Watch some of the vids at CFB or something... I was floundering and getting cut pretty regularly way too hard until I started doing this. I'm not saying that I'd also just pass grim affliction willy-nilly every draft, but there is a lot to say for being that open heading into the 2nd/3rd packs.
I don't have a draft philosophy that eschews aggressive strategies, Grim Affliction and removal in general is essential in aggressive decks. How else do you break through a Blightwidow? How else will you race infect? Do you seriously judge which commons to take based on mythic rares that may have been opened?
This isn't excessive adherence to BREAD, this is about drafting effectively and winning consistently. Also care to back that claim up, I haven't heard a respected player say Thopter is better than Spire Monitor, unless you are talking about 2 days after the set was released when people have no idea.
@Walker - Most people are trying to stay open pack 1, because MBS is where the best cards are. You aren't going to have good players pass you mind control or flamefiend or any other bomb unless they open a better bomb, or are bad drafters. Taking any x-1 dork first in this format is bad, because there are so many cards - cards that go late - that deal with them, especially artifacts. Beyond normal and artifact only removal, leeching bite, gremlin mine, gut shot, virulent wound and cards like Pith Driller and Blisterstick Shaman.
Staying open to try and get a bomb is silly. There is no guarantee you get one, or that someone even passes it to you if they open it. Staying as open as possible is always good, because it gives you options, but not at the expense of a massive quality hit, which is the case here.
You obviously have a draft philosophy that eschews aggressive strategies. That is fine, but you should at least acknowledge your myopia. LSV has publicly said that as a general rule he takes Spined Thopter over Spire Monitor, and I think his claim has merit. I think excessively rigid adherence to the "BREAD" philosophy prevents you from taking your drafting skills to their highest level.
It is in fact quite easy to lose to Thopter Assembly, Wurmcoil, Elesh Norn, etc. with a Grim Affliction in your hand. Aggressive strategies can still win against these bombs simply by killing before they hit the table.
Taking one of the best aggressive cards in the set (and really, when has stormfront pegasus ever been bad?) AND remaining wide open on colors is awesome.
Also, sealed and draft are totally different animals. Everyone plays controllish in sealed because you don't get to pick your cards and you have 6 chances at bombs to try to play, not 6.
Each format is different: While I love Grim Affliction the card, I hate grabbing two grims when the person I'm passing to opened Enslave and isn't coming off of Black no matter if I pass them the Thopters or the Afflictions. Now he might have opened a blue bomb and if that's the case, I can shift colors (out of blue) or we double-cut it pack one, get fed like mad pack two/three. I don't disagree that removal comes first, but in this format, color commitment in pack one for cards that aren't terribly dissimilar (-2/-2 permanently and maybe upside vs a 2 power 2 cc evasive creature) is a mistake I made a lot when I started this format. I've quickly attached myself to trying to stay uncommited, or at least splashable (which Grim IS, but spine is even less committed). I want to take the mind controls in pack two, or some silly planeswalker who drains you, or whatever else. Similarly, if I can be fed well in pack two, then in pack three I may be 1-color and ripping sunblast angel or something similar.
Don't worry, I mean, I didn't WIN this draft, but I did demonstrate the philosphy of staying open as long as possible for maximum benefit later, and my deck was still wild to play.
My thoughts as well. Limited with a brand new set is a lot of fun, especially in the years where they have been fine tuning the sets for limited a lot. I think they should be doing more to encourage casual players into limited, there are so many fun cards that never see constructed play even at my shallow end of the constructed pool.
It is only worth staying open if you are taking roughly equivalent cards. Spined Thopter is not roughly equivalent to Grim Affliction, it is vastly worse. It doesn't trade profitably with anything and is an artifact making it extremely vulnerable. I actually dislike his first pick too, but you could at least argue gambit is close in power to grim affliction, and it does keep you open.
Grim Affliction is never a 3 cmc disfigure, because it gives permanent counters, and the proliferate is useful in many decks that run 0 infect creatures or damage, not to mention multiples stack.
Want to know the best strategy vs aggressive decks that play a lot of 2/1 flying dorks? Removal. You don't need to open bombs to play Fangren Marauders, Alpha Tyrranax, Flameborn Viron, Spire Monitors or any of the artifact finishers. If you don't believe me, play sealed. Aggressive decks are terrible in the format, because everyone plays the part of their pool with the most removal and throws any haymaker in their colors in to finish.
Pith Driller and Volt Charge are both removal, and I specifically listed them as the two commons you take over Grim Affliction. the other cards are simply not as good. You don't lose games of limited with removal in your hand, but I've lost plenty with crappy dorks on the board.
I also chose Desert Twister because the CMC is the same, and because 6cc spells aren't used to blow up lands anyway. See the forest from the trees.
Spined Thopter was a fine pick. It allowed him to stay open color-wise and the 2 drop slot is challenging to fill for aggressive strategies in this block.
Grim Affliction is a tough card to evaluate. It's obviously sick in infect/counter heavy decks, but is a 3 CMC disfigure in others. Personally, I find it is not powerful enough to push me into the counter based archetype on its own, making it a gamble (not as to playability, but as to power). At common, I frequently consider Blinding Souleater, Porcelain Legoinnaire, Spined Thopter, Pith Driller, Volt Charge over it, and could see Blighted Agent as well.
Exclusion ritual is eminently playable, but often deserves to go well after pick 3. A double color 6 cmc maelstrom pulse (it's not desert twister btw) with an upside that is almost never relevant in draft is a tough sell in pack 1.
Obsessively drafting removal works well in videos, where the subject has often cherry-picked that draft in which he opened a P2 Thopter Assembly or some other bomb. But there is a lot to be said for prioritizing aggressive cards in a set where your opponent frequently pings herself for 4-6 damage.
Why would you take Spined Thopter over removal? There are only 2 commons you should pick over Grim Affliction, I guess arguably 3 if you like Spire Monitor a ton (Volt Charge and Pith Driller). Having Grim Affliction and Artillerize appear 5th in the same pack with a rare still in it is baffling. Worse, Exclusion Ritual, which should go in pick 1-3 tables and then some. Someone took Lost Leonin over Exclusion Ritual. That's a 2/1 dork that trades with anything vs a desert twister with upside. Baffling.
Not trying to bust your chops, but you can't just pick random dorks over removal, in any limited format, and expect success.
Unlike your previous drafts or the ones from other CME members presented on this site that one was really awesome. I like how you kept your options open in the beginning. Sadly you didn't got a reward for that, but the blue that was passed to you from both sides was so bomby, it aint funny anymore.
I love the feedback, i agree the 9 artifacts not being enough for bolt and the sunchasers, i added in bolt for the 4 direct damage and if i had the metalcraft it would of been a double plus. i totally agree about aggression the card is awesome but i felt that 2 would of been bad because of the possibility of losing 8 life, 4 from first and 4 from the 2nd if i feel in a mana screw situation. and to be honest im not sure why i added in gruesome encore that was a horrible choice because i believe i used it once in the whole sealed and it was for a crappy choice too. and thanks im glad you enjoyed it im trying to find how i can add some sound to it, so i can talk about my choices and why i chose certain plays at certain times. Like i said again I love the feedback and greatly appreciate it
Overall a really good article, but some of your card choices are way off. Contested war zone was already mentioned and it cost you your 4th match in the first sealed. Then you play gruesome encore, a card so bad it´s a running gag by LSV. Seriously the only situation i can think of is bringing it in from the board against an opposing sunblast angel and even then it´s quite sketchy. In the second pool I only count 9 artifacts which isn´t enough to support 2 sunchasers and concussive bolt. Also you leave a second act of aggression in the board despite it being one of the most powerfull uncommons in the whole block. I hope this doesn´t seem to harsh as you did quite well in those events but I just try to give you good advice so you become a better player. But as I said I really enjoied the article and congratulations on 2 good finishes.
Two hands, I like your point, but I'd almost rather move in on the Leeching Bite if I'm going to try to steal a solid late card; it's the kind of trick that I could use plus it is minor removal still. Taking a WW card over a playable (although pretty bad-in-my-deck card) at this point seems like an unwise choice. I like your comparison between the Steady Progress Vs Sky Eel, but if they are G or B x poison, I'd rather they not think that the Blighted Agent plus the Chained Throatseeker from pack 1 is enough blue to warrant shifting away from another color for a pack two or three mind control or even a blue replica. Simply put, I felt like I didn't want the competition. At the same time, I think you have a valid point on giving more consideration to the non-Blue cards at this point. All three (shrine, Bite, and ritual) are much more likely to see play in my deck.
@apaulogy I totally agree ingester is awesome and saved me a couple of times, when i first added him in i thought i made a stupid mistake because of his CC that he wouldn't see much play time but it worked out ok.
@this isnt the name i chose, I felt like i wanted to try it out and see how it went. and after the event i totally agree with you it does seem like a waste only way it would work in limited is if i had more removal or more creatures that gave me 2 for 1s like splicers. and thanks for the advice i now know not to include it in a sealed list
Alex (a friend) hasn't been active though. He's got family and a business and is an up and coming author so he probably doesn't have the time to play nowadays. If current status doesn't matter then Id definitely add Alex as well.
I agree on Osyp and Chris though I've never met the former. They both have great reps as top players. Also I think it's a shame neither Chris nor Steve OMS have been inducted yet. Hopefully this year. My top 3 would be Osyp, Chris and Steve O though not necessarily in that order.
Interestingly, this was one of the few drafts where staying mono/open in P1 didn't really result in any "rewards" in a second color P2, although Anatomists and a Mortarpod are fantastic anyway, and there just weren't off-color bombs opened. Still, nice draft.
P1P10, though, I can't imagine why you'd take Throatseeker over Exclusion Ritual - that may be a signal white will be open as a second color, you already have one if you want to sideboard one in for whatever reason, and any deck starting the Throatseeker you WANT to encourage to stay in that lane, because they won't really be sharing cards with you (feel free to take that Steady Progress over Sky Eel School, U-infect!). Pass the Throatseeker, take the Ritual - you're no less open, and it should reap better rewards over time.
Two thoughts on this. Fistly, my experience with Pre Releases is that they are the closest thing to discovering the game of magic for the first time. This has nothing to do with prize payouts or EV or anything except enjoying a great game.
Secondly, the fact that players who do care about prize payouts do not see the value in playing in pre releases, well, this might actually increase the enjoyment of the players who do participate. Games will be less competivitive as players don't build decks as optimally and make more play mistakes. In the end, worse payouts might actually be improve the play experience for more casual players due to the more competitive players being filtered out because of the poor prize structure.
Can't confirm this of course, but the fact that many many many events fire probably means you are not the target audience for pre releases.
I cannot agree more. Just comparing prerelease to release events makes my head ache. I was on last night and they were firing every 2-4 minutes for a good long while. It was amazing. Why do people like to throw money away like that? You just have to wait like 5 or 6 days.
The only "benefits" of the prereleases are the promo card mythic (as opposed to the rare you get for the regular release) and the marginally higher prices for the "new" cards to sell in the marketplace. I haven't done a full financial analysis, but i doubt a promo, probably unplayable mythic, plus slightly increased sell-back prices makes up for the 6 tix premium to attend as well as the much poorer prize structure.
Watch some of the vids at CFB or something... I was floundering and getting cut pretty regularly way too hard until I started doing this. I'm not saying that I'd also just pass grim affliction willy-nilly every draft, but there is a lot to say for being that open heading into the 2nd/3rd packs.
I don't have a draft philosophy that eschews aggressive strategies, Grim Affliction and removal in general is essential in aggressive decks. How else do you break through a Blightwidow? How else will you race infect? Do you seriously judge which commons to take based on mythic rares that may have been opened?
This isn't excessive adherence to BREAD, this is about drafting effectively and winning consistently. Also care to back that claim up, I haven't heard a respected player say Thopter is better than Spire Monitor, unless you are talking about 2 days after the set was released when people have no idea.
@Walker - Most people are trying to stay open pack 1, because MBS is where the best cards are. You aren't going to have good players pass you mind control or flamefiend or any other bomb unless they open a better bomb, or are bad drafters. Taking any x-1 dork first in this format is bad, because there are so many cards - cards that go late - that deal with them, especially artifacts. Beyond normal and artifact only removal, leeching bite, gremlin mine, gut shot, virulent wound and cards like Pith Driller and Blisterstick Shaman.
Staying open to try and get a bomb is silly. There is no guarantee you get one, or that someone even passes it to you if they open it. Staying as open as possible is always good, because it gives you options, but not at the expense of a massive quality hit, which is the case here.
It's a very nice deck that I covered here:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/pauper-standard-brief-mpdc-1305-metagame
Also: thank you ( and JMason as well) for the feedback! :-)
You obviously have a draft philosophy that eschews aggressive strategies. That is fine, but you should at least acknowledge your myopia. LSV has publicly said that as a general rule he takes Spined Thopter over Spire Monitor, and I think his claim has merit. I think excessively rigid adherence to the "BREAD" philosophy prevents you from taking your drafting skills to their highest level.
It is in fact quite easy to lose to Thopter Assembly, Wurmcoil, Elesh Norn, etc. with a Grim Affliction in your hand. Aggressive strategies can still win against these bombs simply by killing before they hit the table.
Taking one of the best aggressive cards in the set (and really, when has stormfront pegasus ever been bad?) AND remaining wide open on colors is awesome.
Also, sealed and draft are totally different animals. Everyone plays controllish in sealed because you don't get to pick your cards and you have 6 chances at bombs to try to play, not 6.
Each format is different: While I love Grim Affliction the card, I hate grabbing two grims when the person I'm passing to opened Enslave and isn't coming off of Black no matter if I pass them the Thopters or the Afflictions. Now he might have opened a blue bomb and if that's the case, I can shift colors (out of blue) or we double-cut it pack one, get fed like mad pack two/three. I don't disagree that removal comes first, but in this format, color commitment in pack one for cards that aren't terribly dissimilar (-2/-2 permanently and maybe upside vs a 2 power 2 cc evasive creature) is a mistake I made a lot when I started this format. I've quickly attached myself to trying to stay uncommited, or at least splashable (which Grim IS, but spine is even less committed). I want to take the mind controls in pack two, or some silly planeswalker who drains you, or whatever else. Similarly, if I can be fed well in pack two, then in pack three I may be 1-color and ripping sunblast angel or something similar.
Don't worry, I mean, I didn't WIN this draft, but I did demonstrate the philosphy of staying open as long as possible for maximum benefit later, and my deck was still wild to play.
My thoughts as well. Limited with a brand new set is a lot of fun, especially in the years where they have been fine tuning the sets for limited a lot. I think they should be doing more to encourage casual players into limited, there are so many fun cards that never see constructed play even at my shallow end of the constructed pool.
It is only worth staying open if you are taking roughly equivalent cards. Spined Thopter is not roughly equivalent to Grim Affliction, it is vastly worse. It doesn't trade profitably with anything and is an artifact making it extremely vulnerable. I actually dislike his first pick too, but you could at least argue gambit is close in power to grim affliction, and it does keep you open.
Grim Affliction is never a 3 cmc disfigure, because it gives permanent counters, and the proliferate is useful in many decks that run 0 infect creatures or damage, not to mention multiples stack.
Want to know the best strategy vs aggressive decks that play a lot of 2/1 flying dorks? Removal. You don't need to open bombs to play Fangren Marauders, Alpha Tyrranax, Flameborn Viron, Spire Monitors or any of the artifact finishers. If you don't believe me, play sealed. Aggressive decks are terrible in the format, because everyone plays the part of their pool with the most removal and throws any haymaker in their colors in to finish.
Pith Driller and Volt Charge are both removal, and I specifically listed them as the two commons you take over Grim Affliction. the other cards are simply not as good. You don't lose games of limited with removal in your hand, but I've lost plenty with crappy dorks on the board.
I also chose Desert Twister because the CMC is the same, and because 6cc spells aren't used to blow up lands anyway. See the forest from the trees.
Spined Thopter was a fine pick. It allowed him to stay open color-wise and the 2 drop slot is challenging to fill for aggressive strategies in this block.
Grim Affliction is a tough card to evaluate. It's obviously sick in infect/counter heavy decks, but is a 3 CMC disfigure in others. Personally, I find it is not powerful enough to push me into the counter based archetype on its own, making it a gamble (not as to playability, but as to power). At common, I frequently consider Blinding Souleater, Porcelain Legoinnaire, Spined Thopter, Pith Driller, Volt Charge over it, and could see Blighted Agent as well.
Exclusion ritual is eminently playable, but often deserves to go well after pick 3. A double color 6 cmc maelstrom pulse (it's not desert twister btw) with an upside that is almost never relevant in draft is a tough sell in pack 1.
Obsessively drafting removal works well in videos, where the subject has often cherry-picked that draft in which he opened a P2 Thopter Assembly or some other bomb. But there is a lot to be said for prioritizing aggressive cards in a set where your opponent frequently pings herself for 4-6 damage.
Why would you take Spined Thopter over removal? There are only 2 commons you should pick over Grim Affliction, I guess arguably 3 if you like Spire Monitor a ton (Volt Charge and Pith Driller). Having Grim Affliction and Artillerize appear 5th in the same pack with a rare still in it is baffling. Worse, Exclusion Ritual, which should go in pick 1-3 tables and then some. Someone took Lost Leonin over Exclusion Ritual. That's a 2/1 dork that trades with anything vs a desert twister with upside. Baffling.
Not trying to bust your chops, but you can't just pick random dorks over removal, in any limited format, and expect success.
What's ugly hawks?
What a great meta analysis. Thank you.
I'll take the praise, faint though it may be :). It was a really fun and semi-unique draft so I was really happy to be able to share it.
Hey Tyler,
Unlike your previous drafts or the ones from other CME members presented on this site that one was really awesome. I like how you kept your options open in the beginning. Sadly you didn't got a reward for that, but the blue that was passed to you from both sides was so bomby, it aint funny anymore.
I love the feedback, i agree the 9 artifacts not being enough for bolt and the sunchasers, i added in bolt for the 4 direct damage and if i had the metalcraft it would of been a double plus. i totally agree about aggression the card is awesome but i felt that 2 would of been bad because of the possibility of losing 8 life, 4 from first and 4 from the 2nd if i feel in a mana screw situation. and to be honest im not sure why i added in gruesome encore that was a horrible choice because i believe i used it once in the whole sealed and it was for a crappy choice too. and thanks im glad you enjoyed it im trying to find how i can add some sound to it, so i can talk about my choices and why i chose certain plays at certain times. Like i said again I love the feedback and greatly appreciate it
I really like the general audience on PureMTGO. It proves to me that people CAN be nice under the shroud of anonymity.
Good show, PureMTGO users.
Overall a really good article, but some of your card choices are way off. Contested war zone was already mentioned and it cost you your 4th match in the first sealed. Then you play gruesome encore, a card so bad it´s a running gag by LSV. Seriously the only situation i can think of is bringing it in from the board against an opposing sunblast angel and even then it´s quite sketchy. In the second pool I only count 9 artifacts which isn´t enough to support 2 sunchasers and concussive bolt. Also you leave a second act of aggression in the board despite it being one of the most powerfull uncommons in the whole block. I hope this doesn´t seem to harsh as you did quite well in those events but I just try to give you good advice so you become a better player. But as I said I really enjoied the article and congratulations on 2 good finishes.
Thanks, and good job taking yours down too!
Two hands, I like your point, but I'd almost rather move in on the Leeching Bite if I'm going to try to steal a solid late card; it's the kind of trick that I could use plus it is minor removal still. Taking a WW card over a playable (although pretty bad-in-my-deck card) at this point seems like an unwise choice. I like your comparison between the Steady Progress Vs Sky Eel, but if they are G or B x poison, I'd rather they not think that the Blighted Agent plus the Chained Throatseeker from pack 1 is enough blue to warrant shifting away from another color for a pack two or three mind control or even a blue replica. Simply put, I felt like I didn't want the competition. At the same time, I think you have a valid point on giving more consideration to the non-Blue cards at this point. All three (shrine, Bite, and ritual) are much more likely to see play in my deck.
@apaulogy I totally agree ingester is awesome and saved me a couple of times, when i first added him in i thought i made a stupid mistake because of his CC that he wouldn't see much play time but it worked out ok.
@this isnt the name i chose, I felt like i wanted to try it out and see how it went. and after the event i totally agree with you it does seem like a waste only way it would work in limited is if i had more removal or more creatures that gave me 2 for 1s like splicers. and thanks for the advice i now know not to include it in a sealed list
Alex (a friend) hasn't been active though. He's got family and a business and is an up and coming author so he probably doesn't have the time to play nowadays. If current status doesn't matter then Id definitely add Alex as well.
I agree on Osyp and Chris though I've never met the former. They both have great reps as top players. Also I think it's a shame neither Chris nor Steve OMS have been inducted yet. Hopefully this year. My top 3 would be Osyp, Chris and Steve O though not necessarily in that order.
Maybe I should play in one then, if the competition isn't as stiff then I have a higher EV. Still, it takes 12 points in a sealed to win 10 packs.
Hadn't thought of that...
Interestingly, this was one of the few drafts where staying mono/open in P1 didn't really result in any "rewards" in a second color P2, although Anatomists and a Mortarpod are fantastic anyway, and there just weren't off-color bombs opened. Still, nice draft.
P1P10, though, I can't imagine why you'd take Throatseeker over Exclusion Ritual - that may be a signal white will be open as a second color, you already have one if you want to sideboard one in for whatever reason, and any deck starting the Throatseeker you WANT to encourage to stay in that lane, because they won't really be sharing cards with you (feel free to take that Steady Progress over Sky Eel School, U-infect!). Pass the Throatseeker, take the Ritual - you're no less open, and it should reap better rewards over time.
Two thoughts on this. Fistly, my experience with Pre Releases is that they are the closest thing to discovering the game of magic for the first time. This has nothing to do with prize payouts or EV or anything except enjoying a great game.
Secondly, the fact that players who do care about prize payouts do not see the value in playing in pre releases, well, this might actually increase the enjoyment of the players who do participate. Games will be less competivitive as players don't build decks as optimally and make more play mistakes. In the end, worse payouts might actually be improve the play experience for more casual players due to the more competitive players being filtered out because of the poor prize structure.
Can't confirm this of course, but the fact that many many many events fire probably means you are not the target audience for pre releases.
I cannot agree more. Just comparing prerelease to release events makes my head ache. I was on last night and they were firing every 2-4 minutes for a good long while. It was amazing. Why do people like to throw money away like that? You just have to wait like 5 or 6 days.
The only "benefits" of the prereleases are the promo card mythic (as opposed to the rare you get for the regular release) and the marginally higher prices for the "new" cards to sell in the marketplace. I haven't done a full financial analysis, but i doubt a promo, probably unplayable mythic, plus slightly increased sell-back prices makes up for the 6 tix premium to attend as well as the much poorer prize structure.