Well... I’m back.
For how long? Who knows? I do know that I have been thinking about writing more and more lately. In fact it was my good friend and fellow StarCityGames.com scribe, Kyle Sanchez, who inspired me to write again. You see, not only had I stopped writing about Magic, but I had also stopped reading about it too. One day while I was sitting at home I got an instant message from one Mr. SAHN-chez, and it was the introduction to his latest article (at the time) “The Sanchez Guide to Cheating.” I thought it was fantastic. He proceeded to ask me if I had read his last article, and I sheepishly said “No. I don’t think I’ve read any of your articles since you returned to StarCityGames.com” Upon sending the message, I noticed that I had immediately become blocked by Kyle. He would no longer take my messages. I then received a message from Grand Prix Winner Steve Sadin asking “What did you do to Kyle? He just told me that life is not worth living any more.” Confused by what was happening, I replied with a string of emoticons that would make an ancient Egyptian king proud. Steve did not reply. At this point I had no idea what to do, so I got up and stared at myself in the mirror, as it is my favorite pastime. This succeeded in distracting me from the situation at hand, as I was now remembering that I had a hair consultation next week.
ASIDE: For the unwashed out there, a Hair Consultation is what extremely vain, self-absorbed, narcissistic people schedule before their wash, color, cut and style. SWEET CHICKEN, how can some color, cut and style your hair unless you have spent at least 30 minutes discussing what goals you have for it and where you see your hair in six months?
The next day, I noticed that I had an e-mail from Kyle containing all of his StarCityGames.com articles. He said that if I wanted to mend the rift between us, I should read all of his articles and await further instruction. Not wanting to lose a good friend (or a good punchline), I read his articles. They were strange, fascinating looks into the mind of man-boy on the verge of insanity. At times I feared for his life, and for some reason at times I feared for mine, but one thing was clear — I was thoroughly entertained. At this point I knew what I had to do. I had to write again. So here I am... writing... again.
What happened with Kyle, you say? He made me complete a ten-page multiple choice exam about his articles to prove I read them, then I had to obtain for him a very rare BETA FORCE OF NATURE that does not have an upkeep cost, and I had to promise him 75% of all Magical Winnings I receive for life. A small price to pay for the friendship of someone I see four or five times a year, who lives in Texas, and doesn’t know where Canada is.
Here’s a hint: It’s the big snow-covered place to the North.
I guess this is about the time where I should start talking about Magic: The Gathering.
I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where there is a very thriving Magic scene, and the hub of it has to be 401 Games. 401 runs at least four tournaments a week, (Thursday Standard, FNM, Saturday Standard, and Sunday Sealed), and this on top of the fact that at any point if there are eight willing players they will sanction a draft. Needless to say there is always something Magical going, and lucky for me I live a stone’s throw away.
For the average non-Kenji player, the majority of their sanctioned Magic is going to come from smaller events, i.e. 16K or less. I often find myself watching people play these, and far too often I see mistakes - mistakes in drafting, mistakes in building, and mistakes in playing. So, I am going to follow some of these players through various aspects of different events. For legal reasons (and the fact that I don’t want to be considered an ass), I will not be using player’s real names.
On Friday, I attended FNM as a start to this journey. Now, FNM is always unique breed of draft. There are four main differences between FNM and, say, Day 2 of a GP.
Table Size
At FNM it is rare that you actually draft at an 8-man table. I think over the years I have drafted at every table size from 6-13. Personally, I think a 6-man table is the most skill testing. The pool is large enough to ensure a fair and balanced selection of cards (this is often a problem when doing 2v2s), and you have an opportunity to plan multiple picks ahead by being better able to forecast which cards should table back to you. I often find this to be a problem at 8-man tables, as there is either not enough playables in a pack to matter, or the person picking 6th or 7th is choosing based on color and not purely power, therefore the card you were hoping for never makes it back to you.
Rare Drafting
I’m sure rare drafting happens at GPs, but it is far more prevalent for it to happen at FNM. This is due to there being a lot of newer players who use FNM to build up their collection, and also because there’s a flatter prize support.
ASIDE: I used to live in Calgary, and the store at which I played FNM had the flattest prize structure I have ever seen. At this store FNM was always three rounds, and the winner of every match got a pack. That’s it. The better players in town didn’t like it, because unless you opened money rares you would not be able to come out ahead, but I actually think it is a great structure to get people into the game, as even if you went 1-2 you felt like you went away with something. I think this kind of prize structure does a lot to encourage players to come out and try sanctioned Magic.
You Play OUT of your Pod
For those of you who are not down with my “lingo,” this means that if there are three tables drafting you have to potential to play someone that was not at your table. This impacts drafting in a number of ways. For starters, there is the potential of power swings from table to table, as one table just gets a ridiculous batch of packs as another gets nothing but Squires. The other impact this has is on hate drafting. Hate drafting is normally done when there is nothing exciting for you in a pack but a strong card for another color (that you have no chance of playing). The idea of taking the stronger card is to ensure effectively weaken another player’s deck. However, when there are three tables drafting the odds of you ever having to face that card are so slim that you are always better off taking a card on color, even if it doesn’t make your maindeck. You never know when you might need to side it in. I believe I once heard Kenji say that, in Limited, if you don’t sideboard at least one card every match, you’re doing something wrong. However he was speaking in Japanese, a language I do not speak, so I may have mis-translated.
New/Inexperienced Players
This is obviously the biggest difference. Inexperienced players often have problems: committing to a color, realizing the power of certain cards, reading signals, sending signals, etc. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone at an FNM table (normally someone who thinks they know what they are doing) insists on making a big deal of getting a 7th pick Dead/Gone or a 5th pick Pyrohemia. I’ve seen players stand-up and count the cards in the pack and then proceed to call everyone at the table idiots for “shipping him the nuts.” You know what I say to these people? “IT’S SWEET FRICKIN’ CHICKEN FNM!!” Actually, I normally add that they suck and will probably STILL lose with their “nuts” deck. I’m a d*ck that way.
With all that out of way, let’s take a look at a draft from a recent FNM. This happened at a 9-man Time Spiral Block table. I’m going to refer to the player as Billy, in honor of my personal resident genius Billy Moreno.
I was not able to write down every card from every pack that Billy saw, but I’m confident I got the key ones.
Time Spiral
Pick 1 — Tendrils of Corruption, Temporal Isolation, Lightning Axe, Walk the Aeons.
Billy took the Axe, and I agree. Getting back to what I said before, I don’t find any use in noting too many cards as this is a 9-man table and FNM. There were definitely some newer players at this table. It’s good to try to remember the next two or three best cards, but beyond that, save your strength.
Pick 2 — Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Uh... it’s FNM!
Pick 3 — Looter il-Kor, Fortify
Billy took the Looter, he’s so smart!
Pick 4 — Pulmonic Sliver, Nantuko Shaman, Coral Trickster, Wipe Away, Basalt Gargoyle
Billy took the Pulmonic Sliver. I wasn’t 100% sure here. I’m not a big fan of slivers in TPF, but it’s still a 3/3 flyer for five. The Axe (from pick 1) is definitely a splashable card, so Billy is only really committed to Blue at this point. In the end, I think the pick is fine, but could understand someone else taking any of the cards based on color preference. What do you think, loyal readers?
Pick 5 — Goblin Skycutter, Thick-Skinned Goblin, Cloudchaser Kestrel
Billy took the Skycutter. It is the better of the two Red cards, but on par with the Kestrel, and after the previous pick I would have taken the Kestrel. There should be no way that Teferi, Pulmonic, and Skycutter make their way into the same deck.
Pick 6 — Flowstone Channeler
Pick 7 — Viscerid Deepwalker
Pick 8 — Empty the Warrens, Aetherflame Wall
Billy took Empty the Warrens. I’m not a big fan of Empty any more, as there is just not enough suspend in packs 2 and 3 to make it very big. Even getting six dudes takes work these days. Although Grinning Ignus with Empty the Warrens is hot! I would have taken the Wall.
Pick 9 — Quilled Sliver
Pick 10 — Sidewinder Sliver
Pick 11 — Strength in Numbers, Eternity Snare
Billy took Strength in Numbers here, and I don’t know why. Sure, it is more powerful than the Snare, but he has already taken from three different colors so there is zero chance that it will get played. Although the Snare is not AWESOME (like I am!), sometimes you end up light on removal or you need to side it in to deal with something your other spells can’t. As for the idea of hating a good card, this should not be a consideration as you have such a small chance of playing against that person at FNM and it might not even end up in a Green player’s pile.
The Rest — Opaline Sliver, Shadow Sliver, Harmonic Sliver, Saltcrusted Steppe
I was a little concerned over the number of slivers Billy took towards the end of the pack. There was really nothing else in them, and they do provide flexibility for the rest of the draft. Hopefully he doesn’t become too enamored with them though. Overall, pack 1 was pretty weak, and I don’t like that he has taken so many cards from three different colors. I probably would have been U/W at this point, looking to splash just the Axe. On to Planar Chaos!
Planar Chaos
Pick 1 — Numot, the Devastator
I mean, sometimes you just get there. This pick represents a common trap that players fall into. Now obviously you take Numot, but you effectively got rewarded for shaky picks in Time Spiral. This is similar to players who after winning justify their bad plays by saying “but I won!” Just because you won, or opened the nuts, does not mean every decision you made was correct.
Pick 2 — Prodigal Pyromancer, Blood Knight, Shivan Meteor
Billy took Tim (or is it Tom?). I would have taken the Meteor and settled into U/R/w. I like Meteor here because it helps storm up Empty the Warrens, and aside from the Axe Billy has no spells, only creatures.
Pick 3 — Shaper Parasite, Prodigal Pyromancer, Stingscourger, Gossamer Phantasm
Billy took the Parasite, as he should have. Red seems to be flowing nicely. I mention the Phantasm here as it is my favorite card in the whole set. Note that I said favorite, not best. I love having it in my deck, and its “drawback” is not as bad as people make it seem. I will talk about my love of Gossamer more in the future... just know I’m really hoping it tables.
Pick 4 — Sunlance, Frenetic Sliver, Saltblast, Magus of the Tabernacle
Billy took the Magus. That is not a typo. This was such a bad pick, and he admitted it almost right away. This is not the deck for Magus. We currently only have one non-creature spell (Empty the Warrens is a creature spell!) Let’s not focus on this any longer. The pick here is between Sunlance and the Sliver. I’d take the Sunlance because, when I am splashing, I always prefer to play two cards of the splash color, and we don’t need more dorks.
Pick 5 — Crovax, Ascendant Hero
OMG! OMG! OMG! A fifth pick Crovax! Oh, wait... It’s FNM. I’m really concerned that this is in Billy’s pile. I just know that Crovax, Teferi, and Numot are all going to end up in this deck. Nice mana.
Pick 6 — Stingscourger, Saltfield Recluse, Sulfur Elemental, Veiling Oddity
Even though another good Red card was passed his way. Billy took the Recluse. He was clearly only remembering the Crovax and not all the good Red he has been passed this pack. Recluse was actually the last card I would have gone for here. Stingy is the correct pick, as it acts as removal in this removal light deck.
Pick 7 — Shaper Parasite
FNM for the win.
Pick 8 — Shade of Trokair, Dawn’s Charm, Aquamorph Entity
Billy took the Charm and seemed determined to play U/W/r. It is better than Shade at the point, as no matter what the mana is going to be too bad to make the Shade a consistent beater.
Pick 9 — Sinew Sliver, FOIL Sinew Sliver, Dreamscape Artist
Yeah Mana fixing!!! Billy took the Artist, but I was worried for a moment. If he ends up U/W/r he already has 5 slivers, but this deck was desperate for a way to help its mana.
Pick 10 — Saltfield Recluse, Aven Riftwatcher
Billy took the flyer. He said that he was concerned about the early game and falling behind. I think Recluse was the pick, as it allows you to control the combat phase so completely, and is better in the late game than the Riftwatcher, especially considering he has no ways to abuse the 187 ability.
The rest — Veiling Oddity, Veiling Oddity, 3 blanks.
The Gossamer didn’t table back. I like the Oddities in this deck, as it is overloaded with creatures, yet light on evasion, a little unusual for a U/W deck. Going into Future Sight, Billy seems to clearly be in U/W/r. I would have been U/R at this point, and looking to splash Numot and Sunlance. It’s too hard to say what would have happened had he settled on U/W in pack 1, put the potential is exciting. Let’s see what Future Sight brings us.
Future Sight
Pick 1 — Venser’s Diffusion, Ichor Slick, Mesmeric Sliver
Billy takes the Diffusion. What a bad pack, but at least a spell finally ended up in his pile. Slick is a lot better card, but I don’t know what level of greedy you have to be to take it and play it.
Pick 2 — Knight of Sursi, Aven Auger, Lucent Liminid
Billy took the Knight, and I agree with the pick. The Liminid is obviously a good card, but I like the tempo that is provided by the Knight.
Pick 3 — Goldmeadow Lookout, FOIL Yixlid Jailer
Billy took the Lookout. Because it’s FNM I would have taken the Jailer, as I know a foil one it goes for $10 in Toronto.
Pick 4 — Gathan Raiders
Pick 5 — Mistmeadow Skulk, Lucent Liminid, Whip-Spine Drake
Billy took the Skulk. The Skulk fits well for the curve, and I know lots of people that swear by it, but I would have taken the Drake. Skulk is defensive and annoying, but Drake is a win-condition. Billy was pretty heavy at the three-slot already, but outside of Bombs 1, 2 and 3 didn’t have much at the 4+ slots. The Drakes versatile mana cost also ensures that it should never get stuck in your hand.
Pick 6 — Lymph Sliver
Pick 7 — Aven Auger
Pick 8 — Marshaling Cry, Blind Phantasm, Sarcomite Myr
Billy took the Phantasm. That was just bad. We are late into pack 3 and clearly in W/U/r. We only have Diffusion, Dawn’s Charm and Lightning Axe as spells. There is a good chance that we could be playing as many as twenty creatures, and at least three Red cards. Cry cycles to help us get the land that we need, and with so many creatures (and two Oddities) the chance that it will create an untenable combat situation for your opponent is too good to pass.
Pick 9 — Fatal Attraction, Leaden Fists, Goldmeadow Lookout, Whip-Spine Drake
WOW!!! Billy took the Fatal Attraction. He realized that he was light on removal and spells, but unfortunately he took the wrong one. I find a lot of players undervalue the Fists. It is Blue removal that deals with almost any creature in the format. It can also double as a Lightning Bolt to get in those last bits of damage, and you haven’t lived until you put it on vigilant creature. Needless to say I would have swiped the Fists here.
Pick 10 — Sarcomite Myr
Pick 11 — Flowstone Embrace
Pick 12 — FOIL Yixlid Jailer
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
The rest — 3 blanks
Pack 3 went about as well as can be expected (aside from picks 8 and 9). Let’s see how the deck came together
1 Viscerid Deepwalker
1 Knight of Sursi
1 Looter il-Kor
1 Quilled Sliver
1 Dreamscape Artist
1 Veiling Oddity
1 Mistmeadow Skulk
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
2 Shaper Parasites
1 Saltfield Recluse
1 Gathan Raiders
1 Goldmeadow Lookout
1 Aven Auger
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Pulmonic Sliver
1 Lymph Sliver
1 Numot, the Devastator
1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
2 Mountain
8 Plains
8 Island
The deck looks fine, when all is said and done. It has a nice curve, a light three-card splash, and some bombs. Billy went 2-2 with the deck, losing in the last round to Professional FNMer Jeremy Kunkel, and missed out on Top 4. Overall he felt that Crovax was his MVP, as it allowed him to beat a Sprout Swarm.
The interesting the about Draft is how fluid it can be at times. As you can tell, there were a number of times where I would have made a different pick, and even though Billy made some suboptimal picks he still ended up with a solid deck. This is a good example of why you should try to analyze all aspects of your game, win, lose, or draw. It is always harder to admit to mistakes in the face of victory, and all too easy to pass the blame for the defeats.
I hope you guys enjoyed this. I know I did. We should do it again sometime.
Thanks for reading,
J. Evan Dean
I guess this is the part of the article where I’m supposed to tell you what I’m listening to, but I don’t want to embarrass myself with a bunch of New Kids On The Block, *NSYNC and Spice Girls songs, so instead I’m going to give you five things that are on my mind that I may or may not go into in future articles. We’ll call this section RANDOM TEASERS.
SWEET CHICKEN!
Islands need to be banned — they ruin Magic.
“Hairspray” was an awesome movie, you should go and see it.
I don’t like Andrew Weiner.
I have never been able to pass a Telekinetic Sliver and live with myself afterwards.
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