I mentioned yesterday that I'm suffering from some sort of sinus problem, and I'm all hopped up on Sudafed. All of that about me being offensive and blasphemous still applies, except today I can also blame my bad picks and bad plays on it. 9th Edition style!

Pack 1, Pick 1
Serra Angel (FOIL); Thieving Magpie; Angel's Feather; Flame Wave; Storm Crow; Lightning Elemental; Crossbow Infantry; Festering Goblin; Sacred Nectar; Anaba Shaman; Sea's Claim; Rampant Growth; Plague Beetle; Aven Flock

I confess I saw the foil Serra and I did the MODO equivalent of the windmill slam, so I'm practically looking at the pack for the first time. It's pretty nuts. Every color is strongly represented except for Black and Green, and even their cards are in the upper echelons of playability.

One factor to consider here is I greatly overestimated the value of a foil Serra. I mean, I knew it was in that starter pack thing, but to be barely worth a single ticket? Boggles my mind. Still, it probably is the best card in the pack, so I guess I shouldn't feel too bad. Or is it Thieving Magpie? That card is some good, I hear. Too bad I didn't even notice it. [I did this exact same thing last night with a Battlefield Forge. - Knut, excitable]

My pick: Serra Angel

Pack 1, Pick 2
Confiscate; Enrage; Zealous Inquisitor; Storm Crow; Lighting Elemental; Crossbow Infantry; Festering Goblin; Goblin Sky Raider (FOIL); Shatter; Fishliver Oil; Giant Growth; Enfeeblement; Demystify

Compared to the last pack, this one's a baby. Missing rare, so there's not really any way to tell what was taken. Basically boils down to Giant Growth versus Confiscate, and 2-for-1s are pretty good, I hear. Also this pick puts me in White/Blue, and that archetype is pretty good. I hear.

My pick: Confiscate

If I had taken the Magpie pack 1, this pick would've been even easier. I don't know. Even had I been aware that I had likely put my neighbor in Blue, I think I'd still go with Confiscate here.

Pack 1, Pick 3
Blood Moon; Exhaustion; Goblin Chariot; Dehydration; Scaled Wurm; Bog Imp; Zodiac Monkey; Sift; Raging Goblin; Veteran Cavalier; Mind Rot; Giant Spider

Dehydration is technically removal, but from what I can tell it's not very good removal. I barely want to be playing it, and I don't want to be picking it this early. Sift seems like good card advantage, but I'm wary of expensive spells that don't affect the board. Exhaustion seems unplayable.

So I think it comes down to Veteran Cavalier or a color switch. The Cavalier seems less than exciting, and the lack of good White cards in these last couple packs might suggest my daddy's in that color. It's really early, but it might already be time to abandon that plan.

My pick: Giant Spider

Pack 1, Pick 4
Peace of Mind; Slay; King Cheetah; Wanderguard Sentry; Sandstone Warrior; Foul Imp; Overgrowth; Holy Day; Fugitive Wizard; Kavu Climber; Raise Dead

Yep, it definitely seems like White's drying up. Unfortunately, so does Blue. I might add here that I really don't have much experience with the Core set and with 9th specifically. I did bone up on some 9th Limited literature before the draft, though. It seems like whenever the colors are ranked, Green is near the bottom, yet it's universally acknowledged as having the best creatures. Seems like a contradiction to me.

At any rate, Green seems underdrafted and underappreciated, so I went into the draft a little biased towards it. This might explain why I was so willing to switch into it last pick. Seems like I'm already starting to get rewarded for it.

My pick: Kavu Climber

Pack 1, Pick 5
Execute; Needle Storm; Seething Song; Remove Soul; Contaminated Bond; Wood Elves; Sage Aven; Goblin Brigand; Holy Strength; Unholy Strength

I'm sorta glad I'm not in Black, because I have no idea how to value its two color hosers. I'm also really glad I didn't foolishly stick to White.

There are four cards in my colors, and I can't dismiss any of them offhand. Still, Needle Storm seems like the worst of the lot, as the only reason I'd take it in Green/Blue is so nobody can play it against me. Wood Elves is the next to go -while it seems like it should always make the main deck, it just doesn't seem to do enough for my liking.

That leaves Sage Aven and Remove Soul. Only experience I have with Sage Aven was in Onslaught draft, and there (while playable) it was only good with Lavamancer's Skill. Still, it's a difficult decision to weigh, as it does hold off a good number of cards, and the library -

Oh, who am I kidding.

My pick: Remove Soul

Pack 1, Pick 6
Bloodfire Colossus; Urza's Power Plant; Flight; Fear; Zodiac Monkey; Sift; Raging Goblin; Mind Rot; Giant Spider

Speaking of holding off flyers. Actually I spent a good while trying to figure out why Bloodfire Colossus was still in the pack. Then I noticed it costs eight, not six.

My pick: Giant Spider

Pack 1, Pick 7
Urza's Tower; Wanderguard Sentry; Foul Imp; Overgrowth; Reflexes; Time Ebb; Natural Spring; Razortooth Rats

Okay, I know Time Ebb is good. Easy decision. I mean, could the signals be any stronger that I'm in the correct colors? I guess maybe if Razortooth Rats weren't still in the pack.

My pick: Time Ebb

Pack 1, Pick 8
Stream of Life; Thought Courier; Firebreathing; Goblin Mountaineer (FOIL); Mending Hands; Goblin Brigand; Unholy Strength

Isn't Thought Courier like a first pick? I mean, hello.

My pick: Thought Courier

Pack 1, Pick 9
Storm Crow; Crossbow Infantry; Sacred Nectar; Sea's Claim; Rampant Growth; Plague Beetle

All the good cards are gone from the pack, except the one that happens to fit quite nicely in my deck. Couple more of these and Serra starts looking pretty splashable. Still, Crossbow Infantry doesn't seem like it should still be in here. Makes me wonder if there's only one other White drafter and he's sitting right next to me.

My pick: Rampant Growth

Pack 1, Pick 10
Storm Crow; Goblin Sky Raider; Shatter; Fishliver Oil; Demystify

My pick: Storm Crow

Pack 1, Pick 11
Blood Moon; Exhaustion; Sift; Mind Rot

Remember how I said I don't know very much about 9th? I mean, Sift seems pretty good, but if it were it wouldn't still be in here. Does that make sense?

My pick: Blood Moon

I mean, yeah, Sift is the better card here for many, many reasons. The way the draft wound up turning out, I most likely would not have played it, but I should've been looking for any opportunity to really put a stranglehold on Blue. Yep, it's another classic Pugg blunder brought on by greed.

9th Edition style!

Pack 1, Pick 12
Peace of Mind; Wanderguard Sentry; Fugitive Wizard

My pick: Wanderguard Sentry

Pack 1, Pick 13
Seething Song; Contaminated Bond

My pick: Seething Song

Pack 1, Pick 14
Flight

Pack 2, Pick 1
Savannah Lions; Leonin Skyhunter; Nantuko Husk; Vulshok Morningstar; Horned Turtle; Goblin Piker; Foot Soldier; Coercion; Craw Wurm; Pacifism; Seething Song; Remove Soul; Llanowar Elves; Contaminated Bond

Another juicy pack, with a whopping four good picks in my colors. The Elves shout out as the strongest of the lot, but Craw Wurm is no slouch. Remove Soul and Horned Turtle just aren't in the same league.

Then I noticed the Morningstar. I have fond memories of playing it turn two in Mirrodin draft, then equipping it turn 3 and getting set back two turns as my 1/1 dork gets killed in response. Oh, good times.

Difference here is that equipment is much harder to come by, and nobody maindecks any artifact removal (save the possibility of Naturalize). In fact, Morningstar looks more and more like a bomb the more I think about it. Such a difficult decision, and not one I was up to making, which is why I snagged the Savannah Lions instead. [For those who care, I've now seen that uncommon run 3 times online. I've yet to actually pick a Skyhunter... - Knut]

My pick: Vulshok Morningstar

See, I was kidding about the Lions.

Pack 2, Pick 2
Demon's Horn; Reminisce; Goblin Balloon Brigade; Boomerang; Balduvian Barbarians; Suntail Hawk; Ravenous Rats; Honor Guard; Goblin Chariot; Dehydration; Scaled Wurm; Bog Imp; Master Decoy

Hey, what's going on here? This pack isn't very juicy. No, it's not very juicy at all!

I was this close to hatedrafting the Decoy in disgust; I really was. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed. Mine.

My pick: Dehydration

I guess I could argue for Scaled Wurm or Boomerang here. In fact, had I known I was going to cut Dehydration anyway, I definitely would've gone with Boomerang. Hey, it's my first day.

Pack 2, Pick 3
Defense Grid; Phyrexian Hulk; Circle of Protection: Red; Volcanic Hammer; Flight; Fear; Elvish Warrior; Aven Fisher; Stone Rain; Glory Seeker; Scathe Zombies; Grizzly Bears

I've mentioned repeatedly that I'm new to 9th Edition draft - fortunately the few articles I've read on the format all agree that two-drops aren't nearly as important as in other formats. Armed with that information, this was a pretty simple pick (though my eyes lingered on that Volcanic Hammer for longer than they should've).

My pick: Aven Fisher

Pack 2, Pick 4
Inspirit; Horror of Horrors; Groundskeeper; Reflexes; Time Ebb; Natural Spring; Tree Monkey; Sleight of Hand; Goblin Mountaineer; Venerable Monk; Serpent Warrior

When my choices are this clear-cut, it's hard to find anything to say about the packs. I do know that the jury on Time Ebb is still out, with some people liking it more than sliced bread and others liking it some degree less than sliced bread. Sliced bread is the benchmark for quality, you know, and it's been given the arbitrary rating of 1 Slice of Bread by the American Council on Bread Slices and the Slicing of Bread. Oh God, I wish I had something else to say about these packs. I mean, I guess I could talk about how Inspirit is tempting, but it's just not tempting enough to mention.

My pick: Time Ebb

Pack 2, Pick 5
Imaginary Pet; Rewind; Shatter; Fishliver Oil; Giant Growth; Elvish Warrior; Stone Rain; Glory Seeker; Scathe Zombies; Grizzly Bears

Remember when they were doing those Eighth Edition votes and the people picked Rewind over Dismiss? Yeah, that was pretty funny.

I was one of those people who voted for Rewind. I mean, my reasoning was you can play Rewind and then play a four-mana instant card-drawing spell. Then they neutered card-drawing.

Honestly, if they had put it up for Ninth, I'd have made the same choice. Rewind is the more interesting spell to me.

My pick: Giant Growth

Just not in Limited.

Pack 2, Pick 6
Baleful Stare; Kami of Old Stone; Boomerang; Suntail Hawk; Aven Cloudchaser; Goblin Sky Raider; Wind Drake; Norwood Ranger; Holy Day

I have to wonder how these packs would look if I had taken that Magpie instead of Serra. I mean, it seems like I did a good enough job of cutting off Blue afterwards (save that Sift pack) because I'm still seeing some decent Blue, but just imagine. I can't complain about how things are turning out, but they could've turned out so much better.

My pick: Wind Drake

Pack 2, Pick 7
Diabolic Tutor; Tanglebloom; Crafty Pathmage; Sacred Nectar; Tree Monkey; Sleight of Hand; Goblin Mountaineer; Venerable Monk

Core set drafts are so boring. No wonder I didn't even want to do one at all until Knutson threatened to practice his jujitsu on my testicles. I mean, decks have zero synergy. I'm just making a pile of good cards. Foil Serras are worth one ticket.

I have nothing to say about these packs!

My pick: Sleight of Hand

Pack 2, Pick 8
Ornithopter; Horned Turtle; Goblin Piker; Foot Soldiers; Coercion; Firebreathing; Reclaim

I think I left a couple cards out of my deck when I was listing it on Wednesday. Many apologies. Not really sure how that happened.

I guess these packs are remotely interesting if you consider that I could've stubbornly clung on to my first pick and stayed in White. I'd have had some real tough choices.

But I didn't, and I don't.

My pick: Horned Turtle

Pack 2, Pick 9
Horned Turtle; Foot Soldiers; Coercion; Seething Song; Remove Soul; Contaminated Bond

The closest parallel to Remove Soul in Kamigawa block is Hisoka's Defiance. If this were Kamigawa, I think I'd definitely take River Kaijin over Defiance. Except it's not Kamigawa block and I don't have any Turtlecraft triggers to worry about.

Knutson was drafting at about the same time as I was (shame we weren't in the same queue) and he was overheard commenting that he was amazed he got Horned Turtle eleventh. This is how it happens, pally.

My pick: Remove Soul

Pack 2, Pick 10
Demon's Horn; Reminisce; Goblin Balloon Brigade; Suntail Hawk; Bog Imp

Both the Hawk and the Balloon Brigade seem playable, but it's not like my deck needs to worry about them. Seems like this pack is similar to that Sift pack, except there's no Sift here and no rare. So they're really not even close.

My pick: Reminisce

Pack 2, Pick 11
Flight; Fear; Stone Rain; Scathe Zombies

My pick: Flight

Pack 2, Pick 12
Groundskeeper; Reflexes; Natural Spring

Would Groundskeeper make the deck if I had a second Thought Courier? What about Sift? Seems almost like synergy to me.

My pick: Groundskeeper

Pack 2, Pick 13
Fishliver Oil; Scathe Zombies

My pick: Scathe Zombies

Pack 2, Pick 14
Baleful Stare; Suntail Hawk

Avid readers will notice I've been leaving off the basic land found in every single pack of 9th Edition. It was a fine plan, until someone decided they wanted to screw everything up and take the land over a regular card.

Gee, thanks.

My pick: Baleful Stare

Pack 2, Pick 15
Sacred Nectar

You really need those lands that bad, chumly? Go someplace quiet and die.

Pack 3, Pick 1
Will-o'-the-Wisp; Telepathy; Flowstone Crusher; Kraken's Eye; Lumengrid Warden; Flowstone Shambler; Warrior's Honor; Mind Rot (FOIL); Mending Hands; Volcanic Hammer; Flight; Rootwalla; Fear; Pacifism

I had a good run of interesting first pick packs. This one's only interesting if Will-o'-the-Wisp is worth anything or if I should consider splashing for Pacifism or Volcanic Hammer. Actually, it turns out Will-o'-the-Wisp is worth more than a foil Serra, but not by much. At least Will-o'-the-Wisp is fun to type.

My pick: Rootwalla

I loved their song about counting blue cars.

Pack 3, Pick 2
Death Pits of Rath; Dream Prowler; Dragon's Claw; Goblin Sky Raider; Wind Drake; Norwood Ranger; Gravedigger; Treetop Bracers; Counsel of the Soratami; Lava Axe; Angelic Blessing; Spineless Thug; Order of the Sacred Bell

Sacred Bell or Wind Drake? Or Dream Prowler? Treetop Bracers? Or Death Pits of Rath. Bell and Drake seem pretty close, so what I do in these situations is flip a coin, then take the one that has evasion.

My pick: Wind Drake

Pack 3, Pick 3
Fellwar Stone; Megrim; River Bear; Fugitive Wizard; Kavu Climber; Raise Dead; Honor Guard; Naturalize; Mana Leak; Panic Attack; Samite Healer; Giant Cockroach

You know, I complained about those boring packs, but in reality, at the time, I was loving them. Boring packs are good packs, especially when there's a good card in your color.

This one's good, and it's not boring, so it's more interesting to write about even though I didn't welcome it as much during the draft. There are at least five cards to consider: Fellwar Stone, Kavu Climber, River Bear, Naturalize, and Mana Leak. Naturalize has to be the worst of the bunch since it's a sideboard card, though I'm sure it's maindeckable in this format. I have to rule out Kavu Climber next, since from a power/cost perspective it's strictly worse than River Bear, and while I know card advantage wins games I don't think the two are all that close.

Mana Leak, Fellwar Stone, or River Bear. None of them are likely to survive a pass around the table. If this were Kamigawa, I think Fellwar Stone would win out, but it's not Kamigawa. It's not Kamigawa at all.

My pick: River Bear

Pack 3, Pick 4
Soul Feast; Spellbook; Sea Monster; Rogue Kavu; Infantry Veteran; Highway Robber; Trained Armodon; Pacifism; Remove Soul; Llanowar Elves; Contaminated Bond

Hey, this pack is just like the last one! Except the cards are different.

Are Elves that much better than the Stone? I dunno. I do know Elves are at the top of many players' pick orders, and I don't know where Fellwar Stone goes. It's called playing the percentages, kiddos. I have to make questionable picks so a certain percentage of people yell at me in the forums.

My pick: Llanowar Elves

Pack 3, Pick 5
Teferi's Puzzle Box; Swarm of Rats; Yavimaya Enchantress; Sea Monster; Rogue Kavu; Highway Robber; Demystify; Hill Giant; Crafty Pathmage

I admit I'm at a loss here. No clue if Sea Monster is better than Yavimaya Enchantress. I don't think I'd want either in my main deck, but I can see plenty of reasons to side in Sea Monster.

My pick: Yavimaya Enchantress

Hey, wait, I don't See a Monster in that pick at all! LOL

Pack 3, Pick 6
Final Punishment; Summer Bloom; Lumengrid Warden; Flowstone Shambler; Warrior's Honor; Looming Shade; Shatter; Fishliver Oil; Demystify

Up until now, it seemed pretty clear that Green and Blue were wide open. Apparently something happened to one of the drafters on my right, and that person moved into my colors. By "something" I mean "got jujitsued in the testicles." Jerks.

My pick: Final Punishment

Pack 3, Pick 7
Blackmail; Aven Windreader; Reclaim; Hollow Dogs; Mending Hands; Naturalize; Mana Leak; Samite Healer

Or not? Huh. Aven Windreader is a 3/3 flier, right? I mean, it's like the best Blue common, right? Why is it still in here? Why is Mana Friggin' Leak still in here?

Eh, why am I complaining.

My pick: Aven Windreader

Pack 3, Pick 8
Puppeteer; Ogre Taskmaster; Sea's Claim; Plague Beetle; Counsel of the Soratami; Angelic Blessing; Spineless Thug

Hey, there! Puppeteer! Flying in the sky so fancy free.

My pick: Puppeteer

Pack 3, Pick 9
Kraken's Eye; Lumengrid Warden; Flowstone Shambler; Mending Hands; Flight; Fear

Move along, people. Nothing to see here.

My pick: Lumengrid Warden

Pack 3, Pick 10
Death Pits of Rath; Dragon's Claw; Goblin Sky Raider; Norwood Ranger; Counsel of the Soratami

My pick: Counsel of the Soratami

See, I don't always pick the rare.

Pack 3, Pick 11
Megrim; Fugitive Wizard; Raise Dead; Honor Guard

My pick: Raise Dead

Pack 3, Pick 12
Spellbook; Sea Monster; Contaminated Bond

And you wanted me to take Sea Monster, like, fifth. Ha.

My pick: Sea Monster

See, Monster!

Pack 3, Pick 13
Swarm of Rats; Crafty Pathmage

My pick: Crafty Pathmage

Pack 3, Pick 14
Fishliver Oil

Yeah, I was tempted to take the Plains. Very tempted.

Up next: the part of the article where I build the deck. Ninth Edition style!

1cc
Sleight of Hand
Giant Growth
Llanowar Elves

2cc
Remove Soul
Remove Soul
Rampant Growth
Vulshok Morningstar
Thought Courier

3cc
Time Ebb
Time Ebb
Wind Drake
Wind Drake
Puppeteer
Horned Turtle
Yavimaya Enchantress
Rootwalla

4cc
Aven Fisher
Giant Spider
Giant Spider
River Bear

6cc
Confiscate

8 Forest
9 Island

I toyed with a 16-land build for a while, but I figured I had cards like Thought Courier, Sleight of Hand, and Vulshok Morningstar to help ease mana flood. I mean, the deck needs to get to three mana to do anything useful. Considering Llanowar Elves and Rampant Growth, the deck has nineteen mana sources, which seems too much, but I just didn't want to take the risk.

I had to cut Counsel of the Soratami, where I would've rather played it over Yavimaya Enchantress. Unfortunately that'd bring me down to 13 creatures. 14 is too low, actually, but 13 is unacceptable.

Once again, I'm bringing you the replays that I oh-so-conveniently describe how to use in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/10346.html . However, I'm also going to post a brief discussion of how the games went in the forum thread for this article once it goes live for you poor folks without Magic Online access. Or maybe you're just lazy.

Still, if you can, watch the replays before you check out the forums. Wouldn't want to spoil any surprises!

http://www.geocities.com/puggfuggly/replay3.zip

It's been a hell of a week. I had fun; I really did. I'll have to do this again sometime.

'Til then, may all your ah screw it.

Pugg Fuggly
pugg_fuggly@hotmail.com