Draft Report - Dec 12, 2010

We had 5 people this Sunday. I suggest that our drafts be conducted in pools of ice from now on, until this summer ends.

- UR Control (3-1, 7-4)
- RG Aggro (3-1, 6-3)
- WUG Artifacts (2-2, 4-4)
- WUG Midrange (1-3, 3-6)
- WB Aggro (1-3, 3-6)


UR Control

7 Island
7 Mountain
Shelldock Isle
Izzet Boilerworks
Ghitu Encampment
Strip Mine

Steel Wall
Slith Firewalker
Noggle Bandit
Fire Imp
Aether Adept
Swans of Bryn Argoll
Conundrum Sphinx
Djinn of Wishes
Crater Hellion
Hostility

Firebolt
Seal of Fire
Dead/Gone
Mana Leak
Remove Soul
Impulse
Magma Jet
Legacy's Allure
Oblivion Stone
Dissipate
Fact of Fiction
Control Magic
Confiscate

I avoid repeating decks, but since I want to experiment all I can in cube, I tried drafting the same archetype as a few days ago. The result were two decks that played similarly despite having only 6 cards as intersection (aside from basic lands, of course):

Izzet Boilerworks
Crater Hellion
Dead/Gone
Impulse
Dissipate
Confiscate

I'm satisfied with the redundancy/variety balance that I've achieved in my cube, since I got to craft the same archetype with a very different list, leading to a deck that looked and felt similar but was subtly different. First, I fixed the problem I had last week with finishers. The new Swans of Bryn Argoll and Hostility were awesome for that, two finishers that were highly synergistic with burn. Second, I had less mass removal, which was good against decks that had a lower threat density, but made me more vulnerable to beatdown. Finally, I lacked the crazy card advantage engines that Future Sight and Lighthouse Chronologist provided, but made up for it with the additional stealing enchantments (Control Magic and Legacy's Allure) and Fact of Fiction.

One thing to note is that Hostility is extremely fast to kill an opponent with few blockers. A mere Firebolt works as a Ball Lightning. Also, I'm loving the versatility of Dead/Gone. Too bad I wasn't passed back Fire/Ice, it would've been great here.


WUG Artifacts

6 Island
4 Forest
3 Plains
Thawing Glaciers
Treetop Village
Pendelhaven
Coastal Tower
Faerie Conclave
Simic Growth Chamber

Brass Man
Flying Man
Essence Warden
Twinblade Slasher
Steel Overseer
Perilous Myr
Lighthouse Chronologist
Simic Guildmage
Azorius Guildmage
Grand Arbiter Augustin IV

Wind Zendikon
Rancor
Energy Chamber
Contagion Clasp
Howling Mine
Living Wish
Chimeric Idol
Coalition Relic
Complicate
Psionic Blast
Absorb
Serrated Arrows
Helm of Possession
Tezzeret the Seeker
Repeal

This is the fun deck of the day. A tricolored that looks to play control oriented "good stuff", but given enough time assembles a powerful board that can grow (Steel Overseer, Energy Chamber), get extra turns (Lighthouse Chronologist), kill creatures (Serrated Arrows) and steal stuff (Helm of Possession), all tied together by Tezzeret the Seeker and Contagion Clasp, both highly valuable to this plan. The mana base, despite being slow, is versatile, featuring deck thinning and powerful manlands. The two guildmages serve as defense and as a toolbox against a variety of cards.