Note: This was originally published as StarCityGames.com Premium content - but like all StarCityGames.com Premium articles, it has been made freely available for the entire community after one month has passed. Join StarCityGames.com Premium today and gain exclusive access to the most informative Magic: the Gathering content available!

[SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE ARTICLE!]

Become a StarCityGames.com Premium Member and receive exclusive access to top-level strategies, new decklists and entertaining reports from many of the best players and writers that the game has to offer! This includes "The Innovator" & Worlds finalist Patrick Chapin, 2010 Player of the Year Brad Nelson, Classic Theorist Mike Flores, Hall of Famer Brian Kibler, GP and SCG Invitational Champion Gerry Thompson, StarCityGames.com Director of Sales Ben Bleiweiss ...and many, many more!

PLUS! StarCityGames.com Premium members now have an EXCLUSIVE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER sent just to them with the latest tech, exclusive content and exclusive deals along with unprecedented access into America's largest Magic: the Gathering sales database, and can view lists of StarCityGames.com's top-selling items - broken down by category, format legality, and rarity - in real time! When it comes to trading, increased knowledge equals increased profits - and increased knowledge is just one click away for our Premium members!

[View feedback from StarCityGames.com Premium members!]

A StarCityGames.com Premium Membership gives you exclusive access to the best Magic: the Gathering content available and is an amazing bargain for just pennies a day! When you're ready to start getting more out of this game, click here to join StarCityGames.com Premium today!

---

If you are a valid StarCityGames.com Premium member and still cannot view the article, please consult this FAQ.

  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Just like last time, I still like Sedris more than Naya Charm.

  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:

If I want to draft UB splash Red, Kathari Screecher may be a better pick, but Grixis Charm seems better in a pure Grixis deck. I’ll just go with the removal.

  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:

Good with Sedris, and just better than anything else anyway.

  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:

Just as in pick 2, the Unearth creature is the safest choice, but my deck is more aggro than control at the moment, and I should be able to make a good use of the land cyclers to make Creeper a regular turn 3.

  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:

Bloodpyre Elemental would be quite nice with Sedris. It is also a removal spell on its own, but Leviathan is a lot funkier and my deck is not very controlling at the moment anyway.

  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:

Rannet is great with Sedris and pack 3 Soul Manipulation, while Obelisk is a little slow (even if I have Leviathan), and the deck is not aggressive enough for Blightning at the moment.

  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:

Sideboard card against Green decks as I don’t have many answers to two-plus toughness guys.

  Pack 1 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 1:

  My Pick:

My deck is not very aggro so it doesn’t fit so well, but it’s still a great turn 3 play anyway.

  Pack 2 pick 2:

  My Pick:

I have surprisingly drafted zero artifacts so far, so I can’t really consider picking the best card, which is the Mechanist.

  Pack 2 pick 3:

  My Pick:

Well maybe I’ll go a little more aggro from now, and not play Leviathan.

  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 5:

  My Pick:

Elder Mastery would be pretty nice in the deck, but there’s no way I pass my first real two-drop (considering Beetles are cards you won’t always play on turn 2).

  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 7:

  My Pick:

Against any white deck, the Unsummon would shine with the Beetles, but Canyon Minotaur fits my mana curve really well.

  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:

I need some removal that can deal with more than one-toughness creatures, even though Suicidal Charge might be better than Banquet.

  Pack 2 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 10:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 15:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Not exactly what I expect from a pick 1, but it’s a great on turn 4 to follow a turn 3 Remains, and it’s one of the best cards to reveal with Deny Reality.

  Pack 3 pick 2:

  My Pick:

Thrash would be great too but the deck misses some tempo and some removal. Deny Reality will help solve those two problems.

  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:

I’ve never played Unscythe, but as my deck is not so aggro, I rather like picking a well curved guy.

  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:

Singe-Mind Ogre would be nice, and so would Pouncer and Demon, but I have 3 cyclers already, making Soul Manipulation a great card.

  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:

Borderpost may be a better card, but most cards in my deck (Sedris, Soul Manipulation, Deny Reality) ask me to pick the 5/1.

  Pack 3 pick 7:

  My Pick:

Bomber would be pretty nice too, but tempo is my major concern now.

  Pack 3 pick 8:

  My Pick:

Quite a good surprise, as I eventually get a removal spell.

  Pack 3 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 10:

  My Pick:

A good sideboard card versus White, as the cards it can reveal for now are two Beetle, Outlander, Backlash, and Banquet.

  Pack 3 pick 11:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 12:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 13:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 14:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 15:

  My Pick:


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

6 Mountain
5 Swamp
5 Island
1 Rupture Spire

2 Blister Beetle
1 Goblin Outlander
2 Shambling Remains
1 Parasitic Strix
1 Kederekt Creeper
1 Illusory Demon
1 Architects of Will
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Sewn-Eye Drake
1 Jhessian Zombies
1 Sedris, the Traitor King
1 Igneous Pouncer
1 Ridge Rannet

1 Wretched Banquet
1 Sangrite Backlash
1 Grixis Charm
1 Soul Manipulation
2 Deny Reality
1 Suicidal Charge
1 Absorb Vis

Sideboard
1 Sanity Gnawers
1 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
1 Kederekt Leviathan
1 Kranioceros
1 Cancel
1 Mana Cylix
1 Goblin Mountaineer
1 Double Negative
1 Vectis Agents
1 Forest
1 Lightning Talons
1 Demonic Dread
1 Shore Snapper
1 Island
1 Island
1 Maniacal Rage
1 Naya Sojourners
1 Memory Erosion
1 Spell Snip
1 Drastic Revelation
1 Banewasp Affliction

Card Power: 6
One bomb, few removal spells, fine sideboard... it’s okay.

Synergy: 6
It would be pretty good if those two Shambling Remains and the Illusionary Demon didn’t seem so lost in a control deck. I’d better have a Remains in my opening hand, or these three cards will become dead cards.

Curve: 4
The absence of two-drops is the reason why this deck is not so good. You can’t pretend you have a tempo deck when you start playing on turn 3. Not seeing an early drop from pack 3 surely didn’t help, but I could have taken Dregscape Zombie over Creeper... I just didn’t expect the deck to be aggro back then. My lack of experience drafting Grixis in ACR probably punished me there.

At least, with the landcyclers and Rupture Spire, that absence of two-mana creatures will hurt less.

Round 1: Grixis

In the first game he opens with Mask of Riddles and Shambling Remains. There can apparently be three non foil copies of the same uncommon in the same MTGO draft. I try and stop him with Architects of Will, but he has Terminate. I play Deny Reality on it on next turn and reveal Backlash that I use to clean the board. Well, it’s not exactly clean, as he reminds me his equipment is still here by reanimating his 4/3, equipping it and swinging. In the meantime, I drew my own Remains on turn 4 and 5, and they are now off tempo. I try and regain the pace of the game using Sewn-Eye Drake, but he has Blister Beetle and Skyclaw Thrash. A few turns later, the 4/4 finishes the game.

Considering his deck, I decide to bring in Kederekt Leviathan instead of Suicidal Charge (he doesn’t seem to be very vulnerable to the spell).

As I play Grixis Charm on Crumbling Necropolis playing first, I make him discard Dreg Reaver and take control of the game. Canyon Minotaur and Illusory Demon must put him as low on life as possible as my last two spells in hand (Absorb Vis and Kederekt Leviathan) should be able to finish the job. In response to my attack, he plays Esper Battlemage and, after a long thought, Backlash on the 3/3. While I am quietly racing and drawing one land a turn, which is exactly what I want, he plays Unscythe. Time to see the power of this rare I’ve passed!

He equips his Battlemage and swings, and then plays Blister Beetle and Magma Spray to get rid of my flyer. Life count is now 13-10 in my favor and I’ve seven lands on the board and the same two spells in hand. As I’m in very big trouble if I don’t draw a land, I decide to cycle the Absorb Vis and play my big guy. As he plays Terminate on my Leviathan he takes control of the game, but I only have to deal him a few for damage to finish him off.

As I draw one spell a turn, including Sedris, I’m pretty confident I will manage to, but in the end, I’ll never be able to defeat Unscythe. The equipment keeps me from attacking, and when I eventually play Sedris, he has Blister Beetle and Bloodpyre Elemental for it.

When he plays Skyclaw Thrash again, I know I’m on a clock and must draw one of my removal spels fast. Unfortunately, I don’t have many, and none of the Deny Realities will show up before the equipped Thrash finishes me off.

I was wondering how good the equipment was. I now have my answer.

Until Wednesday...

Oli