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Draft:

Pack 1:

Deeptread Merrow, Goldmeadow Harrier, Fistful of Force, Eyeblight's Ending, Soulbright Flamekin, Glimmerdust Nap, Kinsbaile Skirmisher, Lace with Moonglove, Scarred Vinebreeder, Springjack Knight, Ponder, Flamekin Harbinger, Familiar's Ruse, Cloudgoat Ranger, Sower of Temptation

Pick: Sower of Temptation

Pack 2:

Whirlpool Whelm, Boggart Loggers, Adder-Staff Boggart, Fertile Ground, Moonglove Extract, Hillcomber Giant, Dawnfluke, Spellstutter Sprite, Black Poplar Shaman, Elvish Eulogist, Wings of Velis Vel, Tar Pitcher, Drowner of Secrets, Wanderwine Hub

Pick: Drowner of Secrets

Pack 3:

Paperfin Rascal, Runed Stalactite, Nath's Elite, Neck Snap, Sentinels of Glen Elendra, Lairwatch Giant, Spellstutter Sprite, Spiderwig Boggart, Flamekin Brawler, Tideshaper Mystic, Vivid Marsh, Sentry Oak, Prowess of the Fair

Pick: Sentinels of Glen Elendra

Pack 4:

Bog-Strider Ash, Herbal Poultice, Kithkin Greatheart, Oakgnarl Warrior, Ingot Chewer, Soaring Hope, Shimmering Grotto, Judge of Currents, Lammastide Weave, Flamekin Harbinger, Glarewielder, Hostility

Pick: Hostility

Pack 5:

Battlewand Oak, Oaken Brawler, Hurly-Burly, Lys Alana Huntmaster, Spellstutter Sprite, Black Poplar Shaman, Elvish Eulogist, Wings of Velis Vel, Changeling Hero, Militia's Pride, Goldmeadow Dodger

Pick: Wings of Velis Vel

Pack 6:

Deeptread Merrow, Kithkin Daggerdare, Herbal Poultice, Avian Changeling, Lowland Oaf, Gilt-Leaf Seer, Boggart Birth Rite, Zephyr Net, Hoarder's Greed, Island

Pick: Deeptread Merrow

Pack 7:

Fertile Ground, Plover Knights, Whirlpool Whelm, Leaf Gilder, Ringskipper, Hunt Down, Triclopean Sight, Nath's Buffoon, Goldmeadow Stalwart

Pick: Whirlpool Whelm

Pack 8:

Oakgnarl Warrior, Glimmerdust Nap, Kithkin Daggerdare, Gilt-Leaf Seer, Protective Bubble, Faerie Tauntings, Burrenton Forge-Tender, Forest

Pick: Glimmerdust Nap

Pack 9:

Deeptread Merrow, Glimmerdust Nap, Kinsbaile Skirmisher, Lace with Moonglove, Scarred Vinebreeder, Springjack Knight, Ponder

Pick: Deeptread Merrow

Pack 10:

Adder-Staff Boggart, Hillcomber Giant, Dawnfluke, Black Poplar Shaman, Elvish Eulogist, Wings of Velis Vel

Pick: Wings of Velis Vel

Pack 11:

Lairwatch Giant, Flamekin Brawler, Tideshaper Mystic, Sentry Oak, Prowess of the Fair

Pick: Tideshaper Mystic

Pack 12:

Herbal Poultice, Oakgnarl Warrior, Soaring Hope, Lammastide Weave

Pick: Lammastide Weave

Pack 13:

Oaken Brawler, Elvish Eulogist, Goldmeadow Dodger

Pick: Goldmeadow Dodger

Pack 14:

Herbal Poultice, Island

Pick: Island

Pack 15:

Triclopean Sight

Pick: Triclopean Sight

Pack 16:

Cloudcrown Oak, Oblivion Ring, Wanderer's Twig, Hornet Harasser, Axegrinder Giant, Woodland Changeling, Kithkin Greatheart, Bog Hoodlums, Protective Bubble, Fire-Belly Changeling, Skeletal Changeling, Sylvan Echoes, Rebellion of the Flamekin, Merrow Reejerey, Sunrise Sovereign

Pick: Merrow Reejerey

Pack 17:

Wispmare, Streambed Aquitects, Consuming Bonfire, Boggart Loggers, Lys Alana Huntmaster, Runed Stalactite, Caterwauling Boggart, Tideshaper Mystic, Elvish Handservant, Broken Ambitions, Inner-Flame Igniter, Merrow Reejerey, Vivid Grove, Mosswort Bridge

Pick: Merrow Reejerey

Pack 18:

Sentinels of Glen Elendra, Stinkdrinker Daredevil, Battlewand Oak, Oaken Brawler, Hurly-Burly, Caterwauling Boggart, Goldmeadow Dodger, Faerie Trickery, Nightshade Stinger, Makeshift Mannequin, Guardian of Cloverdell, Hoarder's Greed, Heat Shimmer

Pick: Sentinels of Glen Elendra

Pack 19:

Surge of Thoughtweft, Weed Strangle, Mudbutton Torchrunner, Woodland Changeling, Springleaf Drum, Kithkin Healer, Spring Cleaning, Exiled Boggart, Shields of Velis Vel, Mournwhelk, Vivid Crag, Guardian of Cloverdell

Pick: Surge of Thoughtweft

Pack 20:

Hornet Harasser, Axegrinder Giant, Woodland Changeling, Footbottom Feast, Soaring Hope, Elvish Branchbender, Wellgabber Apothecary, Aquitect's Will, Mournwhelk, Sylvan Echoes, Hearthcage Giant

Pick: Aquitect's Will

Pack 21:

Fistful of Force, Quill-Slinger Boggart, Cloudcrown Oak, Judge of Currents, Inkfathom Divers, Needle Drop, Soaring Hope, Summon the School, Fallowsage, Colfenor's Urn

Pick: Summon the School

Pack 22:

Consuming Bonfire, Wispmare, Caterwauling Boggart, Goldmeadow Dodger, Faerie Trickery, Nightshade Stinger, Blades of Velis Vel, Squeaking Pie Sneak, Sylvan Echoes

Pick: Squeaking Pie Sneak

Pack 23:

Gilt-Leaf Ambush, Moonglove Winnower, Inner-Flame Acolyte, Paperfin Rascal, Rootgrapple, Nightshade Stinger, Faultgrinder, Elvish Promenade

Pick: Paperfin Rascal

Pack 24:

Wanderer's Twig, Hornet Harasser, Axegrinder Giant, Bog Hoodlums, Protective Bubble, Fire-Belly Changeling, Sylvan Echoes

Pick: Wanderer's Twig

Pack 25:

Wispmare, Boggart Loggers, Caterwauling Boggart, Tideshaper Mystic, Elvish Handservant, Vivid Grove

Pick: Wispmare

Pack 26:

Oaken Brawler, Caterwauling Boggart, Goldmeadow Dodger, Nightshade Stinger, Guardian of Cloverdell

Pick: Oaken Brawler

Pack 27:

Springleaf Drum, Exiled Boggart, Shields of Velis Vel, Guardian of Cloverdell

Pick: Springleaf Drum

Pack 28:

Soaring Hope, Wellgabber Apothecary, Sylvan Echoes

Pick: Wellgabber Apothecary

Pack 29:

Quill-Slinger Boggart, Needle Drop

Pick: Quill-Slinger Boggart

Pack 30:

Caterwauling Boggart

Pick: Caterwauling Boggart

Pack 31:

Nath's Elite, Moonglove Extract, Boggart Sprite-Chaser, Oaken Brawler, Smokebraider, Stonybrook Angler, Faerie Trickery, Warren-Scourge Elf, Lairwatch Giant, Spiderwig Boggart, Boggart Forager, Goatnapper, Ceaseless Searblades, Merrow Harbinger, Cryptic Command

Pick: Cryptic Command

Pack 32:

Fertile Ground, Hillcomber Giant, Sentinels of Glen Elendra, Stinkdrinker Daredevil, Boggart Forager, Facevaulter, Hunt Down, Giant's Ire, Dawnfluke, Fallowsage, Incremental Growth, Hunter of Eyeblights, Shapesharer, Entangling Trap

Pick: Fallowsage

Pack 33:

Inner-Flame Acolyte, Neck Snap, Pestermite, Leaf Gilder, Boggart Sprite-Chaser, Thieving Sprite, Kinsbaile Balloonist, Boggart Forager, Facevaulter, Hunt Down, Giant's Ire, Ceaseless Searblades, Turtleshell Changeling

Pick: Pestermite

Pack 34:

Footbottom Feast, Lignify, Silvergill Douser, Quill-Slinger Boggart, Needle Drop, Springjack Knight, Heal the Scars, Inkfathom Divers, Boggart Birth Rite, Ego Erasure, Goldmeadow Stalwart, Cloudgoat Ranger

Pick: Silvergill Douser

Pack 35:

Lignify, Kithkin Healer, Deeptread Merrow, Kithkin Daggerdare, Zephyr Net, Scarred Vinebreeder, Gilt-Leaf Seer, Protective Bubble, Burrenton Forge-Tender, Vivid Meadow, Colfenor's Plans

Pick: Deeptread Merrow

Pack 36:

Footbottom Feast, Lowland Oaf, Lignify, Kithkin Healer, Aquitect's Will, Kinsbaile Skirmisher, Spring Cleaning, Merrow Harbinger, Burrenton Forge-Tender, Cloudcrown Oak

Pick: Merrow Harbinger

Pack 37:

Battlewand Oak, Hurly-Burly, Plover Knights, Black Poplar Shaman, Shimmering Grotto, Elvish Eulogist, Giant's Ire, Kithkin Harbinger, Knucklebone Witch

Pick: Hurly-Burly

Pack 38:

Wanderer's Twig, Bog-Strider Ash, Springleaf Drum, Wellgabber Apothecary, Aquitect's Will, Mournwhelk, Zephyr Net, Captivating Glance

Pick: Aquitect's Will

Pack 39:

Boggart Sprite-Chaser, Oaken Brawler, Faerie Trickery, Warren-Scourge Elf, Lairwatch Giant, Boggart Forager, Goatnapper

Pick: Faerie Trickery

Pack 40:

Boggart Forager, Facevaulter, Hunt Down, Dawnfluke, Hunter of Eyeblights, Entangling Trap

Pick: Entangling Trap

Pack 41:

Boggart Sprite-Chaser, Boggart Forager, Facevaulter, Hunt Down, Giant's Ire

Pick: Facevaulter

Pack 42:

Springjack Knight, Heal the Scars, Boggart Birth Rite, Ego Erasure

Pick: Ego Erasure

Pack 43:

Kithkin Daggerdare, Gilt-Leaf Seer, Protective Bubble

Pick: Kithkin Daggerdare

Pack 44:

Aquitect's Will, Spring Cleaning

Pick: Aquitect's Will

Pack 45:

Elvish Eulogist

Pick: Elvish Eulogist

Final Decklist:

14 Island
2 Plains
3 Aquitect's Will
1 Cryptic Command
3 Deeptread Merrow
1 Drowner of Secrets
1 Fallowsage
1 Merrow Harbinger
2 Merrow Reejerey
1 Paperfin Rascal
1 Pestermite
2 Sentinels of Glen Elendra
1 Silvergill Douser
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Summon the School
1 Tideshaper Mystic
1 Wanderer's Twig
1 Whirlpool Whelm
2 Wings of Velis Vel

Sideboard
1 Island
1 Caterwauling Boggart
1 Ego Erasure
1 Elvish Eulogist
1 Entangling Trap
1 Facevaulter
1 Faerie Trickery
1 Glimmerdust Nap
1 Goldmeadow Dodger
1 Hostility
1 Hurly-Burly
1 Kithkin Daggerdare
1 Lammastide Weave
1 Oaken Brawler
1 Quill-Slinger Boggart
1 Springleaf Drum
1 Squeaking Pie Sneak
1 Surge of Thoughtweft
1 Triclopean Sight
1 Wellgabber Apothecary
1 Wispmare

I settled on Blue very early, thanks to the Sower of Temptation I opened, combined with a Pick 2 Drowner of Secrets and Pick 3 Sentinels of Glen Elendra from a weak pack.

Pick 4 brought me the first big decision. Go U/W Merfolk with Judge of Currents or go Red with Hostility/Glarewielder. U/W Merfolk is a more established archetype and I already had a Drowner of Secrets, but you can't ignore a pack with Flamekin Harbinger/Glarewielder/Hostility with only 3 commons missing, Since I was only one color so far, this seemed an indicator to move into Red.

For the rest of the first booster I only saw average Red cards, and I opted to pick average Blue cards over them, as some boosters seemed to indicate Green and White were underdrafted, so maybe the Hostility pack was a wrong signal. With only one Hostility in my pile, I was ready to let it go, and I was once again open for a second color.

Starting the second booster, a pair of Merrow Reejerey were very welcome as I had a high number of Merfolk cards.

Pick 19: There aren't many playable cards, and certainly not many that I could cast. I couldn't cast Weed Strangle, while Torchrunner and Woodland Changeling weren't right for this deck, so it was down to Springleaf Drum and Surge of Thoughtweft. Usually Drum is better in Merfolk, but that is when you need cards that allow them to tap, so you can gain the bonus of Judge of Currents/Fallowsage/Veteran of the Depths without attacking. With double Reejerey, it seemed my deck would be more aggressive than typical Merfolk builds, and I figured if I was going to end Blue/White I could probably use Surge of Thoughtweft.

Pick 21: In this second booster, besides the two Reejerey, there was very little I picked that I was happy about. The execption was this pack, where I wanted three or four cards. Fallowsage would keep me in Blue alone, but Summon the School is better. I moved into White here.

Pick 31: I think Merrow Harbinger is the pick here, as I have Reejerey and Summon the School to search for, and I'm going to play with Aquitect's Will in my deck, which is the perfect setup for Merfolk Harbinger. However, this is one of the few decks that can actuallly consistently cast Cryptic Command as it's nearly Mono Blue. I think Command is very, very, very good, better than Harbinger in the abstract, but not here. Since Command would be a very strong card, that I could cast, I decided to draft it because of its financial value.

Round 1 I played against Green/Black Treefolk.

He had solid draws both games, but I had really good ones, always with Reejerey, and the game where he killed it I fetched another one with Harbinger.

Round 2 I played against Red/Black Elementals/Goblins

We had three really close games. The matchup wasn't so good, because he had so much removal: two Tar Pitcher, 2 Lash Out, Weed Strangle, Peppersmoke. Game 1 he made a really huge mistake, but he was lucky and won the clash from Lash Out for the final three damage. Game 2 I had Summon the School, and a Silvergill Douser. He had some creatures with toughness 2 and 3, plus Ceaseless Searblades and Ashling the Pilgrim. In my opinion he made another mistake: he should have used Pilgrim to deal three damage to everyone, instead of five or six as he did, as this way it cleared the table while the other way would have left a Ceaseless Searblade ready to attack. After the board was clear I won the final race for one turn thanks to the flash faeries Pestermite and Sentinels, and Sower of Temptation made one of his guys summoning sick before he killed the faerie. Wings of Velis Vel dealt the final points of damage. Game 3 he started with Squeaking-Pie Sneak to which I had no answer, so the whole game was a race, which I won by a turn thanks to Cryptic Command. I made a huge mistake that would've cost me the game, but I won a clash for the win.

So in the end, both of us won key clashes that covered for our big mistakes, winning us a game apiece.

I split the finals, though this was one of the very few times where I was tempted to play, as I figured the other finalist should be playing with Islands as I'd played against two non-Blue decks. I decided against it, as trying to win two packs, while risking two, is not worth the extra time of playing one more match.

See you tomorrow!

Tiago

Draft recording done by Blargware's MTGO DraftCap. Support Blargware!