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Drafting With Olivier - Zendikar #23

Olivier Ruel

By Olivier Ruel
12/23/2009

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.

#Zendikar Limited, #Olivier Ruel
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  Pack 1 pick 1:

  My Pick:

Maybe the best common in the whole set, and every other option is Black, meaning I'll have to avoid going RB if possible.


  Pack 1 pick 2:

  My Pick:

1) Torch Slinger
2) Steppe Lynx
3) Predatory Urge
Having Steppe Lynx and Plated Geopede is kinda sexy, but having a second red card is a lot safer.


  Pack 1 pick 3:

  My Pick:

Nissa's Chose is the best card here, but it would commit me heavily, as it would require my deck to be not only Green, but Green dominant. I'd rather pick the worse but much safer Highland Berserker.


  Pack 1 pick 4:

  My Pick:

1) Spire Barrage
2) Goblin Shortcutter
3) Hellfire Mongrel
This pick is the first one which actually commits me in this draft. It may be Red again, but I like it better than the two Red guys in mono Red only. With so many good Red cards left in the pack, I feel like Red is totally open.


  Pack 1 pick 5:

  My Pick:

As predicted, Red is clearly open. So is Green, but mono Red should do.


  Pack 1 pick 6:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 7:

  My Pick:

It's always hard to say how good exactly Mark of Mutiny is until you know more about your deck. Shatterskull Giant is much more consistant.


  Pack 1 pick 8:

  My Pick:


  Pack 1 pick 9:

  My Pick:

If I get more Spire Barrage/Geopede, I may want to run the Equipment.


  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:
Blessing

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  My Pick:

1) Tuktuk Grunts
2) Geyser Glider
3) Molten Ravager
Close pack. I think I've actually picked the worst of the three cards here, as both five-drops are about equally good, and a little better than my pick. Also, the 0/4 would have had much better chance to wheel.


  Pack 2 pick 2:
Instigator

Buy This Card!
" tooltip="Instigator">Instigator ", "ZEN");'>
  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 3:
Blessing

Buy This Card!
" tooltip="Blessing">Blessing ", "ZEN");'>
  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 4:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 5:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 6:

  My Pick:

If they keep on not sending Red cards, maybe a splash will be needed (Raptor and other flyers?). This means Puma could be either filler for a mono Red with not enough playables, or a support card for Raptor in UR.


  Pack 2 pick 7:
Blessing

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  My Pick:

A close one here again. Slaughter Cry would be pretty good with Warren Instigator, but I don't like it so much when two of my guys are Molten Ravagers. Also, Ruinblaster isn't bad itself with the double striker.


  Pack 2 pick 8:

  My Pick:

Should actually be good in this deck.


  Pack 2 pick 9:

  My Pick:


  Pack 2 pick 10:

  My Pick:

Maybe the Blue splash is actually an option.


  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:

If I had a few more Blue cards and/or Geopedes, maybe I would consider the fetchland, but the Barrage definitely makes the deck really good. I'm now 99% sure to end up mono Red.


  Pack 3 pick 3:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 4:

  My Pick:

A pretty close pick again. With two Spire Barrage I want to put my opponent low on life as fast as possible. Also, it is pretty good combined with Instigator. However, my curve is so low that I should be able to do something for the first few turns anyway, and I should therefore need a high drop more.


  Pack 3 pick 5:

  My Pick:

Pyromancer is just not good enough. It would make me play a bad card (Puma), and I don't want that to happen.


  Pack 3 pick 6:

  My Pick:


  Pack 3 pick 7:

  My Pick:

One of my deck's MVPs in pick 37. Quite a good surprise.


  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:

A key card in my deck as it's like a second Valakut.


  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 Mountain
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

1 Goblin Guide
1 Highland Berserker
2 Plated Geopede
1 Hedron Scrabbler
1 Warren Instigator
2 Molten Ravager
1 Torch Slinger
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Shatterskull Giant
2 Bladetusk Boar
1 Geyser Glider

1 Explorer's Scope
1 Expedition Map
1 Goblin War Paint
1 Mark of Mutiny
1 Inferno Trap
2 Spire Barrage

Sideboard
1 Welkin Tern
1 Bold Defense
2 Island
2 Spell Pierce
1 Noble Vestige
1 Grappling Hook
1 Spreading Seas
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Cliff Threader
1 Stonework Puma
1 Umara Raptor
1 Soul Stair Expedition
1 Kraken Hatchling
1 Akoum Refuge
1 Harrow
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Quest for the Gemblades
1 Nissa's Chosen
1 Swamp
1 Tanglesap

My deck seems pretty strong, which my very first game of the draft will confirm. My opponent draws as follows:

turn 1 Jwar Isle Refuge
turn 2 Piranha Marsh, Disfigure
turn 3 Swamp, Gatekeeper of Malakir kickered
turn 4 Island, Living Tsunami
turn 5 return and play Refuge again, Vampire Nighthawk

And I still kill him on turn 6, thanks to my Goblin Guide, Scrabbler, Ruinblaster, Boar, Mark of Mutiny (on the Tsunami) and eventually Spire Barrage for the win.

The second game is not nearly as interesting as he is stuck on two lands for quite a while.

In the second round, I'm facing a WR deck. In the first game, I draw mostly lands, which is fine as a pair of Molten Ravagers stop his beating while Valakut kills all his guys one by one. In the following game, Ravager immobilizes the board once again, and we have a Skyfisher/Boar showdown. As none of us draw anything relevant until the end of the game, these two will keep on attacking until my 3/2 wins a little quicker than his Skyfisher.

In the finals, I faced the worst possible matchup: RG. With Nissa's Chosen on turn 2 twice, when I had no early Geopede, and Red guys to deal with my Boar, I had a pretty hard time. In the first, I stabilized the board on 4-13 life with Geopede in play and a Mountain in hand, but when he draws his second mountain he plays Hellkite Charger and takes the first.

In game 2 I put him under more pressure, but he stops me on 5, and I can't find a Spire Barrage to finish him off while Timbermaw Larva and Baloth Woodcrasher force me to chumpblock with all my team until they eventually kill me.

Until tomorrow...

Oli


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