First off, I want to thank everyone who's been taking part in the important discussion going on over here.

On a lighter note, I've got issues.

Seriously... I'm a junkie. I'm hooked to that sweet, that nasty, that gushy stuff. Need a little blueberry to even me out. Some sapphire blue to stop the shakes. Ask around. It's kinda sad actually... I'm compulsive about drafting Blue in RRG.

I get some and I want more, which is why I love Compulsive Research so much... I've even gone so far as to Shred my Memory in pursuit of a Muddled Train of Thoughts. Still, even though there's nothing I hate more than passing a Compulsive Research pack 1 pick 1, or even pack 2 pick 4 when I'm solidly B/G/W. Wait. Who am I kidding? It's been weeks since the last time I was solidly anything that wasn't fluid. I've been drafting like a fiend, and I've been drafting a lot. U/B/w, U/B/R, U/R/W... doesn't matter, as long as it's U and I.

And it's been freaking me out, man.

At first I thought it was the most normal thing in the world. I had this one draft where my first four picks were Compulsive Researches, the first two over Faith's Fetters. And the deck was good, even though it was missing a lot of the star cards that really make it fly. Then someone hooked me up with something even more exciting. A little Acapulco Gold. This new stuff was sick... I mean you just can't beat Psychic Drain. Not when it gets cast three times in a match. Once I had that Psychic Drain, I didn't care anymore what my deck looked like... It could be five colors as long as it had a grip of Chronarchs.

It was bad.

I was loving late-pick Llamas... because they were enablers. I needed help, and I knew it. I also needed people around me who showed me the truth. The truth was Psychic Drain did not a deck make. I had enough awkward drafts and eked out wins to realize that something needed to change.

Thinking about it, I realized it had been just as long since I had drafted Green. Maybe Green isn't the best color anymore, but it might be in RGD. I've got to be ready for that. There's money to win in Prague, and I've got habits to support.

Martin Dingler's Grand Prix tourney report was something of a revelation... maybe not so grandiose. Maybe just a reintroduction to the fact that Green has a gang of fatties. Forget about having all the tools to support five-color Green with plenty of good stuff. Siege Wurms smash face. So do pantsed Ledgewalkers.

I wanted to smash face.

I was resolved.

I opened a shock land.

I was passed a Compulsive Research. And a Peel. And an Entrancer. And 6th and 7th pick Dismissers.

I held strong, but I felt miserable. I was in a padded room, and I was punching myself in the head. I made it through that pack... like Job, a tested man. I was rewarded with keys to the Gates.

On the way back I got two Siege Wurms. Big Drools. A Rotwurm. Twelve other beaters, and a 13th pick Fists of Ironwood. Yes, this was an 8-4. The third pack did what it needed to. I built happily. And punched people in the head happily. And three-for-one'd on Gaze when they tried to stop the bleeding.

Oh yeah, and I had a guy disconnect after I put a Wurmweaver Coil on a Ledgewalker turn 4.

That was two days ago.

For my first draft today, I opened a Brightflame and immediately thought of the little Chronarch that could. My next three picks were two Veteran Armorers and a Sunhome Enforcer. I was solidly R/W, a situation I'm very willing to get into in RRG because Boros gives you easy access to all three Guildpact guilds. With that in mind, my first pick second pack was a Disembowel, and my second pick was a Peel from Reality. There were no good Boros cards in the packs and either direction was fine. Third pick, I had a choice between a second Disembowel or a Snapping Drake. I can fully admit it now. I relapsed. A Ribbons followed. Yes, it was fourth pick in an 8-4. No, I'm not crazy. Of course, I took the Halcyon Glaze over it. The rest of the draft seemed fine, except that I didn't get any more White cards and ended up having to splash the Armorers and the Equenaut and Brightflame and run a Wild, Wild Cantor to support the White.

I lost in the first round to Rich Hoaen. Maybe I'm wrong, but his deck looked like it might have had trouble with a 4/4.

I drafted Green again. Just to keep the taste in my mouth. And I did it deliberately. Maybe Moldervine Cloak over Brightflame (again) isn't that tough a choice, but I felt like it was and only took the Cloak because I wanted to play Green. The deck was fairly representative of an average B/G/w deck. It was fat, and it had a Rotwurm, and I didn't take the Deeply Shadowy Elves high enough. Once again I bashed with fat, hard and fast… and it worked.

And then there was the game I stole with a Cloaked Ledgewalker.

Peace,
Billy Moreno