Constructed Criticism – Drafting With Balefire Liege

By Todd Anderson
07/20/2009

#Shards of Alara Limited, #Todd Anderson

Welcome to the first ever Drafting with Balefire Liege! No seriously, I'm doing an article that isn't about Standard! I'll be your host today, giving you in-depth reasoning behind each pick (that matters), and hopefully a bit of insight as to what I'm thinking while I take particular cards at each turn of the pack. In the famous words of Super Mario (N64), "Here we gooooo!"

Pack 1 pick 1:

My Pick:

This pack was pretty difficult. I felt like the Grixis was really strong, but I could easily take the Resounding Thunder and pass the Grixis, leaving myself open to play RG, Naya, Jund, or Grixis if it kept coming. Unfortunately, a lot of good cards for Grixis are in Conflux, so it be a bad idea to go into Grixis even if it is heavy in the next few picks. The Arcane Sanctum is also good, but I am a huge fan of trying to play two-color aggressive decks, and Resounding Thunder is slightly better than Arcane Sanctum in my opinion.

Pack 1 pick 2:

My Pick:

Here is where I had to make a really difficult decision. Tidehollow Strix, Infest, and Kiss of the Amesha are great for 5-Color, but I really wanted to stay aggressive and on-color. I'm not the hugest fan of Rockslide Elemental, but he is a fine creature in an aggressive Red deck that has a decent amount of removal. I take the Rockslide Elemental to stay on the same path. Others might disagree, as Kiss and Infest are amazing cards, but I think I made the right choice. I think aggro is the key to ACR.

Pack 1 pick 3:

My Pick:

Soul's Fire is a decent removal spell, that can occasionally just kill your opponent out of nowhere when you have a 5-power guy or something. On top of that, it is still on-color and aggressive, which fits the play so far. Druid of the Anima and Goblin Deathraiders are fine, but I don't think either gives me a good enough impression on whether I should move into Black or Green just yet.

Pack 1 pick 4:

My Pick:

With Arcane Sanctum sitting at 4th pick, I'm thinking that Grixis is wide open. Puppet Conjurer is still there as well, which helps to affirm my decision to take the Arcane Sanctum. However, the Jund Panorama is a good pick as well, since it contains the color that my base has begun, and I strayed a bit from the plan here to take a Tri-land instead of the probably better Panorama.

Pack 1 pick 5:

My Pick:

Okay, Wild Nacatl is the signal I need. RG is wide open here, with Jund Battlemage still in the pack. I take the Nacatl and hope to be RG and possibly splash white for a few good cards.

Pack 1 pick 6:

My Pick:

Here is the Panorama I need to help splash the white. I considered taking Goblin Deathraiders, as I really like playing BR Aggro, and there are a ton of 2-drops for BR. However, I want consistency, and stick to the Naya plan and take the land.

Pack 1 pick 7:

My Pick:

This pick was fairly difficult. I didn't see anything I really wanted to play, but Gift of the Gargantuan can be a decent card at times. I considered the Carrion Thrash since I could still easily end up being RB or RBg or RGb. I figured Gift would be the more consistent card, though.

Pack 1 pick 8:

My Pick:

Dragon Fodder is a mediocre card that I didn't want to take. However, I didn't want to take a mediocre card for the sideboard in Volcanic Submersion, and I have played with Dragon Fodder plenty of times when I had a few guys with Devour or abilities that enjoy having lots of creatures in play.

Pack 1 pick 9:

My Pick:

People really don't want to play Grixis here! I took the Scourge Devil, even though I really wanted to just forego any plans I had previously made and just take the Fire-Field Ogre.

Pack 1 pick 10:

My Pick:

Just took the best card in the pack.

Pack 1 pick 11:

My Pick:

"Bad card is bad."

Pack 1 pick 12:

My Pick:

Seriously? The Grixis lights were still flashing and I wanted to kill myself.

Pack 1 pick 13:

My Pick:

Mediocre, but still better than 13th picks should be.

Pack 1 pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 1 pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 1:

My Pick:

Obv bomb obv. Nice deck.

Pack 2 pick 2:

My Pick:

A very solid sweeper. I can start to really build my deck around my better cards now, since I have a lot of removal. I considered Rupture Spire for about 2 seconds, and then remembered that I like to win games.

Pack 2 pick 3:

My Pick:

This pick was very difficult, and I'm not sure if it was correct. I think I am one of few people who really like Fiery Fall. I think this card is great, because it is a removal spell that is also a manafixer: two valuable abilities for this format. I considered Matca Rioters but I figured Fiery Fall was better than a 3/3 for 2G, which is what Matca Rioters would most likely be in this deck.

Pack 2 pick 4:

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My Pick:

This pack is really bad for me. I don't actually have any White cards yet that I want to play, so I don't want to take Celestial Purge or Rhox Meditant. Both are much better in a vacuum than Nacatl Outlander, but I'm sticking to the plan. In hindsight, I think that Purge was probably the best pick here.

Pack 2 pick 5:

My Pick:

I figured I could easily splash Black and pick up some Borderposts. Worst comes to worst it is still a removal spell that gets the job done most of the time, or still kills their utility creatures at the very least. Matca Rioters would still have been mediocre in my deck anyway.

Pack 2 pick 6:

My Pick:

I like the Hill Giant more than Sylvan Bounty, since I am currently short on creatures and need a few decent Power/Toughness creatures to round out the mid-game.

Pack 2 pick 7:

My Pick:

I am not a fan of Soul's Majesty, since I am expecting my opponent to be competent, and have a removal spell should I ever attempt to use this card. The mana-fixer is more likely to make the deck, so I take it.

Pack 2 pick 8:

My Pick:

Nacatl Savage is a decent beater, and sticks to the RG plan that I have going. On top of that, he will allow me to be aggressive against a controllish Esper deck, while still having a decent power against non-artifact creatures. Gleam of Resistance is fine, but I hate taking land-cyclers that I have a hard time cycling, and have only the "cast" option at my disposal.

Pack 2 pick 9:

My Pick:

This should not be here, leading me to believe that Grixis should have been my colors of choice. However, I am happy with my deck so far so I can't complain too much.

Pack 2 pick 10:

My Pick:

Here the Gleam is decent. It could be a bomb-trick in an aggressive GR deck if I have my White mana by turn 5. Nothing else is exciting, but the Molten Frame might have been a better choice, as it cycles easily and is an amazing sideboard card.

Pack 2 pick 11:

My Pick:

Moving along...

Pack 2 pick 12:

My Pick:

A decent pick this late, as it survives Fallout and is still a decent beater.

Pack 2 pick 13:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 14:

My Pick:

Pack 2 pick 15:

My Pick:

Pack 3 pick 1:

Here I have the option to take Hushblade or Sojourners, and I take the more aggressive pick in Hushblade. I like all of the blades, and Hushblade is no exception.

I consider this guy a mid-game card, as being enemy-colored makes him harder to cast. Stun Sniper is just a dominating card if the opponent doesn't deal with it immediately. I really wanted to take the Naya Hushblade, but the power level comparison isn't even close. It makes splashing White more appealing as well.

An aggressive 2-drop, I take it over Colossal Might because I only had 10 decent creatures at this point.

Not as good in the mid-game as Stun Sniper, so it probably won't make the cut. I likely should have cut off the Shieldmage to avoid getting blown out by an Esper deck.

I am pretty happy with my deck, but I think I could have had a better deck had I decided to go Grixis instead of sticking to the RG plan. The picks as is wouldn't have panned out, but my decisions would have affected the people's picks around me, resulting in a few different things happening. To the matches!

I kept a decent opener with 2 Mountains and a Fiery Fall. However, I had a Jund Hackblade and Stun Sniper in hand. I decided to get the Plains since I had fewer, and Stun Sniper is much better as a whole than Hackblade without another multicolor creature. He plays Druid of the Anima into Rhox Brute, and I ping his Druid. However, I failed to draw a land so I couldn't cast another spell in my hand. He plays... dun dun dun... Lightning Talons on his Rhox Brute. I take 7 but feel like I'm going to win this game fairly easily as long as he doesn't immediately destroy my Stun Sniper. My hand contains Rockslide Elemental, Canyon Minotaur, Wild Nacatl, Hackblade, Banefire, and Dark Temper. I eventually draw another land but it’s a Plains. I play out Rockslide Elemental and Canyon Minotaur, as well as a Resounding Thunder for his 7/4 (along with a ping from Sniper). He plays Beacon Behemoth and Ambush Beetle. I kill both, still don't draw Green, but still win through the Minotaur and Rockslide, as he never draws an answer.

This game is very unexciting, as my opponent kept a hand with all Mountains, and apparently no Red cards. His first play is on turn 100, and I curve out with Nacatl Outlander, Stun Sniper, and Canyon Minotaur, as well as some removal. I use Stun Sniper to tap a turn 7 Rhox Brute and alpha. Awkward...

I win the roll and keep Mountain x2, Naya Panorama, Fiery Fall, Naya Sojourners, Banefire, and Intimidation Bolt. Not aggressive but full of removal, and very keepable. I have all of my colors on turn 4, and begin to kill a few creatures like Putrid Leech (via Banefire), and Intimidation Bolt for a 3/3 Hellkite Hatchling. He never really keeps up, as I draw a few creatures and just keep killing all of his threats. Rockslide Elemental has been really good so far.

I keep a hand of Nacatl Outlander, Rockslide Elemental, Volcanic Fallout, 2x Mountain, Forest, and Naya Panorama. Most of his creatures die to Volcanic Fallout, so I think I'm going to sandbag it for a while. He plays out a few 2/2's and I eventually Fallout in response to a Blitz Hellion. Afterwards I play Nacatl Outlander, Rockslide Elemental, Canyon Minotaur, and Naya Sojourners. The creatures I'm playing seem rather weak, but the so far no one has been able to stand up to the removal spells, so I'm in good shape. Resounding Thunder takes care of his life total after attacks take him to 3 life, after he has resolved a Flamebast Dragon. I love blanking bombs.

I win the roll against and keep a hand with Mountain, Plains, Fiery Fall, Scourge Devil, Stun Sniper, Soul's Fire, and Intimidation Bolt. The hand is pretty solid and I have all my colors to boot. My first two draws are Forest and Wild Nacatl, so I play Sniper then Nacatl. He plays a turn 3 Yoke of the Damned on my 3/3 Nacatl, but nothing to follow it up. I keep attacking for 4. On his next turn, he plays out Tidehollow Strix and Grixis Grimblade. I decide to attack with Nacatl, hoping to trade 2-for-1. He opts to not block, and goes to low life. I use the Sniper on his turn to take care of the Strix (which kills the Nacatl), and then he plays the Lich Lord of Unx. Thankfully, it is his only multicolor creature left in play. I use a topdecked Sangrite Backlash to kill the Lord, and Snipe the Grimblade. I play a Sojouner that gets Celestial Purged, and he casts Esper Cormorants. He doesn't have anything else, so I play a Hushblade and tap the Cormorants on his turn. He plays a Windright Mage which I Intimidation Bolt at the end of turn, and send him down to relatively low life on his turn. I played Scourge Devil and attacked for 6 (Sniper and Hushblade), putting him at 6 life while I have Soul's Fire in hand. He plays Sharding Sphinx, which looks to take control of the game... from his standpoint. He makes a 1/1, but I just Snipe it and attack for 6. He blocks one of the creatures, but I Soul's Fire him for the last 3 points since he is tapped out.

I mulligan a bad hand into a one-lander with Fiery Fall and Gleam of Resistance (the land is a Mountain). On the draw, this hand is probably better than any five-card hand, so I keep. I obviously draw a land and cycle into all 3 colors on turn 4. He misses his 4th land drop and drops a turn 5 Faerie Mechanist. I play out Nacatl Outlander, Sniper, and Minotaur. He plays Vedalken Outlander which could pose problems. However, I have an aggressive edge, and continue to attack with a 3/3 Outlander after I cycle a Naya Sojourners. I play Scourge Devil and attack for 4. He plays Windwright Mage and then plays Sharding Sphinx a turn later. However, the Volcanic Fallout in my hand is looking pretty spicy. I use it pre-combat to wipe away a few 1/1 Flier tokens, and attack for on-board lethal, forcing him to trade his Sphinx with my Minotaur. I then play a Nacatl Savage post-combat, representing lethal on board with 5 power of unblockable. He plays an Etherium Abomination, and concedes.

Overall, I was happy with this deck but expected to go 2-1, not 3-0, not to mention not lose a game. The only game where I felt I could really lose was when I mulliganed into a 1-lander, but got lucky to draw out of it. Being on the draw helped a lot, so it wasn't too lucky. This draft was relatively weak, but still practice for Nationals. I'm expecting a lot of weaker plays at Nationals since Wizards is allowing all players to play that qualified for Yugioh Nationals. Long story short, this is going to be the biggest US Nationals ever. I know this "Drafting With" is not as good as Olivier Ruel's, but I wanted to try to be a bit more explanatory about what I was taking and why, as well as more in-depth talk about the games I played. Anyway, that's that. I've been doing pretty decent at ACR drafts lately, so hopefully I'll be able to keep this streak up at Nationals.

Next week I might have another one of these, since I won't have a whole lot of time to write about Constructed as I'll be travelling all day Wednesday and most of the day Thursday, and playing the tournament the rest of the weekend. Thanks for reading and wish me luck!