This is what happens when it's possibly your last BfZ draft and you go off the rails a little bit...the draft started off pretty normally as I first picked Emeria Shepherd (over a Grip of Desolation, which was probably incorrect, but the angel was a raredraft). I followed it with a couple of Zulaport Cutthroats and settled into a pretty typical WB build, though I took a Roil Spout early as I couldn't bring myself to pass it for a much less powerful card. I did wind up with a Vampiric Rites in the second pack, as I figured it might go well with the Cutthroats if I could get it to work, and I got the Endless One P2P1.

Things got a little weird in the third pack. I first-picked Evolving Wilds out of a fairly weak pack, as I was thinking I might be able to splash the Roil Spout and Coastal Discovery off of that and my Pilgrim's Eye, and during the pack I was passed a Prism Array. I took something else and announced that if it tabled, I would take it. It did, and in the meantime I had taken two Pilgrim's Eyes back-to-back, so the mana was actually looking possible. Unfortunately, I had to pass a Bring to Light for Drana's Emissary--would have been awesome to have the nuts Converge deck, but Emissary is too good to pass when those are my main colors. I'm not sure how the Rot Shambler wound up in my final build (it should have been the Fortified Rampart), but I wound up with a somewhat passable deck. I did leave the second Vampiric Rites in the sideboard, however.

Round 1 UW Fliers

I sat down against one of the best players at the LGS not really expecting to be competitive, but the games went much better than expected. It helped that my Zulaport Cutthroats and Pilgrim's Eyes matched up very well against his Kor Castigators and Eldrazi Skyspawners. Cloud Manta was a little more problematic, and Kor Bladewhirl allowed him to get some hits in, but Roil Spout, Drana's Emissary, and Kalastria Nightwatchs were able to put the game away. In G2, I drew the fabled Prism Arraybut was only able to play it for four. Still, this was enough to keep his Cloud Manta at bay long enough to land a huge Endless One and an Emeria Shepherd to take the match.

Round 2 RG Aggro/Landfall

I took the first game of this match off a pretty brutal Roil's Retribution, and I was able to chump block his gigantic creatures (Territorial Baloth and Valakut Predator) long enough with Scions and Cutthroats to get him with fliers, even after he landed a giant Eldrazi. After seeing the Eldrazi and a Nettle Drone, I sided in Pathway Arrows, and they showed up one turn too late one game--I had had to block an Eldrazi Devastator with all but my Eldrazi Skyspawner and fallen to 2, so I had just the one creature and couldn't kill both his Nettle Drone and tap down his Devastator, so I was dead. The final game, we traded off a fair amount and I got him low, and I drew the Arrows to kill his Nettle Drone. He tapped out for the Devastator, and I was able to use one creature to tap it and get in for lethal.

Round 3 - UR Devoid

This one was a bit of a frustrating one. I found myself rather far ahead for most of the first game, and I eventually wound with a Pilgrim's Eye, a Nirkana Assassin, an Awakened land from Roil Spout, and an Emeria Shepherd on board against his Cloud Manta with him on four life. He topdecked a land for his Serpentine Spike and was forced to chump the land with the Manta, but he topdecked Ulamog's Reclaimer to block the land and get back a removal spell while I topdecked lands. The second game, he landed two Molten Nurserys and ground me out with those, and while I fought back with Vampiric Rites, I couldn't handle his two Ruination Guides and his Tide Drifter.

Round 4 - RG Landfall

I lost the first game of this one to an aggressive curveout, but my next two games were long, drawn-out affairs--perfect for my deck. I hit several awakened lands (from Earthen Arms with removal spells, including Roil Spout, and I was able to clog up the ground enough with my sideboarded Fortified Rampart that I could grind him out. One game, I was on the edge much of the time, but I had played Prism Array for the full five and scried multiple times to find what I needed, and tapping down creatures when I needed to. The other, I had Vampiric Rites going with double Zulaport Cutthroat to take him down. A 3-1 with a Prism Array/Vampiric Rites deck feels pretty good!