medium at this point, so this could be a bit of train wreck.



Pack 2 pick 6:



My Pick:



Here is something at least; Pitiless Vizier is still not what I really want, being a 4 drop, but it is better than what I have been getting.



Pack 2 pick 7:



My Pick:



And another 2 drop at least.

The rest of the pack gives me nothing, so let's skim through it:



Pack 2 pick 8:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 9:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 10:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 11:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 12:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 13:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 14:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 15:



My Pick:



The deck is looking very mediocre right now, and I'm not expecting to do well with what I have got. My plan now, at least in my mind, is to just draft a curve and hope for the best, and keep my fingers crossed I get some decent cards early in pack 3.



Pack 3 pick 1:



My Pick:



The fingers-crossing pays off, and I snag a Cut to Ribbons. It's a shame it's also in a pack with Baleful Ammit, but Cut to Ribbons is just too good of a card to pass on.



Pack 3 pick 2:



My Pick:



I'm happy to take Deem Worthy here, as I know have some decent removal spells in the deck, making me feel a bit better.



Pack 3 pick 3:



My Pick:



Minotaur Sureshot has been a solid roleplayer in my red decks and, while not amazing, I'm happy to include one in a deck.



Pack 3 pick 4:



My Pick:



Another Nef-Crop Entangler gives me another premium 2 drop. It will hopefully allow me to start cutting cards like Nimble Blade Khenra and Doomed Dissenter.

At this point in the video, I actually mention I'm going to have to be happy with what I have as it is unlikely I will get any powerful cards now...



Pack 3 pick 5:



My Pick:



... and then I open Neheb, the Worthy. I only have a handful of Minotaurs to go along with it, but I'll take it.



Pack 3 pick 6:



My Pick:



This pick was a toss-up between Blighted Bat or Brute Strength. I went with Brute Strength on the basis that the combat tricks I had taken already were mediocre, and in an aggressive deck this just allows you to push through that much more damage.



Pack 3 pick 7:



My Pick:



This pick was out of Painful Lessons and Consuming Fervor. The aura has actually been quite good for me so far; even casting it on something like a 1 drop on turn 2 allows you to hit for 4, then 3... it gives you a good aggressive start.



Pack 3 pick 8:



My Pick:



With a couple of Nef-Crop Entanglers now, Battlefield Scavenger becomes a bit better than a normal 2/2 for 2. Plus, again, it allows me to replace some of those other ones I took.



Pack 3 pick 9:



My Pick:



Bloodlust Inciter is a card I'm happy to run 1 of in a red deck; it is much better than it looks on the surface, though you don't want too many of them.



Pack 3 pick 10:



My Pick:



While the first part of Rhonas's Monument does nothing for me, giving a creature +2/+2 and trample is great for an aggro deck.



Pack 3 pick 11:



My Pick:





Pack 3 pick 12:



My Pick:





Pack 3 pick 13:



My Pick:





Pack 3 pick 14:



My Pick:





Pack 3 pick 15:



My Pick:





THE DECK

I'm not convinced this is a great deck; I ended up with a couple of powerful cards, but it feels very medium. Let's see how it plays out.

THE MATCHES

Match 1

My opponent is playing red-green and gets off to a lightning quick start, playing Bitterblade Warrior on turn 2, Hooded Brawler on turn 3, and Battlefield Scavenger and another Bitterblade Warrior on turn 4. For my part, I have played a couple of creatures but am forced into blocking, as my life points are at an unhealthy total of 7. When my opponent then plays a Khenra Charioteer and gives everything trample, I am suddenly dead.

Game 2 is much the same, with me mulliganing to 5 and keeping a hand of no creatures. I do have a Painful Lessons but my opponent once again gets off to a quick start and I am unable to recover.

Match 2

This opponent is also on red-green, though they are more midrange than aggro, as evidenced by their plays of Bloodrage Brawler , Rhonas the Indomitable and Thresher Lizard . I was able to curve out, hitting them down to 8 life before they stabilized. All of their creatures were bigger than mine and they were then able to run over the top, Rhonas giving everything trample.

Game 2 was even closer again; this time, as I was able to get them down to 2 life before they stabilized the board. Try as I might, though, I could not find a way to sneak in that extra 2 points of damage; all of my creatures were smaller and, even with the help of Rhonas's Monument, I could not get the job done.

Match 3

My opponent in this match was playing blue-green. I'm hoping I can win at least a single game here, so let's see.

Game 1, and my opponent gets off to a flying start with Exemplar of Strength , Bitterblade Warrior , Crocodile of the Crossing and Collosapede while I got stuck on 2 Swamps...

Game 2 was a mulligan to 6 for me, and, thanks to a Naga Vitalist , my opponent was able to play their Crocodile on turn 3. I let it hit me a couple of times and had played out some creatures of my own, including a Blighted Bat, which, enchanted with Consuming Fervor, would end up winning me the game. I went into chump block mode of the Crocodile after going down to 5 life, and kept attacking with the Bat; eventually I was able to get the win.

Game 3 was the best my deck played for the whole event, and it was the only time I was able to play Neheb. It, in conjunction with Consuming Fervor and Rhonas's Monument, were able to completely dominate the game and get the match.

CONCLUSION

Yikes, 1-2. The deck sucked, to be perfectly honest, though Match 3 Game 3 showed me it was capable of being explosive. The deck just had too many middle of the road cards, with only a couple of good to great ones, and was just outclassed almost everywhere.

Anyway, what would you have done differently had you have been drafting this? Let me know on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below!