Draft #2 - Sick, so sick.

There are few things that will make me curl up in a blanket and start drafting on Magic: Online faster than a mild cold. I've never really needed an excuse to avoid leaving the house, but by god I got one. Don't you people understand how sniffly I was tonight? SO sniffly, that's how.

Anyway, I hopped on and into a Zendikar draft, and frankly... it could have gone better. 

Format: Zen/Zen/Zen

Final Record: 1-2 (3 game wins, 5 game losses.)

Note: I'm paying for my gloating earlier in the weekend, clearly. 

Notable Pics or Passes:

• Let's all take a moment to agree that drafting online is awful, and their interface almost demands you make a mistake. I picture Richard Garfield in a room surrounded by Monitors like that guy in that one Matrix movie, wringing his hands and cackling madly whenever someone accidentally takes a Kabira Crossroads second pick and did not even get to see what else was in the pack WHICH MAY HAVE HAPPENED TO ME EXACTLY, TONIGHT. So, you know. Laugh it up, Garfield.
• My first pick was a Vampire Nighthawk. When did Wizards lose their mind? This card is amazing. For 3 mana, you get a 2/3 flier with deathtouch and lifelink. Stupid, it's just stupid. 
• At times I passed piece of equipment (Adventuring Gear, Spidersilk Nets) in favor of a couple Kor dudes that needed equipment, hoping that the equipment would come back around. I think I probably should have gone the other way, because if the Kor guys didn't come back I'd still have usible equipment, instead of what DID happen - no equipment and useless Kor dudes. 

Card Pool:

So I wasn't super happy with the last format, so I'm just going to list what I took as Deck and Sideboard, and break it down by color in there.

Deck:

White:

1 Luminarch Ascension

1 Kor Skyfisher

1 Caravan Hurda

2 Cliff Threader

1 Kor Sanctifiers

1 Kazandu Blademaster

2 Narrow Escape

1 Sunspring Expedition

1 Ondu Cleric

1 Kor Duelist

2 Makindi Shieldmate

Black

1 Hagra Crocodile

1 Marsh Casualties

2 Heartstabber Mosquito

1 Vampire Nighthawk

1 Hagra Diabolist

Artifacts:

1 Blade of the Bloodchief

1 Stonework Puma

1 Explorer's Scope

Land:

6 Swamp

11 Plains

SIDEBOARD:

White:

1 Armament Master

2 Quest for the Holy Relic

2 Kor Cartographer

1 Cliff Threader

1 Kor Outfitter

Black

1 Vampire's Bite

Green

1 Khalni Heart Expedition

1 Turntimber Basilisk

1 Mold Shambler

2 Scythe Tiger

1 Tanglesap

Blue

1 Trapmaker's Snare

1 Reckless Scholar

1 Trapfinder's Trick

Land

1 Kabira Crossroads

1 Piranha Marsh

How'd I Do?

Ennnnnnh, not so hot. First round I did very well, and crushed hard and fast. Rounds 2 and 3, though, every game was the same. Get out a lot of great utility creatures and hold my opponent off while doing a lot of damage. Then they do something to stabilize, and then play at a standstill until they draw their bomb. I honestly lost 3 games where my life total was above 20 while theirs was in single digits. Ah well.

What'd I Learn?

If you're going white, then ignore the Kor and their tricky equipment nonsense. It was too much work to support and in the end, I decided I'd rather keep the equipment and dump the Armament Master and the Kor Outfitter. With the beneift of hindsight, I should have cut the Kor Outfitter, since my equipment didn't do much for him. 

I also learned that I need to be willing to abandon a color when I start getting the sense of a signal. For a bit I thought I might have been getting pushed out of white, and I took some green cards - Turntimber Basalisk, the 2 Scythe Tigers, and the Mold Shambler - but then I jumped back into white. I probably shouldn't have. Looking at my white pool, there are really only 2 great white cards - Kor Skyfisher and Kazandu Blademaster - and a lot of filler. B/G probably would have been a better way to go. 

Did I Overvalue Anything? 

• Equipment guys. See: everything above.
• Luminarch Accension. I got really excited for this card, but in all honesty, if you don't get it on the board around turn 2, I couldn't get it off. 
• Kor Cartographer. I love smoothing, and I love 2/2s, so I got really excited for this guy. But on turn 4, there was always something else I wanted to play. I also was always hoping for some other card when I drew them. After the first game, I swapped them out for the Cliff Threaders.
• Hagra Crocodile. Not being able to block meant that this guy was a huge liability. I know a lot of people like this card, and I used to be one of them, but it gets shut down when they play some 1/1. 

Anything A-May-Zing?

• No real surprises, but the following cards I could kiss and make sweet magical love to if they would just return my calls: Kazandu Blademaster, Marsh Casualties, Vampire Nighthawk and Heartstabber Mosquito. 
• The Heartstabber Mosquitos, especially. I know the love for this card has somewhat cooled, but I loved killing their 4/4 flier and dropping a 2/2 at the same time. 
• The Cliff Threaders really pissed people off! A 2/1 for 1 was fine even when they didn't have mountains, but when they did people went out of their way to waste all their elimination on these guys while my Kazandu Blademaster just cut through their creatures. 

Tell Them What They've Won!

It was an online game, so no rare drafting. I did get a pack for winning one game, so my next draft will be that much cheaper.

Yeah, next time I'm going to:

1. Stop listening to my instincts and go with my intellect. 
2. And focus on their Magic Online client's weird little quirks so I don't accidentally tap lands or pick cards when I don't mean to.

Thanks kids, and let me know what you think!

-Casey-