Initial Technology – Rebooting My Draft Strategy
Posted by Luis Scott-Vargas
October 19, 2009 | 
47 comments
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, [card Umara Raptor]Wrapter[/card]) 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 [card Explorers Scope]Explorer's Scopes[/card] (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
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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, and has the highest lifetime match win percentage among all current pro-level players. His other accomplishments include a win at Pro Tour&hellip
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Chris Young says: October 19, 2009 @ 10:41 pm
Much better evaluation.
One question what about the common non basic lands?
I find that Teetering peaks is a fantastic land in the format and the Blue one is fairly good as well but prefer the red land as it makes splashing red removal easier while adding to the landfall aggro mechanic.
Levi says: October 19, 2009 @ 11:18 pm
“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.”
do ho ho!
adam prosak says: October 19, 2009 @ 11:44 pm
crab crab crab crab
Ronald says: October 19, 2009 @ 11:52 pm
Eternity Vessel is also a defensive landfall card, though admittedly it comes up less often being mythic and all.
Those are some very single-mindedly aggressive cards on your top 5 lists, good to see you noticing your mistake and re-evaluating the set.
Blind Fremen says: October 20, 2009 @ 12:22 am
One thing I found out last week: Emeria, the Sky Ruin is TERRIBLE in draft! (If it gets up and running, you should already have won/lost by that point.) However, the 5 other rares in my deck made sure I went 3-0. Turns out Rare.dec is good in this format!
Pingback Zendikar Draft Pick Orders of the Top 5 Commons in Each Color says: October 20, 2009 @ 1:27 am
[...] Magic The Gathering pro, LSV, gives us his commons pick orders for Zendikar draft in this article. [...]
RoamingRonin says: October 20, 2009 @ 1:49 am
I also have a tendency to default to a control deck in draft formats. In recent drafts I’ve experimented with a G/B deck centered around Soul Stair Expedition. There are many cards which have great synergy at common – like scorpion, heartstabber and green kicker guys. Gladeheart is also fantastic. Note that you can play out guys unkicked to trade off against the fastest decks because you have soul stair long game.
This type of deck out-attritions opponents, since there are just so many 2-for-1s. Uncommons and rares are just gravy, being able to bring back Nighthawk, Gatekeeper or Ob Nix is crazy good. Once you start kicking heartstabbers, shamblers, etc, trading them off and kicking them again, it’s pretty insane.
I’ve found G/B a much more solid control option because the green bodies do so much more against aggro and actually have more inherent CA.
cheers guys from New Zealand! – RR
Dan says: October 20, 2009 @ 3:49 am
Um, doesn’t anyone feel like this is a huge problem? You can’t block in this format and control is not viable. How is this format awesome? It’s all creature aggro all the time, which is sadly what competitive magic has come to. Shame.
Robert Schultz says: October 20, 2009 @ 4:51 am
I disagree with the statement “you get to play 18 lands all the time, sometimes even 19″
Drawing a land when you have 2 or 3 non-landfall creatures on your board sucks just as much in Zendikar as it does in other draft formats.
The only reasons I’d consider playing 18 or more lands is if I had at least 4 or more landfall cards or I was in three colors.
True Magic says: October 20, 2009 @ 4:53 am
Hm i think for once it’s a nice change to have such a pure aggro format in limited (last time it was Tempest).
But i also dont like that those awesome 6+ mana spells are often not really playable because they arrive too late on the battlefield.
There should have been at least some more card advantage cards to make control a bit more viable.
Someguy says: October 20, 2009 @ 5:42 am
Since you can’t block effectively in this format, you have to learn to race and manage your removal / bounce.
I /agree, this format is fun! M2010 creature stalemates sucked.
Mark Conkle says: October 20, 2009 @ 5:47 am
While I’ll admit I haven’t drafted the format yet, from what I’ve read, I can’t help but agree with Dan. Why does everyone says Zendikar is so cool when there are so few viable archetypes? In M10 draft, you could play aggro, control, or somewhere in between. In Alara Block, you could draft 2 color aggro, shard synergy, or 5 color control. In Zendikar, you draft 2 drops and swing. Where’s the fun? Where’s the strategy?
BigHands says: October 20, 2009 @ 5:55 am
@dan –
the game is always changing and that’s why it’s interesting. It isn’t a “huge” problem, it’s just one environment. It’s just as likely that the next set will come out and shift the landscape back the other way. I personally am thrilled to have a limited format that is really aggressive again.
How good do you think pitfall trap is in this format? I’ve found it underwhelming, but it’s surprising to see a cheap piece of removal that doesn’t crack the top 5 commons in its color. I guess anything you do that isn’t attacking is just bad right now?
SamB says: October 20, 2009 @ 6:28 am
One thing I found about the common non-basic lands, talking to the guy who first commented, is that there are two which are outright ridiculous, and those are Teetering Peaks and Turntimber Grove. These cards grow twice as big when you pair them with skyfisher and some good aggro creatures. Explanation shouldn’t be necessary but here it is.
Turn one – plains, steppe lynx, go
turn two – teetering peaks, 4/3 steppe lynx, swing, skyfisher, peaks back in hand, go
turn three – peaks, 4/3 steppe lynx, swing with lynx (and sky fisher if wanted) play some card if you want
there, that’s 10 damage by turn three running aggressive draft or sealed (I actually beat a constructed deck with a sealed deck running that setup.)
One thing that was fun to see was a soaring seacliff throw an enemy into the air right before a recluse was played kicked to kill it.
2 life from crossroads isn’t, in my opinion, worth the comes into played tapped. Aggressive should be taken to all extremes.
Piranha Marsh… please, really? You’re essentially playing a land and a 1 drop for 1 opponent damage. Miserable card really.
My 2 Cents.
Jabberwock says: October 20, 2009 @ 6:31 am
It’s all too early to rule out control, especially when everyone is leaning towards aggro. There are blockers in zendikar, they’re mostly no good, but when you don’t have to waste early picks on them, it’s easier to achieve excellent consistency. I’m still interested in the good old locking up the ground and swarming the skies-strategy.
Shyft- says: October 20, 2009 @ 6:52 am
@SamB: How often is Turntimber Grove any different from Piranha Marsh? Here’s a hint: it’s pretty uncommonly different. The main exception is your 2/x ground army staring down a Giant Scorpion, which is among the times Grove is actively better, but most of the time, Grove is just a 1 damage ping to an opposing face. There are lots of times Grove is actively worse (turn 1, for instance, or in a stalled endgame) as well, not to mention that Grove pairs terribly with one of the best reasons to be heavy green (Larva) and Marsh has no such problems. The main problems with Marsh? One of the best black commons costs 5BB (Mosquito) so having land 7 ETBT is bad. The black deck also often has 1 drops so you can’t run it out turn 1. It still is playable more often than not, and will generally make the cut in my decks over it’s swampy buddy.
Shyft- says: October 20, 2009 @ 6:52 am
its*
Judy I Don't Know You says: October 20, 2009 @ 6:53 am
In SamB’s example, there’s no way you can play both Teetering Peeks and Kor Skyfisher on turn 2 =/
Chris Young says: October 20, 2009 @ 6:56 am
Samb
you cant drop Teetering Peaks and skyfisher on turn 2 but you can drop drop a second lynx the skyfisher comes down turn 3 returning the peaks.
either way its still fast and works well with skyfisher and even better with Geopede. 5/3 first strike is awsome.
The thing that makes the sanctifier and the skyfisher such good picks is the 3 toughness. in a land of bears the tougher hide is king.
drew says: October 20, 2009 @ 7:57 am
This article makes me happy. I’m glad you didn’t just cry into your little Magic hands after the bad run; many would have I’m sure, especially after your string of high profile successes. Anyway, good luck at Tampa. Did you talk to Juza or Wantanabe about their drafting styles? They seem to consistently be a step ahead in the draft.
Jason Barnett says: October 20, 2009 @ 8:43 am
Kraken Hatchling wheels most of the time and the 4 toughness will take on most aggro openings. If I am playing skies I try to get 2-3 of these guys.
I feel Aerialist is underrated; there aren’t a lot of good defensive fliers in this format. My favorite archetype to play has been R/U allies. To quote my opponent, “I had nightmares about Tuktuk Grunts last week.”
If you get any of the bomb Ally’s you will want at least 8+ allies total to take advantage of it. Obviously the more the merrier here.
Raedien says: October 20, 2009 @ 8:51 am
I seriously need to start taking Magic more seriously. I took accurate measure of Zen during my first sealed pool without even look at a card list and have predicted/built top tier decks without even bloody trying for the past two years.
I’m surprised at you but glad you’ve realized how good aggressive builds are in Zen draft.
Now then, where is the next PTQ…..
Paul Quinby says: October 20, 2009 @ 8:55 am
Nice to see the second evaluation. This is really the exact reason that I don’t like going into a draft with an idea of what I’m “forcing.” It really seems counter-intuitive to the concept of drafting given that you need to adapt to what’s being presented to you in each pack. I can definitely understand preferring archtypes and colors… but if they aren’t there they aren’t there and it seems like forcing will only make things more difficult.
Now, when can we expect some youtube Zendikar draft videos?
sneezy says: October 20, 2009 @ 9:22 am
its cool ur changing ur game up. was hollaring for u to win dat shi- n i dig da style u grind but somtimes ya gotta drop dat old flo and bang-bang unsuspektin fools!
plow dat shi- in tampa!!!
AlphaDonkey says: October 20, 2009 @ 1:30 pm
No offense to LSV, i think hes a great player and a smart player. But in my pre release almost 1/3 of the field was BG, including myself, 4 of the other top 8. Perhaps sealed is completely different altogether, but the way im reading this is that you altogether hate BG (in limited at least). All I know is from experience (again in sealed deck) it has been insanly strong.
Amarsir says: October 20, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
@Dan, @Mark Conkle: That’s the trend, strategy is on the way out and casual-friendly “hey look what I drew, guess I win” is the rage. I think it’s going to affect Standard too, though at the moment the newness of the format is probably keeping it interesting. Draft will be the last holdout though, because all the decisions required will always favor good strategic thinking.
Fenthing says: October 20, 2009 @ 2:31 pm
can’t believe on of my favorite pros has dissed one of my favorite allies… come on the puma is great when you end up with a two color deck and have been pulling the grow allies for those colors… these have been saving my limited games with Zen… granted my store has only done one zen drafts so far and that was the first draft they have done since the one that was for M10′s release… so my draft experience is alot less then your’s… but taking grow allies in your colors and the pumas are my way to go… and yeah going for control is a waste… hench why my deck was kind of saved by pumas…
Dan says: October 20, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
@Amarsir….thank you for someone who sees my point. I’m shocked lsv hasn’t harped on this enough considering he actually has some influence. They are killing control in general…first by making blue these days as awful as it was in onslaught block for constructed…and now by making control decks completely unplayable in limited in zendikar.
You would think a fantastic control player like lsv would condemn wizards for this, and I can’t figure out why. Sure us control players and proponents of the skill of magic can learn to adapt, but I draft zendikar all the time these days and I can tell you drafting the 2 drop archetype over and over isn’t fun…but I have to because I like to win.
riceburner says: October 20, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
Another excellent entry, LSV. I have been having some of the same problems that you have with drafting cards that are good in the abstract (Oran Rief Recluse, Mold Shambler, and the like) instead of the aggressive beaters that the environment extremely favors. I have adapted to the lower curve a fair amount, but I still seem to keep losing to double Geopede/Harrow blowouts and other ridiculousness that ends games before either player drops a fifth land. This article will definitely inform my next draft. Thanks!
lsv says: October 20, 2009 @ 4:22 pm
I don’t think that 2drop.dec is the only way to draft; I even gave examples of a bunch of other archetypes I think are fine! I think traditional control is a bit difficult, which is why all the non-beatdown options are combo-ish, but thats just how it is.
@SamB
Teetering Peaks is great, Piranha Marsh is decent, and Turntimber Grove is pretty bad. I mean I agree with you on peaks, but providing nutdraws as examples of why cards are good is just not an effective tool for argument, especially when your examples don’t even work. As usual, Shyft explains pretty well why the Grove sucks and the Marsh doesn’t. Also, Kabira Crossroads is fine, and the format being aggressive makes it more relevant, not less. If you expect to race often, gaining 2 is great.
@AlphaDonkey
First, I was talking about draft, not sealed. Sealed is a completely different animal. Second, using your prerelease as justification really doesn’t make much sense, for many different reasons (the set was new, people might have been building wrong, the tournament isn’t very competitive, and it is extremely anecdotal).
@Dan
Yea, I can’t say im thrilled over the direction things are going, but Magic is cyclical, and hopefully the trend will reverse over time. I loved when Mystical Teachings was the best deck by far, but I can understand why that might not be desirable for Magic as a whole. I think after the frustration that was Faeries, giving people some time without counters is a reasonable call.
Chris Young says: October 20, 2009 @ 4:41 pm
If you look at the common picks in the article from each color you can see why Green lags it has a single removal spell that requires 6 mana for essentially a deadly recluse without deathtouch. Harrow is a landfall giant but green has no real early landfall creatures to benefit from it.
The larger green creatures are easily answered by the common less expensive spells in the other colors. Of the list I think White has the best suite of the list. Investing in equipment or enchantments leaves you vulneralbe to sanctifiers quite easily and blocking leaves you vulnerable to hook master all which get much better with sky fisher. Steppe lynx is an aggro card no doubt and the format is aggro.
It has long been a staple in magic that creatures are the most efficient damage producers in the game. In a draft deck the “average case” lends itself to the person with the best creatures.
Blues fly and work both allies and landfall.
Whites are really good aggro and very toolboxy as well.
Red has some good ones and one of the best lands to splash with as well as removal in a variety of flavors.
Black while not really a splashable color has some of the best removal in the set as well as really good aggro creatures. Blacks only downfall is the commitment to black makes it very difficult to pick up good spells/creatures in the other colors should they be available.
Green is missing good solid creatures at the common slot. If anything Green is the control color of the set waiting to win in one big swing but people are not drafting it that way at the moment and it doesnt seem to sit well with the traditional Green theme. the G/B combo is bad simply because the fact that both colors want heavy commitment to themselves to be good.
This comes back to Josh’s “average case” principle. On average Fast aggro with removal/tricks backup is better in this environment. this is because on average there are more cards in the pool that go with this strategy than cards that advance another approach.
My favorite color combo in Zendikar happens to be W/R It just jumps on an opponent and doesnt let them up. There are lots of pieces outside of the top 5 that also help advance this theme.
And as far as allies go the Grow Ally in White is excellent as well. Another thing that Skyfisher can help All in all W/U seem to be the strongest colors for simply abusing the new mechanics and Red makes itself a very splashable color.
Cuban says: October 20, 2009 @ 5:34 pm
You guys need to stop complaining, Maybe you just haven’t been around magic enough to understand what the developers are doing. You just had Cryptic Command dominate constructed for 2 years and plenty of control strategies in limited as solid choices. So maybe they decided to flip MTG on its head and go to an extreme with the aggressiveness in the 1st set after all the elite blue cards just rotated out. Nobody knows what following set will hold. Maybe they’ll print a ton of awesome blue cards. Or just any control tools. Just be patient and let the full block unfold. As for now, there are tons of unexplored options in ZZZ. Maybe you can find some strategy to exploit the abundance of 2 drops. Or just learn the intricacies of a good curve and synergy in an environment without much room for error.
javert says: October 20, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
The eternal slogan of the control snobs. If they win, it was because of their skill; if they lose, the aggro opponent was lucky, and forget about Magic having even a single month of an aggro best deck or the end will be nigh.
And they call other people scrubs…
sneakyhomunculous/about2rock says: October 20, 2009 @ 9:21 pm
explorers scope kraken, what a donk
Koby says: October 20, 2009 @ 10:08 pm
@Cuban: Cryptic Command was balanced in its cost of UUU but since they printed vivids and pool and the always hated Blossom . If you think about it that’s about the only pure blue card that was relatively powerful. I think Wizards completely nerfed Blue by cutting instant card draw and good counters. I agree Cancel is well designed but in other colors there are cards with the same CC and are often two for ones.
@Javert: They usually do that because they built the deck to beat you. Usually aggro players, not competitive ones are pretty linear, they just vomit their hand and get 3 for 1ed or 4 for 1ed. Control makes people think but I agree that aggro players, good ones, think when its safe to drop more pressure and when is not good.
CeddyP says: October 20, 2009 @ 10:18 pm
You have Nissa’s Chosen ranked far too low LSV. I take it over the 2/2 ally every time and a lot of the other green cards listed. It is one of the few creatures that dominates the game both offensively and defensively in the early turns.
Trackback MTGBattlefield says: October 20, 2009 @ 11:22 pm
Initial Technology – Rebooting My Draft Strategy…
Your story has been summoned to the battlefield – Trackback from MTGBattlefield…
Amarsir says: October 21, 2009 @ 4:00 am
It might be snobbish, but for me it’s not about blue, and only incidentally about control. Consider a green aggro madness deck, with a Wild Mongrel on the table and a couple cards in hand. There’s a wealth of decisions to be made: Rootwalla the turn before so it can attack? On the attack so Mongrel pumps? Save it to respond to removal or a block on the Mongrel? Reading the opponent, does he have a madness card to pump the Mongrel or would he have to discard something useful? An array of decisions, which if you read the mothership, you know that they have called “too complex”.
What’s the strategy now? Play a land, attack with my Plated Geopede? Play Bloodbraid then whatever I cascade into? Very few decisions, very few opportunities to read the opponent or surprise him. Control was playable in Alara Block Constructed, and that was a pretty boring format too.
I read this not as a temporary cooldown of blue or a short-term reign of aggro – either of which would be fine. I think it’s an intentional move away from the decision-making that competitive players like and toward a simpler environment of obvious plays that casual gamers can handle. And I base that conclusion on the rules changes, the rarity assortment, the new sets, and R&D’s own words. I can only hope I’m wrong.
Someguy says: October 21, 2009 @ 6:09 am
lol@SamB: “OMG guys check out these plays… wait… they don’t work? FAWK!”
Lpettro says: October 21, 2009 @ 9:09 am
LSV, thx for keeping us up on the highest levels of play.
I enjoy draft as much as the next guy but in this case I hope it does not come at the cost of extended coverage. In my impression it is the greatest format and I for one would like a report on it.
Before the event we were given articles about standard because of secret techs and whatnot. Now that the PT is over I for one would like some info about your impression of the format.
The limited info is great but I am sure I will be reading about it for months to come and I really don’t want extended to be skipped.
Thanks respectfully,
Alex says: October 21, 2009 @ 1:25 pm
Is LSV’s Dark Depths list available anywhere? I know about the video on wizards.com but I don’t see an actual list anywhere.
Numdiar says: October 23, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
I’m pretty sure this limited format is extremely luck based. The more I play with it the more I think it’s impossible to get a win percentage much higher than 50%.
Fran says: October 27, 2009 @ 9:03 am
I think its interesting that there is this prevailing opinion that control is somehow inherently more “strategic” than aggro. A good player is not a good aggro player or a good control player, they are able to adapt to either with sound strategic decisions. The good player with a control deck orchestrates a series of complex decisions to soft or hard lock the opponent’s board position or exhaust their threats. The good player with an aggro deck orchestrates a series of complex decisions to lock a player into a soft or hard lock with their life total, thereby lowering the effectiveness and even completley eliminating another player’s strategic choices.
Control says “It doesn’t matter what you do after x point in the game because I will have an answer” while aggro says “It doesn’t matter how much better your potential future plays after point x are because if you do not do things in a certain way I will kill you before you realize that potential.”
Bad players will counter the wrong spell just as often as they will lead with the wrong spell first and have it countered. Understanding both sides of the spectrum is the only way to be truly effective from either perspective.
And limiting your play exclusively to one side of the equation while complaining that the format, and not your self-imposed limitation, is what is wrong, is stubborn and naive.
I think this article is a good example of how personal flexibility between the two sides is better than forcing what you are comfortable with, no matter how good you are. LSV is one of the very best, and no amount of preference for control changed his results.
Pingback Stark Reality - Rare Situations | ChannelFireball.com says: November 5, 2009 @ 9:01 pm
[...] familiar with the commons in the set. If you're not, go back and take a look at LSV's article Rebooting my Draft Strategy. The pick orders he gives are very good, and the only real difference in my opinion is I consider [...]
Pingback Initial Technology - Don’t Get Bushwhacked | ChannelFireball.com says: November 8, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
[...] obviously still really fun to play. After all, it is still Magic, and still awesome. I previously chronicled how I had trouble adjusting to Zendikar, and even then I think I underestimated how aggressive this [...]
Mike says: April 12, 2010 @ 12:17 am
Zendikar is just amazing after the hell of shards. I’ve drafted it way too little for my liking so I’ve loved watching your drafts.
Joe says: June 17, 2010 @ 5:19 am
Penis~