Drafting With Olivier - Zendikar #7
[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!
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:
1) Vampire Nighthawk
2) Sheperd of the Lost
3) Disfigure
4) Baloth Woodcrasher
The Vampire is the obvious pick here, but the pack still has three other cards I wouldn’t mind first picking. Shephard of the Lost, even though it is a bit expensive, belongs in the very small category of those creatures which can attack and block, and do both pretty well. Also, it’s not hard to deal the first 13-14 damage to your opponent with a White deck; the hardest part is to deal the final 5 to 10 damage.
Then I’d pick Disfigure over the Baloth for a matter of color preferences, even though I think both cards are about as good.
Pack 1 pick 2:
My Pick:
Heartbeat Mosquito is too slow for a fast deck but excellent in a control one. Eternity Vessel is excellent in sealed but too slow against most draft decks. The best card, as far as raw power is concerned, would be Kor Sanctifiers, but I don’t like the WB archetype.
Pack 1 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 1 pick 4:
My Pick:
It would seem like I am going for a mono color deck again.
Pack 1 pick 5:
My Pick:
1) Nimana Sell-Sword
2) Torch Slinger
3) Whiplash Trap
4) Territorial Baloth
5) Adventure Gear
Torch Slinger being here could be a signal, but as two uncommons and a rare are missing, nothing is definite. Also, I’d like to remain mono color, or to just splash the second color. And I don’t feel like splashing a double mana colored spell. This is also the reason why I wouldn’t pick the Trap, which is also a very good card. I won’t even consider picking Adventure Gear here, as I just don’t like the card at all in mono black, an archetype I’m more and more likely to run.
Pack 1 pick 6:
My Pick:
I like the crocodile in an aggro deck, which is not what I seem to be. Anyway, I think I’d still like the enchantment a little more.
Pack 1 pick 7:
My Pick:
There’s no way I counterdraft the Chosen when I hope so much my left neighbors will go Green, or anything beside Black at the moment.
Pack 1 pick 8:
My Pick:
Vampire’s Bite is a better card than the 4/2 in a very fast deck, like RB, but here I’d rather like having a great sideboard card that I don't have to face.
Pack 1 pick 9:
My Pick:
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:
If Disfigure wasn’t in this pack, I would have picked Burst Lightning, probably the common I’d be the most likely to splash.
Pack 2 pick 2:
My Pick:
What’s the best? A mediocre card, or a good one to counterdraft (either Boa or Boar here)? Not sure yet, but I think of my deck here and pick the Diabolist. I’d have counterdrafted anything significantly better though.
,/p>
Pack 2 pick 3:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 4:
My Pick:
I’m not a huge fan of this card, but I still think it’s better than the overrated Guul Draz Vampire.
Pack 2 pick 5:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 2 pick 8:
My Pick:
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:
Pack 3 pick 2:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 3:
My Pick:
Still not much of a choice, but at least it will make the Diabolist playable.
Pack 3 pick 4:
My Pick:
The card may not be as broken as it seems, though it’s still pretty good in a mono Black deck.
Pack 3 pick 5:
My Pick:
I wish I could afford to counterdraft the Lightcaster, but Dross Scorpion is too good a card to consider doing this.
Pack 3 pick 6:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 7:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 8:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 9:
My Pick:
Pack 3 pick 10:
My Pick:
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!
18 Swamp
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Surrakar Marauder
2 Blood Seeker
1 Mindless Null
1 Giant Scorpion
2 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Nimana Sell-Sword
2 Crypt Creeper
1 Hearstabber Mosquito
1 Hagra Diabolist
1 Blazing Torch
2 Soul Stair Expedition
1 Disfigure
1 Grim Discovery
1 Hideous End
2 Mind Sludge
In the first round, facing RW, I stop his beats thanks to a turn 5 Mind Sludge stopping his reinforcements the turn before I played Nighthawk. He was then unable to deal with the Vampire and had to give up. In the following game, things seemed close as we were racing with creatures of the same quality, until Crypt Ripper joined the dance and ended the match in three attacks.
In my second round I faced a GR deck, which was the perfect matchup for Mind Sludge. Taking 5 cards from my opponent won me game 1, and then Soul Stair Ascension made the difference in a long and difficult game concluded by the Nighthawk and the Ripper it had returned.
For the final, I had to face Mono-White. Not exactly the best matchup for Mind sludge in theory, but it ended up winning both games 1 and 3. In the first, it took his two last cards in hand, which were Journey to Nowhere and a lethal Windborn Charge, while in game 3, on the turn on which he had just found his third land, I took 5 cards from him.
Until Monday...
Oli





Monday, November 16th - Last weekend, the Andersons - Magic’s latest Golden Couple - rocked the Standard world and the StarCityGames.com $5000 Open with a fine...
Monday, November 16th - Last weekend, my wife won the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open. I didn't do so bad myself, and feel I owe you guys an explanation...
Monday, November 16th - Patrick Chapin takes a break from making Day 2 at Grand Prix: Minneapolis to bring us a mid-tournament status report. He shares his...
Monday, November 16th - In today’s double header edition of So Many Insane Plays, Stephen Menendian examines the current Legacy...
Monday, November 16th - Hall of Famer Olivier Ruel takes us through an 8-4 draft queue on Magic Online. He shares some comprehensive thoughts about both the picks and the games, and talks us through each step of the way! If you're... 

Friday, November 13th - Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we talk with Nashville $5K winner (and fellow author Todd...
Friday, November 13th - Last weekend was one that this Green mage was very happy about. While I enjoyed personal success with a deck built around one of the...
Friday, November 13th - It's an M10 draft. You're solidly in Red-Blue with goodies like Air Elemental, Mind Control, Shivan Dragon, and Goblin Artillery, plus...
Friday, November 13th - Sealed Deck in Zendikar play is proving to be a tricky beast to crack. In today’s Reflecting Ruel, Olivier offers some sage advice on...
Friday, November 13th - Conventional wisdom dictates that your performance in sideboarded games is twice as important as your performance in the pre-sideboard...
Friday, November 13th - The Sealed Deck PTQ season continues apace, both online and off, and Adrian Sullivan has some sage advice for those hunting the Blue Envelope. Today, he shares his experience with the format, and looks over... 










