JOU , BNG , THS Swiss Draft Review #1



Journey has had more impact on drafting than I would have thought. It may be my limited experience, but it feels like the environment has slowed. The few times I have tried an aggressive build with a myriad of 1 and 2 drop creatures, I have usually lost to decks that manage to stabilize and then out-class my creatures. The "Voltron" strategy is also significantly weaker as there is a lot of spot removal and/or bounce. What seems to be winning is tempo / midrange decks. Today after a shaky start I settled into trying for a blue-green tempo build.

Here is what the draft seats looked like:



s1 - UR s2 - WR me - GU s4 - WG s8 - BW s7 - RB s6 - GWu s5 - RWB



So after the draft, I was able to see that we had 5 people fighting for white cards, 4 in red, 3 each in black and green, and 2.5 in blue (half for the person in seat 6 that was splashing for some blue). After taking some early white cards, I feel that I picked up the signal fairly well and abandoned it. Luckily I made a good choice. Let's review the picks.



Pack 1 Pick 1



I'm not a fan of Skybind in limited (or anywhere really). Maybe someone will break this card and show me how wrong I am, but it requires so much - 5 mana, a permanent with a relevant comes-into-play ability, and then more enchantments in your deck to re-trigger. So I didn't really consider the rare. I did look at Pharika's Chosen, Eagle of the Watch, Oppressive Rays, Dakra, and the Game Warden. I liked the Pharika's Chosen in that it would completely cut black, but who knows if black will be open. Oppressive Rays can be strong in the right deck (aggressive), but as I mentioned above - those have not worked out well for me lately. I do like green a lot in this format, so let's try the Game Warden.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 2



Is this a signal? I thought it was. Deicide is not a great piece of removal in this format, but it is still rare enchantment hate. I also wanted one for possible standard deck sideboard option. Feast of Dreams is a first pickable black card in my opinion - it will almost always have a target. I think Golden Hind would have been a better pick in hindsight, but as I said I did want the Deicide. Lots of playables in this pack - wonder what will come back. 8 cards taken, so 6 cards will be left. Likely: Island, Market Festival, Lightning Diadem, Desecration Plague, plus 2 more - any of which would be playable...

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 3



Exactly the same common run as pack 1. Didn't notice it at the time of course. The rare and an uncommon are missing from the pack. Last time I tried Solidarity of Heroes, it sat in my hand as a dead card a lot of the time. I thought white was going to be open based on the last pack, and that pushed me toward the Eagle.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 4



Another pick I wish I could have back - Leurcrocota would have made the deck. The Nyx-Fleece Ram is nice, but since white turned out not to be open... I remember thinking based on this pack that blue was not open.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 5



I think Thunderhoof is the best card left in the pack here. While it's another 5 drop, I take it as a good sign that green is reasonably open in this direction.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 6



Hubris and War-Wing Siren should not be going this late. Guess I was wrong about blue not being open. I thought about Oakheart Dryads, but it was early enough I thought I could take a chance on changing colours. Was not sure which would stick white or green.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 7



Aerial Formation would have been a better pick here and works really well in UG. I think I saw this as a way to cut green from this pack in the hopes I would get rewarded in pack 2.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 8



Based on this pack - I'd say black and blue are open (and red is possibly - Font of Ire is a good finisher in an aggressive deck). Hubris is a decent tempo card, and I think the strongest card here (closely followed by Cast into Darkness).

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 9



So it looks like the fight for white is on, it's around here when I abandon the white plan and move those cards to the sideboard. Both the Eagle and the Oppressive Rays are gone from this pack, as is the Skybind. Is Dakra good in this format? If you're opponent scrys something to the top, you can make them discard it (but what if you reveal something you really need). I'm torn on this - I think if you have a lot of Scry, it could be good. I chose the Weaver as it makes a decent stall card.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 10



So 4/4 on my guesses for cards that would come back for sure with the plus 2 being Cloaked Siren and Spirespine - seems to be a solid indicator that I am in the right colours. Which would you pick here (of those two)? I like the Siren as it fits well into the tempo deck - you can leave up 4 mana to bluff a lot of cards.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 11



Rest of the cards probably won't make the deck, but having some counter spell options is always nice.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 12



Probably should have taken the Ox here. Not likely to play either of them.

My Pick:





Pack 1 Pick 13



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Pack 1 Pick 14



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Pack 1 Pick 15



My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 1



Best cards in the pack - Skyguard, Fated Conflagration, and Everflame jump out at me. In my colours however, there are only a couple of choices, and the Tromper is clearly the best of them.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 2



Sudden Storm or Nyxborn Wolf. I think the storm is better for the tempo build.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 3



Getting a little nervous here. I'm hoping the Disciple will table, and I need some 2-drop creatures. Starbreaker is better now than it was, but still not great.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 4



That's better - couple of good choices here. Retraction Helix vs. Oathsworn - I like the trick here and I already have some better heroic creatures to target. Bounce is a key piece of the tempo deck - I'd like to have 3-5 options in the deck.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 5



I'll take another. Worrisome that green is being cut, but at least blue still seems open.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 6



Either of these 5-drops would have been fine, but the upside on the Demolok is very useful sometimes. Surprised to see the Vanguard still there.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 7



Crypsis is one of my favourite combat tricks - they swing with their deathtouch guy assuming I won't block - surprise!

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 8



He's a 1/3 - can board him in against an aggressive deck. Not enough targets to make him useful to me though so far.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 9



I'm hoping the other Disciple will table.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 10



Good pick-up for us - even though our devotion to green is not really that good at the moment.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 11



It did table.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 12



Wayfinder is not bad, maybe could have taken it here. I like it better in black-green though.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 13



My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 14



Happy to have one of these.

My Pick:





Pack 2 Pick 15



My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 1



Not much for us here. Triton is a solid card though.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 2



Courser or Vaporkin - certainly not the strongest cards in the pack. This doesn't feel like a Vaporkin deck, rather just have the efficient creature.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 3



Certainly more choices here, but nothing amazing.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 4



Wow - green is sure flowing in this direction. Maybe should have taken the Voyaging Satyr, but the Time to Feed is some much needed removal, and it triggers heroic. I.e., it has synergy with our earlier picks and we don't currently look like a ramp deck.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 5



For the sideboard.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 6



I was hoping to pick up at least one of these guys.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 7



So many choices - time to feed number 2 vs. Nimbus Naiad vs. Horizon Scholar - it's nice to be in the open colours. I think I made the right call.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 8



I thought about playing this guy - 4 mana double up my Aspects or Retraction Helix - seems a little greedy though. Rather just have the vanilla 3/3 most of the time in the 3-drop slot.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 9



Maybe should have taken then Warrior's Lesson. Interesting that it tabled.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 10



Picked this up for sideboard, but I could see an argument for Fade or Fate Foretold here as well. Turns out I really could have used the Fade.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 11



None of these will likely get into the deck.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 12



Shredding Winds or Courser number 3. Probably should have taken the winds.

My Pick:





Pack 3 Pick 13



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Pack 3 Pick 14



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Pack 3 Pick 15



My Pick:





So the deck I ended up with looked like:



I often boarded out the Disciple to bring in the Nullify - especially against fast decks or decks with removal. In round 1, I boarded out the Demolok for the Nullify as he didn't seem to have any way to deal with the flyers and was playing a grindy kind of deck.



Round 1 vs. BW (seat 8) - I won 2-0

He was playing a black-white deck with Servant and Scholar and some decent removal options. Card advantage defined this match as I must have drawn 5-6 extra cards off of Triton Fortune Hunter and/or the Sphinx's Disciple.



Round 2 vs. WRB (seat 5) - I won 2-0

He seemed to be mostly red with an even split of white and black cards. He mis-clicked and put his Ordeal of Erebos on my Nessian Courser in game 2 instead of his Blood-Toll Harpy, and that probably handed me the match.

Round 3 vs. BR (seat 7) - I won 2-1

This was a tough match - he had a lot of removal, Hammer of Purphoros, and Erebos. Really wish I had picked up the Fade into Antiquity for this match. He couldn't find any threats in game 3, and I won the game with a well-timed Aspect of Hydra.



Good luck in all your future drafts. Cheers, majones12.