With Grand Prix Boston-Worcester right around the corner I decided that now would be the best time to get play some M13 Draft and document it for all to see. This particular draft went rather well for me but mistakes were made along the way so be sure to pay attention as there's plenty to learn below.

Pack 1 pick 1:

My Pick:


Not a bad start to the draft! I'd never played with Ajani Caller of the Pride before but I couldn't imagine it being anything but insane. I briefly considered Switcheroo Knight of Infamy and Mogg Flunkies but who the hell was I kidding?! Mythic rare it is!

Pack 1 pick 2:

My Pick:


My options were Timberpack Wolf Mwonvuli Beast Tracker Hellion Crucible and War Falcon. In my experiences drafting M13 I hadn't had a lot of success with Hellion Crucible nor had I had much success drafting W/R so I eliminated that rather quickly. War Falcon had been ok for me thus far and there's an argument to be made for staying on-color but I've found its "drawback" difficult to overcome at times and having one toughness is not ideal in this Limited format due to cards like Cover in Darkness Crippling Blight and Chandra's Fury.

Pack 1 pick 3:

My Pick:


This pick took me quite a while to decide upon. Even now I'm not entirely sure which is correct. Arbor Elf is extremely powerful due to the format not having much mana acceleration but Prized Elephant is huge for its cost and is one of the best creatures you can pair with Ajani Caller of the Pride (counter + trample = win). In the end I decided to go with Prized Elephant because I was dead set on pairing Ajani Caller of the Pride with green cards to maximize its second ability.

Pack 1 pick 4:

My Pick:


Due to the lack of options I think that Mwonvuli Beast Tracker was the easy pick. Show of Valor tables a lot and Mwonvuli Beat Tracker has a much higher upside than a combat trick that I would almost certainly be able to pick up later if necessary.

Pack 1 pick 5:

My Pick:


Don't mind if I do!

Pack 1 pick 6:

My Pick:


This felt like a rather late Prey Upon. I really wanted to pair up Primal Huntbeast with Ajani Caller of the Pride but removal is simply too good to pass up.

Pack 1 pick 7:

My Pick:


!!!

Pack 1 pick 8:

My Pick:


Not too much of a surprise to see a Show of Valor going this late.

Pack 1 pick 9:

My Pick:


I think every green deck in M13 wants at least one Titanic Growth to keep your opponent honest so I was glad I was able to get that out of the way late in pack one instead of having to take it over a real card later in the draft.

Pack 1 pick 10:

My Pick:


In hindsight I actually think this pick was quite wrong. Wall of Fire is rather good at brick-walling green decks and if given the opportunity Mind Sculpt should be taken away from people just to avoid having to deal with that nightmare. Of the three options Zombie Goliath would be the easiest to handle due to the nature of G/W decks (efficient creatures and pump spells).

Pack 1 pick 11:

My Pick:


Zzzz…

Pack 1 pick 12:

My Pick:


I'd rather not have to play against this from some crazy W/R Captain's Call deck.

Pack 1 pick 13:

My Pick:


Got it right this time!

Pack 1 pick 14:

My Pick:


Zzzz…

Pack 1 pick 15:

My Pick:


Zzzz…

Pack 2 pick 1:

My Pick:


I think Flames of the Firebrand was far and away the best card in this pack. The only other card I was considering Guardians of Akrasa is a relatively good card but not in the same league.

Pack 2 pick 2:

My Pick:


Ah yes! The classic case of awesome removal versus awesome creature. In situations like this I tend to lean towards the awesome creature. I love Pacifism as much as the next person does and it's extremely important for a G/W deck to pick up removal when it can. But with deathtouch being more plentiful than normal and Prey Upon providing another removal spell in the common slot for a G/W deck I thought my opportunity to obtain another removal spell was more likely to come along than a creature of Serra Angel's quality.

Pack 2 pick 3:

My Pick:


I thought about this one briefly but it seemed rather easy in retrospect. Battleflight Eagle is incredibly mediocre Bond Beetle is quite bad and hating a card seemed counterintuitive when I could take a card for my deck. I don't love Divine Verdict in G/W but it was the best card available.

Pack 2 pick 4:

My Pick:




Pack 2 pick 5:

My Pick:


I like War Priest of Thune a lot in this set due to cards like Mark of the Vampire and Tricks of the Trade. It didn't hurt that I could use a 2/2 for two for curve purposes as well.

Pack 2 pick 6:

My Pick:


This one was rather a close pick but I've found Safe Passage at its best in G/W decks. Two-drops are rather plentiful in G/W (Silvercoat Lion Timberpack Wolf Elvish Visionary Deadly Recluse) so I was likely to pick some up later on.

Pack 2 pick 7:

My Pick:


Speaking of two-drops...

Pack 2 pick 8:

My Pick:


I'm not terribly fond of Encrust but it's rather good against my deck so this seemed like an easy defensive draft.

Pack 2 pick 9:

My Pick:


Simply taking the best card in the pack.

Pack 2 pick 10:

My Pick:


As stated earlier Show of Valor normally shows up this late.

Pack 2 pick 11:

My Pick:


This pick was potentially wrong. Because I had a Mwonvuli Beast Tracker I actually think I was supposed to take the Duskdale Wurm for the off chance that I sided it in and needed to search for it.

Pack 2 pick 12:

My Pick:


Bow wow wow yippee yo yippee yay!

Pack 2 pick 13:

My Pick:


Considered to be a poor trick I'd rather not get blown out by a Kindled Fury given the option.

Pack 2 pick 14:

My Pick:


Ya never know...

Pack 2 pick 15:

My Pick:


Zzzz…

Pack 3 pick 1:

My Pick:


I make this look easy don't I?

Pack 3 pick 2:

My Pick:


I think this pick was relatively close. Farseek could help our deck out a lot with acceleration (turn 3 Prized Elephant or turn 4 Garruk Primal Hunter) and fixing (Ajani Caller of the Pride versus Garruk Primal Hunter doesn't make for the prettiest of mana) while Deadly Recluse could help against fliers and is searchable via Mwonvuli Beast Tracker. In the end I decided I wanted the help against fliers a little more than the fixing of my mana base.

Pack 3 pick 3:

My Pick:


I briefly considered Yeva's Forcemage due to curve concerns (my only three-drops were Mwonvuli Beast Master and Ajani Caller of the Pride at this point) but Prized Elephant is just too good to pass up in a G/W deck.

Pack 3 pick 4:

My Pick:


I thought for a short time about Primal Clay but Acidic Slime was far and away the best card not only for the effect it could provide but because I could Tutor for it via Mwonvuli Beast Tracker.

Pack 3 pick 5:

My Pick:


A second one sure couldn't hurt!

Pack 3 pick 6:

My Pick:


I like Naturalize in this format quite a bit due to the Ring cycle Pacifism / Encrust and Mark of the Vampire / Tricks of the Trade type effects. It was unlikely that I'd start it but I was sure happy to have access to one in my sideboarded games if necessary.

Pack 3 pick 7:

My Pick:


I don't love Yeva Forcemage but I needed it to fill my curve.

Pack 3 pick 8:

My Pick:


I already had an abundance of four-drops but I really wanted another guy that flies to be able to protect the skies without a Sentinel Spider or a Plummet in my draft stack yet.

Pack 3 pick 9:

My Pick:


Pardon me?

Pack 3 pick 10:

My Pick:




Pack 3 pick 11:

My Pick:


Zzzz…

Pack 3 pick 12:

My Pick:


I don't think this pick was too relevant because I wasn't going to play either card and I wanted Hydrosurge to be in one of my opponent's deck.

Pack 3 pick 13:

My Pick:


I hate playing against Mind Rot. I probably play around it a lot more than I should. This gave me less of a reason to do so.

Pack 3 pick 14:

My Pick:


Zzzz…

Pack 3 pick 15:

My Pick:


Zzzz…

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I ended up playing this:

Notes about the deck:

Our mana. It was going to be difficult no matter how we built it. Ajani Caller of the Pride and Ajani's Sunstriker wanted us to play nine Plains but Garruk Primal Hunter Mwonvuli Beast Tracker and Prized Elephant wanted us to play nine Forests.

Divine Verdict vs. Show of Valor. I like Divine Verdict a lot in this format but I like it the least in G/W decks. That being said you want to have outs to Vampire Nighthawk a large exalted creature or a bomb rare that you weren't expecting and that's exactly what Divine Verdict provides.

How'd the draft go?

Poorly. I lost round 1 of the 8-4 with this deck due to mana screw game 1 and a bit of mana flood game 2 against a U/W deck. While I was mana screwed in game 1 I got milled out by Vedalken Entrancer and Sands of Delirium. As such I boarded out my Safe Passage and Divine Verdict for a Naturalize (I saw a Pacifism in addition to Sands of Delirium) and a Show of Valor. Predictably I got attacked in the air by a War Falcon Griffin Protector and Faerie Invaders for most of game 2 and was left wondering how my opponent could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.

Dem da beats!

Until next week my friends!

Cedric Phillips

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