Note: This was originally published as StarCityGames.com Premium content - but like all StarCityGames.com Premium articles, it has been made freely available for the entire community after one month has passed. Join StarCityGames.com Premium today and gain exclusive access to the most informative Magic: the Gathering content available!

[SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE ARTICLE!]

Become a StarCityGames.com Premium Member and receive exclusive access to top-level strategies, new decklists and entertaining reports from many of the best players and writers that the game has to offer! This includes "The Innovator" & Worlds finalist Patrick Chapin, 2010 Player of the Year Brad Nelson, Classic Theorist Mike Flores, Hall of Famer Brian Kibler, GP and SCG Invitational Champion Gerry Thompson, StarCityGames.com Director of Sales Ben Bleiweiss ...and many, many more!

PLUS! StarCityGames.com Premium members now have an EXCLUSIVE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER sent just to them with the latest tech, exclusive content and exclusive deals along with unprecedented access into America's largest Magic: the Gathering sales database, and can view lists of StarCityGames.com's top-selling items - broken down by category, format legality, and rarity - in real time! When it comes to trading, increased knowledge equals increased profits - and increased knowledge is just one click away for our Premium members!

[View feedback from StarCityGames.com Premium members!]

A StarCityGames.com Premium Membership gives you exclusive access to the best Magic: the Gathering content available and is an amazing bargain for just pennies a day! When you're ready to start getting more out of this game, click here to join StarCityGames.com Premium today!

---

If you are a valid StarCityGames.com Premium member and still cannot view the article, please consult this FAQ.

I’ll eventually get back home on Wednesday or Thursday, so I will be paying much more attention to your comments from now on. I’d still like to apologize for the questions I’ve left unanswered over the last few weeks.

See you on the forums!

Oli

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

1) Djinn of Wishes
2) Overrun
3) Air Elemental
4) Nightmare
Quite a tough pick here! Nightmare is the best card of all if you manage to go mono Black. In order to do so, you must hope none of the three, or at least two, guys on your right is in Black. You must also not pass any card that will push anyone at the table to go into something close to mono Black. Indeed, you won’t be able to cut all the Black playables because they are numerous, but you should at least make sure you’ll never pass any Black Knight, Consume Spirit, or Tendrils of Corruption. As that last one is in the pack, and as there are three other top cards that should be easier to play, I guess I’m not so tempted by the Nightmare. Then of course, the Djinn is strictly superior to Air Elemental, but where does the Overrun go from place 1 to 3 in this standing? I like it a little more than the Elemental, and I think it’s pretty close to the Djinn. The pick is quite close, as I feel like the 4/4 is a little better, but picking Overrun sends amazing signals (pretty sure the next 4 picks to my left are BBUU). Still, I go with the foil rare... I guess greed made the final call.

  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:

As in the last pack, the cards that have been picked here are uncommon, so not easy to get any kind of a signal here. I’ll just stick on Blue for now.

  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:

1) Unsummon
2) Rhox Pikemaster
3) Negate
I don’t really consider picking Aristocrat as I haven’t seen much black since I passed Nightmare in pack 1. Then the question is to know either I decide to go to UW now, or if I go with something safe for a little longer. I think it was probably wrong not to go with the 3/3, but I have played Unsummon in Prague last week end and it was surprisingly good. Enough to make me want to pick it a little higher than usual.

  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:

1) Sage Owl
2) Coral Merfolk
3) Elite Vanguard
If I had picked Pikemaster in the previous pack, I’d go with Vanguard here. However, Silvercoat Lion and Safe Passage are not that much stronger than Sage Owl or Coral Merfolk to make me consider a splash yet. I’m not a huge fan of Cloak in draft, and in particular in a deck in which creatures should moistly be flyers and, therefore, untargetable. I like Sage Owl a little better as it’s a very decent two drop which makes your draws a little more regular.

  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:

1) Serpent of the Endless Sea
2) Jackal Familiar
3) Entangling Vines
A Green playable at least! I’d need that removal, but Green is definitely not coming in that draft. Glad I didn’t take that Overrun earlier on. Then as I’m mono Blue at the moment, it’s hard to pick the possibly good but at the moment pretty bad Familiar over the snake.

  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:

I can either consider I’ll need some pressure while I handle my opponent’s first threats with counters and pick the 2/1, or consider white will be at most a splash and having a one drop in opening hand doesn’t necessarily mean I can cast it on turn 1, in which case the slower and more controlling Griffin Sentinel is the correct pick. I go with the latter.

  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:

Passing a card that deals with Ice Cage and Illusionary Servant. Congrats to me! I managed to mispick a pick 14!

  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 1:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 2:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:

1) Lightning Bolt
2) Windstorm
3) Griffin Sentinel
I only have one white card I can easily cut, as I have one so far which is not so great, so I’d rather pick the good removal over a second decent creature as a splash. I’d even pick Windstorm over the 1/3, as the card simply destroys me.

  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 5:

  My Pick:

BANG!

  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:

The deck needs countermagic, as it will be short in removal, but it also needs the Turtle so not to have to counter every single guy. I go with the first, but still now am not sure this was the correct pick.

  Pack 2 pick 7:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:

If I was convinced I was Uw, I’d go for Verdict, but I see myself more as a Ur build at the moment, which is why I go for the 2/2 guy.

  Pack 3 pick 2:

  My Pick:

Good to get a removal spell eventually!

  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:

This should increase my chance to be White.

  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:

1) Mold Adder
2) Griffin Sentinel
Would I play Griffin Sentinel? Probably. Would it make my deck win, even only 1% more often? I doubt it. In the meantime, Mold Adder is an instant GG versus me when played on turn 1.

  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:

More reliable than Ice Cage.

  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:

1) Rod of Ruin
2) Palace Guard
3) Safe Passage
I love Safe Passage but I’ve not got many guys and I've lots of ways to counter an Overrun or a Fireball for instance. Palace Guard would be a good blocker, but I like Rod of Ruin even more as it should do quite a good job in a deck, which often keeps mana untapped for counters.

  Pack 3 pick 7:

  My Pick:

I could counterdraft Howl of the Night Pack if I didn’t have that many counters, but for now I’d better focus on my deck.

  Pack 3 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 9:

  My Pick:

I picked Lava Axe over the 0/3 in the exact same configuration in pack 1. No, I don’t have any good reason for that.

  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:

Mwahahaha! You won’t fool me with the same trick twice.

  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
Visit the draft converter today!

13 Island
4 Plains

1 Stormfront Pegasus
3 Merfolk Looter
1 Griffin Sentinel
2 Wind Drake
1 Phantom Warrior
1 Djinn of Wishes
2 Serpent of the Endless Sea
1 Serra Angel
1 Mind Control
1 Unsummon
1 Ponder
2 Essence Scatter
1 Ice Cage
1 Negate
3 Cancel
1 Rod of Ruin

Sideboard
1 Mold Adder
1 Silvercoat Lion
1 Naturalize
1 Demon's Horn
1 Firebreathing
3 Jump
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Unsummon
1 Craw Wurm
1 Zephyr Sprite
1 Convincing Mirage
1 Relentless Rats
1 Plains
1 Howl of the Night Pack
1 Lava Axe
1 Sage Owl
1 Bramble Creeper
1 Kindled Fury

Three possible builds here. Mono U, UW, and U with Lightning Bolt. I go with the first as I consider my triple Looter should be able to make my draws consistent even though I’m two colors.

I win my quarters against a good UB deck which has to counter my two Snakes before I resolve Djinn of Wishes in game 1. In the second, I counter his first two guys and Mind Spring for 4, allowing me to dictate the pace of the game. As I also have an early Looter he doesn’t handle, I manage to play many more spells than he do and to take game 2.

In the second round, I lose game 1 to a mulligan to 4 versus Jund.

In the next game, he’s the one to take multiple mulligans as he starts on five, but he still manages to establish a decent situation on the board, as he manages to cast Lurking Predators on turn 6. The first spell I play reveals Giant Spider, and I can’t attack anymore. He’s on 5 then, but I’ve Looter in play while he has no cards in hand. FOur turns and two Fireballs later, I die, as I haven’t been able to find my second White mana for the Serra Angel I had been holding since my opening hand. I guess I’d probably have taken that game if I was UR, as my deck would have been more stable. But I still have the feeling I was not taking a huge risk running the Angel, knowing I could discard it at any time with my Looters if I was short on white.

Until Friday...

Oli