Welcome back to another Limited Edition! I haven't been able to get as many drafts in of the format as I usually would at this point due to internet trouble (I'm having to borrow internet to do the articles!), but I am enjoying what I have been able to do so far. This draft deck ended up being quite interesting; I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

THE DRAFT

If you don't care to watch the video, here is a breakdown of all the picks and some thoughts on them:

Pack 1

Pack 1 pick 1:



My Pick:



I always start my drafts by trying to take the best cards out of the first few packs. In this pack, it was out of Electrify and Cartouche of Strength . I took Electrify, despite thinking that it was possible people to my immediate left would look at red because of the sheer amount in the pack; it has less of a set-up cost than Cartouche (it doesn't need a creature under your control) and is just the better card.



Pack 1 pick 2:



My Pick:



In this pack, I identified either the Cartouche or Baleful Ammit as the best cards, with the Cartouche slightly higher. Again, the player to my left likely took the green Cartouche out of that pack, but I felt it was worth taking it here.



Pack 1 pick 3:



My Pick:



Fan Bearer is probably the best card in this pack. However, having taken two strong cards in green and red, I decided that Thresher Lizard would be the pick. An aggressive green red deck is something I enjoy, though I wonder if I should have just taken the white card.



Pack 1 pick 4:



My Pick:



I almost took Weaver of Currents here, and it was probably correct to do so. However, the lure of the beatdown deck took me, and I took Bloodlust Inciter . Looking back though, seeing Shimmerscale Drake and Weaver was possibly an early sign that blue was open.



Pack 1 pick 5:



My Pick:



In this pack, I was choosing between Naga Vitalist and Ornery Kudu . The antelope was more of a beatdown card, so I took it.



Pack 1 pick 6:



My Pick:



For this pick I looked at Bitterblade Warrior , Giant Spider and Quarry Hauler . I ruled the Spider out, due to it being more defensive in nature, and decided that a two drop is better than a four drop in an aggro deck, so took Bitterblade Warrior.



Pack 1 pick 7:



My Pick:



This was a pretty easy pick.



Pack 1 pick 8:



My Pick:



This isn't a good card, but there were no good cards left.



Pack 1 pick 9:



My Pick:



Not the best creature, but a beater if you cast it and a cycler for when you can't.



Pack 1 pick 10:



My Pick:



This is a pretty decent combat trick that really shines in a black green deck. But it works well in any green deck so I took it.



Pack 1 pick 11:



My Pick:





Pack 1 pick 12:



My Pick:



A late Weaver of Currents . I went back and forth between this and Initiate's Companion ; I ended up taking the Weaver just because the Companion dies to anything. Also, if blue was open, green blue ramp can be quite good - I decided to speculate and keep my options open to see what pack two brings.



Pack 1 pick 13:



My Pick:



Gift of Paradise is quite good if you want to splash, allowing you to play bombs that cost 2 coloured mana.



Pack 1 pick 14:



My Pick:





Pack 1 pick 15:



My Pick:



Pack 2



Pack 2 pick 1:



My Pick:



This pick was tough. The question was: do I take Approach of the Second Sun , which is great and which I hadn't had a chance to play yet, or play it safe and take Magma Spray ? I had picked up some fixing with Gift of Paradise, so playing Approach was certainly possible; in the end I played it safe and took Magma Spray.



Pack 2 pick 2:



My Pick:



Here, though, I decided to play it risky and took Oketra the True . She's not the best God, but she is powerful; and if I am going to be a beatdown deck I should have enough creatures to make her active most of the time. There was also the potential to take Greater Sandwurm or Shefet Monitor if I thought about moving into ramp.



Pack 2 pick 3:



My Pick:



Here I was looking at either Emberhorn Minotaur or Hooded Brawler . Both are good cards, but Brawler is a mana cheaper.



Pack 2 pick 4:



My Pick:



It was this pick that made up my mind to commit to blue. A fourth pick Angler Drake ? That is surely a sign. Blue green ramp is a good deck and if I see some more parts of that deck pop up I'll move in swiftly.



Pack 2 pick 5:



My Pick:



I did consider Winds of Rebuke here, but played it safe and stuck to green; I'm not sure if I'll be blue or red at this point.



Pack 2 pick 6:



My Pick:



Again, this was the safe pick.



Pack 2 pick 7:



My Pick:



And now I'm pretty sure I want to be blue. Two Weaver of Currents plus Angler Drake is too much for me to pass up on.



Pack 2 pick 8:



My Pick:



Galestrike is a decent tempo play, and now that I am committing to blue, I'll take it.



Pack 2 pick 9:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 10:



My Pick:



Shimmerscale Drake is underrated. A 3/4 flyer for 5 mana is above the rate we normally get, and add cycling and you have a solid card.



Pack 2 pick 11:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 12:



My Pick:



With Oketra and some good red spells (Electrify and Magma Spray), more fixing is a good thing, so I picked up the second Gift of Paradise . Plus, it is more ramp. I just need to pick up some of the expensive green creatures.



Pack 2 pick 13:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 14:



My Pick:





Pack 2 pick 15:



My Pick:



Pack 3



Pack 3 pick 1:



My Pick:



I'm quite happy to get Vizier of Many Faces here, even if it means passing up Greater Sandwurm , a card I really want for this deck. Vizier is just great; it's always the best creature on the battlefield and, even if it dies, it does it again. Fantastic card.



Pack 3 pick 2:



My Pick:



More mana fixing is welcome, so I took Evolving Wilds happily.



Pack 3 pick 3:



My Pick:



Now we are talking. Scaled Behemoth is a good pay off card for ramp and is impossible to remove outside of combat.



Pack 3 pick 4:



My Pick:



This pick was between Floodwaters , which is an okay tempo play, or Open into Wonder , which can be the best card in your deck - or the worst if you are without creatures. I decided to go high risk high reward and took Open into Wonder.



Pack 3 pick 5:



My Pick:



Like I mentioned earlier, I want this card in my deck, so I now have it.



Pack 3 pick 6:



My Pick:



This time I took Floodwaters.



Pack 3 pick 7:



My Pick:



Stinging Shot is an interesting card I've had arguments over - is it main deckable? In my opinion, it is: if your opponent happens to be playing flyers, it is the most efficient removal spell in the set. And if they aren't, you draw a card off of it.



Pack 3 pick 8:



My Pick:





Pack 3 pick 9:



My Pick:



This was the one I wanted in the first place, so to see it come back is great.



Pack 3 pick 10:



My Pick:





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 reasonably happy with how this turned out, though I do worry that it won't be fast enough to compete with any aggro decks I come across.

THE MATCHES

Match 1

Versus: Green/white

Result: 1-2

Game 1 started with me playing a Bitterblade Warrior, Initiate's Companion and Angler Drake while my opponent was stuck on just green mana and a lonely Crocodile of the Crossing . When I used my Vizier of Many Faces to copy the Drake and bounce the crocodile, it was game over.

Game 2 was much better for my opponent, getting off to an aggressive start with cards such as Binding Mummy which was enchanted with Cartouche of Solidarity , Ornery Kudu and Bitterblade Warrior . Meanwhile, I was stuck with no blue mana, but did manage to draw a plains and cast Oketra. Unfortunately this was all too slow and even though I was able to stall by chump blocking for a bit, I was eventually overrun without dealing a single point of damage.

Game 3 saw me mulligan to 5 and be forced to keep a hand of four lands and Vizier of Many Faces. I was able to draw into some creatures and my opponent got stuck on three land. Not being under any pressure, I played Oketra early and then followed up with some creatures, but my opponent found a Fan Bearer . Man that card is annoying. They found more land and were able to start removing my creatures with Compulsory Rest , Impeccable Timing and Cast Out targeting Oketra. The beat down then started and I couldn't stabilize.

Match 2

Versus: White/black

Result: 2-0

This opponent was rather chatty, and not in a good way, with many insults being thrown my way. Folks, play nice, will you? Magic is, after all, only a game.

My opponent was on the zombie plan, but I was well and truly on the ramp plan, playing a Weaver of Currents into a Collosapede in game 1, provoking a concession and a barrage of insults from my opponent. Game 2 was much slower, with both of us playing out a bunch of ground creatures and neither of us having any good attacks. Eventually I drew Magma Spray (which I had sideboarded in for this game) to remove their Fan Bearer, and next turn played Open into Wonder to attack for lethal in one massive alpha strike (again, earning me a string of insults). Very happy to have beaten this person.

Match 3:

Versus: Green/white

Result: 2-0

Game 1 was a bit strange, with my opponent not doing anything other than playing Pyramid of the Pantheon and putting brick counters on it. I got off to a slowish start though, drawing no more than three land and having to play Weaver of Currents and Gift of Paradise in my early turns in order to ramp into the cards I had in my hand. Eventually I was able to do this and, with the help of Floodwaters removing blockers, got the win.

There is nothing to say about game 2; my opponent mulliganed to 5 and kept a one-land hand and never found a second.

CONCLUSION

All in all, I enjoyed this deck, though it was very slow to get going, which is not a good thing in this format. Still, it felt strong, but would have folded easily had I stumbled upon a red deck. I'll take the 2-1 record, though.

I'll be back again soon for more drafts. Until then, find me on Twitter or Facebook, or leave me a comment below.