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As M10 draft analysis is starting today, I’m going to do something a little different. As the draft is much more interesting than the games themselves, I’ll shorten the game explanations to focus more on the picks. In order to do so, I’ll rank the relevant cards left in each pack. Feel free to discuss on the forums whether you prefer this or the previous style.

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

1) Serra Angel
2) Gargoyle Castle
3) Doom Blade
4) Rod of Ruin
5) Snapping Drake
6) Centaur Courser
Serra Angel is quite obviously the best card, but Gargoyle Caste is the only one you will play for sure in your deck. Doom Blade is one of the best two removals in the format (with Bolt), and the only common I’d pick over it is Merfolk Looter. Rod of Ruin is about as good as Snapping Drake and Centaur Courser, but it is, just as Sanctum Gargoyle, one card you’ll play for sure. Then I put the Drake over the Centaur because I like Blue a little more than Green in M10.

  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:

1) Nightmare
2) Lightning Bolt
2) Divine Verdict
Nightmare is the best card, but it will be hard to play in the same deck as Serra Angel. However, it is sick in mono Black, and receiving it as the second pick is a great signal. Lightning Bolt would be pretty good in a RW deck, but it is hard to predict if I’ll be able/want to stick to this archetype, so I’ll rather go with the Black guy and be sure my deck has at least one bomb. Out of the other cards, the best one is Divine Verdict, a card that's actually quite good in a bomb-oriented format such as M10.

  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:

1) Consume Spirit
2) Gravedigger
The only two acceptable picks here. I used to love Gravedigger in 777, 888, 999, etc, but those formats were less bomb oriented than M10 draft. Therefore, having removal is absolutely necessary to deal with your opponent's best guys, and Gravedigger, despite being a very good card, is not worth a card which would be awesome if I ended up mono-Black. I’d pick the Zombie over Assassinate though.

  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:

1) Weakness
2) Kelinore Bat
3) Safe Passage
4) White Knight
In my deck, I’m not really planning to race with flyers. Therefore, Kelinore Bat doesn’t seem better for me than Weakness, which also stops small guys for a much cheaper price. Safe Passage would be good if I ended up BW. It’s a card I like a lot, as it is a combat trick which can trump cards such as Overrun and many of the Red and Black removal spells. White Knight would be very hard to play, but at least I wouldn’t have to face it if I picked it here.

  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:

1) Black Knight
2) Rise from the Grave
3) Duress
4) Warpath Ghoul
5) Borderland Ranger
The best Black early drop is an easy pick here, but the pick order of the next cards is interesting. Considering the amount of great creatures in the format, and the removal I should end up running, Rise from the Grave is a lot better than the Reanimate type spells usually are. Duress is rarely a miss in M10, and Warpath Ghoul is able to deal with most of the early game's creatures. Borderland Ranger is the second best card in this pack after Black Knight, but it is not a good enough reason to consider a splash.

  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:

I love the card both in sealed and draft, especially in draft as it is a maindeck card and a great removal spell, as it works against five or six decks at the table. I like Warpath Ghoul, but I wouldn’t even consider picking it here.

  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:

1) Diabolic Tutor
2) Wall of Bones
3) Vampire Aristocrat
With a fantastic bomb, two early removal spells, and a Drain Life, Diabolic Tutor is already a good card in the deck, and there are still more than two packs yet to come. Vampire Aristocrat is not nearly as good as Nantuko Husk used to be because of the M10 rules. Wall of Bones, however, in a control deck which should have many was to deal with creatures, should help buy time before the rare shows up.

  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 1:

  My Pick:

1) Assassinate
2) White Knight
3) Weakness
Assassinate is not a very good first pick, but removal is removal. Counterdrafting White Knight could have been good too, considering it kills me instantly and I have already passed one. Weakness is okay but I don’t wish to play several, and Assassinate is clearly better anyway.

  Pack 2 pick 2:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:

1) Warpath Ghoul
2) Terramorphic Expanse
Expanse may be my last chance to splash for Serra Angel, but I have pretty much given up on white, and wish to focus on a very stable deck for now.

  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:

1) Tendrils of Corruption
2) Assassinate
3) Kelinore Bat
4) Merfolk Looter
Tendrils is the best common I could get. It is just amazing in mono Black. Meforlk Looter is much better than Kelinore Bat or Assassinate, but I’d still pick the two Black cards over it for a matter of stability.

  Pack 2 pick 5:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:

1) Child of Night
2) Drudge Skeletons
I don’t like the Skeletons much, as they are only really efficient versus Green decks, while Child of Night is clearly better against any other color.

  Pack 2 pick 7:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:

1) Mind Rot
2) Vampire Aristocrat
There are lot of bombs in M10, and most of them are still in their owners hand on turn 5. A Mind Rot played then has much more effect than any anonymous three-drop.

  Pack 2 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 12:

  My Pick:

Where the hell is the land?

  Pack 2 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:

1) Merfolk Looter
2) Might of Oaks
3) Overtomb
Quite a weak pack with only one Black card. Disentomb is not a card I’ll run maindeck, but I’ll be glad to board it in a Black mirror and probably against a heavy Red deck. However, the card is probably going to wheel so I focus on the cards I mind the most. There are two: Merfolk Looter and Might of Oaks. As my chance to play the first seem higher than the odds to run the pump spell, I go with the 1/1.

  Pack 3 pick 2:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:

1) Cemetery Reaper
2) Tendrils of Corruption
3) Rod of Ruin
Rod is much better than my previous two picks but the two Black cards I’m interested in play in another division. Tendrils is perfect for my deck, but Reaper is even better as I’ve enough Zombies and, more importantly, enough removal to make a great use of it.

  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:

1) Sign in Blood
2) Wall of Bone
Close one here, I go with the card draw as I’ve enough three-drops, even though the 1/4 is about as good.

  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:

1) Gravedigger
2) Bog Wraith
3) Child of Night
4) Drudge Skeletons
The presence of a second bomb creature in my deck makes the reanimator very good, in particular when the latest rare I’ve picked gives him a +1/+1 bonus.
Bog Wraith holds the board and is unstoppable for most Black decks, which makes it better than the two-drops. Out of them, as I’m pretty confident in my deck’s ability to control my opponents’ biggest creatures, I like Child of Night clearly more than Drudge Skeletons.

  Pack 3 pick 7:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 11:

  My Pick:

The same close pick as earlier, but I now have a Zombie lord.

  Pack 3 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


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17 Swamp
1 Child of Night
1 Black Knight
1 Cemetery Reaper
2 Warpath Ghoul
1 Looming Shade
1 Kelinore Bat
2 Gravedigger
1 Zombie Goliath
1 Nightmare
3 Deathmark
1 Duress
1 Weakness
1 Sign in Blood
1 Doom Blade
1 Assassinate
1 Mind Rot
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Consume Spirit

Sideboard
1 Weakness
1 Kelinore Bat
1 Stampeding Rhino
1 Naturalize
1 Regenerate
1 Solemn Offering
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Unholy Strength
1 Serra Angel
2 Acolyte of Xathrid
1 Cancel
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Disentomb
1 Sage Owl
1 Burning Inquiry
1 Kraken's Eye
1 Bramble Creeper
1 Merfolk Looter
1 Ponder

Round 1: WGr

The first game is a topdeck contest starting after I killed his turns 4 and 6 Serra Angel. I lose it by a bit, as he first draws Howl of the Night Pack with no cards in hand but four Forests on the board to stay in the game, then Pyromancer (with Gorgon Flail on the board) on the turn after I drew Nightmare, then a second pinger on the turn after I topdecked Tendrils to deal with the first one, and eventually Enormous Baloth when the board is clear. Sad to lose a game to WG after casting three Deathmark, but the second game is better as I play Cemetery Reaper on turn 3, which won’t die, to bring me the win.

In game three I open the following on the draw:

Swamp, Deathmark, Doom Blade, Sign in Blood, Mind Rot, Warpath Ghoul, Nightmare

After quite a long time, I decided to keep as I considered it wouldn’t even be bad not to have the second land in the first two turns if I could draw it on turn 3. It’s quite a heavy risk to take with a good deck like mine, but his deck is quite good too so it may be worth it.

He plays white Knight on turn 2, I don’t draw a second land, and I concede as there is no way I’ll ever be able to race it.

Until tomorrow...

Oli