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Drafting With Olivier - Shards/Conflux/Reborn #9

Olivier Ruel

By Olivier Ruel
06/17/2009

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.

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  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

It’s big, it’s mythic, it’s expensive, and oh yeah, it’s the best card in the pack. The question now is to know what to do with it. I guess I could either run it in 5CC or Naya.


  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:

Knight of the Skyward Eye is a better Naya card, but I haven’t drafted 5CC in a while in this format so I pick the 2/3, which will be fine in any deck using White anyway.


  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:

If I was Esper I’d go with Duelist, and if I didn’t have Gargoyle I’d go for the triple land, but in this very situation, the Capsule is actually the right pick.


  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:

Having drafted Ajani means I must sacrifice one pick here and there to be able to play the kitty. Even if that means no Conjurer.


  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:

Guardians of Akrasa is a safer choice, but considering the poor quality of my latest picks, I need more efficient cards.


  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:

I'm not aggro enough for Benediction and Screecher.


  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:

Welkin Guide is brilliant with an aggro deck, otherwise Duelist is a lot better.


  Pack 1 pick 10:

  My Pick:

I don’t see myself playing 3 Obelisks, particularly when two of them produce Green when I don’t have a single Green card yet.


  Pack 1 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 13:

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  Pack 1 pick 14:

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  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 1:

  My Pick:

A card I’ve been underrating a lot, but which is definitely worth a first pick.


  Pack 2 pick 2:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:

It now makes things a little clearer. I’m playing Esper control and will have a pair of R and G cards during deck building.


  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:

Just nothing I feel like using.


  Pack 2 pick 5:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:

I don’t have enough non-Esper cards to actually play Fusion Elemental.


  Pack 2 pick 7:

  My Pick:

From this point, the deck only misses removal and fixers, so I must take Purge over Cormorants.


  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  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:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 13:

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  Pack 2 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:

I don’t play enough Red/Black cards to actually pick Terminate.


  Pack 3 pick 2:

  My Pick:

It won’t be the easiest spell to cast but it’s still worth a second pick.


  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:

I’d like to give that card a try as I’ve never played it.


  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:

The deck being Esper based, and the playable count at more than enough, I‘d rather hatedraft the most annoying card to face.


  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:

Some fine cards here, but not one I could decently take over a fixer at this point.


  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 7:

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  Pack 3 pick 8:

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  Pack 3 pick 10:

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  Pack 3 pick 11:

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  Pack 3 pick 12:

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  Pack 3 pick 13:

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  Pack 3 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


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6 Plains
6 Island
4 Swamp
2 Mountain
1 Deft Duelist
1 Talon Trooper
1 Aven Trailblazer
1 Ethersworn Shieldmage
1 Windwright Mage
1 Sanctum Gargoyle
1 Sludge Strider
1 Faerie Mechanist
1 Cloudheath Drake
1 Sanctum Plowbeast
1 Jhessian Zombies
1 Blood Tyrant
1 Courier's Capsule
1 Celestial Purge
1 Crystallization
1 Kaleidostone
1 Terminate
1 Drag Down
1 Cancel
1 Obelisk of Grixis
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Offering to Asha
1 Traumatic Visions

Sideboard
1 Filigree Sages
1 Sanity Gnawers
1 Wandering Goblins
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Sphinx's Herald
1 Angelsong
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Double Negative
1 Brainbite
1 Controlled Instincts
1 Scarland Thrinax
1 Violent Outburst
1 Scornful Æther-Lich
1 Asha's Favor
1 Wargate
2 Worldly Counsel
1 Spell Snip
1 Obelisk of Jund
1 Bant Sojourners

The result is a pretty fine deck that should unfortunately get at least one auto-loss during the draft, as my mana is not stable enough. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get two in the same match.

ROUND 1: 5C Esper

In the first game Ajani is showing his Loyalty, reaching 5 counters by killing his only threat (Darklit Gargoyle) and then stopping one land each turn. When he plays Shardning Sphinx, things get a little more complicated, as I have a pair of blockers (Cloudheath Drake and Talon Trooper), but any removal could cost me the game. As he has Guardians of Akrasa as well, his attack will be lethal to my kitty if I choose to take, which doesn’t leave me with much of an option except for a double block. He plays Soul’s Fire and now the board is Rare versus Mythic. As the Celestial Purge I’ve been holding since my opening hand doesn’t seem so helpful, my deck is kind enough to give me Drag Down, making my situation a lot more comfortable. Four turns later, Ajani has only one counter left, but he doesn’t have a land anymore and must concede.

In game 2 I draw 5 spells and 10 lands, but it is still, somehow, enough. Indeed, Ajani Vengeant is one of them, while he only plays two creatures in the early game: Darklit Gargoyle and Esperzoa. As the Vengeant kills the 1/2 and his draws are forgettable, he must spend most of his mana each turn in replaying the 4/3. When Ajani has five counters again, I shoot it and swing with my three guys twice in a row, killing him before he could start developing his position.

ROUND 2: Jund

The first game is pretty fast, as he draws no Red lands.

The next one is about as fascinating; I find 13 lands and 7 spells.

The final game is the closest of all, as we both manage to play spells, but I quickly install Ajani with a solid board that keeps it from being attacked. When I open the way with a second Helix, the game is mine.

ROUND 3: RBGw

His deck was pretty unstable and had many mediocre cards, but it also had one I could barely deal with: Behemoth Sledge. In the first game, he played it a little too late and I could win the race. In the next one, we had a spectacular Sledge versus Ajani fight, as I managed to stop every single one of his Hammered guys (featuring an 8/8 Feral Hydra and a Marisi’s Twinclaws) with my strong army of blockers (Sanctum Plowbeast, Sanctum Gargoyle, and three other guys) before I eventually manage to raze his lands with Ajani. Unfortunately, he has gained too much life and I have spent to many resources to deal with the equipment to be able to kill him while I had still a few cards left in my deck. In the third game, what eventually had to happen to his four-color-no-fixer deck happened, as he got land screwed and I killed him before he could actually do a thing.

Until Friday...

Oli


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