Initial Technology – Rebooting My Draft Strategy
Posted by Luis Scott-Vargas
October 19, 2009 |
Rebooting my Draft Strategy
PT Austin was interesting. I have played many bad decks at Pro Tours, with varying levels of success, but this was the first time where I had a really good deck but not a good enough draft strategy. Dark Depths was a good choice, and it put PV in the Top 8, and our own David Ochoa and Josh Utter-Leyton into the Top 50, with Constructed records of 8-2, 8-2, and 7-2-1 respectively. Unfortunately, after going 3-2 in the first Constructed portion, I 1-2ed my first draft, which denied me the opportunity to play in a second one.
Combining my PT Austin performance with my 1-5 on Day 2 of GP Melbourne, and my overall record in practice drafts, I realized I needed to reboot my draft strategy. I probably did 15 drafts over the next three days at the PT, since hey, what else was I gonna do? Fogo de Chao was even right across the street, so the interruptions to gaming were minimal. All the drafts I did were team drafts, although that doesn't change much in terms of card evaluation. I now feel very confident in how I am drafting, which was not the case before the PT; I just didn't have enough time to get enough drafts in and still test a Constructed deck.
The main problem I ran into initially was that I kept trying to draft control decks, more specifically, Blue-Black. I naturally tend to controlling strategies (although I do love me a filthy combo), but "normal" control decks are pretty hard to come by in this format. I'm not saying that control is undraftable, but that the environment is naturally hostile to controlling strategies, which takes some work to get around.
1) There aren't many opportunities for card advantage. Ior Ruin Expedition and Soul Stair Expedition are the only commons that draw you cards, and even something like Reckless Scholar is about as bad as people have made it out to be. Ditching excess lands just doesn't work when landfall means there is no such thing. Without consistent sources of card advantage, you don't get any advantage when you drag out the game by constantly trading cards. There are some defensive creatures that can blank multiple threats on their side (Sky Ruin Drake, Giant Scorpion), but for the most part you are limited to 1 for 1 trades.
2) Landfall is a broken mechanic, and every card it appears on is aggressive, with the exception of Grazing Gladeheart. To fully take advantage of this powerful ability, you need to be at least somewhat aggressive. By trying to play control, you are giving up value on some of the best cards in the set. I'm not saying that cards like Windrider Eel or Plated Geopede are bad in control decks, but they are pretty clearly at their best in aggro. They don't block all that well, and they do a lot of damage in a short span of time. Other cards, like Steppe Lynx, Hagra Crocodile, or Adventuring Gear, are actively bad in control but awesome in aggro.
3) Allies are another powerful theme in the set, and they too do a lot better when attacking. Ondu Cleric and Makindi Shieldmate are solid defensive options, but all the guys that grow really want to be bashing, and Allies like Highland Berserker, Seascape Aerialist, and Kabira Evangel offer different types of evasion. This isn't a huge problem, since most decks will just run a couple Allies and they will be fine, but it is just another point in favor of aggro.
I thought that the natural aggressiveness of this format would provide a good opportunity for control decks to gain value, but the control cards are so bad and the aggressive ones so good. I wish I had learned this lesson in a way that didn't involve going 2-7 in GP/PT draft matches, but what's done is done. It took a little convincing to make me completely rethink how I was looking at the formats, since I actually liked most of the controlling decks I was drafting, but my (lack of) success was quite a strong incentive. Sometimes if things aren't working, you have to scrap everything and start over, and that's what I did. I started the drafts after I was eliminated from the PT with an open mind, and tried to ignore any previous preferences I had.
What my crash course in drafting mainly taught me was how to draft decks that aren't control, even though a successful control deck is a possibility. There are also some nice combo decks in the format, which is pretty awesome. Going over each archetype in-depth would be a bit much, but I can definitely provide some rough guides for some of the more interesting builds, as well as offering some general opinions on the format.
Allies
I love drafting Allies; it fulfills my need for "awkward multicolor decks playing sweet cards" perfectly. Still, before you go all in on a Oran-Rief Survivalist, realize that you need a good incentive to be mono-Allies (which bears little to no relation to mono-color, as it turns out). Murasa Pyromancer, Kazuul Warlord, and Turntimber Ranger are all great reasons to move in. You don't need one of these ridiculous bombs to go heavy Allies, but until you have either one of these or multiple +1/+1 counter Allies, try drafting a more normal deck with a few Allies for value. Sea Gate Loremaster is pretty sick by himself, so you don't really need a ton of Allies to make him good, not that they hurt.
The growing Allies (Sell-Sword, Blademaster, Survivalist, Wrapter) are all good by themselves and sick when combined with more, while the "spellcaster" Allies usually need a bit more support. Ondu Cleric, Tajuru Archer, Hagra Diabolist, and Pyromancer are all insane in heavy Allies and a bit lackluster on their lonesome.
Once in heavy Allies, don't be afraid to take Allies over anything but the best removal/bombs. This includes the lower tier Allies like Stonework Puma, Highland Berserker, Joraga Bard, or Seascape Aerialist. The only ones that consistently table are the Aerialist and the Bard, so keep that in mind. I actually like the Bard in the deck, since it blocks pretty well and you can always pick up a few. Every now and then, Vigilance is actually pretty sick, too.
Fixing and removal are of course still important, although fixing definitely goes first. If you can pump out a steady stream of Allies, you can often ignore most of the creatures your opponent plays. Between Ondu Cleric (who is very important), Hagra Diabolist, Murasa Pyromancer and the growing Allies, you should easily be able to outrace most opposing draws. Hence, being able to cast your spells is the most important thing to keep in mind. Most Ally decks end up being 2 colors plus a 1-2 color splash, so the mana isn't that terrible, but you do need some fixing.
Hedron Crab
One Hedron Crab is decent to good, depending on how many Harrows and Frontier Guides you pick up. Drawn early, it's awesome, so it makes a decent miser card. Most one-drops suck late game, so it isn't as if you are losing all that much by running a Crab. If you can manage to get a second Crab, you can start to build around the Crabs, and then you are in business. A couple Kraken Hatchlings, some Explorer's Scopes (incidentally, Kraken plus Scope is just about my favorite combo in the format), and you are good to go. If you can pick up an Archive Trap, even better. I try and take Trapmaker's Snare just in case, since tutoring from Trap is pretty sick also. This is the archetype I have had the least experience with, but it seems pretty sweet. It might be best if you just run Crabs as an alternate kill condition, but I have seen some decent focused mill decks actually happen.
Harrow.dec
This one is pretty simple. Harrow plus big spells = profit. I don't mean Harrowing into a turn four Territorial Baloth; I mean Harrowing to enable both Lavaball Trap and Rite of Replication (which I did once!). This deck is tough to draft because Harrow is such a high pick, but if you get a couple Harrows early in the draft, try and pick up some Khalni Heart Expeditions and awesome big spells; you won't be disappointed.
Blue-Green Landfall is the more sane version of this deck, and does exactly what its name suggests: It pairs landfall cards like Windrider Eel, Woodcrasher Baloth, and Grazing Gladeheart (among others) with Green enablers like Harrow, Khalni Heart Expedition, and Frontier Guide. There isn't much in the way of removal, but Gladeheart, bounce spells, fliers, and large Green guys let you race very effectively.
Real Decks
Lest you think all I do is draft joke decks, I figure I should mention at least some general format notes.
Most decks I draft are pretty normal two-color aggro decks, with just about any color combination working. Black is a bit awkward when paired with Green or White, because of the mana costs, but all the colors are doable. Ok, BG is loose, but the rest are fine, if I'm being completely honest. A low curve, as many removal spells as you can get your hands on, a few finishers, and you are set. That is obviously oversimplifying things, but a large part of this format seems to be figuring out which colors are open and sticking to them.
As I said before, Landfall is simply awesome. All of the cards that get a power/toughness bonus are quite strong, and that includes the Aggro Croc. You should be taking these cards higher; there are no reasons that don't involve premium removal where passing a Plated Geopede is right, aside from getting there on an Ally combo or the like.
Lastly, the Top 5 Commons of each color. Pick orders are pretty dynamic, but this is a good place to start.
White
Journey and Skyfisher are really far ahead, but Sanctifiers and Lynx are pretty close. Hookmaster is sick, but 1-drops are more important, hence the Lynx stepping ahead in the pick order.
Blue
All of these are pretty interchangeable, since the fliers vary based on curve/number of Allies, and the bounce spells gain or lose value based on how much removal you have.
Black
Black is your best shot for control, but all these cards are pretty awesome in aggro too. Soul Stair Expedition is awesome, but I think I would rather have the first Scorpion over the first Expedition, even though it is really close.
Red
Obviously Spire Barrage gets way more insane if you are Mono-Red, and should move up accordingly. There is a pretty big dropoff after the top four commons, with Torch Slinger being the best of a fairly mediocre bunch, even if they all work well enough together.
Green
The later the draft goes, the better a picture you will have of how good Survivalist is, but for now I kind of like taking him above Gladeheart in the early packs. Allies are awesome, etc. Vines is so much better than I thought it would be; I actively like it a lot, and as a rule I hate Giant Growths. They even got way worse without damage stacking, and Vines is still awesome. Countering their beneficial spells on their guys is just so sweet.
Well there you have it. My first second take on the format. This format is awesome; you get to play 18 lands all the time, sometimes even 19, the games are sweet, and there are a ton of ways you can draft it. There is a wealth of topics to write about, and I look forward to tackling them. Stay tuned!
LSV
About This Author
Luis Scott-Vargas
LSV is the current record holder for most wins in the Swiss portion of a Pro Tour after his perfect 16-0 run at Pro Tour San Diego 2010, although Conley Woods came close to matching that during Worlds 2011. Luis' other accomplishments include a win at Pro Tour Berlin 2008,...
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