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Drafting With Olivier - Shards/Shards/Conflux #29

Olivier Ruel

By Olivier Ruel
05/11/2009

About Olivier Ruel: Pro Tour mainstay Olivier Ruel's outstanding career includes five Pro Tour Top 8s, numerous Grand Prix Top 8s (including the recent victory at Grand Prix: Brighton), and induction in the Magic Hall of Fame class of 2008.

#Shards of Alara Limited, #Olivier Ruel
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  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:

Citadel and Capsule are pretty close, as they are both quite good in the same decks (Five-color and Esper). Capsule is a little better in Esper while the triple land is a little better in five-color. Both picks are as good.


  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:

Nothing really strong, so I just pick the most powerful card in case I'm either forced switch or I have the possibility to run green mana (with Citadel and/or Spire). In the worst case, it’s still a playable card.


  Pack 1 pick 4:
Necropolis

Buy This Card!
" tooltip="Necropolis">Necropolis ", "ALA");'>
  My Pick:

This time, however, I think I made the wrong pick. I was just a little lost by the way the draft was going. Basically, I can still end up in four archetypes I’d be willing to play: WGr, WUb (see Antoine’s sections in the article series by Manu and I), Esper, or five-color. The Knight is the correct pick in only one of them, while Necropolis is better in the other three. The Necropolis was, therefore, the right choice.


  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:

These first four picks are giving me a difficult draft. There is no sign any specific archetype is open so far, so I’d rather try and go UWb.


  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:

Not that I like the Obelisk in aggro, but with double Knight of the Skyward Eye, it has to be fine.


  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 8:

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  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:

The first signs that Esper could be open are coming very late.


  Pack 1 pick 10:

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  Pack 1 pick 14:

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  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Pick after pick, this draft is getting more and more confusing. I can either take the very average and possibly wheeling Cloudheath Drake, or take the Branching Bolt just in case. I can either go Esper-based five-color (I agree that sounds really bad, but at this point I have to be open to anything), or, in the worst case, I can counterdaft a card that will kill any aggro deck I can play from now on.


  Pack 2 pick 2:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:

Okay, UWb it is.


  Pack 2 pick 5:
Astrolabe

Buy This Card!
" tooltip="Astrolabe">Astrolabe ", "ALA");'>
  My Pick:

I don’t have enough artifact guys to run Astrolabe, which is not very good as I am only splashing Black anyway.


  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:

I’m not playing two Sages with no combo pieces.


  Pack 2 pick 7:

  My Pick:

Wow, a good card!


  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:

Decent in sideboard versus five-color.


  Pack 2 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 10:

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  Pack 2 pick 11:

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  Pack 2 pick 12:

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  Pack 2 pick 14:

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  Pack 2 pick 15:

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  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Not the pick I was dreaming of, again, but still pretty good in my deck, as it fixes and I will run a lot of guys.


  Pack 3 pick 2:

  My Pick:

Eventually, one good card. Well, it’s kind of Green, but as I’d like to get a second land cycler and run a Forest, why not?


  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 4:
Trailblazer

Buy This Card!
" tooltip="Trailblazer">Trailblazer ", "CON");'>
  My Pick:

My strategy is now to try and get as many flyers as possible, so I have a winning plan.


  Pack 3 pick 5:
Squire

Buy This Card! " tooltip="Squire">Squire ", "CON");'>
  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:

I now have many flyers and good synergy. Even though it’s kind of late for that, one landcycler would help a lot.


  Pack 3 pick 7:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 8:

  My Pick:

With these last two picks, my deck is actually becoming pretty good.


  Pack 3 pick 9:

  My Pick:

I’ve now enough flyers. A card that can both hold the board and deala finishing blow seems slightly better than the 3/3.


  Pack 3 pick 10:

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  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


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

7 Plains
7 Island
3 Swamp
Forest
Court Homonculus
2 Knight of the Skyward Eye
Aven Squire
Etherium Sculptor
Tidehollow Strix
Aven Trailblazer
Kathari Screecher
Sedraxis Alchemist
Giltspire Avenger
Sludge Strider
Faerie Mechanist
Fatesticher
Filigree Sages
Tower Gargoyle
Steelclad Serpent
Courier’s Capsule
Agony Warp
Obelisk of Bant
Obelisk of Esper
Angelic Benediction
Gleam of Resistance
Traumatic Visions

ROUND 1: Jund (Limited rating: 1830)

The first game is as fun as the first 34 picks of my draft: I triple mulligan and lose fast.

I’ve a fast draw in the following game, pushing him to sacrifice all his guys to make a huge Thunder-Thrash Elder. An Excommunicate later, we can move to game 3.

With a Squire into Trailblazer start, I take the lead pretty fast. By turn 7, he has still not managed to stabilize when I play Gleam of Resistance and finish him off.

ROUND 2: Jund splashing Blue (1790)

In the first game he plays turn 5 Fallout and kills my four guys, but he concedes two turns later. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that he took four mulligans in that game.

In the second game, I force him to play another Fallout again, but this time my Trailblazer survives. I’ve only got my 2/3 left, while he has a CYlian Elf, and life totals are 16 to 8 for me. The game looks in my favor as we’re both running out of fuel, until he draws Mycoloth. Luckily, he forgets to sacrifice his creature, and four turns later I take the game!

ROUND 3 Naya(1795)

I take a double mulligan in game 1 and don’t play my first spell, Court Homonculus until turn 2… of game 2, in which I also started with a five-card hand. From then, thankfully, I’m eventually able to develop my game, until the last turn of the game when I’ve one flyer that will kill him in two turns, if, and only if, I draw a blocker or a removal spell while he doesn’t draw a pump spell, a removal spell, or a flyer of his own. I untap and draw... Island.

Until tomorrow...

Oli


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