Why? Why does Magic Online torment me so? Four drafts today, one match win. In the world of the 8-4 queue that equates to approximately 0 prize, and exactly a lot of frustration. I look back on the last few days and I see my rating fluctuating fifty points in either direction on a daily basis. I have had some excellent streaks recently, a day where I split in the finals of, or won, four 8-4s in a row, and days like today, where my internet connection took a nap right before the draft started and I auto-picked my first nine cards. You can guess how that one turned out.
The thing is with that draft in particular, my deck was actually not all that bad. One of my auto-picks was Kodama of the North Tree which, along with being a decent card, is worth a few tix. I also had Pull Under and a Waking Nightmare, leading me to hope I would get passed some decent B/G stuff in the next two packs in order to try to piece a deck together. Low and behold, I opened a Kokusho, the Evening Star! Wow I thought to myself, this might not be that bad. Even if I get hammered in round 1, I made up for with my two money rares. This is what I ended up with:
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Kodama of the North Tree
1 Orochi Ranger
1 Matsu-Tribe Decoy
1 Bile Urchin
1 Skullsnatcher
1 Cruel Deceiver
1 Kami of the Hunt
1 Gnarled Mass
1 Forked-Branch Garami
2 Sakura-Tribe Springcaller
1 Gutwrencher Oni
1 Villainous Ogre
1 Humble Budoka
1 Harbinger of Spring
1 Pull Under
1 Waking Nightmare
1 Unchecked Growth
1 Commune with Nature
1 Devouring Greed
1 Strength of Cedars
9 Big Trees
9 Muddy Places
I know! Not bad right? Imagine what would have happened had I had those nine picks back? Well, I'll tell you what would have happened. I would have taken a Kami of Ancient Law over North Tree and not looked back.
Pound for pound, not many cards stand up to North Tree in a fight, least of all Kami of Disenchant. I won't argue that the little White beater is a superior card, because not only am I asking for a flame war in the forums, I also would be straight up wrong. It is strictly a drafting preference that I wouldn't take the Green card. I dislike Green to the point that I've taken Kitsune Blademaster over Kodama of the South Tree (universally agreed upon to be the nuts (not the Knuts)). Of course, I'm pretty sure that was the right pick out of a pack that also contained Strength of Cedars, Kodama's Might, and Sakura-Tribe Elder, but that's besides the point. Had there only been the Strength in the pack, I still would have shipped South Tree. After doing more CCB drafts than I care to admit to, I think that my strategies are quite sound, and I have found that if you are sharing Green with either of your neighbors, your deck might as well be a big pile of steaming poo. Green is inherently weak in Champions, and although it got some nice niche fillers in Betrayers, it can't do anything like what the other colors can do.
The best draw a Green mage can hope for goes something like Orochi Sustainer (or Elder) turn 2, large men on turn 3-6ish. While this my seem solid, consider what happens if your Sustainer bites it before it gets active? Worse, consider what happens when playing against a U/W deck that dropped a Waxmane Baku on turn 3, or even a Kitsune Diviner. Your obnoxiously large men are turned off by a little tapper dude, while flying (often untargetable) moonfolk make short work of your life total. As a base color, Green doesn't have the aggression and evasion of Black, the utility of White, the removal of Red, or the, uh, anything of Blue. What does it have? Again, large men. Land dragon (a.k.a. Moss Kami) is probably Green's most relevant common threat, as it only costs one Green and tramples like, uh, *insert random mom joke here*. However, it doesn't come down until turn 5 usually, and most decks have set up some kind of decent board position by then. On the flip side, if Mossy comes down on an empty board, it has been known to make some opponents have to go home to change their boxer-briefs.
Where does Green fit then? How do we best draft a Green deck, and how do we best signal our neighbors to get the hell out of our favorite color? It's rough, that's for sure, and I'm sorry to say that I don't have a definitive answer. This is the main reason that I don't like Green. A table can often support four White drafters easily, but a pack with multiple playable Green cards is just a nightmare waiting to happen. When we look down the list of commons in Champions, we find several Green cards that are still being overrated *ahemKodama's Reachcoughcough*, but not that many that are completely unplayable. All the snakes can find a home in the right deck, the mana accelerants are something that frankly every deck wants, and the pump spells are not half bad. The lure of Green may be strong to those who aren't aware of its pitfalls.
I had a similar experience last year during Mirrodin-Mirrodin-Darksteel draft season. Green was all well and good if you opened a Viridian Shaman and got passed a couple Fangren Hunters, but otherwise it was generally overdrafted due to everyone hoping to crack a Molder Slug, Glissa, or Oxidize. However, draft trends are cyclical. Once people started to realize that they weren't getting 2 Fangren Hunters and 2 Stand Together (shout out to Antonino on that one, but it's still not better than Fireball) in their Green decks, they tended to shy away from drafting that color.
It was the beginning of the MMD season at GP: Oakland, and, knowing that Green was still being overdrafted, I stayed away for the most part, and ended up only losing once on Day 2. Fast forward to GP: Columbus, and both of my Day 2 draft decks were base Green, and quite saucy. How did this happen, and why, with my adamant anti-Green stance, did I go Green? The time was right, plain and simple. More people realizing what I already knew lead them to shun Green in favor of deeper colors, leaving the nature goodies for me to scoop up.
Am I that far ahead of people? Can I predict the future? What are next week lotto numbers you ask? (not telling) [Damn. - Knut, needing extra money for tax season] I don't pretend to be some kind of Magic prodigy, an uber-intuitive genius that can stay one step ahead of drafting trends (that's right, I don't pretend). I simply have been playing this game long enough to know that trends are just that, they come and go, and eventually, they come back. Right now, Green is no good. I rarely draft it, and when I do, it is often as an ancillary color. Pairing Black with Green is often your best bet due to all the soulshift and spiritcraft creaminess, but even that plan can go awry against a well-crafted Blue deck.
I think the best part about not drafting Green (and having people know that, as in a money draft with people you know) is that you will often get shipped some ridiculous Green cards. The other day, I did a 2-on-2 where one of my opponents knew I never draft Hreen. He proceeded to pass me some retarded cards, thinking they were going straight through to his teammate. No sir, 4-0 ya. Thx brah.
Green is always touch and go. If you really think it's clear, go ahead and draft it. If you're sitting next to me, who knows... you may get a fourth-pick North Tree and seventh-pick Strength of Cedars.
NEW TOPIC!! *Cue the trumpets*
In Tim Aten's Frankenstein Betrayers White review, I had this to say about Split-Tail Miko:
"...Easily the second best White common, Split-Tail Miko can actually jump ahead of Waxmane Baku in some spirit-light builds. If the fox comes down on turn 2 and you can follow it up with a halfway decent curve, it makes early combat really difficult for your opponent. Compare this card to last set's shining star of a damage preventer, Kitsune Healer, and the Miko looks that much better. The small activation cost is negligable most of the time..."
I was wrong (frowns). Waxmane Baku is far and away the best White common. Miko is fine, but dropping it on turn 2 is hardly optimal unless you plan on playing defense for the first nine turns before Kuro, Pitlord comes out to play. Even in "spirit light builds", the Baku is simple awesome. Every one of my draft decks has at the very least six or so spirit and/or arcane cards, and it is very rare that the number is actually that low. Waxmane Baku also can use its ability and attack in the same turn, and can be used both offensively and defensively. I find that in the style of draft decks that I tend to favor, keeping one White up every turn just sucks. Miko can't really block effectively, and he doesn't exactly "get in there" very often either. Plus, First Volley is basically Split-Tail Miko's worst nightmare, and they come around late.
There are a lot of cards that I would rather draft than the Miko, including, ironically enough, First Volley. First Volley is undervalued by a significant margin in my opinion. The sheer number of one-toughness dorks in this format would make Lava Dart a Top 5 common, and First Volley isn't far behind. It also has the type Instant-Arcane, which turns on many things, like Waxmane Baku. See how this all comes together?
Til next time....
BStroh
Celiracer on AIM
Topdeckr at Optonline.net
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