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Pack 1 pick 1:
My Pick:
The pick is pretty obviosu here. What is less obvious is knowing what to do in order to make the best possible use of my Angel. A control build seem pretty clear, probably with Blue in order to be able to draw into my bomb and protect it with countermagic.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
It is not so good to pick a Black card after passing Doom Blade and now Corrupt, but Diabolic Tutor is a pretty good guarantee I'll be drawing my Angel most games.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
A pretty interesting pack here. The best card is obviously, by far, Cudgel Troll. The thing is I'd like to avoid Green, not only because I'm not a fan of this color in M11 (that wouldn't be a good enough reason to close my eyes to such a good signal), but because as far as the control build I'm aiming for is concerned, Green is the color in which I've the least interest. Then as far as the two Black cards are concerned, Assassinate gets better and better as your deck gets more and more controlling, so I can reasonably hope to make it a better card than Child of Night here.
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
Preordain would better suit an all-in for Platinum plan, but with nothing but Black cards so far, I'd rather go for the Vampire. I'm not sure it is the right choice.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
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:
I'm planning on getting mostly Blue from pack 2 as I've been passing all Black and Green in pack 1, but still, Doom Blade is a better card than Jace's Ingenuity.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
Early drop and finisher, the card is excellent.
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Juggernaut, Azure Drake, and Deathmark are interesting here. In a truly aggro deck, Juggernaut is clearly the best card here. I'm still at a point when my deck can be either control or aggro, and I'd prefer it to be control. As my curve is pretty low and Deathmark is useless against many decks, I'll take the Drake here and make the choice of consistency.
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
I actually seriously thought about trying the Dark Tutelage here. After all, most of my cards cost zero or two at the moment, and even if Platinum Angel does cost seven, I can play it just before the enchantment kills me. But still, I felt safer with Flashfreeze.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Rotting Legion could have been a better choice, but nothing scares me more than fast White decks at the moment. Stabbing Pain is decent against those, while the 4/5 is pretty bad against Blue and/or White decks.
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 9:
My Pick:
I love Cancel, but I want to raise my chances of drawing Platinum Angel, as my deck, as it is now, will have trouble winning without it.
Pack 2 pick 10:
My Pick:
A good sideboard card against Mind Control.
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 3 pick 1:
My Pick:
Having two bombs makes Diabolic Tutor a lot better.
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Two picks and all is different. I've tried to build a deck to support a bomb. It will now support three, as if it had been waiting for them all along. Now what I need for my deck to be good is a midrange curve, as the deck is clearly missing three- and four-drops.
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
I may love Ice Cage, but Mana Leak is both a better card and a card I would seriously dislike facing. Well, I guess anyone could say such things.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
A good pick for my curve, which should help me deal with big guys.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
An excellent card which I probably won't play, as it doesn't fit my deck's strategy, but I'd still rather avoid facing it.
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
I'd love a second Tutor, but I already have enough playables, and fixing my mana can't hurt it when I'm already planning on running Sign In Blood, Aether Adept, and Fireball in the same deck.
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
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:
Pack 3 pick 15:
My Pick:
This draft converter created by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy.
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1 Assassinate
1 Nightwing Shade
1 Duress
2 Azure Drake
1 Negate
2 Sign in Blood
1 Æther Adept
1 Black Knight
1 Preordain
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Doom Blade
1 Fireball
2 Ice Cage
1 Platinum Angel
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Steel Overseer
1 Barony Vampire
2 Child of Night
1 Mind Control
1 Mana Leak
9 Swamp
7 Island
1 Mountain
Sideboard
1 Nether Horror
1 Flashfreeze
1 Goblin Balloon Brigade
1 Negate
2 Ajani's Mantra
1 Bog Raiders
1 Stabbing Pain
1 Nightwing Shade
1 Sleep
1 Forest
2 Incite
1 Dryad's Favor
1 Unholy Strength
2 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Inspired Charge
1 Jace's Erasure
1 Primal Cocoon
The deck seems pretty good, and I'm rather confident of my chances. I chose not to play Flashfreeze as I already have too many two-drops to take the chance of having a card which risks a mulligan. Sleep will be remaining in the sideboard as well, as the card just doesn't fit the deck's global synergy.
Quarterfinals versus Mono Red
The first game is pretty frustrating. He plays mediocre guys, one after another, but I don't draw Child of Nights or early removal, only out of tempo counterspells and Sign in Bloods. In the end, Berserkers of Blood Ridge finishes me off.
I take out 1 Sign in Blood for Flashfreeze.
Game 2 is a slaughter. This time I draw a lot better, and I'm on 18 life when I cast Platinum Angel with Nightwing Shade on the board already, and a solid hand. I'm going to wi... Act of Treason on my Angel? Fling on my Shade? Ouch. Five turns later, and after Hoarding Dragon searched for Juggernaut and forced me to waste my last resources, I'm on three life with only Flashfreeze in hand. We don't have anything left, and he has only one card in hand. Lightning Bolt? Counter it.
We enter the topdeck mode, and I draw Steel Overseer. Not bad when he's on 9 life. Go.
Hmm... That's a lot of lands you're tapping, sir... Fireball? That will do.
I guess I have made a mistake here. When facing a Mono-Red deck, you have to expect a lot of good targets for Negate, so I should have brought my second one in. If I did and had drawn one by the time he stole my Platinum Angel, I would definitely have won that game. At least I'll know next time. Making mistakes is not that bad if you can learn from them, after all.
Until next time...
Oli
